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Facing the empty and uninhabited secluded residence, Shi Qingxuan’s words echoed continuously in Xu Ziling’s heart.

The little house was still the same, but the touching scene of Shi Qingxuan dressing and grooming herself behind the screen has gone forever. The sound of the mountain breeze blowing and brushing against his clothes became hollow; although he had a good friend accompanying him by his side, he was overcome with despair, as if he had lost all life force! Everything with Shi Qingxuan, the casual longing that he seized with both hands, the happy life brimming with love between a man and a woman – ended at this point! The struggle that he fought with all his might has turned into complete failure, Shi Qingxuan has become a sad memory, the rest of his life could only be spent in solitary loneliness.

What’s so joyful about life anyway? What’s to fear about death anyway? Fervent hope only brought bitter disappointment.

Hou Xibai, who was exhausting his last effort to look through the window into the house to search for Shi Qingxuan’s beautiful shadow – spoke in a nearly whimpering voice, “She practically has never been here at all, I wonder if she is still in the little valley in Bashu?”

Xu Ziling sat down dejectedly on one of the flat and square rocks outside the door. Shaking his head, he said, “She immediately left that very same night; I could sense her determination not to tarry in the valley a moment longer.”

Hou Xibai sat on the other square rock, grabbing Xu Ziling’s hands inside his palms, he spoke in daze, “What do we do now?”

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “You should immediately go to see Lei Jiuzhi, think of a way to help Han Zenan and his wife and child to settle down. This is important, you must not fail. Otherwise, if the Xiang Family found them, we would feel guilty about it for the rest of our lives.”

Hou Xibai looked up, he spoke in shock, “If I am going away, how could you stay here alone?”

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “Why not? I will stay here to treat my injury in peace; while there is no sound of Qingxuan’s flute, I will try to forget the injury that my body is suffering. After you accomplish everything, please hurry back here, and then we will go together to meet up with Kou Zhong. Other than this, do you have a better idea?”

The newcomer was indeed Ba Fenghan, whom he wished to Heaven for, accompanied by the reinforcements, which could make Kou Zhong come back from death’s door. Altogether, there were four thousand men, plus a hundred and thirty carts, of which twenty carts were loaded with life-saving firearms. Of the four thousand men, three thousand were carefully-selected elite cavalrymen, while the other thousand were the supply personnel with comparatively weaker fighting power, who were the new recruits of the Shao Shuai Army.

Leading the troops was Bai Wenyuan, who was quite familiar with the geography of this area and the surrounding regions. His former master, Zhu Can, had proclaimed himself hegemon in the northwest, not far from here. Although Zhu Can had become the chrysanthemums after the Double Ninth Festival [idiom: thing of the past], but Bai Wenyuan’s familiarity with the mountains and rivers and waterways of this area proved to be very useful, so that the reinforcement army could sneak in – the gods did not know, the ghosts did not perceive – evading the Tang Army’s scouts.

Ba Fenghan led a unit of a hundred warriors as the pioneer. Meeting Kou Zhong on the forest path, they were all overcome with joy.

Kou Zhong busily issued his orders; he ordered the troops following Ba Fenghan’s troops to go into hiding, to pitch camp and rest, so that the enemy, just like he did, could not see the rising dust.

After encouraging his troops, Kou Zhong took Bai Wenyuan and Ba Fenghan to the top of a hill nearby to observe the situation and discuss their grand plan. He even dispatched Wuming to patrol from the high altitude.

Seeing Ba Fenghan’s timely arrival, Kou Zhong’s mood turned for the better. After analyzing the situation, he summarized, “Now is our biggest advantage, Qu Tutong’s attention is focused on Zhongli, his defense strategy is mainly targeted on the troops coming from Zhongli. With you guys coming at the right time, after making sure of Qu Tutong’s disposition of troops, we could seize this moment, while he is carrying out a large-scale construction, before their formation has not steadied yet, to use the firearms in an initial show of strength, and then launch pincer attack from the inside and outside, I guarantee that we can beat his Niang’s until they are in a sorry state; isn’t that a joy?”

Ba Fenghan said, “This batch of firearms mainly relies on poison gas and fire-arrows, the range is more than a thousand paces, it produced a large amount of purple poisonous smoke. Although not as formidable as could cause people to be poisoned to death, it could sting people’s eyes, so that teardrops will flow steadily, breathing will be difficult, the skin turns red and swollen, and will only recover within half a day, hence it will greatly weaken their fighting prowess.”

