The prairie was on a plateau, the area was vast, and within this region there were thousands and lakes, big and small. To the east it reaches the Xing’an mountain range, to the west the Altai mountain range, to the south it reaches the Yinshan mountain range, and to the north is Lake Baikal and Yenishui River, the upper reaches of the Irtyish River region.
East to west is comparatively wider; it is more than three thousand li, while north to south was only a bit more than two thousand li. Even galloping on the fastest steed, and able to travel a hundred li a day, plus without taking any rest along the way, and there was no obstacles slowing the journey, without a month of time, one could forget about crossing the prairie.
From Kenchi Mountain to Xing’an mountain range, from Wonan River to Qielulian River, Yinshan mountain range’s vast area, the terrain includes undulating, not-too-big hills, plains, deserts and mountainous region.
The yellow-sanded, vast and mighty Gobi Desert was located on the southern half and western part of the prairie. It was critically short of water, so that it became the barren land that terrified the people of the prairie the most. The climate changes were even more drastic. It was very windy in the spring, a lot of rain in the northern part in the summer, and dry and blisteringly hot in the south.
In this unique nature and scenery of the vast region, the most precious thing was the gra.s.s, followed by the water. These two were the fundamental condition for survival; one could not do without either. Whenever the water and the gra.s.s of certain place were exhausted, it was time to move to another pastureland, in order to resolve the problem of raising livestock, which gave birth to the nomadic livelihood following the water and the gra.s.s.
Livestock was their livelihood; the water and the gra.s.s were the fundamental conditions. It was precisely around these two elements that the people of the prairie started their you-fight-I-s.n.a.t.c.h struggle for supremacy. Starting with the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, and the Tujue of today, the tribe was rising to succeed the other, becoming the overlord of the prairie. Some ethnic groups merged, and the merger formed a cohesive whole; some took refuge in a faraway land. The rate of these changes was something that Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, Han people from the Central Earth – found it difficult to imagine.
Under these circ.u.mstances, none of the tribes that were able to survive was not valiant. They relied on military force to protect water and gra.s.s and livestock. Thereupon martial art masters came forth in large numbers, capable people were countless.
But a man who intimidated the earth like Bi Xuan, seldom appeared in the prairie; he was more of an unusual case. But today he finally had an opponent who had enough qualifications to challenge him – Ba Fenghan.
The two battles of Helian Fort and Rushing Wolf Plains have ordained that there would come a day where these two martial art masters of two generations would stand face to face.
Hulunbuir pasture, the most fertile land in the prairie, was located between the Kuolianhai and Buir, two big lakes. Currently, it was Xieli’s base of operations. If Tuli could successfully capture this region, he could usurp Xieli’s position and became the new generation hegemon leader of the gra.s.sland.
Under the hooves of the three men’s horses, the vast, populous and affluent Hulunbuir gra.s.sland extended to the infinite distance beyond the horizon. In this beautiful region that was acclaimed to be the cradle of the nomadic people, the big and small lakes were like multifaceted clear mirrors sprinkling the landscape. Long and short rivers and streams intertwined over the ground covered by soft carpet of green gra.s.s. Flocks of wild horses galloped to their heart’s content, everywhere they looked, there were waves of gra.s.s and fragrance of flowers. Standing in the middle of it all felt like falling into a beautiful dream that could not be described in words.
In here, the most ferocious people were the Tujue, who considered themselves to be the wolves. The most vicious beasts were the real wolves, which hunted for their food in pack, and which howl alone was enough to make people trembling in fear and losing their soul.
The two largest lakes were the Hulun Lake and Buir Lake, which are connected by the Wu’erxun River. Entering the prairie from the east side, the position of the river course often changes, just like the nomadic people who are without any fixed residence. Even the water of the river itself from time to time changed from salty to fresh and back, but the fish were plentiful.
After parting ways with Tuli’s main army, the three intentionally made a detour via this area. On one hand, it was to make people watching for the Five-Colored Stone, or perhaps even their lives, unable to ascertain their whereabouts. But the more important reason was so that the two visitors from afar, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, could enjoy the most moving scenery of the prairie.
Pointing to about a dozen tents standing by a small lake in the distance, with large flocks of horses and sheep grazing nearby, and several herdsmen leisurely watching their flocks, Kou Zhong asked, “Which tribe do those tents belong to?”
