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

[Lance23]

跨出这一大步 - literal translation. Take a big step forward

[Lance23]

Back the dude into a bad situation to push someone to their limits. To get him to tske a big step forward.

[akolaw]

One of the best western internal martial artist Bruce Kumar Frantzis talk about Hsing I Chuan, developing your mind and your intent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yxeM5MKj8Y

[foxs]

Anurman, HPC, Xiaohu, Ysabel, you are welcome. Akolaw, thanks for sharing. You are indeed Huang Yi’s biggest fan … Hungry, if Akolaw is unwilling to give you spoiler, you’ll find out eventually … Lance, thanks for sharing.

---

Song Que’s eyes revealed a smiling expression; he casually brandished the saber, calm and unrestrained. Combined with his unequalled handsome face and his tall and straight build like pine and cypress, he looked indescribably pleasing to the eye.

Although it was a casual saber strike, Kou Zhong felt that no matter how he changed his saber momentum, how he altered the angle and timing, in the end he would have to meet the strike head on.

He knew even more that it was impossible for him to retreat, because under the pulling force of the qi, Song Que’s Heavenly Saber might be like flood bursting the dike and rushing forth from the gap, destroying everything blocking its way.

‘Qiang!’

The Heavenly Saber created a huge attractive force, sucking in Kou Zhong’s Moon in the Well solidly.

The two sabers pressing each other, four eyes met.

Song Que shook his head and said with a sigh, “You still have the biggest weak point; which is you can send out but cannot restrain. If in your saber strike right now you left a spare force, you couldn’t possibly be sucked by my inner power and unable to defend. This is too much for you. Xiaozi [kid], do you understand?”

‘Qiang!’

The saber qi surged like the tide. Kou Zhong’s entire body was thrown away, almost like a rolling gourd.

With the saber straight out, Song Que pressed on. Dense murderous aura burst out of the saber blade, enveloping Kou Zhong completely.

Kou Zhong froze on the spot.

The Heavenly Saber slashed.

Kou Zhong swiftly flicked his strong wrist, continuously making seven, eight changes, blocking and deflecting, while was also hacked by the opponent that he retreated three steps.

“Good!” Song Que shouted.

He sent out another saber sweep, bold, powerful and unyielding, while also nimble, marvelous and mysterious, no clear path, and no trace.

Kou Zhong was well aware that every single one of Song Que’s attack was sent out with all his strength; if he failed to block even one, he would end up with his head separated from his body, and no one could change that.

Hastily he raised his own spirit to block.

With a muffled grunt, he only retreated two steps this time.

Song Que chuckled happily. His saber chopped down on Kou Zhong’s head. The saber momentum was like the sun in the middle of the sky, dazzling the earth.

Kou Zhong’s murderous intent flared out, the Moon in the Well swoop up. ‘Ding!’ it hit the Heavenly Saber, and then he flew back.

Song Que remained rooted on the spot, while holding the saber across his chest. Nodding his head, he said, “Kou Zhong, you are definitely a natural talent. Probably nobody in this world could surpass you. These three saber strikes already contained send and restrain according to your intention. Now, even if I really want to kill you, I will have to spend a lot of effort. Come! Take a stab at me.”

Lei Jiuzhi pressed the dice bowl down on the table. Staring at Xu Ziling, who was listening with rapt attention, he asked, “How many dots?”

“Ought to be one three dots and two five dots,” Xu Ziling replied.

Lei Jiuzhi uncover the bowl, and said with a sigh, “You graduated!”

“Turns out it is that easy,” Xu Ziling said.

Smiling wryly, Lei Jiuzhi said, “My Ling Da Shao [big young master]. Don’t you know that even the ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying fell head first under your hands? Although the world is big, if you count the number of people who can be your match, I am afraid the number of fingers on one hand will be greater than that. With your martial art skill plus your natural talent, others might not be able to learn a skill in a lifetime, but you’ll learn it in two sichen. When the boat stops at Badong, you may go ashore for your first real life test. Win some money to be used as our capital for the next stop.”

Frowning, Xu Ziling asked, “Don’t you have a huge sum of money on you?”

