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Shi Feixuan was standing facing the window. The setting sun shedding its light inside the room illuminated her entire being so that she appeared like a completely flawless sculpture. Her beautiful form and immortal disposition could only be barely described with the four characters ‘chaofan tuosu’ [out of the ordinary, free from vulgarity].
Xu Ziling came to her side. His heart and spirit could not help being deeply attracted by her mountain-and-stream-spirited-movements beautiful silhouette. The beautiful pupil of her pair of eyes was fixed on a pair of b.u.t.terflies fluttering, happily chasing each other in the flower garden outside the window, as if she was completely oblivious that Xu Ziling has come to her side.
She was still dressed in men’s clothing, her face was as fair as fine jade, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with youthful tension and vitality.
Wherever she placed herself, the secular world immediately became the world of the immortals.
Xu Ziling secretly scolded himself; he should not disturb the peaceful harmony in which she lived alone to reach tranquility [the dictionary gives this additional definition: purified of defiling illusion (Buddhism)]. Yet he could not stop himself from asking, “What wonderful truth [in Buddhism context] and reason does Shi Xiaojie see from this pair of b.u.t.terflies?”
Shi Feixuan’s answer was indifferent, “Which answer do you want to hear? The real one or the fake one?”
Xu Ziling smiled and said, “I am dying to know both answers, but I also hope that Xiaojie will bestow instructions on why there are real and fake answers.”
Shi Feixuan’s beautiful eyes flickered with deep, unfathomable rays of light, she glibly said, “The real answer is that I have not made any attempt at all to seek any wonderful truth from the b.u.t.terflies, because their own existence is already justified.” [Note: the same word ‘li’ can be translated as inner essence/intrinsic order/reason/logic/truth – different character from the ‘wonderful truth’ above.]
Xu Ziling looked at the b.u.t.terflies fluttering among the flowers, he nodded and said, “I understand what Miss is saying. When I don’t have preconceive idea in my mind, when I discharge ten thousand thoughts from the ocean of my brain, without a single thought rising, gazing at that pair of b.u.t.terflies, my heart is grasping some kind of mysterious, beyond-reason bizarre perception. What about the fake answer?”
Shi Feixuan serenely spoke in soft voice, “Ziling Xiong is indeed a man with fundamental ideas, no wonder you could grow in both the Buddhist and Taoist, two schools. As for the fake answer, please forgive Feixuan for holding off the climax, for the time being I cannot tell you yet. Ziling Xiong came here to look for Feixuan, there must be good news to tell!”
Laughing involuntarily, Xu Ziling said, “Xiaodi has long surrendered and admitted defeat. I am coming here to ask Xiaojie for more directions.”
Sighing lightly, Shi Feixuan said, “Does Ziling Xiong know why Feixuan could detect Zhou Laotan’s mouth does not match with his heart?”
“Could it be that that kind of mysterious intuition that was stirred up by sudden inspiration can be premeditated into being?” Xu Ziling asked in astonishment.
Shi Feixuan responded as it should be by rights, “That is precisely the realm of the brightly lit heart of the sword.”
Severely shaken, Xu Ziling said, “Unexpectedly Shi Xiaojie has reached the highest realm of the ‘Ci Hang Sword Canon’, the ‘Jian Xin Tong Ming’ [the heart of the sword brightly lit]?”
Finally Shi Feixuan withdrew her gaze from outside the window, her beautiful eyes deeply fixed on Xu Ziling; half of her face was in the twilight darkness where the setting sun was unable to reach. The contrast between light and darkness made her originally incomparable beauty became even more enshrouded in unspeakable secret. Her fragrant lips slightly opened, she spoke softly, “Feixuan’s ‘Jian Xin Tong Ming’ still has one flaw. That flaw is precisely you, Xu Ziling.”
The divine light in Xu Ziling’s handsome eyes flaring greatly, without blinking he met Shi Feixuan’s gaze head-on, and spoke word-by-word, “Xiaojie is willing to candidly tell me that, Xu Ziling is both honored for the privilege and very grateful. No wonder Xiaojie said that since ancient times the barrier of love is difficult to cross. The preview of a lesson in love for me, did I pa.s.s albeit with difficulty? Is it possible for Xiaodi to mend Xiaojie’s flaw, to somewhat strive with my limited power?”
