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Looking at the man’s back, he had at least 70, 80% similarity with Du Fuwei: tall and thin. Only he did not wear tall hat, and dressed in Taoist robe, with antique-style sandalwood sword hanging on his back.

His posture when he jumped was extremely bizarre; his arms and legs did not bend at all, instead, he flew straight vertically like a ‘floating’ zombie.

Inwardly Kou Zhong cried, ‘Heretical skill!’ and abruptly halted his step. “Ning Daoqi?” he called out in low voice.

The Taoist looked up at the bright moon that had just risen from the eastern mountain. “Ning Dao Xiong has long ago paid no attention to the things of the world,” he replied indifferently, “You don’t have that kind of qualification.”

Kou Zhong was relieved, but he still did not dare to be negligence the slightest bit. Hearing this man casually used ‘Xiong’ and ‘Di’ [elder and younger brother, respectively] appellation toward Ning Daoqi, Kou Zhong knew that he must be a senior Wulin master of Ning Daoqi’s generation.

Kou Zhong calmly laughed and asked, “How must I address Daozhang [Taoist Priest]? You have honored me with your presence; do you have any advice for me?”

The Taoist spoke softly, “Pindao [impoverished Taoist] Bi Chen [his name literally means ‘flee from the dust (or earth)’]. My visit this time is to spend a bit of effort for the sake of our Taoist School. As long as you are willing to hand that thing over, Pindao is willing to resolve the enmity between you and Ci Hang Jing Zhai and Jing Nian Chanyuan. I guarantee they will not investigate this matter further.”

Grabbing his head, Kou Zhong said, “If I really had the stolen treasure, I would personally send it back, why would I want to waste Daozhang’s time arguing over it?”

Taoist Priest Bi Chen laughed aloud and said, “It was precisely because I knew you are not willing to return the treasure that I came to take care of this matter.”

Kou Zhong sneered and said, “Since Daozhang calls yourself Bi Chen, why suddenly bother to meddle in the affair of this mundane world?”

Although being mocked and ridiculed with frigid irony and scorching satire, Bi Chen was not offended; he simply sighed lightly and said, “Good question. This time Pindao‘s heart is moved by the dust (of the earth), simply because I cannot bear to see two amazing flowers, who are the only ones who could see through the ‘Secret to Long Life’ since time immemorial, being destroyed in one evening just for the sake of struggle over power and position.”

Feeling deep veneration toward him, Kou Zhong said, “Turns out Daozhang has this breadth of mind. Please forgive me, Kou Zhong, for being young and inexperienced; but supposing I insist on not handing the treasure over, would Daozhang personally destroy me?”

Chuckling, Bi Chen replied, “Your brain is indeed fast. How about this: I’ll have my back against you, if you can’t force me down the courtyard within ten moves, you will obediently hand the Jade Annulus of He Clan to me, let Pindao return it to its rightful owner on your behalf, then this matter will be settled satisfactorily.”

Smiling bitterly, Kou Zhong said, “Please forgive me for not agreeing. Not at all because I did not have confidence, but because even if Daozhang wins, I cannot produce the Jade Annulus of He Clan. This is not an empty word, I don’t know if Daozhang is willing to believe me or not.”

Astonished Bi Chen turned around to face Kou Zhong.

Taoist Priest Bi Chen’s facial features were high, ancient, clear and amazing; he had a lofty quality that was above ordinary men. Just by looking at his sparkling and translucent, ivory-white skin color, one would know that his innate qigong has reached the transforming stage.

His pair of eyeballs appeared to be in perpetually unfathomable serenity, a fantastic feeling that transcended the flesh and blood and physical appearance.

While Kou Zhong was sizing him up, he also focused his attention to examine Kou Zhong; there was a shocked look on his eyes that was difficult to conceal.

For some unknown reason, Kou Zhong felt kindness and intimacy from the opposite party, and firm belief in his heart that he really intervene in this dispute in good faith.

Bi Chen turned his gaze toward the starry sky above the roof; shaking his head and heaving a deep sigh, he said, “Kou Zhong, you did not know that in your cultivation you have reached the stage of ‘empty-harmony way’ of the Daoist School training. The only one you lack is maturity!”

Puzzled, Kou Zhong asked, “What do you mean by ‘empty-harmony way’?”

