大唐双龙传 [Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan] by Huang Yi

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[foxs]

Jaya, Ysabel, HPC, you are welcome. Yan, thank you for the kind words. I'll have to give it more thought. Sky, why do I have a feeling that this Princess will end up with Xu Ziling? I agree with your previous comment, it won't be fun if the two boys end up with 'damsel in distress'. Their partners have to be strong characters.

---

Madame Dong Ming continued, “I am so glad that in claiming the credit for yourselves you are not arrogant and are very forthcoming. When you were being chased by the mob at the pier by the city of Yuhang that day, I have already seen that your foundation is exceptional, indeed it is rarely seen in this age. Other than one person from the Li Clan, nobody else of your generation can compare to you. As a result I was moved by the love of talent and let you came aboard to meet in person.”

Kou Zhong replied with a bitter laugh, “But in the end we were driven out by Madame.”

Madame Dong Ming said, “It was not me who wanted you to leave, it was my daughter Wanjing. The people she hates the most are worldly disciples who are only after wealth and fame. Nowadays my duties within the Sect are gradually being taken over by her, I just assume the responsibility to give guidance; hence everything is decided by her.”

The two boys suddenly understood why Ruyin said that Dong Ming Princess’ impression on them was very bad.

Madame Dong Ming sighed and said, “This daughter of mine is stubborn; once she had a preconception about anything, it is very difficult to change her mind. But surprisingly this time it was she who found you; furthermore, she gave the order to give you assistance.”

She did not understand, naturally the two boys did not understand even more; they merely listened attentively.

Madame Dong Ming changed the subject, “Whether it’s Du Fuwei, Li Mi, and perhaps Yuwen Huaji, or even all gangs and societies who know your whereabouts, nobody is willing to give up on you. Do you have any plan for the future?”

The two boys shook their heads with blank expression on their face, indicating that they had no idea.

Madame Dong Ming’s voice was a bit emotional as she spoke tenderly, “Before we learned about your involvement in the conflict concerning ‘Secret to Long Life’ and ‘Duke Yang’s Treasure Trove’, we did have the intention of absorbing you into our Sect to strengthen our men department, but now I changed my mind. But please don’t think that it is because we are afraid to be implicated in this matter, rather, we are afraid to waste the kind of talent that you have. I don’t know whether it’s the Heaven’s will, but your suffering is actually a great opportunity for you to learn by experience. In just over a year, you have shed your mortal body and exchange your bones and become new persons. The most amazing thing is you are able to make your expression [or shen qi - ‘divine qi’] understated, which is the realm where only genuine martial art masters are able to attain. Obviously your internal energy level is not high, but you can definitely accomplish it. Give it a little more time, your achievement will be beyond measure.”

The two boys jumped in fright; they thought that if they could not stay, wouldn’t they lose the opportunity to carry out their trick ‘to imitate the dog and steal the chicken’?

But Madame Dong Ming continued, “By midday tomorrow, we will arrive at Weishan Lake. After taking care of some businesses, we can go up north along the canal. After Juye Wetlands, the water should be covered by mist for hundreds of li, we can easily shake off enemy’s pursuit; there we can arrange for you to slip away onto the shore. After that you will have to rely on your good luck.”

The two boys were relieved; within these next eight to ten days, they should be able to complete the heavy responsibility Li Shimin entrusted to them.

From a very deep slumber, Xu Ziling slowly, fen by fen [1 fen ~ 1/3cm, 1/8-in], cun by cun [1 cun ~ 1-in] regained his consciousness.

The feeling was like from the bottom of a deep, dark and quiet pool, gradually floating to the surface, and the instant he made contact with the water surface was the same instant he regained the perception of the outside world.

Every night when he slept peacefully was the good time he practiced the ‘Secret to Long Life’.

‘Thump!’ Kou Zhong, who was sleeping next to him, kicked the side of his thigh.

Xu Ziling was already accustomed to this. Whenever Kou Zhong kicked him, a burst of true qi immediately entered his channels, while at the same time he also returned a stream of true qi back to Kou Zhong.

This kind of feeling was really unspeakably comfortable.