Following his finger, Ba Fenghan took a couple of glances, and then said, “Felt-covered tent body, bulging in middle but drooping down all around, those are our Tujue tents. If Shaoshuai like, we can ask for lodging over there tonight, so that you can experience the customs of my people.”
Worried, Xu Ziling said, “Isn’t this Xieli’s territory? How could they welcome us?”
Ba Fenghan laughed freely and said, “In the prairie, every small tribe grazing their livestock is like a community that is isolated from the rest of the world. News do not circulate here. Sometimes they don’t come across any outsiders for the whole year. When encountering strangers, they might be particularly hospitable. Everybody watches for everybody else. Hence the reason I hate horse thieves the most, because they are the despicable destroyer and robbers of this gra.s.sland livelihood. Killing horse thieves is a redemption for myself as being a horse thief when I was young.”
Kou Zhong cheerfully said, “In that case we’d better take a look whether there is any business of killing horse thieves, perhaps we can catch one or two to play with.”
Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “If you are holding on to that intention, you will return in disappointment, because horse thieves will never dare to commit a crime within Xieli’s territory, and Xieli is the horse thieves’ boss whose power is the strongest in the prairie, plus he is the horse thief who is capable of seizing a country and exterminating the entire tribe.”
Fixing his gaze forward, Kou Zhong said, “I wonder if Li Shimin is at war with JinGang; how’s the battlefield situation?”
Casting his gaze toward the verdant meadow, Xu Ziling said, “I don’t feel like thinking about anything right now, I just want to lie down quietly watching the floating clouds in the sky. Xiao Zhong, I don’t know if you notice it, but after setting foot on this prairie, Thousand-Li Dream and Ten-thousand-Li Spots are unusually spirited.”
Ba Fenghan said, “That’s why some people say that Hulunbuir is the birthplace of the horses; just like you guys returning to Yangzhou, Xiaodi returning to Gaochang City. Although I am a Tujue, I was born there.”
This was the first time that Ba Fenghan mentioned his birthplace. Greatly interested, Kou Zhong said, “Gaochang! Aren’t Ferghana horses [orig. blood-sweat treasured-horse] Gaochang’s specialty products? What does it look like?”
A hint of bitter smile appeared on the corner of Ba Fenghan’s mouth, he spoke heavily, “Gaochang is located in a big basin valley called Turpan west of the prairie, in the vein sandwiched between two mountain ranges, forming a vast plain. The south is the desolate Grottago mountain, the north is sealed by the peaks of Bogda Mountain. Very hot during the day, and extremely cold during the night; typical desert climate.”
“It would be great if we could pa.s.s it along the way!” Kou Zhong said, “Speaking about along the way, I wonder if along the way we will be able to kill the Husband and Wife Team of Evil Thieves of the South Shiwei Shen Mohuan and Mu Ling? So that Jian Dashi can resolve this matter for regret in his entire life.”
Patting the Perished Moon Bow hanging on his back, Ba Fenghan nodded and said, “Receiving other people’s thing, naturally we must do things for others. But we may not necessarily have to suffer untold hardships to look for Shen Mohuan. If I am guessing correctly, he should be looking for us to give us bad luck, because not only he is Xieli’s hunting dog and claw and teeth, we also have the Five-Colored Stone with us. It would be strange indeed if he is willing to let us off.”
They already pa.s.sed the Tujue shepherds camp far behind. The sun was still hanging low above the plains, very soon the white cloud in the blue sky would be replaced by enchanting starry night; in the prairie, the natural change of nightfall gives people a particularly intense feeling.
Pointing to a flat land in the distance, Xu Ziling asked, “What is that?”
The other two focused their eyes to see. Frowning, Kou Zhong said, “It looks like a tent.”
As the three urged their horses to gallop faster, the black dot grew into a tent, standing alone on the plain.
Ba Fenghan said, “This is a mourning tent specifically erected to keep the body of the deceased until burial, otherwise, there won’t be memorial banners standing on all four sides. Really strange! Do you see anybody?”
The two shook their heads with blank expressions; they all felt something was not right.
It seemed to be very close, but it was not until the sun has disappeared under the plains that they arrived in front of this strange tent. Inside the tent, not a soul was in sight.
