That night Song Yuzhi returned very late, everybody else was asleep already. By daybreak Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling went out for a stroll with Susu, while she was still asleep. By the time they came back, they found out that she had quietly slipped away.
After dinner that evening, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling had private discussion with Duan Yucheng, four people, about the route they were going to take to return to the North. Afterwards they returned to their rooms to rest.
Trailing behind Xu Ziling, Kou Zhong proudly said, "Ling Shao! This time I am listening to you! Last night I personally called off my engagement with Song Yuzhi, and this morning she left without even saying goodbye.”
Xu Ziling was amazed, "You don't seem to have the least bit of displeasure of her leaving?” he asked.
Kou Zhong sat down dejectedly, looking at Xu Ziling, who was standing by the bed, about ready to lie down and sleep; letting out a wry smile, he said, "I would be lying if I said I did not suffer any blow. But with so many things giving me headache right now, how could I have the luxury of worrying over this matter? Girls are like butterflies, if they want to fly away, just let them fly away! Ha! Not only we do not have any luck at the brothel, we don't have any luck with pretty girls either. All beautiful women seem to have ten grievances nine enmities with us.”
Xu Ziling was raising the mosquito curtain and was sitting down on the bed; hearing Kou Zhong's remark, his heart ached, recalling Fu Junchuo and Sister-in-law Zhen [See Book 1 Chapter 2]: the former's sweet soul was already gone, the latter's whereabouts was unknown. He could not help feeling depressed.
Currently Elder Sister Su was the closest woman to them, but her happiness was closely related to Xiang Yushan; would they be this helpless for the rest of their lives?
Kou Zhong mused, "Our trip back to the north this time could very well be the most dangerous journey we ever take. We don't even know for sure how many enemies we have out there.”
Taking a very deep breath, Xu Ziling said, "Starting tomorrow, we will have Duan Yucheng and the others subjected to the most rigorous training we can muster, so that they at least will have the ability to protect themselves.”
Kou Zhong nodded. "How many days do you think we ought to stay here?” he asked, "If we leave too early, Su Jie will certainly blame us.”
"Why don't we stay with Su Jie for ten more days?” Xu Ziling replied, "Incidentally we can also use this time to drill Yucheng and the others.”
Kou Zhong agreed, "Let's do it just as you said.”
"How's the situation with Beautiful Shifu?” Xu Ziling asked.
"Of course she wants to come with us to the north,” Kou Zhong replied, "But she is going to make her own arrangement.”
And then immediately lowering his voice, he said, "That Xiang kid told me quietly that she is going to rendezvous with Dugu Ce, that's why she is unwilling to leave Baling. Asking for this woman to be devoted to just one man is probably more difficult than plucking the bright moon from the sky.”
Frowning, Xu Ziling said, "Why did that Xiang kid tell you this kind of thing? This is totally unlike him.”
Letting out a cold snort, Kou Zhong said, "Naturally he received Xiao Xian, that old fox's order; he is trying to damage my relationship with Beautiful Shifu. Currently Haisha Bang has suffered severe setback, leaving only Jukun Bang, Shuilong [water dragon] Bang, and Dajiang [great river] Bang. In Xiao Xian's eyes, Beautiful Shifu is a lot more important than us.”
Xu Ziling spoke in heavy voice, "Just now our side warned Xiang kid, if Su Jie is the least bit unhappy, I will demand explanation from him.”
Kou Zhong laughed and said, "Even if he has guts as high as the sky, he won't dare bully Su Jie. Ay! I still don't understand why did Su Jie agree to marry him.”
Shushing him, Xu Ziling said, "It's no use talking about it now.” After pausing, he went on, "Do you know why I want to stay for that long, ten days? Although you agree, I know that you actually don't have any choice.”
Kou Zhong was stunned, "I really have not thought about it,” he replied, "I only think that being with Su Jie right now is the most important priority. As long as I am with her, I feel relaxed and comfortable.”
Xu Ziling apologetically said, "It was me who had weird thought. In my opinion, Evil Monk, Amorous Nun, and those vicious people would look for us to give us trouble. If we could ruthlessly inflict heavy losses to them first before starting out, our journey would be a lot smoother!”
Frowning, Kou Zhong said, "This place is Baling Bang's domain; do you think they'd dare to come here and run amuck?”
Xu Ziling smiled and said, "We came to their domain and killed Ren Shaoming, naturally they also want to kill us in our domain, so that they could show off their prowess. Therefore, unless they are not coming, they would definitely want to, using the ten-thousand-junpower, inflict the biggest casualties and heaviest damage in the shortest possible time.”
Raising his scimitar-like eyebrows, Kou Zhong laughed grimly and said, "Hence they must be sending people in advance to scout the situation and gather information. If we could intercept these vanguard troops, we can defeat them before they start, humph!”
With an indifferent laugh Xu Ziling said, "If I were they, I would take advantage while we go out with Su Jie on a tour to make my move; don't you agree?”
