EDIT: Sorry, I missed TLD earlier: yes, you are right. I blame it on my lack of sleep. I already fixed my source document, so you'll see it in the unabridged thread.
Book 9 Chapter 12 - Underground Collection
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling sat side-by-side on the low stonewall by the pavilion on the back mountain, facing the precipitous cliff towering in the sky; below their feet was precisely the hundred-zhang deep abyss where the falling water rolled on endlessly.
After Kou Zhong finished listening to Xu Ziling's latest generation of lies he told Shang Xiuxun, Kou Zhong wiped the cold sweats from his forehead and said, "Fortunately I said I was in a hurry to go to the bathroom; otherwise the beautiful Changzhu might grab me and ask questions, and then we would have to jump down this ravine.”
Craning his neck to look down into the rapids at the bottom, he wondered aloud, "Based on our martial art skill, if we jump down, would we die or not?”
Xu Ziling smiled slightly without saying anything, but his eyes seemed to penetrate the deepest part of Kou Zhong's heart.
Finally Kou Zhong surrendered, "Why didn't you ask me what happened between Li Xiuning and me a moment ago?”
Xu Ziling sneered and said, "Didn't you say that the martial art from the ‘Secret to Long Life' has turned you more and more cold-hearted? You also said that for the sake of vying for the world, you would do anything by hook or by crook, and that you'd sacrifice everything you valued in your life? Since that is the case, do I still need to beg for an answer from you?”
Kou Zhong slapped his thigh and said with a sigh, "Ling Shao, this time you are wrong. The fact is that I am extremely vexed right now, because I could not help asking her if she was married to that muddled egg Chai Shao [Translator's note: I feel that ‘muddled egg' is funnier than scoundrel, or @$$hole …]. Just think! Ling Shao! Supposing her answer was ‘I'm not married yet', how would I handle her? I was fully aware that by asking that question I was spinning a cocoon around myself, yet I still asked her. Tell me, why did I do that?”
Xu Ziling's response was tepid, "So what did she say?”
Grieved, Kou Zhong replied, "She said that although she has not officially married, but there's not much difference with a married woman.”
Xu Ziling smiled wryly and said, "That is akin to saying that the one she loves is Chai Shao. That answer is indeed very difficult to bear, and also made me feel for the first time that you deserve sympathy. So what are you going to do? The moves you make in the battlefield of love will give you more headaches than the moves in the life and death's confrontation, plus the battlefield of love will leave both sides wounded.”
Kou Zhong coolly said, "Hence the reason I turned grief and indignation into strength; I told her I did not care in the slightest, and I thanked her for giving me the taste of grief for losing my love. With great difficulty I resisted the intense urge to kiss her and stormed out of the door. With my back against her, I felt so much pain that my entire body went numb.”
Xu Ziling casually remarked, "So did you go to the latrine to hide while weeping in bitter tears?”
Stunned, Kou Zhong turned his head to stare at him, "Don't you have any sympathy toward the poor me?” he asked.
Xu Ziling coldly replied, "Because the one deserving my sympathy is not you, but Li Xiuning.”
Kou Zhong had his eyes fixed on the cliff across the canyon; he mumbled as if he was talking to himself, "I was indeed a bit out of line, but at that time I really had a feeling that the more hurt her, the happier I would be. That was a completely out of control emotions, I know in my heart that I'm still holding tight on her.”
Xu Ziling sighed and said, "Thereupon you gave it your all in your attempt to, in a snap of your fingers, make her that she won't be able to forget you. Isn't that more cruel and ruthless to her?”
As if he was in delirious ravings Kou Zhong said, "Kill me now! I am in unbearable pain.”
Xu Ziling reached out to put his hand on his shoulder; he said with a wry smile, "I spoke without tact too much! Matters between men and women are like this, basically there is no logical explanation. Whoever has a bit stronger ‘divine power to protect the body' will suffer less harm; upon inspection, looks to me that it's very difficult for your ‘divine power to protect the body' to meet a minimum standard.”
Kou Zhong said in astonishment, "You said you don't have any tact, but now I just want to cry bitterly.”
The two boys ‘you look at me, I gaze at you', and then a smile started to form at the corners of their mouths, followed by a chorus of laughter and difficult-to-discern bitter-sweet hot tears, which warmed their hearts, and enforced the mutual feeling of sincere friendship between the two brothers.
Gasping for breath, Xu Ziling patted Kou Zhong's shoulder and said painfully, "Every time you lose your love, you are dragging me down and leaving me confused; therefore, I am the real victim here.”
Kou Zhong said with a wry smile, "Why is it that although I have suffered losing my love for the first time early on, the second time around is still unbearable? Not only that, it's getting worse!”
Shrugging his shoulders, Xu Ziling said, "What's so strange about that? It's because your love to her was even deeper.”