Astonished, Kou Zhong asked, “Have you tested it on anyone? How else do you know it so well?”

Bai Wenyuan said. “We caught a wild dog for testing. After the test, we were thinking of slaughtering it to eat, but were afraid its meat would be poisonous, in the end we spared the dog’s life.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “Poor doggy; luckily you did not harm its life.” And then he asked, “Such a poisonous smoke, how many arrows do we have?”

Bai Wenyuan replied, “Altogether we have 2,500 arrows; if we release all, it could shroud a wide area of three to four li square, the blowing wind cannot disperse it. Able to make such a formidable firearm, those people’s brains are really not simple.”

Ba Fenghan said, “When two armies are facing off against each other, this kind of poisonous smoke arrow is not very useful, but sneaking into the enemy’s camp and seizing their stronghold, dealing with concentrated enemy, it will definitely display its amazing effectiveness. Originally, we were worried about how to use this thing to defend our stronghold, but luckily Li Shimin knew the facts and is tactful; he sent Qu Tutong to give us the opportunity to use it, naturally it’s another matter.”

Bai Wenyuan said, “In addition to the 2,500 poisonous smoke arrows, there are still 500 kerosene bombs and 800 poisonous smoke cannons. With the former, we ignite it and threw it out by hand; along with the explosion, the kerosene will splatter everywhere, it can quickly put a large area of forest wilderness into a sea of fire. With the latter, we place it on the ground in advance, when the enemy steps on it, it will immediately spout poisonous smoke, so its power is purely based on the poisonous smoke; it could even have more formidable power than poisonous smoke arrows.” [Translator’s note: they sound like ancient grenade (or Molotov cocktail, to be precise), and land mines, but the terms I am using are the literal translation of the original Chinese text.]

Speechless, Kou Zhong said, “We really block a calamity for Li Yuan, because he was supposed to personally be at the receiving end of this batch of firearms.”

Ba Fenghan said, “We must take advantage of the time while Qu Tutong has not chopped the trees around the camp clean to give us trouble; otherwise, the kerosene bombs will turn into waste.”

Making prompt decision, Kou Zhong said, “Wenyuan, you go to the camp first to make preparation, Lao Ba and I will immediately go to explore the route. This matter should not be delayed, tonight will be the best fortunate timing for our operation.”

Bai Wenyuan received the order and left.

“Is there any news about Ziling?” Ba Fenghan asked.

Shaking his head, Kou Zhong spoke in distress, “I hope Heaven helps the worthy, that he will have great luck, great profit!”

Xu Ziling sat in meditation. He was unable to forget his serious internal injury, because that was some kind of feeling that followed him around and was impossible to get rid of, that enabled him not to feel weak all the time and the unbearable pain that came from the meridians of his whole body. His qi and blood not flowing freely was the heavier load for him, which made him feel vexed and tired.

The more concentrated his spirit, the clearer he felt the injury, so that he was unable to enter the realm of forgetting self. The ‘he’ at the present moment could only bear this wretched state in silence.

He entered the house and looked at the lady’s chamber behind the screen, where Shi Qingxuan left her beautiful image behind. His heart was suddenly brimming with tenderness, which stirred his mind to recall the beautiful memory of the touching moment where he met her by chance. Any little resentment that he had toward Shi Qingxuan immediately disappeared like scattering cloud and vanishing smoke.

Since he cherished her, he ought to give thought to her, and respect any decision she made. So what if he had to forget his personal gains and losses? When he gave up the world of the living, life would pass in the blink of an eye.

His heart and spirit could not help reveling in the situation where he caught the first sight of Shi Qingxuan; one scene after another, past events were reappearing in the lake of his heart, both the reality and the nothingness. Apart from Shi Feixuan, he had never tried so hard to think of a person. If life and everything else became an irreversible past, just let Shi Qingxuan become a part of the past.

Unconsciously, he found himself walking out of the house and then sat down on the square rock by the main door. The sun was disappearing behind the mountain, all around him, the crickets and all kinds of insect in the thicket seemed to know that severe winter was coming, they were striving hard to play the last movement of the life’s symphony, interwoven with the rich layers of the sound of the vast body of water.

