Chapter 1
   It was a hot summer's day in June, l754, theeighteenth year of the reign of Emperor Qian Long. Inthe inner courtyard of the military commander's Yamenin Fufeng in Shaanxi province, a fourteen-year-oldgirl skipped towards her teacher's study, eager for ahistory lesson. All was peaceful: not even a thread ofcool wind stirred. The girl hesitated, afraid that herteacher had not yet woken from his afternoon nap.
　　Quietly, she circled round to the window, pierced ahole in its paper covering with one of her golden hairclips, and peeped inside.
　　She saw her teacher sitting cross-legged on a chair,smiling. His right hand waved slightly in the air, andthere was a faint clicking sound. Glancing over towhere the sound came from, she noticed several dozenflies on a wooden partition opposite, all as still ascould be. Puzzled, she looked more closely and noticeda golden needle as slender as a hair protruding fromthe back of each fly. The needles were so small thatshe was only able to see them because they reflectedthe rays of the late afternoon sun slanting in throughthe windows.
　　Flies were still buzzing to and fro around the room.
　　The teacher waved his hand again, there was a smallnoise, and another fly was pinned to the partition.
　　Absolutely fascinated, she ran to the door and burstin, shouting: "Teacher! Show me how to do that."The girl was Li Yuanzhi, the only child of the localmilitary commander, Li Keshou. Her fresh, beautifulface was flushed with excitement.
　　"Hmm," said her teacher, a scholar in his mid-fiftiesnamed Lu. "Why aren't you playing with your friends?
　　You want to hear some more stories, do you?"Moving a chair over to the partition, she jumped up tolook, then pulled the needles out of the flies one byone, wiped them clean on a piece of paper and handedthem back to him. "That was a brilliant piece of kungfu, teacher," she said. "You have to show me how to doit."Lu smiled. "If you want to learn kung fu, there'sno-one better at it within a hundred miles of herethan your own father," he said.
　　"My father knows how to shoot an eagle with an arrow,but he can't kill a fly with a needle. If you don'tbelieve me, I'll go and ask him."Lu thought for a moment, and then nodded. "All right,come tomorrow morning and I'll teach you. Now go offand play. And you're not allowed to tell anyone aboutme killing the flies. If anyone finds out, I won'tteach you."Yuanzhi was overjoyed. She knelt before him andkowtowed eight times. Lu accepted the gesture with asmile. "You pick things up very quickly. It is fittingthat I should teach you this kind of kung fu. However..." He stopped, deep in thought.
　　"Teacher," said Yuanzhi hurriedly. "I will do anythingyou say.""To be honest, I don't agree with much of what yourfather does," he said. "When you're older, I hope youwill be able to distinguish between right and wrong,good and evil. If you accept me as your teacher, youmust also accept the strict rules of the WudangMartial Arts Order to which I belong. Do you think youcan?""I would not dare defy your orders," she said.
　　"If you ever use the skills I teach you to do evil, Iwill take your life as easily as turning my handover."His face and voice became stern and hard, and for amoment Yuanzhi was frightened. But then she smiled.
　　"I'll be good," she said. "Anyway, how could you bearto kill me?"** 2 **The Wudang kung fu sect to which Lu belonged, one ofthe most famous, stressed the use of Internal ForceKung Fu. In his prime, Lu had roamed China fightingfor justice, and had become a famous member of theDragon Slayer's Society, a secret anti-Manchuorganisation whose power and influence had beenwidespread during the reign of Yong Zheng, the formerEmperor. But the society had been rigorouslysuppressed, and by the seventh or eighth year ofEmperor Qian Long's reign, it had disintegrated. Lufled to the border areas of China. The Manchu courtdispatched men to look for him, but he wasquick-witted and a good fighter and managed to avoidcapture. Working on the principle that 'small crookshide in the wilderness, middling crooks in the cityand big crooks in officialdom', Lu eventually made hisway to Commander Li's household and set himself up asa teacher.
　　From that day, Lu began teaching Yuanzhi the basictechniques of the Wudang school's kung fu style, knownas Limitless Occult Kung Fu. He taught her control ofher emotions and thoughts, the ten Tapestries and thethirty-two Long-arm Blows. He trained her to use hereyes and ears, and showed her the use of hand dartsand other hidden projectiles.
　　More than two years passed. Yuanzhi, hard-working andclever, made fast progress. Her father, Commander Li,was transferred toGansu province as military commanderat Anxi, one of the major towns in the northwestborder regions, bordering on the great desert ofcentral Asia. His family, including Lu, went with him.
　　Another two years passed as Lu taught Yuanzhi the SoftCloud sword technique and the secret of the GoldenNeedles. She did as her teacher had ordered, and didnot tell a soul that she was learning kung fu. Everyday she practised by herself in the rear flowergarden. When the young mistress was practising herkung fu, the maids did not understand what they saw,and the menservants did not dare to watch too closely.
　　Commander Li was a capable man, and he advancedsteadily through the ranks of officialdom. In 1759,the twenty-third year of the Emperor Qian Long'sreign, he distinguished himself in the battle of Ili,in which the largest of the tribes in the Muslim areaswas defeated, and received an Imperial decreepromoting him to the post of Commander-in-Chief ofZhejiang Province in the southeast.
　　Yuanzhi had been born and raised in the border areasof the northwest, and the prospect of travelling tonew and beautiful lands filled her with excitement.
　　She pressed her teacher to come as well, and Lu, whohad been away from the central areas for a long time,agreed with pleasure.
　　Li Keshou went ahead with a small escort to take uphis post and left his chief-of-staff and 20 soldiersin charge of his family who were to follow him. Theofficer's name was Deng, a vigorous and energetic manin his forties who sported a small moustache.
　　The entourage consisted of more than a dozen mules anda few horses. Madame Li sat in a mule-drawn carriage,but Yuanzhi couldn't bear to be cooped up and insistedon riding. Since itwould have been improper for thedaughter of a high official to be seen riding inpublic, she changed into boy's clothes which made herlook so extraordinarily handsome that she refused tochange back into her normal attire no matter whatanyone said. All Madame Li could do was sigh and lether daughter do as she pleased.
　　It was a deep autumn day. Lu rode far behind the grouplooking at the passing scenery as the colours of lateafternoon merged into evening. But there was little tosee around the ancient road except yellow sand,withered grasses and the occasional crow flyinghomewards. A breeze sprang up from the west and Lubegan to recite:
　　"His body and name scarred by a hundred battlesThe general approaches a bridge across a riverAnd turns to look back 10,000 milesAt the dead men left behind.
　　Cold are the waters of the River YiAnd the whistling west wind,Full of cloaks and crowns like snow.
　　The hero's song of lament has not yet ended.....""The poet Xin Jiaxuan could have been writing of myown feelings," he thought. "He was much like me whenhe wrote it, watching China fall to the barbariantribes, with no way of knowing when the old days wouldreturn. No wonder he sang such a sad song."The entourage crossed the summit of a hill. Looking atthe darkening sky, the mulemen said that another threemiles would bring them to Twin Pagodas, a large town,where they planned to spend the night.
　　Just then, Lu heard the sound of galloping hooves andsaw far in front two magnificent chestnut horsesracing towards them through a cloud of dust. The tworiders flashed by, one on either side of the line ofmules, and were gone. Lu slapped his horseand caughtup with Yuanzhi.
　　"Did you get a good look at those two?" he asked in alow voice.
　　"Were they bandits?" she replied excitedly. She wouldhave liked nothing better than for them to be outlawsbent on robbery, giving her a chance to display theskills she had worked so hard to attain over the pastfive years.
　　"It's hard to say," said Lu. "But judging by theirability in the martial arts, they wouldn't be ordinaryhighwaymen.""Are they kung fu masters?""From the way they ride their horses, I'd say it'sunlikely they are novices."As the entourage neared the town, two more horsemengalloped past.
　　"Mm, this is very strange," mused Lu. The country wasdesolate and the evening mist was thickening. Hewondered why anyone would set out on a journey at thistime of day.
　　Not long after, the muletrain entered the town.
　　Officer Deng led them to a large inn and Yuanzhi andher mother were shown to one of the best rooms. Lu wasgiven a smaller room, and after he had eaten dinner, aservant lit the lantern. All was quiet, and he wasabout to go to sleep when a dog barked. From far awayhe heard the faint sound of galloping horsesapproaching and he thought again about the four ridersthey had passed on the road.
　　The clip-clop of horses' hooves came closer andstopped right in front of the inn. There was a knockon the front door and Lu heard a servant open it andsay: "You've been riding hard. There's food and drinkprepared for you.""Go and feed the horses quickly," said a rough voice.
　　"We must start out again as soon as we've finishedeating."Lu considered the situation. Groups of men hurryingnorthwest, and judging by the way they rode, all ofthem experts in the martial arts. In all his years inthe border areas, he had never seen the like of it. Heslipped quietly out of his room, crossed the courtyardand went round to the back of the inn.
　　"All right, you say the Young Helmsman is very young,"he heard the rough-voiced man say. "Do you think hewill be able to control all the brothers?"Lu followed the voice and stationed himself underneaththe window.
　　"He'll have to," he heard the other say. "It was theold master's wish whether the Young Helmsman likes itor not."The man had a deep, sonorous voice, and Lu could tellhis Internal Strength was profound. Not daring to makea hole in the window paper to peep through, hecontinued to listen from where he was, breathing aslightly as he could.
　　"Of course," the rough-throated one replied. "But wedon't know if the Young Helmsman will be willing to doit.""You don't have to worry about that," said the other.
　　"He'll follow the old master's wishes."He said the word 'follow' with a peculiar southernChinese accent, and Lu's heart jumped. "Where have Iheard that voice before?" he thought. He siftedthrough his mind, and finally remembered that itbelonged to his old friend Zhao Banshan, whom he hadknown 20 years before in the Dragon Slayers' Society.
　　Zhao was about 10 years younger than he, but the twohad often trained together, and had a great respectfor each other. Lu had heard no news of him since theDragon Slayers' Society had broken up and he wasdelighted at chancing upon an old friend in such anunlikely place. As he was about to call out to Zhao,the light in the room was suddenly doused and a dartshot out of the window.
　　But it was not aimed at Lu. A figure shifted in theshadows nearby and caught the dart, then stood up,about to challenge the dart thrower. Lu leapt over andwhispered fiercely: "Don't make a sound! Come withme." It was Yuanzhi.
　　No one chased them. Lu pulled Yuanzhi into his room,and under the light saw an expression of sucheagerness on her face that he was both angry andamused.
　　"Yuanzhi, do you know what sort of men they are? Whatwere you doing trying to pick a fight with them?" heasked sternly.
　　"What were they doing shooting a dart at me?" shereplied defiantly.
　　"If they aren't outlaws, then they are secret societymen," he said. "One of them I know, and his kung fuwould not be weaker than mine. Travelling through thenight as they are, they must be on very urgentbusiness. That dart was not meant to injure you, itwas just telling you not to be nosy. If he had reallywanted to hit you, I doubt if you would have been ableto catch it. Now go and sleep."They heard a door open and the sound of horses' hoovesas the two men galloped away.
　　The next morning, the muletrain started out again, andtravelled ten miles in just over two hours.
　　"Look, teacher," said Yuanzhi. "There's someonecoming."Two chestnut horses galloped towards them, and becauseof theprevious night's incident, they paid particularattention to the riders. The horses, fine andspirited, were identical. Even stranger, the tworiders were also identical. Both were aged about 40,tall and thin with faces as yellow as wax, sunken eyesand long slanting eyebrows: the effect wasfrightening.
　　As they passed by, the two men glanced at Yuanzhi withtheir strange eyes. She reined in her horse and staredback belligerently, but they took no notice and racedon westwards.
　　"Where did that pair of ghosts come from, I wonder,"she said.
　　Lu glanced back at the receding figures. "Aha, it mustbe them," he cried.
　　"You recognise them?" she asked excitedly.
　　"They must be the Twin Knights of Sichuan. Theirsurname is Chang, but everyone calls them Black Deathand White Death."Yuanzhi laughed. "They've got good nicknames. Theylook like a couple of skeletons.""Little girls shouldn't make jokes about otherpeople," said Lu. "They may be ugly but they areskilled fighters. I've never met them, but from whatI've heard, they travel the country fighting evil anddoing justice. They are widely known as outlaws, butthey steal only from the rich and help the poor. Theyhave made a great name for themselves.""But if they are identical, why are they called Blackand White?""From what I've been told, the only difference betweenthem is that one has a black mole in the corner of hiseye, and the other doesn't. There's probably no onebetter at Black Sand Palm Kung Fu than those two."
Chapter 2
"What are they doing in the border areas?" Yuanzhiasked.
　　"I have no idea," Lu replied. "I've never heard ofthem operating out here before."As he spoke, they heard more horses coming towardsthem. This time, the riders were a Taoist priest and ahunchback dressed in brightly-coloured clothes. Thepriest had a longsword slung across his back. His facewas pale and sickly and he had only one arm: his leftsleeve was tucked under his belt.
　　Seeing the hunchback's ugly face and his garishattire, Yuanzhi laughed. "Teacher," she shouted beforeLu could stop her, "Look at the hunchback!"The hunchback glared at her angrily and as he passed,stretched out his hand to grab hold of her. The priestseemed to have guessed what he would do, and stoppedthe hunchback's hand with a flick of his horse whip.
　　"Tenth Brother," he growled, "Don't make trouble."Lu and Yuanzhi looked back and saw the two horsesbreaking into a gallop. Suddenly, the hunchback did areverse somersault off the back of his horse, and withthree steps covered the distance to Yuanzhi. Yuanzhi'ssword was in her hand, but the hunchback did notattack her. He grabbed the tail of her horse, and theanimal, which was galloping along, reared back on itshind legs with a loud scream. The hunchback's strengthwas frightening: the horse had not pulled him forwardan inch. He chopped at the horse's tautly-stretchedtail with his right hand, and snapped off the end asif with a knife. The horse lunged forward, and Yuanzhiwas almost thrown. The hunchback turned and ran offswiftly. In a second, he caught up with his horse,still galloping westwards, leapt onto its back andsoon disappeared from view.
　　"Teacher!" Yuanzhi called out in a plaintive voice. Lufrowned and was about to berate her. But seeing hereyes glistening with tears, he stopped himself.
　　Later, they heard a shout from behind:
　　"Weiyang...Weiyang."Yuanzhi was mystified. "What's that?" she asked.
　　"It's the call of a bodyguard agency shouter," hesaid. "The agencies hire out bodyguards or escortgoods and people, especially on long journeys. Everybodyguard agency has a different call, and they use itto let both outlaws and friends know who they are. Thebodyguard agency business is based seven parts ongoodwill and three parts on fighting ability. If thehead of an agency is generous and creates a lot ofgoodwill, he will gain many friends, and his businesswill prosper. Outlaws will hear the call and let thempass without attacking. 'Being friends is better thanbeing enemies,' as the saying goes. Now, if you wereto try the bodyguard agency business...ha! With allthepeople you have annoyed in less than half a day, youwould have trouble travelling an inch, even if youwere ten times the fighter you are now.""Which bodyguard agency's call is that?" she asked,ignoring his teasing.
　　"The Zhen Yuan Agency from Beijing, probably thebiggest in north China. The head of the agency is'North China Earth Shaker' Wang Weiyang. He must beseventy by now, but they're still calling 'Weiyang',so he hasn't retired yet. Ah, perhaps he ought to. TheZhen Yuan Agency has been making big profits for 40years now. That should be enough for anyone.""Have you ever met him?" Yuanzhi asked.
　　"I've met him. He uses an Eight Diagram sword and theEight Diagram boxing technique. In the old days, therewas no one in north China who could beat him."Yuanzhi was elated. "They're travelling very fast.
　　When they catch up to us, you can point the old heroout to me.""Now why would he come out himself?" Lu said. "Youreally are a silly girl!"Yuanzhi sulked. She was always being told off by herteacher. It wasn't fair. She spurred her horse forwardand caught up with the carriage, planning to talk toher mother for a while to relieve the frustration.
　　Glancing round, she saw the stub of her horse's tailand shuddered. There was nothing unusual aboutbreaking a spear with one blow, but a horse's tail waspliable. How had the hunchback managed to snap it? Shereined in her horse, meaning to wait for Lu to catchup so she could ask him, but changed her mind andgalloped up the line to Officer Deng instead.
　　"Officer Deng," she said, pouting. "My horse's taillooks very ugly.""I don't know what to do with this horse of mine,"Deng replied, guessing her meaning. "He's in a badmood today and won't do anything I say. You are a goodhorsewoman, mistress. Perhaps you could help me breakhim in.""I probably won't be able to handle him either," shesaid modestly. The two exchanged horses. Deng's horsewas of course very docile.
　　"Very good, mistress," he complimented her. "Evenhorses do your bidding."The bodyguard agency's call came closer and closer,and before long, a muletrain consisting of a score ormore heavily laden animals began to pass.
　　Lu was afraid one of the agency men would recognisehim, so he covered the top part of his face with alarge fur cap. As the lead escorts trotted past, heheard one of them remark: "According to Brother Han,Brother Jiao Wenqi's body has been found."Lu's heart missed a beat as he heard the name. Jiaowas one of the Six Devils of Guandong and a formidablefighter. Five years before while on an errand to theMuslim regions, Jiao had discovered Lu was hiding inCommander Li's household and had come at the dead ofnight with two other fighters with the aim ofcapturing Lu and taking him back to Beijing to claimthe reward on his head. After a hard fight, Lu hadkilled all three and hidden their corpses on adeserted hillside.
　　Lu looked round at the escort who had spoken, but hadtime to see only that he had a full beard and a faceas black as thunder. Once he had passed, Lu saw he wascarrying on his back a red knapsack and a pair of FiveElement Wheels, steel rings covered in knives.
　　"Could it be that the Guandong Devils have becomebodyguard agency escorts?" he wondered. Of the sixDevils, Lu had only ever seen Jiao, but he knew thatthe rest were excellent fighters, and that two ofthem, the Yan brothers, used Five Element Wheels.
　　Lu thought about the number of top fighters they hadmet in the past two days and wondered if it hadanything to do with himself. From the look of things,the Zhen Yuan Agency men were actually on an escortassignment, so they posed no threat. As to thefighters travelling westwards in pairs, they did notseem to be looking for him. But where were they goingand why?
　　Having exchanged mounts with Officer Deng, Yuanzhireined in her horse to wait for Lu to pass.
　　"Teacher," she smiled. "How come no more riders havepassed us? I want to see a few more of these heroes."Her words jogged Lu's mind and he slapped his thigh.
　　"Ah, you old fool," he rebuked himself. "Why didn'tyou think of the 'Greeting The Dragon's HeadCeremony'?""What's that?" she asked.
　　"It is the most solemn of the ceremonies held by thesecret societies to honour an important personage.
　　Usually, the six most senior men in the society arechosen to go to greet the guest, but for reallyimportant meetings, 12 are chosen and they go inpairs. Five pairs have passed us now, so there must bestill be one pair in front of us.""Which secret society do they belong to?" Yuanzhiasked.
　　"That I don't know. But if the Twin Knights of Sichuanand that hunchback are members, the society's powerand influence must be tremendous. Whatever you do,don't provoke anyone else, do you hear?"Yuanzhi nodded, and waited expectantly to see who elsewould pass them by.
Chapter 3
Midday came and went, but there was no sign of anyoneon the road in front. Lu was surprised and wondered ifhe could have guessed wrongly. Finally, instead ofriders approaching from in front, they graduallybecame aware of the sound of camel bells from behind,and saw a dust cloud rising as a large desert caravanhurried towards them.
　　The caravan consisted of dozens of camels with 20 or30 horses squeezed in between them, all ridden byMuslims with high noses and sunken eyes. They hadthick beards on their faces and white cloths tiedaround their heads. Scimitars hung from their waists.
　　Muslim traders were a common sight on the road to thecentral areas and Lu did not consider it unusual.
　　Amidst the group, he noticed a graceful young girl,dazzlingly beautiful, dressed in yellow robes andriding a black horse.
　　Lu was impressed, but did no more than glance at her.
　　Yuanzhi, however, stared in open-mouthed wonder.
　　Growing up in the northwest border areas, she had seenfew well-groomed girls, let alone girls as beautifulas this one. She was about the same age as Yuanzhi, 18or 19, with a dagger at her waist and long braidshanging down over her shoulders. She wore afull-length yellow gown, leather boots and a small hatembroidered with gold silk, on the side of which wasfastened a turquoise feather. She was an enchantingsight.
　　As the girl trotted by, Yuanzhi spurred on her horseand followed, gazing fixedly at her. The girl wasannoyed at being stared at disrespectfully by aChinese boy, and she whirled her whip above her headand wrapped it round the mane of Yuanzhi's horse.
　　Giving it a sharp tug, she pulled out a large clump ofhair, and the horse reared in pain, almost throwingYuanzhi to the ground. The Muslim girl cracked thewhip in the air and horse hair flew in all directions.
　　In a fit of pique, Yuanzhi pulled out a steel dart andthrew it at the girl's back. But, not wishing to harmher, she also called out: "Watch out for the dart!"The girl leant to one side, and the dart shot past herright shoulder. She waited until it was about ten feetbeyond her, then flicked her whip, caught the dart byits tip and smoothly sent it flying back towardsYuanzhi, calling out: "Hey, little boy! Here's yourdart!" Yuanzhi caught it neatly.
　　The Muslims in the caravan applauded loudly at thesuperb skill with which the yellow-robed girl handledher whip. A tall, thick-set man with a heavy blackbeard went over and said a few words to her, to whichshe replied: "Oh, father!" But she took no furthernotice of Yuanzhi. The dozens of camels and horsesmoved on and gradually disappeared.
　　"That girl was impressive, wasn't she?" said Lu.
　　"These Muslims ride day and night. They ought to begood with their whips. But it doesn't mean she knowsany real kung fu," Yuanzhi replied.
　　Lu laughed. "Really?" he asked.
　　Towards evening they arrived in the town of Bulongji.
　　There was only one large inn in the town, outside ofwhich was planted the flag of the Zhen Yuan BodyguardAgency. With two large groups to look after, the inn'sservants were very busy.
　　Lu had a wash, and then strolled into the courtyard ofthe inn with a cup of tea in his hand. In the dininghall, he saw two tables full of agency men drinkingand talking loudly. The lead escort with the FiveElement Wheels had put the weapons down but kept thered knapsack on his back.
　　Taking a sip of tea, Lu gazed up at the sky.
　　One of the lead escorts laughed. "Brother Yan, onceyou've delivered this toy to Beijing, General Zhaowill reward you with at least a thousand, won't he?
　　You can go and have a good time with that girlfriendof yours, Xibao."So it really is one of the Yan brothers, Lu thought,and paid even closer attention to what was said.
　　"A reward?" said Yan. "Ha! Well, everyone will getsomething.""Your Xibao has probably gone off with some other manwilling to make an honest woman of her," added aneffeminate voice. Lu looked over out of the corner ofhis eye, and saw a man with a sly face and a slightfigure, also dressed as a lead escort.
　　Yan grunted, obviously not pleased.
　　"You bastard, Tong," added the first lead escort. "Younever have anything good to say."Tong laughed. "All right," he said. "But Brother Yan,fun is fun and serious is serious. Don't think aboutXibao too much or you might find someone has stolenthat red knapsack off your back. It's not important iflose your head or not, but the agency's reputation hasto be maintained.""Don't worry," Yan replied angrily. "If those Muslimstry stealing it back, I'll soon put an end to theirnonsense. I am one of the Six Guandong Devils and Igot where I am with real kung fu, not like some of theweaklings in the bodyguard agencies these days who cando nothing but eat and fart!"Lu looked at the red knapsack on Yan's back: it wasn'tbig, and from the look of it, whatever was inside wasvery light.
　　"It's true that the Six Devils of Guandong arefamous," Tong said. "It's a pity that Brother Jiao wasdone in. We don't even know who the murderer was."Yan banged the table. "Who says we don't know? It hasto be the Red Flower Society!"That's strange, Lu thought, I killed Jiao. What isthis Red Flower Society? He walked slowly around thecourtyard inspecting the flowers, moving closer to thegroup of lead escorts.
　　Tong would not let the matter drop. "It's a pity," hesaid. "If I wasn't such a weakling, I would havesettled things with the Red Flower Society long ago."Yan shook with anger. One of the other lead escortsbroke in to mediate: "Anyway, the Red Flower Society'sleader died last month," he said. "They've lost theirman in command, so who is there to settle with? Andanother thing, where is the proof that Jiao wasmurdered by the Red Flower Society? When you find themand they deny the charge, what are you going to do?""Yes," said Tong changing his tack. "We daren'tprovoke them, but surely we've got enough guts tobully a few Muslims. This little toy we've snatched isas precious to them as life itself. In the future, ifGeneral Zhao ever wants money from them, or cattle andsheep, do you think they'd dare to refuse? I tell youYan, stop thinking about that little Xibao of yours.
　　When we get back to Beijing, you should ask GeneralZhao to give you a little Muslim girl to be yourmistress. Then you can really..."Before he could finish, a piece of mud brick flew outof nowhere and lodged itself in his mouth. Two of theother lead escorts snatched up their weapons andrushed outside while Yan picked up his Five ElementWheels and looked warily around. His younger brothercame running in, and both stood together, not daringto move for fear of falling into some trap. Tong spatout the piece of mud and began swearing.
　　The two other lead escorts, Tai and Qian, rushed inthrough the door. "The little bastard's gone," one ofthem said. "There's no sign of him."Lu had observed the whole incident and laughedinwardly at the helpless expression on Tong's face.
　　Then he saw a shadow darting across the rafters in acorner of the dining hall, and went slowly outside. Itwas already growing dark, but he spotted a figure leapoff the corner of the roof, land noiselessly, andspeed off eastwards.
　　Lu wanted to know who had treated Tong to a mouthfulof mud and, making use of Lightness Kung Fu * (* atype of kung fu that makes extra-fast running andsuper-human leaps possible.), he followed, the teacupstill in his hand. The pace was fast, but the personhe was following was not aware of his presence.
　　Lu's quarry had a slim figure and moved daintily,almost like a girl. They crossed a hill and anink-black forest loomed ahead. The person aheadslipped into the trees with Lu close behind.
　　Underneath, the ground was covered with dead leavesand twigs which crackled as he stepped on them. Afraidof giving himself away, he slowed down. Just then, themoon broke through the clouds and a shaft of clearlight shone down through the branches, covering theearth with jumbled ghostly shadows. In the distance hesaw the flash of a yellow gown, and his quarry movedout of the forest.
　　He followed to the edge of the trees. Beyond was alarge expanse of grass on which were pitched eight ornine tents. His curiosity got the better of him, andhe decided to go and have a look. He waited until twoguards had turned away, then jumped across with a'Swallow Gliding Over Water' leap and landed among thetents. Crouching low, he ran to the back of thelargest tent, pitched in the centre. Inside, he couldhear people talking agitatedly in the Muslim language.
　　He had lived in the border areas for many years, andunderstood some of what was said. Carefully, he liftedup the corner of the canvas and looked inside.
　　The tent was lit by two oil lamps under which a largenumber of people were seated on carpets. He recognisedthem as the Muslim caravan that had passed them thatday. The yellow-robed girl stood up and drew a daggerfrom her waist. She cut the index finger of her lefthand with the tip of the blade and let several dropsof blood fall into a cup of horse's milk wine. Thenone-by-one, every Muslim in the tent did likewise. Thetall Muslim that the girl had called father raised thewine cup and made a short speech of which Lu couldonly understand something about 'The Koran' and 'OurHomeland'. The yellow-robed girl spoke after him, hervoice crisp and clear, and concluded by saying:
　　"If the sacred Koran is not recovered, I swear neverto return to our homeland." The Muslims lustilyrepeated the oath. In the dim light, Lu could seedetermination and anger on every face.
　　The group belonged to one of the richest and mostpowerful of the nomadic Muslim tribes of the TianshanMountains, numbering nearly 200,000 people. The tallman was Muzhuolun, the leader of the tribe; a strongfighter, fair and just, he was greatly loved by hispeople. The yellow-robed girl was his daughter, HuoQingtong.
　　The tribe lived by nomadic herding and contentedlytravelled the great desert. But as the power of theManchu court extended into the Muslim areas, itsdemands for taxes increased. At first, Muzhuolun wentout of his way to comply, and worked hard to meet thedemands. But the Manchu officials were insatiable andmade life impossible for the tribe. On severaloccasions, Muzhuolun sent missions to the Manchu courtto appeal for a reduction of taxes. But far fromachieving a reduction, the missions only served toarouse the Court's suspicions. General Zhao Wei wasgiven an Imperial order to supervise military affairsin the Muslim areas and he discovered that the tribeowned an ancient hand-written Koran, originallybrought from the sacred city of Mecca, which they hadtreasured for generations. The General decided to getthe Koran to use to blackmail the Muslims intosubmission and he dispatched a number of top fighterswho stole it while Muzhuolun was out on a longjourney. The Muslims had organised a group to recoverthe Sacred Book.
　　Lu decided that the Muslims' plotting had nothing todo with him, and he carefully stood up to return tothe inn. At that instant, Huo Qingtong noticed him.
　　"There's someone outside," she whispered to her fatherand shot out of the tent in time to see a shadowrunning fast for the trees. With a wave of her hand,she sent a steel dart speeding after him.
　　Lu heard the projectile coming and leant slightly toone side. As it passed, he stretched out the indexfinger of his right hand and, carefully calculatingthe speed and direction of the dart, tapped it gentlyas it passed so that it fell into the teacup he washolding. Then without looking back, he made use of hisLightness Kung Fu and almost flew back to the inn,where he went straight to his room. He took the dartout of the cup and saw it was made of pure steel witha feather attached to it. He threw it into his bag.
Chapter 4
The bodyguard agency group started out first early thenext day, the shouter shouting the agency's call. Lunoticed that most of the lead escorts were stationedaround Yan. It seemed the red knapsack on his back wasthe real treasure being escorted.
　　Once the agency men had left, Officer Deng led his owncolumn out onto the road. At noon, they rested brieflyat a place called Yellow Crag after which the roadsloped steadily upward into the mountains. Theyplanned to cross three ranges that day before stoppingin Sandaogou.
　　The mountain road became increasingly precarious andYuanzhi and Officer Deng kept close by Madame Li'smule-drawn carriage, afraid that if an animal lost itsfooting, it could send the carriage crashing into thegorge below. Around mid-afternoon, they arrived at themouth of Black Gold Gorge and saw the agency menseated on the ground resting. Officer Deng directedhis men to follow suit. Black Gold Gorge was flankedby high peaks with an extremely steep mountain trackleading up between them. Stopping on the track wasdifficult, so the top of the gorge had to be reachedat one stretch. Lu hung back at the rear and turnedhis back, not wishing to exchange glances with theagency men.
　　Once rested, they entered the gorge, the bodyguardagency men and the soldiers under Officer Deng'scommand forming a long snaking column. Men and animalsalike panted up the mountain. The shouts of themulemen melded into a continuous drone. Suddenly, Lusaw a figure darting across the crest of a peak, andheard the jangling of camel bells from in front as agroup of Muslims mounted on camels and horses chargeddown towards them from the top of the gorge. Theirhooves sounded like thunder, and the agency men beganshouting, calling on them to slow down.
　　In an instant, the Muslim group was upon them and fourcamels quickly encircled Lead Escort Yan who wascarrying the red knapsack. Each of the four Muslimriders raised a large iron hammer with both hands andsmashed it down viciously on his head. The mountainroad was narrow, leaving little room for manoeuvring,and the camel-men had the advantage of height. Even ifhe had been a better fighter, Yan would have beenunable to avoid the four hammers, each weighing morethan 100 pounds. Both he and his horse were beaten toa bloody pulp.
　　The yellow-robed Muslim girl, Huo Qingtong, jumpeddown from her horse and with a flash of her sword cutone of the straps holding the red knapsack to thecorpse that had been Yan. But before she had time fora second stroke, she felt a gust of wind at her backas a blade sliced towards her. She dodged to one sideand cut the other strap. Her assailant aimed a cuttingstroke at her waist to stop her from picking up theknapsack. Unable to avoid the stroke, she raised hersword to block it, and the two blades clashed in ashower of sparks. Looking up, she saw it was thehandsome young boy who had stared at her sodisrespectfully the day before. In a sudden fit ofanger, she lashed out with three attacking swordstrokes, and the two began a fierce duel.
　　Her assailant was Yuanzhi, still dressed in boy'sclothes. Without stopping to consider the rights andwrongs of the situation, she had decided to get herown back for the damage done to her horse's mane.
　　Huo Qingtong could see her chance of recovering theKoran slipping away and wanted to finish the fightquickly. She changed to the 'Three Part' sword style,and in a few strokes had forced Yuanzhi into retreat.
　　The 'Three Part' sword style was the highestachievement of the Tianshan school of kung fu. It wascalled 'Three Part' because only a third of eachstroke was completed. As the opponent moved to countereach one, the stoke changed. Intricate and vicious,the style included no defensive strokes: attacking andkilling was all.
　　The two went through a dozen or more moves withouttheir blades ever touching, Huo Qingtong completingonly a third of each stroke, and then changing itwithout waiting for her opponent to defend. She cutand thrust at the air around Yuanzhi's body, and theChinese girl, knowing she could not match heropponent's speed, leapt away. Huo Qingtong did notpursue her but turned back to the knapsack, and foundit was already in the hands of a small, thin manstanding beside Yan's body. She lunged at him with hersword.
　　"Oh dear," the man cried. "Uncle Tong had better getback in place!" Lead Escort Tong jumped clear withthree quick steps and Huo Qingtong followed hard onhis heels. She raised her sword to cut him down, butthe stroke was blocked by a Five Element Wheel thrustforward by the surviving Yan brother.
　　Huo Qingtong fought briefly with Yan, and recognisedhim as a strong and capable adversary. Then she hearda loud whistle coming from the hilltops, the signalfor retreat, and knew that help for the agency men wason the way. She saw Tong scampering away with theknapsack and quickly changed to the Three Part swordstyle, forcing Yan to retreat, and then raced afterhim. The whistles became louder.
　　"Daughter! Retreat quickly!" Muzhuolun shouted. Sheabandoned the chase and directed her comrades as theylifted the Muslim dead and wounded onto camels andhorses. Then the Muslim column charged on down themountain path. But a little way further on, they foundseveral dozen Manchu soldiers blocking their path.
　　Officer Deng rode forward, his spear held crosswise.
　　"You insolent Muslims!" he shouted. "What is thisinsurrection?" Two of Huo Qingtong's steel darts hithis hands and the spear clattered to the ground.
　　Muzhuolun raised his sabre high and charged forwardwith some other Muslim warriors, and the Manchu troopsscattered. Boulders crashed down from the mountaintops, pulverising more than a dozen Manchu troops, andin the midst of the melee, the Muslims made good theirescape.
　　Throughout the battle, Lu had remained on thesidelines, his hands folded inside his sleeves.
　　Yuanzhi had been of great assistance to the agency meneven though she had been beaten by Huo Qingtong, andthe Muslims had been unable to get what they wanted.
　　As the agency men tended the wounded and carried offthe dead, Lu gave her a severe lecture, criticisingher for interfering in the affairs of others, andneedlessly making even more enemies.
　　"There are very few good men amongst the bodyguardagencies, and many bad ones. Why bother helping peopleto do evil?" he scolded her. She hung her head, notdaring to look up.
　　They crossed through the pass and arrived inSandaogou, a medium-sized market town, as dusk wasfalling. The mulemen said there was only one inn,called the Antong, and both the agency men and OfficerDeng's column headed for it. The inn was crude andsimple in the extreme with earthern walls and mudfloors. Seeing no servants coming out to greet them,Tong shouted: "Is everyone dead in there? I damneighteen generations of your ancestors!" Yuanzhifrowned. No-one had ever dared to use such languagewithin her hearing before.
　　Just then, they heard the sound of clashing swordsfrom inside. Yuanzhi was delighted. "Here's some morefun to watch!" she cried and ran into the inn ahead ofthe others.
　　The entrance hall was empty and silent, but passingthrough to the courtyard, she saw a young womanfighting fiercely with four men. In her left hand wasa sword, and in her right, a knife. She was obviouslybattling for her life. It seemed to Yuanzhi that thefour man were trying to force their way into the roomoutside which the woman was standing. The four wereall strong fighters: one wielded a whip, one a staff,one a sword and one a Devil's Head Knife.
　　Lu also entered the courtyard. "How is it that we arecontinually running into these secret society people?"he thought.
　　The woman dodged and parried, holding all four men atbay until suddenly the one wielding the Devil's HeadKnife swung his weapon towards her as another of theattackers thrust his sword at her heart. She fendedoff the sword with the knife in her right hand, butshe could not dodge the Devil's Head Knife and itstruck her on the left shoulder. But she did not giveup, and as she continued to fight, drops of blood flewin all directions.
　　"Don't kill her! We need her alive," shouted the manwith the whip.
　　Lu's chivalrous heart was moved at the sight of fourman attacking one woman, and despite his own sensitivesituation he could see he might have to take a handhimself. He watched as the swordsman attacked with aslicing blow from the left. The woman parried itobliquely, but she was already wounded and out ofbreath. The two blades clashed, and the knife wasjolted from her hand and clattered to the ground. Theswordsman then thrust his blade at her again, and shefrantically dodged to the right, opening a way throughwhich the man with the Devil's Head Knife chargedtowards the door.
　　Ignoring all dangers, the woman plunged her left handinto her gown and drew out two throwing knives whichshe slung at her enemy's back. One of the knivesembedded itself in the door post but the other plungedinto his back. Luckily for him, the woman's handlacked strength due to the wound in her left shoulderand the knife did not kill him. He staggered back,screaming with pain, and pulled the knife out.
　　Meanwhile, the woman was struck on her thigh by thestaff. She swayed unsteadily, but defiantly resumedher position blocking the doorway.
　　"Go and help her," Lu said quietly to Yuanzhi. "If youcan't beat them, I'll come over as well."Yuanzhi was bursting to test herself. She leaptforward, her sword at the ready, shouting: "Four menfighting one woman! You should be ashamed ofyourselves!" Seeing someone coming to the aid of thewoman, and one of their number already wounded, thefour men turned and ran from the inn.
　　The woman's face was deathly pale and she leanedagainst the door, breathing heavily. Yuanzhi went overto her.
　　"Why were they bullying you like that?" she asked, butthe woman was temporarily incapable of speech.
　　Officer Deng walked over to Yuanzhi. "Madame Li wouldlike to see you mistress," he said, and added in awhisper: "She's heard that you were involved in afight on the road and is very upset. You'd better goquickly."The woman's expression changed as soon as she sawOfficer Deng's military uniform; she pulled herthrowing knife out of the doorpost, went back into herroom and banged the door shut without answeringYuanzhi.
　　Rather unhappy at having been snubbed, Yuanzhi walkedover to Lu. "Teacher, what were they fighting about?"she asked.
　　"It was probably a revenge attack," he said. "But itisn't over yet. Those four will be back."Yuanzhi was about to ask another question when sheheard someone inside the inn shouting and swearing.
　　"Damn your ancestors, what do you mean there are nogood rooms? Are you afraid we don't have the money topay?" It was the voice of Lead Escort Tong.
　　"Please don't be angry sir," an employee of the innanswered. "We in the inn-keeping business would notdare to offend such eminent persons as yourselves. Butit is a fact that all of our few good rooms areoccupied.""Who have you got in them? I think I'll go and have alook," Tong said walking out into the courtyard.
　　Just then a door opened, and the young woman leanedout. "Please bring some hot water," she said to aservant.
　　Tong saw the woman's smooth white skin and the beautyof her face and eyes, and noticed on her left wrist, abracelet of pearls, all perfectly formed. His mouthwatered. The woman spoke with a southern Chineseaccent and the exotic touch to her voice excited himgreatly.
　　"I, Lead Escort Tong have passed along this road onbusiness dozens of times, and I have never stayed inanything but the best rooms," he shouted. "If thereare no good rooms vacant, why don't you make onevacant for me?" The door to the woman's room was stillopen and he walked straight inside.
　　"Ai-ya!" the woman exclaimed. She moved to obstructhim, but felt a stab of pain in her thigh and satdown.
　　As Tong entered the room, he saw there was a man lyingon the kang. The room was dimly-lit but he could seethat the man's head was wrapped in bandages, his rightarm was in a sling and that one of his legs was alsobandaged.
　　"Who is it?" the man asked in a deep, resonant voice.
　　"My name is Tong and I'm a lead escort with the ZhenYuan Bodyguard Agency," he replied. "We are passingthrough Sandaogou on business, but there are no roomsavailable here. I was wondering if you could move. Whois this woman? Is she your wife, or your girlfriend?""Get out," the man ordered. His wounds were clearlyserious; he was unable to talk loudly.
　　"One's a girl and the other's too badly wounded toeven move," thought Tong, who had not seen the womanfight. "When am I going to get such a chance again?""If you don't want to give up your room, that's allright too," he said with a grin on his face. "Allthree of us can snuggle up together on this kang.
　　Don't worry, I won't push over onto your side."The man on the kang shook with anger.
　　"Don't get involved with these ruffians," the womanurged him quietly. "We can't afford to make any moreenemies at the moment." And then to Tong: "You stopyour nonsense and get out."Tong laughed. "Can't I stay here and keep youcompany?""Come over here," the man on the kang said hoarsely.
　　Tong took a step towards him. "Why? Do you want to seehow handsome I am?""I can't see clearly," the man replied.
　　Tong laughed out loud and took another step towardshim. "Take a closer look. This is like a big brotherchoosing a husband for his sister...."Before he could finish, the man on the kang sat up,and as fast as a lightning flash, touched a yuedaopoint* (*Yuedao points are nerve centres on the bodywhich, when struck, can cause paralysis or even death.
　　The same points are used for a different purpose inacupuncture) on Tong's ribs and followed with a blowto his back. Tong flew straight out of the door, andlanded heavily in the courtyard. The agency shouter,Xun, rushed over to help him up.
　　"Brother Tong," he whispered. "Don't provoke them. Itlooks like they're members of the Red Flower Society.""Ahh, ahhh, I can't move my leg," Tong cried. "The RedFlower Society?" he added suddenly. "How do you know?"He broke into a cold sweat of fear.
　　"One of the porters told me four Yamen officers werehere a while ago to arrest those two, and there wasquite a fight before they left," Xun said.
　　Lead Escort Yan came over. "What's going on?" heasked.
　　"Brother Yan," Tong shouted. "One of those bastardsfrom the Red Flower Society used Yuedao kung fu onme!"Yan frowned and pulled Tong up by his arm. "We'll goback to the room and talk about it," he said. Hisfirst thought was for the agency's reputation. Itcreated a bad impression when an agency's lead escortwas floored and couldn't even get up. Lead Escort Qiancame over. "Are you sure it was the Red FlowerSociety?" he asked Xun.
　　"When those four officers left, they told the porterthat the couple in there were fugitives," hewhispered. "They told the porter to inform them ifthey left. I overhead them talking."Qian glanced at Yan and pulled Tong up.
　　"Who are they?" Yan asked quietly.
　　"Red Flower Society. I think we ought to let it pass,"Qian said. "When Tong is better we can reconsider. Didyou see what happened when those men tried to arrestthem just now?" he asked Xun.
　　"It was some fight," said Xun, gesticulating wildly.
　　"There was a woman with a sword in her left hand and adagger in her right hand. Four men couldn't beat her.""She must be one of 'Divine Knife' Luo's people,"replied Qian, surprised. "She used throwing knives, Isuppose?""Yes, yes, she's really accurate. It was incredible!"Xun exclaimed.
　　Qian turned to Yan. "Master Wen of the Red FlowerSociety is here," he said. They carried Tong back totheir room in silence.
　　Lu had observed the whole incident, but the leadescorts had talked in such low tones, that he onlymanaged to catch Qian's last two utterances. Yuanzhiwalked over and asked: "Teacher, when are you going toteach me Yuedao kung fu? Did you see how fantasticthat move was?"Lu took no notice of her, but said to himself: "If itis one of 'Divine Knife' Luo's people, I can't juststand by and do nothing.""Who is 'Divine Knife' Luo?" Yuanzhi asked.
　　"He was a good friend of mine. I hear he's passed awaynow. All the moves used by the woman we saw fighting aminute ago were of his school."Just then, the two lead escorts Qian and Tai helpedTong over to the woman's room. Xun coughed loudlyoutside the door and announced in a low voice:
　　"Lead Escorts Qian, Tai and Tong of the Zhen YuanBodyguard Agency have come to pay their respects toMaster Wen of the Red Flower Society."The door creaked open and the woman stood in thedoorway staring at them. "What do you want?" sheasked.
　　"We did not know that you and Master Wen were here,"Qian said. "We have insulted you and we have come toapologise. Please be forgiving and don't be offendedby what happened." He bowed low and Tai and Xunfollowed suit.
　　"Mistress," Qian continued. "We have never met before,but I have heard a great deal about you and yourhusband. Master Wang, the head of our agency, wasalways on very good terms with the leader of yourhonourable society, Master Yu, and also with yourfather 'Divine Knife' Luo. Our brother here is verybad-tempered, and is always talking nonsense..."The woman cut him off. "Our master has been wounded,and he just went to sleep. When he wakes, I will passon your message. We are ignorant of etiquette, but hiswounds are not light, and he hasn't slept well for twodays." There was an expression of apprehension on herface.
　　"What sort of wounds does Master Wen have?" Qianasked. "We have some Golden Wound ointment with us."He wanted to put them in their debt so that they wouldbe obliged to help cure Tong.
　　"Thank you, but we have medicine," the woman replied,understanding his meaning. "Your colleague was nottouched on a major Yuedao point. When our masterwakes, I will send one of the inn's servants round."Seeing that she had agreed to cure Tong, Qian and theothers started to retire.
　　"By the way," said the woman. "How did you know ournames?""With your swords and throwing knives, who wouldn't beable to guess?" Qian replied. "What's more, who apartfrom Master Wen uses Yuedao kung fu like that? It hadto be 'Rolling Thunder Hand' Wen Tailai and his wifeLuo Bing."The woman smiled, flattered at having been recognised.
Chapter 5
Yuanzhi sat for a long time with her hands on hercheeks, annoyed that Lu would not teach her Yuedaokung fu. After dinner, she went to see her mother, whonagged her for causing trouble on the road, and toldher she was not to wear boy's clothing any more.
　　"Mother, you're always talking about how you have noson," she replied with a smile. "Aren't you happy nowthat you have one?"Madame Li gave up and went to bed. Yuanzhi also gotready for sleep, and was just about to take off herclothes when she heard a light tapping on the windowsill and someone saying: "Come out, little boy! I wantto ask you something."Yuanzhi picked up her sword and ran out to thecourtyard where she spotted a figure standing in theshadows.
　　"Follow me if you dare!" the figure said and jumpedover the courtyard wall. Like a young calf unafraid ofa tiger, Yuanzhi followed without a thought for whatmight be waiting for her on the other side. As herfeet touched the ground, she found a sword thrustingtowards her.
　　Yuanzhi raised her own sword and parried the stroke,shouting: "Who is it?" The yellow-robed figureretreated two steps, and said: "I am the Muslim girlHuo Qingtong. What were you doing helping the agencymen to mess up our plans? Why don't you mind your ownbusiness?""I'll do whatever I want to," Yuanzhi replied. "Ihappen to like meddling in other people's business.
　　Let me give you another lesson in swordsmanship..."Her sword flashed out, and Huo Qingtong raised her ownsword to parry it.
　　Yuanzhi knew that she couldn't beat the girl on equalterms, so she retreated steadily as she fought,heading towards Lu's room.
　　"Teacher, teacher!" she called out suddenly. "Someoneis trying to kill me!"A sneering laugh exploded from Huo Qingtong. "Ha! Youuseless object! You're not even worth killing!"She began to walk away, but Yuanzhi attacked, forcingher to face her once more. Yuanzhi heard someonebehind her and knew that her teacher had emerged;seeing Huo Qingtong's sword bearing down on her, shejumped behind Lu's back.
　　Lu fended off her strokes with his sword and HuoQingtong soon realised that his sword technique, whilethe same as Yuanzhi's, was far superior. She becameanxious and attacked fiercely, waiting for anopportunity to retreat. But his strokes followed eachother without pause, sticking to her closely.
　　Yuanzhi put her sword in its scabbard and joined thefray using Boundless Occult Hand kung fu. Huo Qingtongcouldn't even beat Lu alone, so how could she manageagainst both of them? Yuanzhi displayed great cunning:
　　a touch on one side, a hook with her leg on the other.
　　She was not aiming to hurt the Muslim girl, but wasintentionally having fun at her expense to pay herback for the tuft of her horse's mane ripped out theday before.
　　Lu, for his part, had been impressed earlier that dayby the Muslim girl's swordsmanship and simply wantedto test her. His sword thrust at her and she raisedher own blade to ward it off. Meanwhile, Yuanzhi movedin towards her back, shouting: "Watch out for myfist!" and struck out at her left shoulder with a'Ferocious Rooster Snatching Grain' blow. HuoQingting's left hand twisted round and diverted theblow by grasping for Yuanzhi's arm. With both theMuslim girl's arms now occupied, Yuanzhi seized theopportunity, and the flat of her hand struck at HuoQingtong's chest. If the blow had been in earnest, itwould have caused serious injury, but there was nostrength behind it. She ran her hand heavily over thegirl's chest and then jumped back laughing. HuoQingtong was consumed with fury, and ignoring Lu'ssword, swung round and attacked Yuanzhi using theTianshan School's 'Mirage' style. Lu could not standby. He raised his sword and accepted the brunt of theattack, while Yuanzhi stepped back.
　　"All right," she laughed. "Don't be angry. You marryme and we'll forget about it."Huo Qingtong had been deeply insulted, but she knewshe could not overcome Lu, so with no other way forher to avenge herself, she threw her sword at Yuanzhiwith all her strength aiming to take the girl to thegrave with her.
　　Lu started in fright and threw his own sword at HuoQingting's. The two swords collided in mid-air with aclang and fell to earth together. He then pushed HuoQingtong back five or six steps with a light touch onher left shoulder. "Please don't take offence, miss,"he said. "There's something I want to say.""Well?" she replied angrily. "What are you waitingfor?"Lu looked over at Yuanzhi. "Don't you think you oughtto apologise to the lady?"Yuanzhi walked over and bowed low, a wide grin on herface. Huo Qingtong replied with a fist.
　　"Oh, no! Don't hit me!" Yuanzhi laughed. She dodgedaway, and pulled off her cap, revealing her head ofbeautiful hair.
　　"Now look," she smiled. "Am I a boy or a girl?"Seeing Yuanzhi's real face under the moonlight, HuoQingtong was struck dumb. Her anger and shameevaporated, leaving only irritation.
　　"This is my pupil," said Lu. "She is alwaysdisobedient and I am unable to control her. I am sorryfor what happened just now. Please don't be offended."He brought his hands together in salute and bowed. HuoQingtong turned slightly away, refusing to accept theapology.
　　"What is your relationship with the Twin Eagles ofTianshan?" he asked her. Huo Qingtong's eyebrows shotup and her lips quivered, but she maintained hersilence. "I have always been on good terms with theTwin Eagles, Bald Vulture and his wife Madame Guan,"Lu continued, "so we should not be enemies.""Madame Guan is my teacher," Huo Qingtong said. "Iwill go and tell her that you bullied me and told yourpupil to attack me, and even joined in yourself."She gave them both a look of intense hatred, thenturned to go.
　　Lu waited until she had gone a few steps, and thensaid: "And when you go and tell your teacher, who areyou going to say bullied you?"Huo Qingtong stopped and turned. "Well, who are you?"she demanded.
　　Lu stroked his beard and laughed. "You've both got thetempers of children," he said. "All right, all right.
　　This is my pupil, Li Yuanzhi, and you can tell yourteacher and her husband that I am 'Hidden Needle' Lu.
　　Please convey my congratulations to them on havingsuch a good pupil.""A good pupil you say! I have lost face for both myteacher and her husband by allowing myself to bebullied in such a fashion.""Miss, don't think that you have lost face by beingbeaten by me," Lu replied seriously. "There are few inthe fighting community who could last for severaldozen moves with me as you did. I suspected you knewthe Twin Eagles when I saw you fighting earlier today,but your use of the 'Mirage' sword style just nowdecided it. Do they still argue all the time?" Helaughed.
　　Huo Qingtong saw that Lu knew all about her teacher,but she was still reluctant to relent.
　　"If you are my teacher's friend, why did you tell yourpupil to interfere, stopping us from taking back ourSacred Book? I don't believe you are a good man.""Being beaten in a sword duel is not worth worryingabout," Lu said. "But failing to recover your SacredBook is a different matter. If your people are bulliedand insulted, you must be prepared to risk even yourown life to get satisfaction."Huo Qingtong knew he was telling the truth, and bowedbefore him. "Please tell me how the Sacred Book can berecovered," she said. "If you are willing to help, Iand the rest of my tribe will be eternally grateful.""It was stupid of me to interfere," said Yuanzhi. "Myteacher has already given me a long lecture. Pleasedon't worry, I will help you get your Sacred Bookback. It's in that red knapsack, isn't it?" HuoQingtong nodded. "Well, let's go," Yuanzhi added.
　　"We will discuss the situation first," said Lu. Thethree talked in low tones for a while then, with Lukeeping a look-out, the two girls crossed over thewall into the inn.
　　They ran crouching over to the room occupied by thelead escorts, and squatted under the window in theshadow of the wall. Inside, they heard Lead EscortTong crying and groaning for a while and then stop.
　　"You are talented, Master Zhang," one of the leadescorts said, "being able to cure Brother Tong soquickly.""If we had known you were coming, we wouldn't have hadto apologise to that Red Flower Society bastard," saidanother.
　　"I want you all to watch that pair," a powerful voicereplied. "Tomorrow, when Wu and the others arrivewe'll make our move.""Once we've got him, I'm going to kick that bastard inthe head a few times, very hard," said Tong.
　　Yuanzhi slowly extended herself and found a tear inthe window paper through which to look. She saw fiveor six people seated around the room. In the middlewas an awe-inspiring man whom she decided must be theone they called Master Zhang. His eyes flashed likelightning and his temples were high and protruding,indicating profound Internal Strength.
　　"Tong, give me the knapsack," Lead Escort Yan said.
　　"Those Muslims won't give up so easily. I'm afraid wewill have more trouble on the road."Tong began to untie the knapsack hesitantly, as ifunwilling to hand it over.
　　"Now don't worry," Yan said. "Once we've got thisknapsack to Beijing safe and sound, we'll all reap thebenefits."Yuanzhi thought swiftly. Yan was a powerful fighter,and once he had possession of the knapsack it would bedifficult to recover. She whispered a few words intoHuo Qingtong's ear, took off her hat and pulled herlong hair over her face. Then she picked two bricks uplying nearby and hurled them through the window. Asthey crashed into the room, the lamp was suddenlydoused. The door opened and several men rushed out.
　　"Who is it?" one yelled.
　　Huo Qingtong whistled at them, then leapt over thewall, and the lead escorts and Zhang chased after her.
　　As soon as they had gone, Yuanzhi burst into the room.
　　Tong was lying on the kang when he saw the Thing comethrough the door, an unghostly ghost, and inhumanhuman, with its hair dishevelled and wild. The Thinghopped towards him squealing loudly, and his body wentlimp with fright. It seized the red knapsack from hishands and ran from the room.
　　The lead escorts chased after Huo Qingtong for awhile, but Zhang suddenly stopped in his tracks.
　　"Damn," he said. "This is just a diversion to lure usaway. Get back quickly!"They returned to the inn to find Tong lying on thekang in a state of shock. It was a while before hemanaged to tell them how the ghost had stolen theknapsack.
　　"What ghost?" Zhang said angrily. "We've beentricked."Yuanzhi hid beside the wall, holding the knapsacktightly, and waited until all the lead escorts hadre-entered the room before jumping back out of thecourtyard. She whistled softly and Lu and Huo Qingtongappeared from the shadow of the trees.
　　Yuanzhi was feeling particularly smug. "I've got theknapsack," she laughed, "so you can't..."Before she could finish, Lu shouted: "Watch outbehind!"As she turned, someone slapped her on the shoulder.
　　She quickly tried to grab the hand but failed and herheart jumped in fright as she realised how formidableher assailant was: he had followed her without herbeing at all aware of it. She quickly looked aroundand in the moonlight saw a tall, powerful man standingbeside her. She stepped backwards in fright, and threwthe knapsack at Huo Qingtong.
　　"Catch!" she yelled, and brought her hands together toface the enemy.
　　He was extraordinarily fast. As the knapsack left herhand, he leapt after it and caught it in mid-air justas Huo Qingtong attacked him. With his left handholding the knapsack, the man swung his arms out usingthe Long-Arm style. There was great power behind theblow, and both girls were forced back several paces.
　　Yuanzhi now recognised him as Master Zhang. TheLong-Arm style was one of the basic techniques of theWudang School's kung fu, and Yuanzhi gaspedinvoluntarily at the sight of Zhang using it. Sheglanced around, but Lu was nowhere to be seen.
　　Yuanzhi advanced a step and attacked using the sameLong-Arm technique and as their fists clashed, shefelt a prickly numbness run through her arm followedby an unbearable ache. She stumbled, then jumped offto the left.
　　"Tell me, child!" Zhang said. "Is your teachersurnamed Ma or Lu?""He's surnamed Ma," she said to deceive him. "How didyou know?""Well that makes me your martial uncle. Don't youthink you ought to kowtow before me?" He laughed.
　　As soon as Huo Qingtong heard mention of a connectionbetween them, she abandoned Yuanzhi. She could seethat the Koran could not be recovered, and ran quicklyaway.
　　Yuanzhi chased after her a short way, but suddenly, acloud bank covered the moon plunging her into pitchdarkness. She started in fright as several thunderclaps rolled across the sky and turned back to findthat Zhang had disappeared too. By the time she leaptback over the wall into the inn, large droplets ofrain were falling, and as she entered her room thedownpour came.
Chapter 6
The heavy rain lasted all night. Next morning, havingwashed and combed her hair, Yuanzhi looked out of thewindow and saw it was still pouring. Her mother'smaidservant came in.
　　"Officer Deng says the rain is too heavy and we can'tleave today," she announced.
　　Icy gusts blew in through a tear in Yuanzhi's window.
　　She felt bored, particularly as the inn was in such adesolate area. She walked over to the room occupied byMaster Wen of the Red Flower Society hoping to catch aglimpse of him, but the door was firmly shut and nosound came from within. The Zhen Yuan Agency had notleft that morning either, and several of the leadescorts were lounging about in the dining hall,chatting. Master Zhang was not among them. A gust ofwind blew from the west and Yuanzhi began to feelrather cold. She was about to return to her room whenshe heard the sound of bells outside the front gateand a horse galloped in from the rain.
　　A young scholar dismounted and ran inside. As oneservant led his horse off to be fed, another asked thescholar if he would be staying at the inn.
　　"I'll have to get back on the road again soon," hereplied, taking off his raincape. The servant invitedhim to take a seat and poured him a cup of tea.
　　The scholar was tall and slender with a handsome face.
　　In the border areas, such elegance was a rare sight,and Yuanzhi could not help but stare at him. Thescholar saw her too and smiled; she flushed andquickly looked away.
　　There was the sound of horses outside the inn and fourmore men came in. Yuanzhi recognised them as the oneswho had attacked the young woman the day before andshe quickly retired to Lu's room to ask what theyshould do.
　　"Let us go and have a look first," Lu said and the twopeeped into the dining hall through a hole in thewindow.
　　One of the four, a swordsman, summoned a servant,quietly questioned him for a moment, then said to hiscompanions: "Those Red Flower Society bastards haven'tleft yet. We'll deal with them when we've eaten."The scholar's expression changed slightly and he beganto observe the four men out of the corner of his eye.
　　"Shall I help the woman again?" Yuanzhi asked.
　　"Don't do anything until I tell you," Lu said. He paidno further attention to the four officers, butfocussed his gaze on the scholar.
　　Once he had finished eating, the scholar moved hisbench into the corridor leading to the courtyard. Hepulled a flute from the bundle on his back and beganto play a pleasant, lilting melody. Strange to say,the flute looked as if it was cast from pure gold. Theroad they were on was unsafe, and a golden fluteopenly displayed by a lone scholar was bound toattract thieves.
　　When the four men had finished eating, the swordsmanjumped onto the table and announced in a loud voice:
　　"We are Yamen officers and we have come to arrestfugitives of the Red Flower Society. Peaceful citizensneed not be afraid."He jumped down from and led the others towards thecourtyard. The scholar, still blocking the corridorand playing the flute, ignored them. The swordsmanapproached him. "Don't stand in the way of Yamenofficers," he growled.
　　The scholar leisurely put down his flute. "Thefugitives you gentlemen wish to arrest: what law havethey broken?" he asked. "Confucius said, 'Do not dounto others what you would not wish on yourself'. Doyou really have to arrest them?"The officer with the staff stepped forward. "You stopyour chatter," he shouted. "Get out of the way!""Please calm yourself, honourable sir," the scholarreplied. "There's no need to get agitated. Let me behost. We'll all have a drink and become friends, whatdo you say?"The officer stretched out his hand to push him away,and the scholar swayed to one side. "Ai-ya," heexclaimed. "A gentleman uses words, not force."He fell forward as if over-balancing and put out thegolden flute to steady himself, finding support on aYuedao spot on the left thigh of the officer, whoinvoluntarily knelt down as his leg went limp.
　　"Ai-ya!" the scholar exclaimed again. "There's no needfor such courtesy." He bowed before the officer.
　　Those watching could tell the scholar was highlyskilled in the martial arts and Yuanzhi, who hadoriginally been anxious on his behalf, was overjoyedto see him using Yuedao kung fu.
　　"This bastard might be with the Red Flower Society aswell!" cried one of the officers fearfully. Theofficer with the paralysed leg collapsed on the floorand the others pulled him to one side.
　　"Are you a member of the Red Flower Society?" theswordsman asked, a slight touch of fear in his voice.
　　The scholar laughed. "I do indeed. My name is YuYutong. I play but a small role in the society,ranking only 14th in seniority." He waved the flute atthem. "Don't you recognise me?""Ah, you're 'Scholar' Yu!""You are too kind," said the scholar. "That is indeedwho I am. You sir, with the flashing sword, face ofcunning and rat-like eyes. You must be the famousofficer from Beijing, Wu Guodong. I'd heard you hadretired. Why are you doing getting involved in thiskind of game?"Swordsman Wu's blade flicked out, steely yet smoothand Yu countered with his golden flute, fighting thethree officers simultaneously, working through acomplex series of moves which soon had them completelyflustered. After a moment, Yuanzhi turned to Lu insurprise.
　　"That's the Soft Cloud sword style," she said.
　　Lu nodded. The Soft Cloud sword technique is a secretstyle known only to our school, he thought. If thisscholar is a member of the Red Flower Society, then hemust be a pupil of Elder Brother Ma.
　　The school to which Lu belonged consisted of threepupils, among whom Lu was placed second. The mostsenior was Ma Zhen and the youngest Zhang Zhaozhong,the Master Zhang with whom Yuanzhi had tangled thenight before. Zhang was highly talented and verydiligent, but he had thrown in his lot with the Manchucourt, and, rising swiftly in seniority, had alreadyattained the rank of Major in the Imperial Bodyguard.
　　Lu had long ago severed relations with him.
　　His guess that Yu was a pupil of Elder Brother Ma Zhenwas correct. Yu came from a respected family insouthern China, and had already passed the firstImperial Civil Service examination when his fatherbecame involved in a dispute over a burial plot with awealthy family. The ensuing law suit forced him intobankruptcy, and he was imprisoned on a trumped-upcharge and died in jail. Yu left home in anger and metMa Zhen, whom he accepted as his teacher, abandoninghis studies in favour of the martial arts. He returnedand killed the rich landlord and then became anoutlaw, and later a member of the Red Flower Society.
　　He was alert and intelligent, and could speak manydifferent dialects. On this occasion, he wastravelling on society business to the city of Luoyangand had been unaware that his fellow society members,Wen Tailai and his wife, were holed up in the inn.
　　Hearing the fight, the agency men all came in andstood to one side watching. Lead Escort Tong noticed acatapult on the back of one of the officers, andshouted: "If it was me, I'd leave two to take care ofthe bastard while the third used the slingshot onhim."The officer with the catapult realised Tong was rightand jumped onto a table, readied his weapon and sent ashower of stones flying towards Yu.
　　Yu dodged them one by one while parrying the other twoofficers. But his opponents gained the upper hand, andafter a few more moves, one of the missiles struckYu's cheek and the pain began to slow his movements.
　　"You might as well give up," Tong called to Yu. "Pulldown your trousers and we'll give you a taste of thecane."But Yu did not panic. With a sudden flourish, he drovehis left hand at a Yuedao point on Swordsman Wu'schest. Wu quickly retreated two steps and Yu thrustthe flute into the stomach of the other officer whogrunted loudly and buckled in agony. Yu moved tostrike him again, but Wu intercepted him.
　　Fighting back the pain in his stomach, the thirdofficer moved stealthily up behind Yu as he fought Wuand raised his Devil's Head knife to smash it down onYu's skull. But before he could do so, a throwingknife plunged into his chest, killing him instantly,and the Devil's Head Knife clattered to the floor.
　　Yu turned and saw a woman standing nearby, supportingherself on the table with her left hand, thje slenderfingers of her right hand clasping another throwingknife as if it was the stem of a fresh flower. She wasindescribably lovely, and as soon as he saw her, Yu'sspirits rose.
　　"Kill the Eagle's Claw with the catapult first!", heshouted. Eagles Claw was their slang for thugsemployed by the Imperial Court.
　　The officer with the catapult turned roundfrantically, just in time to see the flash of theblade as it flew towards him. In desperation, he heldup the catapult to try to stop it, but the knife stillcut into the back of his hand.
　　"Uncle Wu!" he screamed, "It's too dangerous. Let'sget out of here!"He jumped off the table and fled. Wu forced Yu backwith two more strokes from his sword, slung theofficer with the paralysed leg over his shoulder, andrushed for the door to the hall. Instead of chasingthem, Yu raised the flute to his mouth end-on insteadof crosswise, and puffed. A small arrow shot out ofthe end which buried itself in the shoulder of theparalysed officer, who screamed with pain.
　　Yu turned to the woman. "Where's Brother Wen?" heasked.
　　"Come with me," she said. She was wounded in thethigh, and supported herself with a long door bar.
　　Meanwhile, as the officers rushed out of the inn, theycollided head-on with a man coming in, and Wu reeledback several paces. When he saw it was Master Zhang,his initial anger turned to delight.
　　"Master Zhang," he cried. "I am useless. One of ourbrothers has been killed by the bastards and this onehas been paralysed."Zhang grunted and lifted the officer up with his lefthand, then squeezed his waist and slapped his thigh,freeing the blood flow. "Have they escaped?" he asked.
　　"They're still in the inn."Zhang grunted again. "They've got guts," he said,walking into the inn courtyard. "Resisting arrest,killing an official, then brazenly staying on here."They led Zhang towards Wen's room, but just as theyreached the door, Yuanzhi slid out of a room nearbyand waved a red knapsack at Zhang.
　　"Hey, I've stolen it again," she laughed and rantowards the inn's main gate.
　　Zhang was startled. "These agency men are trulyuseless," he thought. "As soon as I get it back forthem, they lose it again."He shot after her, determined to teach her a goodlesson. It was still raining, and before long, theywere both soaking wet. Yuanzhi saw him closing in andran off along the side of a stream, Zhang followingsilently. He increased his pace, closing the distancebetween them, then stretched out his hand and caughthold of her jacket. Greatly frightened, Yuanzhi pulledaway with all her strength, and a piece of cloth toreout of the back. Her heart pounding, she hurled thered knapsack into the stream.
　　"It's yours," she shouted.
　　Zhang knew how vital General Zhao Wei considered theKoran to be and immediately leapt into the streamwhile Yuanzhi laughed and ran off. As he fished theknapsack out of the water, he saw it was alreadysoaked. Frantically, he opened it to see if the Koranwas wet, and then let fly with a stream of coarselanguage. There was no Koran in the knapsack, only tworegisters from the main desk at the inn. He opened oneand read of money collected from rooms for meals, andof servants' wages. He groaned at how he had allowedhimself to be cheated and threw the registers and theknapsack back into the stream. If he took them backand someone asked about them, he would certainly loseface.
　　He returned quickly to the inn and quickly found LeadEscort Yan with the red knapsack still safely fastenedto his back.
　　"Where did Wu and the officers go?" he asked.
　　"They were here a moment ago," Yan replied.
　　"What damned use is there in the Emperor employingpeople like that?" he demanded.
　　He walked up to Wen's door. "You Red Flower Societyfugitives! Come out immediately!" he shouted. No soundcame from the room. He kicked at the door and found itslightly ajar.
　　"They've escaped!" he yelled, and burst into the roomonly to find it empty. He noticed a lump under the bedcovers, and flung them off, revealing two of Wu'sofficers lying face to face. He prodded his swordlightly at the back of one of them but there was nomovement. He turned them over and saw they were bothdead. Both their skulls had been smashed in. It wasobviously the work of a master of Internal Strengthkung fu, and his respect for Wen Tailai increasedappreciably. But where was Wu? And in which directionhad Wen and his wife escaped? He called for one of theservants and interrogated him without obtaining evenhalf a clue.
　　But Zhang had guessed wrong: the officers were notkilled by Wen Tailai.
Chapter 7
Lu and Yuanzhi watched the whole fight through thewindow, and saw Zhang enter as the officers wereleaving.
　　"That's the man who took the knapsack from me lastnight," Yuanzhi said.
　　"Go quickly and draw him away, the further thebetter," Lu whispered. "If I'm not here when youreturn, start out tomorrow without me and I will catchyou up."He watched Zhang chase Yuanzhi out of the inn gatesthen picked up a writing brush and hurriedly wrote aletter which he placed inside his gown. He ran toWen's room and knocked lightly on the door.
　　"Who is it?" a woman's voice called.
　　"I am a good friend of 'Divine Knife' Luo," said Lu.
　　"I have important news for you."There was no answer from inside. Wu and the other twoofficers appeared and stood at a distance keepingwatch, obviously suspicious of Lu. The door suddenlyopened and 'Scholar' Yu looked out.
　　"May I ask who you are, sir?" he asked.
　　"I am your martial uncle 'Hidden Needle' Lu."A look of hesitation appeared on Yu's face. He hadheard of Lu but had never met him.
　　"I'll prove it to you," Lu whispered. "Stand aside."Yu's suspicions deepened, and he planted his footfirmly on the opposite door post, blocking the waywith his leg. Lu's left hand shot out, aiming to hitYu's shoulder. Yu dodged, and Lu slipped his righthand underneath Yu's armpit and pushed him to one sideusing the first move in the Wudang school's Long ArmFist style. "It really is 'Hidden Needle' Lu!" Yuthought, both surprised and delighted. As Yu back, LuoBing raised her sword and dagger ready to attack, butYu stopped her. Lu waved his hands at them, indicatingthey should stand clear, then ran back outside intothe courtyard.
　　"Hey, they've gone!" he shouted to Officer Wu. "Comeand see!"Wu rushed into the room with the other two officersand Lu closed the door behind them.
　　Wu saw Yu and the others in the room and shoutedfrantically: "It's a trap!" But before the officerscould turn, Lu's two fists smashed into their heads,shattering their skulls and killing them instantly.
　　More quick-witted, Wu leapt onto the kang, and withboth hands raised to protect his head, threw himselfat the window. Wen Tailai, who was lying on the kang,sat up and struck out with his left fist, breakingWu's right shoulder with a sharp crack. Wu wavered,but steadied himself against the wall with his leftfoot, then broke through the window and escaped. LuoBing launched a throwing knife after him which lodgeditself in his back. But he ignored the pain, and fledfor his life.
　　Yu and Luo Bing no longer harboured any suspicionsabout Lu, and they both bowed before him.
　　"Uncle Lu, please forgive me for not being able to paymy respects to you properly," Wen said from the kang.
　　"There's no need," said Lu. He looked at Luo Bing.
　　"What is your relationship with 'Divine Knife' Luo?"he asked.
　　"He was my father.""He was a very good friend of mine," Lu said. Helooked at Yu and added: "You are a pupil of Ma Zhen's,I presume. How has Elder Brother been recently?""He is well," said Yu. "He has often expressed concernabout you. He said he hadn't seen or heard anything ofyou for more than ten years.""I miss him too," Lu said regretfully. "Did you knowthat another of your martial uncles has been herelooking for you?"Yu looked up in fright. "Zhang Zhaozhong?"Lu nodded. Wen Tailai shuddered slightly at the soundof Zhang's name, and then gasped in pain. Luo Bingquickly went over and supported him with her hand, herface full of love and pity.
　　Yu looked on, absorbed. "To have a wife like thatwould be better than being a god, even if I was badlywounded," he murmured.
　　"Zhang has brought shame upon our school, but his kungfu is excellent," Lu said. "And I would guess thatreinforcements will not be far behind him. WithBrother Wen so badly wounded, I think all we can do atthe moment is to avoid them.""We will do whatever you suggest," Luo Bing said. Shelooked down at her husband, who nodded.
　　Lu pulled a letter from his gown and handed it to LuoBing. On the envelope was written the words:
　　"Respectfully adressed to Lord Zhou Zhongying, IronGall Manor.""Do you know him?" asked Luo Bing, delighted.
　　Before Lu could answer, Wen said: "Who?""Lord Zhou Zhongying," replied Luo Bing.
　　"Is he here?""I have never met him, but we have been friends fromafar for a long time," Lu said. "I think Brother Wenshould hide there while one of us goes to yourrespected society to report what has happened." He sawa hestitant look on Wen's face. "What do you think,Brother Wen?""Your arrangements would be perfect, but I cannotdeceive you. I am involved in a bloody feud with theEmperor Qian Long who won't be able to eat or sleep inpeace until he sees me die with his own eyes. I knowLord Zhou would take us in, but I am afraid he wouldbring great trouble upon himself by doing so.""To members of the fighting community, there isnothing more important than helping a friend in need,"said Lu.
　　"But in my situation, the greater the friend, the lessI am able to involve him.""Refusing to involve others in your problems is anupright and manly thing to do. But I do think it'srather a pity.""What is?" Wen asked quickly.
　　"If you refuse to go, we will have to stay here andfight. I don't want to exaggerate the enemy's strengthor denigrate our own, but who do we have to matchZhang? I am nearly sixty years old, my life is oflittle value. But my martial nephew here has apromising future and your wife is full of youth. Justbecause you want to play the hero ... aah ... it meanswe will all die here."Wen began to sweat profusely.
　　"Husband!" Luo Bing exclaimed. She pulled out ahandkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat from hisbrow, then held his hand.
　　Wen's affection for his wife outweighed his sense ofduty and he relented. "You are right," he said. "Iwill do whatever you say." But then he sighed. "Oncewe reach Iron Gall Manor, the Red Flower Society willbe beholden to yet another person."The Red Flower Society always took care to repay itsbenefactors and to exact revenge on its enemies --hence the fearful reaction of the Zhen Yuan agencymen.
　　"What relationship is Zhao Banshan to you?" asked Lu.
　　"Brother Zhao? He is third master of our society.""So that's it! Just what your Red Flower Society isinvolved in, I don't know. But Zhao and I wouldwillingly die for each other. In the old days when wewere both in the Dragon Slayers' Society, we werecloser than natural brothers. If he is a member ofyour society, then your affairs are certain to bejust. What does it matter what great crimes you havecommitted? The biggest crimes are supposed to be theassassination of officials and rebellion. Ha! Well, Ijust killed two running dogs of officialdom!" He gaveone of the corpses a kick.
　　"There's too much to explain," Wen said. "After thisis over, if I live, I will tell you everything. Butbriefly, the Emperor sent eight Imperial Bodyguards toarrest my wife and myself. I was wounded in a fight atJinquan but we escaped and came here. They'll get mesooner or later, but the Emperor has a secret I mustexpose before I die."Lu asked where the Red Flower Society leaders were.
　　"The Red Flower Society has 12 masters of theIncense," said Yu. "Apart from Brother Wen and LuoBing, they are already gathered in Anxi. We have askedthe Young Helmsman to assume the leadership of thesociety, but he is unwilling to do so. He says he istoo young and inexperienced and insists that SecondBrother, the Taoist priest Wu Chen, should be leader.
　　At present, the matter is deadlocked. The meeting tochoose a new Helmsman will not start until Brother Wenand Luo Bing arrive."Yu turned to Wen, his superior in the society'sheirarchy. "Should I first return to Anxi to report?"he asked.
　　Wen hesitated, uncertain of what to say.
　　"Let us do it this way," suggested Lu. "You threestart out immediately for Iron Gall Manor. Once youare settled there, Brother Yu can continue on hisbusiness. Meanwhile, I will go to Anxi to report."Wen pulled a red silk flower from his gown and handedit to Lu. "When you arrive in Anxi, fasten this flowerto your lapel and you will be met by someone from oursociety," he said.
　　Luo Bing helped her husband up while Yu lifted the twocorpses from the floor onto the kang and covered themwith the bedclothes. Then Lu opened the door andstrode calmly out, mounted a horse and galloped offwestwards.
　　After a short while, the others also emerged from theroom, Yu leading the way. Luo Bing supported herselfwith the door bar in one hand and held up Wen with theother. The inn's staff shrank away as the threeapproached, and Yu threw three taels of silver ontothe front desk.
　　"There's money for the room and the food," he said.
　　"We have left two very valuable items in our room. Ifthere is anything missing when we get back, we willdeal with you."The manager nodded rapidly, almost too scared tobreathe. Servants led out their horses. Wen could notget either of his feet into the stirrups, so he placedhis left hand on the saddle and with one push flewlightly onto the horse's back.
　　"Excellent kung fu, Master Wen," Yu praised him. LuoBing gave a dazzling smile and mounted her own horse,and they rode off.
　　In the town, Yu enquired about the way to Iron GallManor, and they raced off southeast. Luo Bing washappy: she knew that once they got to the manor, herhusband would be safe. Lord Zhou commanded greatrespect throughout the border regions.
　　The road was covered with loose stones and long grasswhich gave it a rather desolate air. Suddenly, theyheard the sound of galloping hooves ahead and threehorses raced towards them. The riders were all large,strong men, but one was particularly tall andimpressive with silver-white whiskers and a smoothrosy face. In his left hand, he jiggled two iron ballstogether. As they passed, the riders looked at Wen insurprise, but they were galloping fast, and flashedpast in an instant.
　　"I'm afraid that was Lord Zhou," Yu said.
　　"I was thinking that too," replied Luo Bing.
　　"We'll find out when we get to the Manor," said Wen.
　　A few miles further on, as evening drew near, IronGall Manor appeared before them. The wind was strongand the clouds low, but the rays of the setting sunshone brightly through the twilight. They looked atthe lovely manor, set amidst an endless expanse ofwithered grasses and yellow sand. Seeking sanctuary asthey were, the mood of the three was despondent, andthe desolation of the area affected them all. Theyspurred their horses forward and found the manor wassurrounded by a moat, the banks of which were coveredwith willow trees. The bare branches whirled anddanced in the strong west wind. Around the manor werefortifications and a watchtower: it was an imposingsight.
　　One of the manor's attendants invited them in, seatedthem in the great hall and brought them tea. Then amiddle-aged man with the air of a housekeeper came outto receive them. He said his name was Song, and askedWen and the others for their names.
　　"I have heard much about you," he said, startled tohear that they were members of the Red Flower Society.
　　"But I had thought that your honourable society wasbased in southern China. I wonder if you could tell mewhy you have come to visit our Lord? I am afraid hewent out a short while ago." Song carefully weighed upthe visitors and wondered what their intentions were.
　　Wen, meanwhile, was becoming angry at Song's coolness.
　　"Since Lord Zhou is not at home, we will excuseourselves," he said. "We came at an inopportune time."He stood up using a chair for support.
　　"There's no rush," Song replied. "Please stay and havea meal before leaving." He turned and whispered a fewwords to an attendant.
　　Wen insisted they would go.
　　"Well, please wait a while first, otherwise our Lordmay blame me for neglecting honoured guests." As hespoke, the attendant re-appeared carrying a tray onwhich were two large silver ingots. Song took thetray.
　　"Master Wen," he said. "You have come a long way tovisit our humble manor and we have not had a chance tolook after you properly. Please accept this as afavour to me for your travelling expenses."Wen, filled with rage, picked up both of the ingotswith his left hand. "We did not come to yourhonourable manor to extort money," he said. "Youunderestimate us, friend Song."Song quickly protested that he would not dare tosuggest such a thing.
　　Wen laughed coldly and placed the ingots back on thetray. "Goodbye," he said.
　　Song looked down and started in fright. With just onehand, Wen had crushed the two ingots together into aflat cake of silver. He led the three toeards thegate, offering profuse apologies as he went. Wenignored him. Three attendants led their horses up, andthey mounted immediately.
　　Luo Bing took out a gold ingot many times morevaluable than the silver offered by Song and gave itto the attendant holding her horse. "Thank you foryour trouble," she said. "Here's a little somethingfor the three of you to have a drink." For a moment,the attendants did not seem to believe their luck,then they began thanking her over and over again. LuoBing smiled in reply.
　　Just as they were about to ride off, a rider gallopedup, leapt off his horse and saluted Wen with hisfists. "Please come into our humble manor and makeyourselves comfortable," he said.
　　"We do not wish to trouble you," Wen replied. "We willvisit again another time.""We passed you on the road a while ago and our Lordguessed you were coming to the manor," the mancontinued. "He would have liked to turn back, but hehas important business to attend to. So he ordered meto come to receive you. He is eager to make youracquaintance. He said he would definitely returntonight, and insisted that you stay at our humblemanor."Wen's anger melted as he heard the sincerity in thenewcomer's voice, and they went back into the manor.
　　The man introduced himself as Meng, Zhou's seniorpupil, as Song stood to one side looking veryuncomfortable. Guests and host sat down and fresh teawas served. An attendant whispered something to Mengwho stood up and bowed before Luo Bing.
　　"Our lady invites you to go into the inner hall torest," he said.
　　A maidservant led Luo Bing through a passageway and awoman in her forties strode out and grasped Luo Bing'shand familiarly.
　　"They told me just now that some members of the RedFlower Society had arrived and then left again. Butyou've come back and saved face for me. Our Lord willbe so happy! Now, don't rush away. You can stay for afew days. Look, all of you," she said, turning to hermaidservants. "Look how beautiful this girl is! Sheputs our girls to shame."Luo Bing thought the woman was rather indiscreet.
　　"What is your name, Madame?" she asked. "My husband issurnamed Wen.""See how muddle-headed I am!" the woman said. "I'm sohappy at seeing such a pretty girl that I've gonesilly!""This is our lady," one of the maidservants explained.
　　The woman was Lord Zhou's second wife. His first hadborne two sons, but both had died in fights. Thissecond wife had given birth to a daughter, Zhou Qi, awild girl of eighteen always getting into trouble, andit had seemed as if Zhou was destined to have no moresons. But in his fifty-fourth year, another wasunexpectedly born. The couple were overjoyed to gain ason so late in life.
　　"Call the young master in quickly," Madame Zhou saidafter seating herself comfortably. "Let Madame Wen seehim."A lively, good-looking child emerged from the innerrooms and Luo Bing judged from his bearing that he hadalready received several years of training in themartial arts. He kowtowedtowards Luo Bing, who took hold of his hand and askedhim his name and age.
　　"My name is Zhou Yingjie and I'm ten this year," thechild replied.
　　Luo Bing unfastened the pearl bracelet from her wristand gave it to him.
　　"We have come from far away, and I don't have anythingnice to give you, but you can put these pearls roundthe edge of your cap," she said. Madame Zhouprotested, but to no avail.
　　While they were talking, one of the maidservantsrushed in crying: "Mistress Wen! Master Wen hasfainted!"Madame Zhou quickly gave orders to fetch a doctorwhile Luo Bing ran back to her husband. Wen's injurieswere already serious, and he had used up a great dealof his remaining strength to squeeze the silver ingotstogether. Wen was unconscious, his face drained ofcolour. Luo Bing ran to him, calling his name over andover again. Slowly, he regained consciousness.
　　Meng dispatched an attendant to report to Lord Zhouthat the guests were settled in. As he turned backinside after seeing the attendant gallop off, henoticed a figure dart behind a willow tree. He made nosign that he had seen anything unusual, but slowlywalked back into the manor and ran up to thewatchtower. After a while, he saw a a short man creepfurtively out from behind one willow tree and runbehind another.
　　Meng called for Lord Zhou's young son and whisperedsome instructions to him. Then he ran out of the manorgate, laughing and shouting: "Little brother, I'llpretend to be afraid of you, all right?"The boy followed close behind, shouting: "Where do youthink you're running off to? You won't admit defeat,will you? Come here and kowtow before me!"Meng bowed and mockingly begged for mercy. The boymade a grab for him and Meng ran straight for thewillow behind which the intruder was hiding. Hecharged straight into the man, knocking him flat.
　　It was the Zhen Yuan Agency's Lead Escort Tong. He hadseen Wen and the others leave the inn and had followedthem, determined to prove wrong those who said he wasgood for nothing but eating and talking. Tong had fewabilities, but he was quick-witted and knewimmediately that Meng had planned the collision totest his kung fu, so he let his whole body goloose,pretending that he knew none at all. Since hiskung fu was mediocre, pretending to know none at allwas not difficult.
　　"Excuse me," said Tong. "Is this the road toSandaogou?" He tried to get up, but cried out in pain:
　　"Ai-ya! My arm!""I'm very sorry," Meng said. "You're not hurt, areyou? Please come into the manor and I'll have a lookat you. We have some excellent medicinal ointments."Tong was powerless to refuse. Meng helped him up andled him into an ante-room.
　　"Please undo your clothes and let me examine yourwounds," Meng said. He felt around Tong's body,testing him. When an enemy's fingers touch fatalspots, a kung fu initiate would be forced to flinch.
　　"Heroic Uncle Tong is not afraid to die," Tongthought. "Act the lamb until the end!" Meng pressedthe 'Solar Yuedao' points on his temples and toughedother Yuedao points on his chest and armpits, makingTong giggle.
　　"Ai-ya! Stop that! I'm very ticklish," he said.
　　They were all fatal points but Tong seemedunconcerned. Meng decided he really didn't know anykung fu. "From his accent, he isn't a local," hethought, still suspicious. "Could he be a petty thief,I wonder?"Meng could not detain Tong without authority, so hewalked him back towards the gate. Tong peered abouthim as they walked through the manor, trying todiscover to where Wen and the others were. Mengdecided he must be a scout for a gang of thieves.
　　"Be careful, my friend," he said. "Remember where youare."Tong looked around in mock awe. "Such a big place! Itlooks like a great temple. Except there's no Buddha."He asked Tong what his business was in the area.
　　Meng escorted him over the drawbridge and laughedcoldly. "Goodbye friend," he said, clapping Tongheavily on the shoulder. "Come and visit us againsometime."The pain from the blow went straight to Tong's marrow.
　　Swearing profusely, he found his horse and gallopedback to the Antong Inn in Sandaogou. As he entered theroom, he saw Master Zhang, Officer Wu and the agencymen together with seven or eight men he didn't know.
　　They were in the midst of a discussion on where WenTailai might have escaped to. No one could think of ananswer, and their faces were gloomy.
　　Tong smugly related how he had followed Wen, naturallyomitting the part about his encounter with Meng.
　　Zhang was delighted. "Let's go," he said, adding withuncustomary warmth: "Brother Tong, you lead the way."The whole group immediately set out for Iron GallManor, rubbing their hands in anticipation as theywent. Tong boasted extravagantly of how he had usedLightness kung fu, and of the risks he had taken intracking Wen. "This is an assignment from the Emperorhimself, so Uncle Tong went all out against therenegades," he said.
　　Officer Wu, who had already employed a bone-setter tohelp mend his fractured shoulder, hurriedly introducedTong to the newcomers. Tong started in fright as heheard their names: they were all top fighters employedby the court, famous martial arts specialists, bothManchu and Chinese, who had come specifically toarrest Wen Tailai.
Chapter 8
Lu Feiqing galloped westwards, braving strong windswhich whipped his face. Passing through Black GoldGorge, he noticed the blood spilled during theprevious day's battle had already been washed away bythe rain. He covered about twenty miles in one stretchand arrived at a small market fair. Although the skywas growing dark, he was impatient to continue on hisway but his horse was exhausted. As he considered whatto do, he saw a Muslim at the edge of the fair leadingtwo large, well-fed horses and looking around as ifwaiting for someone.
　　Lu went over and asked if he could buy one of them.
　　The Muslim shook his head. Lu reached into his clothbundle and took out a large silver ingot, but theMuslim shook his head again. Anxious and impatient, Luturned the bundle upside down and six or seven moresilver ingots fell out: he offered them all. TheMuslim waved his hand to indicate the horse wasdefinitely not for sale, and Lu dejectedly began toput the ingots back into his bundle. As he did so, theMuslim glimpsed a dart amongst the ingots, which hepicked up and examined closely. It was the dart HuoQingtong had thrown at Lu after he followed her to theMuslim camp site. He asked where the dart came from.
　　In a flash of inspiration, Lu said Huo Qingtong washis friend and that she had given the dart to him. TheMuslim nodded, placed the dart back in Lu's hand andpassed over the reins of one of the horses. Delighted,Lu pulled out an ingot of silver again, but the Muslimwaved his hand in refusal and walked away.
　　"I would never have guessed that such a flower of agirl would have such great influence among theMuslims," Lu thought.
　　He rode off, and in the next town, came across moreMuslims. He pulled out the dart and was immediatelyable to trade his mount for another strong horse.
　　Lu continued to change horses the whole way and,eating dry provisions as he rode, he covered twohundred miles in a day and a night. Towards evening onthe second day, he arrived at Anxi. Lu was a man ofgreat strength, but he was getting on in years, andgalloping for so long without rest had exhausted him.
　　As soon as he entered the city, he took out the redflower Wen had given him and stuck it in his lapel.
　　Only a few steps later, two men in short jacketsappeared in front of him, saluted and invited him toaccompany them to a restaurant. Once there, one of themen sat with him while the other excused himself andleft. Lu's companion was extremely courteous, andordered food and wine without asking any questions.
　　After three cups of wine, another man hurried in, cameover to them and saluted with his fists. Lu quicklystood up and returned the salute. The man, aged aboutthirty, wore an ordinary gown. He asked Lu for hisname and Lu told him.
　　"So you are Master Lu of the Wudang School," the mansaid. "We have often heard our Third Brother Zhaospeak of you. I have great admiration for you. Ourmeeting today is very auspicious.""What is your honourable name?" Lu asked.
　　"My name is Wei.""Please take a seat, sir," Lu's first companion said.
　　He saluted both Lu and Wei, and then left.
　　"Our Society's Young Helmsman and many of our brothersare here in Anxi," said Wei. "If we had known you werecoming, they would certainly have all been here togreet you. In a moment, if you don't mind, we will goand everyone can pay their respects to you."They left the restaurant and rode out of the city.
　　"You have met our Fourth Brother Wen Tailai and hiswife," Wei said.
　　"Yes. How did you know?""The flower you are wearing is Brother Wen's. It hasfour green leaves."Lu was surprised at how openly Wei talked about theirsociety's secret signs, treating him not in theslightest like an outsider.
　　After a while, they arrived at an imposing Taoistmonastery surrounded by tall, ancient trees. Over themain gate was a wooden tablet inscribed with fourlarge characters: "Jade Nothingness Taoist Monastery".
　　Two Taoist priests standing in front of the monasterybowed respectfully. Wei invited Lu inside, and a youngapprentice priest brought tea. Wei whispered in hisear, and the apprentice nodded and went inside. Lu wasjust about to raise his cup when he heard someone inthe inner hall shout: "Brother Lu! I've been worriedto death about you..." It was Lu's old comrade, ZhaoBanshan.
　　Zhao's questions came thick and fast. "Where have youbeen all these years? What brings you here?"Lu brushed the questions aside. "There is an urgentmatter to be discussed first. Your honourablesociety's Brother Wen is in serious trouble."He outlined the predicament of Wen and his wife. Evenbefore he had finished, Wei ran inside to report.
　　While he was still talking, Lu heard Wei arguingloudly with someone in the courtyard.
　　"Why are you holding me back?" the other shouted. "Imust go to help Brother Wen now!""You're too impatient," Wei replied. "It must bediscussed by everyone first, and then it is up to theYoung Helmsman to decide who goes." The othercontinued to protest.
　　Taking Lu by the hand, Zhao walked into the courtyard,and Lu saw the hunchback who had severed the tail ofYuanzhi's horse.
　　Wei gave the hunchback a push. "Go and pay yourrespects to Master Lu," he said. The hunchback walkedover and stared dumbly at him for a moment. Lu knewthe hunchback remembered his face and, uneasy at thethought of how Yuanzhi had laughed at him that day, hewas about to apologise when the hunchback said:
　　"You have ridden more than two hundred miles in anight and a day to report on behalf of Brother Wen. I,Hunchback Zhang Jin, thank you!" He knelt down, andkowtowed to Lu four times, his head banging on theflagstones.
　　Lu wanted to stop him but it was already too late, soall he could do was to kneel down and return thegesture.
　　The hunchback stood up. "I am leaving now," heannounced. As he passed through the circular doorway,a very short man coming in the other way caught holdof the hunchback. "Where are you going?" he asked.
　　"I am going to find Brother Wen and Mistress Luo Bing.
　　Come with me." Without waiting for an answer, thehunchback pulled him along by the wrist.
　　The hunchback Zhang Jin had been born with a deformedbody, but his strength was frightening. When talkingto others, he often referred to himself as 'HunchbackZhang', but anyone else calling him a 'hunchback' wascourting disaster. He ranked 10th in seniority in theRed Flower Society; his travelling companion was XuTianhong who ranked seventh. Xu was very short andslight in build, almost the size of a dwarf, but hiswisdom and resource made him the Red Flower Society'schief tactician, and the fighting community had dubbedhim 'The Kung Fu Mastermind'.
　　One by one, the other members of the Red FlowerSociety came out and were introduced to Lu. They wereall famous heroes and Lu recognised most of them afterhaving passed them on the road several days before.
　　The formal greetings were kept to a minimum, and aftera moment the one-armed Taoist priest, who rankedsecond within the society, said: "Let us go and seethe Young Helmsman."They went through to the rear courtyard and entered alarge room. On one of the wooden walls a huge'encirclement chess' board had been carved.* (* thegame, Wei Qi, is best known by its Japanese name -Go.) Two men were sitting on a couch about thirty feetaway, fingering chess pieces and throwing them at thevertical board, each piece lodging itself in the lineswhich formed the squares. In all his wide experience,Lu had never seen chess played in such a manner.
　　Playing white was a young man with a refined facewearing a white gown who looked like the son of anobleman. His opponent, playing black, was an old mandressed in farmer's clothes.
　　"I wonder who this old hero is," Lu thought. "Neverhave I seen anyone with his strength and accuracy." Hecould see black was in a dangerous position, and thatwith just one more move by white, all the black pieceswould be lost. The young man threw a piece, but hisaim was slightly off: the piece failed to embed itselfin the intersection of the lines and fell to thefloor. The old man laughed.
　　"You missed," he said. "Admit defeat!" He pushed thechess pieces aside and stood up.
　　His opponent smiled. "We'll have another game in awhile, teacher," he said. The old man saw the groupentering, and strode out of the room without so muchas a greeting.
　　"Young Helmsman," Zhao said. "This is Brother LuFeiqing of the Wudang School." And to Lu: "This is ourYoung Helmsman. I hope you will get to know oneanother well."The young man brought his two fists together insalute. "My name is Chen Jialuo. I would greatlyappreciate your honoured counsel."Lu was surprised to find that this Young Helmsman gaveevery appearance of being a dissolute young man from awealthy family, the complete opposite of the rest ofthe bandit-like bunch.
　　Zhao informed the Young Helmsman of how Wen had takenrefuge in Iron Gall Manor, and asked him for a plan ofaction. The Young Helmsman turned to the Taoistpriest. "Priest Wu Chen," he said. "Please give usyour advice."A large, fat man, whom Zhao had introduced a momentbefore as 'Iron Pagoda' Yang, stood up and shouted:
　　"Fourth Brother is badly wounded, someone we havenever met before has ridden hard for a day and a nightto report to us, and we are still deferring to eachother. We will kill Fourth Brother with all thisdeference! Can we stop this nonsense? Who dares todisregard the wishes of the old Master? YoungHelmsman, if you do not respect the dying wish of yourfoster father, you are unfilial. If you despise usbrothers so much that you are unwilling to become ourleader, then the Red Flower Society's seventy oreighty thousand members may as well go their separateways."Everyone began talking at once: "We cannot remainleaderless like this! If the Young Helmsman continuesto defer, our devotion will be finished! FourthBrother is in trouble! We must follow the YoungHelmsman's orders and go to save him!"The young man, Chen, looked greatly distressed. Hiseyebrows drew together in a deep frown as he silentlypondered the problem.
　　"Brothers!" shouted one of the Twin Knights ofSichuan. "Since the Young Helmsman obviously despisesus, we two intend to return to Sichuan as soon asFourth Brother has been rescued."Chen saw he had no alternative and saluted the heroeswith his fists. "Brother Wen is in trouble and we canwait no longer. All of you insist that I becomeHelmsman, and because of the respect I have for you, Iwill do as you say."The heroes of the Red Flower Society shouted andapplauded with delight and relief.
　　"Well then," said the Taoist priest. "The GreatHelmsman should now pay his respects to hispredecessor and accept the Flower of Authority."Lu knew that each society had its own special ritesand ceremonies of which the initiation of a new leaderwas by far the most important. As an outsider, Lu feltuncomfortable about being present during such aceremony, so he congratulated Chen and immediatelyexcused himself. He was extremely weary after hisjourney, and Zhao led him to a room where he washedand slept. When he awoke, it was already night.
　　"The Great Helmsman has left with the others for IronGall Manor," Zhao said. "But he left me here to keepyou company. We can follow on tomorrow."And then, after two decades apart, the two men talked.
　　They talked of the doings of the fighting communityover the years, the good and the bad, the living andthe dead, until the east grew light.
　　"Your Great Helmsman is so young," said Lu. "He lookslike nothing more than just another rich man's son.
　　Why are you all willing to follow him?""It would take a long time to explain," Zhao replied.
　　"You rest for a while longer and we can talk againlater when we're riding."
Chapter 9
Chen held the dagger in his hands and stood watchingdumbly as Huo Qingtong caught up with the Muslimcolumn and gradually faded towards the horizon. He wasabout to go and ask Lu Feiqing about his pupil when henoticed a horse galloping towards him fast. As it camecloser, he was disappointed to find it was only XinYan returning on the white horse.
　　"Master!" he shouted excitedly. "Master Zhang Jin hasa prisoner.""Who is it?" Chen asked.
　　"I went to the old temple and found Master Zhang Jinarguing with a man who wanted to pass. The man saw thehorse I was ridingand began cursing me as a horsethief and struck out at me with his sword. MasterZhang Jin and I fought with him. His kung fu wasreally good. He fought the two of us single-handeduntil finally I picked up some stones and startedthrowing them at him, and Master Zhang Jin clubbed himon the thigh. It was only then that we managed tocapture him."Chen smiled. "What is his name? What was he doing?""We asked him but he wouldn't say. But Master ZhangJin says he must be a member of the Han School ofLuoyang because he was using Iron Pipa Hand Kung Fu."Zhang Jin galloped up, dismounted and bowed beforeChen, then pulled a man off the horse's saddle. He wastied hand and foot, but he stood haughtily, exuding anair of insolence.
　　"I understand you are a member of the Han School ofLuoyang," Chen said. "What is your honourable name?"The man said nothing.
　　"Xin Yan, undo this gentleman's bonds," Chen said.
　　Xin Yan drew his knife and cut the rope that bound theman's hands and legs then stood behind him, his knifeat the ready.
　　"My friends have wronged you, but please do not beoffended," Chen said. "Come into my tent and take aseat."Chen and the man sat on the ground while the otherheroes came in and stood behind Chen's back.
　　When he saw Luo Bing enter, the man's anger flared andhe jumped up. "You stole my horse," he shouted,pointing at her.
　　"So it's Master Han," Luo Bing replied with a smile.
　　"We exchanged horses and I compensated you with a goldingot. You did very well out of the deal. What are youangry about?"Chen asked what had happened, and Luo Bing recountedhow she had taken the white horse. The others laughedas they listened.
　　"In that case, we will return the horse to you, MasterHan," Chen said. "There is also no need to return thegold ingot. Consider it a token of our respect and aspayment for the rental of your horse."Han was about to reply when Luo Bing said: "GreatHelmsman, this won't do. Do you know who he is? He's aZhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency man." She pulled out WangWeiyang's letter and handed it to him.
　　Chen's eyes flashed down the lines. "The great name ofWang Weiyang has been known to me for a long time, butregrettably I ave never met him," he said. "You are amember of the Han School of Luoyang. What relation areyou to Fifth Madame Han?""And what is your honourable surname and esteemedname, sir?" Han replied.
　　Chen smiled. "My surname is Chen, my given name,Jialuo."Han stood up. "You...you are the son of Chief MinisterChen?" he asked in a quavering voice.
　　"This is the Great Helmsman of our Red FlowerSociety," one of the Twin Knights said.
　　Han slowly sat down again and began weighing up thisyoung Great Helmsman.
　　"Someone in the underworld started the rumour that oursociety was connected with the death of one of yourschool's members," Chen said. "In fact, we knownothing of it. I dispatched one of our brothers toLuoyang to explain the matter, but something came upand he was forced to postpone the trip. So yourarrival could not have been better timed, Master Han.
　　I don't know how this rumour started. Can you tellme?""You...you're really the son of Chief Minister Chen ofHaining?" Han asked.
　　"Since you know my identity, there is no point intrying to deceive you," Chen replied.
　　"Your family announced a large reward for finding youafter you left home," Han said. "It was said that youhad joined the Red Flower Society and had gone to theMuslim border regions. My late comrade Jiao Wenqi wasengaged by your family to look for you, but hemysteriously disappeared on the way. That was fiveyears ago. Recently, someone found the Iron Plate andPipa darts that Brother Jiao used in Shanxi province,and we now know for certain that he was murdered.
　　No-one knows the exact circumstances of his death, butconsider, sir: if it wasn't the Red Flower Society,then who did it?""I killed Jiao Wenqi," Lu Feiqing interrupted. "I amnot amember of the Red Flower Society, so this matterhas nothing to do with them."The others were startled. Lu stood up and told thestory of how Jiao had found him one night, how hefought one against three, and had been injured, buthad still managed to kill them on the desertedhillside. The heroes listened and then cursed Jiao,saying he was shameless and deserved to die. Han'sface darkened but he said nothing.
　　"If Master Han wishes to avenge his martial brother'sdeath, there is no reason why he should not do sonow," Lu said. Heturned to Luo Bing. "Mistress Wen,return Master Han's weapon to him please."Luo Bing pulled out the Iron Pipa and handed it to Lu.
　　"Since Jiao was commissioned by the Chen family tofind their son, he should have stuck to his mission,"Lu said. As he spoke, he absent-mindedly excercisedhis Inner Strength kung fu on the body of the hollowIron Pipa, slowly flattening it. "What was he doingusing their money to come and give me trouble? Even ifwe of the fighting community are not able to sacrificeourselves to save our country from the Manchubarbarians, we should still fight for justice andagainst those who oppress the people."His Inner Strength kung fu was extraordinary. Hishands rolled the flattened iron plate round so that itwas transformed into a tube, and then with a fewsqeezes, into an iron club.
　　"What I detest most are the Manchu court's Eagles'
　　Claws and the bodyguard agency running dogs who use asmall knowledge of the martial arts to assist thewicked with their evil deeds."His voice suddenly hardened and he twisted the ironclub into an iron ring.
　　As Lu talked, Han watched him twist and squeeze hisschool's famous weapon as if he were making noodles,and was both startled and afraid. He knew that Jiao'skung fu had been about the same standard as his own,and realised that fighting with this old manmeantcertain death.
　　Han's courage had already evaporated and he did notdare to challenge Lu. But although shocked andhumbled, he did not wish to appear too cowardly.
　　"This affair of Jiao Wenqi in fact arose because ofme," Chen said. "I will write a letter to my elderbrother telling him that Master Jiao found me, butthat I was not willing to return home; also, that onhis way back, Master Jiao met with an accident andpassed away. I will then ask my brother to pay thereward and compensation money to Master Jiao'sfamily."Han continued to hesitate, and Chen's eyebrows rose.
　　"But if your heart is set upon revenge, then I willfight you myself."Han shuddered. "I will do exactly as you say, sir," hereplied.
　　"That's a good fellow," Chen said. "One has to beflexible."He told Xin Yan to hand him his writing brush,instone, ink and writing paper, and using a vigorouscalligraphic style, wrote out a letter which Hanaccepted.
　　"Master Wang asked me to help escort a cargo back toBeijing and then to escort some treasures the Emperorhas presented to your honourable family down to thesouth. But faced with the extraordinary talents of youall, I would only make a fool of myself if I madefurther use of my own minor abilities in the martialarts. I will take my leave of you, sir.""Did you say items belonging to my family, MasterHan?""The bodyguard agency caller who brought me the lettersaid the Emperor is extremely generous towards yourfamily. Every few months, he bestows an amount ofprecious stones and treasures, and there is now alarge accumulation of these that must be sent south toyour home. Your family asked us to escort them, but Iwould not dare to continue earning my daily rice insuch a business. After I have made suitablearrangements for Brother Jiao's dependants, I willreturn home.""It is good that you are willing to follow Master Lu'sinvaluable words of advice," Chen said. "In that case,I might as well make friends with you. Xin Yan, pleasebring in the other gentlemen from the Zhen YuanBodyguard Agency."Xin Yan went out and led in Lead Escort Qian and theothers. Han and the escorts stared dumbly at eachother.
　　"Master Han, please take these friends with you," saidChen. "But if we ever catch them again doing anythingbut good deeds, do not blame us if our hands are notstayed by mercy."Chen did not again mention the return of the whitehorse, and Han did not dare to bring it up.
　　"We will leave first," Chen said. "I will ask all ofyou to rest here for a day before making a start."The Red Flower Society heroes mounted their horses anstarted off, leaving the Agency men and the Yamenofficers standing silently behind.
　　"Master Chen," Lu Feiqing said after they hadtravelled for a while. "My pupil will meet up withthose bodyguard agency fellows before long. They havebeen humiliated and have no way to get their revenge,so they may cause trouble. I would like to stay behindand watch them for a while before following afteryou.""Please do as you wish, Master Lu," Chen replied.
　　Lu saluted, then galloped off the way they had come.
　　Chen realised as Lu disappeared that he had not askedhim about his pupil.
Chapter 10
Scholar' Yu, under orders to investigate thewhereabouts of Wen Tailai, made discreet enquiriesalong the road as he went. But he discovered no clues,and in less than a day arrived at Liangzhou, aprosperous busy city and one of the largest in Gansuprovince. He found a room in an inn, then went to atavern and drank alone, bemoaning his fate. He thoughtof Luo Bing's voice and smile, and a tide of longingrose within him. He knew it was hopeless, and the morehe drank, the more melancholy he became. He was justabout to leave when two men came in. Yu knew he hadseen one of them before and quickly turned his headaway. He thought frantically and placed him as one ofthe Yamen officers he had fought at Iron Gall Manor.
　　Luckily, the man and his companion paid no attentionto him.
　　They chose a table near the window which happened tobe just next to Yu's and sat down. Yu sat with hishead on the table, pretending to be drunk.
　　The two men chatted for a while, then one said:
　　"Brother Rui, it's remarkable How you captured thatfellow. I wonder what sort of reward the Emperor willgive you?""I'm not concerned about the reward," Rui replied. "Ifwe can get him to Hangzhou nice and safely, I'll behappy. When we left Beijing, there were eight of usbodyguards, and now I'm the only one left. It was thatfight in Suzhou. I'm not selling myself short, but Istill get the shivers just thinking about it.""You're with Master Zhang now," the other said. "I'msure nothing more will be wrong.""That's true," Rui replied. "But it means that theImperial Guardsmen get all the credit. What do weImperial Bodyguards get out of it? But tell me, oldZhu. What are they doing sending him to Hangzhouinstead of to Beijing?""My younger sister is from the family of Great ScholarShi, as you know," Zhu replied, lowering his voice.
　　"She told me quietly that the Emperor plans to go downsouth. Perhaps he wants to question him himself."Rui grunted and drank a mouthful of wine. "So the sixof you rushed out from Beijing to see that theImperial command was complied with?""And to give the rest of you some help. The Red FlowerSociety is very powerful in the south. We have to beespecially careful."As he listened, Yu groaned inwardly at the sheer luckof it all. If he had not happened to be there and hearthem, the Red Flower Society heroes would have beenracing to Beijing to save Wen when he was really beingtaken to Hangzhou.
　　"Brother Rui," Zhu said. "Exactly what crime has thisfellow committed that the Emperor wants to questionhim personally?""How would we know?" Rui replied. "We were just toldthat if we didn't catch him, we would all be removedfrom our posts. I just hope I can keep my head on myshoulders."The two laughed and drank, and their conversationturned to the subject of women. Finally, they paid thebill and stood up to leave. Rui looked over at Yuprostrate on the table.
　　"Scholars," he said and laughed harshly. "Three cupsof wine and they can't even walk."Yu waited until they had gone, then hastily threw fivesilver coins onto the table and dashed out of thetavern. He spotted the men entering the city Yamen. Hewaited for a long time but didn't see them re-appear,and decided they must be lodging there.
　　He returned to his room and as soon as it was dark, hechanged into a set of dark clothes, stuck his goldenflute into his belt then ran over to the Yamen. Makinghis way round to the back, he clambered over the wall.
　　All was pitch black in the courtyard except for ashaft of light coming from a window in the easternhall, and as he crept closer, he heard voices comingfrom inside. He wet the tip of his finger with a dropof saliva, then lightly moistened the window paper andmade a small hole. Looking through, he started infright.
　　The hall was full of people. Zhang Zhaozhong wasseated in the middle with the bodyguards and Yamenofficers on either side of him. A man standing withhis back to Yu cursed angrily, and he knew from hisvoice that it was Wen Tailai.
　　"You can curse to your heart's content," a voice offto the side said darkly. "I may not be as proficientin the martial arts as you, but you will still get ataste of my hand."Yu was distressed. "They are going to humiliate FourthBrother," he thought. "He is the person Fourth Sisterrespects and loves most. How can I allow him to beinsulted by these villains?"He saw a tall, thin middleaged man wearing a blue gownadvancing on Wen with his hand raised. Just as the manwas about to strike Wen, Yu inserted his flute throughthe hole in the window paper, and with a puff, shot asmall arrow into the man's left eye.
　　The man fell to the ground in agony and there was amoment of confusion in the hall. Yu shot another arrowinto the right cheek of one of the bodyguards, thenkicked open the main door of the hall and ran straightin.
　　"Don't move!" he shouted. "The Red Flower Society hascome to the rescue!"He raised his flute and struck the Yamen officersbeside Wen, then pulled a dagger from his legwrappingsand cut the ropes binding Wen's hands and feet.
　　Zhang Zhaozhong thought a largescale attack was inprogress and immediately drew his sword and went tothe hall door to prevent Wen and Yu from escaping andthose outside from getting in.
　　As soon as Wen's hands were free of the bonds, hisspirits surged. An Imperial Bodyguard lunged towardshim and Wen struck him hard with his fist, sending himreeling away. The others were so afraid of Wen's powerthat for a while they did not dare to get too close tohim.
　　"Fourth Brother, let's get out!" Yu said.
　　"Are the others here?""No," Yu replied quietly. "There's only me."Wen nodded once. The wounds on his right arm and thighhad not yet healed, but he ran for the door with hisright arm resting on Yu's shoulder.
　　Zhang strode foward a step. "Stop!" he shouted, andjabbed at Wen's stomach with his long sword. Wen wasslow on his feet, so using attack as his defence, hestruck out at his opponent's eyes with the index andmiddle fingers of his left hand, and Zhang was forcedto retract his sword.
　　"Good!" he exclaimed. The two men were incrediblyfast, but Wen only had the use of his left arm andafter a few more moves, Zhang hit his right shoulder.
　　Unable to keep his balance, Wen sat down heavily onthe floor.
　　"I shouldn't have done this," Yu thought as he foughtoff the Imperial Bodyguards. "I will save FourthBrother and then let the Eagle's Claws kill me so thatFourth Sister will know that I, Yu Yutong, am not anunchivalrous oaf."He saw Wen fall to the ground and flipped round tostrike out desperately at Zhang.
　　"Fourth Brother, get out quick!" Yu shouted. Wenrested a moment and then with difficulty clambered tohis feet. The golden flute flew and danced, completelyneglecting to defend or parry. Yu was completelyunconcerned about his own safety. Even with his superbswordsmanship, Zhang was forced to move back severalpaces in the face of his suicidal attack. Wen saw anopening and shot out of the door, with the mob of thebodyguards and officers howling after him.
　　Yu blocked them at the door, ignoring his own safety.
　　"Don't you want to live?" Zhang shouted. "Who taughtyou that kung fu style?" Yu was using the traditionalstyle of the Wudang School, the school to which Zhangbelonged, and Zhang had so far spared him because ofit.
　　"It would be best if you killed me," Yu said, smilingsadly. After a few more moves, Zhang's sword struckhim once more, this time on the right shoulder, so Yushifted the golden flute to his left hand andcontinued the fight without retreating a step.
　　The mass of the bodyguards charged forward again andYu's flute danced, hooting strangely as the windwhipped through it. A bodyguard chopped at him withhis sword, and gashed Yu's shoulder. His body was nowcovered in blood, but he continued the fierce battle,and there was a sudden crack as the jawbone of anotherbodyguard was shattered. The bodyguards pressedforward, knives, swords, whips and clubs all thrustingtowards Yu simultaneously. Yu's thigh was hit by aclub and he fell to the ground. His golden flute keptup its dance for a few moments, then he fainted away.
　　There was a sudden shout from the door: "Stop!"The bodyguards turned and saw Wen walking slowly backinto the hall. He ignored them and went straight overto Yu. Seeing his bloodied body, he couldn't stop histears. He bent down and was relieved to find Yu wastill breathing.
　　"Treat his wounds quickly," he ordered.
　　The bodyguards were so fearful of his power, that theydid as he said. Wen watched them bind Yu's wounds andcarry him through to the inner hall, then placed bothof his hands behind his back.
　　"Tie me up," he said. One of the bodyguards lookedover at Zhang, then walked slowly over.
　　"What are you afraid of?" Wen asked. "If I was goingto hurt you, I would have done so long ago."The bodyguard bound his hands and took him back to thedungeons. Two bodyguards were left to guard him.
　　Early the next morning, Zhang went to see Yu and foundhim in a deep sleep. He was told by a guard that thedoctor had visited Yu and prescribed some medicine.
　　Zhang visited him again in the afternoon and Yuappeared to be more alert.
　　"Is your teacher surnamed Lu or Ma?" Zhang asked him.
　　"My teacher is surnamed Ma, his given name is Zhen.""So that's it. I am your martial uncle, ZhangZhaozhong."Yu nodded slightly.
　　"Are you a member of the Red Flower Society?"Yu nodded again.
　　"Such a nice young man," Zhang sighed. "What a pitythat you have fallen to such a state. What relation isWen Tailai to you? What were you doing risking yourlife to save him?"Yu closed his eyes and was silent. A moment passed.
　　"In the end I did save him, so I can die in peace," hefinally said.
　　"Huh! Do you really think you could snatch him awayfrom me?"Yu was startled. "Didn't he escape?" he asked.
　　"How could he? Stop day-dreaming!"Zhang tried to interrogate him, but Yu took no notice,and after a while he began to sneeze.
　　Zhang smiled slightly. "You stubborn boy," he said,and left.
　　He ordered the Imperial Bodyguards to organise anambush with Wen as bait. After dinner, Wen was broughtout of the dungeon and interrogated once more, in thesame manner as the night before when Yu hadunexpectedly burst in and disrupted the proceedings.
　　This time, however, heavily-armed troops were hiddenall around the Yamen, waiting to catch any Red FlowerSociety rescuers. But they waited in vain.
　　The next morning, Zhang received a report that thewaters of the Yellow River were rising rapidly, andthat the current at the point where they intended tocross was very strong and ordered an immediatedeparture. He had Wen and Yu placed in separatecarriages and was just about to start out when OfficerWu and the Zhen Yuan Agency Lead Escorts raced intothe Yamen. Zhang hastily questioned them, and OfficerWu breathlessly told him how they had been attackedand captured by the Muslims and the Red FlowerSociety, and how Lead Escort Yan had been killed by ayoung Muslim girl.
　　"Brother Yan was a very tough fighter," Zhang said.
　　"Extraordinary." He raised his hand. "We will meetagain in Beijing."Zhang immediately went and told the Liangzhou Militarycommander that he wanted four hundred crack troopstransferred to his command to help escort criminalswanted by the Emperor. The commander did not darerefuse and also dispatched Colonel Cao Neng andChief-of-Staff Ping Wangxian to lead the escortingsoldiers until they reached Lanzhou, the provincialcapital, where provincial troops would take over.
　　Zhang's column surged out of the town, stealing andpilfering from the common people in the usual way asthey went.
　　They travelled without incident for two days. Then,about ten miles from a village named Twin Wells, theycame upon two bare-breasted men sitting beneath a treeby the side of the road with a pair of fine horsesstanding nearby. Two of the soldiers went over.
　　"Hey!" one shouted. "These two horses look likeofficial horses. Where did you steal them from?""We are peaceful citizens," said one of the men. "Wewouldn't dare to steal horses.""We are tired of walking. Lend them to us," the secondsoldier replied.
　　The two men stood up, walked over to their horses anduntied the reins.
　　The soldiers walked haughtily over and were just aboutto take hold of the reins when the two men kickedtheir behinds, leapt onto the horses and galloped overto one of the carriages.
　　"Is Fourth Brother in there?" one shouted.
　　"Ah, Twelfth Brother!" Wen answered.
　　"Fourth Brother, we're leaving," the man replied. "Butdon't worry, we'll be back to rescue you soon."The two men galloped away before the carriage's guardscould attack.
　　The column lodged that night at a town called ClearWater Shop. Early the following morning, while most ofthe soldiers were still asleep, a scream was heard,and there was a moment of confusion. The two troopcommanders, Cao and Ping went to investigate and foundthe bodies of more than a dozen soldiers lying wherethey had slept, each with a gaping gash in the chest.
　　There was no indication of who had killed them.
　　The next evening, they rested at Hengshi. This was alarge town, and the column filled three inns and manyprivate houses besides. During the night, one of theinns caught fire. Zhang ordered the bodyguards toguard Wen and to heed nothing else in order to avoidbeing tricked. The flames rose higher and higher.
　　"Bandits!" Cao Neng cried as he ran into Zhang's room.
　　"They're attacking!""Please go and direct operations yourself, GeneralCao," Zhang replied. "I am unable to leave thisplace."Cao nodded and left.
