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Inwardly the two cried, ‘Demonical!’, they also felt that the road to happiness is strewn with setbacks; how come every time they wanted to see Yuekepeng, there was always complication that preventing them from doing it? Even the time to just say hello was lacking.

The carriage turned into a side street.

Kou Zhong cheerfully said, “You, LaoGe, doing your task, of course I need not be worried. Have you told Du Ba Wang the reason why we wanted to see him? How did he react?”

Smiling bitterly, Ke Dazhi replied, “He cursed me using unbearably vulgar language like a gale sweeping dead leaves for a moment first, saying that I falsely believe you guys’ lies in driving a wedge between them, sworn brothers. Fortunately he then muttered to himself irresolutely, muttering that you guys shouldn’t be that kind of despicable lowly men. He said his granny’s bear, using three men’s power resisting Xieli’s several tens of thousands Golden Wolf Army, you should not do such a contemptible thing. Kou Zhong, that kind of kid, I’ve seen a lot; loves to stir up waves without any wind the most, afraid that the world is not chaotic enough. Go find him, let me scold him to his face myself.”

Stunned, Kou Zhong said, “That can be considered very good. My Niang!”

When Ke Dazhi was repeating Du Xing’s words, Xu Ziling could clearly and easily sketch and imagine in his mind the tone of Du Xing’s voice and his demeanor when he spoke those words.

Ke Dazhi’s style in talking was indeed exquisite and vivid.

The carriage galloped into a courtyard house, but without stopping at all it left through the back door.

Ke Dazhi said with a laugh, “He agreed to meet you in private, to show that he really does not attach importance to your words at all. Although this man’s temper is not good, tyrannical and overbearing, he esteems good men with guts the most; he also esteems friendship a lot. It’s just that you guys have not seen this side of him, that’s all!”

Kou Zhong mused that Du Xing’s friendship was being used only toward Xieli’s side, hence the reason he nearly killed them. He asked, “Have you found Meiyan’s whereabouts?”

Ke Dazhi replied, “I handed that matter over to Du Dage; based on his relations with other people and his power in Longquan, I am sure it will be very easy to find that information.”

“I wonder if Ke Xiong have friendly relations with Huyan Jin?” Xu Ziling asked.

Ke Dazhi’s pair of eyes was flashing with cold light, he spoke with a cold snort, “I have never seen him. I only know that he is more and more aggressive and arrogant; I am afraid he is already tired of living.”

Astounded, Kou Zhong said, “Didn’t Du Xing have quite a friendly relationship with him? He mentioned that in order to find out who robbed our eighty thousand sheets of sheepskin, he had to ask Huyan Jin to mediate.”

Du Xing had both Tujue and Qidan blood, hence both tribes saw him as kin.

Sneering, Ke Dazhi said, “Who would really want to have friendly relationship with Huyan Jin, that kind of horse thief whose stinky name spread far and wide? In the end, it’s a matter of what’s at stake, hoping that he won’t come to grab his goods or touch the people that they are protecting. The biggest mistake Huyan Jin ever committed was that he formed an alliance with Abaojia. In the prairie, anybody whose power suddenly grew will have to bear the consequences. Bai Ziting is precisely a good living example before our eyes.”

The carriage picked up speed, it turned to the left and bent to the right, but the two boys were still clearly aware that they were heading toward the northwest part of the city.

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “In that case, he is forming an alliance with Shen Mohuan, can it be considered another unwise move?”

Stunned, Ke Dazhi asked, “Where did the information come from?”

Sketching it in light shades, Kou Zhong replied, “Kunzhihuang, Huyan Jin’s former comrade-in-arms.”

Ke Dazhi revealed a sudden ‘Turns out it’s him’ understanding expression; he sighed and said, “Abaojia is indeed a smart man, he understands when he should stir the wind and the rain, when he should quietly defend himself. In order to survive in the indeterminate changes, impermanence prairie, one must be able to seek opportunity in the midst of myriad changes, and quickly adapt before being washed out. Hey! It’s raining again!”