Pointing to his own head, Lei Jiuzhi said, “Lu Shi’s two words, ‘quit greed’ are forever engraved in my head. Therefore, when the amount of silver in my bag already reached certain amount, I would distribute it to those in need, hence in my bag right now I only have about a dozen ingots of gold. In big casinos like the one in Jiujiang, this amount will not be enough.”

“Are you planning on betting big as soon as we embark at Jiujiang?” Xu Ziling asked.

Lei Jiuzhi replied, “Jiujiang’s Yin Ru Ge [lit. ‘just because’ pavilion] ranks number seven in the Top Ten Casinos in the world. They are the most famous casino in Chang Jiang region. The manager is a man called ‘Du Gui’ [gambling ghost] Zha Hai, a character with resounding reputation in Dulin [reminder: gambling forest, as opposed to Wulin (martial art forest)], who is also one of the Four Major Generals under Xiang Gui’s command. If we can defeat him on the gambling table, even if Xiang Gui did not want to make personal appearance, he simply couldn’t.”

“Where’s the number one then? I wonder if it has any relationship to the Xiang Family?” Xu Ziling asked.

Lei Jiuzhi replied, “The world’s most famous casino is Ming Tang Wo [lit. bright hall nest] in Guanzhong, Chang’An, located next to the most famous pleasure house Shang Lin Yuan [lit. upper forest park]. The manager is the brilliant, famous ‘Da Xian’ [great immortal] Hu Fo, the Zhangmenren [headmaster] of Hu Xian Pai [lit. lake immortal sect], the most revered old castaway in gambling schools.

‘Old castaway’ was a Jianghu terminology, referring to people who cheated in gambling.

Puzzled, Xu Ziling asked, “Isn’t Hu Xian a fox? If Hu Fo is clearly a cheater, who would want to go to his casino?”

Lei Jiuzhi said, “Being an old castaway was a matter of the past, when Hu Fo first made his debut. After making his fortune and establishing his reputation, twenty years ago Hu Fo publicly, using the whole pig and sheep, made offerings to the Lake Immortal, vowing that he would no longer cheat, and guaranteed that his casino would absolutely not tolerate any kind of cheating. Therefore, gambling in his Ming Tang Wo, you can feel reassured more than gambling in any other places.”

“In that case,” Xu Ziling said, “Hu Fo must not be Xiang Gui’s man!”

Lei Jiuzhi said, “Not only there is no relationship, they are actually enemies. One time Xiang Gui sent his oldest son to Guanzhong to open a casino, but Hu Fo beat him on the gambling table until he abandoned his armor and dragged his spear and fled; his loss was disastrous. Therefore, if Xiang Gui wants to have a face off with me, I will designate Hu Da Xian’s Ming Tang Wo of Chang’An as the meeting place, I think we’ll enjoy the scenery. Ha!”

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “You, LaoGe knew that when Kou Zhong and I get to Chang’An, our presence will be brought out into the open immediately, simply because when we see the light, we will be dead. Besides, some of Li Shimin’s men have already seen my current appearance; they might know that I, Xu Ziling, have arrived.”

Lei Jiuzhi said, “Other than gambling technique and martial art skill, I still have disguising skill that I learned when I worked for Lu Shi. When the time comes, I will do my magic. Right now, the most important thing is not to let anybody know my relationship with the two of you. It’s late! I won’t stop Ling Shao from taking a rest anymore.”

‘Dang!’

Kou Zhong lost count on how many saber strikes he had launched, but Song Que was still like high mountain lofty peak; although swept by the wind and battered by the rain, it was difficult to shake him even for a hairsbreadth.

However, Kou Zhong was unprecedentedly happy. An opponent as tyrannical as Song Que, it was only here he could find one.

Plus Song Que constantly giving him pointers, and each comment hit the target and did real damage [idiom]. In one night, he learned from Song Que as much as half a lifetime from other people.

Kou Zhong suddenly pulled his saber and retreated. Full of respect he said, “Thank you for Fazhu’s directions. My future success is entirely bestowed by Fazhu tonight.”

