Preface
PARTONE
PARTTWO
PARTTHREE
PARTFOUR
PARTFIVE
PARTSIX
PARTSEVEN
PARTEIGHT
PARTNINE
Preface 返回目录
Written by Louis Cha, translated by Graham Earnshaw
You can find, download and read my translation of the Louis Cha Chinese kung fu
novel The Book and the Sword by clicking on the icon above. Here's some
background:
Louis Cha is the biggest-selling author by far in the world of Chinese novels.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote a series of kung-fu epics which transcend
anything attempted before in Chinese literature, and they are still monster
sellers. They find favour with all levels of society from the university
professors who savour his command of the Chinese language, to kids who just
love the fight scenes.
They have since been re-published in a number of Asian languages, including
Japanese and Vietnamese, and published, in many pirated and official Chinese
versions, in Taiwan and on the Chinese mainland. They have all been filmed
several times for television and on the cinema, and many of the characters Cha
created have become a part of life for Chinese people, in much the way that
Dickens' Oliver Twist was a part of the lives of Victorian readers.
The Book and Sword was the first novel Cha wrote. The story has a panoramic
sweep which takes as its base a few unbeatable themes - secret societies, king
fu masters, the sensational rumour so dear to Chinese hearts that the great
Manchu emperor Qian Long was in fact a Chinese and not Manchu. It mixes in the
exotic flavours of central Asia, a lost city in the desert guarded by wolf
packs and the Fragrant Princess. This lady is an embellishment of an historical
figure, although whether she actually smelled of flowers, we will never know.
I hope you enjoy the translation. I was as faithful to the spirit of the
original as I could be, but took the view that it was necessary to simplify
some elements of the story and the writing in order to make it more acceptable
to an English-reading audience. Mr Cha agreed with my approach. As a result,
there are some differences between the original and my translation, but they
are differences only of omission. In other words, I have added nothing.
PARTONE 返回目录
The Book and The Sword
Copyright Graham Earnshaw 1995
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PART ONE
** 1 **
It was a hot summer's day in June, l754, the eighteenth year of the
reign of Emperor Qian Long. In the inner courtyard of the military
commander's Yamen in Fufeng in Shaanxi province, a fourteen-year-old
girl skipped towards her teacher's study, eager for a history lesson.
All was peaceful: not even a thread of cool wind stirred. The girl
hesitated, afraid that her teacher had not yet woken from his afternoon
nap. Quietly, she circled round to the window, pierced a hole in its
paper covering with one of her golden hair clips, and peeped inside.
She saw her teacher sitting cross-legged on a chair, smiling. His right
hand waved slightly in the air, and there was a faint clicking sound.
Glancing over to where the sound came from, she noticed several dozen
flies on a wooden partition opposite, all as still as could be.
Puzzled, she looked more closely and noticed a golden needle as slender
as a hair protruding from the back of each fly. The needles were so
small that she was only able to see them because they reflected the
rays of the late afternoon sun slanting in through the windows.
Flies were still buzzing to and fro around the room. The teacher waved
his hand again, there was a small noise, and another fly was pinned to
the partition. Absolutely fascinated, she ran to the door and burst in,
shouting: "Teacher! Show me how to do that."
The girl was Li Yuanzhi, the only child of the local military
commander, Li Keshou. Her fresh, beautiful face was flushed with
excitement.
"Hmm," said her teacher, a scholar in his mid-fifties named Lu. "Why
aren't you playing with your friends? You want to hear some more
stories, do you?"
Moving a chair over to the partition, she jumped up to look, then
pulled the needles out of the flies one by one, wiped them clean on a
piece of paper and handed them back to him. "That was a brilliant piece
of kung fu, teacher," she said. "You have to show me how to do it."
Lu smiled. "If you want to learn kung fu, there's no-one better at it
within a hundred miles of here than your own father," he said.
"My father knows how to shoot an eagle with an arrow, but he can't kill
a fly with a needle. If you don't believe me, I'll go and ask him."
Lu thought for a moment, and then nodded. "All right, come tomorrow
morning and I'll teach you. Now go off and play. And you're not allowed
to tell anyone about me killing the flies. If anyone finds out, I won't
teach you."
Yuanzhi was overjoyed. She knelt before him and kowtowed eight times.
Lu accepted the gesture with a smile. "You pick things up very quickly.
It is fitting that I should teach you this kind of kung fu. However
..." He stopped, deep in thought.
"Teacher," said Yuanzhi hurriedly. "I will do anything you say."
"To be honest, I don't agree with much of what your father does," he
said. "When you're older, I hope you will be able to distinguish
between right and wrong, good and evil. If you accept me as your
teacher, you must also accept the strict rules of the Wudang Martial
Arts Order to which I belong. Do you think you can?"
"I would not dare defy your orders," she said.
"If you ever use the skills I teach you to do evil, I will take your
life as easily as turning my hand over."
His face and voice became stern and hard, and for a moment Yuanzhi was
frightened. But then she smiled. "I'll be good," she said. "Anyway, how
could you bear to kill me?"
** 2 **
The Wudang kung fu sect to which Lu belonged, one of the most famous,
stressed the use of Internal Force Kung Fu. In his prime, Lu had roamed
China fighting for justice, and had become a famous member of the
Dragon Slayer's Society, a secret anti-Manchu organisation whose power
and influence had been widespread during the reign of Yong Zheng, the
former Emperor. But the society had been rigorously suppressed, and by
the seventh or eighth year of Emperor Qian Long's reign, it had
disintegrated. Lu fled to the border areas of China. The Manchu court
dispatched men to look for him, but he was quick-witted and a good
fighter and managed to avoid capture. Working on the principle that
'small crooks hide in the wilderness, middling crooks in the city and
big crooks in officialdom', Lu eventually made his way to Commander
Li's household and set himself up as a teacher.
From that day, Lu began teaching Yuanzhi the basic techniques of the
Wudang school's kung fu style, known as Limitless Occult Kung Fu. He
taught her control of her emotions and thoughts, the ten Tapestries and
the thirty-two Long-arm Blows. He trained her to use her eyes and ears,
and showed her the use of hand darts and other hidden projectiles.
More than two years passed. Yuanzhi, hard-working and clever, made fast
progress. Her father, Commander Li, was transferred toGansu province as
military commander at Anxi, one of the major towns in the northwest
border regions, bordering on the great desert of central Asia. His
family, including Lu, went with him.
Another two years passed as Lu taught Yuanzhi the Soft Cloud sword
technique and the secret of the Golden Needles. She did as her teacher
had ordered, and did not tell a soul that she was learning kung fu.
Every day she practised by herself in the rear flower garden. When the
young mistress was practising her kung fu, the maids did not understand
what they saw, and the menservants did not dare to watch too closely.
Commander Li was a capable man, and he advanced steadily through the
ranks of officialdom. In 1759, the twenty-third year of the Emperor
Qian Long's reign, he distinguished himself in the battle of Ili, in
which the largest of the tribes in the Muslim areas was defeated, and
received an Imperial decree promoting him to the post of
Commander-in-Chief of Zhejiang Province in the southeast.
Yuanzhi had been born and raised in the border areas of the northwest,
and the prospect of travelling to new and beautiful lands filled her
with excitement. She pressed her teacher to come as well, and Lu, who
had been away from the central areas for a long time, agreed with
pleasure.
Li Keshou went ahead with a small escort to take up his post and left
his chief-of-staff and 20 soldiers in charge of his family who were to
follow him. The officer's name was Deng, a vigorous and energetic man
in his forties who sported a small moustache.
The entourage consisted of more than a dozen mules and a few horses.
Madame Li sat in a mule-drawn carriage, but Yuanzhi couldn't bear to be
cooped up and insisted on riding. Since itwould have been improper for
the daughter of a high official to be seen riding in public, she
changed into boy's clothes which made her look so extraordinarily
handsome that she refused to change back into her normal attire no
matter what anyone said. All Madame Li could do was sigh and let her
daughter do as she pleased.
It was a deep autumn day. Lu rode far behind the group looking at the
passing scenery as the colours of late afternoon merged into evening.
But there was little to see around the ancient road except yellow sand,
withered grasses and the occasional crow flying homewards. A breeze
sprang up from the west and Lu began to recite:
"His body and name scarred by a hundred battles
The general approaches a bridge across a river
And turns to look back 10,000 miles
At the dead men left behind.
Cold are the waters of the River Yi
And the whistling west wind,
Full of cloaks and crowns like snow.
The hero's song of lament has not yet ended....."
"The poet Xin Jiaxuan could have been writing of my own feelings," he
thought. "He was much like me when he wrote it, watching China fall to
the barbarian tribes, with no way of knowing when the old days would
return. No wonder he sang such a sad song."
The entourage crossed the summit of a hill. Looking at the darkening
sky, the mulemen said that another three miles would bring them to Twin
Pagodas, a large town, where they planned to spend the night.
Just then, Lu heard the sound of galloping hooves and saw far in front
two magnificent chestnut horses racing towards them through a cloud of
dust. The two riders flashed by, one on either side of the line of
mules, and were gone. Lu slapped his horseand caught up with Yuanzhi.
"Did you get a good look at those two?" he asked in a low voice.
"Were they bandits?" she replied excitedly. She would have liked
nothing better than for them to be outlaws bent on robbery, giving her
a chance to display the skills she had worked so hard to attain over
the past five years.
"It's hard to say," said Lu. "But judging by their ability in the
martial arts, they wouldn't be ordinary highwaymen."
"Are they kung fu masters?"
"From the way they ride their horses, I'd say it's unlikely they are
novices."
As the entourage neared the town, two more horsemen galloped past.
"Mm, this is very strange," mused Lu. The country was desolate and the
evening mist was thickening. He wondered why anyone would set out on a
journey at this time of day.
Not long after, the muletrain entered the town. Officer Deng led them
to a large inn and Yuanzhi and her mother were shown to one of the best
rooms. Lu was given a smaller room, and after he had eaten dinner, a
servant lit the lantern. All was quiet, and he was about to go to sleep
when a dog barked. From far away he heard the faint sound of galloping
horses approaching and he thought again about the four riders they had
passed on the road.
The clip-clop of horses' hooves came closer and stopped right in front
of the inn. There was a knock on the front door and Lu heard a servant
open it and say: "You've been riding hard. There's food and drink
prepared for you."
"Go and feed the horses quickly," said a rough voice. "We must start
out again as soon as we've finished eating."
Lu considered the situation. Groups of men hurrying northwest, and
judging by the way they rode, all of them experts in the martial arts.
In all his years in the border areas, he had never seen the like of it.
He slipped quietly out of his room, crossed the courtyard and went
round to the back of the inn.
"All right, you say the Young Helmsman is very young," he heard the
rough-voiced man say. "Do you think he will be able to control all the
brothers?"
Lu followed the voice and stationed himself underneath the window.
"He'll have to," he heard the other say. "It was the old master's wish
whether the Young Helmsman likes it or not."
The man had a deep, sonorous voice, and Lu could tell his Internal
Strength was profound. Not daring to make a hole in the window paper to
peep through, he continued to listen from where he was, breathing as
lightly as he could.
"Of course," the rough-throated one replied. "But we don't know if the
Young Helmsman will be willing to do it."
"You don't have to worry about that," said the other. "He'll follow the
old master's wishes."
He said the word 'follow' with a peculiar southern Chinese accent, and
Lu's heart jumped. "Where have I heard that voice before?" he thought.
He sifted through his mind, and finally remembered that it belonged to
his old friend Zhao Banshan, whom he had known 20 years before in the
Dragon Slayers' Society. Zhao was about 10 years younger than he, but
the two had often trained together, and had a great respect for each
other. Lu had heard no news of him since the Dragon Slayers' Society
had broken up and he was delighted at chancing upon an old friend in
such an unlikely place. As he was about to call out to Zhao, the light
in the room was suddenly doused and a dart shot out of the window.
But it was not aimed at Lu. A figure shifted in the shadows nearby and
caught the dart, then stood up, about to challenge the dart thrower. Lu
leapt over and whispered fiercely: "Don't make a sound! Come with me."
It was Yuanzhi.
No one chased them. Lu pulled Yuanzhi into his room, and under the
light saw an expression of such eagerness on her face that he was both
angry and amused.
"Yuanzhi, do you know what sort of men they are? What were you doing
trying to pick a fight with them?" he asked sternly.
"What were they doing shooting a dart at me?" she replied defiantly.
"If they aren't outlaws, then they are secret society men," he said.
"One of them I know, and his kung fu would not be weaker than mine.
Travelling through the night as they are, they must be on very urgent
business. That dart was not meant to injure you, it was just telling
you not to be nosy. If he had really wanted to hit you, I doubt if you
would have been able to catch it. Now go and sleep."
They heard a door open and the sound of horses' hooves as the two men
galloped away.
The next morning, the muletrain started out again, and travelled ten
miles in just over two hours.
"Look, teacher," said Yuanzhi. "There's someone coming."
Two chestnut horses galloped towards them, and because of theprevious
night's incident, they paid particular attention to the riders. The
horses, fine and spirited, were identical. Even stranger, the two
riders were also identical. Both were aged about 40, tall and thin with
faces as yellow as wax, sunken eyes and long slanting eyebrows: the
effect was frightening.
As they passed by, the two men glanced at Yuanzhi with their strange
eyes. She reined in her horse and stared back belligerently, but they
took no notice and raced on westwards.
"Where did that pair of ghosts come from, I wonder," she said.
Lu glanced back at the receding figures. "Aha, it must be them," he
cried.
"You recognise them?" she asked excitedly.
"They must be the Twin Knights of Sichuan. Their surname is Chang, but
everyone calls them Black Death and White Death."
Yuanzhi laughed. "They've got good nicknames. They look like a couple
of skeletons."
"Little girls shouldn't make jokes about other people," said Lu. "They
may be ugly but they are skilled fighters. I've never met them, but
from what I've heard, they travel the country fighting evil and doing
justice. They are widely known as outlaws, but they steal only from the
rich and help the poor. They have made a great name for themselves."
"But if they are identical, why are they called Black and White?"
"From what I've been told, the only difference between them is that one
has a black mole in the corner of his eye, and the other doesn't.
There's probably no one better at Black Sand Palm Kung Fu than those
two."
"What are they doing in the border areas?" Yuanzhi asked.
"I have no idea," Lu replied. "I've never heard of them operating out
here before."
As he spoke, they heard more horses coming towards them. This time, the
riders were a Taoist priest and a hunchback dressed in
brightly-coloured clothes. The priest had a longsword slung across his
back. His face was pale and sickly and he had only one arm: his left
sleeve was tucked under his belt.
Seeing the hunchback's ugly face and his garish attire, Yuanzhi
laughed. "Teacher," she shouted before Lu could stop her, "Look at the
hunchback!"
The hunchback glared at her angrily and as he passed, stretched out his
hand to grab hold of her. The priest seemed to have guessed what he
would do, and stopped the hunchback's hand with a flick of his horse
whip. "Tenth Brother," he growled, "Don't make trouble."
Lu and Yuanzhi looked back and saw the two horses breaking into a
gallop. Suddenly, the hunchback did a reverse somersault off the back
of his horse, and with three steps covered the distance to Yuanzhi.
Yuanzhi's sword was in her hand, but the hunchback did not attack her.
He grabbed the tail of her horse, and the animal, which was galloping
along, reared back on its hind legs with a loud scream. The hunchback's
strength was frightening: the horse had not pulled him forward an inch.
He chopped at the horse's tautly-stretched tail with his right hand,
and snapped off the end as if with a knife. The horse lunged forward,
and Yuanzhi was almost thrown. The hunchback turned and ran off
swiftly. In a second, he caught up with his horse, still galloping
westwards, leapt onto its back and soon disappeared from view.
"Teacher!" Yuanzhi called out in a plaintive voice. Lu frowned and was
about to berate her. But seeing her eyes glistening with tears, he
stopped himself.
Later, they heard a shout from behind: "Weiyang...Weiyang."
Yuanzhi was mystified. "What's that?" she asked.
"It's the call of a bodyguard agency shouter," he said. "The agencies
hire out bodyguards or escort goods and people, especially on long
journeys. Every bodyguard agency has a different call, and they use it
to let both outlaws and friends know who they are. The bodyguard agency
business is based seven parts on goodwill and three parts on fighting
ability. If the head of an agency is generous and creates a lot of
goodwill, he will gain many friends, and his business will prosper.
Outlaws will hear the call and let them pass without attacking. 'Being
friends is better than being enemies,' as the saying goes. Now, if you
were to try the bodyguard agency business...ha! With allthe people you
have annoyed in less than half a day, you would have trouble travelling
an inch, even if you were ten times the fighter you are now."
"Which bodyguard agency's call is that?" she asked, ignoring his
teasing.
"The Zhen Yuan Agency from Beijing, probably the biggest in north
China. The head of the agency is 'North China Earth Shaker' Wang
Weiyang. He must be seventy by now, but they're still calling
'Weiyang', so he hasn't retired yet. Ah, perhaps he ought to. The Zhen
Yuan Agency has been making big profits for 40 years now. That should
be enough for anyone."
