Read The Book and the Sword 書劍恩仇錄 PART TWO
Lead Escort Tong eagerly led Zhang and the others to Iron Gall Manor. This time, having some support with him, he walked brazenly up to the manor gate.
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PART TWO
1
Lead Escort Tong eagerly led
Zhang and the others to Iron Gall Manor. This time, having some support with
him, he walked brazenly up to the manor gate.
"Tell your Lord to come
out and receive Imperial officials," he shouted to an attendant.
The attendant turned to go
inside, but Zhang decided they could not afford to offend such a respected man
as Lord Zhou. "Say that we have come from Beijing and that there is some
official business we would like to consult Lord Zhou about," he called.
He glanced meaningfully at
Officer Wu, who nodded and went round to the rear of the Manor with one of the
officers to prevent anyone escaping.
As soon as he heard the
attendant's report, Meng knew the officers had come for Wen Tailai. He told
Song to go out and keep them occupied, and then went immediately to Wen's room.
"Master Wen, there are
some Eagle's Claws outside," he said. "There's nothing we can do.
We'll just have to hide the three of you for a while."
He helped Wen up, and led him
to a pavilion in the garden behind the Manor house. Meng and 'Scholar' Yu
pushed aside a stone table in the pavilion, exposing an iron plate. They worked
free an iron ring on top of the plate and pulled it up. Underneath was a
cellar.
Just then, they heard people
outside the back gate, and at the same time shouting from in front as Zhang
forced his way through towards the garden. Wen saw that they were surrounded
and hurried down the steps into the cellar. Meng replaced the iron plate, and
pushed the stone table back over it with the help of two attendants. Zhou's
young son kept getting in the way as he tried to help. Meng looked round
quickly to make sure nothing was out of place, then ordered the attendants to
open the rear gate.
Zhang and the others entered
the garden. Seeing Tong amongst the group, Meng said coldly: "So you are
an official. I should not have been so impolite to you earlier."
"I am a lead escort with
the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency," Tong replied. "Haven't you made a
mistake, brother?" He looked round at Zhang. "I saw the three
fugitives enter the manor. You should order a search, Master Zhang."
"We are peaceful
citizens," said Song. "His Lordship, Master Zhou, is one of the most
respected gentlemen west of the Yellow River. How could he dare to harbour
either bandits or rebellious intentions?"
Meng asked Zhang to explain
the purpose of his visit. Zhang did so, and Meng laughed out loud. "But
the Red Flower Society is a secret society in south China," he protested.
"Why would they come to the northwest border areas? This lead escort has a
wild imagination."
Zhang and the rest were
professionals, and they knew Wen was in the manor. If they conducted a thorough
search and found him, there would be no problem. But if the search failed to
find him, the matter would certainly not rest there. Causing offence to a man
such as Lord Zhou was no game and they hesitated.
Worried that he would be
laughed at if Wen wasn't caught that day, Tong decided to trick Zhou's son into
talking. He smiled and took him by the hand, but the boy snatched his hand
away.
"What are you
doing?" he demanded.
"Little brother,"
Tong said. "Tell me where the three visitors who came to your house today
are hiding and I'll give you this to buy sweets with." He took out a silver
ingot and presented it to the boy.
The boy made a face at him.
"Who do you think I am? Do you think any member of the Zhou family of Iron
Gall manor would want your stinking money?"
Zhang studied the child's face
and guessed he knew where Wen was hidden. "Just you wait until we find
them," he warned. "We will behead not only your father, but you and
your mother as well."
The boy raised his eyebrows.
"I'm not afraid of you, so why would my father be afraid of you?" he
replied.
Suddenly, Tong noticed the boy
was wearing a pearl bracelet on his left wrist and recognised it immediately as
Luo Bing's.
"Those pearls on your
wrist. They belong to one of the visitors," he said. "You must have
stolen them from her."
Why should I steal?" the
boy replied angrily. "She gave them to me."
Tong laughed. "All right.
She gave them to you. Well, where is she?"
"Why should I tell
you?"
"Stop chattering with the
child," Zhang interrupted. "They wouldn't let a child in on the great
affairs of the Manor. He would certainly have been shooed away before they hid
the three guests in their secret place."
As he hoped, the child rose to
the bait. "How would you know?" he shouted.
Meng was becoming anxious.
"Let's go inside, little brother," he said.
Zhang seized the opportunity.
"Yes, go away little boy. You don't know anything."
The boy could stand it no
longer. "I know!" he shouted. "They're in the garden, in the
pavilion!"
Meng was greatly alarmed.
"Little brother, what nonsense are you talking? Go inside quickly!"
As soon as the words were out,
the boy knew he had made a mess of everything. He flew indoors, panic-stricken
and on the verge of tears.
Zhang could see that the
pavilion, wide and empty with red-painted railings around its sides, provided
no hiding place. He leapt onto one of the railings and looked up into the roof,
but saw no sign of a hiding-place. He jumped down again and stood silently,
deep in thought. Then he had an idea.
"Master Meng," he
smiled. "My kung fu is unsophisticated, but I have some clumsy strength.
Let us have a competition."
"I wouldn't dare to be so
presumptuous," Meng replied. "With weapons or without, I leave the
choice to you."
Zhang laughed loudly.
"There's no need for fighting, it would injure this amiable atmosphere.
No, I suggest we take turns at trying to lift this stone table. I hope you
won't laugh at me if I can't."
Meng started in fright.
"No, it's…it's not a good…" he stuttered.
The others were surprised at
Zhang's desire to engage Meng in a test of strength, and they watched intently
as he pushed up his sleeves and grasped one of the round legs of the stone
table with his right hand. He shouted the word "Lift!", and raised
the 400-odd pound table off the ground using just the one hand.
They applauded him for his strength,
but the shouts of applause quickly changed to calls of surprise as they noticed
the iron plate that had been exposed.
The officers lifted up the
plate and saw Wen in the hole beneath them, but none dared to go down and
arrest him. They couldn't use darts either as they had been ordered to capture
him alive, so all they could do was stand at the entrance to the cellar,
weapons in hand, shouting at him.
"We've been betrayed by
Iron Gall Manor," Wen said quietly to Luo Bing. "We are husband and
wife, and I want you to promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"Whatever I tell you to
do in a moment, you must do."
Luo Bing nodded, her eyes full
of tears.
"Wen Tailai is
here," Wen shouted. "What's all the noise about?"
A sudden silence descended on the
group above.
"My leg is wounded,"
Wen added. "Send a rope down and lift me up."
Zhang turned round to ask Meng
to get some rope, but he had disappeared, so he ordered an attendant to go
instead. A length of rope was brought, and an Imperial Bodyguard named Cheng
Huang grabbed one end and threw the other down into the cellar and lifted Wen
out.
As soon as his feet touched
the ground, Wen jerked the rope out of Cheng Huang's hands, and with a roar,
whirled it round and round his head. Caught off guard, Zhang and the others
ducked in panic as the rope swept towards them. Tong, who had already suffered
at Wen's hand, had hidden behind the others, and didn't see the rope until it
was too late. With the piercing force of an iron rod, the rope smashed solidly
into his back, knocking him to the ground.
Two other Imperial Bodyguards,
Rui and Yan, raced towards Wen from either side while 'Scholar' Yu, wielding
the Golden Flute, leapt up the stone steps and attacked Cheng Huang.
Cheng was wielding a brass
staff, but despite its advantage of length over the flute, Yu quickly forced
him onto the defensive. Luo Bing limped up the steps, supporting herself with
her sword, but found her way blocked by a tall, muscular man standing at the
mouth of the cellar, with his hands on his hips. She pulled out a throwing
knife and threw it at him. The man, Zhang, made no move until the knife was
only an inch from his nose, then stretched out his hand and grabbed it by the
hilt. Luo Bing saw his leisurely reaction, and drew a ragged breath.
Zhang forced her sword to one
side, then gave her a push which threw her off balance. She fell back down into
the cellar.
Wen, meanwhile, was battling
simultaneously with the two Imperial Bodyguards, Rui and Yan. His mind was numb
with the excruciating pain from his wounds, and he fought like a madman,
striking out wildly. Yu, however, had gained the upper hand in his fight with
Cheng Huang. Zhang noticed his technique contained many elements peculiar to
the Wudang School. Greatly surprised, he was about to go over and question him,
when Yu suddenly jumped back into the cellar to help Luo Bing.
"Are you all right?"
he asked her.
"It's nothing. Go and
help Fourth Brother."
"I'll support you
up," Yu said.
Wen looked around and saw that
his wife had not yet managed to get out of the cellar, and he realised he could
continue no longer. He threw himself at Cheng Huang, paralysed him with a blow
to the kidneys, then grabbed him round the waist and fell into the cellar with
him.
They landed on the cellar
floor with Wen on top of Cheng Huang, neither of them able to move. Luo Bing
quickly helped Wen up. His face was completely drained of colour and covered in
sweat, but he forced a smile, and with a "Wa" sound, a mouthful of
blood sprayed out onto the front of her tunic. Yu understood what Wen was
planning, and shouted. "Make way! Make way!"
With Cheng Huang in the hands
of the enemy, Zhang decided against any precipitous action. He heard Yu's shout
and waved his arm at the others, indicating they should clear a path for them.
The first one out of the
cellar was Cheng Huang with Luo Bing grasping his collar and holding the point
of a dagger to the small of his back. Next came Yu supporting Wen. The four
shuffled slowly out, pushing and pulling each other as they came.
"If anyone moves, this
man dies," Luo Bing shouted.
The four passed through the
forest of swords and spears and made their way slowly towards the rear gate.
Luo Bing spotted three horses tied to the willow trees just outside, and she
silently thanked Heaven and Earth.
Zhang could see the fugitives
were about to escape and decided that capturing Wen Tailai and taking him back
to Beijing was more important than saving Cheng Huang's life. He picked up the
rope Wen had thrown on the ground, fashioned it into a lassoo and flung it at
Wen using all his Inner Strength. The rope flew whistling through the air and
encircled Wen, and with a tug, Zhang pulled him out of Yu's grasp. Wen cried
out and Luo Bing turned to help him, ignoring Cheng Huang. But her thigh was
wounded, and she fell to the ground before she had taken two steps.
"Go! Go quickly!"
Wen shouted.
"I'll die with you,"
said Luo Bing.
"You agreed that you
would do what I told you…" he replied angrily, but before he could finish,
the officers swarmed over him. Yu raced over and picked Luo Bing up, then
charged straight out of the gate. One officer moved to stop him, but one of
Yu's legs flew up and kicked him so hard that he fell to the ground five or six
paces away.
Yu ran with her over to the
horses and placed her on the back of one just as three officers raced through
the gates after them.
"Use your throwing
knives, quick!" he shouted.
A string of knives flashed out
from her hand and there was a blood-curdling shriek as one of them planted
itself in the shoulder of one of the officers. Yu freed the reins of the three
horses, mounted one and pulled the head of the third round so that it faced the
gate. He rapped it sharply on the rump with his flute and the horse charged
straight to the officers, trapping them in the gateway. In the confusion, Yu
and Luo Bing galloped off.
Luo Bing lay on the horse in a
semi-delirious state. She tried on several occasions to pull the horse round
and return to Iron Gall Manor, but each time Yu stopped her. He slowed the pace
only when he was sure there was no-one chasing them.
Another mile further on, Yu
saw four riders approaching led by a man with a flowing white beard: it was the
Lord of Iron Gall Manor, Zhou Zhongying. Seeing Yu and Luo Bing, he reined in
his horse and called out:
"Honoured guests, please
stop! I have called for a doctor."
Full of hatred, Luo Bing flung
a throwing knife at him. Zhou started in fright, and threw himself down flat on
his horse, and the knife flew over his back. Behind him, one of his followers
deflected the knife with a stroke from his sword, and it plunged into the trunk
of a large willow tree beside the road. The rays of the blood-red setting sun
reflected off the blade, the light flashing and dancing all around them. Just
as Zhou was about to question them, Luo Bing began cursing him.
"You old thief! You betrayed
my husband! I will have my revenge on you!" she shouted, tears coursing
down her face. She urged her horse forward, brandishing her pair of swords.
"Let us discuss this
first," Zhou called out, greatly puzzled.
"We must save Fourth
Brother first," Yu said to Luo Bing, restraining her. "We can raze
Iron Gall Manor to the ground once we've rescued him."
Luo Bing saw the logic in what
he said, and pulled the head of her horse round. She spat on the ground in
hate, slapped her horse and galloped off.
Lord Zhou wondered what was
behind this young girl's anger and questioned the attendant who had been sent
to the town to fetch a doctor. But he said only that when he left, Lady Zhou
and Master Meng had been looking after the guests, and that there had been no
disgreements.
Zhou galloped all the way back
to the manor, and strode quickly inside shouting: "Call Meng!"
"Master Meng is with her
Ladyship," one of the attendants told him. Then the rest all began talking
at once, giving him accounts of what had happened, how the officers had
arrested Wen Tailai and taken him away, and had left the manor only a short
while before.
"Who tolf the officers
the three guests were hiding in the cellar?" Zhou asked.
The attendants looked at each
other, not daring to speak. The sound of Zhou's two iron balls clacking
together in his hand was even louder than usual. "What are you all
standing there for?" he shouted. "Go and get Meng quickly!"
As he spoke, Meng ran in.
"Who let the secret
out?" Zhou shouted hoarsely. "Tell me! You…"
Meng hesitated, and said:
"The Eagle's Claws found it out for themselves."
"Nonsense!" Zhou
roared. "How would that bunch of dog thieves ever find a place as
well-hidden as my cellar?"
Meng did not answer, not
daring to meet his master's gaze. Lady Zhou came in hugging her son, but Zhou
ignored her.
His gaze swung round to Song's
face. "As soon as you saw the officers, you took fright and talked, didn't
you?" he shouted. Meng was trustworthy but Song was a coward and knew no
kung fu.
"No…it wasn't me who
talked," he replied, scared out of his wits. "It was…it was the
young…the young master."
Zhou's heart missed a beat.
"Come over here," he said to his son.
The boy walked, cringing, over
to his father.
"Was it you who told the
officers that the three guests were in the garden cellar?" he asked.
The boy had never dared to lie
to his father, but he could not bring himself to confess. Zhou brandished his
whip.
"Will you speak?" he
shouted.
The boy looked at his mother,
so scared he wanted to cry. Lady Zhou walked over and stood close beside him.