Bi Chen looked straight at Kou Zhong; with solemn and respectful expression, he spoke slowly, word-by-word, “Our Taoist School cultivation is divided into four stages: training essence and transform it into qi, training qi and transform it into shen [soul/spirit/mind], training shen and transform it into emptiness, and training emptiness and harmonize it into ‘the way’ [Dao/Tao]. The course of events in all these stages cannot be explained clearly, like the person who drinks it knows best whether the water is hot or cold [i.e. self-awareness comes from within (Zen proverb)]. You must understand that no matter how huge the human potential is, there will be limit. The first two stages refer to corporeal body cultivation. Only the last two stages of training will interlink the practitioner to the abundant appearance of ‘the way’ in the universe; hence it can transcend the flesh, and reach into the sacred harmony way of transforming stage.” [My apology, having no familiarity with Taoist concept, I translated it as best as I understand it.]

Delighted, Kou Zhong said, “When we trained the ‘Secret to Long Life’, it seems to me from the beginning we have been training the last two stages as Daozhang explained it.”

Smiling wryly, Bi Chen shook his head and said, “This is something that Pindao is unable to understand. Now, how can this matter be resolved? Under present situation, once we are not careful, it will develop into Buddhist, Taoist, Heretics; three-school dispute.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “To be honest, even if I had the Jade Annulus of He Clan in my hands, I would not hand it out. Such a treasure like the Jade Annulus of He Clan, only the virtuous can obtain it. Whoever has the ability, he ought to be the owner. Whoever wants to take the treasure, he ought to use real skill to obtain it!”

Bi Chen laughed aloud and said, “Your character is very similar to Pindao’s youthful temper. Very well! I won’t care about this matter anymore! You do your best!”

With a long laugh, he turned around and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Kou Zhong jumped down into the courtyard. Ba Fenghan, who was already waiting, promptly opened the door.

As soon as he walked into the wine shop, the first thing caught his attention was Xu Ziling, who was lying on the corner like a statue of reclining Buddha. Shaking his head, Kou Zhong laughed involuntarily and said, “This kid is really a happy-go-lucky person; I can’t remember when the last time I had some sleep was!”

Putting his hand on Kou Zhong’s shoulder, Ba Fenghan spoke with serious expression, “Sit down first, let’s talk.”

After sitting down, Kou Zhong swept his gaze around. “Where are the waiters?” he asked in surprise.

Ba Fenghan replied, “A tael of gold can make people willing to do a lot of things.”

It was only then did Kou Zhong notice Ba Fenghan’s expression, “Why does your countenance look this heavy?” he asked in surprise, “Did you hear what that Bi Chen said? In one glance I could tell he is a virtuous qianbei [senior] of the Daoist School!”

Ba Fenghan replied with a cold laugh, “This time your eyes have really left you. That man is called ‘Demon Taoist’ Pi Chen [repel/refute dust], not Bi Chen. Thirty years ago he ran amuck in the north, never shrink from any crime, a Demon Cult martial art master that can be reckoned as the first or second best. His prestige is second only to ‘Empress Yin’ Zhu Yuyan. Fortunately the Jade Annulus of He Clan is really not in your hands; otherwise just now he would have found out the truth from you.”

Exhaling sharply, Kou Zhong asked in surprise, “How did you know his background that clearly? How come I’ve never heard his name?”

A pained smile appeared on Ba Fenghan’s face; he said, “Do you know who told me everything about the Demon Cult? Although both Pi Chen and Zhu Yuyan are Demon Cult people, they belong to different factions. In normal times they fight and scheme against each other, only when dealing with outsiders they are rather united.”

Kou Zhong stared blankly for half a day. Frowning, he said, “That Demon Taoist is really formidable; he did not leak even half a bit of demonic air.”

Ba Fenghan said, “If I didn’t know that the Demon School had such character, I would have been fooled, just like you. Just from this fact we know that this man’s cultivation is very high; he has reached the pinnacle of accomplishment.”

“Can he really take my ten saber moves with his back?” Kou Zhong mused.

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan replied, “That is not possible. Even Ning Daoqi cannot. He just wanted to bluff to see if the Jade Annulus of He Clan is really in your hands or not, but he ended up deceived by you instead. On the surface his last remark was pleasant to the ear, but beneath the surface he was actually pushing the wave and adding to the billows [i.e. adding fuel to the fire]; hoping that we will fight against Liao Kong’s side until both sides suffer. It was extremely despicable.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “If there are other martial art masters his caliber around, you’d better tell me about them now, so that I can be ready.”

