Book 61 Chapter 8 – Self-Destructive Tendency

Xu Ziling had a feeling that he somewhat did not to know how to explain, he reached out to hold Shi Qingxuan’s pair of soft weeds [catkin (botany); I have no idea, perhaps a typo] in his precious and heavy hands. He met her puzzled eyes, and said with a sigh, “Because the consequences are hard to fathom, he may not be able to bear the excitement and his spirit will split again, that would be terrible out-and-out. Ay! How to explain it? How can I say it? Due to Qingxuan’s presence here, he continues to soften. Just now he even made his move to save me, he even pa.s.sed on the important formula of the Bu Si Yin Fa to me, so that he would be unable to kill me and thus chopping down the evil thoughts. Even more important is that no matter how the situation in Chang’an develops, the possibility of us being able to leave alive could be considered a thread higher.”

Shi Qingxuan’s flowery countenance turned white, her fragrant body leaned forward, her cherry lips pressed against his right ear, with great self-control she kept her voice serene as she spoke softly, “Xu Ziling, you are wrong! The truth is exactly the opposite of your guess. Not only he is determined to destroy you, but he also wants to destroy me. Before Niang pa.s.sed away, she warned me that this person, Shi Zhixuan’s innate character has a tendency to self-destruct. He cannot put up with perfect outcome, either to others or to himself; he is like that. When he and my Niang were intoxicated with the fruit of love, the flower of pa.s.sion together, in the brilliant and blooming-like most blissful and touching happy life, it was precisely the moment he made his move to kill my Niang. The Great Sui Kingdom was built by Yang Jian with his a.s.sistance, but it was also he who destroyed it with his own hand. This is the most terrifying part of his character. You must never, ever have any visions and delusion about him. Now he is deliberately giving you and me hope, it is exactly an omen that he is going to destroy everything, including himself.”

Xu Ziling’s heart trembled, his hands pa.s.sed through her flanks, he pulled her, the warm, fragrant, and soft jade, into his bosom; he said, “Luckily you reminded me, I was wondering why he did not mention about Wanwan might betray us, turns out he unexpectedly harbors evil thoughts. Don’t worry! I will never let anyone hurt you.”

Shi Qingxuan spoke softly, “There is a deep meaning behind him pa.s.sing on the Bu Si Yin Fa to you, which is to give you the opportunity to be the only person who can break his Bu Si Yin Fa, so as to end his painful life.”

Hearing that, Xu Ziling was confused, he asked, “Wouldn’t that be a contradiction? Is he going to kill us or let me kill him?”

Shi Qingxuan replied, “This is his innate tendency of evil and good conscience cannot compromise with each other, just like he destroyed Niang and destroyed himself at the same time. Shi Zhixuan is not a normal person. He has never grasped life of seeing really interesting clear conscience in ordinary life, only through destruction and annihilation he will satisfy his sinister mind and spirit.”

Xu Ziling recalled his cruel method of not leaving a chicken or a dog alive toward Da Ming Zun Jiao, he said, “Qingxuan, will you go back to the Xing Qing Palace with me?”

Remaining tranquil, Shi Qingxuan replied, “This matter has reached the moment where it simply must be resolved, otherwise, this time, you guys will be defeated, the ground blanketed with bodies, a complete wipe-out of the entire army. Three days later, the zi hour [11 pm – 1 am] will be the anniversary of Niang’s death. If you want to make your move, it must be at that moment, Ziling please come here to offer sacrifices to Niang with Qingxuan, I want Shi Zhixuan to receive his deserved divine retribution. This is the oath Qingxuan made at her grave after Niang pa.s.sed away.”

Xu Ziling’s heart was violently shocked, it was hard to believe that all along Shi Qingxuan had the intention of revenge against her own father. “Does Qingxuan want to kill him?” he asked.

Shi Qingxuan moved away a little, she smiled and said, “That is the one thing he wants to happen the most, how can I not fulfill his wish? Don’t ask any more question! Remember to come here on time to accompany Qingxuan, and you must not involve your brother in it, this is a matter between Shi Qingxuan and Xu Ziling.”