"Have you ever met him?" Yuanzhi asked.
"I've met him. He uses an Eight Diagram sword and the Eight Diagram
boxing technique. In the old days, there was no one in north China who
could beat him."
Yuanzhi was elated. "They're travelling very fast. When they catch up
to us, you can point the old hero out to me."
"Now why would he come out himself?" Lu said. "You really are a silly
girl!"
Yuanzhi sulked. She was always being told off by her teacher. It wasn't
fair. She spurred her horse forward and caught up with the carriage,
planning to talk to her mother for a while to relieve the frustration.
Glancing round, she saw the stub of her horse's tail and shuddered.
There was nothing unusual about breaking a spear with one blow, but a
horse's tail was pliable. How had the hunchback managed to snap it? She
reined in her horse, meaning to wait for Lu to catch up so she could
ask him, but changed her mind and galloped up the line to Officer Deng
instead.
"Officer Deng," she said, pouting. "My horse's tail looks very ugly."
"I don't know what to do with this horse of mine," Deng replied,
guessing her meaning. "He's in a bad mood today and won't do anything I
say. You are a good horsewoman, mistress. Perhaps you could help me
break him in."
"I probably won't be able to handle him either," she said modestly. The
two exchanged horses. Deng's horse was of course very docile.
"Very good, mistress," he complimented her. "Even horses do your
bidding."
The bodyguard agency's call came closer and closer, and before long, a
muletrain consisting of a score or more heavily laden animals began to
pass.
Lu was afraid one of the agency men would recognise him, so he covered
the top part of his face with a large fur cap. As the lead escorts
trotted past, he heard one of them remark: "According to Brother Han,
Brother Jiao Wenqi's body has been found."
Lu's heart missed a beat as he heard the name. Jiao was one of the Six
Devils of Guandong and a formidable fighter. Five years before while on
an errand to the Muslim regions, Jiao had discovered Lu was hiding in
Commander Li's household and had come at the dead of night with two
other fighters with the aim of capturing Lu and taking him back to
Beijing to claim the reward on his head. After a hard fight, Lu had
killed all three and hidden their corpses on a deserted hillside.
Lu looked round at the escort who had spoken, but had time to see only
that he had a full beard and a face as black as thunder. Once he had
passed, Lu saw he was carrying on his back a red knapsack and a pair of
Five Element Wheels, steel rings covered in knives.
"Could it be that the Guandong Devils have become bodyguard agency
escorts?" he wondered. Of the six Devils, Lu had only ever seen Jiao,
but he knew that the rest were excellent fighters, and that two of
them, the Yan brothers, used Five Element Wheels.
Lu thought about the number of top fighters they had met in the past
two days and wondered if it had anything to do with himself. From the
look of things, the Zhen Yuan Agency men were actually on an escort
assignment, so they posed no threat. As to the fighters travelling
westwards in pairs, they did not seem to be looking for him. But where
were they going and why?
Having exchanged mounts with Officer Deng, Yuanzhi reined in her horse
to wait for Lu to pass.
"Teacher," she smiled. "How come no more riders have passed us? I want
to see a few more of these heroes."
Her words jogged Lu's mind and he slapped his thigh. "Ah, you old
fool," he rebuked himself. "Why didn't you think of the 'Greeting The
Dragon's Head Ceremony'?"
"What's that?" she asked.
"It is the most solemn of the ceremonies held by the secret societies
to honour an important personage. Usually, the six most senior men in
the society are chosen to go to greet the guest, but for really
important meetings, 12 are chosen and they go in pairs. Five pairs have
passed us now, so there must be still be one pair in front of us."
"Which secret society do they belong to?" Yuanzhi asked.
"That I don't know. But if the Twin Knights of Sichuan and that
hunchback are members, the society's power and influence must be
tremendous. Whatever you do, don't provoke anyone else, do you hear?"
Yuanzhi nodded, and waited expectantly to see who else would pass them
by.
** 3 **
Midday came and went, but there was no sign of anyone on the road in
front. Lu was surprised and wondered if he could have guessed wrongly.
Finally, instead of riders approaching from in front, they gradually
became aware of the sound of camel bells from behind, and saw a dust
cloud rising as a large desert caravan hurried towards them.
The caravan consisted of dozens of camels with 20 or 30 horses squeezed
in between them, all ridden by Muslims with high noses and sunken eyes.
They had thick beards on their faces and white cloths tied around their
heads. Scimitars hung from their waists. Muslim traders were a common
sight on the road to the central areas and Lu did not consider it
unusual. Amidst the group, he noticed a graceful young girl, dazzlingly
beautiful, dressed in yellow robes and riding a black horse.
Lu was impressed, but did no more than glance at her. Yuanzhi, however,
stared in open-mouthed wonder. Growing up in the northwest border
areas, she had seen few well-groomed girls, let alone girls as
beautiful as this one. She was about the same age as Yuanzhi, 18 or 19,
with a dagger at her waist and long braids hanging down over her
shoulders. She wore a full-length yellow gown, leather boots and a
small hat embroidered with gold silk, on the side of which was fastened
a turquoise feather. She was an enchanting sight.
As the girl trotted by, Yuanzhi spurred on her horse and followed,
gazing fixedly at her. The girl was annoyed at being stared at
disrespectfully by a Chinese boy, and she whirled her whip above her
head and wrapped it round the mane of Yuanzhi's horse. Giving it a
sharp tug, she pulled out a large clump of hair, and the horse reared
in pain, almost throwing Yuanzhi to the ground. The Muslim girl cracked
the whip in the air and horse hair flew in all directions.
In a fit of pique, Yuanzhi pulled out a steel dart and threw it at the
girl's back. But, not wishing to harm her, she also called out: "Watch
out for the dart!" The girl leant to one side, and the dart shot past
her right shoulder. She waited until it was about ten feet beyond her,
then flicked her whip, caught the dart by its tip and smoothly sent it
flying back towards Yuanzhi, calling out: "Hey, little boy! Here's your
dart!" Yuanzhi caught it neatly.
The Muslims in the caravan applauded loudly at the superb skill with
which the yellow-robed girl handled her whip. A tall, thick-set man
with a heavy black beard went over and said a few words to her, to
which she replied: "Oh, father!" But she took no further notice of
Yuanzhi. The dozens of camels and horses moved on and gradually
disappeared.
"That girl was impressive, wasn't she?" said Lu.
"These Muslims ride day and night. They ought to be good with their
whips. But it doesn't mean she knows any real kung fu," Yuanzhi
replied.
Lu laughed. "Really?" he asked.
Towards evening they arrived in the town of Bulongji. There was only
one large inn in the town, outside of which was planted the flag of the
Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency. With two large groups to look after, the
inn's servants were very busy.
Lu had a wash, and then strolled into the courtyard of the inn with a
cup of tea in his hand. In the dining hall, he saw two tables full of
agency men drinking and talking loudly. The lead escort with the Five
Element Wheels had put the weapons down but kept the red knapsack on
his back.
Taking a sip of tea, Lu gazed up at the sky.
One of the lead escorts laughed. "Brother Yan, once you've delivered
this toy to Beijing, General Zhao will reward you with at least a
thousand, won't he? You can go and have a good time with that
girlfriend of yours, Xibao."
So it really is one of the Yan brothers, Lu thought, and paid even
closer attention to what was said.
"A reward?" said Yan. "Ha! Well, everyone will get something."
"Your Xibao has probably gone off with some other man willing to make
an honest woman of her," added an effeminate voice. Lu looked over out
of the corner of his eye, and saw a man with a sly face and a slight
figure, also dressed as a lead escort.
Yan grunted, obviously not pleased.
"You bastard, Tong," added the first lead escort. "You never have
anything good to say."
Tong laughed. "All right," he said. "But Brother Yan, fun is fun and
serious is serious. Don't think about Xibao too much or you might find
someone has stolen that red knapsack off your back. It's not important
if lose your head or not, but the agency's reputation has to be
maintained."
"Don't worry," Yan replied angrily. "If those Muslims try stealing it
back, I'll soon put an end to their nonsense. I am one of the Six
Guandong Devils and I got where I am with real kung fu, not like some
of the weaklings in the bodyguard agencies these days who can do
nothing but eat and fart!"
Lu looked at the red knapsack on Yan's back: it wasn't big, and from
the look of it, whatever was inside was very light.
"It's true that the Six Devils of Guandong are famous," Tong said.
"It's a pity that Brother Jiao was done in. We don't even know who the
murderer was."
Yan banged the table. "Who says we don't know? It has to be the Red
Flower Society!"
That's strange, Lu thought, I killed Jiao. What is this Red Flower
Society? He walked slowly around the courtyard inspecting the flowers,
moving closer to the group of lead escorts.
Tong would not let the matter drop. "It's a pity," he said. "If I
wasn't such a weakling, I would have settled things with the Red Flower
Society long ago."
Yan shook with anger. One of the other lead escorts broke in to
mediate: "Anyway, the Red Flower Society's leader died last month," he
said. "They've lost their man in command, so who is there to settle
with? And another thing, where is the proof that Jiao was murdered by
the Red Flower Society? When you find them and they deny the charge,
what are you going to do?"
"Yes," said Tong changing his tack. "We daren't provoke them, but
surely we've got enough guts to bully a few Muslims. This little toy
we've snatched is as precious to them as life itself. In the future, if
General Zhao ever wants money from them, or cattle and sheep, do you
think they'd dare to refuse? I tell you Yan, stop thinking about that
little Xibao of yours. When we get back to Beijing, you should ask
General Zhao to give you a little Muslim girl to be your mistress. Then
you can really..."
Before he could finish, a piece of mud brick flew out of nowhere and
lodged itself in his mouth. Two of the other lead escorts snatched up
their weapons and rushed outside while Yan picked up his Five Element
Wheels and looked warily around. His younger brother came running in,
and both stood together, not daring to move for fear of falling into
some trap. Tong spat out the piece of mud and began swearing.
The two other lead escorts, Tai and Qian, rushed in through the door.
"The little bastard's gone," one of them said. "There's no sign of
him."
Lu had observed the whole incident and laughed inwardly at the helpless
expression on Tong's face. Then he saw a shadow darting across the
rafters in a corner of the dining hall, and went slowly outside. It was
already growing dark, but he spotted a figure leap off the corner of
the roof, land noiselessly, and speed off eastwards.
Lu wanted to know who had treated Tong to a mouthful of mud and, making
use of Lightness Kung Fu * (* a type of kung fu that makes extra-fast
running and super-human leaps possible.), he followed, the teacup still
in his hand. The pace was fast, but the person he was following was not
aware of his presence.
Lu's quarry had a slim figure and moved daintily, almost like a girl.
They crossed a hill and an ink-black forest loomed ahead. The person
ahead slipped into the trees with Lu close behind. Underneath, the
ground was covered with dead leaves and twigs which crackled as he
stepped on them. Afraid of giving himself away, he slowed down. Just
then, the moon broke through the clouds and a shaft of clear light
shone down through the branches, covering the earth with jumbled
ghostly shadows. In the distance he saw the flash of a yellow gown, and
his quarry moved out of the forest.
He followed to the edge of the trees. Beyond was a large expanse of
grass on which were pitched eight or nine tents. His curiosity got the
better of him, and he decided to go and have a look. He waited until
two guards had turned away, then jumped across with a 'Swallow Gliding
Over Water' leap and landed among the tents. Crouching low, he ran to
the back of the largest tent, pitched in the centre. Inside, he could
hear people talking agitatedly in the Muslim language. He had lived in
the border areas for many years, and understood some of what was said.
Carefully, he lifted up the corner of the canvas and looked inside.
The tent was lit by two oil lamps under which a large number of people
were seated on carpets. He recognised them as the Muslim caravan that
had passed them that day. The yellow-robed girl stood up and drew a
dagger from her waist. She cut the index finger of her left hand with
the tip of the blade and let several drops of blood fall into a cup of
horse's milk wine. Then one-by-one, every Muslim in the tent did
likewise. The tall Muslim that the girl had called father raised the
wine cup and made a short speech of which Lu could only understand
something about 'The Koran' and 'Our Homeland'. The yellow-robed girl
spoke after him, her voice crisp and clear, and concluded by saying:
"If the sacred Koran is not recovered, I swear never to return to our
homeland." The Muslims lustily repeated the oath. In the dim light, Lu
could see determination and anger on every face.
The group belonged to one of the richest and most powerful of the
nomadic Muslim tribes of the Tianshan Mountains, numbering nearly
200,000 people. The tall man was Muzhuolun, the leader of the tribe; a
strong fighter, fair and just, he was greatly loved by his people. The
yellow-robed girl was his daughter, Huo Qingtong.
The tribe lived by nomadic herding and contentedly travelled the great
desert. But as the power of the Manchu court extended into the Muslim
areas, its demands for taxes increased. At first, Muzhuolun went out of
his way to comply, and worked hard to meet the demands. But the Manchu
officials were insatiable and made life impossible for the tribe. On
several occasions, Muzhuolun sent missions to the Manchu court to
appeal for a reduction of taxes. But far from achieving a reduction,
the missions only served to arouse the Court's suspicions. General Zhao
Wei was given an Imperial order to supervise military affairs in the
Muslim areas and he discovered that the tribe owned an ancient
hand-written Koran, originally brought from the sacred city of Mecca,
which they had treasured for generations. The General decided to get
the Koran to use to blackmail the Muslims into submission and he
dispatched a number of top fighters who stole it while Muzhuolun was
out on a long journey. The Muslims had organised a group to recover the
Sacred Book.
Lu decided that the Muslims' plotting had nothing to do with him, and
he carefully stood up to return to the inn. At that instant, Huo
Qingtong noticed him.
"There's someone outside," she whispered to her father and shot out of
the tent in time to see a shadow running fast for the trees. With a
wave of her hand, she sent a steel dart speeding after him.
Lu heard the projectile coming and leant slightly to one side. As it
passed, he stretched out the index finger of his right hand and,
carefully calculating the speed and direction of the dart, tapped it
gently as it passed so that it fell into the teacup he was holding.
Then without looking back, he made use of his Lightness Kung Fu and
almost flew back to the inn, where he went straight to his room. He
took the dart out of the cup and saw it was made of pure steel with a
feather attached to it. He threw it into his bag.
** 4 **
The bodyguard agency group started out first early the next day, the
shouter shouting the agency's call. Lu noticed that most of the lead
escorts were stationed around Yan. It seemed the red knapsack on his
back was the real treasure being escorted.
Once the agency men had left, Officer Deng led his own column out onto
the road. At noon, they rested briefly at a place called Yellow Crag
after which the road sloped steadily upward into the mountains. They
planned to cross three ranges that day before stopping in Sandaogou.
The mountain road became increasingly precarious and Yuanzhi and
Officer Deng kept close by Madame Li's mule-drawn carriage, afraid that
if an animal lost its footing, it could send the carriage crashing into
the gorge below. Around mid-afternoon, they arrived at the mouth of
Black Gold Gorge and saw the agency men seated on the ground resting.
Officer Deng directed his men to follow suit. Black Gold Gorge was
flanked by high peaks with an extremely steep mountain track leading up
between them. Stopping on the track was difficult, so the top of the
gorge had to be reached at one stretch. Lu hung back at the rear and
turned his back, not wishing to exchange glances with the agency men.
Once rested, they entered the gorge, the bodyguard agency men and the
soldiers under Officer Deng's command forming a long snaking column.
Men and animals alike panted up the mountain. The shouts of the mulemen
melded into a continuous drone. Suddenly, Lu saw a figure darting
across the crest of a peak, and heard the jangling of camel bells from
in front as a group of Muslims mounted on camels and horses charged
down towards them from the top of the gorge. Their hooves sounded like
thunder, and the agency men began shouting, calling on them to slow
down.
In an instant, the Muslim group was upon them and four camels quickly
encircled Lead Escort Yan who was carrying the red knapsack. Each of
the four Muslim riders raised a large iron hammer with both hands and
smashed it down viciously on his head. The mountain road was narrow,
leaving little room for manoeuvring, and the camel-men had the
advantage of height. Even if he had been a better fighter, Yan would
have been unable to avoid the four hammers, each weighing more than 100
pounds. Both he and his horse were beaten to a bloody pulp.
The yellow-robed Muslim girl, Huo Qingtong, jumped down from her horse
and with a flash of her sword cut one of the straps holding the red
knapsack to the corpse that had been Yan. But before she had time for a
second stroke, she felt a gust of wind at her back as a blade sliced
towards her. She dodged to one side and cut the other strap. Her
assailant aimed a cutting stroke at her waist to stop her from picking
up the knapsack. Unable to avoid the stroke, she raised her sword to
block it, and the two blades clashed in a shower of sparks. Looking up,
she saw it was the handsome young boy who had stared at her so
disrespectfully the day before. In a sudden fit of anger, she lashed
out with three attacking sword strokes, and the two began a fierce
duel.
Her assailant was Yuanzhi, still dressed in boy's clothes. Without
stopping to consider the rights and wrongs of the situation, she had
decided to get her own back for the damage done to her horse's mane.
