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Standing leaning against the window, Bai Qing’er’s gaze was fixed at the direction of the study room. In Xu Ziling’s sharp night vision, the one feature that attracted his attention the most from this beautiful exotic woman was her long, black and shiny hair. Lining her beautiful face with skin as fair as snow, it seemed to exude some kind of devious sexual attraction that would make the men’s heart palpitating; just like Wanwan.

Whatever clothes she was wearing were all elegant and graceful, and also gave up the impression of dignity and aloofness. However, her pair of full-of-tender-feelings, bright and beautiful, elegant eyes matched very well with her seemingly innate, somewhat shy, but touching mannerism, which not many men would be able to resist.

Although her countenance lacked Wanwan’s shaking-to-the-core beauty, but there was some kind of amiable and approachable, friendly feeling instead.

This moment, Ba Fenghan whispered in his ear, “Yin Gui Pai women are best in concealing their demonic nature, but I am proficient in reading people; therefore, she can forget about deceiving me.”

After a short pause, he went on, “Apart from her thirst of blood, if you pay close attention to the color and luster of her hair, you’ll know that her physique is nothing like her soft, weak outer appearance; there is an exquisite qigong foundation in it. Her tender and lovely skin is not natural at all; rather, it appears to be the result of long-term training in some kind of demonic skill, her fair skin seems to be aglow, just like Wanwan.”

After taking a closer look, Xu Ziling had to agree with him; he asked, “What else did Ba Xiong see?”

Before Ba Fenghan could answer, Bai Qing’er already disappeared; she withdrew inside the room, outside their line of sight.

※ ※ ※

‘Wild Scholar of Henan’ Zheng Shiru spoke in heavy voice, “Xu Junshi, please hold that thought for a moment. Zaixia still have one more thing I’d like to ask Mi Gong’s guidance.”

Inside the wardrobe, Kou Zhong cheered inwardly; he praised this Wild Scholar of Henan as someone who had his own ideas and was not easily impressed by others.

The ‘Two Malevolent of Changbai’ Fu Zhen and Fu Yan separately let out two cold snorts. Obviously they were a bit impatient of one question after another from Zheng Shiru. However, Li Mi laughed and said, “Mr. Zheng, please speak freely without any reservation.”

Zheng Shiru remained indifferent, “After Yuwen Huaji killed the muddleheaded ruler, he led his troops back to the north, targeting Luoyang. With Mi Gong’s ability and wisdom, why didn’t you pretend to form a unified front with Yuwen Huaji, assign Yuwen Huaji to attack the Eastern Capital, and then reaping the fisherman’s benefit while sitting down? Now the opposite happens; you are gratuitously doing Wang Shichong a big favor, enabling him to conserve his strength. Just look at how Wang Shichong is moving his troops east. As soon as his army reaches Yanshi [county level city, Henan], I knew that he is waiting for Mi Gong to lose most of your strength first before he would take the opportunity to strike! I wonder if Mi Gong has any regret about this?”

Li Mi roared in ear-splitting laughter and said, “Mr. Zheng is worthy to be called Henan’s sage; you knew the current situation like the back of your hand. But Li Mi also have a question I’d like to ask Mister’s guidance: supposing you have established your base, if Mister were in Li Mi’s place, and you are confronting Yuwen Huaji’s a hundred-thousand strong elite troops from the south, how would you deal with it? If Yuwen Huaji captured Luoyang, and he made the fortified city his base, and he had adequate provision, then Yuwen Huaji’s main forces would not have come from afar and would not be weary. If I, Li Mi, had to contend with this situation, would it worth doing?”

Zheng Shiru was silent for a long while before he finally spoke, “Mi Gong’s remark is rational, but current situation is clearly disadvantageous to Mi Gong; what would Mi Gong’s countermeasure be?”

Brimming with confidence, Li Mi laughed and said, “Wang Shichong is just a general who suffered defeat in my hands; he’s not worth mentioning. Nowadays from the number of the troops he brought in, Luoyang must be empty. As long as I, Li Mi, take part of my troops to guard the eastern passage where he is coming from, he would find it difficult to advance a single cun. The other several tens of thousands elite troops will advance west along the river pressing toward the Eastern Capital. At that time Shichong will be forced to return. And then we will simply retreat and defend the south, bidding our time. If Shichong came out again, I will push him back. In this way I will have enough power to spare, he will have to go back and forth in vain, and he will break down in the end.”