When sleeping, Kou Zhong always kept moving, while Xu Ziling always stayed calm like a deep sea.

The sun outside penetrated the window, bathing the small empty space in front of the window with its light; everything seemed so peaceful, serene and beautiful.

Xu Ziling’s mind was a piece of peacefulness, just like a calm deep pool, mirroring everything before his eyes. He looked up at the rectangular-shaped mosquito net above the bed. The net was made of silk yarn weaved together into a mesh; abundant with some kind of principle that was hard to describe with words, rich with many patterns. What seemed to be identical square holes were actually myriads of different holes. Each small hole, each small square actually had subtle differences with each other. Light and darkness, big and small, they were all different. Yet all these different holes formed a whole entity that could not be broken; each hole was independent, yet they also affecting each other.

He had never thought that a mosquito net could be so engaging and interesting.

‘Buzz! Buzz!’ A buzzing noise came from the top of the net. A mosquito wanted to break into the net, but was thwarted by the mesh and was kept outside.

After trying several times, the mosquito flew toward a corner. Immediately it attracted the attention of a house lizard that was crouching on the patterned ceiling above. The lizard rapidly traversed several cun across, and lay prostrate again, motionless.

The lizard’s movement was both steady and nimble, there was dynamic within the static, and there was static within the dynamic.

Xu Ziling’s heart was filled with indescribable feeling; somehow he indistinctly captured the true meaning of the blend between static and dynamic.

Suddenly this incomparably rich and moving moment was broken by light footsteps from a distance coming near. The footsteps stopped in front of the door, and then the door was pushed open.

Kou Zhong instantly reacted; he opened his eyes and sat up.

The two boys focused their attention, and saw that it as a big and tall maid. She looked quite ugly, but the saddest thing about her was the ‘thousand-li distant’ expression on her face, icy-cold and wooden, as if everybody in the world owed her money and has not paid her back.

As soon as she came in, her gaze swept the boys behind the net, and then she looked away as if she lost interest already. She brought along a basin of water, a towel, a comb, and other things, which she then placed on a small table by the window. And then, without any trace of politeness she barked with her hoarse voice, “Quickly get up! Commander Ming [orig. shuai – commander-in-chief] is waiting for you for breakfast.”

The two boys exchanged glances; they wondered which divine being this ‘Commander Ming’ was.

Kou Zhong crawled out of the net and went over to the ugly maid. Cupping his fist in respect he inquired, “How may I address this Jiejie?”

The ugly maid spoke with disdain, “I am not your Jiejie, and you don’t need to pay attention to my name.”

Meanwhile Xu Ziling pushed the net aside and sat on the bedside; he was stooping down to look for his boots. Hearing what was said, he said, “If we made any mistakes, Jiejie is welcome to scold us or curse us, so that we can make it right.”

The ugly maid did not expect the two boys would still be modest and polite even after her mean treatment to them. She stared blankly for a moment before finally walking toward the door. “I’ll wait for you outside,” she said. Her tone was a little gentler.

The two boys hurriedly wore their clothes and washed their faces.

By the time they walked out the door, the ugly maid impatiently said, “Hurry up and follow me!”

Kou Zhong giggled and ran after her. In the most respectful manner he said, “May I ask Jiejie, who is Commander Ming?”

The ugly maid led them to the end of the hallway where the stairs leading to the upper deck was located. She appeared to be ignoring Kou Zhong, but then she suddenly said in cold manner, “Didn’t you see him yesterday?”

Kou Zhong, and Xu Ziling who was running behind him, suddenly came to realization that the Commander Ming she was talking about was Shang Ming. Since they had ‘generals’, it was only natural that they also had ‘Commander-in-chief’. It seemed that this young, handsome Shang Ming’s status in Dong Ming Sect was, by no means, low.

Climbing to the upper deck, they found out that it was actually a spacious cabin, almost like a hall. Shang Ming, accompanied by Shang Bang and Shang Kuitai, two men, sat around a round table, where an assortment of light breakfast food was served, talking in low voice.

Seeing the two boys’ arrival, Shang Ming did not stand up or show any sign of welcoming gesture at all; he simply smiled unenthusiastically and said, “Two Xiao Xiongdi, please have a seat.”