Huo Qingtong could see her chance of recovering the Koran slipping away
and wanted to finish the fight quickly. She changed to the 'Three Part'
sword style, and in a few strokes had forced Yuanzhi into retreat. The
'Three Part' sword style was the highest achievement of the Tianshan
school of kung fu. It was called 'Three Part' because only a third of
each stroke was completed. As the opponent moved to counter each one,
the stoke changed. Intricate and vicious, the style included no
defensive strokes: attacking and killing was all.
The two went through a dozen or more moves without their blades ever
touching, Huo Qingtong completing only a third of each stroke, and then
changing it without waiting for her opponent to defend. She cut and
thrust at the air around Yuanzhi's body, and the Chinese girl, knowing
she could not match her opponent's speed, leapt away. Huo Qingtong did
not pursue her but turned back to the knapsack, and found it was
already in the hands of a small, thin man standing beside Yan's body.
She lunged at him with her sword.
"Oh dear," the man cried. "Uncle Tong had better get back in place!"
Lead Escort Tong jumped clear with three quick steps and Huo Qingtong
followed hard on his heels. She raised her sword to cut him down, but
the stroke was blocked by a Five Element Wheel thrust forward by the
surviving Yan brother.
Huo Qingtong fought briefly with Yan, and recognised him as a strong
and capable adversary. Then she heard a loud whistle coming from the
hilltops, the signal for retreat, and knew that help for the agency men
was on the way. She saw Tong scampering away with the knapsack and
quickly changed to the Three Part sword style, forcing Yan to retreat,
and then raced after him. The whistles became louder.
"Daughter! Retreat quickly!" Muzhuolun shouted. She abandoned the chase
and directed her comrades as they lifted the Muslim dead and wounded
onto camels and horses. Then the Muslim column charged on down the
mountain path. But a little way further on, they found several dozen
Manchu soldiers blocking their path.
Officer Deng rode forward, his spear held crosswise. "You insolent
Muslims!" he shouted. "What is this insurrection?" Two of Huo
Qingtong's steel darts hit his hands and the spear clattered to the
ground. Muzhuolun raised his sabre high and charged forward with some
other Muslim warriors, and the Manchu troops scattered. Boulders
crashed down from the mountain tops, pulverising more than a dozen
Manchu troops, and in the midst of the melee, the Muslims made good
their escape.
Throughout the battle, Lu had remained on the sidelines, his hands
folded inside his sleeves. Yuanzhi had been of great assistance to the
agency men even though she had been beaten by Huo Qingtong, and the
Muslims had been unable to get what they wanted. As the agency men
tended the wounded and carried off the dead, Lu gave her a severe
lecture, criticising her for interfering in the affairs of others, and
needlessly making even more enemies.
"There are very few good men amongst the bodyguard agencies, and many
bad ones. Why bother helping people to do evil?" he scolded her. She
hung her head, not daring to look up.
They crossed through the pass and arrived in Sandaogou, a medium-sized
market town, as dusk was falling. The mulemen said there was only one
inn, called the Antong, and both the agency men and Officer Deng's
column headed for it. The inn was crude and simple in the extreme with
earthern walls and mud floors. Seeing no servants coming out to greet
them, Tong shouted: "Is everyone dead in there? I damn eighteen
generations of your ancestors!" Yuanzhi frowned. No-one had ever dared
to use such language within her hearing before.
Just then, they heard the sound of clashing swords from inside. Yuanzhi
was delighted. "Here's some more fun to watch!" she cried and ran into
the inn ahead of the others.
The entrance hall was empty and silent, but passing through to the
courtyard, she saw a young woman fighting fiercely with four men. In
her left hand was a sword, and in her right, a knife. She was obviously
battling for her life. It seemed to Yuanzhi that the four man were
trying to force their way into the room outside which the woman was
standing. The four were all strong fighters: one wielded a whip, one a
staff, one a sword and one a Devil's Head Knife.
Lu also entered the courtyard. "How is it that we are continually
running into these secret society people?" he thought.
The woman dodged and parried, holding all four men at bay until
suddenly the one wielding the Devil's Head Knife swung his weapon
towards her as another of the attackers thrust his sword at her heart.
She fended off the sword with the knife in her right hand, but she
could not dodge the Devil's Head Knife and it struck her on the left
shoulder. But she did not give up, and as she continued to fight, drops
of blood flew in all directions.
"Don't kill her! We need her alive," shouted the man with the whip.
Lu's chivalrous heart was moved at the sight of four man attacking one
woman, and despite his own sensitive situation he could see he might
have to take a hand himself. He watched as the swordsman attacked with
a slicing blow from the left. The woman parried it obliquely, but she
was already wounded and out of breath. The two blades clashed, and the
knife was jolted from her hand and clattered to the ground. The
swordsman then thrust his blade at her again, and she frantically
dodged to the right, opening a way through which the man with the
Devil's Head Knife charged towards the door.
Ignoring all dangers, the woman plunged her left hand into her gown and
drew out two throwing knives which she slung at her enemy's back. One
of the knives embedded itself in the door post but the other plunged
into his back. Luckily for him, the woman's hand lacked strength due to
the wound in her left shoulder and the knife did not kill him. He
staggered back, screaming with pain, and pulled the knife out.
Meanwhile, the woman was struck on her thigh by the staff. She swayed
unsteadily, but defiantly resumed her position blocking the doorway.
"Go and help her," Lu said quietly to Yuanzhi. "If you can't beat them,
I'll come over as well."
Yuanzhi was bursting to test herself. She leapt forward, her sword at
the ready, shouting: "Four men fighting one woman! You should be
ashamed of yourselves!" Seeing someone coming to the aid of the woman,
and one of their number already wounded, the four men turned and ran
from the inn.
The woman's face was deathly pale and she leaned against the door,
breathing heavily. Yuanzhi went over to her.
"Why were they bullying you like that?" she asked, but the woman was
temporarily incapable of speech.
Officer Deng walked over to Yuanzhi. "Madame Li would like to see you
mistress," he said, and added in a whisper: "She's heard that you were
involved in a fight on the road and is very upset. You'd better go
quickly."
The woman's expression changed as soon as she saw Officer Deng's
military uniform; she pulled her throwing knife out of the doorpost,
went back into her room and banged the door shut without answering
Yuanzhi.
Rather unhappy at having been snubbed, Yuanzhi walked over to Lu.
"Teacher, what were they fighting about?" she asked.
"It was probably a revenge attack," he said. "But it isn't over yet.
Those four will be back."
Yuanzhi was about to ask another question when she heard someone inside
the inn shouting and swearing.
"Damn your ancestors, what do you mean there are no good rooms? Are you
afraid we don't have the money to pay?" It was the voice of Lead Escort
Tong.
"Please don't be angry sir," an employee of the inn answered. "We in
the inn-keeping business would not dare to offend such eminent persons
as yourselves. But it is a fact that all of our few good rooms are
occupied."
"Who have you got in them? I think I'll go and have a look," Tong said
walking out into the courtyard.
Just then a door opened, and the young woman leaned out. "Please bring
some hot water," she said to a servant.
Tong saw the woman's smooth white skin and the beauty of her face and
eyes, and noticed on her left wrist, a bracelet of pearls, all
perfectly formed. His mouth watered. The woman spoke with a southern
Chinese accent and the exotic touch to her voice excited him greatly.
"I, Lead Escort Tong have passed along this road on business dozens of
times, and I have never stayed in anything but the best rooms," he
shouted. "If there are no good rooms vacant, why don't you make one
vacant for me?" The door to the woman's room was still open and he
walked straight inside.
"Ai-ya!" the woman exclaimed. She moved to obstruct him, but felt a
stab of pain in her thigh and sat down.
As Tong entered the room, he saw there was a man lying on the kang. The
room was dimly-lit but he could see that the man's head was wrapped in
bandages, his right arm was in a sling and that one of his legs was
also bandaged.
"Who is it?" the man asked in a deep, resonant voice.
"My name is Tong and I'm a lead escort with the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard
Agency," he replied. "We are passing through Sandaogou on business, but
there are no rooms available here. I was wondering if you could move.
Who is this woman? Is she your wife, or your girlfriend?"
"Get out," the man ordered. His wounds were clearly serious; he was
unable to talk loudly.
"One's a girl and the other's too badly wounded to even move," thought
Tong, who had not seen the woman fight. "When am I going to get such a
chance again?"
"If you don't want to give up your room, that's all right too," he said
with a grin on his face. "All three of us can snuggle up together on
this kang. Don't worry, I won't push over onto your side."
The man on the kang shook with anger.
"Don't get involved with these ruffians," the woman urged him quietly.
"We can't afford to make any more enemies at the moment." And then to
Tong: "You stop your nonsense and get out."
Tong laughed. "Can't I stay here and keep you company?"
"Come over here," the man on the kang said hoarsely.
Tong took a step towards him. "Why? Do you want to see how handsome I
am?"
"I can't see clearly," the man replied.
Tong laughed out loud and took another step towards him. "Take a closer
look. This is like a big brother choosing a husband for his sister...."
Before he could finish, the man on the kang sat up, and as fast as a
lightning flash, touched a yuedao point* (*Yuedao points are nerve
centres on the body which, when struck, can cause paralysis or even
death. The same points are used for a different purpose in acupuncture)
on Tong's ribs and followed with a blow to his back. Tong flew straight
out of the door, and landed heavily in the courtyard. The agency
shouter, Xun, rushed over to help him up.
"Brother Tong," he whispered. "Don't provoke them. It looks like
they're members of the Red Flower Society."
"Ahh, ahhh, I can't move my leg," Tong cried. "The Red Flower Society?"
he added suddenly. "How do you know?" He broke into a cold sweat of
fear.
"One of the porters told me four Yamen officers were here a while ago
to arrest those two, and there was quite a fight before they left," Xun
said.
Lead Escort Yan came over. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Brother Yan," Tong shouted. "One of those bastards from the Red Flower
Society used Yuedao kung fu on me!"
Yan frowned and pulled Tong up by his arm. "We'll go back to the room
and talk about it," he said. His first thought was for the agency's
reputation. It created a bad impression when an agency's lead escort
was floored and couldn't even get up. Lead Escort Qian came over. "Are
you sure it was the Red Flower Society?" he asked Xun.
"When those four officers left, they told the porter that the couple in
there were fugitives," he whispered. "They told the porter to inform
them if they left. I overhead them talking."
Qian glanced at Yan and pulled Tong up.
"Who are they?" Yan asked quietly.
"Red Flower Society. I think we ought to let it pass," Qian said. "When
Tong is better we can reconsider. Did you see what happened when those
men tried to arrest them just now?" he asked Xun.
"It was some fight," said Xun, gesticulating wildly. "There was a woman
with a sword in her left hand and a dagger in her right hand. Four men
couldn't beat her."
"She must be one of 'Divine Knife' Luo's people," replied Qian,
surprised. "She used throwing knives, I suppose?"
"Yes, yes, she's really accurate. It was incredible!" Xun exclaimed.
Qian turned to Yan. "Master Wen of the Red Flower Society is here," he
said. They carried Tong back to their room in silence.
Lu had observed the whole incident, but the lead escorts had talked in
such low tones, that he only managed to catch Qian's last two
utterances. Yuanzhi walked over and asked: "Teacher, when are you going
to teach me Yuedao kung fu? Did you see how fantastic that move was?"
Lu took no notice of her, but said to himself: "If it is one of 'Divine
Knife' Luo's people, I can't just stand by and do nothing."
"Who is 'Divine Knife' Luo?" Yuanzhi asked.
"He was a good friend of mine. I hear he's passed away now. All the
moves used by the woman we saw fighting a minute ago were of his
school."
Just then, the two lead escorts Qian and Tai helped Tong over to the
woman's room. Xun coughed loudly outside the door and announced in a
low voice:
"Lead Escorts Qian, Tai and Tong of the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency have
come to pay their respects to Master Wen of the Red Flower Society."
The door creaked open and the woman stood in the doorway staring at
them. "What do you want?" she asked.
"We did not know that you and Master Wen were here," Qian said. "We
have insulted you and we have come to apologise. Please be forgiving
and don't be offended by what happened." He bowed low and Tai and Xun
followed suit.
"Mistress," Qian continued. "We have never met before, but I have heard
a great deal about you and your husband. Master Wang, the head of our
agency, was always on very good terms with the leader of your
honourable society, Master Yu, and also with your father 'Divine Knife'
Luo. Our brother here is very bad-tempered, and is always talking
nonsense..."
The woman cut him off. "Our master has been wounded, and he just went
to sleep. When he wakes, I will pass on your message. We are ignorant
of etiquette, but his wounds are not light, and he hasn't slept well
for two days." There was an expression of apprehension on her face.
"What sort of wounds does Master Wen have?" Qian asked. "We have some
Golden Wound ointment with us." He wanted to put them in their debt so
that they would be obliged to help cure Tong.
"Thank you, but we have medicine," the woman replied, understanding his
meaning. "Your colleague was not touched on a major Yuedao point. When
our master wakes, I will send one of the inn's servants round."
Seeing that she had agreed to cure Tong, Qian and the others started to
retire.
"By the way," said the woman. "How did you know our names?"
"With your swords and throwing knives, who wouldn't be able to guess?"
Qian replied. "What's more, who apart from Master Wen uses Yuedao kung
fu like that? It had to be 'Rolling Thunder Hand' Wen Tailai and his
wife Luo Bing."
The woman smiled, flattered at having been recognised.
** 5 **
Yuanzhi sat for a long time with her hands on her cheeks, annoyed that
Lu would not teach her Yuedao kung fu. After dinner, she went to see
her mother, who nagged her for causing trouble on the road, and told
her she was not to wear boy's clothing any more.
"Mother, you're always talking about how you have no son," she replied
with a smile. "Aren't you happy now that you have one?"
Madame Li gave up and went to bed. Yuanzhi also got ready for sleep,
and was just about to take off her clothes when she heard a light
tapping on the window sill and someone saying: "Come out, little boy! I
want to ask you something."
Yuanzhi picked up her sword and ran out to the courtyard where she
spotted a figure standing in the shadows.
"Follow me if you dare!" the figure said and jumped over the courtyard
wall. Like a young calf unafraid of a tiger, Yuanzhi followed without a
thought for what might be waiting for her on the other side. As her
feet touched the ground, she found a sword thrusting towards her.
Yuanzhi raised her own sword and parried the stroke, shouting: "Who is
it?" The yellow-robed figure retreated two steps, and said: "I am the
Muslim girl Huo Qingtong. What were you doing helping the agency men to
mess up our plans? Why don't you mind your own business?"
"I'll do whatever I want to," Yuanzhi replied. "I happen to like
meddling in other people's business. Let me give you another lesson in
swordsmanship..." Her sword flashed out, and Huo Qingtong raised her
own sword to parry it.
Yuanzhi knew that she couldn't beat the girl on equal terms, so she
retreated steadily as she fought, heading towards Lu's room.
"Teacher, teacher!" she called out suddenly. "Someone is trying to kill
me!"
A sneering laugh exploded from Huo Qingtong. "Ha! You useless object!
You're not even worth killing!"
She began to walk away, but Yuanzhi attacked, forcing her to face her
once more. Yuanzhi heard someone behind her and knew that her teacher
had emerged; seeing Huo Qingtong's sword bearing down on her, she
jumped behind Lu's back.
Lu fended off her strokes with his sword and Huo Qingtong soon realised
that his sword technique, while the same as Yuanzhi's, was far
superior. She became anxious and attacked fiercely, waiting for an
opportunity to retreat. But his strokes followed each other without
pause, sticking to her closely.
Yuanzhi put her sword in its scabbard and joined the fray using
Boundless Occult Hand kung fu. Huo Qingtong couldn't even beat Lu
alone, so how could she manage against both of them? Yuanzhi displayed
great cunning: a touch on one side, a hook with her leg on the other.
She was not aiming to hurt the Muslim girl, but was intentionally
having fun at her expense to pay her back for the tuft of her horse's
mane ripped out the day before.
Lu, for his part, had been impressed earlier that day by the Muslim
girl's swordsmanship and simply wanted to test her. His sword thrust at
her and she raised her own blade to ward it off. Meanwhile, Yuanzhi
moved in towards her back, shouting: "Watch out for my fist!" and
struck out at her left shoulder with a 'Ferocious Rooster Snatching
Grain' blow. Huo Qingting's left hand twisted round and diverted the
blow by grasping for Yuanzhi's arm. With both the Muslim girl's arms
now occupied, Yuanzhi seized the opportunity, and the flat of her hand
struck at Huo Qingtong's chest. If the blow had been in earnest, it
would have caused serious injury, but there was no strength behind it.
She ran her hand heavily over the girl's chest and then jumped back
laughing. Huo Qingtong was consumed with fury, and ignoring Lu's sword,
swung round and attacked Yuanzhi using the Tianshan School's 'Mirage'
style. Lu could not stand by. He raised his sword and accepted the
brunt of the attack, while Yuanzhi stepped back.
"All right," she laughed. "Don't be angry. You marry me and we'll
forget about it."
Huo Qingtong had been deeply insulted, but she knew she could not
overcome Lu, so with no other way for her to avenge herself, she threw
her sword at Yuanzhi with all her strength aiming to take the girl to
the grave with her.
