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

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

Still no Fei Shixuan!

[徐中銳]

You're most welcome Many characters do make it epic, fun to re-read. For example, sometimes I revisit Jin Yong (whose work though isn't as long as Da Tang​)...

Great, thank you for this!
Really, sometimes I feel like there are too many characters in this novel.. and many of them have just a short introduction before directly thrown into action..

[wangxiaohu]

if you're think that this novel has too many characters, compare it with Shui Hu Zhuan.
The number of heroes itself is 108, not to mention the government official, villain and the others. Too bad the ending is not so happy.

[wangxiaohu]

Thanks foxs.

Still no Fei Shixuan!

Careful Sky Xiong, reversing people's name will make bad luck for the owner. Dont regret if she pledge to hunt you down.

[SkyWalker]

Careful Sky Xiong, reversing people's name will make bad luck for the owner. Dont regret if she pledge to hunt you down.

If that's what it takes for her to make an appearance, then it's totally worth it!

[Laoren]

Thanks foxs.

Ba Fenghan tossed an ingot of gold onto the table and shouted, “I reserve this shop tonight!”. All of you are invited, old foxs will be story-telling.

[foxs]

HPC, Ysabel, Xiaohu, Jaya, you are welcome. DongBin, welcome back then. Sky, I am starting to think that she is one of those characters who is mentioned a lot but never make any real appearance. Suddenly I recall the character 'Maris' from the sitcom 'Frasier'. Not sure if you know what I am talking about. Lao Qianbei, how about you download the story, and read it on your gadget while enjoying the tea? You are not Wei Xiaobao in disguise, are you? Anyway, end of Chapter 9.

---

Shangshu Mansion.

Inside the secret chamber.

Wang Shichong slapped the table and shouted with praise, “Lucky that you thought about it. Just now I painstakingly thought but could not come up with any good plan. Because the more we are trying to hide it, the more it would appear conspicuous.”

Inwardly Kou Zhong cursed him as selfish and lacking yiqi, but on his face he put on a smiling expression, continued with laughing aloud and said, “Naturally my first consideration is for Wang Gong. Now, pushing the blame to Shangguan Long is ideal; this black pot ought to be put on Yin Gui Pai’s devil back, considering they are more veteran than we are. It is just right to ease the pain of us, three pure an innocent people.”

Among the three, Kou Zhong was not afraid of lying. Ba Fenghan disdained lying, but Xu Ziling simply did not want to lie. Just by looking at this respect, the character differences between the three were obvious.

Wang Shichong cast him a couple of glances and said with a nod, “Xiyi Xiong and I have reflected on this matter, and both of us agreed that if it was stolen by you, there will be many things that do not make sense. For example, after you were discovered and were driven away, how could you immediately turn back and eager to snatch it away? Plus where did the confidence come from that you let only one person to brave the danger? Moreover, you did not apply your inner power to alter your body shape, to such an extent that someone recognized you? And things like that.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “It’s all because Wang Gong understands reason. Even if we took that ghost jade, what can we use it for? Even if it were delivered to me, I would reject it. Besides, I would have to gamble my little life away. Ay! I wonder if Wang Gong has some information on Liao Kong or Shi Feixuan that you can pass on to me?”

Wang Shichong shook his head, “No news,” he said, “But Wang Bo came to talk to me. Although on the surface he was very polite, he pleaded me to urge you to hand over the Jade Annulus of He Clan, the fact is that he indirectly threatened me. Humph! What kind of person he thinks I, Wang Shichong, am? How could I be so easily intimidated?”

Inwardly, Kou Zhong was amused; he said, “Right now Wang Gong has no time to do other things, you might as well not get involved in this. I only have one favor I’d like to ask, is that Wang Gong would protect a friend of mine.”

Nodding his head, Wang Shichong said, “Are you referring to that man who came with you, Xu Xingzhi? That’s not a problem. If I can’t even do such a trivial thing, I, Wang Shichong, need not go out to see other people.”

Kou Zhong delightedly said, “In that case I am relieved!”