Shi Feixuan smiled and said, “You, this person, are rarely this modest. In fact, you are a very proud person; fortunately, it is the free, flying over the cloud and the wilderness type of pride.”
Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling said, “Turns out my modesty was not recognized. The worst thing is that I do not have the capability to reflect upon myself for self examination.”
With a smile on her face, Shi Feixuan said, “You acted like you have all the time in the world. The sun is going down! There’s one more thing I want to tell you: that story about ‘stepping on eggplant, stepping on the toad’, it was Feixuan wanted to tell you via Sheng Guang Dashi’s mouth.”
Continuous ringing noise like strings of firecrackers lingered on endlessly, without the least bit of gap in between.
As soon as the two sabers were unsheathed, the sabers attacked each other like lightning strikes, completely unconstrained by moves and styles, using speed to beat speed, the saber came and the saber went, like in a stake-it-all contest of power and speed, you attacked I defended, I blocked you struck, intense sparks of fire permeated the battlefield, so that the onlookers forgot to breathe. The clamorous spectators all around suddenly became so quiet that not even a sparrow’s chirp was heard. Voices and horses’ neigh coming from far away seemed to be muted.
Only brilliant martial art masters living high and looking down to watch the battle like Du Xing and Xu Kaishan would be able to see the two men’s saber technique, which had reached the no-move-surpa.s.s-the-move, transforming-complexity-into-simplicity, mercury-flowing-swiftly-looking-for-any-gap-to-enter realm. Plus the two combatants were evenly matched; after attacking the opponent with one saber strike, they must also defending against the opponent’s one saber strike, no one had the ability to be a half hairsbreadth faster by launching two saber strikes in a succession. Each saber strike was using life to gamble against life, dangerous and intense. The spectators felt their whole body went numb, the palm of their hands were clammy with sweats.
‘Dang!’
The two sabers were suddenly glued together. Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “Good saber technique. No wonder Ke Xiong can beat everybody in Chang’an without any rivals.”
Ke Dazhi laughed proudly and said, “One day I fail to defeat Shaoshuai, how could Xiaodi dare to boast that I have no rivals?”
The two swiftly released their qi power at the same time. ‘Bang!’ they both drew back.
The Moon in the Well in Kou Zhong’s hand emitted strong yellow light, he pointed the blade at Ke Dazhi from a distance, a strong, unmatched fighting spirit welled up in his heart, while secretly mused that this man’s Kuang Sha Dao Fa [wild sand/sandstorm saber technique] was indeed formidable. If he did not take advantage of the situation today to slaughter him, another day he would certainly cause no end of trouble.
Right this moment, a woman’s tender voice shouted, “Why haven’t you stopped for me?” [Again, I realize it sounds weird in English, but …]
Ke Dazhi’s spirit was aroused as well, he struck a posture, still unwilling to let this matter drop.
Just now, the round of violent attack between the two was purely to probe what is true and what is false of the other side, so that when the battle started again, they were going to stake it all in willpower, xinfa, tactics, and intelligence.
Just as the big battle could happen at any moment, suddenly they heard tender shout, Ke Dazhi revealed a helpless bitter smile, while Kou Zhong’s tiger-body shook. Stunned, he looked over.
Without wearing any makeups, plain and simple, natural, but her beauty was still able to make people hold their breath. She was wearing wide robe with a cloak, her jade countenance was hidden deeply inside the cloak, yet not only it did not diminish her attractiveness, it even increased some kind of mysterious feeling around her.
Accompanied her by her side was a young Mohe female warrior, with a long sword hanging on her waist. She appeared to be as tall as Ke Dazhi and Kou Zhong. Her most distinguishing feature was her beautiful hair, which was tied into two braids hanging down from left and right corners first, bent into a semicircle, and then winded around the neck to become one again, hanging straight back over her spine. Although in term of beauty she could not compare with Shi Feixuan, who was standing prettily by her side, she possessed a different vivacious grace, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with vitality charm, which was quite attractive.
