Book 39 - Chapter 6 – The Reappearance of the De (1/2)
Book 39
Crossing the doorstep, the three felt as if they were entering another world Cheng Zhen’s house, which from the street did not look ree tract of land First of all, they used rammed earth as the wall and the rolled-style mud brick as the roof of the ironware factory Their main product was cavalry sabers All kinds of tools and equipment were available in there; fro Wan City was thriving
Noticing that Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were looking closely at theZhen said, “This kind of raion, the supply is inexhaustible; it has strong cohesive property, it is pliable, and easy to dehydrate The biggest advantage is that it has good thermal insulation characteristic; warm in the winter and cool in the su each house, Helianbobo would kill either the craftsth of the wall, but they thought that this kind of question would be a blot on the landscape [spoil the fun], hence they suppressed the urge and did not han randomly picked up a cavalry saber and said, “Is the ironZhen replied, “The iron is mainly supplied by Tiefuyou of Heshui Division; therefore, doing ironware business here, we h the back door of the workshop, they came to a patio courtyard On the trellises overhead, they actually grew grapes, while underneath was an open water well, bri with the breath of life
Beyond this was the living room of the inner section The surface of the as full of decorative patterns created by pressing wooden s for decoration Reed[a heatable brick bed common in the northern part of China], as well as a stove – attached to the clay wall A gorgeousand Xu Ziling, everything was bri with exotic flavor
Finally, there were dining roouesthouse, and other ancillary buildings
Cheng Zhen’s wife died young He had five sons and two daughters, as well as grandchildren in large nuhters were already married and lived with their husbands Three out of five sons werethe customs, they lived in their father’s home and carried on their father’s business
Toward the three guests, they were all very cordial and attentive, fully den tribes beyond the Great Wall
The evening meal was held in lively atmosphere, only the adult uests were very happy
During theopened their ears wide, listening to not a few of the strange style and unusual custom of various tribes beyond the Great Wall For exa the consent of both sides’ parents [or head of household], the new son-in-laould ‘kidnap’ the new bride first, and then together the new bride and groom would return to live in the wonant, then the married couple would return to the han in Tujue language, which he was increasingly co, “Do you, Tujue people, also have this kind of stealing brides custohan replied, “We are more like you, Han people, that is, we ask someone to be the otiate a certain nu Zhen’s oldest son, Muke, was suddenly overwhelhed and said, “The reason weWan was precisely to run away from you, Tujue people, because we do not want to be taken in slavery”
Astonished, Ba Fenghan said, “Although Tong Wan is not a territory under direct jurisdiction of the Tujue, but it is still within the sphere of influence of the Eastern Tujue; I a Zhen said, “Tuli and Xieli have different styles Tuli has always been tolerant to the various ethnic groups within his territory, unlike Xieli, ill easily loot, kidnap, and rob And Tong Wan is in Tuli’s territory, hence all ethnic groups can live in peace, large-scale conflicts are rare”
Muke joined in, “Therefore, all Tong Wan people wish that Tuli can beat back Xieli But Tuli’s current situation is rather not too encouraging On one side Xieli’s er andhis territory; on the other side, Lidoht, the situation is not favorable to him; we can only ask God to bless and protect hihan went silent
Confused, Xu Ziling asked, “In the vast, boundless prairie and endless desert, nine out of ten people are norass; how do you deter Zhen replied, “The ethnic group with soe or s the season, with river or lake as natural boundaries If any sroup wants to share the pasture, theyto the nu Wan for example; each year we must offer weapons, arrows and darts, and so on, as a tribute to Tuli”
Scratching his head, Kou Zhong said, “The prairie is so big, the enemy advances I retreat, the enemies retreats I advance; how can we tell victory and defeat?”
