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

[foxs]

Jaya, Faerro, HPC, DongBin, Ysabel, Drak, you are welcome. Lawwoo, thanks for coming out of your seclusion. Sky, oh, OK. I agree, it won't be fun if the entire story is about the two boys running around everywhere. But they have not mastered high level martial art skill yet, and they have not found good Shifu.

Happy New Year everybody!

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Li Shimin looked at the two boys in disbelief; he reached into his pocket, took out a money purse and without even looking at it he tossed it to Kou Zhong. “Just look how much money is in there,” he said.

Kou Zhong caught the purse, and opened it without hesitation. As soon as he looked inside, he gasped, “My grandma, old dad, and all my ancestors!” he exclaimed, “It’s his mother’s gold ingots!”

Hastily Xu Ziling craned his neck to look. He was speechless. “It worth at least several hundred taels of silver,” he said.

Kou Zhong’s eyes lit up; he stuffed the purse into his pocket. Taking a deep breath he said, “Taking people’s money, we’ll avoid calamities on their behalf; the two of us brothers will take full responsibility of this matter.”

Xu Ziling had a bit more conscience. “Zhong Shao,” he said apologetically, “You must return the money first, we have to wait until the business is done before we can receive the payment.”

Li Shimin shrugged him off, “Take it! Whether success or failure, we can all be friends. That money should be enough for you to stroll into low-grade brothel a hundred times over.”

The two boys were touched. Kou Zhong raised his thumb in praise, “We accept your friendship.”

“Not too loud,” Li Shimin said in low voice, “I don’t want others to know that you are here.”

Kou Zhong’s thick face blushed; he lowered his voice to the lowest volume and said, “Let me tell you an astonishingly big secret! Madame Dong Ming kept an account book in her residence listing the purchase of weapons your Old Die made in secret to her, on it there is his signature and stamp too. Just imagine if this treasure is stolen, what would happen then?”

Li Shimin was shaken. Naturally he knew that these two boys did not invent some crazy talk. Because the reason that he took his troops to Pengcheng this time was to place another order to Madame Dong Ming for another batch of weapons.

Since two years ago his father, Li Yuan, was transferred to Hong Hua to be its caretaker, while at the same time he was assigned to be the Junshi [military advisor] of Guan You’s thirteen counties. To deal with Yang Xuan’gan’s main forces, Li Yuan finally accepted his advice to buy a large quantity of weapons from Madame Dong Ming. This matter was outside Emperor Yang of Sui’s knowledge; if it leaked, and there was credible evidence, the paranoid Emperor Yang of Sui would certainly suspect him of planning a rebellion. If not, it would be a fantastic story indeed.

After staring blankly for half a day, Li Shimin frowned and said, “Madame Dong Ming has several martial art masters under her command, each one of the four law protector fairies has ultimate skill. Other than ‘Shan Ren’ Ning Daoqi [see Book 1 Chapter 6] personally made the move, who would be able to come aboard their ship to steal such an important thing?”

Xu Ziling laughed and said, “Seeing that you are such a true friend, we can tell you a secret; but you must not harm us like other people, or perhaps when this business is done use some trick against us.”

Li Shimin seriously said, “If I, Li Shimin, commit any despicable act, let me not die a good death. Humph! You dare to look at me that way.”

As if nothing had happened, Kou Zhong said, “It is called ‘once bitten by a snake’. It is also called ‘being careful sailing on ten-thousand-year ship’. We must establish trust with each other first, only then will any large-scale plan be effective.”

It was obvious that Li Shimin thought that between the two, Kou Zhong was comparatively the dishonest one. He turned to Xu Ziling and said, “You will tell me!”

Right that moment someone was passing through outside. After the sound of footsteps was gone, Xu Ziling asked, “Whose room is this?”

Li Shimin laughed. “It’s mine,” he replied, “The deck below is used by the womenfolk. If you want to steal clothes, you have come to the right place. Our builds are similar.”

The two boys were amused.

Thereupon Xu Ziling narrated the story around Haisha Bang’s desire to attack Dong Ming Pai’s flagship. When Li Shimin heard that Yuwen Huaji and Dugu Ce were involved, his eyes flickered with cold ray, his imposing aura radiated all around.

“Therefore,” Kou Zhong summed up, “Right now only the two of us can mingle aboard the ship. Besides, they thought that our martial art skill is low, hence they do not guard against us so much. Of course, we will be very secretive, so that we won’t let Laoxiong’s [old chap] money down.”

Li Shimin was already accustomed to the way he tooted his horn, he did not even bother whether they would be secretive or not. After thinking hard, he said, “What can we do to lure Madame Dong Ming someplace else? This is something that I have to think about.”

Finished speaking he stood up, opened the chest and took out two sets of clothes, and handed them over to the two boys, “Change into dry clothes first, and after a good night sleep, I will wake you up when we arrive at Pengcheng by daybreak. I need to go to the lower level and have some talk with my sister.”

“We can sleep on the floor,” Kou Zhong offered.

Li Shimin laughed and said, “Such a big bed, enough for three people to sleep, why sleep on the floor? Are we not only business partners, but brothers and friends as well? Ha! Your encounter is so bizarre that it is hard to believe.”

