大唐双龙传 [Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan] by Huang Yi

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs!

I want to be BFF with BFH!

[foxs]

Chowbeng, thanks. you are too kind. Jaya, Ysabel, HPC, DongBin, Xiaohu, Chua, Anh, you are welcome. Xu Xiong, are you asking me or recon? I was referring to the stories posted in this forum. Do we have finished story? I know there are tons of stories being translated, but they are all unfinished, are they? So when I started, realizing they are not my cup of tea, I stopped, partly because I do not want to wait. Sky, not the boys?

---

Book 13 Chapter 4 – Stealing Openly Robbing Stealthily

Because it was noon, the lower level of Dongjia Restaurant was packed; it was so crowded that it was impossible to even squeeze a needle through it.

Kou Zhong was back to the same old stuff; he whispered Lang Feng’s name in the waiter’s ear. The waiter immediately became reverent and respectful, as he led them to a comfortable lounge on the wing of the third floor of the restaurant.

Kou Zhong sat down by the window. Looking at the boats coming and going along the Luo River below, he sighed and said, “This is the benefit of having power; just by touching the edge a little bit, we can be a cut above others.”

Ba Fenghan laughed and said, “No matter how noble and virtuous you are calling yourself, you cannot deny that those so-called noble and virtuous must have powerful support behind their back; otherwise, how could they be noble and virtuous?”

Seeing Xu Ziling was staring at him in displeasure, Kou Zhong quickly surrendered. “I was just taking advantage of the little convenience power can bring,” he said, “I will never bully other people, or make an attempt to take away the justice that power brings. Ha!”

Ba Fenghan laughed and said, “Comparatively speaking, Zhong Shao and I are somewhat boorish, unlike Ziling who is suave and aloof.”

Xu Ziling smiled wryly without saying anything.

Kou Zhong’s spirit greatly aroused, he said, “Now the struggle between Wang Shichong and Yang Dong has reached stalemate, we can set it aside for the time being. Hey! As for the Jade Annulus of He Clan, ha! Ziling, you’ve got to help me.”

“Why did you ask Ziling only?” Ba Fenghan wondered, “Why not me?”

Stunned, Kou Zhong replied, “Ol’ Ba, you have nothing to do with this matter, why would you gamble your life away with me? It is precisely because I consider you my brother that I do not wish to implicate you. Aren’t your own trouble still too much?”

Xu Ziling also looked at Ba Fenghan in consternation.

Whether it was Ning Daoqi or Shi Feixuan, both were formidable opponent that no one would dare to provoke. If Kou Zhong were not in such a critical juncture between success and failure, he would not have even dreamed of offending them.

But now he simply had no choice.

Ba Fenghan was speechless for half a day. After sweeping the two boys with his gaze, his sharp eyes gleamed with some kind unusual emotion, as he spoke slowly, “It’s because I love to hang out with you, two kids. Moreover, the more I hang out with you, the more I feel the excitement, satisfying my interest; all because we share similar background and childhood years. The ones I hated the most are those people from respectable schools and big clans. I loathe those Jianghu school and sect people who think of themselves as supreme beings even more. Therefore, I helped you dealing with Changshu Mou the other day. I just can’t stand that kind of people, who believe themselves infallible, with their condescending, overbearing attitude.”

A short pause, and then he continued, “The ones I admired the most are true hero who, not having anything at all, bring about epoch achievement. Supposing Li Shimin and you two were in each other’s shoes, would he be able to obtain your achievements? I just cannot stand by idly and watch this kind of thing. Ha! Challenging Ning Daoqi or perhaps Shi Feixuan would be the thing I want to do. How could I, Ba Fenghan, miss this kind of golden opportunity?”

Greatly delighted, Kou Zhong said, “With Ba Xiong’s assistance, we, two brothers, are like a tiger that has grown wings.”

With a wry smile Xu Ziling said, “I always have a nagging feeling that something isn’t right. When all is said and done, Shi Feixuan is simply striving for the benefit of the people under the heavens …”

Ba Fenghan coldly interrupted him, “Ziling is too obstinate. Only by asking those few questions, how could she decide whether certain person would make a good emperor? Furthermore, I always feel that only someone with poverty-stricken background would be qualified to be a good emperor. Those who understand the people’s pain and difficulties very well would have the zeal to get rid of the people’s pain and difficulties.”

