When they woke up the next morning, Shang Xiuxun summoned the two boys into her tent. She was accompanied by Big Sister Fu and Xiao Juan. Her countenance heavy, she said, "This time, I consider the two of you have rendered great merit; some other day I will evaluate your merit and bestow rewards. For now, we need to change direction. You two and Fu'er, Juan'er go back to the Ranch with Er Zhishi; understood?”
The two boys groaned inwardly.
Frowning, Kou Zhong said, "Changzhu dispels us, it is really unwise.”
Both Big Sister Fu and Xiao Juan turned pale; they thought that the two boys dared to contradict their Ranch Master, perhaps they did not want to live anymore.
Yet Shang Xiuxun's reaction was not as intense as they imagined; she was only showing displeasure as she said, "In which regard am I unwise? If you can't give me a good reason, I guarantee that you will be sorry.”
Kou Zhong calmly said, "Don't forget that we are … hey! You know what I mean! You have talents yet you don't want to use it; that is not a smart decision.”
Astonishingly, Shang Xiuxun did not get angry; she sighed and said, "It's not that I wasn't thinking of taking you along, but our journey to Jingling is treacherous and hard to fathom. If something should happen, how am I supposed to take care of you?”
Kou Zhong lowered his voice to make a show that he was taking this matter seriously, "To tell you the truth, the two of us, brothers are actually ‘crouching tigers, hidden dragons'. If something happens, defending ourselves is not a problem. Hey! What are you laughing at?”
Both Big Sister Fu and Xiao Juan were unable to hold themselves; from snickering they burst into big laughter while covering their mouths.
Shang Xiuxun was smiling as well; she said crossly, "Based on your ‘three-legged cat' martial art skill, what crouching tigers, hidden dragons are you talking about? Just follow my order, I have no time to waste on you.”
Xu Ziling hurriedly said, "Changzhu, please listen to me. We have received Mr. Lu's instructions, when we meet the Ol' Die … hey! I mean, Ol' Du's main forces, we could be put to good use …”
"Rubbish!” Shang Xiuxun snapped, "By the time you use what you learned in a few days to build some mechanism, the city would have been broken and perished.”
With tongue like a reed [i.e. glib tongue], Kou Zhong said, "Changzhu's reasoning is flawed. Lu Miaozi's breast was filled with knowledge of this age, one of those happen to be troop disposition. Just like Zhuge Wuhou [i.e. Zhuge Liang of Three Kingdoms] arranged eight troops disposition diagram at the stone quarry, learning this kind of thing depends on talent and not on the learning duration. For example, for example, just by hearing it once, Xiao Jiang already understood the lesson. If you don't believe me, Changzhu may give him a test.”
Shang Xiuxun, Big Sister Fu and Xiao Juan's doubtful look fell on Xu Ziling. Without much choice he simply blurted out, "The Heaven is numbered five, the Earth is numbered five, five counted five results in a whole number. Hey! Is it enough?”
Kou Zhong added interest to the story, "This is called the five whole troop-dispositions of the Heaven and the Earth, it could give rise to changes and battles of supernatural beings, even if the opponent has magnificent army with thousands of men and horses, as we enter the troops disposition, we could … ha ha … as if entering the fog.”
Half-believing, half-doubting, Shang Xiuxun said, "If you two changed into Taoist robe, you can become two novice Taoist demon.”
Big Sister Fu and Xiao Juan saw the two boys' awkward manner as they were being ridiculed and scolded, and could only endure with bitter smile.
Seeing one stratagem failed, Kou Zhong executed a different plan, "Changzhu is sending us back to the Ranch, simply because you are afraid our little lives cannot be guaranteed; therefore, I will perform another divination. This divination … oh … this divination is called ‘absolute guarantee', meaning it will guarantee our two little lives, guaranteeing that not a single strand of our hair will be harmed.”
Shang Xiuxun sneered and said, "Since when did you change from a military genius to a divination genius?”
Kou Zhong's serious expression did not change; upright and unafraid, he said, "This is the simplest and most fundamental divination skill; it relies on sincerity and upright intention. The heart as the basis, the calculation is employed; the so-called joining the Heaven and the Earth in reliance of the calculation. Great spread out is numbered fifty, starting from one to equip five. Small spread out becomes ten, hence the great spread out becomes fifty-five. Based on these arguments, the divination is as accurate as the deities.”
He was an extremely intelligent person; although he had little interest in divination, but listening to Lu Miaozi and Xu Ziling's discussion, he learned a little bit of superficial knowledge. That plus his bragging skill, in the end he was able to provide clear and logical explanation.
Shang Xiuxun pondered for half a day; she said coldly, "Why are you so eager to go to Jingling? You don't seem to care even for your own lives?”
Thinking fast, Xu Ziling replied solemnly, "Because when Mr. Lu saw that we want to study for practical applications, and that we want to strive our hardest for the Ranch.”
Kou Zhong added, "Before his death, he also said that we do not have the appearance of those who would be short-lived, and that our good fortune is profound, therefore, we can have a free hand in tempering ourselves in a great undertaking.”
The two boys were accustomed to echo one another. Listening to them, Shang Xiuxun's jade countenance was slightly moved. She asked, "Can your divination foresee good and bad luck?”
His countenance did not change at all, Kou Zhong said, "That is only natural. Whatever you want to know, let Xiao Jing calculate with his fingers, and everything will be all right.”