Kou Zhong suddenly came to realization about the importance of Xiangyang to Li Mi. Because under such circumstances, Xiangyang would become Li Mi’s logistic base to support Wagang Army’s military operation to take over Luoyang.

Therefore, Li Mi simply must acquire Xiangyang.

Xu Shiji joined in, “If Wang Shichong is moving east to attack us, he won’t have enough provision, and thus will hope for a quick battle. As long as we dig deep ditch and build high rampart as defend mechanism, in just two, three months’ time, Wang Shichong will be out of supplies and must withdraw. At that time we will clip his tail in pursue and attack; if Wang Shichong could return to Luoyang alive, his must have been blessed by his ancestral mountains!”

‘Bang!’

Zheng Shiru slapped the table and said with a sigh, “Simply by listening to Mi Gong and Xu Junshi, I know that Wagang Army’s victory is assured; Wang Shichong will be in trouble. Chengzhu, do you still have any doubt?”

Kou Zhong’s brain was severely shaken, while in his heart he groaned endlessly. If Li Mi indeed do as he said he would do, it would be strange indeed if Wang Shichong would not suffer crushing defeat. Moreover, if the Eastern Capital really fell under Li Mi’s control, it would be difficult for the Li Clan of Guanzhong to maintain their immediate dominance. And then Song Yuzhi would be married away to Li Tianfan, and Li Mi’s prestige would enjoy dramatic increase due to the Song Clan’s support.

If that happened, Li Mi would then apply pressure to the Li Clan that they would be forced to defend Guanzhong. Afterwards Li Mi would easily put Du Fuwei and the others in order. Wouldn’t the world then become an object in his bag?

※ ※ ※

Bai Qing’er reappeared on the window, but she was now wearing black night-walker outfit, while she silently watched Qian Duguan escorting Li Mi and his entourage out of the study room toward the main gate of the mansion.

“This time Li Mi is in trouble,” Ba Fenghan whispered, “Just now she must have notified her Sect’s people by some secret way, to mobilize their people to kill Li Mi. And now she is ready to track Li Mi to get exact location of his position.”

Xu Ziling was puzzled, “Do you think Li Mi is the kind of person who would easily fall into ambush and be killed?” he asked.

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “What if Zhu Yuyan personally came?”

A shadow flashed; like a wisp of smoke Bai Qing’er leaped out of the window into the garden below; in just a few ups and downs she disappeared into the distance.

Xu Ziling said, “Bai Qing’er left just like that, isn’t she afraid Qian Duguan might come back to look for her?”

Ba Fenghan said, “Naturally she knows Qian Duguan’s habit and style of conduct better than we do. Hey! I have an idea: how about putting those two rolls of heavy drawing paper in female demon Bai’s personal chamber, and then let’s catch up with Li Mi, see if we can reap a bit of benefit.”

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “In that case, after you!”

The two jumped down the big tree and met with Kou Zhong.

※ ※ ※

The three silently and quietly dove into the cold river, and swam toward one of the three ships Li Mi brought with him.

In the meantime, Li Mi was still at the dock, bidding Qian Duguan a warm-hearted goodbye.

While everybody’s attention was still focused on the dock, relying on their ghost-like dexterity, the three men stealthily [orig. gods did not know, ghosts did not perceive] climbed onto the ship from the left, aft side.

Craning their necks to look over the side railings, immediately their brows were knitted, because the deck was full of armed men. There was no chance for them to slip into the ship hold undetected.

Noticing the four skiffs, about a zhang or two in length, hanging from the side of the ship, and that the skiffs were covered with tarp, Kou Zhong suggested, “We’d better hide inside one of those skiffs. Unless they suddenly want to use the boat, this should be the safest place.”

Ba Fenghan and Xu Ziling nodded their agreement.

Creeping along the edge of the railings, they quickly moved toward one of the hanging skiffs. After some effort they managed to untie the tarp, and then they all slipped inside. As soon as they finished closing the cover, the hull shook as the ship weighed its anchor and started to sail north along the river.

Ba Fenghan lay down at the aft, while Kou and Xu, two boys lay down side-by-side on the bow side. But in order to talk, they had their big heads in close proximity to each other, giving the three of them a strange, yet intimate feeling.

Kou Zhong narrated in details Li Mi’s determination to kill the three of them, but about Li Mi persuading Qian Duguan, he only mentioned it briefly, simply because he was still deeply wary of Ba Fenghan.