Meng saw that the deception
would not work. "Master," he said. "The officers were very
cunning. They made out that if the young master did not talk, he would be a
coward."
"You wanted to be a hero,
so you told them, is that correct?" Zhou shouted.
The boy's face was drained of
colour. "Yes, father," he replied quietly.
Zhou could not control his
anger. "Is that any way for a brave hero to act?" he shouted. He
threw the two iron balls in his right hand at the opposite wall in frustration,
but at that very moment, his son threw himself into his arms to beg for mercy,
and one of the balls hit the boy square on the head. Zhou had put all of his
rage into the throw and its power was extraordinary. Blood sprayed in all
directions.
Greatly shocked, Zhou quickly
took hold of his son and embraced him.
"Father," the boy
said. "I…I won't do it again…Don't hit me…" He was dead before he
finished speaking. Everyone in the room was stunned into silence.
Lady Zhou grabbed her son,
shouting: "Child, child!" When she saw he had stopped breathing, she
stared dumbly at him for a moment then, like a crazed tiger, struck out at
Zhou.
"Why…why did you kill the
child?" she sobbed.
Zhou shook his head and
retreated two paces. "I… I didn't…"
Lady Zhou put down her son's
corpse, and grabbed a sword from the scabbard of one of the attendants. She
leapt forward and struck out at her husband, but he made no move to avoid the
blow.
"It will be better if we
all die," he said, closing his eyes.
Seeing him in such a state,
her hand loosened. She dropped the sword to the ground and ran out of the hall,
sobbing.
2
Luo Bing and Yu Yutong kept to
the back roads for fear of meeting Yamen officers and rode on until the sky was
completely black. The countryside was desolate: there were no inns and they
couldn't even find a farmhouse. They stopped to rest beside a large rock.
Yu releaed the horses to
graze, then cut some grass with Luo Bing's sword and spread it out on the ground.
"Now we have a bed, but
no food or water," he said. "All we can do is wait until tomorrow and
try to think of something then."
Luo Bing cared about nothing
but her husband. She cried continuously. Yu comforted her, saying the Red
Flower Society would certainly come in force to help them rescue Fourth
Brother. Luo Bing was exhausted, and hearing his words, she relaxed and soon
fell into a deep sleep.
In her dream, she seemed to
meet her husband, who held her gently in his arms, and lightly kissed her on
the mouth. She felt deliciously happy and lazily let her husband embrace her.
"I've been so miserable
thinking about you," she said. "Are all your wounds healed?"
Wen mumbled a few words and
held her even tighter, kissed her even more passionately. Just as she was
beginning to feel aroused, she suddenly started in fright and awoke. Under the
starlight, she could see that the person embracing her was not her husband, but
Yu.
"I've been miserable
thinking about you too!" he whispered.
Ashamed and angry, Luo Bing
slapped him heavily on the face, fought her way free and stumbled away a few
steps. She fumbled for her knives, and shouted harshly: "What are you
doing?"
Yu was stunned. "Listen
to me…"
"You listen to me!"
she replied angrily. "Which four classes of people does the Red Flower
Society kill?"
"Tartars and Manchus;
corrupt officials; landlords and tyrants; and villains and scoundrels," Yu
recited quietly, his head hung low.
The space between Luo Bing's
eyebrows closed. "Which four crimes by Red Flower Society members are
punishable by death?"
"Death to those who
surrender to the Manchu Court. Death to those who betray the Society…death to
those who betray their friends, and death to those who violate others'…wives
and daughters."
"If you have the guts,
you will quickly punish yourself with the 'Three Thrusts and Six Holes'!"
Luo Bing shouted.
According to the Society's
code, a member who had committed an offence in a moment of confusion and
sincerely regretted it could pierce his own thigh three times with a knife so
that it penetrated right through, an act known as the 'Three Thrusts and Six
Holes.' The member could then plead to the Great Helmsman for forgiveness, and
could hope that his case would be dealt with leniently.
"I beg you to kill
me," Yu cried. "If I die at your hand, I will still die happy."
Luo Bing's anger blazed even
more intensely. She raised the knife in her hand, her wrist steeled, ready to
throw.
"You don't know
anything," Yu said in a shaky voice. "How much I have suffered for
you over the last five or six years. From the moment I first saw you, my
heart…was…no longer my own."
"I was already Fourth
Brother's then," Luo Bing said angrily. "Do you mean you didn't
know?"
"I…knew I couldn't
control myself, so I never dared to see too much of you. Whenever the Society
had any business to be done, I always begged the Great Helmsman to send me to
do it. The others thought I was just hardworking, no-one knows I was really
avoiding you. When I was away working, there was never a day or an hour when I
did not think of you."
He took a step towards her and
pulled up his left sleeve, exposing his arm. "I hate myself," he
said. "I curse my heart for the animal it is. Every time the hatred
overcomes me, I cut myself with a knife here. Look!"
Under the dim starlight, Luo
Bing saw his arm was covered in motley scars, and her heart involuntarily
softened.
"I always think, why
couldn't Heaven have allowed me to meet you before you married," he
continued. "We are about the same age, but the difference in age between
you and Fourth Brother is huge."
Luo Bing's anger surged up
once more. "What does the difference in our ages matter? Fourth Brother is
loving and just, a great man. How could he be compared with someone like you,
you…"
She gave a snort of contempt,
then turned and walked over to her horse. As she struggled to mount it, Yu went
over to help her up, but she shouted "Keep away!" and got up of her
own accord.
"Where are you
going?" he asked.
"It's none of your
business. With Fourth Brother in the hands of the Eagle's Claws, I might as
well be dead anyway. Give me my swords."
Yu lowered his head and handed
the pair of swords to her.
Seeing him standing there, so
lost and bewildered, Luo Bing suddenly said: "As long as you seriously
work for the good of the Society, and are never impolite to me ever again, I
won't tell anyone about what happened tonight. And I'll also help you find a
nice girl who has both talent and beauty."
She smiled briefly, slapped
her horse and rode off.
Luo Bing rode on for a mile or
so, then stopped, searching the sky for the North Star to get her bearings. If
she went west, she would meet up with the fighters of the Red Flower Society;
to go east would be to follow after her captured husband. She knew that,
wounded as she was, it would be impossible for her to save him single-handed,
but with her husband heading eastwards, how could she possibly turn away from
him? Broken-hearted, she let her horse wander unrestrained for a few miles.
Then, seeing she had already travelled a long way from Yu, she dismounted and
settled down to sleep in a spinney of small trees. Angry and bitter, she cried
for a while and then fell into a deep sleep. In the middle of the night, she
woke suddenly with a burning fever and called out in a blurred voice: "Water!
I must drink water!" But there was no-one to hear her.
Next day, her condition was
even worse. She managed with a struggle to sit up, but her head hurt so badly
she was forced to lie down again. She slept, and awoke feeling the sun beating
down on her head. She watched as it sank towards the west. She was thirsty and
hungry, but remounting the horse was impossible.
"It is not important that
I die here," she thought. "But I will never see Fourth Brother
again." Her eyes glazed over and she fainted away.
Suddenly, she heard someone
say: "Good. She's coming round!"
She slowly opened her eyes and
saw a young, doe-eyed girl standing beside her. The girl was eighteen or
nineteen years old with a tanned face and thick eyebrows. She looked very happy
to see Luo Bing awaken.
"Go quickly and get some
millet gruel for the Lady to drink," she told a maid.
Luo Bing realized she was
lying on a kang in between the folds of a quilt. The room she was in was clean
and tastefully furnished, obviously in the house of a very wealthy family.
"What is your honourable
surname, miss?" she asked the girl.
"My surname is Zhou. You
sleep for a while. We can talk again later."
The girl watched as Luo Bing
ate a bowl of gruel and then quietly left. Luo Bing closed her eyes and slept
once more.
When she woke, the lamps had
already been lit. Outside the door, she heard a girl's voice saying loudly:
"Father shouldn't have
allowed them to bully people and run riot here in Iron Gall Manor! If it had
been me, I would have taught them a good lesson!"
Luo Bing started in fright
when she heard the words 'Iron Gall Manor'. The girl and her maid walked into
the room and looked through the canopy over the kang, but Luo Bing closed her
eyes and pretended to be asleep. The girl went over to the wall and took down a
sword. Luo Bing noticed her own swords on a table close by and prepared
herself. If the girl struck out at her, she would throw the quilt over her
head, grab the swords and fight her way out. But all she heard was the maid
saying:
"Mistress, you mustn't
make any more trouble. His Lordship is very distressed. Don't make him angry
again."
"Huh! I don't care,"
the girl replied. She raced out of the room, sword in hand, with the maid at
her heels.
Luo Bing guessed correctly
that the girl was Lord Zhou's daughter, Zhou Qi. She was a bold,
straight-forward person, very much like her father, and had a love of minding
other people's business. On the day Wen was seized, she had wounded someone in
a fight, and had spent the night away from home, planning to wait for her
father's anger to subside before returning. On her way back, she came across
Luo Bing unconscious by the road and brought her to the manor, where she
discovered to her horror that her father had killed her brother, and her mother
had run off.
"If they can betray
Fourth Brother to the authorities, why did they save me?" she thought
darkly. "There must be some other evil scheme afoot."
The wound on her thigh had not
yet healed, and she couldn't afford the slightest mistake. Having been in the
Manor once before, she had a vague idea of its layout, and planned to
stealthily make her way round to the garden, and then leave by the back gate.
But as she passed by the great hall, she saw the lamps were burning brightly
inside and heard someone talking very loudly. There was something familiar
about the voice, and she put her eye close to a crack in the door and saw Lord
Zhou in conversation with two other men, one of whom she recognised as Lead
Escort Tong. Seeing him, she thought again of her husband's cruel fate and
immediately ceased to care about whether she lived or died. She pushed open the
door and slung a throwing knife at Tong.
3
With his wife missing and his
son dead, Zhou had spent two unhappy days fretting endlessly.
After nightfall on the second
day, an attendant reported that two visitors had arrived, and Zhou ordered Meng
to receive them. One was Tong, the other an Imperial Bodyguard surnamed Pan,
one of the fighters who had helped to seize Wen. Meng guessed that no good
would come of the visit.
"His Lordship is not
feeling well," he told them. "If you have any message, I will convey
it for you."
Tong laughed. "We are
here on a goodwill visit," he said. "Whether Lord Zhou sees us or not
is up to him. Iron Gall Manor is faced with a crisis that may destroy every
member of the Zhou family. What is the point of putting on such airs?"
Meng had no option but to
allow them through. The iron balls in Zhou's hand clacked sharply together as he
listened to what the visitors had to say.
"What do you mean by
saying Iron Gall Manor is faced with a crisis?" he demanded.
Bodyguard Pan pulled a letter
from his gown and spread it out on the table, holding it down with both hands
as if afraid that Zhou would snatch it away. Zhou peered down and saw it was a
letter written to him by 'Hidden Needle' Lu Feiqing of the Wudang School asking
him to help some friends of the Red Flower Society who were in difficulties.
Wen had had no opportunity to
present the letter to Zhou, and it was found when he was searched after being
captured. Lu was a well-known fugitive, and the letter clearly indicated he was
collaborating with Iron Gall Manor. The bodyguards had discussed the matter,
and decided that reporting the existence of the letter to their superiors would
not necessarily result in Lu's capture and could even increase their own
workload. It would be more beneficial to use the letter to extort a sum of
money from Zhou and divide it up amongst themselves.
Zhou was shocked at the sight
of the letter. "What do you gentlemen want?" he asked.
"We have long admired the
famous Lord Zhou," said Pan. "We know of your enthusiasm for charity
and making new friends. Friends are much more important than money, and I'm
sure you spend thousands of silver ingots to establish friendship without even
creasing half an eyebrow. You of course realise, Lord Zhou, that if the
authorities ever see this letter, the consequences would be disastrous. When we
brothers found it, we resolved to destroy it in the spirit of friendship, even
though it meant risking our own heads. Everyone agreed never to say a word
about Iron Gall Manor harbouring the fugitive Wen Tailai. We decided to
shoulder this monstrous responsibility and not to report to our
superiors."
"That was very good of
you," Zhou replied dryly.
"But," Pan continued,
"The thing is that we brothers have had a lot of expenses on this trip out
of the capital. We are carrying heavy debts. If perhaps Lord Zhou could spare a
thought for us, we would feel eternally grateful."
Zhou was extremely angry. He
had let down his friends, his beloved son had died as a result, and the
officers were to blame. Now these same officers had come back to try to
blackmail him.
"We are villains, that is
true," Tong said. "We villains accomplish little and bungle much. If
we had to build a Manor as big as this one, we'd have to admit defeat. But if
we were asked to destroy it…"
Before he could finish, Zhou's
daughter, Zhou Qi charged into the hall, and shouted harshly: "Let me see
you try!"
Zhou motioned to his daughter
and the two walked out of the hall. "Go and tell Meng that whatever
happens, these two Eagle's Claws must not be allowed to leave the Manor!"
he whispered.
"Good!" replied Zhou
Qi, very pleased. "I was getting angrier and angrier listening
outside."
Zhou returned to the hall.
"Since you refuse to do
us this favour Lord Zhou, we will take our leave of you," Bodyguard Pan
said. He picked up Lu's letter and ripped it to shreds as Zhou stood by
dumbfounded, completely taken aback.
"This is a duplicate of
the letter," Pan explained. "The original letter is with the 'Fire
Hand Judge' Zhang Zhaozhong."
It was at that moment that Luo
Bing's throwing knife flew towards Tong. Zhou detested Tong, but he couldn't
allow him to die in the Manor. With no time to consider the matter carefully,
he quickly threw one of the iron balls in his hand at the knife. It hit the
knife with a "Clang" and both knife and ball fell to the ground.
"Ah-ha!" Luo Bing
shouted. "So you're all in this together. You old thief! You've already
betrayed my husband, why don't you kill me as well?" She raced into the
hall, her swords held high, and struck out at Zhou.
With no weapon in his hand,
Zhou hurriedly picked up a chair to deflect the blow. "Not so fast!"
he protested. "Explain yourself first."
But Luo Bing was in no mood to
listen. Zhou retreated steadily as she attacked, heading for the wall.
Suddenly, Luo Bing heard the sound of a blade swishing towards her back, and
ducked as the blade cleaved over her head. She turned to find Zhou Qi standing behind
her, seething with anger.
"You ungrateful
woman!" Zhou Qi shouted, pointing her finger accusingly. "I saved you
out of the goodness of my heart. What are you doing attacking my father?"