Ba Fenghan smiled wryly with him; he said, “We’d better not scare ourselves. At least before the zi hour he won’t come to bother us again. If we are still alive by then, we’ll continue this talk!”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “I have someone giving me information; rumor has it that Qu Ao and Tujue’s ‘Tornado’ Tu Li are allying themselves to deal with us. It will be a hard battle that won’t be easy to fight. Must we change our heroic plan and investigate how we can escape into the wilderness tonight?”

Laughing involuntarily, Ba Fenghan said, “Do you think that under present circumstances we can still easily ride a boat or take a cart to leave the city? Listen carefully, outside is as quiet as a ghost domain, where have all the people gone?”

“Do you think they blocked the street?” Kou Zhong asked in surprise.

Ba Fenghan slyly replied, “Although not quite, it’s not too far from the truth.”

After taking a quick glance at Xu Ziling, he smiled and went on, “Do you think we need to copy Ziling and have a good night’s rest?”

“That proposal suits Zhen’s idea the best [Translator’s note: zhen is how an emperor refers to himself]. Ay! A rider is coming our way! Don’t you think it’s a bit too early?”

Ba Fenghan replied, “Those who come before the zi hour are our friends, those who come after are our enemies. See if my guess is accurate.”

Kou Zhong rose up to his full height and walked over to the other corner about three zhang away from Xu Ziling. Stretching his limbs, he said, “Friends who disturb my sleep are considered enemies. Whatever it is, I’ll let you deal with it,”

Watching Kou Zhong moving the table and arranging the chairs, Ba Fenghan smiled ruefully and said, “You are such a true friend.”

The hoof beats were coming nearer, the rumble reverberated along the street.

By the time Kou Zhong was lying down two tables that he made into a bed, the hoof beats stopped in front of the door.

Chapter 11 - Part 2

A young, sweet-sounding male voice rang outside the door, “The three of you, get out!” Although he spoke without any trace of politeness, the tone of his voice was gentle and pleasant to listen to, refined and calm, in total contrast to what he said.

A cold, deep murderous aura flitted through Ba Fenghan’s eyes; he coldly said, “Who’s there? Tonight I, Ba Fenghan, will not kill an unnamed nobody.”

The man was silent for half a day before he finally spoke in soft voice, “Ba Xiong, please forgive Zaixia for speaking harshly in the urgency of this situation. If Ba Xiong is willing to exchange weapons of war for gifts of jade and silk by handing over the Jade Annulus of He Clan so that Zaixia may return it Miss Feixuan, Zaixia wishes to apologize over a toast for provoking Ba Xiong just now.”

The voice penetrated the tightly closed door; it was loud enough to be heard, but not overbearing, each word was spoken clearly, but imbued with power, so that others would not date to take it lightly.

Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong’s even breathing rose and fell continuously, causing a strange rhythm that seemed to reveal some kind of unspeakable truth.

Frowning, Ba Fenghan said, “The thing I loathe the most is people who strolled in and talk out of turn. Who exactly is Sire? Are you really representing Shi Feixuan?”

The man let out a long laughter and then said, “Listening to the tone of Ba Xiong’s voice, the handing over of the Jade Annulus of He Clan has not been discussed yet! In that case, let’s exchange some palm strikes first.”

Even after racking his brains, Ba Fenghan still could not think of the identity of the young martial art master on the street, hence he decided not to answer but closed his eyes and sat quietly instead.

‘Bang!’

The shop door shattered into wooden debris filling the air inside the wine shop.

Even with Ba Fenghan’s unperturbed, the-Mount-Tai-collapsed-in-front-of-his-eyes-his-countenance-would-not-change cool-headedness, he could not help being emotionally moved.

It should be noted that the double-leaf door was hollow on the inside; it could not take impact force at all. But the opposite party was unexpectedly able to send a punch over empty air and shatter the two doors at once; merely this kind of skill has reached a universally shocking level.

An unspeakably outstanding and elegant, refined in manner, like the jade tree facing the wind, young and handsome man, appeared from behind the shattered door, his hand holding a folding fan with painting of beautiful women on it, swaying gently into the room. His relaxed and well-composed manner did not look like he was an evil guest who came to seek bad luck.