Finished speaking he went out through the window again.

When the two boys stepped into Pengcheng, they were rather hesitant, but were full of good feeling. What they were wearing was clean and tidy warrior outfit, on their waist hung highest quality steel saber and a full money pouch given by Li Shimin. Ever since they came out of their mother’s womb, they had never looked so grand like this.

Xu Ziling was tall and straight, scholarly and elegant. On the other hand, Kou Zhong looked bold and powerful, with a heroic and imposing aura around him.

The two boys walked side by side. From time to time people shot them admiring and envious look.

Kou Zhong laughed aloud and pulled Xu Ziling’s elbow, “What we need right now is a pair of steeds and a dozen or so footmen, otherwise we can go to a low-grade brothel first and acting like young tycoons.”

Xu Ziling cheerfully said, “Visiting low-grade brothel is an essential program for tonight, but right now we need to find a wine shop. Bug bowl of wine, big piece of meat, we’ll have a his-granny’s good time, while casually discuss how we are going to proceed in this business deal. We have received other people’s money, naturally we must do something for him.”

Kou Zhong took a surreptitious look around, examining the façade of the restaurants lining up both sides of the main street. “I did not expect Pengcheng to be this thriving and lively,” he said, “The strangest thing is, there does not seem to be any refugee around. Look! Those of elder sisters are so pretty. Ha!”

Xu Ziling looked around and saw Kou Zhong was staring at a group of young women walking directly toward them, with what he thought was the most attractive smile he could muster. Amazingly, the group of young women did not try to avoid the two boys’ stare; they smiled back at them with even more attractive smile.

It was the first time ever that the two boys received such courtesy. After the group of young women walked passed, they squealed in delight and entered a restaurant on their right that looked like a rather upscale restaurant.

With their appearance, weaponry and attire, as soon as the two boys set foot on the second floor, the waiters greeted them attentively, and called them ‘Gongzi this’ and ‘Gongzi that’ as they led them to a table by the window facing the street. At this time from about a dozen tables on the second floor, more than half had guests sitting on them.

Kou Zhong generously tipped the waiter while ordering food and drink. He said excitedly, “Those sweet girls just now have a rather high nose, their eyes are big and blue; they must be Hu women [non-Han people, esp. from central Asia]. I heard that they are licentious by nature, very easy to get our hands on them. Ha! Perhaps this time we don’t need to visit a low-grade brothel.”

Xu Ziling was worried, “Why did you order that much wine? Two catties? Can you drink wine? I can only drink a little bit.”

Kou Zhong reached out to grab Xu Ziling’s shoulder. “Life is short, make merry while you can!” he said, “From two marketplace ruffians in Yangzhou, we now become big shots in Wulin world. With this kind of encounter, we have nothing to complain to Laotianye; how can you not enjoy it with cheerful heart?”

With his other hand he beckoned Xu Ziling to look out the window at the endless stream of horses and carriages on the street below; he sighed and said, “Look! This is such a beautiful world. Meeting this kind of fine time, beautiful scenery, we ought to welcome it with a bit of wine and celebrate. You drink one catty, I drink one catty. Whoever does not get drunk will be considered a hero.”

Following his gaze, Xu Ziling also stared blankly at the street. He remembered Fu Junchuo, he remembered Li Jing and Susu, his heart was overwhelmed with an indescribable feeling. “Alright,” he nodded and said, “One catty it is.”

Kou Zhong suddenly lowered his voice, “On the table to the left, there is a handsome guy who keeps looking at you; I think he prefers male to female.”

Startled, Xu Ziling turned to look. Sure enough, on a large table by the stairs, about three, four tables away, sat three men. One of them wore a dark green scholar robe, and was exceptionally handsome; he was sizing the two boys up. When he noticed that Xu Ziling was staring at him, he nodded and smiled.

Remembering what Kou Zhong had just said, Xu Ziling was startled; hastily he averted his gaze and said in low voice, “He seems to recognize us. Maybe it’s another trap of Shen Luoyan. Don’t forget that the deadline for that woman’s three-day bet is still tonight!”

Kou Zhong nodded. “I almost forget,” he said, “Did you see his throat?”

Xu Ziling was taken aback, “Is it any good?” he asked.

Kou Zhong stroked his own adam’s apple and said with a low chuckle, “That guy cannot be more handsome than that, plus he does not have this thing that we have; what do you say he is?”

Horrified, Xu Ziling gasped, “Not Shen Luoyan in disguise!”

“It doesn’t seem like it,” Kou Zhong replied, “Oh no! She came over.”

Shocked, Xu Ziling turned around. The woman who disguised herself as a scholar was already standing by their table. Her feature that was particularly impressive, other than her ‘handsome’ face, which was adorned with a pair of big, bright and lively eyes, was her pair of long legs, so that disguised as a man, she gave other people some kind of tall and straight impression.

While the two boys were staring at her in surprise, she revealed a faint nonchalant smile as she cupped her fist and spoke in deeper voice, “Across five lakes and four oceans are brothers, two Xiongtai carried an extraordinary look; I wonder what are your honorable surname and great given names, so that I, Li Zhi, can make friends with you.”