Finished with his story, he laughed and said, “If those ‘Two Idiots of Changbai’ stayed behind to look for us, it’s going to be a big joke!”

Ba Fenghan laughed coldly and said, “Do you know what kind of people they are?”

Turning his gaze to the top of the tarp covering, Xu Ziling said, “Judging from the tone of Ba Xiong’s voice, I can tell that these two fellows must have a bit of skill.”

Ba Fenghan said, “These two are Wang Bo’s Shidi [younger martial brother]; but they have had fall out with Shixiong [martial brother, in general, although it could mean ‘older brother’ as well] for a long time. Who would have thought that now they are throwing their lot with Li Mi? Although these two are egotistical arrogant, but they do have some real skill; otherwise they would have been killed by Wang Bo early on, especially the older brother Fu Zhen, who is a well-known tracking expert. He is even more famous and more prestigious than Li Mi’s former subordinate, the late ‘Flying Feather’ Zheng Zong; his martial art skill is even heaven-and-earth, cloud-and-earth different to Zheng Zong’s. Fortunately we are hiding in here; otherwise we will be in big trouble.”

Seeing that even with his conceited nature Ba Fenghan was still speaking so highly about these two men, the two boys shivered inwardly.

Ba Fenghan said, “Let’s take advantage of this opportunity to cultivate our vitality, so that when the time comes for us to kill, we will be a bit refreshed.”

The three of them closed their eyes in meditation. Soon afterwards they entered the subconscious realm of deep meditation.

Chapter 2 - Part 2

The hull shook as the ship slowed down.

The three of them awoke at the same time.

Ba Fenghan reached out while sending out his internal energy to his finger to poke a hole in the tarp. The three waited for the opportunity to peek outside. When they did, they saw people came and went on the desk; it was very busy.

The first light of dawn had appeared on the horizon. Evidently Li Mi’s fleet has been sailing straight for at least three sichen [i.e. 6 hours].

Stunned, Kou Zhong said, “They are not going to cast anchor!”

Ba Fenghan turned to the other side and took a peek from the slit of the tarp. “There are people on the shore!” he called out in a low voice.

The two boys turned around, and saw the left bank of the river was densely populated with army barracks. They even constructed a temporary dock, where comparatively smaller warships and about a dozen skiffs were moored.

Li Mi’s fleet slowly moved toward the dock.

Xu Ziling had a sudden inspiration, “Turns out Li Mi is hiding his troops in here,” he said, “If the negotiation with Qian Duguan fell apart, he would launch a surprise attack against the unprepared Xiangyang. He is really ruthless.”

Ba Fenghan nodded in agreement, “Everybody knows that Li Mi is not a lay practitioner of Buddhism. Xu Xiong’s conjecture matches well with Li Mi’s style. All right, even if Zhu Yuyan has guts that reach the heavens, I am afraid she would not dare to provoke Li Mi now. What are we going to do?”

Kou Zhong said resolutely, “We steal a speedboat and go up north to Luoyang.”

Frowning, Ba Fenghan said, “Stealing boats now, it’s no longer stealing secretly, but robbing openly. Let’s not talk about Li Mi’s superior martial art skill, he does not lack martial art masters under his command either. We may not necessarily succeed.”

“Why is Zhong Shao so anxious to go to Luoyang?” Xu Ziling wondered aloud.

Kou Zhong whispered, “I’ll explain to you later. If we can’t steal, then let’s rob! Look! Li Mi is going ashore.”

The other two also saw Li Mi and Xu Shiji, two men, under heavy escort of a crowd of high-ranking military officers, left the ship to go ashore.

Another crowd of people had already been waiting on the dock. The leader was a tall, dignified-looking young general.

Ba Fenghan said, “That’s Li Mi’s general Pei Renji. This man and Wang Bodang are equally famous; they are called Wagang Army Two Valiant Generals. Their martial art skill outstanding, their intelligence is also above average.”

Hearing Wang Bodang’s name, Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong recalled Susu, who was disgraced by him, and their hearts immediately felt uncomfortable.

This moment Li Mi and his entourage was about to enter the camp.

Ba Fenghan laughed and said, “If we want to rob a boat, now is the time!”

※ ※ ※

The three had their heads emerged from the water surface, and pulled themselves up into a speedboat moored on the bank of the river. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling calmly untied and hoisted the sail up, while Ba Fenghan pulled his Beheading Mystery Sword, raised it up and chopped it down, to cut the mooring rope.