Lu started in fright and threw his own sword at Huo Qingting's. The two
swords collided in mid-air with a clang and fell to earth together. He
then pushed Huo Qingtong back five or six steps with a light touch on
her left shoulder. "Please don't take offence, miss," he said. "There's
something I want to say."
"Well?" she replied angrily. "What are you waiting for?"
Lu looked over at Yuanzhi. "Don't you think you ought to apologise to
the lady?"
Yuanzhi walked over and bowed low, a wide grin on her face. Huo
Qingtong replied with a fist.
"Oh, no! Don't hit me!" Yuanzhi laughed. She dodged away, and pulled
off her cap, revealing her head of beautiful hair.
"Now look," she smiled. "Am I a boy or a girl?"
Seeing Yuanzhi's real face under the moonlight, Huo Qingtong was struck
dumb. Her anger and shame evaporated, leaving only irritation.
"This is my pupil," said Lu. "She is always disobedient and I am unable
to control her. I am sorry for what happened just now. Please don't be
offended."
He brought his hands together in salute and bowed. Huo Qingtong turned
slightly away, refusing to accept the apology.
"What is your relationship with the Twin Eagles of Tianshan?" he asked
her. Huo Qingtong's eyebrows shot up and her lips quivered, but she
maintained her silence. "I have always been on good terms with the Twin
Eagles, Bald Vulture and his wife Madame Guan," Lu continued, "so we
should not be enemies."
"Madame Guan is my teacher," Huo Qingtong said. "I will go and tell her
that you bullied me and told your pupil to attack me, and even joined
in yourself."
She gave them both a look of intense hatred, then turned to go.
Lu waited until she had gone a few steps, and then said: "And when you
go and tell your teacher, who are you going to say bullied you?"
Huo Qingtong stopped and turned. "Well, who are you?" she demanded.
Lu stroked his beard and laughed. "You've both got the tempers of
children," he said. "All right, all right. This is my pupil, Li
Yuanzhi, and you can tell your teacher and her husband that I am
'Hidden Needle' Lu. Please convey my congratulations to them on having
such a good pupil."
"A good pupil you say! I have lost face for both my teacher and her
husband by allowing myself to be bullied in such a fashion."
"Miss, don't think that you have lost face by being beaten by me," Lu
replied seriously. "There are few in the fighting community who could
last for several dozen moves with me as you did. I suspected you knew
the Twin Eagles when I saw you fighting earlier today, but your use of
the 'Mirage' sword style just now decided it. Do they still argue all
the time?" He laughed.
Huo Qingtong saw that Lu knew all about her teacher, but she was still
reluctant to relent.
"If you are my teacher's friend, why did you tell your pupil to
interfere, stopping us from taking back our Sacred Book? I don't
believe you are a good man."
"Being beaten in a sword duel is not worth worrying about," Lu said.
"But failing to recover your Sacred Book is a different matter. If your
people are bullied and insulted, you must be prepared to risk even your
own life to get satisfaction."
Huo Qingtong knew he was telling the truth, and bowed before him.
"Please tell me how the Sacred Book can be recovered," she said. "If
you are willing to help, I and the rest of my tribe will be eternally
grateful."
"It was stupid of me to interfere," said Yuanzhi. "My teacher has
already given me a long lecture. Please don't worry, I will help you
get your Sacred Book back. It's in that red knapsack, isn't it?" Huo
Qingtong nodded. "Well, let's go," Yuanzhi added.
"We will discuss the situation first," said Lu. The three talked in low
tones for a while then, with Lu keeping a look-out, the two girls
crossed over the wall into the inn.
They ran crouching over to the room occupied by the lead escorts, and
squatted under the window in the shadow of the wall. Inside, they heard
Lead Escort Tong crying and groaning for a while and then stop.
"You are talented, Master Zhang," one of the lead escorts said, "being
able to cure Brother Tong so quickly."
"If we had known you were coming, we wouldn't have had to apologise to
that Red Flower Society bastard," said another.
"I want you all to watch that pair," a powerful voice replied.
"Tomorrow, when Wu and the others arrive we'll make our move."
"Once we've got him, I'm going to kick that bastard in the head a few
times, very hard," said Tong.
Yuanzhi slowly extended herself and found a tear in the window paper
through which to look. She saw five or six people seated around the
room. In the middle was an awe-inspiring man whom she decided must be
the one they called Master Zhang. His eyes flashed like lightning and
his temples were high and protruding, indicating profound Internal
Strength.
"Tong, give me the knapsack," Lead Escort Yan said. "Those Muslims
won't give up so easily. I'm afraid we will have more trouble on the
road."
Tong began to untie the knapsack hesitantly, as if unwilling to hand it
over.
"Now don't worry," Yan said. "Once we've got this knapsack to Beijing
safe and sound, we'll all reap the benefits."
Yuanzhi thought swiftly. Yan was a powerful fighter, and once he had
possession of the knapsack it would be difficult to recover. She
whispered a few words into Huo Qingtong's ear, took off her hat and
pulled her long hair over her face. Then she picked two bricks up lying
nearby and hurled them through the window. As they crashed into the
room, the lamp was suddenly doused. The door opened and several men
rushed out.
"Who is it?" one yelled.
Huo Qingtong whistled at them, then leapt over the wall, and the lead
escorts and Zhang chased after her. As soon as they had gone, Yuanzhi
burst into the room.
Tong was lying on the kang when he saw the Thing come through the door,
an unghostly ghost, and inhuman human, with its hair dishevelled and
wild. The Thing hopped towards him squealing loudly, and his body went
limp with fright. It seized the red knapsack from his hands and ran
from the room.
The lead escorts chased after Huo Qingtong for a while, but Zhang
suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Damn," he said. "This is just a
diversion to lure us away. Get back quickly!"
They returned to the inn to find Tong lying on the kang in a state of
shock. It was a while before he managed to tell them how the ghost had
stolen the knapsack.
"What ghost?" Zhang said angrily. "We've been tricked."
Yuanzhi hid beside the wall, holding the knapsack tightly, and waited
until all the lead escorts had re-entered the room before jumping back
out of the courtyard. She whistled softly and Lu and Huo Qingtong
appeared from the shadow of the trees.
Yuanzhi was feeling particularly smug. "I've got the knapsack," she
laughed, "so you can't..."
Before she could finish, Lu shouted: "Watch out behind!"
As she turned, someone slapped her on the shoulder. She quickly tried
to grab the hand but failed and her heart jumped in fright as she
realised how formidable her assailant was: he had followed her without
her being at all aware of it. She quickly looked around and in the
moonlight saw a tall, powerful man standing beside her. She stepped
backwards in fright, and threw the knapsack at Huo Qingtong.
"Catch!" she yelled, and brought her hands together to face the enemy.
He was extraordinarily fast. As the knapsack left her hand, he leapt
after it and caught it in mid-air just as Huo Qingtong attacked him.
With his left hand holding the knapsack, the man swung his arms out
using the Long-Arm style. There was great power behind the blow, and
both girls were forced back several paces. Yuanzhi now recognised him
as Master Zhang. The Long-Arm style was one of the basic techniques of
the Wudang School's kung fu, and Yuanzhi gasped involuntarily at the
sight of Zhang using it. She glanced around, but Lu was nowhere to be
seen.
Yuanzhi advanced a step and attacked using the same Long-Arm technique
and as their fists clashed, she felt a prickly numbness run through her
arm followed by an unbearable ache. She stumbled, then jumped off to
the left.
"Tell me, child!" Zhang said. "Is your teacher surnamed Ma or Lu?"
"He's surnamed Ma," she said to deceive him. "How did you know?"
"Well that makes me your martial uncle. Don't you think you ought to
kowtow before me?" He laughed.
As soon as Huo Qingtong heard mention of a connection between them, she
abandoned Yuanzhi. She could see that the Koran could not be recovered,
and ran quickly away.
Yuanzhi chased after her a short way, but suddenly, a cloud bank
covered the moon plunging her into pitch darkness. She started in
fright as several thunder claps rolled across the sky and turned back
to find that Zhang had disappeared too. By the time she leapt back over
the wall into the inn, large droplets of rain were falling, and as she
entered her room the downpour came.
** 6 **
The heavy rain lasted all night. Next morning, having washed and combed
her hair, Yuanzhi looked out of the window and saw it was still
pouring. Her mother's maidservant came in.
"Officer Deng says the rain is too heavy and we can't leave today," she
announced.
Icy gusts blew in through a tear in Yuanzhi's window. She felt bored,
particularly as the inn was in such a desolate area. She walked over to
the room occupied by Master Wen of the Red Flower Society hoping to
catch a glimpse of him, but the door was firmly shut and no sound came
from within. The Zhen Yuan Agency had not left that morning either, and
several of the lead escorts were lounging about in the dining hall,
chatting. Master Zhang was not among them. A gust of wind blew from the
west and Yuanzhi began to feel rather cold. She was about to return to
her room when she heard the sound of bells outside the front gate and a
horse galloped in from the rain.
A young scholar dismounted and ran inside. As one servant led his horse
off to be fed, another asked the scholar if he would be staying at the
inn.
"I'll have to get back on the road again soon," he replied, taking off
his raincape. The servant invited him to take a seat and poured him a
cup of tea.
The scholar was tall and slender with a handsome face. In the border
areas, such elegance was a rare sight, and Yuanzhi could not help but
stare at him. The scholar saw her too and smiled; she flushed and
quickly looked away.
There was the sound of horses outside the inn and four more men came
in. Yuanzhi recognised them as the ones who had attacked the young
woman the day before and she quickly retired to Lu's room to ask what
they should do.
"Let us go and have a look first," Lu said and the two peeped into the
dining hall through a hole in the window.
One of the four, a swordsman, summoned a servant, quietly questioned
him for a moment, then said to his companions: "Those Red Flower
Society bastards haven't left yet. We'll deal with them when we've
eaten."
The scholar's expression changed slightly and he began to observe the
four men out of the corner of his eye.
"Shall I help the woman again?" Yuanzhi asked.
"Don't do anything until I tell you," Lu said. He paid no further
attention to the four officers, but focussed his gaze on the scholar.
Once he had finished eating, the scholar moved his bench into the
corridor leading to the courtyard. He pulled a flute from the bundle on
his back and began to play a pleasant, lilting melody. Strange to say,
the flute looked as if it was cast from pure gold. The road they were
on was unsafe, and a golden flute openly displayed by a lone scholar
was bound to attract thieves.
When the four men had finished eating, the swordsman jumped onto the
table and announced in a loud voice:
"We are Yamen officers and we have come to arrest fugitives of the Red
Flower Society. Peaceful citizens need not be afraid."
He jumped down from and led the others towards the courtyard. The
scholar, still blocking the corridor and playing the flute, ignored
them. The swordsman approached him. "Don't stand in the way of Yamen
officers," he growled.
The scholar leisurely put down his flute. "The fugitives you gentlemen
wish to arrest: what law have they broken?" he asked. "Confucius said,
'Do not do unto others what you would not wish on yourself'. Do you
really have to arrest them?"
The officer with the staff stepped forward. "You stop your chatter," he
shouted. "Get out of the way!"
"Please calm yourself, honourable sir," the scholar replied. "There's
no need to get agitated. Let me be host. We'll all have a drink and
become friends, what do you say?"
The officer stretched out his hand to push him away, and the scholar
swayed to one side. "Ai-ya," he exclaimed. "A gentleman uses words, not
force."
He fell forward as if over-balancing and put out the golden flute to
steady himself, finding support on a Yuedao spot on the left thigh of
the officer, who involuntarily knelt down as his leg went limp.
"Ai-ya!" the scholar exclaimed again. "There's no need for such
courtesy." He bowed before the officer.
Those watching could tell the scholar was highly skilled in the martial
arts and Yuanzhi, who had originally been anxious on his behalf, was
overjoyed to see him using Yuedao kung fu.
"This bastard might be with the Red Flower Society as well!" cried one
of the officers fearfully. The officer with the paralysed leg collapsed
on the floor and the others pulled him to one side.
"Are you a member of the Red Flower Society?" the swordsman asked, a
slight touch of fear in his voice.
The scholar laughed. "I do indeed. My name is Yu Yutong. I play but a
small role in the society, ranking only 14th in seniority." He waved
the flute at them. "Don't you recognise me?"
"Ah, you're 'Scholar' Yu!"
"You are too kind," said the scholar. "That is indeed who I am. You
sir, with the flashing sword, face of cunning and rat-like eyes. You
must be the famous officer from Beijing, Wu Guodong. I'd heard you had
retired. Why are you doing getting involved in this kind of game?"
Swordsman Wu's blade flicked out, steely yet smooth and Yu countered
with his golden flute, fighting the three officers simultaneously,
working through a complex series of moves which soon had them
completely flustered. After a moment, Yuanzhi turned to Lu in surprise.
"That's the Soft Cloud sword style," she said.
Lu nodded. The Soft Cloud sword technique is a secret style known only
to our school, he thought. If this scholar is a member of the Red
Flower Society, then he must be a pupil of Elder Brother Ma.
The school to which Lu belonged consisted of three pupils, among whom
Lu was placed second. The most senior was Ma Zhen and the youngest
Zhang Zhaozhong, the Master Zhang with whom Yuanzhi had tangled the
night before. Zhang was highly talented and very diligent, but he had
thrown in his lot with the Manchu court, and, rising swiftly in
seniority, had already attained the rank of Major in the Imperial
Bodyguard. Lu had long ago severed relations with him.
His guess that Yu was a pupil of Elder Brother Ma Zhen was correct. Yu
came from a respected family in southern China, and had already passed
the first Imperial Civil Service examination when his father became
involved in a dispute over a burial plot with a wealthy family. The
ensuing law suit forced him into bankruptcy, and he was imprisoned on a
trumped-up charge and died in jail. Yu left home in anger and met Ma
Zhen, whom he accepted as his teacher, abandoning his studies in favour
of the martial arts. He returned and killed the rich landlord and then
became an outlaw, and later a member of the Red Flower Society. He was
alert and intelligent, and could speak many different dialects. On this
occasion, he was travelling on society business to the city of Luoyang
and had been unaware that his fellow society members, Wen Tailai and
his wife, were holed up in the inn.
Hearing the fight, the agency men all came in and stood to one side
watching. Lead Escort Tong noticed a catapult on the back of one of the
officers, and shouted: "If it was me, I'd leave two to take care of the
bastard while the third used the slingshot on him."
The officer with the catapult realised Tong was right and jumped onto a
table, readied his weapon and sent a shower of stones flying towards
Yu.
Yu dodged them one by one while parrying the other two officers. But
his opponents gained the upper hand, and after a few more moves, one of
the missiles struck Yu's cheek and the pain began to slow his
movements.
"You might as well give up," Tong called to Yu. "Pull down your
trousers and we'll give you a taste of the cane."
But Yu did not panic. With a sudden flourish, he drove his left hand at
a Yuedao point on Swordsman Wu's chest. Wu quickly retreated two steps
and Yu thrust the flute into the stomach of the other officer who
grunted loudly and buckled in agony. Yu moved to strike him again, but
Wu intercepted him.
Fighting back the pain in his stomach, the third officer moved
stealthily up behind Yu as he fought Wu and raised his Devil's Head
knife to smash it down on Yu's skull. But before he could do so, a
throwing knife plunged into his chest, killing him instantly, and the
Devil's Head Knife clattered to the floor.
Yu turned and saw a woman standing nearby, supporting herself on the
table with her left hand, thje slender fingers of her right hand
clasping another throwing knife as if it was the stem of a fresh
flower. She was indescribably lovely, and as soon as he saw her, Yu's
spirits rose.
"Kill the Eagle's Claw with the catapult first!", he shouted. Eagles
Claw was their slang for thugs employed by the Imperial Court.
The officer with the catapult turned round frantically, just in time to
see the flash of the blade as it flew towards him. In desperation, he
held up the catapult to try to stop it, but the knife still cut into
the back of his hand.
"Uncle Wu!" he screamed, "It's too dangerous. Let's get out of here!"
He jumped off the table and fled. Wu forced Yu back with two more
strokes from his sword, slung the officer with the paralysed leg over
his shoulder, and rushed for the door to the hall. Instead of chasing
them, Yu raised the flute to his mouth end-on instead of crosswise, and
puffed. A small arrow shot out of the end which buried itself in the
shoulder of the paralysed officer, who screamed with pain.
Yu turned to the woman. "Where's Brother Wen?" he asked.
"Come with me," she said. She was wounded in the thigh, and supported
herself with a long door bar.
Meanwhile, as the officers rushed out of the inn, they collided head-on
with a man coming in, and Wu reeled back several paces. When he saw it
was Master Zhang, his initial anger turned to delight.
"Master Zhang," he cried. "I am useless. One of our brothers has been
killed by the bastards and this one has been paralysed."
Zhang grunted and lifted the officer up with his left hand, then
squeezed his waist and slapped his thigh, freeing the blood flow. "Have
they escaped?" he asked.
"They're still in the inn."