The pitter-patter sound of sudden rain shower hit the roof of the carriage, sparse at first, but rapidly growing in intensity, the momentum was even more ferocious compared to the previous rain before the two boys were ambushed. Suddenly the carriage was like entering a water world.

A peculiar feeling welled up in Xu Ziling’s heart. Who would have thought that they would ride together in one carriage with this formidable opponent? Plus they were all going to fight side by side. Based on Xieli’s ambition and Tujue nomadic tribes’ aggressive nature, they and Ke Dazhi were already predestined to be enemies. There would come a day where they would stake everything in life or death face off. Yet currently both sides were like people of talent appreciate one another [idiom], and avoiding telling lies as much as possible to show trust on the other side, not afraid that the other side might use it to strike them back.

Ay! Isn’t this called Nature is playing with people? The essence of cruel and unfeeling war, which made friends go against each other with naked blade?

Kou Zhong muttered aloud, “This morning when I woke up, I looked up to the sky, but failed to see heavy rain looming in the horizon, immediately my confidence is shaken, too lazy to look at the sky again. But thinking about it, the clouds floating in the sky just now must be cotton-wadding clouds. His granny’s! How about getting rid of both of them at the same time?”

Ke Dazhi’s pair of eyes became as sharp as saber blade; the barely discernible smile hanging on the corners of his mouth exploded into a bright smile, exposing his neat, snow white teeth, “Deal!” he said with a laugh.

After staring blankly at him for half a day, Kou Zhong turned to Xu Ziling and said, “I found out that whether in the battlefield or on the love field, I met the same formidable opponent.”

Xu Ziling also had to admit that Ke Dazhi was a man with character and charm very much; naturally he understood what Kou Zhong meant.

Ke Dazhi spoke in displeasure, “Our formidable opponent is Liexia; only after taking care of him will it be our, your and my – turn.”

Kou Zhong shot a quick glance toward Xu Ziling first before leaning over and whispered to Ke Dazhi, “If we deal with our common enemy using force, would it be considered using the many to maltreat the few, and thus will be lacking elegance?”

Laughing involuntarily, Ke Dazhi said, “This is precisely one of the reasons we, Tujue people, are superior to your Han people. Everything we have is coming from the prairie. Here, we only have one truth, which could be explained completely in one sentence, ‘the weak are prey to the strong’ [idiom]. When we get along well, we are more sociable than you are, but when we are being ruthless, we are more merciless than you are. Only the strong have the ability to survive; the weak will only be eliminated or reduced to be servants.”

Kou Zhong could not help thinking about the merciless situation where the pack of wolves killed a reindeer. He sighed and said, “Since you, Tujue people, are superior to us, why is it that starting with the Xiongnu down to your Tujue, until today there has never been one prairie tribe able to make us acknowledge allegiance to you under your iron hoof?”

“Good question!” Ke Dazhi calmly replied, “We never stop asking ourselves the very same question. There are quite differences of opinions; some people think that the Central Plains’ territory is vast, the people numerous, plus the terrain is complex, also there are Yangtze River and Yellow River as natural strongholds, hence it’s easily guarded, hard to attack. Some others believe that your culture has deep roots and strong cohesiveness. But I believe those are not the crucial points.”

Xu Ziling could not help asking, “Where’s the real problem then?”

Ke Dazhi’s pair of eyes exploded with refined light, he spoke slowly, word-by-word, “The real problem is that there is still no single tribe beyond the Great Wall that is able to unify the prairie, to link all the tribes together. Only when that situation appear will we have no fears of trouble in the rear and be able to sweep the Central Plains with momentum like ravaging dried up branches and dragging away rotten trees. However, this dream of ours will only happen under one condition; otherwise, to whom the deer falls still cannot be predicted yet.”

Frowning, Kou Zhong asked, “What condition?”

Ke Dazhi smiled and said, “Which is among our opponents, there is no Junshi like you, Shaoshuai, who has talent made in Heaven. The battle of the Rushing Wolf Plain has made Shaoshuai the person we are most afraid of as well as the most respected. Otherwise I wouldn’t have sat here and call you brother. In Tujue, only those with genuine power will be esteemed.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “You are speaking forthrightly. I wonder if that is an indication that your honorable Great Khan definitely won’t let me return to the Central Plains alive? Should I be happy or worried?”