Ba Fenghan’s pair of tiger-eyes burst with sharp light; staring intently at the incoming man, he suddenly said, “Turns out it’s the ‘Passionate Prince’ Hou Xibai; no wonder you are such a protector of the flowers [i.e. beautiful women]. Please forgive me for failing to salute you.”

He spoke those words with an extremely cold and indifferent tone, implying that his remark was brimming with frigid irony and scorching satire.

Hou Xibai revealed a helpless look on his face; sighing, he said, “To be quite honest, Zaixia has always longed to see three gentlemen with a heart full of admiration, but has never wished that we would meet under such circumstances. Huh! Are Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling injured? Or are they sleeping?”

Ba Fenghan replied indifferently, “Hou Xiong needs not pay them any attention. Since this is our first meeting, we’d better drink two cups first before fighting. What do you say?”

Hou Xibai silently sized up Ba Fenghan. It was quite a moment later that he replied, “This is called ‘peaceful measures before using force’, not just in name only, but also in reality. Let Zaixia toast Ba Xiong first then.”

Striding over, he sat down across from Ba Fenghan.

Ba Fenghan sat motionless in full concentration. Without blinking he watched as Hou Xibai put his folding fan into his sleeve pocket before reaching out to pour wine for him as well as for himself.

Hou Xibai was completely unfazed by the opposite party’s sharp eyes, which seemed able to penetrate into the bottom of his heart; his movements remained confident and at ease, worthy of his romantic reputation that could make beautiful women all over the world fell in love with him.

Holding his cup with both hands, Hou Xibai saluted and said, “Knowing someone by their reputation can’t compare to meeting them in person. Ba Xiong did not disappoint Zaixia.”

Ba Fenghan did not show any indication that he was going to return the propriety; instead, he spoke indifferently, “Hou Xiong’s folding fan has refined-steel as its skeleton, but I wonder what kind of material is the fan itself made of?”

Hou Xibai smiled and replied, “This is the first time anybody ever asked me this question. Ba Xiong eyesight is indeed very keen. My humble fan is made of heavenly spider silk, incomparably strong and tough; unafraid of any blade.”

Ba Fenghan laughed aloud and said, “Good weapon. I was just wondering: do you have Shi Feixuan’s portrait painted on it?”

Hou Xibai lowered his head; staring at the good wine in his cup, he said with a wry smile, “The only thing this fan lacks is Miss Feixuan. Can Ba Xiong guess why?”

Ba Fenghan calmly laughed and said, “That is not difficult to guess. One reason would be her unique personality traits, which Hou Xiong found it difficult to capture; or perhaps Hou Xiong’s passion runs too deep, you worry about personal gains and losses instead, and thus was unable to describe it with ink.”

Hou Xibai dejectedly said, “Those two reasons Ba Xiong mentioned are both logical. For me, I do not know which posture of hers ought to be put into the painting to show off her beautiful form; hence I am always hesitant and do not dare to move my brush.”

Touched, Ba Fenghan said, “That remark is more touching than any praise. Hou Xiong might as well paint a dozen or so Shi Feixuan on the fan, each one depicting one of her postures, charm or grace; won’t that solve the problem?”

Sighing, Hou Xibai said, “In that case, I am afraid I will have to paint endlessly, and thus I will be too disrespectful to her.”

Ba Fenghan was stunned for half a day. Finally he raised his cup and said, “That was a brilliant remark. Let Ol’ Ba respect Hou Xiong with a toast.”

Clinking their cups, the two drained the wine until not even half a drop remained.

After putting his cup down, Hou Xibai’s eyes suddenly became as sharp as a blade as he stared straight into Ba Fenghan’s eyes; his voice became cold, “Can this matter find a peaceful solution?”

Ba Fenghan flatly shook his head and replied, “Hou Xiong, let’s not talk nonsense.”

Hou Xibai wondered, “Ba Xiong has never shown any interest in our country’s affairs, why be involved in this pointless dispute? By obtaining the treasured jade annulus, what good would that bring Ba Xiong?”

Ba Fenghan replied impatiently, “Didn’t Hou Xiong want to fight? Ol’ Ba wants to get a firsthand experience of Hou Xiong’s fan art, which has shaken the world. This is called chance encounter is better than asking to meet. Hou Xiong, please!”