Kou Zhong slapped the table and shouted with praised, “Han Shao said it well. Emperor Qin and Emperor Gaozu of Han are a good example. The former was born of aristocracy, the latter was born of common people [lit. plain cotton clothing]. Which one was the good emperor, is an indisputable historical fact. Ha!”

Staring at him in displeasure, Xu Ziling said, “So you are sure you will be a good emperor?”

“What do you think?” Kou Zhong asked in return.

Xu Ziling was left speechless.

His eyes shone, Kou Zhong said, “I have come to the point that even if I know perfectly well that I am going to throw away my life, I simply cannot turn around. To vie over the world, one must be completely unscrupulous. Just like Han Shao said, even if Tianhuang Laozi [the old emperor of heaven], Taishang Laojun [title of respect for Lao-tze, the founder of Taoism], Rulai Fozu [Tathagata Buddha] are standing on the road, I must kick them out of my way. The Jade Annulus of the He Clan, we simply must obtain. Otherwise, if it fell into Li kid’s hand, it would be tantamount to forcing him to rebel against his old Die and his older brother.”

“It would be best if Shi Feixuan already gave the Jade Annulus of the He Clan to Li Shimin,” Ba Fenghan said, “Snatching it away would be a bit easier.”

His gaze fixed on Xu Ziling, Kou Zhong said, “Are you or are you not willing to help me? Don’t forget. Hee! One lifetime two brothers!”

Other than smiling ruefully, what else could Xu Ziling do?

Ba Fenghan said, “Now we must investigate clearly whether the Jade Annulus of the He Clan is in Li Shimin’s hand or not before making our move.”

“That is extremely simple,” Kou Zhong said, “If Li Shimin obtained the Jade Annulus of the He Clan, he would immediately depart Luoyang in secret. Therefore, as long as we closely watch his movements, we would obtain our clues.”

Ba Fenghan’s eyes shone with cold rays. He said, “I heard that Li Shimin has obtained the teachings handed-down by Li Yuan himself, so he really know a thing or two, plus the capable people working under him are numerous. If we cut him off along the way, we would lose our advantage. Therefore, stealing will be the better strategy, robbing openly would not be an effective strategy.”

Heaving a sigh of relief, Xu Ziling added, “If we do not need to rob the jade annulus from Shi Feixuan’s hand, we still have the hope to succeed.”

Kou Zhong wrapped his arm around Xu Ziling’s shoulder and pulled him closer as he spoke in great delight, “Ling Shao, what you said has given me much comfort. In my opinion, there is 90% chance that Shi Feixuan would favor Li Shimin. This guy’s outward appearance easily beat the long-haired-like-a-ghost Li Mi, or perhaps the wily-old-fox Wang Shichong. Too bad I have not stuck out my head, so that that Li kid is under no threat of competition at all.”

Bursting out laughing, Ba Fenghan said, “Speaking of tooting his own horn, nobody in the world can come close to you. All right! Enough chitchat. Leave the duty of watching Li Shimin closely to me. He has some connection with Dong Ming Pai, we’ll meet again tonight between the you [10^th earthly branch, 5-7pm] and xu [11^th earthly branch, 7-9pm] hours, and then we’ll decide what to do next.”

This moment the waiter arrived with food and drink. Ba Fenghan took a steamed bun and left without saying anything.

[9Dragons]

Loving Kou Zhong especially his line about kicking legendary and respectable figures like Buddha to the curb in their quest for the throne. Even I admit that Li Shimin would be a better candidate at this time.

I still want to see more personality from Shi Feixuan, as she is a major player. Feels like we've only glimpsed her facade.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[LuDongBin]

Thks foxs.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs

[徐中銳]

I was replying to recon in a public space.

It's really up to him (and ourselves) how to read.

Of uncompleted translations, I've actively found for myself (researched for the Chinese text, combing its online translation of) how the stories I'm interested unfold.