Proportionately, her face was a bit too long, but it matched well with her tall, frivolous, well-developed tender body, spirited and charming, bright and black beautiful pupils of her eye, concealing any shortcomings she had.
However, this moment the gaze with which she was staring at Kou Zhong was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with hostility, but was also carrying hidden curiosity.
‘Qiang!’
Kou Zhong and Ke Dazhi reluctantly returned their sabers into the scabbard.
One after another the people on the street started to guess that the newcomer must be Shang Xiufang, immediately they went abuzz.
Shang Xiufang’s pretty eyebrows were tightly knitted, her residual anger has not dissipated, she said, “Other than relying on martial art to settle a dispute, don’t you have any other way?”
The female warrior signaled with her hand, a gorgeous carriage slowly galloped over.
Kou Zhong has never expected that he would come across Shang Xiufang under this kind of situation; there was a faint feeling in his heart that Shang Xiufang was not without any favorable impression toward Ke Dazhi, hence she lumped the two together and scolded them at the same time. Immediately his heart grew a bit upset.
Ke Dazhi cleared his throat; embarra.s.sed, he cast Kou Zhong a glance, and then said, “Shaoshuai and I are just playing to say h.e.l.lo to each other, it was not serious.”
For the first time Kou Zhong felt appreciative toward Ke Dazhi, because Ke Dazhi could have pushed the blame on him, the criminal ringleader, the main offender who started the fight. He could not stop his old face from blushing slightly as he cupped his fist to salute Shang Xiufang and said, “I was wrong, I should not have disturbed Xiufang Dajia, please forgive me.”
The carriage galloped behind her. The female warrior opened the door for her. Shang Xiufang took off her cloak, her jet-black soft beautiful hair, just like clear mountain stream, secluded spring, cascaded down like beautiful waterfall, freely and comfortably hung and scattered over her fragrant shoulders and flaky back. Smiling sweetly, her sweetness and charm grew without restraint, so that none of the breathing of several hundred people watching did not stop, using the voice and intonation that could be considered the most moving in the world today, accompanied by a smile, she said, “I figure as much! See you tomorrow night.”
Being dealt with her obvious exceptional youth’s skill, Kou Zhong’s spirit and soul nearly flew out of his body. While he was thinking of speaking a couple more sentences with her, suddenly someone called out, “Xiufang Dajia, please halt your steps!”
Shang Xiufang was about to climb into the carriage, hearing the call, she turned her tender body around and looked in the direction the voice was coming from.
A man stepped out of the crowd, his hands were holding a metal case, reverent and respectful, he walked over toward her.
Ke Dazhi and the group of Tujue warriors shouted together to stop him, holding the man outside the wall they formed in front of Shang Xiufang.
The Mohe female warrior moved closer to Shang Xiufang’s side to protect her.
From head to toes, the gentleman was full of demonic qi, rich with some kind of demonic, strange charisma. He was precisely the head of Da Ming Zun Jiao’s Five Bright Sons, Liexia.
Liexia shouted over Ke Dazhi and the others blocking his way, “Please don’t misunderstand, I, Liexia am Xiufang Dajia’s loyal admirer, coming with a specific purpose in mind to offer the ‘Shenqi Mi Pu’ [magical/mystical secret (music) score], asking Xiufang Dajia to kindly accept. Xiaodi is Shaoshuai’s friend. Shaoshuai can guarantee that Xiaodi can’t possibly, don’t dare even more – to offend Xiufang Dajia.”
Severely shaken, Shang Xiufang said, “Shenqi Mi Pu?”
Naturally Kou Zhong did not know what kind of ghost thing ‘Shenqi Mi Pu’ was, but looking at Shang Xiufang’s expression, he could guess that it must be a rare and valuable item that music lovers would yearn for even in their dreams. With Liexia’s ident.i.ty and status, while presenting first-time-meeting-gift, he could not possibly make wrong move.
