Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan Volume 1 Chapter 10 part3

After seizing the two boys up and down several times, Li Jing said in earnestness, "This is the period when the whole country is in rebellion. When armed troops are against each other, it's either you are dead or I perish. Those who are not vicious and merciless enough will be wiped out. As long as we can see our goal clearly and fix our own principle, distinguishing thoroughly between right and wrong, black and white, friends or foe in righteousness, we will be able to face the heaven and the earth with clear conscience.”

The two boys nodded, indicating they accepted the instruction.

Susu asked, "Those you did not kill, could they still be looking for us?”

Li Jing smiled and said, "The most important thing for them is looking for me to settle the account. Although Du Fuwei's fame for fighting prowess is great, he is not a good material for vying over the world [tian xia]. Not only he condones his men, he is greedy of short-term small benefit; he enlists people into his army by force, and thus provoking the heaven's anger and the men's blame, causing villages and towns to be abandoned. It's really like drinking poison to quench thirst. I originally considered him as an important character, but now I can see everything clearly.”

Kou Zhong loved to talk about ‘militia matters', too bad Xu Ziling was not too interested, so he did not have anybody to talk about it with. Right now he met Li Jing, someone with ‘inside information', so he happily asked, "Li Dage, in your opinion, which rebel army is the most promising?”

Xu Ziling's thought was more thorough; recalling that Susu could be considered as Zhai Rang's people, he reminded him, "Zhong Shao, don't talk nonsense.”

Li Jing noticed how Xu Ziling seemed to be incessantly making eye signals to Kou Zhong while referring to Susu; he was astonished and asked, "Which party does Miss belong to?”

Susu hurriedly told him about her past, and then said, "Xiao Bi [lowly maid servant/slave girl] has never been familiar with the matter of the world's great powers; you must not have any misgivings on account of me.”

Apparently Li Jing had high respect toward Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling; he seriously said, "Looking at today's situation, although rebels army are everywhere, but those who can be considered excellent characters are not many. Right now the prime example of one with most fame and power is ‘Great Dragon Head' Zhai Rang; however, Zhai Ye's [master] subordinate Great General Li Mi's fame and power is actually above his, plus he is extremely well-versed in military strategy and tactics. Hence the relationship between master and subordinate is not clear. This will bring trouble in the future.”

Susu's countenance changed, "What should we do then?” she asked.

Li Jing grimly said, "If Miss will trust the Ol' Li, from now on you need to distance yourself from the Zhai family, to avoid ‘the boat capsize the people perish' disaster in the future.”

Susu said in sad voice, "Since childhood Xiao Bi has been sold to the Zhai Family. At that time Laoye [old master] was still a court of law officer at Shujun [lit. Shu county(?)]. Later on because he killed the son of an influential official, he was condemned to death; hence he rose in rebellion and declared his independence. Not only that, Miss has always been treating me like a sister; how could I abandon her at this point?”

Kou Zhong was tongue-tied. He then said, "Turns out Zhai Rang is still considered the most formidable. But is Li Mi the most promising?”

Li Jing could not stop himself from laughing. "The way you use ‘most promising' [zui you qian tu], these four characters are very interesting. I can see that in the future Xiao Xiongdi will become an eloquent orator. What you said is correct; not only Li Mi nowadays has several Wulin martial art masters under his command, he is skilled in the art of war and is able to move the troops like a deity, he is also a charismatic leader. In short, he is a figure with grand ambitions to win the world [orig. to inquire of the tripods]. Problem is, his rivals are simply too many. First and foremost are the Four Powerful Clans, who have a large number of talents within their ranks. They would not sit still watching the Sui's world [tian xia] fall into someone of common family name. Such powerful clans' opinion is deep-rooted; nobody can change it. Moreover, the biggest advantage of the Four Powerful Clans is that time and again the members of their Clan have held high positions in the imperial court, they are skillful in governing the country. This is something that ordinary citizens of mountain and fields who rise in rebellion cannot match. Du Fuwei is the best example. Even if his martial art skill is outstanding, it's difficult for him to accomplish big things.”

The two boys remembered Yuwen Huaji immediately, their faces revealed deep hatred. Li Jing noticed this and asked in bewilderment, "Ol' Li has not inquired two Xiao Xiongdi's names.”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling knew that he has seen through the load in their mind, hence they thought that from their names, he could speculate their background. Xu Ziling then told him their names, and calmly added, "Yuwen Huaji killed our Niang, therefore, we want to look for him for revenge.”

Naturally Li Jing could not figure out the twists and turns of this matter, he thought Yuwen Huaji really killed their Niang just like Yang Guang implicated a lot of common people, making family bankrupt and the people dead; that kind of tragedy.

And then Xu Ziling narrated to him thoroughly, and so he understood the details. He could not refrain from speaking solemnly, "Obviously the two Xiao Xiongdi have not entered the world too deeply. There are rules that must be known before you started. Jianghu has a saying, ‘Meeting people by chance, speak only three-tenth.' There are too many people who on the surface look reliable, but in certain situation may become an enemy. Every word you said could potentially become the cause of your demise.”

The two boys nodded their head indicating they accepted the advice.

Susu was touched. "Li Dage is really good to them,” she said.