Kou Zhong giggled and said, “I am Zhang San, he is Li Si[1]. If across five lakes and four oceans are really brothers, there won’t be people everywhere running away for their lives. Handsome Xiongtai, please return to your seat!”

---

[1] ‘Zhang the third’ and ‘Li the fourth’ are equivalent to ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’ in western world. The third name is ‘Wang Wu’ (Wang the fifth).

[LuDongBin]

And a Happy Lunar new year to you too, foxs. May there be Thousands translations from you in the years to come and blessings of Good Health and Wealth!

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs! Happy New Year to everyone!! Wish everyone a happy and healthy Sheep year!

Oh no...another gorgeous woman on the rise!

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

Happy New Year to one and all!

The two would-be dragons got another true friend and the most important character to date at that. Really lucky coincidence.

I just noticed, do streetboys swear "his granny" a lot, just like WXB, or because they all came from Yangzhou?

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks Foxs

Happy Chinese New Year to all.

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs Happy new year
I hope you had as good a New Years Evw party as I did

[foxs]

DongBin, you mean thousand updates, right? With the number of chapters in this story, I think you will get your wish ... Sky, why 'oh, no'? I thought you like the beautiful women that keep appearing in this story? Jaya, Smiling Proud Wanderer also has 'his granny' a lot. Ysabel, you are welcome. Anh, good for you. I did not have any special dinner ... We don't have any family/relatives around here.

Short update today, the end of Chapter 5.

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Since he suspected that the other party was Shen Luoyan’s second trap, he flatly turned her down.

Xu Ziling took this opportunity to look at ‘Li Zhi’s’ two companions; he saw that they were ‘genuine goods at fair prices’: real, tough looking men. Their eyes gleaming with vigor and they had swords hanging on their waist; all in all, they smelled like bodyguards.

Obviously Li Zhi was quite shocked that Kou Zhong was treating her like that; her pretty face alternated between red and white, her phoenix eyes turned cold. She looked like she wanted to turn around and leave, but could not let it go.

After giving Kou Zhong a hateful glare, she turned to Xu Ziling and said, “You are Li Si? I …”

Xu Ziling simply cut her off, “I am definitely Li Si. Miss is flirting openly in such a public place, don’t you have any shame?”

‘Li Zhi’ was visibly shaken, her ‘beautiful eyes’ shot a thick murderous aura, yet her ‘jade countenance’ stayed surprisingly calm. The two boys thought, ‘Here it comes,’ their hands immediately grabbed the hilt of their saber. They were even more convinced that she was Shen Luoyan’s people.

Suddenly Li Zhi seemed to be able to regain her self-control, her eyes calmed down as she said in low voice, “You’d better remember what you said to me.”

Finished speaking, she brushed her sleeve and walked down the stairs. In a flurry the two middle-aged men paid the bill and ran after her.

By the time the three people left, their food and drink were delivered; the two boys forgot everything about Li Zhi, they simply bent over the table and chewing busily.

Cups came and cups went, very soon the two boys started to feel tipsy, and then they entered the world of the drunkards.

Holding a cup of wine with both hands Kou Zhong giggled drunkenly and said, “The first cup tasted pungent and difficult to drink, but the second cup turned into exquisite elixir; ha! I did not know wine is such a good drink.”

Xu Ziling looked at the more than half a cup strong wine still remained, he surrendered, “A little tipsy feeling is enough; perhaps as soon as we step out of this wine shop Shen Luoyan will prepare a trap for us. Ay! Right now I only want to sleep. Last night that Li Shimin guy had his leg pressed on my side that I could not sleep well.”

Kou Zhong pressed his hand against Xu Ziling’s forehead, he drunkenly whispered in his ear, “It would be better to go straight into the biggest pleasure house, find two most popular aunties to accompany us sleeping. This is called ‘today has wine, today get drunk’ [i.e. live in the moment, carpe diem]. Come! Call the waiter, have him tell us all the detailed information about this pleasure house.”

Xu Ziling nodded happily. He was about to call the waiter, when suddenly one of the two men sitting on the next table raised his voice a little bit, “Zhang Xiong, you came to visit our Pengcheng, but if have never visited Yihong Courtyard, and have never seen that place’s most popular aunties, Baiyun [white cloud] and Qiuyan [autumn swallow], how can you be considered ever visiting Pengcheng?” [Translator’s note: at first I thought Kou and Xu mentioned ‘auntie’ (lit. paternal aunt) because the women were older than they were, but this man also said ‘auntie’, so perhaps the word refers to ‘prostitute’?]

The two boys thought ‘what a great coincidence’; hurriedly they focused their attention to eavesdrop.

The other man replied, “Is Chen Xiong referring to the Yihong Courtyard that is at the corner of the street as you turned left from this street? How could I never come there? It’s just that now it is still daytime, the misses are still asleep; let’s talk about it again tonight! Ha! Those girls are so pretty that I am drooling already.”

