Chapter 47

Zhang and the Three Devils watched the wolves swarmafter Chen and the girls with great relief, althoughthey felt a tinge of regret at the thought of two suchbeautiful girls being ravished by the animals. Thefour men sat down to rest for a while, then roastedand ate one of the dead wolves left behind. Gu noticedthat the supply of tree branches was almost exhausted,and too lazy to go and get more, he threw piles ofwolf's dung onto the fire to stoke up the flames.

　　Before long, a column of thick, black smoke was risingtowards the heavens.

　　Just as they had eaten their fill of wolf meat, theynoticed a dust cloud approaching from the east.

　　Assuming it to be another wolf pack, they franticallyjumped up and ran for the horses. Only two horses wereleft, both of which had been brought by the ThreeDevils. Zhang stretched out his hand to take the reinsof one of the mounts, but Hahetai lunged in front ofhim and grabbed them first, shouting: "What do youthink you're doing?"Zhang was about to attack him when he spied Tang andGu with weapons in their hands closing in. "Why areyou getting so excited?" he protested. "They aren'twolves."The Three Devils turned to look and Zhang vaulted ontothe horse's back. Only then did he notice that his liewas in fact the truth: in the midst of the dust cloudwas a large herd of camels and goats. He galloped offtowards the herd, shouting: "I'll go and have a look!"After riding only a short way, he saw a rider comingtowards him. The rider, an old man dressed in grey,raced up and stopped his mount instantly with a tug onthe reins. Zhang marvelled at his horsemanship.

　　The rider saw Zhang was wearing the tattered uniformof a Manchu military officer and asked in Chinese:

　　"What happened to the wolves?" Zhang pointed west.

　　By this time, the herd was upon them and in the midstof the dust and noise and confusion, Zhang noticed abald-headed, red-faced old man and a white-haired oldwoman riding herd. He was just about to ask who theywere when the Three Devils came over and bowedrespectfully before the old man in grey.

　　"We are honoured to meet you again, sir," Tang saidobsequiously. "How are you?"The old man grunted. "Nothing to complain about," hemumbled. It was the Strange Knight of the HeavenlyPool, Master Yuan.

　　Zhang knew nothing of the old man, but he noted therespect with which the Three Devils treated him.

　　Master Yuan examined the four of them for a moment,then said: "We are going to catch the wolves. You willall come with me."They started in fright and wondered if he was insane.

　　But the Three Devils knew his kung fu was formidableand did not dare to refuse.

　　Zhang, however, emitted a "humph" of astonishment andsaid: "I want to live a few more years. Sorry, but Iwill be unable to accompany you." He turned to leave.

　　Absolutely furious, Bald Vulture grabbed for Zhang'swrist shouting: "So you refuse to heed Master Yuan'sorders! Do you wish to die?"Zhang deflected his hand deftly with a 'Dividing TheClouds and Moon' stroke, and the two fought closelyfor a while, neither gaining the upper hand. Then theyleapt apart, both surprised that they should come uponsuch a master of the martial arts in the middle of thedesert.

　　"What is your name, friend?" Zhang shouted.

　　"What makes you think you're good enough to be myfriend? Will you or will you not do what Master Yuansays?"Zhang knew he was as good a fighter as himself, andyet he still respectfully referred to the other oldman as "Master Yuan", indicating Yuan's kung fu wasprobably even better. Who is this Master Yuan? hewondered. "What is your full name, sir?" he askedYuan. "If you are my superior, I will naturallyrespect your orders.""Ha! So you wish to question me, do you?" Master Yuanexclaimed. "It is I that does the questioning. I askyou: just now, you used a 'Dividing the Clouds andMoon' move. But what would you have done if I hadreplied with a 'Descending the Mountain to Kill theTiger' stroke on your left while going for yourSpiritual Yuedao point on your right?"Zhang thought for a second. "I would have kicked outwith an 'Arrow Shooting the Hawk' move, and grabbedyour wrist.""Then you are obviously a member of the WudangSchool," Yuan replied, to Zhang's evident surprise.

　　"Once when I was in Hubei, I sparred with Master MaZhen." Zhang went deathly pale. "Now then, if I used a'Secret Hand' move to counter your attempt to seize mywrist, and then struck at your face with my left hand,what would you do? Master Ma Zhen was unable to avoidthis move. Let's see if you can work it out."Zhang thought deeply for a while. "If you were fast, Iwould naturally be unable to avoid the blow," he saidfinally. "I could aim a 'Yuanyang Kick' at your leftribs to force you to retract your hand to defendyourself."Yuan laughed. "Not bad. Of all the fighters in theWudang School, you are probably the best.""I would then aim to touch your 'Xianji' Yuedaopoint," Zhang continued.