"You of Iron Gall Manor
with your fake charity and fake generosity!" Luo Bing replied bitterly.
"But you keep away and I won't harm you."
She turned and resumed her
attack on Zhou, who dodged left and right, shouting "Stop! Stop!"
Absolutely furious, Zhou Qi jumped in front of her father and began fiercely
fighting with Luo Bing.
In terms of martial skills and
experience, Luo Bing was far superior to Zhou Qi, but because of the wounds on
her shoulder and thigh coupled with her resentment and anger, the greatest
taboos of the martial arts fighter, she gradually lost the initiative.
"Stop!" Zhou shouted
repeatedly, but both girls ignored him. Pan and Tong stood to one side watching
the battle.
Suddenly, they all heard a
weird cry and saw a black figure lunged at Zhou's daughter. It was a short
hunchback wielding a short-handled Wolf's Tooth club, the sharp teeth on the
end of which sparkled and flashed as it swung steeply towards Zhou Qi. The girl
jumped in fright and countered by chopping at his shoulder. The hunchback
blocked her sword rigidly. Under the intense shock of the impact, Zhou Qi's arm
went numb and her sword nearly fell out of her hand. She leapt back. The
hunchback didn't press his attack, but instead turned to Luo Bing.
"Tenth Brother!" she
cried. Tears coursed down her face.
"Where's Brother
Wen?" the hunchback, Zhang Jin, asked.
Luo Bing pointed at Zhou, Pan
and Tong. "They betrayed him! Tenth Brother, avenge him for me!"
Without waiting for details,
Zhang Jin threw himself onto the ground and rolled towards Zhou. Zhou leapt up
onto a table and shouted "Stop!" again, but Zhang Jin was not
interested in explanations, and aimed the wolf's tooth club at his thigh. Zhou
jumped into the air, landing on the ground just as the club slammed into the
sandalwood table. The fangs sank deep into the wood, and for a moment the
hunchback was unable to pull the club free.
Just then, Meng rushed into
the hall and handed Zhou his gold-backed sword. He had no idea of the
hunchback's motives, but anyone attacking his master was an enemy. Zhou and
Meng attacked the hunchback together, but Zhang Jin held them off with his club
and shouted: "Seventh Brother, if you don't get in here quickly and
protect Sister Luo Bing, I will curse your ancestors!"
Zhang Jin and 'Kung Fu
Mastermind' Xu had raced day and night without stopping towards Iron Gall
Manor. Hearing Zhang Jin's call, Xu ran into the hall and made straight for Luo
Bing. Her heart leapt for joy as she spotted him, and she pointed at Tong and
Pan.
"They betrayed Brother
Wen," she called.
Xu leapt at Tong. Xu was like
a dwarf in stature, but his kung fu was superb, and in a second, he had his
opponent on the retreat. Tong dodged to the left as Xu stabbed towards him with
his knife, then hit the floor with a thud as Xu kicked him off his feet.
Xu felt a current of air hit
his back as Bodyguard Pan attacked him holding a pair of tempered iron hoops,
and with no time to turn round, he stepped on Tong's chest with his left foot
and flipped over to face his attacker. Tong yelled out in pain.
On the other side of the hall,
Zhang Jin was battling furiously with Meng, Zhou and Zhou Qi simultaneously.
"Go quickly and guard the
manor gate," Meng shouted to an attendant. "Don't let anyone else
in."
"Everyone stop!"
Zhou called out. "Listen to what I have to say!"
Meng and Zhou Qi immediately
stepped back several paces. Xu also retreated a step, and shouted to the
hunchback: "Hold it, Tenth Brother. Let's listen to him."
But as he did so, Bodyguard
Pan drove his hoops at Xu's back. Caught off his guard, Xu flinched away, but
his shoulder was struck. He stumbled, and angrily called out: "Right! You
Iron Gall Manor people are full of tricks." He did not know that Pan was
not of the Manor. He raised his knife and fought furiously with Pan.
Tong stood at a distance,
staring at Luo Bing. She had only one throwing knife left and was unwilling to
use it rashly, so she raised her sword and chased after him. Tong nimbly raced
about the great hall, dodging around the tables and chairs.
"Don't be violent,"
he told her. "Your husband is already dead. Why not be a good girl and
marry your Uncle Tong?"
On hearing him say that Wen
was dead, everything went black before her eyes, and she fainted away. Tong
raced over to her as she collapsed.
Zhou's anger surged up as he
saw what was happening, and he also ran towards Luo Bing, his gold-backed sword
held high. He planned to stop Tong from molesting Luo Bing, but with
misunderstanding piled on misunderstanding, he heard someone at the door to the
hall shout loudly:
"If you dare to hurt her,
I will fight you to the death!"
The newcomer charged at Zhou
with a pair of hooks in his hands, aimed at Zhou's throat and groin
respectively. Zhou noticed the man's handsome features and strong, vigorous
movements. He raised his sword and lightly deflected the hooks, then retreated
a step.
"Who are you, honourable
sir?" he asked.
The man ignored him, and bent
down to look at Luo Bing. Her face was white and her breathing very shallow and
he helped her up and put her in a chair.
The fighting in the hall was
getting more furious all the time. Suddenly, there was a shout outside followed
by the sound of weapons clashing. A moment later, an attendent raced into the
hall closely followed by a tall, fat man holding a steel whip.
"Eighth Brother, Ninth
Brother!" Xu shouted. "We must kill all of these Iron Gall Manor
today, or our work isn't over."
The fat man was 'Iron Pagoda'
Yang, ranking eighth in the Red Flower Society's hierarchy, while the one with
the handsome face and the hooks was 'Nine Life Leopard' Wei who ranked ninth.
Wei was a fearless fighter but had never been wounded and was consequently said
to have nine lives.
Zhou looked around at the
battle, awed by the fighting skills of the intruders. "Heroes of the Red
Flower Society!" he shouted at the top of his voice. "Listen to
me!"
By this time, 'Leopard' Wei
had taken over from Xu and was fighting Bodyguard Pan. He slackened off
slightly as he heard Zhou's shout, but Xu called out: "Careful! Don't be
tricked."
Even as he spoke, Pan raised
his hoops and struck out at Wei. He was afraid of Iron Gall Manor and the Red
Flower Society getting together, and couldn't allow them any opportunity to
talk peace.
Xu observed the desperate
battle in progress in the hall. The hunchback Zhang Jin was fighting three
people at once and was under pressure, although not yet ready to admit defeat.
'Leopard' Wei, meanwhile, was also having difficulty maintaining his defence.
Victory, Xu could see, was impossible.
"Set fire to the place,
quick!" he shouted to disconcert the Manor people. "Twelfth Brother,
go and seal the rear gate. Don't let anyone escape!"
On hearing the shout, Zhou Qi
ran for the door of the hall planning to look for the arsonists.
"So you want to escape,
do you?" a deep voice outside said as she reached the doorway.
She started backwards in
fright. In the flickering candlelight, she saw two men blocking the doorway.
The face of the one who had spoken looked as though it was covered with a layer
of frost. Gleaming shafts emerged from his two eyes, sapping the life from
those they fixed upon. Zhou Qi wanted to look at the other man, but she found
her eyes caught by the first man's stare.
"Holy Ghost," she
cursed softly.
"That's right," he
replied. "I'm 'Melancholy Ghost'." It was the Red Flower Society's
Superintendant of Punishments, 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi. There was no warmth in
his words. Zhou Qi had never been afraid of anything before but she shuddered
at the sight of this sinister man.
"Do you think I'm afraid
of you?" she shouted to bolster her own courage, and struck out at him
with her sword.
The man countered with his own
sword, his eyes still fixed on her, and in only a few moves, he had completely
mastered her.
On the other side of the hall,
Meng was battling Zhang Jin, but it had already become obvious that he was no
match for him. Tong, meanwhile, had not been sighted for some time. Only Zhou,
fighting against Xu and Wei, had managed to gain the upper hand, but just as he
was on the point of winning, someone else leapt forward shouting: "I'll
fight you, old man!"
He was using an iron oar as a
weapon. It swung up from behind the man's back, over his right shoulder and
smashed down towards Zhou with astonishing ferocity. The man was 'Crocodile'
Jiang, thirteenth in the Red Flower Society's heirarchy.
Zhou noticed Jiang's great
strength and dodged to the left, then began to retreat as he fought, keeping
constantly on the move. He spotted Bodyguard Pan being chased by 'Iron Pagoda'
Yang, and as Pan ran close by him, Zhou struck out at him with his great sword.
Zhou knew that the Red Flower
Society's misunderstanding of the situation was deep, and could not be
explained away with just a few words. Furthermore, his several attempts to halt
the battle had been sabotaged by Pan. With the Red Flower Society's fighters
became increasingly numerous, and fighting more and more fiercely, it was only
a matter of time before someone was wounded, if not killed, and when that
happened, the misunderstanding would become a matter of true vengeance and the
situation would be irretrievable.
Seeing Zhou's sword slicing
towards him, Pan started in terror and frantically dodged out of the way. He
fully realised Zhou's intention.
"We joined forces to
capture Wen Tailai but it was you who killed him," he shouted at Zhou.
"What are you planning now? You want to murder me and keep the whole
Manchu reward for yourself, is that it?"
Zhang Jin howled and smashed
his wolf's tooth club at Zhou's thigh. But Xu, who was more attentive, finally
realised what was happening. Fighting with Zhou earlier, he had noticed how the
old man had several time stayed his hand, and he knew there had to be a reason
for it. "Tenth Brother!" he shouted. "Not so fast!"
Zhang Jin's blood lust was up,
however, and he paid no attention. 'Copper-head' Jiang's iron oar swung
forward, aimed at Zhou's midriff. Zhou leant to one side to avoid it, but
unexpectedly, Yang swung his steel whip down towards his shoulder from behind.
He heard the gust of wind behind his ear and blocked the blow with his sword,
causing both Yang's and his own arm to go numb for a second. The physical
strength of the three society fighters was frightening, and battling all three
single-handed, it was obvious that Zhou was gradually being worn down. Then
Jiang's iron oar struck upwards at Zhou's great sword: Zhou lost his grasp, and
the sword flew up out of his hand and stuck straight into a beam in the roof of
the hall.
The Red Flower Society
fighters pressed in closer around Zhou, now weaponless, and Zhang Jin and
Jiang's weapons smashed down towards him. Zhou quickly picked up a table and
heaved it at the two of them. As he did so, the candleholder on the table fell
to the floor and the flame went out.
In a flash of inspiration,
Meng pulled out a catapult and "pa, pa, pa!" shot out a string of
pellets at the other candles, extinguishing them all.
An inky blackness descended on
the hall.
4
Everyone held their breaths
and stayed completely silent, not daring to make any sound that would give away
their position.
In the midst of the silence,
footsteps sounded outside the hall. The door was thrown open and a shaft of
light struck their eyes as a man carrying a burning torch strode in. He was
dressed as a scholar, and in his left hand, he held a golden flute. As soon as
he had passed through the door, he stood to one side and raised the torch up
high, lighting the way as three other men entered. One was a one-armed Taoist
priest with a sword slung across his back. The second man, wearing a light gown
loosely tied around the waist, looked like the son of a nobleman. He was
followed by a young boy in his teens who held a bundle in his hands. They were
in fact 'Scholar' Yu, the Taoist priest Wu Chen, and the newly-appointed Great
Helmsman of the Red Flower Society, Chen Jialuo. The young boy was Chen's
attendant, Xin Yan.
Yu presented Zhou with a
letter of introduction, bowed, and then announced in a loud voice: "The
Great Helmsman of the Red Flower Society has come to pay his respects to Lord Zhou
of IronGall Manor."
Zhou put his hands together in
salute. "Honoured guests," he said. "Welcome to my humble Manor.
Please be seated."
The tables and chairs in the
great hall had all been overturned and thrown about during the fight and
everything was in great disorder.
"Attendants," Zhou
roared. The tables and chairs were quickly rearranged, the candles relit and
the guests and hosts seated. Great Helmsman Chen took the first of the guest's
seats on the eastern side of the hall and was followed, in order of seniority,
by the other Red Flower Society heroes. Zhou took the first seat on the western
side, followed in order by Meng, Zhou Qi and his attendants.
Yu stole a glance at Luo
Bing's beautiful, joyless face. He had no idea if she had told anyone of his
misdemeanor. After she had left him that night, he had not known where to go,
but after two days of roaming around aimlessly, he ran into Great Helmsman Chen
and Priest Wu Chen, who were on their way to Iron Gall Manor.
With the two sides being so
polite to each other, Bodyguard Pan could see the game was up and began to
sidle towards the door in the hope of slipping out unnoticed. But Xu leapt over
and blocked his path.
"Please stay here,"
he said. "Let us all explain our positions clearly first."
Pan did not dare to object.
"Master Wen Tailai, our
humble society's Fourth Brother, was attacked by the Eagle's Claws and suffered
a serious injury," Chen said coldly. "He came to you for refuge, and
we are much indebted to you for the assistance extended to him. All the
brothers of our society are grateful, and I take this opportunity to offer our
thanks."
He stood and bowed deeply.
Zhou hurriedly returned the
bow, extremely embarrassed.
"Great Helmsman, you
don't understand!" Zhang Jin shouted, jumping up. "He betrayed Fourth
Brother!"
'Leopard' Wei, who was sitting
next to Zhang Jin, gave him a push and told him to shut up.
"Our brothers have
travelled through the night to call on you," Chen continued, ignoring the
interruption. "We have all been extremely anxious about Brother Wen. We
are unaware of the state of his injuries, but I imagine you would have invited
a doctor to treat him. If it is convenient, Lord Zhou, we would like you to
take us to him."
He stood up, and the heroes of
the Red Flower Society followed suit.
Zhou stammered, momentarily
unable to answer.
"Fourth Brother was
killed by them," Luo Bing shouted, her voice choked with sobs. "Great
Helmsman, we must kill this old peasant in payment for Fourth Brother's
life!"
Chen turned pale. Zhang Jin,
Yang and a number of the others drew their weapons and moved forward
threateningly.
"Master Wen did come to
our humble Manor…" Meng began.
"Well then, please take
us to see him," Xu broke in.
"When Master Wen,
Mistress Luo Bing and Master Yu here arrived, our Lord was not at home,"
Meng replied. "It was I who dispatched someone to fetch a doctor. Mistress
Luo Bing and Master Yu saw that with their own eyes. Later, the court officers
arrived. We are extremely ashamed to say that we were unable to protect our
guests and Master Wen was captured. Master Chen, you blame us for not looking
after him properly and for failing to fulfil our responsibility to protect
friends. We admit it. If you wish to kill us, I for one will not bat an eyelid.