The one surnamed Chen laughed and said, “Right now it’s still wu hour [noon, 11am-1pm], Yihong Courtyard is not open to receive guests. Let us drink two more cups and then take a stroll around!”

Hearing this, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were delighted; they kicked each other’s leg under the table, and decided right then and there that today would be the day they have a taste of women.

For young men their age, what could be more interesting than the mystery of the opposite sex? What could move their heart even more?

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs

[LuDongBin]

A thousand translations not updates, foxs ...

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

I like the women but none of them stay long enough for me to know more about them. Also, there are just too many of them!!

The boys are heading of to happy house. I wonder if this is where Shen Luoyan will trap them.

[foxs]

Jaya, Ysabel, Anh, you are welcome. DongBin, I am afraid I won't live that long ... Are you trying to kill me? Sky, I chuckled when I read your comment, but to me, 'happy house' and 'pleasure house' carry much different connotation ... But I agree with your other comment, I think I made similar remark somewhere; it looks to me Huang Yi was trying to introduce a lot of characters, but I don't know whether they will appear again. I mean, if it were Gu Long, they probably won't. Also, when I read Step Into The Past, Huang Yi did not do that either. Yes, there were a lot of characters, some reappeared, but a lot did not.

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Book 3 Chapter 6 – Escape from Dangerous Spot

As the two boys stepped out of the restaurant, autumn breeze blew, increasing their tipsiness by two degrees. Kou Zhong pulled Xu Ziling in the Yihong Yuan direction.

After walking for about a dozen steps, he said in low voice, “Something does not seem right, those two men’s conversation seemed to be too timely, as if they were afraid we would not know how to get to Yihong Yuan and thus have to spell out everything clearly. In my opinion, those two men must be Shen Luoyan’s people. As she saw one trap failed, she came up with another trap.”

Xu Ziling was just staring at the hustle and bustle of horses and carriages struggling for the right of way on the street with his drunken eyes; hearing Kou Zhong, he was startled and said, “You are right. Since Li Zhi could be Shen Luoyan’s people, those two men might be her people as well. Ay! Where should we go then? It would be best if we can find a place we can hide.”

With unbearable itch in his heart Kou Zhong said, “If we don’t go to Yihong, we should go to Yilu [yi hong – relying/riding on red, yi lu – relying on green. Yuan means ‘Courtyard’].”

Suddenly they came face to face with another passerby; Kou Zhong respectfully asked, “Excuse me Uncle, around here, other than Yihong Yuan, is there any other most upscale pleasure house with the biggest number of pretty girls?”

The person he stopped happened to be a middle-aged scholar; hearing the question, a look of disdain appeared on his face. ‘Pei!’ he spat, and walked away.

Xu Ziling roared in laughter, “Are you asking where to go to take imperial examination?” he jested, “Asking for a pleasure house, you must ask twenty-something man, someone that with one look we can tell that he indulges excessively in wine and women. Watch me!”

Looking around, he happened to see a splendid-looking carriage stopping behind them, from which a young man with expensive-looking clothes alighted, followed by two attendants. The young man looked to be around twenty-three, twenty-four; attractive and intelligent, but his face looked rather unhealthy, as if he was too weak to stand up to the wind. He fit the exact criteria of the person Xu Ziling wanted to ‘ask’ for direction.

Kou Zhong gave Xu Ziling a sharp push that he stumbled two steps forward toward the rich-looking young man. The two attendants immediately had their hands pressed against the sword hilt with alert look on their eyes.

Bracing himself, Xu Ziling cupped his fist and said respectfully, “Respected Gongzi, Zaixia has something I’d like to inquire of you, would Gongzi please do not blame Zaixia for being rude.”

The young man looked at him up and down with interest; then he smiled and said, “Renxiong [dear friend], please speak.”

Embarrassed, Xu Ziling took a step forward. Afraid that other people might hear him, he spoke in the lowest voice possible, “We, two brothers, want to know: around here, other than Yihong Yuan, which pleasure house is the best?”

The young man was greatly surprised. Immediately a smile broke on his face from finding a ‘kindred spirit’; he sighed and said, “You have come to the right person. My Ol’ Die opens a brothel, it’s at the next street, Hong Yuan Street, Cuibi Lou [both ‘cui’ and ‘bi’ mean ‘green jade’, ‘lou’ is multi-story building]. In terms of scale and girls, Yihong Yuan cannot catch up even if they spur their horse. It’s just that right now it’s still too early, you can stroll around somewhere else, and come there after you hour [5-7pm]. Just tell them that you are my, Xiang Yushan’s friends, I guarantee that nobody will dare to serve you not satisfactorily. Renxiong, please. I still have important matter I have to attend to.”

After Xiang Yushan left, the two boys felt as if they have obtained imperial edict. Bursting with joy, they walked along the street with arm around each other’s shoulder; surprisingly neither was singing at the top of his lungs.

All kinds of stores lined up both sides of the street, there were butcher shop, cake shop, dry goods store, clothing store, cosmetic store, fish shop, et cetera.