Song Que also returned his saber into its scabbard and said with a smile, “There is no need to speak nonsense between the two of us. It will be daybreak soon! Eat breakfast before you leave!”

Kou Zhong stared blankly for a moment before starting to follow Song Que leaving the Mo Dao Tang, a place he would never forget for as long as he lived.

[wangxiaohu]

Well... First .. thank you, Foxs.

[anurman]

Thanks Foxs.

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[hungryhero]

Thanks foxs. Now i really want wanwan come out and test KZ's saber.. I wish Ba Feng Han get an upgrade as well..

[anurman]

Smiling wryly, Lei Jiuzhi said, “My Ling Da Shao [big young master]. Don’t you know that even the ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying fell head first under your hands? Although the world is big, if you count the number of people who can be your match, I am afraid the number of fingers on one hand will be greater than that”.

Is it really true...?
People who can be Xu Ziling's match or above him are:
1. Ning Daoqi
2. Bi Xuan
3. Fu Cailin
4. Song Que
5. Zhu Yuyan
6. Shi Zhixuan
7. Shi Feixuan's master
8. Shi Feixuan
9. Wanwan
10. Madame Dongming Pai
11. Zhao Deyan.
12. etc....

I think Lei Jiuzhi is only babbling nonsense.

[foxs]

Xiaohu, finally … HPC, you are welcome. HPC, I do not see Ba Fenghan in the near future. Perhaps he will return much, much later, but I do not know. Anurman, it is called hyperbole … I have already told you a million times before, Xu Ziling is matchless, it’s kind of hard to describe …

---

Book 26 Chapter 7 – After You

The Song Family’s mountain city consisted of several hundred courtyards, big and small. The courtyards became an inseparably close system and linked to each other, with the ancestral hall, which contained the spirit tablets of the past generations of Song Family – at the center.

Each courtyard was divided equally into straight courtyard and slanted courtyard. None of the dividing structures was not constructed from choice material of superior quality, the workmanship was exquisite.

Under the hazy light of the dawn, Kou Zhong and Song Que walked side-by-side to the Ming Yue Lou [bright moon building], which was located right next to the Mo Dao Tang. As they stepped into the flower garden, he saw an old man with white hair peppered with grey – pruning the flowers and plants. After casting a sidelong glance to the two men, he turned a blind eye to them and continued working.

While Kou Zhong was greatly astonished, Song Que laughed and said, “Fang Shu [uncle] is the only person in the mountain city who is not afraid of me, because he has been serving me since childhood.” Kou Zhong nodded his head, indicating that he understood.

Passing through a long corridor, with flowers and trees supported on trellises on both sides – there was a stone beam bridge spanning across the pond. All around them the trees were quite dense; there was quite a seeking-serenity, exploring-beautiful-scenery ambience. The other side of the pond was precisely the main gate of a two-story wooden construction, above which door was hanging a wooden board, carved with three characters ‘Ming Yue Lou’ in gold lettering.

The wooden door and windows were fretwork with ornamental design. The interlocking wooden brackets between the top of the columns and crossbeams reached high into the eaves, embedded with stone carving; refined, colorful, brilliant and varied.

Song Que stopped in the middle of the bridge. Leaning over the railing, he looked down and fixed his gaze on the fish swimming lazily in the serene pond. He asked, “Your shenfa, did you develop it based on the swimming fish?”

Full of admiration, Kou Zhong said, “Fazhu is indeed formidable; you could even see through this.”

Shaking his head, Song Que said, “I never understood a real natural talent, until now. How’s Xu Ziling compared to you?”

Kou Zhong said, “Ziling is the only person in the world that I really admire, so much so that I am afraid of him. Luckily he is my best Xiongdi. If he is willing to help me to obtain the world, it would be much easier for me.”

Song Que said, “Everybody has his own aspiration, you can’t force it. Come! Don’t let them wait too long!”

Kou Zhong was stunned; who might be waiting for them?

Xu Ziling was awakened by a child’s cry, followed by the voice of Han Zenan, husband and wife, comforting the child. After Little Jie went back to sleep, Han Zenan spoke in low voice, “Xiaochang [lit. little skirt]! What kind of person do you think that Gong Chenchun is?”