“Hey, what are you three doing?” someone on the shore shouted.

Ba Fenghan laughed heartily and said, “Sorry to bother you, but could you tell Mi Gong that Ba Fenghan, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling borrow a boat?”

Finished speaking, he thrust both palms forward, a strong gust of wind splashed the water everywhere, drenching the head and face of the dozen or so Wagang troops coming to attack them, while at the same time the wind also propelled the speedboat, sending it swiftly toward the middle of the river.

A river breeze happened to blow at the same time; Kou Zhong busily performed the ‘master helmsman’ style as he operated the sail to take advantage of the tail wind. The boat sailed north along the river, and in the blink of an eye already left the shore far behind.

After being cooped up under the tarp-covered boat for several days, they reached the part of the river where rows of peaks of mountain range, as well as serene greeneries, crowded both sides. Their mind felt clear, their mood brightened, their spirit rose.

Ba Fenghan, who was sculling the oar leisurely at the starboard side of the boat, threw his head back and let out a long laugh. “This time we really shaved Li Mi’s eyebrows, forcing him to send his men to hunt and kill us. Turbulent water at the northern extremity, close to three hundred li from Luoyang’s south side, will be the most excellent place.”

Xu Ziling, who was rowing on the port side, was puzzled, “Based on our galloping-horse sailing speed, how could Li Mi’s men overtake us?”

Ba Fenghan patiently explained, “If Li Mi were an ordinary thief, naturally there is no way he could chase us. But nowadays Wagang Army has become a highly organized military unit; plus because they want to seize the Eastern Capital, they must have set up military intelligence network that is able to transmit information at top speed. As soon as something is happening, they would dispatch fast horse with relay stations along the way, or perhaps flying pigeons, to notify the remote division to carry out whatever mission is required. Therefore, we absolutely must not slack off.”

Kou Zhong said, “We are going north to Luoyang this time, working smart is the way to go, recklessly charging ahead is not suitable. As long as we can arrive at Luoyang at the earliest possible time, we can be considered winning already.”

Both Xu Ziling and Ba Fenghan looked at him in surprise, because that kind of remark really should not have come from his mouth. According to Kou Zhong’s usual style, he ought to propose that they created havoc first.

A bit awkward, Kou Zhong changed the subject, “Two Idiots of Changbai were left at Xiangyang, while it would be difficult for Li Mi, Xu Shiji and Pen Renji to divert their attention; perhaps the pretty Junshi Shen Luoyan will come to deal with us?”

Murderous aura flashed through Xu Ziling’s eyes; he said emotionlessly, “It would be best if Wang Bodang is coming, then we can collect an old debt from him.”

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “I seldom see Xu Xiong hates someone to the bone like this. But Wang Bodang’s skill in double-point flexible spears is very remarkable; he ranks among the top practitioners of amazing and unusual skill. Even if he came alone, killing him won’t be easy.”

Xu Ziling did not say anything.

The three gave everything they had to sail the boat against the stream; by dusk that day, they have crossed the city of Nanyang, which was guarded by a valiant general under Wang Shichong’s command, the ‘Immeasurable Sword’ Xiang Siren.

Ba Fenghan and Xu Ziling relaxed their effort somewhat, letting the wind to carry the boat forward; the speed was reduced considerably.

Ba Fenghan said with a laugh, “Have you guys heard the fragrant name of Dong Shuni?”

Kou Zhong shook his head, “I have never heard of it,” he said, “But the name sounds unusual.”

Ba Fenghan cast his gaze toward the western horizon where the sky was aglow with the sunset; he took a deep breath of the headwind blowing his direction. His thought seemed to be wandering far away as he said, “Dong Shuni is the only daughter of Wang Shichong’s younger sister, Wang Xin. She has lost both parents since she were little. This year she turns eighteen; she was born with countenance of a flower, face like the moon, indeed a national grace, divine fragrance, the color of Luoyang.” [Translator’s note: or, I can just say, she is very beautiful, period.]

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Is Ba Xiong interested in chasing the skirt?”

Ba Fenghan replied indifferently, “To me, man-woman relationship is merely flowers in a mirror and the moon reflected in the lake [i.e. unrealistic rosy view]. The fleeting youth neither lasting nor have eternal value. Furthermore, this woman is Wang Shichong’s greatest political asset. I hear the Li Clan has some interest in this woman, they want to use this to forge an alliance with Wang Shichong, so that together they could face Li Mi.”

Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “If she marries Li Shimin, they will be talented man and beautiful woman, a match made in heaven.”

Ba Fenghan smiled wryly and said, “Kou Xiong is simply taking it for granted! Because from what I heard, the one interested in Dong Shuni is Li Yuan himself!”

Hearing that, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked at each other in dismay; they were speechless and could only muse silently that Li Yuan was ridiculed as a lecher.

Remembering something, Kou Zhong said, “That day when we were at Dongping County listening to Shi Qingxuan playing the Xiao, I remember that after Shi Qingxuan left, Ba Xiong ran after her. What happened afterwards?”

Ba Fenghan’s countenance slightly darkened; he sighed and said, “I was only able to see her back, but it has left a profound and lasting impression on me. But that is probably for the best; if she and I see each other morning and night, perhaps one day I would be tired of her.”

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “Isn’t Ba Xiong contradictory? On one hand you said you don’t care about man-woman relationship, on the other hand you thirst for a beauty and longing to pursue her, plus you have her engraved in your memory.”

After pondering silently for half a day, a faint bitter smile escaped from the corner of his lips; he said, “No wonder Xu Xiong has this misunderstanding, because you often saw me hanging around with different beauty, but then now you heard me saying that I don’t care about man-woman relationship. The fact is, these two are not necessarily in contradiction to each other.”

Kou Zhong found it greatly fascinating; he asked, “I wonder if I could listen to Ba Xiong’s enlightening remarks?”

Ba Fenghan blew out a mouthful of air, as if he wanted to blow away the burden pressing in his heart. He seemed to be falling into a deep abyss of the ocean of his memory; his eyes were gleaming as he spoke slowly, “Since I started to understand the ways of the world, I feel like life is a series of constantly repeating affairs; every day is more or less the same thing that has happened before, only the circumstances surrounding it are constantly changing, we constantly face new challenge. Only by letting ourselves constantly falling into different circumstances will we experience the fresh and moving aspect of life.”

And then, spreading his hands he said, “Like what’s happening now: there is not the least bit of repeat or depressing feeling. Spread before our eyes right now is a vast, unfathomable future, which appears to be in your hands, yet it is not under your control. Joining hands with you is exciting and fascinating, but who could tell whether very soon we are going to encounter Zhu Yuyan or not? This is one of the reasons I do not want man-woman relationship to burden my mind.”

Kou Zhong blurted out laughing; he said, “In that case, by nature Ba Xiong is a fickle and a traitor to your own love.”

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “Kou Zhong, don’t you laugh at me; you and I both are ambitious men. It’s just that my aspiration is in the way of the martial art, and yours is in your dream to rule the world as the emperor. Although our paths differ, but if we want to reach our goal, we both must abandon a lot of things.”

Kou Zhong’s old face smiled as he said, “When did I ever tell you that I am dreaming of becoming the emperor?”

Staring at Kou Zhong’s eyes, which were full of ambiguity, Ba Fenghan laughed hoarsely and said, “Men are known by their deeds. You, Kou Zhong, turned the South upside down, the landscape underwent huge changes because of you. Plus you have the desire to go north to fetch the ‘Duke Yang’s Treasure’, and have laid the best description for your plan. Last night inside the study room at the Hidden Clarity Pavilion you clearly heard an extremely important secret, yet you decided to keep it in your heart; otherwise, why would you be so anxious to go to Luoyang?”

Under the fiery gaze of the other two, Kou Zhong shamelessly laughed aloud and then replied calmly, “Old Ba, you really have a skill, concealing anything from you is as difficult as ascending to the heavens. But I am going to Luoyang this time, just to do a buying and selling; other people are buying, I am selling. They pay me money, I give them information. It has nothing to do with dreaming of becoming the emperor or what have you.”

Ba Fenghan simply laughed without responding. Turning to Xu Ziling, he said, “Xu Xiong, do you believe him?”

Xu Ziling raised his hands in mock surrender; he said, “I don’t want to lie to Ba Xiong, but I don’t want to offend Zhong Shao either. I don’t have any choice but to shut my mouth and not answering.”

The three of them looked at each other. Suddenly all three of them burst out laughing.

Right this moment, a dot of light appeared some distance away on the river just ahead of them, coming slowly closer toward them.