DongBin, s.h.i.+rak, Hungry, CFT, looks like this couple generated plenty of comments from you. Xiaohu, Takeyama is j.a.panese for Yue Shan. Akolaw, I though the general consensus here is Wanwan was number one? s.h.i.+ Feixuan was number two, and then the rest? Ysabel, Jaya, Anh, HPC, Spy, Paona, you are welcome. Xu Xiong, no blood.

Luoma Lake was located southeast of the biggest lake in Shandong, the Weishan Lake, the two are connected by River Si.

Luoma Lake's water under the wide open sky extended as far as the eye can see, the bluish green waves rippled, the water was rich with fish: carp, Crucian carp, black carp, shrimp and crabs; as for the flora, there was water caltrop, fresh lotus root, cattail, mouth gra.s.s, and so on.

Every time the weather was favorable, fis.h.i.+ng boats roamed about the mist covered water, the oars braved the waves, heron glided and gulls soared; the scenery was enchanting.

Luoma Bang's base, the City of Xiapi, was located about ten li northwest of Luoma Lake. It was a fortress at the confluence of three major river courses, Si River, Yi River, and Bian River. From here, in just a little more than half a day of voyage, one could reach Pengcheng, located at the upper reaches of Bian River.

The convenience of transportation has made Xiapi the transit center between Luoma Lake and Weishan Lake, with a tight grip on the waterways in the entire region. As a result, Xiapi brought a lot of commercial trade, which, in turn, gave Luoma Bang full belly and fat intestines, their fame and power grew.

The alliance with Khitan's group of horse-mounted bandits offered Luoma Bang the opportunity to expand their influence and fuel their wild ambition.

Kou Zhong, Luo Qifei, and ten of their men disguised themselves as traveling merchants, who came to this village, rich in fish and rice, in the Luoma Lake region, to buy provisions, and safely entered Xiapi.

a.s.sisting them in gaining access and establis.h.i.+ng contact was the local huge grain and oil merchant, Shen Renfu. He has always had close relations.h.i.+p with Pengliang Bang. Although on the surface he also maintained friendly relations with Luoma Bang, inwardly he was extremely resentful toward Du Ren's excessive, not-knowing-his-limit taxation, his surly and unreasoning way of doing business.

Luo Qifei's information was coming from him.

Shen Renfu was a proficient and calculating businessman; originally he was unwilling to be drawn into the dispute. But Du Ren and Ku Ge's alliance was more than he could bear, simply because his younger brother's family, men, women, young and old, all lost their lives in Ku Ge's hands, hence his hatred was deeper than the sea.

But the most important thing was his admiration and confidence in Kou Zhong, thereupon once the agreement was made, he was determined to help Kou Zhong to deal with Du Ren and Ku Ge.

As soon as Kou Zhong and Luo Qifei reached the Shen Mansion, the three immediately held a meeting inside the secret chamber.

Shen Renfu was a tall, st.u.r.dy and rugged looking man, his hair was iron grey, he appeared to be confident and easy-going. On his bright and broad face was a pair of s.h.i.+ny eyes, he wore a long and thick beard, his age around forty, the impression he was giving out was that of an astute, decisive, and stop-at-nothing man.

After some polite exchange, Shen Renfu presented the situation, "After obtaining Ku Ge's support, Du Ren's major task is recruiting soldiers and buying horse, in preparation to display his fist and feet, putting all towns and villages in the vicinity in danger, afraid that he and Ku Ge would join forces and go to all directions, killing and burning, besieging cities and robbing lands."

Frowning, Kou Zhong said, "Ku Ge's group only consists of an insignificant number of several hundred horse-mounted bandits, why does Du Ren seem to acquire big backers?"

Shen Renfu sighed and said, "In Zhong Ye's eyes, it's only natural that Ku Ge is a totally insignificant n.o.body; but in the surrounding area, who did not hear the name Khitan group of horse-mounted bandits and their countenance change? If we add the thieves Ku Ge left at the coastal area, the number may reaches more than a thousand. Every one of these Khitan group of horse-mounted bandits has outstanding martial art skill, very aggressive and ruthless. Their horsemans.h.i.+p is a level above everybody else, plus they come and go like the wind. Except for the big defeat under your, Zhong Ye's hands, they have always been undefeated. And now that they acquired Du Ren's intelligence and base of operations, they are indeed like a tiger that has grown wings, putting all of us in danger. We are hoping that Zhong Ye can come out to preside over justice, and take revenge and wipe out the grudges of the people ma.s.sacred by them."

Kou Zhong calmly said, "Shen Laoban [boss], please set your heart at ease. Merely for your esteemed younger brother's family being harmed by them, I already am unable to sit still. I must make this bunch of evil thieves unable to return to their hometown forever. I wonder where Ku Ge is staying now. Du Ren will never dare to lead the wolf into the house, to sleep under the same roof with Ku Ge!"

