Глава 4, ч.1. Невозможно разгадать

Book 1 Chapter 4 – Impossible to unravel Kou Zhong put his mouth next to Xu Ziling’s ear and said in a very low voice, “This woman [orig. ‘poniang’, usually used derogatorily] is prettier than Auntie Hong of Spring Breeze Courtyard.” Xu Ziling was staring blankly at the woman-in-white’s stately and elegant jade-countenance; hearing Kou Zhong, he nodded in approval. The woman-in-white, who was still sitting in meditation, suddenly opened her eyes and glowered at them. The two boys were startled; they withdrew and huddled together, trying to get as far away from her as possible. The woman-in-white’s delicate body suddenly shook violently, which forced her to close her eyes again. It was quite some time later that she opened her eyes again. Casting an angry look at them, she asked in one breath, “Where are we?

” The two boys perfunctorily looked around both banks of Yangtze River, and then shook their heads together. The woman-in-white looked up to the sky trying to determine the time of day. Seeing the sun was about to set behind the mountain, and the banks of the Great River was bathed in the glow of the setting sun, she knew that she has been meditating four close to two sichen [1 sichen is equal to two hours]. After pondering for a moment, she asked in soft voice, “Why is Yuwen Huaji after you?

” Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling exchanged glances, and then both of them shook their heads vigorously, “Don’t know!” The woman-in-white’s eyes flashed with cold rays. After staring fiercely at the two boys, she suddenly burst into tender laughter and said, “I want you, two little demons, to jump into the river right now!” The two boys were so hungry that their limbs did not have any strength; hearing her, their countenance turned pale with fright since they did not know what to do. The woman-in-white suddenly sighed; she said unenthusiastically, “I want to sleep for three sichen, the two of you little demons must steer the boat nicely. If the boat capsize, I will want your lives as compensation.” Stars filled the whole sky, the moon was low on the horizon. In the dim moonlight, these two good friends, who depended on each other for survival, huddled together to keep themselves against the attack of hunger and of the river breeze, while their palm was pressed on the rudder. var adx_id_6327 = document.getElementById('bg-ssp-6327'); adx_id_6327.id = 'bg-ssp-6327-' + Math.floor(Math.random() * Date.now()); window.pubadxtag = window.pubadxtag || []; window.pubadxtag.push({zoneid: 6327, id: adx_id_6327.id, wu: window.location.href}) The woman-in-white had her back toward them, as she sat facing the bow in meditation to heal her injury. She did look like a beautiful goddess idol carved from jade and stone. Her beautiful hair has been loosened by the wind, it fluttered freely in the breeze like a cloud. Kou Zhong whispered as softly as he could in Xu Ziling’s ear, “Do you think she can hear us?

” Xu Ziling was watching her as if he was in a trance, hence he did not hear him. “What did you say?

” he blurted out. Kou Zhong pinched his leg hard. He sighed and said, “I wonder what kind of fellow is that Yuwen Huaji, compared to this wo ... hey, this evil woman, he seems to be more formidable.” Horrified, Xu Ziling looked at the woman-in-white’s back. It was quite a moment later that he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Kou Zhong elbowed his arm and said in ecstasy, “She really can’t hear.” Xu Ziling asked the question he has been dying to ask, “So the secret manual is really not damaged by the water?

” Kou Zhong reached out to fetch ‘The Secret to Long Life’ and flipped a few pages before handing it to Xu Ziling. “Why don’t you look at it yourself!” he said, “I’ve already told you that this is genuine goods at fair prices, a special treasure. Otherwise, why is that Yuwen Huagu so anxious to get it?

Ha! That’s funny, the name Huagu [transforming bone] is a bit more-fitting than Huaji.” [hua – change into/transform, ji – and/to reach/up to/in time for. I don’t think it means anything.] Xu Ziling turned the book back and forth a few times. “If it is waterproof,” he mused, “Chances are it might also be fireproof ... Ah! With lightning speed Kou Zhong snatched the book back, he deftly hid the valuable and heavy treasure well, while muttering, “Don’t even think of testing it. Ha! We are finally leaving that stuffy, confining egg Yangzhou city. And now everything is fine. Except for our precious belly.” Now that he mentioned it, suddenly Xu Ziling’s tummy reacted with an unhappy rumbling. “Do you think this beautiful evil woman would be willing to lend us some traveling expenses for us to treat our ailing belly?

After all, her eyes have taken advantage of our best.” Kou Zhong’s eyes lit up because he spotted the small bundle lying by her side. He made some eye signals to Xu Ziling, and then started to crawl quietly toward the bundle. Naturally Xu Ziling knew that he was going to ‘imitate the dog and steal chicken’, to be a thief and to do some shady business. Quickly he grabbed Kou Zhong’s ankle while shaking his head vigorously with a firm expression on his face. Kou Zhong struggled twice, yet he was unable to break free. Dejected, he sat back down by Xu Ziling’s side and said sadly, “If Zhong Shaoye turns into a hungry ghost, I will definitely come to you, the other hungry ghost, to settle the account.” Xu Ziling said, “Don’t forget that we are heroes. Right now we are rushing together on a meteoric rise [orig. divine steed flashes past] on a highway to the abundant enterprise of Duke, Marquis, General and Prime Minister. Making such a move against a weak and unsuspecting woman like this will really bring harm to our good reputation as Yangzhou’s two dragons; not to mention she did after all save our lives.” Kou Zhong surrendered. “This evil woman’s skill can’t be considered bad,” he said, “But she is a weak and unsuspecting woman. Oh! Why does it have to rain now?