Due to the alcohol in their belly, the two boys felt as if the entire world had become unreal, but looking at the autumn sun high in the sky shining down its light to the flagstone street, the sparkling reflection seemed like fantastic rays of light. The street, the buildings, the passer-by, the horses and carriages, seemed to synthesize into one perfect harmony, with no dividing line between distinct realms.

Kou Zhong involuntarily laughed; half of his body was leaning ln Xu Ziling’s shoulder. With a sigh of contentment he said, “Right now I don’t want to join any militia army or government army. After killing Yuwen Huagu, we will focus on earning money, buying and selling goods, and when we have free time we just go to pleasure houses, getting drunk and passing through this life happy, and that’s about it.”

Xu Ziling did not drink as much as Kou Zhong did, so his brain was a bit clearer. “Didn’t you often say that you want to accomplish big thing in life?” he wondered, “Why all of a sudden you are thinking of being an unscrupulous businessman who make profit by speculation [the term used here is hoarding goods for speculation]?”

Kou Zhong giggled and said, “Even becoming unscrupulous businessman, I, Zhong Shao, will become the best unscrupulous businessman. When I see other people suffer hardship, suffer calamity, will we forget chivalry by ‘throwing stones at those who fell down a well’? It’s just that honestly speaking, Beautiful Shifu was right: based on virtue and ability right now, how can we take care of other people’s business? Hey! When our martial art skill has reached perfection, when we finish training the Nine Mysteries Great Technique to the 108^th level, then if we see anybody who is not pleasing to the eye, we can slaughter him with a slash of a saber. That will be called removing harm for the sake of the people.”

With a bitter laughter Xu Ziling said, “How can there be such a simple thing in the world? But no matter what, we must slaughter Yuwen Huaji, that treacherous bandit first.”

Suddenly a shadow flashed in front of them, a fragrant breeze wafted by. The two boys took a closer look, turned out it was a rather good-looking middle-aged woman blocking their way. With a ‘blossoming eyebrows and smiling eyes’ she said, “Are two Gongzi lost? The Yihong Courtyard main gate is over there. We are just open for business. If two Gongzi become our first guest, our popular girls will definitely serve you will full attention.”

Following her pointing finger, they saw the big signboard of Yihong Courtyard was precisely behind them, to their left. They suddenly realized that in their muddled state, they had just walked pass Yihong Courtyard’s main gate. This procuress that was ordered to wait for them got panicked and blocked their way to solicit business.

Since he was still a bit drunk, Kou Zhong leaned over to mercilessly leer over her towering breasts. And then he winked and laughed, “Pretty woman, tell that devious woman Shen Luoyan that we fell into her trap once, we won’t fall the second time. If she has guts, have her come and grab us. But don’t forget that she’s a felon wanted by the imperial court!”

While the procuress was stunned, the two boys walked away staggeringly, swaying left and right.

Kou Zhong shook Xu Ziling, who was asleep on the bed, to wake him up. In his excitement his voice was hoarse, as he nervously said, “It’s going to be you hour soon, we must be Cuibi Lou’s first guest; perhaps we’ll get a 50% discount!”

Xu Ziling’s head was still heavy; he crawled out of bed and whined, “Drinking wine has this kind of after effect; if you are sent by that Shen woman, I would have been finished.”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “I am the most responsible person on earth; otherwise, who’s going to keep watch for you? Just now there was a waiter coming asking a lot of questions, I would not open the door for him. Ha! Just several more sichen and that Shen woman will lose to us. I wonder what is Qin Laoge’s fate?”

Xu Ziling took his saber, which he hid behind his pillow. “Let’s go to the Eastern Gate to see if he left any secret mark there.”

And then he added, “Also, we must not forget that thing that we promised that guy Li Shimin.”

Kou Zhong impatiently said, “How could I forget? Didn’t that rich guy say that Dong Ming flagship wouldn’t be back from Luoyang until tomorrow? Let’s take advantage of the fine time, beautiful scenery tonight; let’s start without delay!”

Xu Ziling’s heart warmed up, “It’s funny that when we were in Yangzhou, when we looked inside from outside a brothel’s door, people always drive us out like beggars. But now even the brothel owner’s son recognizes us as shining treasure. But let me be clear first, on my first night [figuratively, first sexual encounter] I don’t want to pick randomly, at least it has to be as pretty as Qingqing, who ‘bite the hands that feeds her’, from Piao Xiang [floating fragrance] Courtyard.”

Kou Zhong patted his money purse and said with a laugh, “With money naturally come face and prestige, coupled with Xiang Yushan’s support, whatever you, Ling Shao [young master Ling] wants, you will get it. If the lord is not satisfied, can’t we stick up our butts out of bed?”

Xu Ziling raised his qi to lighten his body; he just wanted to show off some nimble moves. Who would have thought that as soon as he rose up, he made a somersault and landed noiselessly on the floor?

The two boys were severely shocked; they looked at each other with an I-can’t-believe-that-just-happened look on their faces.

“Heavens!” Kou Zhong was stunned, “How did you do that?” he asked, “Can you do it again? How could you fly out from sitting position like that?”

Xu Ziling scratched his head, “I am afraid I cannot repeat it,” he said, “Why don’t you try it yourself?”