But to point your finger at our Lord and accuse him of betraying a friend, what
sort of talk is that?"
Luo Bing jumped forward a step
and pointed at Meng accusingly. "You!" she shouted. "I ask you!
Such a well-concealed hiding-place as that cellar: if you weren't in the pay of
the Eagles's Claws, how would they have known where we were?"
Meng was speechless.
"Lord Zhou, at the time
of the incident, you may not actually have been at home," Priest Wu added.
"But just as a dragon has a head, men have masters. As this concerns Iron
Gall Manor, we must ask you to explain."
Bodyguard Pan, cowering to one
side, suddenly spoke up. "It was his son that talked," he shouted.
"Is he willing to admit it?"
"Lord Zhou, is this
true?" Great Helmsman Chen asked.
Zhou nodded slowly. The heroes
of the Red Flower Society roared in anger and moved in even closer, some
glaring at Zhou, some looking at Chen, waiting for his signal.
Chen gave Pan a sidelong
glance. "And who are you, sir?" he asked.
"He's an Eagle's Claw,"
Luo Bing said. "He was one of those that seized Fourth Brother."
Chen slowly walked over to
Pan, then suddenly snatched the iron hoop out of his grasp, whipped both his
hands behind his back and held them together. Pan gave a shout and struggled
unsuccessfully to break free.
"Where have you taken
Brother Wen?" Chen shouted. Pan kept his mouth shut, and an expression of
proud insolence appeared on his face. Chen's fingers touched the 'Central
Mansion Yuedao' below Pan's ribs. "Will you talk?" he asked.
Pan yelled out in pain. Chen
touched his 'Tendon Centraction' Yuedao point. This time, Pan could endure it
no longer.
"I'll talk…I'll
talk," he whispered. "They're taking him to Beijing."
"He…he isn't dead
then?" Luo Bing asked quickly.
"Of course he isn't
dead," Pan replied. "He's an important criminal, who would dare to
kill him?"
The heroes all breathed a sigh
of relief, and Luo Bing's heart overflowed with happiness, and she fainted
away, falling backwards to the floor. Yu stretched out his hand to catch her,
but then suddenly pulled it back again. Her head hit the ground, and Zhang Jin
hurriedly knelt down beside her.
"Fourth Sister!" he
called, giving Yu a sidelong glance full of disdain. "Are you all
right?"
Chen relaxed his grip on Pan's
hands. "Tie him up," he said to his boy attendant, Xin Yan, who tied
Pan's hands firmly behind his back.
"Brothers!" Chen
said loudly. "It is vitally important that we save Fourth Brother. We can
settle our accounts here another time."
The heroes of the Red Flower
Society voiced their assent in unison. Luo Bing was sitting on a chair crying
with joy. Hearing Chen's words, she stood up with Zhang Jin's support.
The heroes walked to the door
of the hall, escorted by Meng. Chen turned and said to Zhou: "Our apologies
for the inconvenience we have caused you. We will meet again."
Zhou knew from his tone that
the Red Flower Society would return to seek vengeance.
"Once we've saved Brother
Wen, I, the hunchback Zhang, will be the first to return to do battle with you,
you old peasant!" Zhang Jin shouted.
Zhou Qi leapt forward a step.
"What sort of creature are you that you would dare to curse my
father?"
"Huh!" he replied.
"Go and call your big brother out and tell him I wish to meet him."
"My big brother?" she
asked, puzzled.
"If he has the guts to
betray a friend, he should have the guts to meet another friend," Zhang
Jin added. "Your big brother betrayed our Fourth Brother. Where is he
hiding?"
"This hunchback's talking
nonsense," Zhou Qi said. "I don't have an elder brother."
"All right," Zhou
said angrily. "I will hand over my son to you. Follow me!"
Suddenly, there were shots
from outside of "Fire! Fire!", and flames began to cast a glow into
the great hall.
Zhou paid no attention. He
strode out and Great Helmsman Chen and the others followed him through two
courtyards. The fire was already burning fiercely and the heat from the flame
was oppressive. In the dark of the night, the red glow reached skywards through
the billows of smoke.
"Let's work together to
put out the fire out first," Xu called.
"You tell someone to
commit arson and then pretend to be a good man!" Zhou Qi said indignantly.
She remembered his shout earlier about setting fire to the Manor, and was
convinced that the Red Flower Society was responsible. Full of grief and
resentment, she struck out at him with her sword, but Xu nimbly dodged out of
the way.
Zhou appeared not to noticed
any of this, and continued to walk towards the rear hall of the Manor. As they
entered the hall, they could see that it was arranged for a funeral. A pair of
lighted candles were placed on the altar before the 'Spirit Tablet' bearing the
name of the deceased, along with white streamers and piles of 'death money' for
the deceased to spend in the other world. Zhou parted a set of white curtains,
revealing a small black coffin with its lid still open.
"My son revealed Master
Wei's hiding place, it is true," he said. "If you want him…then take
him!" His voice suddenly broke. In the sombre candlelight, the heroes
looking into the coffin and saw the corpse of a small child.
"My brother was only ten
years old," Zhou Qi shouted. "He didn't understand what was going on.
He was tricked into letting out the secret. When father returned, he was so
angry, he killed my brother by mistake, and as a result, my mother has left
home. Are you satisfied yet? If not, why don't you kill my father and myself as
well?"
The heroes realised they had
unjustly accused Zhou, and that the whole incident should never have happened.
Zhang Jin, who was the most direct of them all, leapt forward and kowtowed
before Zhou, his head hitting the floor with a resounding thump.
"Master," he cried.
"I have wronged you. The hunchback Zhang begs your forgiveness."
Chen and the other heroes all
came forward one by one to apologise. Zhou hurriedly returned the bow.
"Never will we forget the
assistance that Lord Zhou has extended to the Red Flower Society," Chen
called out. "Brothers, the important thing now is to put out the fire.
Everyone lend a hand quickly."
The heroes raced out of the
hall. But the flames were already lighting up the sky, and the sound of roof
tiles smashing to the ground, and of rafters and pillars collapsing
intermingled in confusion with the shouts and cries of the Manor attendants.
The Anxi region is famous throughout China as a 'wind storehouse', and the wind
now stoked the flames. It was soon clear that it the fire could not be
extinguished, and that the great Iron Gall Manor would soon be completely razed.
The heat in the rear hall was
intense, and the cloth streamers and paper money on the altar were already
smouldering. But Zhou remained beside the coffin.
"Father, father!"
Zhou Qi shouted as the flames started to curl into the hall. "We must
leave!"
Zhou took no notice, and
continued to gaze at his son in the coffin, unwilling to leave him there to be
cremated.
Zhang Jin bent over and
shouted: "Eighth Brother, put the coffin on my back."
Yang grasped hold of the two
sides of the coffin, and with a surge of strength, lifted it up and placed it
on Zhang Jin's hunched back. Maintaining his crouching position, Zhang Jin then
charged out of the hall. Zhou Qi supported her father, and with the others
gathered around to protect them, they ran outside the Manor. Not long after,
the roof of the rear hall collapsed, and they all shuddered at the thought of
how close it had been.
"Ai-ya!" Zhou Qi
suddenly shouted. "That Eagles's Claw Tong may still be inside!"
"For people as evil as
him, being burnt alive is not an unjust end," 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi
replied.
"Who?" Chen asked.
Meng told them about how Tong
had come to Iron Gall Manor, first to spy, next as a guide for the officers
when they came to seize Wen, and finally to engage in blackmail.
"Yes!" Xu shouted.
"It must have been him who started the fire." He glanced furtively
over at Zhou Qi and saw that she was also looking at him out of the corner of
her eye. As soon as their eyes met, they both turned their heads away.
"We must catch this man
Tong and bring him back," Chen said. "Brothers Xu, Yang, Wei and
Zhang: the four of you go and search along the roads to the north, south, east
and west. Come back to report within two hours whether you find him or
not."
The four left, and Chen went
over to apologise to Zhou once again.
"Lord Zhou," he
said. "The Red Flower Society is responsible for your being brought to
this state of affairs. Our debt to you will be difficult to repay. But we will
find Lady Zhou and invite her to return to you. Iron Gall Manor has been
destroyed, and we undertake to have it completely rebuilt. All your people will
receive full compensation from the Society for whatever they have lost."
"What kind of talk is
that, Master Chen?" Zhou replied. "Wealth and riches are not a part
of the flesh. If you continue with that sort of talk, you will not be treating
us as friends."
He had been greatly upset at
the sight of Iron Gall Manor burn down, but he valued friendship above all, and
now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, he was happy to have
established relations with so many heroes in such a short time. But a moment
later, he caught sight of the tiny coffin and another wave of sorrow flooded
his heart.
The four heroes sent out to
look for Tong returned with nothing to report, and they guessed that he must
have taken advantage of the fire and confusion to escape.
"Luckily we know that the
fellow is with the Zhen Yuan Escort Agency," Chen said. "We will
catch him one day no matter where he runs to. Lord Zhou, where should the
attendants of your honourable manor and their families go for temporary
refuge?"
"I think they should all
go to Chijinwei, the town to the east of here, after it gets light," Zhou
replied.
"I have a small
suggestion, Your Lordship," Xu said.
"Brother Xu is nicknamed
'The Kung Fu Mastermind,'" Chen explained to Zhou. "He is the wisest
and most resourceful of us all."
Zhou Qi gave Xu a look of
contempt and harrumphed.
"Please speak, Brother
Xu," Zhou said hurriedly, embarrassed by his daughter's behaviour.
"When Tong gets back, he
is certain to embellish his story with a lot of nonsense, accusing Your
Lordship of many more crimes," Xu replied. "I think it would be best
for your people to go westwards and lie low for a while until we have evaluated
the situation. It may not be safe for them to go to Chijinwei now."
Zhou agreed immediately.
"Yes, you're right," he said. "I will send them to Anxi first
thing tomorrow. I have friends there they can stay with." He turned to his
attendant, Song. "You take them all to Anxi," he said. "When you
get there, you can stay temporarily at the residence of Great Official Wu. All
expenses are to be paid by us. I will contact you when I have completed my
business."
"Father, aren't we going
to Anxi too?" Zhou Qi asked.
"Of course not. Master
Wen was seized in our Manor. How can we stand by and do nothing when he has
still to be rescued?"
Zhou Qi and Meng were
delighted at the news.
"We are greatly moved by
your goodwill, Lord Zhou." Chen said. "But saving Brother Wen is an
act of rebellion. You are peaceful citizens. It would be best to leave it up to
us."
"You needn't worry about
implicating us," Zhou replied, stroking his beard. "And if you do not
allow me to risk my life for a friend, then you are not treating me as a
friend."
Chen thought for a second then
agreed.
"Time is pressing,"
Zhou added. "Please issue your orders, Master Chen."
The embers of Iron Gall Manor
had not yet been extinguished and the smell of burning wood hung heavily in the
air. As they listened solemnly to Chen's orders, the flames crackled to life
again, fanned by the wind.
The Twin Knights had been sent
on ahead to discover Wen's whereabouts, and 'Scholar' Yu was told to link up
with them, while the rest of the heroes split up into groups of two and three.
"Fourteenth Brother,
please start out immediately," Chen said to Yu. "The others should
rest or sleep here on the ground. We will meet up again inside the Great Wall.
The Eagles's Claws on the Jiayu Gate will most probably be examining everyone
rigorously, so we must be careful."
Yu saluted the heroes with his
fists, and mounted his horse. As he rode off, he glanced furtively round at Luo
Bing, but she was deep in thought with her head bowed. He sighed, whipped his
horse and galloped wildly off.
"Seventh Brother,"
Chen said quietly to 'Mastermind' Xu. "You go with Luo Bing and Lord Zhou.
Take extra care that no officials recognise him. Fourth Sister is wounded and
she is greatly feeling the absence of Brother Wen, so you must be careful not
to let her do anything rash. There is no need for you to travel fast. Just
avoid getting involved in any fighting."
Xu nodded.
They settled down to sleep,
but less than four hours later, dawn broke. 'Thousand Arm Buddha' Zhao with
Zhang Jin and 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi were the first to leave. Luo Bing, who had
not closed her eyes the whole night, called Zhang Jin over.
"Tenth Brother, you are
not allowed to cause any trouble on the road," she said.
"Don't worry," he
replied. "Rescuing Fourth Brother is the important thing, I know."
Meng and a number of
attendants covered the body of Zhou's son with shrouds and buried it beside the
Manor while Zhou Qi wept bitterly, and Zhou stood tearfully by. The heroes paid
their respects before the grave.
5
Zhou Qi continued to be
antagonistic towards Xu as they travelled along. No matter how often Zhou
sternly reproved her, or Luo Bing tried to mediate with smiles, or how calmly
tolerant Xu was, Zhou Qi jeered at him, not giving him the slightest bit of
face. In the end, Xu became angry as well.
"I've only been nice to
her to give her father face," he thought. "Does she think I'd really
be afraid of her?" He reined in his horse and dropped behind.
On the third day, they passed
through the Jiayu Gate, which marks the western end of the Great Wall.
Seeing his daughter being so
disobedient, Zhou several times called her over and tried to reason with her.
Each time she would agree, but as soon as she saw Xu, she would start arguing
with him again. Zhou thought his wife may have been able to discipline their
daughter, but she had gone he knew not where.
They arrived in Suzhou, and
found rooms in an inn near the east gate of the city. Xu went out for a while,
and when he returned he said:
"Fourteenth Brother
hasn't met up with the Twin Knights yet."
"How would know?"
Zhou Qi demanded. "You're just guessing."
Xu glanced at her in contempt.
"This place was called
Wine Spring Prefecture in ancient times," said Zhou, fearing that his
daughter would say something else equally impolite. "The wine here is very
good. Brother Xu, let's you and I go to the Apricot Blossom Tavern on Great
East Street and drink a cup."
"Good idea," said
Xu.
"Father, I want to go
too," Zhou Qi said. Xu stifled a laugh. "What are you laughing at?
Why shouldn't I be able to go?" Zhou Qi asked angrily. Xu turned away and
pretended he hadn't heard.
"We'll go together,"
Luo Bing said with a smile.
Being a chivalrous man, Zhou
did not object.