　　"Good! A master always attacks if he can. But I wouldthen step into the 'Guimei' position and attack yourlower body.""I would then retreat to the 'Song' position andstrike out for your 'Heavenly Spring' Yuedao point."Gu and Hahetai listened in bewilderment to the strangewords. Hahetai gave Tang's gown a tug and whispered:

　　"What's this code they're speaking in?""It's not code, they're using the names of the SixtyFour Positions and the Yuedao points on the humanbody," Tang replied.

　　"I advance to the 'Ming Ye' positon and attack with aQimen move," Yuan said.

　　"I retreat to the 'Zhong Fu' position and counter witha Phoenix Eye move," replied Zhang.

　　"I advance to the 'Jizhai' position and go for your'Huan Jiao' Yuedao."The pressure was begining to show on Zhang's face, andthere was a pause before he answered: "I retreat tothe 'Zhen' position and then to the Fu position.""How come he keeps retreating?" whispered Hahetai, butTang waved him to silence. The verbal sparringcontinued, Yuan smiling and obviously at ease, Zhangbeginning to sweat and sometimes taking a long time tocome up with a response. The Three Devils knew that ina real fight, he would have had no time for suchthinking, and would have been beaten long ago.

　　After a few more moves, Zhang said: "I attack with a'Xiao Shu' move and then strike at your wrist.""That's not good enough," Yuan replied. "You lose.""Please explain," said Zhang.

　　"If you don't believe me, I'll show you. Be careful!"Yuan's right leg kicked up at Zhang's knees.

　　Zhang jumped away shouting: "If you touch me..." butbefore he could finish, Yuan's right hand had shot outand touched a Yuedao point on his chest. He felt asurge of pain and immediately began to coughuncontrollably.

　　Yuan smiled at him. "Well?" he asked.

　　The others were amazed by this nonchalant display ofsuch profound kung fu skills. Zhang, looking deathlypale, did not dare to continue his intransigence. "Iwill do as you say, Master Yuan," he replied.

　　"But your kung fu is first class," Bald Vulture added.

　　"What is your name?""My surname is Zhang, my given name Zhaozhong. And mayI ask your names?""Ah, so it's the Fire Hand Judge," Bald Vulturereplied. "Brother Yuan, he's a martial brother ofMaster Ma Zhen."Yuan grunted. "His brother is not as good as him.

　　Let's go." He galloped off.

　　There were several horses mixed in amongst the camelsand goats, and Zhang and Hahetai chose a mount eachand began helping to herd the animals after MasterYuan.

　　As they galloped along, Zhang said to Bald Vulture:

　　"Excuse me. These wolves are very numerous. How do youintend to catch them?""You just do as Master Yuan says," Bald Vulturereplied. "What's so terrifying about a few littlewolves?" Madame Guan, riding nearby, smiled to hearher husband bluffing Zhang.

　　They rode on. Suddenly Yuan wheeled his horse roundand shouted: "The wolf droppings are very fresh. Thepack passed here not long ago. From the look of it,we'll catch up to them in another ten miles or so.

　　We'll ride another five miles and then all pick freshhorses. When we have caught up to them, I will leadthe way. The six of you must divide up, three on eachside to make sure the animals don't escape, otherwisethe wolf pack will split up." Just as Tang was aboutto ask a question, Yuan turned and galloped off.

　　The wolf droppings around them became increasinglymoist as they went.

　　"The pack must be just ahead," said Madame Guan. "Withour camels and horses making such a noise, it'ssurprising they haven't turned back already.""Yes, it is strange," her husband replied. A couple ofmiles further on, the topography began to change andthey saw a cluster of hills ahead with a tall whitemountain in their midst. The Twin Eagles had longlived in the desert, and had heard many stories aboutthis beautiful mountain, sparkling in the brightsunshine.

　　"The wolves must have gone into the maze!" Yuanshouted. "Everyone whip the animals!" They raisedtheir horses whips and began beating the camels andhorses, and a great roar went up as the beasts snortedand neighed in pain and anger. Before long, a largegrey wolf appeared, running towards them from thehills.

　　Yuan whirled his long whip about his head and crackedit sharply in the air. Then with a shout, he whirledhis horse round and galloped off south, with the TwinEagles, Zhang and the Three Devils driving the herdafter him. After a couple of miles, the howls of thewolf pack arose from behind. Bald Vulture glanced backand saw the grey tide moving towards them across thedesert. He spurred his horse on and caught up with theothers. Zhang, Gu and Tang appeared to be havingdifficulty keeping their terror under control, butHahetai was shouting and whistling crazily, drivingthe animals on and intercepting strays. He was aherdsman by birth and he made sure not one was lost.