This kid was really resourceful, he had a skill to pursue beautiful women in a way that fit their fancy, he was able to plant profound impression in the other party’s heart right from the beginning, while also putting himself on the stage. Thereupon, smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “Lie Xiong can’t be that stupid!”
Evidently Ke Dazhi has already heard Liexia’s distinguished name; emotionally moved, he said, “Turns out it’s the Liexia of Huihe. If you want to present a gift to Xiufang Dajia, you can just give it to me, Ke Dazhi.”
Liexia’s expression showed that he has been wronged; using a pitiful, slightly carrying pleading tone of voice, he said, “I wonder if Ke Xiong could graciously permit Xiaodi to personally offer the secret score to Xiufang Dajia, while giving a couple explanations on the secret score to her?”
“Let Lie Gongzi come over!” Shang Xiufang said.
Without any choice, Ke Dazhi relented. Suddenly, he felt that both he and Kou Zhong have been reduced to supporting roles.
Liexia, both delighted and trembling with fear, afraid that he might treat a beautiful woman irreverently, came to Shang Xiufang’s presence, and stopped about five paces away. Unexpectedly he dropped down to one knee, lifted the metal case high above his head, and spoke in loud and clear voice, “Presenting the secret score, asking Xiufang Dajia to kindly accept.”
The entire section of the street was so quiet that the sound of falling needle would have been heard, yet no one showed the slightest amount of bored expression. Traffic along the Vermillion Bird Boulevard was completely paralyzed, everybody fell over each other in their eagerness to see what happened.
Kou Zhong did not forget to look back at Du Xing and Xu Kaishan, two men, on the second-floor balcony. Naturally he paid particular attention at Xu Kaishan’s reaction to Liexia, but he saw that both men were unable to take their eyes off Shang Xiufang, as if they could never eat their fill on Shang Xiufang’s beauty, they seemed to be without the slightest bit of interest toward Liexia.
The Mohe female warrior took Liexia’s metal case on Shang Xiufang’s behalf, and then she opened it in front of Shang Xiufang.
Only Shang Xiufang and the female warrior were able to see what’s inside the metal case.
Shang Xiufang’s ice-flesh, jade-bones, as smooth as concentrated resin, as white as frost and snow – lily-white hand stretched out from her raised wide sleeve to flip through the secret score inside the case. A pleasantly surprise expression appearing on her face, she said, “This is the Qiuci Scroll; where did Lie Gongzi get it from?”
Liexia stood up with his hands hung by his side, and respectfully said, “Altogether, there are ten scrolls of the secret score. Other than Qiuci Scroll, there are Gaochang, Jushi, Huihe, Tujue, Shiwei, Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, Qidan, Tiele, and so on, nine scrolls, containing famous music and dance from all parts of the country. Fifty years ago, Huha’er, which was known as the Qiuci’s ‘Music and Dance G.o.d’ exhausted his energy throughout his life to collect and write it down. However, the musical score and the annotation were all written in Qiuci musical annotation and script. Fortunately Xiaodi has done a bit of work on this. As long as Xiufang Dajia does not mind, Xiaodi is not going to hold back anything.”
Inwardly Kou Zhong cried, ‘Formidable!’ It could be said that Liexia has. .h.i.t Shang Xiufang’s vital part. Although, relying on this, he might not necessarily be able to steal her fragrant heart, to accomplish his vain attempt to win her fragrant affection, but it was indeed a big step in the right direction.
Sure enough, it was as if Shang Xiufang already forgot Kou Zhong’s existence. She blissfully said, “Let’s board the carriage and talk about it in details.”
Liexia was wild with great delight; turning to Kou Zhong, he said, “Later on I’ll look for Shaoshuai to have a drink and a chat.”
While Kou Zhong was raining curses on him in his heart, this kid already tagged along Shang Xiufang into her fragrant carriage. Naturally the Mohe female warrior also followed closely behind him.
The carriage started to move, one after another Ke Dazhi and the group of Tujue warriors mounted their horses.