Zhang grunted again. "They've got guts," he said, walking into the inn
courtyard. "Resisting arrest, killing an official, then brazenly
staying on here."
They led Zhang towards Wen's room, but just as they reached the door,
Yuanzhi slid out of a room nearby and waved a red knapsack at Zhang.
"Hey, I've stolen it again," she laughed and ran towards the inn's main
gate.
Zhang was startled. "These agency men are truly useless," he thought.
"As soon as I get it back for them, they lose it again."
He shot after her, determined to teach her a good lesson. It was still
raining, and before long, they were both soaking wet. Yuanzhi saw him
closing in and ran off along the side of a stream, Zhang following
silently. He increased his pace, closing the distance between them,
then stretched out his hand and caught hold of her jacket. Greatly
frightened, Yuanzhi pulled away with all her strength, and a piece of
cloth tore out of the back. Her heart pounding, she hurled the red
knapsack into the stream.
"It's yours," she shouted.
Zhang knew how vital General Zhao Wei considered the Koran to be and
immediately leapt into the stream while Yuanzhi laughed and ran off. As
he fished the knapsack out of the water, he saw it was already soaked.
Frantically, he opened it to see if the Koran was wet, and then let fly
with a stream of coarse language. There was no Koran in the knapsack,
only two registers from the main desk at the inn. He opened one and
read of money collected from rooms for meals, and of servants' wages.
He groaned at how he had allowed himself to be cheated and threw the
registers and the knapsack back into the stream. If he took them back
and someone asked about them, he would certainly lose face.
He returned quickly to the inn and quickly found Lead Escort Yan with
the red knapsack still safely fastened to his back.
"Where did Wu and the officers go?" he asked.
"They were here a moment ago," Yan replied.
"What damned use is there in the Emperor employing people like that?"
he demanded.
He walked up to Wen's door. "You Red Flower Society fugitives! Come out
immediately!" he shouted. No sound came from the room. He kicked at the
door and found it slightly ajar.
"They've escaped!" he yelled, and burst into the room only to find it
empty. He noticed a lump under the bed covers, and flung them off,
revealing two of Wu's officers lying face to face. He prodded his sword
lightly at the back of one of them but there was no movement. He turned
them over and saw they were both dead. Both their skulls had been
smashed in. It was obviously the work of a master of Internal Strength
kung fu, and his respect for Wen Tailai increased appreciably. But
where was Wu? And in which direction had Wen and his wife escaped? He
called for one of the servants and interrogated him without obtaining
even half a clue.
But Zhang had guessed wrong: the officers were not killed by Wen
Tailai.
** 7 **
Lu and Yuanzhi watched the whole fight through the window, and saw
Zhang enter as the officers were leaving.
"That's the man who took the knapsack from me last night," Yuanzhi
said.
"Go quickly and draw him away, the further the better," Lu whispered.
"If I'm not here when you return, start out tomorrow without me and I
will catch you up."
He watched Zhang chase Yuanzhi out of the inn gates then picked up a
writing brush and hurriedly wrote a letter which he placed inside his
gown. He ran to Wen's room and knocked lightly on the door.
"Who is it?" a woman's voice called.
"I am a good friend of 'Divine Knife' Luo," said Lu. "I have important
news for you."
There was no answer from inside. Wu and the other two officers appeared
and stood at a distance keeping watch, obviously suspicious of Lu. The
door suddenly opened and 'Scholar' Yu looked out.
"May I ask who you are, sir?" he asked.
"I am your martial uncle 'Hidden Needle' Lu."
A look of hesitation appeared on Yu's face. He had heard of Lu but had
never met him.
"I'll prove it to you," Lu whispered. "Stand aside."
Yu's suspicions deepened, and he planted his foot firmly on the
opposite door post, blocking the way with his leg. Lu's left hand shot
out, aiming to hit Yu's shoulder. Yu dodged, and Lu slipped his right
hand underneath Yu's armpit and pushed him to one side using the first
move in the Wudang school's Long Arm Fist style. "It really is 'Hidden
Needle' Lu!" Yu thought, both surprised and delighted. As Yu back, Luo
Bing raised her sword and dagger ready to attack, but Yu stopped her.
Lu waved his hands at them, indicating they should stand clear, then
ran back outside into the courtyard.
"Hey, they've gone!" he shouted to Officer Wu. "Come and see!"
Wu rushed into the room with the other two officers and Lu closed the
door behind them.
Wu saw Yu and the others in the room and shouted frantically: "It's a
trap!" But before the officers could turn, Lu's two fists smashed into
their heads, shattering their skulls and killing them instantly.
More quick-witted, Wu leapt onto the kang, and with both hands raised
to protect his head, threw himself at the window. Wen Tailai, who was
lying on the kang, sat up and struck out with his left fist, breaking
Wu's right shoulder with a sharp crack. Wu wavered, but steadied
himself against the wall with his left foot, then broke through the
window and escaped. Luo Bing launched a throwing knife after him which
lodged itself in his back. But he ignored the pain, and fled for his
life.
Yu and Luo Bing no longer harboured any suspicions about Lu, and they
both bowed before him.
"Uncle Lu, please forgive me for not being able to pay my respects to
you properly," Wen said from the kang.
"There's no need," said Lu. He looked at Luo Bing. "What is your
relationship with 'Divine Knife' Luo?" he asked.
"He was my father."
"He was a very good friend of mine," Lu said. He looked at Yu and
added: "You are a pupil of Ma Zhen's, I presume. How has Elder Brother
been recently?"
"He is well," said Yu. "He has often expressed concern about you. He
said he hadn't seen or heard anything of you for more than ten years."
"I miss him too," Lu said regretfully. "Did you know that another of
your martial uncles has been here looking for you?"
Yu looked up in fright. "Zhang Zhaozhong?"
Lu nodded. Wen Tailai shuddered slightly at the sound of Zhang's name,
and then gasped in pain. Luo Bing quickly went over and supported him
with her hand, her face full of love and pity.
Yu looked on, absorbed. "To have a wife like that would be better than
being a god, even if I was badly wounded," he murmured.
"Zhang has brought shame upon our school, but his kung fu is
excellent," Lu said. "And I would guess that reinforcements will not be
far behind him. With Brother Wen so badly wounded, I think all we can
do at the moment is to avoid them."
"We will do whatever you suggest," Luo Bing said. She looked down at
her husband, who nodded.
Lu pulled a letter from his gown and handed it to Luo Bing. On the
envelope was written the words: "Respectfully adressed to Lord Zhou
Zhongying, Iron Gall Manor."
"Do you know him?" asked Luo Bing, delighted.
Before Lu could answer, Wen said: "Who?"
"Lord Zhou Zhongying," replied Luo Bing.
"Is he here?"
"I have never met him, but we have been friends from afar for a long
time," Lu said. "I think Brother Wen should hide there while one of us
goes to your respected society to report what has happened." He saw a
hestitant look on Wen's face. "What do you think, Brother Wen?"
"Your arrangements would be perfect, but I cannot deceive you. I am
involved in a bloody feud with the Emperor Qian Long who won't be able
to eat or sleep in peace until he sees me die with his own eyes. I know
Lord Zhou would take us in, but I am afraid he would bring great
trouble upon himself by doing so."
"To members of the fighting community, there is nothing more important
than helping a friend in need," said Lu.
"But in my situation, the greater the friend, the less I am able to
involve him."
"Refusing to involve others in your problems is an upright and manly
thing to do. But I do think it's rather a pity."
"What is?" Wen asked quickly.
"If you refuse to go, we will have to stay here and fight. I don't want
to exaggerate the enemy's strength or denigrate our own, but who do we
have to match Zhang? I am nearly sixty years old, my life is of little
value. But my martial nephew here has a promising future and your wife
is full of youth. Just because you want to play the hero ... aah ... it
means we will all die here."
Wen began to sweat profusely.
"Husband!" Luo Bing exclaimed. She pulled out a handkerchief and wiped
the beads of sweat from his brow, then held his hand.
Wen's affection for his wife outweighed his sense of duty and he
relented. "You are right," he said. "I will do whatever you say." But
then he sighed. "Once we reach Iron Gall Manor, the Red Flower Society
will be beholden to yet another person."
The Red Flower Society always took care to repay its benefactors and to
exact revenge on its enemies -- hence the fearful reaction of the Zhen
Yuan agency men.
"What relationship is Zhao Banshan to you?" asked Lu.
"Brother Zhao? He is third master of our society."
"So that's it! Just what your Red Flower Society is involved in, I
don't know. But Zhao and I would willingly die for each other. In the
old days when we were both in the Dragon Slayers' Society, we were
closer than natural brothers. If he is a member of your society, then
your affairs are certain to be just. What does it matter what great
crimes you have committed? The biggest crimes are supposed to be the
assassination of officials and rebellion. Ha! Well, I just killed two
running dogs of officialdom!" He gave one of the corpses a kick.
"There's too much to explain," Wen said. "After this is over, if I
live, I will tell you everything. But briefly, the Emperor sent eight
Imperial Bodyguards to arrest my wife and myself. I was wounded in a
fight at Jinquan but we escaped and came here. They'll get me sooner or
later, but the Emperor has a secret I must expose before I die."
Lu asked where the Red Flower Society leaders were.
"The Red Flower Society has 12 masters of the Incense," said Yu. "Apart
from Brother Wen and Luo Bing, they are already gathered in Anxi. We
have asked the Young Helmsman to assume the leadership of the society,
but he is unwilling to do so. He says he is too young and inexperienced
and insists that Second Brother, the Taoist priest Wu Chen, should be
leader. At present, the matter is deadlocked. The meeting to choose a
new Helmsman will not start until Brother Wen and Luo Bing arrive."
Yu turned to Wen, his superior in the society's heirarchy. "Should I
first return to Anxi to report?" he asked.
Wen hesitated, uncertain of what to say.
"Let us do it this way," suggested Lu. "You three start out immediately
for Iron Gall Manor. Once you are settled there, Brother Yu can
continue on his business. Meanwhile, I will go to Anxi to report."
Wen pulled a red silk flower from his gown and handed it to Lu. "When
you arrive in Anxi, fasten this flower to your lapel and you will be
met by someone from our society," he said.
Luo Bing helped her husband up while Yu lifted the two corpses from the
floor onto the kang and covered them with the bedclothes. Then Lu
opened the door and strode calmly out, mounted a horse and galloped off
westwards.
After a short while, the others also emerged from the room, Yu leading
the way. Luo Bing supported herself with the door bar in one hand and
held up Wen with the other. The inn's staff shrank away as the three
approached, and Yu threw three taels of silver onto the front desk.
"There's money for the room and the food," he said. "We have left two
very valuable items in our room. If there is anything missing when we
get back, we will deal with you."
The manager nodded rapidly, almost too scared to breathe. Servants led
out their horses. Wen could not get either of his feet into the
stirrups, so he placed his left hand on the saddle and with one push
flew lightly onto the horse's back.
"Excellent kung fu, Master Wen," Yu praised him. Luo Bing gave a
dazzling smile and mounted her own horse, and they rode off.
In the town, Yu enquired about the way to Iron Gall Manor, and they
raced off southeast. Luo Bing was happy: she knew that once they got to
the manor, her husband would be safe. Lord Zhou commanded great respect
throughout the border regions.
The road was covered with loose stones and long grass which gave it a
rather desolate air. Suddenly, they heard the sound of galloping hooves
ahead and three horses raced towards them. The riders were all large,
strong men, but one was particularly tall and impressive with
silver-white whiskers and a smooth rosy face. In his left hand, he
jiggled two iron balls together. As they passed, the riders looked at
Wen in surprise, but they were galloping fast, and flashed past in an
instant.
"I'm afraid that was Lord Zhou," Yu said.
"I was thinking that too," replied Luo Bing.
"We'll find out when we get to the Manor," said Wen.
A few miles further on, as evening drew near, Iron Gall Manor appeared
before them. The wind was strong and the clouds low, but the rays of
the setting sun shone brightly through the twilight. They looked at the
lovely manor, set amidst an endless expanse of withered grasses and
yellow sand. Seeking sanctuary as they were, the mood of the three was
despondent, and the desolation of the area affected them all. They
spurred their horses forward and found the manor was surrounded by a
moat, the banks of which were covered with willow trees. The bare
branches whirled and danced in the strong west wind. Around the manor
were fortifications and a watchtower: it was an imposing sight.
One of the manor's attendants invited them in, seated them in the great
hall and brought them tea. Then a middle-aged man with the air of a
housekeeper came out to receive them. He said his name was Song, and
asked Wen and the others for their names.
"I have heard much about you," he said, startled to hear that they were
members of the Red Flower Society. "But I had thought that your
honourable society was based in southern China. I wonder if you could
tell me why you have come to visit our Lord? I am afraid he went out a
short while ago." Song carefully weighed up the visitors and wondered
what their intentions were.
Wen, meanwhile, was becoming angry at Song's coolness. "Since Lord Zhou
is not at home, we will excuse ourselves," he said. "We came at an
inopportune time." He stood up using a chair for support.
"There's no rush," Song replied. "Please stay and have a meal before
leaving." He turned and whispered a few words to an attendant.
Wen insisted they would go.
"Well, please wait a while first, otherwise our Lord may blame me for
neglecting honoured guests." As he spoke, the attendant re-appeared
carrying a tray on which were two large silver ingots. Song took the
tray.
"Master Wen," he said. "You have come a long way to visit our humble
manor and we have not had a chance to look after you properly. Please
accept this as a favour to me for your travelling expenses."
Wen, filled with rage, picked up both of the ingots with his left hand.
"We did not come to your honourable manor to extort money," he said.
"You underestimate us, friend Song."
Song quickly protested that he would not dare to suggest such a thing.
Wen laughed coldly and placed the ingots back on the tray. "Goodbye,"
he said.
Song looked down and started in fright. With just one hand, Wen had
crushed the two ingots together into a flat cake of silver. He led the
three toeards the gate, offering profuse apologies as he went. Wen
ignored him. Three attendants led their horses up, and they mounted
immediately.
Luo Bing took out a gold ingot many times more valuable than the silver
offered by Song and gave it to the attendant holding her horse. "Thank
you for your trouble," she said. "Here's a little something for the
three of you to have a drink." For a moment, the attendants did not
seem to believe their luck, then they began thanking her over and over
again. Luo Bing smiled in reply.
Just as they were about to ride off, a rider galloped up, leapt off his
horse and saluted Wen with his fists. "Please come into our humble
manor and make yourselves comfortable," he said.
"We do not wish to trouble you," Wen replied. "We will visit again
another time."
"We passed you on the road a while ago and our Lord guessed you were
coming to the manor," the man continued. "He would have liked to turn
back, but he has important business to attend to. So he ordered me to
come to receive you. He is eager to make your acquaintance. He said he
would definitely return tonight, and insisted that you stay at our
humble manor."
Wen's anger melted as he heard the sincerity in the newcomer's voice,
and they went back into the manor. The man introduced himself as Meng,
Zhou's senior pupil, as Song stood to one side looking very
uncomfortable. Guests and host sat down and fresh tea was served. An
attendant whispered something to Meng who stood up and bowed before Luo
Bing.
"Our lady invites you to go into the inner hall to rest," he said.
A maidservant led Luo Bing through a passageway and a woman in her
forties strode out and grasped Luo Bing's hand familiarly.
"They told me just now that some members of the Red Flower Society had
arrived and then left again. But you've come back and saved face for
me. Our Lord will be so happy! Now, don't rush away. You can stay for a
few days. Look, all of you," she said, turning to her maidservants.
"Look how beautiful this girl is! She puts our girls to shame."
Luo Bing thought the woman was rather indiscreet. "What is your name,
Madame?" she asked. "My husband is surnamed Wen."
"See how muddle-headed I am!" the woman said. "I'm so happy at seeing
such a pretty girl that I've gone silly!"
"This is our lady," one of the maidservants explained.
The woman was Lord Zhou's second wife. His first had borne two sons,
but both had died in fights. This second wife had given birth to a
daughter, Zhou Qi, a wild girl of eighteen always getting into trouble,
and it had seemed as if Zhou was destined to have no more sons. But in
his fifty-fourth year, another was unexpectedly born. The couple were
overjoyed to gain a son so late in life.
"Call the young master in quickly," Madame Zhou said after seating
herself comfortably. "Let Madame Wen see him."
A lively, good-looking child emerged from the inner rooms and Luo Bing
judged from his bearing that he had already received several years of
training in the martial arts. He kowtowed
towards Luo Bing, who took hold of his hand and asked him his name and
age.
"My name is Zhou Yingjie and I'm ten this year," the child replied.
Luo Bing unfastened the pearl bracelet from her wrist and gave it to
him.
"We have come from far away, and I don't have anything nice to give
you, but you can put these pearls round the edge of your cap," she
said. Madame Zhou protested, but to no avail.
While they were talking, one of the maidservants rushed in crying:
"Mistress Wen! Master Wen has fainted!"
Madame Zhou quickly gave orders to fetch a doctor while Luo Bing ran
back to her husband. Wen's injuries were already serious, and he had
used up a great deal of his remaining strength to squeeze the silver
ingots together. Wen was unconscious, his face drained of colour. Luo
Bing ran to him, calling his name over and over again. Slowly, he
regained consciousness.