　　The wolves were ferocious and persistent, but theylacked stamina. After four or five miles, they hadalready been left far behind, and another five milesfurther on, Yuan shouted: "Let's rest for a while!"They all dismounted and ate some rations while Hahetaiherded the animals together. When the wolves began toclose in, they started off again.

　　They continued south in this way, stoppingoccasionally to rest. Later in the day, two Muslimriders appeared, galloping towards them.

　　"Master Yuan," they shouted. "Did it work?""They're coming, they're coming!" he shouted back.

　　"Tell everyone to get ready." The riders turned andgalloped off ahead.

　　A short while later, they spied a huge circular wallrising up out of the desert, at least forty feet inheight with only one narrow entrance. Yuan rodethrough the opening with the herd of animals closebehind him. The Twin Eagles and the others drove themthrough the gate and then veered off to either sidejust as the first of the wolves arrived. The huge wolfpack charged into the enclosure and threw themselvesat the animals. When the last wolf was inside, a hornsounded and several hundred Muslims sprang fromtrenches on either side of the entrance, each mancarrying a bag of sand on his shoulders. They racedfor the opening and in a moment, the gap wascompletely blocked.

　　As they clapped and cheered, Zhang wondered what hadhappened to Yuan inside the stockade. He saw severaldozen Muslims standing on top of the wall, and jumpedoff his horse and ran up a flight of steps, arrivingat the top just in time to see Yuan being pulled up bya rope. He glanced down into the pit and jumped infright: down below were the hundreds of camels andhorses, and thousands upon thousands of hungry wolvestearing and biting at them. The noise was terrifying,and blood flowed freely about the floor of the pit.

　　The stockade was built with sand bricks, more than athousand feet in circumference and its walls coatedwith mud to make sure there were no footholdsavailable. Yuan stood with the Twin Eagles on the topof the wall laughing heartily, obviously very pleasedwith himself.

　　"This wolf pack has been terrorizing the Tianshanmountains for hundreds of years, but you have nowdestroyed it, Master Yuan," said Bald Vulture. "Youhave done the people a great service.""It needed everyone's cooperation. How could I havedone it by myself?" he replied. "Just this stockadealone took three thousand men half a year to complete.

　　You have also been a great help today.""I'm afraid it will take a long time before all thesewolves finally die of hunger," said Madame Guan.

　　"Of course, especially after they've feasted on allthose animals down there."A cheer arose from the crowd of Muslims below andseveral of their leaders came up to express theirthanks to Yuan and the others. The Muslims broughtgoat meat and horse milk wine for them to eat anddrink.

　　"Mistress Huo Qingtong defeated the Manchus at BlackRiver and we have defeated the wolves here," said oneof the leaders. "Now that the wolves have been caught,we can go and look for her..." He stopped as hespotted Zhang, wearing the uniform of a Manchuofficer, standing close by.

　　"Master Yuan, I have something important to discusswith you," Bald Vulture said later. "Please don't beoffended.""Ha! You've learned some manners in your old age,"Yuan replied, surprised by his formality.

　　"Your pupil's moral character is very bad and he needsto be severely disciplined."Yuan looked startled. "Who? Chen Jialuo?""Yes." Bald Vulture told him about how Chen had firstwon Huo Qingtong's heart, and then shifted hisaffections to her sister.

　　"He is very reliable," Yuan said firmly. "He wouldnever do such a thing.""We saw it with our own eyes," added Madame Guan, andrelated how they met Chen and Princess Fragrance inthe desert. Yuan stared at them for a moment, then hisanger exploded.

　　"I accepted the job of being his foster father," heexclaimed, "raised him from when he was small. And nowthis happens. How can I face Great Helmsman Yu in theother world? We must go and find him and question himface-to-face." He leapt off the wall and mounted hishorse: "Let's go!" he roared, and galloped off, withthe Twin Eagles following behind.

　　Zhang's spirits rose as he saw his enemies departing.

　　The Emperor had sent him to find Chen and PrincessFragrance, and before he returned to the court, hewanted to make sure they had been eaten by the wolves.

　　If they had, there was nothing more to be said. But ifthey were still alive, he would have to catch them.

　　Chen's kung fu, he knew, was only marginally inferiorto his own, and if Huo Qingtong joined Chen againsthim he would lose, so he decided to invite the ThreeDevils along as well. He gave Gu's sleeve a tug andthe two walked off a few paces together.

　　"Brother Gu," he whispered. "Do you miss that beauty?"Gu thought Zhang was sneering at him. "What's it toyou?" he replied angrily.