Intoxicated in the world that he normally did not pay attention to and that he had usually neglected, he fell into the forgetting-self cavity. And finally, from focusing his thought and memory on Shi Qingxuan, he threw himself into the world of insect buzzing and cicada singing, in which the cavity switched from one to the other naturally, without any trace.

Inside the world of forgetting emotion, forgetting worry, forgetting self, he succeeded in freeing himself of the hundred-and-one-way anxiety, as well as the disturbing injury in his heart, his spirit merged with the nature’s cruel autumn’s last trace of vitality into one; he was even oblivious that heat and cold were rushing out of the yongquan acupoints on his feet, the innate qi pierced his acupoint and entered in. From weak, it gradually grew strong, slowly piercing through his meridians and passing through his channels, nourishing all the acupoints in his body.

In his primal chaos, time slipped away in astonishing speed. By the time he was awaken by some kind of intensely dangerous feeling from the depth, as if he was swimming in the cave of the heaven and earth – and opened his eyes, the waning moon has already moved to the middle of the sky. The night sky, like an expanse of black velvet felt [fabric] – was embedded with stars.

To which star was actually the one where Shi Qingxuan returned after her death? Could it be that the place where he returned after his death would be another star closest to hers? Then he would forever accompany her by her side, to accomplish the long-cherished wish that was unfulfilled during his life in this mortal world.

Was life influenced by the cause and effect [karma] of the past [previous incarnation] and present life? If that was the case, how was the first cause planted?

“What kind of place is this? Who built this house and lived here?”

Xu Ziling pulled back his gaze form the starry sky above and moved it to the standing-proud-with-his-hands-behind-his-back-in-front-of-him, the top-evil-person-of-this-generation – ‘Evil King’ Shi Zhixuan. He smiled and said, “How did Xie Wang wander so far to this out-of-the-way place and honor this mountain residence with your presence?”

Copying him earlier, Shi Zhixuan also looked up at the night sky. Remaining calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, he said, “After opening your eyes, Ziling looked firmly at the sky; what exactly are you looking at?”

Xu Ziling responded indifferently, “I am wondering, after people die, are they returning to their original place, their homeland – in the stars above?”

Shi Zhixuan revealed a pained smile, but the tone of his voice was grim and tranquil; he spoke softly, “Does Ziling know that I am coming to kill you?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Xu Ziling calmly said, “Since Xie Wang did not even know whose place this is, naturally you did not come in good faith to pay a visit, instead, you were following us to this place. In fact, all along Xie Wang has had the intention to kill me, it’s just that you don’t want to make your move in front of Xibai, that’s all.”

Shi Zhixuan’s expression did not change, he looked down to stare fixedly at Xu Ziling, and softly said, “It’s not that Ol’ Shi did not give you any chance, as long as you are willing to stay in You Lin Xiao Gu to accompany Qingxuan. Speaking about the affairs of this mortal world, I really did not wish to harm even half a strand of your hair. However, your current conduct and deeds are running in the opposite direction to Ol’ Shi’s expectations. Ziling should know that you and Kou Zhong have become the biggest barrier to our Holy School’s endeavor to unify the world. If I don’t harden my heart and deal with you with ruthless hands tonight, I am afraid tomorrow will be too late to be sorry. I deliberately waited for your internal injury to be completely gone before showing myself and making my move, it is in the hope that you, Ziling, can die contentedly with your eyes closed, and won’t blame me, Xie Wang to take advantage of someone else’s precarious position.”

And then he sighed and said, “If within one day like this your injury is completely recovered, I, Shi Zhixuan, will have no choice but to write ‘submit’, one character. But precisely because of this that I am forced to harden my heart. Tonight, Ziling is progressing one step ahead, next time it will be Kou Zhong’s turn.”

Xu Ziling rose up to his full height; some kind of completely new and a feeling of rebirth filled his whole body. He no longer felt the true qi within his body moving and circulating, everything happened naturally, just like the bird in the air, letting him breathe in and breathe out, like the ocean, a vast body of water, letting him fetch and seek.

After losing something and then regaining it, it was a vastly different layer of realm.

Shi Zhixuan’s eyes revealed an astonished look, he spoke heavily, “Ziling’s martial art has finally reached the fine and detailed realm, so that the alarm went off in Ol’ Shi’s heart. This time, my move will no longer has any inward barrier, Ziling, you’d better be careful.”

