Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan Volume 8 Chapter 9 part3

The mule train passed through a valley, entering the plain southeast of Jingling city, gradually leaving the towering mountains and precipitous ridges behind. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling rode side-by-side ahead, acting as the vanguard of the mule train.

In these last ten days of travel, every body did not relax their guard, they forged ahead vigorously and worked very hard in training their martial art skill, so that they were ready to face the hard fighting that might come at any time.

Pointing to a small lake in the distance to their left, Xu Ziling said, "We'll pitch camp by the lake tonight, plus we can take this opportunity to swim.”

Still sitting on the horseback, Kou Zhong was looking at the map Xiang Yushan gave them. Hearing Xu Ziling, he said, "By tomorrow afternoon we should reach Baizhang [lit. hundred-zhang] Gorge. This gorge extends as long as two li, with ten-thousand ren [not sure what it is, dictionary only says ‘measure'] steep cliffs on both sides. In some places we can only see a sliver of blue sky, there is even waterfall seemingly hanging down from empty air. It is an extremely strategic place. If anybody is going to ambush us over there, we can't guarantee the safety of the mule carts.”

Xu Ziling was an animal lover; he laughed and said, "Tonight we'll take a bath in the clear creek, and then we'll go there to scout the route.”

Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, "Good idea!”

Patting the horse's bottom, he galloped toward the small lake. Xu Ziling also urged his horse to pursue closely. Duan Yucheng and the others had no choice but to urge their mules to go faster toward their destination.

Wearing only shorts to cover his groin, Xu Ziling crawled up from the warm lake water, dripping wet. He turned around toward Kou Zhong, who was still floating face up, looking at the starry night sky, and said, "That treasured saber of yours that was given by the Old Xiao, why did you give up the name ‘Star Transformation' and picked ‘Moon in the Well' instead?”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, "It's because I want to let our Xu Ziling Gongzi to use the name ‘Star Transformation'!”

Xu Ziling sat down on a large rock and crossed his legs; he said crossly, "Please stop playing dumb in front of me, quickly explain the fact to this young master.”

Kou Zhong laughed to his heart's content before saying, "The lost past has returned to me. This is one of the good times that I don't mind you cursing me about. There is no harm in telling you. Ha! Moon in the Well is Star Transformation; Star Transformation is Moon in the Well. The next move in the Moon in the Well is changes; isn't that Star Transformation? Do you understand?”

Xu Ziling was moved, "It does make sense a little bit. Very well! Scouting time is here; get out of there right now!”

Kou Zhong acknowledged the order; he jumped up ashore.

They dressed up using the fastest technique. After letting the four men know, they unleashed their shenfa using all their strength, flying toward the Baizhang Gorge.

Half a sichen later, the two boys already covered a distance of nearly twenty li, a clear indication that compared to before, their qinggong has enjoyed great progress.

By this time an expanse of dense forest appeared before their eyes. Under the dark night, where the moon and the stars did not show their splendor, from the outside, the forest looked gloomy and mysterious.

The two boys' childish heart was greatly aroused; as soon as they entered the forest, they jumped onto the tree branches and leaves with great delight.

As they swept through the forest, they saw dots of flames outside the forest, while also heard the sound of fighting.

Greatly astonished, the boys stopped by the edge of the forest and looked out.

Outside the forest, far into the distance across the plain, was a row of towering mountains and precipitous ridges; the space in between as undulating hills and mounds and sparse woodlands. This moment the flames were flickering; several hundreds torches covered the hills and plains as two groups cavalries were engaged in life and death battle.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked at each other; what was happening out there?

Xu Ziling breathed out a mouthful of cold air, "They are completely blocking the way to Baizhang Gorge. Shall we continue on our mission, or shall we turn around and go back to sleep?”

Focusing his power into his eyes, Kou Zhong turned his gaze to the two groups of riders fighting at close quarters about two li outside the forest. "Did you see that?” he said, "There is a yellow lantern hung high right in the middle of the battlefield, it hangs from a wooden post on an elevated platform. There seem to be several more things hanging from the post, and there seem to be someone tied at the bottom of the post.”

Xu Ziling nodded, "And that person is wearing yellow clothes,” he added, "Could it be that these two groups are fighting a life and death battle over that person?”

Kou Zhong's heart was unbearably itchy; he said, "If I don't go to the bottom of this, how can I sleep tonight? Let's go!”

Xu Ziling's curiosity was greatly aroused; he followed Kou Zhong rushing toward the platform.

The closer they got, the louder was the battle cry; they were also able to see more clearly the two groups of rider in close combat. The torches were strewn at random, some were stuck on the ground, some were tied on the trees. The closer to the platform, there were more torches and placed more closely to each other.

By this time the two boys were able to see clearly that one group of riders wore non-Han attire; obviously they were not people from the Central Earth. On the other hand, the other group was wearing black, tight warrior attire, so that the two groups were in stark contrast to each other [orig. like rivers Jing and Wei separate clearly]. Quite naturally, the two boys' heart was leaning toward the black-clad warriors' side.