　　"I have a score to settle with that fellow Chen, and Iwant to go and make sure he's dead. If you come withme, the girl is yours, if she's still alive."Gu hesitated. "They've probably already been eaten bythe wolves," he said slowly. "And anyway, I don't knowif Brother Tang would be willing to go.""If they've been eaten, then you're out of luck,"Zhang replied. "But you never know. As to your BrotherTang, I'll go and talk to him."He went over to Tang and said: "I'm going to look forthat fellow Chen to settle accounts with him. If youwould be willing to help me, his dagger is yours."What student of the martial arts would not covet sucha precious weapon? Even if Chen is already inside awolf's belly, Tang thought, the dagger will not havebeen eaten. He agreed immediately. "Brother Hahetai,let's go," he shouted.

　　Hahetai was standing on the stockade wall animatedlydiscussing the wolf pack with the Muslims. HearingTang's call, he turned and shouted: "Where are wegoing?""To look for Chen and the others. If their bodieshaven't been completely devoured, we can bury themproperly. We owe them that much!"Hahetai respected Chen, and he immediately agreed. Thefour obtained some rations and water from the Muslims,then mounted up and started northwards, back the waythey had come.

　　At about midnight, Tang protested that he wanted tostop for the night. But Zhang and Gu insisted thatthey continue. The moon was high in the sky, makingthe scene look like a silvery painting. Suddenly, afigure darted from the side of the road and into astone grave nearby.

　　"Who's that?" Zhang shouted, reining in his horse.

　　A moment passed, and then the laughing head of aMuslim appeared from a hole between the flagstones. "Iam the corpse of this grave," he said. He wore aflowered hat and, to the great surprise of Zhang andthe others, spoke in Chinese.

　　"What are you doing out here if you're a corpse?" Gushouted.

　　"I just wanted to go for a stroll.""Do corpses go for strolls?" Gu replied angrily.

　　The head nodded. "Yes, yes, you're right. I am wrong.

　　So sorry." It disappeared back into the hole.

　　Hahetai burst out laughing, but Gu was furious. Hedismounted and stuck his hand into the grave, wantingto pull the Muslim out, but he felt about insidewithout finding anything.

　　"Don't take any notice of him," said Zhang. "Let'sgo."As the four turned their horses round, they spotted asmall, skinny donkey by the side of the grave,chomping grass.

　　"I'm sick to death of dry rations," said Gu gleefully.

　　"Some roast donkey meat wouldn't be bad at all." Hejumped off his horse again and was about to take holdof the donkey's reins when he noticed the animal hadno tail.

　　"Someone seems to have cut off the donkey's tail andeaten it already," he observed with a smile.

　　There was a whoosh of sound and the Muslim appeared onthe donkey's back. He laughed and pulled a donkey'stail from his pocket and waved it about. "The donkey'stail got covered in mud today, which didn't look verynice, so I cut it off," he said.

　　Zhang looked at the man's full beard and crazyappearance and wondered who he was. He raised hishorse whip and rode by the donkey, striking out at theMuslim's shoulder as he passed. The Muslim dodged toone side, and Zhang suddenly found himself holding thedonkey's tail, which was indeed covered in mud. Healso noticed a coolness on his head, and found his caphad disappeared.

　　"So you're a Manchu officer," the Muslim said,swinging the cap about on his finger. "You've come toattack us Muslims, I suppose. This cap is verypretty."Startled and angry, Zhang threw the donkey's tail atthe Muslim who caught it easily. Zhang leapt off hishorse and faced him. "Who are you?" he shouted. "Comeon! I'll fight you."The Muslim placed Zhang's cap on the donkey's head andclapped his hands in delight. "The dumb donkey wearingan official's hat!" he excalimed. He twitched histhighs and the donkey trotted off. Zhang began to runafter him, but stopped as a projectile flew towardshim. He caught the cold, glittering object deftly andwith a surge of fury, recognised it as the sapphireoff the front of his cap. By now, the donkey wasalready a long way away, but he picked a stone off theground and hurled it at the Muslim's back. The Muslimmade no effort to avoid it, and Zhang was delighted,certain that this time he had him. There was a loudclang as the stone hit something metallic, and theMuslim cried out in despair.

　　"Oh no! He's killed my saucepan! It's dead forcertain!"The four men looked at each other dumb-founded as theMuslim and his donkey disappeared into the distance.

　　"Was that a man or a demon?" Zhang asked finally. TheThree Devils silently shook their heads. "Come on,let's go. This place is evil beyond belief."They galloped off, and early the next morning, theyarrived outside the Secret City. The paths were manyand confusing, but the trail of wolf droppings was aperfect guide which brought them unerringly to thebase of the White Jade Peak. Looking up, they saw thecave-mouth that Chen had excavated.