They had barely entered Imperial City, the more than a dozen men gathered inside the door went out to meet them. Other than three men wearing high-ranking military uniform complete with armors, the rest wore casual Confucian scholar attire. One of them, which Kou Zhong was surprised to see, was Ouyang Xiyi.
Ouyang Xiyi was a martial art master who had made his name for several decades; in Jianghu, his seniority was extremely high. Together with great scholar Wang Tong, they forged a very deep friendship, but for the last several years he had already disregarded the affairs of the life. Unexpectedly he could be here to help Wang Shichong in vying over the world. [See Book 4 Chapter 3]
At Pengcheng a few years back, using Chen Sha Jian [Sinking Sand Sword], he waged war against Ba Fenghan. Although at that time victory and defeat had not been decided, he had left an indelible impression in Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's hearts.
Apart from Ouyang Xiyi, there were two men and one woman that especially caught Kou Zhong's attention.
The woman was like a red dot amidst a cluster of then thousand greens; extremely noticeable.
She was a very pretty young woman, petite and nimble, carrying a sword on her back, but her expression was unusually somber, a no-nonsense attitude, yet there was also a cool and elegant, mature sex appeal. She exuded a proud and aloof aura that made people felt that she was cold and must not be offended, but also made people secretly felt that if they could break open that layer of protective screen, it would be a man's greatest accomplishment.
But the reason Kou Zhong paid particular attention to her was not her good looks at all, rather, it was her pair of radiant and glittering azure eyes, which made him realize that not only she was a Wulin master, but that she was not of Central Earth origin.
The others who caught his attention were two men: one old, one young. The old one was short and stocky, wearing Taoist robe, holding a whisk in his hand. His eyes, ears, nose and mouth were squeezed together at the middle of his fat face. A look at him was supposed to provoke laughter, but his half-closed narrow eyes were gleaming with sharp and luminous flicker, which faintly conveyed some kind of fierce and ruthless feeling, without the least bit of comical taste.
The young one was a sturdy looking man of twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with imposing built. Although he could not be compared to outstandingly handsome men like Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, Ba Fenghan, or the like, his face was simple and adorned, his dark complexion looked solid, giving out a tyrannical, dauntless, overbearing impression. His weapon was a pair of pecks hanging on his back.
It seemed like other than Ouyang Xiyi, from among the crowd, these three had the highest martial art skill; they could be listed among the front ranking martial art masters.
Ouyang Xiyi's gaze fell on Kou Zhong first; an astonished look flitted across his sharp eyes, but he did not say anything.
This moment Wang Shichong had already run up to meet them and said with a chuckle, "With ladies and gentlemen rushing over like this, I, Wang Shichong, have nothing else to fear.”
Kou Zhong slightly shivered in his heart, realizing only then that without making either motion or noise Wang Shichong has already mobilized people with most power under his command to deal with the immediate crisis.
Ouyang Xiyi and the others returned the propriety by declining modestly.
One of the generals said, "Mengqiu has made all the arrangements according to Shangshu's instructions.”
It was only this moment that Kou Zhong realized this man was the great general Song Mengqiu, the other trusted aide of Wang Shichong, Lang Feng's counterpart. Hastily he gave him a quick look.
This man was ugly, but his face radiated with bravery, mixed with excessively exaggerated loyalty, giving people the impression that he was wearing a mask. In just a glance Kou Zhong already developed a dislike toward him.
By this time Wang Shichong had already introduced Kou Zhong and the crowds to each other. Surprisingly, the woman's name sounded like the person; she was called Linglong Jiao [together, it means exquisite and delicate].
The fat Taoist was Ke Feng Daozhang [Taoist priest]. The sturdy-looking man was Chen Zhanglin; the rest were martial art masters from various famous schools and sects.
Apparently Ouyang Xiyi occupied highest position among the group; he smiled and said, "The ‘Secret to Long Life' is worthy to be one of the Four Great Amazing Books, otherwise it cannot bring up a talent like Kou Xiongdi.”
Kou Zhong promptly declined modestly.
After another round of polite greeting with everybody, Wang Shichong curbed his smile and said, "This matter should not be delayed, we must immediately enter the Palace to see that little muddleheaded ruler; let's see what kind of trick Dugu Feng [summit] is playing.”
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Noticing that even after hearing the word ‘Jade Annulus of He Clan' Xu Ziling was able to maintain his indifferent demeanor, Liu Heita smiled and said, "If Ziling knew more about the ‘Jade Annulus of He Clan', perhaps you would be a bit more interested.”
Xu Ziling was thinking about Kou Zhong; sighing inwardly, he forced himself to rouse his spirit and asked, "The ‘Jade Annulus of He Clan' is, of course, not only the seal of state, it was also the Emperor's personal symbol of authority. But other than that, what else does it worth?”
Liu Heita replied, "Frankly speaking, I am not too clear about this matter as well. But just from the fact that Ning Daoqi made an agreement with Ci Hang Jingzhai that he would loan the jade annulus for three years, evidently the ‘Jade Annulus of He Clan' is not simply a piece of precious gem. Otherwise, how could it move the heart of such an out-of-the-world, free-from-vulgarity, outstanding holy man like Ning Daoqi?”
Xu Ziling was stunned, "In that case,” he said, "Are you saying that the ‘Jade Annulus of He Clan' has been hidden in Ci Hang Jingzhai all along? But how did Liu Dage know?”
Liu Heita smiled mysteriously. Lowering his voice, he said, "On this, please forgive me, your Liu Dage, for keeping the climax from you; simply because I have made my promise not to divulge it to anybody else. Suffice it to say that you must know that this information is absolutely true.”
Frowning, Xu Ziling said, "If that is really the case, the rumor widely spread all over Jianghu that Ning Daoqi may come to Luoyang to hand the ‘Jade Annulus of He Clan' back to Shi Feixuan is not a fabrication relying on nothing at all. Ning Daoqi and Shi Feixuan are making an ostentatious display like this, did they think that the world is not chaotic enough as it is now?”
Liu Heita's dark face revealed a hint of smile as he spoke indifferently, "As it turns out, the opposite is true. This is the condition that Ci Hang Jingzhai imposed on Ning Daoqi before they agreed to loan the jade annulus to him: he must help set things right in the world to the benefit of thousands of people.”
His heart moved, Xu Ziling said, "In that case, Ning Daoqi is helping Ci Hang Jingzhai to promote the future ruler.”
Liu Heita was surprised. "Listening to your conjecture, it seems to me that even if you did not know the truth, yet you are not too far from it. According to Duke Dou and my own speculation, the purpose of Shi Feixuan's extraordinary visit to this mortal life this time is not only to deal with Yin Gui Pai, but it's also for an even more important mission, which is to find the true master for the sake of all the people. Just think: under today's circumstances, whoever can win Shi Feixuan's favor and is given the ‘Jade Annulus of He Clan', what can that person be in the future?”
Xu Ziling immediately felt a big headache.