Xu Ziling knew that this was the moment of life and death, he must exhaust his capability in order to have the chance to save his life. But he calmly and indifferently said, “I wonder if Xie Wang is interested in knowing whose secluded residence this place is? Why don’t you investigate to the bottom and continue inquiring about it?”

Shi Zhixuan was unable to conceal his shocked expression.

Xu Ziling raised both hands high above his head, he put the hands together like a flower bud, the ring finger rose at an angle, the tip of his fingers fit together – to repeat the first style that Zhen Yan Dashi taught him, the secret of Nine-Character Incantation Hand Print, while secretly pinching Motionless Fundamental Image, and shouted the Dhyana word, “Lin!”

Shi Zhixuan’s countenance changed again; meeting the voice, he withdrew three steps back.

Ever since the many times Xu Ziling fought hand-to-hand against Shi Zhixuan, this was the first time that he was able to force Shi Zhixuan into the disadvantageous position. A small part was due to his incantation Dhyana power enjoyed substantial advancement, but mostly because he could accurately watch Shi Zhixuan’s only flaw, the weak point that would forever be at the bottom his heart – Shi Qingxuan.

Shi Zhixuan’s true qi, as if it was blocked by a stone wall, bounced back, so that he was unable to advance another cun to seize the opportunity to strike.

With one hand behind his back, Shi Zhixuan waved the other hand in front of him, with the five fingers put together into a palm chop, the sharp tip pointed at Xu Ziling from a distance. The refined light in his eyes flaring greatly, he let out a long laughter and said, “Good! Since I, Shi Zhixuan made my debut, this is the first time that someone is able to do this, I barely made my move and immediately I fell into the disadvantageous position. Although it was a bit of a cheap trick, but martial art masters fighting each other, they must be completely unscrupulous, naturally I can count it as your ability.”

Xu Ziling could not help admiring him in his heart; Shi Zhixuan’s heart and bosom, his imposing attitude, the air of a great expert, indeed were different from ordinary people.

Both hands held tight to his chest, in the shape of a lotus flower, the Motionless Fundamental Image turned into Great Vajra Chakra Image. Since obtaining Zhen Yan Dashi’s authentic teaching, there has never been a moment where he understood more than this time about Incantation Handprint Method and his spirit complemented each other, in combination with the continuous and marvelous Dhyana power. His understanding of the Bu Si Yin Fa even progressed one step further. In itself, this method basically had no trace to be found, the flaw was only inside Shi Zhixuan’s heart.

A flash appeared before his eyes, Shi Zhixuan appeared on his left side, the palm chop turned around to strike the vital acupoint on the left side of his neck.

Xu Ziling knew that he would never be able to match Shi Zhixuan’s Huan Mo Shenfa, he could only use stillness to control movement. His lotus hands were blooming like fresh flower, becoming an infinite hand print; each hand print was marvelous to the very top. It seemed like there was a flaw to be exploited, but it also appeared to follow a natural law, so subtle that no pen and ink could describe.

“Pow!”

Xu Ziling sent out a finger jab, it hit the tip of Shi Zhixuan’s palm squarely.

Shi Zhixuan flew back, Xu Ziling was also jolted by the impact that his qi and blood were surging, he staggered back for nearly two zhang.

Shi Zhixuan did not seize the opportunity to pursue and attack, on the contrary, he put both hands behind his back, and stood in a distance. “Unexpectedly Ziling is able to firmly seal my follow-up move, so that Ol’ Shi had no choice but to retreat,” he spoke in astonishment, “If this matter spread out, it will be enough to make anybody to have a whole new level of respect toward you. However, when there is an advantage, then there must also be disadvantage. Frankly, it was not until this moment that I am able to harden my heart and determine to throw out everything and make my move with all my strength; I will only stop when Ziling fall to the ground and die. Otherwise, if I give you another year, perhaps even I, ‘Xie Wang’ Shi Zhixuan will not be able to put you to death, and not able to do anything about it either!”

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “Turns out it was that difficult for Xie Wang just to make a decision. There’s one thing that I don’t understand, I wonder if I could ask Xie Wang to give me direction?”

Shi Zhixuan’s countenance was tranquil, but his pair of eyes emitted cold-hearted gaze. “You may speak!” he spoke indifferently.