In his heart, Xu Ziling could not wait to box Kou Zhong a little bit, but on the surface he had no choice but to put on the air of the number one divination expert in the world, naturally accompanied by a smile and a nod of his head.
Shang Xiuxun seemed to go through a very strenuous effort to convince herself; she said listlessly, "Very well! I'll let you stay to give it a try. Good or bad, you only have that old fellow to blame for mistakenly scrutinizing your facial features. After you become ghosts, don't blame me for not giving you sufficient warning.”
※ ※ ※
And thus they continued their journey.
The original group heading for Jingling consisted of twenty-eight people has now become twenty people, which was divided further into four groups, each group adopted different route, with several rendezvous points in towns and villages along the way, to pull wool over people's eyes.
It was unclear whether Shang Xiuxun wanted to rely on their divination ability, or she simply loved to listen to their bullsh1t, or perhaps she wanted to personally protect them, but she had Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong in her team, along with Liang Zhi, Wu Yan, plus the two senior martial art masters Shang Peng and Shang He; hence this group had the greatest power.
This group of seven people embarked on their journey in disguise; Shang Xiuxun was wearing men's clothing. Shang Peng and Shang He sat in the carriage, with Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling still acted as the drivers. Liang Zhi and Wu Yan became the family warriors who rode behind the carriage to protect them.
By that afternoon the group cut into the official road leading to the big city of Xiangyang, northwest of Jingling.
Gradually the road became busier with men and horses. Traveling merchants tend to stay together as a group, as they relied on numbers to provide strength. Only Jianghu characters would dare to come and go alone, or perhaps traveling as small group of two or three people.
Liang Zhi fell behind a little bit, and then he came to report to Shang Xiuxun, "Subordinate has inquired of people who come from Xiangyang, I heard that the city is under the control of one Qian Duguan, a local warrior. This person is adept in using a pair of sabers, and has proclaimed himself the hegemon of Xiangyang. Anybody who spares no effort in his account will have no problem with the authority. But the entrance duty into the city is considerably high, so the traveling merchants are grumbling.”
Shang Xiuxun said, "In front of Xiangyang's gate, just before entering the city early tomorrow morning, we must board a boat going down to Jingling. Although we will have to spend another day of traveling time, we will make the enemies unclear of our course of journey. It is still very worthwhile.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling suddenly understood that Shang Xiuxun accepted their advice and thus playing some tricks on their route to Jingling.
Shang Peng's voice came from the carriage, "It would be better if Laofu go ahead of you to Xiangyang to make arrangement about the boat. In this time of chaos all over the world, sometimes huge amount of money may not necessarily be able to hire a big boat to carry men and horses.”
Shang Xiuxun said, "Peng Lao, please don't worry, Xiuxun has already sent Xu Yang and Luo Fang to travel at double speed to hurry to Xiangyang to handle this very same matter!”
"Changzhu is very thorough!” Shang Peng praised.
When Liang Zhi was about to speak up, rapid hoof beats came from behind. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were about to look back, Liang Zhi shouted in displeasure, "Don't be meddlesome, quickly get the cart to the side.”
The two boys were startled by his order, they hastily brought the cart to one side of the road.
A group of more than thirty people, who looked like outlaws and fugitives of Jianghu, galloped fast past them; every one of them looked at this group to size them up.
One of them, a young man who appeared to be their leader, said, "Do they look like it?”
Another fat man replied, "Not quite!”
And then, like a tornado they disappeared around the bend ahead.
Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong wiped the cold sweats on their foreheads. Turned out the two men speaking were the ‘Gold and Silver Spear' Ling Feng and the ‘Fat Demon' Jin Bo [See Book 9 Chapter 3]. The other day when they were hiding underneath the ruble, they heard the voices of these two men, hence they immediately recognized them. Later on they wanted to pursue these men to test their skill, but came across Liu Zongdao and his men, and ended up hired as chefs at the Flying Horse Ranch. It was quite a surprise to come across these men again in here.
Fortunately the men did not recognize the two boys; otherwise they would be in terrible trouble.
What were they doing going to Xiangyang?
"Who are these people?” Liang Zhi wondered aloud.
Shang Xiuxun suddenly said, "Xiao Jing! Do your divination for me, see if you can find out what they are up to?”
Xu Ziling helplessly ‘pinched his fingers in calculation', and said, "They are looking for two men, full of fierce fighting spirit and animosity.”
"Ah!” Wu Yan exclaimed, "They must be Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling. These two men have turned the southern skies upside down, and they have the secret of ‘Duke Yang's Treasure'. Every body wants to capture them.”
Liang Zhi nodded and said, "Fu Zhishi is right. But since these two were able to assassinate Ren Shaoming in the midst of magnificent army with thousands of men and horses, how could they be easy target? Those men are simply overestimating their own capabilities.”
Shang Xiuxun asked in heavy voice, "How old are Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling? Do you know what they look like?”
Wu Yan replied, "They made their debut several years ago, so perhaps they are around thirty! I've heard people say that they look pretty thick and solid like an ox, their faces and eyes sinister, with just one look you'll know that they are not of the benevolent type.”
While on one hand the two boys cursed him in their hearts, on the other hand they were quite grateful to Wu Yan.
Shang Xiuxun was silent for half a day before giving out her order, "Let's hurry on!”
Knowing the danger has passed, the two boys breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Crack!'
The whip gently struck the horses' bottom, the carriage once again proceed speedily along the official road.