Book 11 Chapter 8 - Ten Days in the Mountain
The three men sat by the pond. Ba Fenghan started his story, "When Junyu and I left Xiangyang that day, we took the land route going north to Luoyang. After hastening on our way for three days, we arrived at Nanyang Prefecture.”
"Who is in charge of the Nanyang Prefecture?” Kou Zhong asked.
Ba Fenghan was wiping the sword on his lap with his sleeve; he replied, "Nanyang is guarded by Wang Shichong and the great general under his command, the ‘Wuliang Jian' [Immeasurable Sword] Xiang Siren. This guy really knows a thing or two, and I believe he has some kinship with Wang Shichong.”
Emotionally touched, Xu Ziling said, "You seem to know our Central Plains' situation quite well. Who is the enemy of whom, and who is the relative of whom, our knowledge is quite a mess!”
Ba Fenghan smiled and said, "I simply paid more careful attention! Besides, in a lot of things, it was Junyu who told me. Once I heard it, I will not forget.”
"And then what happened?” Kou Zhong interrupted.
"It started as small thing,” Ba Fenghan said, "A bunch of enemy from the cold outside [of Great Wall] caught up with us, and we had a hard battle. After killing and injuring several people from the other side, we left Nanyang that very same night, continuing our journey to the north; who would have thought that we fell into an ambush along the way?” He played down the story, but the two boys could imagine the intensity of the battle; otherwise, Ba Fenghan and Fu Junyu would not have to flee.
The other party surprisingly had this kind of power.
His heart was moved, Kou Zhong said, "Did you come across Bi Xuan's eccentric disciple Tuoba Yu and his licentious, wild and romantic, pretty Shimei?”
Ba Fenghan was stunned. "How did you know them?” he asked.
"It's a complicated story that can't be expressed succinctly,” Kou Zhong replied, "Was it really them?”
"Kou Zhong, what's with you tonight?” Ba Fenghan asked in surprise, "You seem to be very impatient.”
Kou Zhong stared blankly for half a day. Finally he admitted, "I do feel a bit unusual tonight; it is very easy for me to lose my patience. I wonder why?”
Xu Ziling said, "Must be because you feel something is about to happen, but you cannot explain it. Am I right? Because I also feel a little ominous.”
Ba Fenghan laughed and said, "Let's not doubt the gods and suspect the ghosts! Anyway, with the three of us together, even if Bi Xuan wants to stir up trouble, he would have to pick some other day. You have nothing to worry about.”
Kou Zhong slapped his thigh, "Well said!” he said, "Old Ba, didn't you say that it's difficult for you to get along with people? I asked you something, you always hum and haw; not giving the straight answer, you skirt around the question. How actually did you get separated with Yu Yi? I am concerned over our Niang's Shimei's safety!”
Ba Fenghan laughed teasingly, "It was you who changed the subject! Are you interested in Tuoba Yu's pretty Shimei Chunyu Wei?”
This time it was Xu Ziling who got impatient, "Ba Xiong, just answer the question!” he said.
The smile suddenly disappeared from Ba Fenghan's face; his eyes turned cold. With a terrifying and chilling smile he said heavily, "We were intercepted by Yin Gui Pai's second best person, Bian Bufu inside an ancient temple; without saying anything he simply attacked us. I strived to fight him alone, giving Junyu the opportunity to slip away first. But after I managed to get away and went to the place where we were supposed to meet, I did not see her. I am afraid she has fallen into the hands of Yin Gui Pai people. I searched everywhere within the ten-li radius from that location, before finally, following the spider's thread and horse track, I went back to Xiangyang to look for her. Who would have thought that I came across that s1ut Zheng Shuming?”
Listening to him, the two boys looked at each other.
Grabbing his head, Kou Zhong said, "Where did this guy Bian Bufu come from? How come I have never heard anybody mentioning his name?”
Ba Fenghan said, "Bian Bufu is Zhu Yuyan's Shidi. This man's martial art skill is very high; indeed something that I rarely see in all my life. Any move that he made, my sword had to change several times before I could barely block him; it was such a strenuous fight. But he was half a notch inferior to me in terms of knowledge and strategy; otherwise right now I would not sit with you waiting for the dawn together.”
The two boys looked up to the sky; the first streak of dawn finally appeared on the eastern horizon.
Ba Fenghan casually made a remark, "He is Wanjing's biological father.”
"What?” the two boys blurted out.
Ba Fenghan smiled and said, "If Wanjing did not look like him, how could I recognize him in one glance? Bian Bufu is a Devil Cult's hermit; his nickname is ‘Mo Yin' [devil hidden/secret]. Are you unhappy because I strayed too far from the subject?”
Kou Zhong sneered and said, "I don't care if he is the ‘Mo Yin' or ‘Pi Yin' [pi - fart/nonsense], but I can guarantee that at most he is only ranks third in Yin Gui Pai. If you came across the real second best person, female demon Wanwan, chances are you won't have any chance to see the sunlight.”
His expression turned serious, Ba Fenghan said, "So Yin Gui Pai's direct descendant finally set foot in Jianghu? Can you tell me the details?”
Thereupon, with ‘you spoke one sentence, I tell one word', the two boys narrated their complicated and confusing encounter with Wanwan.
Ba Fenghan spoke heavily, "I have never imagined that Yin Gui Pai's direct disciple this generation could be that formidable, Ol' Ba must give it a go. Supposing I can take her, then I would be able to make a business deal with Yin Gui Pai. Your plan is too passive. You wanted to find your four brothers first, but all these things are unknown factors.”