Familiarity and popularity is somewhat key in starting, continuing. Take for instance, another New “Legend of the Condor Heroes” Adaptation Stars William Yang, Li Yitong

Thus, your translations of Condor Trilogy will always be relevant. And I trust Da Tang too ; keep up the good work, you're translating well

Xu Xiong, are you asking me or recon? I was referring to the stories posted in this forum. Do we have finished story? I know there are tons of stories being translated, but they are all unfinished, are they? So when I started, realizing they are not my cup of tea, I stopped, partly because I do not want to wait.

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[foxs]

Kowloon, you and Akolaw have clearly read the book. To me, she has not done anything yet. Commenting on Akolaw's question earlier, other characters are mentioned a lot, but we have never seen a glimpse of them. Ning Daoqi came to mind. Also Bi Xuan and Fu Cailin. Are they really as god-like as depicted in the story? Ysabel, Jaya, DongBin, Sky, Anh, HPC, you are welcome. Xu Xiong, so the answer to my question is: none? I checked the completed translation link, and looks like our moderator has not updated it for around a year, while I keep seeing new translations popping out every so often.

---

While gobbling up the food, Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Who could have thought that that Ba kid is such a true friend; it is really unexpected.”

Heaving a deep sigh, Xu Ziling said, “We have not found Yucheng and the others; aren’t you worried?”

Kou Zhong put down his bowl, empty with no single rice remained, and said with a wry smile, “In this kind of thing, worrying is not worth a fart. Fortunately the four of them have received our hand-down teachings, so the Heaven helps the worthy. Who knows, perhaps as soon as we go down the stairs, we’ll see them eating. Let us go to the agreed meeting place and then the outcome will become apparent.”

Xu Ziling said, “Do you remember that man called Xu Xingzhi? Didn’t you agree to meet him in Luoyang?”

Kou Zhong nodded, “Of course I do,” he replied, “This man is a natural talent in commanding the army. I already left some markings at the appointed place. When he sees it tomorrow morning, he will be waiting for me at the specified place. Let me, Zhong Shao, do the work, and you, Ling Shao, set your heart at ease.”

And then he added, “I have neither likes nor dislikes toward that Li kid, so fighting him face to face is not a big deal. But we have been brothers with Li Jing; this is what gives me headache.”

Xu Ziling was silent for half a day. He quietly thought that whatever resentment he had against Li Jing, in the end it would be difficult for him to have any malicious intention toward him. Thereupon he said dejectedly, “As long as you promise me one thing, I will help you get the Jade Annulus of the He Clan wholeheartedly.”

“As long as it is reasonable and fair, how could I not promise you?” Kou Zhong guardedly replied, “You just have to help me in this. If Li kid can’t even defend the Jade Annulus of He Clan, it would greatly change Shi Feixuan and Ning Daoqi’s impression on him.”

“You must never underestimate the enemy,” Xu Ziling crossly said, “Li kid is well versed in both literature and martial art [or civil and military]. No matter how you look at it, he is superior to us, not inferior. It’s just that he falls short of you in the craftiness department. Once we are not careful, the boat will capsize in the ditch.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “He is as cunning as I am, but it is possible that he is not as flexible and pragmatic as us. We need to be intentionally unintentional. Especially since this is Wang Shichong’s territory. Currently Wang Shichong and me are like honey to the bee. I only need to move a finger, Li kid may forget of leaving Luoyang alive.”

And then his eyes flashed a deep, cold murderous intent, as he spoke in heavy voice, “Li Clan without Li Shimin is just like a tiger without sharp claw, sharp teeth; any viciousness is gone. Do you understand?”

Forcing a smile, Xu Ziling said, “That is precisely my condition. Li kid exposed his whereabouts because of me, so you must not use this opportunity to kill him. If you want to kill him, you must wait for the next opportunity.”

Kou Zhong was stunned for half a day. Finally he sighed and said, “One lifetime two brothers; what can I say? Very well! I will face him on the battlefield in the future; whoever lose will have nobody to blame.”

And then he took out a roll of silk map from his bosom, removed the bowls, chopsticks and other things away from the table, and spread out the map, saying, “I’ll let you take a look at this treasure. If after reaching Guanzhong, Zhanliang, Fengyi and the others are able to give me a sheet of similar thingy, nothing could be better than that.”

