Book 2: The Golden Lock of the Eight Gates
Chapter 21: Heavenly Nine Dragon Jade Square
“A huge formation? Set up by the headmaster of the Golden Lock School?” Zhong Shan asked with furrowed brows. He didn’t quite understand what this formation was, but it wasn’t hard to guess that the headmaster had something to do with it due to the strange timing of its appearance.
“That’s right. Originally, all the neighboring schools had sent out their strongest disciples and figured that the headmaster of the Golden Lock School wouldn't be difficult to deal with. Yet the man-made formation is unexpectedly powerful. All of them have suffered setbacks, some even fought among themselves once they entered the formation. After the headmaster released them, they continued to finish their fights. Many died as the result.” Zhao Suoxiang told them.
“What formation is it?” Tianling-er immediately asked.
“The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation.” Zhao Suoxiang answered.
“The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation?” Tianling-er was surprised. Even Zhong Shan and Yinglan furrowed their eyebrows as well.
The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation? Xiu, Sheng, Shang, Du, Jing, Si, Jing, and Kai[1] was a formation used on the battlefield. All three knew of it, but how could this formation trap all those practitioners?
Zhao Suoxiang saw the others’ suspicions and spoke as he shook his head, “I know the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation on the battlefield. I used it before when I was in the military. But this formation at Eight Gates Mountain must be different from the one I knew, at least it must be more advanced. Therefore, I want to go there and see it.”
Yinglan and Tianling-er both looked at Zhong Shan as he pondered with knitted brows.
“Zhong Shan, do you want to go see it?” Zhao Suoxiang asked.
“Zhong Shan, let’s go see it. I want to see whether da shixiong is alright.” Tianling-er spoke suddenly.
Zhong Shan looked towards Tianling-er, but no one could tell what he was thinking.
“Really, I just want to see whether da shixiong is still alive. It’s the last time.” Tianling-er immediately added.
Tianling-er’s mixed feelings showed on her face. Without knowing the reason, she no longer wanted to mention Tiansha in front of Zhong Shan. At least, she didn’t want Zhong Shan to think that there was still anything going on between her and Tiansha. However, her admiration for him which had developed for so many years could not be erased all at once. By saying “It’s the last time”, Tiansha’s importance in her mind had obviously diminished.
Zhong Shan spoke after thinking for a while, “Alright, after I take care of those invaders in the next couple days, then we’ll go.”
“En.” A brilliant smile showed up on Tianling-er’s face.
Yinglan, however, was still deep in thought.
“Invaders? What invaders?” Zhao Suoxiang asked.
“The heads of the four great families of our Da Kun Kingdom and their elders. Those elders entered immortal schools the same year as you. Maybe you’ll recognize some of them when they come here.” Zhong Shan replied.
“Oh? Really? When?” Zhao Suoxiang’s eyes flashed.
“There’s an eighty percent chance that it will be tonight. At the latest, tomorrow.” Zhong Shan answered.
“Granduncle, how do you know it will be tonight?” Yinglan curiously asked.
Zhong Shan turned to look at Yinglan and laughed. “Their patience can only last till today. I’ll be surprised if they can wait till tomorrow.”
“En.” Yinglan nodded; she believed Zhong Shan.
“Then, tonight, I’ll defend your estate with you.” Zhao Suoxiang laughed.
“They have no grudge against you. You don’t need to get involved.” Zhong Shan said.
“No, I’m at the point that I need to fight to progress further. My spear needs blood.” Zhao Suoxiang insisted.
“Very well then, thank you.” Zhong Shan laughed.
“No need.” Zhao Suoxiang replied.
“En, then get some rest now. They should be here tonight.” Zhong Shan said.
“Alright.” Zhao Suoxiang nodded.
“Ling-er, you should also prepare yourself. There will be a big battle tonight and you’ll be the main force.” Zhong Shan said.
“En.” Tianling-er seriously nodded.
Zhao Suoxiang was led to a quiet room and Tianling-er also went back to her room. At the moment, the current situation at Eight Gates Mountain weight on Tianling-er’s mind; she was in need of a quiet moment to herself.
After the two left, Yinglan sat down next to Zhong Shan right away.
“Granduncle, why do you want to go to the Eight Gates Mountain? I don’t believe that you want to see that Golden Lock Formation or that da shixiong.” Yinglan asked with a gleam in her eyes.
