HPC, spy, Xiaohu, Ysabel, DongBin, Anh, Jaya, Sky, you are welcome. Xu Xiong, either you know the story, or you have a very acute perception. Yes, I think this heist will bring them a lot of trouble.
Say, I don't usually look around the forum, but I just noticed that the Unabridged Thread is still high on the list of the first page; and it's been almost three weeks. In the past, in just a few days it would go down so far, more often than not by the time I had to post the whole book, the thread would be on second page, sometimes third. What happen here? Where is everybody? Did the rest of us suddenly decide to leave together? I was quite happy that the forum seemed alive, but now it is dormant …
Book 14 Chapter 4 - Coming in with Ferocious Momentum
Stunned, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong asked, "Didn't the Jade Annulus of He Clan fall into your hands?”
And thus with that question Kou Zhong knew for sure that there was some mole in Jing Nian Chanyuan that sent information back to w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong. Because he knew that the Jade Annulus of He Clan has been stolen, hence he was surprised that the one stole the jade treasure was not Kou Zhong.
This morning, after the three washed all the traces from last night's heist at a clear stream, they buried all evidence, including masks, clothing, and pomegranate wooden sword, in a secure place before swaggering back into the city.
The guards at the gate were all w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong's men; they immediately stopped Kou Zhong and ‘invited' him to see w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong.
And this Xu Ziling and Ba Fenghan parted ways as well. The former went out on some fict.i.tious errand, the latter went to Princess Dong Ming to fish for information.
Inside the secret chamber.
Kou Zhong put an act by smiling wryly as he sat down; with a sigh he said, "I don't want to talk about it! We did touch the bell tower of the Monastery, who would have thought that baldhead Liao Kong detected our presence and mobilized several hundred to chant salvation prayers for us? Without any choice we had to sound out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong's eyes flashed with cold rays. After glaring at him for a moment, he asked in astonishment, "Let's not talk about the Jade Annulus of He Clan first, how come your countenance and your eyes look a bit different than before?”
Kou Zhong stretched out his limbs and said, "This is called ‘mastery of study lies in diligence', also ‘amus.e.m.e.nt in desolation'. Last night after escaping the Jing Nian Chanyuan, we had nothing to do, so we went to a mountaintop nearby and used our true qi to open up each other's meridians. Since w.a.n.ggong [king and duke] is able to see it, it shows that our training method is really effective.”
This was the alibi that the three fabricated. Lies hidden within the truth, and truth contained within the lies. Even someone as cunning as w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong would find it hard to differentiate true or bogus.
Kou Zhong then frowned and said, "Listening to the tone of w.a.n.ggong's voice, it looks like the Jade Annulus of He Clan has been stolen. This is not possible. First, Jing Nian Chanyuan is like the Imperial City, to find a tiny precious jade is like fis.h.i.+ng a needle from the sea. Second, everybody in the Monastery has superior martial art skill, Liao Kong is even more deep and immeasurable; unless you, w.a.n.ggong deploy a large army to storm in, all we could do is just standing at the bottom of that eight-hundred plus stone step leading into the front gate of the Temple, heaving a sigh.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong was slient for half a day. Finally he sighed and spoke dejectedly, "It's useless even if I believed you. Just now Jing Nian Chanyuan sent a messenger to me, asking me to inform you that tonight before the Zi hour [11pm - 1am] you are to return the Jade Annulus of He Clan to the Monastery. Otherwise they won't spare any effort to get the Jade Annulus of He Clan back from you. Under this circ.u.mstance, even I will be helpless to protect you.”
Kou Zhong suddenly flew into a rage, "This is preposterous! Even if they killed me I could not hand over that pain-in-the-b.u.t.t ghost jade annulus to them.”
The last sentence was an absolute truth.
But by saying that, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong overthrew Kou Zhong's conjecture earlier that he had a mole in the Monastery sending him secret information.
Frowning, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong said, "Liao Kong has never paid any attention to the affairs of the world, but this time due to the lost treasure is ‘true fire' has been ignited. As chance has it, just before the treasure is stolen, you happened to come over there, hence even if you jump into the Yellow River, it will be difficult to wash the suspicion from you. It would be best if the three of you lie low until the intensity of the fire dies down. I really do not wish to stand face to face with Jing Nian Chanyuan, Ci Hang Jing Zhai, so much so Ning Daoqi, as the enemy.”
