OT: I think this has been the highest number of comments between updates. Stay tuned, I might post extra updates this weekend.
Book 14 Chapter 11 - The Passionate Prince
Kou Zhong landed on the roof of the building at the wine shop's back garden; he was just about to jumped down into the courtyard below with the intention of entering the wine shop from the back door, he saw the silhouette of someone's back was leaping up from the courtyard, and happened to block his path.
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.