Originally Xu Ziling did not have any intention to eavesdrop personal conversation between a man and his wife, but since his name was being mentioned, naturally he focused his power on his ear to see how Mrs. Han would respond.

Lowering her voice, Mrs. Han, who was called Xiaochang, replied, “Although his appearance is fierce and tough, his manner of speech and his bearing are like a very cultured man; he is also quite kind and cherishing Xiao Jie. Is Xianggong [husband] thinking of asking him for help? Ay! It’s hard to fathom a person’s mind, Xianggong needs to think three times before going.”

After muttering to himself irresolutely for half a day, Han Zenan said, “Although his name did not spread far and wide in Jianghu, but looking at how effortlessly he forced He Yi Pai people to retreat, this man’s martial art skill is strong enough to be comparable with people of Xie Hui’s level. If he is willing to help, perhaps we would be able to break away from those people.”

Sighing, Xiaochang said, “Why would he want to invite disaster on himself?”

Han Zenan said, “Even if he declines, we have nothing to lose anyway. I have a strange feeling that he seems to really care about us.”

Xiaochang said, “That is precisely what qie [I, your servant] is most afraid of; I am afraid he has some other evil intentions.”

Smiling ruefully, Han Zenan said, “With his skill, while the world is in chaos like this, dealing with us, a family of three, is actually as easy as a hand’s turn, there is no need to plot and scheme. That Jianghu fellow surnamed Lei has been talking with him behind closed door for the whole day, I wonder what they are talking about.”

Xiaochang said, “Let’s talk about this when we get to Jiujiang! Perhaps we would be able to throw off the pursuing troops by then, and then the wide sea and the sky would let us soar into it!”

His sleep completely abandoned him, Xu Ziling got out of bed, put on his clothes, and went out to the deck.

Following behind Song Que, Kou Zhong entered the Ming Yue Tang, which, in term of scale, was as grand as the Mo Dao Tang. He saw several young warriors of the Song Family were setting up a sumptuous table of breakfast. Song Zhi, Song Lu, two men immediately rose up from their seats.

Seeing how respectful they were toward Song Que, it was obvious that within the Song Clan, Song Que held supreme authority.

After the host and guest sat down, Song Que waved his hand to dismiss the young warriors from the building, and then he asked Song Lu, “Where’s Yuzhi?”

Song Lu replied, “Just now she was getting ready; she should be here soon!”

Only this moment did Kou Zhong feel deeply the inscrutable style with which Song Que conduct himself. Just by looking at the steaming hot, elaborate and tastefully chosen vegetable and meat dishes of various kinds on the table, he knew that the chef must have started working in the middle of the night, while at that time he was still engaged in a life and death battle against Song Que.

It was obvious that before then Song Que has already had accurate judgment on him, hence he had the feast in front of them prepared in advance.

Thinking about he was going to see Song Yuzhi soon, inwardly he was really happy but scared at the same time, simply because he was unsure on how ‘hospitable’ Song Yuzhi would be toward him, furthermore, he was unsure on how Song Que would ‘handle’ the two of them.

Song Que was in high spirits; he poured wine for the other three cheerfully. Turning to Kou Zhong, he said, “This is Hangzhou’s specialty, the Osmanthus wine. Not only the flavor mellow and rich, the taste smooth, it also has calming effect and nutritious, and can improve blood circulation; harmless to drink a bit more.”

Kou Zhong looked at the amber colored wine in his cup, transparent and clear, emitting the sweet fragrance of Osmanthus flower, which was quite intoxicating. Even without drinking it he could already taste the wonderful floating-in-the-air, high-in-the-clouds feeling.

A single look at the table and he noticed the utensils, whether it was the cup, dish, bowl, plate, goblet, oil lamp, were all of meticulous craftsmanship, appealing and elegant. The most particular thing was that all the vessels were glazed with dots like raindrops; the base color was black, but it was covered with silvery-white tiny dots in radial pattern. The bigger dots were about the size of a pea, the small ones were about the size of a millet, like pleated silvery light.