After the two boys took their seats, the ugly maid left the hall.

The cabin was decorated with over a dozen big windows on both sides, adorned with hanging curtains, but did not affect their view at all. They could still enjoy the panoramic view of the green mountains and verdant pastures scenery on both banks of the river.

“Did the two gentlemen sleep well last night?” Shang Bang asked.

The two boys had already stuffed their mouth full with food, so they could only nod their head.

Shang Kuitai said, “There are two sichen more [i.e. 4 hours] before we reach Weishan Lake. Once we get there, we have no fear of being tracked.”

Shang Ming said, “The weapons that you use, where did you buy them? The material and craftsmanship are quite good.”

Of course Kou Zhong could not tell him the truth, he randomly replied, “It’s Shen Luoyan, that woman [derogatory] who gave them to us.”

How could Shang Ming be able to distinguish whether he was telling the truth or a lie? He could not help laughing, “There are not many people in Jianghu who dare to call her ‘woman’. The two of you can be considered having enough skill that there are a lot of Jianghu characters, that many people would be scared at the mere mention of their names [orig. turn pale at the mention of a tiger], are hunting you down, yet time and again you were able to escape with your lives. ‘Being fugitives for thousand li’, it can also be considered ‘anecdote passed on with approbation’ in Jianghu.”

Xu Ziling was curious, “What kind of place is Ryukyu?” he asked.

Shang Ming proudly replied, “It’s the world’s most beautiful and mysterious place. It’s a big island suspended over emptiness of the vast body of water. The climate is pleasant, large part of it remains uncultivated fertile land, wonderful birds and different animals can be seen everywhere.

The two boys listened with their minds wandering far away.

Shan Kuitai asked, “Was your martial art skill taught by the Luocha female?”

Kou Zhong nodded, “That is correct!”

“If that is the case,” Shang Bang seriously commented, “It can clearly be seen that Gaoli’s Yi Jian Dashi [see Book 1 Chapter 3] Fu Cailin really possesses inscrutable, supernatural skill.”

Shang Ming said, “People have name, trees have shadow. Since Fu Cailin was able to make his name alongside Wu Zun Bi Xuan and Shan Ren Ning Daoqi [all these names were mentioned back in Book 1 Chapter 6], and still enduring for the last few decades, they must have earth-shatteringly ultimate skill. Just look at how he sent one of his disciples over, and she had the Central Plains’ Wulin world in complete confusion [orig. sky and earth turning upside down]; even Yuwen Huaji was injured and forced to return. Clearly he has real talent and is a solid material.”

Remembering Fu Junchuo, the two boys’ throat choked and they did not feel like eating anymore.

This moment the ugly maid returned. Shang Ming and the others, all three people revealed a disgusted look on their faces.

The ugly maid saluted, and then hoarsely and crudely said, “Princess wants to see Xu Ziling.”

Kou Zhong was baffled, “What about me?” he asked.

The ugly maid shook her head coldly, but did not say anything.

Shang Ming and the others also showed a surprised look; especially Shang Ming, his expression looked quite unnatural.

“Why haven’t you followed me?” the ugly maid urged.

Having no other choice, Xu Ziling shrugged his shoulders.

Finally Xu Ziling set his foot on the cabin deck below the main deck. On the surface there did not seem to be any differences; there was also a long corridor, with more than a dozen doors lining both sides of the hallway, but the decoration was a lot more exquisite. From the ceiling of the hallway hung down more than a dozen delicate chandeliers, shining their lights on decorative pattern carved subtly along the wall of the hallways. Underneath his feet was plain green carpet embroidered with geometric patterns like moss on grass, like uninhabited, calm and quiet meadows.

The ugly maid led the way silently, until they arrived at the door at the end of the hallway, where she turned around and said, “You wait here. When Princess is ready to see you, she will call you.”

Finished speaking, she left.

Xu Ziling thought in his heart that this Dong Ming Princess really had a big ego; if she did not have time to talk, she could always summon him a bit later.

Up to this moment he still did not understand why Dong Ming Princess wanted to see him alone. But just as quick his mind turned to the account book.

