Xu Ziling, who was lying low on the back of the roof slope, suddenly felt an overwhelming and intense murderous intention, which he himself did not understand. Upon further reflection, he realized that it was because of the verbal insults were directed to Shang Xiuxun.
Standing next to Xiang Batian was a thick and solid, sturdy man, with a criss-crossing pair of wolf-teeth clubs on his back, the flesh on his face grew without restraint, and a big wart grew on his forehead, which made him appeared uglier. The man laughed wildly and said, "Changzhu recklessly went out to battle, your defeat is guaranteed. But if you are willing to give yourself to serve us, to be our companion in bed, naturally everything can be discussed.” His talk was even more obscene.
The thieves roared in lewd laughter again, filled with arrogance.
Xu Ziling suddenly remembered that spy.
If there were no spies playing their tricks, how could the thieves know Shang Xiuxun's whereabouts? They would not know the Flying Horse Ranch's strength, and thus the Ranch would not take such a beating in such a short period of time.
However, as long as the Ranch was able to steadily defend the mouth of the gorge on both sides, they still could not be considered lost.
Another bandit leader laughed eerily and said, "One bed one companion. Fang Sandi's [third (younger) brother] proposal is amazing. It's just that Shang Changzhu is a virgin; even if in her heart she is a thousand times, then thousand times willing, but in the presence of so many people, naturally her tender face is blushing bashfully, so she is speechless! Don't you think my, Mao Zao's perception on women's heart is thorough enough?”
This person's figure was tall and thin, a picture of a bad demon scholar; he had a pair of double apostrophe thin moustache above his lips [orig. eight character (八) shaped], and a horsetail whisk stuck on his back. His attire was nondescript [lit. neither fish nor fowl]. Just by a single glance one would have been able to guess that he must be the ‘scorched earth for a thousand li' Mao Zao, who ranked second among the Four Big Bandits.
The one who spoke earlier, the man with a wart on his forehead, the one he called the third brother, must be the ‘chicken and dogs won't remain', Fang Jianding.
The one Xu Ziling paid particular attention to was the only one who had not spoken yet, who ought to be the leader of the Four Big Bandits, ‘the ghosts weep the deities cry', Cao Yinglong.
This person looked majestic; he had a pair of big ‘catching-the-wind' ears, his forehead was covered in deep wrinkles, his cheekbones high, his cheeks sunken, his eyes appeared half-open half-closed, giving others deep impression. But his overall appearance was not as loathsome as the other three; he appeared a bit like an old pedant who does not like to talk.
In his left hand he held a spear forged entirely from refined steel; it appeared to weigh at least forty or fifty catties.
‘Ding!'
Xiang Batian raised both hands up and struck his pair of ‘Soul-snatching Tooth Ring', creating a clear and crisp sound. The dozen or so of his men standing behind him immediately fanned out to do house-to-house search. Some even leaped onto the roof to act as a lookout.
For the next few moments, the continuous sound of doors breaking and windows shattering was heard. The murderous intention in Xu Ziling's heart was rising as he quietly gathered his power.
※ ※ ※
With the aid of the divine escape, Kou Zhong dove through the Inner Castle, flying over the houses and leaped over the buildings, in the direction of the outer city wall. As he was passing the courtyard where he caught sight of Yuan'er and that outside ghost's tryst the other night, he had an idea and turned toward it.
He faintly heard voices from the building, but saw no lantern light.
Kou Zhong crouched low in the courtyard. After going through a fierce battle of conflicting thoughts within himself, he still could not bear to let it go. Leaping onto a tree by the house, he looked in through the window.
From this angle, he was able to see Yuan'er's lover [lit. male adulterer] from the other night and another man sitting on the chairs by the window, facing other people, who were out of his line of sight. But listening to the conversation, he determined that there were no less than ten people in that room.
With the lesson he learned last time, Kou Zhong knew that the lover's skill was quite outstanding, so he hastily employed the inner breathing from the ‘Secret to Long Life', while at the same time suppressing the brilliance of his eyes.
He heard someone said, "The most brilliant aspect of our entire operation this time is the coordinated attack from the inside and the outside, and thus catching them off-guard. Moreover, with Gongzi [young master] personally presiding over it in secret, we need not worry that the Flying Horse Ranch will not fall into our hands.”
The lover laughed aloud and said, "Chen Laoshi [lit. teacher] ought to stop flattering me. I, Li Tianfan, am merely a small fry who waves the banner and cheers from the side. The one holding the command flag is Shen Junshi [military strategist/advisor].”
Kou Zhong's scalp went numb instantly; it was only then did he realize the seriousness of the situation.
Military Advisor Shen was, naturally, Shen Luoyan. Li Tianfan was Li Mi's son, also Song Yuzhi's betrothed. Just the fact that these two people were sitting in this meeting was a strong and powerful indicator that Li Mi did not spare any effort to seize the Flying Horse Ranch and deal with Li Xiuning at the same time.