And then, lowering his voice he said, “Is it possible for Wang Gong to give him a part-time job in your government? This man is indeed a rare talent; in term of wisdom and scheming, he is even better than I am. After he becomes your staff, when others come to ask for him, you can give him sh!tty argument not to hand him over.”

Wang Shichong was skeptical, “I can talk with him,” he said, “If he is indeed a talent, I will retain him in my employment.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “He is a man you can trust. And with him dealing with Li Mi, I guarantee Wang Gong will win this battle. All right! I have to go. If I am still alive, I will come again tomorrow to pay a visit to Wang Gong!”

※ ※ ※

‘Clink!’

After a toast, the two drained their cups.

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “If this continues, we may turn into drunkards who only have passion for the wine.”

Ba Fenghan leaned back on his chair, his eyes scanned the not-a-soul-in-sight shop and the closed main door; he said, “We should not be drunk tonight. But while we don’t have anything to do, we can try to guess who will push the door and enter in next.”

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “There are too many possibilities, can you really guess?”

Smiling, Ba Fenghan replied, “The highest possibility would be Zhong Shao. He ought to find a place for Xu Xingzhi, this very important chess piece!”

Before he finished speaking, the door was pushed open.

※ ※ ※

Kou Zhong had just left the Imperial City and turned into the main street. Two men, who have been following him, ran up to overtake him.

He was wondering why the other side could be this reckless and not afraid to reveal their own track when one of the shouted, “Dead Kou Zhong, you still haven’t stopped!”

Kou Zhong turned around in shock, and cried out involuntarily, “Miss!”

Turned out the two men were Zhai Rang’s daughter, Zhai Jiao, and Tu Shufang, who escorted her out of Xingyang in the past.

Zhai Jiao was dressed as a man, but she was definitely androgynous, making it hard to tell whether she was a male or a female. On the other hand, Tu Shufang was his old self, only there was some sign of wind and frost [i.e. hardship] on his face.

Without any trace of politeness, Zhai Jiao grabbed his arm and pulled him scrambling into a side street. “You, two kids, are quite famous!” she cursed, “No need to listen to my commands anymore.”

Perhaps it was because of Susu, but in Kou Zhong’s heart welled up a meeting-again-after-a-calamity and a hard-to-describe intimate feeling. Smiling wryly, he said, “How could your servant dare? Miss must be training hard day and night these past years, your grab nearly broke my arm bone.”

He also raised his hand in greeting toward Tu Shufang, who was watching on guard on the other side.

With a cold humph Zhai Jiao said, “Do I need you to tell me that? Without any real skill, how to get that traitor Li Mi, the renegade leader, onto the blade in my hand? Come this way!”

Letting him go, she slipped into a small alley to their left.

By this time the sky was gradually darkening, every house has started lighting their lanterns. But the alley was cold and cheerless, like an uninhabited place.

Unleashing their footwork, Kou Zhong and Tu Shufang followed closely behind her.

Zhai Jiao really did not brag, her skill now was clearly superior to before; although her lower back was thick and solid just like before, she was really nimble, she was able to jump vertically with ease.

Suddenly she leaped over a tall wall, and then passed through a house, leaped over a building, flying high and crouching low, and after rushing over for a time needed to drink a cup of hot tea, they reach a private house located at a scenic pedestrian lane by the canal on the northeast side of the city.

The three entered the reception hall and sat down. A pretty maid came out to serve fragrant tea.

Kou Zhong took a glance, and called out in delight, “Aren’t you Chuchu?”

The beautiful maid’s eyes turned red; with her small cicada head hanging down, she spoke faintly, “It’s hard to believe Kou Gongzi still remembers me!”

Kou Zhong recalled the happy memory of throwing snowballs with her at the Big Boss Mansion. Naturally he could not forget even more the sweet memory of that night when she came to his quarter and the intimacy that ensued [see Book 4 Chapters 10 & 11], which invoked in him the distant and fuzzy feeling that he had already forgotten.

He was about to reply, when Zhai Jiao rudely cut him off, “What I fear the most is seeing people cry. Chuchu, get lost! You are not allowed to set foot in the hall anymore!”

