Xiaohu, HPC, Jaya, you are welcome. DongBin, I don’t think he had any choice … Both ladies rejected him. Shirak, sorry to disappoint you, but he did not … Oops, it’s supposed to be in the next chapter. Akolaw, didn’t you say that he was a grand master? Lance, looks like you have mastered the Moon in the Well principle. But IMHO, they did not need ‘styles’; they were already very powerful.
Shi Qingxuan replied indifferently, “Shi Feixuan is just like my Niang in the past. The more she did not eating the food of common mortals [fig. placing oneself above the common populace], too high to reach, the more those who think too much of themselves greedily approached her; they thought that obtaining her favor is the paramount honor. Precisely because there was Niang’s example that in this respect, Shi Feixuan is outwardly very careful. But that does not mean that she has more self-control than Niang.”
Xu Ziling took a deep breath and calmly said, “If I say that my heart is not moved, I am being pretentious and lying. But that does not necessarily mean that it is related to the feeling between a man and a woman. On the plank walkway on my way to Sichuan, I saw a waterfall pouring down in torrents from the opposite cliff, so I stopped to watch; my heart was bewitched, my spirit intoxicated. It was only an appreciation of beautiful things, without any presumptuous demands to own it. Just like the bright moon in the sky, it is impossible to possess it alone.”
Shi Qingxuan smiled and said, “You spent so much effort in explaining it, I wonder if you want to state your true feelings clearly to me, or do you want to know the secret on why I am afraid of myself?”
Facing her aggressive, sharp rhetoric, Xu Ziling was flustered; he tried to ward off by saying, “Hey! I was just using analogy to explain it. Ay! Miss, how do you exactly want me to answer?”
“Pfft!” Shi Qingxuan broke into tender giggle and said, “I was wondering if you have unrequited love toward Shi Feixuan. I practically don’t care. Qingxuan has already made up my mind to spend my last years at the small valley, to accompany Niang in her grave forever. Other things I will not seek.”
Xu Ziling felt as if a bucket of cold water had just been dumped onto his head. Coming to his senses, he smiled ruefully and said, “Thank you Miss for warning me; I nearly forget.”
Shi Qingxuan hung down her head and said with a soft sigh, “All living things suffer simply because of love; there is no cliff on the ocean of passion, the sea of bitterness knows no bound. Has Ziling Xiong thought about it?”
Staring blankly, Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “I don’t know; I don’t even want to know. Miss, please keep in mind that I will only stay in Sichuan for seven days. About luring the ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying to kill him, shouldn’t we start the preparation as early as possible?”
Kou Zhong came with Bu Tianzhi to the stern. Following his raised hand pointing out ahead, he already saw the shadow of a sail under the light of the dawn; knitting his brows, he asked, “Whose ship is that?”
After sailing at top speed for one day and one night, one side of them was the desert mountain of the south, while on the other side was the boundless ocean. The ocean stretched out to east as far as the dark hue of color where the ocean meets the sky.
Bu Tianzhi shook his head and said, “One or two sichen since we left Chang Jiang and entered the sea, that boat has been on our tail. At that time there was a lot of traffic, so our brothers did not pay attention. But now of course it is an irksome presence.”
Kou Zhong said, “Could it be that it is because we are adopting the same route?”
Bu Tianzhi replied, “Originally I thought so too; thereupon I instructed the captain to steer away from the coast. Who would have thought that the other side not only also changed their course to follow, they even used some kind of peculiar sailing method, by exploiting the changing of direction to capture the wind and speed up; thereupon they are much closer now.”
Kou Zhong turned his eyes toward the land on their left; in the early morning fog he barely saw the vague silhouette. Nodding his head, he said, “It appears that the boat is going straight toward us. Does Zhi Shu have any way to throw them off?”
Bu Tianzhi replied with heavy voice, “If this ship is Jukun Flagship, I have a way to make the opposite side could only eat the wind. But currently our boat is just a medium sized sailboat that was designed to especially sail on the river. Compared to the opponent’s seagoing ship, we have great disadvantage; in terms of stability, capturing the wind and long distance navigation, we are a few notches under them. Moreover, the other side must have an expert in sea navigation on board in charge of their ship. With the current speed, they are going to catch up with us within five sichen.”
Racking his brains, Kou Zhong thought aloud, “Who might they be? One boat against one boat, why are they so confident?”
It should be noted that Kou Zhong has become a world famous martial art master; if they did not have a bit of weight, they would not have dared to come to capture his tiger whisker. Conversely, with Kou Zhong’s current strength, even if the other person has not seen him yet, he could more or less guess. This is what is called ‘He who comes is surely ill-intentioned, no-one well-meaning will come’. The one dared to come must have done self-introspection to determine if he had enough strength to deal with Kou Zhong.
Bu Tianzhi said, “As I see it, that huge warship must be, more or less, related to Li Zitong. Only his side would know that we have ships around the Chang Jiang, and only those who guard tightly the estuary of the Chang Jiang would have the greatest opportunity to intercept us.”
Shaken, Kou Zhong said, “Zhi Shu is absolutely correct. They originally wanted to ambush us on our way out to the sea. At that time there may be more than one warship; however, unexpectedly we did not go up north to return to the East [China] Sea, but sailed to the south instead, which disturbed their plan greatly. Their well-laid plan ended up useless, only this huge ship with an expert in charge, albeit with difficulty, is able to follow and catch up with us. Oh! The ship’s style is a bit weird; it does not look like the ships we are accustomed to see in the Central Earth, it is also different from the Nanyang [Southeast Asia/southern seas] ships that moor outside Yangzhou. Could it be Khitan’s Ku Ge, that ‘muddled egg’ ship?”