Inwardly Kou Zhong cursed w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong as not having enough yiqi [spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice/code of brotherhood], but on the surface he put on an understanding expression as he said, "w.a.n.ggong, set your heart at ease. I will definitely not put you on the spot. Hey! Am I free to go?”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong sighed and said, "I know you must be blaming me for not having enough friends.h.i.+p, but under current situation, I really cannot divide my attention to deal with such a formidable foe. However, if you indeed have something to do with the Jade Annulus of He Clan theft, naturally I will have the ‘as the water receded, the rocks appear' opportunity.”
Kou Zhong knew he did not believe the story concocted by the three of them; smiling, he said, "Whom do I, Kou Zhong, fear? Even his mother's s.h.i.+ Feixuan, baldhead Liao Kong, Old Demon Ning, if they insist on accusing me wrongly, let them ‘come with their horses'.”
Stretching out his hand, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong pressed it down on Kou Zhong's shoulders.
Kou Zhong thought he wanted to plot against him or perhaps take this opportunity to do a body search. Startled, the true qi within his body reacted naturally, in an instant his entire body was filled with true qi, in term of speed, it was at least double the previous speed, one of which bore through the jianjing acupoint on his shoulder and went straight into w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong's palm.
‘Pow!' As soon as w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong's palm touched Kou Zhong's shoulder, it was jolted out. "What are you doing?” he cried out in fear.
Fortunately w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong's internal energy cultivation was quite deep, otherwise he would have been hurt.
It was only then did Kou Zhong realize that he had misunderstood him.
Quickly thinking of an excuse, he said, "Reporting to w.a.n.ggong: the skill I learned from the ‘Secret to Long Life' oftentimes is out of my control.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong circulated his inner power to neutralize the vortex of qi invading his body. With a strange expression on his face, he said, "Your power is a lot more superior than my original estimate. No wonder Shangguan Long was defeated under your hands. I forgot to ask you: after you caught him, how did you deal with him?”
Kou Zhong dejectedly said, "Empress Yin, Zhu Yuyan personally made her move; she intercepted us and s.n.a.t.c.hed that fellow away from us.”
Shaken, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong asked, "Zhu Yuyan?”
This time Kou Zhong's rueful smile was real; he said, "If not her, who else? Who else would be able to s.n.a.t.c.h the fatty meat at the edge of our mouth? Ah yes, about last night: in the duel between Qu Ao and Fu Qian, who won and who lost?”
After staring wide-eyed at him for half a day, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong revealed a hard-to-believe expression as he shook his head and said, "Since Zhu Yuyan already made her move, how could she only take the person without taking lives?”
Letting out a cold snort, Kou Zhong's eyes flashed spirited light, which was several times more intense than previously. He spoke heavily, "It all depends on the contest of true ability. I admit that fighting one-on-one, I definitely am not her match, but with the combined power of all tree of us, she is helpless against us. w.a.n.ggong still has not replied my question.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong exhaled and said, "Do you know that when you got angry just now your eyes lit up with strange rays of light like the flickering stars in the sky? That is the innate true qi of the ‘Man and Heaven touching each other' realm; the Daoists call it ‘empty s.p.a.ce creating lightning'. Although I have met countless capable people, but those whose eyes can emit golden rays like that can't be more than five people. No wonder Zhu Yuyan is unable to deal with you.”
Inwardly Kou Zhong was delighted, but he was also afraid to raise his suspicion again, hence he giggled and said, "w.a.n.ggong praised me too much! How could I be that formidable? It's just that the ‘Secret to Long Life' is unusual; the beginning is indeed ‘Man and Heaven touching each other', but I have not really reached the level of martial art accomplishment w.a.n.ggong just said. Almost forget to ask you: is there any movement of the Dugu Clan on the other side? Didn't you say you have the Palace City heavily besieged? How come last night I saw Dugu Feng walking to and fro freely in Man Qing Yuan?”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong said, "Do you remember the ‘Beautiful Barbarian Lady' Linglong Jiao? Not only she is beautiful and her martial art skill high, she is also intelligent and cunning, an expert in reconnaissance and intelligence about the enemy. Indeed she is a rare talent.”