Sure enough, Shen Luoyan's warbling sweet voice came from inside, "Gongzi is too modest! Luoyan is ashamed and dare not accept the honor. Right now it's only the hai hour [between 9-11pm], Shang Xiuxun has become the fish in Cao Mengzhu's [alliance master/leader] net, we should also hear news from the Inner Castle.”
Li Tianfan sneered and said, "Shang Xiuxun has always been a lone flower admiring itself; she has no regards toward the people of the world. In terms of ability and wisdom, how could she match Shen Junshi? While we still have a bit of time, it would be best if Shen Junshi could give us more details on our coordinated operation.”
This man struck the right note, proving the adage that tiger father would not begot dog child; apparently he was a very capable leader.
Kou Zhong was seriously considering killing this son; if he succeeded, wouldn't Song Yuzhi's engagement be annulled immediately? Or else, if Li Mi succeeded in capturing Luoyang, Song Yuzhi would have to immediately marry into the Li family.
He already lost Li Xiuning; if Song Yuzhi was married to someone else, and the Song Clan and Li Mi became family, it would be a big blow to Kou Zhong, both in his public, as well as his private lives.
Thinking to this point, his heart was boiling, but his mind was still as cold as ice.
The most important thing right now was to get a feel of the strength of these people inside. Just one Shen Luoyan was already difficult to deal with, not to mention Li Tianfan, who was even more formidable. If he was not careful, he might even lose his life here.
Ay! If only Xiao Ling were here. Now he only wanted to be the knight in shining armor [orig. hero who rescues the beauty]. If he by any chance could win her heart, nothing could be more ideal than that.
※ ※ ※
‘Bang!'
The wooden door burst open.
A man burst into the house where Shang Xiuxun was hiding. Xu Ziling was storing up his power and waited. The moment the Four Big Bandits made some unusual move toward Shang Xiuxun, that would be the moment he would also make his move.
The Four Big Bandits looked shocked as they turned to look at both the front and rear doors of the house. Not because they heard any particular noise, but because there was no sound from the inside, not even footsteps.
This did not make any sense at all.
The man who entered the house was not an ordinary fighter. Even if the entire Flying Horse Ranch was inside the house, they could not possibly subdue him in just one move.
Xu Ziling was surprised as well; he forgot to make his move.
Cao Yinglong, who thus far has not spoken yet, suddenly said coldly, "Men! Smash the whole house to pieces for me!”
The crowd of bandits behind him thundered their acknowledgement and moved out immediately.
The martial art masters among the bandits, who were standing guard on the surrounding roofs, also had their attention focused in this place. They all held their torches high, so that the entire village was aglow.
Fang Jianding shouted harshly as he stepped out from among the crowd. Storming up the stone steps, with both palms he struck the wall next to the door.
At first the wall did not show anything unusual, but then the eaves above started to shake like in an earthquake, followed by the entire wall started to crumble and ruptured inward, slightly exposing the situation inside the hall, before it got covered by collapsing roof, the broken tiles and the rising dust.
The crowd of bandits broke in thunderous cheers and swarmed toward the house like a pack of hungry beasts sniffing the blood of their prey.
Witnessing Fang Jianding's formidable palms, Xu Ziling thought that if he was using the pair of wolf-teeth clubs on his back, it would definitely a total annihilation [orig. sweeping away a thousand armies]. But this has aroused his fighting spirit even more.
This moment he heard gusts of wind from the building to his left. The martial art masters on the bandits' side were swarming toward his hiding place. Xu Ziling sighed inwardly. Momentarily putting aside his intention of killing the bandits' leaders, his gaze quickly scanned his surroundings, near and far, trying to find a new hiding place.
In a side garden of a house just outside the range of the torches' light, he saw a small brick structure - approximately two zhang square - that looked like a shed where people put their junks. Quickly sliding down the roof, he went to hide in there.
The wooden door opened easily. Before he was able to see anything clearly, he heard a soft rumble of mechanism from the underground. But because of the incessant noise outside from the house coming down, the other noise was kind of drowned, so that he would not have to worry that the people outside would hear it.
Xu Ziling quickly closed the door. As expected, the room was filled with miscellaneous farming tools, but the middle of the room was empty. A slab of floor slowly sank down, exposing a dark and deep tunnel underneath.
Xu Ziling immediately remembered Lu Miaozi, the number one master craftsman under the heavens.
※ ※ ※
Shen Luoyan was about to speak when a bird cry was heard from a roof on a distance. Li Tianfan immediately said, "Li Xiuning has fallen into the trap, everything proceeds as planned.”
Kou Zhong knew that they received the signal Yuan'er transmitted from the Inner Castle; he could not help smiling wryly inwardly.
Could he really ignore Li Xiuning's safety?
Let alone this matter had direct relation to his endeavor for hegemony over the land under the heavens!