If this account book really did exist, would it be kept in this room?

The door and the walls of this cabin were extremely solid; breaking in would not be easy at all.

While he was indulging himself in flights of fancy, a sweet, tender, but icy-cold voice sounded in his ears, “Come in!”

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[faerro]

Oh dat cliffhanger!

Thanks Foxs

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

I have a feeling this Princess, like all the other beauties, will soon disappear and many more beauties will appear soon after.

I wonder how they're going to steal the book and how the lost will affect Madam Dong Ming and her Sect.

[foxs]

Ysabel, Anh, Jaya, Faerro, HPC, you are welcome. Sky, since neither of us have read the story, we'll have to wait. But just by reading this part, I am convinced that Princess likes Xu Ziling.

---

With curious mind Xu Ziling pushed the door and walked in. His eyes lit up instantly, for this room was unusually spacious, with adequate illumination, and all four walls were lined up with bookshelves and bookcases. There was also a large desk by the window.

A young woman, in the prime of her youth, wearing purple-red clothes, was sitting on the desk with her back facing him, leaning over the desk as if she was hard at work. Her long, shiny, jet-black hair hung down to her back, giving him a soft, delicate and charming feeling.

Xu Ziling bowed to salute and said, “Xu Ziling pays his respect to Princess!”

Turning her head slightly, the woman only gave him a quick, cold glance, before turning her attention back to the desk and continued writing fine and dense characters on the file in front of her.

Xu Ziling, on the other hand, was shaken to his core. Not only because her beauty was extremely startling, but also because she invoked a familiar feeling, as if he had seen her not too long ago.

The glance she was giving him just a moment ago exuding some kind of loathing look, which made Xu Ziling felt even more that something was not quite right.

This moment he was standing behind her back, staring blankly; he felt that speaking was inappropriate, leaving was even more not appropriate; he was in a very awkward situation.

Dong Ming Princess’ voice was heard, “Why switch from arrogance to deference? Just based on this fact alone, it is clear to me that you are a despicable man.”

Xu Ziling was startled, “Have I really met Princess?” he asked.

Dong Ming Princess Shan Wanjing suddenly stood up and turned around. Her beautiful and elegant eyes were shooting deep hatred as she stared mercilessly at him, “Aren’t you Zhang San or Li Si? How come you have forgotten this easily?”

Xu Ziling was shaken. “My Niang, so it is you!” he exclaimed.

Yesterday the two boys had just arrived at Pengcheng, they went to a restaurant to have a meal, and came across a woman who disguised herself as a man. They thought she was an enemy sent by Shen Luoyan to swindle them, hence they treated her without any trace of politeness at all. How could they know that unexpectedly she was the Dong Ming Princess in his presence right now?

Involuntarily Xu Ziling’s eyes wandered toward her pair of long legs, which evoked his memory.

“What are you looking at?” Shan Wanjing angrily said.

Agape and tongue-tied, Xu Ziling stammered, “I … hey! The other day we thought …”

Shan Wanjing regained her calm instead; she said indifferently, “No need to explain; even if you do, I won’t listen to you. I called you to come here this time, is because I want to tell you in person that even though you have given our Sect a huge favor, but we have also saved you, the two little kids, from Du Fuwei’s hands. Tit for tat, let’s consider we are even.”

Seeing that she treated him as the enemy, and was unwilling to listen to explanation, Xu Ziling was rather put off by her capricious muleheadedness. Yet looking at her poetry-like, sunshine-like, graceful and alluring jade countenance, he simply could not get angry with her. He could only waved his hand in a ‘not-a-big-deal’ way and said, “It is best that we consider it even, then we all go our separate ways; hereafter clear gratitude and absolute justice have nothing to do with each other. Ha!”

The last ‘ha!’ exclamation was because he recalled that the last sentence was Kou Zhong’s pet phrase.

But Shan Wanjing’s jade countenance turned cold; she spoke furiously, “Gratitude is considered done, now is the time we ought to consider the grudges.”

Xu Ziling was shocked, “What grudges to consider?” he asked.

Shan Wanjing took a deep breath and said, “I really don’t understand why Niang thinks so highly of you, two kids who are covered all over with vulgarity. The first time I saw you, I already loathe you.”