Previously, each time they raised their qi, they had to channel their strength to leap first, and borrowed the momentum to fly up. But to raise their qi from a still position like this, it had never happened before.

Kou Zhong stood still, his expression looked odd.

“Don’t you want to hurry up to the brothel?” Xu Ziling urged him, “Why haven’t you tried?”

Kou Zhong’s face turned beet red; he said in embarrassment, “I have tried it more than a dozen times, but my toes did not even move.”

Xu Ziling was silent for half a day; finally he said dejectedly, “This time I did not get enlightenment as well. Ay! Perhaps we should really do obeisance to a great shifu, so that when we have a problem like this we could get a brilliant master’s direction.”

Kou Zhong shook his head, “Doing obeisance to a shifu is a farting useless,” he said, “What we learn is the strange skill from the ‘Secret to Long Life’, nobody in the world is proficient in it, we can only rely on ourselves to grope around. Perhaps our problem is due to our virgin male bodies, because solitary yang cannot develop. Only after we break it will our martial art immediately achieve great success. Ha! It must be the case.”

Xu Ziling laughed and scolded him, “Less bullsh1t, will you? Aren’t you going to leave?”

Kou Zhong doubled up in laughter, “I am leaving! I am leaving!” he said.

Staggering along, they walked toward the door. But as they opened the door, a sharp cold wind assaulted their foreheads. Without even thinking Kou Zhong raised his qi to lighten his body just like Xu Ziling did; his body flew backward.

The person who launched the sneak attack apparently did not expect that the attack should fail. “Huh?” he exclaimed, and fast as lightning he slipped into the room.

Just like Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling did not have time to think, he halted his step, pulled his saber, and swiftly hacked down on the attacker’s head; all in one fluid motion, without the slightest bit of hesitation or sluggishness. It was perhaps the most outstanding saber strike he had ever launched in all his life until today.

‘Bing!’ The attacker used the long golden hairpin in his hand to block Xu Ziling’s unmatched fierce saber strike head on.

For an instant both sides had to stop and were unable to launch any consecutive move.

‘Bang!’ Kou Zhong fell heavily on the bed, but he immediately shot out like a bullet and shouted, “Niang! I did it!”

The attacker pulled the hairpin back and withdrew from the room, the sleeve of his clothes floated away, as beautiful as a fairy; who else but Li Mi’s ‘Pretty Junshi’ Shen Luoyan?

Xu Ziling was shaken by her power and had to take two steps back. Seeing the door was no longer blocked, Shen Luoyan abruptly turned around and entered the room again, with the intention of pursuing and attacking Xu Ziling. But Kou Zhong already arrived; the flicker of his saber was like billowing waves, coupled with the surging gust of wind from the blade, as he violently attacked her.

Shen Luoyan cried out with her shrill voice as she rushed into the shadows of the saber, utilizing a close-combat technique. Successively she blocked a dozen or so moves from Kou Zhong. Each move was incomparable vicious; but she failed to push Kou Zhong back.

In the meantime, Xu Ziling pulled himself together [orig. reorganize flags and drums] and joined the melee. Without any choice Shen Luoyan was pushed back out of the room once again.

The two boys stood on guard inside the door, but their hearts were like great waves rolling into the sky, with bitter thought raging endlessly. They had never expected that such abrupt turn of events, they would be able to display the essence of ‘Bloody Battle Ten Styles’ vividly and thoroughly, so much so that they did not know which move they were using. They only felt that their hands followed their hearts, their strength followed the saber technique, and everything was flowing without any restrain.

Shen Luoyan, on the other hand, was greatly shaken. Her ‘Soul-snatching Hairpin’ was the ultimate skill of her family, which has been passed down from generation to generation, and ranked quite high in the Jianghu’s ‘Amazing Skill Ultimate Art List’. In usual circumstances she very seldom used it; this time she was hoping to capture the two boys in one fell swoop. Who would have thought that these two boys were like ‘shedding their mortal bodies and exchanged their bones’, that twice she attacked, twice she was repelled back? If this matter spread in Jianghu, it would be sufficient to propel the two boys’ name to the top.

With a saber in his hand, Kou Zhong struck a pose and laughed aloud, “Beautiful Junshi, come in quickly to have a taste of my saber.”

Xu Ziling also imposingly said, “Just remember that you must not harm half a strand of our hair; otherwise you will definitely lose.”

Shen Luoyan nearly went mad from anger; with a furious laughter she said, “The courtyard outside is a bit bigger; come out and let’s try again.”

“Are you thinking of having your men to surround us?” Kou Zhong exposed her scheme, “Ha! You should know that I can do lion’s roar; with a loud shout, I guarantee all the government officials of Pengcheng will hear everything clearly.”

Shen Luoyan’s pretty face turned cold, but instantly a moving smile reappeared as she said in tender voice, “How about this? If I can crash through your barrier and enter the room, I will be considered the winner, then the two of you must surrender nicely to me.”

Calmly, Xu Ziling said, “That means you no longer have the confidence to capture us alive; ergo, you already lose!”