Zhong Shan tapped the tip of Yinglan’s nose with an index finger and laughed. “I knew you were going to ask.”
“Of course. I can read your mind. Granduncle seemed to pay a lot of attention when he mentioned a dragon’s cry. Does it have anything to do with it?” Yinglan asked again.
Zhong Shan sipped some tea and didn’t say anything.
Seeing that Zhong Shan wasn’t answering, Yinglan immediately shook Zhong Shan’s arm. “Granduncle, just tell me. Don’t keep me hanging.”
Zhong Shan shook his head and smiled. “That’s right. Nine dragon cries means that there’s a treasure in the Eight Gates Mountain. It may not mean anything to other people, but that treasure is of great importance to me for establishing my dynasty.”
“What is it?” Yinglan widened her eye, her voice growing excited.
“Heavenly Nine Dragon Jade Square.” Zhong Shan solemnly said.
“Heavenly Nine Dragon Jade Square? What is that?” Yinglan frowned and asked, having never heard of such a thing.
Zhong Shan smiled. It was only natural that no one knew about it since he had learned it from <Establishing A Heavenly Imperial Court>.
“There are a lot of things that you don’t know.” Zhong Shan laughed.
“Then, I want to go too.” Yinglan immediately said.
“No, you haven’t reached Xiantian yet, it would be too dangerous for you.” Zhong Shan shook his head.
“But, granduncle, I have studied the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation well and, in my years in military, I have deployed it quite masterly. It would definitely be beneficial to bring me along. I just might be able to help granduncle by that time.” Yinglan kept shaking Zhong Shan’s arm.
Zhong Shan looked as if he had a change of heart, but he still shook his head and said, “No, it’s still too dangerous.”
“If you’re not taking me with you then I’ll go by myself.” Yinglan said.
Zhong Shan would be even more worried if she went by herself.
“Alright, but, you have to listen to me.” Zhong Shan sighed.
“I knew granduncle likes me the most.” Yinglan held his arm tightly.
“But, we have to handle tonight first.” Zhong Shan said.
“That’s for sure. If they enter the Zhong Estate, we won’t let them leave alive. Granduncle, you wait and see.” Yinglan said with a trace of cruelty.
“En. There will be eight of them. They are all hypocrites and will come with a pretense. Once you’ve seen them clearly, just simply attack. There’s a special guest in the Zhong Estate who will help us in secret. If you see him, don’t attack him.” Zhong Shan told her.
“Who is that?” Yinglan asked in surprise.
“He doesn’t want anyone to know. But, I can be sure that he doesn’t mean any harm to the Zhong Estate.” Zhong Shan earnestly declared.
“Oh, ok.” Yinglan nodded and stopped asking any more questions.
Around midnight, it was pitch black in the Zhong Estate. On top of the five story building, Zhong Shan,Tianling-er, and Zhao Suoxiang quietly sat cross-legged, waiting.
Outside of the Zhong Estate, eight shadows appeared. Four of them looked to be in their thirties and the other four in their forties. And it looked like the younger ones were the leaders.
The eight jumped at the same time onto the roof of the Zhong residence. They moved towards the inner courtyard of the residence. They had planned the attack for a long time and naturally knew where Zhong Shan’s living quarters was.
However, halfway to their destination.
“Hu” “Hu”.............................
The whole Zhong Estate lit up with the sound of torches coming to life, basking the residence in light.
In an instant, the eight people were exposed in the bright light.
They stopped, knowing they had been discovered. At this point, they were exactly in front of the five story building.
Zhong Shan, with Zhao Suoxiang and Tianling-er, walked up to the fence and looked down.
“Four great masters, I didn’t expect you to visit me in the middle of the night. Why didn’t you send word earlier?” Zhong Shan stood on top of the building, amused at the eight people below.
“Zhong Shan.” The head of the Zhao family squinted his eyes to stare at Zhong Shan.
The four younger looking elders also glared at Zhong Shan, the target of this visit, following the head of the Zhao family.
Zhong Shan felt no fear from their gaze, even though they were at the same level as Zhao Suoxiang. He smiled slightly. “Who are these four? They’re so young and I have never seen them before. Don’t tell me that they’re your bastards, one for each great family? Congratulations are in order.”
Zhong Shan’s words were so vicious, one could practically see fire shoot from each of their eyes.
Footnotes
^ The names of each gate in the formation. Jing is repeated twice, but is two different characters: 景 and 惊.