The three jumped off the horses and let them eat the gra.s.s and rest. On the vast gra.s.sland under the starry sky, it was dark and quiet without any human trace.
Kou Zhong stared blankly at the mourning tent, which should have been used to keep the body of the deceased before cremation or burial. “This thing is so demonical. This was clearly erected in our path; most likely it is waiting here for us.”
Ba Fenghan’s eyes slowly swept across the gra.s.sland, searching for traces of the enemy; he agreed, “This is the first time that I encountered such a strange thing.”
After walking around the tent, Xu Ziling came back to the two men’s side and said, “The strange thing is that there are no traces of anybody trampling the gra.s.s around the tent. Do you think we can do it?”
Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “It’s impossible not to leave any mark.” And then after personally examining the gra.s.s around the tent, he said with a wry smile, “We are encountering a real martial art master!”
Drawing out a mouthful of cold air, Kou Zhong said, “Could it be Shi Zhixuan?”
In the night sky, the bright moon was low on the horizon, bathing the prairie in its misty beauty light. The night breeze was blowing gently, the night was as cool as the water, but the three felt the chill creeping up all over their body.
No matter who the opposite side was, merely this show of skill was enough to intimidate these three extremely daring men.
It should be noted that in order to visit Longquan to take advantage of the lively ceremony of Bohai Kingdom starting their dynasty, they have been hurrying without stopping to rest, yet unexpectedly the other side could the G.o.ds-did-not-know, the-ghosts-did-not-perceive follow behind them. And now he even pa.s.sed them, to be one step ahead and set up this inauspicious mourning tent, which was simply impossible to accomplish.
“I dare say this is just a coincidence,” Kou Zhong spoke resolutely.
He had not finished speaking when a cold snort came from the direction of the horses eating gra.s.s behind them, shocking the three that their ears were buzzing.
Greatly shaken, the three turned around like whirlwind.
Under the misty moonlight, a man was standing proudly among the horses. With one hand behind his back, his other hand gently stroked the mane on the back of Ten-thousand-Li Spots’ neck. His expression was free and easy, but his entire body seemed to be emitting demonic, strange, indescribably terrifying aura, as if the deity demon ruling the prairie in the dark suddenly appeared in the flesh in the human world.
He appeared to be a man of thirty-something years of age, with perfect physique, his bronzed skin was gleaming with dazzling l.u.s.ter, his legs unusually long, making his imposing body had a reaching-to-the-starry-sky momentum even more. Draped over his body, the wild-hemp outer robe was fluttering in the wind. His palms were thick, broad, and big, seemingly containing the most terrifying power on earth. The most shocking thing was that he seemed to be br.i.m.m.i.n.g with the bubbling-up-in-the-dark the water of the ocean; there was quietness within the movement, and movement contained within the stillness, so that others were completely unable to fathom his movement and stillness.
His jet-black hair was tied behind his head into a bun, his handsome, mighty, and quaint charming face was like cast bronze statue, without the least bit of blemish. Just one glance would be enough to make people cannot forget him for the rest of their life, with their heart palpitating with fear.
Embedded above his high and erect, perfectly straight nose bridge was a pair of br.i.m.m.i.n.g with demonic strange charm, grave and stern, as well as in high spirits, yet would never reveal the mood changes and the perception in his heart – eyes, which gave the impression that he might make his move at any moment to destroy someone or something, and after the fact he would not have the slightest amount of guilty conscience.
The man spoke leisurely, “Good horse! Best to be buried as funerary object.”
Taking a step forward, Ba Fenghan’s pair of eyes flashed with unprecedented rays of light, he shouted loudly, “Is the newcomer Bi Xuan?”
Hearing that, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked at each other; they would never have thought that they might suddenly encounter the able-to-move-unhindered-on-the-prairie-without-reason, his-famous-reputation-never-failed-for-several-decades ‘Martial Art Venerable’ Bi Xuan.
He who comes is surely ill-intentioned, no-one well-meaning will come!
Bi Xuan showed clearly that because they helped Tuli defeating Xieli, he was angry and pursued them over to give them bad luck. Just by looking at his self-confidence in daring to come alone to settle the account with them, they already admired him from the heart, because the three of them were definitely not fuel-efficient lanterns [no idea, must be a saying].