　　From outside the inn came the sound of screams andshrieks, galloping horses, the crackle of the flamesand the smash of roof tiles as they hit the ground.
　　Zhang ordered two bodyguards onto the roof to keepwatch, but told them not to get involved unless theenemy attacked the inn. The fire did not get out ofcontrol, and before long it was extinguished. Theagitated clamour continued for a while, then graduallydied down to the point where the sound of hooves couldbe heard as horses galloped off eastwards.
　　Cao, his face covered in soot, grease and blood, ranin to see Zhang again.
　　"The bandits have retreated," he reported.
　　"How many of our men have been killed and wounded?"Zhang asked.
　　"I don't know yet. Several...several dozen.""How many bandits were captured?"Cao's mouth fell open. After a moment, he said:
　　"None."Zhang grunted.
　　"Their faces were covered with cloth, and their kungfu was horrendous," Cao added. "But it's very strange,they didn't steal anything. All they did was kill ourbrothers. Just before they left, they threw down twohundred taels of silver for the innkeeper saying itwas compensation for starting the fire.""So you think they were bandits, do you?" Zhang said.
　　"Tell everyone to get some rest, General Cao. We willstart out early tomorrow."Cao retired and went to see the innkeeper, whom heaccused of being in collusion with the bandits andresponsible for the murder of the soldiers. Theinnkeeper kowtowed and begged for mercy and finallygave Cao the two hundred taels of silver.
　　The next day, the soldiers were busy until noon beforefinally making a start. They passed through beautifulcountry of blue hills and green water, surrounded bydense vegetation on all sides. After travelling forabout four hours, the road began to grow graduallysteeper and high peaks rose on either side.
　　A horse came galloping down the road towards them andhalted about ten paces in front of the column.
　　"Listen to me, all of you," the rider called out. "Youhave offended the demons. Turn back quickly and youwill be spared. If you continue eastwards, each one ofyou Turtles will surely die."The soldiers shuddered as they looked at the man. Hewas wearing clothes made of rough hemp bound at thewaist with grass rope. His face was pale yellow andhis eyebrows slanted upwards, just like the images oflife-stealing spirits in the temples. The man spurredhis horse forward and galloped down the mountain,passing beside of the column, and was gone. Suddenly,one of the soldiers in the rear-guard gave a cry, andfell to the ground, dead. The rest started in frightand gathered round to look, but there was no woundvisible on his body. Terrified, they all began talkingat once.
　　Cao Neng assigned two soldiers to stay behind and burythe dead man and the column continued up the mountain.
　　Before they had gone very far, another horseapproached them from in front, its rider the same manthey had seen earlier.
　　"Listen to me, all of you," he called out. "You haveoffended the demons. Turn back quickly and you will bespared. If you continue eastwards, each one of youTurtles will surely die."The soldiers wondered fearfully how the man could havemade his way round in front of them again. They hadclearly seen him go down the mountain and one glanceconfirmed that there were no short cuts back up theslope. The man spurred his horse forward and thesoldiers shrunk from him as if he was a real demon.
　　One of the Imperial bodyguards, named Zhu, stuck outhis sword to obstruct the man. "Slow down, friend," hesaid.
　　The man struck Zhu's shoulder with his right hand, andthe sword clattered to the ground. Then he sped offdown the mountain. As he passed the end of the column,the last soldier gave a shriek and fell to the ground,dead. The other soldiers stood staring foolishly,scared out of their wits.
　　Zhang went down to the end of the column toinvestigate.
　　"What is this fellow, a man or a ghost?" Zhu said. Hepressed his wounded right shoulder, his face deathlypale. Zhang told him to undo his clothes and examinedthe large black swelling on his right shoulder. Heordered the troops to strip the dead soldier bare andexamine him for wounds. When they turned him over,they found a similar black swelling on his back fromwhich the shape of a hand could be vaguely discerned.
　　The soldiers broke into an uproar as a shout of "TheDemon's Mark!" The Demon's Mark!" went up. Zhangordered that two soldiers be left behind to bury thedead man. Two were chosen from the ranks, but evenwhen threatened with death, they refused to carry outthe order. Zhang had no alternative but to order ahalt and wait until the body was buried beforecontinuing.
　　"Master Zhang, this fellow is very strange," saidBodyguard Rui. "How could he pass us by and then makehis way back in front of us again?"Zhang stood deep in thought for a while. "Brother Zhuand the two soldiers were obviously victims of BlackSand Palm Kung Fu," he said. "There are very fewmasters of Black Sand Palm kung fu in the underworld.""If it's Black Palm kung fu, then the best isnaturally the Taoist Priest Hui Lu, but he's been deadfor many years," Rui said. "Could it be that hisspirit has re-appeared?"Zhang slapped his thigh. "That's it! That's it!" hecried. "They're Hui Lu's pupils. The Twin Knights thatpeople call Black Death and White Death. I was tryingto think of one person, so I couldn't work it out. Allright, so we're up against them as well."He had no way of knowing that the Chang brothers werealso members of the Red Flower Society.
　　That night, the column stayed at Black Pine Village.
　　Cao posted guards all around the village to keepcareful watch, but next morning, not one of thesoldiers on guard duty returned to report, and adetail sent to investigate found them all dead with astring of paper money tied round each of their necks.
　　The rest of the soldiers were terrified, and more thana dozen immediately deserted, slipping stealthilyaway.
　　They had to cross Black Scabbard Mountain, one of themost precipitous spots on the Liangzhou road. The airbecame colder and colder as the road grew steeper, anddespite the fact that it was only September, snowflakes floated down around them. The road deterioratedto the point where there was a steep mountain face onone side and a sheer cliff on the other falling into adeep ravine. The soldiers moved slowly hand-in-hand,terrified of slipping on the snow. Several of thebodyguards dismounted and helped to support Wen'scarriage.
　　Just as they were gingerly making their way forward,they heard a chirping sound coming from in front. Amoment later, the sound turned into an unearthly howl,tragic and harsh, which echoed through the ravinecausing everyone's hair to stand on end. The soldiersall stopped in their tracks.
　　Then came a shout: "Those who continue will meet theKing of Hell -- Those who turn back will survive."How could the soldiers dare to continue?
　　A man appeared around a curve in the road ahead.
　　"Those who continue will meet the King of Hell, thosewho turn back will survive," he intoned in a deepvoice.
　　The soldiers recognised him as the demon that hadappeared twice the day before and had killed with justa wave of his hand, and they turned and fled withsqueals of fear. Cao Neng shouted to them to halt, buthe had to raise his sword and slay one of the soldiersbefore some of them steadied. But sixty or seventy haddisappeared.
　　"Guard the carriage," Zhang said to Rui. "I'll go andtalk to these two." He leapt passed the soldiers.
　　"Could that be the Twin Knights up ahead?" he asked ina loud, clear voice. "I, Zhang Zhaozhong, greet you.
　　There is no enmity between us. Why are you playingthis game?"The man in front laughed coldly. "Ha! So, the TwinDemons meet the Fire Hand Judge," he said. He strodeover and struck out at Zhang with such power that hishand made a whistling sound as it cut through the air.
　　The road at that point was extremely narrow and Zhangwas unable to dodge to either left or right, so hecountered the blow with his left hand, putting all ofhis Inner Strength behind it, while also attackingwith his right palm. His opponent parried with hisleft hand. Their four hands met, and they stood almostmotionless for a while as they tested each other.
　　Suddenly, Zhang swept his left leg cross-wise in the'Level Clouds Slicing The Peak' style. Withinsufficient time to evade the blow, the man broughthis hands together and drove them viciously at Zhang'stemples. Zhang leant to one side and hastily withdrewhis leg, then moved forward, and with the precipice attheir side, the two passed each other by. They hadexchanged positions.
　　Zhang suddenly became aware of someone attacking himfrom behind. He dodged out of the way and saw hisassailant was another pale, skeleton-like figure, hisface exactly the same as the first.
　　Zhang had more than two hundred soldiers andbodyguards with him, but they were powerless to assistbecause of the narrowness of the mountain path besidethe ravine.
　　The three fought more and more fiercely. In the midstof the battle, one of the Twin Knights hit therock-face by mistake and a small avalanche of gravelrattled down off the precipice followed by a slab ofrock which plunged into the ravine. A long time passedbefore they finally heard the distant crash as it hitthe ground.
　　The battle continued for a long time. Suddenly, one ofthe twins struck out with his fist, forcing Zhang tomove to one side to avoid it. The other twin thenleapt over and occupied Zhang's former position besidethe stone-face and both attacked him at the samemoment, attempting to force him into the ravine.
　　Zhang saw one of his attacker's legs sweeping forwardand stepped back a pace, so that half of his foot wasover the edge of the precipice. A cry of fright wentup from the troops. Then, Zhang felt a gust of wind asthe other twin's fist swung towards his face. Zhangwas unable to retreat, and knowing that there would begreat strength behind the blow, was also unable tocounter it. If he did, his opponent would simply bethrown back against the stone-face by the force of thecollision while he himself would certainly fall to hisdeath. So, with wisdom born of fear, he seized hold ofhis attacker's wrist, and with a great shout threw himinto the ravine.
　　His body in mid-air, 'Black Death' stayed calm. Hedrew in his legs and performed a somersault in orderto slow down the force of his fall. Half way throughthe circle, he pulled a Flying Claw grapple from hisbelt and threw it straight up. His brother 'WhiteDeath' had also taken out his Flying Claw and the twograpples locked tightly, almost as if they wereshaking hands. 'White Death' jerked at the rope beforethe full force of his brother's fall returned, andswung him up and over bringing him back to earth morethan a hundred feet along the mountain path.
　　'White Death' saluted Zhang with his fists. "Your kungfu is very powerful. We are impressed," he said. Then,without even bending down to concentrate his strength,he sprang into the air, and landed several dozen feetfurther away. He grabbed hold of his brother's handand the two disappeared round the bend.
　　The soldiers clustered round, some praising Zhang'skung fu, others lamenting that 'Black Death' had notfallen to his death. Zhang said not a word, but leanedagainst the rock face and slowly sat down. He lookedat his wrist and saw the jet-black impression of fivefingers on his flesh as if he had been branded, andwas struck by a wave of terror.
Chapter 11
The column crossed Black Scabbard mountain, and thatnight another thirty or forty soldiers deserted. Zhangdiscussed the situation with Rui and the otherbodyguards.
　　"These fellows are not going to give up even thoughthis is the main road to Lanzhou, the provincialcapital," he said. "There's going to be a lot moretrouble ahead, so we had better make our way round bythe backroads, and cross the river at Crimson Bend."Cao Neng had been looking forward to getting toLanzhou so that he could transfer his burden to othershoulders, and was very unhappy with Zhang's plan. Buthe did not dare to disagree.
　　"We have lost many soldiers on the road," Zhang said.
　　"When you get back, Master Cao, you can report thatthey were killed during an attack on bandits, and diedcourageously for their country. I will write out anote to that effect in a moment."Cao Neng's spirits rose again. According to themilitary regulations, if a soldier was killed inaction, it was possible to obtain a pension, and themoney naturally fell into the pocket of the officer incommand.
　　They heard the roar of the Yellow River long before itcame into view, and travelled more than half a dayfurther before arriving at the Crimson Bend crossing.
　　At this bend on the Yellow River, the rocks along thebanks are blood-red, hence its name. Dusk was alreadyapproaching, but through the evening mists, they couldsee the fury with which the Yellow River surgedeastwards, its muddy waters bubbling and boilingagainst the banks.
　　"We will cross the river tonight," Zhang said. "Thewater is dangerous but if we delay, there may betrouble."With the river running so fast, the crossing couldonly be made by sheepskin rafts. Soldiers were sentout to search for rafts, but they could not found any.
　　Darkness fell. Zhang was just becoming anxious when hespotted two sheepskin rafts shooting down the rivertowards them. The soldiers shouted, and the two raftsedged towards the bank.
　　"Hey, boatman!" Cao shouted. "Ferry us across andwe'll pay you well."The big man on the raft stood up and waved his hand.
　　"You're a mute," said Cao.
　　"Damn your ancestors," replied the man in Cantonese.
　　"If you're coming then come, if you're not, thendon't. You bunch of bastards. It's a waste of timedealing with you." Cao and the others understood not aword of it. Cao ignored him and invited Zhang and thebodyguards escorting Wen to get onto the rafts first.
　　Zhang weighed up the boatman. His wide-brimmed hat hidhalf his face and it was impossible to distinguish hisfeatures clearly. But the muscles on his arms werebunched and bulging, revealing great strength, whilethe oar in his hands was of a very dark colour andappeared to be made of something other than wood. Hefelt something was wrong, and not being able to swim,he could not afford to fall victim to some trick.
　　"Master Cao," he said. "You go first with some of thesoldiers."Cao ordered some of the soldiers onto the two rafts.
　　The current was rapid, but the two boatmen were highlyskilled and safely delivered the government troops tothe opposite bank, and then returned to take onanother batch.
　　Cao boarded a raft with another group of soldiers, butjust as they left the bank, a long whistle soundedbehind them which was answered by a host of otherwhistles.
　　Zhang hastily ordered the troops to surround thecarriage and guard it closely. A crescent moon hunglow in the sky. Under its light, he saw about a dozenhorses coming towards them. He galloped forward.
　　"What's going on?" he shouted.
　　The riders formed a single rank as they approached,then one in the middle spurred his horse on and rodeahead of the others. In his hand he held a whitefolding fan with which he fanned himself. "Is that the'Fire Hand Judge' Zhang Zhaozhong?" he asked.
　　"It is," Zhang replied. "And who are you, sir?"The other laughed. "We thank you for escorting ourBrother Wen this far, but we would not want to troubleyou further.""Are you Red Flower Society people?""Everyone praises the 'Fire Hand Judge' for hissuperlative mastery of the martial arts, but heobviously has divine foresight as well," the manreplied, smiling. "You are correct. We are Red FlowerSociety people." He gave a long whistle.
　　Zhang started slightly as he heard the two boatmen onthe rafts give answering whistles.
　　Cao, seated on one of the rafts, saw the enemyapproaching on the shore, and his face turned thecolour of mud. The boatman stopped the raft inmidstream with a stroke of his oar.
　　"Thirteenth Brother!" Cao heard a crisp voice callfrom the other raft. "Ready when you are.""Right!" the boatman replied. Cao raised his spear andthrust it at him, but the boatman deflected it deftlywith his oar and then knocked Cao and all the othersoldiers on board into the river. Both boatmen thenrowed back close to the shore.
　　Zhang was thankful for his caution. "You have beenkilling government troops the whole way," he shouted.
　　"You have committed many unpardonable acts. What isyour position in the Red Flower Society, sir?""There is no need for you to ask my name," GreatHelmsman Chen said. "Xin Yan, give me my weapons."Xin Yan opened his bag and placed two weapons inChen's hands. Normally, the other heroes should havefought first, but Chen was unable to resist theopportunity to demonstrate his skills.
　　Zhang jumped off his horse and strode forward. Butjust as he was preparing himself for the fight,Imperial Bodyguard Zhu ran up behind him and said:
　　"Master Zhang, let me deal with him."Zhang decided to let him test out the enemy first. "Becareful, Brother Zhu," he said.
　　Zhu lunged forward, sword raised. He chopped out atChen's thigh. Chen jumped lightly off his horse andlifted the shield in his left hand to parry the blow.
　　In the moonlight, Zhu saw that nine glistening, sharphooks protruded from the face of the shield, and knewthat if his sword collided with them, it would becaught in their grasp. He started in fright andhastily withdrew his sword. Chen then flourished theweapon in his right hand: five cords, each one tippedwith a steel ball especially designed for hitting theYuedao points on the human body. Terrified by theferocious nature of this weapon, Zhu leapt backwards,but the cords circled round behind him, and he felt asudden numbness on his back. Then the cords entwinedhis legs and with a tug, Chen pulled Zhu off his feet,swung him round and round, and sent him flyingstraight towards a rocky outcrop nearby.
　　If he had hit it, he would have been smashed topieces. But Zhang, seeing that Zhu was completelyout-classed, raced over, grabbed his queue and pulledhim down just in front of the rock face.
　　"Rest for a while, Brother Zhu," he said. Frozen withfear, Zhu was unable to answer.
　　Zhang raised his precious 'Frozen Emerald' Sword andleapt in front of Chen.
　　Zhang thrust his sword at Chen's right shoulder. Chenflipped the chords towards the blade, while the shieldin his left hand struck out at Zhang.
　　As they battled, the two boatmen, 'Crocodile' Jiangand Luo Bing, jumped ashore and ran towards thecarriages, guarded by the soldiers. Jiang chargedstraight into the ranks, immediately killing two ofthe closest soldiers. The others frantically gave way.
　　Luo Bing charged over to one of the carriages, andlifted up the carriage curtain.
　　"Fourth Brother, are you in there?" she called. But itwas 'Scholar' Yu, still seriously wounded. Suddenlyhearing Luo Bing's voice through his stupor, he couldonly think that it was a dream, or that he had diedand was meeting her in the other world.
　　"You've come!" he cried happily.
　　Luo Bing knew that the voice was not her husband's andran to the next carriage. But before she could pullaside the curtain, a saw-toothed sword chopped at herfrom the right. She parried with her sword, andlooking up at her attacker in the watery moonlight,recognised him as one of the eight bodyguards who hadattacked Wen and herself in Suzhou. With a surge ofhatred, she redoubled her attack. Rui was aware of herability with throwing knives and speeded up hisstrokes to avoid giving her an opportunity to usethem. Then two other bodyguards joined the battlewhile the soldiers closed in from all sides.
　　Four more of the heroes led by 'Leopard' Wei gallopedtowards her through a hail of arrows. One arrowplanted itself in the neck of Wei's horse, and thepain made it gallop even more furiously. The animal'shooves hit the chest of one of the soldiers, Wei flewoff the horse with his hooks raised, and amid a chorusof screams, gouged them into the breasts of two othersoldiers. Wei then aimed the hooks at Bodyguard Ruiwho was forced to abandon his attack on Luo Bing.
　　'Hunchback' Zhang Jin and the others also raced up andthe soldiers scattered.
　　Free once more, Luo Bing threw herself into thecarriage and hugged Wen's neck, then burst into tears.
　　After a while, Zhang Jin stuck his head in through thecarriage curtain. "Fourth Brother," he grinned. "We'vecome to take you back."He climbed onto the driver's seat and the carriagemoved off northwards away from the river, and stoppedby the side of a mound, from which they could get agood view of the battle.
　　Suddenly, Zhang broke away from his duel with Chen andran for Wen's carriage.
　　Luo Bing saw him coming and brandished her sword athim. But Zhang's sword was extraordinarily tough, andas they clashed with a 'clang', it snapped her bladein two. With the rest of his strength, Zhang leapt upinto the carriage and pulled Luo Bing in with him.
　　Greatly frightened, the other heroes raced up to saveher, and Zhang lifted her up and threw her at them.
　　The Twin Knights raced over and caught her.
　　Meanwhile, Zhang turned and grabbed Wen, and pulledhim to the carriage door. "Wen Tailai is here," heshouted. "If anyone dares to come any closer, I'llkill him!"The cold gleam of Zhang's 'Frozen Emerald' sword waspoised at Wen's neck.
　　"Fourth Brother," Luo Bing wailed, and tried to throwherself at the carriage, but Lu Feiqing held her backand took a step forward himself.
　　"Zhang!" he called out. "Can you see who I am?" Zhangand he had not seen each other for a long time and itwas difficult to see clearly in the moonlight, so Ludrew his White Dragon sword, took hold of the tip ofthe blade, and bent the handle back so that it formeda circle. Then he let the tip go and the blade bouncedback upright and swayed slightly.
　　Zhang grunted. "Ah, so it's Brother Lu," he said. "Whyhave you come looking for me?""You are wounded," Lu replied. "All the heroes of theRed Flower Society are here as well as 'Iron Gall'
　　Zhou Zhongying. It is going to be hard for you toescape today with your life. But in memory of ourbenevolent teacher, I will give you a way out."Zhang grunted again, but said nothing.
　　Suddenly they heard shouts and cries drifting overfrom the east, as if a thousand armies were racingtowards them. The heroes were filled withapprehension, but Zhang was even more worried.
　　"This Red Flower Society is truly resourceful," hethought. "Even here in the northwest, they can stillcall up huge reinforcements.""Release Master Wen," Lu Feiqing continued, "and Iwill ask the heroes, out of respect for me, to releaseyou. But there is one thing you must swear to."Zhang eyed the strong enemies surrounding him. "What?"he said.
　　"You must swear that you will immediately retire frompublic life and no longer be a running dog of theManchus."Zhang had pursued glory and wealth with fervour and hehad risen in rank as fast as though swept upwards upby a whirlwind. Wanting him to give up his positionwas just the same as wanting his life. He released Wenfrom his grip, pulled at the mule's reins, and thecarriage charged forward.
　　The heroes held back afraid of risking Wen's life, butLuo Bing could not stand it. "Release him and we'lllet you go without having to swear to anything," shecalled desperately.
　　Zhang took no notice and drove the carriage on towardsthe ranks of Manchu troops, who had by now regrouped.
　　Bodyguard Rui saw Zhang approaching and ordered thesoldiers to fix arrows in their bows in readiness. Theroar of the approaching column was getting louder andboth Red Flower Society and the soldiers were afraidthat they were reinforcements for the other side.
　　"Brother Wei, take three others and scatter theEagle's Claws," Chen shouted.
　　Wei and the others raised their weapons and chargedinto the Manchu ranks, slaughtering as they went.
　　A youngster darted out from behind Lu Feiqing saying:
　　"I'm going too!" Chen frowned: it was Li Yuanzhi, oncemore dressed in boy's clothes.
　　When Lu met up with her again after the battle,Yuanzhi had insisted that he take her with him to helprescue Wen. Lu finally agreed, but made her promisethat she would do as she was told. Yuanzhi then wrotea letter to her mother in which she said she haddecided to go on ahead alone to see her father inHangzhou.
　　Chen quickly issued his instructions, and 'Buddha'
　　Zhao raced after the carriage and sent two sleevearrows flying into the eyes of the mule pulling italong. The mule gave a long scream and reared up onits hind legs. The Twin Knights charged to either sideof the carriage and flung their Flying Claws at Zhang,who fended them off with his sword. Simultaneously,Priest Wu Chen and Xu attacked Zhang's back.
　　"Now!" Chen shouted to Xin Yan. The two soared throughthe air and landed on top of the carriage.
　　Zhang heard Chen and Xin Yan land above and behind himand threw a handful of Golden Needles at them.
　　Chen saw the movement, and pushed Xin Yan off thecarriage and placed the shield in front of his ownbody. There was a patter of metallic noises as theneedles hit it, but despite the extraordinary speed ofhis reflexes, he heard Xin Yan cry out. Knowing theboy had been hit, Chen hastily leapt down to help him.
　　Zhang threw another handful of the needles at PriestWu Chen and Xu. The Priest flew out of the back of thecarriage like an arrow, moving faster and further thanthe needles. Xu, however, only had time to lift acotton coverlet in the carriage to block the needles.
　　But his left shoulder was left exposed and with asudden feeling of numbness, he fell out of thecarriage.
　　Zhang Jin raced over to help him. "Brother Xu, are youall right?" he shouted, bending over. Suddenly he felta great pain in his back as he was hit by an arrow,and stumbled.
　　"Brothers! Everyone regroup!" Chen shouted. Arrowswere flying towards them like thick clouds of locusts.
　　Zhang Jin put his left hand on Priest Wu Chen'sshoulder and hit out at the arrows with his wolf'stooth club.
　　"Tenth Brother, don't move!" the Priest said. "Controlyourself." He stopped the flow of blood from ZhangJin's wound with a touch to the artery and carefullypulled the arrow out. Then he ripped a corner off hisrobes and bound up the wound.
　　Then they saw a pitch-black mass of Manchu soldierssurging towards them from the east.
　　Zhang was ecstatic at the sight of reinforcementsarriving, but his breathing was becoming difficult andhe knew that his injuries were serious. Chen and theothers attacked the carriage once more, and he liftedup Wen's body, and swung it round and round as adetachment of cavalry charged towards the Red FlowerSociety fighters with sabres raised. Chen could seethat Wen would certainly be killed if they attemptedto recapture him by force, so he gave a loud whistleand raced behind a nearby mound with the othersfollowing.
　　Chen conducted a head-count, and found that Xu, ZhouQi, Yuanzhi, Lord Zhou and Meng were missing.
　　"Has anyone seen Brother Xu and Lord Zhou?" Chenasked.
　　Zhang Jin, who was lying on the ground, raised hishead and said: "Seventh Brother was injured. Isn't hehere? I'll go and find him."He stood up, but the arrow wound on his back was tooserious, and he swayed unsteadily.
　　"Don't you move, Tenth Brother," said 'MelancholyGhost' Shi. "I'll go.""I'll go too," added 'Crocodile' Jiang, but Chen heldhim back. "You and Fourth Sister make your way to theriver bank and prepare the rafts," he said. Jiang andLuo Bing, her hopes dashed again, left.
　　Shi leapt onto a horse and galloped off around themound with sword in hand. By this time, the Manchutroops were everywhere. Shi rode up onto higher groundand looked around, but could see no sign of Xu and theothers, so he rode into the enemy's ranks to searchfor them.
　　Not long after, Lord Zhou and Meng appeared.
　　"Have you seen your daughter?" Chen asked. Zhou shookhis head, full of anxiety.
　　"My young pupil has disappeared too," Lu Feiqing said.
　　"I'll go and look for them."As he rode out, the ranks of the Manchu troopssuddenly parted and several horses charged towardshim. In the lead was Priest Wu Chen dragging Wei alongwith his hand. Lu started in surprise when he saw Wei,his whole body covered in blood and dirt, andimmediately moved forward to obstruct any pursuers.
　　But the Manchu troops did not dare to obsttruct theseferocious-looking men and let them retreat behind themound.
　　Chen quickly went to see Wei, who was delirious,shouting: "Kill the bastards!""Ninth Brother has worn himself out with all thiskilling," Priest Wu Chen said. "His mind is a littleconfused. Nothing serious.""Have you seen Brother Xu and Brother Shi?" Chenasked.
　　"I'll go and look for them" the Priest said.
　　"There's also Mistress Zhou and the Master Lu'spupil," Chen said.
　　Priest Wu Chen mounted up, sword at the ready, andcharged back into the Manchu ranks. A Manchu officerspurred his horse forward and charged at him withspear raised, but the priest dodged the spear thrustand drove his sword into the officer's heart. Theofficer slumped off his horse and the soldiers underhis command howled and scattered in all directions.
　　Priest Wu Chen continued his onslaught and soldiersfell wherever his sword went. As he galloped along astretch of the road, he saw a crowd of soldiers with'Melancholy Ghost' Shi in the middle fighting fiercelywith three officers.
　　"Get away, I'll cover you!" Priest Wu Chen shouted.
　　The two raced back to the mound, but there was stillno indication of what had happened to Xu and theothers. A Manchu company commander led his soldiers inan attack on the mound occupied by the Red FlowerSociety, but the heroes immediately killed more than adozen of them, and the rest retreated.
　　Chen led his horse up onto the mound. "Brother Meng,"he said, handing him the reins. "Hold it steady andmade sure it doesn't get hit by a stray arrow." Heleapt up onto the horse's back and stood on thesaddle. Looking around, he saw the huge Manchu columnsurging towards them from the east. A bugle soundedand the column turned into a fiery dragon as eachsoldier raised a torch. Amidst the glow, he saw alarge banner flowing in the wind on which he couldjust made out the words "Border Pacification GeneralZhao" written in large characters. Each soldier in thecolumn was riding a tall, sturdy horse, and there wasa clanking noise as they marched, indicating they wereprobably wearing armour.
　　Chen jumped down from the horse. "Armoured troops onthe way," he shouted. "Everyone head for the river."Lord Zhou was very worried about his daughter, butfinding her among such a huge body of troops wasimpossible. The heroes helped up Wei, Zhang Jin andthe other wounded, and galloped towards the banks ofthe Yellow River with the Manchu cavalry in hotpursuit. Luo Bing and Jiang punted the sheepskin raftsup to the shore and took the wounded on board first.
　　"Everyone get on the rafts quickly!" Chen yelled.
　　"Priest Wu Chen, Third Brother, Lord Zhou, we fourwill hold..."Before he could finish, a wave of crossbow arrows flewtowards them.
　　"Charge!" roared Priest Wu Chen, and the four threwthemselves at the first ranks of cavalry. Lord Zhou'shuge sword rose and fell, cutting Manchu soldiers downfrom their horses, while 'Buddha' Zhao slung coppercoins at the eye-slits in their armour. Although itwas impossible to see clearly in the dark, he stillmanaged to blind five or six men. By this time,everyone except Chen and the other three had boardedthe rafts.
　　Chen spotted a mounted officer directing the troops,and sprang over to him. He pulled the fficer from hishorse and ran for the river bank with him under hisarm. The Manchu troops rushed forward to try to savetheir commanding officer, but they didn't dare to fireany arrows. Chen leapt onto one of the rafts and Jiangand Luo Bing began to move them out towards the centreof the river.
　　The Yellow River was in full flood and with thecurrent powerful and turbulant, the two largesheepskin rafts flew off downstream. The hubbub of thegreat armed column slowly faded as the river roaredaround them.
　　The heroes set about tending to the wounded. 'Leopard'
　　Wei's mind gradually cleared and his body was found tobe free from wounds. 'Buddha' Zhao was an expert atmedical treatment as well as with darts and he boundup 'Iron Pagoda' Yang's and Zhang Jin's wounds. ZhangJin was more seriously injured, but was in no danger.
　　Xin Yan had been hit by several Golden Needles, andwas in such pain that he cried out continually. Theneedles had penetrated right through the flesh intothe bones, and Zhao took a magnet from his medicinebag and drew them out one by one. Luo Bing rowed onsilently. Not only had they failed to rescue Wen, but'Mastermind' Xu, Zhou Qi, Lu Feiqing and his pupil hadbeen lost as well, and no-one knew where 'Scholar' Yuhad got to.
　　Chen roused the captured Manchu officer. "What thehell was your column doing travelling through thenight like that?" he asked.
　　The officer said nothing. Yang slapped him on theface. "Are you going to talk?" he shouted.
　　"I'll talk...I'll talk," the officer said quickly,holding his cheek. "What do you want me to say?""What was your column doing travelling at night?""General Zhao Wei received an Imperial commandordering us to attack the Muslim areas and take themover before a certain date. He was afraid we wouldn'tmake it in the time limit, and also that the Muslimswould hear of our approach and make preparations. Sowe've been marching day and night.""The Muslims are very well-behaved," said Chen. "Whyare you going to attack them?""That...that, I don't know." the officer said.
　　"If you are heading for the Muslim areas, why did youcome to interfere in our business?""General Zhao heard of some bandits making trouble inthis area and ordered me to lead a detail to deal withthem, but the main army didn't stop..."Before he could finish, Yang gave him another slap.
　　"Damn your mother!" he shouted. "It's you who are thebandits!""Yes, yes! I made a mistake!" the officer cried.
　　Chen was silent for a while, then questioned theofficer closely regarding the army's troop strength,route and rations. Some of it the officer didn't know,but he did not dare to hide what he did know.
　　"Head...For...The...Shore" Chen shouted at the top ofhis voice. Luo Bing and Jiang steered the raftstowards the bank and everyone stepped ashore.
　　Chen called the Twin Knights over.
　　"Travel back as fast as you can and find out whathappened to the others," he said. "If they have falleninto the hands of the Manchus, they will certainly betaken back to Beijing along the Great Road. We canintercept them further east and work out some way ofrescuing them."The Twin Knights nodded and started out.
　　"Twelfth Brother," Chen continued, turning to'Melancholy Ghost' Shi. "I want you to do somethingfor me.""Whatever you say, Great Helmsman."Chen wrote out a letter under the light of the moon.
　　"Please take this letter to Master Muzhuolun in theMuslim regions," he said. "We have only met him andhis people once, but they showed the greatestfriendship towards us, so we cannot stand idly by.
　　Fourth Sister, please lend your white horse to TwelfthBrother for the trip." Luo Bing had kept the animalaboard the raft throughout the battle.
　　Shi mounted up and disappeared in a cloud of dust.
　　With the horse's phenomenal speed, he estimated hecould overtake the army in a day and be in time towarn Muzhuolun.
　　Chen then directed Jiang to tie the officer's handsbehind his back. They placed him on one of the raftsand pushed it out into the stream and left it for Fateto decide whether he should live or die.
Chapter 12
Zhou Qi was separated from the others in the midst ofthe battle. The Manchu troops surged around her, andshe galloped blindly off trying to escape them. In thedarkness, her horse suddenly tripped, and she tumbledto the ground, her head crashing heavily against thehard earth. She passed out, but luckily it was stilldark, and the soldiers did not find her.
　　She had been unconscious for she did not know how longwhen there was a sudden bright flash before her eyesand a great roar followed by a wave of coolness on herface. She opened her eyes and saw the sky was full ofblack clouds and torrential rain sweeping down.
　　She jumped up. Someone beside her sat up as well, andshe started in fright and frantically grabbed for hersword. Then she gasped in surprise: it was'Mastermind' Xu.
　　"Mistress Zhou, what are you doing here?" he calledout above the roar of the rain.
　　Zhou Qi had never liked Xu and had gone out of her wayto quarrel with him. But he was at least one of herown people, and she burst into tears.
　　"What about my father?" she asked, biting her lip.
　　Xu motioned her to lie down. "Soldiers," he whispered.
　　Zhou Qi threw herself to the ground, and they slowlycrawled behind a small mound of earth.
　　The sky was already light, and through the rain, theysaw several dozen Manchu soldiers hastily buryingcorpses, cursing as they worked. "You two, have a lookround for any more bodies," an officer shouted, andtwo soldiers went onto higher ground. Looking around,they spotted Zhou Qi and Xu and called out: "There'stwo more over there.""Wait for them to come over," Xu whispered.
　　The soldiers walked over carrying shovels, and as theybent over them, Zhou Qi and Xu simultaneously thrusttheir swords into the bellies of the two. They diedwithout a sound.
　　The officer waited for a while, but with no sign ofthe soldiers returning and the rain getting heavier,he rode over to investigate.
　　"Don't make a sound. I'll steal his horse," Xuwhispered. As the officer rode closer, he saw thebodies of the two soldiers, but before he could callout, Xu leapt up and slashed at him with his sword.
　　The officer raised his horse whip to stop the blow,but both his whip and head were sliced off.
　　"Mount up quickly!" Xu called, holding the horse'sreins. Zhou Qi leapt onto the horse and galloped offwith Xu running along behind.
　　The Manchu troops began to give chase. After only afew dozen paces, the pain in Xu's shoulder where hehad been hit by the Golden Needles became unbearableand he fell to the ground with a cry. Zhou Qi reinedthe horse round and galloped back. Leaning over, shepulled him across the saddle, then slapped the horse'shaunches and raced off again. The soldiers soondropped far behind.
　　When they had gone some distance, Zhou Qi stopped andhad a look at Xu. His eyes were tightly closed, hisface white and his breathing shallow. Greatlyfrightened, she sat him properly on the horse, thenwith her left arm around his waist to keep him fromfalling, galloped on, keeping to lonely, desertedtracks. After a while, she saw an inky-black sectionof forest ahead and rode in amongst the trees. Therain had stopped, and she dismounted and continued onfoot leading the horse with Xu on it behind her untilshe came to a clearing in the forest. Xu was stillunconscious, and Zhou Qi lifted him off the horse andlaid him on the grass. Then she sat down, letting thehorse wander off to graze. Here she was, a young girlnot yet twenty, alone in a strange forest. She beganto sob, her tears falling onto Xu's face.
　　Xu slowly recovered consciousness and thought it wasraining again. He opened his eye a little way and sawa beautiful face before him with two big eyes red fromcrying. His left shoulder began hurting again and hecried out in pain.
　　Zhou Qi was overjoyed to see he was still alive. "Howare you?" she asked.
　　"My shoulder is extremely painful. Please look at itfor me, Mistress Zhou," he replied. He forced himselfto sit up and used his right hand to cut a hole in theshoulder of his jacket with his knife.
　　"I was hit by three Golden Needles here," he said,examining the shoulder out of the corner of his eye."The needles were small, but they had penetrated deepinto the flesh.
　　"What shall we do?" Zhou Qi asked. "Shall we go to atown and find a doctor?""We can't do that," replied Xu. "After last night'sbattle, going to see a doctor would be like walkingstraight into a trap. What we really need is a magnetto draw the needles out, but we don't have one. Iwonder if I could ask you to cut away the flesh andpull them out?"During the night battle, Zhou Qi had killed quite anumber of the Manchu troops without losing hercomposure once. But now, faced with the prospect ofcutting away the flesh on Xu'sshoulder, she hesitated.
　　"I can't stand the pain," he pleaded. "Do it now...no,wait. Do you have a tinder box with you?"Zhou Qi felt around in her bag. "Yes. What do you wantit for?""Collect some dried grass and leaves and burn up someash. When you've pulled the needles out, you can coverthe wound with the ash and then bandage it."She did as he said and burnt up a large pile of ash.
　　"That's fine," said Xu with a laugh. "There's enoughthere to stop a hundred wounds bleeding.""I'm just a stupid girl," Zhou Qi replied crossly.
　　"Come and do it yourself."She pressed on his shoulder beside the needle holes.
　　As her fingers came into contact with male flesh, sheinvoluntarily pulled back and her whole face turnedbright red down to the roots of her hair.
　　Xu noticed her blush, but misinterpreted her reactionin spite of his nickname.
　　"Are you afraid?" he asked.
　　"What have I got to be afraid of?" she replied,suddenly angry. "It's you that's afraid! Turn yourhead away and don't look."Xu did as he was told. Zhou Qi pressed the skin aroundthe needle holes tightly, then slipped the tip of theknife into the flesh and slowly began to turn it.
　　Blood flowed out of the wound. Xu silently gritted histeeth, his whole face covered in beads of sweat thesize of soyabeans. She cut away the flesh until theend of a needle appeared, then grasping it tightlybetween the thumb and forefinger, pulled it out.
　　Xu forced himself to maintain his jocular front.
　　"It's a pity that needle doesn't have an eye to threadthrough, otherwise I'd give it to you to use inembroidery," he said.
　　"I can't do embroidery," Zhou Qi replied. "Last year,my mother told me to learn, but I kept snapping theneedle or breaking the thread. She scolded me, and Isaid: "Mother, I can't do it, you teach me." But shesaid 'I've no time.' Afterwards I discovered that shecan't do embroidery either."Xu laughed. As they had been talking, another needlehad been removed.
　　"I didn't really want to learn," Zhou Qi continuedwith a smile. "But when I found out that mother didn'tknow how, I pushed her to teach me. But I couldn'tcatch her out. She said: 'If you don't know how tosew, I don't know how you'll....'"She stopped in mid-sentence. Her mother had said: "Idon't know you'll ever find a husband.""Don't you know how you'll what?" asked Xu.
　　"I don't feel like telling you."As they talked, her hands never stopped, and the thirdneedle was finally out as well. She covered the woundwith ash, then bandaged it with strips of cloth. Shecouldn't help but admire him for the way he continuedto smile and chat to her despite the pain.
　　"He may be short, but he's a brave man," she thought.
　　By this time, her hands were covered in blood.
　　"You lie here and don't move," she said. "I'll go andfind some water to drink."She looked at the lie of the land, then ran out of thetrees. Several hundred paces away, she found a smallstream which was flowing swiftly after the heavy rain.
　　As she bent down to wash her hands, she caught sightof her reflection in the water, the dishevelled hair,her wet and crumpled clothes, and her face, covered inblood and dirt.
　　"Damn!" she thought. "How could I let him see melooking so awful?"She washed her face clean, combed her hair with herfingers. Then, scooping water from the stream, shedrank deeply. She knew Xu would certainly be thirstytoo, but had nothing in which to carry water. After amoment's thought, she took a piece of clothing fromthe knapsack on her back, dipped it in the stream sothat it was soaking wet than ran back.
　　Zhou Qi could see from his face that he was in greatpain, although he was trying to appear unconcerned,and feelings of tenderness stirred within her. Shetold him to open his mouth and squeezed water into itfrom the cloth.
　　"Is it very painful?" she asked softly.
　　Xu's whole life has been spent amidst mountains ofknives and forests of spears, or else in the shadyworld of plots and traps; no-one had ever spoken tohim with the warmth and softness he detected now inZhou Qi's voice. Deeply moved, he steadied himself. "Iam a little better now. Thank you.""We can't stay here," Xu said after he had drunk somewater. "Nor can we go to any town. All we can do is tofind a secluded farmhouse and say that we are brotherand sister...""You want me to call you brother?" asked Zhou Qi,astounded.
　　"If you feel that I'm too old, you could call meuncle," he suggested.
　　"Pah! Do you think you look like my uncle? I'll callyou my brother, but only when there are other peoplearound. When we're on our own, I won't.""All right, you don't have to," he replied with asmile. "We'll say that we met the army on the road andwere attacked by the soldiers who stole all ourpossessions."Having agreed on their story, Zhou Qi helped him tomount the horse. The two made their way out of thetrees, and chose a small track heading straighttowards the sun.
　　The northwest is a desolate place. Hungry and tired,they had to travel for more than two hours beforefinally spotting a mud hut.
　　Xu dismounted and knocked at the door. After a moment,an old woman came out. Seeing the strange clothes theywere wearing, she looked at them suspiciously. Xu gaveher some of the story they had concocted, and shesighed.
　　"These government troops, always making trouble," shesaid. "What is your name sir?""My name is Zhou," said Xu.
　　Zhou Qi glanced at him but said nothing. The old womaninvited them inside and brought out some wheat cakes.
　　They were black and rough, but hungry as they were,tasted delicious.
　　"Old woman," said Xu, "I am wounded and am not able totravel. We would like to spend the night here.""There's no problem about your staying here, but poorpeople's homes have little to eat in them, so don'tblame me on that account, sir.""We are eternally thankful that you are willing to putus up," Xu replied. "My sister's clothes are all wet.
　　If you have any old clothes, I would appreciate it ifyou would allow her to change into them.""My daughter-in-law left some clothes behind. If youdon't mind, mistress, you could try them on. They'llprobably fit."Zhou Qi went to change. When she came out, she saw Xuwas already asleep in the old woman's room.
　　Towards evening, Xu began babbling incoherently, ZhouQi felt his forehead and found it feverish. Shedecided his wounds must be festering. She knew such acondition was extremely dangerous, and turned to theold woman. "Is there a doctor near here?" she asked.
　　"Yes, there is, in Wenguang town about twenty li eastof here," the old woman replied. "The most capable oneis Doctor Cao, but he never comes out to countryplaces like this to see patients.""I'll go and fetch him," Zhou Qi said. "I'll leavemy...my brother here. Please keep an eye on him.""Don't you worry about that, miss," the old womanreplied. "But the doctor won't come."Zhou Qi stowed her sword beside the horse's saddle andgalloped off. Night had already fallen when sheentered Wenguang town.
　　She asked a passer-by where Doctor Cao lived, thengalloped straight on to his residence. She knocked onthe door for a long time before a man finally openedit.
　　"It's already dark. What are you banging on the doorlike that for?" the man demanded.
　　Zhou Qi was furious at his manner, but remembered thatshe was appealing for help. "I've come to ask DoctorCao to visit a patient," she said, controllingherself.
　　"He's not in," said the man. Without another word, heturned and began to close the door.
　　Panic-striken, Zhou Qi pulled him out of the doorwayand drew her sword. "Where's he gone to? Quickly!""He's gone to Little Rose's," the man replied in aquavering voice.
　　Zhou Qi brushed the blade over his face. "What isLittle Rose's?"The man was frantic with fright. "YourExcellency...Miss, Little Rose is a prostitute," hesaid.
　　"Prostitutes are bad people. What's he gone to herplace for?" Zhou Qi asked.
　　The man wanted to laugh at the sight of this girl whowas so ferocious and yet so ignorant of worldlymatters, but he did not dare. "She is a good friend ofour master," he said.
　　"Lead me there quickly."With the sword resting on his neck, he dared notdisobey and led her off down the street.
　　"This is it," he said, pointing to a small house.
　　"Knock on the door. Tell the doctor to come out."The man did as she said, and the door was opened bythe Madame of the house.
　　"This lady wants my master to go to visit a patient,"the man said. "I told her the master was busy, but shewouldn't believe me and forced me to come here."The Madame gave him a look of contempt and slammed thedoor.
　　Zhou Qi rushed forward to stop her, but was too late.
　　She beat thunderously on the door for a while, but nota sound came from inside. Absolutely furious, shekicked the man to the ground.
　　"Get lost!" she shouted.
　　The man picked himself up and ran off.
　　Zhou Qi waited until he had disappeared then leaptover the wall into the courtyard of the house. She sawlight coming from a room nearby, and stealthily madeher way over towards it. Crouching down, she heard twomen talking. She licked the tip of her finger, thenwet a small part of the window paper and made a holein it. Putting her eye to the hole, she saw two menlying on a couch, talking. One was stout, and theother thin and tall. A tartishly seductive girl waspummelling the thin man's thighs. The stout man give awave of his hand and the girl stood up.
　　"I can see you two want to discuss more ways ofcreating mischief," she said with a smile. "You oughtto accumulate some good deeds, otherwise you may givebirth to sons without arseholes.""Damned nonsense," the stout man shouted back with alaugh. The girl smiled and walked out, locked thedoor, then turned and went into an inner hall.
　　"That must be Little Rose," Zhou Qi thought. "She'sreally shameless, but there's some truth in what shesaid."She watched as the stout man pulled out four silveringots and placed them on the table.
　　"Brother Cao," he said. "There's two hundred taels ofsilver. We are old business partners, and that's theold price.""Master Tang," the thin man replied: "Take these twopackets of medicine, and have a good time. The redpacket you give to the girl, and in less time than ittakes to eat a meal, she will be unconscious to theworld and you can do whatever you like with her. Youdon't need me to teach you anything about that, doyou?"The two men laughed together.
　　"This black packet you give to the man," Caocontinued. "Tell him it will speed his recovery. Soonafter he takes it, his wounds will begin dischargingblood and he will die. It will appear that his woundshave simply re-opened and no-one will suspect you.
　　What do you think of such a ruse?""Excellent, excellent," Tang replied.
　　"So, Master Tang, you have gained both the girl andthe money. Doesn't two hundred taels seem like rathera small reward for such a service?""We are brothers, and I wouldn't try to deceive you,"the other said. "The girl certainly has a pretty face.
　　I could hardly restrain myself even when I thought shewas a boy because of the way she was dressed. Butthere is nothing much special about the man, exceptthat he's with the girl, so I cannot allow him tolive.""Didn't you say he had a flute made out of gold?" Caoasked. "That flute must weigh several catties alone.""All right, all right, I'll add another fifty taels,"Tang said, and pulled out another ingot.
　　Zhou Qi became angrier and angrier as she listened,and ran to the door, kicked it open and chargedstraight inside. Tang gave a shout and aimed a flyingkick at Zhou Qi's sword wrist. Zhou Qi flipped thesword over and smoothly cut off his right foot thenthrust the blade into his heart.
　　The thin man stood to one side, struck dumb withfright. His whole body shook and his teeth chattered.
　　Zhou Qi pulled her sword out of Tang's corpse andwiped the blood off the blade onto his clothes, thengrabbed the thin man.
　　"Are you Doctor Cao?" she shouted. The man's legsfolded and he fell to his knees.
　　"Please...miss...spare my life...""Who wants your life? Get up."Cao shakily stood up, but his knees were stillrubbery, and he had to kneel down again. Zhou Qi putthe five silver ingots and two packets of medicine onthe table into her pocket.
　　"Out," she ordered.
　　She told him to fetch his horse, and the two mountedup and galloped out of the town. In less than twohours, they arrived at the old woman's hut. Zhou Qiran to Xu and found him still unconscious. In thecandlelight, she could see his whole face was brightred and knew he had a terrible fever. She dragged Caoover.
　　"My, er, brother here has been wounded. Cure himquickly," she ordered.
　　Hearing that he was expected to give medicaltreatment, Cao's fears eased slightly. He looked atXu's complexion and took his pulse, then undid thebandage round his shoulder and looked at the wound. Heshook his head.
　　"The master is deficient in both blood and breath," hesaid. "His body heat is rising...""Who wants to hear all that?" Zhou Qi interrupted him.
　　"You just cure him quickly. If you don't, you canforget about ever leaving here.""I'll go to the town to get some medicine," Cao said.
　　"Without medicine I cannot do anything."Xu awoke and he lay listening to the two talking.
　　"Huh, do you think I'm a three-year-old child?" ZhouQi demanded. "You make out the prescription and I'llgo and buy the medicine."Cao had no alternative. "Well, please bring me a penand paper, Miss," he said.
　　But where was pen and paper to be found in such a poorhut in such a desolate place? Zhou Qi frowned, at aloss for what to do.
　　"The master's condition will not allow delay," saidCao with an air of complacency. "It would be best ifyou let me return to the town to get the medicine.""Sister," Xu said, "Take a small piece of firewood andburn it to charcoal, then let him write on a piece ofrough paper. If that can't be done, you could write ona piece of wood.""What a good idea!" Zhou Qi exclaimed happily, andburnt up a piece of firewood as he had said. The oldwoman searched out a piece of yellow paper originallymeant to be burnt in worship of Buddha, and Cao madeout the prescription. When he had finished, Zhou Qifound a length of grass rope and tied his hands behindhis back, bound his legs together and put him on thefloor next to Xu.
　　"I'm going to the town to buy medicine," she told theold woman as she placed Xu's sword beside his pillow.
　　If this dog doctor tries to escape, wake up my brotherand he can kill him."Zhou Qi rode back to the town and found a medicineshop. She shouted for the shop-keeper to open up andgot him to fill the prescription, which was for morethat ten different types of medicine.
　　The sky was growing light. She saw village militiamenpatrolling the streets and guessed that the murder atLittle Rose's had been discovered. She shrank into acorner and waited until they had passed beforegalloping off.
　　As soon as she had returned to the old woman's hut,she hastily brewed up the medicine then poured it intoa rough bowl and took it over to Xu. She shook himawake and told him to drink the medicine.
　　Xu was extremely moved at the sight of her facecovered with sweat and ash and her hair filled withtwigs and grass. He knew she was the daughter of arich family and would never before have had to do thissort of work. He sat up and took the bowl from her andpassed it over to Cao.
　　"You drink two mouthfuls," he said. Cao hesitatedslightly and Zhou Qi realised Xu's meaning.
　　"Yes, yes," she said. "He must drink some first. Youdon't know how evil this man is," she added to Xu.
　　Cao opened his mouth and drank two mouthfuls.
　　"Rest for a while, sister," said Xu. "I'll wait awhile before drinking the medicine.""Yes," said Zhou Qi. "Let's see if he dies first. Ifhe dies, you mustn't drink the medicine."She moved the oil lamp next to Cao's face and watchedhim with her big, black, unblinking eyes to seewhether he would die or not.
　　"We doctors have the best interest of our patients atheart. Why would I want to harm him?" Cao said,smiling bitterly.
　　"That secret discussion you had with that man Tangabout harming some girl and getting hold of someoneelse's golden flute, I heard it all," Zhou Qi saidangrily. "Do you deny it?"Xu's ears pricked up at the mention of a golden fluteand he quickly asked her about it. Zhou Qi related theconversation she had heard, and how she had killed aman at Little Rose's.
　　Xu asked Cao: "Who is the person with the Goldenflute? And who is the girl who was dressed as a boy?"Zhou Qi drew her sword and stood by him threateningly.
　　"If you don't tell us everything you know, I'll runyou through with my sword immediately," she told him.
　　"I...I'll tell you," said Cao, absolutely terrified.
　　"Yesterday Master Tang came to see me and said thattwo people had asked to take lodgings at his home. Hesaid one was very badly wounded and the other was apretty youngster. At first he was unwilling to takethem in, but seeing how extraordinarily beautiful theyoungster was, he let them stay for one night. Henoticed the youngster's voice and manner were justlike a girl's. Also, the youngster wasn't willing toshare a room with the other, so he concluded it mustbe a girl dressed in boy's clothes.""So you sold him some poison," Zhou Qi said.
　　"I deserve to die," replied Cao.
　　"What was the man like?" Xu asked.
　　"Master Tang asked me to examine him. He was abouttwenty-three or four, dressed as a scholar, and hadsword and club wounds in seven or eight places.""Were the wounds serious?" asked Xu.
　　"Very serious. But they were all external wounds. Hewasn't wounded on any fatal points."Xu saw he would not gain much by continuing thequestioning and gingerly raised the bowl of medicine.
　　But his hands shook and some of the medicine sloppedout. Zhou Qi took the bowl from him and raised it tohis mouth. He drank the brew down as she held thebowl, then thanked her.
　　"These two bandits are not brother and sister," Caothought as he watched. "Whoever heard of a brothersaying thank you to his sister?"After drinking the medicine, Xu slept for a while, hiswhole body sweating profusely, and towards evening,the sickness began to recede. The next day, Xu wasmore than half recovered and he was able to get up.
　　After another day, he decided he could just aboutmanage to ride a horse.
　　"That man with the golden flute is FourteenthBrother," he said to Zhou Qi. "I wonder why he shouldseek lodgings with such a man? But seeing as you'vealready killed Tang, they shouldn't have had too muchtrouble. But I'm still a little worried. Let's gotonight and see what the situation is.""Fourteenth Brother?" Zhou Qi asked.
　　"'Scholar' Yu. He was also at Iron Gall Manor. You'veseen him before.""Oh, if I had known it was him I would have broughthim along with me, then the two of you could haveconvalesced together."Xu smiled. "But who could this girl dressed in boy'sclothing be?" he wondered, mystified.
　　That evening, Zhou Qi gave the old woman two of thesilver ingots and she accepted them with effusiveblessings and thanks. Zhou Qi then pulled Cao up, andwith a swish of her blade, cut off his right ear.
　　"I'm only sparing your worthless life because youcured my brother," she shouted. "If I ever catch youdoing evil again,I'll stick my sword straight intoyour heart.""We'll visit you again in three months time, to checkup," Xu warned.
　　"You ride his horse and we'll leave," Zhou Qi said toXu. The two mounted up and galloped off towardsWenguang town.
　　"Why did you say we would be coming back in threemonths' time?" Zhou Qi asked.
　　"I was just deceiving the doctor so that he wouldn'tgive the old woman any trouble," Xu replied.
　　Zhou Qi nodded and they continued on for a while.
　　"Why are you always so crafty with people?" shesuddenly asked. "I don't like it.""You don't realise how many evil people there are inthe world," he said after a long silence. "Whendealing with friends, love and justice should alwayscome first, of course. But when dealing with badpeople, you must be very careful otherwise you will betricked and will suffer.""My father say it's better to suffer yourself than tocheat other people," Zhou Qi said.
　　"That is what makes your father the great man that heis," replied Xu.
　　"Well, why don't you imitate my father?""Lord Zhou is benevolent and generous by nature. I amafraid that such a perverse person as myself wouldnever be able to emulate him.""That's what I dislike most about you: your perversetemper. My father says that if you treat others well,they will also naturally treat you well in return."Xu didn't reply.
　　The two waited until it was dark before entering thetown. They found Tang's residence and climbed over thewall toinvestigate. Xu caught a watchman and,threatening him with a knife, asked him about'Scholar' Yu's whereabouts. The watchman said the twolodgers had left during the confusion after Doctor Caohad killed Master Tang at Little Rose's.
　　"We'll chase after them," Zhou Qi said.
Chapter 13
In less than a day, they had passed Lanzhou. Two daysfurther on, Xu discovered markings on the road left byChen saying that everyone should meet in Kaifeng. ZhouQi was delighted to hear that the main group was allright. She had been very worried about her father, butshe now relaxed and drank some wine to celebrate. Thewound on Xu's shoulder had by now closed and he wasfully recovered. They chatted as they travelled. Xutold her stories of the fighting community andexplained all its taboos and rules. She took it all ineagerly.
　　"Why didn't you talk about these things before,instead of always quarrelling with me?" she asked.
　　That day they arrived at Tongguan, a gateway townbetween central China and the northwest, and searchedfor lodgings. They heard that the old Yuelai Inn wasthe best, but when they got there, they were toldthere was only one room left.
　　Zhou Qi was impressed with how refined and polite Xuhad been towards her, a real gentleman. But now,suddenly faced with the prospect of having to share aroom with him, she was both embarrassed andsuspicious.
　　As soon as they were in the room, Xu barred the door.
　　Zhou Qi's face went bright red and she was just aboutto speak when Xu hurriedly silenced her with a wave ofhis hand.
　　"Did you see that Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency scoundreljust now?" he whispered.
　　"What?" said Zhou Qi, startled. "You mean the one wholed the others round to capture Master Wen and causedthe death of my brother?""I only caught a glimpse of him so I can't beabsolutely sure. I was afraid he would see us, whichis why I rushed us into the room. We'll go andinvestigate in a while."The servant came in with some hot tea and asked ifthey wanted anything to eat. Xu ordered a few dishes,then said:
　　"Several eminent gentlemen from the Zhen YuanBodyguard Agency are also staying here, I think?""Yes," replied the servant. "Whenever they passthrough Tongguan, they always give us their custom."Xu waited for the servant to leave. "That Lead EscortTong is the ringleader and chief troublemaker," hesaid. "We'll finish him off tonight and properlyavenge your brother and Master Wen."Zhou Qi thought once again of her brother's tragicdeath and the burning of Iron Gall Manor, and heranger surged.
　　"Lie down for a while and rest," said Xu, seeing herimpatience. "We can wait until nightfall before makingour move and still have plenty of time."He sat down at the table and settled himself for sleepwithout so much as glancing further in Zhou Qi'sdirection. Zhou Qi had no option but to suppress heranger. She sat down on the kang and tried to rest. Thetime dragged by until the second bell struck, one hourto midnight, and she decided she could control herselfno longer.
　　"Let's go," she said, drawing her sword.
　　"There are many of them, and some may be goodfighters," Xu whispered. "Let us investigate first.
　　We'll think of some way to lure Tong out, then dealwith him alone."Zhou Qi nodded.
　　They went into the courtyard and saw a lamp shining ina room on the eastern side. They walked stealthilyover. Zhou Qi found a rip in the window paper andlooked through while Xu stood behind her keeping alook out. Suddenly, she stood up and kicked out at thewindow. Xu started in fright, and shot in front ofher, blocking her way. Zhou Qi hurriedly retracted herleg as it was about to strike Xu's chest, andoverbalanced. He knelt down close to her.
　　"What is it?" he whispered.
　　"Do something, quick," she hissed. "My mother's inthere. They've got her tied up."Xu was startled. "Back to the room quickly and we'lldiscuss it there," he said.
　　They returned to the room.
　　"What is there to discuss?" demanded Zhou Qidesperately. "They've captured my mother.""Control yourself. I will rescue her for you," Xureplied. "How many people were there in the room?""About six or seven."Xu hung his head, deep in thought.
　　"What are you afraid of?" Zhou Qi asked. "If you won'tdo it, I'll go by myself.""I'm not afraid. I'm thinking of a way to save yourmother and kill that fellow at the same time. It wouldbe best if we did the two things together."Just then, footsteps passed by the door, and theyheard a man muttering: "Midnight and these leadescorts are still at it. What are they doing drinkingat this time? Damn their mothers! May the blessedBuddha make sure they meet up with robbers on theroad."Suddenly, Xu had an idea. "That Doctor Cao gave youtwo packets of medicine, didn't he?" he said to ZhouQi. "Give me the one he said would make youunconscious, quickly."Zhou Qi gave him the packet. "What are you going todo?" she asked. Xu didn't answer, but opened thewindow and jumped out with Zhou Qi close behind.
　　They ran along the corridor. Suddenly Xu whispered:
　　"Get down, don't move."Zhou Qi wondered what trick he was up to. A momentpassed, then suddenly they saw a flicker of light asthe servant came back towards them carrying acandlestick and a tray. Xu picked a pebble off theground and threw it, extinguishing the candle.
　　The servant started in surprise. "This is damnridiculous," he cursed. "There's no wind at all, andyet the candle goes out."He put down the tray and turned to relight the candle.
　　While his back was turned, Xu darted out, and in aflash, he had tipped the medicine into the two pots ofwine on the tray and slipped away without the servantnoticing.
　　"Let's go and wait outside their room," he said toZhou Qi.
　　They made their way round to the exterior of the leadescort's room and settled down to wait. Xu looked inthrough the hole in the window covering and saw amiddle-aged woman seated on the floor with her handstied behind her back. There were several men sittingaround her, including Master Han, the white horse'sformer owner, and Lead Escorts Qian and Tong. Theywere engaged in a lively discussion.
　　"When people talked of Iron Gall Manor, they alwayssaid it was impregnable as if it had walls of iron,"Tong was saying. "But with just my one torch, it wasrazed to the ground. Ha ha!"Outside the window, Xu shook his hand at Zhou Qi,afraid that she would have a fit of rage.
　　"Old Tong, stop bragging," Han replied. "I've met Zhouand I doubt if all of us together could beat him. Ifhe ever comes looking for you, you'll be in a prettysituation!""But look!" replied Taong. "We must have a lucky star,otherwise how could Zhou's old woman manage to findus? With her in our hands, how would he dare to doanything to us?"Just then, the servant entered with the wine and food,and the bodyguards immediately began eating anddrinking heartily. Han was quiet and dispirited andTong continually urged him to drink the wine, saying"Brother Han, even heroes are helpless when they'reoutnumbered. Next time, we'll take the Red FlowerSociety one to one and see who's the better.""And who are you going to take on, old Tong?" askedanother of the bodyguards.
　　"I'm going to find that daughter of Zhou's..." Beforehe could finish, he slumped to the floor. The othersall started in fright, but as they jumped up to helphim, and one by one, they dropped to the groundunconscious.
　　Xu prised the window open with sword, then leapt intothe room. Zhou Qi hurriedly cut the ropes which boundher mother's hands. Lady Zhou was speechless at thesight of her beloved daughter: she felt as if she wasin a dream.
　　Xu lifted Tong up. "Mistress Zhou," he said, "Avengeyour brother."With a sweep of her sword, Zhou Qi killed Tonginstantly. She raised her sword again to kill theother lead escorts, but Xu stopped her.
　　"The crimes of the others do not deserve death. Sparethem," he said.
　　She nodded and withdrew her sword. Lady Zhou knew herdaughter's temper, and was surprised at how she obeyedXu.
　　Xu searched the bodies of the lead escorts and foundseveral letters which he placed in his gown, planningto examine them later.
　　The three returned to their room. Xu picked up theirknapsacks and left a small silver ingot on the tablein payment for the room and the food. Then they wentto the stables, led out three horses and galloped offeastwards.
　　When she realized her daughter was not only travellingwith a man but had shared a room with him, Lady Zhou'ssuspicions rose even further. Her temper was asexplosive as her daughter's.
　　"Who is this gentleman?" she asked accusingly. "Howcome you are with him? You lost your temper with youfather and left, didn't you?""It was you that lost your temper and left," Zhou Qireplied. "Mother, I'll talk to you about this later."It looked as if an argument was about to start, and Xuquickly tried to mediate.
　　"It's all your fault," Zhou Qi told him angrily. "Doyou want to make it worse?"Xu smiled and walked away. Mother and daughter poutedsilently, each thinking her own thoughts.
　　That night, they took lodgings in a farm house, andonce they were in bed, mother and daughter together,Zhou Qi finally told her everything that had happened.
　　Lady Zhou kept up a constant bombardment of questionsand the two were crying one minute and laughing thenext. It was past midnight before they had each givena rough sketch of the events since they parted.
　　Heartbroken and angry over the death of her son, LadyZhou had gone to Lanzhou to stay with relatives, butafter a few days, she began to feel restless, andleft. On reaching Tongguan, he saw the Zhen YuanAgency's flag outside the Yuelai Inn. She rememberedthat the man responsible for her son's death was aLead Escort Tong and that evening she had gone to theinn to investigate. She listened to the lead escortstalking, and discovered Tong was among them. Unable tocontrol her anger, she attacked him, but the agencymen had the superiority of numbers and she wascaptured.
　　The next day on the road, Lady Zhou asked Xu abouthisfamily background.
　　"I am from Shaoxing in Zhejiang province," Xu replied.
　　"When I was twelve, all the members of my family werekilled by the authorities. I was the only one whomanaged to escape.""Why did they do that?" asked Lady Zhou.
　　"The magistrate of Shaoxing prefecture liked my sisterand wanted her as his concubine. But she had alreadybeen promised to someone else, so my father naturallyrefused to agree. The magistrate then accused myfather of being in collusion with bandits and put himand my mother and brother in prison. He told my sisterthat all she had to do was agree, and my father wouldbe released. My sister's husband-to-be went toassassinate the magistrate, but he was caught andbeaten to death by the guards. When my sister heard,she drowned herself in the river. After that, whatchance did the rest of the family have of beingspared?""Did you get revenge?" Zhou Qi asked.
　　"When I had grown up and had learned the martial arts,I went back to look for the magistrate, but he hadbeen promoted and transferred somewhere else. In thelast few years, I've been everywhere looking for him,but I've never had any news."Lady Zhou also asked him if he was married, and saidthat having travelled about so much, he must surelyhave seen some girl he liked?
　　"He's too cunning. No girl would want him," Zhou Qisaid with a laugh.
　　"Enough of your remarks, young lady," Lady Zhouscolded her.
　　"You want to become his match-maker, don't you?" ZhouQi said with a smile. "Which girl are you thinking of?
　　One of your relatives in Lanzhou?"When they lodged at an inn that night, Lady Zhou spokeplainly to her daughter.
　　"A virgin like yourself, travelling together with ayoung man and staying in the same room! How do youexpect to ever be able to marry anyone else?" shesaid.
　　"He was wounded," Zhou Qi replied angrily. "Did I dowrong to save him? He may be full of cunning tricksbut he has been very gentlemanly towards me allalong.""You know that, and so does he. I believe you, andyour father would believe you too. But how are otherpeople going to believe it? If your husband eversuspected, you would never be able to face him again.
　　That is the difficulty we women have.""Well then, I shall never marry," shouted Zhou Qi.
　　"Shh! Master Xu is just in the next room." Lady Zhousaid. "It would be very embarrassing if he shouldhear.""Why should I be afraid? I haven't done anythingwrong. Why do you want to deceive him?"When they arose next morning, a servant brought aletter to them.
　　"Master Xu next door told me to give this to yourLadyships," he said. "The master said he had someaffairs to attend to and had to go on ahead. He rodeout early this morning."Zhou Qi snatched the letter from him.
　　"Dear Lady Zhou and Mistress Zhou," it said. "MistressZhou Qi saved my life when I was wounded and I am verygrateful to her. You are now reunited and can makeyour way from here to Kaifeng, which is not far.
　　Please do not be offended that I have gone on ahead. Iwill naturally never forget how Mistress Zhou savedme, but please rest assured that I will never mentiona word of it to anyone. Yours, Xu."Zhou Qi finished reading and stood dumbfounded for asecond. Then she threw the letter away and lay backdown on the kang. Lady Zhou told her to get up andeat, but she took no notice.
　　"My daughter, we are not in Iron Gall Manor now," LadyZhou said. "What are you losing your temper for?" ZhouQi still took no notice.
　　"You're angry at him for leaving, aren't you?" LadyZhou said.
　　"He did it for my sake. Why should I blame him?" ZhouQi replied angrily. She turned over and covered herhead with the coverlet.
　　"Then why do you blame me?" asked Lady Zhou.
　　Zhou Qi suddenly sat up.
　　"He must have heard what you said last night. He wasafraid other people would gossip and make itimpossible for me to marry, so he left. But why worryabout whether I'll marry or not? I refuse to marryanyone. I refuse to marry anyone!"Lady Zhou saw she was crying as she spoke, andrealized that she had fallen in love with Xu. She hadunwittingly revealed her feelings without fullyunderstanding them herself.
　　"You are the only daughter I have," Lady Zhoucomforted her. "Do you think I don't love you? When weget to Kaifeng I'll speak to your father and get himto take charge of this matter so that you can bebetrothed to Master Xu. Don't worry yourself. Yourmother will see to everything.""Who said I wanted to marry him?" Zhou Qi repliedhurriedly. "The next time I see someone dying in frontof me, I won't do anything to save him, not theslightest thing."
Chapter 14
Xu followed Chen's secret markings to Kaifeng and metthe heroes at the home of the local society leaderthere. The heroes were very happy to see that he wasall right, and a banquet was held to welcome him. Bythis time, Zhang Jin, 'Leopard' Wei and Xin Yan hadall recovered from their wounds. 'Melancholy Ghost'
　　Shi had not yet returned from the Muslim borderregions and the Twin Knights were still trying to findout what had happened to Wen.
　　Xu did not mention anything about Lady Zhou or Zhou Qito Lord Zhou. He was afraid that if questionedclosely, it would be difficult to word his answers.
　　And anyway, he thought, they will be here within aday. So he only told the heroes about what he hadheard of 'Scholar' Yu: that he was badly wounded andtravelling with a girl dressed as a boy. Theydiscussed the matter for a while but could not thinkwho the girl could be. They were all worried about hissafety, but Yu was quick-witted and they wereconfident he would be all right.
　　Early next morning, Zhou Qi arrived by herself and herfather and the others were delighted to see her. Aftergreetings were over, she said quietly to Xu: "Comewith me. I have something to say to you."He walked slowly after her. He thought she wanted toberate him for leavng them behind, but he was wrong.
　　"My mother won't come to see my father," Zhou Qiwhispered. "Think of something.""Well, ask your father to go to see her," said Xu,surprised.
　　"She still wouldn't be willing to see him. She goes onand on about the death of my brother, saying my fatherhas no conscience."Xu thought for a moment. "All right," he said finally.
　　"I have an idea." He quietly gave her instrucitons.
　　"Will it work?" she asked.
　　"Definitely. You'd better go immediately."Xu waited until she had left, then returned to sitwith the other heroes. When the appointed hourarrived, he quietly said to Lord Zhou: "I understandthe Bamboo Garden restaurant next to the Iron PagodaTemple is famous for its excellent wine. Let us go andtry it.""Good idea! I will be the host," replied Zhou, who wasalways interested in wine. "We can all go and drinkour fill.""The eyes and ears of officials are numerous in thiscity. It would not be a good idea for all of us togo," Xu replied. "Perhaps if just the Great Helmsmanand I accompanied you, what do you think?""All right," Zhou replied. "Once again, it is you thatthinks things out most carefully."After speaking to Chen, the three went directly to theIron Pagoda Temple. The Bamboo Garden was as good asits reputation. The three men talked, ate Yellow Rivercarp and drank wine until they were drunk.
　　Xu raised his cup to Zhou. "I drink to you, Lord Zhou,in honour of your being reunited today with yourdaughter," he said.
　　Zhou drank a mouthful and sighed.
　　"You are not happy," Xu continued. "Is it because IronGall Manor was burned to the ground?""Wealth is not a part of the flesh. Such a thing asIron Gall Manor is not worthy of regret," Zhoureplied.
　　"Well then, you must be thinking of your deceasedson?"Zhou said nothing but sighed once again.
　　"Seventh Brother, let us go," said Chen. "I've hadenough wine.
　　Xu ignored him. "Why did Lady Zhou leave home?" heasked.
　　"She blamed me for killing the child. Ah, where couldshe have run to, all alone? She loved him as much asher own life. I have truly failed her. I had nointention of killing him. It was just a slip of thehand in anger. Once we have rescued Master Wen, I willsearch to the farthest ends of the earth to find herand bring her back."As he spoke the door curtain parted and Lady Zhou andZhou Qi walked in.
　　"I heard what you said," said Lady Zhou. "I'm glad tosee you're willing to admit your mistake. I'm herenow, so there's no need to go looking for me."Zhou was so startled and delighted at the suddenappearance of his wife that he was momentarilyspeechless.
　　"Brother Chen, this is my mother," Zhou Qi said.
　　"Mother, this is Great Helmsman Chen of the Red FlowerSociety." The two greeted each other formally.
　　"Father, what a coincidence this is," the girl added.
　　"I had heard that the wine here was good and decidedto try it. Mother didn't want to come and I had todrag her along. Who would have guessed that you wouldbe here too?"They all laughed and drank, Zhou Qi was exuberantlyhappy, and without thinking, she began to talkelatedly about how Lead Escort Tong had been killedand the death of her brother and the burning of themanor avenged. Xu surruptitiously tried to stop her,but she took no notice.
　　"Brother Xu was very clever to think of a way to dealwith them," she exclaimed. "After all the Lead Ecortshad passed out, we jumped in through the window andsaved mother. Then he lifted Tong up and let me killthat villainous bandit myself."Zhou and Chen toasted Xu.
　　"You have saved my wife and taken revenge on mybehalf," Zhou said to him. "I am eternally gratefulyto you.""How did you two meet up on the way?" Chen asked, andXu faltered along for a few sentences trying toexplain.
　　"Damn! Damn!" Zhou Qi thought to herself in distress.
　　Her face flushed and an unintentional movement of herarm knocked her chopsticks and winecup to the ground.
　　The winecup smashed loudly, increasing herembarrassment.
　　Chen examined both their faces carefully, and whenthey had returned to the residence, he called Xu overto one side.
　　"Brother Xu, what is your opinion of Mistress Zhou?"he asked.
　　"Great Helmsman," Xu replied hurriedly. "Please don'tmention what she said in the restaurant to anyone. Sheis a good person and has a pure heart, but if otherpeople knew and added a touch of filth, we wouldn'tever be able to face Lord Zhou again.""I think Mistress Zhou is an extremely nice persontoo," Chen said. "How would you like me to be yourmatch-maker?""That's impossible," said Xu, jumping up. "How could Ibe good enough for her?""You must not be so modest. You are the 'KungfuMastermind', renowned throughout the fightingcommunity. Lord Zhou always speaks of you with thegreatest respect."Xu stood dumbfounded for a second.
　　"What do you think?" Chen repeated.
　　"Great Helmsman, you don't know. She doesn't like me.""How do you know?""She said so herself. She said she hated my peculiarways. We have been quarrelling and arguing ever sincewe met."Chen laughed. "So you're certain?""Great Helmaman, there's no point talking about it. Wecannot risk being turned down."Just then, a servant entered.
　　"Master Chen," he said. "Lord Zhou is outside andwishes to speak to you."Chen smiled at Xu and walked out of the room. He sawZhou pacing up and down the corridor with his handsbehind his back and quickly went up to him.
　　"Lord Zhou, you should have called for me. Was itnecessary to come personally?""It's not important," Zhou replied, and with a tug onChen's arm, led him into a reception room and satdown.
　　"I have something on my mind and want to ask yourhelp," he said. "My daugher is nineteen this year. Shehas been a good-for-nothing since she was born, butshe is basically a good and sincere person. Her faultsare the result of my teaching her something of themartial arts. She has wasted much time and still hasno husband." He hesitated a moment before continuing.
　　"Everyone respects your honourable Society's MasterXu. I would like to ask you to become a match-makerand arrange for my daughter's betrothal to him. But Iam afraid that with her bad temper, she would not begood enough."Chen was delighted. "Leave this matter completely inmy hands," he said. "You are the Taishan Mountain andNorth Star of the fighting community, Lord Zhou. It isa great honour for the Red Flower Society that you arewilling to give up your daughter to one of ourbrothers. I will go and see to it immediately."He ran to Xu's room and told him the news. Xu was sodelighted, his heart beat wildly.
　　"Well," Chen said. "Are you willing?""Why wouldn't I be willing?""I didn't expect that you'd be unwilling," Chenreplied with a smile. "But there is something else.
　　All of Lord Zhou's three sons are dead, and theyoungest died because of the Red Flower Society. Itlooks like the Zhou family line is finished. I wonderif you would be willing to make a concession andbecome not only his son-in-law, but his son as well?""You want me to become a member of the Zhou family?""Yes. The first of your future sons would be surnamedZhou, and the second Xu. It would be a small repaymentof our debt to Lord Zhou."Xu agreed. The two went round to Zhou's room and alsoasked Lady Zhou to come over. Unaware of what washappening, Zhou Qi followed her in. As soon as Zhousaw the expression on the faces of Chen and Xu, heknew the matter was decided.
　　"Daughter, go outside," he said with a smile.
　　"You are trying to deceive me about something," shereplied accusingly. "I won't have it!" But despite herwords, she turned and left.
　　Chen brought up his idea of Xu becoming a member ofthe Zhou clan, and Lady Zhou and her husband beamedwith delight.
　　"We are away from home and I don't have anythingworthy to present to you," Zhou said to Xu. "But laterI will teach you how to use the Iron Gallstones."Xu was overwhelmed. He had gained both a beautifulwife and a wise teacher, and he knelt down to kowtowin thanks.
　　As soon as the news leaked out, the other heroes cameto offer their congratulations. That night, a greatbanquet was held to celebrate, but Zhou Qi hid herselfand refused to come out.
　　During the drinking, 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi returnedfrom his journey to the Muslim regions withMuzhuolun's answer to Chen's letter.
　　Chen took the letter. Just then, 'Crocodile' Jiangraced in shouting: "The Yellow River's broken it'sbanks!"They clustered round and questioned him on the extentof the disaster.
　　"The river's already broken through at seven or eightpoints. In many places the roads are completelyimpassable," he replied.
　　They were all concerned about how the peasants werefaring. Furthermore, the Twin Knights had still notreturned to report on Wen's situation.
　　"Brothers, we have already waited here several days,"said Chen. "Conditions on the road ahead have probablychanged, and I am afraid the floods will have ruinedour plans. What do you all think we should do?""We can't wait any longer," Zhang Jin called out.
　　"Let's get on to Beijing quickly. Even if they areholding Fourth Brother in the Heavenly Prison, we'llstill get him out."The others voiced their agreement, and it was decidedto start out immediately. They thanked the localsociety chief and headed off eastwards.
　　While on the road, Chen opened and read Muzhuolun'sletter. In it, he thanked the Red Flower Society forits warning and said he had called his tribe togetherand was preparing for war, determined to fight theenemy to the end. The mood of the letter wastragically heroic and Chen's anxiety showed on hisface.
　　"Did Master Muzhuolun have anything else to say?" heasked Shi.
　　"He asked after Fourth Brother. When he heard we hadnot yet rescued him, he expressed great concern.""Did you meet Master Muzhuolun's family?" Chen asked.
　　"I met his wife, son and two daughters. You know theeldest daughter. She asked after your health."Chen hesitated. "She didn't say anything other thanthat?" he asked slowly.
　　Shi thought for a second. "Just before I left, thereappeared to be something else she wished to say to me,but she asked only about the details of our attempt torescue Fourth Brother."Chen was silent. He put his hand into his gown andfelt the dagger that Huo Qingtong had given him. Theblade was eight inches long, bright and dazzling, andthe handle was entwined with gold thread. Judging bythe amount that had been worn away, it was of greatantiquity. Huo Qingtong had said that a great secretwas supposed to be hidden in the sword. He hadexamined it closely over the past few days, but hadbeen unable to find anything unusual about it. Heturned and looked back westwards. The host of starswere shining brightly, and he wondered whether on thegreat flat desert, the same stars were now shining onHuo Qingtong.
　　They travelled all night, and when morning broke, theywere already close to the places where the YellowRiver had broken through. The great plain had turnedinto a vast lake. The fields and homes of people inlow-lying areas had long since been submerged. Manypeople were camping out in the open on the hilltops.
　　The heroes made their way round the flood, keeping tothe high ground and heading eastwards. Occasionally,they spotted a cluster of corpses bobbing along besidepieces of driftwood. That night, they lodged out inthe open, and the next day had to make a long detour.
　　Zhou Qi had been riding with Luo Bing the whole way,but suddenly she could restrain herself no longer. Shespurred her horse on and caught up with Xu.
　　"You're the one with all the ideas," she said. "Thinkof a way to save these people."During the two days since they had become engaged, thetwo had been too embarrassed to speak to each other.
　　Now, the first thing Zhou Qi did when she opened hermouth was to present him with a problem of mammothproportions.
　　"It's all very well to say that, but how can wepossibly help so many refugees?" he replied.
　　"Why would I come and ask you if I knew of a way?""First thing tomorrow I will tell all the others thatthey are not to call me 'Kung Fu Mastermind' anymore.
　　Then you won't be able to put me on the spot likethis.""When did I ever put you on the spot?" Zhou Qi askedquickly. "All right, I was wrong. I would be betteroff if I didn't say anything." She pouted silently.
　　"Sister, we are all one family now. We cannot continueto argue like this," Xu said. Zhou Qi ignored him.
　　"It is I who is in the wrong," he coaxed. "Forgive methis time and give me a smile." Zhou Qi turned herhead away.
　　"Ah, so you won't even smile. You are so bashful infront of your new fiance."She burst into laughter. "You talk such nonsense," shesaid, raising her horse whip.
　　The road was filled with refugees, dragging their sonsand carrying their daughters, crying and wailing asthey went. Suddenly a horseman appeared, gallopingtowards them fast. The road was very narrow and as therider careered from side to side, he knocked a womancarrying a child into the water. But he took nonotice, and continued to gallop on. The heroes wasfurious, and as the rider passed by, 'Leopard' Weipulled him off his horse and punched him solidly inthe face. The man screamed and spat out a mouthful ofblood and three teeth.
　　He was a military official.
　　"You bunch of bandit hooligans," he shouted as hescrambled to his feet. "I am on important officialbusiness. I'll deal with you when I come back." Hemounted his horse but Zhang Jin pulled him off again.
　　"What important official business?" he roared.
　　"Search him," Chen ordered. Zhang Jin frisked himquickly and found an official document which he handedover.
　　Chen saw the document had a singed corner and achicken's feather stuck to it indicating that it wasan urgent report which the courier would be requiredto travel day and night to deliver. On it's wrapperwas written the words: "Extra Urgent Dispatch forBorder Pacification General Zhao." He broke the sealand took out the document.
　　The courier went white with fear. "That's a secretmilitary document," he shouted. "Aren't you afraid ofexecution?""If anyone's going to be executed, it's you," repliedXin Yan with a laugh.
　　Chen saw the letter was from a certain commander incharge of provisions reporting to General Zhao thatrations for the Great Army had reached Lanfeng, butthat because of the floods, there might be a delay ofseveral days before they could be delivered.
　　Chen handed the letter to Xu. "It has nothing to dowith us," he said.
　　But as Xu read the document an expression of delightfilled his face. "Great Helmsman," he cried. "This istruly a great treasure delivered to us on a plate.
　　With this, we can both assist Master Muzhuolun andsave the refugees."He jumped off his horse and walked over to theofficial and tore the document up in front of him.
　　"What are you going to do now?" he asked. "Isn'tlosing a military document a capital offence? If youwant to live, it would be best to run."The official was startled and angry, but he saw thetruth of Xu's words. He took off his military uniform,threw it in the water, then ran off, melding into themass of refugees.
　　"Steal the provisions and hand them out as disasterrelief, and we can kill two birds with one stone,"Chen said, nodding. "The only problem is that theprovisions for the Great Army are bound to be heavilyguarded, and we are few in number. What ideas do youhave, Brother Xu?"Xu whispered a few words in his ear, and Chen noddedin agreement.
　　"Good, we'll do it that way," he said, and ordered theheroes to disguise themselves and disperse.
　　Their instructions were to spread rumours.
　　The next morning, tens of thousands of refugeessuddenly descended on Lanfeng. When the countymagistrate, Wang Dao, saw the extraordinary situation,he ordered his officers to seize several refugees andquestion them. They all said they had heard therewould be a distribution of relief money and provisionsin the city that day. Wang immediately ordered thecity gates to be barred, but by then, a huge crowd ofrefugees had already gathered inside with many moreoutside. Wang sent someone to announce to the crowdthat there would be no distribution of relief, but thecrowds continued to grow. Beginning to feel nervous,he went personally to see the Provisions CommanderSun, who was stationed in the Stone Buddha Temple inthe eastern part of the city. He asked if some of thecommander's troops could be assigned to help controlthe situation in the city.
　　"I have my orders from General Zhao," Sun replied.
　　"Any slip-up, no matter how small, before theseprovisions reach the Great Army will be a capitaloffence. It is not that I am unwilling to help, but myresponsibilities are heavy. Please forgive me, MasterWang."Wang pleaded with him, but Sun was adament. Back onthe streets, he saw the refugees creating an uproareverywhere.
　　Night fell, and fires started simultaneously inseveral parts of the city. Magistrate Wang hurriedlydispatched men to put them out, and in the confusion,an officer ran in to report.
　　"Master! There's trouble," he cried. "The west gatehas been forced by the refugees and thousands more arestreaming into the city."Wang could only rant in despair, completely at a lossfor what to do.
　　"Prepare a horse!" he shouted frantically, and led hisguards towards the western part of the city. Butbefore they had gone half a street, they found the waycompletely blocked by refugees. He heard someone inthe midst of the crowd shout: "The food and money areto be distributed at the Stone Buddha Temple! Everyoneto the Stone Buddha Temple!" The refugees surgedforward.
　　Wang could see the way was impassible. He decidedthere was nothing for it but to go to the Stone BuddhaTemple and seek refuge there. When he arrived, thetemple gate was already tightly shut, but the guardrecognized him and let him in. Outside, the refugeeshad already surrounded the temple. Someone in thecrowd shouted: "All the relief cash and food issued bythe court have been swallowed by the dog officials.
　　Hand out the cash and food! Hand out the cash andfood!"The mass of the refugees took up the chant and theirroar rattled the roof tiles.
　　Wang shook uncontrollably. "Rebels!" he bellowed.
　　"Rebels!"For a military official, Commander Sun was quitebrave. He ordered his soldiers to place a ladder nextto the wall and climbed up on top.
　　"Those of you who are peaceful citizens, leave thecity quickly and do not put faith in rumours," heshouted. "If you do not leave, we will be forced tofire on you with arrows."The two officers led a group of archers onto the topof the wall and a roar of defiance went up from thecrowd.
　　"Fire!" shouted Sun. A wave of arrows shot out and adozen or more refugees fell to the ground. The crowdturned and fled in panic and the cries of women andchildren could be heard as the refugees trampled eachother.
　　Sun laughed out loud. But before the laugh ended,someone in the crowd threw two stones at him, one ofwhich hit his cheek. He felt a sharp pain and rubbedthe spot only to find his hand covered in blood.
　　"Fire! Fire!" he ordered in a great rage. The archersshot out another wave of arrows and another dozenrefugees were hit.
　　Suddenly, two tall, thin men leapt up onto the wall,grabbed several of the archers and threw them to theground. Incensed by the way they had been fired on,the refugees surged back and began beating the archersviciously.
　　The Red Flower Society heroes in the crowd weregreatly surprised by the sudden re-appearance of theTwin Knights. More of them jumped up onto the wall andinto the temple courtyard, and a moment later, thetemple gates opened and 'Crocodile' Jiang ran out.
　　"Everyone come and get some food," he shouted,beckoning to the refugees. But the soldiers were manyand the refugees did not dare to press in too close.
　　Commander Sun's great sword danced as he foughtdesperately along the top of the wall, retreatingsteadily. Suddenly, his arms went numb, and his swordclattered to the ground at the foot of the wall.
　　Someone forced his hands behind his back, and he feltan icy coldness on his neck.
　　"You Turtle!" the man behind him shouted. "Order thetroops to throw down their weapons and retreat insidethe temple!"Sun hesitated for a second and he felt a sharp pain onhis neck as the man lightly moved his sword, breakingthrough a layer of skin. Not daring to disobeyfurther, Sun shouted out the order. Seeing theircommanding officer had been captured, the soldiers didas they were ordered and retired inside the temple asthe refugees roared their approval.
　　Great Helmsman Chen walked into the main hall of thetemple and saw the altar piled high with bags of foodand cash. 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi pulled CountyMagistrate Wang in for Chen to dispose of.
　　"Are you in charge of this county?" Chen asked.
　　"Y-yes...your Majesty," Wang replied in a quaveringvoice.
　　Chen laughed. "Do I look like a king?" he asked.
　　"I deserved to die. I spoke incorrectly. What is yourhonourable name, sir?"Chen smiled slightly and ignored the question. "Sinceyou are an official, you must have some scholarship inyou," he said. "I will give you the first line of acouplet for you to match." He lightly waved his fan.
　　"If you are able to match it, your life will bespared. If you cannot, then I will not be so polite."The refugees gathered round, forming a circle ofthousands of eyes all focussed on Wang's face.
　　"Now listen," said Chen. "The first line is: 'How longmust we live for the Yellow River to be clear of mud?
　　Rather ask if officialdom can be cleared ofcorruption.'"Wang's face was covered in sweat. He was a competentscholar, but in the midst of his fear, he could thinkof nothing.
　　"Sir," he finally said. "Your first line is toodifficult. I...I cannot match it.""That's all right," Chen replied. "Let me ask youplainly. Which would be easier: to clear up the YellowRiver or officialdom?"Wang suddenly had an idea. "I consider that if allofficialdom were clear, then the Yellow River would beclear too," he said.
　　Chen laughed. "Well said. I shall spare your life.
　　Call together your guards and distribute the money andfood to the refugees. Oh, and Commander Sun, you canhelp too."The refugees cheered thunderously for the Red FlowerSociety heroes. As they filed past to collect the foodand money, they jeered and laughed at Sun and Wang,who pretended not to notice.
　　"Brothers and sisters, listen!" Chen called out. "Ifthe authorities should send people to investigate, youcan say it was the Commander and County Magistrate whopersonally made the distribution."The refugees shouted their approval.
　　The heroes supervised the operation late into thenight until all the food and cash had beendistributed.
　　"Brothers!" Xu then shouted to the refugees. "Take thesoldiers' weapons and hide them in your homes. If thedog officials know what's good for them, they'll leaveyou alone, but if they should come after you, you canfight them."Strong men came forward and collected up the swordsand spears that had been discarded by the soldiers.
　　Chen walked out of the temple with Commander Sun andthe other heroes as the refugees roared their thanks.
　　They mounted their horses and rode out of the city.
　　After travelling a few miles, Chen pushed Sun off hishorse.
　　"Commander, thank you for your help," he said. "Thenext time you escort provisions, be sure to write tome." He laughed and saluted, then galloped off in acloud of dust with the other heroes.
　　"Do you have any news of Fourth Brother?" Chen askedthe Twin Knights after they had ridden on a littleway.
　　"We found a message left by Brother Yu which said hewas being taken to Hangzhou," one of them replied.
　　Chen was greatly surprised. "Why is he being sent toHangzhou and not Beijing?" he asked. "I thought theEmperor wanted to question him personally.""We thought it strange too. But Brother Yu alwayshandles things very carefully. It's certain to bereliable information."Chen told the others to dismount, and they sat roundin a circle and discussed the situation.
　　"Since Brother Wen is being sent to Hangzhou, weshould head south and try to work out some way ofsaving him," Xu said. "Hangzhou is our territory. Thepower of the court is not as great there as inBeijing, so it should be easier to rescue him. But weshould still send someone to Beijing to see if thereis any news, just in case."The others agreed. Chen looked over at Shi. "I wonderif I can trouble you to go once more, TwelfthBrother," he said.
　　"All right," Shi replied. He headed off northwardsalone towards Beijing while the other heroes rodesouth.
　　Chen enquired further of the Twin Knights about Yu'smovements, but they said they had no furtherinformation. They had returned to report as soon asthey had seen the markings. Passing through Lanfeng,they had come across the refugees and met up with theother heroes.
　　"With the provisions gone, Sister Huo Qingtong and herpeople should have no trouble beating the Great Army,"Zhou Qi said.
　　"That girl's sword style wasn't bad, and she was anice person too," added Priest Wu Chen. "She deservesour help. I hope she does beat them. It would besomething everyone could rejoice at."
Chapter 15
Chen held the dagger in his hands and stood watchingdumbly as Huo Qingtong caught up with the Muslimcolumn and gradually faded towards the horizon. He wasabout to go and ask Lu Feiqing about his pupil when henoticed a horse galloping towards him fast. As it camecloser, he was disappointed to find it was only XinYan returning on the white horse.
　　"Master!" he shouted excitedly. "Master Zhang Jin hasa prisoner.""Who is it?" Chen asked.
　　"I went to the old temple and found Master Zhang Jinarguing with a man who wanted to pass. The man saw thehorse I was ridingand began cursing me as a horsethief and struck out at me with his sword. MasterZhang Jin and I fought with him. His kung fu wasreally good. He fought the two of us single-handeduntil finally I picked up some stones and startedthrowing them at him, and Master Zhang Jin clubbed himon the thigh. It was only then that we managed tocapture him."Chen smiled. "What is his name? What was he doing?""We asked him but he wouldn't say. But Master ZhangJin says he must be a member of the Han School ofLuoyang because he was using Iron Pipa Hand Kung Fu."Zhang Jin galloped up, dismounted and bowed beforeChen, then pulled a man off the horse's saddle. He wastied hand and foot, but he stood haughtily, exuding anair of insolence.
　　"I understand you are a member of the Han School ofLuoyang," Chen said. "What is your honourable name?"The man said nothing.
　　"Xin Yan, undo this gentleman's bonds," Chen said.
　　Xin Yan drew his knife and cut the rope that bound theman's hands and legs then stood behind him, his knifeat the ready.
　　"My friends have wronged you, but please do not beoffended," Chen said. "Come into my tent and take aseat."Chen and the man sat on the ground while the otherheroes came in and stood behind Chen's back.
　　When he saw Luo Bing enter, the man's anger flared andhe jumped up. "You stole my horse," he shouted,pointing at her.
　　"So it's Master Han," Luo Bing replied with a smile.
　　"We exchanged horses and I compensated you with a goldingot. You did very well out of the deal. What are youangry about?"Chen asked what had happened, and Luo Bing recountedhow she had taken the white horse. The others laughedas they listened.
　　"In that case, we will return the horse to you, MasterHan," Chen said. "There is also no need to return thegold ingot. Consider it a token of our respect and aspayment for the rental of your horse."Han was about to reply when Luo Bing said: "GreatHelmsman, this won't do. Do you know who he is? He's aZhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency man." She pulled out WangWeiyang's letter and handed it to him.
　　Chen's eyes flashed down the lines. "The great name ofWang Weiyang has been known to me for a long time, butregrettably I ave never met him," he said. "You are amember of the Han School of Luoyang. What relation areyou to Fifth Madame Han?""And what is your honourable surname and esteemedname, sir?" Han replied.
　　Chen smiled. "My surname is Chen, my given name,Jialuo."Han stood up. "You...you are the son of Chief MinisterChen?" he asked in a quavering voice.
　　"This is the Great Helmsman of our Red FlowerSociety," one of the Twin Knights said.
　　Han slowly sat down again and began weighing up thisyoung Great Helmsman.
　　"Someone in the underworld started the rumour that oursociety was connected with the death of one of yourschool's members," Chen said. "In fact, we knownothing of it. I dispatched one of our brothers toLuoyang to explain the matter, but something came upand he was forced to postpone the trip. So yourarrival could not have been better timed, Master Han.
　　I don't know how this rumour started. Can you tellme?""You...you're really the son of Chief Minister Chen ofHaining?" Han asked.
　　"Since you know my identity, there is no point intrying to deceive you," Chen replied.
　　"Your family announced a large reward for finding youafter you left home," Han said. "It was said that youhad joined the Red Flower Society and had gone to theMuslim border regions. My late comrade Jiao Wenqi wasengaged by your family to look for you, but hemysteriously disappeared on the way. That was fiveyears ago. Recently, someone found the Iron Plate andPipa darts that Brother Jiao used in Shanxi province,and we now know for certain that he was murdered.
　　No-one knows the exact circumstances of his death, butconsider, sir: if it wasn't the Red Flower Society,then who did it?""I killed Jiao Wenqi," Lu Feiqing interrupted. "I amnot amember of the Red Flower Society, so this matterhas nothing to do with them."The others were startled. Lu stood up and told thestory of how Jiao had found him one night, how hefought one against three, and had been injured, buthad still managed to kill them on the desertedhillside. The heroes listened and then cursed Jiao,saying he was shameless and deserved to die. Han'sface darkened but he said nothing.
　　"If Master Han wishes to avenge his martial brother'sdeath, there is no reason why he should not do sonow," Lu said. Heturned to Luo Bing. "Mistress Wen,return Master Han's weapon to him please."Luo Bing pulled out the Iron Pipa and handed it to Lu.
　　"Since Jiao was commissioned by the Chen family tofind their son, he should have stuck to his mission,"Lu said. As he spoke, he absent-mindedly excercisedhis Inner Strength kung fu on the body of the hollowIron Pipa, slowly flattening it. "What was he doingusing their money to come and give me trouble? Even ifwe of the fighting community are not able to sacrificeourselves to save our country from the Manchubarbarians, we should still fight for justice andagainst those who oppress the people."His Inner Strength kung fu was extraordinary. Hishands rolled the flattened iron plate round so that itwas transformed into a tube, and then with a fewsqeezes, into an iron club.
　　"What I detest most are the Manchu court's Eagles'
　　Claws and the bodyguard agency running dogs who use asmall knowledge of the martial arts to assist thewicked with their evil deeds."His voice suddenly hardened and he twisted the ironclub into an iron ring.
　　As Lu talked, Han watched him twist and squeeze hisschool's famous weapon as if he were making noodles,and was both startled and afraid. He knew that Jiao'skung fu had been about the same standard as his own,and realised that fighting with this old manmeantcertain death.
　　Han's courage had already evaporated and he did notdare to challenge Lu. But although shocked andhumbled, he did not wish to appear too cowardly.
　　"This affair of Jiao Wenqi in fact arose because ofme," Chen said. "I will write a letter to my elderbrother telling him that Master Jiao found me, butthat I was not willing to return home; also, that onhis way back, Master Jiao met with an accident andpassed away. I will then ask my brother to pay thereward and compensation money to Master Jiao'sfamily."Han continued to hesitate, and Chen's eyebrows rose.
　　"But if your heart is set upon revenge, then I willfight you myself."Han shuddered. "I will do exactly as you say, sir," hereplied.
　　"That's a good fellow," Chen said. "One has to beflexible."He told Xin Yan to hand him his writing brush,instone, ink and writing paper, and using a vigorouscalligraphic style, wrote out a letter which Hanaccepted.
　　"Master Wang asked me to help escort a cargo back toBeijing and then to escort some treasures the Emperorhas presented to your honourable family down to thesouth. But faced with the extraordinary talents of youall, I would only make a fool of myself if I madefurther use of my own minor abilities in the martialarts. I will take my leave of you, sir.""Did you say items belonging to my family, MasterHan?""The bodyguard agency caller who brought me the lettersaid the Emperor is extremely generous towards yourfamily. Every few months, he bestows an amount ofprecious stones and treasures, and there is now alarge accumulation of these that must be sent south toyour home. Your family asked us to escort them, but Iwould not dare to continue earning my daily rice insuch a business. After I have made suitablearrangements for Brother Jiao's dependants, I willreturn home.""It is good that you are willing to follow Master Lu'sinvaluable words of advice," Chen said. "In that case,I might as well make friends with you. Xin Yan, pleasebring in the other gentlemen from the Zhen YuanBodyguard Agency."Xin Yan went out and led in Lead Escort Qian and theothers. Han and the escorts stared dumbly at eachother.
　　"Master Han, please take these friends with you," saidChen. "But if we ever catch them again doing anythingbut good deeds, do not blame us if our hands are notstayed by mercy."Chen did not again mention the return of the whitehorse, and Han did not dare to bring it up.
　　"We will leave first," Chen said. "I will ask all ofyou to rest here for a day before making a start."The Red Flower Society heroes mounted their horses anstarted off, leaving the Agency men and the Yamenofficers standing silently behind.
　　"Master Chen," Lu Feiqing said after they hadtravelled for a while. "My pupil will meet up withthose bodyguard agency fellows before long. They havebeen humiliated and have no way to get their revenge,so they may cause trouble. I would like to stay behindand watch them for a while before following afteryou.""Please do as you wish, Master Lu," Chen replied.
　　Lu saluted, then galloped off the way they had come.
　　Chen realised as Lu disappeared that he had not askedhim about his pupil.
Chapter 16
Scholar' Yu, under orders to investigate thewhereabouts of Wen Tailai, made discreet enquiriesalong the road as he went. But he discovered no clues,and in less than a day arrived at Liangzhou, aprosperous busy city and one of the largest in Gansuprovince. He found a room in an inn, then went to atavern and drank alone, bemoaning his fate. He thoughtof Luo Bing's voice and smile, and a tide of longingrose within him. He knew it was hopeless, and the morehe drank, the more melancholy he became. He was justabout to leave when two men came in. Yu knew he hadseen one of them before and quickly turned his headaway. He thought frantically and placed him as one ofthe Yamen officers he had fought at Iron Gall Manor.
　　Luckily, the man and his companion paid no attentionto him.
　　They chose a table near the window which happened tobe just next to Yu's and sat down. Yu sat with hishead on the table, pretending to be drunk.
　　The two men chatted for a while, then one said:
　　"Brother Rui, it's remarkable How you captured thatfellow. I wonder what sort of reward the Emperor willgive you?""I'm not concerned about the reward," Rui replied. "Ifwe can get him to Hangzhou nice and safely, I'll behappy. When we left Beijing, there were eight of usbodyguards, and now I'm the only one left. It was thatfight in Suzhou. I'm not selling myself short, but Istill get the shivers just thinking about it.""You're with Master Zhang now," the other said. "I'msure nothing more will be wrong.""That's true," Rui replied. "But it means that theImperial Guardsmen get all the credit. What do weImperial Bodyguards get out of it? But tell me, oldZhu. What are they doing sending him to Hangzhouinstead of to Beijing?""My younger sister is from the family of Great ScholarShi, as you know," Zhu replied, lowering his voice.
　　"She told me quietly that the Emperor plans to go downsouth. Perhaps he wants to question him himself."Rui grunted and drank a mouthful of wine. "So the sixof you rushed out from Beijing to see that theImperial command was complied with?""And to give the rest of you some help. The Red FlowerSociety is very powerful in the south. We have to beespecially careful."As he listened, Yu groaned inwardly at the sheer luckof it all. If he had not happened to be there and hearthem, the Red Flower Society heroes would have beenracing to Beijing to save Wen when he was really beingtaken to Hangzhou.
　　"Brother Rui," Zhu said. "Exactly what crime has thisfellow committed that the Emperor wants to questionhim personally?""How would we know?" Rui replied. "We were just toldthat if we didn't catch him, we would all be removedfrom our posts. I just hope I can keep my head on myshoulders."The two laughed and drank, and their conversationturned to the subject of women. Finally, they paid thebill and stood up to leave. Rui looked over at Yuprostrate on the table.
　　"Scholars," he said and laughed harshly. "Three cupsof wine and they can't even walk."Yu waited until they had gone, then hastily threw fivesilver coins onto the table and dashed out of thetavern. He spotted the men entering the city Yamen. Hewaited for a long time but didn't see them re-appear,and decided they must be lodging there.
　　He returned to his room and as soon as it was dark, hechanged into a set of dark clothes, stuck his goldenflute into his belt then ran over to the Yamen. Makinghis way round to the back, he clambered over the wall.
　　All was pitch black in the courtyard except for ashaft of light coming from a window in the easternhall, and as he crept closer, he heard voices comingfrom inside. He wet the tip of his finger with a dropof saliva, then lightly moistened the window paper andmade a small hole. Looking through, he started infright.
　　The hall was full of people. Zhang Zhaozhong wasseated in the middle with the bodyguards and Yamenofficers on either side of him. A man standing withhis back to Yu cursed angrily, and he knew from hisvoice that it was Wen Tailai.
　　"You can curse to your heart's content," a voice offto the side said darkly. "I may not be as proficientin the martial arts as you, but you will still get ataste of my hand."Yu was distressed. "They are going to humiliate FourthBrother," he thought. "He is the person Fourth Sisterrespects and loves most. How can I allow him to beinsulted by these villains?"He saw a tall, thin middleaged man wearing a blue gownadvancing on Wen with his hand raised. Just as the manwas about to strike Wen, Yu inserted his flute throughthe hole in the window paper, and with a puff, shot asmall arrow into the man's left eye.
　　The man fell to the ground in agony and there was amoment of confusion in the hall. Yu shot another arrowinto the right cheek of one of the bodyguards, thenkicked open the main door of the hall and ran straightin.
　　"Don't move!" he shouted. "The Red Flower Society hascome to the rescue!"He raised his flute and struck the Yamen officersbeside Wen, then pulled a dagger from his legwrappingsand cut the ropes binding Wen's hands and feet.
　　Zhang Zhaozhong thought a largescale attack was inprogress and immediately drew his sword and went tothe hall door to prevent Wen and Yu from escaping andthose outside from getting in.
　　As soon as Wen's hands were free of the bonds, hisspirits surged. An Imperial Bodyguard lunged towardshim and Wen struck him hard with his fist, sending himreeling away. The others were so afraid of Wen's powerthat for a while they did not dare to get too close tohim.
　　"Fourth Brother, let's get out!" Yu said.
　　"Are the others here?""No," Yu replied quietly. "There's only me."Wen nodded once. The wounds on his right arm and thighhad not yet healed, but he ran for the door with hisright arm resting on Yu's shoulder.
　　Zhang strode foward a step. "Stop!" he shouted, andjabbed at Wen's stomach with his long sword. Wen wasslow on his feet, so using attack as his defence, hestruck out at his opponent's eyes with the index andmiddle fingers of his left hand, and Zhang was forcedto retract his sword.
　　"Good!" he exclaimed. The two men were incrediblyfast, but Wen only had the use of his left arm andafter a few more moves, Zhang hit his right shoulder.
　　Unable to keep his balance, Wen sat down heavily onthe floor.
　　"I shouldn't have done this," Yu thought as he foughtoff the Imperial Bodyguards. "I will save FourthBrother and then let the Eagle's Claws kill me so thatFourth Sister will know that I, Yu Yutong, am not anunchivalrous oaf."He saw Wen fall to the ground and flipped round tostrike out desperately at Zhang.
　　"Fourth Brother, get out quick!" Yu shouted. Wenrested a moment and then with difficulty clambered tohis feet. The golden flute flew and danced, completelyneglecting to defend or parry. Yu was completelyunconcerned about his own safety. Even with his superbswordsmanship, Zhang was forced to move back severalpaces in the face of his suicidal attack. Wen saw anopening and shot out of the door, with the mob of thebodyguards and officers howling after him.
　　Yu blocked them at the door, ignoring his own safety.
　　"Don't you want to live?" Zhang shouted. "Who taughtyou that kung fu style?" Yu was using the traditionalstyle of the Wudang School, the school to which Zhangbelonged, and Zhang had so far spared him because ofit.
　　"It would be best if you killed me," Yu said, smilingsadly. After a few more moves, Zhang's sword struckhim once more, this time on the right shoulder, so Yushifted the golden flute to his left hand andcontinued the fight without retreating a step.
　　The mass of the bodyguards charged forward again andYu's flute danced, hooting strangely as the windwhipped through it. A bodyguard chopped at him withhis sword, and gashed Yu's shoulder. His body was nowcovered in blood, but he continued the fierce battle,and there was a sudden crack as the jawbone of anotherbodyguard was shattered. The bodyguards pressedforward, knives, swords, whips and clubs all thrustingtowards Yu simultaneously. Yu's thigh was hit by aclub and he fell to the ground. His golden flute keptup its dance for a few moments, then he fainted away.
　　There was a sudden shout from the door: "Stop!"The bodyguards turned and saw Wen walking slowly backinto the hall. He ignored them and went straight overto Yu. Seeing his bloodied body, he couldn't stop histears. He bent down and was relieved to find Yu wastill breathing.
　　"Treat his wounds quickly," he ordered.
　　The bodyguards were so fearful of his power, that theydid as he said. Wen watched them bind Yu's wounds andcarry him through to the inner hall, then placed bothof his hands behind his back.
　　"Tie me up," he said. One of the bodyguards lookedover at Zhang, then walked slowly over.
　　"What are you afraid of?" Wen asked. "If I was goingto hurt you, I would have done so long ago."The bodyguard bound his hands and took him back to thedungeons. Two bodyguards were left to guard him.
　　Early the next morning, Zhang went to see Yu and foundhim in a deep sleep. He was told by a guard that thedoctor had visited Yu and prescribed some medicine.
　　Zhang visited him again in the afternoon and Yuappeared to be more alert.
　　"Is your teacher surnamed Lu or Ma?" Zhang asked him.
　　"My teacher is surnamed Ma, his given name is Zhen.""So that's it. I am your martial uncle, ZhangZhaozhong."Yu nodded slightly.
　　"Are you a member of the Red Flower Society?"Yu nodded again.
　　"Such a nice young man," Zhang sighed. "What a pitythat you have fallen to such a state. What relation isWen Tailai to you? What were you doing risking yourlife to save him?"Yu closed his eyes and was silent. A moment passed.
　　"In the end I did save him, so I can die in peace," hefinally said.
　　"Huh! Do you really think you could snatch him awayfrom me?"Yu was startled. "Didn't he escape?" he asked.
　　"How could he? Stop day-dreaming!"Zhang tried to interrogate him, but Yu took no notice,and after a while he began to sneeze.
　　Zhang smiled slightly. "You stubborn boy," he said,and left.
　　He ordered the Imperial Bodyguards to organise anambush with Wen as bait. After dinner, Wen was broughtout of the dungeon and interrogated once more, in thesame manner as the night before when Yu hadunexpectedly burst in and disrupted the proceedings.
　　This time, however, heavily-armed troops were hiddenall around the Yamen, waiting to catch any Red FlowerSociety rescuers. But they waited in vain.
　　The next morning, Zhang received a report that thewaters of the Yellow River were rising rapidly, andthat the current at the point where they intended tocross was very strong and ordered an immediatedeparture. He had Wen and Yu placed in separatecarriages and was just about to start out when OfficerWu and the Zhen Yuan Agency Lead Escorts raced intothe Yamen. Zhang hastily questioned them, and OfficerWu breathlessly told him how they had been attackedand captured by the Muslims and the Red FlowerSociety, and how Lead Escort Yan had been killed by ayoung Muslim girl.
　　"Brother Yan was a very tough fighter," Zhang said.
　　"Extraordinary." He raised his hand. "We will meetagain in Beijing."Zhang immediately went and told the Liangzhou Militarycommander that he wanted four hundred crack troopstransferred to his command to help escort criminalswanted by the Emperor. The commander did not darerefuse and also dispatched Colonel Cao Neng andChief-of-Staff Ping Wangxian to lead the escortingsoldiers until they reached Lanzhou, the provincialcapital, where provincial troops would take over.
　　Zhang's column surged out of the town, stealing andpilfering from the common people in the usual way asthey went.
　　They travelled without incident for two days. Then,about ten miles from a village named Twin Wells, theycame upon two bare-breasted men sitting beneath a treeby the side of the road with a pair of fine horsesstanding nearby. Two of the soldiers went over.
　　"Hey!" one shouted. "These two horses look likeofficial horses. Where did you steal them from?""We are peaceful citizens," said one of the men. "Wewouldn't dare to steal horses.""We are tired of walking. Lend them to us," the secondsoldier replied.
　　The two men stood up, walked over to their horses anduntied the reins.
　　The soldiers walked haughtily over and were just aboutto take hold of the reins when the two men kickedtheir behinds, leapt onto the horses and galloped overto one of the carriages.
　　"Is Fourth Brother in there?" one shouted.
　　"Ah, Twelfth Brother!" Wen answered.
　　"Fourth Brother, we're leaving," the man replied. "Butdon't worry, we'll be back to rescue you soon."The two men galloped away before the carriage's guardscould attack.
　　The column lodged that night at a town called ClearWater Shop. Early the following morning, while most ofthe soldiers were still asleep, a scream was heard,and there was a moment of confusion. The two troopcommanders, Cao and Ping went to investigate and foundthe bodies of more than a dozen soldiers lying wherethey had slept, each with a gaping gash in the chest.
　　There was no indication of who had killed them.
　　The next evening, they rested at Hengshi. This was alarge town, and the column filled three inns and manyprivate houses besides. During the night, one of theinns caught fire. Zhang ordered the bodyguards toguard Wen and to heed nothing else in order to avoidbeing tricked. The flames rose higher and higher.
　　"Bandits!" Cao Neng cried as he ran into Zhang's room.
　　"They're attacking!""Please go and direct operations yourself, GeneralCao," Zhang replied. "I am unable to leave thisplace."Cao nodded and left.
　　From outside the inn came the sound of screams andshrieks, galloping horses, the crackle of the flamesand the smash of roof tiles as they hit the ground.
　　Zhang ordered two bodyguards onto the roof to keepwatch, but told them not to get involved unless theenemy attacked the inn. The fire did not get out ofcontrol, and before long it was extinguished. Theagitated clamour continued for a while, then graduallydied down to the point where the sound of hooves couldbe heard as horses galloped off eastwards.
　　Cao, his face covered in soot, grease and blood, ranin to see Zhang again.
　　"The bandits have retreated," he reported.
　　"How many of our men have been killed and wounded?"Zhang asked.
　　"I don't know yet. Several...several dozen.""How many bandits were captured?"Cao's mouth fell open. After a moment, he said:
　　"None."Zhang grunted.
　　"Their faces were covered with cloth, and their kungfu was horrendous," Cao added. "But it's very strange,they didn't steal anything. All they did was kill ourbrothers. Just before they left, they threw down twohundred taels of silver for the innkeeper saying itwas compensation for starting the fire.""So you think they were bandits, do you?" Zhang said.
　　"Tell everyone to get some rest, General Cao. We willstart out early tomorrow."Cao retired and went to see the innkeeper, whom heaccused of being in collusion with the bandits andresponsible for the murder of the soldiers. Theinnkeeper kowtowed and begged for mercy and finallygave Cao the two hundred taels of silver.
　　The next day, the soldiers were busy until noon beforefinally making a start. They passed through beautifulcountry of blue hills and green water, surrounded bydense vegetation on all sides. After travelling forabout four hours, the road began to grow graduallysteeper and high peaks rose on either side.
　　A horse came galloping down the road towards them andhalted about ten paces in front of the column.
　　"Listen to me, all of you," the rider called out. "Youhave offended the demons. Turn back quickly and youwill be spared. If you continue eastwards, each one ofyou Turtles will surely die."The soldiers shuddered as they looked at the man. Hewas wearing clothes made of rough hemp bound at thewaist with grass rope. His face was pale yellow andhis eyebrows slanted upwards, just like the images oflife-stealing spirits in the temples. The man spurredhis horse forward and galloped down the mountain,passing beside of the column, and was gone. Suddenly,one of the soldiers in the rear-guard gave a cry, andfell to the ground, dead. The rest started in frightand gathered round to look, but there was no woundvisible on his body. Terrified, they all began talkingat once.
　　Cao Neng assigned two soldiers to stay behind and burythe dead man and the column continued up the mountain.
　　Before they had gone very far, another horseapproached them from in front, its rider the same manthey had seen earlier.
　　"Listen to me, all of you," he called out. "You haveoffended the demons. Turn back quickly and you will bespared. If you continue eastwards, each one of youTurtles will surely die."The soldiers wondered fearfully how the man could havemade his way round in front of them again. They hadclearly seen him go down the mountain and one glanceconfirmed that there were no short cuts back up theslope. The man spurred his horse forward and thesoldiers shrunk from him as if he was a real demon.
　　One of the Imperial bodyguards, named Zhu, stuck outhis sword to obstruct the man. "Slow down, friend," hesaid.
　　The man struck Zhu's shoulder with his right hand, andthe sword clattered to the ground. Then he sped offdown the mountain. As he passed the end of the column,the last soldier gave a shriek and fell to the ground,dead. The other soldiers stood staring foolishly,scared out of their wits.
　　Zhang went down to the end of the column toinvestigate.
　　"What is this fellow, a man or a ghost?" Zhu said. Hepressed his wounded right shoulder, his face deathlypale. Zhang told him to undo his clothes and examinedthe large black swelling on his right shoulder. Heordered the troops to strip the dead soldier bare andexamine him for wounds. When they turned him over,they found a similar black swelling on his back fromwhich the shape of a hand could be vaguely discerned.
　　The soldiers broke into an uproar as a shout of "TheDemon's Mark!" The Demon's Mark!" went up. Zhangordered that two soldiers be left behind to bury thedead man. Two were chosen from the ranks, but evenwhen threatened with death, they refused to carry outthe order. Zhang had no alternative but to order ahalt and wait until the body was buried beforecontinuing.
　　"Master Zhang, this fellow is very strange," saidBodyguard Rui. "How could he pass us by and then makehis way back in front of us again?"Zhang stood deep in thought for a while. "Brother Zhuand the two soldiers were obviously victims of BlackSand Palm Kung Fu," he said. "There are very fewmasters of Black Sand Palm kung fu in the underworld.""If it's Black Palm kung fu, then the best isnaturally the Taoist Priest Hui Lu, but he's been deadfor many years," Rui said. "Could it be that hisspirit has re-appeared?"Zhang slapped his thigh. "That's it! That's it!" hecried. "They're Hui Lu's pupils. The Twin Knights thatpeople call Black Death and White Death. I was tryingto think of one person, so I couldn't work it out. Allright, so we're up against them as well."He had no way of knowing that the Chang brothers werealso members of the Red Flower Society.
　　That night, the column stayed at Black Pine Village.
　　Cao posted guards all around the village to keepcareful watch, but next morning, not one of thesoldiers on guard duty returned to report, and adetail sent to investigate found them all dead with astring of paper money tied round each of their necks.
　　The rest of the soldiers were terrified, and more thana dozen immediately deserted, slipping stealthilyaway.
　　They had to cross Black Scabbard Mountain, one of themost precipitous spots on the Liangzhou road. The airbecame colder and colder as the road grew steeper, anddespite the fact that it was only September, snowflakes floated down around them. The road deterioratedto the point where there was a steep mountain face onone side and a sheer cliff on the other falling into adeep ravine. The soldiers moved slowly hand-in-hand,terrified of slipping on the snow. Several of thebodyguards dismounted and helped to support Wen'scarriage.
　　Just as they were gingerly making their way forward,they heard a chirping sound coming from in front. Amoment later, the sound turned into an unearthly howl,tragic and harsh, which echoed through the ravinecausing everyone's hair to stand on end. The soldiersall stopped in their tracks.
　　Then came a shout: "Those who continue will meet theKing of Hell -- Those who turn back will survive."How could the soldiers dare to continue?
　　A man appeared around a curve in the road ahead.
　　"Those who continue will meet the King of Hell, thosewho turn back will survive," he intoned in a deepvoice.
　　The soldiers recognised him as the demon that hadappeared twice the day before and had killed with justa wave of his hand, and they turned and fled withsqueals of fear. Cao Neng shouted to them to halt, buthe had to raise his sword and slay one of the soldiersbefore some of them steadied. But sixty or seventy haddisappeared.
　　"Guard the carriage," Zhang said to Rui. "I'll go andtalk to these two." He leapt passed the soldiers.
　　"Could that be the Twin Knights up ahead?" he asked ina loud, clear voice. "I, Zhang Zhaozhong, greet you.
　　There is no enmity between us. Why are you playingthis game?"The man in front laughed coldly. "Ha! So, the TwinDemons meet the Fire Hand Judge," he said. He strodeover and struck out at Zhang with such power that hishand made a whistling sound as it cut through the air.