Xu Ziling smiled wryly and said, “If elegance and vulgarity became the criteria, we certainly don’t have any qualifications to be measured by Princess’ elegant eyes. But if Princess uses elegance and vulgarity to determine gratitude and grudges, I am afraid Princess would have grudges against most people walking down the street.”

Actually, even Shan Wanjing herself did not understand why she had so much hatred toward the dignified young man in front of her. “Don’t blather!” she angrily said, “I am referring to the insulting remark you hurled at me the other day. Others greeted you politely with good intention, yet you unexpectedly could be that rude.”

Xu Ziling breathed a sigh of relief, “This will be easier to deal with,” he said, “That day was just a misunderstanding. We thought …” His gaze landed on the desktop, immediately he was shaken and shut his mouth.

Heavens! Isn’t that the account book we are supposed to steal?

But Dong Ming Princess thought that he was unable to put forward any convincing arguments, so it was hard for him to continue. Her face turned as cold as water as she said, “You have nothing to say then don’t say it! Now I am going to strike you with one palm, the target will be the pit of your stomach. If you cannot evade it, you’ll pay for it with your life.”

Xu Ziling came to his senses. Terrified, he said, “We did not have past enmity, we do not have current hatred, Princess must not use violence.”

Shan Wanjing calmed down. She said indifferently, “I am about to strike.”

Xu Ziling was so scared he took two steps back; waving his hand he said, “Any problem we can talk it over slowly. Ah!”

Shan Wanjing’s body suddenly shot forward with raised right palm; lightly it floated indeterminately toward the pit of his stomach.

Xu Ziling did not have time to think; focusing his attention to the palm, he saw that this jade palm, which appeared, soft and powerless, without raising any gust of wind at all, as if she only wanted to touch him, was actually following certain subtle striking trajectory toward him, yet it continuously changed, so that it was very difficult to pin down.

The strange thing was that he seemed to be able to clearly grasp her changes, so much so that he could grasp her next move.

But he also knew that if he let her hit the pit of his stomach, he might really die, finished, met his worst fate.

Right in this moment between life and death, he did not dare to be careless. His broadsword left its scabbard and lightning fast it chopped toward her jade palm.

Shan Wanjing let out a cold sneer and darted faster forward, while raising her left hand high, the back of her hand swept across the blade of the saber; it was indeed a very ruthless move in close-combat.

Who would have thought that Xu Ziling’s saber suddenly changed direction? He abruptly pulled out the back of the saber to slice the opening on the wrist of her right palm, which has not changed its attacking direction.

Shan Wanjing did not expect him to be able to use the saber with such agility. If she wanted to evade, it would be as easy as a hand’s turn; but she already said that she would only send one palm strike, how could she fail to hold on to her words? Clenching her silver teeth, her left hand changed, now she wanted to grab and snatch the blade of the saber, while at the same time she leaned sideways to butt herself against Xu Ziling’s chest. Her right hand magically changed into millions of palm shadows; she was unleashing her real skill to the fullest.

Although earlier she said that she had malicious intention, the reality was that she only wanted to beat him up that he would fall with all four limbs facing the sky; hence she could vent the resentment in her heart. But now that she was forced to go all-out, it was hard to attack and defend as she wished.

Xu Ziling recalled the house lizard he saw as he woke up this morning, instinctively he evaded by sliding sideways. Not only Shan Wanjing’s left hand grabbed an empty air, his saber actually sliced the millions of her right palm shadows, which filled the air.

Shan Wanjing had never expected that his response was so brilliant and quick; it was even harder for her to hold back. Exerting her most refined, outstanding technique, first, her palm slapped the blade of Xu Ziling’s saber and attached itself on it, like a shadow the palm followed wherever Xu Ziling moved his saber; while the back of her other palm struck Xu Ziling on the pit of his stomach.

Xu Ziling let out a miserable scream as he was thrown backward and crashed through the door, until finally he landed on the hallway outside. While he was still on the air he already spurted a mouthful of fresh blood, all the way until he fell heavily on the carpet outside the door.

Shan Wanjing was shocked.