The four arrived at the
Apricot Blossom Tavern and ordered wine and food. The spring water of Suzhou
was clear and cold, and the wine that was made from it was fragrant and rich,
and was considered to be the best in all the northwestern provinces. The waiter
brought a plate of Suzhou 's famous roasted cakes, as fragile as spring cotton
and as white as autumn silk. Zhou Qi couldn't stop eating them. The tavern was
crowded and it was inconvenient to discuss Wen's coming rescue, so instead, the
four talked about the scenery they had passed and other things.
"Your honourable
society's Master Chen is very young," said Zhou. "What style of kung
fu does he use?"
"A style invented by his
teacher," Xu replied. "When he was fifteen years old, Master Chen was
sent by our former Great Helmsman Master Yu to the Muslim regions to become the
pupil of 'The Strange Knight Of The Heavenly Pool', Master Yuan, and he never
returned to southern China. Only Priest Wu Chen and some of the other senior
members of the society saw him when he was young."
"Master Chen is certainly
a remarkable man," said Zhou. "Truly: 'A man's worth cannot be
measured by his looks'."
Xu and Luo Bing were very
pleased to hear Zhou praising their leader in such glowing terms.
"In these last few years,
the fighting community has produced many new heroes," Zhou continued,
addressing Xu. "The rear waves of the Yangtse push forward the front
waves', as the saying goes. It is rare to find someone who combines the
qualities of intelligence and bravery as you do. It is important that such
skills are not wasted, but are used to achieve something worthwhile."
"Yes," said Xu,
agreeing with Zhou's view that his skills should be used to good purpose, but
Zhou Qi grunted and thought: "My father praises you and you agree! Such
modesty!"
Zhou drank a mouthful of wine.
"I once heard that old Master Yu of your honourable society was a member
of the Shaolin School of kung fu, very similar to my style," he remarked.
"I had long wanted to meet him and learn from him, but with him in
southern China and myself in the northwest, my wish was never fulfilled and he
has now passed away. I enquired about the origins of his martial arts skills, but
everyone had a different story, and from beginning to end I never heard a
reliable report."
"Master Yu never talked
about who he studied under, and it was only just before he died that he said he
had once learned kung fu in the Shaolin monastery in Fujian province," Xu
said.
"What illness did Master
Yu die of?" Zhou asked. "He would have been a few years older than
me, I think?"
"Master Yu was sixty-five
when he passed away," Xu replied. "The cause of his illness is a long
story. There's a very mixed bunch of people here and we might as well travel on
another few miles this evening. We'll find a deserted place and talk at length
there."
"Excellent!" Zhou
said. He asked the cashier to make up the bill.
"I'll just go downstairs
for a second," Xu said.
"I am the host,"
Zhou warned. "Don't you snatch the bill away."
"All right," he
replied, and went down to the ground floor.
"He's always so
furtive!" Zhou Qi said with a pout.
"Girls must not talk such
ill-mannered nonsense," Zhou scolded her.
"Brother Xu is always
full of strange tricks," Luo Bing told her with a smile. "If you make
him angry, you will have to be careful he doesn't play some of them on
you."
"Huh!" she said.
"He is no taller than I am. Why should I be afraid of him?"
Zhou was about to berate her
again, but hearing footsteps on the stairs, he said nothing.
"Let's go," Xu said,
walking up.
The four covered ten miles at
one go. They noticed a spinney of a dozen or so large tree to the left of the
road screening rocks and boulders behind.
"What about here?"
Zhou asked.
"All right," said
Xu. They tied their horses to the trees and sat down, leaning on the trunks.
The moon was bright and the stars sparse, and the night air was as cool as
water. The wind blew through the grass with a low whistling sound.
Xu was about to speak when he
heard the muffled sound of horses galloping from far off. He lay down with his
ear to the ground and listened for a while, then stood up.
"Three horses coming this
way," he said.
Zhou waved his hand and they
untied their horses and led them behind the boulders. The sound of hooves came
gradually closer, and three horses passed heading east. In the moonlight, they
could see only that the riders all wore white turbans and long striped gowns,
the clothing of Muslims, while sabres hung from their saddles. They waited
until the riders were a long way off, then sat down again. Zhou asked why the
Manchu court had arrested Wen.
"The authorities have
always considered the Red Flower Society to be a thorn in the eye," Luo
Bing replied. "But there is another reason for them dispatching so many
martial arts masters to catch our Fourth Brother. Last month, Master Yu went to
Beijing, and Fourth Brother and I went with him. Master Yu told us that he
intended to break into the Imperial Palace and see the Emperor Qian Long. We
were very surprised, and asked what he wanted to see the Emperor about, but he
wouldn't say. Fourth Brother warned him that the Emperor was very dangerous and
cunning and advised him to enlist our best fighters and to get Brother Xu here
to devise an absolutely fool-proof plan."
Zhou Qi studied Xu. "Is
this dwarf so talented that others come to him for help?" she thought.
"I don't believe it!"
"Master Yu said that he
had to see the Emperor on a matter of great importance, and that only a small
number of people could go with him or there could be problems. So Fourth
Brother agreed. That night, the two of them crossed the wall into the palace
while I kept watch outside. I was really frightened. More than two hours passed
before they came back over the wall. Very early next day, the three of us left
Beijing and returned to the south. I asked Fourth Brother if they had seen the
Emperor and what it was all about. He said they had seen him, and that it
concerned driving out the Manchus and restoring the throne of China to the
chinese people. He said he couldn't tell me more, not because he didn't trust
me, but because the more people who knew, the greater the danger of the secret
getting out."
"After we returned to the
south, Master Yu parted from us," Luo Bing continued. "We returned to
the Society's headquarters at Tai Lake, while he went on to Haining. When he
returned, his whole appearance had changed. It was as if he had suddenly aged
more than ten years. He never smiled, and a few days later he contracted the
illness from which he never recovered.
"Just before he passed
away, he called together the Lords of Incense and said that it was his last
wish that Master Chen should succeed him as Great Helmsman. He said this was
the key to the restoration of the throne to the Han people. He said it was not
possible to explain the reasons then, but said we would all find out one day."
"What was Master Chen's
relationship with Master Yu?" Zhou asked.
"He was the old Master's
foster son," Luo Bing said. "Master Chen is the son of the Emperor's
former Chief Minister Chen from Haining. When he was fifteen, he passed the
provincial civil service examination, and soon after that, the old Master took
him to the Muslim regions to learn the martial arts from the Strange Knight Of
The Heavenly Pool, Master Yuan. As to why the son of a Chief Minister would
honour a member of the fighting community as his foster father, we don't
know."
"I imagine one of the
reasons Master Wen was seized is that he knows something about all this,"
Zhou said.
"Perhaps," Luo Bing
replied. "At the time of old Master's death, there was one important piece
of unfinished business on his mind and he wanted very badly to see Master Chen
once more. When he first got back from Beijing, he sent a messenger to the
Muslim border areas with instructions for Master Chen to go to Anxi and wait
there for orders. The Old Master knew he wouldn't last long enough to see his
foster son again, so he urged us all to hasten to Anxi to work out a plan of
action together with Master Chen. He entrusted all the secret information to
Fourth Brother to pass on personally to the Young Helmsman when they met. Who
would have guessed that he…" Her voice choked with sobs. "If anything
should happen to Fourth Brother…no-one will ever know what the old Master hoped
to achieve."
"You mustn't worry,"
Zhou Qi consoled her. "We'll soon rescue him."
Luo Bing squeezed her hand and
smiled sadly.
"How was Master Wen
wounded?" Zhou asked.
"We travelled in pairs to
Anxi, and Fourth Brother and I were the last pair. When we were in Suzhou,
eight Imperial Bodyguards came to our inn and said they had orders from the
Emperor to accompany us back to Beijing. Fourth Brother said that he had to see
the Young Helmsman before he could comply, and a fight broke out. It was a hard
battle, two against eight. Fourth Brother killed two of them with his sword and
three more with his bare hands, while I hit two with my throwing knives. The
last one sneaked away. But Fourth Brother was badly wounded.
"We knew we couldn't stay
in Suzhou, so with difficulty we made our way through the Jiayu Gate. But
Fourth Brother's wounds were serious and it was really impossible for us to go
much further, so we stopped at an inn to give him a chance to recover quickly.
Little did we guess that the Eagles's Claws would find us again. What happened
afterwards, you already know."
"The more the Emperor
fears and hates Fourth Brother, the less his life is in danger in the immediate
future," Xu said. "The officials and the Eagles's Claws know he's
important so they won't dare to harm him."
"That's very shrewd,
Brother," Zhou said.
"It would have been
better if you'd gone to meet a bit earlier," Zhou Qi suddenly said to Xu.
"Then Master Wen wouldn't be in any trouble, and you wouldn't have had to
go venting your anger on Iron Gall Manor…"
"You stupid girl!"
Zhou shouted. "What are you talking about?"
"Brother Wen's and Sister
Luo Bing's kung fu is excellent, so who would have guessed that anyone would
dare to attack them?" Xu replied.
"You're the 'Kung Fu
Mastermind'," Zhou Qi said. "How could you have failed to guess
it?"
"If Seventh Brother had
guessed it, we wouldn't have become acquainted with these good friends from the
Red Flower Society." Zhou told her. He turned to Luo Bing. " By the
way, who is Master Chen's wife? Is she the daughter of some great family
perhaps, or a famous martial arts fighter?"
"Master Chen hasn't
married yet," Luo Bing replied. "But Lord Zhou, when are we going to
be invited to your daughter's wedding reception?"
"This girl is crazy, who
would want her?" Zhou answered with a smile. "She might as well stay
with me for the rest of her life."
"Wait until we've rescued
Fourth Brother, then I'll become her match-maker," Luo Bing said.
"You're sure to be very satisfied with my choice."
"If you're going to keep
on talking about me, I'm leaving," Zhou Qi said quickly, deeply
embarrassed. The other three smiled.
A moment passed, then Xu
suddenly stifled a laugh.
"What are you laughing at
now?" Zhou Qi asked him angrily.
"Something personal. What
business is it of yours?" he countered.
"Huh," she replied.
"Do you think I don't know what you're laughing at? You want to marry me
to that Master Chen. But he's the son of a chief minister; how could we
possibly be matched? You all treat him like some precious treasure, but I don't
see anything special about him."
Both angry and amused, Zhou
shouting at her to be quiet. "This stupid girl talks without
thinking," he said. "All right, everyone sleep now. As soon as it
gets light, we'll be starting out again."
They took their blankets off
the horses' backs, and lay down beneath the trees.
"Father," Zhou Qi
whispered. "Did you bring anything to eat? I'm starving."
No, I didn't," Zhou
replied. "But we'll make a move a little earlier tomorrow and stop when we
get to Twin Wells."
Not long after, he began
snoring lightly. Zhou Qi tossed and turned, unable to sleep due to her hunger.
Suddenly, she noticed Xu stealthily get up and walk over to the horses. She saw
him take something out of his bag, then return and sit down. He wrapped the
blanket around himself, and started eating noisily and with relish. She turned
over away from him and shut her eyes, but finally, she could bear it no longer,
and glanced over out of the corner of her eye. It would have been better if she
hadn't. She saw a pile next to him of what were obviously the famous Suzhou
roasted cakes. But having spent the whole time arguing with him, how could she
now beg him for food?
"Go to sleep and stop
thinking about eating," she told herself. But the more she tried to sleep,
the less she was able to. Then the fragrant smell of wine hit her nostrils as
Xu took a swig from a drinking gourd and she could suppress her anger no
longer.
"What are you doing
drinking wine at two o'clock in the morning?" she demanded. "If you
have to drink, don't do it here!"
"All right," said
Xu. He put down the gourd without re-corking it and settled down to sleep,
letting the fragrance of the wine drift over towards her.
She angrily buried her face in
the blanket, but after a while, it became too stuffy. She turned over again,
and in the moonlight, she saw her father's two Iron Gallstones glistening
beside his pillow. She quietly stretched her hand over, picked one of them up
and threw it at the wine gourd. It shattered and the wine spilled out over Xu's
blanket.
He appeared to be asleep, and
paid no heed to what had happened. Zhou Qi saw her father and Luo Bing were
sleeping peacefully and crept over to retrieve the Iron Gallstone. But just as
she was about to pick it up, Xu suddenly turned over, trapping it beneath his
body, and then proceed to snore noisily.
She jumped in fright and
pulled back her hand, not daring to try again. Despite her bold character, she
was still a young lady, and could not possibly put her hand beneath a man's
body. There was nothing she could do, so she went back and settled down to
sleep. Just then, she heard a laugh escape from Luo Bing. Completely flustered,
she didn't sleep well all night.
6
Next day, she woke early, and
curled up into a ball hoping that the dawn would never come. But before long,
Zhou and Luo Bing got up. A moment later, Xu awoke, and she heard him exclaim
in surprise.
"What's this?" he
said.
Zhou Qi pulled the blanket
over her head.
"Ah, Lord Zhou!" she
heard him say. "Your Iron Gallstone has rolled all the way over here! Oh,
no! The wine gourd has been smashed! That's it, a monkey in the hills must have
smelt the wine and come down to have a drink. Then it saw your Iron Gallstone
and took it to play with. One careless slip and the gourd was smashed to
pieces. What a naughty monkey!"
Zhou laughed heartily.
"You love to jest, Brother," he said. "There are no monkeys in
this area."
"Well then, maybe it was
a fairy from heaven," Luo Bing suggested with a smile.
With Xu having called her a
monkey, Zhou Qi was even more furious than before. Xu pulled out the roasted
cakes for everyone to eat, but out of spite, she refused to eat even one.
They got to the town of Twin
Wells, and had a quick meal of noodles. Then, as they were leaving, Xu and Luo
Bing suddenly stopped and began closely examining some confused charcoal
markings at the foot of a wall that looked to Zhou Qi like the scribblings of
an urchin.
"The Twin Knights have
found out where Fourth Brother is and are following him," Luo Bing
announced joyfully.
"How do you know? What
are these signs?" Zhou Qi asked.
"They are a code used by
our Society," she said, rubbing the marks off the wall with her foot.
"Let's go!"
Knowing that Wen had been
found, Luo Bing's face was suddenly wreathed in smiles. Their spirits rose and
they covered nearly fifteen miles at one go. At noon the next day in the town
of Qidaogou, they came across markings left by 'Scholar' Yu saying he had
caught up with the Twin Knights. The wound on Luo Bing's thigh was now just
about healed, and she no longer had to use a walking stick. Thinking about her
husband, she found it increasingly hard to control her impatience.