　　The road at that point was extremely narrow and Zhangwas unable to dodge to either left or right, so hecountered the blow with his left hand, putting all ofhis Inner Strength behind it, while also attackingwith his right palm. His opponent parried with hisleft hand. Their four hands met, and they stood almostmotionless for a while as they tested each other.
　　Suddenly, Zhang swept his left leg cross-wise in the'Level Clouds Slicing The Peak' style. Withinsufficient time to evade the blow, the man broughthis hands together and drove them viciously at Zhang'stemples. Zhang leant to one side and hastily withdrewhis leg, then moved forward, and with the precipice attheir side, the two passed each other by. They hadexchanged positions.
　　Zhang suddenly became aware of someone attacking himfrom behind. He dodged out of the way and saw hisassailant was another pale, skeleton-like figure, hisface exactly the same as the first.
　　Zhang had more than two hundred soldiers andbodyguards with him, but they were powerless to assistbecause of the narrowness of the mountain path besidethe ravine.
　　The three fought more and more fiercely. In the midstof the battle, one of the Twin Knights hit therock-face by mistake and a small avalanche of gravelrattled down off the precipice followed by a slab ofrock which plunged into the ravine. A long time passedbefore they finally heard the distant crash as it hitthe ground.
　　The battle continued for a long time. Suddenly, one ofthe twins struck out with his fist, forcing Zhang tomove to one side to avoid it. The other twin thenleapt over and occupied Zhang's former position besidethe stone-face and both attacked him at the samemoment, attempting to force him into the ravine.
　　Zhang saw one of his attacker's legs sweeping forwardand stepped back a pace, so that half of his foot wasover the edge of the precipice. A cry of fright wentup from the troops. Then, Zhang felt a gust of wind asthe other twin's fist swung towards his face. Zhangwas unable to retreat, and knowing that there would begreat strength behind the blow, was also unable tocounter it. If he did, his opponent would simply bethrown back against the stone-face by the force of thecollision while he himself would certainly fall to hisdeath. So, with wisdom born of fear, he seized hold ofhis attacker's wrist, and with a great shout threw himinto the ravine.
　　His body in mid-air, 'Black Death' stayed calm. Hedrew in his legs and performed a somersault in orderto slow down the force of his fall. Half way throughthe circle, he pulled a Flying Claw grapple from hisbelt and threw it straight up. His brother 'WhiteDeath' had also taken out his Flying Claw and the twograpples locked tightly, almost as if they wereshaking hands. 'White Death' jerked at the rope beforethe full force of his brother's fall returned, andswung him up and over bringing him back to earth morethan a hundred feet along the mountain path.
　　'White Death' saluted Zhang with his fists. "Your kungfu is very powerful. We are impressed," he said. Then,without even bending down to concentrate his strength,he sprang into the air, and landed several dozen feetfurther away. He grabbed hold of his brother's handand the two disappeared round the bend.
　　The soldiers clustered round, some praising Zhang'skung fu, others lamenting that 'Black Death' had notfallen to his death. Zhang said not a word, but leanedagainst the rock face and slowly sat down. He lookedat his wrist and saw the jet-black impression of fivefingers on his flesh as if he had been branded, andwas struck by a wave of terror.
Chapter 17
The column crossed Black Scabbard mountain, and thatnight another thirty or forty soldiers deserted. Zhangdiscussed the situation with Rui and the otherbodyguards.
　　"These fellows are not going to give up even thoughthis is the main road to Lanzhou, the provincialcapital," he said. "There's going to be a lot moretrouble ahead, so we had better make our way round bythe backroads, and cross the river at Crimson Bend."Cao Neng had been looking forward to getting toLanzhou so that he could transfer his burden to othershoulders, and was very unhappy with Zhang's plan. Buthe did not dare to disagree.
　　"We have lost many soldiers on the road," Zhang said.
　　"When you get back, Master Cao, you can report thatthey were killed during an attack on bandits, and diedcourageously for their country. I will write out anote to that effect in a moment."Cao Neng's spirits rose again. According to themilitary regulations, if a soldier was killed inaction, it was possible to obtain a pension, and themoney naturally fell into the pocket of the officer incommand.
　　They heard the roar of the Yellow River long before itcame into view, and travelled more than half a dayfurther before arriving at the Crimson Bend crossing.
　　At this bend on the Yellow River, the rocks along thebanks are blood-red, hence its name. Dusk was alreadyapproaching, but through the evening mists, they couldsee the fury with which the Yellow River surgedeastwards, its muddy waters bubbling and boilingagainst the banks.
　　"We will cross the river tonight," Zhang said. "Thewater is dangerous but if we delay, there may betrouble."With the river running so fast, the crossing couldonly be made by sheepskin rafts. Soldiers were sentout to search for rafts, but they could not found any.
　　Darkness fell. Zhang was just becoming anxious when hespotted two sheepskin rafts shooting down the rivertowards them. The soldiers shouted, and the two raftsedged towards the bank.
　　"Hey, boatman!" Cao shouted. "Ferry us across andwe'll pay you well."The big man on the raft stood up and waved his hand.
　　"You're a mute," said Cao.
　　"Damn your ancestors," replied the man in Cantonese.
　　"If you're coming then come, if you're not, thendon't. You bunch of bastards. It's a waste of timedealing with you." Cao and the others understood not aword of it. Cao ignored him and invited Zhang and thebodyguards escorting Wen to get onto the rafts first.
　　Zhang weighed up the boatman. His wide-brimmed hat hidhalf his face and it was impossible to distinguish hisfeatures clearly. But the muscles on his arms werebunched and bulging, revealing great strength, whilethe oar in his hands was of a very dark colour andappeared to be made of something other than wood. Hefelt something was wrong, and not being able to swim,he could not afford to fall victim to some trick.
　　"Master Cao," he said. "You go first with some of thesoldiers."Cao ordered some of the soldiers onto the two rafts.
　　The current was rapid, but the two boatmen were highlyskilled and safely delivered the government troops tothe opposite bank, and then returned to take onanother batch.
　　Cao boarded a raft with another group of soldiers, butjust as they left the bank, a long whistle soundedbehind them which was answered by a host of otherwhistles.
　　Zhang hastily ordered the troops to surround thecarriage and guard it closely. A crescent moon hunglow in the sky. Under its light, he saw about a dozenhorses coming towards them. He galloped forward.
　　"What's going on?" he shouted.
　　The riders formed a single rank as they approached,then one in the middle spurred his horse on and rodeahead of the others. In his hand he held a whitefolding fan with which he fanned himself. "Is that the'Fire Hand Judge' Zhang Zhaozhong?" he asked.
　　"It is," Zhang replied. "And who are you, sir?"The other laughed. "We thank you for escorting ourBrother Wen this far, but we would not want to troubleyou further.""Are you Red Flower Society people?""Everyone praises the 'Fire Hand Judge' for hissuperlative mastery of the martial arts, but heobviously has divine foresight as well," the manreplied, smiling. "You are correct. We are Red FlowerSociety people." He gave a long whistle.
　　Zhang started slightly as he heard the two boatmen onthe rafts give answering whistles.
　　Cao, seated on one of the rafts, saw the enemyapproaching on the shore, and his face turned thecolour of mud. The boatman stopped the raft inmidstream with a stroke of his oar.
　　"Thirteenth Brother!" Cao heard a crisp voice callfrom the other raft. "Ready when you are.""Right!" the boatman replied. Cao raised his spear andthrust it at him, but the boatman deflected it deftlywith his oar and then knocked Cao and all the othersoldiers on board into the river. Both boatmen thenrowed back close to the shore.
　　Zhang was thankful for his caution. "You have beenkilling government troops the whole way," he shouted.
　　"You have committed many unpardonable acts. What isyour position in the Red Flower Society, sir?""There is no need for you to ask my name," GreatHelmsman Chen said. "Xin Yan, give me my weapons."Xin Yan opened his bag and placed two weapons inChen's hands. Normally, the other heroes should havefought first, but Chen was unable to resist theopportunity to demonstrate his skills.
　　Zhang jumped off his horse and strode forward. Butjust as he was preparing himself for the fight,Imperial Bodyguard Zhu ran up behind him and said:
　　"Master Zhang, let me deal with him."Zhang decided to let him test out the enemy first. "Becareful, Brother Zhu," he said.
　　Zhu lunged forward, sword raised. He chopped out atChen's thigh. Chen jumped lightly off his horse andlifted the shield in his left hand to parry the blow.
　　In the moonlight, Zhu saw that nine glistening, sharphooks protruded from the face of the shield, and knewthat if his sword collided with them, it would becaught in their grasp. He started in fright andhastily withdrew his sword. Chen then flourished theweapon in his right hand: five cords, each one tippedwith a steel ball especially designed for hitting theYuedao points on the human body. Terrified by theferocious nature of this weapon, Zhu leapt backwards,but the cords circled round behind him, and he felt asudden numbness on his back. Then the cords entwinedhis legs and with a tug, Chen pulled Zhu off his feet,swung him round and round, and sent him flyingstraight towards a rocky outcrop nearby.
　　If he had hit it, he would have been smashed topieces. But Zhang, seeing that Zhu was completelyout-classed, raced over, grabbed his queue and pulledhim down just in front of the rock face.
　　"Rest for a while, Brother Zhu," he said. Frozen withfear, Zhu was unable to answer.
　　Zhang raised his precious 'Frozen Emerald' Sword andleapt in front of Chen.
　　Zhang thrust his sword at Chen's right shoulder. Chenflipped the chords towards the blade, while the shieldin his left hand struck out at Zhang.
　　As they battled, the two boatmen, 'Crocodile' Jiangand Luo Bing, jumped ashore and ran towards thecarriages, guarded by the soldiers. Jiang chargedstraight into the ranks, immediately killing two ofthe closest soldiers. The others frantically gave way.
　　Luo Bing charged over to one of the carriages, andlifted up the carriage curtain.
　　"Fourth Brother, are you in there?" she called. But itwas 'Scholar' Yu, still seriously wounded. Suddenlyhearing Luo Bing's voice through his stupor, he couldonly think that it was a dream, or that he had diedand was meeting her in the other world.
　　"You've come!" he cried happily.
　　Luo Bing knew that the voice was not her husband's andran to the next carriage. But before she could pullaside the curtain, a saw-toothed sword chopped at herfrom the right. She parried with her sword, andlooking up at her attacker in the watery moonlight,recognised him as one of the eight bodyguards who hadattacked Wen and herself in Suzhou. With a surge ofhatred, she redoubled her attack. Rui was aware of herability with throwing knives and speeded up hisstrokes to avoid giving her an opportunity to usethem. Then two other bodyguards joined the battlewhile the soldiers closed in from all sides.
　　Four more of the heroes led by 'Leopard' Wei gallopedtowards her through a hail of arrows. One arrowplanted itself in the neck of Wei's horse, and thepain made it gallop even more furiously. The animal'shooves hit the chest of one of the soldiers, Wei flewoff the horse with his hooks raised, and amid a chorusof screams, gouged them into the breasts of two othersoldiers. Wei then aimed the hooks at Bodyguard Ruiwho was forced to abandon his attack on Luo Bing.
　　'Hunchback' Zhang Jin and the others also raced up andthe soldiers scattered.
　　Free once more, Luo Bing threw herself into thecarriage and hugged Wen's neck, then burst into tears.
　　After a while, Zhang Jin stuck his head in through thecarriage curtain. "Fourth Brother," he grinned. "We'vecome to take you back."He climbed onto the driver's seat and the carriagemoved off northwards away from the river, and stoppedby the side of a mound, from which they could get agood view of the battle.
　　Suddenly, Zhang broke away from his duel with Chen andran for Wen's carriage.
　　Luo Bing saw him coming and brandished her sword athim. But Zhang's sword was extraordinarily tough, andas they clashed with a 'clang', it snapped her bladein two. With the rest of his strength, Zhang leapt upinto the carriage and pulled Luo Bing in with him.
　　Greatly frightened, the other heroes raced up to saveher, and Zhang lifted her up and threw her at them.
　　The Twin Knights raced over and caught her.
　　Meanwhile, Zhang turned and grabbed Wen, and pulledhim to the carriage door. "Wen Tailai is here," heshouted. "If anyone dares to come any closer, I'llkill him!"The cold gleam of Zhang's 'Frozen Emerald' sword waspoised at Wen's neck.
　　"Fourth Brother," Luo Bing wailed, and tried to throwherself at the carriage, but Lu Feiqing held her backand took a step forward himself.
　　"Zhang!" he called out. "Can you see who I am?" Zhangand he had not seen each other for a long time and itwas difficult to see clearly in the moonlight, so Ludrew his White Dragon sword, took hold of the tip ofthe blade, and bent the handle back so that it formeda circle. Then he let the tip go and the blade bouncedback upright and swayed slightly.
　　Zhang grunted. "Ah, so it's Brother Lu," he said. "Whyhave you come looking for me?""You are wounded," Lu replied. "All the heroes of theRed Flower Society are here as well as 'Iron Gall'
　　Zhou Zhongying. It is going to be hard for you toescape today with your life. But in memory of ourbenevolent teacher, I will give you a way out."Zhang grunted again, but said nothing.
　　Suddenly they heard shouts and cries drifting overfrom the east, as if a thousand armies were racingtowards them. The heroes were filled withapprehension, but Zhang was even more worried.
　　"This Red Flower Society is truly resourceful," hethought. "Even here in the northwest, they can stillcall up huge reinforcements.""Release Master Wen," Lu Feiqing continued, "and Iwill ask the heroes, out of respect for me, to releaseyou. But there is one thing you must swear to."Zhang eyed the strong enemies surrounding him. "What?"he said.
　　"You must swear that you will immediately retire frompublic life and no longer be a running dog of theManchus."Zhang had pursued glory and wealth with fervour and hehad risen in rank as fast as though swept upwards upby a whirlwind. Wanting him to give up his positionwas just the same as wanting his life. He released Wenfrom his grip, pulled at the mule's reins, and thecarriage charged forward.
　　The heroes held back afraid of risking Wen's life, butLuo Bing could not stand it. "Release him and we'lllet you go without having to swear to anything," shecalled desperately.
　　Zhang took no notice and drove the carriage on towardsthe ranks of Manchu troops, who had by now regrouped.
　　Bodyguard Rui saw Zhang approaching and ordered thesoldiers to fix arrows in their bows in readiness. Theroar of the approaching column was getting louder andboth Red Flower Society and the soldiers were afraidthat they were reinforcements for the other side.
　　"Brother Wei, take three others and scatter theEagle's Claws," Chen shouted.
　　Wei and the others raised their weapons and chargedinto the Manchu ranks, slaughtering as they went.
　　A youngster darted out from behind Lu Feiqing saying:
　　"I'm going too!" Chen frowned: it was Li Yuanzhi, oncemore dressed in boy's clothes.
　　When Lu met up with her again after the battle,Yuanzhi had insisted that he take her with him to helprescue Wen. Lu finally agreed, but made her promisethat she would do as she was told. Yuanzhi then wrotea letter to her mother in which she said she haddecided to go on ahead alone to see her father inHangzhou.
　　Chen quickly issued his instructions, and 'Buddha'
　　Zhao raced after the carriage and sent two sleevearrows flying into the eyes of the mule pulling italong. The mule gave a long scream and reared up onits hind legs. The Twin Knights charged to either sideof the carriage and flung their Flying Claws at Zhang,who fended them off with his sword. Simultaneously,Priest Wu Chen and Xu attacked Zhang's back.
　　"Now!" Chen shouted to Xin Yan. The two soared throughthe air and landed on top of the carriage.
　　Zhang heard Chen and Xin Yan land above and behind himand threw a handful of Golden Needles at them.
　　Chen saw the movement, and pushed Xin Yan off thecarriage and placed the shield in front of his ownbody. There was a patter of metallic noises as theneedles hit it, but despite the extraordinary speed ofhis reflexes, he heard Xin Yan cry out. Knowing theboy had been hit, Chen hastily leapt down to help him.
　　Zhang threw another handful of the needles at PriestWu Chen and Xu. The Priest flew out of the back of thecarriage like an arrow, moving faster and further thanthe needles. Xu, however, only had time to lift acotton coverlet in the carriage to block the needles.
　　But his left shoulder was left exposed and with asudden feeling of numbness, he fell out of thecarriage.
　　Zhang Jin raced over to help him. "Brother Xu, are youall right?" he shouted, bending over. Suddenly he felta great pain in his back as he was hit by an arrow,and stumbled.
　　"Brothers! Everyone regroup!" Chen shouted. Arrowswere flying towards them like thick clouds of locusts.
　　Zhang Jin put his left hand on Priest Wu Chen'sshoulder and hit out at the arrows with his wolf'stooth club.
　　"Tenth Brother, don't move!" the Priest said. "Controlyourself." He stopped the flow of blood from ZhangJin's wound with a touch to the artery and carefullypulled the arrow out. Then he ripped a corner off hisrobes and bound up the wound.
　　Then they saw a pitch-black mass of Manchu soldierssurging towards them from the east.
　　Zhang was ecstatic at the sight of reinforcementsarriving, but his breathing was becoming difficult andhe knew that his injuries were serious. Chen and theothers attacked the carriage once more, and he liftedup Wen's body, and swung it round and round as adetachment of cavalry charged towards the Red FlowerSociety fighters with sabres raised. Chen could seethat Wen would certainly be killed if they attemptedto recapture him by force, so he gave a loud whistleand raced behind a nearby mound with the othersfollowing.
　　Chen conducted a head-count, and found that Xu, ZhouQi, Yuanzhi, Lord Zhou and Meng were missing.
　　"Has anyone seen Brother Xu and Lord Zhou?" Chenasked.
　　Zhang Jin, who was lying on the ground, raised hishead and said: "Seventh Brother was injured. Isn't hehere? I'll go and find him."He stood up, but the arrow wound on his back was tooserious, and he swayed unsteadily.
　　"Don't you move, Tenth Brother," said 'MelancholyGhost' Shi. "I'll go.""I'll go too," added 'Crocodile' Jiang, but Chen heldhim back. "You and Fourth Sister make your way to theriver bank and prepare the rafts," he said. Jiang andLuo Bing, her hopes dashed again, left.
　　Shi leapt onto a horse and galloped off around themound with sword in hand. By this time, the Manchutroops were everywhere. Shi rode up onto higher groundand looked around, but could see no sign of Xu and theothers, so he rode into the enemy's ranks to searchfor them.
　　Not long after, Lord Zhou and Meng appeared.
　　"Have you seen your daughter?" Chen asked. Zhou shookhis head, full of anxiety.
　　"My young pupil has disappeared too," Lu Feiqing said.
　　"I'll go and look for them."As he rode out, the ranks of the Manchu troopssuddenly parted and several horses charged towardshim. In the lead was Priest Wu Chen dragging Wei alongwith his hand. Lu started in surprise when he saw Wei,his whole body covered in blood and dirt, andimmediately moved forward to obstruct any pursuers.
　　But the Manchu troops did not dare to obsttruct theseferocious-looking men and let them retreat behind themound.
　　Chen quickly went to see Wei, who was delirious,shouting: "Kill the bastards!""Ninth Brother has worn himself out with all thiskilling," Priest Wu Chen said. "His mind is a littleconfused. Nothing serious.""Have you seen Brother Xu and Brother Shi?" Chenasked.
　　"I'll go and look for them" the Priest said.
　　"There's also Mistress Zhou and the Master Lu'spupil," Chen said.
　　Priest Wu Chen mounted up, sword at the ready, andcharged back into the Manchu ranks. A Manchu officerspurred his horse forward and charged at him withspear raised, but the priest dodged the spear thrustand drove his sword into the officer's heart. Theofficer slumped off his horse and the soldiers underhis command howled and scattered in all directions.
　　Priest Wu Chen continued his onslaught and soldiersfell wherever his sword went. As he galloped along astretch of the road, he saw a crowd of soldiers with'Melancholy Ghost' Shi in the middle fighting fiercelywith three officers.
　　"Get away, I'll cover you!" Priest Wu Chen shouted.
　　The two raced back to the mound, but there was stillno indication of what had happened to Xu and theothers. A Manchu company commander led his soldiers inan attack on the mound occupied by the Red FlowerSociety, but the heroes immediately killed more than adozen of them, and the rest retreated.
　　Chen led his horse up onto the mound. "Brother Meng,"he said, handing him the reins. "Hold it steady andmade sure it doesn't get hit by a stray arrow." Heleapt up onto the horse's back and stood on thesaddle. Looking around, he saw the huge Manchu columnsurging towards them from the east. A bugle soundedand the column turned into a fiery dragon as eachsoldier raised a torch. Amidst the glow, he saw alarge banner flowing in the wind on which he couldjust made out the words "Border Pacification GeneralZhao" written in large characters. Each soldier in thecolumn was riding a tall, sturdy horse, and there wasa clanking noise as they marched, indicating they wereprobably wearing armour.
　　Chen jumped down from the horse. "Armoured troops onthe way," he shouted. "Everyone head for the river."Lord Zhou was very worried about his daughter, butfinding her among such a huge body of troops wasimpossible. The heroes helped up Wei, Zhang Jin andthe other wounded, and galloped towards the banks ofthe Yellow River with the Manchu cavalry in hotpursuit. Luo Bing and Jiang punted the sheepskin raftsup to the shore and took the wounded on board first.
　　"Everyone get on the rafts quickly!" Chen yelled.
　　"Priest Wu Chen, Third Brother, Lord Zhou, we fourwill hold..."Before he could finish, a wave of crossbow arrows flewtowards them.
　　"Charge!" roared Priest Wu Chen, and the four threwthemselves at the first ranks of cavalry. Lord Zhou'shuge sword rose and fell, cutting Manchu soldiers downfrom their horses, while 'Buddha' Zhao slung coppercoins at the eye-slits in their armour. Although itwas impossible to see clearly in the dark, he stillmanaged to blind five or six men. By this time,everyone except Chen and the other three had boardedthe rafts.
　　Chen spotted a mounted officer directing the troops,and sprang over to him. He pulled the fficer from hishorse and ran for the river bank with him under hisarm. The Manchu troops rushed forward to try to savetheir commanding officer, but they didn't dare to fireany arrows. Chen leapt onto one of the rafts and Jiangand Luo Bing began to move them out towards the centreof the river.
　　The Yellow River was in full flood and with thecurrent powerful and turbulant, the two largesheepskin rafts flew off downstream. The hubbub of thegreat armed column slowly faded as the river roaredaround them.
　　The heroes set about tending to the wounded. 'Leopard'
　　Wei's mind gradually cleared and his body was found tobe free from wounds. 'Buddha' Zhao was an expert atmedical treatment as well as with darts and he boundup 'Iron Pagoda' Yang's and Zhang Jin's wounds. ZhangJin was more seriously injured, but was in no danger.
　　Xin Yan had been hit by several Golden Needles, andwas in such pain that he cried out continually. Theneedles had penetrated right through the flesh intothe bones, and Zhao took a magnet from his medicinebag and drew them out one by one. Luo Bing rowed onsilently. Not only had they failed to rescue Wen, but'Mastermind' Xu, Zhou Qi, Lu Feiqing and his pupil hadbeen lost as well, and no-one knew where 'Scholar' Yuhad got to.
　　Chen roused the captured Manchu officer. "What thehell was your column doing travelling through thenight like that?" he asked.
　　The officer said nothing. Yang slapped him on theface. "Are you going to talk?" he shouted.
　　"I'll talk...I'll talk," the officer said quickly,holding his cheek. "What do you want me to say?""What was your column doing travelling at night?""General Zhao Wei received an Imperial commandordering us to attack the Muslim areas and take themover before a certain date. He was afraid we wouldn'tmake it in the time limit, and also that the Muslimswould hear of our approach and make preparations. Sowe've been marching day and night.""The Muslims are very well-behaved," said Chen. "Whyare you going to attack them?""That...that, I don't know." the officer said.
　　"If you are heading for the Muslim areas, why did youcome to interfere in our business?""General Zhao heard of some bandits making trouble inthis area and ordered me to lead a detail to deal withthem, but the main army didn't stop..."Before he could finish, Yang gave him another slap.
　　"Damn your mother!" he shouted. "It's you who are thebandits!""Yes, yes! I made a mistake!" the officer cried.
　　Chen was silent for a while, then questioned theofficer closely regarding the army's troop strength,route and rations. Some of it the officer didn't know,but he did not dare to hide what he did know.
　　"Head...For...The...Shore" Chen shouted at the top ofhis voice. Luo Bing and Jiang steered the raftstowards the bank and everyone stepped ashore.
　　Chen called the Twin Knights over.
　　"Travel back as fast as you can and find out whathappened to the others," he said. "If they have falleninto the hands of the Manchus, they will certainly betaken back to Beijing along the Great Road. We canintercept them further east and work out some way ofrescuing them."The Twin Knights nodded and started out.
　　"Twelfth Brother," Chen continued, turning to'Melancholy Ghost' Shi. "I want you to do somethingfor me.""Whatever you say, Great Helmsman."Chen wrote out a letter under the light of the moon.
　　"Please take this letter to Master Muzhuolun in theMuslim regions," he said. "We have only met him andhis people once, but they showed the greatestfriendship towards us, so we cannot stand idly by.
　　Fourth Sister, please lend your white horse to TwelfthBrother for the trip." Luo Bing had kept the animalaboard the raft throughout the battle.
　　Shi mounted up and disappeared in a cloud of dust.
　　With the horse's phenomenal speed, he estimated hecould overtake the army in a day and be in time towarn Muzhuolun.
　　Chen then directed Jiang to tie the officer's handsbehind his back. They placed him on one of the raftsand pushed it out into the stream and left it for Fateto decide whether he should live or die.
Chapter 18
Zhou Qi was separated from the others in the midst ofthe battle. The Manchu troops surged around her, andshe galloped blindly off trying to escape them. In thedarkness, her horse suddenly tripped, and she tumbledto the ground, her head crashing heavily against thehard earth. She passed out, but luckily it was stilldark, and the soldiers did not find her.
　　She had been unconscious for she did not know how longwhen there was a sudden bright flash before her eyesand a great roar followed by a wave of coolness on herface. She opened her eyes and saw the sky was full ofblack clouds and torrential rain sweeping down.
　　She jumped up. Someone beside her sat up as well, andshe started in fright and frantically grabbed for hersword. Then she gasped in surprise: it was'Mastermind' Xu.
　　"Mistress Zhou, what are you doing here?" he calledout above the roar of the rain.
　　Zhou Qi had never liked Xu and had gone out of her wayto quarrel with him. But he was at least one of herown people, and she burst into tears.
　　"What about my father?" she asked, biting her lip.
　　Xu motioned her to lie down. "Soldiers," he whispered.
　　Zhou Qi threw herself to the ground, and they slowlycrawled behind a small mound of earth.
　　The sky was already light, and through the rain, theysaw several dozen Manchu soldiers hastily buryingcorpses, cursing as they worked. "You two, have a lookround for any more bodies," an officer shouted, andtwo soldiers went onto higher ground. Looking around,they spotted Zhou Qi and Xu and called out: "There'stwo more over there.""Wait for them to come over," Xu whispered.
　　The soldiers walked over carrying shovels, and as theybent over them, Zhou Qi and Xu simultaneously thrusttheir swords into the bellies of the two. They diedwithout a sound.
　　The officer waited for a while, but with no sign ofthe soldiers returning and the rain getting heavier,he rode over to investigate.
　　"Don't make a sound. I'll steal his horse," Xuwhispered. As the officer rode closer, he saw thebodies of the two soldiers, but before he could callout, Xu leapt up and slashed at him with his sword.
　　The officer raised his horse whip to stop the blow,but both his whip and head were sliced off.
　　"Mount up quickly!" Xu called, holding the horse'sreins. Zhou Qi leapt onto the horse and galloped offwith Xu running along behind.
　　The Manchu troops began to give chase. After only afew dozen paces, the pain in Xu's shoulder where hehad been hit by the Golden Needles became unbearableand he fell to the ground with a cry. Zhou Qi reinedthe horse round and galloped back. Leaning over, shepulled him across the saddle, then slapped the horse'shaunches and raced off again. The soldiers soondropped far behind.
　　When they had gone some distance, Zhou Qi stopped andhad a look at Xu. His eyes were tightly closed, hisface white and his breathing shallow. Greatlyfrightened, she sat him properly on the horse, thenwith her left arm around his waist to keep him fromfalling, galloped on, keeping to lonely, desertedtracks. After a while, she saw an inky-black sectionof forest ahead and rode in amongst the trees. Therain had stopped, and she dismounted and continued onfoot leading the horse with Xu on it behind her untilshe came to a clearing in the forest. Xu was stillunconscious, and Zhou Qi lifted him off the horse andlaid him on the grass. Then she sat down, letting thehorse wander off to graze. Here she was, a young girlnot yet twenty, alone in a strange forest. She beganto sob, her tears falling onto Xu's face.
　　Xu slowly recovered consciousness and thought it wasraining again. He opened his eye a little way and sawa beautiful face before him with two big eyes red fromcrying. His left shoulder began hurting again and hecried out in pain.
　　Zhou Qi was overjoyed to see he was still alive. "Howare you?" she asked.
　　"My shoulder is extremely painful. Please look at itfor me, Mistress Zhou," he replied. He forced himselfto sit up and used his right hand to cut a hole in theshoulder of his jacket with his knife.
　　"I was hit by three Golden Needles here," he said,examining the shoulder out of the corner of his eye."The needles were small, but they had penetrated deepinto the flesh.
　　"What shall we do?" Zhou Qi asked. "Shall we go to atown and find a doctor?""We can't do that," replied Xu. "After last night'sbattle, going to see a doctor would be like walkingstraight into a trap. What we really need is a magnetto draw the needles out, but we don't have one. Iwonder if I could ask you to cut away the flesh andpull them out?"During the night battle, Zhou Qi had killed quite anumber of the Manchu troops without losing hercomposure once. But now, faced with the prospect ofcutting away the flesh on Xu'sshoulder, she hesitated.
　　"I can't stand the pain," he pleaded. "Do it now...no,wait. Do you have a tinder box with you?"Zhou Qi felt around in her bag. "Yes. What do you wantit for?""Collect some dried grass and leaves and burn up someash. When you've pulled the needles out, you can coverthe wound with the ash and then bandage it."She did as he said and burnt up a large pile of ash.
　　"That's fine," said Xu with a laugh. "There's enoughthere to stop a hundred wounds bleeding.""I'm just a stupid girl," Zhou Qi replied crossly.
　　"Come and do it yourself."She pressed on his shoulder beside the needle holes.
　　As her fingers came into contact with male flesh, sheinvoluntarily pulled back and her whole face turnedbright red down to the roots of her hair.
　　Xu noticed her blush, but misinterpreted her reactionin spite of his nickname.
　　"Are you afraid?" he asked.
　　"What have I got to be afraid of?" she replied,suddenly angry. "It's you that's afraid! Turn yourhead away and don't look."Xu did as he was told. Zhou Qi pressed the skin aroundthe needle holes tightly, then slipped the tip of theknife into the flesh and slowly began to turn it.
　　Blood flowed out of the wound. Xu silently gritted histeeth, his whole face covered in beads of sweat thesize of soyabeans. She cut away the flesh until theend of a needle appeared, then grasping it tightlybetween the thumb and forefinger, pulled it out.
　　Xu forced himself to maintain his jocular front.
　　"It's a pity that needle doesn't have an eye to threadthrough, otherwise I'd give it to you to use inembroidery," he said.
　　"I can't do embroidery," Zhou Qi replied. "Last year,my mother told me to learn, but I kept snapping theneedle or breaking the thread. She scolded me, and Isaid: "Mother, I can't do it, you teach me." But shesaid 'I've no time.' Afterwards I discovered that shecan't do embroidery either."Xu laughed. As they had been talking, another needlehad been removed.
　　"I didn't really want to learn," Zhou Qi continuedwith a smile. "But when I found out that mother didn'tknow how, I pushed her to teach me. But I couldn'tcatch her out. She said: 'If you don't know how tosew, I don't know how you'll....'"She stopped in mid-sentence. Her mother had said: "Idon't know you'll ever find a husband.""Don't you know how you'll what?" asked Xu.
　　"I don't feel like telling you."As they talked, her hands never stopped, and the thirdneedle was finally out as well. She covered the woundwith ash, then bandaged it with strips of cloth. Shecouldn't help but admire him for the way he continuedto smile and chat to her despite the pain.
　　"He may be short, but he's a brave man," she thought.
　　By this time, her hands were covered in blood.
　　"You lie here and don't move," she said. "I'll go andfind some water to drink."She looked at the lie of the land, then ran out of thetrees. Several hundred paces away, she found a smallstream which was flowing swiftly after the heavy rain.
　　As she bent down to wash her hands, she caught sightof her reflection in the water, the dishevelled hair,her wet and crumpled clothes, and her face, covered inblood and dirt.
　　"Damn!" she thought. "How could I let him see melooking so awful?"She washed her face clean, combed her hair with herfingers. Then, scooping water from the stream, shedrank deeply. She knew Xu would certainly be thirstytoo, but had nothing in which to carry water. After amoment's thought, she took a piece of clothing fromthe knapsack on her back, dipped it in the stream sothat it was soaking wet than ran back.
　　Zhou Qi could see from his face that he was in greatpain, although he was trying to appear unconcerned,and feelings of tenderness stirred within her. Shetold him to open his mouth and squeezed water into itfrom the cloth.
　　"Is it very painful?" she asked softly.
　　Xu's whole life has been spent amidst mountains ofknives and forests of spears, or else in the shadyworld of plots and traps; no-one had ever spoken tohim with the warmth and softness he detected now inZhou Qi's voice. Deeply moved, he steadied himself. "Iam a little better now. Thank you.""We can't stay here," Xu said after he had drunk somewater. "Nor can we go to any town. All we can do is tofind a secluded farmhouse and say that we are brotherand sister...""You want me to call you brother?" asked Zhou Qi,astounded.
　　"If you feel that I'm too old, you could call meuncle," he suggested.
　　"Pah! Do you think you look like my uncle? I'll callyou my brother, but only when there are other peoplearound. When we're on our own, I won't.""All right, you don't have to," he replied with asmile. "We'll say that we met the army on the road andwere attacked by the soldiers who stole all ourpossessions."Having agreed on their story, Zhou Qi helped him tomount the horse. The two made their way out of thetrees, and chose a small track heading straighttowards the sun.
　　The northwest is a desolate place. Hungry and tired,they had to travel for more than two hours beforefinally spotting a mud hut.
　　Xu dismounted and knocked at the door. After a moment,an old woman came out. Seeing the strange clothes theywere wearing, she looked at them suspiciously. Xu gaveher some of the story they had concocted, and shesighed.
　　"These government troops, always making trouble," shesaid. "What is your name sir?""My name is Zhou," said Xu.
　　Zhou Qi glanced at him but said nothing. The old womaninvited them inside and brought out some wheat cakes.
　　They were black and rough, but hungry as they were,tasted delicious.
　　"Old woman," said Xu, "I am wounded and am not able totravel. We would like to spend the night here.""There's no problem about your staying here, but poorpeople's homes have little to eat in them, so don'tblame me on that account, sir.""We are eternally thankful that you are willing to putus up," Xu replied. "My sister's clothes are all wet.
　　If you have any old clothes, I would appreciate it ifyou would allow her to change into them.""My daughter-in-law left some clothes behind. If youdon't mind, mistress, you could try them on. They'llprobably fit."Zhou Qi went to change. When she came out, she saw Xuwas already asleep in the old woman's room.
　　Towards evening, Xu began babbling incoherently, ZhouQi felt his forehead and found it feverish. Shedecided his wounds must be festering. She knew such acondition was extremely dangerous, and turned to theold woman. "Is there a doctor near here?" she asked.
　　"Yes, there is, in Wenguang town about twenty li eastof here," the old woman replied. "The most capable oneis Doctor Cao, but he never comes out to countryplaces like this to see patients.""I'll go and fetch him," Zhou Qi said. "I'll leavemy...my brother here. Please keep an eye on him.""Don't you worry about that, miss," the old womanreplied. "But the doctor won't come."Zhou Qi stowed her sword beside the horse's saddle andgalloped off. Night had already fallen when sheentered Wenguang town.
　　She asked a passer-by where Doctor Cao lived, thengalloped straight on to his residence. She knocked onthe door for a long time before a man finally openedit.
　　"It's already dark. What are you banging on the doorlike that for?" the man demanded.
　　Zhou Qi was furious at his manner, but remembered thatshe was appealing for help. "I've come to ask DoctorCao to visit a patient," she said, controllingherself.
　　"He's not in," said the man. Without another word, heturned and began to close the door.
　　Panic-striken, Zhou Qi pulled him out of the doorwayand drew her sword. "Where's he gone to? Quickly!""He's gone to Little Rose's," the man replied in aquavering voice.
　　Zhou Qi brushed the blade over his face. "What isLittle Rose's?"The man was frantic with fright. "YourExcellency...Miss, Little Rose is a prostitute," hesaid.
　　"Prostitutes are bad people. What's he gone to herplace for?" Zhou Qi asked.
　　The man wanted to laugh at the sight of this girl whowas so ferocious and yet so ignorant of worldlymatters, but he did not dare. "She is a good friend ofour master," he said.
　　"Lead me there quickly."With the sword resting on his neck, he dared notdisobey and led her off down the street.
　　"This is it," he said, pointing to a small house.
　　"Knock on the door. Tell the doctor to come out."The man did as she said, and the door was opened bythe Madame of the house.
　　"This lady wants my master to go to visit a patient,"the man said. "I told her the master was busy, but shewouldn't believe me and forced me to come here."The Madame gave him a look of contempt and slammed thedoor.
　　Zhou Qi rushed forward to stop her, but was too late.
　　She beat thunderously on the door for a while, but nota sound came from inside. Absolutely furious, shekicked the man to the ground.
　　"Get lost!" she shouted.
　　The man picked himself up and ran off.
　　Zhou Qi waited until he had disappeared then leaptover the wall into the courtyard of the house. She sawlight coming from a room nearby, and stealthily madeher way over towards it. Crouching down, she heard twomen talking. She licked the tip of her finger, thenwet a small part of the window paper and made a holein it. Putting her eye to the hole, she saw two menlying on a couch, talking. One was stout, and theother thin and tall. A tartishly seductive girl waspummelling the thin man's thighs. The stout man give awave of his hand and the girl stood up.
　　"I can see you two want to discuss more ways ofcreating mischief," she said with a smile. "You oughtto accumulate some good deeds, otherwise you may givebirth to sons without arseholes.""Damned nonsense," the stout man shouted back with alaugh. The girl smiled and walked out, locked thedoor, then turned and went into an inner hall.
　　"That must be Little Rose," Zhou Qi thought. "She'sreally shameless, but there's some truth in what shesaid."She watched as the stout man pulled out four silveringots and placed them on the table.
　　"Brother Cao," he said. "There's two hundred taels ofsilver. We are old business partners, and that's theold price.""Master Tang," the thin man replied: "Take these twopackets of medicine, and have a good time. The redpacket you give to the girl, and in less time than ittakes to eat a meal, she will be unconscious to theworld and you can do whatever you like with her. Youdon't need me to teach you anything about that, doyou?"The two men laughed together.
　　"This black packet you give to the man," Caocontinued. "Tell him it will speed his recovery. Soonafter he takes it, his wounds will begin dischargingblood and he will die. It will appear that his woundshave simply re-opened and no-one will suspect you.
　　What do you think of such a ruse?""Excellent, excellent," Tang replied.
　　"So, Master Tang, you have gained both the girl andthe money. Doesn't two hundred taels seem like rathera small reward for such a service?""We are brothers, and I wouldn't try to deceive you,"the other said. "The girl certainly has a pretty face.
　　I could hardly restrain myself even when I thought shewas a boy because of the way she was dressed. Butthere is nothing much special about the man, exceptthat he's with the girl, so I cannot allow him tolive.""Didn't you say he had a flute made out of gold?" Caoasked. "That flute must weigh several catties alone.""All right, all right, I'll add another fifty taels,"Tang said, and pulled out another ingot.
　　Zhou Qi became angrier and angrier as she listened,and ran to the door, kicked it open and chargedstraight inside. Tang gave a shout and aimed a flyingkick at Zhou Qi's sword wrist. Zhou Qi flipped thesword over and smoothly cut off his right foot thenthrust the blade into his heart.
　　The thin man stood to one side, struck dumb withfright. His whole body shook and his teeth chattered.
　　Zhou Qi pulled her sword out of Tang's corpse andwiped the blood off the blade onto his clothes, thengrabbed the thin man.
　　"Are you Doctor Cao?" she shouted. The man's legsfolded and he fell to his knees.
　　"Please...miss...spare my life...""Who wants your life? Get up."Cao shakily stood up, but his knees were stillrubbery, and he had to kneel down again. Zhou Qi putthe five silver ingots and two packets of medicine onthe table into her pocket.
　　"Out," she ordered.
　　She told him to fetch his horse, and the two mountedup and galloped out of the town. In less than twohours, they arrived at the old woman's hut. Zhou Qiran to Xu and found him still unconscious. In thecandlelight, she could see his whole face was brightred and knew he had a terrible fever. She dragged Caoover.
　　"My, er, brother here has been wounded. Cure himquickly," she ordered.
　　Hearing that he was expected to give medicaltreatment, Cao's fears eased slightly. He looked atXu's complexion and took his pulse, then undid thebandage round his shoulder and looked at the wound. Heshook his head.
　　"The master is deficient in both blood and breath," hesaid. "His body heat is rising...""Who wants to hear all that?" Zhou Qi interrupted him.
　　"You just cure him quickly. If you don't, you canforget about ever leaving here.""I'll go to the town to get some medicine," Cao said.
　　"Without medicine I cannot do anything."Xu awoke and he lay listening to the two talking.
　　"Huh, do you think I'm a three-year-old child?" ZhouQi demanded. "You make out the prescription and I'llgo and buy the medicine."Cao had no alternative. "Well, please bring me a penand paper, Miss," he said.
　　But where was pen and paper to be found in such a poorhut in such a desolate place? Zhou Qi frowned, at aloss for what to do.
　　"The master's condition will not allow delay," saidCao with an air of complacency. "It would be best ifyou let me return to the town to get the medicine.""Sister," Xu said, "Take a small piece of firewood andburn it to charcoal, then let him write on a piece ofrough paper. If that can't be done, you could write ona piece of wood.""What a good idea!" Zhou Qi exclaimed happily, andburnt up a piece of firewood as he had said. The oldwoman searched out a piece of yellow paper originallymeant to be burnt in worship of Buddha, and Cao madeout the prescription. When he had finished, Zhou Qifound a length of grass rope and tied his hands behindhis back, bound his legs together and put him on thefloor next to Xu.
　　"I'm going to the town to buy medicine," she told theold woman as she placed Xu's sword beside his pillow.
　　If this dog doctor tries to escape, wake up my brotherand he can kill him."Zhou Qi rode back to the town and found a medicineshop. She shouted for the shop-keeper to open up andgot him to fill the prescription, which was for morethat ten different types of medicine.
　　The sky was growing light. She saw village militiamenpatrolling the streets and guessed that the murder atLittle Rose's had been discovered. She shrank into acorner and waited until they had passed beforegalloping off.
　　As soon as she had returned to the old woman's hut,she hastily brewed up the medicine then poured it intoa rough bowl and took it over to Xu. She shook himawake and told him to drink the medicine.
　　Xu was extremely moved at the sight of her facecovered with sweat and ash and her hair filled withtwigs and grass. He knew she was the daughter of arich family and would never before have had to do thissort of work. He sat up and took the bowl from her andpassed it over to Cao.
　　"You drink two mouthfuls," he said. Cao hesitatedslightly and Zhou Qi realised Xu's meaning.
　　"Yes, yes," she said. "He must drink some first. Youdon't know how evil this man is," she added to Xu.
　　Cao opened his mouth and drank two mouthfuls.
　　"Rest for a while, sister," said Xu. "I'll wait awhile before drinking the medicine.""Yes," said Zhou Qi. "Let's see if he dies first. Ifhe dies, you mustn't drink the medicine."She moved the oil lamp next to Cao's face and watchedhim with her big, black, unblinking eyes to seewhether he would die or not.
　　"We doctors have the best interest of our patients atheart. Why would I want to harm him?" Cao said,smiling bitterly.
　　"That secret discussion you had with that man Tangabout harming some girl and getting hold of someoneelse's golden flute, I heard it all," Zhou Qi saidangrily. "Do you deny it?"Xu's ears pricked up at the mention of a golden fluteand he quickly asked her about it. Zhou Qi related theconversation she had heard, and how she had killed aman at Little Rose's.
　　Xu asked Cao: "Who is the person with the Goldenflute? And who is the girl who was dressed as a boy?"Zhou Qi drew her sword and stood by him threateningly.
　　"If you don't tell us everything you know, I'll runyou through with my sword immediately," she told him.
　　"I...I'll tell you," said Cao, absolutely terrified.
　　"Yesterday Master Tang came to see me and said thattwo people had asked to take lodgings at his home. Hesaid one was very badly wounded and the other was apretty youngster. At first he was unwilling to takethem in, but seeing how extraordinarily beautiful theyoungster was, he let them stay for one night. Henoticed the youngster's voice and manner were justlike a girl's. Also, the youngster wasn't willing toshare a room with the other, so he concluded it mustbe a girl dressed in boy's clothes.""So you sold him some poison," Zhou Qi said.
　　"I deserve to die," replied Cao.
　　"What was the man like?" Xu asked.
　　"Master Tang asked me to examine him. He was abouttwenty-three or four, dressed as a scholar, and hadsword and club wounds in seven or eight places.""Were the wounds serious?" asked Xu.
　　"Very serious. But they were all external wounds. Hewasn't wounded on any fatal points."Xu saw he would not gain much by continuing thequestioning and gingerly raised the bowl of medicine.
　　But his hands shook and some of the medicine sloppedout. Zhou Qi took the bowl from him and raised it tohis mouth. He drank the brew down as she held thebowl, then thanked her.
　　"These two bandits are not brother and sister," Caothought as he watched. "Whoever heard of a brothersaying thank you to his sister?"After drinking the medicine, Xu slept for a while, hiswhole body sweating profusely, and towards evening,the sickness began to recede. The next day, Xu wasmore than half recovered and he was able to get up.
　　After another day, he decided he could just aboutmanage to ride a horse.
　　"That man with the golden flute is FourteenthBrother," he said to Zhou Qi. "I wonder why he shouldseek lodgings with such a man? But seeing as you'vealready killed Tang, they shouldn't have had too muchtrouble. But I'm still a little worried. Let's gotonight and see what the situation is.""Fourteenth Brother?" Zhou Qi asked.
　　"'Scholar' Yu. He was also at Iron Gall Manor. You'veseen him before.""Oh, if I had known it was him I would have broughthim along with me, then the two of you could haveconvalesced together."Xu smiled. "But who could this girl dressed in boy'sclothing be?" he wondered, mystified.
　　That evening, Zhou Qi gave the old woman two of thesilver ingots and she accepted them with effusiveblessings and thanks. Zhou Qi then pulled Cao up, andwith a swish of her blade, cut off his right ear.
　　"I'm only sparing your worthless life because youcured my brother," she shouted. "If I ever catch youdoing evil again,I'll stick my sword straight intoyour heart.""We'll visit you again in three months time, to checkup," Xu warned.
　　"You ride his horse and we'll leave," Zhou Qi said toXu. The two mounted up and galloped off towardsWenguang town.
　　"Why did you say we would be coming back in threemonths' time?" Zhou Qi asked.
　　"I was just deceiving the doctor so that he wouldn'tgive the old woman any trouble," Xu replied.
　　Zhou Qi nodded and they continued on for a while.
　　"Why are you always so crafty with people?" shesuddenly asked. "I don't like it.""You don't realise how many evil people there are inthe world," he said after a long silence. "Whendealing with friends, love and justice should alwayscome first, of course. But when dealing with badpeople, you must be very careful otherwise you will betricked and will suffer.""My father say it's better to suffer yourself than tocheat other people," Zhou Qi said.
　　"That is what makes your father the great man that heis," replied Xu.
　　"Well, why don't you imitate my father?""Lord Zhou is benevolent and generous by nature. I amafraid that such a perverse person as myself wouldnever be able to emulate him.""That's what I dislike most about you: your perversetemper. My father says that if you treat others well,they will also naturally treat you well in return."Xu didn't reply.
　　The two waited until it was dark before entering thetown. They found Tang's residence and climbed over thewall toinvestigate. Xu caught a watchman and,threatening him with a knife, asked him about'Scholar' Yu's whereabouts. The watchman said the twolodgers had left during the confusion after Doctor Caohad killed Master Tang at Little Rose's.
　　"We'll chase after them," Zhou Qi said.
Chapter 19
In less than a day, they had passed Lanzhou. Two daysfurther on, Xu discovered markings on the road left byChen saying that everyone should meet in Kaifeng. ZhouQi was delighted to hear that the main group was allright. She had been very worried about her father, butshe now relaxed and drank some wine to celebrate. Thewound on Xu's shoulder had by now closed and he wasfully recovered. They chatted as they travelled. Xutold her stories of the fighting community andexplained all its taboos and rules. She took it all ineagerly.
　　"Why didn't you talk about these things before,instead of always quarrelling with me?" she asked.
　　That day they arrived at Tongguan, a gateway townbetween central China and the northwest, and searchedfor lodgings. They heard that the old Yuelai Inn wasthe best, but when they got there, they were toldthere was only one room left.
　　Zhou Qi was impressed with how refined and polite Xuhad been towards her, a real gentleman. But now,suddenly faced with the prospect of having to share aroom with him, she was both embarrassed andsuspicious.
　　As soon as they were in the room, Xu barred the door.
　　Zhou Qi's face went bright red and she was just aboutto speak when Xu hurriedly silenced her with a wave ofhis hand.
　　"Did you see that Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency scoundreljust now?" he whispered.
　　"What?" said Zhou Qi, startled. "You mean the one wholed the others round to capture Master Wen and causedthe death of my brother?""I only caught a glimpse of him so I can't beabsolutely sure. I was afraid he would see us, whichis why I rushed us into the room. We'll go andinvestigate in a while."The servant came in with some hot tea and asked ifthey wanted anything to eat. Xu ordered a few dishes,then said:
　　"Several eminent gentlemen from the Zhen YuanBodyguard Agency are also staying here, I think?""Yes," replied the servant. "Whenever they passthrough Tongguan, they always give us their custom."Xu waited for the servant to leave. "That Lead EscortTong is the ringleader and chief troublemaker," hesaid. "We'll finish him off tonight and properlyavenge your brother and Master Wen."Zhou Qi thought once again of her brother's tragicdeath and the burning of Iron Gall Manor, and heranger surged.
　　"Lie down for a while and rest," said Xu, seeing herimpatience. "We can wait until nightfall before makingour move and still have plenty of time."He sat down at the table and settled himself for sleepwithout so much as glancing further in Zhou Qi'sdirection. Zhou Qi had no option but to suppress heranger. She sat down on the kang and tried to rest. Thetime dragged by until the second bell struck, one hourto midnight, and she decided she could control herselfno longer.
　　"Let's go," she said, drawing her sword.
　　"There are many of them, and some may be goodfighters," Xu whispered. "Let us investigate first.
　　We'll think of some way to lure Tong out, then dealwith him alone."Zhou Qi nodded.
　　They went into the courtyard and saw a lamp shining ina room on the eastern side. They walked stealthilyover. Zhou Qi found a rip in the window paper andlooked through while Xu stood behind her keeping alook out. Suddenly, she stood up and kicked out at thewindow. Xu started in fright, and shot in front ofher, blocking her way. Zhou Qi hurriedly retracted herleg as it was about to strike Xu's chest, andoverbalanced. He knelt down close to her.
　　"What is it?" he whispered.
　　"Do something, quick," she hissed. "My mother's inthere. They've got her tied up."Xu was startled. "Back to the room quickly and we'lldiscuss it there," he said.
　　They returned to the room.
　　"What is there to discuss?" demanded Zhou Qidesperately. "They've captured my mother.""Control yourself. I will rescue her for you," Xureplied. "How many people were there in the room?""About six or seven."Xu hung his head, deep in thought.
　　"What are you afraid of?" Zhou Qi asked. "If you won'tdo it, I'll go by myself.""I'm not afraid. I'm thinking of a way to save yourmother and kill that fellow at the same time. It wouldbe best if we did the two things together."Just then, footsteps passed by the door, and theyheard a man muttering: "Midnight and these leadescorts are still at it. What are they doing drinkingat this time? Damn their mothers! May the blessedBuddha make sure they meet up with robbers on theroad."Suddenly, Xu had an idea. "That Doctor Cao gave youtwo packets of medicine, didn't he?" he said to ZhouQi. "Give me the one he said would make youunconscious, quickly."Zhou Qi gave him the packet. "What are you going todo?" she asked. Xu didn't answer, but opened thewindow and jumped out with Zhou Qi close behind.
　　They ran along the corridor. Suddenly Xu whispered:
　　"Get down, don't move."Zhou Qi wondered what trick he was up to. A momentpassed, then suddenly they saw a flicker of light asthe servant came back towards them carrying acandlestick and a tray. Xu picked a pebble off theground and threw it, extinguishing the candle.
　　The servant started in surprise. "This is damnridiculous," he cursed. "There's no wind at all, andyet the candle goes out."He put down the tray and turned to relight the candle.
　　While his back was turned, Xu darted out, and in aflash, he had tipped the medicine into the two pots ofwine on the tray and slipped away without the servantnoticing.
　　"Let's go and wait outside their room," he said toZhou Qi.
　　They made their way round to the exterior of the leadescort's room and settled down to wait. Xu looked inthrough the hole in the window covering and saw amiddle-aged woman seated on the floor with her handstied behind her back. There were several men sittingaround her, including Master Han, the white horse'sformer owner, and Lead Escorts Qian and Tong. Theywere engaged in a lively discussion.
　　"When people talked of Iron Gall Manor, they alwayssaid it was impregnable as if it had walls of iron,"Tong was saying. "But with just my one torch, it wasrazed to the ground. Ha ha!"Outside the window, Xu shook his hand at Zhou Qi,afraid that she would have a fit of rage.
　　"Old Tong, stop bragging," Han replied. "I've met Zhouand I doubt if all of us together could beat him. Ifhe ever comes looking for you, you'll be in a prettysituation!""But look!" replied Taong. "We must have a lucky star,otherwise how could Zhou's old woman manage to findus? With her in our hands, how would he dare to doanything to us?"Just then, the servant entered with the wine and food,and the bodyguards immediately began eating anddrinking heartily. Han was quiet and dispirited andTong continually urged him to drink the wine, saying"Brother Han, even heroes are helpless when they'reoutnumbered. Next time, we'll take the Red FlowerSociety one to one and see who's the better.""And who are you going to take on, old Tong?" askedanother of the bodyguards.
　　"I'm going to find that daughter of Zhou's..." Beforehe could finish, he slumped to the floor. The othersall started in fright, but as they jumped up to helphim, and one by one, they dropped to the groundunconscious.
　　Xu prised the window open with sword, then leapt intothe room. Zhou Qi hurriedly cut the ropes which boundher mother's hands. Lady Zhou was speechless at thesight of her beloved daughter: she felt as if she wasin a dream.
　　Xu lifted Tong up. "Mistress Zhou," he said, "Avengeyour brother."With a sweep of her sword, Zhou Qi killed Tonginstantly. She raised her sword again to kill theother lead escorts, but Xu stopped her.
　　"The crimes of the others do not deserve death. Sparethem," he said.
　　She nodded and withdrew her sword. Lady Zhou knew herdaughter's temper, and was surprised at how she obeyedXu.
　　Xu searched the bodies of the lead escorts and foundseveral letters which he placed in his gown, planningto examine them later.
　　The three returned to their room. Xu picked up theirknapsacks and left a small silver ingot on the tablein payment for the room and the food. Then they wentto the stables, led out three horses and galloped offeastwards.
　　When she realized her daughter was not only travellingwith a man but had shared a room with him, Lady Zhou'ssuspicions rose even further. Her temper was asexplosive as her daughter's.
　　"Who is this gentleman?" she asked accusingly. "Howcome you are with him? You lost your temper with youfather and left, didn't you?""It was you that lost your temper and left," Zhou Qireplied. "Mother, I'll talk to you about this later."It looked as if an argument was about to start, and Xuquickly tried to mediate.
　　"It's all your fault," Zhou Qi told him angrily. "Doyou want to make it worse?"Xu smiled and walked away. Mother and daughter poutedsilently, each thinking her own thoughts.
　　That night, they took lodgings in a farm house, andonce they were in bed, mother and daughter together,Zhou Qi finally told her everything that had happened.
　　Lady Zhou kept up a constant bombardment of questionsand the two were crying one minute and laughing thenext. It was past midnight before they had each givena rough sketch of the events since they parted.
　　Heartbroken and angry over the death of her son, LadyZhou had gone to Lanzhou to stay with relatives, butafter a few days, she began to feel restless, andleft. On reaching Tongguan, he saw the Zhen YuanAgency's flag outside the Yuelai Inn. She rememberedthat the man responsible for her son's death was aLead Escort Tong and that evening she had gone to theinn to investigate. She listened to the lead escortstalking, and discovered Tong was among them. Unable tocontrol her anger, she attacked him, but the agencymen had the superiority of numbers and she wascaptured.
　　The next day on the road, Lady Zhou asked Xu abouthisfamily background.
　　"I am from Shaoxing in Zhejiang province," Xu replied.
　　"When I was twelve, all the members of my family werekilled by the authorities. I was the only one whomanaged to escape.""Why did they do that?" asked Lady Zhou.
　　"The magistrate of Shaoxing prefecture liked my sisterand wanted her as his concubine. But she had alreadybeen promised to someone else, so my father naturallyrefused to agree. The magistrate then accused myfather of being in collusion with bandits and put himand my mother and brother in prison. He told my sisterthat all she had to do was agree, and my father wouldbe released. My sister's husband-to-be went toassassinate the magistrate, but he was caught andbeaten to death by the guards. When my sister heard,she drowned herself in the river. After that, whatchance did the rest of the family have of beingspared?""Did you get revenge?" Zhou Qi asked.
　　"When I had grown up and had learned the martial arts,I went back to look for the magistrate, but he hadbeen promoted and transferred somewhere else. In thelast few years, I've been everywhere looking for him,but I've never had any news."Lady Zhou also asked him if he was married, and saidthat having travelled about so much, he must surelyhave seen some girl he liked?
　　"He's too cunning. No girl would want him," Zhou Qisaid with a laugh.
　　"Enough of your remarks, young lady," Lady Zhouscolded her.
　　"You want to become his match-maker, don't you?" ZhouQi said with a smile. "Which girl are you thinking of?
　　One of your relatives in Lanzhou?"When they lodged at an inn that night, Lady Zhou spokeplainly to her daughter.
　　"A virgin like yourself, travelling together with ayoung man and staying in the same room! How do youexpect to ever be able to marry anyone else?" shesaid.
　　"He was wounded," Zhou Qi replied angrily. "Did I dowrong to save him? He may be full of cunning tricksbut he has been very gentlemanly towards me allalong.""You know that, and so does he. I believe you, andyour father would believe you too. But how are otherpeople going to believe it? If your husband eversuspected, you would never be able to face him again.
　　That is the difficulty we women have.""Well then, I shall never marry," shouted Zhou Qi.
　　"Shh! Master Xu is just in the next room." Lady Zhousaid. "It would be very embarrassing if he shouldhear.""Why should I be afraid? I haven't done anythingwrong. Why do you want to deceive him?"When they arose next morning, a servant brought aletter to them.
　　"Master Xu next door told me to give this to yourLadyships," he said. "The master said he had someaffairs to attend to and had to go on ahead. He rodeout early this morning."Zhou Qi snatched the letter from him.
　　"Dear Lady Zhou and Mistress Zhou," it said. "MistressZhou Qi saved my life when I was wounded and I am verygrateful to her. You are now reunited and can makeyour way from here to Kaifeng, which is not far.
　　Please do not be offended that I have gone on ahead. Iwill naturally never forget how Mistress Zhou savedme, but please rest assured that I will never mentiona word of it to anyone. Yours, Xu."Zhou Qi finished reading and stood dumbfounded for asecond. Then she threw the letter away and lay backdown on the kang. Lady Zhou told her to get up andeat, but she took no notice.
　　"My daughter, we are not in Iron Gall Manor now," LadyZhou said. "What are you losing your temper for?" ZhouQi still took no notice.
　　"You're angry at him for leaving, aren't you?" LadyZhou said.
　　"He did it for my sake. Why should I blame him?" ZhouQi replied angrily. She turned over and covered herhead with the coverlet.
　　"Then why do you blame me?" asked Lady Zhou.
　　Zhou Qi suddenly sat up.
　　"He must have heard what you said last night. He wasafraid other people would gossip and make itimpossible for me to marry, so he left. But why worryabout whether I'll marry or not? I refuse to marryanyone. I refuse to marry anyone!"Lady Zhou saw she was crying as she spoke, andrealized that she had fallen in love with Xu. She hadunwittingly revealed her feelings without fullyunderstanding them herself.
　　"You are the only daughter I have," Lady Zhoucomforted her. "Do you think I don't love you? When weget to Kaifeng I'll speak to your father and get himto take charge of this matter so that you can bebetrothed to Master Xu. Don't worry yourself. Yourmother will see to everything.""Who said I wanted to marry him?" Zhou Qi repliedhurriedly. "The next time I see someone dying in frontof me, I won't do anything to save him, not theslightest thing."
Chapter 20
Xu followed Chen's secret markings to Kaifeng and metthe heroes at the home of the local society leaderthere. The heroes were very happy to see that he wasall right, and a banquet was held to welcome him. Bythis time, Zhang Jin, 'Leopard' Wei and Xin Yan hadall recovered from their wounds. 'Melancholy Ghost'
　　Shi had not yet returned from the Muslim borderregions and the Twin Knights were still trying to findout what had happened to Wen.
　　Xu did not mention anything about Lady Zhou or Zhou Qito Lord Zhou. He was afraid that if questionedclosely, it would be difficult to word his answers.
　　And anyway, he thought, they will be here within aday. So he only told the heroes about what he hadheard of 'Scholar' Yu: that he was badly wounded andtravelling with a girl dressed as a boy. Theydiscussed the matter for a while but could not thinkwho the girl could be. They were all worried about hissafety, but Yu was quick-witted and they wereconfident he would be all right.
　　Early next morning, Zhou Qi arrived by herself and herfather and the others were delighted to see her. Aftergreetings were over, she said quietly to Xu: "Comewith me. I have something to say to you."He walked slowly after her. He thought she wanted toberate him for leavng them behind, but he was wrong.
　　"My mother won't come to see my father," Zhou Qiwhispered. "Think of something.""Well, ask your father to go to see her," said Xu,surprised.
　　"She still wouldn't be willing to see him. She goes onand on about the death of my brother, saying my fatherhas no conscience."Xu thought for a moment. "All right," he said finally.
　　"I have an idea." He quietly gave her instrucitons.
　　"Will it work?" she asked.
　　"Definitely. You'd better go immediately."Xu waited until she had left, then returned to sitwith the other heroes. When the appointed hourarrived, he quietly said to Lord Zhou: "I understandthe Bamboo Garden restaurant next to the Iron PagodaTemple is famous for its excellent wine. Let us go andtry it.""Good idea! I will be the host," replied Zhou, who wasalways interested in wine. "We can all go and drinkour fill.""The eyes and ears of officials are numerous in thiscity. It would not be a good idea for all of us togo," Xu replied. "Perhaps if just the Great Helmsmanand I accompanied you, what do you think?""All right," Zhou replied. "Once again, it is you thatthinks things out most carefully."After speaking to Chen, the three went directly to theIron Pagoda Temple. The Bamboo Garden was as good asits reputation. The three men talked, ate Yellow Rivercarp and drank wine until they were drunk.
　　Xu raised his cup to Zhou. "I drink to you, Lord Zhou,in honour of your being reunited today with yourdaughter," he said.
　　Zhou drank a mouthful and sighed.
　　"You are not happy," Xu continued. "Is it because IronGall Manor was burned to the ground?""Wealth is not a part of the flesh. Such a thing asIron Gall Manor is not worthy of regret," Zhoureplied.
　　"Well then, you must be thinking of your deceasedson?"Zhou said nothing but sighed once again.
　　"Seventh Brother, let us go," said Chen. "I've hadenough wine.
　　Xu ignored him. "Why did Lady Zhou leave home?" heasked.
　　"She blamed me for killing the child. Ah, where couldshe have run to, all alone? She loved him as much asher own life. I have truly failed her. I had nointention of killing him. It was just a slip of thehand in anger. Once we have rescued Master Wen, I willsearch to the farthest ends of the earth to find herand bring her back."As he spoke the door curtain parted and Lady Zhou andZhou Qi walked in.
　　"I heard what you said," said Lady Zhou. "I'm glad tosee you're willing to admit your mistake. I'm herenow, so there's no need to go looking for me."Zhou was so startled and delighted at the suddenappearance of his wife that he was momentarilyspeechless.
　　"Brother Chen, this is my mother," Zhou Qi said.
　　"Mother, this is Great Helmsman Chen of the Red FlowerSociety." The two greeted each other formally.
　　"Father, what a coincidence this is," the girl added.
　　"I had heard that the wine here was good and decidedto try it. Mother didn't want to come and I had todrag her along. Who would have guessed that you wouldbe here too?"They all laughed and drank, Zhou Qi was exuberantlyhappy, and without thinking, she began to talkelatedly about how Lead Escort Tong had been killedand the death of her brother and the burning of themanor avenged. Xu surruptitiously tried to stop her,but she took no notice.
　　"Brother Xu was very clever to think of a way to dealwith them," she exclaimed. "After all the Lead Ecortshad passed out, we jumped in through the window andsaved mother. Then he lifted Tong up and let me killthat villainous bandit myself."Zhou and Chen toasted Xu.
　　"You have saved my wife and taken revenge on mybehalf," Zhou said to him. "I am eternally gratefulyto you.""How did you two meet up on the way?" Chen asked, andXu faltered along for a few sentences trying toexplain.
　　"Damn! Damn!" Zhou Qi thought to herself in distress.
　　Her face flushed and an unintentional movement of herarm knocked her chopsticks and winecup to the ground.
　　The winecup smashed loudly, increasing herembarrassment.
　　Chen examined both their faces carefully, and whenthey had returned to the residence, he called Xu overto one side.
　　"Brother Xu, what is your opinion of Mistress Zhou?"he asked.
　　"Great Helmsman," Xu replied hurriedly. "Please don'tmention what she said in the restaurant to anyone. Sheis a good person and has a pure heart, but if otherpeople knew and added a touch of filth, we wouldn'tever be able to face Lord Zhou again.""I think Mistress Zhou is an extremely nice persontoo," Chen said. "How would you like me to be yourmatch-maker?""That's impossible," said Xu, jumping up. "How could Ibe good enough for her?""You must not be so modest. You are the 'KungfuMastermind', renowned throughout the fightingcommunity. Lord Zhou always speaks of you with thegreatest respect."Xu stood dumbfounded for a second.
　　"What do you think?" Chen repeated.
　　"Great Helmsman, you don't know. She doesn't like me.""How do you know?""She said so herself. She said she hated my peculiarways. We have been quarrelling and arguing ever sincewe met."Chen laughed. "So you're certain?""Great Helmaman, there's no point talking about it. Wecannot risk being turned down."Just then, a servant entered.
　　"Master Chen," he said. "Lord Zhou is outside andwishes to speak to you."Chen smiled at Xu and walked out of the room. He sawZhou pacing up and down the corridor with his handsbehind his back and quickly went up to him.
　　"Lord Zhou, you should have called for me. Was itnecessary to come personally?""It's not important," Zhou replied, and with a tug onChen's arm, led him into a reception room and satdown.
　　"I have something on my mind and want to ask yourhelp," he said. "My daugher is nineteen this year. Shehas been a good-for-nothing since she was born, butshe is basically a good and sincere person. Her faultsare the result of my teaching her something of themartial arts. She has wasted much time and still hasno husband." He hesitated a moment before continuing.
　　"Everyone respects your honourable Society's MasterXu. I would like to ask you to become a match-makerand arrange for my daughter's betrothal to him. But Iam afraid that with her bad temper, she would not begood enough."Chen was delighted. "Leave this matter completely inmy hands," he said. "You are the Taishan Mountain andNorth Star of the fighting community, Lord Zhou. It isa great honour for the Red Flower Society that you arewilling to give up your daughter to one of ourbrothers. I will go and see to it immediately."He ran to Xu's room and told him the news. Xu was sodelighted, his heart beat wildly.
　　"Well," Chen said. "Are you willing?""Why wouldn't I be willing?""I didn't expect that you'd be unwilling," Chenreplied with a smile. "But there is something else.
　　All of Lord Zhou's three sons are dead, and theyoungest died because of the Red Flower Society. Itlooks like the Zhou family line is finished. I wonderif you would be willing to make a concession andbecome not only his son-in-law, but his son as well?""You want me to become a member of the Zhou family?""Yes. The first of your future sons would be surnamedZhou, and the second Xu. It would be a small repaymentof our debt to Lord Zhou."Xu agreed. The two went round to Zhou's room and alsoasked Lady Zhou to come over. Unaware of what washappening, Zhou Qi followed her in. As soon as Zhousaw the expression on the faces of Chen and Xu, heknew the matter was decided.
　　"Daughter, go outside," he said with a smile.
　　"You are trying to deceive me about something," shereplied accusingly. "I won't have it!" But despite herwords, she turned and left.
　　Chen brought up his idea of Xu becoming a member ofthe Zhou clan, and Lady Zhou and her husband beamedwith delight.
　　"We are away from home and I don't have anythingworthy to present to you," Zhou said to Xu. "But laterI will teach you how to use the Iron Gallstones."Xu was overwhelmed. He had gained both a beautifulwife and a wise teacher, and he knelt down to kowtowin thanks.
　　As soon as the news leaked out, the other heroes cameto offer their congratulations. That night, a greatbanquet was held to celebrate, but Zhou Qi hid herselfand refused to come out.
　　During the drinking, 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi returnedfrom his journey to the Muslim regions withMuzhuolun's answer to Chen's letter.
　　Chen took the letter. Just then, 'Crocodile' Jiangraced in shouting: "The Yellow River's broken it'sbanks!"They clustered round and questioned him on the extentof the disaster.
　　"The river's already broken through at seven or eightpoints. In many places the roads are completelyimpassable," he replied.
　　They were all concerned about how the peasants werefaring. Furthermore, the Twin Knights had still notreturned to report on Wen's situation.
　　"Brothers, we have already waited here several days,"said Chen. "Conditions on the road ahead have probablychanged, and I am afraid the floods will have ruinedour plans. What do you all think we should do?""We can't wait any longer," Zhang Jin called out.
　　"Let's get on to Beijing quickly. Even if they areholding Fourth Brother in the Heavenly Prison, we'llstill get him out."The others voiced their agreement, and it was decidedto start out immediately. They thanked the localsociety chief and headed off eastwards.
　　While on the road, Chen opened and read Muzhuolun'sletter. In it, he thanked the Red Flower Society forits warning and said he had called his tribe togetherand was preparing for war, determined to fight theenemy to the end. The mood of the letter wastragically heroic and Chen's anxiety showed on hisface.
　　"Did Master Muzhuolun have anything else to say?" heasked Shi.
　　"He asked after Fourth Brother. When he heard we hadnot yet rescued him, he expressed great concern.""Did you meet Master Muzhuolun's family?" Chen asked.
　　"I met his wife, son and two daughters. You know theeldest daughter. She asked after your health."Chen hesitated. "She didn't say anything other thanthat?" he asked slowly.
　　Shi thought for a second. "Just before I left, thereappeared to be something else she wished to say to me,but she asked only about the details of our attempt torescue Fourth Brother."Chen was silent. He put his hand into his gown andfelt the dagger that Huo Qingtong had given him. Theblade was eight inches long, bright and dazzling, andthe handle was entwined with gold thread. Judging bythe amount that had been worn away, it was of greatantiquity. Huo Qingtong had said that a great secretwas supposed to be hidden in the sword. He hadexamined it closely over the past few days, but hadbeen unable to find anything unusual about it. Heturned and looked back westwards. The host of starswere shining brightly, and he wondered whether on thegreat flat desert, the same stars were now shining onHuo Qingtong.
　　They travelled all night, and when morning broke, theywere already close to the places where the YellowRiver had broken through. The great plain had turnedinto a vast lake. The fields and homes of people inlow-lying areas had long since been submerged. Manypeople were camping out in the open on the hilltops.
　　The heroes made their way round the flood, keeping tothe high ground and heading eastwards. Occasionally,they spotted a cluster of corpses bobbing along besidepieces of driftwood. That night, they lodged out inthe open, and the next day had to make a long detour.
　　Zhou Qi had been riding with Luo Bing the whole way,but suddenly she could restrain herself no longer. Shespurred her horse on and caught up with Xu.
　　"You're the one with all the ideas," she said. "Thinkof a way to save these people."During the two days since they had become engaged, thetwo had been too embarrassed to speak to each other.
　　Now, the first thing Zhou Qi did when she opened hermouth was to present him with a problem of mammothproportions.
　　"It's all very well to say that, but how can wepossibly help so many refugees?" he replied.
　　"Why would I come and ask you if I knew of a way?""First thing tomorrow I will tell all the others thatthey are not to call me 'Kung Fu Mastermind' anymore.
　　Then you won't be able to put me on the spot likethis.""When did I ever put you on the spot?" Zhou Qi askedquickly. "All right, I was wrong. I would be betteroff if I didn't say anything." She pouted silently.
　　"Sister, we are all one family now. We cannot continueto argue like this," Xu said. Zhou Qi ignored him.
　　"It is I who is in the wrong," he coaxed. "Forgive methis time and give me a smile." Zhou Qi turned herhead away.
　　"Ah, so you won't even smile. You are so bashful infront of your new fiance."She burst into laughter. "You talk such nonsense," shesaid, raising her horse whip.
　　The road was filled with refugees, dragging their sonsand carrying their daughters, crying and wailing asthey went. Suddenly a horseman appeared, gallopingtowards them fast. The road was very narrow and as therider careered from side to side, he knocked a womancarrying a child into the water. But he took nonotice, and continued to gallop on. The heroes wasfurious, and as the rider passed by, 'Leopard' Weipulled him off his horse and punched him solidly inthe face. The man screamed and spat out a mouthful ofblood and three teeth.
　　He was a military official.
　　"You bunch of bandit hooligans," he shouted as hescrambled to his feet. "I am on important officialbusiness. I'll deal with you when I come back." Hemounted his horse but Zhang Jin pulled him off again.
　　"What important official business?" he roared.
　　"Search him," Chen ordered. Zhang Jin frisked himquickly and found an official document which he handedover.
　　Chen saw the document had a singed corner and achicken's feather stuck to it indicating that it wasan urgent report which the courier would be requiredto travel day and night to deliver. On it's wrapperwas written the words: "Extra Urgent Dispatch forBorder Pacification General Zhao." He broke the sealand took out the document.
　　The courier went white with fear. "That's a secretmilitary document," he shouted. "Aren't you afraid ofexecution?""If anyone's going to be executed, it's you," repliedXin Yan with a laugh.
　　Chen saw the letter was from a certain commander incharge of provisions reporting to General Zhao thatrations for the Great Army had reached Lanfeng, butthat because of the floods, there might be a delay ofseveral days before they could be delivered.
　　Chen handed the letter to Xu. "It has nothing to dowith us," he said.
　　But as Xu read the document an expression of delightfilled his face. "Great Helmsman," he cried. "This istruly a great treasure delivered to us on a plate.
　　With this, we can both assist Master Muzhuolun andsave the refugees."He jumped off his horse and walked over to theofficial and tore the document up in front of him.
　　"What are you going to do now?" he asked. "Isn'tlosing a military document a capital offence? If youwant to live, it would be best to run."The official was startled and angry, but he saw thetruth of Xu's words. He took off his military uniform,threw it in the water, then ran off, melding into themass of refugees.
　　"Steal the provisions and hand them out as disasterrelief, and we can kill two birds with one stone,"Chen said, nodding. "The only problem is that theprovisions for the Great Army are bound to be heavilyguarded, and we are few in number. What ideas do youhave, Brother Xu?"Xu whispered a few words in his ear, and Chen noddedin agreement.
　　"Good, we'll do it that way," he said, and ordered theheroes to disguise themselves and disperse.
　　Their instructions were to spread rumours.
　　The next morning, tens of thousands of refugeessuddenly descended on Lanfeng. When the countymagistrate, Wang Dao, saw the extraordinary situation,he ordered his officers to seize several refugees andquestion them. They all said they had heard therewould be a distribution of relief money and provisionsin the city that day. Wang immediately ordered thecity gates to be barred, but by then, a huge crowd ofrefugees had already gathered inside with many moreoutside. Wang sent someone to announce to the crowdthat there would be no distribution of relief, but thecrowds continued to grow. Beginning to feel nervous,he went personally to see the Provisions CommanderSun, who was stationed in the Stone Buddha Temple inthe eastern part of the city. He asked if some of thecommander's troops could be assigned to help controlthe situation in the city.
　　"I have my orders from General Zhao," Sun replied.
　　"Any slip-up, no matter how small, before theseprovisions reach the Great Army will be a capitaloffence. It is not that I am unwilling to help, but myresponsibilities are heavy. Please forgive me, MasterWang."Wang pleaded with him, but Sun was adament. Back onthe streets, he saw the refugees creating an uproareverywhere.
　　Night fell, and fires started simultaneously inseveral parts of the city. Magistrate Wang hurriedlydispatched men to put them out, and in the confusion,an officer ran in to report.
　　"Master! There's trouble," he cried. "The west gatehas been forced by the refugees and thousands more arestreaming into the city."Wang could only rant in despair, completely at a lossfor what to do.
　　"Prepare a horse!" he shouted frantically, and led hisguards towards the western part of the city. Butbefore they had gone half a street, they found the waycompletely blocked by refugees. He heard someone inthe midst of the crowd shout: "The food and money areto be distributed at the Stone Buddha Temple! Everyoneto the Stone Buddha Temple!" The refugees surgedforward.
　　Wang could see the way was impassible. He decidedthere was nothing for it but to go to the Stone BuddhaTemple and seek refuge there. When he arrived, thetemple gate was already tightly shut, but the guardrecognized him and let him in. Outside, the refugeeshad already surrounded the temple. Someone in thecrowd shouted: "All the relief cash and food issued bythe court have been swallowed by the dog officials.
　　Hand out the cash and food! Hand out the cash andfood!"The mass of the refugees took up the chant and theirroar rattled the roof tiles.
　　Wang shook uncontrollably. "Rebels!" he bellowed.
　　"Rebels!"For a military official, Commander Sun was quitebrave. He ordered his soldiers to place a ladder nextto the wall and climbed up on top.
　　"Those of you who are peaceful citizens, leave thecity quickly and do not put faith in rumours," heshouted. "If you do not leave, we will be forced tofire on you with arrows."The two officers led a group of archers onto the topof the wall and a roar of defiance went up from thecrowd.
　　"Fire!" shouted Sun. A wave of arrows shot out and adozen or more refugees fell to the ground. The crowdturned and fled in panic and the cries of women andchildren could be heard as the refugees trampled eachother.
　　Sun laughed out loud. But before the laugh ended,someone in the crowd threw two stones at him, one ofwhich hit his cheek. He felt a sharp pain and rubbedthe spot only to find his hand covered in blood.
　　"Fire! Fire!" he ordered in a great rage. The archersshot out another wave of arrows and another dozenrefugees were hit.
　　Suddenly, two tall, thin men leapt up onto the wall,grabbed several of the archers and threw them to theground. Incensed by the way they had been fired on,the refugees surged back and began beating the archersviciously.
　　The Red Flower Society heroes in the crowd weregreatly surprised by the sudden re-appearance of theTwin Knights. More of them jumped up onto the wall andinto the temple courtyard, and a moment later, thetemple gates opened and 'Crocodile' Jiang ran out.
　　"Everyone come and get some food," he shouted,beckoning to the refugees. But the soldiers were manyand the refugees did not dare to press in too close.
　　Commander Sun's great sword danced as he foughtdesperately along the top of the wall, retreatingsteadily. Suddenly, his arms went numb, and his swordclattered to the ground at the foot of the wall.
　　Someone forced his hands behind his back, and he feltan icy coldness on his neck.
　　"You Turtle!" the man behind him shouted. "Order thetroops to throw down their weapons and retreat insidethe temple!"Sun hesitated for a second and he felt a sharp pain onhis neck as the man lightly moved his sword, breakingthrough a layer of skin. Not daring to disobeyfurther, Sun shouted out the order. Seeing theircommanding officer had been captured, the soldiers didas they were ordered and retired inside the temple asthe refugees roared their approval.
　　Great Helmsman Chen walked into the main hall of thetemple and saw the altar piled high with bags of foodand cash. 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi pulled CountyMagistrate Wang in for Chen to dispose of.
　　"Are you in charge of this county?" Chen asked.
　　"Y-yes...your Majesty," Wang replied in a quaveringvoice.
　　Chen laughed. "Do I look like a king?" he asked.
　　"I deserved to die. I spoke incorrectly. What is yourhonourable name, sir?"Chen smiled slightly and ignored the question. "Sinceyou are an official, you must have some scholarship inyou," he said. "I will give you the first line of acouplet for you to match." He lightly waved his fan.
　　"If you are able to match it, your life will bespared. If you cannot, then I will not be so polite."The refugees gathered round, forming a circle ofthousands of eyes all focussed on Wang's face.
　　"Now listen," said Chen. "The first line is: 'How longmust we live for the Yellow River to be clear of mud?
　　Rather ask if officialdom can be cleared ofcorruption.'"Wang's face was covered in sweat. He was a competentscholar, but in the midst of his fear, he could thinkof nothing.
　　"Sir," he finally said. "Your first line is toodifficult. I...I cannot match it.""That's all right," Chen replied. "Let me ask youplainly. Which would be easier: to clear up the YellowRiver or officialdom?"Wang suddenly had an idea. "I consider that if allofficialdom were clear, then the Yellow River would beclear too," he said.
　　Chen laughed. "Well said. I shall spare your life.
　　Call together your guards and distribute the money andfood to the refugees. Oh, and Commander Sun, you canhelp too."The refugees cheered thunderously for the Red FlowerSociety heroes. As they filed past to collect the foodand money, they jeered and laughed at Sun and Wang,who pretended not to notice.
　　"Brothers and sisters, listen!" Chen called out. "Ifthe authorities should send people to investigate, youcan say it was the Commander and County Magistrate whopersonally made the distribution."The refugees shouted their approval.
　　The heroes supervised the operation late into thenight until all the food and cash had beendistributed.
　　"Brothers!" Xu then shouted to the refugees. "Take thesoldiers' weapons and hide them in your homes. If thedog officials know what's good for them, they'll leaveyou alone, but if they should come after you, you canfight them."Strong men came forward and collected up the swordsand spears that had been discarded by the soldiers.
　　Chen walked out of the temple with Commander Sun andthe other heroes as the refugees roared their thanks.
　　They mounted their horses and rode out of the city.
　　After travelling a few miles, Chen pushed Sun off hishorse.
　　"Commander, thank you for your help," he said. "Thenext time you escort provisions, be sure to write tome." He laughed and saluted, then galloped off in acloud of dust with the other heroes.
　　"Do you have any news of Fourth Brother?" Chen askedthe Twin Knights after they had ridden on a littleway.
　　"We found a message left by Brother Yu which said hewas being taken to Hangzhou," one of them replied.
　　Chen was greatly surprised. "Why is he being sent toHangzhou and not Beijing?" he asked. "I thought theEmperor wanted to question him personally.""We thought it strange too. But Brother Yu alwayshandles things very carefully. It's certain to bereliable information."Chen told the others to dismount, and they sat roundin a circle and discussed the situation.
　　"Since Brother Wen is being sent to Hangzhou, weshould head south and try to work out some way ofsaving him," Xu said. "Hangzhou is our territory. Thepower of the court is not as great there as inBeijing, so it should be easier to rescue him. But weshould still send someone to Beijing to see if thereis any news, just in case."The others agreed. Chen looked over at Shi. "I wonderif I can trouble you to go once more, TwelfthBrother," he said.
　　"All right," Shi replied. He headed off northwardsalone towards Beijing while the other heroes rodesouth.
　　Chen enquired further of the Twin Knights about Yu'smovements, but they said they had no furtherinformation. They had returned to report as soon asthey had seen the markings. Passing through Lanfeng,they had come across the refugees and met up with theother heroes.
　　"With the provisions gone, Sister Huo Qingtong and herpeople should have no trouble beating the Great Army,"Zhou Qi said.
　　"That girl's sword style wasn't bad, and she was anice person too," added Priest Wu Chen. "She deservesour help. I hope she does beat them. It would besomething everyone could rejoice at."
Chapter 21
or the western army. Did you hearanything about that?"Chen started in surprise and wondered how he couldhave known. They had hurried south after the Lanfengincident without resting. "I understand there was suchan incident," he said. "The refugees had no clothesand no food and the local officials did nothing tohelp them. They were forced to break the law in orderto survive, an action which under the circumstances ispardonable."Dongfang was silent for a while. "I understand it wasnot quite simple as that," he said nonchalantly. "Iheard the Red Flower Society incited the refugees.""What is the Red Flower Society>" asked Chen, feigningignorance.
　　"It is rebellious underworld society. Have you neverheard of it?""I am afraid that between my lute and my chess board,I have little time for the affairs of the world.""There's no need to be ashamed. These people are inany case no great problem.""What basis do you have for saying that?""The Emperor is on the throne and the administrationof the country is enlightened and orderly. Once one ortwo men with talent are assigned to the job, the RedFlower Society will be destroyed in no time at all.""I know nothing of administration, so please do notlaugh if I should say something stupid. But in myhumble opinion, most court officials are drunkards andguzzlers. I doubt if they would be able to accomplishsuch a mission."As he spoke, Dongfang and his three attendants turnedpale.
　　"That is simply the view of a scholar," Dongfangreplied. "These friends of mine here are of more thanmediocre ability. If you were a student of the martialarts, you would know that I was not exaggerating.""I lack even the stength to tie up a chicken, but Ihave always had the greatest respect for heroicfighters," Chen said. "Are these your pupils? I wonderif you could ask them to perform a demonstration oftheir abilities?""Show this Master Lu one of your tricks," Dongfangsaid to the attendants.
　　"Thank you," said Chen.
　　One of the attendants stepped forward. "That magpie inthe tree is too noisy," he said. "I'll knock it downso we can have some peace."With a wave of his hand, a sleeve dart shot offtowards the magpie, but just as it neared the target,it suddenly veered off to one side and missed.
　　Donggang looked surprised and the attendant's facewent red with embarrassment. He threw another dart.
　　This time everyone was watching closely and saw apiece of earth knock the dart off course.
　　The old man noticed Xin Yan's hand had moved slightlyand realised he was responsible. "This young brother'skung fu is excellent. We must get to know oneanother," he said and grasped for Xin Yan's hand withfingers of steel.
　　Chen was surprised to see the old man was using GreatEagle's Claw kung fu. "There are only a handful of menas good as that," he thought. "Why would such a managree to be Dongfang's servant?"He flicked open his fan in front of Xin Yan as the oldman lunged at the boy, and the old man quicklywithdrew. As his master was treating Chen in afriendly manner, it would be extremely disrespectfulto damage one of his possessions. He glanced at Chen,wondering if he knew kung fu. Chen began fanninghimself lightly, completely relaxed as if the move asecond ago had been a pure coincidence.
　　"This boy's kung fu is very good despite his youth,"said Dongfang. "Where did you find him?""He doesn't know kung fu," replied Chen. "But he hasbeen throwing things at insects and birds since he wassmall, and he's become quite good at it."Dongfang could see this was untrue, but did not pursuethe matter. He looked at Chen's fan.
　　"Whose is the calligraphy on your fan? May I look?" heasked. Chen handed the fan over to him.
　　"A man who was not of such noble character as yourselfwould be unworthy of this object. Where did you getit?""I bought it in a bookstore for ten gold pieces.""If you had paid ten times as much, I would stillconsider it a bargain," Dongfang replied. "Possessionssuch as this are usually passed down from generationto generation in the great families. It is certainlyamazing that you were able to buy it so easily in abookstore."Chen knew Dongfang didn't believe him, but he didn'tcare. He smiled lightly.
　　"I like this fan very much," Dongfang said. "I wonderif I could ask you to sell it to me?""If you like it, I would be pleased to give it toyou," Chen replied.
　　Dongfang accepted the fan and lifted up the ancientlute and presented it to Chen. "Just as an heroicfighter should be presented with a treasured sword, soshould this lute belong to you."Chen knew the lute was extremely valuable, and hewondered why the man wanted to exchange gifts so soonafter they had met. But as the son of a high official,he had seen many treasures and was not dazzled bythem. He saluted Dongfang with his fists in thanks andtold Xin Yan to pick the lute up.
　　"If there is anything I can ever do for you in thefuture, please come to Beijing with that lute and justask for me," Dongfang said. "Why don't we walk backdown the hill together?""Fine," said Chen, and the two started off, holdinghands.
　　As they reached the Hidden Spirit monastery, severalpeople came towards them, led by a handsome-faced manwearing an embroidered gown. The man bore a strikingresemblance to Chen and was even about the same age,but he lack Chen's imposing air. Chen and he startedin surprise as they looked at each other.
　　"Isn't he like you, Brother Lu?" Dongfang said. "Kang,come and meet Master Lu."Kang bowed towards him, and Chen quickly returned thecourtesy.
　　All of a sudden, they heard a girl call out insurprise. Chen turned and saw Zhou Qi with Xu and herparents emerging from the monastery, and knew she musthave struck with surprise at the sight of two GreatHelsmen Chen's. He saw Xu hustling her away and turnedback.
　　"Brother Lu," Dongfang said. "We seem to have becomegood friends on our first meeting. We will meet again.
　　Goodbye." They bowed to each other and Dongfang walkedoff guarded by several dozen of the blue-gowned men.
　　Chen turned and nodded slightly in Xu's direction. Xuhurriedly made his apologies to Lord Zhou and to ZhouQi and followed after Dongfang and his companions.
　　Towards evening, he returned to make his report. "Thefellow spent a long time floating about on the lakeand then went to the Provincial Commander-in-chief'sYamen," he said.
　　Chen told him about his meeting with Dongfang, and thetwo decided he must be a very senior official, eitheran Imperial Inspector-General or a member of theEmperor's close family. From his appearance, he didnot look like a Manchu, and so they concluded he wasprobably an Inspector General.
　　"Could his arrival have anything to do with FourthBrother, I wonder," Chen mused. "I think I will goover to the Commander-in-chief's Yamen personally thisevening to investigate.""It would be best to take someone with you just incase," Xu replied.
　　"Ask Brother Zhao," said Chen. "He's from Zhejiangprovince so he should know something of Hangzhou."In less than a day, the heroes arrived in Xuzhou. Thelocal Red Flower Society Chief was immediately rushedoff his feet making arrangements for them. After anight's rest, they continued on south. Every placethey passed through now, big and small, had a RedFlower Society branch, but the heroes maintained theiranonymity and sped onwards. They reached Hangzhouseveral days later and took up residence in the homeof the Hangzhou Helmsman, Ma Shanjun. Ma's residencelay at the foot of Lonely Mountain beside the WestLake.
　　Ma was a merchant who owned two large silk factories.
　　About fifty years old and portly, Ma, in his floweredsilk robe and black woollen jacket, was the picture ofa wealthy man used to luxury. But the appearance wasdeceptive: he was also a brave fighter. That night ata welcoming banquet in the rear hall, the heroes toldhim of their plan to rescue Wen Tailai.
　　"I will immediately dispatch men to find out whichprison Master Wen is in, and then we can decide on aplan of action." He ordered his son Ma Dating to sendsomeone to investigate.
　　The next morning, the son reported that his men haddiscreetly asked about Wen at all the prisons andmilitary headquarters in the area, but had failed tofind any trace of him.
　　Chen called a meeting of the heroes to discuss thesituation.
　　"We have brothers in all the Yamens and in themilitary headquarters," said Ma. "If Master Wen was inan official prison, we would know about it. I amafraid the authorities are guarding him secretly.""Our first step is to find out where Brother Wen is,"said Chen. "Please continue to dispatch capable menaround all the Yamens, Brother Ma. This evening, Iwill ask Priest Wu Chen and the Twin Knights to go tothe Commander-in-chief's Yamen to see what they canfind out. It is important that we don't alert theManchus to what we are doing so whatever happens,there must be no fighting."Priest Wu Chen and the Twin Knights set out atmidnight and returned four hours later to report thatthe Yamen was tightly guarded with at least a thousandsoldiers with torches on guard duty. Several of theofficers on patrol were second and third levelMandarins wearing red caps. The three had waited along time, but the troops did not drop their vigilancein the slightest and they had no option but to return.
　　"The patrols have been particularly strict aroundHangzhou over the past few days," Ma said. "Yamenofficers have visited every gambling den and everybrothel, and many people have been seized for noreason at all. Could it have something to do withMaster Wen?""I don't think so," replied Xu. "The local people mustbe making an extra effort to impress some highofficials visiting from Beijing.
　　"I haven't heard of any high officials coming here,"Ma said.
　　The next day, Zhou Qi asked her parents to take her tosee the famous West Lake. Lord Zhou agreed and askedXu to accompany them. Xu had lost his parents when hewas very young and had been alone ever since. To besuddenly treated as a son by Lord Zhou and his wifeand to have such a lovely fiancee moved him greatly.
　　He was very happy, and the brothers were happy forhim.
　　Great Helsman Chen also went to the lake for a strollwith Xin Yan. They walked for a while, then sat aloneon a bridge and gazed at the depths of the lake andthe mountains. The forests of bamboo and wood on thehillsides were dark and dense, a myriad leavesglistening brightly. The air was moist and hazy andthe beautiful mountain peaks were wreathed in clouds.
　　Chen had been to the West Lake several times in hisyouth, but had been unable, then, to appreciate itsbeauty.
　　As he gazed out at the scene, he spotted a carriageheading towards the Hidden Spirit Temple on FlyingPeak, five hundred feet above them.
　　"Let's go up there," he said to Xin Yan. There was noroad straight up to the peak, but the Lightness KungFu of both was excellent and they reached the topquickly. They gazed up at the sky, enjoying the peaceand seclusion of the forest.
　　Suddenly, they saw two large men wearing blue gownswalking towards them. The two weighed up Chen and XinYan as they passed, expressions of surprise on theirfaces.
　　"Master, they're Kung fu experts," Xin Yanwhispered.Two more men appeared walking towards themdressed exactly the same. They were discussing thescenery, and from their accents, it appeared they wereManchus. All the way along the path, they kept passingthe blue-gowned fighters, perhaps thirty or forty inall, who all looked surprised when they saw Chen.
　　Xin Yan was dizzy at the sight of so many obviouslytop-ranking fighters. Chen was curious.
　　"Could it be that some secret society or martial artsschool is holding a meeting here?" he thought. "ButHangzhou is Red Flower Society territory. If there wassomething of that sort, we would surely have beeninformed. I wonder why they all look so surprised whenthey see me?"They rounded a bend and the sound of a luteaccompanied by a chanting voice and the soft tinkle ofa waterfall drifted across towards them. The voicerecited:
　　"All is peace throughout heaven and earth,Politics unsullied.
　　Fortunes and good fortune mount over four reigns.
　　The people wait to greet the EmperorThe banners of prosperity and wine fly in everyvillage.
　　As the Imperial attendants appear."They strolled across in the direction of the music,and saw a man dressed in the manner of a noble seatedon a rock playing the lute. He was aged about forty.
　　Two strong fighters and one stooped old man, allwearing blue gowns, stood beside him.
　　Chen suddenly shivered. He was struck with a vaguefeeling of recognition as he looked at the luteplayer. The man had an aristocratic bearing, and themore Chen looked at him, the more he seemed familiar.
　　The group eyed Chen and Xin Yan warily. Thelute-player's fingers performed a final swirl over thestrings and the lute was silent.
　　Chen saluted with his fists. "I could not helpoverhearing the song you just played, sir," he said.
　　"I have never heard it before. Did you write ityourself?"The man smiled. "Yes. It is a recent composition ofmine. Since you are a music lover, I would be gratefulof your opinion.""Excellent, excellent," said Chen. "I especially likedthe phrase 'The banners of prosperity and wine fly inevery village.'"An expression of delight appeared on the man's face.
　　"So you remember the words. Please come over here andsit down, sir."Chen refrained from adding that he disapproved of theway the song flattered the Emperor. He walked over,bowed and sat down.
　　The man studied Chen carefully and with curiosity.
　　"While coming up to the peak, we met a large number ofother strollers all of whom looked surprised when theysaw me," said Chen. "You now look at me in the sameway. Is there something strange about my face?"The man laughed. "You wouldn't know," he said. "I havea friend who bears a remarkable resemblance to you.
　　The people you met on the path are also my friends, sothey were naturally puzzled.""So that's it," Chen smiled. "I also find your facevery familiar, as if we had met before, but I can'tremember when. I wonder if you can?"The man laughed again. "Well that really is strange,"he said. "What is your honourable name, sir?""Lu Jiachen. And you, sir?"The man thought for a moment. "My name is Dongfeng. Iam from Hebei Province. From your accent, I wouldguess you are from around here.""That is correct," said Chen.
　　"I had long heard that the scenic beauty of the southwas incomparable," continued the man who calledhimself Master Dongfang. "I can see today that it istrue. Not only is the scenery superb, but the area isalso obviously blessed with much talent."Chen could tell from his speech that this was noordinary man. He watched the reverential way in whichthe old man and the other two attendants treated him,and wondered just who he was.
　　"Someone with such outstanding knowledge of music asyourself must certainly be a virtuoso," Dongfang said.
　　"Why not play a song for us?" He pushed theseven-stringed lute in front of Chen.
　　Chen stretched out his hand and lightly strummed thestrings and found the lute's tone to be matchlesslycrisp and clear. It looked liked an antique of greatage.
　　"I am not worthy of playing such an instrument," hesaid. He checked the tuning, then struck up a tune,named 'The Goose Lands on the Flat Sands'.
　　Dongfang listened, engrossed. "Have you ever been tothe border regions?" He asked when the tune finished.
　　"I have just returned from there," Chen replied. "Howdid you know?""Your playing conjures up the vast emptiness of thegreat desert. I have heard that tune many times in mylife, but never have I heard it played with suchfeeling." Chen saw he indeed had a great knowledge ofmusic and was very pleased.
　　"There is something I would like to ask you," Dongfangcontinued.
　　"Please feel free to ask.""I would guess that you are from the family of anofficial," he said. "What post does your respectedfather hold? And what is your rank?""My father has unfortunately passed away. I myself ama man of mediocre abilities with no official rank,"Chen replied.
　　"But you are obviously greatly talented. Could it bethat the examiners failed to appreciate yourabilities?""No, it is not that.""The Commander-in-chief of Zhejing province is afriend of mine. If you went to see him tomorrow, youcould have an opportunity.""Thank you for you kind thought, but I have no wish tobe an official," Chen replied.
　　"But do you intend to hide yourself away like thisforever?""I would prefer to live in seclusion than oppress thecommon people."Dongfang's expression suddenly changed and the twoblue-gowned attendants both took a step forward. Hewas silent for a second, then laughed out loud. "Youare indeed a man of noble character," he said. "Simplefolk such as myself cannot be compared with you."The two weighed each other up, aware that there wassomething special about the other.
　　"You must have heard much news on your long journeyfrom the Moslem regions," Dongfang said.
　　"When I arrived at the Yellow River, I found greatflooding and many homeless people. I had no heart forappreciating the scenery after that.""I am told that the refugees in Lanfeng looted grainstores meant f
Chapter 22
At nine o'clock, Chen and 'Buddha' Zhao started outfor the Commander-in-chief's Yamen. Using LightnessKung Fu, they soon found themselves near the wall ofthe Yamen. They spotted two figures patrolling on arooftop close by and crouched down to watch for awhile. Zhao waited for them both to turn their backs,then sent a pellet shooting off towards a tree a fewdozen yards away. Hearing a noise in the branches, theguards quickly went over to investigate, giving Chenand Zhao an opportunity to slip silently over the wallinto the Yamen.
　　They hid in the shadows and looked out over theYamen's main courtyard. To their surprise, they foundit brightly lit with torches and several hundredtroops standing guard. Another strange thing was thatso many soldiers could be so quiet. When they moved,they walked lightly on tip-toe, and the only soundsthat could be heard were the call of a cicada and anoccasional crackle from the burning torches.
　　Chen could see there was no way of getting in. Hegestured towards Zhao and the two retreated, avoidingthe rooftop guards. They stopped behind a wall todiscuss what to do.
　　"We don't want to alert them," Chen whispered. "We'llhave to go back and think of some other plan."Just then, a side gate of the Yamen creaked open andan officer emerged followed by four soldiers. The fivemarched down the street a few hundred yards and thenturned back, obviously on patrol.
　　"Get them," Chen whispered. Zhao slipped out of theshadows and threw three darts, and three of thesoldiers immediately dropped to the ground. Chenfollowed with two of his chess pieces, hitting theofficer and the remaining soldier. They quicklydragged the five into the shadows, stripped theuniforms from two of the men and put them onthemselves.
　　They waited once more for the rooftop guards to turnaway, then jumped over the Yamen wall and strodenonchalently into the torch-lit courtyard. They passedthrough into an inner courtyard which was beingpatrolled exclusively by senior military officials,commanders and generals. Waiting for the right moment,they leapt up under the eaves of one of the buildings,then hung onto the rafters not daring to breathe. Onceit was clear they had not been discovered. Chen hookedhis legs over a beam and hung down over a window. Hemoistened the window paper and looked inside, as Zhaokept guard beside him.
　　Chen found himself looking in at a large hall. Five orsix men wearing the gowns of high officials stood inthe centre facing another man who was seated with hisback to Chen. Another official walked in and kowtowednine times towards the seated man.
　　Chen was surprised. "That is the ceremonial form usedwhen entering the presence of the Emperor," hethought. "Could it be Qian Long himself is inHangzhou?""Zhejiang Province Civil Administrator Yin to see yourHighness the Emperor," the officer said.
　　So it was the Emperor, Chen thought. No wondersecurity was so tight.
　　"I have sent troops to quell the Muslim regions," theEmperor said. "I hear you object to this idea."Chen frowned: he found the Emperor's voice strangelyfamiliar.
　　"I deserve to die, I would not dare," Yin said,continuing to kowtow.
　　"I asked Zhejiang Province to supply six thousand tonsof grain to meet the needs of the army. Why did youdisobey my orders?""I truly would not dare, your Highness," Yin said.
　　"But the harvest in Zhejiang this year has been verypoor. The common people are in great hardship, and itis temporarily impossible to supply such an amount.""So the common people are in great hardship, are they?
　　The army is in urgent need of food supplies. Shall Itell them to starve out there?""I wouldn't dare to say," Yin quavered, continuing tokowtow.
　　"No, I want you to tell me," replied the Emperor.
　　"Your Highness's ability to spread enlightenment andcivilisation is far-reaching. The Muslim barbariansare in fact not worth such a long trek by YourHighness's armies. As the Ancients said: 'Soldiers areinstruments of violence which a man of virtue shoulduse only as a last resort.' Your Highness could cancelthe campaign, and the whole world would be thankfulfor your benevolence.""The people are discontented because I have decided towage this campaign, is that correct?" Qian Longreplied coldly.
　　Yin kowtowed even more energetically. His forehead wasby now covered in blood.
　　Qian Long laughed shortly. "You have a hard skull," hesaid. "If you hadn't, you wouldn't dare to contradictme."He turned round and Chen started violently: theEmperor was the Master Dongfang he had met earlierthat day.
　　"Get out!" he heard Qian Long shout. "And leave yourcap here!" Yin kowtowed a few more times and thenretired.
　　"There must certainly be some irregularities in Yin'saffairs," Qian Long said to the remaining officials.
　　"I want the Commander-in-chief to conduct a thoroughinvestigation and inform me of the results. He mustnot be protected for personal reasons. His crimes mustbe exposed." The officials assented in chorus.
　　"Now leave me. And arrange for six thousand tons ofgrain to be collected and dispatched immediately." Theofficials kowtowed and retired.
　　"Tell Kang to come," the Emperor added, and anattendant left and returned a moment later with Chen'slook-alike. He stood close to Qian Long with an air offamiliarity very different from the cringing manner ofthe officials.
　　"Call for Li Keshou," Qian Long ordered, and amilitary officer quickly appeared, kowtowing his wayinto the Emperor's presence.
　　"Li Keshou, commander-in-chief of Zhejiang Province,pays his respect to Your Highness," he said.
　　"How is that Red Flower Society bandit chief, WenTailai?" asked Qian Long.
　　"He was arrested after a savage battle and he is veryseriously wounded," Li replied. "I have assigneddoctors to treat him. We will have to wait until hismind is clear before we can question him.""You must be careful," Qian Long said.
　　"Your servant would not dare to be the slightest bitneglectful," replied Li.
　　"Go now," said the Emperor, and Li retired.
　　"Let's follow him," Chen whispered, but as theydropped quietly to the ground, someone inside the hallshouted: "Intruders!"Chen and Zhao ran into the outer courtyard and mingledwith the troops. Bamboo clappers sounded loudly andthe old man Chen had seen earlier that day with theEmperor began directing a search.
　　Chen and Zhao walked slowly towards the gate.
　　"Who are you?" the old man shouted at them, andgrabbed for Zhao. Zhao deflected his hand, and theymade a run for it with the old man chasing. As theyreached the gate, the old man lunged at Zhao. Chenripped off the uniform he was wearing and flung itover the old man's head, then they raced out of theYamen gate. The old man cast the uniform off to oneside and chased after them. But the slight delay hadmade all the difference.
　　Two or three thousand troops swarmed out behind theold man like bees from a hive.
　　"All of you get back!" he shouted. "Protecting theEmperor is more important! You five, come with me." Heran off down the street with the five guards,following the two black shapes flying over therooftops ahead.
　　The old man gradually closed the distance betweenhimself and the intruders. Suddenly, the two figuresleapt down and stood stock-still in the middle of thestreet. The old man lunged at Chen.
　　"I am your master's good friend." Chen laughed, notbothering to retreat or defend himself. "You are anaudacious old fellow!"The old man looked at his face under the moonlight andstarted in surprise.
　　"So it's you," he said, retracting his hand, "Comealong with me.""Do you dare to follow me?" Chen asked with a smile.
　　The old man hesitated, and as the five guards ran upfrom behind, Chen and Zhao raced off westwards towardsthe West Lake.
　　"After them!" shouted the old man. The guards reachedthe lake in time to see Chen and Zhao jump into a boatand push off from the shore. The boatman punted thecraft out several yards from the bank.
　　"My friends," the old man shouted. "Please tell me whoyou are before you go.""I am Zhao Banshan from Wenzhou," Zhao roared. "You, Itake it, are a member of the Songyang martial artsschool?""Ah, so you are the one they call the Thousand ArmBuddha?""That's just a nickname. I don't really deserve it.
　　And your name, sir?""My surname is Bai, my name Zhen."Zhao and Chen gasped in surprise. Bai Zhen was afamous kung fu master, but he had not been seen orheard of for years. Obviously, he had become thepersonal bodyguard of the Emperor.
　　"So it's you, Master Bai. No wonder your kung fu is sosuperb," said Zhao.
　　"I hear you are a leading member of the Red FlowerSociety, Master Zhao. Who is your companion?"Suddenly, he realized the answer without having to betold. "Oh, of course, it must be Master Chen, theGreat Helmsman of the society, is that right?"Chen opened his fan. "The moon is clear and the windis fresh," he said. "Why not come and drink a cup ofwine with us, Master Bai?""You have intruded into the Commander-in-chief'sYamen, and disturbed the official household. You mustaccompany me to see my master. He is well-disposedtowards you, and would not do you any harm.""Go back and ask your master to come and have a chatwith me," Chen replied. "We can have a drink togetherif he wishes. I will wait for him here."Bai had seen the concern with which the Emperor hadtreated Chen earlier, and he dared not offend Chen.
　　But after such an intrusion into the quarters of theEmperor, he was also loath to return without them.
　　There were, however, no other boats nearby, and withno way of chasing after them across the lake, he wasforced to return to report to Qian Long.
　　"It would be quite nice to go to the lake and enjoythe moonlight," Qian Long said after a pause. "Go andtell him I will come immediately.""These are dangerous bandits," replied Bai. "In myhumble opinion, you should not risk such danger.""Go," said Qian Long.
　　Bai did not dare to press the matter further, and rodeswiftly back to the lake. 'Crocodile' Jiang wassitting at the stern of a boat with his arms round hisknees, waiting for him.
　　"Tell your master that my master will be here soon,"Bai shouted.
　　"Heaven knows what the Emperor sees in this fellow,"he thought as he hurried back to resume his guard ofthe Emperor's person.
　　Qian Long was in high spirits, and talked and laughedas Commander Li Keshou waited on him. He had changedinto an ordinary gown, while his bodyguards had alsoput on civilian clothes. Once at the lakeside, he gavehis orders.
　　"He probably already knows who I am, but I wanteveryone still to pretend to be common people."Imperial guard units had been hidden all around thelake with troops hand-picked by Commander Li behindthem. Beyond the flickering lantern light, they sawfive boats gliding towards them across the water.
　　'Leopard' Wei stood on the bow of the middle boat.
　　"I have been sent by Master Lu to invite MasterDongfang onto the lake to enjoy the moon," heannounced, and jumped onto the bank and bowed beforeQian Long.
　　Qian Long nodded slightly. "Excellent," he said, andstepped onto the boat. Commander Li, Bai and thirty orforty bodyguards boarded the boats with him. More thana dozen of the bodyguards were expert swimmers, andBai ordered them to keep their wits about them.
　　They started out across the lake, which was afairyland of lights. Pleasure boats were everywhere,bedecked with lanterns that filled the darkness likestars in the night sky and the sound of music floatedacross towards them. A small sampan darted into viewthen turned and led the boats to a flotilla of othercraft. Despite the huge number of troops they hadstationed around the shore, Bai and the otherbodyguards were uneasy at the sight of such a powerfulforce, and all covertly felt for the weapons they hadhidden around their persons.
　　"So you decided to come, Master Dongfang," Chen calledfrom a nearby boat. "Please come aboard!"The two boats drew alongside each and Qian Long,Commander Li, Bai, and several other bodyguards jumpedacross. Bai and the others relaxed as they saw thatChen and his attendant, Xin Yan, were the only otherpeople on the boat. The cabin was spacious, withexquisite murals on the walls. The table in the centrewas set with wine cups, bowls and chopsticks and wascovered with dishes of fruit, wine and all manner ofdelicacies.
　　Chen and his guest shook hands and smiled broadly,then sat down facing each other. Commander Li, Bai andthe others stood behind Qian Long.
　　Chen smiled briefly at Bai and noticed ahandsome-faced youth standing behind Commander Li whomhe recognised as Lu Feiqing's pupil. Surprised, hewondered what the youth was doing accompanying courtofficials.
　　Xin Yan poured some wine, and Chen, afraid that QianLong would be suspicious, drained his own cup first,then began eating. Qian Long picked at a few of thedishes that Chen had already tried, then put down hischopsticks. He heard a flute on a neighbouring boatplaying the tune 'Welcome the Honoured Guest.'
　　"You are truly a man of culture," he said to Chen. "Itis amazing that you managed to arrange things so wellat such short notice."Chen dismissed the praise. "One cannot drink winewithout music," he said. "I understand Beautiful Jadehas the best voice in all Zhejiang Province. Shall Iask her to sing for us?"Qian Long clapped his hands in approval. "Who is thisBeautiful Jade?" he asked, turning to Commander Li.
　　"She is one of Hangzhou's most famous courtezans," hereplied. "I have heard that she is very haughty bynature and if it does not please her, she won't evenshow herself let alone sing, no matter how much she isoffered.""Have you ever seen her?" Qian Long asked.
　　"I...no I haven't," Li replied, extremely embarrassed.
　　'Leopard' Wei escorted Beautiful Jade out. Qian Longlooked admiringly at the perfect whiteness of her skinand her petite figure, but decided her face was notparticularly attractive. Her eyes, however, were fullof life, and her glance around the cabin contained anintimate greeting for every person there.
　　Chen stretched out his hand towards Qian Long. "Thisis Master Dongfang," he said. Beautiful Jade greetedhim, then sat down next to Chen and cuddled up to him.
　　"I hear you sing very well," Chen said. "I wonder ifyou would allow us the pleasure of enjoying yourtalent?""If you want to hear me sing, Master Lu, I will singfor three days and three nights continuously. But I amafraid you would tire of me." An attendant handed hera pipa, and with a light strum, she began to sing:
　　"Outside the window all is quietYou kneel before the bed eager for some kissingI scold you, call you heartless, and turn away,But despite my words I am still half willing."Chen applauded enthusiastically. Qian Long, hearingher smooth, clear voice, felt a warm feeling rising inhis chest. Beautiful Jade smiled, then strummed thepipa and turned to Qian Long:
　　"I want to beat you,Don't think I'm joking," she sang.
　　"I clench my teethThis time I really willBut you won't fear meIf I hit you softly,And I cannot bearTo hit you hard.
　　Oh, my loverI won't hit you after all."The Emperor was completely carried away by the song.
　　"If you want to hit me, then hit me," he said.
　　Qian Long, born and raised in the depths of theImperial Palace had seen many girl singers, but all ofthem had been dignified and monotonous, nothing likethis southern Chinese courtesan. He was entranced byher eyes and her seductiveness, and the song, theperfumed lake, the moon's reflection, all conspired tomake the scene dreamlike, so that gradually he forgotthat he was with renowned bandits.
　　Beautiful Jade poured some wine for Chen and Qian Longand the two drank three cups in succession whileBeautiful Jade drank one to keep them company. QianLong took a jade ring off his finger and gave it toher.
　　"Sing another song," he said. Beautiful Jade lookeddown and giggled, revealing two little dimples. QianLong's heart melted.
　　"All right," she said. She batted her eyelids at himthen struck up a tune on the pipa. This time, therhythm was fast and light with a complex melody, andQian Long shouted out his approval.
　　She sang of a poor man with ambitions who graduallyclimbs his way up, first obtaining clothes, then ahouse, a wife and concubines, and then power. Finally,he begins to covet the throne of the emperor himself.
　　Chen laughed heartily, but as the song progressed,Qian Long's expression became increasingly dour.
　　"Could this girl know who I really am and be singingthis song to make fun of me?" he wondered.
　　Beautiful Jade finished the song and slowly put downher pipa.
　　"The song makes fun of poor men," she said with asmile. "Both of you, Master Dongfang and Master Chen,are wealthy gentlemen with large mansions, lovelywives and beautiful concubines. You would not think ofsuch things."Qian Long laughed, and his eyes travelled over her,taking in her softness, her fun-loving spirit. Hewondered how he should go about telling Commander Lito have her brought to the Yamen, and how to make surethe affair remained secret.
　　"The Emperor Xuanzong had a great interest inbeautiful women," he suddenly heard Chen say. "That initself is not important, but he should not have puthis weakness for women above the interests of thenation.""The Xuanzong Emperor was at first a wise ruler, buthe became muddle-headed in his later years. He was farinferior to his ancestor, Emperor Taizhong," Qian Longreplied.
　　"Taizong was certainly a very capable ruler," saidChen.
　　The two men Qian Long most venerated in all the worldwere Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty and Emperor Taizongof the Tang dynasty. Both had greatly expanded theempire, and their reputations had carried far beyondtheir borders. Ever since he had ascended the throne,Qian Long had worked single-mindedly to emulate themand had sent armies out on long expeditions to theMuslim border regions with the intention of carryingon their work.
　　"Emperor Taizong was wise and courageous," he said.
　　"The barbarians cringed in fear at the sound of hisname. He was proficient in both letters and war. Suchtalent would be hard to equal.""I have read the Emperor Taizong's works," said Chen.
　　"He makes some points which I feel are very true.""Such as?""He said: 'The ruler can be compared to a boat, andthe common people to water. The water can support theboat or sink it."Qian Long was silent.
　　"Sitting as we are in this boat, the metaphor couldnot be more apt," Chen continued. "If we row smoothly,we will have a very stable ride. But if we row aboutfrenziedly, or if the water should rush by in a ragingtorrent, the boat will certainly capsize."His words contained not only the implication that thepeople could overthrow the Emperor whenever theywished, but also the threat of throwing Qian Long intothe water there and then. Never in his life had QianLong had such threatening words addressed to him. Hisanger surged up and unable to control himself, hethrew his wine cup at the floor.
　　The cup flew downwards, but just as it was about tohit the deck, Xin Yan shot out and caught it. Hepresented it to Qian Long on bended knee. "MasterDongfang, you dropped your cup," he said.
　　The speed of his move startled Qian Long. Commander Litook the cup from Xin Yan and watched for some signfrom the Emperor's eyes. But Qian Long composedhimself and laughed.
　　"Brother Lu, this little helper of yours is veryagile," he said, and turned to one of the guardsman.
　　"Play with the little fellow," he said.
　　The guardsman, who was surnamed Fan, bent down andstruck out at Xin Yan with his pair of large swords.
　　Xin Yan somersaulted over backwards and landed on thebow of the boat.
　　"Let's play hide and seek," he said to Fan with asmile. "If you catch me, we'll say I've lost and thenI'll chase you."Fan was furious at having missed his target andbounded after him, but the boy soared off through theair like a great bird and landed on a small sampannearby. The two chased each other across more than adozen boats before Fan finally cornered Xin Yan at theend of a string of three boats. He thrust the sword inhis left hand at Xin Yan's chest, and Xin Yancountered by striking out with his fist at Fan'sstomach. Fan then leapt up in the air, aiming to fallon Xin Yan from above. But as he jumped, the boatman,'Crocodile' Jiang, twirled his oar and spun the boataround. Fan shouted in fear as the boat disappearedfrom under him, and he fell heavily into the lake. XinYan clapped in delight.
　　Two of Qian Long's bodyguards dived into the water tosave Fan, who was splashing and clutching at the airin desperation. Meanwhile, Jiang placed his oar infront of Fan, who grabbed it and held on tight. Jiangthen swung the oar up, tossing Fan over towards QianLong's boat, and shouted "Catch!" A bodyguard ran tothe bow and caught him. Another bodyguard, surnamedLong, stepped forward.
　　"I understand this little brother is also veryproficient with missiles," he said darkly as Xin Yanmoved back to Chen's side. "Let us spar for a while.""You and I are already firm friends," Chen said toQian Long. "We should not allow our servants todisturb the pleasant atmosphere with their bickering.
　　As this gentleman is an expert in the use of darts,let us ask him to display his talent on somethingother than my serving boy. What do you think?""Fine, except we don't have a target," Qian Longreplied. Xin Yan leapt over onto the boat on which'Iron Pagoda' Yang was sitting and whispered into hisear.