Amazed, Bu Tianzhi asked, “It’s still very far, unexpectedly Shao Shuai is able to see clearly?”
Kou Zhong was focusing his power on his eyes; nodding, he said, “I have no problem seeing. The only problem I have is how to describe it to you.”
“Can you start by describing the shape of the ship?” Bu Tianzhi suggested.
Kou Zhong mused inwardly that if he were able to see Ku Ge going back and forth on the ship, he would not have to waste too much time explaining; too bad the people on the ship that he saw were only moving about a little bit. Without any better option, he tried his best to explain, “This guy’s bottom is pointy and its top wide, its bow raised up and its tail towering. It has three-story deck, there are only three sail masts, proportionately, they ought to be twice as high as our masts.”
Smiling wryly, Bu Tianzhi said, “Every other ship’s structure is more or less like Shao Shuai’s description just now; to brave the waves and ride a boat, they must be so. Ay! Is there any other distinctive feature?”
Kou Zhong suddenly shook; he said, “I can see their flag! The character on the top is definitely not a Han character; it looks a bit like the amulet that the Taoist priests write. Out of three characters, two have circles inside them; could it be Khitan text?”
Sneering, Bu Tianzhi said, “How could Khitan people have such a giant seagoing ship? Oh, I know!”
Kou Zhong looked at him. “Whose boat is it?” he asked.
Bu Tianzhi’s expression became grave; he stared at the ship without blinking, and said heavily, “If I am guessing correctly, that must be Gaoli multi-decked flying warship.”
“What?” Kou Zhong cried out involuntarily.
In the afternoon, Xu Ziling hurriedly left the city, and urgently traveled to the east for more than thirty li, to see Shi Feixuan on a small hill.
Shi Feixuan happily said, “Let Feixuan represents all the Dashi [big stone] Temple’s Dashi [great master] to express gratitude on Xu Xiong’s willingness to undertake the task of upholding justice first.”
“Did Miss Shi plan this in advance?” Xu Ziling asked.
Shi Feixuan modestly replied, “I only had a rough plan, which still include a bit of risk; therefore, I must deliberate with Xu Ziling first.”
“Miss, please explain,” Xu Ziling respectfully replied.
Astounded, Shi Feixuan said, “Why is it that only after one day, Xu Xiong’s attitude and expression toward Feixuan are like ‘going out many times and repeatedly distant (or aloof)’ [not sure, perhaps a Chinese saying? 多出几重隔膜], so polite and regard me as an outsider, making me feel uncomfortable?”
Xu Ziling sighed inwardly. It could be said that last night he had his true love moved by a woman whom he truly admired; who would have thought that he bumped his nose on the ash? There is a common saying, ‘after seeing ghost, afraid of the dark’. And now, facing another woman of unmatched beauty that was able to move his heart, how could he not advance gradually and entrench himself at every step, being prudent and cautious, to avoid stepping on the wrong path?
He said apologetically, “I am just afraid to offend Miss; please forgive me, Miss.”
After looking deep into his eyes, Shi Feixuan said, “Right now, other than me and Miss Qingxuan, everybody, including Xie Hui, thought that you have left Chengdu and are rushing back to the east. Therefore, if you shake your body and become Yue Shan, nobody would suspect you.”
Xu Ziling said, “The first step ought to be: let the people know that Yue Shan’s honorable self has come. This matter, if you say it’s difficult then it’s not, but if you say it’s easy, it’s not either. Among the younger generations, not many knew than Yue Shan existed. Not only that, I have just left, and then Yue Shan arrives; won’t people suspect it is too much of a coincidence?”
Shi Feixuan smiled and said, “Feixuan is starting to understand why you and Kou Zhong are able to move unhindered across the world! The fact is: that is precisely the first difficulty. Although in his later years Yue Shan crossed over the secluded forest of the small valley, but for the last several decades he never left the valley even for half a step. On top of that, after he became famous, he had never been to Chengdu. It could be said that nobody knew him. Fortunately, you, this fake Yue Shan, had once appeared in Luoyang. To some extent, the affair of that Shang Cainu [talented woman] trying to track you down is also heard in here; therefore, Feixuan might be able to do a little bit of work to make the Chengdu Wulin know that Yue Shan’s honorable self has honor them with his presence.”
Xu Ziling suddenly said, “Will Miss trust me, Xu Ziling?”
Startled, Shi Feixuan replied, “Of course! Does Xu Xiong have some other suggestion?”
Taking a deep breath, Xu Ziling said, “As a matter of fact, I do! After we part company, I am asking Miss Shi not to do anything for me, in fact, don’t even mind me. I have a way to lure ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying out and have him eliminated.”
Shi Feixuan’s pretty eyes lit up with astonished bright light; she spoke softly, “Xi Ying is absolutely not an easy man to deal with. If he had really mastered the ‘Ziqi Tian Luo’ [lit. purple cloud (auspicious portent in astrology) heavenly gauze (sifter)] of the ‘Mie Qing Dao’ [lit. the way to extinguish feeling/emotion/passion], his power could possibly be above An Long’s. Will Xu Xiong still have the confidence?”
Calmly, Xu Ziling laughed and said, “If I die, I will have to trouble Miss to tell Kou Zhong. While you are doing that, please also tell him it would be best for him to return to his hometown and open a cake shop! This will be Xiaodi’s last words.”
Laughing aloud, he floated away.
Shi Feixuan waited until his shadow disappeared in the forest on the slope before letting out a faint sigh and left in the opposite direction.