Kou Zhong was once again trapped in the dry, blistering hot, desert-like without any liveliness qi field of Yan Yang Da Fa, and all he could see was Bi Xuan’s tall, erect and majestic devil and demon-like body, this terrifying opponent was like a lofty mountain, high peak that stand straight and would never fall in the storm, no one could knock him down and restrain him.

Kou Zhong was well aware that in term of momentum compet.i.tion, he was in the disadvantageous position, because he had lost confidence in himself just now, Bi Xuan entered by exploiting a weak spot, sending him into a downward trend leading to defeat. If he was unable to reverse this situation, when Bi Xuan launched his offensive, he would undoubtedly lose.

His hand grabbed the hilt of his saber.

His heart and spirit immediately entered the ten-thousand li emptiness, the heaven and earth and man became one – realm, and emerged as genuine power of a human being, natural and had an as-it-should-be-by-right feeling.

Bi Xuan generated reaction, the murderous intention in his pair of eyes was flaring even greater.

At this moment where a thousand jun was hanging by a thread, “Huangshang has arrived!”

As if he had not heard it, Kou Zhong’s eyes, his heart and spirit, were all locked at Bi Xuan tightly, to guard against him determining victory or defeat in one strike.

Bi Xuan laughed aloud and restrained his qi field; not getting angry at all, he said, “I am afraid Shaoshuai’s life is not going to be cut short today, I hope Shaoshuai will still have such a good luck next time.”

Finished speaking, he returned inside the tent without saying anything, showing disdain toward Li Yuan, who was coming under escort of the imperial guards.

Kou Zhong returned to Xing Qing Palace. Outside the Shuang Hui Lou’s [double splendors building] door, he ran into Hou Xibai who was going out. The latter heaved a sigh of relief and said, “You, LaoGe can come back alive, now I can put down a pile of load on my mind.”

Staring blankly, Kou Zhong said, “Could it be that you still have any worries?”

Smiling wryly, Hou Xibai said, “It’s not mine, it’s ours. After leaving Fu Ju Lou, Lao Ba never came back; I was about to go out to look for him.” Translated by foxs

Hearing that, Kou Zhong’s brows knitted deeply, he pondered for half a day, “Where’s Ling Shao?” he asked first.

“He just came back,” Hou Xibai replied, “He is seeing Hu Xiaoxian in the main building. His expression was very strange, he seemed to have something on his mind, it’s a pity I didn’t have a chance to ask him.”

Kou Zhong already saw a horse-drawn carriage parked in the plaza in front of the main building, only he did not expect it to be Hu Xiaoxian’s fragrant carriage. Pulling Hou Xibai aside, he said, “If you are going to look for Lao Ba like this, it won’t be any different from fishing a needle from the sea. I have other things that I need your help with, but tell me about Lei Dage first.”

Hou Xibai replied, “They are going to leave by boat at dusk, only Lei Dage, one person remains. Ma Chang has already started to move out the weapons in the treasure house, he even asked me to tell you that they put stones in the weapons chests and only put some weapons on the top layer, so that unless someone inspects the chest by turning it over, they will think it is still sealed and had not been moved.”

Kou Zhong praised, “Ma Chang, this fellow is indeed resourceful, I do not have such a meticulous thought as he does.”

Hou Xibai said, “Is there anything else Shaoshuai wants me to do?”

Kou Zhong said, “Now the situation is getting worse and worse, we may be forced to act at any time. I am asking Xibai to immediately notify Lei Dage, tell him to inform Ma Chang, and then he and Ma Chang to draw up a plan to enter the city. It must be a two-p.r.o.nged plan. One is to enter the city via the treasure house secret pa.s.sage, the other is to use the Huang He Bang’s power; this is a very important matter, we must not fail.”

Hou Xibai said, “Have you set a date?”

Kou Zhong said, “Let’s just say in three days!”

Hou Xibai’s countenance changed, he said, “Unexpectedly it’s that urgent.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “The first to move will control others, the later to move will be controlled by others. Since entering Chang’an, we have been led by the nose by Jiancheng and Yuanji. Now we are forced to make a big counterattack. After discussing it with Li kid, it should be time for us to set the fine time, lucky day for the uprising. His Niang’s!”

Standing on top of the steps, Xu Ziling followed Hu Xiaoxian’s carriage leaving with his eyes. Kou Zhong appeared next to him and said with a laugh, “Did Meiren’er come to act like a spoiled child to Ling Shao?”