Chuchu jumped in fright; after casting a very sad look toward Kou Zhong, she hurriedly scampered into the inner hall.

Tu Shufang has been sizing up Kou Zhong with rapt attention; this moment he sighed and said, “Old acquaintance must not be forgotten. Xiao Zhong, you are now more understated, and did not flaunt yourself at all; no wonder your name shakes the eight points of the compass and you are able to criss-cross the world undefeated.”

Kou Zhong wanted to make some modest remarks when Zhai Jiao slapped her palm on the table, creating a loud ‘Bang!’.

The two men were startled; they turned their eyes at her.

Zhai Jiao’s huge, round and bulging eyes shot deep hatred; gnashing her teeth, she said, “I want to kill Li Mi to avenge Die; Kou Zhong, you must help me!”

Kou Zhong really wanted to tell her that whether he could survive the night was still a big question mark, but being swept by her brass-bell like eyes, his heart softened. Striking his chest, he said, “Of course, how could we be people without yiqi?”

Finished speaking, he was amused.

That day Zhai Rang bit the hand that feeds him, he did not withhold yiqi at all. But now, under the big yiqi banner, he, Kou Zhong, would have to avenge his death.

Sound of rustling wind.

While Kou Zhong was startled, a young man of about twenty-seven, twenty-eight, came in through the window. Standing in front of Zhai Jiao, he saluted and said, “Reporting to Miss: we have thrown off the pursuers.”

Zhai Jiao let out a stifled snort; she stood up first before saying, “This is Kou Zhong!”

The man smiled and said, “I have seen Kou Gongzi. I am Xuan Yong, Zhai Ye’s no-name disciple.”

Kou Zhong examined him carefully; this man looked imposing and dignified, there was a strange looking weapon hanging on his back, his build was like a fierce general who could take the head of the enemy’s chief in the middle of magnificent army with thousands of men and horses as easy as feeling one’s pocket and taking it out. Delighted, Kou Zhong promptly returned the propriety.

Noticing Kou Zhong’s curious look at the weapon on his back, Xuan Yong took it and handed it over to him, saying, “I got the inspiration for this weapon from a pitchfork. Originally pitchforks are used to defend the city; its length may reach up to five chi, specifically design to deal with the enemy who use cloud ladders to climb into the city. This one has horizontal steel blade mounted at the top of the pole, it can press against the enemy’s weapon, but can also be used to peck or pierce. Therefore, I named it ‘Bird Beak Strike’.”

Tu Shufang rose up to his full height; walking over toward the two men, he said, “Not only has Xuan Yong received Zhai Ye’s personal instruction, he has also created the thirty-six moves ‘Bird Beak Strike’ technique. That day, were it not for him, we would not be able to fight off the pursuing troops sent by Li Mi.”

Kou Zhong was about to speak when Zhai Jiao scolded, “The situation is urgent, you are still in the mood for chitchatting?”

The three helplessly sat down around the table.

Zhai Jiao pointed to the tip of Kou Zhong’s ear; she said, “You are well-known for being cunning; quickly tell me how we are going to kill Li Mi.”

Hearing that, Tu Shufang and Xuan Yong frowned deeply, but they did not dare to many any noise.

Kou Zhong did not know whether he should laugh or cry, but on the surface he put on serious expression as he said, “First of all, I want to understand the situation on Miss’ side.”

“What is there to tell you?” Zhai Jiao replied impatiently, “That day Die sent me to Dongping County to rely on help from Tai Shu [uncle]. Li Mi sent his troops to attack the city several times, but Xuan Yong beat him back every time. Until recently the old thief Li scored big victory over Yuwen Huaji, but on the contrary, Xuan Yong said that the opportunity to assassinate the old thief has arrived. Thereupon he selected a group of martial art expert and came to Luoyang to try our luck. Perhaps the old thief would sneakily come to Luoyang for the sake of the Jade Annulus of He Clan, and so I must make him leave without his life.”

Kou Zhong immediately had a whole new level of respect for Xuan Yong; he asked, “How did Xuan Xiong know that this time Li Mi’s victory was so tragic that it was tantamount to defeat?”