Xu Ziling clearly sensed that the Shi Zhixuan in front of him no longer had anything in his heart that would stop him from killing him. Furthermore, he was looking for the optimum opportunity to launch an attack. As long as Xu Ziling’s mind somewhat wavered, he would not be able to maintain the ‘Heart of the Sword Brightly Lit’ realm, then he would incur Shi Zhixuan’s toppling-the-mountains-and-overturning-the-seas, would-not-stop-until-he-was-dead terrifying attack.

He slowly said, “Why did Xie Wang let Wanwan go?”

Wrinkling his brows, Shi Zhixuan said, “You should think of a reason; Wan’er is the most outstanding talent in the Holy School after me. If Xuyan did not betray me, I definitely would not show any compassion to her. But now, I am afraid that even if I cherish her, it would still be too late. If you are worried that I’m going to deal with her, you should feel at ease now.”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “I wonder if Xie Wang is feeling that you are caught in people rebelling and friends deserting situation? In the struggle to unify the Holy School, the control of the overall situation is no longer in your, Xie Wang’s hands, but belongs to Zhao Deyan, who’s dependent on the Tujue people, or perhaps Yang Xuyan, who receives Li Yuan’s trust. What I am more afraid of is that the final beneficiary would be the Tujue’s Xieli.”

Shi Zhixuan let out a long laugh and said, “If the situation Ziling was describing really happens, the ones suffering the biggest blow will be the so-called White Way under Ci Hang Jing Zhai’s leadership. My Holy School originally did not have anything at all, hence the more chaotic the world the better. In crisis, there is an opportunity to live, only after big chaos will there be big control. This is the law that keeps repeating itself through history, it is well-tested. Since our Holy School has experienced so much suffering, our flexibility in dealing with any crisis far surpasses anybody else. If Ziling wants to persuade me with some virtuous cause for the people or things like that, you are just wasting your time.”

Xu Ziling calmly said, “Just consider me talking nonsense then. Xie Wang, please bestow your move.”

Shi Zhixuan suddenly swept his gaze around, his eyes looked inside the house through the window, his face revealed a bewildered, uncertain expression.

Xu Ziling’s essence, qi and spirit were all focused on him, immediately he generated reaction, how could he be wiling to miss such a golden opportunity?”

“Bing!”

The incantation was released.

As soon as the intention arrived, the Treasured-Vase Qi also reached his hand, he sent out a punch over the empty air.

‘Boom!’

Shi Zhixuan casually blocked, both hands coiled together, a pillar of qi rolled out, to meet the Treasured-Vase Qi head-on. Both sides’ true qi was highly concentrated, definitely there was no room to turn around or any leeway to use any trick.

Shi Zhixuan recoiled three steps back, while Xu Ziling, like a kite with cut string, was thrown backward, he happened to crash against the door and roll inside the house. Even after he landed on the ground, he was still unable to stop the momentum, he broke through the screen and into Shi Qingxuan’s lady’s chamber.

Like a shadow attached to the form, Shi Zhixuan pursued into the house, but as he entered the door, he halted his steps in shock.

Xu Ziling bent his back and sprang up, his hand pinched the Outer Lion Hand Print, ‘Wah!’ he spurted out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Shi Zhixuan looked at him coldly, while wiping the blood from the corners of his mouth with his sleeve. He nodded and said, “Not including Ning Daoqi, since I mastered Bu Si Yin, this is the first time someone can injure me; it’s enough to make you proud.”

Naturally Xu Ziling was aware that his own injury was even heavier. Just now he was hit by Shi Zhixuan’s evil schemes, by thinking that because Shi Zhixuan might be thinking that this was the place where Shi Qingxuan shunned the world, his heart and spirit showed a flaw; who could have thought that unexpectedly it was the flaw that Shi Zhixuan deliberately laid out, so that from the upper hand, Xu Ziling fell into the absolute disadvantageous position, from the heaven back to the mortal world, no longer able to maintain the previously no-man, no-self, removed-from-physical-body marvelous realm.

The two men faced each other over some distance.

Xu Ziling took a deep breath, making an effort to raise and assemble his power; he said, “Didn’t Xie Wang say that once you make your move, you won’t stop until I am dead? Why did you stop?”

The murderous aura in the Demonic King Shi Zhixuan’s pair of eyes flared severely, he shouted sternly, “Is this another place where Qingxuan is living in seclusion?”

The sound of flute rose up outside the house.