Book 2: The Golden Lock of the Eight Gates
Chapter 21: Heavenly Nine Dragon Jade Square
“A huge formation? Set up by the headmaster of the Golden Lock School?” Zhong Shan asked with furrowed brows. He didn’t quite understand what this formation was, but it wasn’t hard to guess that the headmaster had something to do with it due to the strange timing of its appearance.
“That’s right. Originally, all the neighboring schools had sent out their strongest disciples and figured that the headmaster of the Golden Lock School wouldn't be difficult to deal with. Yet the man-made formation is unexpectedly powerful. All of them have suffered setbacks, some even fought among themselves once they entered the formation. After the headmaster released them, they continued to finish their fights. Many died as the result.” Zhao Suoxiang told them.
“What formation is it?” Tianling-er immediately asked.
“The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation.” Zhao Suoxiang answered.
“The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation?” Tianling-er was surprised. Even Zhong Shan and Yinglan furrowed their eyebrows as well.
The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation? Xiu, Sheng, Shang, Du, Jing, Si, Jing, and Kai[1] was a formation used on the battlefield. All three knew of it, but how could this formation trap all those practitioners?
Zhao Suoxiang saw the others’ suspicions and spoke as he shook his head, “I know the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation on the battlefield. I used it before when I was in the military. But this formation at Eight Gates Mountain must be different from the one I knew, at least it must be more advanced. Therefore, I want to go there and see it.”
Yinglan and Tianling-er both looked at Zhong Shan as he pondered with knitted brows.
“Zhong Shan, do you want to go see it?” Zhao Suoxiang asked.
“Zhong Shan, let’s go see it. I want to see whether da shixiong is alright.” Tianling-er spoke suddenly.
Zhong Shan looked towards Tianling-er, but no one could tell what he was thinking.
“Really, I just want to see whether da shixiong is still alive. It’s the last time.” Tianling-er immediately added.
Tianling-er’s mixed feelings showed on her face. Without knowing the reason, she no longer wanted to mention Tiansha in front of Zhong Shan. At least, she didn’t want Zhong Shan to think that there was still anything going on between her and Tiansha. However, her admiration for him which had developed for so many years could not be erased all at once. By saying “It’s the last time”, Tiansha’s importance in her mind had obviously diminished.
Zhong Shan spoke after thinking for a while, “Alright, after I take care of those invaders in the next couple days, then we’ll go.”
“En.” A brilliant smile showed up on Tianling-er’s face.
Yinglan, however, was still deep in thought.
“Invaders? What invaders?” Zhao Suoxiang asked.
“The heads of the four great families of our Da Kun Kingdom and their elders. Those elders entered immortal schools the same year as you. Maybe you’ll recognize some of them when they come here.” Zhong Shan replied.
“Oh? Really? When?” Zhao Suoxiang’s eyes flashed.
“There’s an eighty percent chance that it will be tonight. At the latest, tomorrow.” Zhong Shan answered.
“Granduncle, how do you know it will be tonight?” Yinglan curiously asked.
Zhong Shan turned to look at Yinglan and laughed. “Their patience can only last till today. I’ll be surprised if they can wait till tomorrow.”
“En.” Yinglan nodded; she believed Zhong Shan.
“Then, tonight, I’ll defend your estate with you.” Zhao Suoxiang laughed.
“They have no grudge against you. You don’t need to get involved.” Zhong Shan said.
“No, I’m at the point that I need to fight to progress further. My spear needs blood.” Zhao Suoxiang insisted.
“Very well then, thank you.” Zhong Shan laughed.
“No need.” Zhao Suoxiang replied.
“En, then get some rest now. They should be here tonight.” Zhong Shan said.
“Alright.” Zhao Suoxiang nodded.
“Ling-er, you should also prepare yourself. There will be a big battle tonight and you’ll be the main force.” Zhong Shan said.
“En.” Tianling-er seriously nodded.
Zhao Suoxiang was led to a quiet room and Tianling-er also went back to her room. At the moment, the current situation at Eight Gates Mountain weight on Tianling-er’s mind; she was in need of a quiet moment to herself.
After the two left, Yinglan sat down next to Zhong Shan right away.
“Granduncle, why do you want to go to the Eight Gates Mountain? I don’t believe that you want to see that Golden Lock Formation or that da shixiong.” Yinglan asked with a gleam in her eyes.