Although Xuan Yong could not be considered good-looking, he had appropriate outline and was pleasing to the eye, giving the impression that he had unswerving determination and he stood above the masses.

This moment he had his attention fixed at Kou Zhong; his eyes bright and lively, his thick eyebrows slightly slanting upwards, in contrast with his rather long nose and slightly higher cheekbones, and his wide mouth, which revealed a calm smile. All in all he made people feel that he had the air of a great general.

He methodically explained, “That old traitor Li Mi has never been able to wipe out all the people who have had connection with Zhai Ye from Wagang Army; therefore, I always know what happened to him like the back of my hands.”

Kou Zhong slapped the table and laughed aloud, “This time Li Mi will surely die!” he said.

Hearing that, the other three looked at each other with bewilderment; they were completely at a loss as why Kou Zhong said so.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[Laoren]

Thanks foxs.

Now that you mentioned that rascal xiaobao, make me want to go back and read again.

[wangxiaohu]

thanks foxs

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[spynet]

Thanks foxs!

[LuDongBin]

The end of Li Mi? Thks foxs.

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs. Is it bad that I've never seen Fraiser?

Operation Dead Li Mi is under the way! How will KZ convince BFH and XZL to help him?

[foxs]

Ysabel, Xiaohu, Jaya, spy, HPC, you are welcome. Lao Qianbei, when you were talking about 'story telling', I thought you remembered Wei Xiaobao. His knowledge came from tea houses, which, the official translator skipped (for the most part). DongBin, I don't think so. At least if Huang Yi stayed true to the historical fact, Li Mi would not die this soon. Sky, why is it bad (about Frasier)? It's just a sitcom ... I only caught bits and pieces when it was still running, but since Netflix has it, I watched it there.

---

Book 14 Chapter 10 – Various Strong Hoops

Liu Heita walked into the shop in large strides, straight toward the last table from the main door where the two men were sitting. Without any trace of politeness he pulled a chair and sat down, and nodded slightly at Ba Fenghan as his only acknowledgement and greeting, and then his eyes became like sharp and fierce like a hawk, as he stared at Xu Ziling without blinking and asked, “Did you do it?”

Xu Xiling felt there was absolutely no way he could lie to him; therefore, he smiled and said, “Smashed it!”

Liu Heita’s countenance dropped first, and then, against the two men’s expectation, a leisure smile appeared on the corner of his lips, just like sunshine suddenly appeared from behind a dark cloud to illuminate the earth, which very soon turned into a bright smile. Raising his thumb in praise, he laughed aloud and said, “You’ve got guts! I, Liu Heita, surrender to you!”

‘Bang!’

Liu Heita shouted, “Why haven’t Xiongdi poured me a cup of wine to send me off?”

Before Xu Ziling could move, Ba Fenghan already raised the wine pot and poured a cup full to the brim; he cheerfully said, “Liu Heita is indeed a good man, I, Ba Fenghan, toast you a cup.”

Filled with heroic spirit, the three raised their cups high and toasted each other in ardent mood.

Xu Ziling put down his empty cup and asked in astonishment, “Where is Liu Dage going?”

Liu Heita leaned comfortably onto the back of his chair, wiped the drips of wine from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, and said in a low voice, “I have a military order with me; since the Jade Annulus of He Clan is already gone, I must immediately hasten back to Shoule to report to King of Xia. If you want to leave Luoyang, I can arrange everything.”

Ba Fenghan said, “Ziling only tell the truth to Liu Xiong; we still deny everything to outsiders, so I hope Liu Xiong would bear with us for a moment or two. Besides, now is not the time for us to leave Luoyang yet. Only after tonight will we be able to think about this problem.”

It was the case of a hero admiring another hero, hence the reason the proud and arrogant Ba Fenghan was showing no formalities toward Liu Heita.

Liu Heita expressed his understanding. He reached out to stop Xu Ziling pouring another cup for him. After a moment of hesitation he took out an antique and elegant looking jade pendant. Handing it over to Xu Ziling, he said, “I always meant to give this to your virtuous sister, just consider it a late congratulatory gift!”