Both men’s eyes suddenly brightened up, neither one willing to concede as they stared at each other.

A strong stream of murderous aura emanated from Hou Xibai’s body straight toward Ba Fenghan.

Without any breeze, the scholar attire he was wearing suddenly fluttered like a flag, increasing his already-strong momentum.

On the other hand, Ba Fenghan remained as calm as an abyss and ocean, or like towering mountains and precipitous ridges; even though the wind and the waves crashed against it, they failed to sway him the least bit.

The wine pot and wine cups on the table started to shake; it was a very strange spectacle.

The two stared at each other for half a day; they both know that in term of momentum, it would be difficult to overwhelm each other. In the end, they had to exchange blows to seek each other’s weaknesses and flaws.

‘Swish!’

The fan appeared in Hou Xibai’s hand and opened up. The side facing Ba Fenghan had the paintings of eight beautiful women, each with different pose, showing off the beauty and disposition of each woman to the fullest.

Taken aback, Ba Fenghan said, “Isn’t that Shen Luoyan in the corner? I have never seen her with that kind of expression, and I have never thought she would be that fascinating.”

Hou Xibai’s momentum grew without restraint, but his face showed a tender expression as he spoke gently, “Luoyan is a very lonely girl. When I picked a white chrysanthemum that day and inserted it on her hair, she revealed that pleasantly-surprised and forlorn expression. At that time she must be remembering someone else. I was not jealous at all, on the contrary, I captured that moment in the painting. Only this expression can represent her best.”

‘Qiang!’ Ba Fenghan’s sword left its sheath and sliced across Hou Xibai sitting on the other side of the table.

‘Zip!’ the fan closed, with casual ease and freedom of action it parried Ba Fenghan’s swift-and-fierce-without-equal sword strike.

Both were shaken.

Both sides shivered inwardly.

Ba Fenghan’s seemingly simple sword strike was actually extremely difficult to block. While moving at lightning speed, it subsequently changed direction three times; his estimate was that no matter how brilliant Hou Xibai was, it would be quite awkward for him to evade or withdraw. Who would have thought that the sword was doomed to be blocked by the opponent?

A feeling of disbelief also appeared in Hou Xibai’s heart.

Since his debut, no matter how brilliant, illustrious, or overbearing opponent he encounter, no one has ever able to block ten strikes of his fan. But to deal with Ba Fenghan’s fantastically-changing-without-direction sword strike, he was forced to give it all he had.

Although on the surface he seemed relaxed, inwardly he had to waste tremendous strength on just this one move.

His natural disposition was free-and-easy and aloof-above-the-crowd; his display of martial art skill was also like that. Even if he got killed, on the surface he would still appear free-and-easy, unlike other people who would appear in great distress.

Two soaring stars of Wulin’s younger generation martial art masters finally had a face off.

The sword and the fan stopped in the air above the table.

Hou Xibai continuously blocked wave after wave of powerful five-way true qi streaming out of Ba Fenghan’s sword. Emotionally moved, he said, “Ba Xiong is more formidable than I thought.”

Inwardly, Ba Fenghan was actually shocked as well. He had never imagined Hou Xibai would be this brilliant. If his meridians had not been transformed by the Jade Annulus of He Clan the previous night, quite possibly by this time his internal energy he would have entered fire-deviation stage, and perhaps he would have suffered serious internal injury.

Laughing indifferently, he said, “Same here! Same here!”

The Beheading Mystery Sword retracted and extended, leaving Hou Xibai’s ‘Fan of Beauty’, and in succession cut and stabbed across the table five times.

Hou Xibai’s Fan of Beauty opened and closed at random, but it was always able to parry Ba Fenghan’s flowing-mercury like wild attack and ferocious strike in such an extremely ingenious way.

The most amazing thing was that Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were still sleeping like they were dead, seemingly oblivious that a life-and-death battle was happening between the two men.

‘Yawn!’

Kou Zhong sat up from his makeshift bed; looking around, he asked in surprise, “Hou Xibai, what are you doing here? The Jade Annulus of He Clan is practically not in our hands. Even if it was, we could always disregard his mother’s Jianghu rules and team up to kill you first.”

‘Qiang!

The Beheading Mystery Sword returned to its scabbard.