Meng dispatched an attendant to report to Lord Zhou that the guests
were settled in. As he turned back inside after seeing the attendant
gallop off, he noticed a figure dart behind a willow tree. He made no
sign that he had seen anything unusual, but slowly walked back into the
manor and ran up to the watchtower. After a while, he saw a a short man
creep furtively out from behind one willow tree and run behind another.
Meng called for Lord Zhou's young son and whispered some instructions
to him. Then he ran out of the manor gate, laughing and shouting:
"Little brother, I'll pretend to be afraid of you, all right?"
The boy followed close behind, shouting: "Where do you think you're
running off to? You won't admit defeat, will you? Come here and kowtow
before me!"
Meng bowed and mockingly begged for mercy. The boy made a grab for him
and Meng ran straight for the willow behind which the intruder was
hiding. He charged straight into the man, knocking him flat.
It was the Zhen Yuan Agency's Lead Escort Tong. He had seen Wen and the
others leave the inn and had followed them, determined to prove wrong
those who said he was good for nothing but eating and talking. Tong had
few abilities, but he was quick-witted and knew immediately that Meng
had planned the collision to test his kung fu, so he let his whole body
go loose,pretending that he knew none at all. Since his kung fu was
mediocre, pretending to know none at all was not difficult.
"Excuse me," said Tong. "Is this the road to Sandaogou?" He tried to
get up, but cried out in pain: "Ai-ya! My arm!"
"I'm very sorry," Meng said. "You're not hurt, are you? Please come
into the manor and I'll have a look at you. We have some excellent
medicinal ointments."
Tong was powerless to refuse. Meng helped him up and led him into an
ante-room.
"Please undo your clothes and let me examine your wounds," Meng said.
He felt around Tong's body, testing him. When an enemy's fingers touch
fatal spots, a kung fu initiate would be forced to flinch.
"Heroic Uncle Tong is not afraid to die," Tong thought. "Act the lamb
until the end!" Meng pressed the 'Solar Yuedao' points on his temples
and toughed other Yuedao points on his chest and armpits, making Tong
giggle.
"Ai-ya! Stop that! I'm very ticklish," he said.
They were all fatal points but Tong seemed unconcerned. Meng decided he
really didn't know any kung fu. "From his accent, he isn't a local," he
thought, still suspicious. "Could he be a petty thief, I wonder?"
Meng could not detain Tong without authority, so he walked him back
towards the gate. Tong peered about him as they walked through the
manor, trying to discover to where Wen and the others were. Meng
decided he must be a scout for a gang of thieves.
"Be careful, my friend," he said. "Remember where you are."
Tong looked around in mock awe. "Such a big place! It looks like a
great temple. Except there's no Buddha."
He asked Tong what his business was in the area.
Meng escorted him over the drawbridge and laughed coldly. "Goodbye
friend," he said, clapping Tong heavily on the shoulder. "Come and
visit us again sometime."
The pain from the blow went straight to Tong's marrow. Swearing
profusely, he found his horse and galloped back to the Antong Inn in
Sandaogou. As he entered the room, he saw Master Zhang, Officer Wu and
the agency men together with seven or eight men he didn't know. They
were in the midst of a discussion on where Wen Tailai might have
escaped to. No one could think of an answer, and their faces were
gloomy.
Tong smugly related how he had followed Wen, naturally omitting the
part about his encounter with Meng.
Zhang was delighted. "Let's go," he said, adding with uncustomary
warmth: "Brother Tong, you lead the way."
The whole group immediately set out for Iron Gall Manor, rubbing their
hands in anticipation as they went. Tong boasted extravagantly of how
he had used Lightness kung fu, and of the risks he had taken in
tracking Wen. "This is an assignment from the Emperor himself, so Uncle
Tong went all out against the renegades," he said.
Officer Wu, who had already employed a bone-setter to help mend his
fractured shoulder, hurriedly introduced Tong to the newcomers. Tong
started in fright as he heard their names: they were all top fighters
employed by the court, famous martial arts specialists, both Manchu and
Chinese, who had come specifically to arrest Wen Tailai.
** 8 **
Lu Feiqing galloped westwards, braving strong winds which whipped his
face. Passing through Black Gold Gorge, he noticed the blood spilled
during the previous day's battle had already been washed away by the
rain. He covered about twenty miles in one stretch and arrived at a
small market fair. Although the sky was growing dark, he was impatient
to continue on his way but his horse was exhausted. As he considered
what to do, he saw a Muslim at the edge of the fair leading two large,
well-fed horses and looking around as if waiting for someone.
Lu went over and asked if he could buy one of them. The Muslim shook
his head. Lu reached into his cloth bundle and took out a large silver
ingot, but the Muslim shook his head again. Anxious and impatient, Lu
turned the bundle upside down and six or seven more silver ingots fell
out: he offered them all. The Muslim waved his hand to indicate the
horse was definitely not for sale, and Lu dejectedly began to put the
ingots back into his bundle. As he did so, the Muslim glimpsed a dart
amongst the ingots, which he picked up and examined closely. It was the
dart Huo Qingtong had thrown at Lu after he followed her to the Muslim
camp site. He asked where the dart came from. In a flash of
inspiration, Lu said Huo Qingtong was his friend and that she had given
the dart to him. The Muslim nodded, placed the dart back in Lu's hand
and passed over the reins of one of the horses. Delighted, Lu pulled
out an ingot of silver again, but the Muslim waved his hand in refusal
and walked away.
"I would never have guessed that such a flower of a girl would have
such great influence among the Muslims," Lu thought.
He rode off, and in the next town, came across more Muslims. He pulled
out the dart and was immediately able to trade his mount for another
strong horse.
Lu continued to change horses the whole way and, eating dry provisions
as he rode, he covered two hundred miles in a day and a night. Towards
evening on the second day, he arrived at Anxi. Lu was a man of great
strength, but he was getting on in years, and galloping for so long
without rest had exhausted him. As soon as he entered the city, he took
out the red flower Wen had given him and stuck it in his lapel. Only a
few steps later, two men in short jackets appeared in front of him,
saluted and invited him to accompany them to a restaurant. Once there,
one of the men sat with him while the other excused himself and left.
Lu's companion was extremely courteous, and ordered food and wine
without asking any questions.
After three cups of wine, another man hurried in, came over to them and
saluted with his fists. Lu quickly stood up and returned the salute.
The man, aged about thirty, wore an ordinary gown. He asked Lu for his
name and Lu told him.
"So you are Master Lu of the Wudang School," the man said. "We have
often heard our Third Brother Zhao speak of you. I have great
admiration for you. Our meeting today is very auspicious."
"What is your honourable name?" Lu asked.
"My name is Wei."
"Please take a seat, sir," Lu's first companion said. He saluted both
Lu and Wei, and then left.
"Our Society's Young Helmsman and many of our brothers are here in
Anxi," said Wei. "If we had known you were coming, they would certainly
have all been here to greet you. In a moment, if you don't mind, we
will go and everyone can pay their respects to you."
They left the restaurant and rode out of the city.
"You have met our Fourth Brother Wen Tailai and his wife," Wei said.
"Yes. How did you know?"
"The flower you are wearing is Brother Wen's. It has four green
leaves."
Lu was surprised at how openly Wei talked about their society's secret
signs, treating him not in the slightest like an outsider.
After a while, they arrived at an imposing Taoist monastery surrounded
by tall, ancient trees. Over the main gate was a wooden tablet
inscribed with four large characters: "Jade Nothingness Taoist
Monastery". Two Taoist priests standing in front of the monastery bowed
respectfully. Wei invited Lu inside, and a young apprentice priest
brought tea. Wei whispered in his ear, and the apprentice nodded and
went inside. Lu was just about to raise his cup when he heard someone
in the inner hall shout: "Brother Lu! I've been worried to death about
you..." It was Lu's old comrade, Zhao Banshan.
Zhao's questions came thick and fast. "Where have you been all these
years? What brings you here?"
Lu brushed the questions aside. "There is an urgent matter to be
discussed first. Your honourable society's Brother Wen is in serious
trouble."
He outlined the predicament of Wen and his wife. Even before he had
finished, Wei ran inside to report. While he was still talking, Lu
heard Wei arguing loudly with someone in the courtyard.
"Why are you holding me back?" the other shouted. "I must go to help
Brother Wen now!"
"You're too impatient," Wei replied. "It must be discussed by everyone
first, and then it is up to the Young Helmsman to decide who goes." The
other continued to protest.
Taking Lu by the hand, Zhao walked into the courtyard, and Lu saw the
hunchback who had severed the tail of Yuanzhi's horse.
Wei gave the hunchback a push. "Go and pay your respects to Master Lu,"
he said. The hunchback walked over and stared dumbly at him for a
moment. Lu knew the hunchback remembered his face and, uneasy at the
thought of how Yuanzhi had laughed at him that day, he was about to
apologise when the hunchback said:
"You have ridden more than two hundred miles in a night and a day to
report on behalf of Brother Wen. I, Hunchback Zhang Jin, thank you!" He
knelt down, and kowtowed to Lu four times, his head banging on the
flagstones.
Lu wanted to stop him but it was already too late, so all he could do
was to kneel down and return the gesture.
The hunchback stood up. "I am leaving now," he announced. As he passed
through the circular doorway, a very short man coming in the other way
caught hold of the hunchback. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"I am going to find Brother Wen and Mistress Luo Bing. Come with me."
Without waiting for an answer, the hunchback pulled him along by the
wrist.
The hunchback Zhang Jin had been born with a deformed body, but his
strength was frightening. When talking to others, he often referred to
himself as 'Hunchback Zhang', but anyone else calling him a 'hunchback'
was courting disaster. He ranked 10th in seniority in the Red Flower
Society; his travelling companion was Xu Tianhong who ranked seventh.
Xu was very short and slight in build, almost the size of a dwarf, but
his wisdom and resource made him the Red Flower Society's chief
tactician, and the fighting community had dubbed him 'The Kung Fu
Mastermind'.
One by one, the other members of the Red Flower Society came out and
were introduced to Lu. They were all famous heroes and Lu recognised
most of them after having passed them on the road several days before.
The formal greetings were kept to a minimum, and after a moment the
one-armed Taoist priest, who ranked second within the society, said:
"Let us go and see the Young Helmsman."
They went through to the rear courtyard and entered a large room. On
one of the wooden walls a huge 'encirclement chess' board had been
carved.* (* the game, Wei Qi, is best known by its Japanese name - Go.)
Two men were sitting on a couch about thirty feet away, fingering chess
pieces and throwing them at the vertical board, each piece lodging
itself in the lines which formed the squares. In all his wide
experience, Lu had never seen chess played in such a manner. Playing
white was a young man with a refined face wearing a white gown who
looked like the son of a nobleman. His opponent, playing black, was an
old man dressed in farmer's clothes.
"I wonder who this old hero is," Lu thought. "Never have I seen anyone
with his strength and accuracy." He could see black was in a dangerous
position, and that with just one more move by white, all the black
pieces would be lost. The young man threw a piece, but his aim was
slightly off: the piece failed to embed itself in the intersection of
the lines and fell to the floor. The old man laughed.
"You missed," he said. "Admit defeat!" He pushed the chess pieces aside
and stood up.
His opponent smiled. "We'll have another game in a while, teacher," he
said. The old man saw the group entering, and strode out of the room
without so much as a greeting.
"Young Helmsman," Zhao said. "This is Brother Lu Feiqing of the Wudang
School." And to Lu: "This is our Young Helmsman. I hope you will get to
know one another well."
The young man brought his two fists together in salute. "My name is
Chen Jialuo. I would greatly appreciate your honoured counsel."
Lu was surprised to find that this Young Helmsman gave every appearance
of being a dissolute young man from a wealthy family, the complete
opposite of the rest of the bandit-like bunch.
Zhao informed the Young Helmsman of how Wen had taken refuge in Iron
Gall Manor, and asked him for a plan of action. The Young Helmsman
turned to the Taoist priest. "Priest Wu Chen," he said. "Please give us
your advice."
A large, fat man, whom Zhao had introduced a moment before as 'Iron
Pagoda' Yang, stood up and shouted: "Fourth Brother is badly wounded,
someone we have never met before has ridden hard for a day and a night
to report to us, and we are still deferring to each other. We will kill
Fourth Brother with all this deference! Can we stop this nonsense? Who
dares to disregard the wishes of the old Master? Young Helmsman, if you
do not respect the dying wish of your foster father, you are unfilial.
If you despise us brothers so much that you are unwilling to become our
leader, then the Red Flower Society's seventy or eighty thousand
members may as well go their separate ways."
Everyone began talking at once: "We cannot remain leaderless like this!
If the Young Helmsman continues to defer, our devotion will be
finished! Fourth Brother is in trouble! We must follow the Young
Helmsman's orders and go to save him!"
The young man, Chen, looked greatly distressed. His eyebrows drew
together in a deep frown as he silently pondered the problem.
"Brothers!" shouted one of the Twin Knights of Sichuan. "Since the
Young Helmsman obviously despises us, we two intend to return to
Sichuan as soon as Fourth Brother has been rescued."
Chen saw he had no alternative and saluted the heroes with his fists.
"Brother Wen is in trouble and we can wait no longer. All of you insist
that I become Helmsman, and because of the respect I have for you, I
will do as you say."
The heroes of the Red Flower Society shouted and applauded with delight
and relief.
"Well then," said the Taoist priest. "The Great Helmsman should now pay
his respects to his predecessor and accept the Flower of Authority."
Lu knew that each society had its own special rites and ceremonies of
which the initiation of a new leader was by far the most important. As
an outsider, Lu felt uncomfortable about being present during such a
ceremony, so he congratulated Chen and immediately excused himself. He
was extremely weary after his journey, and Zhao led him to a room where
he washed and slept. When he awoke, it was already night.
"The Great Helmsman has left with the others for Iron Gall Manor," Zhao
said. "But he left me here to keep you company. We can follow on
tomorrow."
And then, after two decades apart, the two men talked. They talked of
the doings of the fighting community over the years, the good and the
bad, the living and the dead, until the east grew light.
"Your Great Helmsman is so young," said Lu. "He looks like nothing more
than just another rich man's son. Why are you all willing to follow
him?"
"It would take a long time to explain," Zhao replied. "You rest for a
while longer and we can talk again later when we're riding."
PARTTWO 返回目录
The Book and The Sword
Copyright Graham Earnshaw 1995
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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.
PARTTHREE 返回目录
The Book and The Sword
Copyright Graham Earnshaw 1995
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PART THREE
** 1 **
Chen held the dagger in his hands and stood watching dumbly as Huo
Qingtong caught up with the Muslim column and gradually faded towards
the horizon. He was about to go and ask Lu Feiqing about his pupil when
he noticed a horse galloping towards him fast. As it came closer, he
was disappointed to find it was only Xin Yan returning on the white
horse.
"Master!" he shouted excitedly. "Master Zhang Jin has a prisoner."
"Who is it?" Chen asked.
"I went to the old temple and found Master Zhang Jin arguing with a man
who wanted to pass. The man saw the horse I was ridingand began cursing
me as a horse thief and struck out at me with his sword. Master Zhang
Jin and I fought with him. His kung fu was really good. He fought the
two of us single-handed until finally I picked up some stones and
started throwing them at him, and Master Zhang Jin clubbed him on the
thigh. It was only then that we managed to capture him."
Chen smiled. "What is his name? What was he doing?"
"We asked him but he wouldn't say. But Master Zhang Jin says he must be
a member of the Han School of Luoyang because he was using Iron Pipa
Hand Kung Fu."
Zhang Jin galloped up, dismounted and bowed before Chen, then pulled a
man off the horse's saddle. He was tied hand and foot, but he stood
haughtily, exuding an air of insolence.
"I understand you are a member of the Han School of Luoyang," Chen
said. "What is your honourable name?"
The man said nothing.
"Xin Yan, undo this gentleman's bonds," Chen said.
Xin Yan drew his knife and cut the rope that bound the man's hands and
legs then stood behind him, his knife at the ready.
"My friends have wronged you, but please do not be offended," Chen
said. "Come into my tent and take a seat."
Chen and the man sat on the ground while the other heroes came in and
stood behind Chen's back.
When he saw Luo Bing enter, the man's anger flared and he jumped up.
"You stole my horse," he shouted, pointing at her.
"So it's Master Han," Luo Bing replied with a smile. "We exchanged
horses and I compensated you with a gold ingot. You did very well out
of the deal. What are you angry about?"
Chen asked what had happened, and Luo Bing recounted how she had taken
the white horse. The others laughed as they listened.
"In that case, we will return the horse to you, Master Han," Chen said.
"There is also no need to return the gold ingot. Consider it a token of
our respect and as payment for the rental of your horse."
Han was about to reply when Luo Bing said: "Great Helmsman, this won't
do. Do you know who he is? He's a Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency man." She
pulled out Wang Weiyang's letter and handed it to him.
Chen's eyes flashed down the lines. "The great name of Wang Weiyang has
been known to me for a long time, but regrettably I ave never met him,"
he said. "You are a member of the Han School of Luoyang. What relation
are you to Fifth Madame Han?"