Xu Ziling felt a stab of pain in his heart; he silently received the gift.

Liu Heita let out a long laughter, then turned around and left.

※ ※ ※

Kou Zhong arrived at the wine shop’s door and bumped into Liu Heita head-on.

Greatly delighted, Kou Zhong pulled him aside and said in a low voice, “I was trying to find you.”

Liu Heita looked at Kou Zhong up and down, and asked in surprise, “How come while facing vicious wind and cloud your face still look like a spring breeze, and you look immensely pleased with yourself?”

Grabbing his head, Kou Zhong said, “The sky is falling we put to quilt over our head, when the boat gets to the pier-head, it will go straight with the current [i.e. everything will be all right]. Worrying will not do us his mother’s bird’s use. Hey! Do you want Li Mi to suffer big defeat or not?”

His heart moved, Liu Heita said, “Of course I want it very much. Our route south was cutoff by him. As long as we can inflict damage on him, we will spare no effort.”

Kou Zhong looked around. After the two passers-by walked away, he leaned over to whisper on Liu Heita’s ear, “If you can bluff by pretending to go down south to join hands with Wang Shichong, it will force Li Mi to deploy his troops to Yanshi. I am sure Li Mi will be done for.”

Liu Heita was already clear about this situation, plus he was proficient in the art of war, hence he understood immediately. After repeatedly expressed his admiration, he frowned and said, “The problem lies in Wang Shichong; I am afraid he cannot grasp this golden opportunity and thus miss the whole point.”

Striking his chest, Kou Zhong guaranteed, “Liu Dage may set your heart at ease; I will guarantee it.”

Liu Heita nodded and said, “To us, this matter will only bring benefit without any harm, but you must be careful too. Li Mi’s intelligent is outstanding; one bad thing, and you will fall into his trap instead.”

With a card up his sleeve, Kou Zhong said, “A wise person reflecting a thousand times can still make a mistake. Li Mi can’t be the only one on earth who has all the luck.”

Liu Heita wanted to say anything, but then hesitated. Finally he patted Kou Zhong’s shoulder vigorously and swaggered away.

Kou Zhong was about to enter the wine shop to rendezvous with the other two when someone was calling his name from behind. Recognizing Song Yuzhi’s voice, he turned around.

Song Yuzhi was still a dozen of zhang away. Naturally she was afraid he might slip away, hence she used her inner power to focus her voice into a thread and sent it to Kou Zhong’s ears.

Surprisingly, she did not wear her usual attire of tight warrior outfit; instead, she wore light gauzed dress and silk trousers typical of southern women of noble families. Her hair was rolled up in a bun, hanging low at the back of her head, fixed by a hairpin that looked like a comb. Her manner of dressing was simple and elegant, grandeur and charming.

Kou Zhong suddenly realized that he had never for a moment taken any notice of her expression and the way she dressed up, like right now.

Concealed in her masculine charm was a lovely graceful bearing, which brought up her outstanding, as well as unique, beauty. In fact, she was not inferior in any respect to Li Xiuning.

But why was it when he had difficulty falling asleep deep in the night, the one in his mind was Li Xiuning rather than Song Yuzhi?

For a moment Kou Zhong’s mind was a jumble of emotions.

Fragrant scent assailed his nostrils. Song Yuzhi already arrived in front of him; her beautiful eyes shot an incomparably complex expression. Slightly angry, she said, “Kou Zhong, you are really muddleheaded. You went so far as to rush down this disaster filling the entire sky.”

Noticing that everybody on the street was looking at them, Kou Zhong pulled her sleeve and took her to a side alley, where he said with a laugh, “Turns out San Xiaojie [Third Miss] is so concerned about me!”

Song Yuzhi sighed. She gently shook his hand off, and looking deep into his eyes she said, “The one concerned about you is not me, but Er Ge [second older brother].”

Kou Zhong giggled and said, “That being the case, Song Er Gongzi ought to come looking for me; why would he trouble Song San Xiaojie’s honorable self?”