Xu Ziling said indifferently, "What makes Ba Xiong think that Yin Gui Pai would be willing to spend any effort in dealing with you?”
A faint smile appeared on Ba Fenghan's face; sweeping the two boys with his gaze, he said, "You ought to be very clear about that. Since female demon Wanwan already joined hands with Changshu Mou and Du Fuwei to capture Jingling, naturally that means that Zhu Yuyan and Qu Ao have an agreement with the Old Du to lend their hands in his effort to conquer the world. Moreover, Junyu and I have inadvertently spoiled their operation in dealing with you and the Flying Horse Ranch. The way the Devil Cult do business is blood for blood; enmity must be avenged. Just based on this little fact, Yin Gui Pai will not spare any effort to kill me.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's countenance changed immediately.
Ba Fenghan understood the cause of their anxiety; he said with a cold snort, "Gentlemen need not be anxious too much; your Yu Yi is the direct disciple of Yijian Dashi Fu Cailin. Even if Zhu Yuyan does not have any regard for anybody in the world, she would not be that stupid by provoking a big enemy that can easily capsize Yin Gui Pai. The one they want to deal with is just this Ol' Ba. If we can capture female demon Wanwan, we can negotiate with Zhu Yuyan to exchange life for life.”
Blowing out a mouthful of cold air, Kou Zhong said, "It has been many days, that female demon Wanwan might have completely recovered, if she has the help of that Bian Bufu and several Yin Gui Pai's bandits, whether we can escape alive or not would become a big question, much less capturing her. Ba Xiong must be joking.”
Ba Fenghan let out a slight smile; he said full of confidence, "If our martial art skill can advance by leaps and bounds in a short period of time, but we keep low profile, and then suddenly attack, picking the enemy's important character and plot against that person by hook or by crook, what do you think will happen?”
Listening to that, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked at each other, and then they promptly asked for guidance.
Ba Fenghan's sharp eyes flickered with chilling murderous intent as he slowly said, "The reason I went around everywhere looking for martial art masters and challenging them was because I have not met any opponent with enough weight. If two Ren Xiong [brothers, generic term] are willing to delve into martial art study with me, sharpening our strength and repairing our weaknesses, if we have eight to ten days of time, we can surpass other people's eight to ten years of effort. This is something that other people would never expect. Our advantage is that we are still young; however, in our continuous progress, we lack new challenges.”
Kou Zhong slapped his thigh in praise; he said, "Good for you to think about that. But there is one thing I don't understand: your relationship with us has never been a good one, why are you willing to sincerely collaborate with us, two brothers? Besides, Yin Gui Pai's real target is us, not Ba Xiong at all, so by doing this Ba Xiong will tie an unresolvable deep enmity with Yin Gui Pai and Qu Ao.”
Ba Fenghan looked up to the sky to greet the first ray of the sun into the valley; he smiled and said, "I am used to coming and going alone, collaboration with you is just a plan of convenience, just something that will bring enormous benefit to everybody, also the incomparably significant step in our journey to reach the peak of martial art study. There is a chance that we might cross sword someday, but right now, for a short period of time, our only way of survival is to throw away all gratitude and grudges of the past, and work together to fight a big enemy. Humph! Whoever wants my, Ba Fenghan's life won't have any good days to pass.”
Kou Zhong nodded and said, "Ba Xiong has formidable eloquence; listening to you, my heart is deeply moved. But we can't possibly fight all day long, we must also find time to scout the enemy's movement.”
Xu Ziling disagreed, "This is not inaction,” he said, "Last night we already revealed our track, that female demon Wanwan would cross the ocean to kill us. Since the Devil Sect's enmity must be avenged, they will definitely fulfill their oath. As soon as they mobilize their people to find us, chances are they would. Our only concern right now is Yucheng and the others' safety. If we can find them, we can put the load on our mind, at least in this aspect, down!”
Ba Fenghan nodded; he said, "Xu Xiong is right. Within these ten days, we must abandon everything and focus our aspiration on the martial art study; a race against time. Everything else will have to wait until after ten days. Otherwise, even if we go out, we will simply go out in vain, we will only invite disgrace, and later on we can only hide to the east and escape to the west, always anxious without being able to carry on even for a single day. What's the meaning of our lives, then?”
Extending his right hand, Kou Zhong spoke seriously, "Well said! We will hide for ten his mother's days, after that we will strike with ten-thousand-catty-force thunder, to let Zhu Yuyan know that the world is not for them to go on the rampage.”
Ba Fenghan also extended his right hand to hold Kou Zhong's hand; he solemnly said, "If my guess is right, when the enemy fail to find us, they would set up an inescapable net at Luoyang, waiting for us to fall into it. That will be the best moment for us to strike back.”
Xu Ziling put his hand on the back of Ba Fenghan's hand and said, "Therefore, the most important thing right now is how to find a secret place to hide. If we hide here, just by the sound of clashing blades and the wind from our palms will be enough to attract the enemy.”
Ba Fenghan had already planned in advance; he said, "Southeast of Xiangyang, there is a mountain called Dahong; it stretches for hundreds of li. We can randomly pick a remote valley deep in the mountains, I guarantee we will be able to avoid the people's eyes and ears. Gentlemen, what do you think?”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling readily agreed.