Kou Zhong’s fighting spirit was aroused, his confidence soared; immensely proud of himself he said, “What are we afraid of, but we have to set time limit. I will count to ten, and if you can’t pass, you lose.”

Shen Luoyan stuck the golden hairpin back to her hair; she laughed and said, “So be it. Start counting!” Finished speaking she walked toward the door in large strides.

While the two boys were stunned and were at a loss, she walked between them straight into the room without any obstruction at all. When she reached the bed, she turned around and leisurely sat down, looking at the two boys with a smile on her face.

The two boys still had their sabers lifted high, but how could they hack on her just like that? Even until she turned around, they were still dumbfounded.

Looking at the two boys’ weird expression, Shen Luoyan broke into giggle and clapped her hands, “Alright! I win!”

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs and Happy New Year to all

[Jayariyin]

Wow, nice long update. Another new skill unleashed by the two.

Thanks, foxs.

[LuDongBin]

萬歲，萬歲，萬萬歲 ..... Thks foxs.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks Foxs

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs

[foxs]

HPC, Jaya, Ysabel, you are welcome. DongBin, Are you from Taiwan? Nowadays I see more and more people are using simplified rather than traditional, except people from Taiwan. But it's just my observation, which may not necessarily true. Anh, how's grandkids? Any trip to Vietnam recently?

---

Dejectedly Xu Ziling put the saber back into its sheathe as he sighed and said, “I can’t accept losing this way, because just like last time, you are exploiting our kind-heartedness.”

Shen Luoyan pretended to be surprised, “Other than hacking people with your saber, don’t you know any other way to subdue others?

Kou Zhong put his saber down, he giggled and said, “We did not lose, because although you entered the room, you did not crash through our barrier. The word ‘crash through’ implied some fighting is involved!”

Shen Luoyan glanced at him with the corner of her eye; still with a smile on her face she said, “How about we sit down and talk? Wow! Now the two of you look pretty nice.”

The two boys sat on the chairs leaning against the wall on her left side. Looking straight at her alluring eyes that look just like limpid autumn lake, Kou Zhong said, “You want to talk, let’s talk. We still want to visit the brothel!”

Shen Luoyan stared at him angrily, she said irately, “Do you not know that those girls in the brothel are really pitiful? Just with some money in your pocket you feel that you are entitled to toy with them; don’t you have any shame?”

Taken aback, Xu Ziling said, “I have never thought about it that way. But if no one visits them, and they don’t earn enough money to redeem themselves, won’t they continue to live in desolation?”

Kou Zhong stated matter-of-factly, “Isn’t that Yihong Courtyard opened by your Wagang Army? Why are you criticizing us?”

And then with a cold humph he added, “Everything is born because there is a demand for it; otherwise, who would want to go to the battlefield to kill or be killed?”

Shen Luoyan knitted her brows. “What are you talking about?” she said, “Yihong Courtyard has always been Du Fuwei’s eyes in this area. To us, Wagang Army, it’s a god@mn business.”

The two boys’ countenance changed.

Shen Luoyan smiled and said, “You love to fool around at the pleasure houses, that’s enough. Now that Qin Shubao has surrendered to our army, what do you, two little kids, have in mind?”

Kou Zhong sprang up and went to the open door; craning his neck, he looked outside wondered aloud, “The sound of our fighting shook the house, but how come there is no one come over to check it out?”

Shen Luoyan said indifferently, “Are you forgetting that we want to capture you alive? There is an inescapable net outside, even if you, two little demons, grew wings, it would still be difficult for you to fly away.”

With a wry smile Xu Ziling said, “Do you not know that this is called ‘biting the hand that feeds you’?”

Shen Luoyan slyly replied, “I only have your well-being in mind. Right now the whole country is in rebellion. To bring order out of chaos, only Duke Mi one person is able to do it. If not for the fact that you have given me a big favor, I would not have time to invite you to join our army.”

And then, a bit impatiently she added, “Quickly make your decision! I don’t have time to waste on you.”

Listening to her tone, the two boys’ pride was hurt. With a cold snort Xu Ziling said, “If you don’t have time then excuse yourself! We, two brothers, love to roam the wide sea and sky, to live free and easy life.”

A thick, cold murderous aura flashed through Shen Luoyan’s eyes; she suddenly rose up and in a flash was already by the door. With her back toward the two boys, she coldly said, “Since I cannot use you, I must kill you. Don’t even think of leaving this place alive today.” In another flash she vanished outside the door.

The two boys looked at each other in dismay. It only then did they understand why this ‘Pretty Junshi’, whose beauty matched the immortals, was also known as ‘Serpent and Scorpion Beauty’ [see Book 3 Chapter 4].

The two boys stared blankly for half a day. Even then, there was still no movement outside. Kou Zhong took a very deep breath and said, “What do you think? Shall we kill our way out?”

Xu Ziling maintained his composure. He shook his head and said, “Rushing out just like that is tantamount to deliver our lives in vain. Perhaps as soon as we step out the door, there would be a big net coming down to catch us, two fools. I say she still wants to capture us alive.”