The carriage drove into a mansion and stopped.

Footsteps were approaching. Two men holding umbrellas pulled the carriage door open. Ke Dazhi shouted in Tujue language, “You move back, we are still talking.”

Following the order, the men retreated some distance away, the driver also left his seat and got off the carriage.

Inside the quiet carriage, the three men’s six eyes looked at each other, the atmosphere was heavy.

Ke Dazhi looked at Xu Ziling first, before turning his gaze to Kou Zhong. Sighing, he said, “At this moment, I really consider you as friends, hence I tell you the truth. After Bi Xuan personally made his move yet failed to return successfully, the Great Khan changed his way of thinking. Due to his reconciliation with Tuli, he will let you return to the Central Plains to strive over the world against Li Shimin, while we take this opportunity to unify the prairie, and then wait for the opportune time.”

“Why can’t we coexist peacefully?” Xu Ziling asked.

Laughing coldly, Ke Dazhi said, “Can you? Hatred is not built in a day. Starting with Qin Huang Ying Zheng, every time the country is strong, your attitude toward our various tribes of the prairie has been obeying me you are flourishing, opposing me you are perishing. Yang Guang was the most readily available example. The weak are prey to the strong, this has always been the way of the prairie, always appropriate at any place and any time, only the strong will be called the mighty. Therefore, dealing with Liexia, this kind of crafty and fawning lowly man, why should we speak about compassion, duty, propriety and integrity [idiom] with him? Would he be willing to speak about peaceful argument with you in the same way? Shaoshuai must never, ever have excessive tendency to clemency [idiom], otherwise you will definitely be defeated under Li Shimin’s hands. Li Shimin is just like us, although he is righteous toward friends, he is absolutely ruthless toward the enemies.”

Kou Zhong said, “It’s not that I am excessively tolerant toward Liexia, I’m just thinking why not convert the battlefield into the affairs of the heart [orig. love field], to have a fair decisive battle. Right now I am a bit happy with you, this kid. Even if in the end you will become big enemy, in the future I can still sleep soundly.”

Smiling wryly, Ke Dazhi said, “There are some things I really don’t want to say, because thinking about it is enough to make my heart bleeding. This morning when Xiufang Dajia was planning on seeing Liexia off to the Palace gate, the tip of her brows, the corners of her eyes were pregnant with amorous feelings, which generated a very big crisis in my heart, otherwise I would have not come to you to discuss the plan to deal with him. I am sure Liexia is not a lay practitioner of Buddhism [lit. benevolent man, trusted woman]. When he is dealing with you, he can’t possibly speak about elegance. Shaoshuai must make up your mind quickly, otherwise let’s just drop our cooperation.”

Kou Zhong reached out to lightly pat his shoulder, he said with a laugh, “How can we drop it like it is a trifling matter? We are all adults who have been through the hardships of life! We are going to spin silk from cocoons [fig. to make painstaking investigation] to expose Liexia’s, this bad egg – true identity, starting with Old Xu. Ha! It’s time to hear Du Ba Wang explode in vulgar language!”

The heavy rain was pouring down endlessly, giving people the feeling of being indoor was safe, cozy and warm.

The four men sat down at the large round table in the corner of the hall. The attendants served fragrant tea and withdrew from the hall.

Du Xing swept his copper bell like huge eyes across Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s faces several times, and then he said heavily, “I hear you suspect that my Xiongdi Xu Kaishan is a Da Ming Zun Jiao man; furthermore, he is the mastermind behind the wolf-bandits. You had better be able to come up with reliable evidence, otherwise don’t blame me, Du Xing for being impolite.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “If I had reliable evidence, I would have gone to confront Xu Kaishan early on, to cut off his eggs, why bother sneakily meeting you to talk?”

Du Xing’s countenance changed. He was about to explode, when Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “If we could exchange what we know with open heart and sincerity, perhaps there will really be an evidence that we could rely on.”