“More or less,” Xu Ziling replied.

Then he looked him up and down, and said in astonishment, “Did Bi Xuan invite you just to drink two mouthfuls of goat milk?”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “How could there be such a good reception? He wanted my life. If I am not guessing incorrectly, Li Yuan should have acquiesced to Bi Xuan to kill me, only later he changed his mind and personally moved his dragon-self to interrupt the duel that almost took my little life.”

Stunned, Xu Ziling said, “Unexpectedly there is such a thing. Li Yuan is reaping the consequences of his words, and Bi Xuan still has not brushed his sleeves and left the city?”

Kou Zhong said, “Bi Xuan’s reaction at the time was surprisingly relaxed, he was just beaming with smiles and hid back to his wolf cave. I guess Li Yuan did not personally agree with Bi Xuan’s actions, maybe Jiancheng and Yuanji were threading the needle in between to persuade Li Yuan to allow Bi Xuan to deal with me. Not only they could sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, but they could also curry favor with the Tujue. Ay! I am even more worried that Bi Xuan already figured out my foundation, so he has a hundred-percent confidence to kill me, therefore, for the time being, there is no need to rush.”

Revealing a grave expression, Xu Ziling spoke in low voice, “Come inside the building and talk!”

The two climbed to the third floor and sat down on the side by the lake.

Kou Zhong said, “I wonder where Lao Ba went?”

Xu Ziling said, “On the contrary, I am not worried about him, let’s not say that he has enough strength to protect himself, the crucial point is that the enemy have no time to spare for separate task; while Bi Xuan was dealing with you, Yang Xuyan, together with Ge Suwen, Han Chao’an, Huyan Tiezhen, and Tuoba Miefu, four big kids were ambushing me outside Yu He An’s gate.”

Sucking in a mouthful of cold air, Kou Zhong said, “How could you, without the least bit of injury, sit here and talk?”

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “Your misgivings nearly became a reality. Fortunately, Shi Zhixuan came to the rescue, so that Yang Xuyan and the others retreated without success.”

“What?” Kou Zhong blurted out.

Xu Ziling said, “No need to make a fuss about nothing, it is very clear that we have once again pa.s.sed through another round of the enemy’s meticulously-planned offensive. We were in danger at the same time, it was not a coincidence, rather, it was a plot. If it succeeded, one after another we would have returned to the Western Paradise, and the enemy would have seized total victory. Fortunately, we both crossed the barrier with luck.”

Kou Zhong spoke fiercely, “We can no longer sit and wait for death, we must recover our face, let’s pick a few random hands as a banner sacrifice first.” Translated by foxs

Shaking his head, Xu Ziling said, “Great plans can be ruined by just a touch of impatience, what we pursue is the ultimate decisive victory, not a quick, momentary bravado of courageous and ruthless success. Ay! My story has not reached its finale yet, Shi Zhixuan pa.s.sed on the important essence of his Bu Si Yin Fa to me.”

Hearing that, Kou Zhong was flabbergasted, he did not know what to say.

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “His motive for pa.s.sing on the Bu Si Yin Fa to me is very strange, it was so that he will be unable to kill me, but also to increase the difficulty of other people to kill me, because he knew that Qingxuan was willing to give herself to marry down [i.e. of a woman to marry a man of lower social status] Xiaodi.”

Kou Zhong happily said, “In that case, don’t we have to worry about this threat from him anymore?”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “That is another problem that gives me headache.” And then he narrated Shi Qingxuan’s way of looking at this matter.

He continued, “Qingxuan is going to break off relationship with Shi Zhixuan three days later, on the anniversary of her Niang’s death. Ay! To be honest, I have doubts about Qingxuan’s view. Shi Zhixuan is no longer like the Shi Zhixuan before, he certainly has real heart, real intention toward Qingxuan, but Qingxuan’s prejudice toward him is just too deep. If she really, when the day comes, the time comes, play the soul-chasing flute melody, the consequences will be unimaginable. If Shi Zhixuan falls into split-spirit [schizophrenia] again, no one can predict what will happen!”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “No wonder you said it’s a headache, right now my head is hurting terribly. Uh, have you learned the Bu Si Yin Fa?”