Song Yuzhi crossly cast a glance his direction, and then spoke in low voice, “You don’t know how much trouble you have caused. Lu Shu [uncle] is afraid Er Ge would be draw into your maelstrom and thus bring disaster into our Song Family, hence he strictly prohibited him from seeing you. Our house rule is strict, Er Ge had no choice but to return south. But on leaving he implored me to warn you.”

Facing a jade-beauty, listening to her talk, which sounded passionate, but heartless at the same time, smelling the delicate fragrant from her hair and neck, which penetrated deeply into his heart, Kou Zhong spoke softly, “Yuzhi, don’t worry! I have a way to deal with the danger facing me. I can use it to achieve great endeavor, I know that not everything will be smooth sailing [orig. breeze is still, waves are quiet].”

Song Yuzhi showed a contradictory expression; after giving him a stern look, she lowered her small cicada head and said, “I really don’t know whether I should admire you or reprimand you severely. Although nobody said it yet, but everybody admires you from the bottom of their heart that you managed to achieve these impossible feats. But these are also the most unwise moves on your part. Are you really thinking of not handing out the treasured jade annulus no matter what?”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “How could Yuzhi be sure that the Jade Annulus of He Clan is in our hands?”

Looking up, Song Yuzhi stared at him hatefully and said, “Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, plus that Ba Fenghan, is there anything you guys do not dare to do? But this time your opponent is too strong! Even though Lu Shu has a very favorable impression toward you, he dares not interfering. Also, I have two things I want to warn you.”

Kou Zhong happily said, “Yuzhi must like me very much in your heart, isn’t that so?”

Song Yuzhi knitted her umber-black dyed eyebrows lightly and said in displeasure, “I am speaking about serious matters concerning your life or death, don’t try to change the subject into such a senseless thing, all right?”

Kou Zhong raised his arms as if he was surrendering; he said, “Yuzhi said it well, Zaixia is listening with respectful attention.”

Song Yuzhi rolled her eyes at him. Pressing her jade hand on his chest, her eyes suddenly shot razor-sharp look, as she calmly said, “As soon as I exert all my strength into the hollow of my palm, I guarantee your, Kou Zhong’s little life, will be gone. Aren’t you afraid?”

Kou Zhong replied nonchalantly, “If I have to die, I have to die! What is there to be afraid of?”

Astonished, Song Yuzhi said, “Do you think I can’t possibly kill you? Our Song Family has always had close relationship with Li Mi; maybe I’ll kill you for real.”

Kou Zhong looked down on her jade-palm pressed against the vital acupoint on his chest, her slender scallion-like jade-fingers; he was overwhelmed with a hard-to-describe emotion that felt as if it was going to melt his heart. He spoke tenderly, “Because other than Niang and Su Jie, you are the only woman that I, Kou Zhong, absolutely trust. Enough said!”

Song Yuzhi’s eyes changed. And then she sighed and leaned closer to him; her palm pressed onto his chest turned into the support she needed as her tender body nearly collapsed onto his. Whispering on his ear, she said, “Qu Ao already formed an alliance with Tujue’s martial art master; they vowed to kill the three of you. I just don’t know whether they are going to make their move before or after the zi hour.”

Kou Zhong looked down at her slender, milky-white jade-neck appearing from her collar; he had a strong urge to bite her, but because he was afraid to offend her, he fought hard not to recklessly rush into action. He spoke in heavy voice, “Are you referring to Tuoba Yu, martial brother and sister?”

Song Yuzhi replied, “Apart from them, there are also the ‘Tornado’, Tu Li, and a large number of martial art masters accompanying him, who have just arrived in Luoyang. Although Ba Fenghan is their primary target, they do not have any good opinion toward you either. Ay! What do you have that you can use to deal with them? The difference in strength is just too much.”

After racking his brains, Kou Zhong remembered Ba Fenghan had mentioned this person; he was a preeminent martial art master among the Tujue King’s clan, who had helped the Li Clan attack Kaizhong, and had good relationship with Li Shimin.

[wangxiaohu]

Battle imminent!
Thank you foxs.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[LuDongBin]

The end of Li Mi's dominance to be precise ... thks foxs. Another fight up?