Kou Zhong seemed to be fully recovered; he nonchalantly nodded his head and said, "What you said is not without reason; over time, dripping water can wear out hard rock, therefore, right now my heart must have hundreds of holes and thousands of cavities. This is called ‘the great method of dripping tears on the heart'; it's a ‘different tune played with equal skill' with Lu Miaozi's ‘escaping one', because Li Xiuning is precisely my ‘escaping one'. Even though Shang Xiuxun is half a notch superior to her, in my heart I only have her.”
And then he added, "The rice has already been cooked, there's no more stopping. To conform to the Yijian Technique, what will our next step be?”
Xu Ziling calmed down; pondering deeply, he said, "We'll have to find a way to identify that s1ut first.”
Kou Zhong sighed and said, "If only we could go door to door and knock.”
Knitting his brows, Xu Ziling said, "With your exceptional ears, eavesdropping within a radius of a hundred li should not be a difficult thing to do!”
Kou Zhong laughed despite of himself, "Real exaggeration!” he said, "Come on!”
One after another the two boys jumped down from the stonewall and strode away from the pavilion.
Arriving at the winding corridor, they were met by Xiao Juan's slim and graceful figure. "I found you!” she called out cheerfully.
※ ※ ※
Shang Xiuxun was sitting upright and still on one side of the spacious study room, engrossed on a book she was holding with both hands, seemingly oblivious that Big Sister Fu has arrived, with the two boys right behind her.
Across the small garden outside was precisely the reception hall where Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling met her for the first time. At that time they had their spirit and soul upside down by this beauty's charming and touching mannerism as she sampled their handicraft.
The fact was, in her heart, Shang Xiuxun hated herself.
Even she did not understand why she loved to see these two boys so much; perhaps because she was so lonely?
It was not an issue of how many people she had by her side; rather, it was an issue of her state of mind.
She was the only daughter of the former Ranch Master; since her childhood she had been cultivated to be the heir, hence with aloof and remote position, governing her subordinates was as natural as breathing. Everybody venerated her like a deity; only these two boys were the exception, although on the surface they were very respectful. Just by looking at the brazen and wild expression in their eyes when they looked at her, she knew that in their eyes, she was just a woman.
This has sparked a ripple in her heart, something that was fresh and unique.
Big Sister Fu reported, "Two Xiao Shifu are here.”
Kou Zhong took a few steps forward; holding his saber with both hands he presented it to her and said, "Treasured Saber is here!”
Seeing Kou Zhong pretending to be respectful and proper, "Pfft!” Shang Xiuxun burst out giggling, just like a blooming fresh flower, so that Big Sister Fu, who seldom saw her beautiful demeanor like this, was stunned.
Noticing the three people were staring at her, Shang Xiuxun strived to suppress her smile; with a wooden face she scolded in low voice, "How many treasured sabers are there in the world?”
Still in low voice she went on, "Fu'er, you may withdraw!”
Big Sister Fu was slightly stunned, and then she withdrew from the study room.
Shang Xiuxun put down the book on the small table by her side. From Kou Zhong's hands she took the Moon in the Well; immediately her face showed astonishment. "I did not expect it to be this heavy,” she said in surprise.
Kou Zhong smiled apologetically and said, "This treasured saber is different from ordinary sabers.”
Frowning, Shang Xiuxun said, "Why are you standing so close?”
Embarrassed, Kou Zhong stepped back to Xu Ziling's side. Only the latter knew that he really did not wish to part with the Moon in the Well.
With her left hand Shang Xiuxun held the scabbard, with her right hand she lightly grabbed the hilt, but her pretty eyes were fixed on the two boys. She said calmly, "Although this saber is unremarkable at all, plus it's a bit rusty, but somehow when I went back, from time to time the sight of this saber appeared before my eyes, and I have some kind of unspeakable feeling toward it.”
Kou Zhong praised her wholeheartedly, "Changzhu indeed has a superior taste, unlike people with mediocre, superficial taste.”
Shang Xiuxun was already accustomed with the two boys' conversational manner, which did not regard her as the Ranch Master. Glowering at him, she said, "Who wants you to flatter me?”
‘Ring!'
The Moon in the Well went out about half a chi from its scabbard.
Emotionally moved, Shang Xiuxun said, "I have never seen any blade more blunt and more dull, without any shine, than this one, yet I have never seen some kind of loftiness in a simple and unadorned, inelegant blade like this either.”
Her pretty eyes shot toward Kou Zhong, she said in a heavy voice, "How did you get this?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Kou Zhong replied, "It was my Ah Ye [(paternal) grandpa who gave it to Die, and Die gave it to me.”
Returning the saber to its scabbard, Shang Xiuxun muttered irresolutely, "I wonder what did that Old Man say about this saber?”