"And what is your honourable surname and esteemed name, sir?" Han
replied.
Chen smiled. "My surname is Chen, my given name, Jialuo."
Han stood up. "You...you are the son of Chief Minister Chen?" he asked
in a quavering voice.
"This is the Great Helmsman of our Red Flower Society," one of the Twin
Knights said.
Han slowly sat down again and began weighing up this young Great
Helmsman.
"Someone in the underworld started the rumour that our society was
connected with the death of one of your school's members," Chen said.
"In fact, we know nothing of it. I dispatched one of our brothers to
Luoyang to explain the matter, but something came up and he was forced
to postpone the trip. So your arrival could not have been better timed,
Master Han. I don't know how this rumour started. Can you tell me?"
"You...you're really the son of Chief Minister Chen of Haining?" Han
asked.
"Since you know my identity, there is no point in trying to deceive
you," Chen replied.
"Your family announced a large reward for finding you after you left
home," Han said. "It was said that you had joined the Red Flower
Society and had gone to the Muslim border regions. My late comrade Jiao
Wenqi was engaged by your family to look for you, but he mysteriously
disappeared on the way. That was five years ago. Recently, someone
found the Iron Plate and Pipa darts that Brother Jiao used in Shanxi
province, and we now know for certain that he was murdered. No-one
knows the exact circumstances of his death, but consider, sir: if it
wasn't the Red Flower Society, then who did it?"
"I killed Jiao Wenqi," Lu Feiqing interrupted. "I am not amember of the
Red Flower Society, so this matter has nothing to do with them."
The others were startled. Lu stood up and told the story of how Jiao
had found him one night, how he fought one against three, and had been
injured, but had still managed to kill them on the deserted hillside.
The heroes listened and then cursed Jiao, saying he was shameless and
deserved to die. Han's face darkened but he said nothing.
"If Master Han wishes to avenge his martial brother's death, there is
no reason why he should not do so now," Lu said. Heturned to Luo Bing.
"Mistress Wen, return Master Han's weapon to him please."
Luo Bing pulled out the Iron Pipa and handed it to Lu.
"Since Jiao was commissioned by the Chen family to find their son, he
should have stuck to his mission," Lu said. As he spoke, he
absent-mindedly excercised his Inner Strength kung fu on the body of
the hollow Iron Pipa, slowly flattening it. "What was he doing using
their money to come and give me trouble? Even if we of the fighting
community are not able to sacrifice ourselves to save our country from
the Manchu barbarians, we should still fight for justice and against
those who oppress the people."
His Inner Strength kung fu was extraordinary. His hands rolled the
flattened iron plate round so that it was transformed into a tube, and
then with a few sqeezes, into an iron club.
"What I detest most are the Manchu court's Eagles' Claws and the
bodyguard agency running dogs who use a small knowledge of the martial
arts to assist the wicked with their evil deeds."
His voice suddenly hardened and he twisted the iron club into an iron
ring.
As Lu talked, Han watched him twist and squeeze his school's famous
weapon as if he were making noodles, and was both startled and afraid.
He knew that Jiao's kung fu had been about the same standard as his
own, and realised that fighting with this old manmeant certain death.
Han's courage had already evaporated and he did not dare to challenge
Lu. But although shocked and humbled, he did not wish to appear too
cowardly.
"This affair of Jiao Wenqi in fact arose because of me," Chen said. "I
will write a letter to my elder brother telling him that Master Jiao
found me, but that I was not willing to return home; also, that on his
way back, Master Jiao met with an accident and passed away. I will then
ask my brother to pay the reward and compensation money to Master
Jiao's family."
Han continued to hesitate, and Chen's eyebrows rose. "But if your heart
is set upon revenge, then I will fight you myself."
Han shuddered. "I will do exactly as you say, sir," he replied.
"That's a good fellow," Chen said. "One has to be flexible."
He told Xin Yan to hand him his writing brush, instone, ink and writing
paper, and using a vigorous calligraphic style, wrote out a letter
which Han accepted.
"Master Wang asked me to help escort a cargo back to Beijing and then
to escort some treasures the Emperor has presented to your honourable
family down to the south. But faced with the extraordinary talents of
you all, I would only make a fool of myself if I made further use of my
own minor abilities in the martial arts. I will take my leave of you,
sir."
"Did you say items belonging to my family, Master Han?"
"The bodyguard agency caller who brought me the letter said the Emperor
is extremely generous towards your family. Every few months, he bestows
an amount of precious stones and treasures, and there is now a large
accumulation of these that must be sent south to your home. Your family
asked us to escort them, but I would not dare to continue earning my
daily rice in such a business. After I have made suitable arrangements
for Brother Jiao's dependants, I will return home."
"It is good that you are willing to follow Master Lu's invaluable words
of advice," Chen said. "In that case, I might as well make friends with
you. Xin Yan, please bring in the other gentlemen from the Zhen Yuan
Bodyguard Agency."
Xin Yan went out and led in Lead Escort Qian and the others. Han and
the escorts stared dumbly at each other.
"Master Han, please take these friends with you," said Chen. "But if we
ever catch them again doing anything but good deeds, do not blame us if
our hands are not stayed by mercy."
Chen did not again mention the return of the white horse, and Han did
not dare to bring it up.
"We will leave first," Chen said. "I will ask all of you to rest here
for a day before making a start."
The Red Flower Society heroes mounted their horses an started off,
leaving the Agency men and the Yamen officers standing silently behind.
"Master Chen," Lu Feiqing said after they had travelled for a while.
"My pupil will meet up with those bodyguard agency fellows before long.
They have been humiliated and have no way to get their revenge, so they
may cause trouble. I would like to stay behind and watch them for a
while before following after you."
"Please do as you wish, Master Lu," Chen replied.
Lu saluted, then galloped off the way they had come. Chen realised as
Lu disappeared that he had not asked him about his pupil.
** 2 **
'Scholar' Yu, under orders to investigate the whereabouts of Wen
Tailai, made discreet enquiries along the road as he went. But he
discovered no clues, and in less than a day arrived at Liangzhou, a
prosperous busy city and one of the largest in Gansu province. He found
a room in an inn, then went to a tavern and drank alone, bemoaning his
fate. He thought of Luo Bing's voice and smile, and a tide of longing
rose within him. He knew it was hopeless, and the more he drank, the
more melancholy he became. He was just about to leave when two men came
in. Yu knew he had seen one of them before and quickly turned his head
away. He thought frantically and placed him as one of the Yamen
officers he had fought at Iron Gall Manor. Luckily, the man and his
companion paid no attention to him.
They chose a table near the window which happened to be just next to
Yu's and sat down. Yu sat with his head on the table, pretending to be
drunk.
The two men chatted for a while, then one said:
"Brother Rui, it's remarkable How you captured that fellow. I wonder
what sort of reward the Emperor will give you?"
"I'm not concerned about the reward," Rui replied. "If we can get him
to Hangzhou nice and safely, I'll be happy. When we left Beijing, there
were eight of us bodyguards, and now I'm the only one left. It was that
fight in Suzhou. I'm not selling myself short, but I still get the
shivers just thinking about it."
"You're with Master Zhang now," the other said. "I'm sure nothing more
will be wrong."
"That's true," Rui replied. "But it means that the Imperial Guardsmen
get all the credit. What do we Imperial Bodyguards get out of it? But
tell me, old Zhu. What are they doing sending him to Hangzhou instead
of to Beijing?"
"My younger sister is from the family of Great Scholar Shi, as you
know," Zhu replied, lowering his voice. "She told me quietly that the
Emperor plans to go down south. Perhaps he wants to question him
himself."
Rui grunted and drank a mouthful of wine. "So the six of you rushed out
from Beijing to see that the Imperial command was complied with?"
"And to give the rest of you some help. The Red Flower Society is very
powerful in the south. We have to be especially careful."
As he listened, Yu groaned inwardly at the sheer luck of it all. If he
had not happened to be there and hear them, the Red Flower Society
heroes would have been racing to Beijing to save Wen when he was really
being taken to Hangzhou.
"Brother Rui," Zhu said. "Exactly what crime has this fellow committed
that the Emperor wants to question him personally?"
"How would we know?" Rui replied. "We were just told that if we didn't
catch him, we would all be removed from our posts. I just hope I can
keep my head on my shoulders."
The two laughed and drank, and their conversation turned to the subject
of women. Finally, they paid the bill and stood up to leave. Rui looked
over at Yu prostrate on the table.
"Scholars," he said and laughed harshly. "Three cups of wine and they
can't even walk."
Yu waited until they had gone, then hastily threw five silver coins
onto the table and dashed out of the tavern. He spotted the men
entering the city Yamen. He waited for a long time but didn't see them
re-appear, and decided they must be lodging there.
He returned to his room and as soon as it was dark, he changed into a
set of dark clothes, stuck his golden flute into his belt then ran over
to the Yamen. Making his way round to the back, he clambered over the
wall.
All was pitch black in the courtyard except for a shaft of light coming
from a window in the eastern hall, and as he crept closer, he heard
voices coming from inside. He wet the tip of his finger with a drop of
saliva, then lightly moistened the window paper and made a small hole.
Looking through, he started in fright.
The hall was full of people. Zhang Zhaozhong was seated in the middle
with the bodyguards and Yamen officers on either side of him. A man
standing with his back to Yu cursed angrily, and he knew from his voice
that it was Wen Tailai.
"You can curse to your heart's content," a voice off to the side said
darkly. "I may not be as proficient in the martial arts as you, but you
will still get a taste of my hand."
Yu was distressed. "They are going to humiliate Fourth Brother," he
thought. "He is the person Fourth Sister respects and loves most. How
can I allow him to be insulted by these villains?"
He saw a tall, thin middleaged man wearing a blue gown advancing on Wen
with his hand raised. Just as the man was about to strike Wen, Yu
inserted his flute through the hole in the window paper, and with a
puff, shot a small arrow into the man's left eye.
The man fell to the ground in agony and there was a moment of confusion
in the hall. Yu shot another arrow into the right cheek of one of the
bodyguards, then kicked open the main door of the hall and ran straight
in.
"Don't move!" he shouted. "The Red Flower Society has come to the
rescue!"
He raised his flute and struck the Yamen officers beside Wen, then
pulled a dagger from his legwrappings and cut the ropes binding Wen's
hands and feet.
Zhang Zhaozhong thought a largescale attack was in progress and
immediately drew his sword and went to the hall door to prevent Wen and
Yu from escaping and those outside from getting in.
As soon as Wen's hands were free of the bonds, his spirits surged. An
Imperial Bodyguard lunged towards him and Wen struck him hard with his
fist, sending him reeling away. The others were so afraid of Wen's
power that for a while they did not dare to get too close to him.
"Fourth Brother, let's get out!" Yu said.
"Are the others here?"
"No," Yu replied quietly. "There's only me."
Wen nodded once. The wounds on his right arm and thigh had not yet
healed, but he ran for the door with his right arm resting on Yu's
shoulder.
Zhang strode foward a step. "Stop!" he shouted, and jabbed at Wen's
stomach with his long sword. Wen was slow on his feet, so using attack
as his defence, he struck out at his opponent's eyes with the index and
middle fingers of his left hand, and Zhang was forced to retract his
sword.
"Good!" he exclaimed. The two men were incredibly fast, but Wen only
had the use of his left arm and after a few more moves, Zhang hit his
right shoulder. Unable to keep his balance, Wen sat down heavily on the
floor.
"I shouldn't have done this," Yu thought as he fought off the Imperial
Bodyguards. "I will save Fourth Brother and then let the Eagle's Claws
kill me so that Fourth Sister will know that I, Yu Yutong, am not an
unchivalrous oaf."
He saw Wen fall to the ground and flipped round to strike out
desperately at Zhang.
"Fourth Brother, get out quick!" Yu shouted. Wen rested a moment and
then with difficulty clambered to his feet. The golden flute flew and
danced, completely neglecting to defend or parry. Yu was completely
unconcerned about his own safety. Even with his superb swordsmanship,
Zhang was forced to move back several paces in the face of his suicidal
attack. Wen saw an opening and shot out of the door, with the mob of
the bodyguards and officers howling after him.
Yu blocked them at the door, ignoring his own safety.
"Don't you want to live?" Zhang shouted. "Who taught you that kung fu
style?" Yu was using the traditional style of the Wudang School, the
school to which Zhang belonged, and Zhang had so far spared him because
of it.
"It would be best if you killed me," Yu said, smiling sadly. After a
few more moves, Zhang's sword struck him once more, this time on the
right shoulder, so Yu shifted the golden flute to his left hand and
continued the fight without retreating a step.
The mass of the bodyguards charged forward again and Yu's flute danced,
hooting strangely as the wind whipped through it. A bodyguard chopped
at him with his sword, and gashed Yu's shoulder. His body was now
covered in blood, but he continued the fierce battle, and there was a
sudden crack as the jawbone of another bodyguard was shattered. The
bodyguards pressed forward, knives, swords, whips and clubs all
thrusting towards Yu simultaneously. Yu's thigh was hit by a club and
he fell to the ground. His golden flute kept up its dance for a few
moments, then he fainted away.
There was a sudden shout from the door: "Stop!"
The bodyguards turned and saw Wen walking slowly back into the hall. He
ignored them and went straight over to Yu. Seeing his bloodied body, he
couldn't stop his tears. He bent down and was relieved to find Yu was
till breathing.
"Treat his wounds quickly," he ordered.
The bodyguards were so fearful of his power, that they did as he said.
Wen watched them bind Yu's wounds and carry him through to the inner
hall, then placed both of his hands behind his back.
"Tie me up," he said. One of the bodyguards looked over at Zhang, then
walked slowly over.
"What are you afraid of?" Wen asked. "If I was going to hurt you, I
would have done so long ago."
The bodyguard bound his hands and took him back to the dungeons. Two
bodyguards were left to guard him.
Early the next morning, Zhang went to see Yu and found him in a deep
sleep. He was told by a guard that the doctor had visited Yu and
prescribed some medicine. Zhang visited him again in the afternoon and
Yu appeared to be more alert.
"Is your teacher surnamed Lu or Ma?" Zhang asked him.
"My teacher is surnamed Ma, his given name is Zhen."
"So that's it. I am your martial uncle, Zhang Zhaozhong."
Yu nodded slightly.
"Are you a member of the Red Flower Society?"
Yu nodded again.
"Such a nice young man," Zhang sighed. "What a pity that you have
fallen to such a state. What relation is Wen Tailai to you? What were
you doing risking your life to save him?"
Yu closed his eyes and was silent. A moment passed.
"In the end I did save him, so I can die in peace," he finally said.
"Huh! Do you really think you could snatch him away from me?"
Yu was startled. "Didn't he escape?" he asked.
"How could he? Stop day-dreaming!"
Zhang tried to interrogate him, but Yu took no notice, and after a
while he began to sneeze.
Zhang smiled slightly. "You stubborn boy," he said, and left.
He ordered the Imperial Bodyguards to organise an ambush with Wen as
bait. After dinner, Wen was brought out of the dungeon and interrogated
once more, in the same manner as the night before when Yu had
unexpectedly burst in and disrupted the proceedings. This time,
however, heavily-armed troops were hidden all around the Yamen, waiting
to catch any Red Flower Society rescuers. But they waited in vain.
The next morning, Zhang received a report that the waters of the Yellow
River were rising rapidly, and that the current at the point where they
intended to cross was very strong and ordered an immediate departure.
He had Wen and Yu placed in separate carriages and was just about to
start out when Officer Wu and the Zhen Yuan Agency Lead Escorts raced
into the Yamen. Zhang hastily questioned them, and Officer Wu
breathlessly told him how they had been attacked and captured by the
Muslims and the Red Flower Society, and how Lead Escort Yan had been
killed by a young Muslim girl.
"Brother Yan was a very tough fighter," Zhang said. "Extraordinary." He
raised his hand. "We will meet again in Beijing."
Zhang immediately went and told the Liangzhou Military commander that
he wanted four hundred crack troops transferred to his command to help
escort criminals wanted by the Emperor. The commander did not dare
refuse and also dispatched Colonel Cao Neng and Chief-of-Staff Ping
Wangxian to lead the escorting soldiers until they reached Lanzhou, the
provincial capital, where provincial troops would take over.
Zhang's column surged out of the town, stealing and pilfering from the
common people in the usual way as they went.
They travelled without incident for two days. Then, about ten miles
from a village named Twin Wells, they came upon two bare-breasted men
sitting beneath a tree by the side of the road with a pair of fine
horses standing nearby. Two of the soldiers went over.
"Hey!" one shouted. "These two horses look like official horses. Where
did you steal them from?"
"We are peaceful citizens," said one of the men. "We wouldn't dare to
steal horses."
"We are tired of walking. Lend them to us," the second soldier replied.
The two men stood up, walked over to their horses and untied the reins.
The soldiers walked haughtily over and were just about to take hold of
the reins when the two men kicked their behinds, leapt onto the horses
and galloped over to one of the carriages.
"Is Fourth Brother in there?" one shouted.