Ban Zhanliang, Niu Fengyi, and Zha Jie, three men were the three Inner Hall Masters of the Shuanglong Bang [twin-dragon gang, Book 6 Chapter 12, only it was ‘Gao Zhandao, not Ban Zhanliang] that they established. According to plan, they ought to precede the two boys going to Chang’an in secret, to do the preparatory work in digging out the ‘Duke Yang’s Treasure’ later.

Taking a closer look, Xu Ziling saw that it was the map of Luoyang City, complete with the streets, squares, rivers and bridges, city gate towers, and everything else depicted in detail.

Astounded, he said, “Wang Shichong really trusts you.”

Smiling, Kou Zhong said, “It’s not that he trusts me, but he is showing trust in order to buy me, and I pretend to love Dong Shuni deeply. Actually, on the surface this man Wang Shichong looks naïve and honest, but he is a wily old fox. What he shows on the surface, quite another is in his heart. He is capable of not making neither movement nor noise, and then only after everything is arranged will he let you know what’s going on.”

Xu Ziling examined the relationship between the Palace City and the Imperial City with rapt attention. His heart moved, he said, “Li Shimin came to Luoyang this time, could he have other reason than for the Jade Annulus of the He Clan affair? Do you remember that Ol’ Ba once said that Li kid’s old man Li Yuan wanted to get Dong Shuni as his imperial concubine? If this matter succeeded, it would be like Li Yuan and Wang Shichong are forming an alliance. Your ‘counting one’s chicken before they are hatched’ plan of using Wang Shichong to deal with Li Shimin will misfire!”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Don’t worry! For this chick, Dong Shuni, rebelling has become second nature. Every time Wang Shichong arranged any man for her, she always refuses to accept. If I can exploit her mentality, maybe I can destroy the relationship between Li Yuan and Wang Shichong.”

And then, thinking out loud he muttered, “How can we steal the Jade Annulus of the He Clan without anybody knowing that we do it? Ha! I got it! I almost forget that you are the Scarface Hero, and I am your sidekick, the Pockmarked Face Bandit.”

‘Knock! Knock!’

Startled, the two boys looked at the door. They were greatly alarmed; just from the fact that even though this person was just behind the door, yet he still managed to hide from the two boys’ ears, they knew that this person was by no means ordinary.

“Please come in!” Kou Zhong shouted.

There was no reaction from the outside at all.

Kou Zhong sprang up, darted toward the door and pulled the door open.

Immediately the sound of people drinking, laughing and playing finger-guessing game flooded into their ears like a rushing tide, but they did not see anybody, not even a waiter, either outside the door or along the corridor.

Koo Zhong withdrew, stuck his big head out and looked left and right, and closed the door. His countenance changed, he said, “This is bad!”

Xu Ziling was frightened as well; he spoke in heavy voice, “Could it be Ning Daoqi or Shi Feixuan was standing outside the door, eavesdropping our conversation?”

Returning to his side and sitting down, Kou Zhong blew out a mouthful of cold air and said, “I think we can relax. Ay! I am only talking about he is eavesdropping outside the door. Because there are people coming and going along the corridor all the time, only a moment ago there was no one, so he took the opportunity to warn us. Obviously he has been watching us for a while.”

Xu Ziling could not help his scalp from tingling; he said in low voice, “This person, at least in term of qinggong, is superior to us. Problem is if the opposite party is either Shi Feixuan or Ning Daoqi, your grand plan to steal the treasure is destined to fail.”

Shaking his head, Kou Zhong said, “I can guarantee that this person could not hear us. Because with you, Ling Shao, in here, nobody can evade your keen intuition. Secondly, the doors of this restaurant are of very high quality, it has high degree of sound-proofing property, plus we deliberately talked in low voice …”

‘Knock! Knock!’

The door was knocked again. Just like before, there was no other sound, not even footsteps.

Kou Zhong whispered in Xu Ziling’s ear, “Only by using the ‘win by a surprise move’ tactic will we be able to regain the initiative and can’t be led by the nose by others. Hey! How about pretending to be cowards?”

