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Although his ‘Mt. Lu’ true appearance could not be seen, under the skintight outfit it looked like his build had some kind of terrifying beauty. His height was comparable to Kou Zhong, three men, and he looked extremely sturdy, with the back of a tiger and waist of a bear, and broad shoulders, with thick and solid neck, as well as extra-large palms visible under his clothes.

Every single part of his body taken separately gave out the impression of rough, boorish in nature, yet combined together the whole entity shouted a healthy and beautiful, well-proportioned physique, exuding agility, strength and flexibility; an immaculately perfect posture.

The weapon in his hands was a rough, jet-black, but shiny staff, a bit more than a zhang long, about the size of a baby’s arm in diameter, yet it was unclear what kind of wood it was made of.

By the time his feet landed on the table, Kou Zhong’s Moon in the Well already turned into bright light, swiftly slicing across his lower part.

Qi power filled the hall.

An amazed look flitted through Ba Fenghan’s eyes, but he was still sitting motionless, while watching the fight unfolding before his eyes with the cool eye of a bystander.

Xu Ziling, however, closed his eyes, as if he had no interest whatsoever to watch.

‘Qiang!’ The attacker raised the end of his long staff to block Kou Zhong’s saber. Its accuracy and speed were unbelievable.

That he’d used his ebony staff to meet Kou Zhong’s Moon in the Well head-on, Kou Zhong was not surprised at all; since he had the guts to break down alone, he ought to have the ability, and his ebony staff must be a strange weapon from unorthodox school that was unafraid of any blade.

But that the opponent was able to neutralize all follow-up changes of his Moon in the Well was like someone was hitting the vital acupoint on his throat; he could not help feeling greatly shaken and his acute spirit fell.

The rarely-matched and shocking qi power burst out of the end of the staff into the blade of his saber like a torrential flood, dashing against Kou Zhong’s powerful spiraling qi power that everything was broken and in disorder; he barely had the strength left to prevent the Moon in the Well from being thrown off of his hand.

Naturally Kou Zhong had never imagined that the attacker would be this overbearing. Fortunately his meridians had undergone the shedding-of-one’s-mortal-body-and-exchanging-one’s-bones transformation the previous night, so that his true qi capacity had increased rapidly, and he was able to replenish it quickly.

The old power disappeared, the new force arrived.

Urgently raising a mouthful of true qi, he immediately neutralized the opponent’s true qi invading his hand, followed by ‘Swish! Swish! Swish!’ three saber strikes in succession like a rainstorm.

The man was strange as well; silently he blocked two saber strikes and then somersaulted above Kou Zhong’s head, the ebony staff turned into a shaft of black light, shooting toward Ba Fenghan, who was sitting quietly behind a table at the end of the wine shop.

Ba Fenghan sat motionless with fixed gaze, so that he looked like a stone statue, until the ebony staff was only about five chi away from his face, and then while his left hand was pressing the edge of the table, fast as lightning his right hand drew the Beheading Mystery Sword, and ‘Pow!’ it hacked the head of the ebony staff.

The table did not move, even the pot and cups on the tabletop were not overturned, but the chair that Hou Xibai was sitting on just now suddenly had its four feet snapped and crumbled onto the floor.

Powerful energy flowed freely.

The upper part of Ba Fenghan’s body swayed, his face turned into a slice of red cloud.

Borrowing the reaction force, the man rose up and somersaulted backward, the long staff in his hand moved at the speed of sparks from a flint stone to block Kou Zhong’s two attacks in succession: the first was an upward motion, the last was a sweeping motion, both struck against the tip of Kou Zhong’s blade with incredible accuracy, making Kou Zhong felt helpless; even though he had the power, he was unable to use it.

This man’s martial art skill was very high; perhaps it was comparable to Wanwan’s.

The ebony staff in his hand, which weigh was estimated at approximately a hundred catty, was able to move nimbly like a blade of grass; lightweight and freely. From this, the level of his strength could be clearly deduced.

This moment his toes pushed the ground, the ebony staff turned into black shadow filling the air, completely surrounding Kou Zhong, who was charging over toward him. The two shadows advanced and retreated in succession, the sound of saber and staff colliding against each other was ringing continuously.

The faster they fought, the more the clashing noise became stringed together like the sound of the rain pattering against the roof tiles; so clear and beautiful.

‘Qiang!’

Ba Fenghan’s sword returned to its sheath. “Is it Tuyuhun’s Fu Yun’s son Fu Qian?” he shouted coldly.

The man gave out an ear-splitting long laugh, parried another strike of Kou Zhong’s saber, and then borrowing the reaction force he leaped up, and ‘Zoom!’ he disappeared into the hole on the roof.

