Book 52 Chapter 3 – Sinister Heart (1/2)
Book 52 Chapter 3 – Sinister Heart
Translator: Foxs' Wuxia
Upon entering the darkness, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling climbed to the top of a hill nearby the forest and valley where they were hiding to observe the situation far and near
After dawn, they hid inside a dense forest on the north bank of the Great River, using the forest tree as the cover to travel northeast, only then did they dare to stop and sit in meditation to treat their injuries
After recuperating forwere the first to recover Although they were still feeling weak due to the considerable loss of blood, they no longer felt the th-exhausted like when they stopped earlier, when they were both han’s condition orse than theirs, his injuries were also heavier than theirs, hence they remained in this forest valley to recuperate
Kou Zhong ran his eyes over the sky, far and near “Really strange!” he said, “After crossing the river, we have not seen Kang Qiaoli’s condor at all, Li shi+ive up easily”
S said, “Eventually ill have to return to Luoyang, sooner or later we cannot escape froers, why should he want to take the trouble to pursue us? Perhaps he is even itching to have us lure Dou Ar, Dou Jiande, and you, Kou Shaoshuai, threeshook his head and said, “Dou Jiande will not lose As long as he agrees to come to help, I will do ether with his ared attack to capture Hulao, various cities If Li shi+ defeat in his life”
Knitting his brows, Xu Ziling said, “If you go to attack Hulao, ill help wang shi+chong to defend Luoyang?”
Kou Zhong sighed and said, “That is precisely the headache However, Luoyang’s grain can last, at most, for a month and a half; if within thiswill be done for Therefore, I go to defend Luoyang is inverting root and branch [idio cause and effect], it would be better to help Dou Jiande with all th to attack Hulao; that is the only way to save Luoyang Just like in the gah to ; moreover, we can then turn around to eat up Li shi+on”
“Do you the confidence that you will be able to capture Hulao within avarious cities east side of Luoyang is entirely under Li shi+min’s control; there is no way you can isolate Hulao”
“Actually, I do not have the slightest a replied dejectedly, “Ay! Let’s see Dou Jiande first before talking further! I haven’t had a chance to ask you, what load of herhis head, Xu Ziling replied, “I don’t know”
“You don’t know?” Kou Zhong blurted out, “What kind of an answer is that? Didn’t you say that you talked to her about the load in herback and forth, all you can repeat to me was ‘I don’t know’, these three characters?”
Xu Ziling crossly said, “My ‘I don’t knoas referring to the future prospect she and I being together Ay! Right now, I practically do not have any qualifications to pursue her A ood days in the future evenput his aretically, “It’s ood, I rolled you into this murky water But if you hadn’t helped me, I would have done for early on, and just now, me and Old Ba would have lost our lives at the Great River”
Xu Ziling sighed and said, “We all are brothers, why do you have to say such words? If we ether I must have been in your debt in the previous life”
Shaken, Kou Zhong let go of his hand After staring blankly for half a day, he scratched his head and said, “Are you really going to set yourself against Li shi+aze toward the mountain and fields on the horizon, he spoke indifferently, “At the beginning, I veryfor the world, is it as siht for your own self in one breath? Or as a , to acquire fas? You said you did not want to be the e the h But while you were so busy and did not have spare ti’an to deal with shi+ Zhixuan side by side withabout you, Kou Zhong is indeedwas overco his head low, he spoke in shame, “Honestly, I did initially aspire to create i drea clan, to ride onthat I am more superior to Chai Shao Luckily I have you by ood role model The more you live a simple life without any strife, the arity In fact, I never stop learning from you, LaoGe, and Yuzhi’s refusal to understand me makes me deeply reflectdo’s! Why’s soto becooes to a lot of trouble to be the eive up the emperor position to Dou Jiande, you do not kno relieved I was, I just don’t kno to explain to Song Que! Ay! With his tehterhis hand around Kou Zhong’s shoulder, he sehead, naturally it’s straight We still have a long way to go, and to this day Li shi+ shook his head and said, “Li shi+min does not have any auspicious day to pass either Li Yuan dispatched Li Yuanji to be his deputy, clearly it is to prevent hi his independence, or maybe to establish friendly relations with us and for, Just noe talked across the river, I had some kind of intuition that Li shi+min did not want to kill us at all, on the contrary, he really wanted us to have Dou Ar”
But then he wondered aloud, “If I were Li kid, I would not be so anxious to puthas less for useful There is no reason that he did not understand this logic”
Xu Ziling said, “On the battlefield, Li shi+ if successful, called a bandit if defeated [idiom] rule In private, however, he is a man who attaches importance to comradeshi+p and lofty sentiments, otherwise Feixuan would not have chosen him as the future true ’s enereatest threat outside the Pass, not for his own benefit, but because he has his eyes on the general situation; first, to display utter loyalty to his farity of the Central Earth It could be said that the quicker the Central Plains is unified, the less the Tujue people have the opportunity they could exploit Li shi+min did not do it for hi to hi said, “You are indeed a e of hih to be loyal and does not question filial piety, he hiht in life and death battles, but others will reap the benefit, he could easily end up not in a good way”
Xu Ziling disagreed, he said, “He really is not the kind of person you think he is Do you re Hall, when he and Li Jiancheng opposed each other with equal harshness? He is a ht for hi will be the moment he and Li Yuan lay their cards on the table He will do his best to persuade Li Yuan; if his Laozi [old ainst Chang’an”
Kou Zhong sighed and said, “Currently, Li Yuan’s ; what qualifications does Li shi+min have to become a rebel? However, when that time comes, I am sure ill already die in battle, our eyes will not see that scene, hence it has nothing to do with us”
Stunned, Xu Ziling said, “You see ruefully, Kou Zhong said, “Si swords with hi’s! This kid really has tricks that demons and deities cannot fathom He is not much older than we are, but he is both steady and ruthless, successful but not arrogant, failed but not discouraged The officers and soldiers under his command, everybody obeys hi’s Ar and Dou Jiande’s troops are quite some ways away, our tender and childlike Shao Shuai Army is even farther away fro involuntarily, Xu Ziling said, “It’s rare that you are this honest”
Kou Zhong raised his head to look at the night sky, his eyes exploded in refined light, he spoke in heavy voice, “This is called know yourself, know your ene with shi+ Zhixuan, we repeatedly ure out shi+ Zhixuan’swith Li shi+ain It does not matter how our relationshi+p with Li shi+ht, he and us are like the two cannot exist together, including you, Ling Shao, are people that he wants to kill His Niang’s! This is precisely his so-called selflessness”
Xu Ziling sighed inwardly, he wanted to speak but say nothing
Kou Zhong patted his shoulder and said, “This conversation between us, two brothers, tonight is very constructive, we both poured out the words that had been in the bottoranny’s bear, we have no other choice, we have to follow the original plan to see Old Dou, to see which side Laotianye really wants to help”
That night the three continued their journey, they hastened on at full speed, and by daybreak they entered the Xia Ar, and on the way ca for Dou Jiande’s whereabouts, by afternoon the next day they arrived at Wuling, located on the western bank of River Zhong, a tributary of the Yellow River, where Dou Jiande was stationed