Li Jing replied seriously, "Very few people can hit it off with the Ol' Li as soon as we meet; those who have dead hearts are unbearably many. There are a lot of things in the world that seem to be impossible, but can be done single-handedly by ambitious people. Commoners can be bestowed the title marquis or revered as prime minister, so much so that they can reach the top to the emperor's throne. People who have nothing at all also can become rich merchant wealthy tycoons. This kind of matter is not without any precedence, so you can greatly encourage yourselves with this.”

Listening to this, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were radiant with delight. This conversation with Li Jing has been like encountering bright beacon light in the dark night at the angry sea; making them see hope and giving them goals to achieve, and reignited the ambition that was hit hard by Fu Junchuo's death.

Li Jing continued, "Other than Zhai Rang and Li Mi, those with most fame and power are Wang Bo, Dou Jiande and Du Fuwei. These three top powers are the most, hey, the most promising.”

Seeing a person with a lot of insight and vast experience like Li Jing was also willing to adopt his phrase, Kou Zhong was very proud of himself.

"Du Fuwei, you have already commented,” he said, "Wang Bo and Dou Jiande, what's so formidable about these guys?”

"Pfft!” Susu broke into laughter as she spoke up, "How can you casually call people ‘guys'?”

Smiling, Li Jing said, "Kou Xiao Xiong still has naiveté! Wang Bo is the number one master of the Chang Bai Sect, he is known in Wulin world as the ‘Whip King', but he calls himself ‘Zhi Shi Lang' [it's hard to translate succinctly, it basically means ‘the minister/official/youth who understood the world/lifetime/era]. He composed the song ‘Don't Go Toward Liaodong [peninsula, between Bohai and Yellow Sea] and Wasted in Death', which penetrated deeply into the people's heart. He also knows how to grasp the popular sentiment; hence he receives great support from Shandong [province, northeast China] populace, far surpasses Du Fuwei.”

After a short pause he continued, "If internal strife arose between Zhai Rang and Li Mi, I have no doubt that the one reaping the benefit must be Qinghe [county, Hebei] man Dou Jiande. This man is the overlord of the dark road [criminal/underworld] in Hebei. He has been absent for a long time. Later on, because his family and relatives were wiped out by men who were sent by Yang Guang, in his anger he joined Gao Shida's militia. When Gao Shida died in battle, the leadership of the militia then fell into his hands. This man's martial art skill already reached the state of perfection, his men numbered in hundred thousand. They occupied Gao Jibo and made it the base of their operations, their influence reached the Yellow River. This man cannot be ignored.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, "Listening to Li Dage's analysis sure beats listening to his mother's at the restaurant for three months. Those Yang Xuan'gan, Song Zixian, Wang Xuba, Wei Dao'er, Li Zitong, Lu Mingyue, Liu Wuzhuo, and what have you. Listening about that bunch of names my head was swollen. Turns out the most formidable ones are only these few.”

Li Jing took out dry rations for everyone to share. He said, "We must stay here until late into the night before we can leave. By that time the pursuing troops would have been weary and their horses tired from the earlier commotion. Even if we come across them, we won't have anything to worry.”

The two boys already regarded Li Jing, they simply nodded their heads vigorously.

Susu asked, "Now that Li Dage has left Du Fuwei, what's your plan for the future?”

Li Jing did not answer. He asked them instead, "What about the three of you? What's your plan?”

Hanging down her head, Susu said, "I am thinking of returning to Rongyang to look for Miss, asking her to warn Laoye to guard against Li Mi.”

Kou Zhong replied, "We want to go to Luoyang to find a friend.”

Li Jing nodded. "I am thinking of going to the Capital to see what will be the destiny of the Sui people,” he said, "Since we all are going to the north anyway, let me see the three of you off for a while! Along the way I can teach two Xiao Xiongdi some horseback riding and archery, as well as some basic martial art skills.”

"Shifu!” the two boys called out in great delight.

Li Jing laughed in spite of himself, "By all means you must not call me Shifu,” he said, "We are of the same generation who happen to make friends and exchange pointers. Besides, the basic internal training your Niang has laid down for you is indeed deep and immeasurable, plus the two of you have extremely fine bones, and are quick-witted and adaptable. In the future you will definitely become people of great power and influence or at least martial art experts of this age. Perhaps right now you don't even believe in yourselves, but future facts will definitely confirm the truth that I did not make any error in judgment.”

While the two boys ‘you look at me, I look at you', Li Jing already straightened up and rose up. "Let me teach you how to ride first,” he said, "Later on I will teach you saber technique. Back and forth my saber technique only consists of about a dozen styles. It will be most beneficial to be used to charge into thousand troops ten thousand horses, but to contend for supremacy in Jianghu, I am afraid it will be inadequate. Only in rushing headlong in the battlefield will it shows its infinite power, you won't have to fear the enemy's many men and great force. As for the Ol' Li's archery skill, it originated from Hu people's [generic name for non-Han people] equestrian archery technique, hence I rather have confidence in myself.”

The two boys have never imagined that they would have this fortuitous meeting; hence they promptly prostrated themselves to express their gratitude.

Li Jing roared in laughter and led them out of the cave.

Chapter end