Ke Dazhi urged his horse to come to Kou Zhong’s side, his eyes swept over Du Xing and Xu Kaishan upstairs first, before he smiled wryly and said, “Later on, I also will look for Shaoshuai to have a drink and a chat.” And then, lowering his voice, he said, “What I thirst the most right now is to slaughter Liexia, this muddled-egg, with one saber strike.”
The two roared in laughter at the same time. Their laughter was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with helplessness and bitterness.
A moment ago they were either you die or I perish, but this moment a feeling of fellow sufferers empathize with each other feeling grew in their heart.
Xu Ziling left Sheng Guang Si. A flock of migratory birds flew over the city, flying toward the setting sun, where only a few streaks of rose-tinted clouds remained before it completely disappeared beyond the flat land. This scene seemed to stir up some kind of hard to describe emotion deep in his heart; it was neither joy nor sorrow.
He took a deep and slow breath, his mind was excited to be able to touch the other side of Shi Feixuan, which was buried deep within her, but his mood was still so calm and tranquil.
When facing Shi Feixuan, time seemed to pa.s.s in ‘shaking one to the core’ moment; extremely thrilling. Furthermore, he had never imagined that he would have the audacity to offend and treat a fairy irreverently like this, but this feeling could turn him upside down and intoxicated him, made it difficult for him to be himself.
For Shi Feixuan, the love between a man and a woman was only part of her cultivation, the Mozhang [Mara – the demon of temptation] along her way to immortality. But to him, there was a deep meaning of existence. Only by her side he could sense the true emperor [perhaps a typo] of life, he could feel the meaning of life.
Simultaneously, he also understood deep in his heart that if he could not transcend the romantic love between man and woman in the vulgar world, he would never be able to reach the linked-spirit realm with Shi Feixuan like the blending between water and milk.
It would be like one would know that one was stepping on an old eggplant, while the other thought that one was stepping on a toad.
While he was sighing inwardly, someone called out, “Xu Xiong!”
Xu Ziling halted his steps at the head of a bridge. Smiling, he said, “Die Gongzi [young master b.u.t.terfly], how are you? I never thought I would see you here.”
Yin Xianhe came to his side, he coldly said, “Since Xu Kaishan is here, naturally I have to be here as well.”
Xu Ziling looked at him. Yin Xianhe was as cold and detached as before; it seemed like nothing in this secular world would be able to move him now, including Xu Kaishan.
Xu Ziling asked, “Is Yin Xiong about to a.s.sa.s.sinate Xu Kaishan?”
Yin Xianhe remained cold without saying anything, but he slightly hung his head.
Xu Ziling’s heart was moved, he said, “I wonder if Yin Xiong could do Xiaodi a favor, and postpose your a.s.sa.s.sination mission?”
Frowning, Yin Xianhe asked, “What could Xu Xiong use me for?”
Xu Ziling said, “I wonder if starting from now, Yin Xiong could secretly watch Xu Kaishan, to see what he is doing from this moment to daybreak tomorrow?”
Yin Xianhe stared fixedly on him for quite half a day, and then he slowly nodded and said, “Xu Xiong wanted me to do this, there must be a deep meaning behind it.”
Xu Ziling smiled and said, “I want to know whether he is a Da Ming Zun Jiao man.”
Yin Xianhe quietly said, “Da Ming Zun Jiao? Didn’t you guys say that Sao Niangzi and the wolf-bandits were incited by them? What else do you want to prove?”
Xu Ziling spoke with serious expression, “I hope Yin Xiong is just like us; without obtaining conclusive evidence, we must not speculate presumptuously. Because we received information that wolf-bandits are quite possibly Bai Ziting’s men.”
“Bai Ziting!” Yin Xianhe blurted out.
Xu Ziling said, “Hence the reason Xiaodi dares to ask Yin Xiong for this favor.”
Yin Xianhe nodded and said, “I will not fail Xu Xiong’s trust.”
After discussing the means to contact each other, Yin Xianhe’s ghostly appearance disappeared into the dark parts of the city where the colorful lanterns were beginning to be lit.