Towards evening, they arrived
at the town of Willow Springs. Luo Bing wanted to keep going, but Xu remembered
Chen's orders. "Even if we weren't tired, the horses just can't do
it!" he pointed out.
Luo Bing reluctantly agreed,
and they found rooms in an inn for the night, but she tossed and turned unable
to sleep. In the middle of the night, she heard a pitter-patter sound outside
the windows as it started to rain and suddenly remembered how she and Wen had
received an order from the old Master soon after their marriage to go to Jiaxing
to save a widow who was being persecuted by a local ruffian. They completed the
assignment, and spent the evening at the Misty Rain Tavern on the South Lake,
drinking wine and enjoying the rain. Wen held his new wife's hand and sung
songs at the top of his voice as he tapped out the rhythm with his sword on the
severed head of the ruffian. Her memories of the scene flooded back as she
listened to the rain on the window.
"Brother Xu does not want
to travel fast because of Lord Zhou and his daughter," she thought.
"Perhaps I should go on ahead first?"
Once the idea had occurred to
her, it was impossible to ignore and she immediately got up, picked up her
swords and left a message to Xu in charcoal on the table. Zhou Qi was sleeping
in the same room and, afraid that opening the door would awaken her, she
quietly opened the window and jumped out. She went to the stables and found her
horse, then threw on an oil-skin raincoat and galloped off eastwards. She
hardly noticed the raindrops as they struck her hot cheeks.
At dawn, she stopped briefly
in a town. Her mount was exhausted, and she had no alternative but to rest for
an hour. Then she raced on another ten or fifteen miles. Suddenly the horse
stumbled on one of its front hooves. She frantically pulled in the reins, and
luckily the animal did not fall. But she knew that if she kept up such a pace,
it would die from exhaustion, and so she was forced to proceed much more
slowly.
She hadn't gone far when she
heard the sound of a horse behind her. She turned and saw a white horse which
caught up with her almost as soon as she heard it, and flew past. It was so
swift, she had no opportunity to even see what it's rider looked like.
Soon after, she arrived in a
small village and saw the snow-white horse standing under the eaves of a house
as a man brushed its coat, its hoar-frost coloured mane stirring in the wind.
It was tall, with long legs and an extraordinary spirit and as Luo Bing
approached, it neighed loudly, causing her mount to retreat a few steps in fright.
"If I rode this fine
horse," she thought, "I would catch up with Fourth Brother in no time
at all. Its master will certainly be unwilling to sell it, so I'll just have to
take it."
She slapped her mount and
charged forward. A throwing knife flew out of her hand, and severed the white
horse's reins, then holding her bag with her left hand, she leapt from her own
horse onto the back of the white horse. The magnificent animal started in
fright and neighed loudly again, then, like an arrow loosed from a bow,
galloped off down the road.
The horse's owner was taken
completely by surprise, but after a second's hesitation, he raced after her.
Luo Bing had already gone some distance, but seeing him giving chase, she
reined in the horse, took a gold ingot out of her bag and threw it at him.
"We've exchanged
horses," she shouted. "But yours is better than mine, so I'll
compensate you with this gold!" She gave a captivating smile, and with a
slight press from her thighs, the white horse shot forward. The wind whistled
by her ears and the trees on either side fell behind her row by row. She rode
for over an hour, and the horse still showed no signs of fatigue, his hooves
prancing high as he galloped along. Soon, fertile fields began to appear along
the side of the road, and she arrived in a large town. She dismounted and went
to a restaurant to rest for a while, and in reply to her question, she was told
the town was called Sandy Wells, and was more than twenty miles from the place
where she had stolen the horse.
The more she looked at the
animal, the more she liked it. She fed him hay herself and stroked its coat
affectionately. As she did so, she saw a cloth bag hanging from the saddle.
Opening it up, she found an Iron Pipa inside.
"So the horse belongs to
someone from the Iron Pipa School of Luoyang," she thought. "This
could cause some trouble."
She put her hand into the bag
again and pulled out twenty or thirty taels of silver coins and a letter
inscribed with the words: "To be opened only by Master Han Wenchong.
Sealed by Master Wang." The envelope was open, and as she unfolded the
letter, she saw it was signed: "Yours sincerely, Weiyang".
She started slightly in
surprise. "So the fellow is connected with Wang Weiyang of the Zhen Yuan
Bodyguard Agency," she thought. "We still have to get even with them,
so stealing this horse could be considered part payment. If I had known
earlier, I wouldn't have given him a gold ingot."
She looked again at the letter
and saw it urged Han to meet up as soon as possible with the Zhen Yuan agency's
Yan brothers and assist them in protecting an important item being brought back
to Beijing. Then Han was to help escort something to south China. It added that
Han should suspend his investigation into whether or not 'Guandong Devil' Jiao
Wenqi had been killed by the Red Flower Society, and resume it at some future
time.
"Jiao Wenqi was also a
member of the Iron Pipa School in Luoyang," Luo Bing thought. "It's
rumoured that he was killed by the Red Flower Society, but in fact it was not
so. I wonder what the important item is that the Zhen Yuan Agency is escorting?
After Fourth Brother is rescued, we can go and collect it together."
Very happy at this thought,
she finished her noodles, mounted up and sped off again. The rain continued to
fall, sometimes light, sometimes heavy. The horse galloped like the wind, and
she lost count of how many horses and carts they overtook.
"This horse is going so
fast, if the others ahead are resting for a while, I might miss them altogether
by just blinking," she thought.
Just then, someone slipped out
from the side of the road and waved. The horse stopped instantly in mid-gallop
and backed up several paces. The man bowed before her.
"Mistresss Wen," he
said. "The Young Master is here." It was Great Helmsman Chen's
attendant, Xin Yan.
Xin Yan walked over and took
the horse's reins. "Where did you buy such a good horse?" he asked in
admiration. "I nearly missed you."
Luo Bing smiled. "Is
there any news about Fourth Brother?" she asked.
"The Twin Knights say
they have seen him. Everyone's in there." He pointed to a small, decrepit
temple by the side of the road.
"Look after the horse for
me," she said. Inside, seated in the temple's main hall were Chen, the
Twin Knights and the other heroes. Seeing her entering, they all stood and
warmly welcomed her. Luo Bing bowed before Chen and explained that she had been
too impatient to wait for the others, and hoped that he would forgive her.
"Your concern for Fourth
Brother is understandable," Chen said. "As to your failure to follow
orders, we will discuss a penalty when we have rescued him. Twelfth Brother,
please make a note of it." 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi nodded.
Luo Bing smiled like a flower
and turned to the Twin Knights. "Have you seen Fourth Brother? How is he?
Is he suffering?"
"We caught up with him
and his escort last night at Twin Wells," one of them replied. "But
the Turtles were many and we didn't take any action for fear of alerting them.
I went to a window to have a look and saw Fourth Brother lying on a kang
resting. He didn't see me."
"The Zhen Yuan Bodyguard
Agency Turtles and the Eagle's Claws are all in it together," said the
other. "By my count, they have ten first-class martial arts masters among
them."
The Twin Knights were from
Sichuan, and often used the slang of their home province when they cursed
people, calling them 'Turtles'.
As they were speaking,
'Scholar' Yu came into the temple. He flinched on seeing Luo Bing, then made a
report to Chen.
"The Muslims have set up
tents beside the stream ahead of us," he said. "The guards are
carrying swords and spears and look very formidable. I couldn't get close
during daylight, but we could go and investigate again when it gets dark."
Suddenly, they heard the sound
of a column of men and animals pass by outside the temple. Xin Yan dashed in
and reported: "A large train of mules, horses and carts has just passed
escorted by twenty government soldiers with a military official in
command." As soon as he had finished, he left to resume his guard.
Chen discussed the situation
with the others. "There are very few people in the area to the east of
here, which is perfect for our operation. But we don't know what the Muslims
and this column of government troops are doing. When we make our move to rescue
Fourth Brother, they may try to interfere."
"We have all heard much
about the famous 'Fire Hand Judge', Zhang Zhaozhong," said Priest Wu Chen.
"He was in command of this operation to capture Fourth Brother, so let me
fight him."
" All right," Chen
said. "We cannot let him escape."
"It's lucky that Master
Lu isn't here yet," said 'Buddha' Zhao. "It would perhaps be
difficult for us to kill Zhang before his very eyes. After all, he is his
martial brother."
"Well then, we should act
quickly," one of the Twin Knights added. "I estimate we should catch
up with them by early tomorrow morning."
"Right," said Chen.
"Please tell us in detail what you know so that we will know what to
expect tomorrow."
"At night, Fourth Brother
sleeps in the same house as the Eagle's Claws, and during the day, rides in a
carriage with his hands and feet manacled," one replied. "The
carriage curtains are kept tightly closed, and two Turtles ride on either
side."
"What does this man Zhang
look like?" Priest Wu Chen asked.
"He's about forty years
old, tall and robust with a thick short beard. Damn his ancestors, he looks
very good."
They were all eager for the
fight, but there was nothing they could do but wait. They ate some dry rations
and then asked the Great Helmsman to give his orders.
"That group of Muslims is
unlikely to be in collusion with the Eagle's Claws," he said. "Once
we have rescued Fourth Brother there is no need for us to take any more notice
of them. Brother Yu, you and Thirteenth Brother will be in charge of
obstructing that military official and his twenty troops. Bloodshed isn't
necessary, just don't allow them to interfere." Yu and 'Crocodile' Jiang
nodded.
"Ninth Brother, Twelth
Brother," Chen continued, turning to 'Leopard' Wei and 'Melancholy Ghost'
Shi. "You two overtake the Eagle's Claws, and set up guard at the mouth of
the gorge as early as possible tomorrow. The Eagle's Claws must not be allowed
to escape." Wei and Shi left the temple and rode off.
"Priest Wu Chen and the
Twin Knights: the three of you deal with the Imperial Bodyguards; Third
Brother, Eighth Brother, you two deal with the Bodyguard Agency fellows. Fourth
Sister and Xin Yan will make straight for the carriage. I will coordinate and
give assistance to whichever group encounters problems. Brother Zhang Jin, you
stay here and keep guard. If any government troops come by heading east, you
must think of some way to stop them."
The forces having been divided
up, the heroes left the temple, mounted up and waved farewell to Zhang Jin.
When they saw Luo Bing's white
horse, they all tutted in approval. "I should have presented it to the
Great Helmsman," she thought." But Fourth Brother has suffered so
much, I'll give it to him after he's been rescued."
"Where are the Muslims
camped?" Chen asked Yu. "We can circle round and have a look."
Yu led the way, but as they
approached the wide space where the Muslims had been, they could see that the
tents and people were gone, leaving only piles of mule and horse droppings.
"Let's go!" Chen
said. They spurred their horses forward and galloped off along the road. Luo
Bing's horse was so fast that she had to stop occasionally to let the others
catch up with her. As dawn broke, they came to the banks of a small stream.
"Brothers," Chen
said. "We will stop here and let the horses drink some water and recover
their strength. We should be able to catch up with Fourth Brother in another
two hours."
Luo Bing's blood surged and
her cheeks reddened. Yu saw her expression and he walked slowly over to her.
"Sister Luo Bing,"
he said quietly.
"Mm?"
"I am willing to give up
my life to rescue Fourth Brother for you," he said.
She smiled slightly.
"That's being a good brother," she sighed.
Yu quickly turned away.
"Fourth Sister,"
said Chen, "Lend your horse to Xin Yan and let him go on ahead to
investigate."
Xin Yan mounted the white
horse and flew off.
The others waited until their
horses had drunk their fill, then mounted up and raced away. Not long after,
with the sky already light, they saw Xin Yan riding back towards them.
"The Eagle's Claws are
just ahead," he shouted.
Their spirits rose a
hundred-fold and they charged forward with renewed vigour. Xin Yan and Luo Bing
exchanged horses.
"Did you see Fourth
Brother's carriage?" she asked.
Xin Yan nodded excitedly.
"Yes! I rode close to the side of the carriage hoping to get a look inside
but the Eagle's Claws raised their swords to scare me off."
The group galloped on, the
horses' hooves sounding like thunder. A large line of men and horses came into
sight ahead, and they saw it was the column escorted by government soldiers.
"Fourth Brother's
carriage is another two miles further on," Xin Yan said to Chen. They
spurred on their horses and overtook the column. Once passed, 'Crocodile' Jiang
and Yu turned their mounts around to block the road.
Yu saluted the government
troops as they caught up. "Good sirs, you are working too hard," he
said politely. "The scenery here is excellent, and the weather is
exceptionally clear. Why don't we all sit down and have a chat?"
"Out of the way!"
shouted one of the Manchu soldiers at the front. "This is the family of
Commander-in-chief Li."
"His family? Well, that's
even more reason for having a rest. There's a pair called Black Death and White
Death in front of us, and we wouldn't want to frighten the ladies."
Another of the soldiers
flourished his horse whip and cracked it in Yu's direction. "You destitute
scholar! Stop your nonsense," he shouted.
Yu laughed and dodged out of
the way. The commanding officer of the escort rode forward and loudly asked
what was going on.
Yu brought his hands together
in salute. "What is your respected surname?" he enquired.
The officer could see that Yu
and Jiang were not reputable men and hesitated to answer.
Yu took out his golden flute.
"I have a rudimentary knowledge of music," he said. "I often
lament how rarely I come across people with discerning musical tastes. You,
sir, have a dignified appearance. Please dismount and rest while I play you a
tune to alleviate the loneliness of the journey, what do you say?"
The officer was Deng Tunan,
escorting Commander Li Keshou's family to Hangzhou. He started in surprise when
he saw the golden flute, and remembered what he had heard of the fight in the
inn that day between the Yamen officers and a scholar with a golden flute.
"Let each go his own road," he shouted. "Please make way!"
"I know ten songs,"
said Yu. "Some are impassioned and rousing, some are sweet and
captivating, but all are melodic. I haven't played them for a long time, but
this chance meeting with such an esteemed gentleman as yourself has made me
eager to show off my talents."
He lifted the golden flute to
his mouth and a series of beautiful notes rose clear and sharp into the sky.
Officer Deng could see that
the affair could not be concluded amicably. He raised his spear and threw it
straight at Yu who continued to play until the tip was almost upon him. Then
his left hand shot out and grabbed the spear then struck it with the golden
flute, snapping it in two.