　　Yang nodded, waved to Zhang Jin in the next sampan,and pointed to another boat nearby. "Grab the end ofthat boat," he said, and took hold of the other endhimself. "Up!" he shouted and the two lifted thelittle boat out of the water while their own boatssank lower. The others gasped at this awesome displayof strength.
　　"Master, will this do as a target?" Xin Yan shouted.
　　"Please come and draw a bulls-eye on it."Chen raised his wine cup and drained it, then flung itat the boat. It sliced into the keel withoutshattering. The onlookers clapped and cheered. Bai andthe other bodyguards frowned at the sight of suchphenomenal power: a man whose Inner Strength Kung Fuallowed him to drive a porcelain cup into a boat keelas if it was a steel dart was a formidable opponent.
　　"Use the cup as the target," Chen suggested,smiling.Bodyguard Long silently pulled five spikedballs from his bag and threw them one after the other.
　　They struck the target with a quick "rat-a-tat" andslivers of porcelain flew in all directions.
　　Xin Yan slipped out from behind the boat. "Not bad!"he shouted.
　　Long was suddenly swept with a wave of malice, and hethrew another five of the spiked balls at Xin Yan.
　　A shout of surprise went up from the others, andgreatly frightened, Xin Yan lunged to one side, butone of the spiked balls struck his left shoulder.
　　There was no pain, but the shoulder immediately wentnumb. The heroes edged their little boats forward, alleager to match themselves against Long.
　　The other Imperial bodyguards were ashamed that Longshould use such a low trick against a boy in front ofthe Emperor. But protecting His Highness was ofoverriding importance, and they immediately pulled outtheir weapons. Commander Li gave a sharp whistle,signalling the troops on the shore to mobilise.
　　"Brothers!" Chen called. "Master Dongfang is myhonoured guest. We cannot show any impolitenesstowards him. Move back, all of you."The heroes rowed back several yards. Yang and ZhangJin had already put the target boat back to the water,and Luo Bing was inspecting Xin Yan's wound.
　　'Mastermind' Xu also jumped over to see how he was.
　　"Don't worry, it's not painful," Xin Yan said. "Butit's very itchy."He moved his hand up to scratch the wound and Xuquickly stopped him. He could see the spiked ball hadbeen dipped in a very powerful poison.
　　"Let go of me," Xin Yan yelled. "It's too itchy tobear!" He struggled powerfully to break free.
　　"Be patient for a moment," Xu told Xin Yan, trying notto look as worried as he felt. He turned to Luo Bing.
　　"Ask Third Brother to come over."Another boat moved swiftly up alongside with the RedFlower Society's Hangzhou chief Master Ma standing onthe brow. He leapt over next to Xu and whispered:
　　"Master Xu, the whole lake is surrounded by Manchutroops including Imperial Guard units.""How many altogether?""Seven or eight thousand not counting the reserveforces waiting further away.""Go and call together all the brothers in Hangzhou andsurrounding areas. Tell them to gather near the lakeand await orders. Also tell them to have a red flowerhidden on their persons." Ma nodded.
　　"How many can you get together immediately?" Xu asked.
　　"Including the workers from my factories, about twothousand," he replied.
　　"Two thousand of our brothers should be enough to dealwith fifteen thousand of them," said Xu. "And what'smore, many of the troops in the Chinese units aresociety members. Go and make the arrangements." Manodded and left.
　　'Buddha' Zhao's boat glided over. He looked at XinYan's wound and frowned deeply. He carefully pulledout the poisonous spiked ball, then took a largemedicine pill from his bag and placed it into the openwound. He looked up at Xu.
　　"There's nothing I can do," he said, desolation in hisvoice. "The poison is extremely potent. No-one cansave him except the man responsible.""How long can he hold on?" Xu asked, greatlyfrightened.
　　"At the most, six hours.""Third Brother, let's go and get that fellow over hereand force him to deliver the antidote."Zhao leapt in three great bounds over to the boat inwhich Chen and Qian Long were sitting, with each boundtouching down on the deck of a different boat.
　　"Master Lu," he said. "I would like to ask thisgentleman to acquaint me with some of his tricks."Chen, who was furious at the wonding of Xin Yan,turned to Qian Long.
　　"This friend of mine is also quite good withprojectiles," he said. "It would be interesting to seethem matched against each other."The Emperor was eager to see any spectacle, the moredangerous the better. "Go on," he said to Long. "Butdon't lose." Long bowed.
　　"That's the Thousand-Arm Buddha," Bai whispered. "Becareful."Long knew the name well, and shuddered at the thoughtof facing him. But he had never yet met his equal inthe field of projectiles. "This is just between youand me," he said to Zhao.
　　"Do you think we would trick you?" Zhao demandedangrily.
　　"Right. That's what I wanted to hear you say," Longreplied, and leapt onto the prow of a boat nearby.
　　Zhao sent off a flurry of darts and sleeve arrowsafter him, and Long's heart froze at the sight of suchspeed. He threw himself down onto the deck and thedarts struck the boat with a quick succession ofpopping noises.
　　Long jumped up again, and spotting Zhao's figure inthe moonlight, flung a dart at him. Zhao dodged to theright to avoid it, and suddenly found three of thepoisoned spiked balls winging towards him. He leantover backwards and the spiked balls whizzed passed thetip of his nose. Three more spiked balls followed inquick successsion. Zhao knocked two of them into thewater with darts of his own, then caught the third andplaced it inside his gown.
　　Long leapt towards another boat and Zhao threw out aboomerang-shaped blade. Long ducked and watched insurprise as the blade swirled over him and returned toZhao's hand. Fascinated by the sight of the strangeweapon, Long failed to notice two other darts flyingtowards him which simultaneously struck both hisshoulders. His body went limp and he fell to hisknees.
　　The Imperial Guards were astounded at the sight of himfalling. Chu Yuan, one of Long's comrades, raced overto defend him, but another swordsman intercepted him.
　　Chu saw in the moonlight that the man was dressed inTaoist robes.
　　"Who are you?" he barked.
　　Priest Wu Chen smiled. "Do you mean to say you are aswordsman and you don't know me?" he asked.
　　Chu attacked with a 'Buddha Ambushing the Tiger'
　　stroke followed by a 'Nine Successions' stroke.
　　"That's very good," Wu Chen said, still smiling. "Nowcontinue with a 'Gold Wheel' stroke".
　　As he spoke, Chu did indeed attack with a 'Gold Wheel'
　　stroke. "How did he know?" he wondered, startled. Thepriest also guessed his next two moves correctly, justas if he was a teacher instructing a pupil. Churetreated two paces and stared at him, embarrassed.
　　Meanwhile, Zhao had grabbed Long and was pressuringhim to hand over the antidote. Long, however closedhis eyes and said nothing. "Just as long as I don'tgive in, the Emperor will surely reward me when we getback," he thought.
　　Priest Wu Chen continued his game of forcing BodyguardChu to counter with the moves he called out. QianLong, although a mediocre fighter himself, had athorough knowledge of kung fu and was amused by thespectacle. But he felt the chill of anxiety too.
　　"Chu is one of the top Imperial Bodyguards," hethought. "What use are they if these bandits can playwith them in such a fashion?" He watched for a fewmore moves and then decided he had had enough.
　　"Tell him to come back," he said to Bai.
　　"Brother Chu," Bai shouted. "The Master asks you tocome here."Chu breathed a sigh of relief. The Emperor's order waslike a reprieve from the death sentence, and heprepared to jump away. Priest Wu Chen, however, hadother ideas.
　　"Just a moment," he said. He struck forward with hissword and Chu felt a cool breeze course across hisface and body as the sword flashed about him. Thecourtesan Beautiful Jade suddenly laughed out loud,and Chu looked down and saw that his clothes had beencut to shreds by the priest's sword. Not only that: hefelt his head and found his hair and queue had beenshaved completely off. As he shook with fear andshame, his trousers suddenly fell down.
　　"These friends of yours are extraordinarily skilled inthe martial arts, Master Lu," Qian Long said to Chen.
　　"Why don't you all offer your services to the court?
　　It is a pity to waste such talent."Chen smiled. "We would prefer to do just as weplease," he said. "But thank you. We are very gratefulof the offer.""Since that is the case, I will take my leave. It isgetting late." Qian Long looked meaningfully over atBodyguard Long in the other boat.
　　"Brother Zhao," Chen called. "Let Master Dongfang'sservant come back.""Absolutely not!" Luo Bing answered. "Xin Yan haspoisoned by him and he refuses to hand over theantidote."Qian Long whispered some instructions to Commander Li,then turned to Long. "Give him the antidote," heordered.
　　"I deserve to die," Long replied. "I didn't bring theantidote with me. I left it in Beijing.""Brother Zhao, give me two of those spiked balls,"said Xu. Zhao pulled them out of his bag and handedthem over. Xu ripped Long's gown off his chest anddrove the balls into him. Long cried out in panic.
　　"Master Lu," Xu shouted. "Please send over some wine.
　　We want to drink a toast with our friend here to sealour friendship, and then we will let him go.""All right," said Chen. Beautiful Jade filled threecups with wine, and Chen threw them one by one over tothe other boat. Zhao calmly stetched out his hand andcaught them without a drop being spilled.
　　Xu took one of the cups. "Master Long, let us drink atoast," he said. Long knew that the alcohol wouldgreatly speed up the effects of the poison and clampedhis mouth shut.
　　"Go on, have a drink. There's no need to stand onceremony," said Xu with a smile. He grabbed Long'snose between his third and little fingers then pressedstrongly on his cheeks with the thumb and forefinger,forcing Long to open his mouth, and poured all threecups of wine into him.
　　Long decided his life was more important than hisreputation. "Let me go," he said. "I...I...I'll getthe antidote," Zhao laughed and loosened his grip.
　　Long pulled three packets of medicine from his bag.
　　"The red one should be taken orally, the black onesucks out the poision and the white one closes thewound," he said and fainted away.
　　Zhao hurriedly poured the red medicine into one of thewine cups, mixed it with some lake water and gave itto Xin Yan to drink, then spread the black medicineonto the wound. A moment later, black blood welled outof the gash. Luo Bing wiped it up as it appeared, andgradually the blood turned red. Xin Yan cried out inpain as Zhao administered the white medicine.
　　"Please forgive my friends," Chen said to Qian Long.
　　"They are very unrefined."Qian Long laughed. "It has certainly been aninteresting day. I will take my leave now.""Master Dongfang wishes to go home," Chen called.
　　"Head back to the shore!"The flotilla glided slowly off, and soon reached thelakeside. Commander Li jumped ashore and helped QianLong across onto land as the bodyguards formed aprotective semi-circle. Li pulled out a pipe and blewthree sharp notes on it, and several hundred Imperialtroops appeared.
　　"You insolent wretches!" Li shouted at the Red FlowerSociety fighters. "You are in the sight of the Emperorand still you don't kowtow?"Xu gestured with his hand, and Master Ma and his sonfired flares up into the air above the lake. A momentlater, a huge roar went up from all sides, and menrushed out from the trees, from behind buildings andfrom under bridges, each one with a red flower on hislapel and a sword in his hand.
　　"Brothers!" Xu shouted. "The Great Helmsman hasarrived!" The society men roared their approval andsurged forward.
　　The Imperial Bodyguards and troops drew their swords,fixed arrows to bows, and the two sides confrontedeach other, each determined not to yield. Commander Limounted a horse and waited for Qian Long's order toseize the Red Flower Society fighters.
　　Chen walked calmly over to an officer of the ImperialBodyguard and pointed at the horsewhip he was holding.
　　Hypnotised by Chen's gaze, the officer meeklydismounted and handed the whip over. Chen then leaptonto his horse and pulled a red flower from his pocketwhich he fixed to his gown. The flower was made fromthe finest silk stitched with gold thread and thegreen leaves around it were studded with jewels whichglittered and sparkled in the torchlight. It was thebadge of the Great Helmsman and the Red Flower Socetyheroes bowed before him in respect.
　　Suddenly, a large number of the soldiers broke fromthe Manchu ranks and swarmed forward despite shoutsfrom their officers. They raced over to Chen, bowed,then ran back to their ranks as another batch ran outto pay their respects. The Red Flower Society's powerwas so great in the south that many soldiers in theManchu armies, especially those in units under Chinesecommand, were members.
　　Qian Long was flabbergasted at the sight of so many ofhis own troops breaking ranks to bow before Chen. TheImperial Guard units he had brought with him fromBeijing were clearly the only ones he could trust, andconsidering the danger of his position, he decided afight had to be avoided at all costs.
　　He turned to Commander Li.
　　"So these are your trusted soldiers," he said coldly.
　　"Tell them to retire.""Yes sir," replied Li, stunned with fear. He orderedthe troops back to camp.
　　"Brothers!" 'Mastermind' Xu shouted when he saw theManchu troops were retreating. "Thank you all for yourtrouble. Please go now."An answering roar went up from the mass of the Societyfollowers: "Great Helmsman, goodbye!" The thunderouscry echoed out over the lake.
　　Qian Long raised his hands towards Chen. "Thank youfor a very pleasant outing on the lake," he said. "Wewill meet again."
Chapter 23
Chen and the heroes returned to the boats and ate anddrank to their hearts' content. They had handed out acrushing defeat to the Imperial Bodyguard, and were ingood spirits.
　　"Brother Ma," Xu said to the society's HangzhouHelmsman. "After such a setback, the Emperor certainlywon't let matters rest. Advise all the brothers inHangzhou to be very careful, especially those in theManchu ranks."Ma nodded, finished off his cup of wine and departedwith his son.
　　Chen also drained his wine cup and sighed as hewatched the broken reflection of the moon floating onthe lake between the lotus lily leaves.
　　"What date is it today?" he asked Xu, looking up. "Wehave been so busy lately, I have completely lost trackof time.""It's the seventeenth. It was the mid-Autumn festivalthe day before yesterday. Don't you remember?"Chen was silent for a moment, then said: "Brothers,please go and rest now, all of you. I will stay herefor a while. Tomorrow, I have some private business toattend to, but the day after that we will beginpreparations for rescuing Fourth Brother.""Would you like anyone to accompany you?" Xu asked.
　　"No, there's no need. There is no danger. I just wantto be by myself and think about things quietly."The boats moved over to the shore, and the heroes badefarewell to Chen. Some of them were already halfdrunk, and they joined arms as they walked through thedeserted streets of Hangzhou, singing loudly into thedarkness.
　　Chen watched them go, then jumped into a small sampanand skulled the boat out over the mirror-smoothsurface of the lake. The shore receded, and he stowedthe oar and stared up at the moon. The next day washis mother's birthday. For ten years, he had been awayfrom home, and now that he was back in southern China,his mother was already dead. He thought of her kindly,smiling face and of the common fate that awaits allmen, and tears began to trickle down his face.
　　The first light of day began to spread across the sky.
　　Chen plucked the red flower off his gown and placed itin his bag, then strolled towards the eastern gate tothe city. The guard on duty stared at him, thensaluted: he was a Red Flower Society man. Chen noddedto him.
　　"Since you are leaving the city, do you need a horse,Great Helmsman?" the guard asked.
　　"Yes, thank you," answred Chen. The guard wentjubilantly off and came back a short time later with ahorse. Following behind were two minor officials whoboth bowed respectfully before Chen. They feltfortunate to have had an opportunity to render aservice to the Great Helmsman.
　　Chen mounted up and galloped off. The horse was fastand he reached the western gate of Haining city bynoon. It had been ten years since he left his hometown, but everything was still as it had been. Afraidof meeting someone who would recognise him, he turnedhis horse northwards and rode two or three milesfurther on. He stopped at a farmhouse and ate lunch,then lay down to sleep. Having been up the wholeprevious night, he slept very deeply.
　　Noting his gentleman's attire and the fact that hespoke the local dialect, the farmer and his wifetreated Chen with great courtesy, and killed a chickenfor dinner. Chen questioned them about events of thepast few years and the farmer said: "The Emperor hasordered that the whole of Haining county be exemptfrom taxes for three years. It's all because of hisrespect for Minister Chen."Chen thought about how many years it had been sincehis father had passed away, and wondered again why theEmperor had suddenly begun to bestow such handsomefavours on his family. When he had finished dinner, hegave three taels of silver to the farmer in thanks androde towards his family home in the northwest of thecity.
　　As he reached the gate of the house, he stopped insurprise. In the old days, it had been named 'SecludedGarden', but the old name board had been taken downand replaced with one which read 'Peaceful PoolGarden'. The characters were rounded and flowing, andhe recognized the calligraphy as being that of theEmperor Qian Long himself. perplexed, he leapt overthe wall into the compound. Next to the old house, newstructures had been erected with endless pavilions andplatforms, mansions and chambers.
　　He passed along a covered walkway towards the JadeBracelet Hall, but again found a new name board overits door inscribed 'Beloved Days Hall', also writtenin Qian Long's hand. Chen frowned. The words 'BelovedDays' referred to the filial affection of children fortheir parents. What was the Emperor doing writing sucha thing here?
　　He emerged from the hall and walked across a zig-zagbridge with red railings into a thick bamboo grovetowards the 'Fragrant Bamboo Lodge', the formerresidence of his mother. This name board had also beenchanged, this time to read 'Spring Sunshine Hall'.
　　Chen sat down on a rock, greatly confused. 'SpringSunshine' was a poetic allusion used to describe ason's gratitude for his mother's love. It had no othermeaning.
　　"Why has Qian Long placed this name board on mymother's house?" he wondered. "Even if he is morestupid than I think, he would not have been sothoughtless. Could it be he knew I would come backhere and wrote out these name boards in an attempt tobefriend me?"He tiptoed up the steps, and looked through a window,into the main room of the lodge. It was arrangedexactly as it had been when his mother was alive, withredwood furniture, a large carved bed, a clothes chestinlaid with gold, all as he remembered them from tenyears before. A red candle flickered on the table.
　　Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps from anadjoining room and an old woman entered. It was hismother's personal maid, Nanny Huan. The woman hadreared him, and Chen felt closer to her than to any ofthe other servants.
　　He jumped into the room and hugged the old woman.
　　Greatly frightened, she opened her mouth to scream,but Chen covered it with his hand and whispered:
　　"Don't shout, it's me." She stared at him, too shockedto speak. In fact, his appearance and manner hadchanged so much in the ten years since he had leftthat she did not know who he was.
　　"It's me, Jialuo. Don't you recognize me?" he asked.
　　"You....you are Jialuo? You've come back?" the womanasked, completely confused.
　　Chen smiled and nodded. She gradually recovered hersenses and vaguely discerned the features of themischievous child she had known. Suddenly, she threwher arms round him and began to sob loudly. Chenhastily restrained her.
　　"Stop crying! No-one must know that I've returned," hesaid.
　　"It doesn't matter," she replied. "They've all gone tothe new section. There's no-one else here.""What new section?""Of the mansion. It was built earlier this year.
　　Heaven knows what it cost, or what it's for."Chen knew she had little understanding of suchmatters. "How did my mother die? What illness?" heasked.
　　The woman pulled out a handkerchief and wiped hereyes. "Mistress was very unhappy, I don't know why.
　　She hadn't had a good meal for days, and she becomeill. It dragged on for more than a week before shepassed away." She began to cry quietly again. "Shekept calling for you. 'Where is Jialuo? Hasn't he comeyet? I want to see Jialuo!' She was shouting like thatfor two days before she died."Chen began to weep too. "Where is her grave?""Behind the new Sea Goddess temple," she replied.
　　"Sea Goddess temple?" Chen echoed.
　　"Yes, they built that in the spring too. It's huge,right on the sea embankment.""I'm going to have a look. I'll be back in a while,"he said.
　　"No...no, you can't!" She interrupted hastily, but hehad already leapt out through the window.
　　He knew the path down to the embankment well and wasthere in a moment. Looking west, he saw a hugestructure that had not been there before, and decidedit must be the Sea Goddess temple. He ran towards themain entrance.
　　Suddenly, he heard the patter of light footsteps andhid behind a willow tree. Two men dressed in blackclothes emerged from either side of the temple wall,saluted each other and continued on in oppositedirections around the temple. Chen was mystified. Justthen, two more men appeared dressed the same as thefirst pair and followed the same path round the templewall. Even more curious, Chen waited for them todisappear around the corners, then jumped silently uponto the wall. Another pair passed him down below. Hewaited for a while and counted about forty menconstantly circling the temple, all of them alert andsilent, and obviously kung fu experts. Could this be areligious ceremony, he wondered? Full of curiosity, hejumped quietly down into the courtyard and crept intothe main temple building to investigate.
　　Incense smoke curled up from in front of the centralaltar as candles flickered and danced. He wonderedwhich god the altar was dedicated to, but when helooked up to see, he gasped out loud involuntarily.
　　The handsome-faced statue was a likeness of hisfather.
　　He spotted an open door to the left and crept over.
　　Looking out, he saw a long covered walk-way paved withwhite flag-stones. He knew that if he went along thewhite-stoned path he would easily be spotted, so heleapt onto the roof of the walkway and flittedsilently down to its end. In front was another altarhall outside which was written in huge characters:
　　'The Palace of the Empress of Heaven.' The doors tothe hall were open and he went inside. As he caughtsight of the statue on the central altar, he startedagain, even more violently. It's face was that of hismother.
　　It was as if he was in a thick fog of bewilderment. Heran back outside, looking for his mother's grave andsaw a long yellow tent behind the hall. He shrunk intoa corner as a sturdy black-clothed man passed by onpatrol.
　　The things he had seen that evening beggared theimagination, and despite the strict guard being kept,he resolved to get to the heart of the matter. Hecrept slowly over to the tent and crawled inside.
　　He lay absolutely still and listened carefully. Therewere no sounds outside, and he concluded that he hadnot been discovered. He looked round and saw the vasttent was completely deserted. The ground had beencarefully flattened and the grass cleanly cut. Thetent was joined to a string of others so that theyformed a long tunnel stretching back from the templebuildings. Two large lanterns burned brightly in everytent, and looking down the tunnel, the two rows oflights stretching away looked like fiery dragons. Hestood up and walked forward, as if in a dream.
　　Suddenly he heard the rustle of clothing in front andquickly hid to one side. After a moment, he continuedforward again and spotted a man seated in front of twograves at the end of the tunnel. The graves were thoseof his mother and father. He was about to run forwardand prostrate himself when the man stood up, gazed atthe graves for a while, then knelt down and bowedseveral times. Chen saw the man's back shaking as ifhe was crying.
　　Faced with such a scene, all of Chen's suspicionsdisappeared. This man was either a relative or one ofhis father's former subordinates. He walked quietlyover and tapped the man on his shoulder.
　　"Please get up," he said.
　　The man jumped in fright, but did not turn round.
　　"Who is it?" he shouted harshly.
　　"I have also come to pay my respects," Chen replied.
　　He knelt before the graves and began to cryuncontrollably.
　　"Mother, father," he sobbed. "I have come too late. Iwill never see you again."The man gasped and Chen turned to find it was noneother than the Emperor, Qian Long.
　　"What...what are you doing here in the middle of thenight?" Qian Long asked in surprise.
　　"Today is the anniversary of my mother's birth," Chenreplied. "I have come to pay my respects to her. Andyou?"Qian Long ignored the question. "You...you are the sonof Chen Shiguan?" he exclaimed incredulously.
　　"Yes. Didn't you know?"Qian Long shook his head.
　　In the past few years, Qian Long had been bestowingextraordinary favours on the Chen family of Haining,and although some of his ministers were aware that thenew leader of the Red Flower Society was a son ofMinister Chen, none dared to mention it because of theEmperor's unpredictable temper.
　　Chen wondered why on earth the Emperor would comesecretly to kneel and cry before the grave of a formerminister. It was completely inexplicable.
　　Qian Long took Chen's hand. "You must think itstrange, seeing me here paying my respects in themiddle of the night," he said. "Your father and I hadgreat affection for each other, so I took advantage ofthis visit to the south to offer my thanks to him."Chen made a sound, half believing, half not.
　　"If word of this should get out, it would be extremelyinconvenient," Qian Long continued. "Can you give meyour word that you will not reveal it to anyone?"Chen was deeply moved by Qian Long's reverence for hisown mother and father. "Don't worry," he replied. "Iwill not mention this evening to anyone."Qian Long immediately breathed easier. The two menshook hands, one the Emperor of China, the other theleader of the country's largest secret society. Theywere silent for a while, each with his own thoughts.
　　Far off, they heard a low roar like thunder.
　　"The tide is coming in," said Chen. "Let us go to theembankment and watch. It has been ten years since Isaw it.""All right," replied Qian Long, still holding Chen'shand. They walked out of the tent.
　　The guards outside the tent spotted the two as theyemerged and rushed forward to wait on the Emperor,wondering how his companion could have entered thetent without them being aware of it. Then BodyguardBai Zhen and the other officers noticed that it wasthe Great Helmsman of the Red Flower Society, and theyshook with fear. One of the guards led the Emperor'shorse across to him.
　　"Take my horse," Qian Long said to Chen. The guardshurriedly lead over another horse and the two rode outof the temple gate.
　　The roar of the ocean filled their ears and they gazedout at the pale moonlight reflecting off it in silveryshades.
　　Qian Long stared at the waves for a long time, thensaid: "Fate seems determined to throw us together.
　　Tomorrow, I will return to Hangzhou, and after threemore days there, will continue back to Beijing. Whydon't you come with me? It would be best if you werealways by my side. Seeing you is like seeing yourfather."Chen was surprised by the warmth of his words.
　　"You excel in both scholarship and the martial arts,"Qian Long continued. "It would be easy to promote youto your father's former post, which would be tenthousand times better than hiding yourself away in theunderworld.""I am extremely grateful to you for your goodwill,"Chen said. "But if I coveted great wealth, I would nothave left home in the first place.""Why did you leave? Why did you insist on mixing inthe underworld instead of doing what a noblemanshould? Was it that you couldn't get on with yourfather and brother?""No, it wasn't that. It was the wish of my mother. Myfather and elder brother knew nothing of it. They havespent a lot of time and effort looking for me.""Your mother told you to leave home? That is trulystrange. Why did she do that?"Chen hung his head. "It was the result of a tragedyshe suffered. I am not too clear about it either.""The Chen family has been distinguished for manygenerations. During the last three hundred yearsalone, more than two hundred members of the familyhave passed the Imperial examinations, three haveserved as prime ministers and eleven as other seniorofficials. The number is extraordinary. Your fatherwas an honest and hard-working man. He often used toplead before my father on behalf of the common people,crying as he did so. My father used to laugh and say:
　　'Chen Shiguan was sobbing again today. I suppose I'llhave to agree to what he says.'"Hearing of his father's conduct as an official, Chenwas at once saddened and pleased. "He cried before theEmperor and I steal military grain," he thought. "Ourmethods are different but our aim is the same."They stood and watched the tide thunder in.
　　"I would like to give you a piece of advice," QianLong said.
　　"Please do.""The actions of the Red Flower Society have come veryclose to rebellion. Past behaviour I can ignore, butyou must not disregard the law in such a way again.""All we do is for the country and the common people,"Chen replied.
　　Qian Long sighed. "What a pity," he said. After amoment, he added: "As a result of our meeting tonight,I promise that when we destroy the Red Flower Society,you will be spared.""In that case, if you should fall into the hands ofthe Red Flower Society, we will not harm you either."Qian Long laughed. "You refuse to give an inch, evenbefore the Emperor. All right, it's been said now. Letus join fists and swear that from today onwardsneither shall harm the other."The two men stretched out their arms and touched fiststhree times.
　　"With such a strong tide, if the sea embankment is notrenovated, the homes and graves of the common peoplewill sooner or later be inundated," Qian Long said. "Imust see that my officials arrange for it to bereconstructed.""That is the act of a ruler who loves his subjects,"Chen replied. "The common people will be verygrateful."Qian Long nodded. "Your father performed greatservices for the Empire. I could not bear to see hisgrave swallowed by the sea."He took Chen's hand and started to walk along theembankment with him. The guards wanted to follow, buthe waved them back.
　　"I gather from your expression that you are stillunhappy," he said as they strolled along. "Apart fromthoughts of your parents, what other problem do youhave? You may be unwilling to become an official, butif you have any requests, I will do my best to complywith them."Chen was silent for a moment. "There is onething...but I doubt if you would agree.""Any request you make will be granted.""Really?""I never joke.""Then I ask you to release my sworn brother, WenTailai."Qian Long started in surprise. He had not guessed thatthis would be the request. For a moment, he was at aloss.
　　"How has Master Wen offended you?" Chen asked.
　　"I cannot release him, but since I have promised, Icannot go back on my word. I tell you what: I won'tkill him.""Then we have no choice but to rescue him by force,"replied Chen. "I asked you to release him not becausewe are unable to rescue him, but simply to avoidinjuring our friendship."Qian Long had witnessed the might of the Red FlowerSociety, and he knew this was no empty boast.
　　"I appreciate your good intentions," he said. "But Itell you honestly, I cannot allow this man out of mygrasp. If you insist on trying to rescue him, then Iwill kill him three days from now."Chen's blood boiled. "If you kill Master Wen, you willnever eat or sleep easy again," he threatened.
　　"And if I don't kill him, I will never eat or sleepeasy either.""If that is true, then even being Emperor cannotcompare with the carefree life that I lead.""How old are you?" Qian Long asked.
　　"Twenty five.""I am not jealous of your carefree life, but I amjealous of your youth. But it is of no consequence. Nomatter what one's achievements, everyone still returnsto dust when their time is up."The two strolled on for a time.
　　"How many wives do you have?" Qian Long asked. Withoutwaiting for an answer, he plucked a piece of jade offhis gown and offered it to Chen, saying: "This is apriceless treasure. Give it to your wife."Chen did not take it. "I have not married yet," hesaid.
　　Qian Long laughed. "You always set your sights toohigh. Give it to the lady of your heart as a weddingpresent, then."Chen accepted the stone. The jade shone with a paleglow under the moonlight and he found it slightly warmto the touch. He realized it was a piece ofincalculably valuable "warm jade". He placed the jadein his pocket. "Thank you for the present," he said.
　　"We will meet again." He saluted with his fists,mounted his horse and started off.
　　Qian Long waved goodbye to him. "Look after yourself!"he shouted.
Chapter 24
Putting aside thoughts of home, Chen rode back to thesociety's mansion near Hangzhou where he foundeveryone gathered around 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi whohad just arrived from Beijing. Shi immediately brokefree from the group and bowed before Chen.
　　"I found out in Beijing that the Emperor had comesouth, and travelled day and night to get here to tellyou only to find that the brothers had not only seenhim, but had clashed with his men as well," he said.
　　"You've had a hard trip, Twelfth Brother," repliedChen. "Did you hear any other news while you werethere?""Once I heard about the Emperor, I disregardedeverything else," Shi said.
　　Chen noticed his haggard look and guessed he was wornout after the hard ride. "Go and get a good sleep.
　　We'll talk again later," he said.
　　Shi bowed and walked off. As he passed Luo Bing, hesaid: "That white horse of yours is very fast. Butdon't worry, I took good care of him...Oh," He stoppedagain. "I also saw the horse's former owner, HanWenchong, on the road.""What? Did he want his horse back?""He didn't see me. I came across him in an inn inYangzhou with several lead escorts from the Zhen YuanBodyguard Agency. I heard them cursing our Red FlowerSociety, so I went across and eaves-dropped. Theycalled us low and vulgar, and said we had killed thatfellow Tong Zhaohe."'Mastermind' Xu and Zhou Qi smiled at each other.
　　"What is the Zhen Yuan Agency up to this time?" Xuasked.
　　"I gathered that they were escorting a consignment oftreasures presented by the Emperor to the Chen familyof Haining." He turned to Chen. "It was for yourfamily, Great Helmsman, so I told the local societyleader to quietly make sure it was delivered safely.""Thank you," Chen replied, smiling. "For once we canwork together with the Zhen Yuan Agency.""The head of the agency is with them, which is anindication of the importance they attach to theconsignment."Chen and the others gasped at the news that the NorthChina Earth-Shaker Wang Weiyang was escorting theconsignment personally.
　　"Wang hasn't escorted a consignment for more than tenyears," said Lord Zhou. "Great Helmsman, your familyobviously has great prestige.""I thought it strange too," added Shi. "But later Iheard that apart from the valuables for the GreatHelmsman's family, they were also carrying a pair ofjade vases.""Jade vases?" Chen asked.
　　"Yes, treasures from the Muslim regions. The Muslimsscored a victory over General Zhao Wei's army, butwith the Manchu forces so powerful, they can't holdout for much longer. So they have sent the vases as apeace offering."The heroes excitedly asked Shi for details of theMuslims' victory.
　　"I heard that General Zhao Wei's troops starved forseveral days as a result of us stealing their rations,and finally had to retreat. The Muslims organised anambush on the road and killed two or three thousand ofthem." The heroes clapped and laughed.
　　"The Manchu army finally received more supplies," Shicontinued. "It began to advance again, but I didn'thear any further news. When the Muslim envoys arrivedin Beijing, the court officials didn't dare to make adecision, and sent him and the vases down south forthe Emperor to dispose of.""The vases won't make any difference," Chen said. "Nomatter what valuable treasures they send, he willnever agree to peace.""I heard the agency men say that if peace was agreedto, the vases would be kept. If not, they will have tobe returned, so it is vital that they not be damagedin any way."Chen glanced at Xu, and the two walked away from themain group into a side chamber.
　　"Brother Xu, last night I saw the Emperor. He saidthat he would be returning to Beijing in three days'
　　time, and that before he left he intended to killFourth Brother.""Then we'd better start making arrangements to savehim immediately," Xu replied.
　　"The Emperor is probably not back in Hangzhou yet, andmost of their top fighters are with him, so it shouldbe relatively easy to rescue him if we move fast.""The Emperor isn't in Hangzhou?"Chen told him about their meeting in Haining. Xufiddled meditatively with the pens and paper on thetabletop in front of them.
　　"The only plan I can see at the moment is to steal thejade vases," Xu said finally. "Since the Emperor hasalready sent a huge army out west, he is certain to beunwilling to talk peace, which means he will have toreturn the vases. If he is unable to, his word willlose all credibility, and the Emperor, as we know, isobsessed with his own prestige.""Once we have the jade vases, we can go to him and saythat if he touches one hair on Fourth Brother's head,we will smash them," Chen added.
　　"Exactly! Even if we can't exchange the vases forFourth Brother, we can at least postpone things for afew days which will also be of benefit to MasterMuzhuolun and his Muslims.""All right," said Chen. "Then we attack this NorthChina Earth-Shaker, Wang Weiyang."Wang Weiyang was sixty-nine years old. The Zhen YuanBodyguard Agency, which he had built up with his ownhands, had prospered in north China for more thanthirty years in spite of strong and sometimes violentopposition, and there was a saying in the fightingcommunity: 'It is better to bump into the Devil thaninto old Wang.' He planned to retire the followingyear in the expectation of living to a venerable oldage, but when the agency was entrusted with the taskof escorting the jade vases to the Emperor, he decidedto accompany the consignment personally. In light ofthe diplomatic sensitivity of the mission, he did notdare to be neglectful. From each of his agencybranches, he detailed six top fighters, while thecourt also supplied four Imperial Bodyguards andtwenty Imperial Guardsmen to accompany the Muslimenvoy on his journey south. Precautions along the waywere most strict, and there had been no incidents ofany kind.
　　Noon was approaching as they arrived at a town lessthan three miles from Hangzhou. The agency men wentinto the largest restaurant and ordered food, and werejubilantly discussing how they planned to celebrateonce they got to Hangzhou when a horse neighedoutside.
　　Lead Escort Han pricked up his ears and ran out tofind his own beloved white steed walking slowly pastwith a heavy load of firewood on its back. He tried tograb the reins, but the peasant with the horse gavethe animal a rap on the rump and it cantered off downthe street. Unwilling to give up, Han ran after them.
　　Once outside the town, the horse turned off the roadand galloped into the trees with Han following as bestas he could.
　　"Brother Han's gone crazy thinking about that whitehorse of his," said another of the lead escorts with asmile. "Every time he sees a horse on the road witheven a couple of white hairs, he has to chase after itto see if it's his. When he gets home tomorrow andsees his old lady's snow-white skin, I expect he'llprobably think she's his horse and immediatelyjump..."The others exploded into laughter.
　　Just then, one of the waiters suddenly called out:
　　"Master Liang, please sit over here."A man with the appearance of a rich merchant enteredwith four servants behind him, one of them carrying awater pipe. He seated himself at a table and a waiterhurried round pouring him a cup of tea and chattering:
　　"Try this Dragon's Well tea, Master Liang. It's madewith fresh spring water brought in only yesterday."Liang grunted and said in a voice thick with theaccent of Hanzhou: "Bring me a few slices of meat, abowl of eel soup and three catties of the best ricewine."The waiter bowed and a moment later, the fragrance ofhot wine assailed their noses as he returned with alarge flask.
　　"What is Brother Han doing away so long?" Master WangWeiyang asked.
　　Suddenly the main door of the restaurant was kickedopen, and a dwarf shuffled in followed by a girl and astrong young man, all three dressed in rough clothes.
　　The dwarf bowed in all four directions and announced:
　　"I am a humble travelling player who can do a fewtricks to make you laugh. If you are impressed, pleasemake a contribution. If you are not, please accept myapologies."He picked up a teacup from a table and covered it withhis tattered cap. "Change!" he shouted, and whiskedthe cap away: the cup had disappeared. He waved thecap around to show that the cup was not inside.
　　Intrigued, Master Liang stood up and walked over toget a closer look.
　　"May I borrow your snuff box, sir?" the dwarf askedhim. Liang laughed and handed the snuff box over. Thedwarf placed it in his cap and made it disappear inthe same way.
　　"That snuff box is very precious," one of Liang'sservants warned. "Don't damage it now."The dwarf smiled. "Please look in your pocket, sir,"he replied. The servant felt around in his coat pocketand pulled out the snuff box.
　　Liang and his servants were amazed, and so were theLead Escorts and Imperial Guardsmen. All crowded roundto watch the dwarf's conjuring. Liang pulled a jadering off his left hand and handed it to him saying:
　　"Make this disappear too."The dwarf put the ring on the table, covered it withhis cap and blew on it.
　　"Alter east and transpose west, Topsy-turvy like therest!" he shouted and whipped away the cap. The ringhad disappeared. The onlookers gasped.
　　"Please feel in your pocket, master," the dwarf said,and Liang pulled the ring out and stared at it insurprise.
　　"Excellent, excellent!" he cried.
　　Several dozen people had entered the restaurant bythis time, to see what was going on, including anumber of army officers.
　　"What's so special about a trick like that?" one ofthe officers said. "Let's see if you dare to make thisdisappear." He slapped an official document down onthe table and the onlookers saw it was marked "Urgentdispatch for Master Wang, Beijing Military Bureau",underneath which was written "Zhejiang ProvincialCommander-in-chief Li".
　　"Please don't be offended, sir," the dwarf replied. "Imay earn my living in a rather casual way, but I wouldnever dare to touch an urgent official dispatch.""What does it matter?" Liang said to the dwarf. "It'sjust a game. Go on, make it disappear." He turned tohis servants. "Give me five taels of silver," he said.
　　One of the servants pulled an ingot of silver from abag and handed it to Liang who placed it on the table.
　　"If you make the dispatch disappear, this silver ingotis yours," he said to the dwarf.
　　The dwarf looked at the ingot, then turned and held awhispered conversation with the girl.
　　"I have found some more courage," he finally said. Hecovered the document with his cap and shouted "Change!
　　Change!" His hand pointed to left and right, up anddown, and settled on the leather case that containedthe jade vases. "In! In! Go into the case!" he roared.
　　He picked up the cap, and the document had indeeddisappeared.
　　"He's got quite a talent, this Turtle," the officercommented. The dwarf bowed before Master Liang.
　　"Thank you for your contribution," he said, thenpicked up the ingot and handed it to the girl standingbehind him. The crowd clapped in approval.
　　"All right, now give me the dispatch back," said theofficer.
　　The dwarf smiled. "It's in the leather case. Pleaseopen it and look," he replied. All the agency menjumped in shock as he spoke. The case was sealed withthe Imperial seal, and none dared to break it open.
　　The officer went over and felt the case with his hand.
　　"Excuse me, my man," said Wang Weiyang. "That is atreasure belonging to the Imperial court. It cannot betouched.""You must be joking," the officer replied andcontinued to feel the case.
　　"Who's joking with you? Back off a bit!" one of theImperial Guardsmen warned.
　　"Yes sir," the officer said. "But please return thedispatch to me, sir.""Enough of your tricks!" the guardsman shouted at thedwarf. "Give him back the dispatch, quickly!""It's in the leather case. If you don't believe me,open it and see," said the dwarf.
　　The officer flew into a rage and punched him on theshoulder. "Hand it over!" he roared.
　　The dwarf put on a sorrowful expression. "I dare notdeceive you," he said. "The dispatch is inside theleather case, but I cannot spirit it out again!"Master Liang walked over to the Imperial Guardsman.
　　"What is your honourable surname, sir?" he askedpolitely.
　　"My surname is Lin.""Master Lin, these marketplace scoundrels have nosense of propriety. Please take a hand in this matterand return the dispatch to him.""This case is the property of the Emperor," Linreplied. "Who would dare to open it without theEmperor's permission?"Master Liang frowned, as if in a quandary.
　　"If you don't return that dispatch to me, you will beguilty of delaying important government business whichis a capital offence," said the officer. "What do yousay brothers?"Seated around the room were another dozen or so armyofficers and men who began to edge towards Lin.
　　Wang Weiyang, with his decades of experience, feltthere was something strange about the scene. Heguessed that the dwarf was the key to the affair andstretched out his hand to grab his arm. The dwarfshrank away, crying: "Master, master, have mercy onme!"Wang noted the dwarf's agility and became even moresuspicious. He was just about to chase after him whenthe military men began brawling with the lead escortsand Imperial Guardsmen. He clutched the leather caseto his chest and a lead escort stood guard on eitherside of him. The Guardsman Lin pulled out his daggerand slammed into the table.
　　"Enough of this!" he roared. "Back off, all of you!"The army officer drew his sword. "If you don't returnthe document, I'll finish you off even if I die doingit!" he shouted. "Brothers! All together!"He lunged forward and clashed with Lin. The otherarmymen drew their weapons and charged into the frayand a great battle ensued. Guardsman Lin was one ofthe best fighters in the Imperial Guard, but after afew strokes he found this lowly army officer gainingthe upper hand.
　　Wang Weiyang shouted repeatedly for them all to stopbut no-one listened. In the midst of the confusion,another group suddenly surged in through the door andsomeone commanded: "Seize the trouble-makers!"The army men all stopped where they were. GuardsmanLin took a deep breath and saw that a young officialhad entered surrounded by several dozen soldiers. Heand immediately recognized the man as the Emperor'sfavorite, Fu Kangan, who held the posts of militarygovernor of Manchuria, commander-in-chief of the NineGates of Beijing as well as commander of the ImperialGuard. Lin hastily pushed his way forward and greetedFu as the other Imperial Guardsmen bowed before him.
　　"What's going here?" the official asked.
　　"They started making trouble, Commander," Lin replied,and gave an account of what had occurred.
　　"And where is the magician?" the official asked. Thedwarf, who had hidden himself in a far corner, nowcame forward.
　　"This is a very strange business," the official said.
　　"You will all come with me to Hangzhou. I wish toconduct a thorough investigation.""Yes, sir. A wise decision, sir," said Lin.
　　"Let us go," the official said, then walked outsideand remounted his horse. The soldiers under hiscommand gathered together the agency men, the armyofficer that had started the trouble and even theMuslim envoy and herded them out after him.
　　"Master Fu," said Lin to the official. "This is thehead of the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency, Wang Weiyang."Wang went over and bowed in greeting, but the officialmerely glanced at him once from head to foot andgrunted. "Let's go," he said.
　　The column of men entered Hangzhou city and made itsway to a huge private residence by the West Lake.
　　"This must be where the commander is staying," Wangthought to himself. "Being the Emperor's favorite,it's not surprising he has such a strong force of menwith him."They entered the rear hall of the residence. "Pleasebe seated," the official said to Guardsman Lin, andcontinued on into an inner chamber by himself.
　　A short while later, an Imperial Guard officer cameout and escorted the army officer who had started thetrouble, the conjuring dwarf, Master Liang and hisservants inside.
　　"I was getting a bit worried during that brawl," saidone of the lead escorts. "There was something funnyabout those army men. I thought they might try todamage the jade vases.""Yes, their kung fu was surprisingly good for armyofficers," Guardsman Lin replied. "It's luckyCommander Fu turned up or we may have had sometrouble.""Commander Fu's Inner Strength Kung Fu is superb,"said Wang Weiyang. "It's very unusual for such asenior nobleman to be so accomplished in the martialarts.""What?" said Lin. "Commander Fu's kung fu is good? Howdo you know?""You can see it in his eyes."As they were talking, an officer came out. "WangWeiyang of the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency, come withme," he said. Wang stood up and followed him out.
　　They passed through two courtyards and into anotherhall in which sat Commander Fu Kangan on a dais. Hehad changed into an official gown with a huge plume inhis cap, and the imposing atmosphere was enhanced bythe long official desk in front of him and the manyImperial Guardsmen standing on either side.
　　As he walked in, two officers shouted in unison:
　　"Kneel!" Wang did as he was told.
　　"So you're Wang Weiyang, are you?" Fu said shortly.
　　"I am sir," said Wang.
　　"I hear you have the nickname 'North China EarthShaker'.""That is just what some of my friends call me.""Both the Emperor and I live in Beijing," Fu saidcoldly. "Are you suggesting you can shake us off ourfeet too?"Wang felt a sudden wave of fear. He hastily kowtowedand said: "This humble person would not dare. I willimmediately do away with the nickname.""Such insolence!" Fu roared. "Take him away!"Two soldiers marched up and led him off, and Wang, inspite of his kung fu skills, did not dare to resist.
　　The Imperial Guardsmen and lead escorts were broughtin one after the other, and one after another theywere taken away and thrown manacled into the dungeons.
　　Finally, an army officer marched up to Fu's tablecarrying the leather box in both hands, knelt down onone knee and raised it above his head in presentation,saying: "Commander Fu, here are the jade vases."Fu laughed out loud, and stepped down off the dais.
　　The dwarf and the others kneeling on the ground alsostood up and began laughing.
　　"Seventh Brother," Fu said to the dwarf. "You trulydeserve the nickname Kung Fu Mastermind!"The conjuring dwarf was in fact 'Mastermind' Xu, whilethe Hangzhou Helmsman, Master Ma, had played the partof Master Liang. Chen had taken the role of hisdouble, the Emperor's favorite, Fu Kangan, and theTwin Knights and some of the other heroes had playedthe trouble-making army officers. Xu had rememberedthat Han Wenchong would be able to recognize theheroes and so had arranged for him to be lured awayusing the white horse as bait into the forest where hehad been seized.
　　Chen broke the seal on the leather box and lifted thelid. Inside were a pair of jade vases about one footin height. On each was drawn the picture of abeautiful girl dressed in Muslim clothes, her hairplaited in a long queue. The girl was stunninglyattractive with bewitching eyes and cherry-red lipsthat almost seemed to move. She looked as if she wasabout to walk out of the picture.
　　Everyone gathered round and voiced their admirationfor the vases.
　　"When I saw Huo Qingtong, I thought she was certainlythe most beautiful girl under heaven," added Luo Bing.
　　"But this girl is even more lovely.""It's just a picture," Zhou Qi protested. "You don'tthink there's really anyone that beautiful, do you?""I don't think the artist could have invented such aface," Luo Bing replied.
　　"Let's bring the Muslim envoy in and ask him," Xusuggested.
　　As he entered, the envoy bowed respectfully beforeChen, in the belief that he was a senior courtofficial.
　　"You have had a long hard journey, sir," said Chen.
　　"What is your name?""My name is Kaibiexing. May I ask your name?"Chen smiled but did not reply.
　　"This is General Li, Commander-in-chief of ZhejiangProvince," said Xu.
　　The others stared at him in surprise, wondering whathe had in mind.
　　"I trust Master Muzhuolun is well?" Chen said to theenvoy.
　　"Thank you for asking, Commander. Our leader is verywell.""I wonder if you could tell me, sir, who is thisbeautiful girl on the vases? Is it a real person, ordid the artist draw it from his own imagination?""The vases originally belonged to Master Muzhuolun'sdaughter. The girl in the picture is her.""Is she Huo Qingtong's elder or younger sister?" ZhouQi asked.
　　The envoy was surprised. "Do you know her, miss?""I have met her," she replied.
　　Chen wanted to ask about how Huo Qingtong was, butstopped himself. "Please go and rest now," he said tothe envoy. "We will talk again later."The envoy bowed. "Thank you, Commander. Where shallthe vases be kept?""We have other arrangements," said Chen.
　　The envoy was led away.
Chapter 25
`Mastermind' Xu went later to see the Muslim envoy.
　　"I will take you to see the Emperor," he said, andthey left, accompanied by Meng carrying the leatherbox containing the vases. Unknown to the envoy, one ofthe vases had been removed.
　　When they arrived at the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen,Meng handed the leather box to the envoy and pointedto the main gate.
　　"Go in on your own," he said.
　　That afternoon, an attendant handed a visiting card toGreat Helmsman Chen. It was signed 'Your servant DengTunan', the trusted lieutenant of Commander Li Keshou.
　　"Your plan has probably worked, Brother Xu," Chensaid. "Brother Wei, please go and receive him."'Leopard' Wei went to the reception room and saw arobust military official seated in a chair. "What isit you wish to see our master about, Master Deng?" heasked.
　　"I have come with instructions from Commander-in-ChiefLi to see the Great Helmsman of your society todiscuss a certain matter with him," Deng replied.
　　"Our master is not free at present. It is the same ifyou talk to me.""It concerns a Muslim vase," he said.
　　Wei frowned enquiringly.
　　"The Muslims dispatched an envoy with a pair of vasesto plead for peace. But when the Emperor opened thebox, only one of the vases was inside. He was veryangry and questioned the envoy, who said that he hadalready had an audience with the Commander-in-Chief ofZhejiang Province. The Emperor called in Commander Li,who was naturally mystified. Luckily, the Emperor knewCommander Li would not do such a thing, that theremust be some good explanation.""That is good," said Wei, nodding.
　　"But the Emperor said that Commander Li would be heldresponsible for the affair and gave him three days tofind and return the other vase. This presents a greatdifficulty.""He's afraid that if he doesn't find the vase, he willbe removed from office, is that it? It's probablyeasier not being an official. If one's whole familycould to be executed and all one's possessions seized,it must be rather distressing."Deng ignored his sarcasm. "Let us not deceive eachother. I have come to ask your society to return thevase.""We have not heard of any such vase," replied Wei.
　　"But as Commander Li has encountered this difficulty,there is no reason why we shouldn't help him find it.
　　We may possibly come across some clue to itswhereabouts in a year or two.""Commander Li said he had great respect for MasterChen. He sent me today to ask your assistance, butwould not feel at ease if he was unable to do anythingin return. Please do not hesitate to inform us ofMaster Chen's wishes.""You are very frank, General Deng. That is excellent,"Wei replied. "Our Master Chen has two wishes. Firstly,the Red Flower Society has offended Commander Li, andhe would like to ask him to let bygones be bygones.""That goes without saying. I can guarantee that theCommander will never make difficulties for yoursociety over this matter. And the second thing?""Our Fourth Brother Wen Tailai is imprisoned in theCommander's Yamen."Deng grunted.
　　"He is an Imperial criminal," Wei continued. "Nomatter how courageous Commander Li is, he would neverdare to release him. We understand that. But MasterChen misses him greatly and would like to see himalone tonight."Deng thought for a second. "This is an extremelyserious matter. I will have to ask the Commander andreturn with the reply."Deng returned two hours later.
　　"The Commander says that Master Wen's crimes areserious in the extreme, and that normally no-one wouldbe allowed to visit him," he said.
　　"Normally!" Wei exclaimed.
　　"But as Master Chen has agreed to return the vase, theCommander will risk his neck and allow Master Chen tosee him. However, there are two small conditions hemust agree to. First, the Commander has recklesslyagreed to this purely in order to cement hisfriendship with Master Chen. If anyone else found outabout it, it would be disastrous.""Commander Li wants Master Chen to agree not to reveala word about the affair to anyone, is that it?""Exactly.""I can agree to that on our Master's behalf," Weisaid.
　　"The second point is that only Master Chen will beallowed to make the visit."Wei smiled. "Commander Li is naturally afraid that wewill take advantage of the opportunity to try torescue Master Wen. All right, we agree. Master Chenwill go by himself. But we have not agreed not toattempt a rescue.""You are a good man, Brother Wei, and I value yourword. Please ask Master Chen to come to the Yamen thisevening.""If Zhang Zhaozhong is around when Master Chen andMaster Wen meet, it will naturally be impossible topreserve the secrecy of the agreement, which could beextremely inconvenient for Commander Li.""That is true," Deng replied. "The Commander willthink of some excuse for getting him away."When Deng had left, the heroes gathered in the GreatHall to await their orders for Wen's rescue.
　　"Brother Xu, I will leave the arrangements to you,"Chen said.
　　Xu was silent for a moment. "Now that we know ZhangZhaozhong will be elsewhere and that the GreatHelmsman can get inside, it will of course be mucheasier to rescue Brother Wen," he said. "But Li isalso certain to prepare for that eventuality. We mustfirst work out what he plans to do and then dosomething unexpected.""He will gather a large contingent of troops andsurround the entrance to the dungeon and may evenenlist the support of some Imperial Bodyguards," Yangpointed out. "They will allow only the Great Helmsmanin, and only the Great Helmsman out.""We had better be waiting outside the Yamen just incase the Turtles try anything against the GreatHelmsman," said one of the Twin Knights.
　　"We will of course be waiting outside," answered Xu.
　　"But I don't think Li will dare to harm the GreatHelmsman with the vase in our hands.""I've got it," Chen said suddenly. "When I go to seeFourth Brother, I will wear a wide cape and a largehat with a face cover..."Xu knew what he meant. "But that way, we would gainone man only to lose another. It's not a good idea.""Finish what you were saying, Great Helmsman," saidPriest Wu Chen.
　　"Once I am in the dungeon, I will exchange clotheswith Fourth Brother and then let him leave. The guardswill think it is me. You can be waiting outside toreceive him.""But what about you?""The Emperor and I have a special relationship. Oncethey discover the switch, they will let me go."The heroes were unhappy that their leader was placinghimself in such danger, but they were forced to agreeit was probably the best plan.
　　All the arrangements were completed. Chen threw on alarge cape with the collar turned up, pulled a hatwell down over his face, and set off for theCommander-in-Chief's Yamen accompanied by 'Leopard'
　　Wei. By the time they arrived, it was already close todusk and the first stars had began to appear at theedge of the sky. A man came out to meet them.
　　"Is that Master Chen?" he whispered. Wei nodded.
　　"Please come with me. This other gentleman, pleasestay here."Wei stood and watched as Chen followed the man intothe Yamen. A flight of ravens flew overhead throughthe evening mist on their way home, cawing as theywent, and Wei's heart beat wildly as he wondered whatwould happened to the Great Helmsman. After a while,the rest of the heroes arrived and spread out aroundthe Yamen.
　　As he entered the gate, Chen saw the Yamen was filledwith thousands of soldiers on guard. The man led himthrough three courtyards and into a room.
　　"Please take a seat," he said, and left. A momentlater, Commander Li entered and saluted Chen. "It isan honour to meet you," he said.
　　Chen opened his cape and revealed his face. "We metthe day before yesterday on the lake," he answeredwith a smile.
　　"You may now see the prisoner," said Li. "Pleasefollow me."As they reached the door, an attendant rushedbreathlessly towards them.
　　"Commander, the Emperor has arrived," he reported.
　　"Master Deng has gone out to meet him."Li started in surprise and turned to Chen. "You hadbetter wait here for a while," he said.
　　Li ran through to the front courtyard and saw QianLong with a large contingent of Imperial Guardsmen. Hehurriedly knelt down before him and kowtowed.
　　"Arrange a well-guarded room," said Qian Long. "I wantto personally interrogate Wen Tailai."Li invited the Emperor into his own study, and theImperial Bodyguards established themselves on allsides of the study and even on the roof.
　　"I have important matters of a confidential nature todiscuss with this prisoner. No-one else must hear,"Qian Long told Bodyguard Bai Zhen.
　　"Yes, Your Highness," Bai replied and retired.
　　A moment later, four bodyguards entered carrying astretcher on which Wen, handcuffed and chained, layasleep. The bodyguards retired and there was silencefor a time.
　　"How are your injuries?" Qian Long asked. Wen's eyesopened and he sat up. His wounds had not yet healed,but his mind was clear. He had seen Qian Long oncebefore when he had entered the Imperial Palace withMaster Yu, but was surprised at suddenly meeting himagain in Hangzhou.
　　"I'm not dead yet," he said coldly.
　　"I asked my men to invite you to come to see mebecause there is something I wish to discuss withyou."Wen grunted.
　　"When you visited me with that leader of yours, MasterYu, I discussed an important matter with him.
　　Unfortunately, I hear he became ill and died very soonafterwards. It was a great pity.""If Master Yu had not died, I expect he would beimprisoned here with me," replied Wen.
　　Qian Long laughed. "You underworld fighters, you'revery frank. You say whatever you are thinking. Now,Master Wen, I have only one question for you. Answerme honestly, and I will immediately release you.""Release me? Ha! Do you think I am a three-year-oldchild? I know that you cannot eat or sleep easyknowing that I'm still alive. You have stayed yourhand until today only because you wish to questionme.""You're much too suspicious," said Qian Long with asmile. He walked forward two paces.
　　"Did Master Yu tell you what it was he talked to meabout?" he asked.
　　"What did you talk about?"Qian Long stared at him, and Wen returned the gazeunflinchingly. After a while, Qian Long turned hishead away.
　　"About my origins," he said quietly.
　　"He didn't say. You are the Emperor, the son of thelate Emperor and Empress. Everyone knows about yourorigins. What more is there to say?"Qian Long breathed a sigh of relief. "That night youvisited me, you must have known what the reason was?""Master Yu said that he had helped you once over someimportant matter. The Red Flower Society was short offunds and he went to ask you for three million taelsof silver. But you refused the request, and have evenhad me seized. If I ever get out of this, I willreveal how ungrateful you are."Qian Long laughed out loud. He glanced at Wen: hisanger did not appear to be a pretence. "If that is thecase, I had better have you killed," he said,half-believing him. "Otherwise, if I let you go, itcould damage my reputation.""Why didn't you kill me earlier? If you had, youwouldn't have had to harbour such evil schemes againstyour mother.""What about my mother?" Qian Long asked, turning pale.
　　"You understand.""So you know everything?""No, not everything. Master Yu said the EmpressDowager knew he had helped you and had asked you torepay him, but that you were still unwilling to partwith the silver. You have mountains of money. Threemillion taels should be nothing to you. But you insiston being petty."Qian Long laughed nervously. He pulled out ahandkerchief and wiped away the beads of sweat on hisbrow. He paced the room to steady himself, thensmiled. "You show no fear at all before the Emperor.
　　You are indeed a man of steel," he said.
　　"What have I to be afraid of? I doubt if you woulddare to kill me," said Wen.
　　"Wouldn't dare?""You want to kill me because you're afraid your secretwill be revealed but as soon as you kill me, yoursecret will be impossible to keep.""Can dead men talk?""As soon as I die, someone will open a certain letterand reveal the evidence to the world. Then you will bein a real predicament.""What letter?" Qian Long asked.
　　"Before we went to the palace to see you, Master Yuwrote down every detail of the affair and sealed thedocument in an envelope together with two importantpieces of evidence and left it with a friend.""Was he afraid that something untoward might happen?""Of course. How could he trust you? Master Yu told hisfriend that if we were both to die suddenly, he shouldopen the letter and do what it said, but if one of uswas still alive, not to open it under anycircumstances. Master Yu has already passed away, so Idon't think you'll dare to kill me."Qian Long wrung his hands, anxiety written all overhis face.
　　"Wouldn't it be worth spending three million taels ofsilver to buy that letter and the two pieces ofevidence?" Wen asked.
　　"The silver? I had always planned to hand it over andthen release you. Write a letter to your friendtelling him to bring the letter to me and I willimmediately pay up the money.""Ha, ha. Once I tell you his name, you can send yourbodyguards to kill or capture him. Actually, I'm verycomfortable here. I would be happy to stay the rest ofmy life. You and I have the same fate. If I die first,you won't live much longer."Qian Long bit his lip. "If you won't write the letter,it is of no importance," he said after a pause. "Iwill give you two days. If you persist in beingstubborn, I will have no alternative but to kill you.
　　No-one else will know about it and your friend willthink you're still alive. And even if I don't killyou, I can still have your eyes gouged out, yourtongue removed, your arms cut off...Think about itover the next two days."He pushed open the door and walked out. His bodyguardsre-assembled around him, and Commander Li saw him outof the Yamen.
　　Wen was carried back to the dungeon by the Commander'spersonal guards with Zhang Zhaozhong providing anescort. Once in the cell, one of the guards handedZhang a letter.
　　"Commander Li asked me to give you this," he said.
　　Zhang opened and read the letter, then left.
　　Wen lay on the bed thinking about his wife andfriends. He hoped none of them would be harmed if theyshould attempt a rescue.
　　Just then, the iron door to his cell opened with aclang and a man walked in. Wen thought it was Zhangreturning and did not open his eyes.
　　The man walked over to the bed. "Fourth Brother," hesaid quietly.
　　Wen was stunned. He looked up and saw it was Chen.
　　"Great Helmsman!" he exclaimed, sitting up.
　　Chen smiled and nodded. He pulled two steel files fromhis pocket, and began filing at Wen's manacles. Aftera few strong strokes, a series of light scratchesappeared on the surface, but the file was ruined. Themanacles were made of a specially-cast steel broughtfrom the West, and an ordinary file was uselessagainst it.
　　"Great Helmsman, only the finest of swords could breakthrough these chains and manacles," said Wen.
　　Chen remembered the battle with Zhang Zhaozhong at theYellow River crossing and how sharp Zhang's 'FrozenEmerald' sword had been.
　　"Does Zhang guard you night and day?" he askedquickly.
　　"He's never more than a step from me. He only left ashort while ago.""Good. We'll wait for him to return and steal hissword." Chen threw the files under the bed.
　　"It's possible I won't be able to get out of here,"Wen said. "The Emperor wants to silence me becausehe's afraid I will reveal his secret. I had bettertell you what it is, Great Helmsman, so that no matterif I live or die, there will be no delay."Chen nodded.
　　"The night I went to the Imperial Palace with MasterYu, Qian Long was very surprised to see us. Master Yusaid: 'A lady from the Chen family in Haining asked meto come,' and handed him a letter. The Emperor's facewent pale as he read it, and he told me to waitoutside. The two of them then talked for about twohours before Master Yu finally came out. On the wayback, he told me the Emperor was not a Manchu at all,but a Chinese and also your elder brother."Chen started in shock. "That's impossible," he saidfirmly. "My brother is in Haining.""Master Yu said that on the day the Emperor YongZheng's wife gave birth to a girl, your mother bycoincidence also gave birth to a boy. Yong Zhengordered the Chen family's child to be brought for himto look at, and when it was returned, it had become agirl. The boy is now the Emperor Qian Long..."Before he could finish, they heard the sound offootsteps in the corridor and a guard came in.
　　"What is it?" asked Chen.
　　"Master Zhang is returning. Commander Li is unable todetain him further and asks you to leave quickly.""Thank you," Chen replied. His left hand shot out andtouched a Yuedao point on the guard's body. The guardtoppled to the floor without a sound, and Chen pushedhim under the bed.
　　"With Zhang on his way, I don't have time to give youall the details," Wen continued. "Master Yu knew theEmperor was Chinese and went to urge him to overthrowthe Manchus and restore China to the Chinese whileremaining as Emperor himself. Qian Long appeared movedby the appeal, and asked Master Yu to bring evidencebefore making a decision. But as soon as Master Yureturned home, he fell ill and never recovered. Hislast wish was that you should be the Great Helmsman,and he said to me that this was a good opportunity forus to restore the honour of the Chinese people. TheEmperor is your elder brother. If he is unwilling tooverthrow the Manchus, then everyone will support youto take his place."His words left Chen too stunned to speak. He thoughtback to when he had first seen Qian Long by the lakeand afterwards crying before the tomb of his parents.
　　Could it really be that the Emperor was born of hisown mother and father?
　　"I understand your mother wrote down the full detailsof how the Emperor Yong Zheng swapped the girl foryour brother in a letter which Master Yu gave alongwith several other pieces of evidence to your teacher,Master Yuan, to look after.""Ah, so when the Twin Knights went to see my teacherthis summer, they were carrying these things to him onMaster Yu's orders?""That's right. It was so secret that not even youcould be told. All that Master Yuan knows is that theyare extremely important, but he does not know whatthey are. Just before Master Yu passed away, he saidthat after you became Great Helmsman, you should openthe letter and make your plans accordingly. But Istupidly allowed myself to be captured and risked thewhole enterprise. Great Helmsman, if you can't get meout today, you must go to the Muslim regions asquickly as possible to see your teacher. You must notendanger the great cause of restoration just for mysake."Wen was clearly relieved to have completed what he hadto say.
　　He was about to add something when footsteps soundedin the corridor again. He signalled quickly with hishand, and Chen hid under the bed. Wen then drapedhimself over the side of bed with his head resting onthe floor.
　　Zhang entered the cell, and under the faint light ofthe room's single candle, saw Wen lying half on thefloor as if dead. Shocked, he leapt forward andtouched Wen's back, but there was no reaction. Hestarted to lift Wen's body back onto the bed, but ashe did so, Wen leapt up and attacked him. Zhang fellback in surprise, felt a sudden numbness in his lowerabdomen, and knew he had been hit by someone waitingin ambush under the bed. He roared angrily,sidestepped two paces and suppressed his breathing tocontrol the numbness. Chen, who was startled to seeZhang still standing, leapt out from beneath the bedand struck his face with his fists seven or eighttimes.
　　If he responded, Zhang knew his control would be lostand the paralysis in his abdomen would spread. Heretreated as Chen's foot flew up and struck anotheryuedao point. This time, he could not sustain hiscontrol. His whole body went limp and he fell to theground.
　　Chen searched him and was extremely disappointed tofind he did not have the Frozen Emerald sword withhim. He pulled a piece of paper out of Zhang's pocketand saw under the candlelight that it was a note fromCommander Li asking Zhang to show his sword to animportant official who was waiting to see it:this musthave been the excuse Li had used to draw Zhang away.
　　He guessed that Zhang had been anxious to get back tothe dungeon to resume his guard duties and had leftearly without the sword.
　　Chen continued his search of Zhang's body, andsuddenly leapt up jubilantly.
　　"What is it?" Wen asked. Chen held his hand up anddisplayed a set of keys. He tried one on the manaclesand they opened immediately.
　　Finally freed, Wen exercised his arms and legs as Chentook off his cape and hat.
　　"Put these on and get out quickly," he said.
　　"What about you?""I'll wait here for a while. You get out."Wen understood his meaning. "Great Helmsman, I am verygrateful for your good intentions, but we cannot do itthat way.""Fourth Brother, you don't understand. I am in nodanger if I stay here." He told Wen about how theEmperor and he had sworn an oath to each other.
　　"It is still impossible,," Wen said.
　　Chen frowned. "I am the Great Helmsman. All members ofthe Red Flower Society must follow my orders, is thatnot correct?""Of course.""Fine. Then this my order. Put these on quickly andget out. The brothers are outside waiting for you.""This time I am forced to disobey your order," Wensaid. "I would prefer to accept whatever penalty youdecide upon."They were deadlocked. Chen pursed his lips and thenhad an idea.
　　"Well, we'll have to risk going out together then. Puton his clothes," he said pointing at Zhang.
　　"Excellent! Why didn't you say so earlier?" Wenexclaimed.
　　The two stripped Zhang of his clothes and exchangedthem for Wen's, then locked the chains and manaclesonto him. Zhang shook with rage, his eyes blood-redwith hate, but he was unable to utter a sound.
　　The two walked quietly through the door and along thecorridor. As they ascended a flight of stone steps, abright light assailed their eyes and they saw thewhole courtyard was filled with torches. Several dozensoldiers stood with shining spear tips pointed at thedungeon entrance. Behind them were several hundredarchers with bows drawn. Commander Li stood with hisright hand held high. Once it dropped, the spears andarrows would be loosed, and Chen and Wen would bedead.
　　Chen stepped back a pace. "How are your wounds?" hewhispered to Wen. "Can you charge through?""No, my leg is not up to it," Wen replied with arueful smile. "You go by yourself, Great Helmsman,don't worry about me.""All right, pretend you're Zhang and we'll see how wedo," Chen replied.
　　Wen pulled his cap down to his eyebrows and strodeout. Commander Li's heart sank at the sight of Zhangand Chen together and he assumed that Zhang hadarrested him. He turned to his daughter Yuanzhi.
　　"Give Zhang's sword back to him and distract him sothat Chen can get away," he said.
　　Yuanzhi walked over with the 'Frozen Emerald' sword inher hand and held it out to Wen, positioning herselfbetween the two men.
　　"Uncle Zhang, here is your sword," she said, givingChen a slight nudge with her elbow. Wen grunted andmoved to accept the sword, and suddenly under thetorch light she recognized him.
　　"Wen Tailai! So you're trying to escape," she criedand thrust the sword at his chest.
　　Wen feinted to one side and caught the blade with hisfingers while his right hand struck out at the SolarYuedao points on her forehead. Frightened, Yuanzhitried to retreat a step, but found that with hisfingers still holding the sword, she was unable tomove an inch. She let go of the sword and tried toslip away, but Wen struck her left shoulder and abone-splitting pain surged through her. She cried outand squatted down. Looking back, Chen saw Wen wassurrounded but he continued to fight fiercely.
　　"Stop or the archers will shoot," Commander Li roared.
　　The old wounds on Wen's thigh burst open with thesudden effort and blood poured out. He knew he did nothave the strength to break out of the circle ofsoldiers.
　　"Great Helmsman, catch the sword and get out!" heshouted. He tried to throw the Frozen Emerald Sword,but with a sudden pain in his shoulder, his hand wentlimp and the sword fell to the ground only a few feetfrom him. He had been hit by an arrow.
　　Chen turned to Commander Li. "Stop shooting!" heshouted. Li waved his hand and the archers stopped.
　　"Get a doctor quickly to deal with Master Wen'swounds. I'm going," Chen said, and raced out of theYamen. Following Li's orders, the guards pretended togive chase, without really obstructing him.
　　Once out of the Yamen, 'Leopard' Wei and Luo Bing cameup to meet him. Chen smiled bitterly and shook hishead. The eastern sky was already pale as with heavyhearts the heroes returned home.
Chapter 26
They gathered later in the Great Hall to discuss thesituation.
　　Chen said to Wei: "Ninth Brother, send the vase toCommander Li. We cannot betray our word." Wei bowedand left.
　　Master Ma's son entered the hall and walked over toChen. "Great Helmsman, Zhang Zhaozhong has sent aletter to you," He said.
　　"Zhang? That is strange. I wonder what he has to say?"He opened the letter and found it angrily accused himof deception and plotting, of behaviour unbefitting anhonourable man, and challenged him to a duel at a timeand place of his choice. "He wants to get revenge forlast night," Chen told the others. "Huh, a duel! Doeshe think I'm scared?""We have to rescue Fourth Brother in the next twodays," said Xu. "Why don't you ask Zhang to postponethe meeting for a few days? We should not allow thismatter to interfere with our real purpose.""That is true," said Chen. "Today is the twentieth, soI will set the meeting for noon on the twenty-third."He immediately wrote a letter inviting Zhang to meethim alone on that day and ordered an attendant to takeit to the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen.
　　An attendant entered and said to Master Ma: "Master,the old man Wang Weiyang still refuses to eat and doesnothing but curse.""Who does he curse?" Ma asked.
　　"The Imperial Bodyguard for their lack of sense. Hesays he doesn't understand why they have imprisonedhim.""The North China Earth-Shaker," Priest Wu Chenchuckled. "As soon as he comes down to the south, hehas to put up with some hardship."Xu's face suddenly brightened. "I have a plan thatshould make it easier for you to deal with Zhang,Great Helmsman," he said. He told them the plan andthey all clapped and laughed in delight.
　　"Excellent, very cunning," said Priest Wu Chen. ZhouQi smiled and shook her head.
　　"Mistress Zhou once again thinks that Seventh Brotheris not being straightforward enough," Chen said with asmile. "But when dealing with dishonourable men, onedoes not have to be completely honourable. BrotherMeng, go and have a talk with the North ChinaEarth-Shaker."In forty years, Wang Weiyang had never suffered asetback. Now, on his first trip to the south, he wasin dire straights. He yelled and shouted, insistingthat he should be allowed to see the Imperial GuardCommander to settle the matter. As he ranted, the doorto his cell opened and Meng walked in wearing theuniform of an Imperial Guard officer.
　　"So you are the North China Earth-Shaker?" he saidunceremoniously.
　　Wang raged inwardly. "Yes," he said. "It is a nicknamegiven to me by my friends. If Commander Fu finds itunpleasing, I will change it immediately.""Commander Fu is a confidante of the Emperor," saidMeng coldly. "He has no interest in such things.""I am escorting a quantity of precious articles toHangzhou for the court. Why are you detaining mehere?""Do you really want to know?""Of course!""I am just afraid that at you age, you may not be ableto stand the shock."Wang hated references to his age more than anything.
　　In a rage, he struck the corner of the table with hisfist and splinters flew.
　　"I may be old, but my heart is still strong," heshouted. "What shock have I to be afraid of?"Meng laughed. "Your're truly remarkable, Master Wang.
　　There is a saying in the fighting community. 'Meetingthe Devil is preferable to meeting old Wang, bumpinginto a spear is preferable to bumping into ZhangZhaozhong', isn't that right?""That's the reputation I have amongst bandits.""Why does 'old Wang' come before 'Zhang'? Could it bethat old Wang's kung fu is better than Zhang's?"Wang stood up. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "So the Fire HandJudge wants to test me. I'm getting too slow in my oldage. I never thought of that.""Master Zhang is my superior, did you know that?""I knew that Master Zhang was in the Imperial Guard.""Would you recognize him?" asked Meng.
　　"We both live in Beijing, But he is an official and Iam an ordinary citizen. I have heard much about him,but have never had the good fortune to meet him.""Master Zhang has also heard much about you," saidMeng. "He says there are three matters he wants toraise with you. If you agree to them, you will beallowed to leave immediately.""Well?""Firstly, he wants you to abandon the nickname 'NorthChina Earth-Shaker.""Huh! What's the second thing?""Please close down the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency.""My Bodyguard Agency has been operating for more thanthirty years," Wang protested angrily. "Never have Isuffered a loss at the hands of our friends in thefighting community, yet Master Zhang wants me toretire! And the third thing?""The third thing is to ask you to issue a proclamationasking members of the fighting community to reversethe order of the saying about you and Master Zhang.
　　Master Zhang also says that as you are now getting onin age, your Eight Diagrams sword is probably nolonger of much use to you, and suggests that youdonate it to the Imperial Guard."Wang's anger surged. "Zhang Zhaozhong and I havenothing against one another. He's carrying this toofar!" he shouted.
　　"You have enjoyed a great name for forty years.
　　Perhaps you ought to retire. As the saying goes, onemountain cannot contain two tigers. Surely youunderstand the sense of that?""So he wishes to humiliate me to promote his own name.
　　Huh! And what if I don't agree. Will he continue tohold me here?""Master Zhang is an honourable man. He would not dosuch a thing," said Meng. "He invites you to duel withhim at noon today on Lion Peak. If you win, the threeconditions will not be mentioned again. If you lose,then he asks you to agree to all three. He says itwould be rather inconvenient if the Emperor found outabout this, and asks you to go alone. That is, if youdare."Wang spluttered with rage. "Even if I was to diethere, I would still go alone.""Then please write out a letter and I will take itback to Master Zhang," said Meng. He pulled out somepaper and a writing brush.
　　Wang, his hand shaking in anger, wrote out a shortnote:
　　"To His Excellency Master Zhang Zhaozhong. Your wordsand behaviour have gone too far. I will meet you todayat noon on Lion Peak. If I lose, I will be at yourdisposal. Wang Weiyang."Meng smiled, picked up the letter and walked out,closing the door of the cell behind him.
　　That morning, Master Han, the original owner of thewhite horse, was moved from one cell to another.
　　Having fallen into the hands of Red Flower Societyonce again, he was afraid he would not be able toescape so easily again. As he morosely considered hisdilemma, he heard someone shouting in the cell next tohis, and recognized the voice of Wang Weiyang. Hecould hear he was cursing Zhang Zhaozhong. Greatlycurious, he was just about to call out to Wang whenthe door opened and two men walked in.
　　"Please come with us to the Great Hall for a chat,Master Han," one of them said.
　　As they entered the hall, Han saw three men sitting onthe left. In the middle was the Red Flower Society'sGreat Helmsman Chen, while on either side of him sat adwarf and a man with a flowing white beard. Han bowedsilently and sat down.
　　"Brother Han, I never thought that we would meet againhere," said Chen. "Our fates seem to be tied."Han hesitated for a moment. "I know I agreed to giveup my sword and return home," he said finally. "ButMaster Wang insisted that I do this job. Out offeelings of friendship and because I knew thevaluables belonged to your family, I...""Brother Han," Xu interrupted harshly. "We of thefighting community are very particular about twothings: trust and honour. By your own word, you haveproved to be untrustworthy. How do you think youshould be dealt with?"Han steeled himself. "What is there to say? If you'regoing to kill me then kill me.""There's no need to talk like that," Chen said.
　　"Master Wang has been grossly insulted by ZhangZhaozhong, and says that no matter what, he must fightit out with him. We of the fighting community are veryannoyed over this affair. What is your relationshipwith Zhang Zhaozhong?""I've met him a few times in Beijing, but we are fromtwo different worlds. You couldn't say we had anyrelationship.""As I thought. Have a look at this letter," said Chen,and handed him the note Wang had written.
　　Han knew that Wang always showed the greatest respectfor officialdom. But if Zhang really had been thatinsulting, he would have been unable to swallow it.
　　Having himself heard Wang cursing and now seeing theletter, there was no room for doubt.
　　"I would like to see Master Wang and discuss thesituation with him," he said.
　　"There is not enough time," Chen replied. "I wouldlike you to take this letter to Zhang now and you cansee Master Wang when you return. Twelfth Brother,please come here," he called. 'Melancholy Ghost' Shiemerged from an inner chamber and Chen introduced himto Han. "Brother Shi will accompany you to see ZhangZhaozhong. You are unaware of how Zhang has causedMaster Wang to lose face, but there is no time to giveyou the details now. When you see Zhang, you can saythat Brother Shi here is a lead escort with thebodyguard agency. Do exactly as he says."Han's suspicions rose again and he hesitated oncemore.
　　"Do you have any doubts, Brother Han?""No, no," he answered hastily.
　　Xu knew that Han suspected. "Please wait a moment," hesaid. He left the hall for a moment, returning with aflask of wine and a wine cup into which he poured somewine.
　　"I was too abrupt in what I said just now," he said,offering the cup to Han. "Please accept this as atoken of my apology. Let there be no hard feelings.""Well said!" Han replied. He drained the cup, pickedup the letter and walked towards the door.
　　"Oh no!" Xu suddenly exclaimed. "Brother Han, I'vemade a mistake. That cup of wine had poison in it!"Han went pale, and he turned back towards them.
　　"I am truly sorry," said Xu. "That flask was poisonedfor use whenever needed and one of the servants gaveit to me by mistake. I didn't realize it until I smeltit. You've already drunk a cupful. Brother Han, ohdear, oh dear. Get the antidote quickly," he added toan attendant.
　　"The antidote is in the east city residence," theattendant replied.
　　"You fool. Ride over there and get it!" Xu shouted athim. The attendant bowed and left.
　　"I have been neglectful," Xu said apologetically toHan. "Please deliver the letter first. If you doexactly as Brother Shi says, you can take the antidotewhen you get back, and everything will be fine."Han knew he either did as the Red Flower Societyordered or he was a dead man. He gave Xu a look ofhatred, then turned and walked out without a word. Shifollowed him.
　　Lord Zhou frowned as the two left. "Han doesn't appearto me to be all that evil," he said. "Poisoning himlike that was not a very honourable thing to do.""But there was no poison in the wine," Xu replied.
　　"No poison?""None." Xu poured himself a cup and drank it down.
　　"I was afraid he might mess up our plan in front ofZhang, so I scared him a little. When he comes back,he can drink another cup and it will all be over."The others laughed.
　　Zhang was sitting beside Wen Tailai keeping watch whenthe cell door opened and a guard came in with avisiting card inscribed with the words: 'North ChinaEarth-Shaker Wang Weiyang.'
　　"Go and tell him that I cannot see visitors," he said.
　　The guard left, but returned a moment later to say:
　　"The visitors won't leave. They have a letter foryou."Zhang read the letter, and was both angered andperplexed by it. He had never had any disputes withWang and wondered why the old man should challenge himto a kung fu duel.
　　"Tell Commander Li that I have to see a visitor andask him to send someone to stand watch in my place,"he said to the guard.
　　Four bodyguards arrived to replace him, and Zhang wentto the reception hall. He recognized Lead Escort Hanand saluted him with his fists.
　　"Isn't Master Wang here?" he asked.
　　"This is Lead Escort Shi of our bodyguard agency," Hanreplied, pointing to his companion. "There are anumber of things Master Wang wants him to say to you."Zhang threw Wang's letter onto the table. "I haverespected Wang from afar for a long time, but I havenever had any dealings with him whatsoever," he said.
　　"How can he say that my words and behaviour have gonetoo far? There appears to be some misunderstandinghere.""Master Wang is a leading member of the fightingcommunity," said Shi coldly. "When the communityproduces scum, he considers it to be his businessregardless of whether there is a direct connection."Zhang stood up, absolutely furious. "So Wang Weiyangsays I am scum, does he?"Shi said nothing in silent confirmation.
　　"Please enlighten me as to just how I have dishonouredthe fighting community," demanded Zhang.
　　"Members of the fighting community abhor disrespectfor superiors above all else," Shi replied. "You,Master Zhang, are a senior member of the WudangSchool. It is said that you have not only turnedhostile towards your own martial brothers, but havealso attempted to arrest one of them for the Manchucourt. Is this true?""The affairs of my martial brothers and I are of noconcern to anyone else," Zhang said angrily.
　　"Secondly, there is no personal emnity betweenyourself and the Red Flower Society and yet purely forthe purpose of your own career and enrichment, youseized Master Wen Tailai, and caused the death of theyoung son of Lord Zhou of Iron Gall Manor. Is yourmind at ease over such things?""I am employed by the Emperor and I am loyal to him.
　　What has that got to do with the Zhen Yuan BodyguardAgency?""Did you not work to implicate the Zhen Yuan BodyguardAgency in your schemes, as a result of which many ofour men were killed and wounded?" said Shi.
　　"You really did do wrong there, Master Zhang," Hanadded. "You can't blame Master Wang for being angry.""We will ignore other examples for the moment," Shicontinued coldly. "How do you think these threequestions should be handled?" He rolled up his eyesand struck an expression of dignified authority.
　　Zhang was incensed at being treated like a criminal inthe dock. "All right, you," he shouted, stridingforward. "You're obviously looking for trouble!"Shi retreated a pace. "What's this?" he asked. "Youwant to take me on because you don't dare to acceptthe North China Earth-Shaker's challenge, is that it?""Who says I don't dare?" Zhang roared. "I will bethere on Lion Peak at noon today.""If you decide not to go, then never again consideryourself to be a member of the fighting community,"Shi said. "Master Wang says that if you have any gutsat all, you will go alone. There will be no one elsefrom the Bodyguard Agency there.""Why should I need help? Do you think I am afraid ofthis egotistical, stupid old man?""Master Wang is not a great orator," Shi continued,ignoring Zhang's comment. "When you meet him, theissue will be decided by kung fu alone. If you want tocurse and swear, please feel free to do so now."Zhang was speechless with rage.
　　Shi laughed coldly, then turned on his heel and leftwith Han following.
　　While the two had argued, Han's mind had been on thepoison he had taken, and wished that Shi would hurryup and finish so that he could get back and take theantidote.
　　"We agreed to meet at noon," Shi reported on theirreturn to the mansion at Solitary Peak.
　　Han collapsed on a chair with what appeared to bestomach cramps. Xu poured out a cup of wine and handedit to him.
　　"This is the antidote. Drink it up, Brother Han."Han quickly stretched out his hand to take it, butLord Zhou snatched the cup away first and drank itdown at one draught. Han stared at him an amazement.
　　"We have joked with you enough, Master Han," Zhou saidwith a smile. "You didn't take any poison at all. Hewas just playing with you. Master Xu, come andapologise."Xu walked over, grinning and bowed. "Please forgiveme, Brother Han," he said.
　　Meng went in once more to see Wang Weiyang. "MasterZhang has agreed," he said. "You can go now. And bythe way, he does not like naggers, so if you haveanything to say, say it now. When you get to LionPeak, the matter will be decided with fists andblades. If you try talking to him even to beg formercy, I doubt if he will listen to you. If you areafraid, there is still time to pull out.""I am prepared to die today if need be," Wang shouted,huffily stroking his beard. He stood up and strodeout. Meng motioned with his hands to an attendant whohanded Wang his sword and a bag of projectiles.
　　Han was standing by the door. "Please be carefulMaster Wang," he said.
　　"You know about this too?"Han nodded. "I have seen Zhang.""What did he call me?""It was demeaning. You would not wish to hear it.""Speak," ordered Wang.
　　"He called you ... an egotistical, stupid old man."Wang grunted. "We shall see whether or not I amegotistical.
　　They gathered later in the Great Hall to discuss thesituation.
　　Chen said to Wei: "Ninth Brother, send the vase toCommander Li. We cannot betray our word." Wei bowedand left.
　　Master Ma's son entered the hall and walked over toChen. "Great Helmsman, Zhang Zhaozhong has sent aletter to you," He said.
　　"Zhang? That is strange. I wonder what he has to say?"He opened the letter and found it angrily accused himof deception and plotting, of behaviour unbefitting anhonourable man, and challenged him to a duel at a timeand place of his choice. "He wants to get revenge forlast night," Chen told the others. "Huh, a duel! Doeshe think I'm scared?""We have to rescue Fourth Brother in the next twodays," said Xu. "Why don't you ask Zhang to postponethe meeting for a few days? We should not allow thismatter to interfere with our real purpose.""That is true," said Chen. "Today is the twentieth, soI will set the meeting for noon on the twenty-third."He immediately wrote a letter inviting Zhang to meethim alone on that day and ordered an attendant to takeit to the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen.
　　An attendant entered and said to Master Ma: "Master,the old man Wang Weiyang still refuses to eat and doesnothing but curse.""Who does he curse?" Ma asked.
　　"The Imperial Bodyguard for their lack of sense. Hesays he doesn't understand why they have imprisonedhim.""The North China Earth-Shaker," Priest Wu Chenchuckled. "As soon as he comes down to the south, hehas to put up with some hardship."Xu's face suddenly brightened. "I have a plan thatshould make it easier for you to deal with Zhang,Great Helmsman," he said. He told them the plan andthey all clapped and laughed in delight.
　　"Excellent, very cunning," said Priest Wu Chen. ZhouQi smiled and shook her head.
　　"Mistress Zhou once again thinks that Seventh Brotheris not being straightforward enough," Chen said with asmile. "But when dealing with dishonourable men, onedoes not have to be completely honourable. BrotherMeng, go and have a talk with the North ChinaEarth-Shaker."In forty years, Wang Weiyang had never suffered asetback. Now, on his first trip to the south, he wasin dire straights. He yelled and shouted, insistingthat he should be allowed to see the Imperial GuardCommander to settle the matter. As he ranted, the doorto his cell opened and Meng walked in wearing theuniform of an Imperial Guard officer.
　　"So you are the North China Earth-Shaker?" he saidunceremoniously.
　　Wang raged inwardly. "Yes," he said. "It is a nicknamegiven to me by my friends. If Commander Fu finds itunpleasing, I will change it immediately.""Commander Fu is a confidante of the Emperor," saidMeng coldly. "He has no interest in such things.""I am escorting a quantity of precious articles toHangzhou for the court. Why are you detaining mehere?""Do you really want to know?""Of course!""I am just afraid that at you age, you may not be ableto stand the shock."Wang hated references to his age more than anything.
　　In a rage, he struck the corner of the table with hisfist and splinters flew.
　　"I may be old, but my heart is still strong," heshouted. "What shock have I to be afraid of?"Meng laughed. "Your're truly remarkable, Master Wang.
　　There is a saying in the fighting community. 'Meetingthe Devil is preferable to meeting old Wang, bumpinginto a spear is preferable to bumping into ZhangZhaozhong', isn't that right?""That's the reputation I have amongst bandits.""Why does 'old Wang' come before 'Zhang'? Could it bethat old Wang's kung fu is better than Zhang's?"Wang stood up. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "So the Fire HandJudge wants to test me. I'm getting too slow in my oldage. I never thought of that.""Master Zhang is my superior, did you know that?""I knew that Master Zhang was in the Imperial Guard.""Would you recognize him?" asked Meng.
　　"We both live in Beijing, But he is an official and Iam an ordinary citizen. I have heard much about him,but have never had the good fortune to meet him.""Master Zhang has also heard much about you," saidMeng. "He says there are three matters he wants toraise with you. If you agree to them, you will beallowed to leave immediately.""Well?""Firstly, he wants you to abandon the nickname 'NorthChina Earth-Shaker.""Huh! What's the second thing?""Please close down the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency.""My Bodyguard Agency has been operating for more thanthirty years," Wang protested angrily. "Never have Isuffered a loss at the hands of our friends in thefighting community, yet Master Zhang wants me toretire! And the third thing?""The third thing is to ask you to issue a proclamationasking members of the fighting community to reversethe order of the saying about you and Master Zhang.
　　Master Zhang also says that as you are now getting onin age, your Eight Diagrams sword is probably nolonger of much use to you, and suggests that youdonate it to the Imperial Guard."Wang's anger surged. "Zhang Zhaozhong and I havenothing against one another. He's carrying this toofar!" he shouted.
　　"You have enjoyed a great name for forty years.
　　Perhaps you ought to retire. As the saying goes, onemountain cannot contain two tigers. Surely youunderstand the sense of that?""So he wishes to humiliate me to promote his own name.
　　Huh! And what if I don't agree. Will he continue tohold me here?""Master Zhang is an honourable man. He would not dosuch a thing," said Meng. "He invites you to duel withhim at noon today on Lion Peak. If you win, the threeconditions will not be mentioned again. If you lose,then he asks you to agree to all three. He says itwould be rather inconvenient if the Emperor found outabout this, and asks you to go alone. That is, if youdare."Wang spluttered with rage. "Even if I was to diethere, I would still go alone.""Then please write out a letter and I will take itback to Master Zhang," said Meng. He pulled out somepaper and a writing brush.
　　Wang, his hand shaking in anger, wrote out a shortnote:
　　"To His Excellency Master Zhang Zhaozhong. Your wordsand behaviour have gone too far. I will meet you todayat noon on Lion Peak. If I lose, I will be at yourdisposal. Wang Weiyang."Meng smiled, picked up the letter and walked out,closing the door of the cell behind him.
　　That morning, Master Han, the original owner of thewhite horse, was moved from one cell to another.
　　Having fallen into the hands of Red Flower Societyonce again, he was afraid he would not be able toescape so easily again. As he morosely considered hisdilemma, he heard someone shouting in the cell next tohis, and recognized the voice of Wang Weiyang. Hecould hear he was cursing Zhang Zhaozhong. Greatlycurious, he was just about to call out to Wang whenthe door opened and two men walked in.
　　"Please come with us to the Great Hall for a chat,Master Han," one of them said.
　　As they entered the hall, Han saw three men sitting onthe left. In the middle was the Red Flower Society'sGreat Helmsman Chen, while on either side of him sat adwarf and a man with a flowing white beard. Han bowedsilently and sat down.
　　"Brother Han, I never thought that we would meet againhere," said Chen. "Our fates seem to be tied."Han hesitated for a moment. "I know I agreed to giveup my sword and return home," he said finally. "ButMaster Wang insisted that I do this job. Out offeelings of friendship and because I knew thevaluables belonged to your family, I...""Brother Han," Xu interrupted harshly. "We of thefighting community are very particular about twothings: trust and honour. By your own word, you haveproved to be untrustworthy. How do you think youshould be dealt with?"Han steeled himself. "What is there to say? If you'regoing to kill me then kill me.""There's no need to talk like that," Chen said.
　　"Master Wang has been grossly insulted by ZhangZhaozhong, and says that no matter what, he must fightit out with him. We of the fighting community are veryannoyed over this affair. What is your relationshipwith Zhang Zhaozhong?""I've met him a few times in Beijing, but we are fromtwo different worlds. You couldn't say we had anyrelationship.""As I thought. Have a look at this letter," said Chen,and handed him the note Wang had written.
　　Han knew that Wang always showed the greatest respectfor officialdom. But if Zhang really had been thatinsulting, he would have been unable to swallow it.
　　Having himself heard Wang cursing and now seeing theletter, there was no room for doubt.
　　"I would like to see Master Wang and discuss thesituation with him," he said.
　　"There is not enough time," Chen replied. "I wouldlike you to take this letter to Zhang now and you cansee Master Wang when you return. Twelfth Brother,please come here," he called. 'Melancholy Ghost' Shiemerged from an inner chamber and Chen introduced himto Han. "Brother Shi will accompany you to see ZhangZhaozhong. You are unaware of how Zhang has causedMaster Wang to lose face, but there is no time to giveyou the details now. When you see Zhang, you can saythat Brother Shi here is a lead escort with thebodyguard agency. Do exactly as he says."Han's suspicions rose again and he hesitated oncemore.
　　"Do you have any doubts, Brother Han?""No, no," he answered hastily.
　　Xu knew that Han suspected. "Please wait a moment," hesaid. He left the hall for a moment, returning with aflask of wine and a wine cup into which he poured somewine.
　　"I was too abrupt in what I said just now," he said,offering the cup to Han. "Please accept this as atoken of my apology. Let there be no hard feelings.""Well said!" Han replied. He drained the cup, pickedup the letter and walked towards the door.
　　"Oh no!" Xu suddenly exclaimed. "Brother Han, I'vemade a mistake. That cup of wine had poison in it!"Han went pale, and he turned back towards them.
　　"I am truly sorry," said Xu. "That flask was poisonedfor use whenever needed and one of the servants gaveit to me by mistake. I didn't realize it until I smeltit. You've already drunk a cupful. Brother Han, ohdear, oh dear. Get the antidote quickly," he added toan attendant.
　　"The antidote is in the east city residence," theattendant replied.
　　"You fool. Ride over there and get it!" Xu shouted athim. The attendant bowed and left.
　　"I have been neglectful," Xu said apologetically toHan. "Please deliver the letter first. If you doexactly as Brother Shi says, you can take the antidotewhen you get back, and everything will be fine."Han knew he either did as the Red Flower Societyordered or he was a dead man. He gave Xu a look ofhatred, then turned and walked out without a word. Shifollowed him.
　　Lord Zhou frowned as the two left. "Han doesn't appearto me to be all that evil," he said. "Poisoning himlike that was not a very honourable thing to do.""But there was no poison in the wine," Xu replied.
　　"No poison?""None." Xu poured himself a cup and drank it down.
　　"I was afraid he might mess up our plan in front ofZhang, so I scared him a little. When he comes back,he can drink another cup and it will all be over."The others laughed.
　　Zhang was sitting beside Wen Tailai keeping watch whenthe cell door opened and a guard came in with avisiting card inscribed with the words: 'North ChinaEarth-Shaker Wang Weiyang.'
　　"Go and tell him that I cannot see visitors," he said.
　　The guard left, but returned a moment later to say:
　　"The visitors won't leave. They have a letter foryou."Zhang read the letter, and was both angered andperplexed by it. He had never had any disputes withWang and wondered why the old man should challenge himto a kung fu duel.
　　"Tell Commander Li that I have to see a visitor andask him to send someone to stand watch in my place,"he said to the guard.
　　Four bodyguards arrived to replace him, and Zhang wentto the reception hall. He recognized Lead Escort Hanand saluted him with his fists.
　　"Isn't Master Wang here?" he asked.
　　"This is Lead Escort Shi of our bodyguard agency," Hanreplied, pointing to his companion. "There are anumber of things Master Wang wants him to say to you."Zhang threw Wang's letter onto the table. "I haverespected Wang from afar for a long time, but I havenever had any dealings with him whatsoever," he said.
　　"How can he say that my words and behaviour have gonetoo far? There appears to be some misunderstandinghere.""Master Wang is a leading member of the fightingcommunity," said Shi coldly. "When the communityproduces scum, he considers it to be his businessregardless of whether there is a direct connection."Zhang stood up, absolutely furious. "So Wang Weiyangsays I am scum, does he?"Shi said nothing in silent confirmation.
　　"Please enlighten me as to just how I have dishonouredthe fighting community," demanded Zhang.
　　"Members of the fighting community abhor disrespectfor superiors above all else," Shi replied. "You,Master Zhang, are a senior member of the WudangSchool. It is said that you have not only turnedhostile towards your own martial brothers, but havealso attempted to arrest one of them for the Manchucourt. Is this true?""The affairs of my martial brothers and I are of noconcern to anyone else," Zhang said angrily.
　　"Secondly, there is no personal emnity betweenyourself and the Red Flower Society and yet purely forthe purpose of your own career and enrichment, youseized Master Wen Tailai, and caused the death of theyoung son of Lord Zhou of Iron Gall Manor. Is yourmind at ease over such things?""I am employed by the Emperor and I am loyal to him.
　　What has that got to do with the Zhen Yuan BodyguardAgency?""Did you not work to implicate the Zhen Yuan BodyguardAgency in your schemes, as a result of which many ofour men were killed and wounded?" said Shi.
　　"You really did do wrong there, Master Zhang," Hanadded. "You can't blame Master Wang for being angry.""We will ignore other examples for the moment," Shicontinued coldly. "How do you think these threequestions should be handled?" He rolled up his eyesand struck an expression of dignified authority.
　　Zhang was incensed at being treated like a criminal inthe dock. "All right, you," he shouted, stridingforward. "You're obviously looking for trouble!"Shi retreated a pace. "What's this?" he asked. "Youwant to take me on because you don't dare to acceptthe North China Earth-Shaker's challenge, is that it?""Who says I don't dare?" Zhang roared. "I will bethere on Lion Peak at noon today.""If you decide not to go, then never again consideryourself to be a member of the fighting community,"Shi said. "Master Wang says that if you have any gutsat all, you will go alone. There will be no one elsefrom the Bodyguard Agency there.""Why should I need help? Do you think I am afraid ofthis egotistical, stupid old man?""Master Wang is not a great orator," Shi continued,ignoring Zhang's comment. "When you meet him, theissue will be decided by kung fu alone. If you want tocurse and swear, please feel free to do so now."Zhang was speechless with rage.
　　Shi laughed coldly, then turned on his heel and leftwith Han following.
　　While the two had argued, Han's mind had been on thepoison he had taken, and wished that Shi would hurryup and finish so that he could get back and take theantidote.
　　"We agreed to meet at noon," Shi reported on theirreturn to the mansion at Solitary Peak.
　　Han collapsed on a chair with what appeared to bestomach cramps. Xu poured out a cup of wine and handedit to him.
　　"This is the antidote. Drink it up, Brother Han."Han quickly stretched out his hand to take it, butLord Zhou snatched the cup away first and drank itdown at one draught. Han stared at him an amazement.
　　"We have joked with you enough, Master Han," Zhou saidwith a smile. "You didn't take any poison at all. Hewas just playing with you. Master Xu, come andapologise."Xu walked over, grinning and bowed. "Please forgiveme, Brother Han," he said.
　　Meng went in once more to see Wang Weiyang. "MasterZhang has agreed," he said. "You can go now. And bythe way, he does not like naggers, so if you haveanything to say, say it now. When you get to LionPeak, the matter will be decided with fists andblades. If you try talking to him even to beg formercy, I doubt if he will listen to you. If you areafraid, there is still time to pull out.""I am prepared to die today if need be," Wang shouted,huffily stroking his beard. He stood up and strodeout. Meng motioned with his hands to an attendant whohanded Wang his sword and a bag of projectiles.
　　Han was standing by the door. "Please be carefulMaster Wang," he said.
　　"You know about this too?"Han nodded. "I have seen Zhang.""What did he call me?""It was demeaning. You would not wish to hear it.""Speak," ordered Wang.
　　"He called you ... an egotistical, stupid old man."Wang grunted. "We shall see whether or not I amegotistical. Brother Han, if anything should happen tome, please look after the agency and the affairs of myfamily for me." He hesitated. "And tell my two sonsnot to rush into taking revenge. Their kung fu isstill not good enough, and they would lose their livesto no good purpose."He then started out for Lion Peak and the duel.
　　Brother Han, if anything should happen tome, please look after the agency and the affairs of myfamily for me." He hesitated. "And tell my two sonsnot to rush into taking revenge. Their kung fu isstill not good enough, and they would lose their livesto no good purpose."He then started out for Lion Peak and the duel.
Chapter 27
The slopes of Lion Peak produce abundant quantities oftea, one of the most exquisite varieties of the leafunder heaven. The mountain itself is high andprecipitous, and few people go to the very top.
　　Wang Weiyang, his great sword slung across his back,clambered up the steep slope and emerged through thetea bushes onto an expanse of open ground on thesummit. He noticed walking towards him a tall, robustman wearing a short jacket. The man stared at him fora moment.
　　"Are you Wang Weiyang?" he asked.
　　"Yes. And you are the Fire Hand Judge, ZhangZhaozhong?""I am. Do you wish to fight bare-handed or withweapons?" Zhang was a very thorough man. He hadsearched about carefully during his climb up the peak,but had found no sign of anyone lying in ambush.
　　Wang was startled to see Zhang's mouth and nose wereswollen and with his right eye ringed in black,injuries caused by Chen the night before. "We have nogreat grudges against each other," thought Wang. "Whyrisk killing him with a sword-stroke? The consequencesof killing an official of his rank are unthinkable. Itwill be enough to humiliate him with my Eight DiagramKung Fu. I'll show him I'm not egotistical.""I would be honoured to pit myself against your famousLimitless Occult Kung Fu, Master Zhang," he said outloud.
　　"Fine," Zhang replied. He brought his fists togetherin salute and waited for the other to attack.
　　"If I may..." Wang said, and as he spoke, his leftfist shot out and his right hand sliced across towardsZhang's right shoulder. Then in a flash, his left fistflipped over and aimed for the right shoulder whilethe right hand went for the chest. Zhang retreatedthree paces and fended off the blows. The two circledaround, surprised at the extent of the other'sability.
　　"His moves are fast and powerful," Zhang thought.
　　"He's a strong adversary.""He avoided those blows of mine with ease," Wangthought. "Fire Hand Judge is no misnomer."Suddenly, Zhang stepped forward and swept his left legacross at Wang, who jumped clear off the ground toavoid it and countered with a fist aimed at Zhang'sface.
　　They were evenly matched and fought close and fast.
　　The sun was riding high and their two shadows dancedon the ground, merging and separating in a flash. Wangknew that at his age, a long battle would finish him.
　　So he quickly changed his style, and with one handprotecting his body and the other facing outwards, heraced round Zhang, his feet following the pattern ofthe Eight Diagrams.
　　The style dictated that he keep moving, circling roundZhang to the left and right, waiting for anopportunity to strike. It would make even a kung fumaster dizzy after a few circuits.
　　Zhang knew how ferocious this style was, and lunged athis opponent. But Wang had already circled round theother way. Suddenly he struck at Zhang with bothfists, one of which slammed into his shoulder. Zhangcaught hold of Wang's wrist and struck out at hiselbow in retaliation. With his free hand, Wang swungat Zhang's other shoulder and the two leapt apart.
　　Zhang had had the worst of the encounter. "Your kungfu is excellent," he shouted. "Let us duel withswords."He drew his Frozen Emerald sword, Wang also drew hissword and the two stood facing each other.
　　Zhang's mind was bent on recovering face, and hestruck out with a series of attacking sword strokes,fast and vicious. Wang could tell from the way thelight glinted on the Frozen Emerald sword that it wasa superb weapon, and knew that if the two swordsclashed, his own blade would come off the worst. So hedid not dare to directly parry the strokes.
　　They fought round and round. Wang began to sweat andhe secretly worked a number of darts into his palm andthen swapped his sword over to his left hand. Heslashed out with a left-handed stoke, andsimultaneously flung the darts at Zhang. Zhang managedto dodge both dangers, but he was becoming flusteredby the onslaught. He swept his sword across at Wang'swaist, and as the two swords clashed, Wang's bladesnapped cleanly in two.
　　Wang roared and hurled the remaining half at Zhang,and followed it with his remaining three darts. With acry, Zhang fell over backwards and the Frozen EmeraldSword dropped to the ground.
　　"Master Zhang, forgive me!" Wang cried out anxiously.
　　"I have some Golden Scar Ointment here."Zhang was silent. Wang feared he was dead, and killinga court official was no laughing matter so he rushedacross and bent down to examine Zhang.
　　As he did so, he saw flashes of gold before his eyes.
　　Cursing himself, he leant over backwards as fast as hecould, but too late. He felt stabs of pain in his leftchest and shoulder as the needles plunged home. Hegave another angry roar and jumped up ready to fightZhang to the death. But as he swung his sword, thepain in his chest and shoulder was so extreme that hefell back to the ground with a groan. Zhang laughedout loud. He pulled one of Wang's darts from hiswrist, ripped a strip of cloth off his jacket, boundthe wound then stood up.
　　"How could you attack me when I was coming to see ifyou were injured?" Wang demanded angrily. "What sortof man are you to do such a despicable thing? We'llsee if you have the effrontery to face the rest of thefighting community after today.""There's only the two of us here. Who else knows aboutit?" asked Zhang with a smile. "Having lived to such aripe old age, it's about time you went to meet yourforefathers."He picked up half of Wang's snapped sword and dug ahole in the ground, then heaved Wang to the edge ofit.
　　"So you're the North China Earth-Shaker," he said.
　　"I'll give you some earth to shake." He kicked Wanginto the hole and began to bury him alive.
　　As he worked, he heard a long, cold laugh fromsomewhere behind. He whirled round in fright and foundLead Escort Han standing there with an Iron Pipa inhis hand.
　　"So that's it!" Zhang shouted angrily. "The Zhen YuanBodyguard Agency arranges a one-to-one duel andsecretly sets up an ambush. Do you have no shame?""It is you that is shameless," Han replied pointing toWang.
　　"All right, you can demonstrate your Iron Pipa kung fufor me," Zhang said. He flew at Han using LightnessKung Fu and thrust his sword at him. Han retreated twosteps and a sword struck out at Zhang from amongst thebushes. Zhang parried the stroke, and saw theswordsman was the other lead escort who hadaccompanied Han to see him earlier.
　　"Come on, fight me together. It is of no consequenceto the Fire Hand Judge," he shouted.
　　Just as he was about to strike, he heard a noisebehind and turned to see eight or nine men walkingtowards him led by the Red Flower Society's GreatHelmsman, Chen Jialuo. A shiver of panic passedthrough him, and he glanced about, looking for someavenue of escape.
　　"Brother Han, go and look after Master Wang," saidChen. Han ran over to the hole and helped Wang out.
　　"Master Wang said he wished to have a private duelwith no observers or seconds," Zhang shouted.
　　"My brothers and I came to admire the scenery andhappened to come across the two of you," Chen replied.
　　"It was a very artistic display, but you did not winvery honourably, Master Zhang.""We were matching our strength and our wits. What iswrong with such a victory?""You are wise indeed, Master Zhang." Chen walkedslowly forward. "We want to rescue Master Wen.""Well?""His manacles are made of the finest steel which nofile could get through. I therefore have noalternative but to ask you to lend us your excellentsword. As a member of the fighting community, I amsure you will be happy to oblige."Zhang looked at the number of his adversaries and knewit would be difficult to get away.
　　"If you wish to borrow my sword, you will have to takeit by force," he said. He turned and sprinted towardsthe southern path down the mountain slope. Suddenly,he saw in front of him the one-armed Taoist priest,and slung two Golden Needles at him. He knew there wasno chance of hitting the priest, but he hoped that theneedles would occupy him long enough to get past.
　　Priest Wu Chen, however, deftly dodged out of the waythen crouched down and thrust his sword at Zhang'sright leg. Zhang brought his own blade down to parrythe stroke and the two fought fiercely. Zhang foundhis strength beginning to wane. The priest gave ashout and the Frozen Emerald sword was jolted out ofZhang's hand. For a split second, Zhang stared at itin surprise, and the priest aimed a flying kick at hisgroin, knocking him to the ground. Zhang Jin and twoof the other fighters then jumped on him while LuoBing pulled out some rope and bound his hands.
　　Remembering Zhang had led the capture of her husbandat Iron Gall Manor, she punched him smartly on thenose.
　　Chen walked over.
　　"You have only won because of numerical superiority,"Zhang shouted angrily. "If you bandits are going tokill me then get it over with.""He ought to be buried in the hole that he dug,"suggested 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi. The others shoutedtheir agreement, and Zhang broke into a cold sweat.
　　"What do you say?" asked Chen. "If you admit defeatand swear never again to go against the Red FlowerSociety, we will spare you for the sake of yourmartial brother, Master Lu.""Stop wasting words!" Zhang shouted stubbornly. "Afterall your crafty tricks, how can you expect anyone toconcede defeat to you?""All right," said Chen. "I will kill you to relieveyou of the horror of being buried alive." He pulledout his dagger and walked over to Zhang. "Are you notafraid of death?" he asked.
　　"Do your worst," Zhang replied, and laughed bitterly.
　　He closed his eyes and waited for death.
　　Suddenly they heard shouts from the mountainsidebelow, and turned to see two men running towards them,moving as fast as the wind with superb Lightness KungKu.
　　As they approached, the heroes saw that one was LuFeiqing, and the other a kindly-looking old Taoistpriest.
　　Just as Lu was about to introduce the old man, Zhangwent up to him and bowed.
　　"Brother, we have not seen each other for many years,"he said. "How are you?"The heroes realized that it must be Ma Zhen, 'Scholar'
　　Yu's teacher. They all bowed before him.
　　"We came as fast as we could when we heard about theduel," Lu said. He looked round and saw with reliefthat no-one had been injured.
　　Ma Zhen had long heard of Zhang's unsavoury record,but seeing his blood-stained clothes and swollen face,he now found himself feeling almost sorry for him.
　　"Brother Zhang, how did you get into such a mess?" heasked.
　　"With one against so many, how could I look anydifferent?" Zhang replied indignantly.
　　The heroes were furious at his insinuation. "So you'reblameless are you?" shouted Zhou Qi. She brandishedher sword and made as to charge at Zhang, but herfather held her back.
　　"His two martial brothers are here now," Lord Zhousaid. "Let us see what they have to say." His wordsput the onus of dealing with Zhang squarely on MaZhen.
　　Ma Zhen looked at Lu, and then at Zhang. Suddenly, hisknees folded and he knelt down before the heroes.
　　Greatly surprised, Chen helped him up again.
　　"My brothers," he said, his voice choked with sobs.
　　"This useless martial brother of mine has committedtruly heinous crimes. To the shame of our school, wehave failed to discipline him and have lost facebefore all our brothers in the fightingcommunity...I...I..." He was overcome with emotion.
　　"Brother Lu," he added. "Tell them what I mean.""Brother Ma is very angry about Zhang's behaviour. Butin memory of our late teacher, he wishes to ask you tospare him."The heroes looked at Chen and Lord Zhou, waiting fortheir decision.
　　"Master Zhou will be the arbiter," said Chen. "We willdo whatever he says.""Considering he had Iron Gall Manor burnt to theground, I should not rest until revenge has beengained," Zhou said, then paused. "But having heardyour words, Master Ma, I will hand him over to youwith all past scores forgotten.""Father!" Zhou Qi cried, horrified.
　　Zhou stroked her hair. "Forget about it, child," hesaid softly.
　　"Out of respect for your wishes, Master Ma, the RedFlower Society will also let bygones be bygones,"added Chen.
　　Ma and Lu bowed to the heroes. "We will be eternallygrateful," said Ma.
　　"Brother Ma, what do you intend to do if he does evilagain?" Priest Wu Chen asked sternly.
　　"I will insist that he turn over a new leaf," Mareplied. "But if he does revert to his old ways, thenI will be the first to strike, unless he kills mefirst! I will now take him back to Wudang Mountain sothat he can reflect on his misdeeds in solitude.
　　Brother Lu, once Master Wen is out of danger, pleasewrite and inform me so that my mind can rest easy. Bythe way, where is my pupil, Yu Yutong?""He was separated from us at the Yellow River," Chenreplied. "We later heard that he had been rescued by agirl, but we have no further information. As soon aswe have rescued Brother Wen, we will go andinvestigate. Please don't worry, sir.""That pupil of mine is very clever but he is notsteady enough. Please give him whatever direction isnecessary, Master Chen.""We treat our brothers as blood relations," Chenreplied. "Brother Yu is a capable man. We place greatfaith in him.""I am very grateful for what you have done today,"said Ma. "My brothers! Next time any of you are inHubei Province, please come to stay at WudangMountain." The heroes all thanked him.
　　"All right, let's go!" Ma told Zhang curtly. Zhangnoticed that Luo Bing had slung his Frozen EmeraldSword across her back, and he knew that to try toretrieve it would only result in more punishment. Sohe bit his lip and followed after Ma Zhen, his headbowed.
　　When they had gone, the others asked Lu what hadhappened to him since they had parted. He told themthat for a time he had searched unsuccessfully forYuanzhi. Then, realising that Zhang was the key to theaffair, he went south and asked Ma Zhen to help him.
　　They hurried to Beijing only to discover that Zhanghad gone to Hangzhou, so they travelled south oncemore.
　　The heroes walked slowly down from the peak, talkingas they went. Chen turned to Wang and Han.
　　"You are both free to go," he said.
　　"Master Chen, I will never forget how you saved mylife," Wang replied.
　　Chen laughed. "I must ask your forgiveness, MasterWang," he said and related how they had stolen thejade vases and provoked the duel between himself andZhang. Having just escaped from the jaws of death,Wang did not seem to blame him for the deception.
　　"You are certainly a born leader," he said to Chen,and laughed. "So young and already a hero. I may beold, but I still have a thing or two to learn.""When our affairs have been successfully concluded, wewill drink a few cups of wine together," Chen replied.
　　They arrived at the lake and returned to LonelyMountain by boat. Lu Feiqing extracted the GoldenNeedles from Wang's wounds with the use of a magnet,and then treated them with Golden Scar ointment.
　　By this time, evening was approaching.
　　"Most of the work on the tunnel has been completed,"Master Ma, the Hangzhou Helmsman, reported. "We shouldbe finished in another six hours."Chen nodded. "Good, thank you Brother Ma. ThirteenthBrother, please go and supervise the work."'Crocodile' Jiang bowed and left.
　　Chen turned once more to Wang and Han.
　　"We have been looking after a few members of yourhonourable bodyguard agency," he said. "Why don't youtake them to the lake for some recreation?"Wang watched the Red Flower Society fighters hurryingto and fro and guessed they were preparing to rescueWen Tailai. He decided that if he were to go out byhimself now and the plan should go wrong, they couldeasily suspect that he had informed the authorities.
　　"I am getting old, and what with these Golden Needlewounds, I am not feeling at all well," he replied. "Iwould like to rest here for a day.""As you wish," said Chen.
Chapter 28
The heroes ate a full meal and then returned to theirrooms to rest. At six o'clock that evening, anattendant reported that the tunnel diggers werealready under the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen, but thata large rock was blocking their path which they weretrying to dig around. Chen and Xu assigned theirforces: some were to attack from the left, some fromthe right, and some would be held in reserve. At abouteight o'clock, the attendant returned to report thatthe diggers had come up against an iron plate and haddecided to stop work for a while for fear of alertingthose inside.
　　"We will wait another two hours and then make ourmove," Chen said.
　　During those two hours, the heroes could hardlycontrol their impatience. Zhang Jin paced up and downthe hall mumbling curses. Master Ma kept taking out alarge gold watch and checking the time while Chen reada book.
　　"The time has arrived," Ma finally announced.
　　The heroes all charged for the door. They donnedvarious disguises and made their way separatelythrough the darkened streets of Hangzhou to a housejust outside the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen.
　　'Crocodile' Jiang was waiting for them. "This area isbeing tightly patrolled by Manchu troops," he said.
　　"Be as quiet as possible."He stood at the entrance of the tunnel with his ironoar at the ready, as the heroes filed through one byone. The tunnel had been dug deep, and with Hangzhoubeing such a low-lying area, it was ankle-deep inwater. By the time they reached the big rock, themuddy water was up to their chests, while severaldozen yards further on, it rose to their heads.
　　Seven or eight attendants were waiting near the ironplate with torches and spades in hand.
　　"Start work!" Chen ordered.
　　With the Great Helmsman there watching them, theattendants worked like demons, and soon shifted therock to the side of the iron plate. Another moment offurious digging and the iron plate was dislodged, and'Leopard' Wei, his pair of hooks at the ready, wentthrough first with the rest of the heroes behind.
　　The attendants held the torches high to illuminate theway as Wei ran along a corridor towards Wen's cell,but found the way blocked by a locked iron gate.
　　"Eighth Brother, Ninth Brother," said Xu suddenly. "Goand guard the exit to the dungeon just in case theManchus have some secret scheme."Yang and Wei assented and left. Several of theattendants worked to loosen the stones to the side ofthe gate, and then with the help of several of theheroes, lifted the gate out of position. Luo Bing ranthrough, and into Wen's cell only to find it empty.
　　After so many disappointments, Luo Bing crumpled ontothe floor and began to sob. Zhou Qi wanted to comforther, but her father held her back.
　　"Let her be," he said. "A cry will do her good.""Commander Li was afraid we would come to organise ajail break and has moved Fourth Brother somewhereelse," Xu said.
　　"But now we are in the Yamen, we will find him nomatter what," Chen replied.
　　They went to the door of the dungeon and saw Yangfighting fiercely with a group of Manchu soldiers.
　　Priest Wu Chen gave a shout and charged out of thedungeon and finished off two Manchu soldiers on thespot. Further on, they found Wei battling six or sevenofficers.
　　"Considering my relationship with Commander Li, I hadbetter not reveal myself," Lu Feiqing thought. Heripped a strip off his gown and covered his face sothat only the eyes were showing. Just then, the Manchusoldiers broke and retreated up to the Yamen courtyardin confusion with Wei and the others in hot pursuit.
　　Xu leapt up onto a nearby wall and saw soldiersstanding guard throughout the whole Yamen. A drumsounded, and Xu guessed the commanders were stillpositioning their soldiers. Then he spotted a lonelytwo-storey building in the southern part of the maincourtyard surrounded by several hundred troops. Therewas nothing special about the building except for thetight defences, and he decided that was probably whereWen was being held. He jumped down from the wall andwhirled his sword around his head.
　　"Brothers, follow me!" he shouted, and charged towardsthe building.