Ke Dazhi chimed in, “They are willing to look for Du Dage to talk, they are showing their feeling and respect toward Dage.”

Du Xing’s countenance relaxed a little bit, but the tone of his voice was still ice-cold. Snorting, he said, “What is it that I don’t know?”

The sound of the rain hitting the roof, the eaves and the window was getting louder. It was also changing continuously and was rich in layers.

Kou Zhong spoke indifferently, “Do you know that Zhou Laofang, one of the Five Kinds of Demons of Da Ming Zun Jiao, like a plum tree withers in place of the peach tree [idiom: to substitute one thing for another] disguised himself as his twin brother Zhou Laotan to lure our Shi Xianzi to come to Longquan to try to bring harm to her?”

Du Xing’s expression unchanged, he said, “What does it have to do with my sworn brother Xu Kaishan?”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Ba Wang Laoxiong, you seem to have bad memory, or are you deliberately being forgetful? Unexpectedly you don’t remember it was he who brought those two fake corpses of Zhou Laotan, husband and wife back to Shanhai Pass.”

Waving his hand, Du Xing sneered and said, “My memory has not declined, thank you for Shaoshuai’s concern. It’s not that I don’t remember, but I fail to see any problem. You think there is a problem?”

Ke Dazhi was relieved, knowing that Du Xing was sincerely listening and understood very well, because up to this moment he still had not exploded even half a sentence of vulgar language. He himself was eighty-, ninety-percent convinced, because he had deep understanding how formidable the two boys were; he had personally experienced it in Chang’an.

Kou Zhong leisurely leaned back into his chair. Sketching it in light shades, he said, “At that time he did two things. One was to bring back the fake remains of Zhou Laotan, husband and wife, the other was the dead body of Ma Ji’s subordinate. Three corpses telling two different stories, but all were done under Du Ba Wang’s instruction. Did Xiaodi say it wrong?”

The lightning light in Du Xing’s pair of eyes was flaring greatly, showing his deep and immeasurable qigong. A hint of smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, he spoke calmly, “I am starting to understand a little bit why Xu Xiong spoke about open heart and sincerity earlier. All right! The affair of Ma Ji’s subordinate, it was indeed me, Du Xing, who arranged it, with the intention of luring the two gentlemen to Yan Yuan Ji to look for Ma Ji; it was not a good intention.”

Ke Dazhi slapped the table and cheered, “Dare to do, dare to admit. Du Dage is indeed outstanding.”

Kou Zhong clapped his hands and said, “Things are getting more and more interesting! You ought to know that were it not for the wolf-bandits luring us to travel in the direction of Yan Yuan Ji, we would never have fallen into Yan Yuan Ji’s trap. Isn’t this his mother’s coincidence?”

Du Xing blurted out laughing, “Since I, Du Xing, did it the first day [of the lunar month], naturally I don’t care if others are doing it on the fifteenth. His granny’s bear, you, three idiots were following me and Kaishan disguising ourselves as fake wolf-bandits. What coincidence? It was practically a deliberate arrangement.”

Kou Zhong slapped the table and exclaimed in admiration. Laughing in spite of himself, he said, “Unexpectedly you played his granny’s trick on us.”

From listening attentively to the sound of the wind and the rain outside, Xu Ziling turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Sketching it in light shades, he said, “The most critical point is that Zhou Laotan, husband and wife are Zhao Deyan’s people, and only Zhou Laotan, husband and wife knew the technique and the secret mark to maintain close contact with Shi Feixuan. May I ask Du Ba Wang, did your sworn brother have the opportunity to obtain, either directly or indirectly, this secret information?”

Finally Du Xing’s countenance changed; he spoke heavily, “Since Zhou Laofang was Zhou Laotan’s brother, most probably he was working for Zhou Laotan.”

His expression showed that Xu Kaishan indeed knew the information.

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Last night Zhou Laotan had just killed his younger brother; what do you think those two brothers’ relationship look like?”