As she was about to run out to see the outcome, Madame Dong Ming’s voice already arrived, “What happened?”

Shan Wanjing halted her steps and coldly said, “This man had offended daughter; even he’s dead he deserves it.”

Madame Dong Ming appeared on the door; she wore a lake-green colored beautiful gown, her beautiful, thick hair was rolled up in a bun high on her head, her overall appearance was graceful and elegant, but her face was covered with a layer of thin gauze, like a dense fog concealing her countenance.

From the other side of the hallway came more voices; apparently the sound of fighting had alerted the others.

After staring at Shan Wanjing for quite a while, Madame Dong Ming looked down to examine Xu Ziling.

After his qi was blocked, Xu Ziling slowly regained his consciousness. When he was struck by her palm a moment ago, he felt as if all the channels in his entire body were about to burst open, the pain was like ‘one Buddha came into being, two Buddha ascending the heaven’ [not sure what it means], but after sprouting a mouthful of blood, the qi at the sole of his feet was unimpeded, the pain lessened considerably.

Hurriedly he crawled up and while massaging the pit of his stomach, he said with a bitter smile, “I am alright, Princess is indeed formidable. Ha!”

Unexpectedly he laughed and staggered away. The only thing in his mind was that tempting account book lying around on her desk.

At first he did not feel comfortable in this stealing-the-account-book matter, but now he the mental barrier was no longer there.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[LuDongBin]

一佛出世、二佛登天: suggests the pain of undergoing an epic struggle between life and death, of having died and being reborn again. The idiom was used in the novel, Outlaws of the Marsh, and a few others.

登天: a Buddhist term meaning entering Nirvana.

Thks foxs for another chapter.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs. So the Princess has a thing for XZL but yet she's acting all cold an mighty which makes him dislike her. All she has to do is be nice and gentle and maybe XZL will love her. But now, I don't see that happening.

Thanks for the explanation LuDong!

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs

[Drak17]

Nice! New part!

Thanks!

[foxs]

Ysabel, Jaya, HPC, Anh, Drak, you are welcome. DongBin, thank you. I incorporate your note in my source file. Sky, I thought Lu DongBin's surname is 'Lu' ... he is a deity, you know, hence the reason he knew so much. About Princess, I have a feeling she will be an important character in this story. But this is only a feeling, I have no basis for it.

---

Book 3 Chapter 10 – The Fire of War on Lake Wei

While helping Xu Ziling massaging the pit of his stomach, Kou Zhong anxiously asked, “Are you really alright? That female [usually refers to female animal] is really ruthless; just because we were not interested in hanging around with her! Unexpectedly she considered it big grudges and animosity.”

“Can you lower your voice a little bit?” Xu Ziling said in low voice, “If she hears it we will be in trouble. Hey! Let me tell you something amazing. When the true qi in my body started to move, just a short while and I feel better already. If I transferred my qi a bit earlier, perhaps I could easily take her palm strike.”

Kou Zhong said, “In that case this palm strike can be considered something of a value, as long as you don’t die.” And then he remembered something and giggled, “Don’t just look at her as being mean, the fact is that she unconsciously fell in love with you. But because she is already betrothed, and you treated her as a worthless nobody, in her anger she wanted to attack you, hence she made her move and injured you.”

Xu Ziling was not amused, “Go to your Niang! Fall in love with me? This kind of love is not worth mentioning.”

The more Kou Zhong thought, the more he was convinced. He analyzed, “Even if one time you cursed her as a loose woman and had no feeling of shame, hence your offense is more serious than mine, but my treatment to her was not much better. Yet she only looked for you to vent her anger; this kind of girl’s mind is the most difficult to fathom. When you went to see her, that guy Shang Ming could not sit or stand still, his expression turned really weird.”

Xu Ziling seized this opportunity to change the subject, “In that case, that Shang Ming ought to be that evil woman Princess’ husband, who has not yet passed through a doorway [marry into a family, see Book 3 Chapter 9]. Ay! Even if the entire Dong Ming Pai people kneeled in front of me, I can’t possibly join their Sect. Men married into the women’s family, why would I want to do that?”