　　The further they went, the more soldiers appeared. Butdespite their numerical superiority, the Manchu troopswere unable to contain the Red Flower Societyfighters, each of them a master of the martial arts.
　　In only a short while, the heroes had fought to withina few yards of the building.
　　"Third Brother, let's go and have a look inside,"Priest Wu Chen said to 'Buddha' Zhao.
　　"Right," said Zhao, and they sprang over to thedoorway with two long strides. A sword sliced towardsthem, but with one thrust from the priest's blade, theswordsman screamed and his weapon clattered to theground. They raced into the building with Luo Bing andthe others close behind.
　　As the fighting continued, the heroes found thenumbers of Manchu soldiers diminishing. Suddenly theyheard Priest Wu Chen yell from upstairs: "FourthBrother is here! We've got him!" The heroes shouted injoy.
　　Zhou Qi raced up the stairs and saw everyone gatheredround an iron cage. Chen was sawing at the bars withthe Frozen Emerald Sword. Zhou Qi went close andnoticed that inside the iron cage was another smallercage in which Wen sat with his legs and arms manacledlike a captured wild animal. Chen sawed through twobars, and Zhang Jin used brute strength to twist themback. Luo Bing, thanks to her slim figure, managed towriggle into the outer cage, then took the sword fromChen and began to saw away at the lock on the smallcage. The heroes were all smiling jubilantly. Suddenlythey heard a bugle sound, and the remaining Manchutroops retreated out about one hundred feet and formedthemselves into ranks around the building.
　　"Master Chen!" someone shouted from amongst the Manchuranks. "I wish to speak with Master Chen!"Chen went to the window and spotted Commander Lioutside. "I am here. What is it, Commander?""Come out quickly or you will all die.""We will not come out alone, even faced with death,"Chen replied. "I am sorry, but today we intend toleave with Master Wen.""Don't be so stubborn," Li shouted. "Start the fire!"The troops pushed out huge piles of firewood and grassand surrounded the building with them. The firewoodwas soaked in oil and a second after a torch wasthrown into it, a fiery ring sprang up with the heroestrapped inside.
　　Chen could see how dangerous the situation was, but heremained calm. "Everyone together," he said quietly.
　　"Cut through the bars as quickly as you can."A man walked out from behind Li and pointed angrily atChen. "Death is staring you in the face and still youdon't go down on your knees and beg for mercy?" heboomed. "Do you realize what we have in thatbuilding?"As Chen stood thinking, he heard Xu exclaim in theirsecret code: "Oh no, they've packed the place withgunpowder."Chen noticed a row of wooden barrels around the roomthey were in. With a quick movement, he smashed one ofthem open and black dust flew out in all directions,the smell of saltpetre filling their noses. His heartfroze. "Is the whole Red Flower Society going to beblown to pieces today?" he wondered. He turned and sawthe inner cage had been opened and Luo Bing helpingWen out.
　　"Sister Luo Bing, Brother Zhao!" he shouted. "You twolook after Fourth Brother. Everyone else follow me."He charged down the stairs. Zhang Jin bent over andheaved Wen onto his back while Luo Bing and Zhaoescorted them down to the ground floor. As theyreached the door, they saw swarms of arrows likelocusts flying at them. Wei and the Twin Knights triedseveral times to break out of the building, but eachtime they were forced back inside.
　　"You are standing in a gunpowder keg and I have thefuse here," Commander Li shouted. He raised a fierytorch and waved it.
　　"As soon as I light the fuse, you will all be burnt toashes. Put Wen down immediately."Chen knew that what he said was true, but he alsoguessed that because of Wen's importance to theEmperor, Li would not dare to light the fuse.
　　"Put Fourth Brother down!" he shouted. "Let's get outof here!" He brandished his long sword and charged outwith Wei and the Twin Knights at his side.
　　Zhang Jin, running flat out with his head down, didn'thear what Chen had said.
　　"Put Fourth Brother down," Zhao told him. "It's toodangerous. We've got to get out or he'll get killed."Zhang Jin placed Wen on the ground near the door. LuoBing hesitated, but Zhang Jin grabbed her arm andcharged on after the others. Li saw in the firelightthat they had abandoned Wen, and with a wave of hishand ordered the archers to stop firing to prevent himbeing hit by mistake.
　　Having made it out of the building, the heroesregrouped by the wall.
　　"Eighth Brother, Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother and theTwin Knights, you five lead an attack on the Manchutroops and disperse them," ordered Chen. "Brother Xu,you think of a way to cut the gunpowder fuse. The restof you, as soon as that's done, we will go back andrescue Fourth Brother."Commander Li was just about to order someone over tokeep watch on Wen when he spotted the Twin Knightsapproaching. He hastily shouted to a detachment ofImperial Bodyguards who raced over to intercept theRed Flower Society fighters.
　　Lu Feiqing was the first to spot a way out of thedilemma. He ran like an arrow straight for CommanderLi. Li's bodyguards moved to stop him, but Lu dodgedto left and right and slipped past them all. In amoment, he was at Li's side. Yuanzhi, wearing boy'sclothes, was standing by her father's side. Seeingthis strange masked man charging forward, she criedout shrilly: "How dare you!" and thrust her swordstraight at his chest. Lu ducked under the stroke,then slipped round behind Commander Li and gave him apowerful shove which sent him reeling forward. Full offear for her father, Yuanzhi struck out again with hersword, but Lu dodged out of the way once more, pickedLi up in his arms and ran inside the circle of fire.
　　The Manchu troops shouted in alarm, but the heat fromthe flames was so intense that none dared to followhim.
　　The Red Flower Society heroes saw Lu carryingCommander Li into the danger zone, and Zhang Jin and'Crocodile' Jiang went in after them.
　　"That's enough," ordered Chen. "No-one else need goin."The Manchu troops completely ignored the Red FlowerSociety fighters, and stared anxiously at the men inthe centre of the ring of fire. Suddenly, someone witha torch leapt over to the gunpowder fuse and lit it.
　　Deng Tunan recognized him as Imperial Bodyguard Fanwho had shamed himself in front of the Emperor the daybefore. He bore such a deep grudge over the incident,that he wanted only to snatch victory away from theRed Flower Society with no concern for whetherCommander Li lived or died.
　　The thread of sparks whirled off at an incrediblespeed. Once it reached the circle of fire, disasterwould be inevitable. The Manchu troops scattered inpanic and in the midst of the confusion, a figure, hisface covered with a blue silk mask, raced forward andthrew himself down on to the gunpowder. His clothesburst into flames, but the fuse was stopped.
　　The immediate danger past, Zhang Jin and 'Crocodile'
　　Jiang charged out through the circle of fire with WenTailai in their arms. The flames were now even morefierce, and all three caught fire. The Twin Knights,racing forward to meet them, shouting: "Roll! Roll!"Zhang Jin and Jiang first put Wen down and rolled himabout until all the flames on him had beenextinguished, then put out their own fires. Luo Bingran up to attend to Wen.
　　The Twin Knights meanwhile ran over to rescue themasked man, who had collapsed on the ground. By thetime the flames had been extinguished, his body was amass of burns.
　　Once Wen was out of danger, Lu slung Commander Li overhis shoulder, took a deep breath and leapt back out ofthe circle like a great bird.
　　"We've done it!" Chen shouted. "Retreat, retreat!"Priest Wu Chen led the way, his sword flying, and theothers followed, the Twin Knights carrying the maskedman, Zhang Jin carrying Wen and Lu with Commander Liover his shoulder.
　　The Manchu troops chased after them, shouting andyelling, but none dared get too close. The ImperialBodyguards, however, were frantic at the sight of Wenescaping: his loss could cost them their heads. Amongthem was Fan, the one who had lit the fuse. Chenhanded the Frozen Emerald sword to 'Buddha' Zhao.
　　"Cover the others as they retreat, Third Brother," hesaid. "I'm going to deal with this fellow." He pulledout his 'Pearl Strings', the ropes with steel ballsfastened to the ends, and with a flick of his hand,sent them flying towards Fan.
　　Fan tried to leap out of the way, but he was not quickenough, and the strings wrapped themselves round hislegs. Chen yanked them back fiercely, and threw Faninto the heart of the roaring flames.
　　By this time, almost all of the heroes had escapedover the Yamen walls. Chen raised his hand and shoutedto the rest: "Retreat!"'Leopard' Wei raced over to the gunpowder fuse andrelit it, and the Manchu troops cried out in fear asthe remaining Red Flower Society fighters retired.
　　Suddenly, there was a blinding flash, and a roar asthe gunpowder stacked in the building ignited.
　　Explosion followed explosion, black smoke swirled upand bricks flew in all directions. The soldiers andguardsmen threw themselves on the ground, but despitetheir great distance from the building, several dozenof them had their heads smashed to pieces by straybricks and pieces of wood. By the time the restcrawled back onto their feet, the Red Flower Societyheroes were gone.
　　Only when they were certain they were not being chaseddid the heroes relax. They rode out of Hangzhou andarrived at a river with more than a dozen boats linedup along the bank. The heroes joyfully boarded thecraft.
　　"Master Chen," Lu Feiqing whispered. "I have hadconnections with Commander Li in the past. Now thatBrother Wen is safe, why don't we let him go?""Whatever you say," Chen replied, and on his orders,an attendant untied Li's bonds and released him.
　　"Anchors aweigh!" Chen called. "Head for Jiaxing!"The rivers and canals of Zhejiang Province are anendless maze with countless twists and turns, and in amoment the boats had disappeared.
　　"We'll head west and take Fourth Brother to HeavenlyEye Mountain to convalesce," said Chen. "Let CommanderLi race off to Jiaxing after us!"The heroes all burst out laughing and the accumulatedlow spirits of several months were swept away.
　　Dawn was just breaking as Luo Bing wiped Wen's bodyclean. His manacles had been sawn off with the FrozenEmerald sword, and he was in a deep sleep.
　　"Great Helmsman," said Xu. "That masked man who savedFourth Brother is very badly wounded. Shall we have alook at him?""Since he keeps his face covered, he obviously doesnot wish to be recognized. I don't think we should,"said Lord Zhou.
　　Xin Yan gently applied white soya sauce to the maskedman's burns, but his whole body had been blistered bythe flames, and he cried out incessantly in pain. Hishands were clawing about aimlessly as he screamed inpain, and suddenly ripped the mask off. The heroes allcried out in unison: "Fourteenth Brother!"It was 'Scholar' Yu. They looked at his face,red-black and swollen with countless blisters, andwere horrified. Luo Bing brought over a wet cloth andlightly wiped the dirt and gunpowder from his facethen applied more white soya sauce. Whenever shethought about his disgraceful behaviour that nightnear Iron Gall Manor she still felt angry, but havingseen what he was willing to go through to save her ownhusband, she knew that his infatuation was more thanjust lust. She looked down at him and wondered how shecould ever repay him.
　　The boats docked and Master Ma sent someone hurryingoff to find a doctor. When he came, the doctorexamined Wen and said: "This gentleman's wounds areonly superficial. He is strong and healthy, and withseveral months of recuperation there should be noproblem." Pointing at Yu, he added: "This gentleman,however, has extremely serious burns. There is adanger that the fire poison will attack his heart. Iwill make out a prescription to counter it and haveanother look later." From his tone, he appeard toconsider it hopeless.
　　The doctor went ashore. A while later, Wen opened hiseyes and looked at everyone standing around him.
　　"What are you all doing here?" he asked wearily.
　　Luo Bing burst into tears. "Brother!" she criedhappily. "You've come back. You've come back!"Wen nodded slightly and closed his eyes again.
　　During the night battle at the Yellow River crossing,Yuanzhi had been cut off from the Red Flower Societyfighters. She spotted a carriage and jumped into it,urged the mules and raced blindly away. It was onlynext morning when she had put a great distance betweenherself and the Manchu army that she stopped to rest.
　　Opening the carriage curtain, she found 'Scholar' Yulying inside unconscious and badly wounded. Aftercarefully considering the situation, she climbed backonto the carriage and drove on to Wenguang town.
　　As the daughter of an official, she was used to doingthings in an impressive manner. She chose the largestresidence in the town and knocked on it's door to askfor lodgings. The residence belonged to the evillandowner, Tang, who took them in. When Tang was foundmurdered, Yu realized immediately that they could beimplicated, and they escaped in the confusion. Yuanzhiwas planning to go to Hangzhou to be with her parentsand Yu, knowing that Hangzhou was also where Wen wasbeing held, decided they may as well go together. Hewas still seriously wounded, and Yuanzhi looked afterhim carefully as they travelled.
　　When they reached Hangzhou, Yuanzhi told her parentsthat Yu had been wounded while saving her frombandits, and her father, Commander Li, allowed him tostay in the Yamen as an expression of his gratitude. Adoctor was called to treat his injuries. When Li sawwhat a refined person Yu was, skilled in bothscholarly and martial pursuits, he decided that oncehis wounds had healed he would invite Yu to become hisson-in-law. Little did he know that Yu was also a keymember of the Red Flower Society.
Chapter 29
When Qian Long was told that the Red Flower Societyhad rescued Wen, he was both surprised and angry. Buthe decided there was nothing to be gained in punishingthe Imperial Bodyguards. He could see from theirwounds that they had fought bravely.
　　A while later, Commander Li also arrived, and wasinformed by the Emperor that a decision on whether ornot he would lose his post would be deferred untillater. Li was overjoyed at this unexpected luck.
　　After Li had left, Qian Long thought about Wen'sescape and wondered if his secret would get out. Fromwhat Wen had said, it did not appear that he knew, butthere was something about his manner which suggestedthere was still much he could tell. Wen had said therewere two important pieces of evidence hidden somewhereand he wondered what the evidence could be. He wasalready almost certain he was a Chinese and not aManchu, but what good could come of such knowledgeleaking out?
　　He paced about the room, extremely angry that he, theSon of Heaven, should be out-witted by a band ofbrigands. If they discovered his secret, would he beforced to submit to them for the rest of his life onpain of having the secret revealed? The more hethought about it, the angrier he became, and he pickedup a large porcelain flower vase and threw itviolently to the floor.
　　The guards and eunuchs waiting outside heard the crashclearly and trembled in their boots, not daring toenter.
　　Qian Long passed most of the day in a state of mentalconfusion. Towards evening, he heard the sound ofgentle music drifting in from outside. The music movedcloser and closer, passed by the gates of the Yamenthen gradually receded. A moment later, anothermusical troupe passed by. He had always been very fondof music, and hearing it now, his mood suddenlychanged.
　　"Servants!" he shouted.
　　A senior bodyguard named He Jia, who had recently cometo favour, hurried in. Hearing the Emperor's call, theothers had pushed him forward.
　　"What is that music outside?" Qian Long asked. "Go andfind out."After a while, He Jia came back to report: "Your slavemade enquiries and learned that all of the famouscourtesans of Hangzhou will gather on the West Lakethis evening to choose what they call the 'TopCandidate of the Boudoir', as well as second, thirdand fourth ranking candidates.""How dare they make fun of the Imperial Civil ServiceExaminations in such a way!" Qian Long said, amused.
　　"Ridiculous!"Seeing the smile on the Emperor's face, he advanced astep and added in a low voice: "I heard that the FourBeauties of Qiantang River will be there.""And who are the Four Beauties of Qiantang River?""Your slave was talking to a local just now who saidthat they are the four most famous prostitutes ofHangzhou. Everyone out in the streets is trying toguess which one will be the Top Candidate of theBoudoir this year.""The Top Candidate in the Imperial Examination ischosen by me. Who chooses this Top Candidate of theBoudoir? Don't tell me there is an Emperor of theBoudoir as well?""I hear that each prostitute sits in a flower boat onwhich are displayed the gold and jewels presented byher customers. Then the winner is chosen by some ofHangzhou's most eminent gentlemen.""When do they play this game?" Qian Long asked,fascinated.
　　"It starts soon," He Jia replied. "As soon as it getsa bit darker, the judging will begin. If Your Highnessis interested, you could go and watch."Qian Long smiled. "I'm afraid people may laugh at me,"he said. "If the Empress should hear that I chose theTop Candidate manner which suggested there was stillmuch he could tell. Wen had said there were twoimportant pieces of evidence hidden somewhere and hewondered what the evidence could be. He was alreadyalmost certain he was a Chinese and not a Manchu, butwhat good could come of such knowledge leaking out?
　　He paced about the room, extremely angry that he, theSon of Heaven, should be out-witted by a band ofbrigands. If they discovered his secret, would he beforced to submit to them for the rest of his life onpain of having the secret revealed? The more hethought about it, the angrier he became, and he pickedup a large porcelain flower vase and threw itviolently to the floor.
　　The guards and eunuchs waiting outside heard the crashclearly and trembled in their boots, not daring toenter.
　　Qian Long passed most of the day in a state of mentalconfusion. Towards evening, he heard the sound ofgentle music drifting in from outside. The music movedcloser and closer, passed by the gates of the Yamenthen gradually receded. A moment later, anothermusical troupe passed by. He had always been very fondof music, and hearing it now, his mood suddenlychanged.
　　"Servants!" he shouted.
　　A senior bodyguard named He Jia, who had recently cometo favour, hurried in. Hearing the Emperor's call, theothers had pushed him forward.
　　"What is that music outside?" Qian Long asked. "Go andfind out."After a while, He Jia came back to report: "Your slavemade enquiries and learned that all of the famouscourtesans of Hangzhou will gather on the West Lakethis evening to choose what they call the 'TopCandidate of the Boudoir', as well as second, thirdand fourth ranking candidates.""How dare they make fun of the Imperial Civil ServiceExaminations in such a way!" Qian Long said, amused.
　　"Ridiculous!"Seeing the smile on the Emperor's face, he advanced astep and added in a low voice: "I heard that the FourBeauties of Qiantang River will be there.""And who are the Four Beauties of Qiantang River?""Your slave was talking to a local just now who saidthat they are the four most famous prostitutes ofHangzhou. Everyone out in the streets is trying toguess which one will be the Top Candidate of theBoudoir this year.""The Top Candidate in the Imperial Examination ischosen by me. Who chooses this Top Candidate of theBoudoir? Don't tell me there is an Emperor of theBoudoir as well?""I hear that each prostitute sits in a flower boat onwhich are displayed the gold and jewels presented byher customers. Then the winner is chosen by some ofHangzhou's most eminent gentlemen.""When do they play this game?" Qian Long asked,fascinated.
　　"It starts soon,"He Jia replied. "As soon as it gets abit darker, the judging will begin. If Your Highnessis interested, you could go and watch."Qian Long smiled. "I'm afraid people may laugh atme,"he said. "If the Empress should hear that I chosethe Top Candidate of the Boudoir, she may havesomething to say about it. Ha, ha!""If Your Highness dressed up as a member of the commonpeople, no one would know," He Jia suggested.
　　"All right, we'll go and have a quiet look and thencome back. But tell everyone not to attractattention,"said Qian Long.
　　He Jia quickly helped Qian Long change into a longsilk gown and a closely-embroidered jacket, the attireof a member of the gentry. Then they left for the WestLake together with Bai Zhen and several dozenbodyguards.
　　Once at the lakeside, a bodyguard steered a boat up tomeet them. Music and singing could be heard comingfrom different parts of the lake, while the multitudeof lanterns provided a sumptuous sight. They watchedas more than twenty flower boats glided lazily backand forth over the water, each boat draped with silkcurtains and lanterns. Qian Long ordered the oarsmanto steer close to the flower boats. Some of them weredecorated with flowers and animals cleverlyconstructed out of silk and lit with lanterns. QianLong sighed in praise for the richness of life in thesouth of China with which the north could not hope tocompete. As many as a hundred other small boats movedto and fro carrying well-to-do pleasure seekers.
　　A gong sounded and the music from the boats ceased.
　　One rocket after another soared up into the air andburst in a dazzling array of colours before fallinginto the lake with a hiss. As the firework displayended, the curtains on each flower boat were drawnapart simultaneously to reveal a gorgeously-attiredwoman seated inside. Thunderous cheers and applausearose from every part of the lake.
　　Servants produced wine and food for the Emperor topartake of while enjoying the scene. The boat slidslowly over the lake past the flower boats. Qian Long,who kept three thousand concubines in his palace, hadseen countless beauties in his time. But now, with thelanterns reflecting on the water, the splash of theoars and the slight waft of perfume, he was completelycaptivated. They neared the boats of the Four Beautiesof the Qiantang River, and saw they were differentfrom the other flower boats. One was decoratedentirely with paper water lilies while the second wastopped by two pagodas. The third was decked out as theLunar Palace and lit with lanterns shaped as toads andhares, the animals which are supposed to inhabit themoon.
　　Qian Long gasped in delight. As they glided towardsthe fourth, he saw it was decorated entirely with realbushes and flowers, the branches criss-crossing eachother and covered with a thick foliage, as simple asnature, and as beautiful as a painting. The courtezan,dressed all in white, was seated with her back tothem, but she had an air of other-worldliness abouther, as of a goddess.
　　Overwhelmed, Qian Long could not help but sing out aline from the opera, 'The Western Chamber': "Oh, willyou not turn your face to me?"The prostitute, hearing the snatch of song, did indeedturn and smiled. Qian Long's heart leapt: it was thegirl he had met on the West Lake several days before,Beautiful Jade.
　　He heard the tinkle of a feminine voice as thecourtesan on the water lily boat began to sing. At theend of the song, the crowd applauded and a pile ofingots, big and small mounted on the table in front ofher. Then the courtesan in the Twin-Pagoda boat pickedup a pipa and lightly strummed a tune, following whichthe third played the flute. Qian Long ordered He Jiato give her ten taels of gold.
　　The pleasure launches then crowded round BeautifulJade's boat. She opened her ruby lips, revealing hersparkling white teeth, and began to sing accompaniedby a flute.
　　It was the middle of the eighth month and it wasalready cool on the lake, but Beautiful Jade's voicesuggested warm breezes and fragrant flowers.
　　"Such talent," Qian Long sighed.
　　To his great delight, Beautiful Jade's dew-drop eyesconstantly looked over in his direction as she sang.
　　Qian Long loved demonstrating his talents in art,calligraphy and poetry and his ministers, notsurprisingly, praised everything he did. But for abeautiful woman to favour him not because of reverencefor his position as Emperor, but because of his realworth meant she had recognized his ardour, good looksand talent. Famous courtesans are truly discerning, hethought. He immediately ordered He Jia to presentBeautiful Jade with fifty taels of gold.
　　The boats of all the courtesans were piled up withgifts, especially those of the Four Beauties. Midnightapproached and the judge began the job of inspectingthe gifts. As with the imperial examinations, not onlythe courtesans, but also the spectators on the lake,were anxious about the outcome.
　　Qian Long said a few quiet words to He Jia, who noddedand hurried back to the Yamen. He returned a whilelater with a package.
　　The inspection over, the boats all clustered round thelaunch on which the judge sat to hear him announce thewinners.
　　"The gifts presented to Miss Twin Pagodas are the mostnumerous," he announced. There was a roar from theother boats as some applauded and some groaned.
　　"Not so fast," someone shouted. "I will present onehundred taels of gold to Miss Water Lily.""And I present Miss Lunar Palace with a jade braceletand ten pearls," another wealthy gentleman called out.
　　The crowd saw the green bracelet and the large roundpearls sparkling under the lantern light and knew thatthey must be worth well over a hundred taels of gold.
　　All concluded that Miss Lunar Palace was certain to bechosen at the Top Candidate for the years.
　　Suddenly He Jia called out: "Our master has a numberof items he would like to present to Miss BeautifulJade!"A servant carried the package over to the judge, a manof about forty with a lean, handsome face and a wispof moustache. He opened it to find it contained threescrolls. He turned to the old man on his left andsaid: "Master Fan, this is indeed a refined gentleman.
　　I wonder what treasures he has presented?" He orderedthe servants to unrill the scrolls.
　　As the first scroll was unrolled, the judge and theothers started in surprise: it was a poem written inthe hand of the famous cillgrapher, Zu Yunning.
　　"This is extremely valuable," exclaimed the man calledMaster Fan. They hurriedly opened the second scrolland saw it was a painting of flowers on the top ofwhich was the Imperial vermilion seal of Qian Long.
　　Yuan Mei was puzzled and turned to ask his colleaguesif they knew who the benefactor was. They looked atthe scrolls and pondered silently.
　　"Why don't we go over and meet him?" one finallysuggested.
　　"If we do that, people will accuse us of beingunfair," replied another. "With such treasures asthese two scrolls, the Top Candidate is obviouslyBeautiful Jade.""Let us have a look at the third scroll," suggested athird.
　　They unrolled it and saw it was a piece of unsignedcalligraphy.
　　"Not very graceful," remarked one of the experts. "Thewriting style lacks strength.""Shh! It's written in the Emperor's hand," anotherwhispered urgently. The others all jumped in frightand dared not discuss the matter further.
　　"The judging of the gifts has been completed," YuanMei announced in a loud voice. "The Top Candidate isMiss Beautiful Jade, second is Miss Lunar Palace,third is Miss Water Lily."Applause arose from all corners of the lake.
　　Beutiful Jade began to sing again, and her tendervoice penetrated Qian Long's bones, making his heartitch unbearably.
　　"Go and tell that girl to come over," he said to HeJia. "And don't say who I am."The boat glided over to Beautiful Jade's and He Jialeapt across. After an interval, he returned with apiece of paper and handed it to Qian Long and said:
　　"She told me to give this to you."Qian Long peered at the note under the lamplight andsaw it read: "Tomorrow."The calligraphy was very poor, but the paper washeavily scented with a fragrance that made his heartquiver.
　　"Why wait until tomorrow? I am here now," he said. Butwhen he looked up again, he saw Beautiful Jade's boatwas already moving off. As Emperor, the concubines ofthe palace tried every trick they could think of to befavoured by him. When had a woman ever rejected hisadvances? But the more she kept him at arms length,the more he desired her. He hurriedly issued anImperial command: "Chase after that boat!"Qian Long stood silently on the prow, his heartpursuing the boat ahead. The lights on the lake weregoing out but the music had not yet been extinguished.
　　He indistinctly heard what he thought was the sound oflaughter and soft words from the boat in front.
　　The distance between the two boats gradually closed.
　　Suddenly the curtain on the flower boat parted for asecond and a object was flung in the direction of QianLong. Bai Zhen lunged forward to intercept it, and asit hit his hand he noticed the object was not a dartas he had expected but a red handkerchief with allfour corners knotted together. He quickly presented itto the Emperor.
　　Qian Long untied it and inside he found a lotus sweetand a lily bulb: both were symbols of a well-matchedcouple. How could he fail to catch the meaning of sucha romantic message?
　　The flower boat reached the bank, and Beautiful Jadestepped off and into a small horse-drawn carriage. Shelooked out of the carriage window and smiledseductively at Qian Long, then released the carriagecurtain.
　　"Hey! Wait a moment, don't go!" He Jia yelled, but thedriver took no notice and with a clatter of horses'
　　hooves, the carriage moved off south.
　　"Get another carriage quickly!" He Jia called. Thebodyguards soon found a carriage and forced itsoccupants out. Qian Long stepped inside and it racedoff after the other carriage.
　　Bodyguard Bai Zhen saw they were heading towards theprosperous district of the city, and decidedeverything was all right: the Emperor had obviouslydecided to spend the night at the home of thecourtesan. But having seen her only a few days beforewith the Red Flower Society men, he had to takeprecautions against a trap. He quickly ordered RuiDalin to bring extra men to help protect the Emperor.
　　Beautiful Jade's carriage passed along severalstreets, then turned into an alley and stopped infront of a pair of black-painted gates. An attendanton the carriage jumped down and knocked on them justas Qian Long was descending from his carriage. With along squeak, the gates were opened, and an old womancame out, pulled aside the carriage curtain andgreeted Beautiful Jade. She stepped out of thecarriage and, seeing Qian Long standing to one side,hurried over to greet him.
　　"Aiya, Master Dongfang," she said. "Thank you so muchfor your gifts just now. Please come in and have sometea." Qian Long smiled and walked through the gates.
　　One of the bodyguards rushed in ahead of the Emperor,his hand on the hilt of his sword, checking forassassins or perhaps a customer of the prostitute whowould wish to protest that he was first.
　　Beyond the gates was a courtyard. A wave of floweryfragrance assailed their noses and tree shadows dancedon the ground around two cinnamon bushes which were infull bloom. Qian Long followed Beautiful Jade into asmall, elegantly-decorated chamber lit by two tall,red candles.
　　A maid brought in wine and food. Qian Long looked atthe plates of delicacies, including marinated chickenand Thousand-Year-Old eggs, and marvelled at howexquisite they were compared to the heavy food he wasserved in the Imperial palace. The maid strained twocups of aged, deeply-fragrant rice wine.
　　Beautiful Jade took a sip and smiled. "MasterDongfang, how can I ever thank you?" she said.
　　Qian Long raised his cup and drained it in onedraught. "Sing a song first," he said, also smiling.
　　"We will discuss at our leisure how you can thank me."Beautiful Jade picked up a pipa and began to playsoftly.
　　While the Emperor drank and enjoyed himself inside,Commander-in-Chief Li arrived with a detachment oftroops and encircled the alley with ring after ring ofguards. His officers searched every nearby housethoroughly, leaving only Beautiful Jade's roomuntouched. Bai Zhen ordered a group of guardsmen topatrol the roof tops with bows and arrows at theready. Countless men have been to brothels over thecenturies, but Qian Long's visit was surely the mostimposing and awe-inspiring visit of all.
　　The guards and soldiers were kept busy the wholenight, but dawn finally broke without anythinguntoward having happened. The sun rose, and He Jiatiptoed over to Beautiful Jade's bed-chamber to peekthrough a crack in the window. He spied Qian Long'sboots lying by the bed and retreated. Eight o'clockpassed, nine o'clock and ten o'clock and still therewas no sign of the Emperor rising. Becoming anxious,He Jia returned to the window and called quietly:
　　"Master, would you like some breakfast?" He calledseveral times, but there was no response.
　　He went to the door and gave it a push, but it wasbarred from inside. "Master!" he called out loudly.
　　Still no answer from the room. He Jia was veryconcerned, but he didn't dare break the door down.
　　Instead, he went to discuss the situation withCommander Li and Bai Zhen.
　　"Why don't we tell the old house woman to go and knockon the door with some breakfast. His Highness won't beoffended," suggested Li.
　　"An excellent idea, Commander," Bai Zhen said.
　　The three went off to look for the old woman, butfound the whole establishment was deserted. Greatlyalarmed at the situation, they began bangingfrantically on Beautiful Jade's door.
　　"Force it open!" ordered Li. Bai Zhen put both of hispalms on the door, and with a sight push, snapped thedoor bar.
　　He Jia went in first and carefully pulled apart thebed curtains to find the bed clothes in disarray butabsolutely no sign of Qian Long or Beautiful Jade. Hefainted to the floor in fright.
　　Bai Zhen hastily called in some guards and searchedthe establishment, but they failed to find so much ashalf a clue. How could the Emperor have disappearedwhen the guard they had mounted was so tight that noteven a sparrow could have escaped without beingnoticed? Bai Zhen toured round the room once morelooking for a secret door, but he knocked and bangedfor a long time without finding anything suspicious.
　　The Imperial Guard Commander Fu Kangan and theprovincial governor arrived having received news ofQian Long's disappearance, and they all gathered inthe middle of Beautiful Jade's boudoir, palefrightened and completely at a loss for what to do.
Chapter 30
After listening to Beautiful Jade sing for a while anddrinking a few cups of wine, Qian Long had begun tofeel a little sleepy.
　　Beautiful Jade smiled. "Would you like to lie down?"she asked. He nodded in answer, and she helped himtake off his clothes and boots, led him over to thebed and covered him with the bed clothes.
　　"I'll just go out for a second, then come back toyou," she said. Feeling lulled and drowsy from thescented pillow and sheets, Qian Long heard a faintsound in front of the bed.
　　"You mischievous girl," he said with a smile. "What'sthe hold up?"The curtain opened and a head appeared. Under thecandlelight Qian Long could see it had a pock-markedface, and thick sideburns, very different fromBeautiful Jade's fair features. He rubbed his eyes indisbelief and looked again just as the intruder placeda shining dagger by his neck and said quietly inCantonese: "Damn your ancestors, you bastard Emperor,make one sound and I'll use this."Qian Long's lust dissipated in a flash as if he hadbeen doused with a bucket of iced water. The man saidnothing more, but stuffed a handkerchief into QianLong's mouth, then rolled him up tightly in theeiderdown and carried him off.
　　Unable to move or make a sound, Qian Long's eyesstared at the blackness and felt himself being carrieddown a flight of steps. His nose caught the mustysmell of mud and dank humidity, then after a moment,he felt himself being carried upwards again. Herealized the man must have emerged from a hiddentunnel in the room.
　　He felt himself being shaken and heard the sound ofwheels starting to move, and knew he was in acarriage. In his terror, he wondered who had kidnappedhim and where they were taking him.
　　The carriage travelled for a long time. After a whilethe road became uneven, and the carriage shook andbumped about, indicating they had left the city.
　　Finally they stopped, and Qian Long felt himselflifted out of the carriage and carried upwards, onestep after another endlessly until he thought theymust be ascending a high peak. He was so frightened,his whole body quaked, and surrounded by darknessinside the quilt, he almost began to cry.
　　Finally, he was put down with a bump. He waitedquietly, not daring to speak, but a long while passedwithout anything happening. He slowly pushed aside thequilt in which he was wrapped and looked out to findeverything in total darkness. He fancied he could hearthe sound of waves breaking a long way off, andconcentating he also heard the wind rippling throughfir trees and the clear, steady chime of a brass bell.
　　The wind became stronger and stronger, gustingangrily, and he thought he felt the structure he wasin rocking slightly. Even more afraid, he moved as ifto stand up.
　　"If you want to live, don't move," a deep voice closeby growled. Qian Long jumped in fright and stayed asstill as he could.
　　Gradually, the wind subsided and it began to growlight until he could see he was in a small room.
　　Having climbed for so long to reach it, he wondered ifit was a house on the peak of a mountain. He heard aseries of snuffling noises, and listening carefully,realised the guards were eating noodles. From thesound of it there were two of them, chewing greatmouthfuls with relish. Having been awake all night, hefelt hungry and his appetite sharpened as the smell ofthe noodles wafted over to him.
　　The two finished eating. One of the guards walked overand placed a full bowl of prawn and eel noodle soupabout five feet from his head.
　　"Is that for me?" Qian Long wondered to himself. Butthe guards said nothing, and despite his hunger he didnot dare to open his mouth to ask.
　　"That bowl of noodles is for you," one of the guardsfinally said. "There's no poison in it."Qian Long was overjoyed. He sat up to get the bowl,but a wave of cold struck his body and he rememberedthat he was naked. He hastily lay down again andwrapped himself in the quilt. How could he stand up infront of strangers without a stitch on?
　　"Damn your ancestors, so you're afraid of poison areyou?" one of the guards said. "All right, I'll eat itto show you." He picked up the bowl and guzzled itscontents down.
　　Qian Long looked at his scar-covered face in fright.
　　"I am not wearing anything," he said. "Please get mesome clothing."Even though he said please, his words still smacked ofan Imperial order. The man grunted. "I don't havetime," he replied. It was 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi.
　　Qian Long's anger surged up, but remembering his lifewas in their hands, he swallowed his Imperial pride.
　　"Are you Red Flower Society men?" he asked. "I want tosee your leader, Chen.""You had our Brother Wen treated so badly, his body isa mass of wounds. The Great Helmsman is busy finding adoctor to help heal him. He has no time to see you,"Shi replied. "Maybe when Brother Wen has recovered,we'll think about it."Qian Long wondered how many months or years it mighttake for Wen to recover.
　　"And if Brother Wen doesn't recover," said the otherguard, 'Iron Pagoda' Yang, "that's it for you. A lifefor a life."Qian Long pretended he hadn't heard.
　　The two guards began talking at once, cursing theManchu invaders for seizing the lands of the Chinesepeople, and the officials and landlords for the waythey oppressed the common folk. Qian Long was shockedby the hatred evident in every word. At noon, twoother guards arrived to relieve them, and as the newpair ate, they discussed the sadistic ways in whichmagistrates punished and tortured honest citizens,describing in great detail how slivers of bamboo wereforced under finger nails, buttocks branded withred-hot iron bars and bodies stretched on racks.
　　"When we have seized all these corrupt officials,"said one, "we'll give them a taste of their ownmedicine.""First we have to deal with their leader," replied theother.
　　To Qian Long, that day seemed as long as a year.
　　Towards evening, the Twin Knights took over. First,they drank in dour silence. Then, when they wereslightly drunk, they began discussing the cruel andunusual methods used by the fighting community to takevengeance on enemies: how Black Tiger Kao had oncebeen arrested, and later went back and gouged out theeyes of the official responsible; how White Horse Tanhad avenged his brother's death by burying alive themurderer's family.
　　Hungry and frightened, Qian Long covered his ears, butevery word still found its way in. The twins displayedgreat staying-power, and talked until morning, cursingthe "Turtles" an untold number of times. Thecandlelight flickering on the Twin Knights' featuresmade them look like living ghosts, and Qian Long wasunable to close his eyes once during the night.
　　The next morning, 'Buddha' Zhao and 'Leopard' Weicame. Qian Long looked at the kindly face of Zhao andthe handsome face of Wei, very different from thedemon-like guards they replaced and he relaxedslightly. But his hunger was becoming too much tobear.
　　"I want to see your leader, Chen," he said to Zhao.
　　"Please pass on the message for me.""The Great Helmsman is busy today," Zhao replied.
　　"Maybe in a few days time."Qian Long wondered if he would still be alive after afew more days of such treatment. "Well, please get mesomething to eat first to ease my hunger.""All right," replied Zhao. "His Imperial Highnesswants a banquet," he shouted at the top of his voice.
　　"Make preparations quickly!" Wei bowed and left.
　　Qian Long was overjoyed. "Get a set of clothing forme," he said.
　　"His Imperial Highness wants some clothes! Bring agown for him quickly!" Zhao bawled out again.
　　"You're a good man," said Qian Long. "What's yourname? I will reward you well later." Zhao smiledslightly but did not answer. Qian Long suddenlyrecogized him. "Ah, now I remember," he said. "You'rethe one who is so good at Dart Kung Fu."Meng brought a set of clothing in and placed it on thequilt. Qian Long sat up, then saw it was a suit ofchinese clothes in the style of the Ming dynasty whichthe Manchus had overthrown. He hesitated.
　　"That's the only set of clothes we have," Zhao said.
　　"Wear them or not, as you like."Qian Long considered the situation. How could he, asthe Emperor of the Manchu dynasty, wear a set of Mingdynasty chinese clothes? But if he didn't putsomething on, he would not be able to eat, and afterone day and two nights of hunger, he dispensed withhis misgivings and donned the garments.
　　The clothes felt unfamiliar, but there was somethingdashing and elegant about them. He walked the fewsteps over to the window and looked out, and startedinvoluntarily. Forests and fields were spread outbefore him like a chess board, and in the far distancewas a great river spotted with sails. He realised hewas at the top of a tall pagoda, and from its positionand design, recognized it as the famous Six HarmoniesPagoda near Hangzhou.
　　Several more hours passed before someone came toannounce: "The banquet is ready. Please come down andeat."Qian Long followed Zhao and Wei down one floor where alarge round table had been set up in the centre of theroom. All the seats around the table were alreadyoccupied except for three, and as Qian Long descended,the diners stood up and saluted him. Qian Long wassecretly ecstatic at this sudden display of respect.
　　"Our Great Helmsman says Your Highness and he havebeen close friends ever since you first met," saidPriest Wu Chen. "As a result, he has invited you hereto stay for a few days to provide an opportunity forthe two of you to have a discussion. However,important matters have suddenly come up which requirethe Great Helmsman's attention and he has asked me toconvey his sincere apologies."Qian Long grunted noncommitally. Priest Wu Cheninvited him to take a seat, and Qian Long took theguest of honour's place.
　　A servant brought up a flask of wine and the priesttook it from him.
　　"We brothers are very uncouth, completely incapable ofwaiting on Your Highness properly. Please do not beoffended," he said, pouring wine into Qian Long's cup.
　　But as it reached the rim, his face darkened.
　　"His Majesty must have the very best wine," he shoutedangrily at the servant. "How dare you bring us thistepid spirit?" He picked up the cup and threw itscontents into the servant's face.
　　"This is only wine we have here, sir," replied theservant apologetically. "I will immediately go to thecity and buy some of better quality.""And be quick about it," shouted Priest Wu Chen. "Winesuch as this is all right for coarse people likeourselves, but how can you offer it to His Highness?"'Mastermind' Xu took the wine flask from him andpoured out a cup for everyone else, leaving only QianLong's cup empty, apologising effusively as he did so.
　　A moment later, another servant brought in foursteaming dishes of food, one of lightly-fried shrimps,another piled with salted pork ribs, a third withsteamed fish, and a fourth of fried chicken slices.
　　Qian Long breathed in the fragrant aroma of the food,but Priest Wu Chen frowned.
　　"Who cooked this food?" he demanded. A man took twosteps forward. "I did," he said.
　　"What sort of object are you? Why didn't you arrangefor His Majesty's favourite cook, Zhang Anguan, tocome to prepare some dishes? How can you expect HisMajesty to eat such rough Hangzhou food?""These dishes look delicious," protested Qian Long.
　　"They certainly cannot be called rough." He picked uphis chopsticks and stretched over to pick up somefood. Lu Feiqing, sitting next to him, stretched outhis own chopsticks and caught Qian Long's betweenthem.
　　"These dishes are too coarse for Your Highness. Youwould not wish to have an upset stomach," he said, andapplying a slight amount of pressure, snapped QianLong's chopsticks in two.
　　Qian Long's face flushed deep red and he slammed thechopstick ends down onto the table. The otherspretended not to notice and began eating.
　　"Go and get His Highness's personal cook to preparesome food quickly," Xu shouted. "His Highness ishungry, do you hear?"The cook hastily retired. Qian Long knew they wereplaying with him. Hunger burned in his stomach as hewatched the others eating and drinking voraciously. Hewas livid with rage, but he could not risk displayinghis feelings. When they had finished, a servant camein with some tea.
　　"This tea is not too bad," said Xu. "Your Highness maylike to drink a cupful."Qian Long drank the cup dry in two mouthfuls, but itonly served to aggravate his hunger. 'Crocodile' Jiangrubbed his belly appreciatively and said: "I'm full!""We are making arrangements for a proper banquet foryou, Your Highness," 'Buddha' Zhao said.
　　Priest Wu Chen stamped his foot and exclaimed that theGreat Helmsman would be very displeased to find hishonoured guest had been kept waiting.
　　Lord Zhou began clicking his iron gallstones together.
　　"Are you hungry, Your Majesty?" he asked. Qian Longsaid nothing.
　　"What do you mean, hungry?" asked 'Crocodile' Jiang.
　　"I'm full!""The well-fed never appreciate the anguish of thehungry," added Xu. "There are countless millions ofcommon people who are starving, but when have those inauthority ever spared a thought for them? Having beena little bit hungry today, perhaps Your Highness willin future understand more about how the common peoplesuffer when they starve.""Some people are hungry for months and years on end.
　　Some never eat their fill once in a whole lifetime,"said one of the Twin Knights. "What's so special aboutnot eating anything for a day or two?"Most of the Red Flower Society heroes had been borninto poverty. Their anger rose as they thought of thepast and they all began talking at once, swappingstories.
　　Qian Long's face went pale as he listened. He foundhimself moved by their sincerity. "Could such miseryreally exist in the world?" he asked himself. The morehe heard, the more embarrassed he felt, and finally herose and went back upstairs. The heroes did not try tostop him.
　　A few hours later, he smelt the aroma of mutton withonions and green peppers wafting up from below. Thiswas a speciality of the Imperial chef, Zhang Anguan,and just as Qian Long was wondering if it could reallybe him, Zhang Anguan ran up and kowtowed, saying:
　　"Please come and eat, Your Highness.""What are you doing here?" Qian Long asked inamazement.
　　"Your slave was watching an opera performance in apark yesterday when I was kidnapped. Today, I wasasked to wait on you, and your slave was delighted tohave the opportunity."Qian Long nodded and went downstairs. The table hadbeen set with a number of dishes including the mutton,all them his personal favorites. As well as the maindishes, there were also a dozen or so plates of smalldelicacies, and his heart leapt for joy at the sightof the feast. Chef Zhang filled a bowl of rice forhim.
　　"Please eat, Your Highness," said Priest Wu Chen.
　　Qian Long wondered whether they would allow him to eatthis time. He was just about to raise his chopstickswhen a young girl came in carrying a cat.
　　"Daddy," she said to Lord Zhou. "Kitty is hungry."The cat struggled to free itself and jumped onto thetable. The animal ate a couple of mouthfuls from thedishes spread before Qian Long, then it suddenly wentrigid, dropped onto the table top, dead.
　　Qian Long's face went white, and Chef Zhang, shakingfrom fright, knelt down and said: "YourHighness...Your Highness...the food...they've poisonedthe food...don't eat it!"Qian Long laughed out loud. "You have committedrebellion and other heinous crimes. Now you wish toassassinate me," he said. "If you are going to killme, do it cleanly. Why go to the trouble of poisoningthe food?" He pushed his chair back and stood up.
　　"Your Highness, are you sure this meal is inedible?"asked Priest Wu Chen.
　　"You traitorous thieves!" Qian Long shouted, his angerbreaking through. "We'll see what sort of an end youall come to!"Priest Wu Chen slammed his hand down on the table.
　　"For a real man, life and death are decided byHeaven!" he shouted. "If you won't eat, then I will!
　　Who has the guts to join me?"He picked up his chopsticks, took some food from oneof the dishes the cat had tried, and began chewingnoisily. The other heroes sat down again too, allsaying: "If we die, we die. What does it matter?" QianLong was stunned at the sight of these criminalseating poisoned food.
　　The heroes, who had fed the cat poison in advance, ateall the dishes clean in a trice, and suffered no illeffects. Qian Long, having failed to eat even onemouthful, had lost yet another round.
Chapter 31
While Qian Long went hungry, the officialadministration in Hangzhou was turned upside down.
　　News of the Emperor's disappearance had not yet leakedout but the whole city had been searched. All exitsfrom Hangzhou by both land and water were heavilyguarded, and several thousand "suspected bandits" hadbeen arrested until every prison was full. The localofficials were very worried, but they also tookadvantage of the situation to seize rich businessmenand merchants and extort large sums of money fromthem.
　　Fu Kangan, Commander Li and Bai Zhen jumped about likeants on a hot plate, completely at a loss for what todo.
　　Early on the morning of the third day, Fu Kangancalled a meeting in the provincial governor'sresidence. Glum-faced and powerless, they argued aboutwhether or not the Empress should be informed. Butnone of them dared consider the consequences once sucha report had been sent.
　　As they sat gripped by indecision, one of the ImperialBodyguards, named Rui, ran in, his face deathly pale,and whispered into Bai Zhen's ear.
　　Bai Zhen went white and stood up. "How could thishappen?" he demanded. Fu Kangan hurriedly asked whatwas wrong.
　　"The six bodyguards standing guard outside theEmperor's bed chamber have been killed," Rui said. Farfrom being alarmed, Fu was pleased by this news.
　　"Let us go and see," he said. "This event must beconnected with His Majesty's disappearance. We mayeven find some clues."They hurried to the bed chamber that had been setaside in the Governor's residence for Qian Long. Sixcorpses lay at all angles around the room. Some hadhad their eyes gouged out, some had gaping holes intheir chests: All had died horribly.
　　"These six brothers were good fighters," said BaiZhen. "How could they have been finished off withoutbeing able to even utter a sound?"They stared in open-mouthed horror, incapabale ofdeciphering the scene. Bai Zhen examined the corpse.
　　The assassins had moved so fast, some of the six hadnot even had time to draw their swords.
　　He frowned. "This room is not big enough for a largenumber of people to fight in, so at the very mostthere cannot have been more than two or three ofthem," he said. "Their kung fu must be extraordinary.""Since they already have the Emperor, why should theycome and kill these bodyguards?" asked Commander Li.
　　"From the look of it, last night's assassins and thepeople who kidnapped the Emperor are not the samebunch.""That's right!" exclaimed Fu Kangan. "The assassinscame, planning to kill the Emperor, but found hewasn't there.""I would guess that you are correct," said Bai Zhen.
　　"If the men who killed the bodyguards were from theRed Flower Society, then the Emperor has fallen intosomeone else's hands. But apart from the Red FlowerSociety, who else is there whose kung fu is so good?"The Red Flower Society's fighters were alreadydifficult enough to handle: the sudden appearance ofyet another group of powerful enemies froze his heart.
　　Bending over to look at the corpses again, Bai Zhennoticed that some of the wounds appeared to have beenmade by the claws and teeth of a dog, and he hurriedlyasked Commander Li to send someone to find somehunting hounds.
　　About two hours later, a soldier appeared with threehunters and six hounds. Bai Zhen ordered the huntersto let their charges sniff around the corpses, andafter a second the dogs charged out of the chamber onthe trail of a scent. They ran straight to the lakeand barked madly across the water. After a moment,they raced off again along the lake shore to whereQian Long had stepped ashore following the courtesancontest, then turned towards the city. The streetswere crowded and the scent confused, and the dogs wereforced to slow down, but they continued to headtowards Beautiful Jade's establishment.
　　There should have been troops on guard outside theentrance, but none were to be seen, and as theyentered the courtyard they found a dozen corpses lyingon the ground. The ruthless assassins had not left onebodyguard alive. Some had had their throats ripped outby dogs, which Bai Zhen thought appeared from thewounds to be very large animals, possibly a crossbetween dogs and wolves such as were bred in thenorthwest. Could the assassins have come from there?
　　The dogs sniffed their way around Beautiful Jade'schamber several times, then began scratching andpawing at a certain point on the floor. Bai Zhenordered the soldiers to prise up the floor boards withtheir swords and underneath they found a stone slab.
　　"Lift it up!" Bai Zhen ordered urgently. The soldiersheaved the slab up, revealing a deep hole into whichthe dogs immediately leapt. Commander Li and Bai Zhenlooked down at the tunnel glumly. The kidnappers hadavoided the heavy guard by coming and going via thetunnel. Full of shame, they led their troops down intothe darkness.
Chapter 32
After two days and nights of being starved, frightenedand angered, Qian Long's resistance was virtually wornaway. On the morning of the third day, a boy appearedand said: "Master Dongfang, our master invites you tocome and talk with him."Qian Long recognized the boy as Chen's attendant, andhe followed him down to the floor below.
　　As he entered, Chen, smiling broadly, advanced togreet him, and bowed. Qian Long returned the bow, andthe two sat down. Xin Yan served some tea.
　　"Bring some titbits to eat," Chen ordered. A momentlater, Xin Yan carried in a tray on which was placedplates of spring rolls, prawns, chicken and ham. Heset out two sets of bowls and chopsticks and pouredwine for them both.
　　"Please forgive me for not being able to see yousooner. I had to go to visit a friend who waswounded," said Chen.
　　"It is nothing.""There is something I wish to talk to you about, butplease eat first," Chen added. He chose a morsel fromeach plate, then put down his chopsticks and watchedQian Long wolf down the food.
　　When he had finished, Qian Long sat back, unspeakablycontented, and raised his tea cup. He looked closelyat the tiny Dragon's Well tea leaves and took aleisurely sip, savouring the feeling of the liquidseeping into his stomach.
　　Chen walked over to the door and pushed it open. "Allthe others are downstairs standing guard. There couldnot be a more convenient place for us to talk. No onewill hear us," he said.
　　Qian Long's expression hardened. "Why did you have mebrought here?" he asked. "What is it you want?"Chen stepped forward and stared into his face.
　　"Do you still not recognize me, brother?" Chen askedafter a moment's silence. The words were soft, thetone intimate, but they hit Qian Long's ears with theforce of a clap of thunder, and he jumped. Anexpression of deep sincerity on his face, Chen slowlyextended his hand and took Qian Long's.
　　"We are blood brothers," he said. "There is no need tocontinue the deception, my brother, I knoweverything."Chen pulled on a chord beside a painting hanging onthe wall and the painting rolled up to reveal amirror. "Take a look at yourself," he said.
　　Qian Long stood up and gazed at himself in the mirror,wearing Chinese clothes: his face contained not theslightest likeness to a Manchu. He looked at Chenstanding beside him, and had to admit that despitetheir difference in age, their faces were similar. Hesighed and sat down.
　　"Brother, we were not aware of the situation before,"said Chen. "We even took up arms against each other.
　　The spirits of father and mother up in heaven musthave been heartbroken. Luckily neither of us was hurtand nothing happened which cannot be rectified."Qian Long felt a rasping dryness in his throat and hisheart beating rapidly. A moment passed. "I asked youto go to Beijing with me to work, but you refused," hesaid finally. Chen turned and gazed out at the greatriver without answering.
　　"With your scholastic abilities," Qian Long continued,"what reason would there be for not promoting you?
　　Such a situation would be of great benefit to ourfamily and to the nation, to both you and I. Why be sodisloyal and unfilial as to continue with thiscriminal course of action?"Chen spun round. "I have never accused you of beingdisloyal or unfilial, or of acting criminally, and yetyou accuse me of these things.""Hah!" replied Qian Long. "It is true that ministersmust be completely loyal to their emperor. But since Iam already emperor, how could I be disloyal?""You are obviously a Chinese and yet you submit to theManchus. Is that loyalty? When our father and motherwere alive, you never attended to them properly. Isthat filial behaviour?"Beads of sweat dripped off Qian Long's forehead. "Atthe time, I did not know," he said quietly. "I firstheard about it when the former leader of your RedFlower Society, Master Yu, visited me last spring.
　　Even now, I'm not sure whether I believe it.""Look at yourself," Chen said. "What resemblance isthere to a Manchu? How can you have any furtherdoubt?"Qian Long brooded in silence.
　　"You are Chinese. The homeland of the Chinese peoplehas fallen into the hands of the Manchus, and youyourself lead them in the oppression of our people. Isthat not disloyal, unfilial and criminal behaviour?"For a moment, Qian Long was at a loss for a reply.
　　"And now I have fallen into your hands," he finallysaid, haughtily. "If you are going to kill me, thenkill me. There is no point wasting words.""But we made a pact on the embankment at Haining thatwe would never do anything to hurt one other," Chenreplied softly. "How can I go back on my word? Andanyway, now that we know we are blood brothers, wehave even less reason to do each other harm." A teartrickled unbidden down his cheek.
　　"Well, what do you want me to do? Do you want to forceme to abdicate?""No," said Chen, wiping his eyes. "You can continue tobe emperor. But as the wise, enlightened founder of anew dynasty.""Founder of a new dynasty?" Qian Long echoed insurprise.
　　"Yes. You will be a Chinese emperor, not an emperor ofthe Manchus."Qian Long suddenly understood. "So you want me todrive out the Manchus?" he said.
　　"Yes, you will be emperor just the same, but insteadof being regarded as a criminal and cursed by futuregenerations, why not establish an outstanding andrejuvenating dynasty that will last?"Chen saw from Qian Long's expression that his wordswere having the desired effect.
　　"Being the emperor you are at present, you are simplybasking in the glory of the former Manchu rulers," hecontinued. "What is so special about that? Look atthat man."Qian Long went over to the window and looked down inthe direction Chen was pointing, and saw a peasant inthe distance hoeing the ground.
　　"If that man had been born in the Imperial Palace andyou had been born in his farm house, he would beemperor, and you would have no choice but to hoe thefield."Qian Long started at the novelty of the idea.
　　"A man is born into the world and his life is gone ina flash," said Chen. "If you achieve nothingworthwhile, you decay and rot like grass and treeswithout leaving a trace behind. The emperors of thepast who established their own noble dynasties weretruly great men. Even a Tartar such as Genghis Khancould also be considered to be outstanding."Every word stabbed deep into Qian Long's heart. If, hethought, if I really do as he says and throw theManchus out and restore the Chinese homelands, I wouldtruly be the founder of a dynasty and a man of greaterachievements than any emperor before me.
　　Just as he was considering an answer, he heard thesound of dogs barking in the distance. Seeing Chenfrown slightly, he looked out and spied four massivehounds galloping towards the pagoda with two figuresfollowing.
　　In the wink of an eye, they reached the base of thepagoda and there was a sharp challenge from below.
　　Qian Long and Chen, in the second-highest storey ofthe thirteen-storey pavilion could not hear distinctlywhat was said, but they saw the two new-comers andtheir dogs charge into the pavilion. A moment later,there was a loud whistle indicating danger.
　　Seeing help had arrived, Qian Long was overjoyed. Chenlooked around carefully, but could see no other signsof movement: the two intruders were alone.
　　He heard the shouts of youngsters mingling with thebarks and growls of the dogs, indicating Zhou Qi andXin Yan on the second floor were doing battle with theanimals. All of a sudden, there were two screams, andtwo swords were hurled out of the window. Just then,'Crocodile' Jiang wielding his mighty iron oar chasedthe four dogs out of the pagoda and began beating themmercilessly. Someone on the sixth floor and gave anear-splitting whistle. The four dogs turned and racedaway.
　　Noting the intruders had reached the sixth floor, Chenrealised it meant Twelfth Brother, Ninth Brother andEighth Brother had been unable to stop them. Hegroaned inwardly.
　　Suddenly, he saw 'Mastermind' Xu leap out of theseventh floor window onto the narrow roof pursued by atiny old woman with a head of white hair and a swordslung over her back.
　　"Watch the dart!" Xu yelled with a wave of his hand,and his opponent hastily withdrew. But it had beenmerely a feint, and Xu took advantage of the trick toescape round the corner.
　　The old woman chased after him.
　　"Watch out!" Xu yelled.
　　"You bastard monkey," the old woman cursed. "You can'tfool your grandma again."She made a grab for him, but this time, it was nofeint: a piece of tile Xu had picked up from the roofhurtled towards her. Unable to avoid it, the old womanblocked the tile with her hand and it shattered. TheTwin Knights, standing guard on the eighth floor,appeared to be fully occupied dealing with the oldwoman's partner, for they gave Xu no help. Xu's kungfu was no match for the old woman's, and after a fewmoves, he was forced to dodge out of the way again.
　　Qian Long watched with pleasure as the two new-comersfought their way up, but Chen also seemed strangelyunconcerned. He pulled a chair to the window so thathe could sit and observe the battle. There were onlytwo of them, he thought. In the end, they could notovercome all the Red Flower Society's fighters.
　　Then he heard the sound of more dogs barking in thedistance intermingled with shouting and gallopinghorses.
　　Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Xin Yan raced in.
　　"The guards outside report that more than two thousandManchu troops are approaching, heading straight forus," he told Chen, using the Red Flower Society'ssecret language.
　　Chen nodded and Xin Yan raced back downstairs. QianLong did not understand what Xin Yan had said, butseeing Chen's anxious expression, he knew it wasunwelcome news. He looked into the distance andspotted amongst the maple trees a white flag on whichwas written one large word: "Li". Overjoyed, herealized Commander Li had come to save him.
　　Chen leaned out of the window and shouted: "BrotherMa, retreat into the pagoda and prepare the bows andarrows!"Suddenly the old woman rushed into the room with theheroes close behind. Lord Zhou attacked her with hisgreat sword while Chen pulled Qian Long into a corner.
　　Xu motioned some of the others to guard the windows,and Chen shouted: "Throw down your sword and we'llspare you!"The old woman could see she was surrounded, but shecontinued to fight, completely unafraid.
　　"I've seen her sword style somewhere before, I'msure," Zhou Qi said to Xu.
　　"Yes, I thought it was familiar too," he replied.
　　The old woman forced Lord Zhou back a pace, thenshouted at Qian Long: "Are you the emperor?""Yes, I'm the emperor," he replied hastily. "Are allthe rescue forces here?" The woman leapt onto thetable, then with her sword pointing straight out, flewat him like a great bird, thrusting the blade at hisheart. The heroes had assumed she was one of QianLong's underlings come to rescue him, and were caughtcompletely unaware by this fast move. But Chen, whowas standing by Qian Long's side, thrust his fingersat a Yuedao point on the old woman's arm. Her bladeslowed, giving Chen time to draw his dagger and placeit in the way of the sword. The two blades clashed,then both retreated two paces. Chen pulled Qian Longback and placed himself in front of him, then saluted.
　　"What is your honourable name, Madame," he asked.
　　"Where did that dagger of yours come from?" shereplied.
　　Chen was surprised by the question. "A friend gave itto me," he said.
　　"What friend?" the woman demanded. "You are a servantof the Emperor. Why would she give it to you? What isyour relationship with Master Yuan, the Strange Knightof the Heavenly Pool?""He is my teacher," said Chen, answering the lastquestion first.
　　"So that's it," the woman said. "Your teacher may bepeculiar, but he's an upright gentleman. How could youhave dishonoured him by becoming a running dog of theManchus?""This is our Great Helmsman, Master Chen," 'IronPagoda' Yang shouted. "Don't talk such nonsense."The old woman's face took on a puzzled expression.
　　"Are you the Red Flower Society?" she asked.
　　"Correct," said Yang.
　　She turned on Chen. "Have you surrendered to theManchus?" she screeched in rage.
　　"The Red Flower Society is just and upright. How couldwe bend our knees before the Manchu court?" hereplied. "Please sit down, madame. Let us discuss thiscalmly."Her expression softened slightly. "Where did yourdagger come from?" she asked again.
　　Having seen her kung fu style, and hearing herquestions, Chen had already almost solved the puzzle.
　　"It was given to me by a Muslim friend," he said. Theexchange of presents between boys and girls was not anordinary thing, and Chen was unhappy about discussingthe matter in front of everyone.
　　"Do you know Huo Qingtong?" the old woman demanded.
　　Chen nodded.
　　"It was Sister Huo Qingtong who gave it to him," ZhouQi interjected. "Do you know her? If you do, we're allon the same side!""She is my pupil," the old woman said. "Since you saywe are all on the same side, what are you doinghelping the Emperor, and stopping me from killinghim?""We caught the Emperor," said one of the Twin Knights.
　　"If he is to be killed, it will not be you who doesit.""Huh!" the woman exclaimed. "You mean you caught theemperor and brought him here?""This is a misunderstanding, Madame," said Chen. "Weinvited the Emperor to come here. We assumed you werepalace bodyguards coming to rescue him, that is why wetried to obstruct you."The old woman went over to the window and stuck herhead out. "Come down, husband!" she shouted at the topof her voice. An arrow shot in through the window frombelow and the old woman grabbed it by its tail, thenturned in one movement and threw the arrow so that itimplanted itself in the table top.
　　"You untrustworthy rascal," she screeched at Chen asthe arrow quivered. "What is the meaning of this?""Please don't be angry Madame," replied Chen hastily.
　　"Our brothers at the base of the pagoda are not yetaware of the situation." He walked to the windowplanning to tell the heroes to stop firing and sawthat the pagoda was already surrounded by Manchutroops.
　　"Third Brother," he said to 'Buddha' Zhao. "Tell theothers to guard the doorway, but not to go outside."Zhao nodded and went downstairs.
　　"You must be Madame Guan," said Lord Zhou to the oldwoman. "I have long respected you."Madame Guan nodded slightly.
　　"This is Lord Zhou Zhongying," said Chen to her.
　　"Ah, I have heard about you too," she said, thensuddenly screeched out: "Husband, come down! What areyou doing?"The others all jumped at this unexpected outburst.
　　"Your husband is fighting with Priest Wu Chen," saidLord Zhou. "Let's go and explain the situation to themquickly."Chen motioned to the Twin Knights to guard Qian Long,and the rest raced up the stairs to the thirteenthfloor.
　　"Husband!" Madame Guan shouted. "They're the RedFlower Society!"Her husband Bald Vulture, locked in fierce combat withthe Taoist priest, started in surprise, and hesitatedin his attack. "Really?" he said.
　　There was a laugh from above their heads and Master LuFeiqing dropped to the floor.
　　"Excellent swordsmanship, excellent," he chuckled,nodding appreciatively at both Bald Vulture and atPriest Wu Chen.
　　"Do you recognize me?" he asked Bald Vulture.
　　Bald Vulture looked at him closely for a moment, thengave a shout.
　　"Ah! You're 'Hidden Needle' Lu," he exclaimed.
　　"That's right," Lu smiled.
　　"What are you doing here?" Bald Vulture asked.
　　Lu turned without answering and bowed before the oldwoman. "Madame, it has been many years since I lastsaw you, but your kung fu is better than ever!""Ah," exclaimed Bald Vulture again, staring at Lu'sblade. "That's a very precious sword you have there!"Lu smiled. "It belongs to someone else," he said. "I'mjust using it temporarily." But let me introduce you.
　　He introduced all the heroes, to 'Bald Vulture' Linand his wife Madame Guan, the Tianshan Twin Eagles.
　　"I thought you two were living happily in the Tianshanmountains," Lu said. "And here you are, trying to killthe Emperor.""You have all met my young pupil, Huo Qingtong,"replied Madame Guan. "This affair started with her.
　　The Emperor sent an army to attack the Muslims, butthey couldn't match the Manchu troops' strength andlost some battles. Later, the Manchu grain supplieswere ransacked...""That was the Red Flower Society," interrupted Lu.
　　"They did it to help Muzhuolun.""Mm, I heard about that," said Madame Guan. Sheglanced at Chen. "No wonder she gave you that dagger.""That was before. We met when they came to recovertheir sacred Koran.""You also helped to get that back. The way the Muslimstalk of you, you're all great heroes!" Her tonesuggested she disagreed. "After the Manchu troops losttheir grain, they also lost a battle and Muzhuolunsuggested peace talks. But just as the truce talkswere getting started, the Manchu general got hold ofsome rations and attacked again.""Manchu officers have no sense of honour," said Lu,shaking his head sagely.
　　"The ordinary people of the Muslim areas have beenbrutally treated by the Manchu troops," Madame Guancontinued. "Master Muzhuolun asked us to help. Weoriginally didn't want to have anything to do withit....""It was you!" Bald Vulture butted in accusingly. "Nowyou're trying to feign innocence.""What do you mean, me? Look at the way the Manchus areburning and pillaging across the Muslim lands,oppressing the people. Don't you care?"Bald Vulture grunted in indignation and was about toargue further when Lu raised his hand.
　　"You two are just the same as ever," he said with asmile. "As soon as you open your mouths, you'rearguing. Don't take any notice, Madame, pleasecontinue."She eyed her husband distastefully, then said: "Wefirst thought of assassinating the Manchu general,Zhao Wei, but there wasn't much point in killing onegeneral, because the Emperor would just send anotherand it would go on for ever. So we decided to kill theEmperor instead. We went to Beijing, but heard on theroad that he had come down south. We followed him outof Hangzhou with our dogs using the tunnel you used tobring him here. At the time, we were very puzzled asto why the Emperor would suddenly want to travelaround in tunnels.""What? So you captured the Emperor?" said BaldVulture. Chen nodded. "You did pretty well," BaldVulture commented.
　　Suddenly, there was a roar from the Manchu troopsaround the base of the pagoda.
　　"I'll go and tell the Emperor to shut them up," saidXu, and ran downstairs. A moment later they saw QianLong stick his head out of the window on the seventhfloor and shout: "I'm here!""There's His Highness!" called Bai Zhen down below andthe troops all prostrated themselves on the ground.
　　"I am all right up here!" Qian Long added. "There isno need for such noise." There was a pause, then headded: "All of you retire thirty paces!" They compliedimmediately.
　　"Seventh Brother directs the Emperor and the Emperordirects the troops," said Chen with a smile. "That'smuch better than charging out and killing andslaughtering. The Emperor is the most precious objectunder heaven. It is better to use him than to killhim." The others laughed.
　　'Leopard' Wei, who was watching the Manchu soldierswithdraw, saw several men in their midst with huntingdogs on leashes.
　　"Ah, I was wondering how they found their way here,"he said. He took a bow from one of the attendants, andshot off two arrows, and there were two long screamsand two of the dogs fell to the ground, dead. A roarwent up from the Manchu troops, who speeded up theirretreat.
　　"Master Lu, Lord Zhou," said Chen. "Please entertainthe Twin Eagles while I go downstairs and have anothertalk with the Emperor."As Chen reached the seventh floor, the Twin Knightsand Xu bowed to him and retired. Qian Long was sittingdespondently in a chair.
　　"Have you made a decision yet?" asked Chen.
　　"Since you have caught me, you might as well kill meif you are going to. What is the point of talking?"Chen sighed. "It is such a pity," he said.
　　"What's a pity?""I have always thought of you as an extremely talentedman and have pride in the fact my parents gave birthto such a good son, my brother. But...""But what?"Chen was silent for a moment. "But although outwardlyyou appear to be a man of courage, you are virtuallyhollow inside. Not being afraid of death is theeasiest thing in the world. But the formation of agrand designs, the making of great decisions, that issomething that can only be done by a man with truecourage. That is precisely what you are incapable ofdoing."Qian Long was silent, but he appeared to be moved byChen's words.
　　"All you have to do is to decide to restore theChinese nation and we unruly fighters will immediatelyfollow your every instruction," Chen added. "I canstrike my chest and guarantee that they will not dareto do anything disrespectful towards you."Qian Long nodded several times, but there was still anarea of doubt in his mind which made it impossible forhim to speak out. Chen guessed his thoughts.
　　"All I want is to see you throw the barbarian Manchusout of China," he said. "Then I will be content," hesaid. "Then I will ask you to allow me to retire tothe seclusion of the Western Lake and live out therest of my life in peace.""What sort of talk is that?" said Qian Long. "If thisGrand Design was achieved, your assistance would berequired in planning affairs of state.""We are getting ahead of ourselves," replied Chen.
　　"But once the Grand Design has been completed, youmust allow me to retire."Qian Long slapped his hand down on the table. "Allright," he said. "We'll do as you say."Chen was overjoyed. "You have no further doubts?" heasked.
　　"None. But there is one thing I would like you to dofor me. Your former Great Helmsman, Yu Wanting, hadseveral items stored in the Muslim areas and said theywere proof of my birth. Go and get them so that I cansee them. Only then will my last doubts disappear.
　　Then we will discuss detailed plans."Chen felt this was reasonable. "All right," hereplied. "I will start out tomorrow and get themmyself.""When you get back, I will assign you to the ImperialBodyguard, then promote you to be commander of theBeijing garrison," said Qian Long. "I will graduallytransfer the military power in every province into thehands of Chinese we can trust. I'll make you Secretaryof the Armed Forces with orders to disperse the keyManchu Banner units, and then we can act."Chen knelt down and performed the ritual act ofobeiscence of a vassal before his Lord, but Qian Longhurriedly helped him up.
　　"An oath must be sworn in front of the others overthis," Chen said. "There must be no reneging."Qian Long nodded.
　　Chen clapped his hands once and ordered Xin Yan tohelp Qian Long change back into his original clothes.
　　"Please ask everyone to come to pay their respects tothe Emperor," he said.
　　The heroes crowded in. Chen told them Qian Long hadagreed to chase out the Manchus and restore theChinese throne, then swore in a clear voice: "Infuture, we will assist Your Highness, and togetherplan the Grand Design. If anyone should reveal thissecret, he will be damned by heaven and earth."He drank a draught of a specially prepared brew ofCovenant Wine to seal the pact, and Qian Long didlikewise.
　　"Bald Vulture, Madame Guan," said Lu. "Come and drinka cup of the Covenant Wine as well.""I have never believed the word of any official, sowhy should I trust their leader?" said Bald Vulture.
　　His right hand suddenly struck the wall, smashing asection of it to rubble and pulled out a brick.
　　"Whoever breaks the covenant, betrays his friends, anddestroys the Grand Design will be crushed like this!"he shouted harshly, and with one movement of his hand,the brick broke into a thousand pieces which tumbledto the floor. Qian Long looked at the hole in the walland down at the smashed brick in fright.
　　"Even though you decline to join the vow, we are allfriends," said Chen. "But I trust Your Highness willnot vacillate and forget the covenant establishedtoday.""Please rest easy over that," replied Qian Long.
　　"All right. Let us escort His Highness out," saidChen. Wei raced out of the pagoda and shouted: "Comeand meet His Highness!"Half-suspicious, Commander Li and Bai Zhen ordered thetroops to move slowly forward, afraid that this wasyet another Red Flower Society trick. Suddenly, theysaw Qian Long emerge from the pagoda and prostratedthemselves on the ground. Bai Zhen led a horse overand Qian Long mounted.
　　"I have been drinking and composing poetry with themhere," he said to Bai Zhen. "I wanted a few days'
　　peace and quiet and you had to make a mountain out amolehill and rob me of my pleasure."The heroes returned to the pagoda.
　　"We are extemely happy to have met you all today,"said Bald Vulture. "Especially Lord Zhou, whom we haverespected for so long, and Master Lu, whom we have notseen for many years. But now my wife and I have someother minor affairs to deal with, and will take ourleave."Madame Guan pulled Chen over to one side. "Are youmarried?" she asked.
　　Chen blushed deep red. "No," he replied.
　　"Are you engaged?""Not engaged either," he said. Madame Guan smiled toherself. Then she suddenly screeched: "If you are everso ungrateful as to turn your back on the one who gaveyou that dagger, I will never forgive you." Chen wasso shocked by the outburst he was completely lost fora reply.
　　"You scorpion!" her husband shouted from the otherside of the side of the room. "What are you lecturingthat young man about? Let's be going!"Madame Guan turned round, emitted an ear-splittingwhistle and four dogs raced out of the trees. Thecouple bowed before the heroes and took their leave.
　　"Let us go back upstairs to talk," Chen said. Theyfollowed him back up to the top floor of the pagoda.
　　"I promised the Emperor that I would go to see myteacher and collect two important items from him,"said Chen. "But let us first go to Heaven's EyeMountain to see how Brother Wen and Brother Yu aredoing and then make further arrangements."They left the pagoda and Master Ma and his sonreturned to Hangzhou by themselves while the rest ofthe heroes galloped off westwards.
Chapter 33
The trees on the hillsides were dense and dark. It wasalready deep autumn and Heaven's Eye Mountain wascovered in fiery-red leaves and yellowing grass.
　　Lookouts sent word of the approach of Chen and hiscomrades and Zhang Jin and the other heroes came downto greet them.
　　Luo Bing was not among them, and Chen's heart missed abeat, afraid that something had happened to her.
　　"Where's Fourth Sister?" he asked. "And how areBrother Wen and Brother Yu?""They're fine," Zhang Jin replied. "Fourth Sister saidshe was going to get a present for Fourth Brother.
　　She's been away two days already. You didn't meet heron the road?"Chen shook his head. "What present?"Zhang Jin smiled. "I don't know. Fourth Brother'swounds have healed well, but he spends all his time inbed moping. Then Fourth Sister came up with this ideaof going to get him a present. I wonder who will loseout as a result?" The others laughed.
　　They made their way up the mountain and entered thecourtyard of a large mansion. Wen Tailai was lyingdejectedly on a rattan couch. They told him brieflyabout what had transpired and then went to the roomnext door to see 'Scholar' Yu.
　　As they stepped inside, they heard the sound ofsobbing. Chen walked over and pulled aside the bedcurtain to reveal Yu lying face-down on the bed, hisback shaking uncontrollably. Even girls like Luo Bingand Zhou Qi rarely cried, and they were shocked andembarrassed by his behaviour.
　　"Fourteenth Brother," Chen said quietly. "We've cometo see you. How do you feel? Are your wounds verypainful?"Yu stopped crying, but did not turn over. "GreatHelmsman, Brothers, thank you all for coming to seeme. Forgive me for not getting up to greet youproperly. My health has improved a lot over the pastfew days, but my face has been burnt so badly, it's sougly that I cannot face anyone."Zhou Qi smiled. "What does it matter if a man has burnmarks on his face?" she said. "Don't tell my you'reafraid you won't be able to find a girl willing tomarry you?" Some of the heroes laughed at her lack ofrestraint.
　　"Brother Yu," said Lu Feiqing. "Your face was burntwhile saving myself and Wen Tailai. When people hearof this act, do you think there is anyone who wouldnot proclaim you to be a hero? What need is there forsuch distress?""You are right, uncle," said Yu, and burst into tearsagain.
　　The heroes returned to the main hall. Chen and Xutalked together in low tones, then clapped their handsand the heroes stood up.
　　"Brothers," said Chen. "So far, things have gone verywell for us. But in the future, we will face eventougher problems. I will now give you yourassignments. Ninth Brother, Twelfth Brother, you twogo to Beijing and see what you can find out about theEmperor's plans and if he intends to break our pact.
　　This will be extremely difficult to execute. You mustboth exercise great caution." Wei and Shi nodded.
　　"Now, the Twin Knights," Chen continued. "Please go tothe Southwest and make contact with the fighters inSichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Eighth Brother,you go to Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, Priest Wu Chento Hubei and Hunan. Thirteenth Brother and Brother Main Hangzhou will contact people in Zhejiang, Fujianand Jiangxi, while I would like to ask Master Lu todeal with Shandong and Henan. I would like Lord Zhou,Master Meng, Brother Xu and Mistress Zhou Qi to handlethe northwest provinces. Fourth Brother and FourteenthBrother will remain here convalescing with FourthSister and Tenth Brother to look after them. Xin Yanwill accompany me to the Muslim areas.
　　"I am not asking you to begin preparations for anuprising, but simply to improve relations with membersof the fighting community in all areas and to providea basis on which we can act later," he added.
　　"Absolute secrecy is essential, so do not revealanything to anyone no matter how close or respectedthey are.""We understand," they replied in unison.
　　"In exactly one year's time we will all gather inBeijing. By that time, Fourth Brother and FourteenthBrother will be fully recovered and we can begin thegreat task!"Cheers arose from the heroes. They followed Chen outof the hall, elated by the prospect of the future.
　　Only Zhang Jin, assigned by the Great Helmsman to stayat Heaven's Eye Mountain, was unhappy. Wen guessed histhoughts, and went over to speak to Chen.
　　"Great Helmsman, my wounds are almost healed, andalthough Fourteenth Brother's burns are serious, he isrecovering quickly," he said. "It is a bit much to askus to stay cooped up here for a year. The four of uswould like to accompany you to the Muslim regions. Thetrip would also help to take Fourteenth Brother's mindoff other things.""All right, we'll do it that way," Chen agreed. ZhangJin ran joyfully in to tell Yu the news.
　　Lord Zhou took Chen aside. "Great Helmsman," he said.
　　"The fact that we have discovered through Master Wenthat you and the Emperor are blood relations is amatter worthy of great rejoicing. I would like to addto it one more happy event. What do you think?""You wish to hold a wedding for Seventh Brother andMistress Zhou, is that right?""Exactly," Zhou replied, smiling.
　　Chen walked over to Zhou Qi, his face wreathed insmiles, and bowed before her. "Mistress,congratulations," he said.
　　She blushed deeply. "What do you mean?""I should call you Seventh Sister. Seventh Sister,congratulations!" He clapped his hands loudly and theheroes immediately fell silent.
　　"Just now, Lord Zhou told me he wants Mistress Zhou Qiand Seventh Brother to be married this evening. So wehave something else to celebrate!"The heroes cheered loudly and congratulated Lord Zhouand Xu. Zhou Qi hastily made for her bedroom inembarrassment.
　　"Tenth Brother!" Wei called to Zhang Jin. "Stop her.
　　Don't let the bride escape!" Zhang made as to grab herand Zhou Qi chopped out with her left hand to fend himoff.
　　"Help!" he cried in mock surprise, dodging to oneside. "The bride's attacking me!"A laugh escaped from her as she charged out of thehall.
　　Just then, there was the sound of bells outside andLuo Bing ran in carrying a large box.
　　"Oh good, everyone's here!" she cried. "What'shappened to make you all so happy?" She lookedenquiringly at Chen.
　　"Ask Seventh Brother," said Wei.
　　"What's happened, Brother Xu?" Luo Bing asked, but Xuwas speechless for a moment. "Mm? That's strange. Hasthe Kung Fu Mastermind gone silly?"'Crocodile' Jiang dodged behind Xu and held up histhumbs and made them bow to each other. "TheMastermind is getting married today," he said withglee.
　　"Oh, how awful, how awful!" Luo Bing exclaimed,absolutely delighted.
　　The others laughed. "What do you mean, awful?" asked'Pagoda' Yang.
　　"If I'd known, I could have brought a sheep and somenice things back with me. As it is, I have almostnothing to give them as presents. Isn't that awful?""Will you let us all see what you've brought forFourth Brother?" Yang asked.
　　Luo Bing smiled and opened up the box. Glinting insidewere the two jade vases which the Muslims had sent tothe Emperor along with their request for a truce.
　　"Where did you get them?" the heroes asked inastonishment.
　　"I was chatting with Fourth Brother and mentioned howbeautiful the girl on the vases was, but he didn'tbelieve me...""I'll bet Fourth Brother said: 'I don't believe she ismore beautiful than you.' Am I right?" interrupted Xu.
　　Luo Bing smiled but did not answer. "Did you go toHangzhou and steal them from the Emperor?" Xu asked.
　　Luo Bing nodded, very pleased with herself. "I gotthem so Fourth Brother could have a look. The GreatHelmsman will decide what should be done with themafter that, whether we should keep them or return themto Sister Huo Qingtong." Wen examined the vases andtutted in admiration.
　　"I was right, wasn't I?" asked Luo Bing. Wen smiledand shook his head. Luo Bing started, then realisedher husband meant that the girl on the vase could notbe more beautiful than she was. Her cheeks flushed.
　　"The Emperor has many top fighters around him and suchprecious items as these vases must have been very wellguarded," said Priest Wu Chen. "How did you manage tosteal them?"Luo Bing told them how she had slipped into the Yamen,grabbed a eunuch and forced him to tell her where thevases were, slipped poison into the food of some ofthe guards, and made cat noises to distract the rest,then grabbed the vases. The heroes praised herartistry, all except Lu Feiqing.
　　"Fourth Sister," he said. "You are very brave, but wasit wise to take such a risk alone just for the sake ofa remark you made to Master Wen? As it happened, theImperial bodyguards were fully occupied thatparticular night searching for the Emperor. If theyhad been there, things could have turned outdifferently.""Yes," Luo Bing replied, then turned and stuck out hertongue at Wen.
　　The wedding ceremony took place amidst greatmerriment, and the next morning the heroes made theirway down the mountain, wished each other well, andwent their separate ways.
　　Chen and Lord Zhou were both heading for the northwestand Chen suggested they travel together. But Zhou saidhe wished to take advantage of their presence in thesouth to visit the Shaolin monastery in Fujianprovince whose style of kung fu was related to hisown. So taking his wife and his assistant Meng withhim, he headed south.
　　Chen, Wen, Luo Bing, Xu, Zhou Qi, Zhang Jin, 'Scholar'
　　Yu and Xin Yan travelled north through Nanking. By thetime they had crossed the Yangtse, Wen had completelyrecovered and Yu was progressing well. As theycontinued north, the weather became cooler, the grassand trees turned yellow as early winter set in. Afterpassing through Kaifeng, Yu was well enough to ride ahorse, and the eight of them galloped together alongthe highway. The north wind blew angrily, throwingdust and sand into their faces.
　　Wen, riding the white horse, galloped ahead of theothers and stopped at an inn in a small village andtold the servants to kill a chicken and prepare ameal, Then he sat down near the door to await thearrival of his friends. He ordered a pot of tea andwiped his face with the hot flannel brought out tohim. Suddenly, a figure darted out from a room on theeastern side of the inn but immediately withdrew oncatching sight of Wen.
　　About an hour later, Chen and the others rode up andWen quietly informed them of what had happened. Xulooked round towards the room and saw a section of thewindow paper was wet with a black eyeball in thecentre which immediately disappeared. He smiled.
　　"It's a novice," he said. "As soon as he starts, hereveals himself.""Go over and see him," Chen said to Xin Yan. "If hehas financial problems, lend him some money."Xin Yan went over to the room and said in a loudvoice: "All streams under heaven have the same source,Red Flowers and green leaves are all one family."This was the Red Flower Society members' catch-phrasefor identifying themselves to other members of thefighting community. Even if the other party was not anassociate of the Red Flower Society, as long as heknew the phrase and asked for help, he would receiveit. But all was quiet in the room. Xin Yan repeatedhis call, and the door creaked open and a figuredressed in black with a large hat pulled down low cameout and gave him a letter.
　　"Give this to your Master Yu."Xin Yan took the letter and the figure rsn out of theinn, jumped onto a horse and galloped away. He gavethe letter to Yu who opened it and found the followingwritten inside:
　　"What do ugliness and beauty have to do with truelove? I will follow you even over a thousand mountainsand ten thousand rivers. And tell your Great Helmsmanthat the Three Devils of Guandong are on their way tothe Muslim regions to get their revenge on HuoQingtong for killing their martial brother."Recognising the calligraphy as being that of LiYuanzhi, he frowned and handed the sheet to Chen.
　　Chen studiously ignored the first sentence, whichobviously dealt with private romantic affairs. But heimmediately informed the others of the news about theThree Devils of Guandong.
　　"They are tough fighters," said Wen. "I wonder if shecan handle them?""We once watched Mistress Huo fighting with thatGuangdong Devil, Yan Shizhang, and she proved herselfto be a little better than him," Xu replied. "But ifthe Great Helmsman hadn't stepped in to save her, I'mafraid she would have fallen victim to his eviltricks.""The eldest of the Devils, Tang Yilei, is very strong,a formidable man," said Wen.
　　"Since the Three Devils are already on their way, itwould be best if someone went on ahead on Sister LuoBing's horse," Xu suggested. "From the look of things,the military situation in the Muslim regions is tense,and Master Muzhuolun and his people must be busymaking defensive preparations. We shouldn't letMistress Huo be caught unawares by the Three Devils."Chen knew he was right, and he frowned silently.
　　"Great Helmsman, I think it would be best if you wenton ahead," said Xu. "You speak the Muslim language,your kung fu is good, and the Three Devils have neverseen you before. If General Zhao Wei has not withdrawnby the time you get there, you can also help theMuslims.""All right!" said Chen after a moment's hesitation.
Chapter 34
Chen was extremely concerned at the news that theThree Devils of Guandong were out to get Huo Qingtong.
　　The image of her gradually disappearing into the dustof the Great Desert forced its way into his mind oncemore, but remembering how familiar she had been withMaster Lu's pupil, he decided that he was foolinghimself about her feelings for him. But he was unableto forget her image.
　　The white horse was extraordinarily fast, and in lessthan two days he arrived at Jiayu Fortress, thewestern end of the Great Wall. He climbed up onto thebattlements and looked out at the Wall snaking awayinto the distance, holding at bay the greatwilderness. He felt a sense of excitement at thethought of once more entering the border regions, andfollowed custom by throwing a stone at the wall. Thesandstorms outside the Wall were perilous, the waywould be hard, and according to tradition, if atraveller threw a stone at the wall as he passedthrough the Jiayu Gate, he would be able to returnalive.
　　He travelled by day, rested by night. After he hadpassed the Jade Gate and Anxi, the desert changedcolour gradually from pale to dark yellow, and thenslowly turned to grey as he skirted the Gobi. Theregion was uninhabited, containing nothing but endlessexpanses of broad desert.
　　He passed through the Stellar Gorge, the main linkbetween Gansu Province and the Muslim regions. It wasalready winter and the first accumulations of snowcoud be seen along the gorge, providing a thrillingcontrast of black and white.
　　"What a perfect place for an ambush," Chen thought.
　　That night, he lodged in a small hut and the next dayfound himself at the edge of the Gobi desert. The Gobiwas as flat as a mirror, completely different from asandy desert with its rolling dunes. Gazing into thedistance, it seemed to him as if the sky and earthtouched one another. All was silent, and it seemed asif he and his horse were the only beings in theuniverse.
　　The As he rode, day after day, he considered theproblem of how to find Huo Qingtong. As a Chinese, theMuslims could suspect him of being a spy, so to gaintheir confidence he would have to resort to deception.
　　He decided to disguise himself as a Muslim, and at thenext settlement, bought a small embroidered cap, apair of leather boots and a striped gown. Riding on,he found a deserted place and changed into his newclothes, burying the old ones in the sand. He lookedat his reflection in a nearby stream and was sopleased with his appearance as a young Muslim boy thathe let out a laugh.
　　But he met no Muslims on the road. The Muslim villagesand dwellings he came upon were all burnt to theground, obviously the good work of General Zhao Wei'sarmy. He decided he was unlikely to meet any Muslimson the main highway, so he cut off south, and headedinto the mountains. In such desolate wilderness, therewas little chance of finding any settlement, and afterthree days, his dry rations were finished. Butluckily, he managed to catch and kill a goat.
　　Two days further on, he met a number of Kazakhherdsmen. They knew that the Muslim army had retreatedwestwards in the face of the Manchu force, but had noidea where it had gone.
　　There was nothing for it but to continue west. Chengave the horse its head and made no attempt to divertit. For four days he covered more than a hundred milesa day with nothing but sand and sky before his eyes.
　　On the fourth day, the weather turned hot. The burningsun scorched down on both man and horse. He wanted tofind somewhere shady where they could rest, butwherever he looked there was nothing but sand dunes.
　　He opened his water flask, drank three mouthfuls, andlet the white horse drink the same amount. Despite aterrible thirst, he did not dare to drink more.
　　They rested for two hours, then started out once more.
　　Suddenly, the white horse raised its head and sniffedat the wind, whinnied loudly, then turned and gallopedoff south. Chen gave it its head. Soon, sparse grassesbegan to appear on the sand dunes around them, thengreen grass. Chen knew there must be an oasis ahead,and his heart leapt. The white horse too was in highspirits and its hooves flew.
　　After a while, they heard the sound of running waterand a small steam appeared before them. Chendismounted and scooped up a mouthful of water. As hedrank, he felt a coolness penetrate to his lungs andnoticed a slight fragrance to the water. The streamwas full of little pieces of ice which jostled eachother, emitting a crisp jingling noise, like the musicof fairies. After drinking a few mouthfuls, the whitehorse gave a whinny and gambolled about happily for amoment.
　　Having drunk his fill, Chen felt relaxed and content.
　　He filled his two leather water flasks. In the midstof the sparkling ice fragments, he spotted flowerpetals floating past, and realized it must be flowerbeds further upstream which made the waters sofragrant.
　　"If I follow the stream up," he thought, "I may comeacross someone who can tell me where Huo Qingtongmight be." He remounted and started along the bank.
　　The stream gradually widened. In the desert, mostrivers and streams are larger close to their source asthe water is soaked up by the desert sands andeventually disappears. Having lived many years in theMuslim areas, Chen did not consider it strange. Thetrees along the banks of the stream also increased innumber and he spurred his horse into a gallop. As theyturned a bend in the stream round a hill, a silverwaterfall came into view.
　　Chen felt invigorated by the discovery of such agorgeous place in the midst of the barren desert, andwas curious to know what vistas would presentthemselves above the waterfall. He led the horse roundand up, and as they emerged from a line of tall firtrees, he stopped in amazement.
　　Before him was a wide lake fed by another largewaterfall at its southern end. The spray from thecascade spread out in all directions, combining withthe sunlight to create a glorious rainbow, while aprofusion of trees and flowers of many colourssurrounded the lake and reflected in itsturquoise-green waters. Beyond was a huge expanse ofverdant grass stretching off to the horizon on whichhe could see several hundred white sheep. A highmountain rose into the clouds from the western bank ofthe lake, the lower slopes covered in green foliageand the upper slopes in brilliant white snow.
　　He stood staring at the scene for a moment. The soundof small birds singing in the trees and ice slabs inthe lake jostling against each other combined with theroar of the waterfall into a work of music. Looking atthe surface of the lake, he suddenly noticed a circleof small ripples, and a jade-white hand emerged fromthe water followed by a dripping-wet head. It turnedand saw him, and with a shriek disappeared back intothe water.
　　In that moment, Chen had been able to see that thehead belonged to an extremely beautiful young girl.
　　"Could there really be such things as water spiritsand monsters?" he wondered. He pulled out three chesspieces and lodged them in his palm just in case.
　　A string of ripples stretched across the surface ofthe lake northwards, then with a splash, the girl'shead re-emerged amidst an outgrowth of flowers andbushes. Through a gap in the leaves, he could see hersnow-white skin, her raven hair splayed out over thesurface of the water and her eyes, as bright as stars,gazing across at him.
　　"Who are you?" a clear voice asked. "Why have you comehere?"She spoke in the Muslim language, and although Chenunderstood, he was unable to answer. He felt dazed, asif drunk or in a dream.
　　"Go away and let me put my clothes on," the girl said.
　　Chen's face flushed and he quickly went back into thetrees.
　　He was extremely embarrassed and wanted to escape, buthe thought he should at least ask the girl for news ofHuo Qingtong. For a while he was undecided. Then thesound of singing, soft but clear, floated over fromthe opposite side of the lake:
　　"Brother, brother, passing by,Please come backWhy have you run off so fastWithout a word?"He walked slowly back to the lake and, looking across,saw a young girl dressed in a brilliantly white gownsitting bare-foot on a bed of red flowers by thewater's edge. She was slowly combing her long hair,still covered in beads of water, as flower petalsdrifted slowly down onto her head. He marvelled thatsuch a beautiful girl could exist.
　　The girl smiled radiantly and motioned with her handfor him to come over.
　　"I was passing this way and felt thirsty," Chen saidin the Muslim language. "I chanced upon a stream andfollowed it here. I did not expect to run into you,miss. It was an unintentional error. Please forgiveme." He bowed as he spoke.
　　"What is your name?" she asked.
　　"I am called Ahmed."This was the most common name among Muslim men, andthe girl smiled again.
　　"All right," she said. "Then my name Ayesha." This wasthe most common name among Muslim women. "Who are youlooking for?""I have to find Master Muzhuolun."The girl looked startled. "Do you know him?""Yes, I do," said Chen. "I also know his son, Huo Ayi,and his daughter, Huo Qingtong.""Where did you meet them?""They travelled to the central plains to recover thesacred Koran and I happened to come across themthere.""Why are you looking for Master Muzhuolun?"Chen recognised the note of respect in her voice. "Ishe of the same tribe as you, miss?" The girl nodded.
　　"They killed a number of bodyguard agency escortswhile recovering the sacred Koran, and friends of theescorts are now seeking revenge. I want to warn them."The girl had had a smile constantly playing around herlips, but now it disappeared. "Are the men that arecoming to take revenge very terrible?" she asked. "Arethere many of them?""No, not many. They are good fighters, but as long aswe are prepared, there is nothing to fear."The girl relaxed and smiled again. "I will take you tosee Master Muzhuolun," she said. "We will have totravel for several days." She began to plait her hair.
　　"The great Manchu army came and attacked us for noreason and all the men have gone away to fight. Mysisters and I have remained here to watch over thelivestock."As she talked, Chen gazed at her in wonder. He couldnever have imagined such jade-like beauty, even in hiswildest dreams. Such a scene, such a situation wassimply not of this world.
　　The girl finished combing her hair, picked up an oxhorn and blew several notes on it. A short whilelater, a number of Muslim girls on horse-back gallopedtowards them across the pastures. She went over andtalked with them while the other girls weighed Chenup, very curious as to who he was. She then walkedover to a tent pitched between the trees and came backleading a chestnut horse carrying food and otheressentials.
　　"Let's go." She mounted in one effortless bound, androde off ahead of him heading south along the courseof the stream.
　　"How did the Chinese people treat you when you were inthe Chinese areas?" she asked as they rode along.
　　"Some well, some not, but mostly well." Chen replied.
　　He wanted to tell her he was himself Chinese, but hercomplete lack of suspicion somehow made it difficultfor him to do so. She asked about what the Chineseregions were like. Chen chose a few interestingstories to tell her, and she listened enthralled.
　　As the sky grew dark, they camped for the nightunderneath a huge rock by a river. The girl lit afire, roasted some dried mutton she had brought andshared it with Chen. She was silent throughout, andChen did not dare to speak, as if words woulddesecrate the sacred purity of the scene.
　　The girl began telling him about her youth, how shehad grown up as a shepherdess on the grasslands, andhow she loved flowers more than anything in the world.
　　"There are so many, many beautiful flowers on thegrasslands. As you look out, you can see flowersstretching to the horizon. I much prefer to eatflowers than mutton.""Can you eat flowers?" Chen asked in surprise.
　　"Of course. I've been eating them since I was small.
　　My father and my elder brother tried to stop me atfirst, but when I went out by myself to look after thesheep, there was nothing they could do. Later, whenthey saw that it did me no harm, they didn't botherabout it any more."Chen wanted to say that it was no wonder she was asbeautiful as a flower, but he restrained himself.
　　Sitting beside her, he became aware that her bodyexuded a slight fragrance, more intoxicating than thatof any flower. Light-headed, he wondered what lotionshe used that was so fragrant. Then he remembered therules of etiquette and discreetly moved to sit alittle further away from her. The girl saw that he hadnoticed the fragrance and laughed.
　　"Ever since I was young, my body has given off afragrance," she said. "It's probably because I eatflowers. Do you like it?"Chen blushed at the question and marvelled at hersimplicity and frankness. But gradually, his reticencetowards her faded.
　　The girl talked of shepherding, of picking flowers andlooking at stars and of the games that young girlsplay. Since leaving home, Chen had spent all his timeamongst the fighting community and had long agoforgotten about these child-like matters. After awhile, the girl stopped talking and looked up at theMilky Way sparkling its way across the heavens.
　　Chen pointed up. "That constellation is the WeavingGirl star," he said, "and that one on the other sideis the Cowherd Star."She was fascinated by the names. "Tell me the storyabout them," she said, and Chen told her how theCowherd and the Weaving Girl fell in love but foundthemselves separated by a silvery river, the MilkyWay, and how a stork built a bridge across to unitethem once a year.
　　The girl looked sombrely up at the stars. "I havenever liked storks before, but seeing as they built abridge to bring the Cowherd and the Weaving Girltogether, I have changed my mind. From now on when Isee them, I will give them something to eat.""They may only be able to meet once a year, but theyhave done so for hundreds of millions of years. Theyare much better off than we ordinary people, doomed todie after a few decades," Chen replied. The girlnodded.
　　The desert had grown very cold with the coming ofnight and Chen went to look for some dead wood andgrass to build up the fire. Then they wrappedthemselves in blankets and went to sleep. Despite thedistance between them as they slept, it still seemedto Chen that he could smell the girl's fragrance inhis dreams.
　　Early next morning they started out again headingwest, and after several days arrived at the banks ofthe Tarin River. That afternoon, they chanced upon twomounted Muslim warriers. The girl went over and spokewith them and after a moment the Muslims bowed andleft.
　　"The Manchu army has already taken Aksu and Kashgar,and Master Muzhuolun and the others have retreated toYarkand," she reported to Chen. "That's more than tendays's ride from here."Chen was very concerned at the news that the Manchuforces had scored a victory.
　　"They also said that the Manchu troops are so numerousthat our army's only option is to retreat and stretchtheir lines of communication. When their rations areexhausted, they will not have enough strength left tofight."Chen decided the Muslim force would probably be safefor a while using this strategy. Once Qian Long'sorder to halt the war arrived, General Zhao Wei wouldretire with his troops. Huo Qingtong was now far awayfrom central China and had the protection of a largearmy, so there was no longer any reason to fear thevengeful Devils of Guandong, Tang Yilei and his twofriends. With that thought, he relaxed.
　　They travelled by day and slept by night, talking andlaughing as they went. As the days passed, they becamecloser and closer, and Chen found himself secretlyhoping that the journey would never end, that theycould continue as they were forever.
　　One day, just as the sun was about to disappearbeneath the grasslands, they heard a bugle note, and asmall deer jumped out of a spinney of trees nearby.
　　The girl clapped her hands and laughed in delight.
　　"A baby deer!" she cried. The deer had been born onlya short time before and was very small and veryunsteady on its feet. It gave two plaintive cries andthen leapt back into the trees.
　　The girl watched it go, then suddenly reined in herhorse. "There's someone over there," she whispered.
　　Chen looked over and saw four Manchu soldiers and anofficer carving up a large deer while the fawn circledaround them making pitiful cries. The dead deer wasobviously its mother.
　　"Goddamn it, we'll eat you too!" cursed one of thesoldiers, standing up. He fixed an arrow on his bowand prepared to shoot the fawn which, ignorant of thedanger, moved closer and closer to him.
　　The girl gave a cry of alarm. She jumped off herhorse, ran into the trees and placed herself in frontof the fawn. "Don't shoot, don't shoot!" she cried.
　　The soldier started in surprise and took a stepbackwards, dazzled by her beauty. She picked up thefawn and stroked its soft coat. "You poor thing," shecrooned. She glanced hatefully at the soldier, thenturned and walked out of the trees with the fawn.
　　The five soldiers whispered amongst themselves for amoment, then ran after her, shouting and brandishingtheir swords. The girl started running too and quicklyreached Chen and the horses. The officer barked out anorder and the five fanned out around them.
　　Chen squeezed the girl's hand. "Don't be afraid," hesaid. "I'll kill these villains to avenge the death ofthe fawn's mother." She stood beside him, the fawncradled in her arms. Chen stretched out his hand andstroked the animal.
　　"What you doing?" the officer asked haltingly in theMuslim tongue. "Come here!"The girl looked up at Chen, who smiled at her. Shesmiled back, confident that they would not be harmed.
　　"No weapons!" the officer shouted, and the othersoldiers threw their swords to the ground andadvanced. Strangely, despite the usual preference ofsoldiers for young maidens, they seemed cowed by herglowing beauty and made for Chen instead. The girlcried out in alarm, but before the cry was fully out,there was a whooshing sound and the four soldiers flewthrough the air, landing heavily on the ground somedistance away. They grunted and groaned, unable to getup, for they had all been touched on Yuedao points.
　　The officer, seeing the situation was unfavourable,turned and fled.
　　"Come back!" Chen ordered. He sent his Pearl Stringsflying out and wrapped them around the officer's neck,then sharply pulled him back.
　　The girl clapped her hands and laughed in delight. Shelooked over at Chen, her eyes full of admiration.
　　"What are you doing here?" he asked the officer in theMuslim language. The officer clambered to his feet,still dazed. He looked around and saw his fourcomrades lying morionless on the ground and knew hewas in trouble.
　　"We, General Zhao Wei, soldiers, orders, here, wehere," he replied.
　　Well said, thought Chen. "Where are the five of yougoing? You'd better tell me the truth.""Not cheat," the officer said, shaking with fear.
　　"Orders, go, Stellar Canyon, meet people."His stuttering Muslim speech was unclear and Chenswitched to Chinese. "Who are you going to meet," heasked.
　　"A deputy commander of the Imperial Guard.""What is his name? Give me the documents you arecarrying."The officer hesitated then pulled an official documentfrom his pocket. Chen glanced at it and noted withsurprise that it was addressed to "Deputy CommanderZhang Zhaozhong".
　　Master Ma Zhen took Zhang away to discipline him, hethought. How could he be on his way here?
　　He ripped the letter open and read: "I am delighted tohear you have received Imperial orders to come to theMuslim regions, and have sent this detachment to meetyou." It was signed by General Zhao Wei.
　　If Zhang is coming at the Emperor's command, he musthave been entrusted with passing on the order toretreat, Chen thought. I shouldn't interfere. He gavethe letter back to the officer, released the paralysisof the four soldiers, then rode off with the girlwithout saying another word.
　　"You are very capable," the girl said. "Such a man asyourself would certainly be very well known in ourtribe. How is it I have never heard of you before?"Chen smiled. "The little fawn must be hungry," hesaid. "Why don't you give it something to eat?""Yes, yes!" she cried. She pured some horse's milkfrom the leather gourd into her palm and let the fawnlap it up. After a few mouthfuls, the fawn bleatedmournfully. "She's calling for her mother," the girlsaid.
Chapter 35
They travelled on for another six days. On the morningof the seventh day, they spotted dark clouds in thedistance.
　　"Is that a storm brewing?" Chen asked.
　　The girl studied the horizon. "They're not rainclouds," she said. "It's dust from the ground.""How could there be so much?""I don't know. Let's go and look!" They spurred theirhorses forward, and as the swirling dust cloud rosebefore them, they began to hear the sound of metalclashing with metal drifting over towards them. Chenreined in his horse.
　　"It's an army," he said. "We must get out of the wayquickly." They turned and rode off east, but after awhile, another dust cloud arose in front of them and acolumn of mounted troops appeared. Amidst the dust,Chen saw a huge flag inscribed with the name ofGeneral Zhao. Having already clashed once with Zhao'sarmoured troops at the Yellow River crossing, he knewthem to be formidable fighters, and he motioned to thegirl with his hand and galloped off southwards.
　　Luckily, both their horses were swift, and after amoment's hard riding, the armoured column had droppedfar behind.
　　The girl looked anxious. "I hope our army will be ableto hold their own," she said. Chen was just about tosay something comforting when horns sounded in front,and rank upon rank of soldiers appeared over a rise.
　　To the left, there was a thundrous ground-shaking roarand a vast carpet of cavalry moved across the hillstowards them. With one sweep of his left arm, Chenswung the girl onto his horse and took out his shieldto protect her.
　　"Don't be afraid," he said. The girl, still huggingthe little deer, looked round at him and nodded. "Ifyou say there's no need to be afraid, then I won'tbe," she said. As she spoke, her soft, orchid-likefragrance, enveloped him, and feelings of tendernessrose within him despite the danger of their situation.
　　With enemy troops advancing from the east, north andsouth, Chen urged the white horse westwards as herchestnut horse followed along behind. After a while,they spotted Manchu troops ahead of them once more.
　　Very worried, Chen spurred the horse up onto highground to get a better idea of the Manchu positionsand to look for a gap through which they could escape.
　　But he could see at a glance that they were completelysurrounded by the Manchu army. To the west, beyond thethousands of Manchu foot soldiers in close ranksprotected on both flanks by cavalry, was the Muslimarmy, also an imposing force with a forest of spearsand scimitars rising above the striped gowns of thewarriors. The two sides had halted, obviously inpreparation for battle, and Manchu officers rode backand forth making final prepartions. The huge armygradually became deathly quiet. Chen and the girl hadby this time been noticed, and several soldiersapproached to question them.
　　"The gods have conspired to deliver us into the handsof the Manchus," Chen thought. But the idea of dyingwith the girl beside him gave him a strange pleasure.
　　He grasped the Pearl Strings in his right hand, thereins in his left, and shouted: "Let's go!"The horse galloped off towards the end of the Manchulines, and in the blink of an eye, had passed threecompanies of troops. Rank upon rank of armouredsoldiers, bows at the ready, passed before them, andChen knew that with one word from the Manchucommanders, he and the girl in his arms wouldimmediately become the repositories of a thousandspears and ten thousand arrows. He pulled the reins intightly and slowly cantered along, not even glancingat the soldiers.
　　The morning sun had just risen, and as they rodetowards it, the troops stared in shock at the girl'sglorious beauty, her hair, face, arms and gownsplashed with pale sunlight, and each one, whethergeneral or trooper, found his heart thumpingfuriously. They watched as the two gradually rode offinto the distance.
　　Even General Zhao, who was in personal command, wasovercome by a feeling of calm and peace, and he knewhe was in no mood for killing. Looking round, he foundall his officers and underlings likewise hadexpressions of serenity on their faces. They hadalready replaced their swords in their scabbards, andwere obviously awaiting the general's order to retire.
　　"Return to camp," Zhao said in a far-away voice. Theorder was relayed back, and the tens of thousands ofsoldiers turned and went back to their camp site morethan ten miles away beside the Black Water River.
　　Chen was covered in a cold sweat and his hands shookwith fear, but the girl looked un-worried, apparentlyunaware of the great danger they had passed through.
　　She smiled at him and leapt over onto the back of thechestnut horse.
　　"That is our army in front," she said. Chen put awayhis shield and galloped towards the Muslim lines. Asmall detail of cavalrymen rode out to meet them,shouting and cheering as they came, then jumped offtheir horses and bowed before the girl. The officer incharge walked over to Chen and bowed before him too.
　　"Brother, you have endured great hardship. May Allahthe true God protect you," he said.
　　Chen bowed in return and thanked him. The girl rodestraight into the Muslim ranks without waiting forChen. She obviously commanded a degree of respect, forwherever the chestnut horse went, the soldiers madeway for it with cheers.
　　A brigade commander invited Chen to the barracks toeat and rest, and Chen told him he wanted to see thetribe's leader, Master Muzhuolun.
　　"The Master has gone to observe the enemy's strength,"the commander replied. "When he returns, I willimmediately inform him." Following the long journeyand the tense encounter with the Manchu army, Chenfelt worn out, and after he had been shown to a smalltent, he immediately slept.
　　Some time after noon, the commander returned to saythat Muzhuolun was now not expected to return untilevening. Chen asked him who the white-gowned girl was.
　　The commander smiled. "How could anyone be morebeautiful than she?" he said. "We are having alove-match meeting tonight. Why don't you come along,brother? You will be able to meet our leader there."Chen did not press him further. Towards evening, hesaw the young warriors donning their finery, each facealive with excitement. The desert evening sky slowlydeepened in colour and a thin crescent moon rose abovethe horizon. Chen heard the sound of music strike upand soon afterwards, the commander came into the tent.
　　"The new moon has risen," he said, taking Chen's hand.
　　"Let us go, brother!" The two walked towards a hugebonfire where the young Muslim warriors weregathering. All around, people were roasting beef andmutton, and preparing various delicacies while othersplayed musical instruments. A horn blew, and a groupof people emerged from a large tent near the bonfire,among whom Chen recognised Muzhuolun and his son, HuoAyi. Chen decided he would wait until the officialceremony was over before revealing himself, and turnedup the collar of his gown to hide his face.
　　Muzhuolun motioned to the crowd, and they all kneltdown and prayed to Allah. When the prayer was ended,he spoke.
　　"Those brothers who have already taken legal wives, Iam afraid I must ask you to go and stand guard," hesaid. "Let your younger brothers have a pleasantevening."Three columns of warriors formed up. Huo Ayi,flourishing his sabre, led them off into the darkness.
　　Having lived many years in the Muslim regions, Chenknew that although marriages were arranged by parentsaccording to various considerations of wealth andproperty, the procedure was still much more liberalthan that of the Chinese. The love-match party was atradition among the Muslims that had been passed downfor many generations at which young, unmarried boysand girls could seal their romances and becomeengaged. The initiative was taken by the girl, whowould place a belt round the neck of her chosen boyand lead him to dance.
　　After a while, the music became softer in tone. Thetent door flaps parted and out came a large group ofyoung Muslim girls who sang and danced their waytowards the bonfire. They all wore colourful clothesand small caps laced with gold and silver threadswhich sparkled brightly in the firelight. Chen noticedtwo beautiful girls walking over to Muzhuolun, one inyellow, the other in white, and with a start, herecognised them as Huo Qingtong and the girl who hadbrought him to the Muslim camp. Under the moonlight,they both looked extremely graceful and attractive.
　　The two girls sat down, one on either side ofMuzhuolun.
　　A thought suddenly struck Chen. "The girl in whitemust be Huo Qingtong's younger sister. No wonder Ikept thinking her face was familiar: it's the sameface as that on the jade vases, although the drawingdoes not even come close to reproducing her realbeauty."His heart began to thump wildly. From the day he hadfirst met Huo Qingtong, his love for her had begun togrow, but the familiar closeness between her and LuFeiqing's pupil had convinced him that she already hada suitor. Also, having spent the past few days withsuch a matchless beauty, his romantic thoughts hadturned completely towards the white-gowned girl.
　　The music stopped, and Muzhuolun's voice rang outclearly: "The prophet Mohammed teaches us in the Koranin the 190th verse of the second chapter: 'Fight inthe cause of Allah those who fight you', and in the39th verse of the 22nd chapter: 'To those against whomwar is made, permission is given to fight because theyare wronged, and verily, Allah is most powerful fortheir aid.' We are being oppressed and Allah willcertainly assist and protect us." A thunderous cheerwent up from the crowd. "Brothers and sisters!" heshouted. "Enjoy yourselves fully!"Singing and laughter rose all about, accompanied bythe music of Horse Head fiddles. Cooks distributedroast meat, honeymelons, dried grapes and horse milkwine among the throng. Everyone held in their hands asmall bowl made out of salt rock in which they rubbedthe roast meat. After a while, the new moon rose upinto the sky and the merry-making became even moreintense. Some of the young girls jumped up and dancedover to the boy of their choice, took the embroideredbelt from their waists and placed it round the boy'sneck, then led him off to dance near the bonfire.
　　Chen had grown up in a world of strict conventions andhad never before seen an occasion of such open-mindedand unrestrained merriment. With the singing ringingin his ears and emotions swirling through his heart,he found his face beginning to flush after only a fewcups of horse's milk wine.
　　The music stopped momentarily, then started again,even faster than before. Everyone looked curiouslytowards Muzhuolun, and following the direction oftheir gaze, Chen saw the white-robed girl had stood upand was floating gracefully towards them. The crowdwas greatly excited and a hubbub of discussion arose.
　　Chen heard the cavalry commander beside him say: "TheFragrant Princess has chosen a lover. But who couldpossibly be worthy of her?"That his beloved younger daughter had found a boy sheloved was a great surprise and a great joy toMuzhuolun. He watched her intently with tearsglistening in his eyes.
　　Princess Fragrance glided round and round, passingalong the edge of the circle that had formed. In herhands, she held a brilliantly-embroidered belt and shesoftly sang:
　　"Please come out,You who picked the snow lily for me.
　　I am searching for you,You who saved my little deer."The words hit Chen's ears like a clap of thunder. Awhite hand touched his shoulder and the embroideredbelt fell around his neck. The Princess tugged gentlyand Chen, scared out of his wits, followed her. Thecrowd cheered, and all around him people startedsinging.
　　In the hazy moonlight, Muzhuolun and Huo Qingtongfailed to recognise Chen, and walked forward tocongratulate him along with the others thinking he wasan ordinary Muslim. Suddenly, they heard three blastsfrom a distant horn, the signal for danger, and thecrowd immediately dispersed. Muzhuolun and HuoQingtong returned to their seats. The Princess tookChen's hand and led him off to sit at the back of thecrowd. Chen felt her soft body leaning towards him,and a light fragrance entered his nostrils,intoxicating his senses. He truly could not tell if hewas in a dream or in heaven.
Chapter 36
All eyes turned in the direction from which the hornblast had come. Two Muslim guards rode up and reportedto Muzhuolun: "The Manchu General Zhao Wei has sent anenvoy who requests an audience.""All right," replied Muzhuolun. "Bring him here." Thetwo riders galloped off, and returned with five otherriders who dismounted about a hundred feet from thecrowd.
　　The Manchu envoy was robust man and walked towardsthem with powerful strides. But his four attendentsmade the Muslims jump in surprise. All four weregiants, a good two heads higher than ordinary men, andtheir bodies were broad and thick.
　　The envoy strode up to Muzhuolun and nodded at him.
　　"Are you the head of the tribe?" he asked arrogantly.
　　The Muslims were outraged, and several of the youngerwarriors drew their sabres. The envoy ignored him.
　　"I am under orders from General Zhao Wei to give youan ultimatum," he announced loudly in the Muslimtongue. "If you know what's good for you, you willsurrender immediately, in which case your lives willbe spared. Otherwise, our two armies will meet atdaybreak the day after tomorrow and you will becompletely annihilated. It will be too late then forregrets."The crowd of Muslims sprang to their feet in rage, butMuzhuolun, with a wave of his hand, ordered them to beseated and turned to the envoy. "You come withoutreason or justification and kill our people, steal ourproperty. The True God on High will punish you foryour dishonourable behaviour. If you want to fight, wewill fight. Even if our army is reduced to only oneman, that man will still never surrender."The Muslims raised their sabres and repeated his wordsin unison: "If you want to fight, we shall fight!"they roared. "Even if our army is reduced to only oneman, he will never surrender!" The mood was sombre butdetermined. The Muslims knew the Manchu force waspowerful and that in a battle to the finish, thechances were they would lose. But they were loyalbelievers in Islam, they loved freedom and would be noman's slave.
　　The envoy looked about him and sneered. "All right,"he said. "The day after tomorrow, each and every oneof you will die." He spat savagely onto the ground ina calculated insult, and three young Muslims leapttowards him. "Today, you are an envoy, so you will beallowed to leave safely," one of them shouted. "Butwhen we meet on the battlefield, we will not be sopolite."The envoy's mouth twisted in anger, and his four giantattendants roughly pushed aside the three Muslim boysand took up positions around him.
　　"Ha!" The envoy cried in contempt. "You useless scum!
　　We'll give you a taste of our Manchu skills!" Heclapped his hands and one of the four giants glancedround and strode over to a poplar tree nearby to whichseveral camels were tethered. He grasped its trunk inhis arms and after a few rigorous shakes, pulled thetree bodily from the ground. Then he snapped the reinsof one of the camels and gave it a kick on its rump,sending it racing away in great pain. When the camelwas more than a hundred feet away, another of thegiants sprinted after it and in a moment caught upwith the animal. He swung the huge camel onto hisshoulders, ran back towards the bonfire and set itback on its feet, then stood proudly beside it. "Huh!"exclaimed the third giant in contempt, and drove afist at the camel's head. The animal swayed unsteadilyand crashed to the ground. The fourth giant grabbedhold of its two hind legs and swung it round and roundabove his head, then with a shout let it go. The camelfell to earth sixty or seventy feet away.
　　The giants, known as the Four Tigers, werequadruplets, and their mother had died giving birth tothem. Their father was a poor hunter in the forests ofManchuria, and with his wife dead, he had no milk tofeed the four babies, but soon after, he heard amournful cry outside in the forest and found a femaletiger caught in a trap. He and a companion were tyingthe animal up when he happened to notice three tigerpups lying close by. In a flash of inspiration, hekilled the pups and took the tiger back to his hutwhere he reared her, feeding her meat every day, andmilking her to feed his four sons. From the start,they were uncommonly big and strong, and became moreso as they grew. The only problem was that they were alittle stupid and impetuous.
　　The Muslims were startled by this amazing show ofstrength, but unwilling to appear weak before theenemy, they roared out their defiance.
　　"What are you doing, killing a good camel? Are youinhuman?" someone shouted. The envoy curled his lipsinto another sneer. The crowd became even moreincensed, and it looked as though he would be mobbed.
　　"So you're going to bully an envoy, are you?" heshouted.
　　Muzhuolun restrained the crowd with difficulty. "Youare an envoy, but you ordered your men to kill one ofour camels, which is a great insult," he said. "If youwere not guests here, I would not let you get awaywith it. Leave immediately.""Do you think we Manchus are afraid of you scum?" theenvoy shouted. "If you have a reply, give it to me topass on. I'm sure none of you would dare to go andhand it to General Zhao Wei personally." Another roarwent up from the Muslims.
　　Huo Qingtong jumped to her feet. "You say none of uswould dare to go to see General Zhao Wei. Huh! Everysingle person here would dare, men and girls alike."The envoy looked stunned for a second, then threw backhis head and roared with laughter. "If any of thesegirls didn't die of fright on seeing General Zhao Wei,I would be amazed.""Don't underestimate us," replied Huo Qingtongangrily. "We will send someone back with youimmediately. Pick someone yourself. Whoever you choosewill go. You will see what spirit we followers ofMohammed have," The Muslims roared their approval andeveryone began shouting "Choose me! Choose me!""All right," said the envoy coldly. He wanted to findthe weakest, most useless girl who would immediatelyburst into tears so that the Muslims would lose facecompletely. His eyes roved over the crowd, searchingback and forth, and suddenly lit up. He walked over toPrincess Fragrance and pointed at her. "Let her go!"he said.