Deng was startled. Reining in
his horse, he backed up several paces, snatched a sword from one of the
soldiers and charged forward again. He fought Yu through seven or eight moves,
then Yu found an opening: the golden flute struck Deng's right arm, and the
sword flew out of his hand.
"You really ought to
listen to these ten songs of mine," Yu said. He put the flute to his lips,
and started to play once more.
Deng waved his hand at his
soldiers. "Seize this fellow!" He roared. The soldiers swept forward,
shouting and yelling as they came.
'Crocodile' Jiang leapt off
his horse brandishing his iron oar, and with a 'Stirring The Grass To Find The
Snake' move, tapped the first soldier lightly on the legs, toppling him onto
the oar, then swung the oar upwards, and deposited him into the crowd of his
comrades. He scooped and dumped one Manchu soldier after another as if
shovelling earth, and the soldiers behind yelled out in fear and retreated.
Just then, the curtain on a
large carriage the soldiers were escorting suddenly parted, and a girl dressed
in red and holding a glistening sword lunged at him. Jiang's oar struck
powerfully at the blade, and the girl, seeing the strength behind it, leapt
back. Jiang was a Cantonese with a thick accent, and he had found that few
people outside his native province understood what he said. As a result, he had
never been a great talker. He flourished his oar and began to fight with her
without saying a word. He was surprised to discover that her swordsmanship was
excellent.
Yu looked on from the side. He
had forgotten all about playing the flute and was engrossed in watching the
young girl who was using the traditional Soft Cloud Sword style of his own
school.
He leapt forward and stuck his
golden flute in between their weapons, separating them. "Stop!" he
shouted.
The girl and Jiang both
retreated a step. By this time, Officer Deng had found another spear and was
spurring his horse forward, but the girl ordered him to stay back.
"What is your esteemed
name, mistress, and who is your honourable teacher?" Yu asked.
"I don't feel like
telling you," the girl replied with a smile. "But I do know that you
are 'Scholar' Yu, and that you are a member of the Red Flower Society."
Yu and Jiang looked at each
other in surprise. Officer Deng was even more astonished at the sight of his
commander-in-chief's daughter joking with these notorious bandits.
The three startled men were
looking at the laughing girl not knowing what to say, when they heard horses
approaching. The Manchu soldiers parted and six horses raced up from the west.
The front rider was Lu Feiqing. Yu and the girl, who was of course Li Yuanzhi,
both greeted him, one calling him Uncle and the other Teacher.
Behind Lu came Zhou, the two
groups having met on the road.
"Yuanzhi, what are you
doing here with Brother Yu and Brother Jiang?" Lu asked.
"Brother Yu insisted on
us listening to him play the flute," she replied with a smile. "We
didn't feel like listening but he wouldn't let us leave."
"There is a dangerous
situation ahead," Lu said to Yuanzhi. "It would be best if you all
stay here so as not to frighten Madame. When this business is finished, I will
come and find you."
Yuanzhi pouted angrily at
being forbidden from going to watch the fun, but Lu took no further notice of
her, saluted the others and rode on eastwards.
7
The heroes galloped on after
Wen. After a while, they noticed in the distance a column of men and horses
strung out over the flat plain. Priest Wu Chen drew his sword and roared:
"Chase them!" The figures in front gradually grew larger. Luo Bing's
white horse raced round to the front, and in the wink of an eye, she had caught
up with the column. With her twin swords in hand, she prepared to overtake it,
then block its path. But suddenly, shouts rose from in front, and several dozen
Muslims riding camels and horses raced towards them from the east.
This was completely
unexpected, and Luo Bing reined in her horse and stopped to see what the
Muslims were doing. By now, the Imperial officers and the Bodyguard Agency men
had also halted, and gazed in consternation at the Muslims as they bore down on
them, sabres glinting in the sun.
Chen ordered the heroes to
halt to watch the fight. Suddenly, they saw a rider skirt round the battle and
race straight towards them. As he approached, they recognised him as 'Leopard'
Wei. He rode up to Chen.
"Great Helmsman," he
said breathlessly. "We set up guard at the mouth of the gorge, but this
group of Muslims broke past us. There was no way of stopping them, but now
they're attacking the Eagle's Claws. It's very strange."
"Priest Wu Chen, Third
Brother Zhao, and the Twin Knights," Chen said. "The four of you go
and get Fourth Brother's carriage away. The rest of us will wait and see how
things develop."
The four heroes galloped off.
"Who are you?" the
Imperial officers shouted as they approached. Zhao didn't bother to answer. Two
steel darts left his hands, and two of the officers fell dead from their
horses. Zhao was nicknamed the 'Thousand Arm Buddha' because he had a kindly
face and a soft heart, and was also a master of all types of darts, which he
kept secreted around his body.
As the four heroes approached
the carriage, a white turbaned Muslim struck out at them with his spear, but
they dodged past him, and attacked the bodyguard agency lead escorts who were
guarding the carriage. One of the escorts swung his sword at Priest Wu Chen,
who blocked the stroke with his own sword, which slid down the other's blade as
fast as lightning and sliced off all his fingers then plunged into his heart.
He heard the sound of another blade cleaving towards his back, and without
turning, drove his sword up and back so that the blade sliced his attacker in
half from left armpit to right shoulder.
Seeing Priest Wu Chen's
frightening swordsmanship and two of their own men killed before completing
even one move, the other lead escorts' courage broke and they scattered.
Zhao raced up to the carriage
and pulled up the carriage curtain to look inside. In the darkness, he could
dimly make out a figure wrapped in a coverlet.
"Fourth Brother!" he
shouted happily.
"You take Fourth Brother
back and I'll go and look for Zhang Zhaozhong to settle acounts with him"
Priest Wu Chen said, riding up. He spurred his horse forward and charged into
the crowd of fleeing lead escorts and Imperial officers.
"'Firehand Judge' Zhang!
Come out and face me!" he called over and over, but no-one answered him.
The Red Flower Society
fighters were overjoyed to see Zhao accompanying the carriage back, and all
raced up to meet him. Luo Bing galloped into the lead and up to the carriage,
jumped off her horse and pulled aside the carriage curtain.
"Fourth Brother!"
she called out shakily, but the figure inside made no sound. Startled, Luo Bing
leapt in and pulled off the coverlet. By this time, the heroes had all
dismounted and were standing closely about, watching.
Meanwhile, a fierce battle was
raging between the Muslims on one side and the Imperial officers and lead
escorts on the other. Priest Wu Chen continued to move backwards and forwards
through the crowd, searching for Zhang. All of a sudden, a horse charged out in
front of him, its rider a huge Muslim with a thick beard covering his face.
"Where does this wild
reckless priest come from?" he shouted.
The priest replied with a stroke
from his sword, and the Muslim raised his sabre to parry the blow. Priest Wu
Chen countered with two strokes to the left and right, incomparably fast, and
in panic, the Muslim lunged backwards, hooked his right foot into the stirrup
and rolled beneath the horse's belly, then urged his horse forward and escaped
while still hiding beneath the animal.
"Managing to avoid three
strokes from my sword is not bad," Priest Wu Chen smiled. "I'll spare
your life." He charged back into the battle.
Meanwhile, Luo Bing pulled the
man out of the carriage and threw him on the ground. "Master Wen!"
she shouted. "Where is he?" Even before she had finished speaking,
tears were coursing down her face.
They saw the man was old and
wizened, dressed as a Yamen officer with his right hand in a sling. Luo Bing
recognised him as the Officer Wu from Beijing whose right arm had been broken
by Wen at the inn. She gave him a kick, and wanted to question him again, but
her voice failed her.
'Leopard' Wei put one of his
steel hooks close to Wu's right eye, and shouted: "Where is Master Wen? If
you don't talk I'll put out this eye for a start!"
"Zhang Zhaozhong took him
off a long time ago," Wu replied sullenly. "He told me to ride in the
carriage. I thought he was being nice and giving me a chance to rest my arm,
but he was using me, setting me up while he himself goes to Beijing and
collects all the honours. Damn him!"
By this time, all the heroes
were standing round the carriage.
"Gather all the Eagle's
Claws and lead escorts together and don't let any of them get away!" Chen
called out.
The heroes encircled the Yamen
officers and the Bodyguard Agency men, who were still fighting furiously with
the Muslims. 'Buddha' Zhao waved both his hands and three darts shot out,
simultaneously felling two officers and one lead escort.
The Muslims realised the Red
Flower Society heroes were friends, and they gave a great cheer. The large
Muslim with the thick whiskers galloped forward and shouted: "I don't know
who you are, but you who have drawn your weapons to assist us, and I thank
you." He raised his sword in salute.
Chen returned the salute.
"Brothers, let's all take part!" he shouted, and the heroes rushed at
the enemy, all except for Luo Bing, who was too confused to care.
By this time, most of the good
fighters amongst the Yamen officers and lead escorts were either dead or
seriously wounded, and many of their number were kneeling on the ground begging
for mercy as the battle continued.
Suddenly, Priest Wu Chen
galloped out of the melee, and shouted to the heroes: "Come and look! This
young girl's swordmanship isn't bad!"
They all knew that the
Priest's skill with a sword was unrivalled throughout the land, so hearing him
praise another's swordsmanship, and a girl's at that, they all pressed in to
watch. The thickly-whiskered Muslim shouted a few phrases in the Muslim
language, and the other Muslims gave way and made a place in the circle for the
Red Flower Society fighters.
Chen looked into the centre of
the circle and saw a girl in yellow robes fighting closely with a short, stocky
man wielding a pair of Five Elements Wheels. On his back was a red knapsack.
"The girl is named Huo
Qingtong," Lu said to Chen. "She's a pupil of the Tianshan Twin
Eagles. The man using the Five Elements Wheels is surnamed Yan. He's one of the
Six Guandong Devils."
Chen started in surprise. He
knew that the Tianshan Twin Eagles were leading members of the fighting
community in the Muslim border regions, and also that relations between them
and his own teacher, Master Yuan, were strained. Focussing his attention on the
duel, he saw the yellow-robed girl attack ferociously with her sword, but Yan
withstood the onslaught with the help of his Five Element Wheels. The Muslims
shouted their support and some edged in closer, obviously eager to intervene to
help the girl.
Yan parried and attacked, then
suddenly retreated a step. "Hold it," he shouted. "There's
something I want to say."
The Muslims moved up even
closer, and it looked as though he would be carved up before he chance to say
anything. Yan shifted both wheels to his left hand and grabbed the red knapsack
off his back. He held the wheels up high.
"If you are going to rely
on numbers to beat me, I'll cut up the knapsack now," he shouted.
The razor-sharp teeth of the
Five Element Wheels twinkled, and the Muslims, greatly afraid, retreated.
"There are many of
you," he shouted. "Taking my life would be as easy as turning your
hand over. But I will never surrender unless it is a one-to-one fight. If
anyone of you can defeat me singlehandedly, I will freely hand over the
knapsack. Otherwise I would prefer to take it with me."
Zhou Qi leapt into the circle.
"Right," she yelled. "Let's match ourselves against each
other." She brandished her sword, ready to charge forward, but Huo
Qingtong shook her head.
"Thank you, sister, but I
will fight first," she said. "If I cannot beat him, I will invite you
to lend me a hand."
"The knapsack contains
something that is very precious to this Muslim tribe," Lu Feiqing
interrupted. "She must recover it with her own hands."
Yan slung the knapsack onto
his back. "Who's going to come against me, then?"
"No matter what the
outcome, you will give up the Sacred Book," Huo Qingtong said to him.
"If you win, you will be allowed to leave. If you lose, you will give up
your life as well."
Her sword cut in from the
side, thrusting at his left shoulder, and Yan countered using the sixty-four moves
of the combined Five Elements and Eight Diagrams styles, which are designed to
wrest away an opponent's weapon while maintaining a very tight defence.
Chen motioned 'Scholar' Yu
over. "Fourteenth Brother, go immediately and find out what happened to Brother
Wen. We will follow after you," he said.
Yu nodded and retreated from
the circle. He glanced over at Luo Bing and saw her looking dazed. He wanted to
go over and comfort her, but changed his mind and galloped off.
Huo Qingtong attacked again
using a slightly faster sword style. Yan, who had been trying to seal off her
sword with his wheels, now found this impossible.
After another twenty or so
moves, Huo Qingtong's cheeks began to flush slightly and small beads of sweat
appeared on her forehead. But she was full of spirit and her footwork never
faltered. Her sword style suddenly changed to the Tianshan School 's Mirage
technique, combining feint with force. The heroes held their breaths,
completely absorbed. Suddenly, Huo Qingtong's blade slashed forward and struck
Yan's right wrist. He cried out in fright and dropped the wheel in his right
hand as the crowd roared in unison.
Yan leapt back wards. "I
accept defeat! The Sacred Book is yours!" he cried and began to undo the
red knapsack on his back. An expression of joy filled Huo Qingtong's face and
she replaced her sword in its scabbard and moved forward to accept the Koran
which her tribe held so sacred. But as she approached, Yan waved his right hand
and three darts flew towards her chest. She had no time to dodge out of the
way, so with an ' Iron-Plated Bridge ' move, she bent straight over backwards
and the darts flew just over her face. Having started, Yan could not stop half
way, so he quickly followed with three more darts. At that moment, Huo Qingtong
was facing the sky, and was unaware of the disaster that was about to strike.
The onlookers gasped in fear and anger.
As she straightened up again,
she heard three noises, "Ding, Ding, Ding," as the three darts were
hit by three projectiles and fell to the ground by her feet. She broke into a
cold sweat and quickly re-drew her sword. Yan lunged forward with all the power
of a crazed tiger and his Five Elements Wheel smashed straight down at her.
With no time to escape, all the girl could do was to raise her sword and
solidly block the stroke. For a while, they were deadlocked. But Yan was very
strong, and the Five Elements Wheel slowly pressed down towards her head until
the sharp blades on the wheel were touching the turquoise feather on her cap.
The heroes were about to move forward to assist her when there was a flash of
blue as Huo Qingtong drew a dagger from her waist with her free hand and rammed
it into Yan's belly. He cried out once, then toppled over backwards, dead. The
crowd cheered as one in approval.
Huo Qingtong untied the
knapsack from Yan's back. The black-whiskered Muslim walked over to her,
praising her and calling her "Good Child". She held the knapsack in
both her hands and presented it to him with a modest smile. "Papa," she
said. He took the knapsack and the cheering crowd of Muslims pressed forward.