His voice came back, “Thanks for the experience!”

By the time the last word arrived, he was already over a hundred zhang away; his speed was as fast as a shooting star.

‘Qiang!’

Kou Zhong also returned his saber to its scabbard, and looked at Ba Fenghan with shock.

Ba Fenghan inhaled sharply and said, “I did not expect him to be this formidable. Even if the three of us joined hands, I am afraid we still could not hold him down.”

After his mind calmed down, Kou Zhong looked up at the night sky above the hole on the roof. Frowning, he said, “What did that bearded kid want? Did he want to show off his strength, or he just wanted to damage the wine shop owner’s livelihood a little bit?”

Xu Ziling’s voice came, “He is not Fu Qian, but the Shadow Assassin Yang Xuyan. Only he was using a stick, hoping that we would not guess that it was him!”

Stunned, Ba Fenghan and Kou Zhong looked at each other; they were relieved instead.

Yang Xuyan’s best skill was his ability to hide his track and avoid the target’s eyes and ears until he was very close.

Kou Zhong stepped aside to sit on a low wall. Looking and the chaos and the wood-fragments-strewn floor after the calamity, he cursed, “Must be that Li kid who sent him to assassinate me.”

Ba Fenghan exhaled a mouthful of air and said, “His martial art skill is more formidable than what I thought; the most formidable aspect is his ability to move indefinitely, like he seemed to move forward but actually backward, making it difficult to grasp.”

And then, turning toward Xu Ziling, he asked, “How did Ziling guess that he was Yang Xuyan?”

Xu Ziling sat up, he looked at Kou Zhong’s face, across the floor filled with debris and overturned and skewed and broken tables and chairs; smiling, he said, “Although he was using all kinds of method to hide his identity, both by altering his shenfa [body motion/posture] and footwork, and abandoned his consummate skill of using sword flash to confuse the enemy and used matte, non-reflective ebony staff, he still could not hide his dense, cold, and intense true qi; therefore, as soon as he made his move, I knew he was Yang Xuyan.”

Kou Zhong had a sudden revelation. “No wonder he did not mess with you,” he said, “He was afraid you might recognize him.”

And then he frowned and said, “But he created havoc in here, what good would that bring him? If by doing this and that he think he can frame others, it’s just a joke.”

Xu Ziling stared at Kou Zhong for a long time before finally he spoke slowly, “He came here to kill you.”

Kou Zhong was stunned, “Kill me?” he asked.

Ba Fenghan was puzzled as well, “If he was trying to kill Zhong Shao, he ought to use the weapon that he is good at,” he said.

Xu Ziling raised his head to look at the hole on the roof. Heaving a deep sigh, he spoke indifferently and calmly, “Because he was afraid Li Shimin might know that he disobeyed his order against getting involved in tonight’s dispute over the Jade Annulus of He Clan; hence he hid the head and showed the tail like that. Once he realized that he was unable to kill Zhong Shao using the ebony staff, he attacked Fenghan Xiong in passing to confuse others’ eyes and ears.”

The three grew silent; there was neither the least bit of noise nor movement.

Time slowly passed; it was less than a sichen from the zi hour.

A long while later, Kou Zhong, who was still sitting on the low wall, untied the Moon in the Well, along with its scabbard, and laid it flat on his lap. Shaking his head, he said, “I nearly split my brains, but I still cannot think of any reason why Yang Xuyan would go against Li Shimin’s order, and why he might want to kill me so urgently.”

Ba Fenghan spoke heavily, “But you can’t help but agree with Ziling’s speculation, because when he crossed hands with you, the murderous aura was so thick, but when he attacked me, the staff was purely to test me out. It had killer power, but no killer intention.”

Kou Zhong swayed his head, as if he wanted to drive everything that has been bugging him out of his mind. He said, “I don’t care his mother’s reason, but next time we meet, I’ll cut his egg and eat it to accompany wine. Ha!”

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “If we did not die tonight, it is definitely a lifetime’s unforgettable experience; especially since in one night we become the target of multitude of arrows of various hegemons from all sides, as well as people from both the black and the white ways. I am afraid there has never such a grand occasion throughout history.”

Xu Ziling slyly said, “After this matter is over, what is Fenghan Xiong going to do?”

Ba Fenghan pondered for half a day; finally he spoke with indifferent smile, “I am going to part ways with you two gentlemen, going back to the prairie and great desert beyond the Great Wall, to start another stage on the road of spiritual cultivation. After I have fully digested all the benefits I reaped in the present days, I am going to return to Tujue to challenge Bi Xuan, irrespective of victory or defeat, life or death.”