The situation on the elevated platform was even clearer, the person who was bound on the post was a woman wearing yellow clothes, her long cloud-like beautiful hair was loose, covering most of her face, so that nobody could see her jade countenance clearly.

The warriors in barbarian clothes were blocking the black-clad warriors from attacking the platform, and they clearly were gaining the upper hand.

The black-clad warriors numbered more than a thousand, more than twice the number of barbarian warriors; however, the barbarian warriors had the advantage of stronger martial art, so that they were successful in holding the enemy at bay.

From time to time the sword's qi and the saber's shine reflected the torch's flame that it looked like dots of continuously jumping will-o'-the-wisp, giving the out-of-the-world impression from the stark horror of the battle.

The fighting was spread over a large area. Although it was concentrated mainly around the platform, but there were fierce battle everywhere they looked. This group chased that group pursued; it was an extremely bitter fighting.

Forced at the edge of the battlefield was a group of five, six black-clad warriors, surrounded by a crowd of more than a dozen barbarian warriors. Sabers flashed and men fell down.

Witnessing this view, the two boys' blood was boiling in their breast; feeling of solidarity and anger against foreign enemy burst forth in their heart.

‘Qiang!'

Kou Zhong drew the Moon in the Well out and strode forward. Without saying anything, Xu Ziling followed close by his side.

Soon enough the dozen or so barbarian warriors discovered these two intruders' presence. With eyes gleaming with ominous glint they swarmed toward the newcomers.

There was only about a hundred zhang or so battlefield separating this corner from the elevated platform. The black-clad warriors were in absolute disadvantage; not only they were unable to maintain their formation, they were beaten so bad that everything broken and in disorder, giving the enemy one opportunity after another to strike at their core strength.

As the enemy arrived, like torrential rush spears, hatchets, sabers and halberds also swarmed in. Kou Zhong quickened his steps. Shaking the Moon in the Well in his hand, instantly the saber blade emitted yellow glow so strong that even the enemy blocking him was aware of it.

Like flashes of lightning he swept to the left and hacked to the right, accurately striking the enemy's blade and their bodies, so that two men were killed instantly.

The most shocking thing was that unlike before, where as they were hit by the saber they would drop their weapons and fell down, the dead bodies stayed still, their weapons fell down first, and then like snapping pillars the bodies suddenly collapsed.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were greatly amazed. It was only then did they realize that this blunt, ordinary-looking saber was actually a divine weapon with unmatched sharp blade.

The rest of the barbarians only saw two flashes of yellow light, and immediately two of their men were killed on the spot under such a strange, baffling circumstances. Without exception everybody's guts suffered severe blow, thinking that who could possibly withstand such saber technique, where they could not even see how it happened? Immediately their will to fight was gone, and they all scattered in all directions.

Kou Zhong pulled the saber back and scrutinized it under his eyes. Standing proudly, he ran his fingers along the blade and said with a sigh, "From now on, other than Xu Ziling, you are my best companion. By no means, don't let down my, Kou Zhong's high expectation on you!”

This moment, another group of barbarian warriors was charging toward them, but acting as if he did not see them, Xu Ziling remained standing by Kou Zhong's side and said, "Do you realize that before the blade even reached the enemy, the saber qi has already preceded the saber in invading their body and controlling their channels so that they obediently waited for death.”

Kou Zhong nodded, indicating that he was aware of it, but then he said in distress, "In your opinion, was it because of my power has increased greatly, or was it entirely due to this amazing saber?”

Three iron spears were thrust swiftly toward them.

Without even looking, Kou Zhong took a step forward, the Moon in the Well swiped toward the enemy, saber's ray swirling, yellow glow suddenly stormed, three spears met the saber and broke, scaring the three spear wielders that they staggered and fell, battered and exhausted.

Two other foreign bandits were still heroically defying death by charging in, each one had a pair of hatchets in their hands. Kou Zhong casually turned his saber around, like a violent lightning yellow light flashed, the two enemies' hatchets flew from their hands while they themselves died on the spot.

The rest of the enemies dispersed in confusion.

As if he was not aware the enemies had just attacked, Xu Ziling diplomatically replied, "I think it was both. Watching you making your move these two times, I could tell there was a bit of Yijian Technique feel in it, in a sense that you were able to anticipate the next bestowing-death-to-the-enemy move's change one step ahead, pressuring the enemy that they were unable to change their move to counter, so much so that their acute spirit disappeared completely; otherwise, how could they be that useless?”

Kou Zhong sighed, "Ay!” he said, "If only Ba Fenghan, Yang Xuyan, or the likes of them were here, I could have tested my saber to my heart's content!”

This scene was extremely weird.

All around the cry of killing reached the sky, saber light and sword shadow everywhere, but it was as if the two boys were talking a leisure stroll over to this place, chatting idly discussing martial arts.

Xu Ziling suddenly traversed sideways, with a lightning move of the hand he snatched one saber and one sword that sneakily attacked them from behind. His legs kicked twice, while at the same time throwing the saber and the sword in his hands, four foreign bandits were eliminated immediately. Momentarily no one else dared to mess with them.