　　The Princess glanced at him and slowly stood up. "Formy tribe, for my brothers and sisters, I would goanywhere without fear. Allah the true God will surelyprotect me," she said.
　　Her apparent weakness had given way to calm dignity.
　　Faced with her stunning beauty, the envoyinvoluntarily lowered his eyes, and he felt a tinge ofregret at his choice. Muzhuolun, Huo Qingtong and theother Muslims, although proud that she had notdisplayed weakness, were nonetheless anxious. HuoQingtong was particularly worried. Her sister knew nokung fu, and could not be allowed to enter the Tiger'sLair unprotected. "She is my sister," she said. "Iwill go in her place."The envoy laughed. "I always knew the word of a girlcould not be relied upon. If you don't have the nerve,why bother sending anyone? War or surrender, I cantake the message for you.""If we meet on the battlefield and if you don't runaway, I'll let you see whether us girls are useless ornot," said Huo Qingtong, livid with anger.
　　"I would naturally be merciful with a beauty such asyou," he replied, smiling. The Muslims gnashed theirteeth at his insolence.
　　"Sister, I will go," the Princess said to HuoQingtong. "Don't be afraid." She pulled Chen up by thehand. "He will go with me."In the light of the flames from the bonfire, HuoQingtong suddenly recognised Chen and stared at him inshock. Chen surreptitiously motioned with his handindicating that she should not reveal his identityyet, then turned to the envoy.
　　"We mean what we say," he said. "I will go alone withher to see General Zhao Wei. Unlike you, we do notrequire four giants to protect us. What use are thesegiants anyway?""A camel can carry a load of thousand catties, but aman can only carry one tenth as much," added thePrincess. "Should the man ride the camel or the camelthe man?" A great laugh went up from the crowd at thistaunt.
　　"What are they laughing at?" one of the four giantsasked the envoy.
　　"They say that you are useless even though you arelarge and strong."Incensed, the giant beat his chest with his hands.
　　"Who dares to match himself against me?" he roared.
　　"What use are you?" the envoy said to Chen. "You'vejust a little stripling. Even if you were ten timesstouter, you would still not be as strong as he."Chen decided this envoy needed to be cut down to sizeto save the face of the Muslims. He took three stepsforward.
　　"I may be the most useless member of our tribe but Iam still better than you Manchus," he said. "Tellthose four hulks to come over here."By this time, Muzhuolun had also recognized Chen.
　　"Daughter, look who it is!" he cried to Huo Qingtongin surprise and joy. The girl did not answer.
　　Muzhuolun looked over and saw her eyes brimming withtears, and realised both his daughters were in lovewith the same man. He wondered how Chen had met hisyounger daughter.
　　Next to the giants, Chen looked like a small child. Hehad come forward, the Muslims decided, for the honourof the Princess and the tribe, but was obviously nomatch for the giants. Chen raised his hands to thecrowd.
　　"Brothers," he said. "These Manchurians are useless.
　　Let me deal with them by myself."The envoy translated his words to the four giants, whoangrily sprang forward to grab Chen. Chen stood solid,smiling faintly, and the envoy hurriedly restrainedthe four.
　　"Since this gentleman wants a contest, there will beno blame if anyone gets hurt," the envoy said toMuzhuolun. "It must be one against one, no-one else isallowed to interfere."Muzhuolun grunted once.
　　"What fun is there in one to one?" said Chen. "Tellthe four of them to come at once.""How many will there be on your side?" the envoyasked.
　　"How many? Why, just myself of course." A murmur ranthrough the crowd: he had gone too far this time.
　　The envoy laughed coldly. "Are you Muslims really soformidable? First Tiger," he said to the largest ofthe four giants. "You first." First Tiger strodeforward. "You will take it in turns to punch eachother. Neither is allowed to block or retreat. Thefirst one to fall loses.""One is not enough," Chen said. "If we are going tofight, let them all fight together."The envoy began to suspect Chen had some plan workedout. "Don't worry," he said. "If you beat this one,the others will come after you of their own accord."Chen smiled. "All right. It's all the same to me." Thegiant ripped off his upper clothing, exposing ranks ofhuge, rippling muscles. Huo Qingtong glanced furtivelyat her sister and saw her gazing intently at Chen, hereyes full of adoration and love. Huo Qingtong sighedand looked over at Chen, and as their eyes met, hesmiled warmly. She blushed and looked away.
　　"We will draw lots to decide who strikes first," saidthe envoy.
　　"You are the guests. You may go first," replied Chen.
　　He took two steps towards the giant and thrust out hischest, "Hit me!" he said.
　　"Please come over here," the envoy said to HuoQingtong. "We two will act as judges. Whoever moveshis feet, uses his arms to deflect a blow, bends ordodges away will be considered the loser."Huo Qingtong walked over and stood with the envoy asChen and the giant faced each other, less than anarm's length apart. The huge crowd stood silentlyabout them, watching intently.
　　"The Manchurian gentleman strikes the first blow," theenvoy called out. "The Muslim gentleman will strikethe second blow. If both are still all right, then theManchurian gentleman will strike again followed by theMuslim gentleman. Right! The Manchurian shall strike!"The silence was broken by the sound of First Tigerbreathing deeply. Joints all over his body crackedloudly as he concentrated his strength. Suddenly, theright side of his chest bulged outwards and his rightarm swelled to almost twice its normal size. Chenleaned slightly forward. "Punch me," he said.
　　Several Muslim men moved behind Chen to catch him.
　　Muzhuolun and Huo Qingtong silently prayed to Allah,but Princess Fragrance was unworried. If Chen said hewas unafraid, there was certainly nothing to be afraidof.
　　The giant crouched slightly, then with a mighty roarslammed his right fist at Chen's chest. But at itsmaximum extension, the fist only lightly grazed thelapel of Chen's gown. Dumbfounded, the giant stared atChen, neglecting even to withdraw his fist.
　　"Is that it?" Chen asked. The giant blushed deep redand hastily retracted his arm.
　　To the crowd, it looked as if the blow had struckhome, and they were puzzled that Chen seemedunaffected. Muzhuolun and Huo Qingtong, however, knewthat he had made use of Inner Strength Kung Fu to drawin his chest. Huo Qingtong smiled brilliantly andbreathed a sigh of relief. The envoy, also a kung fuexpert, scowled in annoyance.
　　Chen smiled. "Now it's my turn," he said.
　　"Go ahead!" First Tiger roared. He thrust out hishairy chest and Chen's fist shot out and punched itlightly. The giant felt no pain, but was aware of agreat force pushing him backwards and put all hisweight into countering it by leaning forward.
　　Suddenly, Chen withdrew his fist, and with no time tostabilise himself, the giant toppled forward andcrashed to the ground in a cloud of dust. All thistook place in the blink of an eye. There was a stunnedsilence for a second, then the crowd erupted inapplause and laughter. The envoy rushed over to helpFirst Tiger who was wailing as blood poured from hismouth: two of his front teeth had snapped off.
　　Seeing their brother injured, the other three giantscharged at Chen with a single howl of rage. Chenskipped around behind Third Tiger and shoved him atSecond Tiger. Fourth Tiger lunged at Chen with hisarms out-stretched, but Chen ducked down and tickedhis armpit as he passed. Fourth Tiger was veryticklish, and he immediately rolled into a ball,laughing hysterically.
　　Chen danced amongst the four, making them look foolishwithout even hitting them. The envoy could see thatChen was a martial arts master and tried vainly tostop the fight. But once roused, the four Tigers wereimpossible to stop. They closed in on Chen again,First Tiger from in front while the other three closedoff his line of retreat behind. Chen waited untilFirst Tiger was within arm's length then toppled himover backwards with a push, grabbed his leg and hurledhim away so that he landed head-first in the holewhere the tree he had up-rooted had stood.
　　Fourth Tiger roared and kicked out with his right leg,but Chen grabbed his trousers and shirt, lifted him upand with a solid kick sent him flying through the air.
　　The giant landed with a thump on the corpse of thecamel he had himself killed.
　　While Fourth Tiger was still in the air, Second andThird Tiger charged at Chen from opposite directions.
　　Chen waited until they were almost upon him beforeleaping out of the way, and the two giants smashedinto each other and toppled like a great pagoda to theground. Before they could clamber to their feet, Chentied their two queues together, then with a laugh, hewalked back to Princess Fragrance's side. The Princessclapped her hands in delight as the other Muslimscheered and shouted.
　　The Four Tigers picked themselves up and the envoyrushed over and struggled to undo the knot in Secondand Third Tigers' hair. The four giants looked acrossat Chen, not in hate but in respect. First Tigerraised a thumb in Chen's direction.
　　"You're good," he said. "I concede defeat." He bowed,and the other three giants followed suit. Chenhurriedly returned the compliment. Seeing their simplenature, he began to rather regret the way he hadplayed with them.
　　Fourth Tiger suddenly ran over and brought back thecamel's corpse while Third Tiger led their horses overto Muzhuolun.
　　"It was wrong of us to kill your camel," he said. "Wegive these four horses to you in compensation."Muzhuolun declined the offer with thanks.
　　The envoy was extremely embarrassed by this turn ofevents. "Let's go!" he shouted to the Four Tigers andleapt onto his horse. He turned to Princess Fragrance.
　　"Do you really dare to go?" he asked.
　　"What is there to be scared of?" she replied. Shewalked over to Muzhuolun. "Father, write out a replyand I will deliver it for you." Muzhuolun hesitated.
　　If she didn't go, the whole tribe would lose face, butif he let her go, he would worry endlessly. Hemotioned Chen over, and led him by the hand into thetent with Huo Qingtong and her sister followingbehind. Once inside, Muzhuolun immediately hugged him.
　　"Great Helmsman," he said. "What fortuitous wind is itthat has blown you here?""I was on my way to the Tianshan Mountains on personalbusiness and heard some important news which I wantedto pass on to you. By coincidence, I met yourdaughter, who brought me here." Princess Fragrance wasdumb-struck at hearing her father call Chen 'GreatHelmsman', and seeing the shocked expression on herface, Chen said: "There is something I must apologisefor. I did not tell you that I am Chinese.""Great Helmsman Chen is a good friend of our tribe,"Muzhuolun added. "He recovered our sacred Koran forus. He has saved your sister's life and recentlyintercepted the Manchu army's rations which slowedtheir advance and gave us time to collect our forces.
　　The favours he has rendered us are truly uncountable."Chen modestly declined the compliments.
　　"I don't blame you at all," the Princess said with asmile. "I'm sure you didn't tell me who you werebecause you did not want to bring up all the thingsyou have done for us.""That Manchu envoy was unforgivably arrogant," saidMuzhuolun. "It was fortunate that you intervened,Great Helmsman. You certainly deflated his pride. Hechose my daughter to be our envoy. What do you thinkwe should do?"Chen was reluctant to meddle in the affairs of thetribe. "I come from the interior of China and knownothing of the situation here, sir," he said. "If youdecide that she should go, then I will do my utmost toprotect her. If you feel it would be better for hernot to go, then we will think of some other way todeal with him.""Father, you and my sister worry everyday about theaffairs of the tribe," Princess Fragrance interrupted.
　　"Making one trip as an envoy is no big affair. And ifI don't go, the Manchus will laugh at us.""I am just afraid that they will want to harm you,sister," said Huo Qingtong.
　　"Every time you go out on the battle field you riskyour life, so it is only right that I should risk mylife this once," the Princess replied. She looked atChen. "He is so capable, if he goes with me I won't bethe slightest bit afraid, not at all."Huo Qingtong could see how deep her sister's feelingswere for Chen, and an inexpressible emotion sweptthrough her heart.
　　"Father," she said. "Let her go.""All right then, Master Chen, I entrust my youngdaughter to you." Chen blushed and PrincessFragrance's eyes, as bright as autumn rain, gazed upat him. Huo Qingtong looked away.
　　Muzhuolun wrote out a reply which said simply: "Wewill fight. Allah will protect us." Chen nodded hishead in approval. Muzhuolun handed the note toPrincess Fragrance, then kissed her cheeks.
　　"Allah will protect you, sister," said Huo Qingtong.
　　"I hope you come back soon." The Princess hugged andthanked her. A feast was organised to entertain theManchu envoy, after which there was music and dancingto see off the guests, then the envoy raised his handand galloped off with Princess Fragrance and theothers following behind. Huo Qingtong watched theseven figures disappear into the darkness and felt agreat emptiness in her chest as if her heart haddisappeared with them into the infinite desert.
　　"Your sister is very brave," Muzhuolun said. Shenodded, then suddenly covered her face and ran insidethe tent.
Chapter 37
They galloped for most of the night, and arrived atthe Manchu camp at dawn. The envoy ushered PrincessFragrance and Chen into a tent to rest then went offalone to see General Zhao Wei. As he bowed before thegeneral, he noticed a military official seated besidehim wearing the uniform of a Deputy Commander of theImperial Bodyguard.
　　"My report, General," he said. "I delivered theultimatum and their reply was perverse. They refuse tosurrender and have sent someone to present you withtheir answer."Zhao Wei grunted. "These people are truly ignorantunto death," he said, and turned to one of hisattendants. "Prepare for an audience," he ordered.
　　Horns blew and drums rolled and all the seniorofficers of the army gathered in the great tent. Thenthree hundred armoured troops formed two lines outsideand the Muslim envoy was summoned.
　　Princess Fragrance walked fearlessly in ahead of Chen.
　　The officers recognized them instantly as the two theyhad seen the day before crossing their lines, and allfelt surprised. Zhao Wei had planned to overawe theenvoy with a show of military might, and was takenaback for a moment when a beautiful girl appeared.
　　Princess Fragrance bowed before the general, then tookout her father's note and offered it to him with bothhands.
　　One of Zhao Wei's bodyguards moved forward to acceptthe letter. As he neared her, he was overwhelmed byher sweet fragrance and lowered his head, not daringto look at her directly. His eyes lighted on herflawless white hands, and he stood stock still,completely flustered.
　　"Bring the letter here!" Zhao Wei shouted.
　　The bodyguard started in fright, then stumbled andalmost fell. The Princess placed the letter in hishands and smiled at him. The bodyguard gazed at her,oblivious of all else. Only after Princess pointed atZhao Wei and gave him a slight push, did he go andplace the letter on the table in front of the general.
　　Zhao Wei was furious at the sight of his bodyguard sospell-bound. "Take him out and behead him!" he roared.
　　Several soldiers ran forward and dragged the bodyguardoutside the tent, and a moment later, a bloody headwas brought in on a plate and presented to thegeneral.
　　"Put it on public display!" Zhao Wei ordered, and thesoldiers began to retire. But the Princess washeart-broken at the sight of such cruelty and at thethought that the bodyguard had died because of her.
　　She took the plate from the soldiers and gazed at thehead, tears falling one after another down her cheeksonto the floor.
　　The officers in the tent were by now completelycarried away by the sight of her, and any one of themwould have willingly died for her. "If she criedbefore my head, would not death be welcome?" theythought. Suddenly, the soldier who had performed theexecution, greatly distressed at the sight of hercrying, shouted: "I did wrong to kill him. Don't cry!"He slashed his sword across his own neck and fell tothe ground, dead.
　　Princess Fragrance became even more upset. Chen wasuneasy about the situation: an envoy should not cry insuch a fashion, and he leaned forward to comfort her.
　　Zhao Wei was a man of great cruelty and brutality, buteven his heart softened at the sight of her tears.
　　"Bury these two properly," he said to his attendants.
　　He opened the letter and read it with a grunt.
　　"Right," he said. "We fight tomorrow. You may leave.""General," the officer sitting next to him suddenlyinterrupted. "I think this girl may be the one theEmperor wants."Chen's attention had been directed entirely atPrincess Fragrance, but hearing the officer speak, helooked up and saw it was Zhang Zhaozhong. At the sameinstant Zhang also recognised Chen, despite his Muslimdisguise.
　　They stared at each other, amazed at finding the otherin such a place.
　　"Well, Great Helmsman," Zhang said, and laughedcoldly. "Fancy meeting you here."Chen grabbed Princess Fragrance's hand and turned toleave, but as he did so, Zhang bounded over and struckout at him with all his might. Chen picked thePrincess up in his left hand, deflected Zhang's blowwith his right and charged out of the tent with Zhangclose on his heels. None of the other officers orsoldiers intervened to stop Chen. All were dazzled bythe Princess, and considered this Imperial Guardsmanwas interfering in matters that should not concernhim.
　　Chen ran for their horses, and as Zhang closed in, hethrew six chess pieces at him. "I'll keep him busy,"he shouted to Princess Fragrance. "You escape on thehorse!""No, I'll wait for you to beat him."Chen had no time to explain, and dumped her on thesaddle of the chestnut horse as Zhang dodged theprojectiles and attacked again. Not daring to face himhead on, Chen crouched down underneath the white horseand punched it in the belly. The horse kicked out withits back legs in fright, straight at Zhang, who justmanaged to jump clear.
　　"Go!" shouted Chen as Zhang grabbed for PrincessFragrance, and her horse leapt forward just in time.
　　Chen knew he was no match for Zhang on equal terms, sohe drew his dagger and thrust out with it. Zhangcaught his wrist and the two fell to the ground,rolling together, neither daring to let go of theother.
　　The officers crowded out of the tent to watch, and theFour Tigers, who had great respect for Chen and wereannoyed at the way he was being treated, ran over tohelp him.
　　Chen's strength was fading as he grappled with Zhang,and when he saw the four giants running over hethought: "Oh no, this is it." But instead of attackinghim, the four grabbed Zhang and pinned him to theground, shouting: "Get away!" All Zhang's skill wasnot enough to counter the immense strength of the FourTigers, and Chen leapt to his feet, mounted the whitehorse and galloped off after Princess Fragrance. Zhangstared after them helplessly as they disappeared intothe distance.
　　The two horses raced like the wind and were soonbeyond the army's furthest guard posts. Chen's fightwith Zhang had been short but extremely intense, andafter riding on for a while, he gradually felt hiscontrol slipping. Princess Fragrance saw he was indifficulty, and noticed his wrist was covered in blackand purple stripes.
　　"They won't be able to catch us now," she said. "Let'sdismount and rest for a while." Chen fell off hishorse, and lay on the ground, shuddering and gasping.
　　The Princess pulled a container of sheep's milk fromher leather satchel and rubbed some onto his wrist.
　　Chen gradually recovered, but just as they weregetting ready to start out again, they heard the soundof galloping hooves and saw several dozen soldiersriding after them. They leapt onto their horseswithout bothering to pick up their belongings andsprang forward. A moment later, Chen noticed a dustcloud rising in front, and cursing their bad luck,galloped on ahead of the Princess. As they rodecloser, he saw that there were only seven or eightriders in the group ahead, and his anxiety eased. Hereined in his horse and took out his Pearl Strings toprepare for the riders as they closed in.
　　Suddenly, one of the riders shouted: "Great Helmsman,how are you?" Chen looked through the dust and saw itwas a hunchback.
　　"Tenth Brother!" he yelled, overjoyed. "Come here,quick!" As he spoke, the first arrow from the pursuingManchu troops flew towards them.
　　"Enemy soldiers are chasing us," Chen shouted. "Holdthem off for a while!""Excellent!" Zhang Jin exclaimed. 'Leopard' Weigalloped up as well and the two charged at the Manchuhorsemen. As Chen watched in surprise, Wen, Luo Bing,Xu, Zhou Qi, and Yu Yutong galloped passed him withcries of greeting on their way to engage the Manchutroops. Xin Yan raced up behind, leapt off his horseand kowtowed before Chen.
　　"I have arrived, master," he announced, standing up.
　　Wen and the others quickly killed or dispersed theManchu troops, but in the distance they could see amuch larger force heading towards them. They rode backto Chen.
　　"Which way shall we go?" Wen asked.
　　Chen looked at the size of the pursuing enemy forceand decided it would be best to try and lead them awayfrom the main Muslim army to the west.
　　"South," he said, pointing with his hand. The otherscomplied automatically. They were all riding goodhorses, and slowly drew away from their pursuers asthey galloped across the featureless desert stretchingout about them. Chen wondered why General Zhao Weiwould send such a huge force after the two of them,and suddenly recalled Zhang Zhaozhong's remark: "Ithink this girl is the one the Emperor wants." As heconsidered the significance of this, he noticedanother column of soldiers riding round to head themoff from the south. The heroes reined in their horses,uncertain of what to do.
　　"We must make some sort of cover quickly, and waituntil dark to escape," said Xu.
　　"Yes," Chen agreed. "Travelling across the desert indaylight is impossible." They dismounted and usedtheir weapons and bare hands to dig a large hole inthe sand.
　　"You go in first, sister," Luo Bing said to PrincessFragrance. But not understanding Chinese, she simplysmiled back and made no move.
　　The Manchu troops gradually closed in upon them, andLuo Bing grabbed Princess Fragrance and jumped intothe hole with the rest close behind. Wen and the otherheroes had brought bows and arrows with them and theyquickly fired off a volley of arrows, downing a dozenor so soldiers. As one column of Manchu troopsgalloped up to the mouth of the hole, Wen shot anarrow at the commander which hit him in the chest,passed right through him and flew on for several dozenyards further before falling to the ground. The othersoldiers were so frightened by this demonstration ofpower that they turned and fled.
　　The first attack had been beaten back, but lookinground them, the heroes saw they were completelysurrounded.
　　"This hole is deep enough, but we should start makingit bigger," Xu said. Seven or eight feet below theloose sand was firm earth, and Chen and the others dugaway at the sides, piling the sand up on top as adefensive wall.
　　Zhang Jin pointed to the dead Manchu soldiers lyingjust beyond the hole. "Let's go and collect theirweapons," he suggested to Xin Yan. The two leapt outof the hole and collected seven or eight bows and alarge batch of arrows from around the corpses.
　　Only now did Chen have a chance to introduce PrincessFragrance to the heroes. When they heard that she wasHuo Qingtong's sister, they all welcomed her, but thelanguage barrier made it impossible for them to talkto her. Chen rested for a while, and gradually hisstrength returned. He ordered the other heroes to keepa close watch on the Manchu forces and told them theywould try to break out after nightfall.
Chapter 38
Chen had been surprised to see 'Leopard' Wei, whom hehas sent along with 'Pagoda' Yang to Beijing todiscover what the Manchu court was up to. "What areyou doing here, Ninth Brother?" he asked. "And whereis Twelfth Brother?"Wei jumped down from the edge of the hole to report tothe Great Helmsman.
　　"Twelfth Brother and I went Beijing as ordered, butfor a long time we discovered nothing," he began.
　　"Then one day, we happened to see that traitor ZhangZhaozhong and Master Ma Zhen in the street."Chen nodded. "So they went to Beijing," he said. "Iwas wondering how Zhang managed to escape. Master Matold us he would take him back to Wudang mountain.""Have you seen Zhang recently?" asked Xu, who waslistening.
　　"Just a short while ago. He is very dangerous." Chentold them what had happened at the Manchu camp.
　　"Master Ma and Zhang were walking alone talkinganimatedly, and they didn't see us," Wei continued.
　　"We suspected they may have joined forces against us,and carefully followed them to a house in an alleyway.
　　We waited until after dark, but they didn't come outagain, so we decided to go in to have a look. We twoare no match even for Zhang by himself, let alone heand his martial brother together, so once over thewall into the courtyard, we lay dead still, not daringto even breath. After a long time, we heard talking ina room nearby and went across to investigate. Througha crack in the window, we saw Master Ma lying on akang while that traitor Zhang paced back and forth.
　　The two were arguing. We didn't dare to look for toolong and squatted down to listen. It seems Zhang hadinsisted he had to go to Beijing to sort out a fewprivate financial matters before he could go to WudangMountain, and Master Ma had agreed. A few days afterthey got there, the Emperor returned to Beijing aswell. Zhang said that the Emperor had ordered him togo to the Muslim regions on important business.""What important business?" Chen asked quickly.
　　"He didn't say exactly, but he apparently had to goand look for someone." Chen frowned. "Master Ma spoketo him very sternly and told him he should immediatelyresign from his official post, but Zhang said he couldnot refuse an Imperial edict. If he did, he said, hewas afraid the whole of Wudang Mountain would bestamped flat by the Emperor's troops. Master Ma toldhim that the whole country was under the heel of theManchus, and that by comparison the destruction ofWudang Mountain would be nothing to grieve about. Themore they argued, the more adamant they both became.
　　Eventually, Master Ma jumped off the kang, absolutelyfurious, and shouted: 'I promised our friends of theRed Flower Society!' to which Zhang replied: 'Thoserebellious bandits. Why take them seriously?' Thenthere was a metallic sound as if Master Ma had drawnhis sword. I had a look through the window crack andsaw Master Ma with sword in hand, his face black withrage, as he roared: 'Don't you remember our teacher'slast wishes? You ungrateful pupil! You are trulyshameless, becoming a running dog of the Manchu court.
　　I will fight you to the death.' Zhang appeared tosoften. He sighed and said: 'If that's the way youfeel, we'll leave for Wudang Mountain tomorrow.'
　　Master Ma then resheathed his sword and went to sleepon the kang while Zhang sat on the chair nearby. Heappeared undecided about something. His body shookslightly. Twelfth Brother and I were worried he woulddiscover us, and wanted to wait for him to sleepbefore leaving. Almost an hour passed, but still hedidn't sleep. He got up several times and then satdown again. Finally, he bit his teeth together andsaid softly: 'Brother Ma.' Master Ma was by this timesleeping very soundly and snoring slightly. Zhangquietly walked over to the kang..."Princess Fragrance suddenly let out a scream. Shedidn't understand what Wei was saying, but she couldfeel the dark, sinister tone of his voice, and wasterrified by it. She took hold of Chen's hand andsnuggled up to him. Zhou Qi glanced at her in hatred.
　　Wei continued. "Zhang went to the kang, then lungedforward and sprang back again. Master Ma gave a wailof agony and jumped up, blood pouring from both hiseye sockets. Both his eyes had been gouged out by thedog-hearted traitor."Absolutely enraged, Chen leapt up and slammed his fistinto the side of the pit sending sand flying in alldirections.
　　"I swear I will kill that traitor," he said throughclenched teeth. Princess Fragrance had never seen himso angry, and she tugged on his sleeve in fear.
　　Wei's voice shook as he went on: "Master Ma wentsilent. His face looked horrible. He walked slowlytowards Zhang, then suddenly kicked out with his leg.
　　Zhang leapt out of the way, and Master Ma's footslammed into the kang. Zhang looked a little shaken,and tried to get out, but Master Ma made it to thedoor first and stood straining his ears to hearZhang's movements. Zhang suddenly laughed, and MasterMa kicked out with his left leg in the direction ofthe sound. But Zhang stuck his sword out in front ofhim and Ma's leg hit the blade and was cut clean off."Zhou Qi ground her teeth and stabbed the walls of thepit with her sword.
　　"By this time, Twelth Brother and I could stand it nolonger. We burst through the window into the room andfought with Zhang for only a second before he escaped,probably scared that we were not alone. We chasedafter him, but Twelfth Brother was hit by his goldenneedles, and I had to help him back into the house. Itried to stop Master Ma's bleeding, but he died aftersaying only a few words.
　　"What did he say?" asked Chen. A cold wind suddenlyblew down on them and they all shivered.
　　"He said 'Tell Brother Lu and Yu Yutong to avenge mydeath!' Just then, some people outside who had heardthe fighting started shouting, so I helped TwelfthBrother out and we returned to our lodgings. The nextday, I went back to have a look and saw Master Ma'sbody had already been taken away. Twelfth Brother hadbeen hit by five golden needles, but I extracted themfor him and he's now convalescing in Twin Willows Lanein Beijing.
　　"Zhang said the Emperor wanted him to come to theNorthwest to look for someone, and I thought perhapsit could be your teacher, Great Helmsman. I rememberyou said once that there were two important itemsrelating to the Emperor being kept by your teacher,Master Yuan. So I came out with the others to warnhim.""How is Twelfth Brother?" Chen asked.
　　"His wounds are serious, but luckily not fatal," Weireplied.
　　By now, the cold wind was blowing hard, and thick,leaden clouds were gathering above them.
　　"It's going to snow soon," Princess Fragrance said,and moved even closer to Chen.
　　Zhou Qi could control herself no longer. "What did shesay?" she demanded.
　　Chen was surprised by her outraged tone. "She saidit's going to snow.""Huh! How would she know?" She paused for a moment,then suddenly added: "Great Helmsman, just who it isthat you love? Sister Huo Qingtong is a nice girl andI won't allow her to be cheated.""Mistress Huo Qingtong is indeed a nice person and weall have a great deal of respect for her...." Chenbegan.
　　"Then why did you cast her aside as soon as you mether beautiful sister?" Zhou Qi interrupted.
　　Chen blushed, and Luo Bing came to his rescue. "TheGreat Helmsman, like the rest of us, has only metSister Huo Qingtong once. She is just an ordinaryfriend. You can't start talking about whether he lovesher or not.""What are you supporting him for?" Zhou Qi demanded,even more agitated. "She gave him an antique dagger,and the way the Great Helmsman looked at her, it wasplainly a case of love at first sight....."Princess Fragrance listened to them talking excitedlyand looked on with her big round eyes, full ofcuriosity.
　　"Mistress Huo Qingtong already had a suitor before shemet me," Chen said. "Even if I had such an intention,what would be the point of unnecessarily making thingsdifficult for myself?"Zhou Qi stared at him in surprise. "Is that true?""Why would I deceive you?""Well, that's all right, then," she said, immediatelychanging her tone. "You are a good man. I was wrong toaccuse you. I'm sorry." The others laughed at herfrankness. Zhou Qi took Princess Fragrance's hand andsqueezed it. Suddenly, they felt a wave of coldness ontheir faces and looked up to see snow flakes as big asgoose feathers floating down towards them.
　　"You were right," she said. "It's snowing!""If we don't get reinforcements to rescue us, we aregoing to die here," said Luo Bing.
　　"Master Muzhuolun will certainly send out scouts tolook for his daughter and the Great Helmsman when theyfail to return," Xu replied.
　　"I`m sure they have," Chen said. "But we have come sofar south, I'm afraid they may have difficulty findingus.""Well then, we will have to send someone out to gethelp.""I'll go!" volunteered Xin Yan.
　　Chen thought for a moment and then nodded. He askedPrincess Fragrance to write a note to her father, andXin Yan took a writing brush and some ink from hisknapsack and gave them to her.
　　"Take Sister Luo Bing's white horse," Chen said to XinYan. "We will make a diversionary attack to the east,and you can make a break for it to the west." He thengave him directions to the Muslim camp. On the signal,the heroes leapt out of the pit and charged eastwardswith shouts and battle cries leaving only Zhou Qi andPrincess Fragrance behind. Xin Yan led the white horseout of the hole, jumped onto its back and galloped offwestwards. The Manchu troops loosed off a few arrowsbut none came even close to hitting him. Once theheroes were sure Xin Yan had escaped, they retreatedback to the pit.
　　By this time, the snow was falling heavily and theground about them had been transformed into a vastwhite carpet. They settled down for the night, but allslept badly except for Princess Fragrance was stillfast asleep when dawn broke. Her hair and shoulderswere covered with snow which shuddered slightly as shebreathed. Luo Bing laughed gently. "This child is notthe least bit concerned," she said.
　　Time dragged by and Xu frowned deeply. "Why is therestill no sign of a rescue attempt?" he asked slowly.
　　"Could Xin Yan have met some trouble on the road?"said Wen.
　　"What I'm worried about is something else," repliedXu.
　　"What is it?" Zhou Qi demanded. "Stop mumbling and geton with it.""Great Helmsman, who makes the decisions in the Muslimcamp?" Xu asked. "Master Muzhuolun or Mistress HuoQingtong?""Both, apparently. Master Muzhuolun discusseseverything with his daughter.""If Huo Qingtong refused to send out soldiers, then...
　　things would be difficult," Xu continued. The otherssaw what he was getting at.
　　"How could you say such a thing about Sister HuoQingtong?" Zhou Qi demanded, jumping up. "Doesn't shealready have a suitor? And even if she was jealous ofher sister, would she refuse to save the man sheloved?""When women become jealous, they are capable ofanything," answered Xu. Zhou Qi began shoutingangrily, and Princess Fragrance woke with a start. Theheroes had only met Huo Qingtong once and although sheseemed nice, they knew very little about her. Xu'swords seemed not unreasonable.
Chapter 39
After breaking out of the ring, Xin Yan followed theroute Chen had indicated, galloped to the Muslim campand presented the letter to Muzhuolun. The old man hadbeen frantic with worry, and jumped up joyfully as heread his daughter's note.
　　"Call the troops together!" he ordered.
　　"How many Manchu troops were there surrounding you?"Huo Qingtong asked Xin Yan.
　　"Four or five thousand altogether."Huo Qingtong bit her lip and paced from one side ofthe tent to the other, deep in thought. Horns soundedoutside as the soldiers began to gather, and Muzhuolunwas just about to go out to join them when HuoQingtong suddenly turned to him.
　　"Father, we can't go," she said.
　　Muzhuolun looked at her in astonishment, uncertain ifhe had heard correctly. "What....what did you say?""I said we can't go."He was about to fly into a rage, but then rememberedhow clear-thinking and intelligent his daughterusually was. "Why?" he asked.
　　"Zhao Wei is a very capable general. He would notdispatch four or five thousand troops just to captureour two envoys. It must be a trap.""Even if it is a trap, how can we stand by and let theManchus kill your sister and our Red Flower Societyfriends?"Huo Qingtong hung her head and said nothing. "I amafraid that if we go, we will not only fail to rescuethem, but will sacrifice several thousand more livesas well." she said finally.
　　Muzhuolun slapped his thigh in exasperation. "But sheis your own flesh and blood!" he cried. "And we oweMaster Chen and the others a great debt. Even if wedied trying to save them, what would it matter?
　　You....you...." He was both angry and hurt by hisdaughter's ungratefulness.
　　"Father, listen to me. It may be possible to save themand win a great victory as well."Muzhuolun's expression changed immediately. "Well, whydidn't you say so earlier, child?" he said. "How canwe do it? I will do whatever you say.""Father, are you truly willing to do whatever I say?""I was talking nonsense a moment ago. Don't pay anyattention. How should we proceed? Tell me quickly!""Well, give me the Command Arrow. I will command thisbattle." Muzhuolun hesitated for a second then handedit to her. Huo Qingtong knelt to receive it, thenprostrated herself on the ground, praying to Allah.
　　"Father," she said when she stood up. "You and Brothermust follow my orders.""If you can save them and beat the Manchus, I will doanything," he replied.
　　"All right, then it is settled." She walked out of thetent with her father and over to the troops, alreadywaiting in ranks with their commanders.
　　"Brothers!" Muzhuolun called out to them. "Today, wewill fight the Manchus to the death. The battle willbe commanded by Mistress Huo Qingtong."The soldiers raised their sabres and roared: "May theTrue God protect her and lead us to victory!""Right," said Huo Qingtong flourishing her CommandArrow. "Everyone return to their tents to rest." Thecommanders led their troops away. Muzhuolun was toostunned to speak.
　　They went back inside the tent and Xin Yan prostratedhimself before Huo Qingtong and kowtowed frantically.
　　"Mistress, if you don't send troops to save them, mymaster will surely die," he pleaded.
　　"Get up. I didn't say I wouldn't save them.""There are only nine of them, of whom your sister doesnot know kung fu," he cried. "But the enemy isnumbered in thousands. If we delay even for a moment,they will be, they will be...""Have the Manchu armoured troops charged them yet?"Huo Qingtong interrupted him.
　　"Not when I had left, but I'm afraid they will havedone so by now." Huo Qingtong frowned silently. XinYan cried even more mournfully and Muzhuolun pacedabout the tent, uncertain of what to do.
　　"Father, have you ever seen a wolf trap? A piece ofmutton is fastened to a metal hook, the wolf bites onit and pulls and the trap snaps shut. Zhao Wei sees usas the wolf and my sister as the mutton. No matter howbrave the Red Flower Society fighters are, they couldnot stop four or five thousand determined soldiers.
　　That means that Zhao Wei has purposely decided not toorder an attack." Muzhuolun nodded. "The Manchus letthis young man out on purpose to get us to send arescue force. Otherwise how could he have made italone through so many troops?""Well, let us attack Zhao Wei's forces from the sideand catch them unawares," he replied.
　　"They have more than forty thousand troops while weonly have fifteen thousand," she pointed out. "In apitched battle we would certainly lose.""So from what you say, your sister and the others arebound to die," Muzhuolun exclaimed. "I cannot bear tolose your sister, and I refuse to leave our friends indanger. I will take five hundred men with me. If wecan rescue them, it will be because of Allah's help.
　　If we cannot, then we will die with them."Huo Qingtong said nothing.
　　Xin Yan began frantically kowtowing before her oncemore, his forehead striking the ground heavily. "Ifour master has done anything to offend you mistress,please forgive him," he cried.
　　Huo Qingtong realised he suspected her motives. "Don'ttalk such nonsense," she said angrily.
　　Xin Yan looked startled for a second, then jumped up.
　　"If you are determined to be so cruel, I will go anddie with my master," he said. He ran out of the tent,leapt on the white horse and galloped away.
　　"We must go and help them!" Muzhuolun pleaded.
　　"Father, the Chinese have a saying that it is betterto rely on a good plan than on bravery. We areout-numbered, so we must make use of surprise if weare to gain victory. We must beat Zhao Wei's trap witha trap of our own.""Really?" said Muzhuolun, only half believing her.
　　"Father!" she exclaimed, her voice shaking. "Don't saythat you suspect me too?"Muzhuolun saw the tears brimming in her eyes and hisheart softened. "All right," he said. "We will do asyou say. Now send out the troops immediately."Huo Qingtong thought for a moment, then said to anattendant: "Strike up the drums." The drums rolled andthe commanders of each of the military units enteredthe tent. By now, the snow was falling thickly outsidethe tent and was already several inches thick on theground.
　　Huo Qingtong flourished the Command Arrow andannounced: "The first unit of the Green Flag Brigadewill go to the western side of the Great GobiQuagmire, and the second, third, fourth, fifth andsixth units of the Green Flag will gather together thelocal herdsmen and farmers around the other sides."She gave the commanders their orders and the unitsdeparted one by one. Muzhuolun was unhappy that someof their best troops had been sent off to doconstruction work rather than being sent to therescue.
　　"The first, second and third units of the White FlagBrigade will go to Yarkand City and to the BlackRiver, and will make various preparations as I willindicate," Huo Qingtong continued. "The first unit ofthe Black Flag and the Kazakh unit will go up into thehills along the Black River. The Mongol unit willstation itself on Yingqipan Mountain." She gave eachcommander his individual orders, after which theybowed and left.
　　"Father, you will command the forces to the east.
　　Brother, you will command the forces to the west, Imyself will command the second unit of the Black FlagBrigade and coordinate things from the centre. Thegeneral campaign plan is like this..." She was justabout to explain in detail when Muzhuolun stopped her.
　　"Who is going to rescue your sister and the others?"he demanded.
　　"The third unit of the Black Flag will ride in fromthe east to save them. The fourth unit of the BlackFlag will do the same from the west. When you meetManchu troops you must do as I indicate in theseorders." She quickly wrote out two notes and handedthem to the commanders. "Your units must have the bestmounts available," she added. The two Black Flag unitcommanders bowed and retired.
　　"You have sent thirteen thousand of our best soldiersoff to do unimportant work and two thousand young boysand old men to effect a rescue. What is the meaning ofthis?" Muzhuolun demanded.
　　"My plan is to...." Huo Qingtong began, but Muzhuolunangrily cut her off.
　　"I don't believe you any more! You love Master Chen,but he loves your sister, so you intend to let both ofthem die. You.... you're heartless!"Huo Qingtong almost fainted from shock. Muzhuolunstared at her for a second, then stormed out of thetent shouting: "I will go and die with your sister!"He leapt onto his horse and galloped away into thedesert, brandishing his sabre.
　　Her brother saw how distressed she was and tried tocomfort her. "Father is very confused," he said. "Hedidn't know what he was saying. Don't worry."Xin Yan rode back to where Chen and the others werewaiting, crying all the way. The beseiging Manchuforces did little to stop him as he passed, loosingoff a dozen or so arrows as a matter of form only. Hejumped off the white horse, led it onto the pit thensat down and began sobbing loudly.
　　"Don't cry, what's the matter?" Zhou Qi asked.
　　Xu sighed. "Is there any need to ask? Huo Qingtongrefuses to send troops to rescue us.""I kowtowed before her...I pleaded..." Xin Yan sobbed.
　　The others were silent.
　　Princess Fragrance asked Chen why he was crying. Notwishing to hurt her, he said: "He couldn't breakthrough to get help." The Princess took out herhandkerchief and gave it to him.
　　The morning of the third day dawned with the snowstill falling heavily and the Manchu forces showing nosigns of attacking. Xu was greatly puzzled. He turnedto Xin Yan and said: "What questions did Mistress HuoQingtong ask you?""She asked how may Manchu troops were surrounding usand whether the armoured units had attacked yet."Xu was excited. "We're saved! We're saved!" heexclaimed happily. The others stared at himuncomprehendingly.
　　"I was stupid to have doubted Mistress Huo Qingtong,"he said. "Truly small-minded. She is much, much wiserthan I.""What?" asked Zhou Qi.
　　"If the Manchu armoured cavalry attacked us, would westand a chance?""Hmm," Zhou Qi replied. "Yes, it's strange.""And even if they didn't have armoured cavalry, if somany thousands of soldiers charged at once, could theeight of us hold them off? We would be trampled tomincemeat." The others agreed the Manchus had beenremarkably restrained.
　　Chen suddenly understood. "Yes, that's it!" he cried.
　　"They have held back on purpose in the hope of luringthe Muslim forces in to try and rescue us. ButMistress Huo Qingtong has guessed it and refused to betricked.""Whether she's tricked or not, we're still finished,"commented Zhang Jin.
　　"No, we're not," Chen replied. "She is certain tothink of a way out."Their spirits were suddenly revived, and leaving twoof the heroes to keep guard, the others settled downto rest at the bottom of the pit.
Chapter 40
Many hours later, they heard shouting in the distance.
　　The sound of galloping hooves and clashing swordsincreased in volume until they heard a man near thepit shout: "Daughter! Master Chen! Where are you?""Father! Father! We're here!" Princess Fragrancecalled.
　　The heroes leapt out of the pit and saw Muzhuolun,sabre in hand, galloping towards them with a raggedbunch of Muslim soldiers behind, fighting bravely.
　　Princess Fragrance ran to him crying "Father! Father!"Muzhuolun took her in his arms. "Don't be afraid," hesaid soothingly. "I have come to save you."Xu jumped onto the back of a horse to get a betterview of the situation. He saw a great cloud of dustrising to the east and knew the Manchu armouredcavalry were coming.
　　"Master Muzhuolun!" he called. "Let's retreat to thathigh ground to the west!" Muzhuolun immediatelyordered his troops to comply. They started out fromthe pit with the Manchus close behind, and as theyreached the hill, saw another force of Manchu troopsmoving in from the west.
　　"Huo Qingtong was right," Muzhuolun thought glumly. "Ishould not have accused her like that. She must befeeling very bad."They threw up temporary defences on the hilltop andsettled down to wait for an opportunity to escape.
　　With the Muslims firmly established on high ground,the Manchus did not dare, for the moment, to attack.
　　Huo Qingtong stationed her unit about four miles awayfrom the enemy forces. At noon, the unit commanderscame to report. She told the commander of the GreenFlag's second unit: "Go with five hundred troops andtake up positions along the southern bank of the BlackRiver. The Manchu troops are not allowed to cross theriver. If they attack, do not engage them head on, butrather delay them as long as possible." The commanderbowed and retired.
　　She then turned to the commander of the White Flag'sfirst unit. "I want you to lure the Manchu forceswestwards. If your troops clash with the enemy, theyare not allowed to win the engagement, but mustcontinue to flee into the desert, the further thebetter. Take our four thousand head of cattle andgoats with you and leave them along the road for themto seize.""Why should we give them our livestock? I won't doit!"Huo Qingtong's lips tightened. "Do you refuse tofollow my orders?" she asked quietly.
　　The commander brandished his sabre. "If you tell me towin a battle. I will follow your orders. If you tellme to lose a battle, I would rather die then comply!""Seize him!" Huo Qingtong commanded. Four guards ranforward and grabbed the commander's arms. "The Manchuforces are oppressing us and to beat them, we mustwork together with one heart. Will you or will you notfollow my orders?""No! What are you going to do about it?""Execute him!" she commanded, and the officer's faceturned pale. The guards pushed him out of the tent andsliced off his head with one sword stroke as the othercommanders quivered with fear.
　　Huo Qingtong promoted the assistant commander to takethe dead officer's place and told him to retreatwestwards before the Manchu forces until he saw smokerising from the east, then to return as quickly aspossible, avoiding battle with the Manchus. Sheordered the other units to gather beside the GreatQuagmire to the east.
　　Her work complete, she mounted her horse and drew hersword. "The first and second units of the Black Flag,follow me," she shouted.
　　Muzhuolun, Chen and the others were trapped on thehill. The Manchu troops had attacked twice, but hadbeen beaten back. The hill was surrounded by piles ofcorpses. Losses on both sides had been heavy.
　　Sometime after noon, there was a movement in theManchu lines, and a column of mounted Muslim soldierscharged through towards them. Amidst the flying snowflakes, they spotted Huo Qingtong at its head.
　　"Charge!" shouted Muzhuolun, and led his men down thehill to meet her. Princess Fragrance galloped over toher sister and embraced her.
　　Huo Qingtong took her hand and shouted: "Commander ofthe Black Flag Third Unit: lead your men west untilyou meet up with the first unit of the White Flag andfollow the orders of its commander."The officer and his troops galloped off, and a columnof Manchu cavalry broke from the main force and chasedafter them.
　　"Excellent!" exclaimed Huo Qingtong. "Commander of theBlack Flag First Unit: retreat with your men towardsYarkand and follow the orders of my brother. Commanderof the Second Unit, you retreat towards the BlackRiver." The two units broke out of the encirclement,and disappeared into the distance pursued by two morecolumns of Manchu cavalry.
　　"Everyone else head eastwards!" Huo Qingtong ordered,and the remaining Muslim soldiers along with the RedFlower Society fighters galloped through the circle ofManchu troops and away.
　　The Manchu cavalry, under the command of Zhao Weiclosed in on the fleeing Muslims and cut off severalhundred of them. All were slaughtered. Zhao Wei wasdelighted. He pointed to the huge Crescent Moon bannernear Huo Qingtong and shouted: "Whoever seizes thatbanner gets a reward!" The cavalrymen surged forward,galloping madly across the desert.
　　The Muslims were riding good horses and the Manchucavalry had difficulty keeping up with them. But afterten or fifteen miles, some of the Muslim fightersbegan to fall behind and were killed by the Manchutroops. Zhao Wei saw they were all either old men orboys, and exclaimed: "Their leader has no crack troopswith him. After them!" They galloped on for anothertwo or three miles and saw the Muslim forcedispersing, apparently in confusion. Fluttering on thetop of a large sand dune ahead was the crescentbanner.
　　Zhao Wei flourished his sword and led the chargetowards the dune with his bodyguards behind. But as hereached the top and looked out beyond, he was almostfrightened out of his wits. To the north and south,were rank after orderly rank of Muslim warriors,waiting silently. The Manchu force had originally beenseveral times larger than the Muslim force, but somany units had been sent out in pursuit of thebreakaway Muslim columns that only ten thousandarmoured cavalry now faced the concentrated might ofthe Muslim army. Two more Muslim columns appearedbehind them, and with enemy troops to the north, southand west, Zhao Wei shouted: "Everyone forward!
　　Eastwards!" The Manchu forces surged forward as theMuslim fighters gradually closed in on them.
　　Suddenly, there was a chorus of cries from the cavalryunit in the lead. A soldier rode up to Zhao Wei andsaid: "General! We're finished! There's quicksandahead!" He could see a thousand cavalrymen and theirhorses already flailing about as they sank into thesoft mud.
　　Chen and the others stood on a sand dune and watchedas the Manchu troops fell into the quagmire. Thesoldiers behind tried to escape, but the Muslimspressed relentlessly in, forcing them into the mud.
　　The air was filled with the screams of the haplessManchu soldiers, but the mud crept up their legs, andwhen it reached their mouths, the noise ceased. Thedwindling numbers of Manchu troops fought desperately,but in less than an hour, the whole army had beenforced into the quagmire. Only Zhao Wei and a hundredor so guards managed to escape after carving a path ofblood through the Muslim ranks.
　　"Everyone head westwards and gather on the south bankof the Black River," Huo Qingtong ordered. The entireforce of more than ten thousand troops galloped off.
　　As they rode, Chen and Muzhuolun discussed what hadhappened since they parted. Muzhuolun's heart wasuneasy. He loved his two daughters more than anythingin the world, and they had both fallen in love withthe same Chinese man. According to Islamic law, a mancould marry four wives, but Chen was not a believer,and he had heard that Chinese had only one wife whilethe second and subsequent women were not consideredreal wives. He wondered how the matter could beresolved. "Wait until the Manchus have been beaten,"he thought. "One daughter is wise and the other kind.
　　A way will be found."The great Muslim column arrived at the south bank ofthe Black River towards evening. A soldier galloped upand breathlessly reported: "The Manchus are attackinghard. The commander of the Green Flag Second Unit isdead, and the commander of the Black Flag Second Unitis badly wounded. Losses are heavy.""Tell the deputy commander of the Green Flag secondunit to take over. He is not to retreat one step," HuoQingtong ordered. The soldier galloped off again.
　　"Let's go and reinforce them!" Muzhuolun suggested.
　　"No!" she replied and turned to her personal guards.
　　"The whole army will rest here. No one is allowed tolight a fire or make a sound. Everyone will eat dryrations." The order was transmitted, and the soldierssettled down silently in the darkness. Far off, theycould hear the waters of the Black River and the criesand shouts of Manchu and Muslim fighters.
　　Another soldier galloped frantically up. "The GreenFlag Second Unit's deputy commander has also beenkilled," he reported. "We can't hold them back muchlonger!"Huo Qingtong turned to the commmander of the GreenFlag Third Unit. "Go and reinforce them," she said.
　　"You will be in command." He raised his sabre insalute and led his unit away. Soon after, the sound ofbattle rose to a roar.
　　"The Green Flag units will lie in ambush behind thesand dunes to the east. The White Flag and Mongolunits will lie in ambush to the west," Huo Qingtongordered. "The rest, come with me."She rode off towards the Black River, and as theyapproached it, the metallic ring of weapons clashingbecame deafening. In the torchlight, they saw theMuslim fighters bravely defending the wooden bridgeacross the river in the face of ferocious assaults bythe best Manchu cavalry.
　　"Give way!" Huo Qingtong shouted, and the fighters onthe bridge retreated, leaving a gap through whichseveral thousand Manchu mounted troops swarmed likebees. When about half of the Manchu troops hadcrossed, she shouted: "Pull away the bridge!"The Muslims had earlier loosened the beams of thebridge and used long ropes to tie them to horses onthe river bank below. The horses strained forward, aseries of loud cracks rent the air, and the bridgecollapsed, throwing hundreds of Manchu soldiers intothe river. The Manchu army was thus cut in two by theriver, with neither side able to assist the other.
　　At the order from Huo Qingtong, the mass of the Muslimarmy, hiding behind the sand dunes, emerged andoverwhelmed the Manchu troops on the near bank. In ashort time, they were all dead, and the Manchu forceon the other side of the river were so frightened bythe sight of the slaughter that they turned and fledtowards Yarkand city.
　　"Across the river and after them!" shouted HuoQingtong. A make-shift bridge was swiftly constructedwith the remains of the former structure and theMuslim army charged off towards Yarkand.
　　The citizens of Yarkand had long since evacuated theircity. Huo Qingtong's brother, on her instructions, hadresisted perfunctorily when the Manchus attacked, thenled his troops in retreat from the city. Soon after,the Manchu forces fleeing from the banks of the BlackRiver arrived along with General Zhao Wei and hishundred-odd battered bodyguards. The walled city wasnow full of Manchu soldiers.
　　Just as Zhao Wei was about to go to bed, he received areport that several hundred troops who had drank waterfrom wells in the city had died of poisoning. He senta unit to collect some uncontaminated water fromoutside. Then the sky turned red. All over the city,fires were lit by a small number of Muslim soldiersleft behind, and the city turned into a huge oven.
　　Under the protection of his bodyguard, Zhao Wei foughthis way through the flames and smoke towards the westgate as the rest of the Manchu soldiers trampled eachother in their haste to escape. The bodyguards slashedat them with their swords, forcing them to make wayfor their general. But when they got to the west gate,they found it had been blocked by the Muslims. Thefires were burning even more ferociously, and thestreets were filled with frenzied mobs of soldiers andhorses. Through the confusion, a small group of ridersappeared shouting: "Where is the General?""Here!" Zhao Wei's bodyguards shouted back.
　　"There are fewer enemy troops at the east gate,"replied one of the riders. "We can force our way outthere."Even in such danger, Zhao Wei remained calm and ledhis troops in the attack on the east gate. The Muslimsfired wave after wave of arrows at them, and severalattempts to break out failed with heavy losses. But atthe critical moment, Zhang Zhaozhong led a troop ofManchu soldiers in an attack from outside the city andmanaged to snatch Zhao Wei away to safety.
　　Many thousands of Manchu soldiers had already beenburned to death, and the stench was sickening. Thewhole city was filled with cries and screams. HuoQingtong and the others watched from a piece of highground.
　　"It's terrible! Terrible!" cried Muzhuolun. HuoQingtong sent more troops down to help blockade theeast gate of the city. With Zhao Wei gone, the Manchusoldiers left inside were leaderless. They racedfrantically about, but with the four gates blocked bythe Muslims, they all died in the monster furnace.
　　"Light the signal fires!" Huo Qingtong ordered, andpiles of wolf droppings that had been prepared wereput to the torch, sending a huge column of black smokeup to the heavens. (The smoke from burning wolf'sdropping is the thickest and blackest of all.) A shortwhile later, a similar column of smoke arose five orso miles to the west.
　　The Muslims had won three victories and wiped out morethan thirty thousand of the best Manchu troops. Thewarriors embraced each other and sang and dancedaround the Yarkand city wall.
　　Huo Qingtong called her officers together. "We willcamp out here tonight," she said. "Each man must startten fires and must spread them out as much aspossible."
Chapter 41
More than ten thousand Manchu cavalry chased westwardsafter the Third Unit of the Muslim's Black FlagBrigade. The Muslims were riding the best horses, butthe commander of the Manchu troops was under ordersfrom General Zhao Wei to catch the Muslim force, andhe urged his men on mercilessly. The two armiescharged across the desert, the roar of horses's hoovessounding like thunder. After a few dozen miles, a herdof several thousand cattle and sheep suddenly appearedin the path of the Manchu army and the soldiers chasedafter them shouting for joy, and killed as many asthey could for food. Their pace slowed. The Muslims,meanwhile, galloped on, never once being forced toclash with the pursuing Manchu troops. Close toevening, they saw a pall of thick smoke rising fromthe east.
　　"Mistress Huo Qingtong has won!" The Muslim commandershouted. "Turn back east!" The warriors' spiritssoared and they reined their horses round. Seeing themturning, the Manchu troops were perplexed and chargedforward to attack, but the Muslims swung round them ata distance, the Manchus following.
　　The Muslim units galloped through the night, theManchus always in sight. The Manchu commander wantedto gain great merit for himself, and many of hiscavalry horses died of exhaustion. Towards midnight,they came across General Zhao Wei riding in front ofabout three thousand wounded. Zhao Wei's hope roseslightly as he saw the Manchu column approach.
　　"After their success, the enemy will be in a state ofunpreparedness," he thought. "So if we attack now, wewill be able to turn defeat into victory." He orderedthe troops to advance towards the Black River, andafter ten miles or so, scouts reported that the Muslimarmy was camped ahead. Zhao Wei led his commandersonto a rise to view the scene and a chill shook eachof them to the bottom of their hearts.
　　The entire plain was covered in camp fires, stretchingseemingly endlessly before them. They heard from faroff the shouts of men and the neighing of horses, andthey wondered how many warriors the Muslims hadmustered. Zhao Wei was silent.
　　"With such a huge army against us, no wonder...nowonder we have encountered some set-backs," one of thesenior military officials, Commander Herda, said.
　　Zhao Wei turned to the others. "All units are to mountup and retreat south," he ordered. "No-one is to makea sound."The order was received badly by the troops who hadhoped to stop at least long enough for a meal.
　　"According to the guides, the road south passes thefoot of Yingqipan Mountain and is very dangerous afterheavy snows," Herda pointed out.
　　"The enemy's forces are so powerful, we have no choicebut to head southeast and try to meet up with GeneralFu De," Zhao Wei replied.
　　The remnants of the great army headed south, and foundthe road becoming more and more treacherous as theywent. To the left was the Black River, to the right,the Yingqipan Mountain. The night sky was cloudy andink-black, and the only light was a faint glowreflecting off the snow further up the mountain slope.
　　Zhao Wei issued a further order: "Whoever makes asound will be immediately executed." Most of thesoldiers came from Northeast China and knew that anynoise could shake loose the heavy snow above them andcause an avalanche that would kill them all. They alldismounted and led their horses along with extremecare, many walking on tip-toe. Three or four milesfurther on, the road became very steep, but as luckwould have it, the sky was by now growing light. TheManchu troops had been fighting and running for awhole day and a night, and there was a deathlyexpression on the face of each one.
　　Suddenly, there was a shout from a scout and severalhundred Muslim warriors appeared on the road aheadstanding behind a number of primitive cannons. Scaredout of their wits, the Manchu troops were thrown intoconfusion and many turned and fled just as the cannonswent off with a roar, spraying iron shards and nailsinto them, instantly killing more than two hundred.
　　As the boom of the cannon faded, Zhao Wei heard afaint rustling noise, and felt a coldness on his neckas a small amount of snow fell inside his collar. Helooked up the mountain side and saw the snow fieldsabove them slowly beginning to move.
　　"General!" Herda shouted. "We must escape!"Zhao Wei reined his horse round and started gallopingback the way they had come. His bodyguards slashed andhacked at the soldiers in their path, franticallypushing them off the road into the river below as therumble of the approaching snow avalanche grew louderand louder. Suddenly, tons of snow intermingled withrocks and mud surged down onto the road with adeafening roar that shook the heavens.
　　Zhao Wei, with Herda on one side and Zhang Zhaozhongon the other, escaped the catastrophe. They gallopedon for more than a mile before daring to stop. Whenthey did look back, they saw the several thousandtroops had been buried by snow drifts more than ahundred feet thick. The road ahead was also covered indeep snow. Surrounded by such danger and having lostan entire army of forty thousand men in one day, ZhaoWei burst into tears.
　　"General, let us go up the mountain slope," saidZhang. He picked up Zhao Wei and raced off up theslope with Herda following along behind.
　　Huo Qingtong, watching from a distant crest, shouted:
　　"Someone's trying to escape! Catch them quickly!"Several dozen Muslims ran off to intercept them. Whenthey saw the three were wearing the uniforms ofofficials, they rubbed their hands in delight,determined to catch them alive. Zhang silentlyincreased his pace. Despite the weight of Zhao Wei, heseemed to fly across the treacherously slippery slope.
　　Herda could not keep up with him and was cut off bythe Muslims and captured after a spirited fight. Apartfrom Zhao Wei and Zhang, only a few dozen of theManchu troops survived the avalanche.
　　Huo Qingtong led the Muslim warriors back to theircamp, along with the prisoners. By now, the Muslimshad taken the main Manchu camp, thereby acquiring hugesupplies of food and weapons. The Four Tigers wereamong those taken prisoner after being found bound andgagged inside a tent. Chen asked them why they hadbeen put there, and the eldest of the four giantsreplied: "Because we helped you. General Zhao said hewould have us killed after the battle." Chen pleadedbefore Huo Qingtong to allow the four to go free, andshe agreed.
Chapter 42
Mournful dirges played as the Muslims dug deeptrenches and buried the bodies of the fallen warriorsupright and facing west. Puzzled, Chen asked one ofthe nearby soldiers why the dead were buried in thisway.
　　"Because we believe in Islam," the soldier replied.
　　"If the body is buried upright, then the spirit willascend to the heavenly kingdom. They face west becausethat is the direction of sacred Mecca."When the burials were finished, Muzhuolun led theentire army in prayer to thank Allah for helping themachieve such a great victory. Then a great cheer wentup from the ranks and the commanders of all the unitswent before Huo Qingtong and presented their sabres toher in respect.
　　"Inflicting such a crushing defeat on the Manchus alsodoes us a great service," 'Leopard' Wei remarked toXu, but Xu was deep in thought.
　　"The Emperor made a pact with us, yet he didn'twithdraw his forces," he said. "Could it be that heintentionally sent his troops into the desert to bedestroyed?""I have no faith in this Emperor," said Wen. "Howcould he know Mistress Huo Qingtong would win sodecisively? What's more, I doubt if he sent ZhangZhaozhong out here for any good purpose."As the heroes talked, they noticed Chen gazing at HuoQingtong in concern. She was seated to one side, herface as white as a sheet, with a wild look in hereyes. Luo Bing went over to talk to her and as HuoQingtong stood up to greet her, she swayed unsteadily.
　　Luo Bing caught hold of her.
　　"Sister, what's wrong?" she asked. Huo Qingtong saidnothing, but fought to control her breathing. PrincessFragrance, Muzhuolun, Chen and the others ran over.
　　Princess Fragrance led her into a tent and laid herdown on a carpet.
　　Muzhuolun knew his daughter was exhausted after thebattle which she had both directed and taken part inalongside the other warriors. She had also had to bearthe suspicions of her own commanders. But he wasafraid that the thing affecting her most was therelationship between Chen and her sister. Unable tothink of anything to say to comfort her, he sighed andleft the tent. He went for a walk round the camp, andfrom all sides heard nothing but praise for HuoQingtong's brilliant strategy.
　　That night, he slept badly, worrying about hisdaughter. Early the next day before the sky was light,he went over to her tent to see how she was, but foundher tent was empty. He hurriedly asked the guardoutside what had happened to her.
　　"Mistress Huo Qingtong left about two hours ago," theguard replied.
　　"Where did she go?""I don't know, Lord. She told me to give you thisletter." Muzhuolun grabbed it and tore it open.
　　Inside, in Huo Qingtong's delicate hand, was written:
　　"Father, the war is now over. All that is necessary isto tighten the encirclement and the remaining Manchusoldiers will be annhilated in a few days, (signed)your daughter.""Which direction did she go?" he asked. The guardpointed east.
　　Muzhuolun found a horse and galloped off immediatelyin pursuit. He rode for an hour into the depths of theflat desert where it was possible to see several milesin all directions, but found no sign of any livingbeing. Afraid that she may have changed direction, hedecided the only thing to do was to return to thecamp. Half way back, he met Princess Fragrance, Chenand the other heroes who were all anxious about hersafety. Once back in camp, Muzhuolun sent units out tothe north, south, east and west to search. By evening,three units had returned without finding anything,while the fourth brought back a young Chinese youthdressed in black clothes.
　　'Scholar' Yu stared at the youth in shock: it was LiYuanzhi dressed as usual in boy's clothes.
　　"What are you doing here?" he asked, hurrying up tomeet her.
　　"I came to find you, and happened to run into them,"she replied, very happy to see him again.
　　Princess Fragrance was frantic with worry about herlost sister. "What can have happened to her?" sheasked Chen. "What can we do?""I will go and find her," he replied. "Come what may,I`ll convince her to come back.""I'll go with you," she said at once.
　　Chen nodded. "All right. Go and ask your father.""You all do just as you like anyway," Muzhuolunreplied angrily, stamping his foot. Princess Fragrancelooked up at her father and saw how bloodshot his eyeswere. She took his hand and squeezed it.
　　Yuanzhi ignored the others, and bombarded Yu withquestions about what had happened to him since theyhad parted.
　　"That's the boy your sister likes," Chen said toPrincess Fragrance, pointing at Yuanzhi. "He willcertainly be able to convince her to come back.""Really? Why has she never told me? She's toohorrible!" the Princess replied. She walked overtowards Yuanzhi to get a closer look. Muzhuolun, whowas equally curious, did the same.
　　Yuanzhi had met Muzhuolun previously and she bowedbefore him in greeting. Then she saw PrincessFragrance and was immediately struck speechless by herextraordinary beauty. Princess Fragrance smiled atChen and said: "Tell this gentleman that we are verypleased to see him, and ask him to come with us tohelp find my sister."Only now did Chen greet Yuanzhi. "Why are you here,Brother?" he asked. "How have you been since we lastmet?"Yuanzhi blushed and laughed. She glanced at Yu,wanting him to explain.
　　"Great Helmsman, this is Master Lu's pupil," Yu said.
　　"I know, we've met several times."Yu smiled. "She is therefore my martial sister.""What?" Chen exclaimed in surprise.
　　"She likes wearing boy's clothes when she travels."Chen looked closely at Yuanzhi and noticed for thefirst time how delicate her eyebrows were, and howsmall her mouth, not at all like a man's. Because ofthe relationship with Huo Qingtong, Chen had neverlooked closely at her before, but now he stared inshock.
　　"I was completely wrong about Mistress Huo Qingtong,"he thought. "She told me to go and ask Master Lu abouthis pupil and I never did. Could she have left thecamp because of me? And then there's her sister wholoves me deeply."Luo Bing could see how Yuanzhi felt towards Yu and shehoped that with such a beautiful girl in love withhim, he could release himself from the self-torture ofhis adoration of herself. But he looked as desolateand unhappy as ever.
　　"Where is Sister Huo Qingtong?" Yuanzhi asked. "I havesomething important to tell her.""She's gone. We're looking for her now," Luo Bingreplied.
　　"She went out by herself?"Luo Bing nodded.
　　"Where did she go?" Yuanzhi asked urgently.
　　"She left the camp heading east, but whether or notshe changed direction, we don't know.""Oh, no!" Yuanzhi exclaimed, stamping her foot. Theyasked her what was wrong. "The Three Guandong Devilsare looking for Sister Huo Qingtong to get theirrevenge on her. You know that already. But I met themon the road. They're behind me. If she is headingeast, she might run into them.""We don't have a moment to lose," said Chen. "I willgo and find her.""Don't underestimate the Three Devils," Xu warned. "Itwould be better if several of us went. Great HelmsmanChen should go first with Princess Fragrance. MistressLi, you also know her, but it would be too dangerousfor you to go alone. Perhaps Brother Yu could go withyou. My wife and I can go and search too, while theothers remain here at the camp to watch for ZhangZhaozhong.""Fine!" said Chen. He borrowed Luo Bing's white horseand he and Princess Frangrance galloped off with theothers not far behind.
　　At about noon that day, Wen and the other heroes werechatting with Muzhuolun in his tent when a guardrushed in to report that the Manchu general Herda hadescaped and the four soldiers guarding him had beenkilled. They hurried over, and found a dagger stuck inthe chest of one of the dead soldiers with a noteattached to it which read: "To the heroes of the RedFlower Society from Zhang Zhaozhong".
　　Wen angrily screwed the piece of paper up into a ball.
　　"Master Muzhuolun," he said. "You maintain theencirclement of the Manchus, and we'll go and findthis traitor Zhang Zhaozhong." Muzhuolun nodded, andWen led the other heroes off into the desert,following the tracks of the Manchu horses.
Chapter 43
Huo Qingtong left the camp feeling lonely andconfused. "I'll go to my teachers' home at PreciousMountain and lose myself in the desert with them," shethought. She was unwell, and even though her kung futraining enabled her to keep going, after ten daystravelling across the desert, she was absolutelyexhausted and still four or five days from the home ofthe Tianshan Eagles. Finally, she stopped beside asmall sand dune and let her horse graze on the sparse,dry grasses nearby.
　　She set up her tent and slept for several hours. Inthe middle of the night she was awakened by the soundof three horses approaching from the east. As theyneared the sand dune, they slowed and headed for thesame patch of dry grass that had attracted her mount.
　　The horses were unwilling to continue, so the threeriders dismounted to rest. They did not see HuoQingtong's tent, which was on the other side of thedune. She heard them talking Chinese, but she wasstill sleepy and did not bother to listen closely.
　　Suddenly, however, she heard one of the men say: "Thatdamned bitch! If I don't skin her alive and rip outall her tendons, then my name isn't Gu.""Brother Yan's kungfu was excellent," said another. "Idon't believe that a girl could kill him without usingsome sort of trickery.""Well, of course," added a third. "As I said, we haveto be very careful. There are a lot of Muslimsaround."Huo Qingtong realised in astonishment that they werethe Guandong Devils and that they were talking abouther.
　　"There's not much water left in the satchel and wedon't know how many more days we have to go before wefind water again," one of them said. "From tomorrow,we'll have to drink even less." Soon afterwards, theywent to sleep.
　　Huo Qingtong was uncertain of what to do. The desertwas flat and empty for miles in every direction, sothere was no way she could escape if they found her,especially as she was still sick. After some thought,she decided the safest course would be to revealherself, and find some way to lead the three to herteacher's home.
　　Early next morning, the Guandong Devils woke to findHuo Qingtong standing in front of them. She examinedthem carefully. One was a tall man who looked like amember of the gentry. The second had a thick blackbeard, while the third was wearing Mongol clothes.
　　"Mistress, do you have any water to spare?" the firstman, Tang, asked her, pulling out a silver ingot as hespoke. Huo Qingtong shook her head to indicate she didnot understand Chinese. The Mongol, who was namedHahetai, repeated the request in Mongolian and shereplied in the same tongue: "I cannot give you any ofmy water. The Yellow-Robed Lady, Mistress HuoQingtong, sent me on an important errand and I am nowreturning to report." She quickly dismantled her tentand mounted her horse. Hahetai ran forward and grabbedhold of her horse's reins.
　　"Where is she?" he asked.
　　"Why do you want to know?""We are her friends. There is urgent news we have topass on to her."Huo Qingtong pouted. "That's an outright lie! She isat Precious Mountain, but you are heading west. Don'ttry to cheat me!"Hahetai turned to the other two and said: "She's onher way to see the damned bitch now."With her unhealthy appearance and the way she wheezedas she spoke, she did not look at all like someone whoknew kung fu. So not suspecting her in the slightest,the Devils took advantage of what they took to be herignorance of Chinese and loudly discussed how theywould kill her when they reached Precious Mountain,and then go to find Huo Qingtong. The bearded man, Gu,could see that she was very beautiful despite herhaggard look, and his lust began to stir.
　　Huo Qingtong noticed him constantly staring at hercovetously, and knew that even though they had notrecognised her, travelling alone for four or five dayswith these three Devils was too dangerous. She rippeda strip of material off her jacket and tied it roundthe leg of one of her two eagles then threw the birdup into the air. It spread its wings and flew offtowards the horizon.
　　"What are you doing?" Tang demanded suspiciously. HuoQingtong shook her head, and Hahetai translated whathe had said into Mongolian.
　　"There are no more water springs for another seven oreight days. You've got so little water, how could itbe enough? I'm letting the eagles go so they can goand find water themselves." As she spoke, she releasedthe second eagle.
　　"Two eagles wouldn't drink very much water," Tangreplied.
　　"When you're dying of thirst, even a drop may beenough to save your life." Afraid they would try toharm her, she had exaggerated the distance to the nextwater.
　　Hahetai mumbled oaths. "Even in the deserts ofMongolia, you would never have to travel for seven oreight days without water. This is a cursed region!"They camped that night in the middle of the desert.
　　Huo Qingtong could see Gu's gaze constantly sweepingover her and became very worried. She went into hertent, drew her sword, and sat down beside the tententrance, not daring to sleep. Towards midnight, sheheard someone tiptoeing over. Suddenly, the tent flapopened and Gu crept inside. He began feeling about inthe darkness for her, and an instant later, felt anicy coldness on his neck as a sharp blade gentlytouched it.
　　"If you so much as twitch, I will run it through you,"Huo Qingtong whispered. "Lie on the ground!" Heimmediately complied. She placed the tip of the swordon his back, then sat down and wondered what sheshould do.
　　"If I kill him, the other two won't let me get awaywith it," she thought. "It's probably best to wait formy teacher to get here."A couple of hours later, Tang woke and noticed Gu wasmissing. He jumped up and began shouting "Brother Gu!
　　Brother Gu!""Answer him quickly," Huo Qingtong whispered fiercely.
　　"Tell him you're here.""It's all right, Brother, I'm here!" he shouted back,well aware that he had no choice.
　　Tang laughed. "You horny old thief! You'll neverchange."The next morning, Huo Qingtong waited until the othertwo were up before letting Gu out.
　　"Brother Gu," Hahetai berated him as he emerged. "Wehave come to seek revenge not to make trouble." Gu'steeth were almost chattering with hate but he didn'ttell them what had happened. If he did, the shame ofit would follow him for the rest of his life. But hedecided that he would have the girl the followingnight and then kill her.
　　At about midnight, Gu advanced on Huo Qingtong's tentagain, a spear in one hand and a torch in the other.
　　As he entered, he saw her crouching in the far cornerand lunged at her triumphantly. But suddenly he feltsomething cut into his legs as a rope noose hidden onthe ground caught him. Huo Qingting gave it a tug andhe overbalanced and fell heavily.
　　"Don't move!" she hissed, and placed the tip of hersword against his stomach. She didn't think she couldnot stand another night like the previous one, butkilling Gu was not enough. She had to finish off allthree.
　　"Tell your elder brother to come over here," shewhispered. Gu guessed what she was planning andremained silent. She increased the pressure so thatthe sword cut through his clothes and the top layer ofskin. Gu knew a sword in the stomach was the mostpainful way to die. "He won't come," he whisperedback.
　　"All right, then I'll kill you first," she replied,and the sword moved again.
　　"Elder Brother! Come here! Come quickly!" Gu calledfrantically.
　　"Laugh," Huo Qingtong ordered. Gu frowned and utteredseveral dry laughs.
　　"Laugh more happily!"He silently cursed her, but with the sword alreadyinside his flesh, he forced out a loud hystericallaugh. Tang and Hahetai had already been awakened bythe racket.
　　"Stop playing around, Brother, and conserve some ofyour strength," Tang yelled.
　　Huo Qingtong could see he wouldn't come. "Call theother one," she hissed, and Gu shouted out again.
　　Although he was a bandit, Hahetai did not takeadvantage of women, and he was very unhappy with Gu'sbehaviour. But he was his sworn brother, so he justpretended not to hear.
　　"If I don't kill these three, it is going to bedifficult to free myself of today's shame," shethought. Holding the sword in her right hand, shewound the rope round and round Gu until he could notmove. Only then did she relax. She leant against theside of the tent, but did not dare to fall asleep.
　　The next morning, as it grew light, she saw that Guwas fast asleep and angrily whipped him awake with herhorse's whip. She placed the tip of her sword on hisheart and said: "If you so much as grunt, I willskewer you!" She wondered again whether she shouldkill him, but decided that it would immediately bringdisaster down on her head. She estimated her teachershould reach them by that afternoon anyway, so afteruntying the rope, she pushed Gu out of the tent.
　　Tang looked at the bloody welts on his facesuspiciously. "Who is this girl?" he asked in a lowvoice. "What's she up to?"Gu glanced meaningfully at him. "Let's grab her," hesaid. The two men started to walk slowly towards her,but she saw them coming and ran over to the horses.
　　She pulled out her sword and punctured Gu's andHahetai's water bags, then grabbed the largest ofTang's water bags and jumped onto her own horse. TheThree Devils stood watching dumbly for a second as theprecious water drained out of the two water bags andwas instantly swallowed by the sand, then charged ather angrily.
　　She lay along the horse's back breathing heavily. "Ifyou come a step closer, I'll slash this bag too," shewheezed. The Three Devils stopped.
　　"I agreed to take you to see Mistress Huo Qingtong andin return you bully me," she added when she hadrecovered slightly. "From here to the next water issix days travelling. If you don't leave me alone, I'llslash this bag too and we will all die of thirst.""We won't harm you," protested Tang.
　　"Let's go," she ordered. "You three first." So theyrode on across the desert, the three men in front, thegirl behind.
　　By noon, the burning sun was riding high in the sky,and their lips and tongues were parched dry. HuoQingtong began to see stars before her eyes andmoments of faintness swept over her. She wondered ifshe was going to die.
　　"Hey! Give us some water!" she heard Hahetai shout.
　　She shook herself awake.
　　"Take out a bowl and put it on the ground," shereplied. Hahetai did as she said. "Now retreat onehundred paces." Gu hesitated suspiciously. "If youdon't, you won't get any water," she added. Theycursed her, but retreated. Huo Qingtong rode forward,undid the cap of the water bag and filled the bowl,then rode away again. The three men ran over to thebowl and took turns at gulping down the liquid.
　　They continued on their way, and about four hourslater green grass began to appear beside the road.
　　Tang's eyes lit up. "There must be water ahead!" heshouted. Huo Qingtong was worried. She tried to thinkof some course of action, but her head was splittingwith pain. Suddenly, there was a long eagle's cry fromabove and she looked up to see a black shape swoopingdownwards. Overjoyed, she raised her arm and the eaglelanded on her shoulder. She saw a piece of blackmaterial fastened to one of its legs and knew herteacher would arrive soon.
　　Tang could see something funny was going on, and witha wave of his hand sent a sleeve dart flying towardsHuo Qingtong's right wrist, hoping to knock the swordfrom her grasp. But she blocked the dart with hersword and with a wave of the reins, galloped aroundthem and into the lead. The Three Devils beganshouting and chased after her. After two or threemiles, her legs and arms were numb, and she could holdon no longer. The horse gave a jolt and she toppled tothe ground.
　　The Three Devils spurred their horses on. Huo Qingtongstruggled to get back onto the horse, but she was tooweak. Then in a flash of inspiration, she slung thewater bag's leather strap over the eagle's neck andthrew the bird up into the air. Tang and the othersforgot Huo Qingtong at the sight of their water bagbeing carried away and chased frantically after theeagle. The water bag was almost full of water and notlight, so the eagle was not able to fly high or fast,and the three were able to keep up with it.
　　A few miles further on, the eagle glided downwardsjust as two riders appeared in a cloud of dust aheadof them. The eagle circled twice and landed on theshoulder of one of the riders. The Three Devilsspurred their horses on and saw that one of thestrangers was a bald, red-faced old man, and the othera white-haired old lady.
　　"Where's Huo Qingtong?" the old man barked, and thethree stared at him in surprise. The old man removedthe water bag from the eagle's neck and hurled thebird back into the air. He gave a harsh whistle andthe bird answered with a squeak and headed back theway it had come. The old couple took no further noticeof the Three Devils and galloped past them, chasingafter the eagle. Tang saw the old man still had thewater bag, and with a wave of his hand to the others,followed along behind.
　　The two old people were the Tianshan Twin Eagles, BaldVulture and Madame Guan. After three or four miles,they saw the eagle glide downwards to where HuoQingtong was lying on the ground. Madame Guan leaptoff her horse and grabbed the girl up into her armsand began sobbing.
　　"Who has been treating you so badly?" she demanded,looking down at the girl's deathly appearance. Justthen, the Three Devils rode up. Huo Qingtong pointedat them, then fainted away.
　　"Well, are you just going to sit there?" Madame Guandemanded angrily of her husband. Bald Vulture wheeledhis horse round and charged at the three, and beganfighting furiously with them.
　　Madame Guan slowly poured water into Huo Qingtong'smouth and the girl gradually regained consciousness.
　　Only then did she look round to see how her husbandwas doing. He was struggling to keep the three at bay,and so she drew her sword and jumped into the melee.
　　She struck out at Tang, who swung round to counter thestroke, but immediately found her style had changed.
　　Amazed that this thin old woman could be such aformidable swordswoman, he concentrated completely ondefence.
　　Huo Qingtong sat up and observed the Twin Eaglesgradually gaining the upper hand. As she watched, shefaintly heard a strange sound floating towards them onthe wind from far off, a sound full of violence anddread, hunger and evil, as if hundreds of wild beastswere howling in unison.
　　"Teacher, listen!" she cried. The Twin Eaglesdisengaged themselves from the fight and cocked an earto listen carefully. The Devils had been hard pressedto hold their own, and did not dare to attack the oldcouple.
　　The sound increased slightly in volume, and the TwinEagles turned pale. Bald Vulture ran over to his horseand stood on its back.
　　"Come and look!" he shouted. "See if there's anywherewe can take cover."Madame Guan picked Huo Qingtong up and placed her onher own horse, then vaulted up onto her husband'shorse and stood on his shoulders.
　　The Three Devils looked at each other, absolutelybaffled. Their attackers had broken off the fight whenthey had already won, and were now building humanpyramids on a horse's back.
　　"What devilry are they up to?" Gu growled darkly. Tanghad no idea what was happening and could onlyconcentrate on being prepared for anything.
　　Madame Guan gazed about in all directions, and thenshouted: "I think there are two big trees to thenorth!""Whether there are or not, let's go!" her husbandreplied. Madame Guan jumped over to Hua Qingtong'shorse, and they galloped off north without taking anyfurther notice of the Three Devils.
　　Hahetai noticed that in their hurry to get away, theyhad left the water bag behind, and bent down to pickit up. By now, the terrifying howling sound wasbecoming even louder. Gu's face turned grey. "It's awolf pack!" he cried. The three leapt onto theirhorses and galloped after the Twin Eagles. Lookingback, they saw large wild cats, camels, goats andhorses racing for their lives before a grey tide ofthousands of hungry wolves.
　　A few dozen yards ahead of the multitude was a rider,galloping along as if leading the way. In a flash, hispowerful horse raced up and passed the Three Devils,who saw he was an old man. The rider turned to lookback at them, and shouted: "Do you want to die?
　　Faster!"Tang's horse was scared out of its wits by the mass ofanimals bearing down upon them, and it stumbled andthrew him. Tang leapt to his feet as a dozen wild catsrushed past him.
　　"I'm finished," he thought, and began screaming at thetop of his voice. Gu and Hahetai heard his screams andturned and headed back to rescue him, the wolvesbearing down upon them. A huge wolf, its snow-whiteteeth bared, charged at Tang, who drew his sword todefend himself even though he knew it was useless.
　　Suddenly, there was the sound of horse's hoovesbehind, and the old man galloped up, grabbed Tang byhis collar and threw his fat body towards Hahetai.
　　Tang somersaulted through the air and landed in asitting position on Hahetai's horse. The three riderspulled their horses round, and flew for their lives.
　　The Twin Eagles had lived in the desert many years andwere well aware that even the most ferocious animalcould not survive an encounter with the wolf pack.
　　They galloped on, and as the two tall trees rosebefore them, thanked the Heavens that they had onceagain avoided ending up in a wolf's stomach. Once atthe trees, Bald Vulture leapt up in to the branches ofone, and Madame Guan handed Huo Qingtong up to him.
　　The wolf pack was approaching fast. Madame Guanwhipped the backs of their two horses and shouted:
　　"Run for your lives! We cannot help you!" The twohorses dashed away.
　　Just as the three of them had found somewhere to sitin the branches, they noticed the grey-gowned ridergalloping along ahead of the wolf pack. As the riderpassed by below, Bald Vulture embraced him with hisfree hand and lifted him up.
　　The old man was taken by surprise. His horse shotonwards, while he himself was left dangling in space,a host of animals passing under his feet. He performeda somersault, and landed on his feet on a branchfurther up the tree.
　　"What's wrong?" said Bald Vulture. "Don't tell you'reafraid of wolves too, Master Yuan?""Who asked you to interfere?" the old man repliedangrily.
　　"There's no need to be like that," Madame Guaninterrupted him. "My husband just saved your life."The old man laughed coldly. "Saved me? You've messedup everything!"He was Great Helmsman Chen's teacher, Master Yuan. Heand Madame Guan had grown up together in central Chinaand had fallen in love. But they had arguedconstantly, and eventually Yuan left and spent morethan ten years travelling in the Northern Deserts.
　　There was no news of him, and Madame Guan presumed hewould never come back. Eventually, she married BaldVulture, but shortly after the wedding, Yuanunexpectedly returned home. Both Yuan and Madame Guanwere heart-broken although they never spoke of thematter again. Bald Vulture was also very unhappy, andon several occasions went after Yuan to get revenge,but his kung fu was not good enough, and only Yuan'sregard for Madame Guan's feelings kept her husbandfrom being seriously hurt. So Bald Vulture took hiswife and travelled far away into the Muslim regions.
　　Yuan, however, could not forget her, and also moved tothe Tianshan Mountains. He never visited them, butjust living close to the woman he loved made him feela little happier. Madame Guan did all she could tokeep from seeing her former lover, but Bald Vulturewould not let the matter drop, and the couple hadfought and argued for decades since. All three werenow old and white-haired, but a day did not pass whenthey did not think of the entanglement.
　　Bald Vulture was very pleased with himself for havingsaved Yuan. You have always had the upper hand, hethought, but perhaps you'll show gratitude towards meafter this. Madame Guan, however, was puzzled byYuan's anger.
　　"What do you mean, 'messed everything up'?" she asked.
　　"Messed what up?""This wolf pack is growing bigger and bigger, and hasbecome a real plague on the desert," Yuan replied.
　　"Several Muslim villages have been completely wipedout already. The wolves eat people, animals,everything. So I prepared a trap and was just leadingthem to their deaths when you interfered."Bald Vulture knew Yuan was telling the truth, and feltacutely embarrassed.
　　Yuan saw the apologetic expression on Madame Guan'sface and brought his anger under control. "But youwere doing what you thought was best," he added. "Ithank you, anyway.""What sort of trap is it?" asked Bald Vulture.
　　"Save them!" Yuan suddenly shouted, and jumped downfrom the tree into the midst of the wolves.
　　The Three Devils had already been overtaken by thewolves, and their horses had been ripped to shreds.
　　The three of them were standing back-to-back fightingfuriously, and although they had killed more than adozen wolves, others continued to lunge at them. Allthree were already wounded in several places, and itlooked as if they could not hold out for long. Yuanraced over, his hands flew out and smashed the skullsof two wolves. He picked Hahetai up and threw him upinto the tree, shouting "Catch!", and Bald Vulturecaught him. In the same way, Yuan threw Tang and Guup, then killed another two wolves, grabbed one of thecorpses by the neck and swung it round and round,opening up a path to the tree, then leapt up into thebranches. The Three Devils, having been literallysnatched from the jaws of death, showered him withthanks. They were astonished by the speed and strengthhe had displayed, and the way he made killing wolvesseem as easy as catching rabbits.
　　Several hundred wolves circled the base of the tree,scratching at the trunk, raising their heads andhowling. A short distance away, several dozen of thefleeing animals had been cut off and encircled by thewolves, who filled the air with their cries and howls.
　　The animals leapt frantically about as the wolves toreand gnashed at them. It was a horrible sight. In onlya moment, the animals had all been ripped apart andeaten. Those sitting up in the tree were all bravefighters, but it was the first time any of them hadwitnessed such a terrifying scene, and they were veryfrightened.
　　Bald Vulture eyed the Three Devils suspiciously.
　　"They are not good men," Huo Qingtong told him.
　　"All right, then," he replied. "They can go and feedthe wolves." Just as he was about to push them off thetree, he looked down once more at the tragic scenebelow and hesitated just long enough for Tang toshout: "Let's go!" He leapt over to the other tree andGu and Hahetai followed him.
　　Madame Guan looked at Huo Qingtong. "My dear, what doyou say?" She wanted to know if the girl wanted themto chase after the three and kill them.
　　Huo Qingtong's heart softened. "Forget about it," shesaid.
　　"I am Huo Qingtong," she shouted to the Three Devils.
　　"If you want to get your revenge on me, why don't youcome over?" Tang and the others were astonished andinfuriated by her words, but they did not dare toreturn to the other tree.
　　The wolf pack came fast, and left fast too. Theyswirled around the trees for a while, howling andbarking, then chased off after the remaining wildanimals.
　　Madame Guan told Huo Qingtong to pay her respects toMaster Yuan. Seeing her sickly appearance, Yuan tooktwo red pills from his bag and gave them to her,saying: "Take them. They're Snow Ginseng Pills." SnowGinseng pills were made from the rarest medicinalherbs, and were well known for their ability to evenrestore life to the dying.
　　Just as Huo Qingtong was about to bow before him, Yuanjumped down from the tree and ran off. In a moment, hehad become just a black dot amidst the swirling desertdust.
Chapter 44
Madame Guan helped Huo Qingtong down from the tree,and told her to swallow one of the Snow Ginseng pills.
　　She did so, and soon after, a wave of heat rose fromthe pit of her stomach, and she felt much better.
　　"You are very lucky," Madame Guan said. "With thesewonderful pills you will recover much quicker.""She wouldn't die even if she didn't take them," BaldVulture commented coldly.
　　"So you'd prefer her to suffer a bit longer, wouldyou?" his wife snapped back.
　　"If it was me, I'd die rather than take one of hispills. But you, you'd take one even if there wasnothing wrong with you."Madame Guan put the girl on her back, and startedwalking off north with Bald Vulture following behind,nattering ceaselessly.
　　They went to the old couple's home on PreciousMountain. Huo Qingtong took another pill, then sleptpeacefully, and felt much refreshed when she woke.
　　Madame Guan sat on the edge of the bed and asked herwhat she had been doing travelling alone and sickthrough the desert. Huo Qingtong told her about howthe Manchu army had been destroyed and how she had metthe Three Devils on the road, but did not say why shehad left the camp. Madame Guan, however, was animpatient person and pressed her. Huo Qingtongrespected her teacher more than anyone, and found itimpossible to deceive her.
　　"He...he has become friendly with my sister," shesobbed. "And when I gave the orders to the troopsbefore the battle, my father and everyone thought Iwas acting out of my own selfish interests."Madame Guan jumped up. "Is it that Great Helmsman Chenthat you gave the dagger to?" Huo Qingtong nodded.
　　"Then he's fickle-hearted and your sister has nosisterly feelings for you. They should both bekilled!""No, no..." Huo Qingtong replied hastily.
　　"I'll go and settle this for you," Madame Guandeclared fiercely and rushed out of the room, almostbumping into her husband who had come to find out whatthe shouting was about.
　　"Come with me!" Madame Guan cried. "There's twoheartless ingrates that need to be killed!""Right!" he replied, and ran out after her.
　　Huo Qingtong jumped off the bed, wanting to explain,but she collapsed on the ground, and by the time shehad recovered, they were already far away. She knewthat together they could easily beat Chen, and wasworried they actually would kill him and her sister.
　　So disregarding her weakness, she climbed onto herhorse and galloped off after them.
　　As they rode along, Madame Guan talked at length abouthow all the heartless men under heaven should bekilled.
　　"That dagger that she gave him is a pricelesstreasure," she said angrily. "She gave it in goodfaith, but what notice has he taken of it? None. Heignores her and then decides he likes her sisterinstead. He should be carved into a thousand pieces!""And how could her sister be so shameless as to stealhim away like that?" her husband added.
　　On the third day, the Twin Eagles spotted a dust cloudin the distance and saw two riders galloping from thesouth towards them.
　　"Ah!" Madame Guan exclaimed.
　　"What is it?" her husband asked, and then spottedChen. He moved to draw his sword.
　　"Not so fast," Madame Guan said. "Let's pretend weknow nothing and take them by surprise."Chen had also seen them and galloped over. Hedismounted and bowed before them.
　　"It is fortunate that we have met you," he said. "Haveyou seen Mistress Huo Qingtong?""No," Madame Guan replied, secretly furious at hisbrazen behaviour. "What's the matter?" Suddenly, hereyes opened wide as the other rider approached and shesaw it was an extremely beautiful girl.
　　"This is your sister's teacher," Chen said to PrincessFragrance. "Pay your respects to her." She dismountedand bowed before Madame Guan.
　　"My sister has often spoken of you both," she said,smiling. "Have you seen her?"Bald Vulture was stunned by her beauty and thought: nowonder he changed his mind. She's much more beautifulthan Huo Qingtong.
　　Madame Guan was incensed at their craftiness, but hervoice betrayed none of her feelings she asked againwhat was wrong. Chen told her.
　　"Let's go and look for her together," Madame Guansaid.
　　The four started out together heading north. Thatevening, they set up camp in the lee of a sand dune,and after dinner, sat around and talked. PrincessFragrance pulled a candle from her bag and lit it. TheTwin Eagles looked at Chen and the girl in thecandlelight, so young and good-looking, like figuresfrom a mural, and wondered how they could be so evil.
　　"Are you sure my sister is not in any danger?"Princess Fragrance asked Chen.
　　He was also very concerned but he comforted her,saying: "Your sister's kung fu is good and she isintelligent. I'm sure she's all right."Princess Fragrance had complete faith in him andrelaxed. "But she's ill," she added after a moment.
　　"When we've found her, we must convince her to comehome with us and rest." Chen nodded.
　　Madame Guan's face turned white with anger as shelistened to them engage in what she thought wasplay-acting.
　　"Let us play a game," Princess Fragrance suddenly saidto Bald Vulture. He looked at his wife. Madame Guannodded slowly.
　　"All right!" he said. "What game?"She smiled at Madame Guan and at Chen "You two willplay as well, won't you?" she asked. They nodded.
　　She brought a horse saddle over and placed it in themiddle of the circle, then scooped a pile of sand ontoit, patted it down firmly and planted a small candleon top.
　　"We each take turns at cutting away a slice of thepile," she said. "The one who causes the candle tofall has to sing a song or tell a story. You startfirst, sir." She handed the knife to Bald Vulture.
　　The old man had not played such a game for decades,and an expression of embarrassment appeared on hisface. Madame Guan gave him a push, "Go on!" she said.
　　He laughed and sliced away a section of sand, thenhanded the knife to his wife who did the same. Theywent round three times and the pile became a pillaronly slightly thicker than the candle on top. Chencarefully made a slight indent in the pillar. PrincessFragrance laughed and made a little hole on theopposite side and the pillar began to sway slightly.
　　Bald Vulture's hand shook slightly as he accepted theknife.
　　"Don't breathe!" Madame Guan hissed at him.
　　"Even one grain of sand counts," Princess Fragrancesaid. He touched the pillar with the knife and itcollapsed, taking the candle with it. He gave a cry ofannoyance. Princess Fragrance clapped her hands indelight as Madame Guan and Chen looked on smiling.
　　"Well sir," said Princess Fragrance. "Are you going tosing a song or tell a story?"He could see it was impossible to refuse, so he said:
　　"All right. I'll sing a song."In a high-pitched voice he began singing: "For you andI, life when we were young was like a play, and wecried...." He glanced over at his wife.
　　As she listened, Madame Guan remembered how good lifehad been just after their marriage. If Master Yuan hadnot returned, they would have been happy for the restof their days. She leaned over and lightly squeezedhis hand. Bald Vulture felt dizzy at this sudden showof affection from his wife, and tears welled into hiseyes. Chen and Princess Fragrance looked at each otherknowingly, both aware of the love these two old peoplehad for each other. They played the sand game againand Chen lost. He told a story. Then Bald Vulture lostagain.
　　As the night deepened, Princess Fragrance began tofeel cold and edged closer to Madame Guan, whoembraced her and carefully rearranged her wind-blownhair. The Twin Eagles had no children and often feltvery much alone in the great desert. Madame Guansighed and wished she could have had such a daughter.
　　She looked down and saw the girl was already asleep.
　　The candle had been blown out by the wind, but underthe starlight, she could see a vague smile on herface.
　　"Let's get some rest," Bald Vulture said.
　　"Don't wake her," his wife whispered. She carefullycarried Princess Fragrance into the tent and coveredher with a blanket.
　　"Mother," the girl called faintly, and Madame Guanfroze for a second in shock.
　　"It's all right, go to sleep now," she replied softly.
　　She crept out of the tent and saw Chen setting up histent a long way from the girl's. She nodded slightly.
　　"Are we going to wait till he's asleep or go over andgive him a chance to explain first?" Bald Vultureasked.
　　"What do you think?"His heart was full of tender thoughts and he had nostomach for killing at that moment. "Let's sit a whileand wait for him to sleep so that he can diepainlessly." He took his wife's hand and the two satsilently together on the sand. Soon after, Chenentered his tent and went to sleep.
　　The Twin Eagles could normally kill people withoutbatting an eyelid, but they found it difficult to dealwith these two slumbering youngsters. Theconstellations slowly turned, the wind grew colder andthe old couple hugged each other for warmth. MadameGuan buried her face in her husband's chest and BaldVulture lightly stroked her back. Before long, bothwere asleep.
Chapter 45
Next morning, Chen and Princess Fragrance awoke tofind the Twin Eagles gone, and were puzzled.
　　"Look, what's that?" Princess Fragrance askedsuddenly. Chen turned and saw several huge charactersdrawn on the sand: "Your evil deeds cannot beforgiven. You will have to die." The characters werefive foot square and looked as if they had been drawnwith the tip of a sword. Chen frowned, wondering whatthe message meant. Princess Fragrance could not readChinese and asked what is said.
　　"They had some other business and went on ahead," Chenreplied, not wishing to worry her.
　　"Sister's teacher and her husband are really nice..."Suddenly, she stopped in mid-sentence and jumped up.
　　"Listen!"Chen had also heard the distant, blood-curdling howl,and having lived in the northwest many years,instantly recognised it.
　　"There's a wolf pack coming," he said urgently. "Wemust go quickly!" They hurriedly packed up their tentsand provisions and galloped away just as the wolf packclosed in on them. Luckily, they were both ridingextremely fast horses and the pack was soon left farbehind. But the wolves had been hungry for a long timeand having glimpsed them, continued to track them,following the hoof prints in the sand.
　　After half a day of hard riding, they dismounted torest, but just as they had prepared a fire to cooksome food, the wolf howls neared once more, and theyhurriedly re-mounted, and rode off again. Only whendarkness had fallen and they estimated the wolf packto be at least thirty miles behind them did they stopand rest. Around midnight, the white horse began toneigh and kick about, waking Chen. The wolf pack wasclosing in once more. With no time to pack theirtents, they grabbed up their rations and water bagsand jumped onto the horses. They travelled a great arcthrough the desert, never managing to shake off thewolves. The chestnut horse could finally take no moreand dropped dead of exhaustion, and they had tocontinue with both of them on the white horse. Theextra weight slowed the horse down, and by the thirdday, it was no longer able to outrun the wolf pack.
　　They spotted a clump of bushes and small trees andwent over.
　　"We'll stop here and let the horse rest," said Chen,dismounting. With Princess Fragrance's help, he builta low circular wall of sand and placed some deadbranches on the top. When lit, the branches became aprotective ring of fire for themselves and the horseinside.
　　Not long after, the wolf pack raced up. Afraid of theflames, the wolves milled around outside the circlehowling, not daring to get too close.
　　"We'll wait for the horse to recover its strength andthen break out," said Chen.
　　"Do you think we'll be able to?""Of course," he replied. But he had no idea how.
　　Princess Fragrance saw how thin and emaciated thehungry wolves were. "The poor things," she said. "Iwonder how long it's been since they last ate?"Chen laughed shortly. The long, sharp fangs of thewolves gleamed through the flames, the salivadripping, drop by drop from their mouths onto thesand. They howled angrily, waiting from a slightopening in the flames through which they could leap.
　　Princess Fragrance knew the chance of them getting outalive was very slight. She moved closer to Chem andtook his hands.
　　"When I'm with you, I'm not afraid of anything," shesaid. "After we die, we will live happily together inheaven forever."Chen pulled her towards him and embraced her. Shesighed, and was just about to close her eyes, when shenoticed the flames were dying down in one section ofthe circle. She screamed and jumped over to add morebranches, but three wolves had already slipped inside.
　　Chen pulled her behind him. The white horse kicked itshind legs up and sent one wolf flying back out of thefiery circle. Chen grabbed another wolf by the scruffof its neck and slung it bodily at the third, a hugegrey beast which dodged out of the way, then openedits mouth and reared up on its hind legs to go forChen's throat. Chen picked up a burning branch andrammed it down the wolf's throat, and the animal leaptback out of the circle and rolled about on the groundin great pain.
　　Chen added more branches to the gap.
　　After a while, their reserves were getting low, andChen decided he would have to risk going to get morefrom some bushes about one hundred feet away.
　　"I'm going to get some more wood," he told PrincessFragrance, taking out his shield and Pearl Strings.
　　"Build up the fire a bit more until I get back."She nodded. "Be careful," she said, but did not addany more wood to the fire. She knew that the brancheskept the two of them alive, and that when the flameswere extinguished, they would be too.
　　Chen leapt out of the burning circle and raced offusing Lightness Kung Fu, fending off the wolves as hewent. The wolves surged at him, but in three leaps hewas already beside the bushes. He quickly collectedfirewood with one hand while protecting himself withthe shield in the other. Several dozen wolvessurrounded him, snarling fiercely, but the flashinghooks on his shield kept them at bay. He collected alarge pile of wood and was leaning over to tie thebranches up when a large wolf lunged forward. Heswirled the shield, and the animal died instantly. Butits carcass was caught on the hooks, and the otherwolves barked even more frantically as it swunglifelessly before them. He dislodged the body andflung it to one side, and the wolves charged forwardto rip it apart. He took advantage of this diversionto pick up the firewood and return into the ring offire.
　　Princess Fragrance ran forward and threw herself intohis arms. Chen smiled and embraced her, then threw thefirewood on the ground. As he looked up, he startedinvoluntarily: there was a third person in the circle,a large man whose clothes had been ripped to shreds bythe wolves. In his hand was a sword. His whole bodywas covered in blood, but his face was calm. It washis enemy, Zhang Zhaozhong.
　　The two gazed at each other silently.
　　"He must have seen the fire and run over this way,"said Princess Fragrance. "See how exhausted he looks."She poured a bowl of water from the water bag andhanded it to Zhang, who grabbed it and slurped it downin one draught. He wiped the blood and sweat from hisface with his sleeve, and Princess Fragrance gasped asshe suddenly recognised him as the Manchu officialChen had fought with.
　　Chen rapped his shield with the Pearl Strings. "Comeon!" he shouted.
　　Zhang's eyes glazed over and he fell forward onto hisface.
　　He had been tracking Chen and Princess Fragrance withPrince Herda when he had met the wolf pack. Herda hadbeen devoured, but with his superb kung fu, Zhang hadmanaged to escape after killing several dozen of theferocious creatures. He had fled across the desert fora day and a night, but finally his horse had droppeddead under him. He had no alternative but to continueon foot and kept going for another day without food orwater. Finally, he had spotted the flames in the fardistance and had fought his way over.
　　Princess Fragrance moved to help Zhang up, but Chenstopped her.
　　"This man is extremely dangerous. Don't fall for histricks," he warned. He waited for a while to make sureZhang really was unconscious before going closer.
　　Princess Fragrance wiped some cold water onto Zhang'sforehead, then poured lamb's milk into his mouth.
　　Zhang slowly revived, drank half a bowl of the milk,then fell back onto the ground, sound asleep.
　　Chen wondered what sort of devil's emissary haddelivered this traitor into his hands. Killing Zhangnow would be as easy as blowing away a speck of ash,but taking advantage of another's hardship was not amanly thing to do. What was more, Princess Fragrancewould certainly be unhappy to see him kill adefenceless man. He decided to spare Zhang once more.
　　In any case, he thought, Zhang would be a great helpin killing wolves. Perhaps the two of them togethercould save Princess Fragrance. He knew he would neverbe able to do it alone. He drank a few mouthfuls oflamb's milk, then closed his eyes to rest.
　　After a while, Zhang woke again. Princess Fragrancepassed a piece of dried mutton to him, and helped himto bandage several wolf bite wounds on his legs.
　　"Brother Zhang, all three of us are in great danger,"Chen said. "Let us temporarily put aside ourdifferences and cooperate."Zhang nodded. "Yes, if we fight now, we will all endup inside a wolf's stomach." Having rested for morethan two hours, his strength had partially returned,and he began to consider how he could kill Chen andescape with the girl.
　　Chen wracked his brain for a way out of their presentpredicament. He saw the many piles of wolf droppingsoutside the circle of fire, and remembered how HuoQingtong had used them to fuel signal fires. Using hisPearl Strings, he dragged some of the piles over,formed them into one heap and lit it. A thick pall ofsmoke rose straight up into the heavens.
　　Zhang shook his head. "Even if someone saw it, theywouldn't dare to come to help us," he said. "It wouldtake an army to chase away so many wolves."Chen also knew it would probably do no good, but itwas better than doing nothing.
　　The daylight faded, and the three gradually added morebranches to the ring of fire and took turns to sleep.
　　"He is a very bad man," Chen whispered to PrincessFragrance. "When I'm asleep, you must watch him withespecial care." She nodded.
　　Towards midnight, the moon rose and the wolves beganto howl mournfully, a sound which made their skincrawl. Early next morning, they saw the wolves werestill pacing around outside the ring with obviously nointention of leaving.
　　"The only thing that would draw these devils awaywould be a herd of wild camels passing nearby," saidChen. Suddenly they heard more wolf howls from thedistance.
　　"It looks like more of the devils are coming," Zhangsaid.
　　A cloud of dust arose, and three riders gallopedtowards them with several hundred wolves on theirheels. The wolves on that side of the ring of firespotted them too, and surged forward, encircling thethree riders, who fought them off frantically.
　　"Help them!" Princess Fragrance shouted.
　　"Let's go," Chen said to Zhang. They charged out ofthe ring, carving a path of blood through the wolfpack and led the three back into the circle. Theynoticed one of the horses was carrying a secondperson, apparently a Muslim girl, lying limply acrossthe saddle with her hands were tied behind her back.
　　The three riders jumped off their horses, and one ofthem pulled the girl down after him.
　　"Sister!" Princess Fragrance screamed, and threwherself onto the girl.
　　It was Huo Qingtong. She had run into the Three Devilsagain while searching for Chen and her sister and hadhad no strength to resist. Hahetai had wanted to killher immediately to avenge the death of their brother,but Gu overruled him saying they should take her backand kill her in front of their dead brother's grave.
　　They started heading back east, but after a day or so,they found themselves being chased by a wolf pack. Asthey fled, they happened to spot the column of blacksmoke started by Chen and rode towards it.
　　Huo Qingtong began to regain consciousness. PrincessFragrance looked at Chen beseechingly. "Tell them tolet my sister go," she implored.
　　Chen turned to Gu. "Who are you and why have youseized my friend?" he asked. Tang strode in front ofGu and coldly sized up Chen and Zhang.
　　"We thank you two gentlemen for saving us," he said.
　　"What are your names?"Before Chen could answer, Zhang said, "He is the GreatHelmsman of the Red Flower Society, Chen Jialuo." TheThree Devils started in shock.
　　"And you, sir?" Tang asked.
　　"I am Zhang Zhaozhong."Tang gasped. "It's the Fire Hand Judge. No wonderyou're both so capable." He told them his name andthose of his two colleagues.
　　Chen's anxiety immediately increased, and he wonderedagain how they were going to escape. With four toughopponents to deal with now, it would be even harderthan before.
　　"Let us forget our differences for the moment," hesaid. "Do any of you have any idea of how we mightescape?"The Three Devils looked at each other. "We wouldwelcome your suggestions, Master Chen," said Hahetai.
　　"If we face the wolves together, there is a chance wewill survive. If we fight amongst ourselves, they willeat us all." Tang and Hahetai nodded slightly, but Gujust glared at him angrily. "Therefore, I ask BrotherGu to immediately release my friend, following whichwe can together work out a plan to beat the wolves.""And what if I won't let her go?" Gu shouted back.
　　"Master Gu, if we start fighting, it doesn't matterwho wins or loses, we will all die. Pleasereconsider.""You'd better let her go," Tang whispered to him." Guhad gone to considerable trouble to capture HuoQingtong and he was extremely loath to give her upagain. "Brother, if you don't let her go, I won't beable to help you," Tang added.
　　Hahetai walked over and cut the bonds binding HuoQingtong. As Chen walked over to her, Huo Qingtongsuddenly shouted: "Watch out behind!" and he duckeddown just as a wolf swept over him. It charged atPrincess Fragrance, but Chen grabbed its tail andusing all his strength pulled it to a halt. The wolfwhipped its head round, snapping and snarling, andwith a single blow, Chen broke its neck. Another wolfleapt towards him, and he quickly drew his dagger andthrust it at the beast, a huge, cunning animal whichdodged the blade with ease.
　　Three more wolves jumped into the ring. Hahetaigrabbed one by the neck and slung it back out, Zhangcut the second in two with his sword, while Tangfought fiercely with the third. Hahetai stoked up thefire to stop other wolves from entering.
　　On the other side, Chen feinted with the dagger to theleft to throw his attacker off guard, then plunged theblade down towards its head. Unable to avoid thestroke, the wolf opened its huge mouth and bit hardonto the dagger. Chen pushed the blade in with allstrength, but despite the pain, it hung ondesperately. Chen tried to pull the dagger back outbut the beast refused to yield. Increasingly anxious,Chen mustered his strength once more and punched thewolf right between its eyes, smashing its skull. Thewolf fell back dead and the dagger came free, theblade glinting coldly as it reflected the flames.
　　But the dagger's blade was also still firmly lodgedbetween its teeth. They were all perplexed at this:
　　the dagger was obviously in Chen's hand and had notsnapped. Where had the blade in the wolf's mouth comefrom?
　　Chen bent over and tried to pull the blade out of thebeast's mouth, but although the wolf was dead, itsteeth was still clamped tightly shut. He used thedagger to slit open the wolf's jowls, and the musclesand tendons on its face collapsed, freeing the blade.
　　Chen examined it closely and saw that it was hollow,like a scabbard. He stuck the dagger blade inside, andfound it fitted perfectly. Huo Qingtong had said whenshe presented the dagger to him that it was said tocontain a great secret. If it had not been for thiswolf and its strong teeth, who would have guessed thatthere was a blade within the blade?
　　Princess Fragrance took the dagger from Chen andexamined it, marvelling at the design of the secondscabbard and the precision of the workmanship. Sheturned the hollow outer blade upside down and a smallwhite pellet rolled out. Chen and Huo Qingtong bentdown to get a closer look and saw it was a small ballof wax.
　　"Let's open it," Chen said. Huo Qingtong nodded. Hepicked the ball up and lightly squeezed it, crackingthe wax open, revealing a small piece of paper inside,which he spread out. On the paper was a map drawn asdensely as a spider's web.
　　Zhang had seen them discover the piece of paper, andglanced at it stealthily. But he was disappointed tofind it was covered in Muslim writing, which he couldnot understand.
　　Chen knew something of the Muslim written language,but he could not grasp the meaning of the classicalcharacters on the piece of paper and handed it over toHuo Qingtong. She examined it closely for a long time,then folded it up and placed it in her pocket.
　　"What does it say?" Chen asked. Huo Qingtong did notanswer, her head hung low.
　　Princess Fragrance knew her sister well and smiled.
　　"She is trying to work out a difficult problem. Don'tdisturb her," she said.
　　Huo Qingtong sat down on the ground and began to drawlines in the sand with her finger. She drew a diagramthen rubbed it out and drew another. After a while,she wrapped her arms around her knees, deep inthought.
　　"You are still weak. Don't overtax yourself," Chensaid to her. "You can work it out later. The importantthing now is to think of a plan for getting out ofhere.""I'm working on a way to escape these hungry wolvesand these human wolves as well," Huo Qingtong replied,pouting angrily at Zhang as she spoke. She continuedher meditations for a moment, then said to Chen:
　　"Please stand on a horse and look westwards. Tell meif you can see a mountain with a white peak."Chen led the white horse over and did as she said. Inthe distance, he spied a cluster of mountains, butcould see none with a white peak. He searchedcarefully for a minute longer then looked down at HuoQingtong and shook his head.
　　"According to the map, the Secret City should not befar from here, and we should be able to see the WhiteJade Peak."Chen jumped off the horse's back. "What secret city?"he asked.
　　"When I was young, I heard people talk about anancient city that was buried in this desert," shereplied. "The city was once extremely prosperous, butone day a great sand storm arose, and dunes as largeas mountains buried it. None of the city's residentsescaped." She turned to Princess Fragrance. "Sister,you know the story better than I do. You tell it.""There are many stories about the place, but no onehas ever seen the city with their own eyes. No," shecorrected herself. "Many people have been there, butfew have returned alive. It is said that there arehuge amounts of gold, silver and jewels there. Somepeople who have lost their way in the desert havefound their way into the city by chance and have beenoverwhelmed by the sight of such wealth. Theynaturally began to load the gold and jewels onto theircamels to take away with them. But no matter which waythey went, they found it impossible to get out of thecity.
　　"Why?" Chen asked.
　　"It's said that all the people of the city turned intoghosts when they were buried by the sand, and thatthey bewitch visitors who try to take valuables awaywith them. But if you put down the valuables, everysingle piece, then it's easy to find your way out.""I doubt if many people would be willing to do that,"said Chen.
　　"Yes. Seeing such riches, who wouldn't want to takesome? It is said that if you don't take anything, buteven leave a few extra taels of silver in one of thehouses, then the wells will spurt clear, fresh waterfor you to drink. The more silver you leave, the morefresh water there is."Chen laughed. "The ghosts of this secret city soundvery greedy.""Some members of our tribe who were badly in debt havegone to look for the city, but only those who didn'tfind it have ever come back," Princess Fragrancecontinued. "Once, a caravan crossing the desert cameacross a man who was half dead. He said he had enteredthe city, but had found himself going in circles whenhe tried to get out again. Finally, his strength gaveout and he collapsed, and the next thing he knew wasthe arrival of the caravan. The caravan leader askedhim to lead them to the city, but he refused. He saidhe wouldn't take one step into that haunted placeagain even if he received all the riches of the cityas a reward.""It doesn't necessarily have to be that these peoplewere bewitched by ghosts," said Chen. "If someonesuddenly came upon a huge amount of gold and jewels,it could affect their minds and make it difficult forthem to think clearly. But if they decided they didnot want the riches, it could clear their heads, andmake it easier to find the way out.""The map hidden in the scabbard shows the way to theSecret City," Huo Qingtong said quietly.
　　"Ah," exclaimed Chen, suddenly understanding.
　　"The map indicates that the city was built around ahigh snow-capped mountain." she continued. "From thelook of it, the mountain should not be too far fromhere. We should be able to see it. I cannot understandwhy we can't.""Sister, you're wasting your time," said PrincessFragrance. "Even if we could find the mountain, whatuse would it be?""We could escape into the city. There are houses andfortresses in the city and our chance of escaping thewolves would be much greater than here.""That's right!" Chen said. He stood on the horse'sback once more looking west. But all he could see wasa hazy white sky stretching to the horizon.
　　Zhang and the Three Devils could not understand a wordof what they said, but they watched suspiciously asChen stood on the back of his horse twice, andwondered what devilment he was up to.
　　Princess Fragrance took out some dry rations anddivided them up amongst all of them. As she sateating, she gazed out beyond the flames at thehorizon. Suddenly, she jumped up.
　　"Sister! Look!" Huo Qingtong followed the direction ofher hand and saw a black spot stationary in the sky.
　　"What is it?" she asked.
　　"It's an eagle," Princess Fragrance replied. "I saw itfly over from here. But how could it suddenly stop inmid-air?""Are you sure?""Yes, I clearly saw it fly across.""If the black spot isn't an eagle, what could it be?"asked Chen. "If it is an eagle, how could it remainmotionless in mid-air? It's very strange." The threewatched the spot for a while, then saw it move andbecome larger. A black eagle swept over their heads.
　　Princess Fragrance raised her hand to tidy her hair,which had been blown about by the wind. Chen looked ather snow-white skin and the white material of herdress next to it and realised the answer.
　　"Look at her hand!" he said excitedly to Huo Qingtong.
　　"Yes, her hands are very pretty," she repliedabsent-mindedly.
　　"Of course her hands are beautiful. But don't you see?
　　Because her skin is so white, it's difficult at aglance to tell where the hand begins and the dressends.""So?" asked Huo Qingtong, puzzled.
　　"The eagle was sitting on top of a white mountain!""Yes! You're right," Huo Qingtong exclaimed. "The skyover there is white, the same colour as the peak, sofrom a distance, it can't be seen.""Exactly," said Chen.
　　Princess Fragrance realised they were talking aboutthe Secret City. "How do we get there?" she asked.
　　"That is what we have to carefully work out," HuoQingtong replied. She pulled out the map again andstudied it carefully again for a while. "When the sunstarts to sink towards the west, we'll be able to tellif there's a mountain there or not by its shadow.""We mustn't give ourselves away," said Chen. "We don'twant the others to work out what we're doing.""Yes. Let's pretend we're talking about this wolf,"she suggested.
　　Chen pulled the wolf across and the three sat aroundit, now pulling out one of its hairs and examine itclosely, now opening its mouth to look at its teeth.
　　The sun gradually sank towards the west and themountain's shadow did indeed appear, stretching outlonger and longer across the desert like some giantlying down. Huo Qingtong drew a map on the ground,estimating the distances.
　　"From here to the mountain must be about twenty orthirty miles," she said, turning the wolf over.
　　Chen picked up one of its legs and played with itssharp claws. "If we had another horse apart from thewhite horse, the three of us could make that in onego.""So we have to think of some way to get them to allowus to go," Huo Qingtong replied.
　　"Yes." He picked up his dagger and slit open thewolf's stomach.
　　"What's so interesting about that dead wolf?" Zhangshouted, annoyed at not being able to understand whatthey were saying. "Are you discussing how to bury him,Master Chen?""We are discussing how to get out," Chen said. "Look,the wolf's stomach is completely empty.""Do you have a plan?" Zhang asked.
　　"When the firewood has all been burned and there is nomore to collect, then we are all going to die, is thatnot so?" Zhang and the Three Devils nodded. "But ifone of us were willing to sacrifice himself and rideout of the circle, the wolves would swarm after himlike bees from a hive. Once they were drawn off, theothers could escape.
　　"But what about the one who goes?" asked Zhang.
　　"If he comes across either the Manchu or Muslim armiesthen he will be all right. Otherwise he will die. Butit is better than us all dying here together.""It's not a bad idea," said Tang. "But who's going tolead the wolves away? It's certain death.""What do you suggest, Brother Tang?"Tang was silent. "Let's draw lots," Hahetai suggested.
　　"Whoever loses, goes.""Yes, let's draw lots," Zhang said eagerly. Chen hadwanted to offer himself and then break out with thesisters. But he could not suggest it without arousingtheir suspicions, so he said: "Just the five of uswill draw. Let us exempt the two girls.""We're all people," Gu protested. "Why should they beexempted?""How could we live down the shame of being saved by agirl?" said Hahetai. "I would prefer to die here.""I think that if we're going to draw lots, we shouldall draw," said Tang, wanting to lessen the chance ofhimself being chosen.
　　They all looked at Zhang, waiting to hear his opinion.
　　Zhang had already worked out a plan and knew he couldnot lose. Moreover, one of the girls was wanted by theEmperor and he fancied the other for himself.
　　"I will not allow a lady to save my life," he saidproudly.
　　"All right, then," said Gu. "We'll let them off.""I'll collect some sticks to use," said Tang, butZhang stopped him.
　　"No," he said. "It's too easy to cheat with sticks.