Chapter 1 - Part 2

Xu Ziling looked at Kou Zhong, and then turned his eyes back at Ba Fenghan as he said wholeheartedly, “I really envy you.”

Ba Fenghan threw his head back and let out a long laugh before saying, “By nature I am a loner; I never had any friends. You two are the only exceptions.”

The two boys were emotionally moved.

To have Ba Fenghan spoke those words, how rare would that be?

Frowning, Kou Zhong said, “You want to leave, naturally we must respect your wishes. But don’t you care about Yu Yi anymore?”

Ba Fenghan rose up to his full height and calmly said, “This, of course, is one of the unfinished businesses. Zhong Shao, don’t worry. How can Ol’ Ba be a quitter?”

Kou Zhong sprang up; lightly gripping the Moon in the Well still in its scabbard with his right hand, he said in delight, “I am bored just by sitting in here; perhaps taking a stroll down the street is a good idea.”

Ba Fenghan proudly said, “Before the battle, it would be best if we make a vow: tonight, either the three of us die in battle, or walk away safely together. There will be no third possibility.”

With his heroism reaching the clouds, Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “Let us use wine to settle the vow then; we will drink three his mother’s cups, and then go out and kill to our heart’s content.”

Calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, Xu Ziling stared at Kou Zhong and coldly said, “Zhong Shao seems to be confusing yourself. Tonight we must not kill anybody. If we are involved in an inextricable enmity against Ci Hang Jing Zhai, it won’t bring any good to your dream great undertaking.”

Kou Zhong was stunned. He said, “Two armies facing each other, if we are being lenient everywhere, won’t that be the same as having our hands and feet tied?”

Smiling, Xu Ziling said, “That was precisely why I went to sleep.”

Finished speaking, he stood up and walked over to the table where Ba Fenghan was sitting. Picking up three cups, he arranged them in a triangular formation [orig. 品 (pin) character].

Kou Zhong has already come over. Grabbing his head, he said, “What is this?”

Xu Ziling did not know that in the spur of the moment earlier, Kou Zhong was forced to use too much of his brain power. Looking at Ba Fenghan, he asked, “Fenghan Xiong, what do you think?”

Ba Fenghan fixed his attention on the tree cups. His eyes flickered with terrifying light as he spoke heavily, “Theoretically speaking, the most perfect shape in the world is a circle; it has no beginning, it has no end. Coming and going, it has defensive advantage, but no offensive advantage, simply because there is no particularly sharp point.”

After a short pause, he went on, “A triangle has both defensive and offensive advantages, simply because each side has blade edge and sharp corner, but with the underlying characteristics of a circle. Does Ziling have this kind of troop disposition in mind?”

“It is exactly that,” Xu Ziling replied, “If the three of us fight alone tonight, there is no doubt that we will die. Only by relying on a counter-intuitive strategy will we be able to have an opportunity to live.”

And then he pointed to the three cups and said, “We are these cups. Because we have been through many life and death situation together, in term of coordination, we are not the least bit inferior to those who have trained battle formation for many years. Moreover, we do not confine ourselves to certain technique, we can change according to the situation; the variation is endless. The only thing we need to discuss right now is the heart of the problem.”

Frowning, Ba Fenghan asked, “What problem?”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “I understand! Xiao Ling is referring to our complementary true qi, just like last night when we were training. Old Ba, you become the Tianjin Bridge connecting the two of us, connecting the north and south parts of the City of Luoyang separated by the Luo River, so that the entire city becomes one solid city that no one can capture.”

Shaken, Ba Fenghan said, “I understand now!”

Kou Zhong lifted the wine pot and poured wine into the cups, saying, “The Battle of Luoyang Street tonight will be our biggest test. If we can stay alive, we will immediately enter the rank of top martial art masters of the world. Thinking about it makes me feel excited.”

Xu Ziling was the first to raise his cup; proposing a toast, he said, “But we must not get excited later. Drink it up!”

The other two raised their cups and drained them in one gulp.

Afterwards they all smashed the cup on the floor, creating a loud, clear sound.

Looking at each other, they all laughed.

The zi hour has finally come.

※ ※ ※

Crossing the threshold, they went down the steps in front of the wine shop. Kou Zhong leaned close to Xu Ziling and whispered, “Thank you!”

Xu Ziling was puzzled, “Why thank me all of a sudden?” he asked.

Walking in front, Ba Fenghan already reached the end of the stone steps. Stopping, he laughed and said, “Zhong Shao is rarely this courteous!”

Kou Zhong heaved a deep sigh; continuing his stride out of the door, he walked over to Ba Fenghan’s side, and after looking left and right, he said, “The shops in Luoyang have their front door higher than elsewhere. I wonder if they are afraid that during heavy rain the Luo River would overflow and flood the street?”