Kou Zhong laughed and giggled, “The biggest reason is that the women would take care of us.”

And then his expression turned serious as he said, “After we get to Weishan Lake tonight, Madame Dong Ming and that evil woman Princess will go see Li Shimin’s old dad. That will be the time we make our move to steal that thing. From here we climbed down the window, it will be as easy as lifting our hand.”

Meanwhile the scenery outside the window has changed, no longer steep banks and cliffs, but clear and crystalline river water, clumps of white cloud, the far-side bank continued on to open land as far as the eye can see. They have arrived at Weishan Lake.

The door was pushed open. The ugly maid walked in silently, sized Xu Ziling up a moment, and then with her hoarse voice and crude manner she asked, “Are you still in pain?”

Xu Ziling was touched by her concern; he was about to reply that it was not a big deal when Kou Zhong pinched him. Hastily he said, “I think after two days rest I should be alright. Thank you Jiejie for your concern.”

“Who cares about you?” the ugly maid coldly said, “It’s just that tonight Madame wants to eat dinner with you, so she sent me over to check on you! Since you are alright, then that’s it.” Finished speaking she turned around and left.

While the two boys were looking at each other in astonishment, there was a knock on the door, the beautiful maid Ruyin came from outside the door, “May I come in?”

Kou Zhong sprang up and pulled the door open. “Good Jiejie, please come in!” he greeted.

‘Pfft!’ Ruyin broke into tender laughter; she cast a sidelong glance toward Kou Zhong and gracefully walked in. Seeing Xu Ziling was sitting in a chair by the window, without any visible change in her countenance she said in amazement, “Madame is right, although on the surface you look badly injured, actually it is not serious at all.”

Xu Ziling could not bear lying to her; he nodded and said, “Just a bit painful!”

Ruyin came over and stretched out her gentle and soft hand to feel the temperature on his forehead. Pulling her jade hand back, she said, “Your internal energy is so unusual; void and fluttering, so that it’s hard for others to gauge the depth of it.”

Kou Zhong walked over to her, he took that opportunity to lean closer, his nose vigorously sucked in the fragrance of her hair first, before speaking right next to her ear, “This is called ‘unfathomable’.”

Ruyin was displeased, “Can you be more proper? To be honest, my impression on you is not much better than the Princess’. Unexpectedly you hang around with those devoid-of-consciousness Baling Bang people; are you thinking of copying them in doing business in human trafficking?”

Kou Zhong awkwardly said, “We did not know Xiang Yushan was Baling Bang people!”

The more Ruyin spoke, the angrier she was; with arms akimbo she angrily said, “Then why did you go to their casino? Don’t you dare to say that you did not know it was not a casino!”

Seeing her almond eyes grew big in anger, Kou Zhong replied in panic, “We did not know it was a casino, we thought it was a brothel.”

“What?” Ruyin’s voice broke.

It was too late for Kou Zhong to correct himself, he knew he was in trouble. Heaving a deep sigh, he said, “Ay! Jiejie, how could you know our plight that time? We were in a tight spot, and had no choice but to find a place to hide.”

Ruyin’s pretty face was flushed with anger, “It’s just an excuse; the truth was that you wanted to fool around in a place where you wanted to ingratiate yourselves like that. Looking at your fine countenance fine appearance, I could not imagine that you are so corrupt in the inside. Just see if I will pay you any more attention in the future.” Stomping her foot, she turned around and walked away.

Kou Zhong reached out trying to get hold of her. Ruyin dodged; her eyes bulging like fish bowl, she screamed, “You dare to touch me with your stinky hand? Princess is right, not many men on earth are good people.”

The two boys had never imagined that such a gentle and considerate girl could become this emotional; they stared blankly at her in silence and in fear.

Ruyin’s silky breasts heaved up and down rapidly for a moment before calming down. Seeing the two boys who looked like a great catastrophe had just befallen them, her expression softened a little as she said grimly, “I rarely get angry like this; it’s all your fault! Alright, if you are willing to promise me that from now on you won’t go to that kind of place, I will forgive you!”

Xu Ziling was ready to promise, but Kou Zhong beat him by saying, “In that case won’t we have to change our training to Tongzi Gong [virgin boy skill]?”