　　We'll use copper coins instead." He pulled a dozen orso coins from his pocket and selected five. "Four ofthese are Emperor Yong Zheng coins and the fifth isfrom the reign of Emperor Sun Zhi. Please examinethem. They are exactly the same size.""And whoever picks the Emperor Sun Zhi coin leads thewolves away," Tang added, as he carefully examined thecoins.
　　"Exactly," said Zhang. "Why not put them in your bagfor the draw, Brother Tang?" Tang did as he said.
　　"Now, who will go first?" Zhang asked. He looked at Guand saw his hands were shaking. "Brother Gu isafraid," he said with a smile. "Life and death aregoverned by fate. I will go first." He stretched hishand onto Tang's bag and pulled an Emperor Yong Zhengcoin out.
　　"Oh, what a pity!" he exclaimed. "I won't be able tobe the hero." He opened his first and showed the cointo the other four. The five coins were the same size,but the Emperor Sun Zhi coin was about eighty yearsolder than the others and therefore slightly smootherand thinner, although not enough to be immediatelyobvious.
　　Chen's turn was next, and to his disappointment hechose an Emperor Yong Zheng coin.
　　"Brother Gu, if you please," Zhang said. Gu drew hissword and flourished it threateningly.
　　"It's a trick!" he shouted. "You already decided thatit would be one of us three.""What do you mean, a trick?" Zhang demanded.
　　"They're your coins, and you had first choice. How dowe know you haven't marked them in some way?"Zhang's face went white. "Then what do you suggest,Brother Gu?""One of those Yong Zheng coins in your pocket islighter in colour than the others. Put that in withfour dark ones, and whoever picks the light one goes."Zhang hesitated for a second, then smiled. "Just asyou say. But I fear it will still be you who goes tofeed the wolves." He surreptitiously bent thelight-coloured coin slightly before placing it withthe others.
　　"If neither you nor I lose, I will fight youafterwards," Gu said threateningly.
　　"It will be my pleasure," replied Zhang. He put thefive coins in the bag. "You three gentlemen choosefirst, then myself and lastly Master Chen, is thatsatisfactory?"The Three Devils did not object. "Brother Hahetai, youfirst," said Tang.
　　Just as Hahetai put his hand in the bag, Huo Qingtongshouted out in Mongolian: "Don't take the bent one!"He started in fright. The first coin he felt wasindeed slightly bent. He chose another one and pulledit out: it was dark coloured.
　　Huo Qingtong had seen Zhang bend the coin, and hadwarned Hahetai because he was the most decent of theThree Devils.
　　Next was Gu's turn. Hahetai told him in the thick,unintelligable dialect of northeast China not to takethe bent coin. Gu and Tang both glanced angrily atZhang and pulled out dark coloured coins. Chen lookedquestioningly at Huo Qingtong.
　　"Don't take the bent one," Princess Fragrance said.
　　Chen knew Zhang would certainly take the unbent coin,thereby giving him both the light-coloured coin andthe chance to escape with the girls. But as Zhang puthis hand into Hahetai's bag, Chen saw Gu lookingcovertly at Huo Qingtong, and realised they wouldnever let him take the girls with him. Uncertain ofwhat to do and with no time left to think, he suddenlyblurted out: "Take the bent one! Leave the flat onefor me!"Zhang started in shock and drew his hand back. "Whatdo you mean, bent?" he demanded.
　　"One of the two coins in the bag has been bent by you.
　　I want the one that's not bent." He put his hand inthe bag and pulled out the dark coin. "You've causedyour own funeral," he said to Zhang with a smile.
　　Zhang's face went dark and he drew his sword. "We hadagreed that I would choose first," he said, and swungthe blade at Chen's neck. Chen ducked and thrust hisdagger at Zhang's stomach. The two fought closely fora moment. Suddenly, Zhang flung his sword at HuoQingtong. Chen was afraid she would be too weak tododge it and raced over to intercept the weapon. Butit was just a diversion. As Chen ran towards HuoQingtong, Zhang jumped over to Princess Fragrance andgrabbed her.
　　"Get out!" he shouted to Chen, who stopped in histracks and stared dumbly back at Zhang. "If you don'tget out, I'll throw her to the wolves!" He picked thegirl up and swung her about above his head. Chen heartpounded and his brain whirled in confusion.
　　"Ride out and lead the wolves away!" Zhang shoutedagain.
　　Chen knew Zhang would do what he said and so he slowlyuntied the white horse's reins and mounted up.
　　"I'll count to three. If you're not out of the circleby then, I'll let her go. One....two....three!" As hesaid three, the white horse bounded out of the ring.
　　Chen landed in the midst of the wolves, grabbed thefirst two that attacked him by the scruffs of theirnecks, then turned the horse round, soared back intothe ring of fire and flung them at Zhang.
　　With two such ferocious animals flying at him, Zhangwas forced to drop Princess Fragrance to protecthimself. Chen threw two of his chess pieces at him,scooped Princess Fragrance up, then leapt out of thecircle of fire once more with another horse closebehind: Huo Qingtong had taken advantage of the fightto cut the reins of a horse and mount up without theThree Devils noticing.
　　She and Chen waded through the wolf pack, slashingright and left with their weapons as if choppingvegetables, and in a moment, the two horses were outin the open and galloping off westwards with the wolfpack chasing behind. The horses were much faster thanthe wolves, and before long, they had left the packfar behind. But Chen knew the hard part would bestaying ahead of these tireless, hungry beasts.
Chapter 46
As the three rode along, the land about them graduallybecame more rocky and a crooked path appeared. It grewdark, and the White Jade Peak began to tower overthem.
　　"According to the map, the Secret City was builtaround the base of the mountain," said Huo Qingtong.
　　"It doesn't look as if it would be more than three orfour miles from here." The three dismounted and gavetheir two horses some water.
　　Chen stroked the white horse's mane lovingly, knowingthat without it, he would never have been able torescue Princess Fragrance. He also knew he would nothave left without her.
　　They rested for a while until the horses had recoveredsome of their strength and then continued on, thecries of the wolves already vaguely discernible in thedistance. Chen rode the chestnut horse alone and thetwo sisters rode together on the white horse.
　　The night was cool and the snow on the peak glistenedbrilliant white under the moon, looking almost closeenough to touch. The path became rough and treacherousand suddenly split a dozen or so ways, with noindication of which was the correct one.
　　"With so many paths, it's not surprising people getlost," said Chen. Huo Qingtong pulled out the map andexamined it under the moonlight.
　　"It says: `left three right two'," she said.
　　"What does that mean?""It doesn't explain." In the distance, they heard thewolves howling in unison.
　　"It's about midnight," Huo Qingtong said. "They musthave stopped to howl at the moon. When they'vefinished, they will be after us again. We must choosethe path and go quickly.""There are five paths on the left here," said Chenpointing. "The map says left three right two, so let'stake the third.""If it's a dead end, we won't have time to come backagain," replied Huo Qingtong.
　　"In that case, the three of us will die together,"said Chen.
　　As Chen spoke, Huo Qingtong felt a sudden warmth inher breast and tears welled into her eyes. She raisedher horse whip and led them into the middle path.
　　The track narrowed into a stone-walled corridor whichhad obviously been hacked out of the mountainside bymen. After a while, they came to another crossroadsfrom which three paths branched out to the right.
　　"We're saved! We're saved!" Huo Qingtong shouted withjoy, and they spurred their horses up the middle pathwith renewed energy. But the track had not beentraversed for many years, and in some places, it wascompletely overgrown by grasses taller than a man,while in others, it was blocked by sand drifts. Thethree had to dismount and lead the horses over theobstacles. Chen also moved rocks onto the top of thedrifts to slow the wolves' pursuit.
　　Less than half a mile further on, they came upon threemore paths forking to the left. Suddenly, PrincessFragrance screamed and pointed to a pile of whitebones at the mouth of one of the paths. Chendismounted to investigate and found they were theremains of a man and a camel.
　　"He must have been unable to decide which path to takeand ended up dying here," he sighed.
　　They entered the third path and found it suddenlysteepened sharply. The cold and darkness becameoppressive. A short while later another skeletonappeared by the side of the path with jewelsglistening amongst the bones.
　　"He was rich but he couldn't get out," Huo Qingtongsaid.
　　"But it means we're on the right path," replied Chen.
　　"There must be even more skeletons on the wrongpaths.""When we leave, none of us must take any jewels, allright?" Princess Fragrance said.
　　"You're afraid the ghosts won't let us go," said Chenwith a smile.
　　"Promise me!"He heard the pleading tone in her voice and hurriedlyreplied: "I won't take anything, don't worry." All thejewels in the world could not match having you twosisters as companions, he thought, and suddenly feltashamed. Why did he include them both together?
　　They continued up the twisted path the whole night,and by morning, they and the two horses wereexhausted.
　　"Let's rest a while," said Huo Qingtong.
　　"We must concentrate on finding shelter first and thenwe can all sleep easily," Chen replied firmly.
　　** 10 **A short way further on, the path opened out into awide, flat valley of extraordinary beauty. The sun wasjust rising and the white mountain soared up into thesky from the valley floor. Around its base was a citythat looked as if it had once been very prosperous.
　　But now, the thousands of houses that they could see,although magnificent in scale and design, were invarious stages of ruin and collapse. Not a sound wasto be heard, not even the twittering of birds. Thethree had never seen a place that was at once sobeautiful and so terrible. They stood for a moment,over-awed by the crushing silence, hardly daring toeven breathe, then Chen urged his horse forward andthey entered the city.
　　The area was extremely dry, so dry that there wasvirtually no vegetation on the ground. The contents ofthe houses had stayed undisturbed for countless yearsand most appeared to still be in good condition. Theyentered the first house they came to and PrincessFragrance noticed a pair of ladies' shoes on thefloor. Their colour was still fresh, but as soon asshe touched them, they disintegrated into dust, andshe jumped in shock.
　　"This city is in a basin surrounded by high mountainswhich protect it from rain and wind," Chen said.
　　As they continued through the streets, they foundskeletons everywhere and swords and other weaponsthrown about at random.
　　"It doesn't look as if the city was buried in a sandstorm as the story says," Chen commented.
　　"No," Huo Qingtong agreed. "It looks more like therewas a big battle and all the people were killed.""But there's so many paths outside the city," PrincessFragrance objected. "How would the enemy find theirway in?""There must have been a traitor," Huo Qingtongreplied.
　　They went into another house, and she spread the mapout on a table and leaned over to examine it. But thetable was completely rotten despite its apparentsturdiness, and it collapsed under the weight of herarms. She picked up the map and studied it for amoment. "I'm afraid these houses wouldn't withstand anattack by the wolves for very long," she said. Shepointed at a place on the map. "This is the centre ofthe city, right at the foot of the mountain. There area lot of markings around it, which probably means itis a place of importance. If it's a palace orfortress, it is bound to be very sturdily built, solet's go there.""Right!" said Chen. The three continued on their way,following the path indicated on the map. The roads inthe centre of the city were like a maze, twisting andturning until their head's swam. If they had not hadthe map, they would surely have lost their way.
　　After an hour or so, they came to the place marked onthe map as the city centre, but were disappointed tofind no sign of any palace or fortress. From close up,the White Jade Peak looked even more beautiful thanfrom a distance. It was completely white, pure andshining. A jade carver who found even a small piece ofwhite jade would never go hungry for the rest of hislife, but here was a whole mountain of the preciousstone. They looked up at the towering peak and felt asense of spiritual upliftment. Their cares and worriesdispersed and they reflected on the wonderful mysteryof creation.
　　Then, amidst the silence, they heard far off the howlsof wolves drifting towards them.
　　"They're coming!" cried Princess Fragrance. "Could itbe the wolves have a map as well?""Their nose is their map," Chen replied. "We have leftour scent wherever we have gone and by following it,they will never make a mistake."Huo Qingtong pointed at the map. "Look," she said.
　　"There is the mountain, but there are many roadsmarked inside.""They must be tunnels," he said.
　　"Yes. Now how do we find them?" She looked at theexplanation on the map and slowly deciphered it. "Toenter the palace, climb the tall tree and call out"Ailongabasheng" three times towards the sacredmountain.""What is Ailongabasheng?" Princess Fragrance asked.
　　"It must be the password," Huo Qingtong replied. "Butwhere is the tall tree? And could this really be amagic spell?""Of course it could," said Princess Fragrance, who hadalways believed in spirits and fairies.
　　"In the old days, there would have been people in themountain who would have pushed a switch when theyheard the password, opening a cave entrance," saidChen. But after so many years, everyone in there iscertainly dead."The howls of the wolves sounded closer. "Let's go andhide in one of the houses," Huo Qingtong suggested.
　　The three turned and ran towards the closest of thebuildings. As they ran, Chen tripped on a bulge on theground and saw it was the stump of a huge tree. "Thetree's here!" he called.
　　Princess Fragrance examined the sheer face of themountain above and pointed. "That must be the cavemouth there. Look, aren't those footholds?" Chen andHuo Qingtong looked up and saw with delight that therewere indeed notches in the rock face.
　　"I'll go up and have a look," said Chen. With thedagger in his right hand, he bounded up the cliff. Hemade it up about a dozen feet then used his InnerStrength Kung Fu to lodge the dagger in the rock facefor an instant and race up further. Finally, hereached the point where the footholds began. The twogirls cheered from below, and Chen waved to thembefore turning his attention to the cliff above. Overthe years, the cave mouth had become blocked by sand.
　　Chen grabbed an outcrop of jade rock with one hand andstarted to shift some of the sand with the dagger. Hepulled broken slabs of rock out one after another, andlet them drop to the ground, and in a short while hadmade a hole large enough to wriggle through. Hecrawled in and sat down. Then, pulling his PearlStrings from his pocket, he undid them all, tied themtogether end to end and dangled the resulting ropedown the cliff face to the girls waiting below.
　　Huo Qingtong tied the rope round her sister's waistand Chen slowly pulled her up. Just as she reached thecave mouth, she screamed, and Chen quickly helped herinside, saying: "Don't worry, you've made it."Her face was deathly pale. "Wolves!" she cried.
　　Chen looked down and saw seven or eight wolves hadalready arrived at the base of the cliff. Huo Qingtongwas valiantly fighting them off with her sword. Thewhite horse shook its mane and neighed loudly thengalloped off through the streets of the ancient city.
　　Chen hastily grabbed some large rocks from around thecave mouth and threw them down, forcing some of thewolves to back away, then dropped the rope down again.
　　Huo Qingtong was afraid that in her weak condition,she would be unable to hold on long enough, so shetransferred the sword to her left hand, and tied therope round her waist as she continued to fight off thewolves.
　　"Right!" she yelled. Chen yanked on the rope and sheflew into the air just as two wolves threw themselvesat her. One of them bit deeply into her boot andrefused to let go. As Princess Fragrance screamed infright, Huo Qingtong bent over in mid-air and choppedit in half across its belly. The top half of its bodyaccompanied her up to the cave mouth.
　　Chen helped her inside and tried unsuccessfully topull the half-wolf off her boot.
　　"Did it bite into you?" he asked quickly.
　　"I'm all right," she replied. She took the dagger fromhis hand and cut open the wolf's mouth, revealing theserried ranks of teeth sunk deep into her boot. Asmall trickle of blood oozed out of one of the holesin the leather.
　　"Your foot is wounded," Princess Fragrance said. Shehelped her sister remove the boot, and ripped a stripof material off her gown to bandage the wound. Chenturned his head away, not daring to look at her barefeet.* (* In traditional China, feet were consideredone of the most erotic parts of the female anatomy.)When she had finished the bandaging, PrincessFragrance looked down at the thousands of wolvesamongst the buildings below, and wagged her finger atthem angrily. "You evil wolves, biting my sister'sfoot! I won't feel sorry for you any more," shescolded them as Chen and Huo Qingtong smiled.
　　They turned to look into the cave, but all they couldsee was pitch-blackness. Huo Qingtong took out hertinderbox and lit it, and immediately jumped infright: they were sitting on a thin ledge and next tothem was a drop of nearly two hundred feet down to thefloor of the cave, which looked even lower than theground outside the mountain.
　　"There has been no fresh air in here for a long time,"said Chen. "We can't go down yet." After a while, whenhe thought most of the stale air would havedissipated, he said: "I'll go down first to have alook around.""Once we're down it won't be easy to get back upagain," said Huo Qingtong.
　　Chen smiled. "If we can't, we can't," he said. HuoQingtong blushed and looked away.
　　He tied one end of the rope round a rock outcrop andstarted to slide down into the abyss, but when hereached the end of the rope, he was still a hundredfeet from the bottom. Abandoning the rope, he climbeddown the cliff face for a way, and then jumped lightlyto the floor.
　　"Throw down the tinderbox!" he shouted and HuoQingtong did so. He struck a light, and under itsglow, he saw he was in a chamber carved entirely outof white jade furnished with several sets of woodentables and chairs. Chen looked up and saw the twogirls peering down from the ledge, and shouted: "Comedown!""You go down first, sister," Huo Qingtong said.
　　Princess Fragrance took hold of the rope and slidslowly down to its end. She saw Chen standing beneathher with his hands opened wide, closed her eyestightly and let go. Almost immediately, she felt hisstrong arms catch her and place her lightly on theground. Huo Qingtong jumped down in the same fashionand as Chen embraced her, she flushed deep red withembarrassment.
　　By now, the howls of the wolves outside the mountainwere becoming faint. Chen looked at their shadowsdancing on the white jade walls, and then at the twobeauties beside him. Under the glow of the reflectedlight, they looked even more exquisite. Here theywere, the three of them, in the bowels of a mountain,not knowing what was in store for them. Of all thestrange things that had happened to him in hiseventful life, this was the strangest.
　　Chen snapped off a chair leg and lit it with the flamefrom the tinder-box. Princess Fragrance exclaimed atthe beauty of the chamber they were in, and taking thetorch from Chen began walking about. He broke offanother seven chair legs and the three began to walkoff along a long tunnel which turned out to be acul-de-sac. Chen wondered how they would get out. Thenin a corner of the tunnel, he noticed somethingsparkling under the torchlight. He walked over and sawit was a gold suit of armour containing a pile of oldbones. The suit of armour was exquisitely-made, andthe three marvelled at the fine workmanship.
　　"He must have been a nobleman," said PrincessFragrance. Huo Qingtong noticed that there was awinged camel engraved on the breast plate and added:
　　"He may even have been the king or a prince. I'veheard that in ancient times, only kings could usewinged camels as their emblem.""It's the same with the dragon in China," repliedChen. He took the torch from Princess Fragrance andbegan to examine the end wall of the tunnel for sometrace of a door or an opening mechanism. Raising thetorch, he saw a huge ring door knocker with along-handled axe lodged in it.
　　"There's a door," Huo Qingtong exclaimed joyfully.
　　Chen passed the torch over to her and tried to pullthe axe away, but it had rusted onto the iron ring andwas immovable. He took out his dagger and scraped awaythe rust, then with an effort, managed to pull the axefree. He found it very heavy.
　　"If this was his weapon, then His Highness was astrong man," he said with a smile.
　　On closer examination, they found there was an ironring fastened to all four corners of the stone door.
　　Chen took hold of each of the rings and gave them amighty tug, but the door did not move even a fraction.
　　He tried pushing it instead, and with load squeaks, itslowly began to swing open. They saw the door was atleast ten feet thick, and in fact was more like a hugeboulder than a door.
　　The three looked at each other with expressions ofjubilation on their faces. Chen raised the torch highand with the dagger in his other hand, led the waythrough the door. One step inside, something crunchedunder his foot, and he saw a pile of bones on thefloor. Looking ahead, there was a narrow tunnelleading off into the darkness, just big enough for aperson to walk along. Skeletons and swords werescattered all about them.
　　Huo Qingtong pointed to the back of the great stonedoor. "Look," she said. Under the torchlight they sawdeeply scored lines obviously scratched out withswords.
　　"These people must have been locked in here by theking," said Chen in a startled voice. "They tried thebest they could to get out, but the door was too thickand the jade rock too solid.""Even if they had had ten blades as sharp as yourdagger, they would still never have broken throughthis door," replied Huo Qingtong.
　　"They must have considered every alternative, andfinally one by one died as hope faded....""Don't! Don't go on," Princess Fragrance pleaded. Thescene was too tragic. She could not bear to hear anymore.
　　"Why did the king stand guard on the other side of thedoor instead of escaping?" Huo Qingtong asked. "Ican't work that out at all." She pulled out the mapand looked at it for a moment. Her face brightened.
　　"At the end of this tunnel there should be a greathall and other rooms," she said.
　　Slowly, they walked forward, treading on human bonesas they went. They turned two corners, and emergedinto a cavernous hall as Huo Qingtong had predicted.
　　They stood at the entrance and looked about. The floorof the great hall was filled with skeletons andweapons lying about at random, evidence that a furiousbattle had been fought here.
　　As they walked into the hall, Chen's dagger suddenlyshot out of his hand and fell to the floor with aclatter. At the same instant, the belt supporting HuoQingtong's sword around her waist snapped, and thescabbard fell heavily to the floor. The three jumpedin fright. Huo Qingtong bent down to pick up hersword, but as she did so, the darts in her pocket flewout with a whoosh and dropped to the ground in thesame manner.
　　Chen grabbed the two girls and leapt backwards severalpaces, steeling himself to defend them against anyattackers. But there was not a sound from the hall. Hewondered what kung fu could snatch the weapons fromtheir hands and even suck Huo Qingtong's darts fromher pocket.
　　"We have come only to escape wolves and with no otherpurpose," Chen shouted into the darkness in the Muslimlanguage. "Please forgive us for any indiscretions wemay have committed."There was no answer but the echo of his own wordsreturning from the far side of the hall.
　　As Huo Qingtong's initial fright receded, she walkedforward again and stooped to pick up her sword. But itwas stuck to the floor as if nailed in place. Shetried again using all her strength and managed to freeit, but a second later, it flew out of her hand againand hit the ground with a clang.
　　Chen realised what was happening.
　　"There must be a magnet under here," he said.
　　"What's a magnet?" asked Huo Qingtong.
　　"Sailors say there is a big mountain in the far northwhich attracts pieces of iron which hang free, makingthem point north to south. When they're on the ocean,they rely on something called a magnetic compass tofind their direction.""And you think there's another magnet mountain underhere which is attracting our weapons?" asked HuoQingtong.
　　"I think so. Let's try it." He prized up his daggerand placed it and a wooden chair leg on his left handwith his right hand on top to hold them in place. Whenhe took his hand away, the dagger flew to the groundbut the chair leg remained motionless.
　　"So as you see, the magnet is powerful," said Chen,picking up the dagger again and gripping it tightly.
　　Huo Qingtong walked on a few more steps. "Come here!"she called. Chen ran over and saw a skeleton which wasstill standing. A few tattered pieces of clothing hungon the frame, and its right hand was holding awhite-coloured sword which was stuck into the skeletonnext to it.
　　"It's a jade sword!" Huo Qingtong exclaimed. Chencarefully extracted the sword from the skeleton'sgrasp, and with its support gone, it collapsed to thefloor in a heap.
　　The jade sword's blade was very sharp, but it wasstill frail enough to shatter if it clashed with ametal blade. Looking round, they saw there were manyother jade weapons of all sizes lying about the hall.
　　"I know!" Huo Qingtong suddenly said. "The master ofthis mountain certainly planned things verycarefully.""What?" asked Chen.
　　"He used this magnet to draw the enemy's weapons awayand then his guards finished them off with the jadeswords."Princess Fragrance pointed at a skeleton wearing ametal breast plate. "Look! Some of the attackers werewearing armour. i'll bet they couldn't get on theirfeet.""But what I don't understand," Huo Qingtong continued,"is if the guards with the jade weapons killed all theattackers, why did they also die here as well?"Chen had also been considering that problem, but couldthink of no explanation.
　　"Let's go further in and explore," said Huo Qingtong.
　　"No," Princess Fragrance said. "Let's not, sister."Huo Qingtong saw the anguished expression on her faceand squeezed her arm. "Don't be afraid. Perhaps thereare no skeletons over there."They walked to the other side of the hall and lookedinto a smaller chamber. But the scene there was evenmore terrible than in the first hall. Dozens ofskeletons were piled about the room, most of themstill standing as if alive. Some had weapons in theirhands, some didn't.
　　"Don't touch anything!" said Chen. "There must be somestrange reason for them dying like this." Theycontinued on, and passed out of the chamber into atunnel. After a couple of bends, they came upon asmall swing door. As they pushed it open, their eyeswere assailed by a bright light. Sunlight poured infrom a crack in the ceiling hundreds of feet aboveinto an excuisite jade room which had obviously beencarved out of the mountain at this spot to takeadvantage of the natural lighting.
　　Although it was only a single shaft of sunlight, thethree were very excited at the sight of it. The roomthey found themselves in had a jade bed, a jade table,jade chairs, all beautifully carved. A skeletonreclined on the jade bed, while in one corner of theroom, there were two other skeletons, one large andone small.
　　Chen extinguished the torch. "We'll rest here," hesaid. They pulled out their dry rations and water andhad a small meal.
　　"I wonder how long the wolves will wait outside themountain for us?" said Huo Qingtong. "This has becamea contest between us and the wolves, so we will haveto make the food and water last as long as possible."For the past several days, Chen and the two sistershad not had a moment in which they could relax. Now,in this silent jade room, an immense exhaustion cameover them and before very long, they fell into a deep,deep sleep.
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.
Chapter 48
Chen woke towards midnight, his strength revived.
　　Under the light of a moonbeam shining down from thecrack in the roof of the cave, he could see HuoQingtong and Princess Fragrance leaning against oneanother on one of the jade seats, fast asleep. In thesilence, he heard their breathing and smelt thefragrance, even more beautiful than that of freshflowers or musk, emanating from the younger sister.
　　He wondered again what the wolves outside the mountainwere doing and whether the three of them would ever beable to escape. And if they did, would his brother theEmperor hold to his word and throw out the Manchus?
　　"Which one do I really love?" Over the past few days,this thought had been gyrating round his braincontinuously. "Well, which one really loves me? If Iwere to die, Princess Fragrance would not be able togo on living, but Huo Qingtong would. But that doesn'tmean Princess Fragrance loves me more."The moon beam slowly shifted onto Huo Qingtong's face.
　　"Princess Fragrance and I have declared our love foreach other, but although Huo Qingtong has never said aword about it, her feelings towards me are clear too,"he thought. "And why did I come so far to give her amessage if it was not because I loved her? What ismore, restoring the throne to the Chinese people willinvolve immense trials and tribulations. She is abetter strategist even than Brother Xu, and herassistance would be invaluable," He stopped himself,ashamed of his own thoughts.
　　"Ah, Chen Jialuo," he whispered under his breath. "Areyou really so narrow-minded?"Time passed and the moonbeam moved across ontoPrincess Fragrance.
　　"With her, all I would have is happiness, happiness,happiness," he thought.
　　His eyes opened wide and he stared up at the crack oflight in the rock high above them for a long, longtime. Slowly, the moonlight faded and a sunbeam beganto slant in, filling the room with daylight. With ayawn, Princes Fragrance woke. She looked over at himthrough half-open eyes and smiled, her face lookinglike a newly-opened flower.
　　Suddenly she jerked upright. "Listen!" she whispered.
　　Footsteps sounded distantly from the tunnel, graduallymoving closer. In the silence of the old caverns, eachstep could be heard clearly, and their skin crawled asthey listened. Chen shook Huo Qingtong's arm to wakeher and the three ran quickly back down the tunnel.
　　When they reached the main chamber, Chen picked upthree jade swords and gave one each to the twosisters. "Jade wards off evil," he whispered.
　　By now, the footsteps were just outside the chamber,and the three hid in a corner near the entrance, notdaring to move. They saw the flickering light oftorches and four men walked in. The two in front, theyinstantly recognised as Zhang and Gu.
　　There was a series of clanging sounds as the weaponsof the four flew out of their hands to the ground.
　　Chen knew this was an opportunity not to be missed,and as they stood staring at the floor in dumbsurprise, he gave a shout and leapt out, and withknocked the torches to the ground, plunging thechamber into complete darkness. Zhang and the ThreeDevils turned and raced back down the tunnel. Theyheard a dull thud followed by a sharp curse as one ofthem bumped into the wall.
　　The footsteps gradually receded again.
　　Suddenly, Huo Qingtong gave a scream of panic. "Oh no!
　　Chase them!"Chen immediately realised what she meant and raced outof the chamber into the tunnel. But before he reachedits end, he heard a steady creaking sound followed bya heavy bang, and he knew the stone door was closed.
　　Huo Qingtong and Princess Fragrance ran up behind him.
　　He felt around for a piece of wood, found one and litit, then looked again at the scarred surface of thestone door, the relic of the death struggle of theskeletons around them.
　　"We're finished!" Huo Qingtong said, despairingly.
　　Princess Fragrance grabbed her hand. "Sister, don't beafraid!"Chen forced a smile. "It would be strange if we threedied here."For some reason, he felt a sense of relief wash overhim as if a great weight had been taken from hisshoulders. He picked a skull off the ground and saidto it: "Well brother, you have three new companions."Princess Fragrance gasped, and then laughed out loud.
　　Huo Qingtong looked at them both. "Let's go back tothe Jade Room," she said after a while. "Once we'vesettled down we can start thinking things through."They walked back the way they had come. Huo Qingtongpulled out the map once more and pored over it,desperately searching for a way out. Chen knew that ifthey were to escape it was more likely to be becauseof outside help or because Zhang returned to look forthem. But how could rescuers find them? And Zhang,after the fright he had just received, was unlikely todare to come in again.
　　"I want to sing a song," Princess Fragrance announced.
　　"Please do," replied Chen.
　　She sang for a while then stopped, concerned about HuoQingtong who was still staring hard at the map, herhead resting on her hands.
　　"Sister, you should rest for while," PrincessFragrance said. She stood up and went over to the jadebed and said to the skeleton lying on it: "Excuse me,I wonder if you could move over a bit? My sister needsto lie down and rest." She carefully pushed the bonesinto a pile in the corner of the bed. "Oh!" she said,picking something up. "What's this?"Chen and Huo Qingtong walked over and saw she washolding a goatskin scroll of great antiquity. Thescroll had turned black, but under the sunlight, itwas possible to see it was covered in writing, all inan ancient Muslim hand. Huo Qingtong glanced throughit, and pointed at the skeleton on the bed.
　　"It was written by this girl with her own blood justbefore she died. Her name was Mami," she said.
　　"Mami?" asked Chen.
　　"It means 'beautiful'. I'm sure she was very beautifulwhen she was alive." She put down the book and wentback to examining the map.
　　"Does the map indicate some other exit?" Chen asked.
　　"There appears to be a secret tunnel somewhere, but Ican't work out where."Chen sighed. "Would you read out this Miss Mami's lastwords to me?" he asked Princess Fragrance. She nodded,and began to quietly recite:
　　"Everyone in the city, thousands upon thousands ofpeople are all dead. The guards of the Mountain andthe warriors of Islam are all dead. My Ali has gone tomeet Allah, and his Mami will be going soon too. Iwill write our story out here, so that the children ofAllah will know that, victorious or defeated, ourwarriors of Islam fight to the end, and neversurrender!""So this lady was not only beautiful, but courageoustoo," commented Chen.
　　Princess Fragrance continued to read:
　　"Baojunlonga oppressed us for forty years. In thoseforty years, he forced thousands of commoners toconstruct this secret city and carve out the chambersand halls within the Sacred Mountain. He killed themall. After he died, his son Sanglaba proved to be evenmore cruel. Of every ten goats raised by the Muslimpeople every year, four had to be given to him; ofevery five camels, he claimed two. We became poorerand poorer each year. Any beautiful daughters amongthe Muslim families were taken into the city, and oncethere, none ever came out alive.
　　"We are the brave children of Islam. Could we standsuch oppression from these pagans? Of course not! Overa period of twenty years, our warriors attacked thecity five times. But each time, they lost because theycould not find their way through the maze. On twooccasions, they made it into the Sacred Mountain butSanglaba used some devilry to steal their weapons, andthey were all killed by his guards.""That's the magnet," said Chen. Princess Fragrancenodded and continued:
　　"In the year that I turned eighteen, my mother andfather were killed by Sanglaba's men and my elderbrother became the chief of our tribe. That spring, Imet Ali. He was a hero of the tribe. He had killedthree tigers, and wolf packs scattered when they sawhim. He could beat ten ordinary men, no, a hundred.
　　His eyes were as soft as those of a deer and his bodywas as beautiful as a fresh flower, but he had thestrength of a desert hurricane...""The lady is exaggerating, I think," Chen said with asmile.
　　"Why do you say that?" Princess Fragrance askedsolemly. "Are there not such people in the world?""One day, Ali came to our tent to talk to my brotherabout another attack on the City. He had obtained acopy of a book about Chinese kung fu and had studiedit for a year. He said he now understood the basics ofthe martial arts, and was convinced that even withoutweapons, they could kill Sanglaba's man. He took fivehundred fighters and taught them what he knew, andthey practised for another year. By then, I wasalready Ali's. I was his from the moment I first sawhim. He told me that when he saw me, he knew that wewould win this time. But although they had masteredkung fu, they still did not know the way through themaze of the City, much less the secrets of the SacredMountain. Ali and my brother talked for ten days andnights, but could find solution.
　　"Finally, I said: 'Brother,let me go.' They understoodmy meaning. Ali was a brave warrior but he began tocry. I took a hundred goats and went to graze themoutside the city. On the fourth day, Sanglaba's menseized me and took me to him. I cried for three daysand three nights before giving in to him. He liked mevery much and gave me everything I wanted.
　　"At first Sanglaba would not let me take so much asone step outside, but he liked me more and more. Ithought about our people every day and of singingwhile tending goats on the grasslands: that is realhappiness. What I thought of most was Ali. Sanglabasaw me becoming more thin and haggard each day andasked me what I wanted. I said I wanted to go out andwander round everywhere. He flew into a great rage andslapped me, so for seven days and nights I didn'tsmile or say a word to him. On the eighth day, he tookme out, and after that on every third day. At first,we only travelled about the city, but later we evenwent to the very entrance of the maze. I memorizedclearly every single street and path until I couldhave found my way through the maze even if I wasblind.
　　"This took almost a year. I knew my brother and Aliwould be getting impatient, but I still did not knowthe secrets of the Sacred Mountain. Soon after, Ibecame pregnant with Sanglaba's bastard child. He wasdelighted, but I cried every day in loathing. He askedme what I wanted, and I said: 'You have made mepregnant but you don't love me at all.'
　　"'I don't love you?' he replied. 'Do you think thereis anything I would not give you? Do you want redcoral from the bottom of the sea, or sapphires fromthe south? They are yours.""'I have heard that you have a jade pool which makesbeautiful people who wash in it even more beautifuland ugly people even uglier,'" I said.
　　"His face drained of all colour and in a shaky voice,he asked me where I had heard this. I told him a fairyhad whispered it to me in a dream, but in fact I hadheard about the pool from the servant girls who saidthat Sanglaba had never let anyone see it.
　　"'You can go and wash there, but whoever sees the poolmust have their tongue cut out afterwards to preventthe secret being revealed. It is a rule decided by theancestors,'" he said. He begged me not to go, but Iinsisted. I said: 'You must think I am very ugly anddo not wish me to become even uglier.' Finally, hetook me there.
　　"I took a small knife with me, planning to stab him todeath by the pool, which was the only place in thepalace where there were no guards, but the knife wassnatched away by some magic under the floor of thegreat hall. After I had bathed in the Jade Pool, Idon't know if I really became more beautiful or not,but he loved me even more. However, he still cut outmy tongue, because he feared that I would reveal thesecret. I knew everything, but had no way of tellingmy brother and Ali.
　　"Every day and every night, I prayed to Allah, andAllah finally heard the cries of his poor daughter. Hegave me wisdom. Sanglaba had a small dagger which hekept on his person at all times. The dagger had twoscabbards, and the inner scabbard was exactly like theblade of a knife. I asked him for it, then I drew amap of the city including all the paths and tunnels init, sealed it inside a ball of wax and placed itinside the inner scabbard. In the third month afterthe birth of the child, he took me out hunting. Whenno-one was looking, I threw the dagger into the Tengbolake. When we returned to the palace, I released manyeagles with 'Tengbo Lake' written on pieces of papertied to their legs."Huo Qingtong put down the map and concentrated onlistening to her sister's translation of the ancientscroll.
　　"Several of the eagles were shot down by Sanglaba'smen, but I knew that at least one or two would becaught by people of our tribe and that my brother andAli would go to Tengbo Lake and make a thoroughsearch. They would then find the knife and know theway through the city.
　　"Ah! How could I guess that although they found thedagger, they did not discover its secret, and did notwork out that there was a scabbard within thescabbard? My brother, and Ali decided that the daggermust be a call for them to attack. So they attacked.
　　Most of the warriors lost their way in the maze. Mybrother, stronger than two camels, was lost in thisway. Ali and some of the others caught one ofSanglaba's men and forced him to lead them in theirattack on the Sacred Mountain. In the Great Hall,Sanglaba's men fell on them with their jade weapons.
　　But Ali and his warriors had learned their lessonswell and even empty-handed they held their own andmost died along with their opponents. Seeing hisguards being slaughtered and Ali pressing in closerall the time, Sanglaba ran into the Jade Room andwanted me to escape with him via the Jade Pool..."Huo Qingtong jumped to her feet. "Aha!" she exclaimed.
　　"He wanted to escape via the Jade Pool!""Suddenly Ali ran in, and I flung myself into hisarms. We embraced, and he called me many beautifulthings. I had no tongue and could not answer him, buthe understood the cry of my heart. Then thatdespicable Sanglaba, ten thousands times more evilthan a thousand devils, struck him with an axe frombehind...."Princess Fragrance screamed and threw the scroll backonto the bed, an expression of horror on his face. HuoQingtong gently patted her shoulder, then picked upthe scroll herself and continued to read it out loud:
　　"....with an axe from behind and split my Ali's headin two. His blood spurted out all over my body.
　　Sanglaba picked the child up off the bed, placed it inmy hands and shouted: 'We must leave quickly!' Iraised that bastard baby high about my head and threwit to the ground with all my strength, and he died inAli's blood. Sanglaba was deeply shocked at the sightof me killing his son. He raised his golden axe, and Ibowed my head, offering my neck to him, but he sighedand rushed back out into the Great Hall.
　　"Ali has gone to Allah's side and I will soon followhim. Our warriors are many, and with all his soldiersdead, Sanglaba will certainly not survive. He willnever again be able to oppress us followers of Islam.
　　I myself killed his only son, so we will be free ofoppression from his descendants, because he has none.
　　In the future, our people will be able to livepeacefully in the desert and on the grasslands, younggirls will be able to lie in their lovers' arms andsing. My brother, Ali, myself, we are all dead, but weconquered the tyrants. Even if their fortress had beenstronger than it is, we would still have brokenthrough eventually. May Allah, the True God, protectour people."Huo Qingtong slowly rolled up the ancient scroll. Thethree of them sat for a long time without saying aword, deeply moved by Mami's courage and virtue.
　　Finally Princess Fragrance, her eyes full of tears,sighed.
　　"To relieve the oppression of her people, she waswilling to leave her loved ones, to have her tonguecut out and even to kill her own child," she said.
　　Chen started in fright, thinking of his own conductcompared to this lady of old. Faced with the task ofrecovering China for the Chinese people, he selfishlythought only of his own romantic problems.
　　Princess Fragrance noticed the sudden change in hisexpression. She pulled out her handkerchief and wentover to wipe the beads of sweat from his brow, butChen pushed her away impatiently. She stepped back,startled at his aggressiveness, and Chen's heartsoftened. Taking the handkerchief from her, he made uphis mind that while the great endeavour of theRestoration remained unfinished he would pay nofurther attention to his romantic affairs, and wouldtreat both sisters purely as friends, as his ownsisters.
　　Huo Qingtong, meanwhile, was once more poring over themap and pondering phrases in the ancient scroll.
　　"It says here that Sanglaba came to this Jade Room andwanted her to escape with him to the Jade Pool," shemurmured. "But this room is a dead end ... Afterwards,he returned the way he had come. He must have beenextraordinarily strong. The Islam warriors failed tostop him and he forced his way through to the stonedoor and locked them all inside, condemning them todeath. But the map clearly indicates another tunnel tothe pool....""Then it must be in this room," Chen replied. He litanother torch and began to examine the walls closelyfor cracks, while Huo Qingtong looked at the jade bed.
　　Chen remembered how Wen Tailai had been captured atIron Gall Manor and said: "Could the tunnel be underthe table?" He placed his hands beneath the roundtable top and tried to lift it, but it did not budge.
　　"There's something strange about this table," he said,pleased. Huo Qingtong brought the torch over to givehim more light.
　　"Oh, look!" Princess Fragrance exclaimed. "There's adesign carved onto the surface." They looked closerand saw that it was a herd of winged camels. They hadnot noticed it before because the carving wasextremely shallow. But strangely, the heads and bodiesof the camels were not joined, and were more than afoot away from each other. On an impulse, PrincessFragrance grasped the table edge and pulled it fromleft to right in an attempt to line up the heads andbodies, and it did indeed move an inch or so. Chen andHuo Qingtong joined her and slowly moved the rim rounduntil the camels were whole again. Just as the carvingwas complete, a grinding sound began and a panelbeside the bed slid back to reveal a row of stepsleading downwards. The three shouted in triumph.
　　Chen led the way into the hole, torch in hand. Thepassage twisted and turned for a while and then ranstraight for more than a hundred feet. Then, around acorner, they burst out into daylight. Looking aroundthey saw they were in a small basin surrounded by highmountains. In the centre was a circular pool, thewater in which was as green as jade. They wereimmediately enraptured by the beauty of the scenebefore them.
　　"The scroll said that if beautiful people washed inthe pool they would become even more beautiful," HuoQingtong said to her sister with a smile. "You shouldgo and wash."Princess Fragrance blushed. "You are older than I, yougo first," she replied.
　　"Ai-ya! But I will become more ugly," Huo Qingtongprotested. "Are you going to wash or not?" PrincessFragrance shook her head.
　　Huo Qingtong walked to the edge of the pool and puther hands in the water: it was intensely cold. Shecupped her hands and scooped up some water and saw itwas very clear: the water appeared green only becauseof the jade all about. She took a sip and found itextraordinarily cool and tasty. They all drank theirfill. The white peak towering above them reflected offthe surface of the pool in a picture of loveliness,and Princess Fragrance lazily moved her hand about inthe water, unwilling to leave such an enchantingplace.
　　"The thing to do now is to think of a way to avoidthose four devils outside," said Huo Qingtong.
　　"First, let's bring Mami's remains out and bury thembeside the pool," Chen suggested.
　　Princess Fragrance clapped her hands in delight. "Itwould be best if we buried her and Ali together," shesaid.
　　"Yes. I expect the skeleton in the corner is Ali's."They returned to the Jade Room. As they werecollecting Ali's bones, they found amongst them somebamboo slivers used in China in ancient times forwriting. Chen picked them up, and saw they werethickly covered with Chinese characters written in redink on a black background. Glancing through them, herecognized the writings of the Chinese philospherZhuangzi. He had thought it might be some special bookand was rather disappointed to find it was insteadsomething he had read and memorized as a child.
　　"What is it?" Princess Fragrance asked.
　　"It's an old Chinese book, but it's not much useexcept to archaeologists." He threw the slivers backon the ground, and as they scattered, he noticed onewhich looked slightly different from the rest. Besideevery character, were circles and dots and Muslimwriting. Chen picked the sliver up and saw it was asection entitled 'The Butcher Dissects the Cow' fromthe philosopher Zhuangzi's lecture, 'The Secret ofCaring for Life.' He pointed to the Muslim characterswritten alongside.
　　"What does this say?" he asked Princess Fragrance.
　　"'The key to smashing the enemy is here'," shereplied.
　　"What can that mean?" he wondered out loud, greatlysurprised.
　　"Mami's last testament said Ali got hold of a Chinesebook and had learned kung fu from it. This could beit," Huo Qingtong suggested.
　　"Zhuangzi taught that one should be oblivious ofemotion in adversity and obedient to one's superiors,"said Chen. "It has nothing to do with kung fu." Hethrew the sliver back down again, then picked up thepile of bones and walked out. They buried the remainsof Mami and Ali beside the Jade Pool and bowedrespectfully before the graves.
　　"Let's go now," said Chen. "I wonder if the whitehorse managed to escape the wolves?""What is the section of that book about?" Huo Qingtongasked.
　　"It's about a butcher who is very good at his job. Themovements of his hands and legs, the sound of hisknife chopping, are all perfectly coordinated. Thesound has the rhythm of music, the movements are likedancing.""It would be useful to have such skill when facing anenemy," Huo Qingtong commented.
　　Chen stared at her in surprise. Every word of Zhuangziwas familiar to him, but suddenly he felt as if he hadnever read it before. The words of 'The ButcherDissects The Cow' ran through his mind: 'When I firstbegan cutting up oxen, all I could see was the oxitself. After three years, I no longer saw the wholeox. And now -- now, I go at it by spirit and don'tlook with my eyes. Perception and understanding havecome to a stop and spirit moves where it wants.'
　　"If it really is like that," he thought, "I could killthat traitor Zhang with my eyes closed with just aslight movement of the knife..." The two sistersstared at him, wondering what he was thinking about.
　　"Wait a moment," he said, and ran back inside. A longtime passed and still he did not re-emerge. Feelingworried, the two sisters went in as well and found himprancing about among the skeletons in the Great Hall,his face wreathed in smiles. He danced around a pairof skeletons for a moment and then stood stock-stillstaring at another pair. Princess Fragrance glanced toher sister in fright, afraid that he had lost hismind.
　　Huo Qingtong took her sister's hand. "Don't be afraid,he's all right," she said. "Let's go and wait for himoutside."The two returned to the Jade Pool. "What's he doing inthere?" Princess Fragrance asked.
　　"I think he's worked out some new kung fu moves afterhaving read those bamboo slivers and he's nowpractising them by copying the positions of theskeletons. It would be best if we didn't disturb him."Princess Fragrance nodded. After a while, she sighed.
　　"Now I understand." she said.
　　"What?""All those people in the Great Hall must have beenvery good fighters. Even after their weapons had beensnatched from them, they still fought on withSanglaba's guards.""Yes, but they weren't necessarily very good at kungfu," Huo Qingtong replied. "I would guess they justlearned a few really formidable moves which allowedthem to take their enemies with them.""Ah, they were so brave ... But what is he learningthem for? Does he want to die with his enemies too?""No, a martial arts master would not be killed alongwith his opponent. He is just studying the finerpoints of the moves."Princess Fragrance smiled. "Well I won't worry anymore, then." She looked out over the surface of thepool. "Sister," she said. "Let's bathe in the water.""Don't be ridiculous. What if he should come out?""I really want to go and bathe," Princess Fragrancereplied. She stared out at the cool water once again.
　　"Wouldn't it be nice if the three of us could livehere together forever!" she said softly.
　　Huo Qingtong's heart jumped. She blushed, and quicklyturned her head away towards the White Jade Peak.
　　A long time passed and still Chen did not emerge.
　　Princess Fragrance took off her leather boots and puther feet in the water. Resting her head on hersister's lap, she gazed up at the white clouds in thesky and slowly fell asleep.
　　Chen woke towards midnight, his strength revived.
　　Under the light of a moonbeam shining down from thecrack in the roof of the cave, he could see HuoQingtong and Princess Fragrance leaning against oneanother on one of the jade seats, fast asleep. In thesilence, he heard their breathing and smelt thefragrance, even more beautiful than that of freshflowers or musk, emanating from the younger sister.
　　He wondered again what the wolves outside the mountainwere doing and whether the three of them would ever beable to escape. And if they did, would his brother theEmperor hold to his word and throw out the Manchus?
　　"Which one do I really love?" Over the past few days,this thought had been gyrating round his braincontinuously. "Well, which one really loves me? If Iwere to die, Princess Fragrance would not be able togo on living, but Huo Qingtong would. But that doesn'tmean Princess Fragrance loves me more."The moon beam slowly shifted onto Huo Qingtong's face.
　　"Princess Fragrance and I have declared our love foreach other, but although Huo Qingtong has never said aword about it, her feelings towards me are clear too,"he thought. "And why did I come so far to give her amessage if it was not because I loved her? What ismore, restoring the throne to the Chinese people willinvolve immense trials and tribulations. She is abetter strategist even than Brother Xu, and herassistance would be invaluable," He stopped himself,ashamed of his own thoughts.
　　"Ah, Chen Jialuo," he whispered under his breath. "Areyou really so narrow-minded?"Time passed and the moonbeam moved across ontoPrincess Fragrance.
　　"With her, all I would have is happiness, happiness,happiness," he thought.
　　His eyes opened wide and he stared up at the crack oflight in the rock high above them for a long, longtime. Slowly, the moonlight faded and a sunbeam beganto slant in, filling the room with daylight. With ayawn, Princes Fragrance woke. She looked over at himthrough half-open eyes and smiled, her face lookinglike a newly-opened flower.
　　Suddenly she jerked upright. "Listen!" she whispered.
　　Footsteps sounded distantly from the tunnel, graduallymoving closer. In the silence of the old caverns, eachstep could be heard clearly, and their skin crawled asthey listened. Chen shook Huo Qingtong's arm to wakeher and the three ran quickly back down the tunnel.
　　When they reached the main chamber, Chen picked upthree jade swords and gave one each to the twosisters. "Jade wards off evil," he whispered.
　　By now, the footsteps were just outside the chamber,and the three hid in a corner near the entrance, notdaring to move. They saw the flickering light oftorches and four men walked in. The two in front, theyinstantly recognised as Zhang and Gu.
　　There was a series of clanging sounds as the weaponsof the four flew out of their hands to the ground.
　　Chen knew this was an opportunity not to be missed,and as they stood staring at the floor in dumbsurprise, he gave a shout and leapt out, and withknocked the torches to the ground, plunging thechamber into complete darkness. Zhang and the ThreeDevils turned and raced back down the tunnel. Theyheard a dull thud followed by a sharp curse as one ofthem bumped into the wall.
　　The footsteps gradually receded again.
　　Suddenly, Huo Qingtong gave a scream of panic. "Oh no!
　　Chase them!"Chen immediately realised what she meant and raced outof the chamber into the tunnel. But before he reachedits end, he heard a steady creaking sound followed bya heavy bang, and he knew the stone door was closed.
　　Huo Qingtong and Princess Fragrance ran up behind him.
　　He felt around for a piece of wood, found one and litit, then looked again at the scarred surface of thestone door, the relic of the death struggle of theskeletons around them.
　　"We're finished!" Huo Qingtong said, despairingly.
　　Princess Fragrance grabbed her hand. "Sister, don't beafraid!"Chen forced a smile. "It would be strange if we threedied here."For some reason, he felt a sense of relief wash overhim as if a great weight had been taken from hisshoulders. He picked a skull off the ground and saidto it: "Well brother, you have three new companions."Princess Fragrance gasped, and then laughed out loud.
　　Huo Qingtong looked at them both. "Let's go back tothe Jade Room," she said after a while. "Once we'vesettled down we can start thinking things through."They walked back the way they had come. Huo Qingtongpulled out the map once more and pored over it,desperately searching for a way out. Chen knew that ifthey were to escape it was more likely to be becauseof outside help or because Zhang returned to look forthem. But how could rescuers find them? And Zhang,after the fright he had just received, was unlikely todare to come in again.
　　"I want to sing a song," Princess Fragrance announced.
　　"Please do," replied Chen.
　　She sang for a while then stopped, concerned about HuoQingtong who was still staring hard at the map, herhead resting on her hands.
　　"Sister, you should rest for while," PrincessFragrance said. She stood up and went over to the jadebed and said to the skeleton lying on it: "Excuse me,I wonder if you could move over a bit? My sister needsto lie down and rest." She carefully pushed the bonesinto a pile in the corner of the bed. "Oh!" she said,picking something up. "What's this?"Chen and Huo Qingtong walked over and saw she washolding a goatskin scroll of great antiquity. Thescroll had turned black, but under the sunlight, itwas possible to see it was covered in writing, all inan ancient Muslim hand. Huo Qingtong glanced throughit, and pointed at the skeleton on the bed.
　　"It was written by this girl with her own blood justbefore she died. Her name was Mami," she said.
　　"Mami?" asked Chen.
　　"It means 'beautiful'. I'm sure she was very beautifulwhen she was alive." She put down the book and wentback to examining the map.
　　"Does the map indicate some other exit?" Chen asked.
　　"There appears to be a secret tunnel somewhere, but Ican't work out where."Chen sighed. "Would you read out this Miss Mami's lastwords to me?" he asked Princess Fragrance. She nodded,and began to quietly recite:
　　"Everyone in the city, thousands upon thousands ofpeople are all dead. The guards of the Mountain andthe warriors of Islam are all dead. My Ali has gone tomeet Allah, and his Mami will be going soon too. Iwill write our story out here, so that the children ofAllah will know that, victorious or defeated, ourwarriors of Islam fight to the end, and neversurrender!""So this lady was not only beautiful, but courageoustoo," commented Chen.
　　Princess Fragrance continued to read:
　　"Baojunlonga oppressed us for forty years. In thoseforty years, he forced thousands of commoners toconstruct this secret city and carve out the chambersand halls within the Sacred Mountain. He killed themall. After he died, his son Sanglaba proved to be evenmore cruel. Of every ten goats raised by the Muslimpeople every year, four had to be given to him; ofevery five camels, he claimed two. We became poorerand poorer each year. Any beautiful daughters amongthe Muslim families were taken into the city, and oncethere, none ever came out alive.
　　"We are the brave children of Islam. Could we standsuch oppression from these pagans? Of course not! Overa period of twenty years, our warriors attacked thecity five times. But each time, they lost because theycould not find their way through the maze. On twooccasions, they made it into the Sacred Mountain butSanglaba used some devilry to steal their weapons, andthey were all killed by his guards.""That's the magnet," said Chen. Princess Fragrancenodded and continued:
　　"In the year that I turned eighteen, my mother andfather were killed by Sanglaba's men and my elderbrother became the chief of our tribe. That spring, Imet Ali. He was a hero of the tribe. He had killedthree tigers, and wolf packs scattered when they sawhim. He could beat ten ordinary men, no, a hundred.
　　His eyes were as soft as those of a deer and his bodywas as beautiful as a fresh flower, but he had thestrength of a desert hurricane...""The lady is exaggerating, I think," Chen said with asmile.
　　"Why do you say that?" Princess Fragrance askedsolemly. "Are there not such people in the world?""One day, Ali came to our tent to talk to my brotherabout another attack on the City. He had obtained acopy of a book about Chinese kung fu and had studiedit for a year. He said he now understood the basics ofthe martial arts, and was convinced that even withoutweapons, they could kill Sanglaba's man. He took fivehundred fighters and taught them what he knew, andthey practised for another year. By then, I wasalready Ali's. I was his from the moment I first sawhim. He told me that when he saw me, he knew that wewould win this time. But although they had masteredkung fu, they still did not know the way through themaze of the City, much less the secrets of the SacredMountain. Ali and my brother talked for ten days andnights, but could find solution.
　　"Finally, I said: 'Brother,let me go.' They understoodmy meaning. Ali was a brave warrior but he began tocry. I took a hundred goats and went to graze themoutside the city. On the fourth day, Sanglaba's menseized me and took me to him. I cried for three daysand three nights before giving in to him. He liked mevery much and gave me everything I wanted.
　　"At first Sanglaba would not let me take so much asone step outside, but he liked me more and more. Ithought about our people every day and of singingwhile tending goats on the grasslands: that is realhappiness. What I thought of most was Ali. Sanglabasaw me becoming more thin and haggard each day andasked me what I wanted. I said I wanted to go out andwander round everywhere. He flew into a great rage andslapped me, so for seven days and nights I didn'tsmile or say a word to him. On the eighth day, he tookme out, and after that on every third day. At first,we only travelled about the city, but later we evenwent to the very entrance of the maze. I memorizedclearly every single street and path until I couldhave found my way through the maze even if I wasblind.
　　"This took almost a year. I knew my brother and Aliwould be getting impatient, but I still did not knowthe secrets of the Sacred Mountain. Soon after, Ibecame pregnant with Sanglaba's bastard child. He wasdelighted, but I cried every day in loathing. He askedme what I wanted, and I said: 'You have made mepregnant but you don't love me at all.'
　　"'I don't love you?' he replied. 'Do you think thereis anything I would not give you? Do you want redcoral from the bottom of the sea, or sapphires fromthe south? They are yours.""'I have heard that you have a jade pool which makesbeautiful people who wash in it even more beautifuland ugly people even uglier,'" I said.
　　"His face drained of all colour and in a shaky voice,he asked me where I had heard this. I told him a fairyhad whispered it to me in a dream, but in fact I hadheard about the pool from the servant girls who saidthat Sanglaba had never let anyone see it.
　　"'You can go and wash there, but whoever sees the poolmust have their tongue cut out afterwards to preventthe secret being revealed. It is a rule decided by theancestors,'" he said. He begged me not to go, but Iinsisted. I said: 'You must think I am very ugly anddo not wish me to become even uglier.' Finally, hetook me there.
　　"I took a small knife with me, planning to stab him todeath by the pool, which was the only place in thepalace where there were no guards, but the knife wassnatched away by some magic under the floor of thegreat hall. After I had bathed in the Jade Pool, Idon't know if I really became more beautiful or not,but he loved me even more. However, he still cut outmy tongue, because he feared that I would reveal thesecret. I knew everything, but had no way of tellingmy brother and Ali.
　　"Every day and every night, I prayed to Allah, andAllah finally heard the cries of his poor daughter. Hegave me wisdom. Sanglaba had a small dagger which hekept on his person at all times. The dagger had twoscabbards, and the inner scabbard was exactly like theblade of a knife. I asked him for it, then I drew amap of the city including all the paths and tunnels init, sealed it inside a ball of wax and placed itinside the inner scabbard. In the third month afterthe birth of the child, he took me out hunting. Whenno-one was looking, I threw the dagger into the Tengbolake. When we returned to the palace, I released manyeagles with 'Tengbo Lake' written on pieces of papertied to their legs."Huo Qingtong put down the map and concentrated onlistening to her sister's translation of the ancientscroll.
　　"Several of the eagles were shot down by Sanglaba'smen, but I knew that at least one or two would becaught by people of our tribe and that my brother andAli would go to Tengbo Lake and make a thoroughsearch. They would then find the knife and know theway through the city.
　　"Ah! How could I guess that although they found thedagger, they did not discover its secret, and did notwork out that there was a scabbard within thescabbard? My brother, and Ali decided that the daggermust be a call for them to attack. So they attacked.
　　Most of the warriors lost their way in the maze. Mybrother, stronger than two camels, was lost in thisway. Ali and some of the others caught one ofSanglaba's men and forced him to lead them in theirattack on the Sacred Mountain. In the Great Hall,Sanglaba's men fell on them with their jade weapons.
　　But Ali and his warriors had learned their lessonswell and even empty-handed they held their own andmost died along with their opponents. Seeing hisguards being slaughtered and Ali pressing in closerall the time, Sanglaba ran into the Jade Room andwanted me to escape with him via the Jade Pool..."Huo Qingtong jumped to her feet. "Aha!" she exclaimed.
　　"He wanted to escape via the Jade Pool!""Suddenly Ali ran in, and I flung myself into hisarms. We embraced, and he called me many beautifulthings. I had no tongue and could not answer him, buthe understood the cry of my heart. Then thatdespicable Sanglaba, ten thousands times more evilthan a thousand devils, struck him with an axe frombehind...."Princess Fragrance screamed and threw the scroll backonto the bed, an expression of horror on his face. HuoQingtong gently patted her shoulder, then picked upthe scroll herself and continued to read it out loud:
　　"....with an axe from behind and split my Ali's headin two. His blood spurted out all over my body.
　　Sanglaba picked the child up off the bed, placed it inmy hands and shouted: 'We must leave quickly!' Iraised that bastard baby high about my head and threwit to the ground with all my strength, and he died inAli's blood. Sanglaba was deeply shocked at the sightof me killing his son. He raised his golden axe, and Ibowed my head, offering my neck to him, but he sighedand rushed back out into the Great Hall.
　　"Ali has gone to Allah's side and I will soon followhim. Our warriors are many, and with all his soldiersdead, Sanglaba will certainly not survive. He willnever again be able to oppress us followers of Islam.
　　I myself killed his only son, so we will be free ofoppression from his descendants, because he has none.
　　In the future, our people will be able to livepeacefully in the desert and on the grasslands, younggirls will be able to lie in their lovers' arms andsing. My brother, Ali, myself, we are all dead, but weconquered the tyrants. Even if their fortress had beenstronger than it is, we would still have brokenthrough eventually. May Allah, the True God, protectour people."Huo Qingtong slowly rolled up the ancient scroll. Thethree of them sat for a long time without saying aword, deeply moved by Mami's courage and virtue.
　　Finally Princess Fragrance, her eyes full of tears,sighed.
　　"To relieve the oppression of her people, she waswilling to leave her loved ones, to have her tonguecut out and even to kill her own child," she said.
　　Chen started in fright, thinking of his own conductcompared to this lady of old. Faced with the task ofrecovering China for the Chinese people, he selfishlythought only of his own romantic problems.
　　Princess Fragrance noticed the sudden change in hisexpression. She pulled out her handkerchief and wentover to wipe the beads of sweat from his brow, butChen pushed her away impatiently. She stepped back,startled at his aggressiveness, and Chen's heartsoftened. Taking the handkerchief from her, he made uphis mind that while the great endeavour of theRestoration remained unfinished he would pay nofurther attention to his romantic affairs, and wouldtreat both sisters purely as friends, as his ownsisters.
　　Huo Qingtong, meanwhile, was once more poring over themap and pondering phrases in the ancient scroll.
　　"It says here that Sanglaba came to this Jade Room andwanted her to escape with him to the Jade Pool," shemurmured. "But this room is a dead end ... Afterwards,he returned the way he had come. He must have beenextraordinarily strong. The Islam warriors failed tostop him and he forced his way through to the stonedoor and locked them all inside, condemning them todeath. But the map clearly indicates another tunnel tothe pool....""Then it must be in this room," Chen replied. He litanother torch and began to examine the walls closelyfor cracks, while Huo Qingtong looked at the jade bed.
　　Chen remembered how Wen Tailai had been captured atIron Gall Manor and said: "Could the tunnel be underthe table?" He placed his hands beneath the roundtable top and tried to lift it, but it did not budge.
　　"There's something strange about this table," he said,pleased. Huo Qingtong brought the torch over to givehim more light.
　　"Oh, look!" Princess Fragrance exclaimed. "There's adesign carved onto the surface." They looked closerand saw that it was a herd of winged camels. They hadnot noticed it before because the carving wasextremely shallow. But strangely, the heads and bodiesof the camels were not joined, and were more than afoot away from each other. On an impulse, PrincessFragrance grasped the table edge and pulled it fromleft to right in an attempt to line up the heads andbodies, and it did indeed move an inch or so. Chen andHuo Qingtong joined her and slowly moved the rim rounduntil the camels were whole again. Just as the carvingwas complete, a grinding sound began and a panelbeside the bed slid back to reveal a row of stepsleading downwards. The three shouted in triumph.
　　Chen led the way into the hole, torch in hand. Thepassage twisted and turned for a while and then ranstraight for more than a hundred feet. Then, around acorner, they burst out into daylight. Looking aroundthey saw they were in a small basin surrounded by highmountains. In the centre was a circular pool, thewater in which was as green as jade. They wereimmediately enraptured by the beauty of the scenebefore them.
　　"The scroll said that if beautiful people washed inthe pool they would become even more beautiful," HuoQingtong said to her sister with a smile. "You shouldgo and wash."Princess Fragrance blushed. "You are older than I, yougo first," she replied.
　　"Ai-ya! But I will become more ugly," Huo Qingtongprotested. "Are you going to wash or not?" PrincessFragrance shook her head.
　　Huo Qingtong walked to the edge of the pool and puther hands in the water: it was intensely cold. Shecupped her hands and scooped up some water and saw itwas very clear: the water appeared green only becauseof the jade all about. She took a sip and found itextraordinarily cool and tasty. They all drank theirfill. The white peak towering above them reflected offthe surface of the pool in a picture of loveliness,and Princess Fragrance lazily moved her hand about inthe water, unwilling to leave such an enchantingplace.
　　"The thing to do now is to think of a way to avoidthose four devils outside," said Huo Qingtong.
　　"First, let's bring Mami's remains out and bury thembeside the pool," Chen suggested.
　　Princess Fragrance clapped her hands in delight. "Itwould be best if we buried her and Ali together," shesaid.
　　"Yes. I expect the skeleton in the corner is Ali's."They returned to the Jade Room. As they werecollecting Ali's bones, they found amongst them somebamboo slivers used in China in ancient times forwriting. Chen picked them up, and saw they werethickly covered with Chinese characters written in redink on a black background. Glancing through them, herecognized the writings of the Chinese philospherZhuangzi. He had thought it might be some special bookand was rather disappointed to find it was insteadsomething he had read and memorized as a child.
　　"What is it?" Princess Fragrance asked.
　　"It's an old Chinese book, but it's not much useexcept to archaeologists." He threw the slivers backon the ground, and as they scattered, he noticed onewhich looked slightly different from the rest. Besideevery character, were circles and dots and Muslimwriting. Chen picked the sliver up and saw it was asection entitled 'The Butcher Dissects the Cow' fromthe philosopher Zhuangzi's lecture, 'The Secret ofCaring for Life.' He pointed to the Muslim characterswritten alongside.
　　"What does this say?" he asked Princess Fragrance.
　　"'The key to smashing the enemy is here'," shereplied.
　　"What can that mean?" he wondered out loud, greatlysurprised.
　　"Mami's last testament said Ali got hold of a Chinesebook and had learned kung fu from it. This could beit," Huo Qingtong suggested.
　　"Zhuangzi taught that one should be oblivious ofemotion in adversity and obedient to one's superiors,"said Chen. "It has nothing to do with kung fu." Hethrew the sliver back down again, then picked up thepile of bones and walked out. They buried the remainsof Mami and Ali beside the Jade Pool and bowedrespectfully before the graves.
　　"Let's go now," said Chen. "I wonder if the whitehorse managed to escape the wolves?""What is the section of that book about?" Huo Qingtongasked.
　　"It's about a butcher who is very good at his job. Themovements of his hands and legs, the sound of hisknife chopping, are all perfectly coordinated. Thesound has the rhythm of music, the movements are likedancing.""It would be useful to have such skill when facing anenemy," Huo Qingtong commented.
　　Chen stared at her in surprise. Every word of Zhuangziwas familiar to him, but suddenly he felt as if he hadnever read it before. The words of 'The ButcherDissects The Cow' ran through his mind: 'When I firstbegan cutting up oxen, all I could see was the oxitself. After three years, I no longer saw the wholeox. And now -- now, I go at it by spirit and don'tlook with my eyes. Perception and understanding havecome to a stop and spirit moves where it wants.'
　　"If it really is like that," he thought, "I could killthat traitor Zhang with my eyes closed with just aslight movement of the knife..." The two sistersstared at him, wondering what he was thinking about.
　　"Wait a moment," he said, and ran back inside. A longtime passed and still he did not re-emerge. Feelingworried, the two sisters went in as well and found himprancing about among the skeletons in the Great Hall,his face wreathed in smiles. He danced around a pairof skeletons for a moment and then stood stock-stillstaring at another pair. Princess Fragrance glanced toher sister in fright, afraid that he had lost hismind.
　　Huo Qingtong took her sister's hand. "Don't be afraid,he's all right," she said. "Let's go and wait for himoutside."The two returned to the Jade Pool. "What's he doing inthere?" Princess Fragrance asked.
　　"I think he's worked out some new kung fu moves afterhaving read those bamboo slivers and he's nowpractising them by copying the positions of theskeletons. It would be best if we didn't disturb him."Princess Fragrance nodded. After a while, she sighed.
　　"Now I understand." she said.
　　"What?""All those people in the Great Hall must have beenvery good fighters. Even after their weapons had beensnatched from them, they still fought on withSanglaba's guards.""Yes, but they weren't necessarily very good at kungfu," Huo Qingtong replied. "I would guess they justlearned a few really formidable moves which allowedthem to take their enemies with them.""Ah, they were so brave ... But what is he learningthem for? Does he want to die with his enemies too?""No, a martial arts master would not be killed alongwith his opponent. He is just studying the finerpoints of the moves."Princess Fragrance smiled. "Well I won't worry anymore, then." She looked out over the surface of thepool. "Sister," she said. "Let's bathe in the water.""Don't be ridiculous. What if he should come out?""I really want to go and bathe," Princess Fragrancereplied. She stared out at the cool water once again.
　　"Wouldn't it be nice if the three of us could livehere together forever!" she said softly.
　　Huo Qingtong's heart jumped. She blushed, and quicklyturned her head away towards the White Jade Peak.
　　A long time passed and still Chen did not emerge.
　　Princess Fragrance took off her leather boots and puther feet in the water. Resting her head on hersister's lap, she gazed up at the white clouds in thesky and slowly fell asleep.
Chapter 49
'Scholar' Yu and Yuanzhi understood why Xu had sentthem out together to look for Huo Qingtong. Yu wasgreatly moved by Yuanzhi's obvious love for him, andby the fact that she had saved his life several times.
　　But the more infatuated she became, the more he shrankaway from her, for what reasons, he didn't himselfunderstand. As they travelled, she laughed andchattered with him, but he remained cool to heradvances.
　　One day towards noon, they spied a small donkeyhobbling towards them across the desert, its ridernodding from side to side as he snoozed. As they gotcloser, they saw it was a Muslim with a large saucepanslung across his back and a donkey's tail in his righthand. The donkey, they noticed, was tail-less and waswearing an Imperial Guard officer's cap. The riderlooked about forty years of age and had a luxuriantbeard covering his face. When he saw them, he smiledwarmly.
　　Yu knew Huo Qingtong's name was known across thelength and breadth of the desert. "Excuse me," hesaid. "Have you seen Mistress Huo Qingtong?"The man laughed. "Why are you looking for her?" heasked.
　　"There are several bad men after her and we want towarn her. If you see her, could you give her themessage?""All right. What sort of bad men?""Two are big Chinese, and the third is a Mongol,"Yuanzhi answered.
　　The man nodded. "Yes, they are bad. They wanted to eatmy donkey, but I stole this hat from them." Yu andYuanzhi glanced at each other.
　　"There was someone else with them?" Yu asked.
　　"The man wearing this cap. But who are you?""We are friends of Master Muzhuolun," Yu replied. Wemust stop the men from finding Mistress Huo Qingtong.
　　Take us to where you met them and we will give yousome silver.""I don't need any silver. But I'll have to ask thedonkey if he's willing to go first," the Muslimreplied. He leant over close to the donkey's ear andmumbled into it for a while, then placed his own earnear the donkey's mouth, and nodded repeatedly. Yu andYuanzhi grinned at his clowning.
　　The man listened intently for a moment and thenfrowned. "This donkey has had a very high opinion ofhimself ever since he got the official cap," he said.
　　"He's rather contemptuous of your horses and doesn'twant to travel with them for fear of losing face."Yuanzhi looked at the skinny, lame animal, it's bodycovered in dirt, and burst out laughing.
　　"You don't believe me?" the Muslim exclaimed. "Wellthen, my donkey shall compete with your horse."Yu and Yuanzhi were riding two of Muzhuolun's besthorses, as superior to the donkey as clouds are frommud.
　　"All right," said Yuanzhi. "When we've won, you mustlead us to find the three bad men.""It's four, not three. But what happens if you lose?""Whatever you say.""If you lose, you have to wash the donkey clean sothat he can show off.""All right," Yuanzhi agreed. "What sort of competitionwill we have?""You can decide."The Muslim seemed absolutely certain of victory andYuanzhi began to feel suspicious. "What's that in yourhand?" she asked.
　　"It's the donkey's tail," he replied, waving it about.
　　"After he started wearing the official cap, he thoughtit didn't go well with his dirty tail, so he decidedhe didn't want it.""Let me have a look," she said.
　　He threw the tail across and she caught it, thenpointed with it at a small sand dune some distanceaway. "We'll race from here to that sand dune," shesaid. "The winner will be the first to get there, yourdonkey or my horse." The man nodded. "You go overthere and be the judge," she added to Yu. He slappedhis horse and galloped off across to the dune.
　　"Go!" Yuanzhi shouted, and with a lash of her whip,her horse leapt forward. After a few hundred feet, sheglanced back and saw the donkey, limping along farbehind. She laughed and spurred her horse on evenfaster. Then all of a sudden a black shape shot pasther. She almost fell off her saddle in shock when shesaw the man had slung the donkey around his shouldersand was running with long strides, already a gooddistance ahead of her. She recovered and tried tocatch him up again, but he ran like the wind andstayed ahead all the way to the finish. Just beforeshe reached the dune, Yuanzhi threw the donkey's tailback the way they had come and shouted: "The horse isfirst!"The Muslim and Yu looked at each other in puzzlement.
　　"Mistress!" the Muslim protested. "We agreed thatwhichever got here first, the donkey or the horse, wasthe winner, isn't that right?"Yuanzhi tidied her hair with her hand. "Yes," shereplied. "But only part of the donkey got here first."The man pulled on his beard. "I don't understand. Whatdo you mean, only part of the donkey?"Yuanzhi pointed to the tail she had thrown far behindthem. "My horse arrived complete, but only a part ofyour donkey made it. His tail didn't."The man laughed heartily. "Yes, you're right!" heexclaimed. "You win. I'll take you to find those fourbad men." He went over and picked the tail up andbrought it back. "You stupid donkey!" he said to theanimal. "Don't think that just because you're wearingan official's cap that you don't need your dirtytail." He leapt onto its back.
　　Yu had been greatly impressed by the Muslim's immensestrength that allowed him to run faster than a horseeven with the donkey slung over his shoulders. He knewhe must be a martial arts master and bowed before him.
　　"If you just tell us which direction to go, we will goand find them ourselves," he said respectfully. "Wedon't wish to trouble you, sir.""But I lost," the Muslim replied, smiling. "How can Iback out now?" He turned the donkey round and shouted:
　　"Follow me!"They travelled on. Yu asked the man for his name, buthe simply smiled and answered with more crazy jokes.
　　The lame donkey walked very slowly, and after half aday they had covered only ten miles. They saw ridersapproaching from behind, and 'Mastermind' Xu and ZhouQi galloped up. Yu introduced them saying: "Thisgentleman is taking us to find the Three Devils." Xudismounted and bowed.
　　The Muslim simply smiled in response. "Your wifeshould be resting more," he said to Xu. "What's shedoing, racing about like this?"Xu stared at him, not understanding. Zhou Qi, however,blushed red, and galloped on ahead.
　　The Muslim was very familiar with the roads and pathsof the desert, and towards evening, he led them to asmall village. As they approached, they saw that aManchu military unit had also just descended on thevillage. The Muslims were fleeing in all directionsdragging their children after them.
　　"Most of the Manchu forces have already beenexterminated, and the remnants have been surrounded,so where did these come from?" Xu wondered aloud.
　　A group of about twenty Muslims dashed towards themwith a dozen soldiers on their heels, shouting andbrandishing their swords. When the Muslims caughtsight of the man on the donkey, they began to call outhis name ecstatically: "Afanti! Afanti! Save us!""Everyone flee!" Afanti shouted. He raised his whipand galloped off into the desert with the Muslims andManchu troops following behind.
　　After a while, several of the Muslim women fell behindand were captured by the soldiers. Zhou Qi could notbear to leave them, and she drew her sword and whirledher horse round. She charged the Manchu troops andwith a swish of her blade, cut off half the head ofone of them. The other soldiers surrounded her, and Xuand the others galloped up to rescue her. Suddenly,Zhou Qi felt a wave of nausea and as one of thesoldiers leapt forward to grab her, she vomited allover his face. He frantically tried to wipe the messoff, and Zhou Qi killed him with her sword. Her legsand arms became rubbery and she swayed unsteadily. Xurushed over to support her.
　　"What's the matter?" he asked.
　　Yu and Yuanzhi had by now killed or chased away therest of the soldiers. Xu caught one of the fleeingtroops and interrogated him about where the column hadcome from. The soldier threw himself down on theground and begged for mercy, gabbling incoherently.
　　Finally they extracted from him the fact that he wasattached to a relief force coming from the east. Xuchose two strong young men from amongst the group ofMuslims and sent them off immediately to informMuzhuolun, so he would be prepared. He gave thesoldier a kick on the behind and shouted "Go to hell!"The soldier scampered away.
　　Xu turned back to his wife. "Are you all right?" heasked. "What's the matter?"Zhou Qi blushed and turned her head away.
　　"The cow is going to calve," Afanti said.
　　"How do you know?" Xu asked, surprised.
　　"It's strange. The bull didn't know the cow was goingto calve, but the donkey did."They all laughed, then countinued on their way. Asevening approached, they stopped and set up tents forthe night.
　　"How many months gone are you?" Xu quietly asked hiswife. "How is it that I didn't know?""How would my stupid bull know?" Zhou Qi replied,smiling. After a moment she added: "If we have a boy,then he will be surnamed Zhou. Father and mother willdie of happiness! Just so long as he's not as craftyas you.""You must be careful from now on," said Xu. "No moresword-fighting." She nodded.
　　The next morning, Afanti said to Xu: "Your wife canstay at my home while we go and look for those men.
　　It's another ten miles further on. I have a verybeautiful wife there ...""Really?" Yuanzhi interrupted. "I must meet her. Whywould she like a bearded fellow like you?""Aha, that's a secret," Afanti laughed.
　　They arrived in a village and Afanti led them to hishouse. Raising his saucepan, he began to bang itloudly, and a woman in her thirties came out to greethim. Her features were indeed beautiful and her skinwhite and delicate. They could tell she was overjoyedto see Afanti, but from her mouth issued a stream ofcurses: "Where the hell have you been, Whiskers? Doyou still remember who I am after all this time?""Enough of your noise," Afanti replied with a smile.
　　"Haven't I come back? Bring something out for me toeat. Your Whiskers is starving to death.""Aren't you satisfied just looking at my lovely face?"The wife countered, also smiling.
　　"That's very true, your beautiful face is a greatdelicacy, but if I had some bread or something to gowith it, it would be even better."She reached over and gave his ear a sharp twist. "Iwon't allow you to go out again," she said. She wentback inside, and re-appeared soon after with piles ofbread, water-melon, honey and lamb. Yuanzhi didn'tunderstand a word Afanti and his wife said to eachother, but she could see from their teasing that theyloved each other dearly, and felt desolate.
　　While they ate lunch, two people walked into thehouse, one a young boy and the other a labourer.
　　"Master Hu says that you should return the saucepanthat you borrowed from him," the boy said.
　　Afanti glanced at Zhou Qi and smiled. "You tell MasterHu that the saucepan is pregnant and will soon givebirth to a baby saucepan, and cannot be moved at themoment."The boy looked puzzled, but he turned and left.
　　"What are you here for?" Afanti asked the labourer.
　　"Last year, I went to an inn in the village and ate achicken. Before I left I asked the innkeeper for thebill, but he said: 'We'll settle it next time, there'sno rush.' I thought at the time that he was being niceso I thanked him and left. Two months later, I wentback to pay, and he started counting his fingers andmumbling away as if he was trying to calculate a verycomplicated account. I said: 'How much was thatchicken? All you have to do is tell me!' The innkeeperwaved his hand and told me to be quiet.""A chicken, even if it was the biggest fat chicken,would not be more than a hundred copper pieces," saidAfanti's wife.
　　"That's what I thought too," said the labourer. "Butafter he had been figuring for a long time, he saidtwelve taels of silver!""Ai-ya!" exclaimed Afanti's wife. "How could a chickenbe so expensive? You could buy several hundredchickens with twelve taels of silver.""Yes, that's what I said. But the innkeeper said:
　　'There's no mistake. If you had not eaten my chicken,how many eggs would that chicken have laid? And howmany of those eggs would have become little chicks?
　　And when those little chicks grew, how many eggs wouldthey have laid...?" The longer he calculated, thehigher the price became and finally he said: "Twelvetaels of silver is actually very cheap!" Naturally, Irefused to give him the money so he dragged me over tosee Master Hu for him to settle the dispute. Master Hulistened to the innkeeper and told me to pay up. Hesaid that if I didn't settle the account quickly, theeggs would become even more chickens and I wouldn'thave a hope. Afanti, tell me who is right."Just then, the boy returned.
　　"Master Hu says how could a saucepan be pregnant? Hedoesn't believe you and says you must return thesaucepan to him immediately."Afanti went into the kitchen and brought out a smallsaucepan which he gave to the boy. "This is clearlythe son of a saucepan," he said. "You give it toMaster Hu."Uncertain whether to believe him or not, the boy tookthe small saucepan and left.
　　Afanti turned to the labourer and said: "You tellMaster Hu you want to hold a meeting to settle thematter.""But if I lose, I'll have to give him twenty-fourtaels of silver, won't I?""Don't worry," said Afanti, "You can't lose."After an hour or so, the labourer returned and said:
　　"Uncle Afanti, Master Hu had already called themeeting, and the deliberation has begun. Please come.""I'm busy at the moment," Afanti replied. "Come backin a little while." He sat laughing and chatting withhis wife and the others. The labourer was extremelyanxious and pleaded with him and finally Afanti got upand accompanied him to the meeting.
　　Xu and the others went along too to see the fun, andthey found seven or eight hundred people gathered inthe centre of the village. A fat man wearing anembroidered fur-lined gown sat in the middle, and theydecided he must be Master Hu. The crowd had becomevery restless waiting for Afanti.
　　"Afanti," called Master Hu. "This labourer says you'regoing to speak for him. Why are you so late?"Afanti bowed before him. "I'm sorry, but I had someimportant business to attend to," he said.
　　"How could it be more important than settling thisdispute?" Master Hu replied.
　　"It was much more important," said Afanti. "Tomorrow,I am going to plant some wheat, but I had not yetfried the seeds or eaten them. I fried them threetimes and it took me a long time to finish them up.""Nonsense!" roared Master Hu. "How can you plant seedsthat you have eaten?"The crowd laughed heartily, but Afanti just strokedhis large beard and smiled. After a while, the hubbubdied down, and he said: "You say that wheat seeds thathave been eaten cannot be planted. Well, how can thechicken that the labourer ate lay any eggs?"The crowd thought for a second, and then cried out:
　　"Yes, that's right, how can a chicken that's beeneaten lay eggs?" Everyone began shouting and laughingand lifted Afanti up onto their shoulders.
　　Seeing the crowd's reaction, Master Hu had noalternative but to announce: "The labourer should payone hundred copper pieces to the innkeeper in returnfor the chicken he ate."The labourer happily handed over the string of coppercoins to the innkeeper. "I wouldn't dare to eat on ofyour chickens again," he said.
　　The innkeeper took the money and walked silently away.
　　The crowd of Muslims laughed at him and some smallchildren threw stones at his back.
　　Master Hu walked up to Afanti. "The saucepan I lent toyou gave birth to a son. That's very good. When willit be giving birth again?"An expression of deep sadness appeared on Afanti'sface. "Master Hu," he said. "Your saucepan is dead.""How can a saucepan die?" Master Hu replied angrily.
　　"If a saucepan can give birth to a son, of course itcan die.""You charlatan," cried Master Hu. "You just don't wantto return my saucepan.""All right," Afanti shouted back. "We'll let everyonedecide."But Master Hu remembered how he had accepted the smallsaucepan, and decided he had lost enough face. Hewaved his hand to indicate he had had enough andwalked off through the crowd.
　　Afanti was extremely pleased with himself for havingmanaged to cheat Master Hu, himself a master atcheating the poor, and he threw back his head androared with laughter. Suddenly, a voice behind himsaid: "Well Whiskers, what ridiculousness are you upto now?"Afanti turned and saw it was the Strange Knight of theHeavenly Pool, Master Yuan. He jumped up happily andgrabbed Yuan's arm.
　　"Aha! So you're here. Come and see my wife," he said.
　　"What's so special about your wife that you keepshowing her off like a monkey would a jewel ..."Before Yuan could finish, Xu and Yu came forward andkowtowed before him.
　　"Enough, enough, there's no need to kowtow. I'm notyour teacher," Yuan protested. "Where is your MasterChen?""The Great Helmsman came on ahead of us..." Xu began.
　　Suddenly, he noticed the Twin Eagles of Tianshan, BaldVulture and Madame Guan, behind Yuan and bowed tothem. He was surprised to see Madame Guan was ridingChen's white horse.
　　"Where did you find that horse?" he asked.
　　"We found him running free in the desert. It took thethree of us quite a while to catch him," she said.
　　Xu was shocked. "Could the Great Helmsman be indanger? We had better go and find him," he said.
　　They finished lunch quickly and bade farewell to ZhouQi. Afanti's wife, was furious that he was leavingagain after only a few hours at home, and grabbed hisbeard, wailing and screaming as she did so. Afantilaughed and tried to comfort her.
　　"I`ve found a young lady to keep you company," hesaid. "In fact, there's a baby inside her, which meanstwo people to keep you company, much better than me bymyself." But his wife wailed even louder.
　　Yuanzhi rode the white horse and let it lead the wayto back to Chen. Afanti again rode his donkey, but theanimal was much too slow. By nightfall, they had goneonly ten miles, and everyone was getting anxious.
　　"We will go on ahead," Xu finally said to Afanti. "Weare afraid that our Great Helmsman may be in trouble.""All right, all rightm" Afanti replied. "When we getto the next village, I'll buy a better donkey. Thisstupid donkey thinks he's something special, butreally he's useless." He urged the animal on andcaught up with Yuanzhi.
　　"Mistress, why are you so unhappy all the time?" heasked.
　　Despite his apparent silliness, Yuanzhi knew that thisstrange Muslim was very wise, and she decided to askhis advice.
　　"Uncle Afanti," she replied. "How would you deal withsomeone who was unreasonable?""I would cover his head with my saucepan and skewerhim with a sword."Yuanzhi shook her head. "That won't do. For instance,what if he was someone very ... dear to you. The niceryou are towards him, the more stubborn he becomes,like your donkey."Afanti pulled at his beard, fully understanding hermeaning. "I ride this donkey every day and I'velearned a few tricks about how to deal with his badtemper," he replied with a smile.
　　They entered a village. As they approached the squareat its centre, the white horse suddenly gave a longneigh and galloped forward. Yuanzhi pulleddesperatelyon the reins, but could not control him andthe villagers scattered in front of the apparentlycrazed animal as it raced up to a group of people andstopped. Yuanzhi dismounted in front of Luo Bing, Wen,'Leopard' Wei, Zhang Jin, Xin Yan and white-bearded LuFeiqing.
　　Yu ran over to Lu and knelt down before him. "Uncle,"he cried, and began to sob.
　　Lu helped him up, tears also glistening in his eyes.
　　"I started out as soon as I heard the shocking newsabout your teacher, Master Ma Zhen," he said. "I metMaster Wen and the others on the road. They are alsoafter that traitor, Zhang. Don't worry. We will avengethe death of your teacher."The heroes found somewhere to rest briefly whileAfanti went off to buy a donkey, Yuanzhi quietlyfollowing him. He found and purchased a strong animal,twice as tall as his tail-less donkey which he sold tothe donkey merchant for a small sum.
　　"The official's cap was the undoing of this stupiddonkey," he said, and laughed. He threw the cap on theground, and trampled it into the dust. Yuanzhi led thenew donkey for him as they walked back.
　　"I once raised a donkey that was appallinglystubborn," Afanti said. "If I wanted him to move, hewould stand still. If I wanted him to stand still, hewould walk round in circles. One day, I wanted him topull a cart to a mill a few hundred feet away, but nomatter what I said, he wouldn't budge. The more Ipushed him, the more determined he was to stay put. Ishouted, I hit him, it made no difference. So you canguess what I did?""I'm sure you thought of something.""The mill was to the east, so I pulled the donkeyround to face west and then urged him to movedforward. He retreated one step after another all theway to the mill!""You wanted to go east, so it insisted on going west,"Yuanzhi said thoughtfully. "So you pushed himwestwards."Afanti stuck up his thumb. "That's right. That's theway." Yuanzhi smiled. "Thank you for your advice," shesaid.
　　She decided he was right. The more she was nice to Yu,the more he avoided her, so she decided that she wouldignore him instead. Luo Bing and Xu were surprised byher sudden change in attitude, but Afanti just strokedhis beard and smiled.
　　With Afanti riding his new donkey, they made muchfaster progress. The white horse led them to the WhiteJade Peak, but it was still fearful of the wolves andstopped outside the maze of paths leading to theSecret City, refusing to go any further.
　　"The wolf pack went in here," said Master Yuan. "Weshould be able to find our way easily by following thetrail of wolf droppings." Their anxiety about Chen'ssafety increased.
　　The path twisted back and forth for a long time.
　　Suddenly, they heard footsteps ahead and four menappeared round a corner, the first of whom was Zhang.
　　His face turned pale at the sight of the heroes, andparticularly his martial brother Lu Feiqing. Yugripped hold of his golden flute and was about tocharge forward when Master Yuan lightly touched hisshoulder, stopping him dead in his tracks.
　　Master Yuan pointed at Zhang accusingly. "When we metseveral days ago, I called you a master of the WudangSchool. I did not know then that you were capable ofeven killing your own martial brother. Why not end itcleanly and quickly yourself?"Zhang calculated that at least five of his opponentswere his equal at kung fu or better and that he wouldgain nothing from a head-on confrontation.
　　With one swift, smooth movement, he drew his sword,and flung a large handful of Golden Needles at theheroes. As they ducked, he grabbed Hahetai andsqueezed a key Yuedao point on his right wrist. "Run!"he shouted.
　　Hahetai was no longer master of his own movements. Heran with Zhang back along the path towards the SecretCity, with Tang and Gu following along behind. By thetime the heroes had picked themselves up, the four haddisappeared around the bend. Master Yuan and Afantiwere furious, and shot after them at high speed.
　　Master Yuan was particularly fast, and in a moment hehad caught up with Tang. He grasped him by the neckand lifted his fat body up off the ground. Unable tosee his attacker, Tang kicked out backwards with hisfoot, but a huge force propelled him through the air,smashing his head into the rock face, killing himinstantly.
　　Master Yuan ran on and, rounding the next corner,found himself confronted by three paths leading offthe main track.
　　Xu looked carefully at the ground. "Someone trod inthis pile of wolf droppings," he said, pointing. "Theymust have followed the trail of droppings back.""Very good. Let's go," Master Yuan replied. Theyfollowed the droppings all the way to the base of theWhite Jade Peak without seeing any sign of Zhang andthe other two. But they noticed the cave mouth abovethem, and Master Yuan and some of the others jumped upthe cliff while the rest were hauled one by one by Luand Wen.
　　Master Yuan pushed open the massive stone door, andran on ahead of the others down the tunnel. When theyentered the Great Hall, their weapons were snatchedaway by the magnetic force, giving them all a badshock. But they had urgent business, and picked uptheir swords and others weapons without bothering towork out what had happened and ran on to the JadeRoom, where they saw the tunnel mouth beside the bed.
　　The further they went into the bowels of the mountain,the more astounded they became. Suddenly, they emergedonce more into bright daylight, and saw six peoplestanding around the Jade Pool, three on one side andthree on the other. On the far side were Chen, HuoQingtong and Princess Fragrance, while on the nearside were Zhang, Gu and Hahetai.
　　"Master, master!" Xin Yan called excitedly. "We'rehere!""Child! Are you all right?" Madame Guan shouted to HuoQingtong.
　　"Fine!" she called back. She pointed at Gu and added:
　　"Please kill that villain quickly." Bald Vulture drewhis sword and sprung at him, while Madame Guan beganto fight with Hahetai. The other heroes quietlysurrounded Zhang.
　　Gu and Hehetai fought for their lives, but could nothope to win against the "Three-Part" sword style ofthe Twin Eagles. In the midst of the clash of swords,Bald Vulture gave a roar and blood appeared on Gu'schest. He followed with a swift kick, and Gu fellbackwards into the pool, sending fountains of waterspraying out in all directions. A trail of blood roseto the surface.
　　A moment later, there was another splash as Gusurfaced, and began swimming slowly towards the bank.
　　Hahetai threw down his sword and helped him out of thewater. Gu was badly wounded and had taken in a largequantity of water, and after laying him down on thebank, Hahetai massaged his chest.
　　Zhang watched helplessly as Gu and Hahetai wereovercome. Then 'Scholar' Yu lunged at him. Zhang swepthis left hand across, and as Yu dodged to avoid theblow, Zhang grabbed him with his right hand and threwhim at a nearby stone wall with a roar. Horrified,Yuanzhi jumped forward to grab Yu, but Zhang'sstrength was too great and the two slammed into thewall. A sharp 'crack' sounded as Yuanzhi's left armsnapped.
　　The heroes's anger flared once more. Master Yuan wentover to Yuanzhi and placed a medicine pill in hermouth to ease her intense pain while the otherssurrounded Zhang.
　　"The 'Fire Hand Judge' will die as a hero!" he shouteddefiantly. "Well, are you coming altogether or one ata time?""I'll fight you first!" Bald Vulture shouted back.
　　"This traitor has wronged me too deeply," Weninterrupted him. "Let me go first.""He killed my teacher," Yu shouted. "I may not be asgood a fighter as him, but I want to be first. BrotherWen, you can take over when I can't take any more.""Let us draw lots," Chen suggested.
　　"Master Chen," Zhang broke in on them. "We agreed inHangzhou to meet at a later date for a duel. Does thatstill hold?""Yes," Chen replied. "As I remember, we postponed themeeting because your hand was injured. Now is anexcellent time to settle the affair.""Then you and I will compete first and the others willwait their turns, agreed?" Zhang had fought with Chenon several occasions and knew he could beat him. Hereckoned that if he could capture him, he might beable to find some way to escape. And if he could notcapture him, he would at least have the satisfactionof killing the Red Flower Society's leader.
　　"If you think you are going to escape with your lifetoday, you are deluding yourself," said Chen. "Wespared your life in that dungeon in Hangzhou, and onLion Peak. Only a few days ago, I saved you once againfrom the wolves. But the Red Flower Society has runout of benevolence towards you.""Well, come on then," Zhang replied impatiently. Chenleapt at him, his two fists aimed straight at Zhang'sface. Zhang ducked and then jumped up out of the way,and Chen followed with a sweeping kick, timing it tostrike Zhang as he fell back to earth. Surprised,Zhang had to thrust his sword at Chen's chest toextricate himself. Chen moved back and as fast aslightning, Zhang struck out again.
　　Lu Feiqing was shocked by Zhang's speed, even fasterthan their teacher in his prime. He drew his sword andwatched the battle carefully, ready to help Chen ifnecessary.
　　To one side, Yu and Luo Bing were looking afterYuanzhi who had fainted from the shock and pain of herbroken arm. Yuanzhi opened her eyes and pointed to theeast with a gasp of surprise. Yu looked round butcould see nothing but the afternoon sun shimmering onthe hills about them.
　　"What's that?" Yuanzhi asked. "Are we back inHangzhou?""It's just the sun," Yu said softly. "Close your eyesand rest.""No, that's the Thunder Peak Pagoda in Hangzhou," shereplied. "I've been there with my father. Where is myfather? I want to see him."Yu lightly patted the back of her hand. "We'll gothere together after this, and I'll see your fatherwith you."A smile appeared on her face. "Who are you?" sheasked. Yu saw her staring at him, her face completelydevoid of colour and fear struck him.
　　"I'm your martial brother Yu. I promise I will lookafter you from now on.""But in your heart, you don't like me, I know," shecried, tears beginning to course down her cheeks.
　　"Take me back to see my father. I want to die."On a sudden impulse, Yu embraced her. "I truly loveyou," he whispered. "You won't die." She sighed. "Tellme you won't die," he repeated. Another wave of painfrom her arm struck her and she fainted away.
　　Meanwhile, Zhang and Chen continued to fight round andround. At first, Chen was able to contain his enemywith the 'Hundred Flowers' kung fu style. But as Zhanggradually came to grips with it, he became more daringand forced Chen onto the defensive. He swept his swordacross at Chen forcing Chen to jump away, and with aquick double movement of his sword, struck out at'Leopard' Wei and Zhang Jin, wounding them both. Wenroared with anger and was about to leap forward whenChen slipped past him and struck out at Zhang's facewith his open hands. There appeared to be no forcebehind the blow, but they struck Zhang's ears with twosharp claps. Surprised and angry, Zhang retreated.
　　The heroes were perplexed by the effortless way inwhich Chen had managed to box Zhang's ears.
　　"Fourteenth Brother," Chen said to Yu. "Play me a tuneon your flute.""What do you want me to play?" he asked, putting theflute to his lips.
　　Chen hesitated for a moment. "The tune 'Ambush FromAll Sides'," he replied.
　　Yu did not understand what he was getting at, buthaving received an order from the Great Helmsman, hecomplied immediately and began to play with all theskill he could muster. The tune was a martial piecewritten originally for the bamboo flute. Played on thegolden flute, it sounded even more stentorian, raisingthe image of armoured troops on the march.
　　Chen set himself in a pose facing Zhang. "Come on," heinvited, then turned and kicked out into the thin airas if dancing. Seeing his back undefended, Zhangthrust his sword at him, and the heroes gasped infright. But Chen suddenly turned again, grabbedZhang's queue with his left hand and pulled it overthe edge of the sword, slicing it in two. With hisright hand, he gave Zhang's shoulder a sharp blow.
　　Zhang had now been struck three times, and although hehad not yet been badly hurt, he was obviously baffledby Chen's kung fu style and had had to suffer theshame of having his queue cut off. But he was a masterof self-control and he carefully retreated severalsteps, staring fixedly at his enemy.
　　Chen moved forward slowly, his feet following therhythm of the tune Yu was playing.
　　"Look!" Huo Qingtong said to her sister excitedly.
　　"It's the kung fu style he learned in the cave."The two whirled round each other. Zhang kept his swordstrictly on the defensive, striking out only when Chengot too close.
　　"Master Yuan, I have never had so much respect for youas I do today," Bald Vulture said. "Your pupil isdoing you proud."Master Yuan was greatly perplexed: he was probably thebest martial arts fighter in the land and yet he hadnever seen anything remotely like the kung fu styleChen was using. "I didn't teach him this," he replied.
　　"I wouldn't know how to."Yu played his flute even more furiously. At first,Chen had felt unfamiliar with the new kung fu style,but by now he was using it smoothly, advancing andretreating with great precision until Zhang's clotheswere covered in the sweat of fear. The melody hit ahigh note, then fell like a shooting star exploding,and Zhang gave a cry as Chen touched the Yuedao pointon his right wrist, forcing him to drop the sword.
　　Chen followed quickly with two blows to Zhang's back,then jumped away, laughing. Zhang stumbled forward afew steps, as if drunk, and collapsed on the ground.
　　Jubilant, the heroes rushed forward to tied him up.
　　Zhang, his face deathly white, made no attempt toresist.
　　"Master Yuan, Master Lu," Chen said. "What should wedo with this traitor?""Feed him to the wolves," Yu interjected. "First hekilled my teacher and now he, now he ..." He lookeddown at Yuanzhi's broken arm.
　　"Good idea! We'll take him to feed the wolves," saidYuan. "We have to go and see how the pack is doinganyway."Lu carefully set Yuanzhi's broken arm and bound ittightly with cloth. Master Yuan slipped a Snow Ginsengpill into her mouth and felt her pulse.
　　"Don't worry," he said to Yu. "She won't die.""Put your arms round her, and she'll get better muchquicker," Luo Bing whispered to him with a smile.
　　Huo Qingtong, meanwhile, was examining her map again,looking for a path from the Jade Pool out to theSecret City, when she heard shouts and turned to seeGu running crazily towards her screaming: "Kill me!
　　Kill me!" Shocked and angry, she raised her sword andran it through his chest. As she pulled the blade outagain, a stream of blood spattered her yellow robe andGu collapsed on the ground. Hahetai knelt over him andtried to stop the blood flow, but it was impossible.
　　Gu gasped in pain.
　　"Do you have any affairs that need settling, Brother?"Hahetai asked him.
　　"I just want to touch her hand, then I can die happy,"Gu whispered, looking up at Huo Qingtong.
　　"Mistress!" Hahetai pleaded. "He's about to die. Takepity...." Huo Qingtong turned without a word, andwalked away, her face deathly pale. Gu gave a longsigh, and his head fell to one side, dead.
　　Holding back his tears, Hahetai jumped up and pointedhis finger accusingly at Huo Qingtong.
　　"You're merciless!" he shouted. "I don't blame you forkilling him, but you could at least have given himyour hand to touch, so that he could die peacefully.
　　What difference would it have made to you?""Nonsense! Shut your mouth!" Zhang Jin said angrily.
　　Hahetai made no reply. He picked up Gu's body andstrode away. Yu led over a horse for him.
　　"Brother Hahetai," he said. "I respect you for beingan upright man. Please take this horse."Hahetai nodded and slung Gu's body over the horse'sback. Yu filled a bowl with water and drank half ofit, then presented it to the Mongol.
　　"This water can take the place of wine," he said.
　　Hahetai threw back his head and drained the bowl atone draught, then rode away without looking back.
Chapter 50
The heroes started out for the wolf stockade in highspirits, singing and laughing as they went. MasterYuan questioned Chen about the origin of the strangekung fu style he had used, and Chen gave him adetailed account of his discovery.
　　"What an extraordinary coincidence," Yuan said indelight. "One could never make such a find bypurposely looking for it."After several days travel, they arrived at thestockade and climbed up on to the parapet to lookinside. The wolf pack had long since eaten the herd ofanimals and were now fighting over the carcases oftheir dead comrades, barking and snapping at eachother. The scene was cruelly tragic and even thehardened heroes were shocked. Princess Fragrance couldnot bear the sight, and went back down to talk withthe Muslim guards.
　　Yu pulled Zhang to the edge of the wall, and began tomumble a prayer: "Oh, spirit of my benevolent teacher,we have today avenged your death." He reached over andtook the knife Xu was holding, cut the rope bindingZhang's hands and feet and kicked him off the edge.
　　Zhang had been seriously injured by Chen's last twoblows, but his Inner Strength Kung Fu was profound,and he had basically recovered by the time theyreached the stockade. As he fell towards the floor ofthe stockade, he knew he had no chance of survival,but he still had to fight one last time. The wolvesthrew themselves at him just before he hit the ground.
　　He grabbed two of the beasts by their necks andwhirled them round and round, forcing the others toback off and slowly made his way to the stockade wall.
　　They knew he would die. Despite their hatred for him,Chen, Luo Bing and the others with weaker stomachscould not bear to watch to the end and walked backdown from the parapet.
　　That evening, after they had set up camp, Chen toldMaster Yuan about his meetings with the Emperor QianLong. Yuan was amazed by the twists and turns in thestory, and when it was finished, he pulled a small,yellow cloth bundle from his bag.
　　"Last spring," he said, handing the bag to Chen, "yourfoster father, Great Helmsman Yu, sent the TwinKnights to see me and asked me to look after this,saying there were two important items inside. Theydidn't say what they were and I haven't opened the bagto see, but I imagine they must be the evidence theEmperor wants."Chen opened the bag and and found a small parceltightly wrapped in three layers of water-proof oilpaper. Inside was a tiny box made of redwood. Heopened the lid, revealing two plain envelopes yellowedwith age. Inside the first envelope was a sheet ofpaper on which was written: "Master Chen, send someoneover with your newborn son for me to see. Yong Di."Master Yuan read it, but could not grasp it'ssignificance. "What does it mean?" he asked. "Whywould your foster father have considered this note tobe so important?""It's written by the Emperor Yong Zheng," Chenreplied.
　　"How do you know?""There were many examples of the Emperor's calligraphyaround our home when I was young, so I recognise iteasily. But this note was obviously written before hebecame Emperor. Yong Di was the name he used before heascended the throne. Also, after he became Emperor, hewould not have referred to my father as 'Master'."Yuan nodded.
　　Chen counted off the months and years on his fingers.
　　"I was born after Yong Zheng became Emperor, and sowas my brother. My sister was born at about that time,but this letter says: 'Your newborn son'. This isexcellent evidence!"He opened the second envelope and took out a letter.
　　As soon as he saw the writing, tears sprang to hiseyes.
　　"What is it?" Yuan asked.
　　"This is my mother's writing," he replied. He wipedaway his tears and began to read the letter:
　　"Dear Brother Yu, our fate has run its course. Whatmore is there to say of my ill-fated life? All I amconcerned about now is the troubles I have broughtupon you. You are a brave and upright man, but becauseof me, you have been rejected even by your own martialschool. Of my three sons, one is in the depths of theImperial Palace, one has gone off into the desert, andthe one who is left to keep me company is both stupidand wicked. It makes me very sad. My youngest son isvery intelligent and has been put under the care of anexcellent teacher. I love and miss him, but I am notworried about him.
　　"My eldest son is playing the role of Manchu Emperorand knows nothing of his origins. Brother Yu, can youenlighten him for me? To prove it, tell him he has abright red birthmark on his left buttock, and he willhave to believe you.
　　"My strength is gradually failing. Day and night, allI think and dream of is the times we had together whenwe were young. If Heaven has pity on us, we will meetafter death and spend the rest of eternity together asman and wife. (signed) Sister Chaosheng."Chen was deeply shocked as he read the letter.
　　"Teacher," he said, his voice quavering. "Is the ...
　　the 'Brother Yu' in the letter my foster father?""Who else?" Master Yuan replied sombrely. "He and yourmother fell in love when they were young, but thingsdid not go as they wished, and they were separated. Asa result, he never married.""Why did my mother want me to go and live with him andtreat him as my real father? Could it be....?""I was Master Yu's closest friend, but I only knowthat he broke the regulations of the Shaolin Schooland was expelled. He would never raise such ahumiliating matter himself and it was difficult forothers to ask him about it. But he was a good man, andI'm certain he would not have done anything to beashamed of." He slapped his thigh. "When he wasexpelled, I felt sure he had been falsely accused andI got together some fighters with the idea of going toShaolin monastery and demanding an explanation. Itnearly created a serious split in the fightingcommunity. But your foster father disagreedstrenuously, insisting that the expulsion was his ownfault and all he deserved. In the end, I did nothing.
　　But I still don't believe he would have done anythingshameful. I don't know what it could have been." Hislingering anger was still apparent. "After he wasexpelled from the Shaolin school, he went and lived asa hermit for several years. Later he founded the RedFlower Society.""But why did my foster father and my mother want me toleave home? Do you know?""What face did I have left when he stopped me fromforcing the Shaolin School to explain?" Yuan repliedangrily. "I refused to have anything to do with himafter that. He sent you to me, and I taught you themartial arts, so I don't owe him anything."Chen knew there was no point in questioning himfurther. But the key to restoring the throne to theChinese race lay with his elder brother's origins.
　　Even the slightest error, and all their efforts couldbe rendered useless. So he decided to first go to theShaolin Monastery. He told Yuan of his plan.
　　"Good idea," the old man replied. "But the monks thereare a strange lot. I'm afraid they won't tell youanything.""We'll see," said Chen.
　　Yuan looked at his pupil thoughtfully. "Both of thoseMuslim girls are very nice. Which one do you want?" heasked.
　　"The famous Han dynasty general Huo Qubing said: 'Howcan I think of marriage until the barbarians aredefeated?' I feel the same way," Chen replied.
　　Yuan nodded. "That's very commendable. I will speak tothe Twin Eagles so they won't accuse me again of beinga bad teacher.""Have they said something about me?""They accused you of fickleness, of shoving aside onesister for the other."Chen remembered how he and Princess Fragrance had metthe Twin Eagles in the desert, and how they haddeparted without saying farewell, leaving theirmessage in the sand. With a shock, he realised whatthey had meant.
　　The next day, Chen informed the heroes of his decisionto go to the Shaolin Monastery in Fujian Province andbade farewell to Master Yuan, the Twin Eagles, HuoQingtong and her sister.
　　Princess Fragrance wanted to go with him, and Chenfelt very bad about leaving her behind. He had no ideaof when they would meet again, but with Heaven's help,the great task of driving the Manchus out of Chinawould one day succeed and they would be re-united. Ifit did not succeed, he and his brothers would probablydie and be buried far from the Muslim areas.
　　"You stay with your sister," Chen said, hardening hisheart.
　　"You must come back!" Princess Fragrance cried, tearscoursing down her face. He nodded. "If it takes tenyears for you to come back, I'll wait ten years. If ittakes a lifetime, I'll wait a lifetime."Chen wanted to give her something. He felt around inhis bag and his hand touched on something warm: thepiece of Warm Jade the Emperor had given him inHaining. He took it out and placed it in her hand.
　　"When you look at this jade, pretend you are lookingat me," he said softly.
　　"But I must see you," she replied tearfully.
　　"What's all this crying about?" he said. "When theGreat Task is completed, I will take you to see theGreat Wall outside Beijing. I promise."Princess Fragrance stared at him for a moment, thenthe trace of a smile appeared on her face. "You're notallowed to say anything you don't mean," she said.
　　"When have I lied to you?"Only then did she agree to stay behind.
　　They started out. As they rode away, Chen foundhimself constantly looking back at the two sisters asthey faded and gradually disappeared on the horizon ofthe desert.
　　The heroes travelled slowly due to Yuanzhi's injuries.
　　With his master's death avenged, Yu was in highspirits and looked after the girl with loving care andattention.
　　After several days, they arrived back at Afanti'shome. Zhou Qi was delighted to hear Zhang was dead.
　　Chen wanted Xu to stay with her in the Muslim areasuntil the child was born and she had recovered, butZhou Qi would have none of it. Apart from the boredom,she did not want to miss a chance to travel to theShaolin Monastery, where her father was staying. Theheroes finally agreed, and Xu rented a carriage forhis wife and Yuanzhi to ride in.
　　By the time they re-entered the Jade Gate to centralChina, the weather was growing warmer and thebeginnings of spring were apparent.
Chapter 51
The day they crossed the provincial border intoFujian, the hills were covered in flowers and dancingbutterflies. Chen thought of Princess Fragrance andhow she would have loved such a scene.
　　They were met at the Shaolin Monastery by Lord Zhou,who had come south to Fujian with his wife andservants to meet the Monastery's abbot, HeavenlyRainbow. With Zhou's great name in the fightingcommunity, the Shaolin priests were happy to exchangeknowledge with him. Heavenly Rainbow insisted that hestay in the temple, and by the time the Red FlowerSociety heroes arrived, several months had slipped by.
　　The abbot led his assistants, Great Insanity, HeavenlyMirror, Great Hardship and Great Idiocy into the greathall to meet the visitors. After they had introducedeach other, the abbot led them to a quiet antechamberwhen tea was served. He asked the reason for theirvisit.
　　Chen knelt down before the abbot, tears glistening inhis eyes. Greatly surprised, Heavenly Rainbow movedquickly to help him up.
　　"Great Helmsman," he said. "What need is there forsuch formality? Please say whatever you wish.""I have an embarrassing request to make that accordingto the rules of the fighting community should not evenbe uttered," Chen replied. "But, Venerable Sir, forthe sake of millions of souls, I boldly make thisappeal to you.""Please speak freely," the abbot said.
　　"The former Great Helmsman of the Red Flower Society,Master Yu Wanting was my foster father..." HeavenlyRainbow's expression changed immediately as he heardthe name, and he raised his white eyebrows.
　　Chen told him in detail about his relationship withthe Emperor Qian Long and about the plan to restorethe Chinese throne and overthrow the Manchus. Then heasked why his foster father had been expelled from theShaolin school and whether it had anything to do withQian Long's identity.
　　"Please, Venerable Sir," he concluded, his voicealmost choked with sobs. "Think of the commonpeople....."Heavenly Rainbow sat in silence, his long eyebrowstrailing over his closed eyes. He was in deepmeditation and no-one dared disturb him.
　　After a while, his eyes sprang open, and he said: "Forseveral hundred years, it has been the practice of theShaolin school not to reveal to outsiders informationon members who offend against the school'sregulations. Great Helmsman Chen, you have come agreat distance to our monastery to enquire into thebehaviour of our expelled pupil, Yu Wanting. Accordingto the monastery's rules, this would ordinarily be outof the question..." the faces of the heroes lit upwith delight. "...but as this affair involves the fateof the common people, I will make an exception. GreatHelmsman Chen, please send someone to the Upholdingthe Monastic Regulations Hall to collect the file."Chen bowed to the abbot in thanks, and another monkled the heroes to guest rooms to rest.
　　Chen was congratulating himself on his success when hesaw Lord Zhou looking worried. "What's wrong?" heasked.
　　"The abbot asked you to send someone to the Hall tocollect the file. But to get there, it is necessary topass through five other halls, each guarded by a kungfu master and each one stronger than the last. It willbe difficult to make it through all five," Zhoureplied.
　　"We could try and force our way through together," Wensuggested.
　　Zhou shook his head. "No, the problem is that oneperson has to win through all five halls alone. Ifanyone helped him, the monks would come to theassistance of the guardians of the halls and it wouldturn into a brawl. That wouldn't do at all.""This is an affair involving my family," Chen saidquietly. "Perhaps Buddha will be merciful and let methrough."He took off his long gown, picked up a bag of his'chess piece' projectiles, tucked the ancient daggerinto his belt, and let Zhou lead him to the firsthall.
　　As they reached the hall entrance, Zhou stopped.
　　"Master Chen," he whispered. "If you can't make it,please come back and we'll think of some other way.
　　Whatever you do, don't try and force your way throughor you may get hurt." Chen nodded.
　　"Everything is arranged!" Zhou shouted, and thenstepped to one side.
　　Chen pushed open the door and walked inside. Under thebright candle-light, he saw a monk seated on a mat,and recognised him as one of the abbot's chiefassistants, Great Hardship.
　　The monk stood up and smiled. "So you have comeyourself, Great Helmsman Chen. That is excellent. Iwould like to ask you to instruct me in a few martialarts moves."Chen saluted him with his fists. "Please," he replied.
　　Great Hardship bunched his left hand into a fist andswung it round in a great arc while his right palmswept up. Chen recognised it as the 'Drunken Boxing'
　　style kung fu. He had once studied the style, butdecided not to reveal the fact by using it now. Heclapped his hands together and countered with the'Hundred Flowers' kung fu style. Great Hardship wastaken off guard and only avoided being struck bydropping to the floor. He rolled away and stood up,and the two continued to fight closely, each a masterof his own style.
　　Great Hardship aimed a blow at Chen's legs. Chen leaptup, and as he landed, hooked his right leg round,tripping the monk up neatly. As fast as lightning,Chen bent over and stopped him from falling. GreatHardship's face flushed red with embarrassment and hepointed behind him.
　　"Please proceed," he said.
　　Chen saluted once more and walked through into anotherhall, seated in the middle of which was the seniormonk, Great Insanity. As Chen entered, the monk roseand picked up a thick staff lying beside him. Hecasually tapped the floor with its tip, and the impactshook the very walls of the hall, bringing a shower ofdust down from the rafters. The monk lightly flippedthe staff from left hand to right, then attacked usingthe 'Crazy Demon' staff style of kung fu. Chen knew itwould be folly to underestimate the power of thisopponent, and he drew his dagger. Great Insanity sweptthe staff across and Chen ducked down to avoid it thencountered with a thrust from his dagger. The twofought round and round inside the hall, their weaponsapparently greatly mis-matched.
　　Rather than attack, Chen concentrated instead ontrying to tire the monk out. But Great Insanity'sInner Strength Kung Fu was profound, and as timepassed, Chen could discern no hesitation in the monk'sactions. On the contrary, the staff seemed to whirland dance with ever-increasing speed, forcing Chenback into a corner of the hall. Seeing Chen could notescape, Great Insanity grasped the staff in both handsand swung it down at his head with all his strength.
　　Chen stood stock-still until the staff was no morethan two inches from him, then grabbed its end andcarved a deep line across the middle with his dagger,snapping it in two.
　　Great Insanity was furious, and charged at Chen again.
　　But with the staff only half its former length, hewielded it with much less dexterity. A moment later,Chen snapped another piece off the end, then dodgedpassed the monk and ran towards the rear of the hall.
　　With a roar of anger, Great Insanity threw what wasleft of his staff to the floor and sparks flew in alldirections.
　　As he entered the third hall, Chen's eyes were struckby a bright glare, and he saw both sides of the hallwere full of burning candles, several hundred of themat least. In the centre, stood the monk Great Idiocy.
　　"Master Chen," he said, a welcoming smile on his face.
　　"Let us compete using projectiles."Chen bowed. "As your Reverence wishes," he replied.
　　"There are nine candles and eighty-one incense stickson each side of the hall. Whoever can extinguish allthe candles and incense sticks on his opponent's sideis the winner." The monk pointed to the altar table inthe centre of the hall. "You will find darts andprojectiles of all kinds over there. When you haveused up all the ones you have, you can go and getmore."Chen pulled a pile of chess pieces from his pocket andwished he had spent more time in the past learning thefiner points of dart kung fu from the Red FlowerSociety's dart expert, 'Buddha' Zhao. "After you," hesaid.
　　Great Idiocy smiled again. "Guests first," he replied.
　　Selecting five chess pieces, Chen threw themsimultaneously at the foot of the opposite wall andextinguished five incense sticks.
　　"Excellent kung fu," Great Idiocy praised him. He tooka string of prayer beads from around his neck, snappedthe chord and let five of the beads fall into hispalm. With one movement, he slung them away, snuffingout five incense sticks on Chen's side.
　　Chen quickly extinguished another five sticks ofincense. Great Idiocy replied by knocking out all ninecandles on Chen's side, and in the darkness, theburning tips of the incense sticks became much easiertargets for the monk.
　　"Of course, why didn't I think of that?" Chen thought.
　　He chose nine chess pieces and threw them three at atime at the candles on the monk's side of the hall.
　　But the flames were untouched. He had heard a seriesof clicks coming from the centre of the hall and herealised that Great Idiocy had knocked each of hisnine projectiles down with his prayer beads. As Chengaped in surprise at such skill, the monk extinguishedanother four incense sticks. Chen waited for the monkto throw another wave of prayer beads, and then aimedchess pieces to intercept them. But with the candleson the opposite side still burning he found itdifficult to spot the small beads clearly and onlymanaged to hit two of the five. The other three struckhome.
　　Great Idiocy, already nine candles and two incensesticks ahead, concentrated on protecting his owncandles, while extinguishing more of Chen's incensesticks whenever the opportunity arose. In a shortwhile, he had snuffed out another fourteen, whileChen, putting his all into the task, only managed toextinguish two of the candles. Suddenly, he rememberedone of 'Buddha' Zhao's tricks and threw three chesspieces at the side wall with great force. Theyricocheted off and two of them struck their targets.
　　Great Idiocy, who had thought the throw was a show ofchildish petulance on Chen's part, let out a cry ofsurprise.
　　Chen continued in this way, bouncing chess pieces offthe wall. Great Idiocy had no way of protecting thecandles, but he was already several dozen incensesticks ahead, and without taking any further notice ofhis opponent, he redoubled his efforts to knock outthe rest. As the last of the monk's candles went out,the hall was plunged into darkness. Chen counted sevenincense sticks left on the monks side while his ownwas still a mass of red dots, perhaps thirty or forty.