Ba Fenghan’s attention was piqued; he mused, “If I were Li Mi, I would take advantage before the rainy season is over to lead my troops to attack Luoyang. It can work wonders.”

This moment Xu Ziling finally reached Ba Fenghan’s other side; he looked up and down the long street.

This most prosperous street in Luoyang was as still as a ghost domain, not even half a shadow on anybody was to be seen, all shops and buildings had their doors and windows tightly shut, leaving only the lanterns hanging underneath the eaves casting their slanting light along the street.

About a thousand paces to their left, the Luo River was flowing; it was such an overwhelming, magnificent sight. With the Milky Way as its meteorological guide, the magnificent Tianjin Bridge spanned across the river, connecting the number one main street of Luoyang, which width reached a hundred paces and which length exceeded eight li, which both sides were lined with trees.

Laughing heartily, Kou Zhong said, “If Fenghan Xiong agrees to help me conquering the world, why would I worry that the great undertaking will not succeed?”

A terrifyingly sharp light flitted across Ba Fenghan’s eyes; his gaze moved from the stone steps toward the middle of the street, the imperial highway, which was constructed of hundreds of white stone slabs and separated by rows of pomegranate and elm trees on either side. Smiling, he said, “When all is said and done, I am not a Central Plains man, so I have my ambitions elsewhere. Besides, based on your, Zhong Shao’s intelligence and wisdom, you have more than enough in you; you don’t need an insignificant Ba Fenghan.”

That moment, Kou Zhong was scanning the surrounding area for any trace of the enemy; he calmly said, “I just have a feeling. But Old Ba, although you are a foreigner, you seem to be more familiar with our country’s affairs and cultures than the two of us; which I found it to be extremely weird.”

Ba Fenghan’s eyes softened; he seemed to be hiding a sad, painful feeling in his heart. He sighed, but did not answer Kou Zhong’s question.

Taking the lead, he stepped down the stone steps, crossed the pedestrian pathway and the vehicles and horses road, and onto the imperial highway. Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong followed behind him.

Myriads of thoughts filling his heart, Kou Zhong said, “During Yang Guang’s days in the past, if anybody dared to travel leisurely along the imperial highway, he would be executed for the crime by the authority. This imperial highway is a symbol of separation between the Emperor and all the people. One who has never personally bowed to the pain and difficulties of common people, how could he be a good emperor?”

Xu Ziling remained silent. He was just staring at the majestic silhouette of Ba Fenghan’s back.

Entering the imperial highway, Ba Fenghan turned left toward the Tianjin Bridge.

Kou Zhong leaned over to Xu Ziling and said, “The reason I thanked you just now is because if you, Ling Shao, did not help me these past few days, I would have been finished. And what I appreciate more is that if not for my sake, you would never have done anything you have done today.”

A hint of smile appeared on the corners of Xu Ziling’s mouth; he said indifferently, “Life is like a big net blocking a river; none of the fish that are trying to swim through will be able to slip past it. Since I already promised you that I will help you dig the ‘Duke Yang’s Treasure’, I knew that this kind of situation may appear and I must deal with it with all my strength.”

After a short pause, he sighed and went on, “But I never thought that we might provoke Shi Feixuan, Ning Daoqi, that kind of dreadful enemies. And now, what else can I say?”

Walking in front, Ba Fenghan seemed to turn a deaf ear to the two boys’ conversation; he kept walking with his hands behind his back toward the Tianjin Bridge.

Laughing involuntarily, Kou Zhong said, “You ought to anticipate this kind of consequences early on, yet you are still actively helping me. Other than your brotherly yiqi toward me, I don’t think there is any other reason.”

Xu Ziling kept staring at Ba Fenghan’s majestic back, which seemed that it could never be knocked down, while continuing to walk silently. It was quite a while later that he finally spoke, “Of all kinds of reasons, one of them might be my desire to vent Su Jie’s anger toward Li Jing, that completely-lacking-any-sense-of-justice , so that he won’t have good days.”

Taken aback, Kou Zhong shot a couple glances toward him; momentarily he was speechless. Of all the reasons he could think of, he had never thought that Xu Ziling would fight for the Jade Annulus of He Clan for this one.

Ba Fenghan suddenly stopped. His eyes flashing bright, he had his gaze fixed on the Tianjin Bridge.

One slender and elegant man in scholar attire was standing on the apex of the bridge with his hands behind his back, leaning against the railing to look down on the Luo River flowing under the bridge.

A barge happened to float by.

OK, who would be the first one to fight them?