Kou Zhong was slightly stunned; now he remembered that that night he lied about carrying this saber to see Lu Miaozi and learn martial art from him, but Lu Miaozi basically has never seen this saber. However, naturally not answering was not an option, therefore, he replied respectfully, "Mr. Lu said that this saber was the personal weapon of the one saber expert of two hundred years ago, the ‘Saber Overlord' Ling Shangren; I don't know how it fell into my paternal grandfather's hands?”
‘Ring!'
The Moon in the Well was pulled out of its scabbard by Shang Xiuxun's delicate and beautiful lily-white hand; she drew with it about a dozen saber flowers in front of her, but there was no frightening yellow glow like when Kou Zhong was using it.
A bit disappointed, Shang Xiuxun held the saber still and examined it carefully. She was puzzled, "Is it really rust? But it does not look like rust stain; rather, it's the texture of the metal specific to the saber's body.”
Noticing that just like Xiao Xian, Shang Xiuxun did not bring out the saber's unusual luster, Kou Zhong was even more convinced that he was the true master of this treasured saber. He said proudly, "This is a psychic treasured saber; my grandfather once said that one time a thief broke into our house, this saber unexpectedly let out incessant ringing to warn us!”
Listening to this even Xu Ziling was frowning, thinking that Kou Zhong went too far; but then again, only by doing that would they convince Shang Xiuxun that it was part of family legend.
Shang Xiuxun glowered at Kou Zhong and said, "You are bragging! Have you ever heard the saber ringing?”
Kou Zhong said with a wry smile, "Last time a thief came, it happened to be resting, so it did not ring.”
Shang Xiuxun was unable to hold back much longer, she burst into silver-bell like moving tender laughter, put the saber back into its scabbard, and tossed it back to Kou Zhong. She said, "Play a move or two, show me how much success you achieved from Shi Long.”
Kou Zhong held the saber across his chest, pulled it out of the scabbard, and hacked into the air several times, using ‘low hand' moves and techniques unique to Shi Long's martial school, with all the shortcomings displayed accurately and wonderfully.
Shang Xiuxun covered her laughing mouth and said, "Although your expression is of a martial art master's, your technique is quite mediocre, ay! You paid money to learn the skill in vain.”
Pretending to refuse to concede, Kou Zhong said, "Please check this out, my move ‘stars fill the sky'!”
He moved the saber and brandished it wildly.
Seeing him going all-out until his face turned red and his ears hot, Shang Xiuxun laughed like a shaking stem of flower; she said, "If you continued like this, there is no need for the enemy to kill you, you would die of exhaustion!”
Kou Zhong awkwardly returned the saber to its sheath; panting, he said, "Sabers are used to attack the enemy; how could you not use any force?”
Shang Xiuxun no longer paid any attention to him; turning to Xu Ziling, she said, "And what is your expertise?”
Xu Ziling was just admiring her alluring, beautiful-beyond-human-comprehension, touching manner while she was laughing; hearing the question, it was as if he had just been awakened from a dream. "I am worse compared to Xiao Ning, please excuse me!”
Irritated, Shang Xiuxun said, "Looks like you disregard me as your Changzhu more and more. Don't you know that what I say is an order?”
But then she smiled and said, "So be it! Avoiding displaying your disgrace to save face is a smart move.”
Suddenly rapid footsteps were heard in the distance, but coming fast toward them. The First Manager Liang Zhi's voice was heard outside the door, "Subordinate has an urgent matter needs to be reported to Changzhu.”
Still smiling, Shang Xiuxun said, "Da Zhishi, please come in!”
The two boys hastily stepped aside.
Liang Zhi came over toward Shang Xiuxun's seat in large strides. Bowing, he said, "Reporting to Changzhu: there are about 2000 enemies appear about thirty li from west side entrance of the Ranch, they look to be the vanguard regiment of the Four Big Bandits.”
Shang Xiuxun's pretty eyes flashed with cold rays; she spoke cool-headedly, "Any movement outside the east side entrance?”
With solemn expression Liang Zhi replied, "There's no report yet.”
Shang Xiuxun's gaze fell onto the two boys; she spoke heavily, "You may return to your lodging house. If there is nothing important, do not walk around; understood?”
The two boys promptly acknowledged the order and withdrew from the room.
※ ※ ※
Closing the door to their room, Kou Zhong sat down by Xu Ziling's side. "This does not make sense,” he said, "Anybody knows that Flying Horse Ranch is more difficult to break than any other fortified city; why would the Four Big Bandits abandon their stronghold and attack this place? There must be an intrigue here.”
"Could it be only a diversion?” Xu Ziling mused, "Their real target might be the nearby Dangyang or Yuan'an, or even farther down Jingling.”