Huo Qingting saw a boy jump
off his horse, pick up three round white objects from the ground and present
them on his palm to a young man in the crowd, who picked them up and put them
in his bag.
"It must have been him
who deflected that villain's darts and saved my life," she thought. She
took a closer look at the young man and saw that he was graceful and charming.
He wore a light gown tied loosely around the waist and fanned himself with a
folding fan. Their eyes met, and he smiled at her. Blushing, she lowered her
head. She ran over to her father and whispered into his ear. Her father, who
was named Muzhuolun, nodded, walked over to the young man and bowed before him.
The young man hurriedly dismounted and returned the bow.
"Thank you sir, for
saving my daughter's life," Muzhuolun said. "I am extremely grateful
to you. May I ask your honourable name?"
"My name is Chen Jialuo,"
he said. "We have a sworn brother whom we thought was being held captive
by this band of Eagle's Claws and came here to save him, but he is not here.
However, the fact that you have recovered your honourable tribe's Sacred Book
is very pleasing."
Muzhuolun called his son, Huo
Yayi, and his daughter over, and the three bowed before Chen in thanks.
The son had a square face,
large ears and a thick beard. His sister, on the other hand was very graceful:
as delicate as a spring flower. Earlier, Chen had concentrated on watching her
sword style, but now with her standing close to him, he found his heart beating
fast at the wonder that such a perfect girl could exist.
"If you had not saved me,
I would have fallen victim to his cunning designs," Huo Qingtong said
quietly. "Such great kindness, I would never forget."
"Please, there is no need
for thanks," Chen replied. "I am already fortunate that you are not
offended by my interference. I have long heard that the Three Part Sword Style
of the Twin Eagles of Tianshan was the most advanced of their time. The style
truly lives up to its reputation."
Huo Qingtong held a low-voiced
discussion with her father, who nodded rapidly. "Yes, yes," he said.
"That is what we should do." He walked over to Chen.
"Thanks to your
assistance, our business has now been completed," he said. "I heard
you mention that you have to rescue one of your number, and I would like to
order my son and daughter together with several companions to act under you to
help save him. Their kung fu is poor and they will probably of little use, but
they may be helpful running errands and the like. Will you give your
permission, sir?"
"That is very good of
you," Chen replied, and immediately introduced the other members of the
Red Flower Society to him.
"Your swordsmanship is
extraordinarily fast," Muzhuolun said to Priest Wu Chen. "I have
never in my life seen anything like it. It is lucky your hand was stayed by
mercy, otherwise… hah…"
"I must beg your
pardon," the priest replied with a smile. "I hope you won't take
offence."
While they were talking, a
horse galloped up from the west. A youngster dismounted and address Lu Feiqing
as "teacher". It was Li Yuanzhi who by this time had changed into her
boy's clothes. She caught sight of Huo Qingtong, and ran over and grasped her
hand.
"Where did you go that
night?" Yuanzhi asked. "I was worried to death about you! Did you get
the Sacred Book back?"
"We just recovered
it," Huo Qingtong said happily. "Look." She pointed at the red
knapsack now on her brother's back.
"Have you opened it to
have a look? Is the Sacred Book inside?"
Huo Qingtong nodded and
hurriedly undid the knapsack. Inside, was a pile of waste paper.
Muzhuolun grabbed a bodyguard
agency caller who was squatting on the ground and boxed his ears. "Where
has the Sacred Book gone?" he roared.
"I don't know
anything…about what the lead escorts do," he mumbled, and pointed at Lead
Escort Qian who was sitting with his head in his hands. Qian had received
several light wounds in the confused battle, and had surrendered after most of
the others were killed. Muzhuolun dragged him over.
"Friend," he said.
"Do you want to die or live?"
Qian said nothing. Muzhuolun
angrily raised his hand to strike him.
"The other lead escorts
took the book with them," Qian said.
Muzhuolun was skeptical and
ordered his subordinates to search the mule train thoroughly, but they found no
trace of it. He now realised why Yan had been unwilling to hand over the
knapsack.
Meanwhile, Yuanzhi was
questioning Lu on what had happened since they had parted. "I`ll tell you
about it later," he replied. "Go back now, your mother will be
worried about you. Don't say anything about what you've seen here."
"Of course," she
said. "But who are these people? Introduce me to them."
Lu considered Yuanzhi's
position as the daughter of a provincial commander-in-chief and decided it
would be better not to. "I don't think it's necessary," he said.
Yuanzhi pouted. "I know
you don't like me," she said. "You prefer that martial nephew of
yours, 'Golden Flute Scholar', or whatever he's called. Anyway, I'm
leaving."
She mounted her horse,
galloped over to Huo Qingtong, bent down and embraced her shoulder, then whispered
a few words into her ear. Huo Qingtong laughed, and Yuanzhi spurred her horse
forward and raced off back the way she had come.
Chen had watched the whole
incident, and was astonished to see Huo Qingtong being so familiar with this
handsome youngster. Conflicting feelings swept through his heart and he stood
staring dumbly, a vacant expression on his face.
"Great Helmsman," Xu
said, walking over. "Let's discuss how we are going to save Fourth
Brother."
Chen started, and then
collected his thoughts. "That's right," he said. "Xin Yan, you
ride Sister Luo Bing's horse and go and get Brother Zhang Jin." Xin Yan
nodded and left.
"Ninth Brother,"
Chen continued, turning to 'Leopard' Wei. "Patrol around and look for
indications of where the Eagle's Claws are. Come back this evening to
report." Wei likewise assented and left.
"We will camp here
tonight," Chen said to the rest. "We can resume the chase early
tomorrow morning."
8
After all the hard riding and
fighting they had done that day, they were all hungry and tired. Muzhuolun
directed his Muslims to erect tents by the side of the road, set aside several
for the use of the Red Flower Society heroes and also sent over cooked beef and
mutton for them to eat.
When they had finished, Chen
ordered Officer Wu to be brought in, and questioned him closely. Wu cursed
Zhang Zhaozhong bitterly. He said that at first, Wen had been seated in the
carriage, but that once Zhang realised they were being followed, he, Wu, had
been told to sit in the carriage instead as a decoy. Chen also interrogated the
other lead escorts, but failed to learn anything new.
Xu waited until the prisoners
had been led out of the tent and then said to Chen: "Great Helmsman, Lead
Escort Qian has a cunning gleam in his eye. Let's test him out."
"All right," Chen
replied.
Night fell, but still Wei and
Shi did not return to report, and the others became worried about them.
"They probably discovered
which way Fourth Brother is going and are following after him," Xu said.
It's not such bad news." The others nodded, and soon went off to sleep in
the tents. The lead escorts and the Yamen officers were all bound hand and foot
and placed outside with 'Crocodile' Jiang guarding them.
The moon rose, and Xu emerged
from his tent and told Jiang to go in and sleep. He walked round in a great
circle then went over to where Lead Escort Qian was sleeping. He sat down and
wrapped himself in a blanket, treading heavily on Qian's thigh as he did so.
Qian woke with a start. Not long after, Xu began snoring lightly, and Qian's
heart leapt for joy. The rope had not been knotted tightly, and after a short
struggle, he managed to wrench himself free. He held his breath, not daring to
move. Xu's snoring grew heavier, so he quietly undid the rope binding his legs,
stood up and tip-toed away. He went behind the tents, untied the reins of a
horse from a wooden post and walked slowly to the road. He stood listening very
carefully, but there was not a sound to be heard. He started walking again,
gradually quickening his pace, until he arrived beside the carriage in which
Officer Wu had sat.
Zhou Qi woke with a start as
she heard a noise outside the tent. She lifted the foot of the canvas and saw a
figure walking stealthily towards the road. She picked up her sword and raced
out of the tent, and was just about to call out when someone grabbed her from
behind and covered her mouth.
Very frightened, she struck
backwards with her sword, but her assailant was very agile, grabbed her wrist
and forced the sword away, whispering: "Don't make a sound, Mistress Zhou.
It's me, Xu."
Zhou Qi no longer tried to
make use of the sword, but she struck him solidly on the chest with her fist.
Half in pain and half in pretence, Xu grunted and toppled over backwards.
"What did you do that for?"
she hissed. "Someone's trying to escape, did you see?"
"Don't make any
noise," he whispered back. "Let's watch him."
They crawled slowly forward
and watched as Qian lifted up the cushions in the carriage. There were two
sharp cracks as if he was prying planks apart, then he emerged with a box which
he stuffed into his gown. He was about to mount his horse when Xu slapped Zhou
Qi's back and shouted: "Stop him!" Zhou Qi leapt up and charged
forward.
Qian already had one foot in
the stirrup when he heard the shout but did not have enough time to mount
properly. He gave the horse a savage kick on the rump, and the animal, startled
by the pain, galloped off. Qian started to laugh triumphantly, but then
suddenly tumbled off the horse onto the ground.
Zhou Qi ran up to him, placed
a foot on his back and pointed the tip of her sword at his neck.
"See what that box in his
gown is," said Xu as he ran up. Zhou Qi pulled out the box, opened it up
and saw inside a thick pile of sheep skins bound in the form of a book. She
flipped through it under the moonlight, but it was composed completely of
strange characters that she did not recognize.
"It's more of your Red
Flower Society's scribblings. I wouldn't understand it," she said, and
threw it casually at Xu.
Xu caught it and looked at it.
"Mistress Zhou," he exclaimed. "This is a great achievement on
your part. I think it's the Muslims' Sacred Book. Let's go and find the Great
Helmsman quickly."
"Really?" she asked.
She saw Chen coming up to meet them. "Brother Chen, you've come out as
well. What do you think this thing is?"
Xu passed the wooden box over,
and Chen looked inside. "It is almost certainly their Sacred Book,"
he said. "It's fortunate that you managed to stop that fellow, Mistress
Zhou."
Zhou Qi was very pleased to
hear them praising her. After a moment, she asked Xu: "Did I hurt you when
I hit you just now?"
"You are very
strong," he replied with a smile.
"It was your own
fault," she said, and turned to Lead Escort Qian. "Get up, we're
going back," she added.
She took her foot off Qian's
back, but he did not move. "What are you playing dead for? I didn't hurt
you," she scolded him. She kicked him lightly once, but Qian still didn't
budge.
Chen pinched him beneath his
armpit and shouted: "Stand up!", and Qian slowly clambered upright.
Zhou Qi stood thinking for a second, and then realised what had happened. She
searched around on the ground and found a white chess piece.
"Your Encirclement Chess
piece!" she said, handing it back to Chen. "You cheated me. Huh! I
knew you weren't good men."
"How did we cheat
you?" asked Chen with a smile. "It was you that heard this fellow and
chased after him."
Zhou Qi saw the perfect logic
of this and was delighted. "Well, all three of us share the merit."
she said.
The three, escorting Qian and
carrying the Sacred Book, walked over to Muzhuolun's tent. As soon as the four
night-guards passed on their message, Muzhuolun came out, hastily throwing on
his gown, and invited them inside.
Chen told him what had
happened and handed over the Sacred Book, Muzhuolun was overjoyed, and in a
moment, all the Muslims crowded into the tent and bowed respectfully before Xu,
Chen and Zhou Qi.
"Master Chen,"
Muzhuolun said. "You have recovered my tribe's Sacred Book. To express our
thanks is not enough. If there is ever anything you want us to do, simply let
us know, and even if it means crossing a thousand mountains and ten thousand
rivers, will still hurry to your assistance. There is no task we would refuse.
"Tomorrow I will go home
with the Sacred Book and will leave my son and daughter here under your
direction, Master Chen. Please allow them to return after Master Wen has been
rescued."
Chen hesitated for a second before
replying. "It would be best if your son and daughter went home with you.
We are very moved by your goodwill, your Lordship, but we really have no right
to bother them in such a way."
Muzhuolun was surprised by
Chen's refusal, and tried several times to convince him to change his mind, but
Chen was adament.
"Father!" Huo
Qingting called, and shook her head slightly.
The rest of the Red Flower
Society heroes entered the tent and congratulated Muzhuolun. The tent was now
full to bursting, and the mass of the Muslims retired outside.
Xu saw Lord Zhou enter.
"In the recovery of the Muslims' Sacred Book, it was your daughter who
earned the greatest merit," he said.
Zhou looked at his daughter
approvingly. Suddenly Xu pressed his hand to his chest and cried out in pain.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"What's the matter?"
Lord Zhou asked, and Zhou Qi looked on, panic-striken. Xu hesitated, then
smiled and said: "It's nothing."
"Right," Zhou Qi
thought. "I'll find a way to get back at you sooner or later."
Early next morning, the
Muslims and the heroes bade farewell to each other. Zhou Qi took Huo Qingtong's
hand. "This young lady is both a nice person and a powerful kung fu
fighter," she said to Chen. "Why won't you let her help us save Master
Wen?" Chen was speechless for a second.
"Master Chen doesn't want
us to risk our lives, and we appreciate his good intentions," Huo Qingtong
said. "I have been away from home a long time and miss my mother and
sister very much. I would like to get back soon. Goodbye Sister Zhou, we will
see each other again."
She waved, pulled round her
horse's head and galloped off.
"Look at her," Zhou
Qi said to Chen. "She's even crying because you won't let her come with
us. You're despicable."
Chen silently watched Huo Qingting
as she galloped away. Suddenly, she reined in her horse and turned round. She
saw Chen still standing there and bit her lip, then beckoned to him. Chen felt
a moment of confusion but immediately went over to her. She jumped off her
horse and they stood facing each other for a second, unable to speak.
Huo Qingtong steadied herself.
"You saved my life, and we are indebted to you for recovering our tribe's
Sacred Book. No matter how you treat me, I will never blame you," she
said.
She undid the dagger tied to
her waist. "This dagger was given to me by my father. It is said that a
great secret is hidden in it, but it has been passed down from hand to hand
over the centuries, and no-one has ever been able to discover what it is. I
would like you to keep it. Perhaps you will be able to unravel the
mystery."
She presented the dagger with
both hands, and Chen stretched out both hands to receive it.
"I would not normally
dare to accept such a precious object." he said. "But since it is a
present from you, it would be disrespectful of me to refuse."
Huo Qingtong saw the desolate
look on his face, and found it unbearable. "I understand in my heart why
you do not want me to go with you to rescue Master Wen. You saw yesterday how
that youngster acted towards me and despise me as a result. The youngster is
Master Lu Feiqing's pupil. Go and ask Master Lu, then you can judge whether or
not I am a girl with any self-respect."
She leapt onto her horse and
galloped away in a cloud of dust.