Xu Ziling’s mind was interlinked with Kou Zhong’s. After exchanging glances, they put down some silver and folded back the silk map. Laughing aloud, like a wisp of smoke the two boys disappeared via the window. First, they leaped up onto the roof, and then traversed the more-than-ten-zhang of empty space, and landed in an alley by the bridge, which was crowded with residential buildings. With several leaps, up and down, they were already far away from the restaurant.

This moment, a ‘thousand-beauty, hundred-charm’, petite and nimble, young girl appeared on the roof. Staring hatefully at the direction the two boys disappeared, she stomped her feet, gnashed her teeth and said, “I want to see where can you flee? The moment the Jade Annulus of He Clan falls into your hands is the moment you are going to die.”

Kou Zhong took Xu Ziling to a multi-story building on which door was carved ‘Luoyang Square’, three characters [luo yang fang]. Behind the building was precisely the Luo River, which cut across the City of Luoyang from west to east.

Very proud of himself, Kou Zhong said, “This time I am confident that the opponent would not be able to follow us. In my opinion, the person knocking the door was definitely not Shi Feixuan or Ning Daoqi, because they are followers of Dhyana [Zen] Way, who are particular about ‘touching something and leave it there’; how could they do such a lowly deed like knocking on our door twice?”

Xu Ziling nodded in agreement, “But still,” he commented, “This person is definitely not an easy opponent. The most difficult to deal with is that we do not even know whether this person is a man or a woman. He is hidden in the dark while we are completely exposed, hence we are absolutely at his mercy.”

Reaching out, Kou Zhong put his hand on Xu Ziling’s shoulder and said with a giggle, “We were using the technique Ol’ Ba taught us, dodging to the left and fleeing to the right in downtown area for more than half a sichen, if we still cannot throw him off, we, two brothers, could only accept misfortunes as decreed by fate!”

The two boys entered the long and narrow alley. Frowning, Xu Ziling asked, “Where are you taking me?”

“Home, of course!” Kou Zhong replied cheerfully.

Xu Ziling was stunned, “Home?” he asked.

While walking along, Kou Zhong focused his attention to listen to any movement in the houses on both sides of the alley. Giggling, he said, “The two of us are the Bangzhu [gang leader] of the Shuanglong Bang; how could we not have even one secret lair? Ha! Right! In here! Come in, please!”

Xu Ziling’s eyes followed Kou Zhong, who was jumping over the wall and entered in, absentmindedly before it dawned on him.

Before the two boys and Gao Zhanliang [sic] and the others separately went up north, Kou Zhong and their subordinates had a discussion for a number of days, naturally one of the topic was setting up this hideout inside the city of Luoyang. And Kou Zhong must have seen secret markings left by Gao Zhanliang and the others, which indicated the direction and location of this address, hence he was able to find this place.

Thinking to this point, Xu Ziling could not help admiring Kou Zhong’s meticulous planning and attention to details. The biggest advantage of this secret hideout was to let the gang people know where to meet when they went to Luoyang.

Kou Zhong sat comfortably in a high-backed chair; raising his arms and sticking out his legs, he had a big stretch and said with a sigh, “This house is not bad!”

Sitting down across Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling looked out the window, at the small courtyard under the bright sunlight. “How come I can’t see even a speck of dust in this house?” he asked in astonishment, “Everything is clean and tidy, even the flowers and plants in the yard are neatly trimmed. Who’s taking care of it?”

Acting as if everything was as it should be, Kou Zhong said, “Don’t think that Zhanliang is just a boor; the fact is, he is extremely attentive. Only by doing this others won’t suspect anything. My guess is he’s hired people to clean it up on a regular basis; perhaps every three days, once every six days.”

Shaking his head, Xu Ziling said, “I still feel that something is not right.”

Right this moment, an alarm went off in the two boys’ hearts at the same time.

Wanwan’s soft and deep voice rang out from outside the door, “Ziling guessed correctly! Since I had nothing to do while waiting for you, I became edgy and cleaned up the house to pass the time!”

The two boys’ countenance changed immediately.