Returning to Kou Zhong's side, Xu Ziling elbowed his flank and said with a laugh, "Don't forget you still have me as your competitor. Bring it on! Let me see if after obtaining the Moon in the Well, whether you become like a tiger that has grown wings, or like a mouse that has grown a tumor?”

While crying out in pain, Kou Zhong struck a posture, and with a squeal said, "Lately you, this kid, have been admonishing me with straight face. This time I am going to repay injustice with injustice, animosity with animosity. En garde!”

However, the saber was hacking toward a young, heroic barbarian man, who pounced on them.

‘Clang!'

Unexpectedly that man used his sword to block Kou Zhong's Moon in the Well, and was still able to fiercely launch a counterattack. The swordsmanship was swift and fierce, strange and mysterious, the power behind it profound. Obviously this was a martial art masters from the barbarian bandits' side who heard about the newcomers and had come to his companions' aid.

Forgetting about Xu Ziling, Kou Zhong swiftly traversed sideways, thick fantastic yellow glow arose, like the billows of Yangtze River it met the incoming attack.

The man blocked seven saber strikes in succession.

‘Dang!'

Unexpectedly his sword broke right in the middle.

Kou Zhong's Moon in the Well seized this opportunity to advance, but the man was indeed brilliant; right in time he produced a dagger.

‘Ding!'

The dagger blocked the definite-kill saber strike, while, borrowing the momentum from the impact, he floated about a zhang back.

By this time Xu Ziling was also heavily surrounded, but he still called out, "I want to see something!” His fist and his leg moved together, he simply fought his way out, and rushed in the direction of the elevated platform.

When Kou Zhong wanted to run after him, shadows flashed in front of him, as three men barred his way, one of them happened to be the barbarian with superior skill, holding a fresh sword in his hand.

The young barbarian shouted, "Friend, who are you? Your skill is quite exceptional, what relationship do you have with Duba [lit. sole hegemony/dominator] Village [orig. mountain village/villa/manor]?”

Kou Zhong laughed aloud. "What Duba Village?” he replied, "I have never heard of it. I am who I am and I'm not ashamed of my name: Kou Zhong it is. Where have thou cometh from? Why had the guts to come to my Central Earth and display shockingly bad behavior?”

Hearing Kou Zhong's name, the three barbarians' countenance changed.

Astonished, Kou Zhong asked, "Do you know me?”

The barbarian that had just exchanged blows with Kou Zhong replied, "I am Tiele's ‘Flying Eagle', Qu Ao's third disciple Genggehu'er. Kou Zhong, this time you dropped by, don't ever think that you'll leave alive. Go!”

The two barbarians behind him immediately fanned out and surrounded Kou Zhong in the middle.

Kou Zhong shrugged his shoulders and laughed, "Turns out Ren Shaoming was indeed your man. Since my hands are unbearably itchy, and now you are here to offer yourselves as sacrifice for my saber! Ha!”

When Xu Ziling was breaking through layers upon layers of the enemy's network of defense, burst after burst of shrill whistling sound was heard from the battlefield; there must be some sort of pattern and order, commanding the barbarians' advance and retreat, because he suddenly felt increasing pressure from the enemy.

However, the two boys have obviously impeded the Tiele troops' main force, giving big boost to the black-clad warriors' momentum, so that they launched wave after wave of attacks toward the elevated platform.

Xu Ziling has entered the as-clear-as-still-water state of mind; although all around him was chaotic battle and tangled fighting, but he was able to clearly grasp what was true and what was false in both the enemy's and his own side's movements, and was always a step ahead in evading or intercepting the enemies, so that they were unable to surround him.

The black-clad warriors have also regarded him as an ally; every now and then they helped him blocking the Tiele people's attack against him.

By the time he was about ten zhang away from the elevated platform, a charming shout came from above.

Xu Ziling quickly recognized her as a first-class martial art masters from the enemy's side; thereupon he also let out a ferocious shout and soared into the air.

Under the illumination of the torches, he saw a pair of milky-white arms, round navel, belonging to a beautiful woman in red dress, whose pair of short blades in her right and left hands turned into two balls of sharp-flame-like flashes of light, one on top of the other, striking toward his face and chest; unbelievably fast, and swift and fierce to the extreme.

The woman's silhouette was very pretty, her features were so clear and distinct that it was as if she was carved by a sharp knife, her pair of beautiful eyes sparkled spiritedly like precious stones; in short, she was extremely attractive.

But Xu Ziling did not pay the slightest bit of attention to her beauty, one after another his left and right palms struck out.

‘Bang! Bang!'

By the time the two combatants were interlocked with each other and then separated, they had already exchanged three moves.

Xu Ziling had used a carefully calculated force, so that to her surprise, he was able to utilize the reaction force from the impact to propel himself up, and like a big bird he flew toward the elevated platform.

Obviously the beautiful barbarian had never expected that not only Xu Ziling was able to meet her full-powered, swift and fierce move head-on, he was able to brilliantly borrow the force to fly upwards swiftly. By the time she wanted to run after him, it was already too late.

Chapter end