Ruyin was taken aback, and then her pretty face blushed as she stared hatefully at Kou Zhong before storming out in anger.

‘Bang!’ as soon as he heard the door slammed, Kou Zhong breathed a sigh of relief. He said, “Fortunately I did not let you give your promise in a rush. Otherwise how could we enjoy life and be merry later?”

Xu Ziling let out a bitter laugh and said, “That’s one more person we offended. Right now on this ship, other than Madame Dong Ming, it could be said that we look up and see no one familiar.”

Kou Zhong sneered and said, “This ship is full of eccentric people, fortunately we are going to leave very soon. Otherwise, sooner or later we will turn into one of them. It’s not a big deal if we don’t go to Ryukyu, I am sure they don’t have half a place where we can have fun.”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “What do you mean having fun? Every time we wanted to go to a brothel we always came across something shady. Apparently the two of us lack pleasure-house luck.”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “I don’t believe in demonic influence. Come! Let us practice our exceptional divine skill, as long as our ears can hear the eight directions, we can carry out our grand plan.” Finished speaking, he started to walk back and forth in the room.

In the hazy dusk of twilight, the Dong Ming flagship sailed at full speed over the mist covered water of Weishan Lake, heading toward a certain destination.

On the ship, a vegetarian feast has been prepared inside the hall of the main cabin. Madame Dong Ming still had her face covered in veil, her entire being was still shrouded in unfathomable mystery.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were sitting on her left and right, respectively.

All three Law-Protector Fairies were present. Shan Yan and Shan Yudie, who dealt with Du Fuwei the other day, were expressionless [I could have sworn that it was Shan Xiu, not Shan Yan]. Only Shan Qing showed a bit of warmth. But obviously everybody strongly disapproved Madame Dong Ming showing such grand hospitality toward two boys whose names not encountered in the classics.

The other attendees included Shang Ming and a senile-looking old man. This old man, Madame Dong Ming called him Shang Gong [gong means ‘grandpa’, ‘father-in-law’, or simply a term of respect to address (much) older man]. His stature was originally big and tall, but his back was crooked. However, the eyes under heavily wrinkled eyelids constantly flickered with strange purple light. He appeared spirited, yet appeared dull at the same time; in short, he was extremely intimidating.

The other Dong Ming Sect people were very respectful toward him. Other than the first time when he was introduced to the two boys, he did not even look at them. The rest of the time he was simply holding on to the only wine pot on the table, silently pouring himself a drink. Toward the fine vegetarian dishes on the table, he was not even interested in giving it a single glance.

Very soon the two boys even forgot that he was there.

Apparently Shan Wanjing was still angry, so she did not attend.

However, whether it was related to Shan Wanjing or not, Shang Ming seemed to be brimming with hostility; he was even more unfriendly than before.

Ruyin must be Madame Dong Ming’s personal maid; she waited on everyone. But she was still fuming with anger; apparently her resentment toward Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling had not subsided.

All in all, this meal was not a pleasant one.

At the start of dinner, Madame Dong Ming spoke a few apologetic words on behalf of her daughter, but afterwards she chatted with Shang Ming and the others, leaving the two boys out on the side.

The two boys were already used to this kind of treatment, so they did not give it a d@mn, but going all-out in wiping out the dishes on the table. However, they were used to eating meat, hence no matter how many dishes were delivered into their belly, it did not give them a sense of satisfaction.

Seeing their table manners, other than Madame Dong Ming and Shang Gong, the rest of the people showed contemptuous look on their faces.

Shang Ming was discussing the changes in the militia situation, “The most worrisome is the Tujue [Turkic] people’s tendency. Right now Ying Yang Pai’s Liang Shidou and Liu Wuzhou already cast their lots with them, and are bestowed the titles Magnanimous Pijia Khan and Dingyang Khan, respectively. These two renegades have received Tujue Khan’s order to attack Taiyuan. If Li Yuan cannot defend Taiyuan, Tujue will definitely seize the chance to advance; at that time the Central Plains will be in grave danger.”

Everybody was paying attention.

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[LuDongBin]

You jest, foxs ...