[Translator’s note: Huang Yi messed up names quite often. This time the original was ‘guan-guan’; however, since she was an important character, I decided to keep the name ‘Wanwan’.]

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[徐中銳]

You're asking the wrong person, for idiosyncratic reasons, this is the only translation I'm following.

Xu Xiong, so the answer to my question is: none? I checked the completed translation link, and looks like our moderator has not updated it for around a year, while I keep seeing new translations popping out every so often.

What I've encouraged recon to do is skim ahead to judge whether the future is better for him/her's enjoyment/perseverance (as your translating is 8 books in front).

I'm currently at book 5 chapter 10, and the story feels very mediocre for me right now. I'm just wondering if the story is going to get better any time soon or it's going to stay about the same?

Btw, thanks for the translations foxs.

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

Oh...Wanwan is back!!

[akolaw]

Both Wanwan and Shi are significant in Da Tang, since this is just 1/5 of the story, any in depth discussion of character will give out spoiler, so I rather discuss it from structure of the book.

Da Tang is complicated and muti layer, in my opinion, it have four layers, the first is a wuxia, the grow up story of the two boys, and the second is a warlord fighting for the throne (any game of throne fans here), and the third is how organized religion involved in politic and power struggle. forth leave to future discussion.

We have seen how the suppose black force involve in the war, and we now see how the suppose white picking their patron and placing their bet, remember HY's interview, most people are neither black nor white, they are different shade of grey.

Wan and Shi are symbol of the black and white, the coming queen of yin and holy girl.

[9Dragons]

My comments are based entirely on your translations. I feel Xu Ziling's headaches between supporting a capable and benevolent ruler championing the commoners or supporting his lifetime bro who will rob the Jade Annulus. Can't blame Kou Zhong who has neither background nor support, which is really his only viable option. Definitely takes guts, talent, and incredible luck to achieve.

The author likes to hype characters before their appearance. Shi Feixuan was mentioned a couple of times to be equal to Wanwan, a peerless beauty who bedazzles city leaders and possesses frightening martial arts. You can imagine my disappointment when the hype didn't match expectations, but perhaps more will be revealed in the upcoming chapters.

[徐中銳]

Thus far, we've really not read enough of (especially spoken words by) either Wan or Shi ?

Well, coming up, let's hear what Wan has to say.

The important thing is whether we can tolerate Kou and Xu because they're always in-the-plot. Undue attachment for Wan or Shi may incur intolerable longing—waiting for their return into the storyline.

Both Wanwan and Shi are significant in Da Tang...

Wan and Shi are symbol of the black and white, the coming queen of yin and holy girl.

[foxs]

Ysabel, HPC, Jaya, you are welcome. Xu Xiong, well, you can't blame me for hoping ... Sky, yes, a bit longer this time. Akolaw, Kowloon, but ... how come you guys only focused on Wanwan and Shi Feixuan? As I said before, Ning Daoqi especially, was mentioned many-many times without making the slightest bit of appearance.

---

Book 13 Chapter 5 – Psychological Warfare

When the two boys heard Wanwan’s voice, their anxiety was not over their own safety at all, but they were worried over Duan Yucheng and the others, four men.

The reason Wanwan was able to wait for them here must be because she managed to extract information by torturing Duan Yucheng, four men, about their secret markings. Thereby for Duan Yucheng and the others, everything boded ill, with no positive signs.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling exchanged glances; both discovered astonishment in the other’s countenance.

Unlike before, this time the enemy was waiting with stored up energy; she even laid out meticulous arrangement to deal with the two boys. Based on Wanwan’s talent and strength, she definitely would not give them any chance to escape.

Wanwan’s tender and sweet voice sounded again from the outside, but it had changed position. This time it came from the west window, as she spoke softly, “Ziling Xiong and Zhong Shaoye must be so shocked that your legs must be weakened! Why haven’t you run like two dogs into the wilderness like before?”

Although her voice was incomparably gentle and soft, but the substance of her remark was filled with detest, a gnashing of teeth toward the two boys.