Seeing how much Kou Zhong was giving him face, Shen Renfu was so grateful that he was almost in tears. After kneeling down to express his grat.i.tude, he said, "Ku Ge and his men are hiding on the prairie at the foot of Mount Ze, about a dozen li west of Xiapi, ready to respond and rendezvous with the other group of horse-mounted bandits. As for the details of his conspiracy with Du Ren, Xiaoren [the lowly one, referring to self] has not explored that information yet."

Stretching his limbs, Kou Zhong said, "I wonder if Shen Laoban knows: within the Luoma Bang itself, who opposed this alliance most intensely?"

Without even thinking, Shen Renfu replied, "Of course it's the Er Dangjia [second chief] Xiao Lu Bu [little Lu Bu (-198), a general and warlord] Jiao Hongjin. This man is an exceptional hero, he received the love and respect of ten thousand of his men, but also received Du Ren's jealousy the most. This alliance, at least half of Du Ren's reason was directed at him. Since his fight against the alliance failed, every night Jiao Hongjin lingers at the pleasure house, drowning his sorrow in wine. In my opinion, he is at the initial stage of dying, otherwise Du Ren might have him killed."

Greatly delighted, Kou Zhong said, "Lu Bu did not love the rivers and mountains, but loved beauties instead. Hopefully Little Lu Bu is a bit better. We will start with him. Who knows, perhaps without spending a single man, a single troop, the entire Luoma Bang will join us. At that time, I can guarantee that the Khitan group of horse-mounted bandits will die without a burial place, plus we will gain a batch of well-trained warhorses. Don't you think this is a very sound scheme?"

Shen Renfu happily said, "Xiaoren has quite a bit of friends.h.i.+p with Jiao Hongjin; let Xiaoren make the arrangement."

Shaking his head, Kou Zhong said, "It's not advisable for Shen Laoban to appear personally. It is hard to fathom a person's mind; n.o.body knows how Jiao Hongjin would react. Qifei, do you have any suggestion?"

Luo Qifei, who has been listening on the side without saying anything, agreed; he said, "It would be best indeed if Shen Laoban does not appear personally, but how are we going to make contact with Jiao Hongjin secretly?"

Kou Zhong smiled and said, "Then I will have to act according to circ.u.mstances. What is his favorite place? I am going to meet him there. If he is unwilling to help me, I might as well kill him with a blade, and then it will be Du Ren's turn."

Although he talked big, Shen Renfu and Luo Qifei merely thought that it was proper and to be expected as a matter of course.

Compared to Ren Shaoming and Li Mi, Du Ren could be considered nothing.

After thinking for a moment, Kou Zhong said to the two, "Since n.o.body knows what Du Ren and Ku Ge are going to do next, we might as well do them a big favor: spread a bit of rumor, so that the people of neighboring towns will panic. Once we get rid of Du Ren, everybody will be doubly grateful, so in a few words we can buy the hearts of the people back. Ha! Is there anything more cost-effective than this?"

The two nodded their heads in praise. Both inwardly thought that indeed 'there is no empty scholar under famous reputation'; he was able to think about such tactic.

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Kou Zhong said, "The rumor must be reasonable and fair, otherwise it's not worth spreading. Ah! Shen Laoban, you are more familiar about this: what are the people nearby most afraid of?"

Shen Renfu respectfully replied, "Du Ren has always intended to capture Liu County and Pei County by the Weishan Lake, so that he can obtain a foothold at Weishan Lake, from which he can then attack bigger towns around Weishan Lake. Can the rumor be something about this matter? To the north, Weishan Lake is connected to Zhaoyang, Dushan, and Nanyang, three lakes, which are joined head to tail, as if they are one single lake. If it fell into Du Ren's hands, the entire Shandong's economic lifeline would fall under Du Ren's control."

Luo Qifei said, "To capture Weishan Lake, they must first seize Pengcheng. Therefore, as long as we falsely spread the news that Du Ren is about to attack Pengcheng, others will imagine and speculate about his wild ambition and his large scale plan."

Roaring in laughter, Kou Zhong said, "The more we talk about this matter, the more it becomes the truth, even I believe it a little! We might as well add some salt and put on some vinegar, saying that Ku Ge is going to take the lead, to wash the disgrace of defeat under my hands; therefore, they would kill anybody they see. How's that?"

The two cheered together.

Kou Zhong laughed and said, "Ol' Du and Ol' Ku, two big brothers! Let's see how many more days you are going to enjoy the wind and the suns.h.i.+ne."

With excited expression, Shen Renfu said, "Working for Zhong Ye is such a delight, Xiaoren will immediately do it according to plan."

"Hold on!" Kou Zhong said, "It would be best if the rumor starts outside and spreads inside, then even if Du Ren wanted to investigate it, he can't. You can dispatch men to nearby cities and towns immediately … Ah! We'd better change it to using the traveling merchants who come and go along the waterways; that way the news will travel faster and spread wider."

Shen Renfu accepted the order and left.

Kou Zhong stretched again, and then said to Luo Qifei, "Go and investigate which pleasure house our Little Lu Bu might go tonight, I am going to take a nap, and when I wake up, I'll go find him to feel the bottom of the wine cup and discuss this business with him."

Yawning again, he exclaimed, "I am exhausted!"