　　Just as he was coming to the conclusion that he hadlost, he heard Great Idiocy shout: "Master Chen, I'veused up all my projectiles. Let us stop for a momentand get more from the altar table."Chen felt in his bag and found he only had five or sixchess pieces left.
　　"You go first," the monk added. Chen walked over tothe altar table and with a flash of inspiration,stretched out his arm and swept all of the projectilesinto his bag. He jumped back to his place and GreatIdiocy ran over to find the table top was empty. Chenthrew a shower of projectiles at the remaining fieryspots, and in a moment had extinguished them all.
　　Great Idiocy let out a hearty laugh. "I have to handit to you, Master Chen," he said. "That was more of abattle of wits than a trial of strength. You win.
　　Please continue.""I apologise," Chen replied. "I had already lost, andonly used such a trick because of the importance ofthe matter. Please forgive me.""The masters guarding the next two halls are mymartial uncles. Their kung fu is very good. You mustbe careful."Chen thanked him and went on to the next hall. Thishall was also brightly lit with candles, but it wasmuch smaller than the previous three. Two rattan matslay on the floor in the centre of the hall, and thesenior monk Heavenly Mirror was seated on one of them.
　　As Chen entered, he monk stood up in greeting.
　　"Please sit down," he said, gesturing to the otherother mat. Chen wondered how he wanted to compete, buttook his seat in silence.
　　Heavenly Mirror was an extremely tall man and veryformidable to look at. Even seated on the mat, he wasnot much shorter than an ordinary person. His cheekswere two deep hollows, and there appeared to be noflesh on his body at all.
　　"You have passed through three halls, which is greatlyto your credit," he said. "But you are still junior tome, so I cannot compete with you on equal terms. Letus do it this way: if you can go ten moves with mewithout losing, I will let you go through."Chens bowed to him. "Thank you for your kindness, YourReverence."Heavenly Mirror grunted. "Now parry this!"Chen felt a force striking towards his chest andraised his hands to counter it. Their palms met andChen was forced to make use of his full strength tokeep from falling backwards. The shock of the impactcaused a dull ache to grow in his left arm.
　　"Now the second move!" Heavenly Mirror called. Chendid not dare to counter his hand directly again. Heleant to one side, then hit out at the monk's elbow.
　　Heavenly Mirror should have responded by withdrawinghis arm, but instead he swept it across in attack, andChen only just managed to parry it. A bell close tothe hall began to chime, and as it resounded, Chen hadan idea. He switched to the kung fu style he hadlearned in the White Jade Peak, synchronising hismovements to the sound of the bell. Heavenly Mirrorgasped in surprise and fought back carefully.
　　When the bell ceased, Chen withdrew his hands. "Icannot continue," he said.
　　"All right. We have already exchanged more than fortymoves. Your kung fu is very good. Please pass."Chen stood up, and was about to walk off when hesuddenly swayed and stumbled and hurriedly leantagainst the wall for support. Heavenly Mirror helpedhim to sit down again.
　　"Rest here for a moment and catch your breath," hesaid. "It won't affect matters."Chen close his eyes and did as the monk said.
　　"Where did you learn that style of kung fu?" HeavenlyMirror asked. Chen told him.
　　"I never guessed that the standard of kung fu would beso high in the western border regions. If you had usedthat style from the start you would not have hurt yourarm.""Seeing as I am hurt, I am sure I will not be able tomake it through the last hall," Chen said. "What doesYour Reverence suggest I do?""If you can't make it through, turn back."Chen's martial training made it impossible for him toaccept defeat so easily. He stood up and bowed toHeavenly Mirror, then strode bravely towards the lasthall.
　　He was surprised to find it was in fact only a tinyroom in the centre of which sat the abbot of theShaolin Monastery, Heavenly Rainbow. Chen wondered howhe could possibly overcome the best kung fu fighter inthe Shaolin Monastery if his junior, Heavenly Mirror,was already so formidable.
　　The abbot bowed. "Please be seated," he said. A steadystream of sandlewood-scented smoke rose from a smallincense stove on a table between them. On the wallopposite Chen, was a painting of two monks which,although executed with only a few brush-strokes, wasfull of vitality.
　　Heavenly Rainbow meditated for a moment, then said:
　　"There was once a man who was very successful atgoat-herding. He became very rich, but he was bynature very miserly...."Hearing the abbot begin to tell a story, Chen wasgreatly puzzled, but he concentrated on what the oldman was saying: "An acquaintance of the goatherd knewhe was very stupid, and also that he badly wanted tofind a wife. So he cheated the goatherd, saying: 'Iknow a girl who is very beautiful. I can arrange forher to marry you.' The goatherd was delighted and gavehim a large amount of money. A year past, and the mansaid to him: 'Your wife has given birth to your son.'
　　The goatherd hadn't even seen the woman, but hearinghe had a son, he was even more pleased and gave theman another large sum of money. Later, the man came tohim again and said: 'Your son has died!' The goatherdcried uncontrollably, heart-broken in the extreme."Chen had a fairly good general education, and knew hewas quoting from the Hundred Parables Sutra of theMahayana school of Buddhism.
　　"In fact all worldly matters are like this," the abbotcontinued. "Power and riches are like the wife andchild of the goatherd: just fantasies. What is thepoint of wasting effort to obtain them when losingthem will only cause sorrow?""There was once a husband and wife who had threecakes," Chen replied. "They ate one cake each, butcould not decide who should eat the third. Finally,they agreed that whoever talked first would lose thechance to eat the cake."Hearing Chen relate another story from the HundredParables Sutra, Heavenly Rainbow nodded.
　　"The two stared at each other in silence. Soon after,a thief entered and ransacked the house for thecouple's valuables, but because of their agreement,the couple continued to stare at each other withoutsaying a word. Seeing them thus, the thief became evenmore bold and violated the wife in front of thehusband. The husband made no complaint at all aboutwhat was happening, but in the end, the wife couldstand it no longer and cried out. The thief grabbed upthe valuables and fled, while the husband clapped hishands and shouted triumphantly: 'You lose! The cake ismine!'"Heavenly Rainbow could not help but smile, even thoughhe knew the story well.
　　"He ignored great suffering for the sake of minorpersonal satisfaction, allowing the thief to steal hispossessions and violate his wife in order to satisfyhis appetite. According to Buddhist tenets, one shouldtry to help all living things and should not thinkonly of oneself."Heavenly Rainbow sighed, and quoted from the Buddhistscriptures: "There are no rules to regulate behaviour,there are no rules to which I am subject. Man is at astandstill until acted upon by a force. Those with nodesires, will not be troubled by dreams andfantasies.""Life for most people is full of hardship," Chenreplied. "The monk Zhi Daolin once said: 'Emperors arecruel and evil by nature. How can one stand idly by?'"The abbot could see Chen's determination to carry outhis duty and help ease the people's burden, and wasfull of respect for him.
　　"Your enthusiasm is commendable, Master Chen," hesaid. "I will set you one more question, and then youcan have your way."Chen bowed his head in acknowledgement.
　　"An old woman was once lying under a tree, resting.
　　Suddenly, a huge bear appeared wanting to eat her. Shejumped up and ran behind the tree to escape, and thebear stretched its paws round either side of the treeto grab her. Seizing the opportunity, the old womanpressed its paws down onto the tree trunk. As aresult, the bear could not move, but the old woman didnot dare to let go either. Some time later, a manpassed by and the old woman appealed to him for help,saying they could kill the bear together and share themeat. The man believed her and took her place holdingdown the bear's paws. The old woman then fled, leavingthe man in the same dilemma she had been in."Chen knew the moral of the story: "Never regrethelping others, even if you suffer yourself as aresult," he replied.
　　Heavenly Rainbow lifted the the long-haired duster hewas holding. "Please go through," he said.
　　Chen stood up and bowed before him. "Please forgive mefor trespassing on this sacred place," he said.
　　The abbot nodded. As he walked out of the room, Chenheard the old man sigh.
Chapter 52
He passed along a covered pathway and into yet anotherhall lit by two massive, flickering candles and filledwith row after row of wooden cabinets, each one markedwith a piece of yellowing paper stuck to the side. Hepicked up one of the candles and began his search.
　　Before long, he located the right cabinet. He openedits doors and found inside three parcels wrapped inyellow cloth. The parcel on the left was inscribed invermilion ink with his foster father's name: 'YuWanting'. Chen's hands shook slightly and severaldrops of candlewax splattered on the floor. Then, witha silent prayer, he opened the parcel.
　　Inside was a thick file of yellowing papers, a man'sembroidered waistcoat, and a woman's whiteundergarment which was badly ripped and speckled withblack spots that appeared to be blood stains. Chenopened the file and began reading from the beginning:
　　"I, Yu Wanting, a twenty-first generation pupil of theShaolin Monastery of Putian, Fujian Province, dohereby respectfully confess in full my misdemeanors.
　　"I was born into a peasant family and spent my youthin great poverty and hardship. I knew the girl XuChaosheng, who lived next door, from when we were veryyoung. As we grew, we came to love one another...."Chen's heart began to thump wildly. "Could it be myfoster father's misdemeanor had something to do withmy mother?" he wondered. He continued reading:
　　"We secretly agreed to remain faithful to each otherfor life, and would marry no-one else. After the deathof my father, there were several years of drought, andwith nothing in the fields to harvest, I went out intothe world to find a life for myself. Due to thecompassion of my benevolent master, I was taken in bythe monastery. The embroidered waistcoat enclosed wasgiven to me by the girl Xu when I left home.
　　"Before I had been fully initiated into the higherskills of the Shaolin martial arts school, I lefttemporarily to return to my home village. Because ofthe girl Xu's kindness, I was unable to abandonworldly emotions and went back to see her, but wasshocked to find that her father had married her intothe family of the local landlord, surnamed Chen. In astate of extreme anguish, I entered the Chen mansionone night to visit her. Using martial skills I hadlearned from the Shaolin School, I trespassed on theproperty of an ordinary citizen for personal reasons.
　　This was my first breach of discipline.
　　"The girl Xu moved with her husband to Beijing, andthree years later, having failed to renounce my lovefor her, I went to visit her again. As it happened,that very night, she gave birth to a son. I wasoutside the window and managed to catch a glimpse ofthe child. Four days later, I returned once more andfound the girl Xu looking very pale. She told me thather son had been taken away by the Princess Rong Zhangand replaced by a baby girl. Before we had a chance totalk further, four assassins entered, obviously sentby the Princess to kill the girl Xu. In the heat ofthe fight, I received a sword wound on my forehead,but killed all four assassins before passing out. Thegirl Xu bandaged my wound with the enclosedundergarment. Having heard a secret of the ImperialPalace and having been seen to use Shaolin kung fu, Irisked bringing great trouble upon the school. This ismy second breach of discipline.
　　"For the next ten years, although I was in Beijing, Idid not dare to go and see the girl Xu again, butsubmerged myself in learning kung fu. Finally theEmperor Yong Zheng died and Qian Long succeeded him tothe throne. I worked out the dates and realised thatQian Long was the son of the girl Xu. Knowing howcold-blooded Yong Zheng was and afraid that he mighthave left orders to have her killed to silence her, Ientered the Chen mansion again. One night, twoassassins did indeed come. I killed them both andfound Yong Zheng's written order on one of them. Ienclose the document."Chen flipped through the rest of the pile and found atthe end a note on which was written: "If, when I die,Chen Shiguan and his wife are still alive, they mustbe speedily killed." It was unmistakably thecalligraphy of the Emperor Yong Zheng. Chen guessedYong Zheng must have known his parents would not dareto breathe a word while he was alive, but thought theymight try to make use of the information after hisdeath. He continued reading.
　　"Qian Long apparently knew nothing of the matter, forno more assassins were sent. But I could not resteasy, so I dressed as a commoner and obtainedemployment in the Chen mansion, chopping firewood andcarrying water. This I did for five years. Only when Iwas certain there would be no further repurcussionsdid I leave. I acted with great recklessness, and if Ihad been discovered, it would have caused greatembarrassment to the Shaolin School, and have damagedthe school's honour. This is my third breach ofdiscipline."Now Chen understood why his mother had wanted him togo with Yu, and why Yu had died of a broken heartafter the death of his mother. He thought of Yuworking for five years as a lowly servant in his ownhousehold to protect his mother, truly an expressionof deep love and an overwhelming sense of duty. Hewondered which one of the dozens of servants aroundthe house when he was young was Yu.
　　After a while, he wiped his eyes and read on: "I amguilty of three serious breaches of discipline. Fullof fear, I hereby present the full facts to mybenevolent master and plead for leniency."Yu's submission ended at that point and was followedby two lines of vermillion characters which said: "YuWanting has committed three misdemeanors. If he istruly willing to reform and follow the teachings ofthe Buddha, why should we not forgive him since theBuddha was willing to forgive the Ten Sins? But if hehankers after worldly passions and refuses to use hisintelligence to break the bonds of emotion, then heshould be immediately expelled. It is up to him."So his foster father was expelled from the ShaolinSchool because he could not give up my mother, Chenthought.
　　He looked up and saw the stars on the western horizonwere beginning to fade while in the east, day hadalready arrived. He blew out the candles, wrapped thethings up in the yellow cloth and picked up theparcel. He closed the cabinet doors and slowly walkedback out to the courtyard where he found a statue of alaughing Buddha gazing down him. He wondered what hisfoster father must have felt, being confronted withthis Buddha as he left the courtyard after beingexpelled. He walked back through the five halls, allof them deserted.
　　As he passed through the last doorway, Lord Zhou andthe Red Flower Society heroes came forward to greethim. They had waited anxiously for half the night andwere delighted to see him returning safely. But as hecame closer, they saw his weary look, and his red,swollen eyes. Chen gave them a brief account of whathad happened, omitting only the relationship betweenhis foster father and his mother.
　　"Our business here is finished," he said. The othersnodded.
　　Lord Zhou accompanied Chen back inside to bid farewellto the abbot, then the heroes collected theirbelonging and started on the way.
　　Just as they were leaving the monastery, Zhou Qi wentpale and almost fainted. Her father quickly helped herback inside to rest, and the monastery's physicianannounced after examining her that she was in nocondition to travel and would have to rest at themonastery to await the birth. Zhou Qi could only smilebitterly and nod in agreement.
　　The others discussed the situation and decided thatLord Zhou and Xu should stay to look after Zhou Qi,and join them in Beijing after the birth of the child.
　　Zhou rented a number of peasant huts a couple of mileswest of the monastery for them to live in, and Chenand the other heroes started off north.
Chapter 53
When they arrived in the town of Tai'an in Shandongprovince, they were met by the local Red FlowerSociety Helmsman who informed them that 'MelancholyGhost' Shi had also just arrived from Beijing. Theheroes were delighted and went to see him. Xin Yan ranon ahead and shouted "Twelfth Brother! The traitor'sdead!" Shi looked at him blankly. "Zhang Zhaozhong!"Xin Yan shouted.
　　Shi's face lit up. "Zhang is dead?""Yes, he was eaten up by wolves."Shi bowed before Chen and the others.
　　"Twelfth Brother," said Chen. "Have your wounds fullyrecovered?""Thank you for your concern, Great Helmsman,completely recovered. You and the others have had along, hard journey.""Is there any news from the capital?"Shi's expression turned grim. "None from the capital.
　　But I have hurried here to report that MasterMuzhuolun's entire army has been destroyed.""What?" Chen's face went white and he stood up.
　　"When we left the Muslim regions, General Zhao Wei andthe remains of his army was competely surrounded," LuoBing said. "How could the Manchus score anothervictory?"Shi sighed. "Reinforcements suddenly arrived from thesouth. From what the Muslims who managed to flee say,Master Muzhuolun and his son fought to the death.
　　Mistress Huo Qingtong was ill at the time of theattack and was unable to direct the defence. No-oneknows what happened to her."Chen slumped down into his chair.
　　"Mistress Huo Qingtong has an excellent command ofkung fu," Lu Feiqing said. "She would not come to harmat the hands of the Manchu troops."They all knew he was just trying to ease Chen'sanxiety. It was difficult to see how a sick girl couldprotect herself in the confusion of battle.
　　"Huo Qingtong has a sister," Luo Bing said. "TheMuslims call her Princess Fragrance. Did you hear anynews of her?""Nothing at all," Shi replied. "But she is awell-known person. If anything had happened to her,there would be bound to be reports circulating in thecapital. I heard nothing, so I presume she is allright."Chen was embarrassed by their elaborate concern forhis feelings. "I will go inside and rest for a while,"he said, and walked to his room.
　　"Go and look after him," Luo Bing whispered to XinYan. The boy ran after his master.
　　After a short while, Chen thrust aside the curtain tohis room and strode out again. "We must eat quickly,and get to Beijing as quickly as possible," he said.
　　A new note of determination in his voice surprised theheroes. Wen raised his thumb in agreement and dug intohis food with increased gusto.
　　As they travelled on, Chen forced himself to smile andchat with the others, but his features became morehaggard as the days went by. Before too long, theyarrived in Beijing. Shi had rented a large residencein Twin Willows Lane. Priest Wu Chen, the TwinKnights, 'Buddha' Zhao and 'Pagoda' Yang were therewaiting for them.
　　"Third Brother," Chen said to 'Buddha' Zhao. "Pleasego with Xin Yan to see the Emperor's chief bodyguard,Bai Zhen. Take the lute that the Emperor presented tome and the jade vase that Luo Bing stole and give themto him to pass on to the Emperor, to let him know thatwe are here."Zhao and Xin Yan left and returned several hourslater.
　　"We went to Bai Zhen's home to look for him and hehappened to be at home," Xin Yan reported. "We gaveZhao's name card to one of his servants, and he rushedout to greet us. He dragged us inside and insisted onus drinking several cups of wine before letting us go.
　　Extremely friendly."Chen nodded.
　　Early the next morning, Bai Zhen paid them a visit. Hechatted with 'Buddha' Zhao for a while about theweather, then asked respectfully if he could see Chen.
　　"The Emperor has ordered me to take you to thePalace," he whispered to Chen when he appeared.
　　"Good," replied Chen. "Please wait here for a moment."He went back inside to discuss things with the others.
　　They all thought he should take strict precautions.
　　Several of the heroes accompanied him into theForbidden City, while Wen and the rest stationedthemselves outside the palace walls to await theirreturn.
　　With Bai Zhen leading the way, Chen and the otherswalked through the palace gates, passed guards whorespectfully bowed to them. They were overawed by theimposing atmosphere of the palace: its thick, sturdywalls, the heavy defences. They had walked for a goodwhile when two eunuchs ran up to Bai Zhen.
　　"Master Bai," said one. "The Emperor is in thePrecious Moon Pavilion, and orders you to take MasterChen there to see him."Bai nodded, and turned to Chen. "We are now enteringthe forbidden area of the palace. Please ask everyoneto leave their weapons here." Despite their uneasinessat this, the heroes had no alternative and did as hesaid, placing their swords on a nearby table.
　　Bai led them through halls and across courtyards andstopped in front of a large, richly-decoratedpavilion.
　　"Announcing Chen Jialuo!" he called out. Chenstraightened his cap and gown and followed the oldeunuch into the pavilion while Priest Wu Chen and theothers were forced to remain outside.
　　They climbed up the stairs to the fifth floor, andentered a room in which they found Qian Long, seatedand smiling. Chen knelt down and kowtowed before himrespectfully.
　　"You've come," said Qian Long. "Excellent. Please beseated." With a wave of his hand he dismissed theeunuchs. Chen remained standing where he was.
　　"Sit down and let us talk," Qian Long repeated. Onlythen did Chen thank him and take a seat.
　　"What do you think of this pavilion?" the Emperorasked.
　　"Where else would one find such a building but in theImperial Palace?""I told them to build it quickly. From start tofinish, it took less than two months. If there hadbeen more time, it would have been even more elegant.
　　But it will do as it is.""Yes," replied Chen. He wondered how many workers andcraftsmen had died of exhaustion during theconstruction.
　　Qian Long stood up. "You have just returned from theMuslim areas. Come and look. Does this look like adesert scene?" Chen followed him to a window, and ashe looked out, started in surprise.
　　To the right, was a classic Imperial Chinese garden,filled with purples and reds and twisting paths, asumptuous scene. But looking left, towards the west,the view was entirely different. For about a third ofa mile, the ground was covered in yellows and,arranged into small sand dunes. Looking closely, Chensaw the signs of pavilions having been knocked down,water pools filled in and trees and bushes uprooted.
　　The scene naturally lacked the majesty of the endlessdesert, but it was a good likeness.
　　"Does your highness like desert views?" he asked.
　　Qian Long smiled. "What do you think of it?""A lot of work has been put into it," Chen replied.
　　There were a number of Muslim tents staked on the sandwith three camels tied up nearby and with a suddenheartache, he thought of Princess Fragrance and hersister. Looking beyond, he saw several hundred workersdemolishing several more buildings: the Emperor hadobviously decided he wanted a bigger desert.
　　Chen wondered why on earth Qian Long would have had apiece of dry, desolate desert constructed in thepalace grounds. Incongruously placed in the middle ofsuch a lush Chinese garden, it looked simplyludicrous.
　　Qian long walked away from the window and pointed tothe antique lute he had given Chen, now lying on asmall table.
　　"Why don't you play me a tune?" he said.
　　Chen could see the Emperor did not wish to discuss theimportant business at hand, and he could not raise ithimself, so he sat down and began to pluck thestrings. As he played, something caught his eye, andhe looked up to find the jade vases decorated withPrincess Fragrance's image smiling at him across theroom. With a twang, one of the strings broke.
　　"What's the matter?" Qian Long asked. He smiled. "Doyou find yourself a little afraid, here in thepalace?"Chen stood up and replied respectfully: "Your humbleservant has disgraced himself in front of yourCelestial Majesty."Qian Long laughed., greatly pleased by this. Chenlowered his head and noticed Qian Long's left hand wasbound with a white cloth as if it was wounded. QianLong's face flushed red and he hurriedly put the handbehind his back.
　　"Did you bring the things I wanted?" he asked.
　　"They are with my friends downstairs," Chen replied.
　　Qian Long picked up a small hammer and rapped thetable with it twice and a young eunuch ran in. "Tellthe gentlemen accompanying Master Chen to come up," heordered, and the eunuch returned a moment later withthe six heroes.
　　Chen stood up and shot them a glance and they had nooption but to kneel down and kowtow before Qian Long.
　　"You stinking emperor!" Priest Wu Chen thought as hedid so. "We almost scared you out of your wits thatday in the pagoda in Hangzhou, but you're still justas damned arrogant. If it wasn't for the GreatHelmsman, I would kill you this instant."Chen took a small, sealed wooden box from 'Buddha'
　　Zhao and placed it on the table. "They are in here,"he said.
　　"Good. That will be all," Qian Long replied. "When Ihave looked at them I will send for you." Chenkowtowed again. "And take the lute with you," headded.
　　Chen picked up the lute and handed it to 'Leopard'
　　Wei. "Since Your Highness has already subdued theMuslim areas, your servant pleads with you to bemerciful and to order that there be no indiscriminatekillings there," he said.
　　Qian Long did not answer, but simply waving them awaywith his hand. Bai Zhen led them to the palace gatewhere Wen and the others were waiting.
Chapter 54
When Chen had gone, Qian Long dismissed the eunuchsand opened the small box. He read the Emperor YongZheng's note and the letter written by his naturalmother, which said correctly that he had a redbirthmark on his left buttock. He sighed. There couldno longer be any doubt about his true origins. Heordered a eunuch to bring him a brazier and threw thedocuments one by one into the fire. As the flamesleapt up, he began to feel more at ease, and on animpulse, threw the small wooden box into the flames aswell, filling the room with heat and smoke.
　　He stared for a moment at the jade vases on the table,then said to the eunuch: "Send her up." The eunuchdisappeared, and returned on his knees to report:
　　"Your slave deserves to die. The lady refuses tocome."Qian Long laughed shortly and glanced at the jadevases again. Then he stood up and went downstairs. Twoeunuchs followed carrying the vase.
　　One floor down, a maid servant pulled aside a curtainand Qian Long walked through into a room full of freshflowers. Two other maids servants took the vases fromthe eunuchs and carefully placed them on a table.
　　A girl wearing a white gown was sitting facing thewall. With a wave of his hand, Qian Long dismissed themaid servants from the room. He had just opened hismouth to speak when the door curtains parted and twobodyguards came in and stood quietly by the entrance.
　　"What are you doing here? Get out," he said angrily.
　　"Your slaves have orders from the Empress Dowager toprotect Your Highness," said one of the bodyguards.
　　"I'm fine. What do I need protection for?""The Empress Dowager knows she ... that the lady isnot ... that she is strong-willed, and is afraid thatshe will inflict injury on Your Highness's preciousself."Qian Long glanced down at his bandaged hand, andshouted: "There's no need. Get out!"The two bodyguards kowtowed frantically but did notretire. He knew that no matter what, they would notdare to disobey the Empress Dowager's orders, so hetook no further notice of them, and turned back toface the girl in the white gown.
　　"Turn round, I have something to say," he said in theMuslim tongue. The girl took no notice. In her handwas a dagger. She gripped it even tighter.
　　Qian Long sighed. "Look at what is on the table," hesaid. The girl ignored him for a moment, but finallyher curiosity got the better of her. She glanced roundand saw the pair of jade vases, and at the samemoment, the Emperor and the bodyguards were dazzled bythe sight of her beauty: it was Princess Fragrance.
　　She had been captured by General Zhao Wei's army andsent to Beijing under special guard to the Emperor.
　　Qian Long thought it would be more interesting to beable to talk to the girl directly, so he called for ateacher to teach him the Muslim tongue. He was anintelligent man and studied diligently, and after afew months he could talk in a halting fashion.
　　But Princess Fragrance was already tightly bound toChen. Furthermore, Qian Long had been responsible forthe death of her father, making her even more adamentin her refusal of his advances. Several times she hadbeen forced almost to the point of suicide, but eachtime she thought of Chen and restrained herself.
　　"I will be just like I was when surrounded by thewolves," she thought. "That large wolf wanted to eatme, but my knight finally saved me."Qian Long watched her becoming more haggard day byday. He was afraid she would die of melancholy, so hecalled for the capital's best craftsmen and had thePrecious Moon Pavilion built for her to live in.
　　But Princess Fragrance took not the slightest notice.
　　The priceless treasures used to decorate the pavilionwere ignored, except for the murals covering thewalls. They depicted scenes of the Muslims areas, andshe stared at them glassy-eyed, reliving over and overthe carefree happiness of the days when she and Chenhad been together.
　　Sometimes Qian Long spied on her secretly and saw herstaring into distance, the trace of a smile playingaround her lips. One day he could resist it no longerand he stretched out his hand to grasp her arm. Therewas a flash of a dagger, and only Princess Fragrance'signorance of kung fu and his own sprightliness savedhim. But his left hand had been cut and in a momentwas covered in blood. He was so scared by the incidentthat from that moment on, he did not dare to riskannoying her again. When the Emperess Dowager heard ofthe matter, she ordered the eunuchs to take the daggeroff her, but Princess Fragrance pointed it at herchest whenever anyone came near her and threatened tocommit suicide. So Qian Long ordered them to stay awayfrom her and not to interfere.
　　Princess Fragrance was also afraid they would putsomething in her food or drink, so apart from freshfruit she had peeled herself, she would touch nothing.
　　Qian Long had a Muslim-style bath constructed for her,but she refused to use it, and after many days of notbathing, her body's fragrance became even morepronounced. Originally naive and ignorant of worldlyaffairs, she became increasingly strong andknowledgeable as the weeks went past as a result ofher exposure to the evil people who populated thepalace.
　　As soon as she spotted the vases, she started in shockand quickly turned back to face the wall, gripping thehilt of the dagger tightly and wondering what QianLong was up to.
　　He sighed. "When I first saw your image on the vases,I was certain that such a person could not exist inthis world," he said. "But now I have seen you, I knowthat the greatest of craftsmen could not capture a tenthousandth of your beauty."Princess Fragrance ignored him.
　　"If you continue to worry like this all day, you aregoing to become ill," he continued. "Do you miss yourhome? Go and look out of the window." He ordered thebodyguards to open the window shutters.
　　Seeing the two bodyguards and Qian Long standing nearthe window, Princess Fragrance harrumphed and turnedaway. Qian Long understood and walked to the otherside of the room and ordered the bodyguards to do thesame. Only then did Princess Fragrance slowly walkover to the window and look outside. She saw theexpanse of sand and the Muslim tents and her hearttwisted in pain. Two tears rolled slowly down hercheeks, and she picked up one of the vases on thetable and threw it with all her strength at QianLong's head.
　　One of the bodyguards shot forward and intercepted thevase, but it slipped from his grasp and shattered onthe floor just as the second vase came flying afterthe first. The other bodyguard tried to catch it, butit slipped through his hands and smashed beside thefirst vase.
　　Afraid that she would try some other way of harmingthe Emperor, the bodyguards sprang across the room ather. Princess Fragrance immediately turned her daggerround and put it to her throat.
　　"Stop!" Qian Long shouted frantically, and thebodyguards halted in the tracks. Princess Fragranceretreated several steps, and as she did there was aclinking sound as something fell from her dress to theground. The bodyguards were afraid it was some kind ofweapon and quickly picked it up. Seeing it was a pieceof jade, they handed it to the Emperor.
　　Qian Long took hold of it, and his face drained ofcolour. He recognised it instantly as the piece ofwarm jade he had given to Chen on the breakwater atHaining. When he had presented it, he had told Chen togive it to the lady of his heart as an expression oflove.
　　"Do you know him?" he asked, flustered. He paused fora second, then said: "Where did this piece of jadecome from?"Princess Fragrance put out her hand. "Give it back tome," she said.
　　Qian Long's jealousy flared. "Tell me who gave it toyou and I will return it.""My husband gave it to me."Qian Long was greatly surprised by this reply.
　　"Are you married already?""I have not married him in body yet, but my heart haslong been married to him," she answered proudly. "Heis the kindest and bravest person in the world. I knowhe will rescue me from you. He is not afraid of youand neither am I, even though you are Emperor.""I know the man you are talking about," he said, hisvoice full of hatred. "He is the Great Helmsman of theRed Flower Society, Chen Jialuo. He is just a banditleader. What is so special about him?"Princess Fragrance's heart leapt for joy at the soundof Chen's name and her face lit up.
　　"So you know of him too. It would be better if you letme go."Qian Long looked up and happened to catch a glimpse ofhis own face in a dressing table mirror. He thought ofChen, his features handsome and cultured, equallyversed in scholarship and the martial arts and knew hewas no match for him. Full of jealousy and hatred, hethrew the jade piece at his image and smashed both itand the mirror, covering the floor in broken glass.
　　Princess Fragrance rushed forward to pick up the jade,which was unharmed, and wiped it lovingly, making QianLong even more angry. With a stamp of his foot, hestormed out of the room and down the stairs.
　　He went to the quiet study where he usually read andwrote poetry, and spotted a half-written poem on thedesk entitled 'The Precious Moon Pavilion': "The FairyPrincess is in the Pavilion, A vision from the Son ofHeaven's dreams of former days."Now, in a flash of anger, he ripped the poem up, andthen sat in silence for a long time.
　　Slowly, his temper cooled, and he thought: "I am theSon of Heaven, I am all-powerful. So it finally comesout that this barbarian girl's stubbornness is theresult of interference by Chen Jialuo. His appeal tome to drive the Manchus out of China is a good idea,but if things do not go as planned, not only will theaffair end in failure, but could end my life as well.
　　I've been debating this matter for months now, unableto come to a decision. What should I do?"And another thought rushed to the fore: "I can dowhatever I like already, and if this affair issuccessful, it could mean I would be controlled bythese people. Can I allow myself to become a puppet?
　　Why abandon concrete assets for the sake of improvingmy reputation? This Muslim girl thinks of nothing buthim. All right, we'll settle these two matterstogether."He told a eunuch to call for Bai Zhen who appearedshortly afterwards. "Station four top-rankingbodyguards on each floor of the Precious Moon Pavilionand another twenty outside," he ordered. "There mustbe no slip-ups of any kind." Bai Zhen bowed. "And callfor Chen Jialuo again. I have important business todiscuss with him. Tell him to come alone."
Chapter 55
When Chen received the Imperial Command, he went todiscuss the situation with the others. Master Lu andWen were worried that the order to go alone couldindicate a trap.
　　"The fact that he calls me back so soon afterreceiving the evidence I gave him must mean he wantsto talk about it," said Chen. "This is the big chancefor us to recover China for the Chinese. I have to gono matter what dangers are waiting for me. SecondBrother," he added turning to Priest Wu Chen. "If Idon't return, please take over command of the RedFlower Society and avenge me.""Don't worry, Great Helmsman," the priest replied,deeply moved.
　　"There's no need to wait for me outside the palacethis time. If he means to harm me, there is no way youcould help me and trying would just cause needlesscasualties."By the time Chen re-entered the forbidden precincts ofthe palace with Bai Zhen, it was already dark. Twoeunuchs carrying lanterns led them through webs oftree-branch moon shadows to the Precious MoonPavilion. This time, they ascended to the fourthfloor, and as soon as the eunuchs reported Chen'sarrival, Qian Long ordered him sent in. He was seatedon a couch in a small room, a far-away look in hiseyes. Chen knelt and kowtowed and Qian Long told himto be seated. He was silent for a while. Chen lookedaround him and noticed a poetic couplet on the wallwritten by Qian Long himself.
　　"What do you think?" Qian Long asked, seeing himreading the couplet.
　　"Your Highness has high aspirations and the spirit ofan Emperor of great courage and intelligence. When theGreat Endeavour is successfully accomplished, and theManchus have been driven from China, your merit willfar exceed even the Han dynasty emperor who expelledthe Tartars or the Ming dynasty emperor who threw outthe Mongols, and will be remembered for ten thousandgenerations."Qian Long was delighted to hear such praise. He smiledand stroked his whiskers. "You and I may be servantand master, but in spirit we are brothers," he saidafter a moment's contemplation. "In future, you mustassist me well."Chen was overjoyed to hear these words: From his tone,Qian Long did not appear to be planning to go back onhis oath. His doubts dispersed, Chen knelt down onceagain and kowtowed.
　　"Your Highness's wise decision is truly a greatblessing for the people," he said.
　　Qian Long sighed. "I may be the Son of Heaven, but Iam not as fortunate as you," he said. Chen wonderedwhat he meant. "In August last year, when we were inHaining, I gave you a piece of jade," he added. "Doyou have it with you?"Chen was startled. "Your Highness told me to pass iton to someone else, and I have already done so," hereplied.
　　"You standards are very high. Whoever it is must beone of the world's most beautiful women."Chen's eyes reddened. "Unfortunately, I do not know ifshe is dead or alive, or where she might be. When ourbusiness is concluded, I will search to the ends ofthe earth to find her.""Do you love this lady deeply?""Yes," said Chen quietly.
　　"The Empress is a Manchu, you know that?""Yes.""She has served me for a long time and is veryvirtuous. If we go ahead with this plan, she willcertainly fight to the death. What do you think shouldbe done?"Chen was unable to answer. "Your Highness's opinionsare sacred," he finally said. "Your servant would notdare make any reckless suggestions.""I cannot allow the nation to be split in two. Thisconsideration has made me very hesitant of late. Also,at present I have a personal problem whichunfortunately no-one can help me with.""I will do whatever Your Highness orders.""Gentlemen should not snatch prized possessions fromothers, but this is something decided by Fate,"replied Qian Long. "Ah, when one's love isconcentrated on one person, what can one do? Go overthere and take a look."He pointed to a doorway on the western side of theroom, then stood up and walked out.
　　Chen was greatly confused by this strange speech, buthe calmed himself and pulled aside the thick doorcurtain. He walked slowly through into what he saw wasan extremely sumptuous bed chamber. A red candleburned in the corner, and a girl in a white gown satstaring at its flame.
　　Suddenly seeing Princess Fragrance in the depths ofthe Imperial Palace, Chen was dumbfounded. He swayedunsteadily and was unable to speak. Upon hearing thefootsteps, Princess Fragrance had grasped the daggerhilt tightly. Then she looked round to see the veryperson she had been dreaming of day and night. Herangry glare immediately melted into an expression ofdelight. She cried out and threw herself across theroom into Chen's arms.
　　"I knew you would come and save me," she cried. "Iwaited patiently, and finally you have come."Chen held her warm body tightly. "Are we dreaming?" heasked. She looked up and shook her head as tears beganto course down her cheeks.
　　Chen's first thought was that the Emperor had foundout she was the lady of his heart and had brought herfrom the Muslim areas to be with him. He put his armsaround her waist and then unself-consciously kissedher on the lips. In the midst of the sweetness of thelong kiss, they became oblivious to everything aroundthem.
　　After a long, long time, Chen finally looked at thepink flush on her cheeks. Behind her on a dressingtable, he noticed a broken mirror, and the image ofthem both embracing in each segment.
　　"Look," he whispered. "There are one thousand me's,and every one is holding you."Princess Fragrance glanced at the broken mirror, andthen pulled the piece of warm jade from her pocket.
　　"He stole my jade piece and broke the mirror with it,"she said. "Luckily it wasn't damaged.""Who?" Chen asked, startled.
　　"That evil emperor.""Why?" Chen asked, even more astonished.
　　"He bullied me, but I said I wasn't afraid because Iknew you would rescue me. He was very angry and triedto grab me, but I have this dagger.""Dagger?" he repeated distantly.
　　"Yes. I was with my father when they killed him. Hegave me this dagger and told me to kill myself if theenemy violated me. People who commit suicide are sentto Hell, but if they are girls dying to protect theirvirtue then Allah makes an exception."Chen looked down and wondered how many times thisweak, naive girl had come close to death in the pastfew months. His heart was filled with love and painand he embraced her again. After a while, he steadiedhimself and began to carefully consider the situation.
　　He now realized that Qian Long had had PrincessFragrance brought to Beijing because he wanted herhimself. He had obviously ordered the construction ofa desert in the Imperial Gardens to try to please her.
　　But she had sworn never to give in. He had threatenedand cajoled her in every way he could think of, allwithout effect. That must be why Qian Long had saidthat he was not as fortunate as himself.
　　He looked down at Princess Fragrance as he held herand saw she had closed her eyes and was fast asleep.
　　Why did he let me see her? he wondered. He had raisedthe problem of the Empress and said that if the GreatEndeavour was to accomplished, she would have to bediscounted, and that a choice would have to be madebetween family and country. Yes, his meaning is......"He shivered and began to sweat. He felt PrincessFragrance move slightly against him and heard hersigh. A smile appeared on her face like a flower budopening.
　　"Should I break with the Emperor for her sake, or askher to give in to him for the sake of the GreatEndeavour?" The thought shot through his brain like alightning bolt, and he cringed from it.
　　"She loves me so deeply. She's managed somehow tomaintain her virtue for my sake, she believes firmlythat I will rescue her. How can I really bring myselfto reject her, to betray her? But if I think only ofus two, I must break with my brother, and this rareopportunity to recover the throne will be lost. If Idid that, would we not be cursed by generations tocome?" His brain was in turmoil, and he had no ideawhat he should do.
　　Princess Fragrance opened her eyes. "Let's go," shesaid. "I'm afraid of seeing that evil Emperor again.""Wait here for a moment. I'll go out for a while thencome back." She nodded and took the dagger from hishand, then watched him leave the room with smilingeyes.
　　He went up the stairs and found Qian Long on the nextfloor up sitting on a couch, stony-faced andmotionless.
　　"Affairs of state are of more importance than privateconcerns," Chen announced. "I will urge her to give into you."Qian Long jumped up off the couch in delight.
　　"Really?" he exclaimed.
　　"Yes, but you must swear an oath." Chen stared at himas he spoke.
　　"What oath?" asked Qian Long, avoiding his gaze.
　　"If you do not honestly do all in your power to drivethe Manchu barbarians out, what then?"Qian Long thought for a moment. "If that is the case,then no matter how glorious my life may be, may mygrave be dug up and my skeleton smashed to pieces."The grave of an emperor was inviolable. Such an oathwas extremely serious.
　　"All right," said Chen. "I will talk to her. But Iwill have to do it outside the palace.""Outside?" Qian Long asked, startled.
　　Chen nodded. "At the moment, she hates you to her verybones. She won't be able to quietly listen to what Ihave to say here, so I wish to take her to the GreatWall to explain things.""Why do you want to go so far?" said Qian Longsuspiciously.
　　"I once promised to take her to the Great Wall. When Ihave done so, I will not see her ever again.""You will definitely bring her back?""We members of the fighting community consider ourword to be worth more than our lives. I will do what Ihave said."Qian Long was uncertain of what to do. He wondered howhe would ever find this beauty again if Chen escapedwith her. But on the other hand, he knew the girlwould never give in to him unless Chen could think ofa way of convincing her to do so. He was sure Chen wascommitted to their Great Endeavour and would not giveit up just for the sake of a girl.
　　"All right," he said finally, slapping the table. "Go,both of you."He waited until Chen had gone, then said to thecurtain behind him: "Take forty bodyguards and followhim the whole way. Whatever you do, don't let them getaway."Chen returned to the fourth floor and took hold ofPrincess Fragrance's hand. "Let's go," The two walkedtogether out of the pavilion and out of the ForbiddenCity. The guards had already received their orders andmade no attempt to stop them. Princess Fragrance'sheart was full of joy. She had always believed herknight was capable of doing anything, and was in noway surprised that they could just walk out of thepalace gates.
　　As they reached the outside, the sky was alreadygrowing light. Xin Yan was standing close by, thereins of the white horse in his hands, keeping watch,and when he spotted Chen, he rushed over. SeeingPrincess Fragrance standing by his master's side, hewas even more surprised and delighted.
　　Chen took the rein from him. "We are going on a tripout of the city for the day," he said. "We won't beback until late evening, so tell the others not toworry."Xin Yan watched the two mount up and ride off north,and was about to leave when the sound of gallopinghooves rose behind him and several dozen palace guardsthundered past. He recognised the frail old manleading the troop as Bai Zhen, and returned quickly toTwin Willow Lane to report.
　　As the white horse left the city, it galloped everfaster. Princess Fragrance, snuggling into Chen'sarms, watched the trees on either side of the road zippast, and all the distress and sorrow of the previousfew months evaporated. The horse's strong legs carriedthem quickly past the small villages to the north ofBeijing, and as they approached a crossroads, Chensaid: "Let's go and see the tombs of the Ming dynastyemperors."The horse galloped on. Just past the Jade StoneBridge, they came upon a huge stone monument inscribedwith the words: 'The Sacred Tombs of the Great Ming'.
　　On the right-hand face of the monument were severallines of poetry in Qian Long's hand.
　　"What is it?" Princess Fragrance asked.
　　"It's a poem written by the Emperor.""He's vile and horrible. Don't look at it," she urged.
　　She took his hand and they continued on, and soonfound themselves walking along an avenue flanked bystone lions, elephants, camels and strange mythicalcreatures. "I have only this one day left with her soI must make sure she enjoys it," Chen thought. "Aftertoday, we will neither of us ever pass another happyday again." So he roused his flagging spirits andsmiled.
　　"You want to ride on the camel, don't you?" he saidand lifted her up onto its back and sat behind her.
　　With shouts and calls, they urged the stone camelforward. Princess Fragrance bent over double withlaughter, then after a moment she sighed.
　　"If only this camel could really run and could carryus back to the Tianshan mountains," she said.
　　"What would you want to do there?"She looked into the distance. "Oh, I would be verybusy. I would have to pick flowers for you to eat, andlook after the goats and feed the small deer. And I'dhave to visit the graves of my father and mother andbrother to keep them company, and think of some way tofind my sister.....""What happened to her?" he asked.
　　"She was ill the night the Manchus attacked. We weresplit up during the battle and I have heard no news ofher since."Chen was silent as they remounted the horse andstarted on their way. The road wound upwards andbefore long they arrived at Ju Yong Pass and caughtsight of the Wall, writhing like a long snake throughthe clusters of hills.
　　"Why did they waste so much effort to build thisthing?" Princess Fragrance asked.
　　"It was to stop the northern enemies from invading,"Chen replied. "Countless people must have died oneither side of this wall.""Men are truly strange. Why don't they all livehappily together and dance and sing instead offighting? I really can't see the point of it all.""If you ever get the chance, you must tell the Emperornot to make war on the poor peoples of the borderareas. All right?""I will never see that evil Emperor again," shereplied, puzzled by his sudden solemness.
　　"But if you were able to make him do your bidding, youmust urge him not to do bad things, and to do somegood for the people. Promise me!""What a funny thing to say. Do you really think Iwould be unwilling to do anything you asked me to do?""Thank you," Chen said, and she smiled.
　　They walked along a stretch of the wall hand-in-hand.
　　"I just thought of something," said PrincessFragrance.
　　"What?""I am very happy today, but is it because of thisbeautiful scenery? No. I know it's because I am withyou. As long as you are by my side, I would think eventhe most ugly place on earth was beautiful."The happier she was, the more uncomfortable Chen felt.
　　"Is there anything you would like me to do?" he asked.
　　"Oh, but you have already done everything. You havealways given me everything I wanted, even withoutasking for it." She pulled the snow lotus from herpocket. The flower was now dry and withered, but itstill possessed a strong fragrance.
　　"There is only one thing you refused to do," she addedwith a smile. "And that is to sing me a song."Chen laughed. "It's true," he said. "I have never sungyou a song."Princess Fragrance pulled a face. "Well, I'm not goingto sing for you any more either.""I remember my mother's maid servant singing severalrhymes when I was young. I'll sing one for you now,but you're not allowed to laugh."She clapped her hands in delight. "All right! Allright! Sing!"He thought for a moment, and then began:
　　"The light rain fallsThe wind blows in squallsSomeone outside saucily calls,I think it's my loved one,And softly curse him round and right.
　　But looking once againI see it's not, and jump in fright."After he had finished, Chen explained the words of thesong in the Muslim tongue, and Princess Fragrancelaughed.
　　"The lady's eyesight was not too good, apparently,"she said.
　　They explored the top of the wall, which consisted ofbattlements on the northern side, a stone hand rail onthe other and a walkway in between. Every threehundred feet or so, there was a watchtower. They cameto a beacon tower, and Chen thought of the time HuoQingtong had burned wolf dung as part of her plan todestroy the Manchu army. He wondered again if she wasalive or dead, and his sadness increased.
　　"I know what you are thinking," said PrincessFragrance.
　　"Do you?""Yes. You are thinking of my sister.""How did you know?""When the three of us were in the Secret Citytogether, I could see how happy you were in spite ofthe danger. Oh, you mustn't worry so!"He took her hand, "What do you mean?" he asked.
　　She sighed. "In the old days, I was just a child. Ididn't understand anything. But every day I was in theImperial Palace, I thought about the times we weretogether and realised many things that had not occuredto me before. My sister loved you all along, and youlove her, don't you?""Yes. I shouldn't try to deceive you.""But I know you truly love me too. And without you, Icannot live. So let's go and find my sister quicklyand we can all live happily together forever. Don'tyou think that would be lovely?"Her eyes and face radiated happiness. Chen squeezedher hand. "You have thought it out perfectly," he saidsoftly. "You and your sister are the nicest, the bestpeople in the world."Princess Fragrance stood looking out into thedistance, and noticed the sun glinting off a body ofwater to the west. "Let's go and have a look overthere," she said.
　　They made their way across the hills, and came upon aclear spring bubbling merrily out of a crack in therocks.
　　"I will wash my feet here, is that all right?"Princess Fragrance asked.
　　"Of course," Chen replied with a smile. She took offher shoes and socks and stepped into the water,relishing the coolness as the crystal clear waterflowed around her milk-white feet. Chen happened tosee his own shadow on the water, and realised the sunwas already sinking into the west. He reached into hisbag and pulled out some food for them. PrincessFragrance leant against him and wiped her feet dry asshe ate.
　　Chen gritted his teeth. "There is something I must sayto you," he said. She turned and put both her armsround him, resting her head on his chest.
　　"I know you love me," she said quietly. "I understand.
　　You don't have to say it."He cringed and swallowed what he had been about tosay. After a while, he started again: "Do you stillremember Mami's last testament that we read inside theWhite Jade Peak?""She is living in Heaven now with her Ali. That's theway it should be.""You Muslims believe that after good people die, theywill live forever in paradise, is that right?""Of course that's what happens.""When I return to Beijing, I will go and find anIslamic Imam and get him to teach me so that I canbecome a good follower of the Muslim faith," saidChen.
　　Princess Fragrance was overjoyed. She had neverguessed he would be willing to voluntarily join theMuslim faith. "Oh my brother," she said looking up athim. "Will you really?""Definitely.""You're willing to do even that because of your lovefor me. I never dared to hope for such a thing.""Because in this life," Chen continued slowly, "wewill not be able to be together. So I want to be surethat after death, I can be with you every day."The words struck Princess Fragrance like a clap ofthunder. After a moment's silence, she said in shakingvoice: "You....what are you talking about? We can't betogether?""No. After today, we will not be able to see eachother again.""Why?" Her body quivered and two large tears fell ontohis gown.
　　Chen embraced her tenderly. "If it were possible forme to be with you, I would be content even withoutfood or clothing, even if I was beaten and humiliatedeveryday. But do you remember Mami? The good Mami waswilling to leave her true love Ali in order that hertribe would no longer be oppressed and bullied bySanglaba and was even willing to go and allow herselfto be violated by him...."Princess Fragrance's body went limp. "You want me togive in to the Emperor?" she whispered. "You want meto kill him?""No, he is my blood brother." He told her everythingabout his relationship with Qian Long, and the RedFlower Society's plans, about the oath sworn in theSix Harmonies Pagoda, and of Qian Long's demandearlier that day. As he spoke, Princess Fragrancerealised that what she had been longing for day andnight and thought she had achieved, was slipping fromher grasp again. She was overwhelmed by a wave ofpanic and fainted away.
　　As she came to, she felt Chen holding her tightly, andwas aware of a damp patch on her dress soaked by histears. She stood up.
　　"Wait for me here," she said softly, and walkedtowards a large flat rock in the distance where sheprostrated herself in prayer towards the west. Sheappealed to the True God, Allah for guidance on whatshe should do. The pale sunlight glanced off her whitedress, her back presenting a picture of both greatmelancholy and warmth. After a while, she walkedslowly back.
　　"Whatever you want me to do, I will do," sheannounced.
　　Chen jumped up and ran over to her, and the twoembraced each other tightly.
　　"If I had known we had only today, I would have wantedyou to hold me the whole day rather than come here,"she whispered. Chen kissed her, unable to answer.
　　A long time passed. Then suddenly, Princess Fragrancesaid: "I have not had a bath since I left home. I amgoing to have one now." She began to take off herouter gown.
　　Chen stood up. "I'll go over there to wait for you,"he said.
　　"No! No! I want you to watch me. When you saw me forthe first time, I was bathing. Today is the lasttime...After you have seen me, I want you to neverforget me.""Do you really believe that I would ever forget you?""Please don't go," she pleaded, and there was nothingfor Chen to do but to sit down again.
　　While Chen watched and the mountain spring gurgled,she removed all her clothing piece by piece, until thegolden evening sun illuminated one of the world's mostbeautiful bodies. Chen felt giddy, and hardly dare tolook directly at this vision. But he could not fail tonotice her innocent, guileless expression, andsuddenly thought of her as simply a naked three orfour-year-old child. She was so beautiful and so pure.
　　"To make a body of such incomparable beauty, theremust be an all-knowing, all-powerful God in heaven,"he thought. His heart was filled with reverence andgratitude.
　　Princess Frgrance slowly wiped the pearls of waterfrom her body, and then put her clothes back on.
　　"This body," she thought self-pityingly. "I will neveragain be able to show it to the one I love."She rubbed her hair dry and then returned to sit inChen's embrace.
　　"I once told you the story of the cowherd and thespinning girl, do you remember?" Chen asked.
　　"Yes. I remember. You said that although they met onlyonce a year, they still saw each other countless timesmore than ordinary people.""Yes. We cannot be together forever, but the True Godwill make sure we meet again eventually. In thedesert, and here, we have been very happy. The timehas been short, but we have perhaps had more happinessthan many couples who live together for decades."She listened to his soothing voice comforting her, asthe sun slowly sank towards the hills with her heartfollowing it down. Suddenly she jumped up and wailed:
　　"No! The sun is disappearing!"Chen's heart shattered. "I have asked so much of you!"he exclaimed, taking her hand.
　　She continued to stare at the point where the sun hadgone down. "If only it was able to rise again, evenfor just a moment," she said quietly.
　　"It is right that I should undergo hardship for thesake of my people, but you have never even seen them,let alone loved them.""I love you, so are they not my people too? Do you notlove all our Muslim brothers?"The sky was growing darker. The sun did not riseagain, and a wave of coldness touched her heart.
　　"Let's go back," she said. "I am very happy. My lifeis fulfilled."They climbed onto the back of the white horse andstarted back the way they had come. They were bothsilent and neither turned back to look at the place ofbeauty they had just enjoyed.
　　Less than an hour's ride later, they heard the soundof many galloping hooves in front and several dozenriders emerged out of the evening mist with Bai Zhenin the lead. His face lit up as soon as he saw Chenand Princess Fragrance, and signalling to the othersto stop, he leapt off his horse and stood by theroadside. Chen did not even glance at him, but urgedthe white horse on even faster. Soon after, horses'
　　hooves sounded in front once again, and the Red FlowerSociety heroes appeared.
　　"Great Helmsman!" 'Leopard' Wei shouted. "We're allhere!"
Chapter 56
The sky gradually became light and Qian Long watchedthe sun rising from the east as the eunuchs laid outthe Imperial breakfast for him. It consisted of manydelicacies, but he found it difficult to swallow them.
　　With Chen and Princess Fragrance gone, he felt nervousand unsettled.
　　That day, he did not grant an audience to hisministers, and spent his time napping fitfully. Onseveral occasions, he sent guards out to search fornews, but the sky grew dark and the moon sailed upover the palace walls, and still none of them hadreturned to report.
　　He started to become extremely anxious and tried tocalm himself by staring fixedly at the desert muralson the walls of the Precious Moon Pavilion.
　　"Seeing as she likes him, she will certainly likeChinese clothes," he thought. "When they return hewill already have convinced her, so why don't I takeoff these Manchu clothes and put on something Chineseto give her a surprise?"He ordered his eunuchs to find him some, but wherewould Chinese clothes be found in the heart of theManchu court? Finally, one bright young eunuch ranover to the theatre troupe and brought back atheatrical costume, which he helped Qian Long to don.
　　Qian Long examined himself in front of a mirror, andwas delighted by his dashing appearance. Then henoticed a few white hairs amongst his whiskers andurgently ordered the young eunuch to get a pair oftweezers to pull them out.
　　Just as he was sitting with bowed head to allow theeunuch to remove the offending hairs, he heard thepatter of light footsteps behind and another eunuchannounced: "Her Highness the Empress Dowager hasarrived."Qian Long started in surprise. He looked up and sawthe Dowager's image in the mirror, her face stern andpale and full of anger.
　　"I trust you are well, Madame?" he said, hurriedlyturning to face her. He escorted her to the couchwhere she took a seat, and then dismissed the eunuchswith a wave of her hand.
　　There was a moment's silence.
　　"The slaves say you have not been well today," shebegan in a deep voice. "They said you did not holdcourt this morning and haven't eaten, so I have cometo see you.""I am better now," he replied. "It was just that I atesomething fatty which made me a little uncomfortable.
　　It was nothing. I would not have dared to havebothered Your Highness about it.""Huh! Was it Muslim fat or Chinese fat?" she said, toQian Long's consternation.
　　"I think some roast lamb I ate last night disagreedwith me," he replied.
　　"That is one of our Manchu dishes. Huh! You seem to betired of being a Manchu."Qian Long did not dare to say anything.
　　"Where is that Muslim girl?" the Empress Dowagerasked.
　　"She was in a bad mood so I sent her out with someonewho can talk some sense into her.""She has a knife, and would clearly prefer to dierather than give in to you. What use is there ingetting someone to talk to her? Who did you send?"Qian Long noticed anxiously how close her questioningwas becoming.
　　"An old guard officer, surnamed Bai," he replied.
　　The Dowager looked up and let the silence hang for amoment. Then she laughed coldly. "You are the Emperor,the master of all under heaven. You can do whateveryou like, and concoct whatever lies you like, too."Qian Long knew the eyes and ears of the Dowager weremany and guessed he probably would not be able todeceive her about this affair. "The other person Isent with the girl," he answered quietly, "was ascholar I met in the south, who is very learned...""It's someone from the Chen family of Haining, isn'tit?" the Dowager's voice rasped out sharply.
　　Qian Long hung his head, not daring to utter a sound.
　　"No wonder you've put on Chinese clothes. Why haven'tyou killed me yet?" Her voice had become even harsher.
　　Qian Long knelt down in fright and began kowtowingfrantically.
　　"May I be damned by Heaven and Earth if I have beenunfilial in any way," he said.
　　The Dowager flicked up the long sleeves of her gownand walked out. Qian Long rushed after her, thenstopped when he realised he was still wearing theChinese costume. To be seen wearing such clothes wouldnot do at all, so he hurriedly changed back into hisusual gown and rushed out after the Dowager. He foundher in a side room of the Martial Hero Pavilion.
　　"Please don't be angry, Madame," he pleaded. "I havecommitted some errors and would willingly accept yourcriticism.""Why have you called that man Chen into the palaceseveral days running?" she asked coldly. "And whathappened in Haining?" Qian Long hung his head and wassilent.
　　"Do you really intend to restore the Chinese style ofdress?" she shrieked. "Are you going to kill every oneof us Manchus?""Please don't listen to the nonsense spouted byservants," he replied, his voice shaking. "How could Iplan to do such a thing?""How do you intend to deal with this man Chen?""His society is large and widespread and many of hisfollowers are martial arts masters who would die forhim, so I have been polite to him throughout whilewaiting for an opportunity to deal with them all atonce. I want to remove the roots as well as choppingoff the grass."The Dowager's expression softened slightly. "Is thistrue?"Qian Long knew the secret had leaked. With no roomleft to maneouvre, he decided he had no choice but toswear to destroy the Red Flower Society.
　　"I will see to it that Chen is beheaded within threedays," he said.
　　The shadow of a smile appeared on the Dowager'sforbidding face. "Good," she said. "Only then will yoube holding to the wishes of our ancestors." She stoodup. "Come with me," she added.
　　She stood up and walked over to the main hall of theMartial Hero Pavilion with Qian Long close behind. Asthey approached, a eunuch gave a shout and the hugedoors were opened. Inside the brightly-lit hall, twofiles of eunuchs stretched away from the entrancetowards eight princes kneeling on the floor to receivethe Emperor. The Dowager and Qian Long walked over totwo chairs on the dais in the centre of the hall andsat down. Qian Long saw all eight princes were of theimmediate Imperial family, including his own brothers.
　　He wondered uneasily what the Dowager was planning.
　　"When the late Emperor passed away," she began slowly,"he left orders that the command of the ImperialBanner troops should be divided amongst eight membersof the Imperial family. But because of the constantdispatch of forces to the Muslim border regions in thepast few years, it has never been possible to act onthe Emperor's last wish. Now, thanks to the blessedprotection of the Ancestors, the Muslim areas havebeen pacified, and from today, the leadership of theBanners will be divided amongst the eight of you." Theprinces kowtowed and expressed their great gratitude.
　　So she has decided to disperse my military strength,Qian Long thought.
　　"Please make the assignments, Your Highness," theDowager said to him. He knew he was in a losingposition, but he decided that as long as he did notattempt a revolt, a temporary dispersal of militarypower would be of no great consequence. The Dowager,he could see, had been very thorough, and he guessedthat she had also made preparations in case herefused. So he assigned each of the eight princes tobe commander of one of the Banners.
　　Meanwhile, the eight princes, all full of curiosity,were thinking: "Based on the wishes of the founder ofour dynasty, three of the Banners should be under thedirect leadership of the Emperor, and the other fivesubordinate to them. The Dowager's action to dividethe Banners among us is a serious violation of ruleslaid down by the Ancestors and is obviously intendedto weaken the Emperor's power." None of them dared todirectly refuse the Dowager's command, but all decidedit would be best to return the command to the Emperorthe following day in order to avoid the possibility ofexecution.
　　The Dowager signalled with her hand and one of theprinces came forward holding a tray on which wasplaced a small iron box. He knelt before her and shepicked the box up and opened it, and took out a smallscroll. Qian Long glanced at it out of the corner ofhis eye and saw the inscription, written in theEmperor Yong Zheng's hand, read "Posthumous Edict."Next to this was a line of smaller characters: "Ifthere should be any political changes, the eightprinces who lead the Banners must gather together andopen this."Qian Long's face drained of colour as he realised hisfather had long ago taken precautions to guard againsthis secret ever being revealed. If he dared to alterin any way the instructions of his ancestors, letalone attempt to overthrow the Manchus, the eightBanner commanders would be required to dispose of himand set up a new Emperor. He steadied himself.
　　"The late Emperor was far-sighted indeed," he said.
　　"If I can match even a ten thousandth of hisabilities, then you have no need to worry further,Madame."The Dowager passed the scroll to the most senior ofthe eight princes and said: "Take this edict of thelate Emperor and have it placed in the Lama Temple.
　　Assign one hundred bodyguards to guard it day andnight." She hesitated for a moment, then added: "Theyare not allowed to leave their posts for a second,even if ordered to do so by the present Emperor."The prince complied with her command and left with thescroll for the Lama Temple. The temple was in thenorthern part of the city near the Gate of Serenity,and had been used by the Emperor Yong Zheng as hishome before ascending the throne. After he died, QianLong had had the residence expanded and turned into aTibetan Lamaist temple in memory of his grandfather.
　　Her arrangements complete, the Dowager yawned lazily.
　　"The achievements of our Ancestors must besafeguarded," she sighed.
Chapter 57
Immediately after seeing the Empress Dowager out ofthe Martial Hero Pavilion, Qian Long called for hisbodyguards. Bai Zhen came forward to report.
　　"Master Chen has escorted the lady back to the palace,and she is now awaiting Your Highness in the PreciousMoon Pavilion," he said.
　　Qian Long was delighted with the news and walkedbriskly to the door of the Martial Hero Pavilion. Thenhe stopped and turned. "Was there any trouble on theroad?" he asked.
　　"Your slaves came across a large number of Red FlowerSociety fighters at one point, but luckily, MasterChen intervened and prevented an incident."When Qian Long arrived at the Precious Moon Pavilion,he found Princess Fragrance seated as before, facingthe wall.
　　"Did you have fun at the Great Wall?" he askedhappily. She ignored him. Qian Long decided to dealwith more pressing matters first before questioningher further. He went into the adjoining room and gaveorders for his favourite, Fu Kangan, to be summoned.
　　Before too long, Fu rushed in and Qian Long orderedhim to lead a troop of Imperial Guardsmen and lay anambush around the Lama Temple. After he had departed,Qian Long ordered Bai Zhen to also hide near thetemple.
　　"I intend to hold a great feast in the Lama Templetomorrow evening," he added. "Tell Master Chen and allof the senior Red Flower Society people to attend."Bai Zhen immediately guessed the Emperor intended todeal with all the Red Flower Society leaders at onestroke and shuddered at the thought of the slaughterthat would take place.
　　"Also," Qian Long added, "summon the Head Lama of thetemple immediately."As the old Lama kowtowed his way into the Imperialpresence, Qian Long asked: "How many years is it sinceyou came to the capital?""Your vassal has served the Emperor for twenty-oneyears.""Do you want to go back to Tibet?"The Lama kowtowed again but said nothing.
　　"There are two Living Buddhas in Tibet, the Dalai Lamaand the Panchen Lama," Qian Long continued. "Why isn'tthere a third?""Your Highness, that has always been the way, eversince..."Qian Long silenced him with a wave of his hand. "If Imade you the third Living Buddha and gave you an areato govern, no-one would dare to defy the order, wouldthey?"The Lama's joy soared to the skies, and he kowtowedfuriously, unable to believe his luck. "YourReverence's benevolence will be difficult to repay,"he said.
　　"I want you now to do something for me. Go back to thetemple and gather together all your trusted lamas andprepare gunpowder, firewood and other inflammablematerials." He pointed at Bai Zhen. "When he gives youthe signal, you will put the temple to the torch."The Head Lama began frantically kowtowing again, thistime in fright. "But it is the former residence of thelate Emperor," he protested. Many of his possessionsare there, I wouldn't dare...""Do you dare to disobey my command?" Qian Long roared,sending the old Lama into a cold sweat.
　　"I...I will do as Your Highness commands," he repliedin a quavering voice.
　　"If half a breath of this matter leaks out, I willhave you and every single one of your eight hundredlamas executed." After a moment, he added in a morefriendly tone: "There will be Banner troops guardingthe Suicheng Pavilion in your temple, so you must becareful. When the time comes, I want those troopstrapped inside and burned to death. When things havebeen successfully completed, you will be the thirdLiving Buddha of Tibet. Now go!" He waved his hand andthe Lama left with Bai Zhen, thanking the Emperor forhis benevolence as he went.
　　His preparations completed, Qian Long considered howhis plan would enable him to kill two birds with onestone, both the Red Flower Society and the Dowager'sforces. After tomorrow evening, his position securedand stable, he could continue his reign in peace.
　　He felt very satisfied. Looking round, he noticed alute sitting on a tabletop and went over to play it.
　　After a few phrases, his playing became increasinglystrident and aggressive, and with a twang, the seventhstring broke. He started in surprise and laughedloudly. Then, pushing the lute aside, he stood up andwalked back to the other room.
　　Princess Fragrance was sitting at the window staringup at the moon. As she heard his footsteps, there wasa glint of light as she pulled the dagger out again.
　　Qian Long frowned and sat down at a distance.
　　"When you and Master Chen were at the Great Wall, didhe tell you to kill me?""He told me to do as you said.""Are you going to disobey him?""I would never do that."Qian Long was both delighted and jealous. "Then whyare you still carrying the dagger? Give it to me!""No, I'll wait for you to become a good emperorfirst."Aha, thought Qian Long, so that's how he hopes tocontrol me. Anger, jealousy, lust and hatred rosewithin him all at once, and he laughed harshly. "I amalready a good emperor," he replied.
　　"Huh! I heard you playing the lute just now. You'regoing to kill people, you're going to kill many, manypeople. You're...you are evil."Qian Long realised that his thoughts had indeedrevealed themselves through his playing. "Yes," hereplied. "I am going to kill people. I have alreadycaught your Master Chen, but if you do as I say, I canrelease him. If you don't do as I say..." He laughedagain. "Then you know I will kill many people."Princess Fragrance was shocked. "You would kill yourown blood brother?" she asked in a quavering voice.
　　Qian Long's face went white. "So he told youeverything?""I don't believe you've caught him. He's much clevererthan you.""Cleverer? Huh! And even if I haven't got him today,what about tomorrow?" She did not answer. "I adviseyou to forget this idea," he went on. "Whether I'm agood emperor or a bad emperor, you are never going tosee him again.""But you promised him that you would be a goodemperor," Princess Fragrance protested. "How can yourenege on your promise?""I will do whatever I want," he roared. "No-one cantell me what to do." All his pent up anger from thehumiliating audience with the Dowager spilled out.
　　His words struck Princess Fragrance like a fist-blowto the chest. "So the Emperor is going to cheat him,"she thought in anguish. "If only we had known earlier,I wouldn't have had to come back here." She almostfainted at the shock of it.
　　Seeing her face suddenly go pale, Qian Longimmediately regretted being so coarse. "If you willtreat me well," he said, "I will naturally not harmhim. In fact, I will make him a senior official andallow him to become rich and powerful."But Princess Fragrance was not listening. She wastrying to work out a way of letting Chen know of theEmperor's deceitfullness, so that he wouldn't fallinto a trap. She frowned deep in thought, herexpression adding to the beauty of her face, and QianLong stared at her, mesmerized.
　　"Everyone in the palace is a servant of the Emperor,"she thought. "So who can deliver a letter for me?
　　There's only one way to do it.""So you promise not to harm him?" she said.
　　Qian Long was delighted. "I promise, I promise," hereplied immediately. There was not the slightest touchof sincerity in his voice, and Princess Fragranceglanced at him in hatred.
　　"Early tomorrow, I want to go to a mosque," she saidevenly. "I will only do as you say after I have prayedto Allah."Qian Long smiled. "All right," he replied. "But thereis to be no more delay after tomorrow."Princess Fragrance watched him leave, laughing as hewent, then found a pen and paper and wrote out aletter to Chen warning him of the Emperor'sintentions, and telling him that the plan to overthrowthe Manchus was just a dream. She urged him to quicklydevise away to rescue her. When she had finished, shewrapped the letter in a blank sheet of paper and wroteon it in the Moslem script: "Please deliver speedilyto the Great Helmsman of the Red Flower Society, ChenJialuo." She knew the respect all Muslims had for herfather and sister, and the way in which theyworshipped her herself, and felt certain that if shejust had a chance to pass the letter on to any Muslimin the mosque, they would certainly find a way todeliver it.
　　Having written the letter, her heart felt much easier.
　　She was certain Chen was capable of anything and wouldeasily find a way to rescue her. At that point, asense of indescribable warmth and sweetness swept overher, and tired out from the day's exertions, she fellfast asleep.
　　Through the mists of slumber, she became aware ofbells chiming around the palace, and opened her eyesto find the sky was already growing light. Hurriedly,she arose and washed herself, then combed her hair.
　　The maid servants went to look after her knew shewould allow no-one near her and watched from adistance. She carefully secreted the letter in hersleeve and then left the pavilion. Eunuchs werealready waiting outside with a palanquin and took herto the mosque on the West Avenue of Eternal Peacewhile bodyguards crowded round both before and aft.
　　Seeing the round dome of the mosque as she descendedfrom the palanqin, she felt both happiness andanguish. She walked through the mosque's entrance withhead bowed and noticed two men walking on either sideof her. They were dressed as Muslims, and she wasabout to pass the letter to one of them, then stoppedherself. His features and manner were not at all thoseof her people. She glanced at the other man and saw hewas the same.
　　"Were you sent by the Emperor to guard me?" she askedquietly in the Muslim tongue. Both men nodded, notunderstanding what she had said.
　　Disappointed, she turned round and saw there wereanother eight palace guards dressed as Muslims behindher, and that all the real Muslims were being kept ata safe distance. She walked over to the chief Imam ofthe mosque and said: "Please make sure this letter isdelivered no matter what happens." The Imam started inshock as Princess Fragrance pushed the letter into hishand. A guard rushed forward and snatched the letteraway and gave the Imam a heavy push on the chest,causing him to stumble and almost fall. The otherworshippers looked at each other in surprise,wondering what was going on.
　　"What do you people think you're doing?" the Imamdemanded angrily.
　　"Mind your own business," the guard hissed at him. "Weare from the palace."Severely frightened, the Imam did not dare to sayanother word, and turned to lead the gathering inprayer.
　　Princess Fragrance knelt down with the others andtears welled out of her eyes like water from a spring.
　　In the midst of her pain and sorrow only one thoughtremained: "How can I warn him to be on his guard? Imust let him know even if I die doing it, but how?""By dying!" The realisation streaked across her brainlike a flash of lightning. "If I die here, word willget out and he will hear of it. That's it. There's noother way!"Then the Prophet's words sounded in her ears likethunder: "Those who take their own life will fall intothe eternal fires and will never escape." She was notafraid of death, and believed that people who diedcould ascend to Paradise and be re-united with theirloved ones for eternity. But with suicide, there wasnothing to look forward to but never-ending pain!
　　A violent shiver ran through her and she suddenly feltextremely cold. She listened for a moment to thecongregation reciting the scriptures.
　　For a true religious believer there is nothing moreterrible than the consignment of the soul to eternalHell, but she could see no other way. Love overcamethe greatest fear of all.
　　"Most sacred and Holy Allah," she whispered. "It isnot that I don't believe you care for me. But there isno other way except by using my own blood."She took the dagger out of her sleeve and on the stonein front of her, carved out the words "Don't trust theEmperor." Then she lightly called out the word"Brother!" and thrust the blade into the purest, mostbeautiful breast in this world.
Chapter 58
That morning, while the Red Flower Society heroes werediscussing the situation in their quarters in TwinWillow Lane, a servant appeared to announced thearrival of the Emeror's chief bodyguard, Bai Zhen.
　　Chen went out alone to meet him. Bai Zhen passed onthe Emperor's invitation to all the leading members ofthe Red Flower Society to attend a banquet in the LamaTemple that evening to be hosted by the Emperorhimself. He explained that the banquet was being heldoutside the palace in order to avoid raising thesuspicions of the Empress Dowager and the Manchunobles. Chen expressed his thanks. He assumed the newsindicated Princess Fragrance had already done what hadto be done and had given in to the Emperor, and feltan inexpressible mixture of emotions. After havingseen Bai Zhen out, he returned to discuss matters withthe heroes, who were very excited that the Emperor waskeeping his part of the bargain, although they werealso painfully aware of the sacrifice Chen had made tomake it possible.
　　They passed the rest of the morning in kung futraining, and Chen showed the others some of what hehad learned inside the White Jade Peak. Just as theywere in the midst of the practice, they heard wailingand mournful singing outside. At first, they did nottake much notice, but the noise gradually increased involume, as if thousands of people were gathering in anstate of extreme grief.
　　Xin Yan had lived in the desert for a long time andrecognised the song as a Muslim funeral dirge. Hiscuriosity aroused, he ran out to find out what wasgoing on, and returned a while later, unsteady on hisfeet and ashen-faced. He walked over to Chen.
　　"Master!" he exclaimed, his voice shaking.
　　The heroes stopped their kung fu training, and Chenturned to him. "What is it?" he asked.
　　"She ... Princess Fragrance is dead!"The heroes blanched. For Chen, everything went blackand he collapsed to the ground. Priest Wu Chen droppedhis sword and helped him up.
　　"How did she die?" Luo Bing asked.
　　"The Muslim I talked to said she stabbed herself todeath while praying in the mosque," Xin Yan replied.
　　"What else did he say?""That the Empress Dowager would not let her body backinto the palace and had it handed over to the mosque.
　　They are just on their way back from burying her now."The heroes all cursed the Emperor bitterly for hiscruelty in hounding such a pure, innocent young girlto her death. Luo Bing broke down and started to cry.
　　Chen was silent for a while, and then suddenly said toPrist Wu Chen: "I haven't finished showing you all themoves yet. Let us continue."To their amazement, he walked back out into the middleof the courtyard. Wu Chen decided it would be a goodidea to help distract Chen from his grief, so heraised his sword and resumed the training session. Theheroes saw Chen's footwork was just as sure as beforeand his hands moved with the same skill as if the newshad had absolutely no effect on him, and they began toquietly discuss it amongst themselves.
　　"Men have no hearts," Yuanzhi whispered into 'Scholar'
　　Yu's ear. "He thinks only of his great plans for thecountry, and doesn't care at all about the death ofthe woman he loved."Yu said nothing. But he silently praised Chen for hisself-control. If it were me, he thought, I think Iwould immediately go insane.
　　Aware that a great change had come over Chen, PriestWu Chen did not dare press him too hard, and in a fewmoves, Chen had easily gained the upper hand. As thePriest retreated, Chen's hand suddenly shot out andtouched his hand. The two leapt apart.
　　"Good! Excellent!" exclaimed the priest.
　　"You weren't really trying," Chen replied and laughed.
　　But before the laugh was finished, he vomited amouthful of blood. The heroes rushed forward as one tohelp him, but Chen waved them away with a wan smile.
　　"It's nothing," he said. He walked back into thehouse, supporting himself on Xin Yan's shoulders.
　　Chen slept for more than two hours. Upon waking, hethought of all the important things he had to do,including seeing the Emperor that evening, and knew hehad to look after himself. But as soon as he thoughtabout Princess Fragrance's tragic death the pain wassuch that he wanted to end it all. He wondered why shewould suddenly commit suicide after clearly agreeingto give in to the Emperor. Could it be that she hadchanged her mind and decided she could not renounceher love for him? But she knew this was a matter of nosmall significance. He was convinced that somethingmust have happened, but what? He meditated on theproblem for a while but could come to no conclusion,so he took out a set of Muslim clothes he had broughtfrom the northwest and put them on, then blacked hisface with some diluted ink.
　　"I'm going out," he said to Xin Yan. "I'll be back ina while." Xin Yan quietly followed him. Chen, who knewhe was simply acting out of loyalty, did not try tostop him.
　　The streets were full of people and noise,intermingled with many carriages and horses, but inChen's eyes, all was deserted. He walked into themosque on the Avenue of Eternal Peace, went straightinto the main hall, and threw himself down on theground to pray. "Wait for me in Heaven," he saidquietly. "I promised you that I would be converted tothe Islamic faith, and I will make sure that you donot wait in vain."He raised his head and noticed what looked like aninscription on the floor about five feet in front ofhim. He went forward to investigate and saw it wasseveral Muslim words etched into the stone with thepoint of a knife: "Don't trust the Emperor." There wassome pigment in the grooves of the words, and Chenstarted in shock. Looking around, he found a part ofthe floor nearby that was slightly darker in colour,and thought: "Could this be her blood?" He bent downto smell the patch and caught the tang of fresh blood.
　　In a second, he was overcome with grief and he threwhimself on the ground, sobbing.
　　After crying for a while, he felt someone tap himlightly on his shoulder. He leapt to his feet ready tofight, then started in surprise: it was Huo Qingtong,dressed as a Muslim boy.
　　She had arrived that day with the Twin Eagles in thehope of rescuing Princess Frangrance, but had heardalmost immediately that her sister was dead. She hadcome to the mosque to pray for her.
　　Chen noticed two palace guards enter the mosque, andwith a tug on Huo Qingtong's sleeve, pulled her downto the ground where they prostrated themselves inprayer.
　　The guards walked over. "Get up!" they barked. Chenand Huo Qingtong did as they were told and walked overto a window. Behind them, they heard the sound ofhammering as the guards used implements to prise upthe flagstone on which Princess Fragrance's messagewas engraved. They carried the stone out of the mosqueand rode away.
　　"What was that?" Huo Qingtong asked.
　　"If I had been one step late I would have missed thewarning she wrote in her own blood and sacrifed herlife for.""What warning?""There are too many eyes and ears here," Chen replied.
　　"Let's kneel down on the floor again and I'll tellyou." So they prostrated themselves again and Chengave her a brief account of all that had happened.
　　"How could you be stupid as to trust the Emperor?" HuoQingtong declared angrily.
　　Chen was mortified with shame. "I thought that becausehe is Chinese, and also my blood brother...." hebegan.
　　"And what if he is Chinese? Do you mean to say Chineseare incapable of doing bad? And what use is he goingto have for brotherly love, as Emperor?""I am responsible for her death," Chen sobbed. "I...Ican't bear not to follow her immediately."Huo Qingtong saw how heartbroken he was and felt shehad been too hard on him. "What you did was for thegood of the common people," she said softly to comforthim. "You can't be blamed." After a moment's silence,she asked: "Are you going to go to the banquet in theLama Temple this evening?"Chen gritted his teeth in rage. "The Emperor will bethere, so I'll assassinate him and avenge her death.""Yes," Huo Qingtong agreed. "And also avenge my fatherand brother, and all the people of my tribe.""How did you manage to escape when the Manchu troopsattacked?" he asked.
　　"I was very sick at the time, but luckily I had mytroop of bodyguards with me who managed to get me outand took me to my teacher's home," she replied.
　　Chen sighed. "Your sister said that even if it meanttravelling to the ends of the earth, we had to findyou." The tears began to stream down Huo Qingtong'sface.
　　They walked out of the mosque and Xin Yan came up tomeet them. He was astonished to see Huo Qingtong withChen.
　　"Mistress! How are you?" he exclaimed. "I've beenthinking of you.""Well thank you," she replied. "You've grown a lotsince I last saw you."They returned to Twin Willow Lane to find the TwinEagles of Tianshan in the middle of a heated argumentwith the heroes. Chen swallowed his tears and toldthem of the blood-stained words he had seen in themosque. Bald Vulture slapped the table.
　　"Didn't I tell you?" he demanded. "Of course thatEmperor means us harm. The girl must have obtainedsome definite proof of it in the palace before shewould give her life to let us know." The othersagreed.
　　"When we go to the banquet this evening, we won't beable to carry swords, so everyone prepare daggers ordarts," said Chen. "The food and drink may be poisonedso don't allow anything to touch your lips. We have tokill the Emperor tonight for the sake of revenge butwe must also plan our escape route.""None of us will be able to live in central Chinaagain," said Bald Vulture. "We should all go to theMuslim regions."The heroes had long lived in the south of China, andthe idea of leaving their home was not easy to accept.
　　But the Emperor was evil and dangerous and bitterlyhated by all of them, and everyone was willing to dowhat was necessary.
　　Chen ordered 'Leopard' Wei to go to the west gate ofthe city with several of the heroes and to kill theguards at the right moment to allow them all toescape. He then ordered Xin Yan to arrange for horsesto be waiting outside the Lama Temple. Turning to Yu,he told him to immediately inform all the Red FlowerSociety's members in Beijing and all other provincesto go to ground to avoid being arrested.
　　The arrangements complete, Chen turned to the TwinEagles and Master Lu. "I would like to ask you threeelders for suggestions on how the assassination shouldbe carried out," he said.
　　"Isn't it simple?" replied Bald Vulture. "I go up andgrab his neck and give it a good twist. That shouldfinish him."Lu smiled. "I'm afraid you won't get close enough tograb his neck with all the bodyguards he is bound tohave around him.""It would be better if Third Brother attacks him withpoisonous darts," suggested Priest Wu Chen. "Even ifjust one hits the target, that will be enough."Lu turned to Luo Bing. "You could dip your throwingknives into some poison too, and I could do the samewith my Golden Needles," he said.
　　Luo Bing nodded. "If we all loose our weapons at once,a few at least will hit him no matter how manybodyguards he has," she said.
　　Chen watched the heroes as they dipped their variousweapons into a pot of bubbling poison on the stove,and thought uncomfortably about how the Emperor wasborn of the same mother as himself. But then heremembered his cruelty and deviousness and his rageburned up again. He drew his dagger and placed it fora moment in the pot of poison along with the others.
Chapter 59
That afternoon, the heroes had a large meal and thenwaited for the time to leave. At about four o'clock,Bai Zhen arrived with four bodyguards to accompanythem. The heroes put on formal gowns, and rode to theLama Temple. Bai Zhen noticed with relief that none ofthem were carrying swords.
　　At the temple gate they dismounted, and Bai Zhen ledthem inside. Three tables had been prepared in theHall of Tranquillity, and Bai Zhen solemnly invitedthe heroes to be seated. Chen sat at the head of themiddle table while Bald Vulture and Master Lu took thehead seats on the other two tables. Underneath astatue of the Buddha, a fourth table had been set upwith one large chair covered with satin and brocade,obviously the Emperor's seat. The heroes began toweigh up the distances in preparation for theassassination attempt.
　　Dishes of food were brought out and placed on thetables and the heroes quietly awaited the arrival ofthe Emperor. After a while, footsteps sounded outsideand two eunuchs marched into the hall with a seniormilitary official whom the heroes all immediatelyrecognised as Li Keshou, the former Commander-in-Chiefof Zhejiang Province. Yuanzhi gripped Yu's hand andalmost cried out in surprise at the sight of herfather. She wondered when he had been transferrd tothe capital.
　　"Here is an Imperial pronouncement!" one of theeunuchs shouted, and Commander Li, Bai Zhen and theother officials present immediately knelt kown. Chenand the rest of the heroes had no alternative but todo likewise.
　　The eunuch unrolled a scroll and announced: "On theorders of the Heaven-ordained Emperor, the followingproclamation is made: We are benevolent in order toencourage talent just as our ministers and the commonpeople should strive for merit in order to gainrewards. Chen Jialuo and the others have been loyalcitizens and deserve to be honoured. Accordingly, Ibestow upon Chen Jialuo the title of SuccessfulCandidate of the Imperial Civil Service Examination,while the others are to be given good positions in theBoard of Rites and the Military. We invite you to dineat the Lama Temple. The Commander-in-chief of theImperial Forces in Zhili Province Li Keshou will hostthe banquet." The eunuch looked up from the scroll andshouted: "Express thanks for the Imperialbenevolence!"The heroes realised with a shock that the Emperor hadcheated them and was not coming.
　　Commander Li walked over to Chen and bowed before him.
　　"Congratulations, Master Chen. You are honoured to beso highly favoured by the Emperor. It is trulyunexpected." Chen replied with a self-deprecatingremark.
　　Yuanzhi and Yu walked over together. "Father!" Yuanzhisaid quietly.
　　Commander Li turned to find his lost daughter standingbeside him, as if she had dropped out of nowhere. Hegrasped her hand, tears welling into his eyes.
　　"Yuanzhi," he said, his voice shaking. "Are you allright?" She nodded. "Come, come and sit with me," headded, and pulled her over to a table on the side.
　　The two eunuchs, obviously kung fu experts, walkedover to the central table and stood before Chen. Oneof them saluted with his fists, then turned andshouted: "Boy!"Two young attendants entered carrying a tray on whichwas placed a pot of wine and several cups. The eunuchlifted the pot and filled two cups, then picked one ofthem up. "I drink to you!" he said to Chen, anddrained the cup at one draught. He picked the otherone up and offered it to Chen.
　　But Chen had been watching intently, and had noticedtwo small holes on the side of the wine pot. Theeunuch had put his thumb over the left hole when hepoured the first cup of wine, and had moved it tocover the right hole as he poured the second cup. Chenguessed the pot was divided into two compartmentsinside, and that the flow of wine from each could becontrolled by covering one or other of the holes. Heglanced at the eunuch in distaste and knew that if ithad not been for Princess Fragrance's warning, hewould have drunk the cup down.
　　He saluted with his fists in thanks, and lifted thecup as if to drink it. Expressions of delightedanticipation sprang to the faces of the eunuchs, butthen Chen put the cup down again, picked up the winepot and poured out another cup. This cupful he drankthen offered the original cup to the second eunuch.
　　"You drink a toast as well, sir," he said.
　　The eunuch turned pale as he realised Chen had seenthrough the trick. His right foot shot up and kickedthe cup out of Chen's hand and the other eunuchshouted: "Get them!" Several hundred Imperialbodyguards and guardsmen sprang into view from everyside.
　　"If you gentlemen don't wish to drink, then don't,"said Chen with a smile.
　　"His Imperial Highness decrees," one of the eunuchsshouted, "that the Red Flower Society has engaged inrebellion and continues to harbour evil intentions,and that its members must be immediately seized andkilled."Chen waved his hand and the Twin Knights leapt over tothe two eunuchs, paralysing each with a blow to theneck. The Red Flower Society heroes brought out theirweapons from under their gowns, and Priest Wu Chencharged for the door with the other heroes closebehind. He seized a sword from one of the guards andkilled three others as he passed.
　　Commander Li grabbed his daughter's hand and draggedher after him as he directed his forces to stop theheroes, but Yuanzhi pulled herself free and ran offshouting: "Look after yourself, father!"Commander Li stared after her for a moment, then beganurgently calling: "Yuanzhi, come back!" But she hadalready left the hall and had joined Yu who wasfighting fiercely with five or six guardsmen in thecourtyard outside.
　　Flames were licking up towards the sky from a nearbyhall, and the noise of the battle was deafening. AsChen and the other heroes broke out of theTranquillity Hall into the open, they were surprisedto find several dozen Lama monks fighting with a groupof Manchu soldiers outside the burning hall. From thelook of things, the monks could not hold out for long,but as they watched, Bai Zhen led some of the Imperialguards over and helped them force the Manchu troopsback into the hall. Chen had no knowledge of theenmity between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager,but he immediately recognised the fight as anexcellent diversion and quickly ordered the heroes toescape over the temple walls.
　　As they touched the ground, the heroes involuntarilysucked in their breaths: in front of them were rankupon rank of Manchu troops, all with bows drawn orwith swords in hand. The scene was brightly lit byseveral thousand torches.
　　"He has arranged things very carefully," thought Chen.
　　Priest Wu Chen and Bald Vulture charged into theManchu ranks, killing as they went, and a hail ofarrows descended on them.
　　"Everyone try and make a break for it!" shouted HuoQingtong. The heroes fought like demons.
　　Priest Wu Chen noticed seven or eight ImperialGuardsmen attacking Zhang Jin, and he leapt over tohelp him. He stabbed three of them in the neck, andthe rest howled and retreated.
　　"Tenth Brother, are you all right?" he asked.
　　Zhang Jin looked up at him and dropped his wolf'stooth club. "Second Brother, I'm finished," he said.
　　In the fire-light, Priest Wu Chen saw he was coveredin bloody wounds. With only one arm himself, thePriest could not support him.
　　"Lie on my back and hold on," the priest said betweenclenched teeth. He squatted down, and Zhang Jin puthis arms round his neck. He felt the warm bloodspurting out of the hunchback's wounds, but stood upand charged off again with sword raised to continuethe killing.
　　Chen could see things were going badly and ordered theheroes to return to the wall to regroup.
　　"All right, Tenth Brother, get down," said Priest WuChen as they reached the comparative safety of thewall. Zhang Jin did not move. Luo Bing went over tohelp him, but found that his body was stiff and hisbreathing had already ceased. She threw herself ontohis corpse and began to sob.
　　Just as the Manchu troops moved in for the finalattack on the heroes, their ranks parted and severaldozen monks fought their way through, their yellowrobes glowing in the firelight. Leading them, his longwhite beard dancing and shaking, was Lord Zhou.
　　"Come with me, all of you!" he shouted to the heroes,and they charged after him through the Manchublockade, and found Heavenly Mirror and the monksbattling fiercely with the Manchu troops.
　　Huo Qingtong surveyed the situation with dismay. Theheroes were killing large numbers of the enemy, but nomatter which direction they went, they were alwayssurrounded. She looked around for some possiblesolution and spotted a dozen or so people standing ona nearby Drum Tower.
　　"One of those men must be the commander," she shoutedto the others, pointing at the tower. "Let's seizehim."The heroes immediately saw the wisdom of her words.
　　"Let's go," Priest Wu Chen roared. Wen and the TwinKnights ran after him. They quickly reached the footof the Drum Tower, and leapt up onto the balcony justas several dozen guards moved to intercept them. Wen,however, dodged nimbly past them and charged straightfor an official standing in one corner who wore a redcap signifying senior rank. As he caught sight of theofficial's face in the firelight, he almost called out"Great Helmsman!" He was almost an exact twin ofChen's. Wen remembered his wife telling him about theresemblance of Qian Long's favorite, Fu Kangan, toChen. This must be Fu, he decided.
　　It was indeed Fu, who was also the Beijing GarrisonCommander. Wen deftly dodged the swords of twosurprised bodyguards and lunged at Fu with Priest WuChen close behind. Down below, the Manchu troopsceased their attack and stood watching the drama abovethem.
　　Fu knew no kung fu and he cringed in fear as Wenlifted him bodily into the air. A gasp went up theManchu troops. By this time, the Twin Knights hadkilled the last of the bodyguards on the tower balconyand ran over beside Wen. Fu raised his command flagand shrieked: "Stop, all of you! Return to yourunits!"Three bodyguards bravely charged forward, but PriestWu Chen placed the tip of his sword on Fu's throat andsmiled at them. "Come on," he said. "Don't be shy."The bodyguards hesitated, glanced at each other, thenwithdrew.
　　Wen squeezed Fu's arm and he screamed in agony.
　　"Retreat!" he shouted. "Back in position, all of you!"The Manchu troops did not dare to disobey andimmediately formed up at a distance.
　　Chen gathered the heroes and the Shaolin monkstogether on the Drum Tower balcony. He counted up thecasualties and found that apart from Zhang Jin who wasdead, eight or nine of the others had been wounded,only one of them seriously. He surveyed his followersin the lights of the flames from the temple.
　　"Let us attack the Palace and kill the Emperor toavenge Tenth Brother!" he shouted. The heroes roaredtheir approval, and the Shaolin monks joined in.
　　"The Shaolin Monastery has been destroyed by him,"Heavenly Mirror added. "Today, the Commandment againstkilling is suspended.""What?" asked Chen, shocked. "The Shaolin Monasterydestroyed?""Yes, it's been burnt to the ground. Brother HeavenlyRainbow died protecting the sacred scriptures."The news compounded Chen's anger. With Commander Fu astheir hostage, the heroes marched through the ranks ofImperial Guards encircling the Lama Temple. When theyhad passed the last rank, they saw Xin Yan and anumber of the Society's followers standing at adistance with several dozen horses. They ran over andmounted up, one or two to each horse, and with adefiant shout, galloped off towards the ImperialPalace.
　　Xu rode up alongside Chen and shouted: "Has an escaperoute been planned, Great Helmsman?""Ninth Brother has gone with some of the others to theWest Gate to wait for us. What are you and the monksdoing here?""Those Manchu devils!" replied Xu, his voice full ofhatred. "They came one night and sacked the monastery.
　　Heavenly Rainbow would not leave and was burned todeath. They even kidnapped my son! We have beenlooking for the officers responsible ever since, andthe chase brought us to Beijing. We went to TwinWillow Lane and they told us you had gone to the LamaTemple."By this time, they had arrived at the Forbidden Citywith the Imperial Guardsmen pressing in on them frombehind, loath to leave them alone even if they did notdare to attack.
　　Xu looked over at the Twin Eagles. "If the Emperorgets wind of this and hides somewhere in the depths ofthe palace, we'll never find him. Could you two go onahead and investigate?" he asked.
　　The two old people were delighted to have theopportunity to show their worth, and immediatelyagreed. Xu took four flare rockets from his bag andgave them to Bald Vulture.
　　"When you catch sight of the Emperor, kill him if youcan, but if he is guarded too tightly, signal us withthese," he said.
　　The Twin Eagles leapt over the palace wall and ranswiftly across the courtyard inside and then up ontothe rooftops. As they raced along, they saw the heavypalace gates and the endless courtyards and pavilions,and wondered how they could ever hope to find theEmperor in such a place.
　　"Let's grab a eunuch and question him," Madame Guansaid.
　　"Good idea!" replied her husband, and the two jumpeddown to the ground and hid themselves in a darkcorner. After a while, they heard footsteps approachand two figures walked quickly by.
　　"The thin one knows kung fu," Bald Vulture whispered.
　　"Let's follow and see where they go," Madame Guanreplied.
　　The Twin Eagles silently shadowed the two figures, onevery thin, the other fat and much slower on his feet.
　　The thin man had to constantly stop to wait for him tocatch up, and at one point said: "Faster! Faster! Wemust report to the Emperor as soon as possible."The Twin Eagles were overjoyed when they heard this.
　　They passed through doorways and courtyards andfinally arrived in front of the Precious MoonPavilion.
　　"You wait here," the thin man said and disappearedupstairs, leaving the fat man standing alone by thefront door. The Twin Eagles crept round to the side ofthe pavilion and climbed up onto the roof. Then, withtheir feet hooked onto the eaves, they hung down overa balcony smelling of fresh paint and flowers and sawa row of windows, one of which glowed with the faintlight of a candle. They slipped onto the balcony, justas a shadow passed across the window paper. MadameGuan carefully wet the paper with her finger, making ahole and then looked through to find Qian Long seatedin a chair, a fan in his hand, and the thin mankneeling before him: it was Bai Zhen.
　　"The Tranquillity Hall in the Lama Temple has beenburned to the ground and not one of the soldiersguarding it escaped," he said.
　　"Excellent!" exclaimed Qian Long, very pleased.
　　Bai Zhen kowtowed. "Your slave deserves to die. TheRed Flower Society bandits eluded capture.""What?""They saw through the attempt to poison them with thewine, and they escaped while I was dealing with theguards."Qian Long grunted and hung his head, deep in thought.
　　Bald Vulture pointed at Bai Zhen and the Emperor,indicating to his wife that he would attack Bai Zhenwhile she killed Qian Long, and the two were justabout to burst through the window when Bai Zhenclapped his hands twice and twelve bodyguards slippednoiselessly out from behind cupboards and screens,each one carrying a sword. The Twin Eagles knew theywere no match for so many expert fighters and decidedto summon the other heroes first. Bai Zhen whisperedsomething to one of the bodyguards who left andbrought the fat man back with him.
　　The fat man, wearing the yellow robes of a Lamapriest, kowtowed energetically before the Emperor.
　　"You have done well," Qian Long said. "Are you sureyou left no clues?""Everything was done according to Your Highness'swishes. Nothing is left of the Tranquillity Hall orwhat was in it.""Good, good, good! Bai Zhen, I promised that he shouldbe made a Living Buddha. Go and see to it.""Your Highness," Bai Zhen replied with a bow.
　　The Lama kowtowed again.
　　As they walked out of the pavilion, Bai Zhen stoppedthe Lama. "Show your gratitude to his Highness,abbot," he said.
　　The abbot looked at him in surprise, but unwilling todisobey an Imperial bodyguard, he knelt down again andkowtowed in the direction of the Precious MoonPavilion. Then he felt an icy coldness on his neck,and started in shock.
　　"What...what's happening?" he asked, his voiceshaking.
　　Bai Zhen laughed coldly. "The Emperor said to let youbecome a Living Buddha, so I'll send you to theWestern Heavens where you can be one."He twitched his hand and the blade did its work. Twoeunuchs brought a carpet over, wrapped the abbot'scorpse in it and carried it away.
　　Suddenly, Bai Zhen heard shouting in the distance. Heturned and ran back into the pavilion.
　　"There are bandits outside causing a disturbance, YourHighness," he said. "Please retire to the innerpalace."Qian Long had seen the Red Flower Society fighters inaction in Hangzhou and he knew that his bodyguardswere no match for them, so without questioning BaiZhen further, he stood up.
　　Just then, Bald Vulture released a flare, and with a'whoosh' it scrawled a path of white light across thenight sky.
　　"Where do you think you're escaping to?" he roared asthey burst through the window into the room. "We'vewaited a long time for this!"The bodyguards around the Emperor stared for a momentin surprise at the red-faced old man and white-hairedold woman who had suddenly appeared in their midst,then rushed at the intruders. Bai Zhen slung Qian Lungover his back and with four bodyguards protecting thefront and rear, ran for the stairs. But Madame Guanforced the bodyguards back with a fistful ofprojectiles and lunged at Qian Long with her sword.
　　Bai Zhen leapt backwards in fright.
　　Meanwhile, Bald Vulture was fighting with three guardssimultaneously. Bai Zhen gave a whistle and four otherguards joined the other three and completelysurrounded Bald Vulture. But he fought like a demonand kept all seven at bay for a while, until one ofthe guards lashed out with a whip which cracked loudlyagainst his right arm. In great pain, Bald Vultureswitched his sword over to the left hand and forcedthe bodyguards back.
　　Seeing her husband was wounded, Madame Guan went overto help him, and the two retreated towards the secondfloor of the pavilion. Bald Vulture knew they couldnot tie down so many top-class kung fu fighters formuch longer, so he slipped over to the window and shotoff another flare. He and his wife blocked the stairs,retreating a step at a time when the pressure was toogreat. Luckily, the staircase was narrow and onlythree or four bodyguards at most could attack at onetime. Even so, the strain of having to fight againstan enemy which always had the advantage of height wasvery wearying.
　　Bai Zhen could see things were going badly. "BrotherMa," he said to one of the bodyguards. "Put HisHighness on your back." The bodyguard squatted downand the Emperor climbed on. Bai Zhen gave a shout andcharged at Bald Vulture. The two began to fight, andBald Vulture cursed his luck. The longer he fought,the more painful the wound on his right arm became.
　　Bai Zhen by himself was as much as he could manage,let alone the other four or five bodyguards that alsosurrounded him. Bai Zhen's hands dived and flew, everymove accurate and deadly, and Bald Vulture, completelyabsorbed in fending him off, was unprepared for acold-blooded attack from behind. A bodyguard thrusthis sword deep into Bald Vulture's back.
　　Bald Vulture knew instantly that he would die. Heswung his elbow back with all his strength and smashedhis attacker's skull, then with a huge roar, he raisedhis sword and threw it forcefully across the room atQian Long. The bodyguard Ma who was carrying theEmperor, saw the blade flying towards them and with notime to dodge out of the way, put his hand up to stopit. But this was a throw by a man on the verge ofdeath, backed by incalculable strength and outrage andthe sword sliced off half of his hand and plungedthrough his chest and out the other side.
　　Bald Vulture was content, assuming that the sword musthave entered Qian Long. Exchanging his own life forthat of an Emperor made death seem worthwhile. MadameGuan ran to her husband as Bai Zhen hurriedly pickedQian Long up off the floor.
　　"Your Highness, are you all right?" he asked.
　　Qian Long was scared out of his wits, but he struggledto control himself. "At least I was well-prepared," hereplied with a smile.
　　Bai Zhen could see the tip of Bald Vulture's swordextending six inches out of Ma's back and the rip onthe front of Qian Long's gown, and he wondered in awehow the Emperor had avoided injury.
　　"Your Highness is very fortunate," he said. "Truly,the Son of Heaven has the protection of a hundredGods."What he did not know was that Qian Long had been sofearful of an assassination attempt as a result of hisdecision to break his pact with the Red Flower Societythat he decided to wear a metallic vest at all times.
　　It had saved his life.
　　Bai Zhen looked round and saw there was no longeranyone blocking the steps. He lifted Qian Long ontohis back, the bodyguards fell in around him and theyall ran straight downstairs. But just as they wereabout to pass through the pavilion's main entrance,Qian Long gave a shout of alarm and struggled free ofBai Zhen's grasp: standing in the doorway was ChenJialuo. Behind him, their torches dancing and swordsglinting, were several dozen kung fu fighters. TheEmperor turned and ran straight back up the stairs.
　　The bodyguards swarmed like bees after him with theRed flower Society heroes on their heels. Two of theguards who were slightly slower than the rest wereintercepted by the Twin Knights and instantly killed.
　　Chen and the other heroes had had to fight their waythrough the palace to the Precious Moon Pavilion, andthey were delighted to find that in spite of thedelay, the Emperor had not yet escaped. Shouting intriumph, the heroes galloped up the stairs. Chenassigned men to watch the various exits. Priest WuChen stood with his sword at the ready at the head ofthe stair well on the third floor, while the TwinKnights guarded the bottom of the stairs. 'Buddha'
　　Zhao and three of the Shaolin monks took up positionsby the windows.
　　Huo Qingtong saw her teacher Madame Guan in a cornerembracing Bald Vulture, blood welling in great surgesfrom the gash in his back. She went over with MasterLu who took out some ointment. Bald Vulture smiledbitterly and shook his head.
　　"I'm sorry," he said to Madame Guan. "Because of me,you've been unhappy for all these years. When youreturn to the Muslim areas you must marry ... marryBrother Yuan ... and then I will be content in theafterworld. Brother Lu, you must make sure for me thatthis happy event takes place..."Madame Guan's eyebrows flew up in outrage. "Do youmean to say," she demanded, "that you do not know howI have felt towards you in the past few months?"Lu was just about to suggest it would be better forher to say a few comforting words to her dying husbandrather than start another argument, when she jumped toher feet and shouted: "Well, I'll rest your mind atease!" She raised her sword and drew it firmly acrossher throat. Lu and Huo Qingting were standing at herside, but neither was quick enough to save her. BaldVulture let loose a wail of grief which was cut shortas he also died. Huo Qingtong threw herself onto theircorpses and sobbed uncontrollably.
　　Chen pointed his dagger at Qian Long. "Even forgettingthe pact we made in the Six Harmonies Pagoda, weagreed on the dyke at Haining never to harm eachother. And yet you use poisoned wine to try and getrid of me. What do you have to say?" He steppedforward and pointed the dagger's blade, glintingcoldly, directly at Qian Long's heart. "You havedecided to throw in your lot with the barbarians. Youhave cruelly oppressed the common people. You are theenemy of all good men under heaven," he announced in aformal tone. "Our fraternal bond is broken forever.
　　Today, I will drink your blood to avenge all those whohave been killed in your name."Qian Long's face turned deathly pale and his wholebody quivered with terror.
　　Heavenly Mirror strode forward. "We of the ShaolinMonastery led a simple life," he shouted. "We had noquarrels with the world. What justification did youhave to send your evil underlings to burn ourmonastery to the ground? Today, I will disregard thesacred commandment against killing."Chen helped Huo Qingtong up and placed his dagger inher hand. "Your father and mother, your brother andsister and countless members of your tribe died at thehands of this man," he said. "You kill him."Huo Qingtong took the dagger and walked towards QianLong. One of the bodyguards moved to intercept her,but Wen stopped him and with eight or nine swift blowsbroke all his ribs and his spine, so that he felllimply to the floor in a heap. A hubbub of voices rosefrom outside. 'Buddha' Zhao looked out and saw a seaof torches and faces around the pavilion.
　　Wen walked over to the window. "The Emperor is here,"he called. "If anyone dares to come up here, I willkill him immediately." His tone was forceful andcommanding, and a hush fell over the crowd. The heroesin the Precious Moon Pavilion also fell silent, andstared fixedly at the gleaming blade in Huo Qingtong'shand as she advanced step by step towards Qian Long.
　　Suddenly, a figure darted into the room and in frontof Qian Long. Huo Qingtong stopped in surprise as shesaw it was a Manchu officer holding a baby. He smiledand held up the white, chubby baby which was suckingits little fingers.
　　"Give me back my baby!" Zhou Qi screamed and lungedforward.
　　"Come on, then," the man shouted. "If you want a deadbaby, come and get it."Zhou Qi stopped in her tracks and stared at him in adaze.
　　The officer, surnamed Fang, had been commander of thetroops sent by Qian Long to destroy the ShaolinMonastery. He knew of the Emperor's wish to get rid ofthe Red Flower Society, and during the night attack,his men had snatched Zhou Qi's baby son. Fang hadrecognised this as an achievement of great merit andmade his way to Beijing for an audience with theEmperor.
　　Qian Long had questioned him closely that evening,wanting to ascertain for certain that no evidencerelating to his origins could have survived at theShaolin Monastery. When the Twin Eagles appeared, Fanghad dodged behind a curtain, but he now recognised anopportunity to gain even greater merit.
　　"All of you leave the palace and I will return thechild to you," Fang said.
　　"You devil!" Huo Qingtong shouted at him. "It's just atrick!" In her excitement the words came out in theMuslim and Fang looked at her uncomprehendingly.
　　The heroes had thought they finally had the Emperor intheir grasp. But one man, clearly ignorant of kung fuand holding a baby, had left them powerless. Theyturned to Chen, waiting for his decision.
　　Chen looked at Huo Qingtong and thought of how QianLong had forced Princess Fragrance to suicide. Howcould the deaths of her whole family remain unavenged?
　　Looking round, he caught sight of the corpses of theTwin Eagles of Tianshan. Then he saw Xu's face, fullof fear for his son, and glanced back at the child inFang's arms. It was only two months old and wasgurgling happily, stretching out its little fingers tofeel the knobbly hand holding its neck. Chen looked atthe other heroes: Heavenly Mirror's eyes radiatedcompassion, Lu Feiqing sighed and Lord Zhou's whitebeard shook as he trembled. Zhou Qi was standing withher mouth wide open, a crazed expression on her face.
　　Chen knew Lord Zhou's last son and heir had died as aresult of the Red Flower Society and that the babybefore them was his sole hereditory lifeline. But ifthey did not kill the Emperor today, they wereunlikely to ever have another opportunity to gainrevenge. So what to do?
　　Huo Qingtong turned and handed the dagger back toChen.
　　Chen nodded. "All right," he said to Fang. "We willnot harm the Emperor. Give the child to me." As hespoke, he replaced the dagger in its sheath andstretched out his hands.
　　"Huh! Who'd believe you?" Fang replied darkly. "I'llreturn the child only after you have left the palace."Chen was furious. "We of the Red Flower Society holdto our word," he said. "Why would we bother to cheatan animal like you?""That's why I don't believe you.""All right," Chen countered. "Then you leave thepalace with us." Fang hesitated.
　　As soon as Qian Long heard Chen say that his life wasspared, he was ecstatic with happiness and didn't careless what happened to Fang. "Go with them," he said.
　　"You have gained great merit today. I will naturallynot forget it."Fang shivered as he heard the Emperor's tone, andrealised that he was talking about honouring himposthumously. But all he could say was: "Thank you,Your Highness, for your benevolence." He turned toChen. "If I leave the palace with you, what chancehave I got to live?" He wanted Chen to promise tospare him.
　　"You've already done enough evil," Chen repliedangrily. "You should have been consigned to Hell longago."Qian Long, worried that other complications couldarise, and that Chen might change his mind, urged Fangon: "Quickly, leave with them now.""But I'm afraid that once I've gone, they will try andharm Your Highness," Fang added.
　　"So what do you suggest?" Chen asked in exasperation.
　　"Allow his Imperial Highness to leave first and then Iwill accompany you out of the palace."Chen could see they would have to let him go. "Allright," he said to Qian Long. "Leave."Qian Long did not concern himself further with thebearing an Emperor should maintain, and fled for thedoor as fast as his feet could carry him. Suddenly,Chen stretched out his right hand and grabbed him ashe ran past, and boxed his ears sharply with his lefthand --'bang, bang, bang!' the sound ringing out crispand clearly. Qian Long's cheeks immediately began toswell up. The heroes were taken by surprise, and therewas a brief silence before they roared out theirapproval.
　　"Do you still remember that poisonous oath you swore?"Chen demanded, but Qian Long did not dare to make anyreply. With a contemptuous wave of his hand, Chendismissed him, and Qian Long stumbled out of the roomand down the stairs.
　　"Get the child!" Chen shouted.
　　'Buddha' Zhao was holding his poisonous darts andlooking out of the window, waiting for the rightmoment. As soon as Chen had hold of the child, andQian Long appeared down below, he would fire offseveral dozen projectiles at the Emperor's body.
　　Fang, meanwhile, was frantically looking around,trying to think of some way out for himself. "I wantto see with my own eyes that His Highness is out ofdanger before I'll hand over the child," he said,shuffling slowly towards the nearest window.
　　"You Turtle! You're already a dead man," snarled oneof the Twin Knights. They shadowed him, waiting for anopportunity to strike.
　　Qian Long emerged from the main door of the pavilion,and the bodyguards waiting down below surged forward.
　　"You traitor," 'Buddha' Zhao muttered to himself. "Youtraitor."Fang saw the several dozen bodyguards gathered below,and decided it was better to take a risk than tosimply wait to die where he was. So in a suddenmovement, he embraced the child and threw himself outof the window.
　　Taken completely unawares, a cry of surprise went upfrom the heroes. One of the Twin Knights flicked outhis Flying Claw and hooked it round Fang's left leg,then tugged with all his might. Fang's body flew up,the baby left his hands and the two began to fall.
　　'Buddha' Zhao crouched down and launched himself likean arrow out of the window. As he flew through theair, his head pointing down and his feet up, hestretched out his left hand and grabbed hold of one ofthe child's tiny legs while at the same time throwingthree of his poisonous darts at Fang, hitting himsquarely on the head and chest.
　　A shout went up from both the heroes in the pavilionand the bodyguards down below. Zhao steeled himself,hugged the baby to his chest and landed firmly on histwo feet. The Twin Knights, Lord Zhou and some of theother heroes jumped down from the pavilion andsurrounded Zhao and the baby to protect them. Zhaolooked down at the child in his arms and saw itkicking and waving its arms about, chuckling away indelight. It obviously thought the leap a moment agothat had almost ended its life had been great fun andwanted to do it again.
　　Chen pushed their hostage Commander Fu to the windowand shouted: "Do you want him to live?"Qian Long, once more under the protection of hisbodyguards, caught sight of Fu in the torchlight.
　　"Stop! Stop everything!" he shouted. The guards turnedand waited for his directions.
　　Fu was in fact Qian Long's illegitimate son. TheEmperor's first wife was the elder sister of a seniorminister, whose beautiful wife Qian Long had spottedwhen she came to the palace one evening to pay herrespects to the Empress and he had had illicitrelations with her which resulted in the birth of Fu.
　　Qian Long had many sons, but for some perverse reasonhe loved this illegitimate one more than all the rest.
　　The great physical likeness between Fu and Chen wastherefore the result of the fact that they were uncleand nephew.
　　Chen knew nothing of this, but was aware that theEmperor doted on Fu. He and the other heroes escortedtheir hostage downstairs. Zhou Qi ran over to Zhao andtook the baby from him, almost crazy with happiness.
　　On one side, were the Red Flower Society heroes andthe Shaolin monks, on the other, the mass of palaceguards and Imperial bodyguards. Commander Li could seehis forces vastly outnumbered the enemy, but he alsoknew how the Emperor felt about Fu.
　　"Great Helmsman Chen," he shouted. "Let Commander Fugo and we will allow you to leave the citypeacefully.""What does the Emperor say?" Chen shouted back.
　　Qian Long's cheeks were painful and swollen likeover-ripe peaches as a result of Chen's blows, butseeing his beloved son in the hands of the enemy, hecould only wave his hand and say: "You can go, you cango.""Commander Fu will see us out of the city," Chen said,then looked straight at Qian Long and announced in aloud voice: "All the common people under Heaven wouldbe happy to eat your flesh and make a bed out of yourskin. If you live another hundred years, may they beone hundred years of fear-filled days and tormented,sleepless nights!" He turned to the heroes. "Let usgo," he said.
　　The heroes pushed Fu forward and made their waytowards the palace gate, carrying with them the bodiesof the Twin Eagles and Zhang Jin. The Manchu guardsstared at them fixedly as they passed, but did notdare to stop them.
　　Soon after the heroes passed out of the palace, theyspotted two horsemen galloping after them, one of whomwas Commander Li.
　　"Great Helmsman Chen!" he called as they drew near.
　　"There is something I wish to discuss with you."The heroes reined in their horses and waited for Liand his lieutenant, Deng Tunan, to catch up.
　　"His Highness says that if you allow Commander Fu toreturn safely, he will agree to anything," Li said.
　　Chen's eyebrows shot up. "Huh! Who would believe acursed word the Emperor said any more?""Please, Master Chen. I ask you to express your wishesso that I can return to report.""All right," Chen said. "Firstly, I want the Emperorto rebuild the Shaolin Monastery with his own funds,making the golden statues of Buddha even larger thanbefore. The court and government must never harrassthe monastery again.""That is easy to arrange," said Li.
　　"Secondly, the Emperor must not increase the militaryburden on the common people in the Muslim areas andall the Muslims taken prisoner must be released.""That is not difficult either.""Thirdly, the Emperor must not bear a grudge againstthe Red Flower Society or seize any of its members nomatter where they may be." Commander Li was silent.
　　"Huh! If you really did try to seize any of us, do youthink we would be afraid? Did not Master Wen herespend some time as a guest in your own militaryheadquarters?""All right. I will rashly agree," Li said finally.
　　"Exactly one year from today, if all three demandshave been fully met, Commander Fu will be released.""All right. We will so arrange things," replied Li andturned to Fu. "Commander Fu. Great Helmsman Chen'sword is very precious. Please do not worry. HisHighness will certainly issue orders to see that allthree requests are met. I will not allow a moment topass without thinking of your safety, and will makesure everything is done as quickly as possible in thehope that Master Chen may see fit to release youearly."Fu said nothing.
　　Chen suddenly remembered how they had seen Bai Zhenand Commander Li's forces had mysteriously attackedthe Banner troops guarding the Hall of Tranquillity inthe Lama Temple. He did not understand thecircumstances of the incident but knew it must involvea very dark secret. He decided to scare Li a little.
　　"Tell the Emperor that we know everything about theHall of Tranquillity affair," he said. "If he istreacherous again, it would not be beneficial."Li started in surprise and hastily assented.
　　"Commander Li, we will take our leave of you," Chencontinued and saluted with his fists. "When you arepromoted and become rich, take care not to oppress thecommon people."Li saluted in reply. "I would not dare," he said.
　　Yuanzhi and Yu dismounted and walked over to Li andknelt down in front of him. Li realised sorrowfullythat he would never see his daughter again.
　　"Look after yourself, child," he said quietly. Hestretched out his hand and stroked her hair, thenturned his horse round and rode back to the palace.
　　Yuanzhi began to cry as Yu helped her onto her horse.
　　The heroes galloped to the city gate where 'Pagoda'
　　Yang and 'Leopard' Wei were waiting for them. Fuordered the city gate to be opened. The huge bell inthe bell tower above sounded, ringing out the start ofthe fourth watch.
　　As they passed out of the city, the heroes saw anexpanse of reeds beside the city moat flailing aboutin the pale moonlight. A bit further on, they cameupon a graveyard, and noticed a crowd of people therewailing and singing a Muslim funeral dirge. Chen andHuo Qinging rode over to investigate.
　　"Who are you mourning for?" they asked the crowd.
　　An old Muslim man raised his head, his face coursedwith tears, and said: "Princess Fragrance.""Princess Fragrance is buried here?" Chen asked.
　　The old man pointed at a new grave, the yellow mud onwhich was not yet dry. "There," he replied.
　　Huo Qingtong began to cry. "We cannot allow her toremain buried here," she said.
　　"You're right," Chen replied. "She loved that JadePool in the heart of the White Jade Peak, and said howmuch she would like to live there forever. Let us takeher remains and bury them there.""Yes, I agree," Huo Qingtong said, swallowing hertears.
　　"Who are you?" the old man enquired courteously.
　　"I am Princess Fragrance's sister," Huo Qingtongreplied.
　　"Ah!" another of the Muslim suddenly shouted to theother mourners. "It's Mistress Huo Qingtong!""Let us open up her grave," she said, and Chen and theheroes started work helped by several of the Muslims.
　　They shifted the earth as fast as they could and in amoment, had uncovered the stone slab placed over thegrave. They lifted the slab up and a perfumedfragrance emerged. But when they looked inside, theyfound the grave was empty.
　　Chen took a burning torch from one of the mourners andheld it over the grave opening. On the floor was asmall pool of blood and the piece of jade that hehimself had given her.
　　"We brought Princess Fragrance's remains here andburied them ourselves," said the Muslims. "We have notleft this spot since. How could her body havedisappeared?""She was so wondrously beautiful. Perhaps she was aspirit that descended to earth," Luo Bing suggested.
　　"Now she has returned to Heaven. Don't be distressed."Chen bent down into the grave and picked up the pieceof jade. Suddenly, he began to cry, the tears runningdown his face like rain. She was so beautiful, sopure. Perhaps she was a spirit.
　　The people sighed and covered up the grave once more,and as they finished the work, a large jade-colouredbutterfly appeared and began dancing to and fro abovethe pile of earth.
　　Chen turned to the old man. "I will write a few words.
　　Please ask a master carver to erect a stone engravedwith the inscription on this spot," he said.
　　The old man nodded, and Xin Yan gave him ten taels ofsilver to cover the cost. Then he took writingimplements from his bag and handed them to Chen.
　　Chen raised his writing brush and wrote: "FragrantTomb" in large characters. Then after a moment'sthought, he wrote:
　　"Vast, vast sadness,Boundless, boundless loss.
　　The song has ended,The moon has been snatched awayIn the midst of the mournful cityThere is a patriot's blood.
　　Patriotism is sometimes exhaustedBlood sometimes runs dryBut the thread of your fragrant spirit has not beensnapped!
　　Is it not so?
　　You have become a butterfly."The heroes stood for a long time in silence. Only whenthe eastern sky was already light did they mount upand ride off westwards.
　　THE END