And then he added in low voice, “Just now when we heard Ol’ Die’s name our countenance changed. With her keen eyesight plus her skill and knowledge, how could she not hear even half a word about us? Obviously she already knew our background; therefore, she spent so much effort, mentally and physically, to win us over, so that we will willingly offer ‘Duke Yang treasure trove’ to her.”

Kou Zhong was astonished, “Xiao Ling, you are really something. Unexpectedly you are able to infer so many things just from her reaction. Ha! I have an idea. Remember what Ol’ Chen of Jukun Bang taught us about architecture? This hotel is made up of eight courtyard houses. We are located at the west wing of the east courtyard, the door is facing the flower garden in the center of the courtyard, outside the wall opposite the door is the main garden surrounding the eight courtyards, with towering trees all around. Therefore, if we can get there, our chance of escaping will be a lot higher.”

Xu Ziling looked at the wall opposite the door, where the bed was located; he smiled wryly and said, “We are not Zhai Rang, how could we break through the wall and flee?”

And then he looked up to the ceiling and said with a sigh, “If my guess is correct, there are definitely enemies up there.”

As usual, Kou Zhong always had a plan. First, he closed the door, and then he told Xu Ziling, “Keep watch for me, I am going to loosen a few bricks.” Finished speaking, he pulled his long saber and jumped onto the bed.

Xu Ziling moved to the window by the door. When he looked outside, he saw more than a dozen big men jump down from the roof of the building across the courtyard, and immediately fanned out along the corridor, heading toward their direction.

He was just about to warn Kou Zhong when there was a loud ‘boom!’ from above, the roof tiles rained down, followed by an iron-tower like man with a pair of hammers in his hands, falling down.

In that instant Xu Ziling threw away his conjecture that Shen Luoyan wanted to capture them alive; he was well aware that this ‘Serpent and Scorpion Beauty’ has indeed chosen the evil scheme to kill them.

At this moment, he was reliving the situation where a mob of gangsters was about to kill him.

Everything became incomparably clear.

He knew clearly when this big man was going to land, as well as his falling speed; so much so that he also knew what the man was about to do next.

The difference was that now he knew how to deal with this situation.

He clearly knew that if he let the opponent unleash the power of his pair of huge hammers, which weighed over a hundred catties each, not only he could easily force Xu Ziling put the door, it would also be extremely difficult for Kou Zhong, who was standing by the wall, to escape with his life.

In this moment where life and death was hanging by a thread, his mind and spirit became crystal clear; he completely forgot about life and death. Focusing his willpower and all the strength he could muster, he readied himself for the exact moment when the opponent would touch the ground. Stepping forward in large strides, his entire being moved as fast as lightning, even his saber chopped down swiftly.

Indeed as Xu Ziling expected, the big man had already made up his mind that as soon as his feet touched the ground, he would borrow the momentum to shoot forward to increase the power of his hammers to thundering tens of thousand catties. Once he sent Xu Ziling out the door, his companions would chop him into thousand pieces, and then he could focus his entire attention to deal with Kou Zhong.

To his surprise, however, as he was exerting his strength, the saber aura already enveloped his body. He felt that no matter where he wanted move to evade, or perhaps to block the attack and launch a counterstrike, he simply was not able to.

When he broke the roof tile, he was really underestimating the enemy; he thought that they were just two kids, it would not be hard to catch them. How could he know that in terms of timing and the angle of attack, Xu Ziling’s chop has reached a top quality martial art expert level?

This moment he already had no time to think whether the opponent was indeed very formidable, or he just happened to use a move sent by the gods in heaven. In his extreme panic, he threw his pair of hammers, one to Kou Zhong, the other to Xu Ziling; while at the same time he pushed his palms forward to generate reaction force with strong gust of wind. With no other choice, he clumsily had to jump out from the place where he came in.

In the meantime, Kou Zhong, who was standing on the bed, was about to turn around to help. Suddenly he saw a big iron hammer was flying toward him. “Good throw!” he shouted.

In a flash there was a loud ‘Boom!’, followed by bricks and mortar flew everywhere as the iron hammer broke through the wall.

Xu Ziling also easily evaded the other flying hammer. He let the hammer hit the wooden door, sending splinters of wood everywhere. Finally the hammer itself landed on the courtyard outside. Meanwhile Xu Ziling let out a wild cry, concentrated his power on his brows, and charged toward the broken wall.

How could Kou Zhong not understand Xu Ziling’s intention? He also exerted his strength and charged toward the broken wall.

‘Boom!’ The two boys, along with fragments of brick and stone, leaped into the neighboring room. Outside the door was precisely the big garden surrounding the eight courtyard houses.

They shot forward, burst open the door, and ran outside.

This move was obviously outside the enemy’s anticipation, unexpectedly they did not see anybody blocking their way; however, they heard the rustling of the wind from the tiled roof behind them.

The two boys did not dare to tarry, they immediately unleashed the full potential of the ‘Bird Crossing Technique taught by Yun Yuzhen; like an arrow they shot into the park. With several twists and turns, they went deep into the forest.

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs
I stayed home and worked on the house when my wife.went to Vietnam. I have 5 grandchildren now.