Ba Fenghan replied, “The conflicts in the prairie is very different fro-territories wars in your Central Earth What we are fighting is a war of attrition by killing the people and looting their belongings For exa your Great Sui’s Renshou year, Tujue’s Awusiliqi went down south to invade Qiiance to the House of Sui In one strike he snatched more than two hundred thousand livestock, so that Qimin Khan was powerless to strike back, while the other side’s power enjoyed sudden flourish; naturally continuing their raids in killing and burning was not difficult at all In Tujue, only those who die in battle will receive respect, and allowed to erect a stone next to their grave as atheir lives some people can only erect one stone, but some others can erect hundreds or thousands”
Muke said, “There are also young men and women who are taken away by other tribes as slaves, who are forced to work in order to support the war”
S war to raise war, it will never stop! No wonder each ti, he also captured a large nu men and women; turns out it was in order to continue this war of attrition in the prairie”
Kou Zhong spoke heavily, “That is precisely Xieli’s shortco a city, hence he has to rely on Han hunting dogs to attack the troop dispositions for thehan said, “Now that Xieli has Zhao Deyan as his Junshi+, the situation e Therefore, if Xieli defeated Tuli, not only all ethnic groups in the prairie would bear the brunt, they would also suffer unspeakable misery, and you, Han people would not have peaceful days either”
Cheng Zhen raised his cup and said, “It’s late! We will chat again touesthouse behind the main residence The top was flattop tent that looked like it was made of clay They lay down to rest, but did not feel sleepy yet, so they sat up leaning against the wall to talk
“What should we do?” Kou Zhong asked, “Trapped in here waiting for Zhu Yaofu’s news, I don’t kno long we are going to painstakingly wait?”
“We’ll set a three-day li from Zhu Yaofu, we’ll immediately set out to find Ma Ji, perhaps we’ll still have ti is, since shi+ Zhixuan was already at Helian Fort, why did he pass Tong Wan over and did not enter? What’s evento the wilderness, rather than to a densely populated place like Tong Wan”
Ba Fenghan said, “The only explanation is that shi+ Zhixuan was unable to break away frolement, hence he turned around and took a detour, so ht hand-to-hand with Zhu Yaofu And because alone, Zhu Yaofu did not have enough strength to pester hiether-with-the-enemy situation, she was co for help”
Noticing that Xu Ziling re Shao, you are sensing sohan Xiong’s guess was not incorrect; shi+ Zhixuan eventually lost his patience and decided to fight back with everything he has”
Greatly astonished, the other two asked how he could be so sure
Xu Ziling’s tiger-eyes flashi+ng brightly, he said, “During dinner earlier, ere chatting, I sensed the Relics’ evil qi, twice in succession Although it appeared to be there but not exactly there, I was very clear about it”
Greatly delighted, Ba Fenghan said, “Based on Ling Shao’s extraordinary spirit and senses, we’ll dig hiht and be done with it”
Shaking his head, Xu Ziling said, “I can’t find him, simply because the Relics is not on hiht I rong, only now I begin to feel sure”
The two suddenly understood
Because shi+ Zhixuan carried the Relics with hily he was infected with the Relics’ death evil qi; therefore, although he hid the Relics in so reaction fro’s senses Furthermore, from this, they determined that he was about to strike back
Twice Xu Ziling sensed his presence, clearly it was because he wanted to ascertain the situation first before launching his surprise attack toward thehan said with a laugh, “Let’s go to bed then!”
The other two agreed They blew out the sheepskin lantern, and lay down on the bed to sleep, generating an even breathing noise
In the quiet darkness, the three regulated their breathing and circulated their qi, stored up their strength and waited patiently
If shi+ Zhixuan wanted to ht, since the three th exhausted after a long and difficult trek, resting in a safe environ particularly soundly
Sure enough, not even half a sichen later, Xu Ziling, as sleeping in the ain he sensed the Relics’ evil qi fro about the, heartbeats, so ht raised alare person, naturally it was not possible, but Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and Ba Fenghan were really thenew talents inside and outside the border of the present age, naturally it was easy for thehtest noise, but relying purely on their intuition as martial art masters, they knew clearly without any doubt that shi+ Zhixuan was flashi+ng froround and was approaching thefacing the courtyard on the stable’s side, shot a glance upward, and then turned around and was standing with his back against the wall
The three discharged all distracting thoughts completely from the ocean of their htly lit ground, waiting for the course of events to unfold
What kind of means would shi+ Zhixuan, who has always been unscrupulous, use to deal with them?
An instant later shi+ Zhixuan was already standing outside the wooden door of the guesthouse Even though they did not see it with their own eyes, the three still strongly sensed his terrifying, demon-like speed
Huan Mo Shenfa was indeed not a common chord
At his peak, with Bu Si Yin Fa and Huan Mo Shenfa, practically no one in the world was able to do anything to hih power to defeat him, yet they were helpless to subdue hi; could they do it now?
Without creating any noise at all shi+ Zhixuan’s palm slapped on the door
The thick and solid wooden door, like a piece of frail tissue being flicked by a finger, could not withstand the force, it disintegrated into wooden chips flying into the roo ht hand released three daggers, which, as fast as lightning, shot toward the vital point on the three men’s throat It was vicious to the extreme point