Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan Volume 6 Chapter 8 part2

Unlike Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling was concerned about Li Shimin; he said, "How's the situation in Guanzhong?”

"Guanzhong capital is a piece of fatty meat [fig. cash cow], everybody wants to eat it up. Li Mi and Yang Shichong [there's this name again, I don't know whether it was a typo or different character from Wang Shichong] actually had a lot of chances to snatch it away from the Li Clan at Chang'an, but they are curbing each other's move that in the end nobody could make any move. Do you still remember that guy Xue Ju?”

Xu Ziling's memory was exceptionally good; he nodded and said, "That was the guy who wanted to copy Qin Shihuang [first emperor, 259-210 BC], that idiot who called himself Xi Qin Bawang [the overlord of the western Qin], right? His dominion Jincheng is west of Chang'an. Do you think he is fighting for food against the Li Clan?”

Kou Zhong said, "Kid, you are so smart that others cannot help loving you, one guess and you hit the target. This idiot claimed to have a hundred and thirty thousand men under him, and looked down on Li Yuan. Unexpectedly he dared to recklessly attack a solid city like Chang'an, and was beaten by that Li kid outside the city, and had to crawl back home before he finished eating, thus his prestige also took a large fall.”

Xu Ziling asked in amazement, "This place is so far away from Guanzhong, how could you describe it with living spirit, living image, as if you have witnessed it with your own eyes?”

Kou Zhong proudly said, "In this small town, at least one out of four people is a refugee from the north. I am just adding a little imagination to that, and you are listening with smile of exultation.”

Xu Ziling said, "The big battle between Wang Shichong and Li Mi is inevitable, I just don't know who won and who lost.”

Kou Zhong smiled mysteriously and said, "Turns out you haven't forgotten Shen Poniang.”

Xu Ziling let out a forced laugh; he said, "You have contracted the incurable disease of using too much imagination. I was only concerned over the situation of the world. If this chaotic situation continues, common people will have to suffer I don't know how much more pain.”

Kou Zhong said, "Since that muddleheaded ruler's death, the situation is getting more tangled and complicated. One of the so-called five martial art masters of Sui Dynasty, Shen Faxing, and thus is one strong character outside the Four Powerful Clans who is able to gather his descendants based on surname connection, took office as the Governor of Wuxing. On the pretext that he was attacking Yuwen Huaji, he gathered sixty-thousand Sui troops, to occupy Kunling. His fame and power flourished suddenly, and called himself Jiangnan Dao Da Zongguan [the big steward of Jiangan (area south of Yangtze River) road], in direct opposition to Li Zitong and our Ol' Die. These rebel armies, one was originally Sui troops, and the other was originally born from grass and pond, have deep enmity against each other. Water and fire cannot tolerate each other.”

"In that case,” Xu Ziling said, "Li Clan's victory over Xue Ju is actually a crucial turning point, because from now on they no longer fear threats from the west, and can simply sit and watch the heroes of the Central Plains killing each other.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, "I know that you always think highly of that Li kid, but he and his brother Li Jiancheng once wanted to attack Luoyang, in the end there was neither accomplishment nor pay back. The current situation is a stale-mate; nobody is able to do anything to the other side.”

Xu Ziling pressed Kou Zhong's cup down. "Don't drink too much!” he said, "Something might happen tonight.”

Kou Zhong pushed his hand aside and drained his cup in one gulp. There was an unusual glint in his eyes as he said, "This is the last cup.”

Xu Ziling knew that he had evoked the bad memory of Li Xiuning in Kou Zhong's mind. Sighing inwardly, he pulled Kou Zhong back to their room at the inn.

That night indeed there were Jianghu people who acted recklessly by coming to them looking for trouble, but they were beaten to be in a sorry state by the two boys, and ended up running away with broken arms and broken feet. The two boys knew it was only the beginning, so they might as well not hiding their identity, as they swaggered through towns and villages, pressing on toward their ‘training beach'.

They were not people who love to flaunt their courage and strength at all, while deliberately elusive, sometimes for two, three days they trained in the wilderness, cultivating the internal energy from the ‘Secret to Long Life', baffling those who were trying to follow their trails.

On one hand, they were focused on their training; on the other hand, they wanted to use these endless streams of people - who were coming to their door coveting Li Mi's reward - as their target practice, to see whether the technique they previously learned could be thoroughly blended with what they had just learned, or perhaps with their own interpretation, to become even more comprehensive, to enable them to control the true qi within their body smoothly, and to bring out the innate quality to its extreme saturation.

One day the two boys chatted about making a stop at Yuhang, so they paid taxes as required by the rules and entered the city. Kou Zhong laughed and said, "I wonder if those Haisha Bang [see Book 2 Chapter 4] still exists? Now that the Yuwen Clan is powerless to defend itself, Haisha Bang cannot flaunt their viciousness. We might as well tear down their Yuhang Division, forcing them to offer us a big ship, with a hundred sailors, a thousand sacks of salt, and ten thousand beauties. Ha! The more I think, the happier I am.”

Xu Ziling swept his gaze around, the scene on the streets did not look much different from what he remembered, only there were a lot more Jianghu people around, but no one dared to look directly at them, obviously these people knew who they were. Some even made a detour to avoid them.

Laughing aloud, he said, "Gain the initiative by striking first, it can really save us a lot of trouble. This place is probably Shen Faxing's territory, someone who has been a government official is, after all, different; everything in this place is clear and orderly, unlike Ol' Die's place that looks like a mess.”

Kou Zhong halted his steps and pointed to a shop across the street. "Do you remember?” he said, "It's here! Look! Everyone in that bunch of people at the door has ominous glint in their eyes, their expression looks bad.”

Xu Ziling looked over; he recalled Haisha Bang Yuhang Division's Vice Helmsman Tan Yong, who that night walked out of precisely that place.

Just like that night, about a dozen Haisha Bang disciples gathered in that store, everybody had a weapon in his hand, everybody was glaring at the two boys, as if they were ready to fight at any time.

Kou Zhong said, "That idiot Dragon [King] Han Gaidi [reminder: his real name was Gaitian, tian - heaven, di - earth] must've thrown his lot to Shen Faxing, otherwise, I would be surprised if he is not swept out of Yuhang. Shen Faxing made it clear that he is on crusade against the Yuwen Clan; thereby Han Gaidi, who is accustomed to piloting the ship, has a deep understanding on how to steer the rudder by looking at the wind.”

Xu Ziling took the initiative this time, he strode across the street straight toward that store; beckoning Kou Zhong to come along, he said, "Attacking the unprepared is the best policy! C'mon good brother!”

Kou Zhong laughed and followed him, just like they were going to play a fun game.

Right this moment, they both felt that they had grown up to be adults, no longer two young marketplace hooligans.

Chapter end