Bi Xuan pulled his hand from the horse’s neck; he leisurely looked at them. His eyes were grim and deep, refined light was flashing. A hint of grim smile floated out of the corner of his mouth, he spoke indifferently in Han language, “Helian Fort and Rushing Wolf Plains, two battles have made your name shaking the prairie, also made this person to abandon everything to immediately rush over. You can say that even in your death you will have no regret.”
Throwing his head back, Ba Fenghan let out a long laughter. He spoke with cold laugh, “The prairie of today is already not the prairie of your, Bi Xuan’s olden days. The Golden Wolf Army had just suffered their first defeat. The next defeat should be your, the Senior’s turn to bear it!”
Because he had killed the head disciple that Bi Xuan doted on the most, the enmity between the two was as deep as the ocean. The only way out was to settle it using martial art. Even without Helian and Rushing Wolf, two battles, it was already difficult to end well.
‘Qiang!’
The Beheading Mystery Sword left its sheath, it pointed at Bi Xuan from a distance. The biting cold sword qi burst out.
Yet Bi Xuan was not the slightest bit affected. His eyes fell on the Beheading Mystery Sword, remaining calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, he said, “The sword is a good one, but I am afraid it will only fail to bear the name ‘Beheading Mystery’.” [In case you forgot, ‘Xuan’ of Bi Xuan means ‘Mystery’; so the sword could be called ‘beheading Bi Xuan’.]
His voice has just dropped, like magical transformation he already moved half a zhang away from the blade of the sword, while his right fist struck out.
Beyond the three men’s expectation, Bi Xuan’s one strike did not create the slightest bit of the whistling sound of the fist wind; it did not carry even half a point of qi power either. However, the three simultaneously felt that all counter-offensive routes have been sealed dead by the fist’s momentum.
Because Ba Fenghan took a step forward, Xu and Kou, two boys had to occupy the left and right, two positions; naturally they formed a triangular battle formation. But this one seemingly simple punch from Bi Xuan had completely paralyzed the triangular formation’s attack and defense capability, leaving only one way to move, which was to pull back.
Right this moment, a terrifying feeling of their body did not follow its master’s will and wanted to fall forward suddenly grew in the three men’s heart.
Suddenly, pulling back became no longer possible.
Still without violent burst of qi power, the entire s.p.a.ce was boiling hot, as if they were in the boundless yellow sand, dry, sizzling hot; a dreadful feeling of severe dehydration like they were in the desert, left naked, being exposed to the strong sunlight for many days, and were on the verge of death from thirst.
Yan Yang Qi Gong [lit. flaming sun amazing/wonder skill], the name was surely not in vain.
Bi Xuan’s punch was practically impossible to evade; for Ba Fenghan, who bore the brunt, the only way was to stake everything he had, which was also the thing that he was most unwilling to happen.
Kou Zhong’s Moon in the Well sent out a violent strike, while Xu Ziling’s hands performed image method, but they were a tad too late.
With astonishing speed, Bi Xuan’s fist momentum pushed on before it changed, the heat was continuously rising; it could not be estimated, they were unable to grasp it even more. However, it also looked like it did not change at all; instead, it returned to its original form of countless changes within no change. Such a martial art would take away the heaven and earth’s good luck to the greatest extent.
Ba Fenghan felt that the sword that he thrust out, confronting this boxing skill, which was of an even higher level, became like a child’s play, like he was displaying his slight skill before an expert. Having no other choice, he roared, executed marvelous footwork, putting his capabilities in full display, to meet Bi Xuan’s seemingly-changing-but-not-exactly-changing fist momentum. The Beheading Mystery Sword drew an arc, which was conforming to the inner essence of heaven and earth, wonderful to the peak of perfection, with all his strength he faced Bi Xuan’s continuously expanding until it filled up the universe – punch.
Naturally Bi Xuan’s fist would not become bigger, it’s just that his momentum was completely overwhelming and suppressing him, affecting his mind, so that it created this strange illusion.
The instant just before the sword and the fist collided, Bi Xuan dashed forward, a nearly impossible thing happened, his pair of feet lightly pushed the ground, his majestic body unexpectedly floated about a cun above the ground, the fist changed into a palm, so the situation became he was slapping the sword blade from a slightly higher angle. Ba Fenghan did not have enough time to change move, he could only stare blankly at Bi Xuan’s sudden change; completely helpless, he lost this move miserably.