Kou Zhong signaled Xu Ziling with his eyes, and then he spoke in mock surprise, “Whenever the enemy is happy, I, Zhong Shao, want to fight with all my strength instead. Besides, everybody is entitled to remain in his own warm home to enjoy the precious life! Ah! Please forgive Xiaodi for not having any interest in running away!”

Xu Ziling was of the same mind; he knew that they were going to fight to the death inside this house, and that albeit slim, they still had an opportunity to live. So he rose up to his full height and stood in the middle of the hall. Focusing all his power on his ears, he listened to the sound of activity in four sides eight directions.

In that instant, he forgot about life or death, his mind and spirit concentrated on the fantastic world of his sense of hearing.

And then he sensed that other than Wanwan, there was another person nearby.

It was an inexplicable feeling.

As a matter of fact, the opposite party did not make the least bit of sound, yet Xu Ziling knew clearly that he was in the rear courtyard.

Plus he was certain that if this person was not Qu Ao himself, then he must be a top martial art master of Qu Ao’s level.

This moment Kou Zhong had just finished speaking, ‘Pfft!’ Wanwan burst out giggling and said, “It was me who actually rent this house! Wanwan has never been married to you, yet you came to reap where you have not sown [orig. the magpie made a nest, the turtledove dwells in it]; where’s the logic in that?”

This time her voice came from the east window, creating a weird, indescribable feeling as if she was able to transform herself into an omnipresent being that existed in different places at the same time, heavily surrounded the house, and that several different incarnations of her were speaking to the two boys from different locations.

The amazing demonic technique of Tianmo [demonic/devil] Secret was indeed out of the ordinary.

Kou Zhong’s heart was shivering in fear, but when he looked at Xu Ziling, he saw that Xu Ziling’s expression was tranquil, as calm as the surface of the lake without any ripple on it. Xu Ziling was signaling Kou Zhong with his hand, telling him that there was another person at the rear courtyard.

Kou Zhong spoke in heavy voice, “If any unexpected misfortune befell my four subordinates, I don’t care if you are a demoness from the Demon Cult, or you are the old man Emperor of Heaven himself, I will require your blood to atone for their blood.”

Like a gentle breeze Wanwan’s tender laughter entered their ears, “After a man gets out of his mother’s womb, he strives and works hard, until finally enters rest in death. Since sooner or later he has to die, won’t dying earlier save him a lot of suffering? Your four subordinates are a lot luckier than you are! They are able to be one step ahead of you in lying down to rest. I have been kind enough to let them rest in peace by building four new graves in the backyard. While you still have breath, why not go out to pay them your respect?”

Kou Zhong took a deep breath, forcing out the anger and hatred filling his heart.

It could be said that this time they had the best chance to die since their debut. Their only way to survive was to rely on their real skill; therefore, now he simply had to use up his real skill, to enter the empty-spirit, the ethereal realm of the moon in the well.

The person at the rear courtyard was definitely not Qu Ao, because with the great hatred he had against the two boys for the death of his son, he would never be this patient.

His heart moved, Kou Zhong relaxed his body and slumped back into the chair; he said, “Bian Bufu, since you’ve come here, why be sneaky like a turtle who withdraw its head?”

Wanwan’s voice came from the roof, “You, this kid, indeed have a bit of skill; but Bian Shishu does not like to talk to stranger. Whatever you say, he is not interested in giving you any answer.”

Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “You are going back and forth outside, other than absurd, you are tiring your legs. Why not come in here and drink some tea?”

There was neither wind nor rain, but the front and rear doors of the hall suddenly opened at the same time, and the entire room was suddenly permeated by some eerie ghostly aura.

Xu Ziling stared fixedly at Kou Zhong, his face revealed a hint of smile, while his eyes exuded profound feeling. He signaled Kou Zhong with his hand, telling him to run away.

Kou Zhong’s tiger-body shook severely.

Xu Ziling had decided to sacrifice himself so that he could escape, not only to continue his beautiful dream of vying over the world, but also to avenge him.

‘Qiang!’

The Moon in the Well left its scabbard on Kou Zhong’s back.

At the same time he rose up to his full height, threw his head back and let out a long laugh. “Today we, two brothers, will leave this place hand-in-hand, or fight together to our death. There is no other possibility.”