Kou Zhong's tiger-eyes immediately lit up.
Xu Ziling went on, "Once we are going up north to transport the salt, we will be in the open while the enemies are in the dark; we will be caught in the disadvantageous situation of an absolute passive position. Tactically, it is extremely unwise. If we cannot get hold of the initiative, I can guarantee that we will never reach Guanzhong.”
Kou Zhong was astounded, "What's going on today?” he asked, "It seems to me that you have never been this enthusiastic and proactive about these things.”
Xu Ziling shifted over to the window; with his hands behind his back he turned his gaze toward the starry sky outside, and said mysteriously, "The moment we killed Ren Shaoming, I suddenly felt myself stepping into another stage of my life's journey. Yet I know clearly that we have an unclear entanglement with several evil forces, and are being sucked into the maelstrom of the present age. We can't avoid it; either we choose to kill ourselves, or choose to confront it. There is no third possibility.”
Turning his head around, he noticed that Kou Zhong was staring at him with some strange expression. "Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked in astonishment.
Kou Zhong stood up abruptly, and then spoke in earnestness, "Because you have just displayed the prestige and style of a martial art master of the present age. What struck me the most was that it looked so smooth and natural.”
Xu Ziling smiled, "Oh please don't lick Xiaodi's butt,” he said, "Are you saying that you don't realize that recently your mannerism has also changed? Swindling, pretending, leading, listening, teaching, and every now and then speaking some pompous words, deceiving me big time.”
Kou Zhong slapped his shoulders hard and roared in laughter, "Sometimes a man shouldn't be that forthcoming,” he said, "There is one more thing that I haven't told you about: do you know who Song Yuzhi's future husband is? My Niang! It's Li Mi's only son.”
Although Xu Ziling was fully aware that Kou Zhong deliberately changed the subject, he still could not help crying out involuntarily, "What?”
Kou Zhong let his hand off Xu Ziling's shoulder; leaning on the window sill, he gazed into the boundless moonlit night, with gleaming eyes he said, "This is the Song Clan and Wagang Army's business deal. North and south aligning themselves, together they are going to deal with the Li Clan of the northwest. If we can't find a way to crush this north-south union, the world will eventually fall into the hands of Li Mi.”
Letting out a wry smile, Xu Ziling said, "Are you persuading me to agree with you in exploiting Song Yuzhi?”
Kou Zhong smiled and shook his head, "You despise me, Kou Zhong, too much,” he said, "As long as we can prevent Li Mi from taking over Luoyang, the engagement will be invalidated. At that time, whomever the Song family's Big Miss wants to marry, I, Kou Zhong will not destroy her happiness. However, if by that time she finds out that she is helpless to leave the Ol' Kou, it will be the Ol' Kou's good fortune. How's that? Am I forthcoming enough for you?”
Xu Ziling shrugged his shoulders, "All right!” he said, "We are all adults, let's leave this matter in Laotianye's hands. Right now let us focus our attention to deal with the enemy. Other things, we will think about it when we are still alive later!”
Knitting his brows, Kou Zhong said, "Are you implying that we must go to bed now? We haven't talked happily and excitedly like this, and haven't been getting along so well like this for a long time. Ha! These words ‘getting along well' are so appropriate.”
Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, "While we are getting along very well and our amiable talk is in full swing, I've got a hunch that Evil Monk, Amorous Nun and their cronies are lying low in the vicinity of Baling, waiting for an opportunity to kill us.”
Kou Zhong sat down and mused, "Perhaps they are even inside the city already. Is there any way we could lure them out?”
Calm and composed, Xu Ziling said, "He who comes is surely ill-intentioned, no-one well-meaning will come. If we wait for them to act first, it would be difficult for us to avoid dead and injured; hence the best strategy is whether we could gain the initiative by striking first.”
A faint smile, brimming with confidence, appeared on the corner of Kou Zhong's mouth; he said slowly, "This time we will be dealing with our enemy without relying on Xiao Xian's support at all; only by doing this will we reach our goal of tempering ourselves.”
After thinking deeply, he added, "In my opinion, due to their distinctive appearance, Evil Monk and Amorous Nun would not dare to venture into the city. Rather, they would send their people to spy and watch our movements. So they must be somewhere outside Xiang kid's General Mansion, watching our coming and going. As long as we can find those spies, we can launch the anti-tracking operation, and will be one step ahead in killing the enemy.”
Xu Ziling said, "After failed assassination attempt by Yang Xuyan, Xiang kid's military mansion's security is strengthened considerably; they even have hidden sentries outside the mansion. Therefore, if the opponents are sending people here, they must be good in hiding their tracks and are martial art experts in qinggong, so that it won't be easy for us to detect their movement and find their hiding place. Therefore, unless we have certain technique, it might be hard to find such people.”
Kou Zhong laughed aloud. "Don't worry!” he said, "Leave it to me. If even Evil Monk, Amorous Nun, I am unable to deal with, would I talk about vying over the world?