Xu Ziling muttered to himself irresolutely for a moment, he said, “Do you remember the weird situation when we were just learning the Secret to Long Life? Every time we exhausted our qi, after we recovered, we had even more vitality, that strange situation? The reason Shi Zhixuan is not afraid of fighting against the crowd, other than in sensing the enemy like knowing himself, in borrowing the energy and unloading the energy aspect he has the unrivalled-in-the-world remarkable ability, the more important key is the profound gongfa with which he can transform death into life, to turn life to become death, which is the essence of Bu Si Yin Fa.”

Kou Zhong was puzzled, he asked, “Transforming death into life is naturally amazing, but turning life to become death, isn’t that just like killing yourself? What is there to learn?”

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “The ingenuity is precisely here; the reason Hou kid and I have been unable to figure it out, turns out when the true qi exhausted, it is dead, but when the qi is recovered, it is life. Life can turn to death, and death can turn to life. The formula says, ‘A little true yang creates kan [one of the Eight Trigrams (Ba Gua) symbolizing water], li [another Ba Gua reference symbolizing fire] palace making up for the shortage; qian [Ba Gua: symbolizing heaven] is moving, kun [Ba Gua: symbolizing earth] is turning, kan and li have no rest; creation of the universe is silent, in the water the fire arose; above connecting the tian gu [heaven valley, acupoint], below reaching the yong quan [gushing spring, acupoint]: tian hu [heaven door] is always open, di hu [earth door] is often free.’ When you hear it, what do you feel?” [Disclaimer: if you try this at home and suffer fire deviation, please do not blame the translator … I have no idea what he was talking about.]

Kou Zhong was interested, he nodded and said, “This formula seems to describe the state of our Secret to Long Life that captures the essence of the heaven and the earth. True qi may pierce through the crown of the head and enter, or rise from the yong quan of both feet, and the heaven qi and the earth qi will trickle and gather in the sea of ​​​​qi of the dantian [the point two inches below the navel where one’s qi resides].”

Xu Ziling said, “As long as the process of when our qi exhausted and is recovering is a hundred times faster than other people, and turn it into something that can be achieved while considering other things on the battlefield, we will at least learn half of Shi Zhixuan’s Bu Si Yin Fa and Huan Mo Shen Fa realm.”

Shaken, Kou Zhong said, “I understand!”

Xu Ziling said, “Even if other people understand it, due to the difference in gongfa, they can know but cannot reach. However, once we understand it, we can see the actual effect immediately. Carefully consider the following formula, ‘The acquired qi belongs to yin, the innate qi belongs to yang. Yin exhausted, yang arises, yang exhausted, yin arises, the breath is harmonious, circulation and flow six emptiness, externally connecting yin and yang is the mark, internally generating true oneness is the body.’ Do you understand?”

Slapping the small table, Kou Zhong said, “Shi Zhixuan is indeed an out-of-this-world martial arts genius from the demonic school. Even such a gongfa that is in line with the laws of Heaven and Earth, he discovered it. With our Long-Life Qi formula that fits with the heavenly law, we can use man-made means to eliminate and hold back the true qi within the body to extreme exhaustion, reaching yin-to-the-extreme-yang-arises critical point, and the faster it goes, the fiercer it comes. The Heaven and Earth qi pierced through the crown on the head and pa.s.sing through to the feet and lives, life can restore death, death can restore life, like the heavenly law continuing endlessly. His Niang’s! I really want to see Bi Xuan again right away, to let him have a taste of Shi Zhixuan’s xinfa.”

Xu Ziling said, “We still need to train hard until reaching the what the heart wishes, the hand accomplishes – level before it will work. What good thing did Li Yuan tell you?”

Kou Zhong said, “Coming and going, it is all rubbish. Time is running out. I’ll go to visit Chang He in secret right now. He was on duty last night. Now he should sleep at home, later on we will have to look for our Shimin Xiong.”

Xu Ziling nodded and said, “You must never be discovered, otherwise Chang He will be charged with the search-the-house-and-confiscate-possessions big crime. I’ll stay here and wait for Lao Ba to return.”

Learning about the Bu Si Yin’s xinfa, Kou Zhong’s mood improved, so he went away with a laugh.