Zhong Shan tapped the tip of Yinglan’s nose with an index finger and laughed. “I knew you were going to ask.”
“Of course. I can read your mind. Granduncle seemed to pay a lot of attention when he mentioned a dragon’s cry. Does it have anything to do with it?” Yinglan asked again.
Zhong Shan sipped some tea and didn’t say anything.
Seeing that Zhong Shan wasn’t answering, Yinglan immediately shook Zhong Shan’s arm. “Granduncle, just tell me. Don’t keep me hanging.”
Zhong Shan shook his head and smiled. “That’s right. Nine dragon cries means that there’s a treasure in the Eight Gates Mountain. It may not mean anything to other people, but that treasure is of great importance to me for establishing my dynasty.”
“What is it?” Yinglan widened her eye, her voice growing excited.
“Heavenly Nine Dragon Jade Square.” Zhong Shan solemnly said.
“Heavenly Nine Dragon Jade Square? What is that?” Yinglan frowned and asked, having never heard of such a thing.
Zhong Shan smiled. It was only natural that no one knew about it since he had learned it from <Establishing A Heavenly Imperial Court>.
“There are a lot of things that you don’t know.” Zhong Shan laughed.
“Then, I want to go too.” Yinglan immediately said.
“No, you haven’t reached Xiantian yet, it would be too dangerous for you.” Zhong Shan shook his head.
“But, granduncle, I have studied the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation well and, in my years in military, I have deployed it quite masterly. It would definitely be beneficial to bring me along. I just might be able to help granduncle by that time.” Yinglan kept shaking Zhong Shan’s arm.
Zhong Shan looked as if he had a change of heart, but he still shook his head and said, “No, it’s still too dangerous.”
“If you’re not taking me with you then I’ll go by myself.” Yinglan said.
Zhong Shan would be even more worried if she went by herself.
“Alright, but, you have to listen to me.” Zhong Shan sighed.
“I knew granduncle likes me the most.” Yinglan held his arm tightly.
“But, we have to handle tonight first.” Zhong Shan said.
“That’s for sure. If they enter the Zhong Estate, we won’t let them leave alive. Granduncle, you wait and see.” Yinglan said with a trace of cruelty.
“En. There will be eight of them. They are all hypocrites and will come with a pretense. Once you’ve seen them clearly, just simply attack. There’s a special guest in the Zhong Estate who will help us in secret. If you see him, don’t attack him.” Zhong Shan told her.
“Who is that?” Yinglan asked in surprise.
“He doesn’t want anyone to know. But, I can be sure that he doesn’t mean any harm to the Zhong Estate.” Zhong Shan earnestly declared.
“Oh, ok.” Yinglan nodded and stopped asking any more questions.
Around midnight, it was pitch black in the Zhong Estate. On top of the five story building, Zhong Shan,Tianling-er, and Zhao Suoxiang quietly sat cross-legged, waiting.
Outside of the Zhong Estate, eight shadows appeared. Four of them looked to be in their thirties and the other four in their forties. And it looked like the younger ones were the leaders.
The eight jumped at the same time onto the roof of the Zhong residence. They moved towards the inner courtyard of the residence. They had planned the attack for a long time and naturally knew where Zhong Shan’s living quarters was.
However, halfway to their destination.
“Hu” “Hu”.............................
The whole Zhong Estate lit up with the sound of torches coming to life, basking the residence in light.
In an instant, the eight people were exposed in the bright light.
They stopped, knowing they had been discovered. At this point, they were exactly in front of the five story building.
Zhong Shan, with Zhao Suoxiang and Tianling-er, walked up to the fence and looked down.
“Four great masters, I didn’t expect you to visit me in the middle of the night. Why didn’t you send word earlier?” Zhong Shan stood on top of the building, amused at the eight people below.
“Zhong Shan.” The head of the Zhao family squinted his eyes to stare at Zhong Shan.
The four younger looking elders also glared at Zhong Shan, the target of this visit, following the head of the Zhao family.
Zhong Shan felt no fear from their gaze, even though they were at the same level as Zhao Suoxiang. He smiled slightly. “Who are these four? They’re so young and I have never seen them before. Don’t tell me that they’re your bastards, one for each great family? Congratulations are in order.”
Zhong Shan’s words were so vicious, one could practically see fire shoot from each of their eyes.
Footnotes
^ The names of each gate in the formation. Jing is repeated twice, but is two different characters: 景 and 惊.