The image of her cold-as-ice-and-frost, aloof and thousand-li-distant, yet br.i.m.m.i.n.g with strong feminine charm, moving appearance immediately floated in Kou Zhong's heart. Nodding, he said, "My memory on beautiful women has always been good.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong laughed and said, "Men should be like that. There's no harm in telling you! She went into the Palace City last night to scout information. When she got back, she said that the Dugu Clan, from top to bottom, everybody was in high-spirit, full in confidence. As soon as I heard it, I knew something was amiss. Dugu Feng [summit, not phoenix] must have something up his sleeve, hence he could be this calm and composed, not afraid that I besiege the Palace City. After some deliberation, Xiyi Xiong, Kefeng Daoren [Taoist Priest] and Chen Zhanglin unanimously agreed: Our battle line has been stretched too thin. If the enemy attack, it would be hard for us to look after both the head and the tail. Therefore, we will concentrate our forces inside the Imperial City, while spread out secret agents inside the Palace City. In this way, we can advance to attack and retreat to defend; in terms of military tactic, this is a lot more brilliant. What do you think?”
Kou Zhong inwardly thought that this ‘Beautiful Barbarian Lady' was indeed a rare talent; unexpectedly she was able to deduce the situation based on the other side's demeanor. Nodding his head, he said, "Linglong Jiao's insight is very accurate. In my opinion, Dugu Feng is waiting for someone from Nanhai Pai. I heard that the Nanhai Xianweng [old immortal of the Southern Sea] Huang Gongcuo is rus.h.i.+ng here.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong's countenance changed, "When did you obtain that information? How did Dugu Feng persuade him to come?”
Remaining calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, Kou Zhong said, "Naturally Dugu Feng does not have that ability. But Li Mi has a close relations.h.i.+p with Huang Gongcuo. It is also possible that the Nanhai Pai wants to expand their influence to the north. The lad's pa.s.sion meets the la.s.s' desire, they are together from the first beat. Old man Huang and old woman You, the two combined equal to nearly two hundred years of power, they are really not easy to deal with.”
w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong rose up to his full height. He said, "This is no small matter, I must deal with it immediately, otherwise we will die without knowing what's going on.”
Kou Zhong already understood his selfish personality. Leaving aside his question earlier about the outcome of Fu Qian vs. Qu Ao's decisive battle, he immediately took his leave.
Stepping out of the strictly guarded Shangshu Mansion, Dong Shuni's cute voice called out from behind, "Kou Zhong! Where the h.e.l.l have you been these past two days?”
※ ※ ※
By the time Xu Ziling stepped into the Dongjia Restraurant at the head of the Tianjin Bridge, more than a dozen pairs of eyes were immediately fixed on him.
The restaurant was crowded as usual, the atmosphere was very lively, with more than half of the patrons were traveling merchants and Jianghu people from all over the country.
Those who stared at him looked surprised, and then they whispered to each other. There were even some girls who threw amorous glances at him.
Xu Ziling knew that it must be because at Man Qing Yuan last night he revealed his skill, so that he became an instant ‘celebrity'.
Especially since they dared to stand up openly against Li Mi, Yin Gui Pai, Qu Ao, and other major powers, hence n.o.body dared to belittle them.
Moreover, last night they uncovered Luoyang Bang's Shangguan Long's real ident.i.ty, and even captured him using their real skill. This matter was related to the rise and fall of the Wulin world of Luoyang; it would be strange indeed if it did not create quite a sensation all over the city.
All these factors added together, overnight, the three men became Luoyang's most attractive figures.
"Turns out it is Xu Ye; is Kou Ye going to come later on? Shall Xiaoren take you to the VIP room upstairs?” Turned out it was the same waiter who greeted them yesterday. It was unclear whether he had heard the rumor, but his manner was a lot more reverent and respectful, almost with trepidation, compared to the previous day.
Xu Ziling actually wanted to find a quiet place where he could spend time with himself. The purpose of his fict.i.tious errand this time was to find himself. Sighing inwardly, he said, "I am coming alone, and I think the main hall will be a bit more lively.”
The waiter busily replied, "Everything will be as Xu Ye wishes; I'll find a table for Xu Ye right away.”
Receiving such a grand and serious reception like this, Xu Ziling felt uncomfortable instead. Smiling indifferently, he said, "Just call me when you find an empty table! I am going to enjoy the scenery of Tianjian Bridge outside.”
Without waiting for an answer, he simply walked out of the door.