Shaking his head, Du Xing said, “That’s not enough reasoning. The relationship between people could be complicated and confusing. A few days ago I was racking my brains how to get rid of two gentlemen, but now we are talking like brothers. Perhaps in a few days we will all move the saber and play with the axe, staking our life against each other? In my opinion, the possibility of Zhou Laotan brothers being villains colluding together is still very high.”

Ke Dazhi said, “In this aspect, I might know better than Du Dage. Twenty years ago, Zhou Laotan and Zhou Laofang, two brothers became enemies because they were fighting over Jin Huanzhen, so much so that they became like water and fire. Zhou Laofang even led his men to ambush Zhou Laotan, inflicting serious damage on him. Were it not for Yan Shuai [Commander Yan] lending him a hand, his life would have been gone early on.”

Du Xing spoke heavily, “Dazhi, tell me honestly, do even you suspect my sworn brother Xu Kaishan?”

Smiling wryly, Ke Dazhi said, “I only discuss things as I see it!”

Du Xing spoke sternly, “Answer me a bit sharper and cleared; since when did you become like a woman mincing her words?”

The refined light in Ke Dazhi’s pair of eyes flared out greatly, he met Du Xing’s gaze and spoke resolutely, “Yes, that’s right! I suspect your brother Xu Kaishan, because I am sure Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling are not despicable disciples who might frame other people. Dage, you know Xu Kaishan much better than any of us, naturally the final judgment ought to come from you.”

Du Xing’s breathing became ragged, a sign of the tumultuous emotion in his heart. It was quite half a day later that he calmed down, turned to Kou Zhong, and said, “How did you know that Zhou Laotan, husband and wife were working together with us?”

Kou Zhong replied, “We accidentally obtained the information. This is called one hundred secrets one negligence. Zhou Laotan wanted to deceive us by doing foolish things, hence he revealed the cloven foot instead.”

Shaking his head, Du Xing said, “Kaishan is not that kind of person. Ay! I need to investigate this matter one step further.”

“Who exactly robbed that eighty thousand sheets of sheepskin?” Xu Ziling asked, “Du Ba Wang shouldn’t see the need to conceal the truth from Huyan Jin?”

The two boys’ eyes were fixed on Du Xing, to see how he would respond. Inwardly they were a little nervous; if Du Xing frankly admitted that he did it, then they would have no choice but to have a fallout with him and fight him, to demand the debt of blood of Da Xiaojie’s brothers who had lost their lives. Under current circumstances, this would be the worst development, because Ke Dazhi would never allow them to harm Du Xing. But the problem was that the possibility that the development would go in that direction was extremely high.

Du Xing smiled and said, “Are you suspecting me?”

Ke Dazhi responded, “I can guarantee that it was not Du Dage, otherwise I would not have arranged this meeting.”

“But who actually did it?” Kou Zhong asked, “Had it not been for this batch of sheepskins, Ling Shao and I would not have sat at this table today.”

Du Xing said, “At first glance it seems to be something that we did. The fact is, it was not until Da Xiaojie was injured and returning to Shanhai Pass that I knew about this matter and to take advantage of it. If it were me who did it, I won’t be afraid to admit it to your face.”

Kou Zhong repeated the question, “Who did it?”

Du Xing looked at Ke Dazhi, the latter nodded and said, “Compared to Xu Kaishan problem, this is only a small matter. The relationship between Du Dage and Xu Kaishan is too deep, it’s inappropriate for him to investigate it himself. Shaoshuai and Ziling Xiong are precisely the ideal candidate. Of course, it will still be up to Du Dage to make the final decision.”

Du Xing nodded slightly. After muttering to himself irresolutely for a moment, he said, “All right! Telling you is not a big deal. The man who robbed the sheepskin was someone who did not know your relationship with Da Xiaojie. By the time he knew that he had created a trouble, the sheepskin had already fallen into Ma Ji’s hands. Things were no longer under his control, but it was for us to manipulate.”

After a short pause, he laughed aloud and said, “It was Han Chao’an, that kid. Are you surprised?”

“What?” the two boys blurted out together.