After Kou Zhong left, Xu Ziling was still sitting blankly upstairs in the building, thoughts were surging in his mind.

Today was only the second day after arriving in Chang’an, but he, Xu Ziling has been ambushed twice, and both had happened on his way to see Shi Qingxuan, and the arrangement was exquisite. From this, it could be seen that the enemy’s intelligence was accurate, their preparations sufficient, the plan was decided first and then they moved later, doing everything they could, by all means, not only to destroy the not-yet-accomplished alliance between them and Li Yuan, but also to put him and Kou Zhong to death.

Jiancheng and Yuanji formed an alliance with the Tujue headed by Bi Xuan, as well as with Ge Suwen and his gang, they were using all the power at their disposal, committing all manner of crimes, to strike at their and Li Shimin’s side. Obviously, they were in a pa.s.sive and disadvantaged position, until this moment they were still lacking the strength to fight back.

Shi Zhixuan and Wanwan’s hard-to-fathom intention made their situation even worse, until it could not be even more inferior than this. Even the Duke Yang’s Treasure-house could no longer be relied upon. Rash uprising would undoubtedly be striking a stone with an egg, merely courting disaster.

Fortunately, although Li Yuan wholeheartedly supported Jiancheng, he was still hesitant about whether to fully commit to the Tujue, otherwise they would have to simply forget everything.

And then there was their Shigong, the Yijian Dashi Fu Cailin, with whom emotion and enmity were hard to resolve. He could only hope that he would be different from ordinary people, and would be able to see through that blindly helping the Tujue would bring a hundred harms without a single benefit to Gaoli, and would not stand on Jiancheng’s side.

The combination of so many unfavorable factors and the still-unclear situation was exactly the situation they were facing now. Not only they had to struggle for survival, they also had to upend heaven and earth and strive for the final victory.

Thinking to this point, he sighed inwardly.

Coming upstairs, w.a.n.g Xuanshu said, “Dong Guifei is coming again!”

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “Dong Guifei? Ah! Just tell her that Kou Zhong is not here.”

w.a.n.g Xuanshu said in anger, “I already told her! But she insists that seeing you is all right. Humph! Seeing her furious expression, she should be coming to launch a punitive campaign.”

Recalling Ling Longjiao’s affair, Xu Ziling smiled bitterly and said, “Tell her to wait for me in the main hall downstairs, I’ll go down to see her after tidying up a bit.”

Kou Zhong quietly left Chang He’s general mansion from the backyard, feeling at a loss.

Unlike his expectation, Chang He was not asleep in the mansion. Where did this kid go?

Without the support of Chang He and several key high-ranking military officers in Chang’an City, they definitely had no ability to withstand Jiancheng and Yuanji, not to mention Li Yuan, the Great Tang emperor who had control over ma.s.sive military force in his hand.

Merely the fifteen-thousand-man army unit that Li Yuan stationed in the West Inner Park already had enough power to turn any situation around.

Even against Jiancheng and Yuanji, merely their three thousand Changlin army cooperating with the Tujue and Gaoli, various forces, their strength was already above the Heavenly Policy Mansion and the Shao Shuai allied armies. Their sudden uprising might gain a slight superiority at the beginning, but in the end, under the enemy’s counterattack, they would inevitably be crushed and disintegrated.

The more urgent the time, the less he could predict when Jiancheng’s next round of offensive would be launched? Fortunately, obtaining the Bu Si Yin Fa’s key essence that Shi Zhixuan imparted has given him and Xu Ziling a bit more confidence in saving their lives. The problem was that they really could not solve the problem by running away. Even with the Bu Si Yin Fa that they could depend on, they were, after all, only flesh and blood, the damage might be too heavy, they would be defeated and dispersed.

Ay! What should he do now?

Should he go to consult Li Shentong to see the development of his effort in contacting the crowd of ministers and various generals? Or should he go directly to see Li Shimin, to discuss the day of the uprising, to take his granny’s all on one throw, to see whether Laotianye was still on their side.

While hesitating, divine light flashed in his mind, he remembered a place where Chang He might go.

Composing himself, Kou Zhong first checked whether he was followed; after determining that there was no problem, relying on his memory, he sneaked toward another big residence not far from the Chang Mansion.