"The Dragon-Exterminating Gang?"
Niu Da immediately voiced some doubt from below. "Isn't that too commonplace? Or do you mean to use a common name as a little camouflage, Third Brother Zhang, to avoid Imperial Uncle Cao's eyes?"
"That is part of it," Zhang Xing replied without thinking. "But it's not purely common; it's Pseudo-Common... because it's not 'remove,' but 'dismiss,' as in dismissing someone from office..."
"And what does 'exorcising the dragon' mean?"
Who among those present did not know how to play the straight man?
"Exorcising the dragon means that the world is in turmoil, the smoke of war rises everywhere, and Great Wei's decline cannot be reversed, so everyone is vying to rise above the rest. With this great transformation of Heaven and Earth, Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi abounds, and it may not be impossible for the strongest among them to become sages and transform into dragons... at such a time, we first establish our foundations, gather heroes, and extend our influence. When the time comes and we hold Heaven and Earth in our hands, even someone bearing the aspect of a True Dragon can be dismissed with a stroke of the brush... the meaning is that we stand above all, transcend the ordinary, and hold everything in our grasp."
Zhang Xing delivered one polished explanation after another, leaving Niu Da and the others listening in a daze. Someone like Ma Ping'er felt she had learned more today than in all her previous life, and could only nod while breathing heavily.
As for Daoist Wei, Li Shu, Xu Dalang, and the others, they were properly educated men. The more they listened, the more it sounded like strained sophistry, even a little blatant. They went on to suspect that Master Zhang San probably had another explanation hidden in