Only this kind of precious household utensils would fit Song Clan’s position, which surpassed the other big clans.

Noticing Kou Zhong was paying particular attention to the vessels containing exquisite wine and culinary delicacy on the table, Song Zhi said with a laugh, “This type of raindrop glaze is also known as Heaven’s Eye glaze. From the chi-long pitcher to cun-size basin, all are considered out-of-the-world treasure; even the fragments can worth as much as gold and jade. We have only been able to collect this set after searching for a long time.”

This was the second time Kou Zhong sat down and talked with Song Zhi, already he felt the difference.

From Song Zhi’s cordial tone, Kou Zhong clearly knew that he had already considered Kou Zhong as family. Surprisingly, it was Song Lu who proposed a toast.

“For more than ten years,” he said with a laugh, “This is the first time that I see Da Xiong with so much smile on his face. This toast is for Da Xiong; the next one is Xiao Zhong’s turn.”

Laughing involuntarily, Song Que said, “Lu Di [younger brother] must have kept that remark in your heart for close to ten years, and only today you can take others’ precarious position to reveal your feeling. Ha! Let’s drink for victory.”

And then they took turn toasting each other.

After several rounds, Song Que suddenly asked indifferently, “Did Shidao fall in love with that Gaoli [Korean] woman?”

Kou Zhong was caught off-guard; a bit flustered replied, “On that …! Fazhu, please do not get angry; the truth is … ay! I cannot escape the blame, because …”

Song Que cut him off, “This affair, we already knew the details from the letter that he sent to us, so no need to repeat. I just want to know, based on Shao Shuai’s observation, whether Shidao is in love with that Gaoli woman, Fu Junyu.”

Kou Zhong did not dare to lie to him; smiling wryly, he said, “Strictly speaking, Er Gongzi [second young master] ought to be in love with the house and its crow [idiom: ‘love me, love my dog’]. However, whether a feeling would develop gradually, this is very difficult to say.”

From the start, Song Zhi and Song Lu have been interrogated by Song Que about Song Shidao, so they did not dare to utter a word or half a sentence. It could be inferred that Song Que had exploded over this matter, hence nobody dared to butt in.

[akolaw]

After you should be to be your queen.

[akolaw]

后 is queen in traditional Chinese and is also the simplified Chinese of 後， which is after.

為爾之后， means to be your queen.

[anurman]

Thanks Foxs.

[wangxiaohu]

Thanks foxs... You're getting more and more formidable...

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[wangxiaohu]

First, it was Ming Yue Lou, and then Ming Yue Tang... Wonder if these two are interchangeable.

[akolaw]

First, it was Ming Yue Lou, and then Ming Yue Tang... Wonder if these two are interchangeable.

Lou is building, Tang is hall.

[wangxiaohu]

Lou is building, Tang is hall.

Yes, Wang Tong Xiansheng, I know that
I was just asking, because first, HY mentioned "Under the hazy light of the dawn, Kou Zhong and Song Que walked side-by-side to the Ming Yue Lou", but then, he mentioned "Following behind Song Que, Kou Zhong entered the Ming Yue Tang"...

[akolaw]

Please call me akolaw, thank you but no thank you for other names.

Hou refer to multistorey building, and Tang can be a larger room for a group of people in side a building.

There is always a larger room call hall in a multistorey building, in Hong Kong, we call the entrance reception area Da Tang as well.

[徐中銳]

虎咬呂洞賓，不識……

Please call me akolaw, thank you but no thank you for other names.

Hou refer to multistorey building, and Tang can be a larger room for a group of people in side a building.

There is always a larger room call hall in a multistorey building, in Hong Kong, we call the entrance reception area Da Tang as well.

Yes, Wang Tong Xiansheng, I know that
I was just asking, because first, HY mentioned "Under the hazy light of the dawn, Kou Zhong and Song Que walked side-by-side to the Ming Yue Lou", but then, he mentioned "Following behind Song Que, Kou Zhong entered the Ming Yue Tang"...

Lou is building, Tang is hall.