‘Bang!’
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were shocked. Ba Fenghan’s Beheading Mystery Sword shook erratically from top to bottom, creating a buzzing noise of vibrating metal; his tiger-body felt like it was being electrocuted. He staggered back between the two boys, wisps of blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth.
Lightning fast Kou Zhong’s Moon in the Well hacked down, like drawing a knife to cut the water, forcing the heat wave to roll to both sides, straight toward the pit of Bi Xuan’s stomach.
Xu Ziling’s Treasured-Vase Qi shot out, without daring to be careless at all, he met the heat wave and bust open a line of gap.
Two great young martial art masters, giving everything they had – went all-out to attack this ‘Wu Zun’ Bi Xuan, one of the three grandmasters inside and outside the Pa.s.s.
Bi Xuan swayed to the left and right. The refined light in his pair of eyes flashing, as if the lightning from the sky grew in the depths of the pupils of his eyes. His two sleeves brushed out, appearing to be attacking but not actually attacking, yet they met Kou Zhong’s Moon in the Well and Xu Ziling’s Treasured-Vase Qi head-on.
‘Bang! Bang!’
The two boys’ offensive was completely blocked, the meridians in their entire body were burning hot, it was so unbearable that they felt like howling at the moon like a wild wolf of the prairie. The feeling was terrifying to the extreme point, so difficult to bear that they nearly vomited blood.
Bi Xuan laughed aloud and stepped back.
Ba Fenghan spread his arms to stop the two boys, who were forced back behind him. His pair of eyes emitted unswerving determination, he fixed his gaze on Bi Xuan.
Bi Xuan stood leisurely about two zhang away from them. His grim countenance revealed a perfectly satisfied smile, he shook his head and said with a sigh, “After battling Ning Daoqi forty years ago, I have never been this delighted. Ba Fenghan, you can block my full-strength blow, it is enough for your famous reputation to endure forever.”
Ba Fenghan’s countenance was incomparably grave; he whispered in two boys’ ears, “This battle is mine. If I am unfortunate to die in it, use this tent to be my cremation place. As for the horse, let it go free on the gra.s.sland!”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s two hearts sank down. Based on Ba Fenghan’s haughty and conceited character, there would be no room for negotiation. The problem was that with the martial art skill that Bi Xuan demonstrated, even if the three joined hands, they might not necessarily be able to grasp it and victory was a.s.sured. In Ba Fenghan’s decisive battle, how could there be any luck involved? His speech was just tantamount to the last words of the dying.
A master of Bi Xuan’s caliber has already reached flawless stage; he would not make mistake, but would not take advantage of the opportunity either.
Although the opponent was two zhang away, the three could no longer feel the night wind of the prairie; instead, they felt as if they were standing in the middle of dry, blazing air of the desert. Evidently Bi Xuan was using the Yan Yang Da Fa [big method of the flaming sun] to lock them tight, so that even if they wanted to escape, it would be difficult to do.
Who would ever think that there was such a startling heaven and earth, sobbing demons and deities – martial art skill in the world? Furthermore, no one knew how to break it or resist it, how to bring injury to this grandmaster of martial art study.
Ba Fenghan’s spine and shoulders straightened up, steady as a mountain he took three steps forward toward Bi Xuan.
Their scalp went numb, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling could only follow after him.
Suddenly the burning hot air vanished completely. The night wind was blowing again. Bi Xuan’s Yan Yang Qi was concentrated on Ba Fenghan’s body.
Yan Yang Da Fa was like the scorching sun over the desert sky. At first it did not feel good, but there was no place to hide, and in the end it could bake you to become a pile of bones.
Ba Fenghan’s hand gripping the sword hilt was still so steady, “Please bestow instruction!’ he shouted coldly.
The Beheading Mystery Sword seemed to sink down, but abruptly it angled upward. Suddenly, the man following the sword, it moved into a long rainbow, just like a powerful arrow leaving the bowstring, shooting toward Bi Xuan, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with once-released-no-return idea.
Bi Xuan revealed an appreciative look. He made a somersault in the air, unexpectedly he flew above Ba Fenghan’s head.
The battle that Ba Fenghan had been looking forward to all his life suddenly became a reality in front of him.