"Ah, Twelfth Brother!" Wen answered.
"Fourth Brother, we're leaving," the man replied. "But don't worry,
we'll be back to rescue you soon."
The two men galloped away before the carriage's guards could attack.
The column lodged that night at a town called Clear Water Shop. Early
the following morning, while most of the soldiers were still asleep, a
scream was heard, and there was a moment of confusion. The two troop
commanders, Cao and Ping went to investigate and found the bodies of
more than a dozen soldiers lying where they had slept, each with a
gaping gash in the chest. There was no indication of who had killed
them.
The next evening, they rested at Hengshi. This was a large town, and
the column filled three inns and many private houses besides. During
the night, one of the inns caught fire. Zhang ordered the bodyguards to
guard Wen and to heed nothing else in order to avoid being tricked. The
flames rose higher and higher.
"Bandits!" Cao Neng cried as he ran into Zhang's room. "They're
attacking!"
"Please go and direct operations yourself, General Cao," Zhang replied.
"I am unable to leave this place."
Cao nodded and left.
From outside the inn came the sound of screams and shrieks, galloping
horses, the crackle of the flames and the smash of roof tiles as they
hit the ground. Zhang ordered two bodyguards onto the roof to keep
watch, but told them not to get involved unless the enemy attacked the
inn. The fire did not get out of control, and before long it was
extinguished. The agitated clamour continued for a while, then
gradually died down to the point where the sound of hooves could be
heard as horses galloped off eastwards.
Cao, his face covered in soot, grease and blood, ran in to see Zhang
again.
"The bandits have retreated," he reported.
"How many of our men have been killed and wounded?" Zhang asked.
"I don't know yet. Several...several dozen."
"How many bandits were captured?"
Cao's mouth fell open. After a moment, he said: "None."
Zhang grunted.
"Their faces were covered with cloth, and their kung fu was
horrendous," Cao added. "But it's very strange, they didn't steal
anything. All they did was kill our brothers. Just before they left,
they threw down two hundred taels of silver for the innkeeper saying it
was compensation for starting the fire."
"So you think they were bandits, do you?" Zhang said. "Tell everyone to
get some rest, General Cao. We will start out early tomorrow."
Cao retired and went to see the innkeeper, whom he accused of being in
collusion with the bandits and responsible for the murder of the
soldiers. The innkeeper kowtowed and begged for mercy and finally gave
Cao the two hundred taels of silver.
The next day, the soldiers were busy until noon before finally making a
start. They passed through beautiful country of blue hills and green
water, surrounded by dense vegetation on all sides. After travelling
for about four hours, the road began to grow gradually steeper and high
peaks rose on either side.
A horse came galloping down the road towards them and halted about ten
paces in front of the column.
"Listen to me, all of you," the rider called out. "You have offended
the demons. Turn back quickly and you will be spared. If you continue
eastwards, each one of you Turtles will surely die."
The soldiers shuddered as they looked at the man. He was wearing
clothes made of rough hemp bound at the waist with grass rope. His face
was pale yellow and his eyebrows slanted upwards, just like the images
of life-stealing spirits in the temples. The man spurred his horse
forward and galloped down the mountain, passing beside of the column,
and was gone. Suddenly, one of the soldiers in the rear-guard gave a
cry, and fell to the ground, dead. The rest started in fright and
gathered round to look, but there was no wound visible on his body.
Terrified, they all began talking at once.
Cao Neng assigned two soldiers to stay behind and bury the dead man and
the column continued up the mountain. Before they had gone very far,
another horse approached them from in front, its rider the same man
they had seen earlier.
"Listen to me, all of you," he called out. "You have offended the
demons. Turn back quickly and you will be spared. If you continue
eastwards, each one of you Turtles will surely die."
The soldiers wondered fearfully how the man could have made his way
round in front of them again. They had clearly seen him go down the
mountain and one glance confirmed that there were no short cuts back up
the slope. The man spurred his horse forward and the soldiers shrunk
from him as if he was a real demon.
One of the Imperial bodyguards, named Zhu, stuck out his sword to
obstruct the man. "Slow down, friend," he said.
The man struck Zhu's shoulder with his right hand, and the sword
clattered to the ground. Then he sped off down the mountain. As he
passed the end of the column, the last soldier gave a shriek and fell
to the ground, dead. The other soldiers stood staring foolishly, scared
out of their wits.
Zhang went down to the end of the column to investigate.
"What is this fellow, a man or a ghost?" Zhu said. He pressed his
wounded right shoulder, his face deathly pale. Zhang told him to undo
his clothes and examined the large black swelling on his right
shoulder. He ordered the troops to strip the dead soldier bare and
examine him for wounds. When they turned him over, they found a similar
black swelling on his back from which the shape of a hand could be
vaguely discerned. The soldiers broke into an uproar as a shout of "The
Demon's Mark!" The Demon's Mark!" went up. Zhang ordered that two
soldiers be left behind to bury the dead man. Two were chosen from the
ranks, but even when threatened with death, they refused to carry out
the order. Zhang had no alternative but to order a halt and wait until
the body was buried before continuing.
"Master Zhang, this fellow is very strange," said Bodyguard Rui. "How
could he pass us by and then make his way back in front of us again?"
Zhang stood deep in thought for a while. "Brother Zhu and the two
soldiers were obviously victims of Black Sand Palm Kung Fu," he said.
"There are very few masters of Black Sand Palm kung fu in the
underworld."
"If it's Black Palm kung fu, then the best is naturally the Taoist
Priest Hui Lu, but he's been dead for many years," Rui said. "Could it
be that his spirit has re-appeared?"
Zhang slapped his thigh. "That's it! That's it!" he cried. "They're Hui
Lu's pupils. The Twin Knights that people call Black Death and White
Death. I was trying to think of one person, so I couldn't work it out.
All right, so we're up against them as well."
He had no way of knowing that the Chang brothers were also members of
the Red Flower Society.
That night, the column stayed at Black Pine Village. Cao posted guards
all around the village to keep careful watch, but next morning, not one
of the soldiers on guard duty returned to report, and a detail sent to
investigate found them all dead with a string of paper money tied round
each of their necks. The rest of the soldiers were terrified, and more
than a dozen immediately deserted, slipping stealthily away.
They had to cross Black Scabbard Mountain, one of the most precipitous
spots on the Liangzhou road. The air became colder and colder as the
road grew steeper, and despite the fact that it was only September,
snow flakes floated down around them. The road deteriorated to the
point where there was a steep mountain face on one side and a sheer
cliff on the other falling into a deep ravine. The soldiers moved
slowly hand-in-hand, terrified of slipping on the snow. Several of the
bodyguards dismounted and helped to support Wen's carriage.
Just as they were gingerly making their way forward, they heard a
chirping sound coming from in front. A moment later, the sound turned
into an unearthly howl, tragic and harsh, which echoed through the
ravine causing everyone's hair to stand on end. The soldiers all
stopped in their tracks.
Then came a shout: "Those who continue will meet the King of Hell --
Those who turn back will survive."
How could the soldiers dare to continue?
A man appeared around a curve in the road ahead. "Those who continue
will meet the King of Hell, those who turn back will survive," he
intoned in a deep voice.
The soldiers recognised him as the demon that had appeared twice the
day before and had killed with just a wave of his hand, and they turned
and fled with squeals of fear. Cao Neng shouted to them to halt, but he
had to raise his sword and slay one of the soldiers before some of them
steadied. But sixty or seventy had disappeared.
"Guard the carriage," Zhang said to Rui. "I'll go and talk to these
two." He leapt passed the soldiers. "Could that be the Twin Knights up
ahead?" he asked in a loud, clear voice. "I, Zhang Zhaozhong, greet
you. There is no enmity between us. Why are you playing this game?"
The man in front laughed coldly. "Ha! So, the Twin Demons meet the Fire
Hand Judge," he said. He strode over and struck out at Zhang with such
power that his hand made a whistling sound as it cut through the air.
The road at that point was extremely narrow and Zhang was unable to
dodge to either left or right, so he countered the blow with his left
hand, putting all of his Inner Strength behind it, while also attacking
with his right palm. His opponent parried with his left hand. Their
four hands met, and they stood almost motionless for a while as they
tested each other. Suddenly, Zhang swept his left leg cross-wise in the
'Level Clouds Slicing The Peak' style. With insufficient time to evade
the blow, the man brought his hands together and drove them viciously
at Zhang's temples. Zhang leant to one side and hastily withdrew his
leg, then moved forward, and with the precipice at their side, the two
passed each other by. They had exchanged positions.
Zhang suddenly became aware of someone attacking him from behind. He
dodged out of the way and saw his assailant was another pale,
skeleton-like figure, his face exactly the same as the first.
Zhang had more than two hundred soldiers and bodyguards with him, but
they were powerless to assist because of the narrowness of the mountain
path beside the ravine.
The three fought more and more fiercely. In the midst of the battle,
one of the Twin Knights hit the rock-face by mistake and a small
avalanche of gravel rattled down off the precipice followed by a slab
of rock which plunged into the ravine. A long time passed before they
finally heard the distant crash as it hit the ground.
The battle continued for a long time. Suddenly, one of the twins struck
out with his fist, forcing Zhang to move to one side to avoid it. The
other twin then leapt over and occupied Zhang's former position beside
the stone-face and both attacked him at the same moment, attempting to
force him into the ravine.
Zhang saw one of his attacker's legs sweeping forward and stepped back
a pace, so that half of his foot was over the edge of the precipice. A
cry of fright went up from the troops. Then, Zhang felt a gust of wind
as the other twin's fist swung towards his face. Zhang was unable to
retreat, and knowing that there would be great strength behind the
blow, was also unable to counter it. If he did, his opponent would
simply be thrown back against the stone-face by the force of the
collision while he himself would certainly fall to his death. So, with
wisdom born of fear, he seized hold of his attacker's wrist, and with a
great shout threw him into the ravine.
His body in mid-air, 'Black Death' stayed calm. He drew in his legs and
performed a somersault in order to slow down the force of his fall.
Half way through the circle, he pulled a Flying Claw grapple from his
belt and threw it straight up. His brother 'White Death' had also taken
out his Flying Claw and the two grapples locked tightly, almost as if
they were shaking hands. 'White Death' jerked at the rope before the
full force of his brother's fall returned, and swung him up and over
bringing him back to earth more than a hundred feet along the mountain
path.
'White Death' saluted Zhang with his fists. "Your kung fu is very
powerful. We are impressed," he said. Then, without even bending down
to concentrate his strength, he sprang into the air, and landed several
dozen feet further away. He grabbed hold of his brother's hand and the
two disappeared round the bend.
The soldiers clustered round, some praising Zhang's kung fu, others
lamenting that 'Black Death' had not fallen to his death. Zhang said
not a word, but leaned against the rock face and slowly sat down. He
looked at his wrist and saw the jet-black impression of five fingers on
his flesh as if he had been branded, and was struck by a wave of
terror.
** 3 **
The column crossed Black Scabbard mountain, and that night another
thirty or forty soldiers deserted. Zhang discussed the situation with
Rui and the other bodyguards.
"These fellows are not going to give up even though this is the main
road to Lanzhou, the provincial capital," he said. "There's going to be
a lot more trouble ahead, so we had better make our way round by the
backroads, and cross the river at Crimson Bend."
Cao Neng had been looking forward to getting to Lanzhou so that he
could transfer his burden to other shoulders, and was very unhappy with
Zhang's plan. But he did not dare to disagree.
"We have lost many soldiers on the road," Zhang said. "When you get
back, Master Cao, you can report that they were killed during an attack
on bandits, and died courageously for their country. I will write out a
note to that effect in a moment."
Cao Neng's spirits rose again. According to the military regulations,
if a soldier was killed in action, it was possible to obtain a pension,
and the money naturally fell into the pocket of the officer in command.
They heard the roar of the Yellow River long before it came into view,
and travelled more than half a day further before arriving at the
Crimson Bend crossing. At this bend on the Yellow River, the rocks
along the banks are blood-red, hence its name. Dusk was already
approaching, but through the evening mists, they could see the fury
with which the Yellow River surged eastwards, its muddy waters bubbling
and boiling against the banks.
"We will cross the river tonight," Zhang said. "The water is dangerous
but if we delay, there may be trouble."
With the river running so fast, the crossing could only be made by
sheepskin rafts. Soldiers were sent out to search for rafts, but they
could not found any. Darkness fell. Zhang was just becoming anxious
when he spotted two sheepskin rafts shooting down the river towards
them. The soldiers shouted, and the two rafts edged towards the bank.
"Hey, boatman!" Cao shouted. "Ferry us across and we'll pay you well."
The big man on the raft stood up and waved his hand.
"You're a mute," said Cao.
"Damn your ancestors," replied the man in Cantonese. "If you're coming
then come, if you're not, then don't. You bunch of bastards. It's a
waste of time dealing with you." Cao and the others understood not a
word of it. Cao ignored him and invited Zhang and the bodyguards
escorting Wen to get onto the rafts first.
Zhang weighed up the boatman. His wide-brimmed hat hid half his face
and it was impossible to distinguish his features clearly. But the
muscles on his arms were bunched and bulging, revealing great strength,
while the oar in his hands was of a very dark colour and appeared to be
made of something other than wood. He felt something was wrong, and not
being able to swim, he could not afford to fall victim to some trick.
"Master Cao," he said. "You go first with some of the soldiers."
Cao ordered some of the soldiers onto the two rafts. The current was
rapid, but the two boatmen were highly skilled and safely delivered the
government troops to the opposite bank, and then returned to take on
another batch.
Cao boarded a raft with another group of soldiers, but just as they
left the bank, a long whistle sounded behind them which was answered by
a host of other whistles.
Zhang hastily ordered the troops to surround the carriage and guard it
closely. A crescent moon hung low in the sky. Under its light, he saw
about a dozen horses coming towards them. He galloped forward. "What's
going on?" he shouted.
The riders formed a single rank as they approached, then one in the
middle spurred his horse on and rode ahead of the others. In his hand
he held a white folding fan with which he fanned himself. "Is that the
'Fire Hand Judge' Zhang Zhaozhong?" he asked.
"It is," Zhang replied. "And who are you, sir?"
The other laughed. "We thank you for escorting our Brother Wen this
far, but we would not want to trouble you further."
"Are you Red Flower Society people?"
"Everyone praises the 'Fire Hand Judge' for his superlative mastery of
the martial arts, but he obviously has divine foresight as well," the
man replied, smiling. "You are correct. We are Red Flower Society
people." He gave a long whistle.
Zhang started slightly as he heard the two boatmen on the rafts give
answering whistles.
Cao, seated on one of the rafts, saw the enemy approaching on the
shore, and his face turned the colour of mud. The boatman stopped the
raft in midstream with a stroke of his oar.
"Thirteenth Brother!" Cao heard a crisp voice call from the other raft.
"Ready when you are."
"Right!" the boatman replied. Cao raised his spear and thrust it at
him, but the boatman deflected it deftly with his oar and then knocked
Cao and all the other soldiers on board into the river. Both boatmen
then rowed back close to the shore.
Zhang was thankful for his caution. "You have been killing government
troops the whole way," he shouted. "You have committed many
unpardonable acts. What is your position in the Red Flower Society,
sir?"
"There is no need for you to ask my name," Great Helmsman Chen said.
"Xin Yan, give me my weapons."
Xin Yan opened his bag and placed two weapons in Chen's hands.
Normally, the other heroes should have fought first, but Chen was
unable to resist the opportunity to demonstrate his skills.
Zhang jumped off his horse and strode forward. But just as he was
preparing himself for the fight, Imperial Bodyguard Zhu ran up behind
him and said: "Master Zhang, let me deal with him."
Zhang decided to let him test out the enemy first. "Be careful, Brother
Zhu," he said.
Zhu lunged forward, sword raised. He chopped out at Chen's thigh. Chen
jumped lightly off his horse and lifted the shield in his left hand to
parry the blow. In the moonlight, Zhu saw that nine glistening, sharp
hooks protruded from the face of the shield, and knew that if his sword
collided with them, it would be caught in their grasp. He started in
fright and hastily withdrew his sword. Chen then flourished the weapon
in his right hand: five cords, each one tipped with a steel ball
especially designed for hitting the Yuedao points on the human body.
Terrified by the ferocious nature of this weapon, Zhu leapt backwards,
but the cords circled round behind him, and he felt a sudden numbness
on his back. Then the cords entwined his legs and with a tug, Chen
pulled Zhu off his feet, swung him round and round, and sent him flying
straight towards a rocky outcrop nearby.
If he had hit it, he would have been smashed to pieces. But Zhang,
seeing that Zhu was completely out-classed, raced over, grabbed his
queue and pulled him down just in front of the rock face.
"Rest for a while, Brother Zhu," he said. Frozen with fear, Zhu was
unable to answer.
Zhang raised his precious 'Frozen Emerald' Sword and leapt in front of
Chen.
Zhang thrust his sword at Chen's right shoulder. Chen flipped the
chords towards the blade, while the shield in his left hand struck out
at Zhang.
As they battled, the two boatmen, 'Crocodile' Jiang and Luo Bing,
jumped ashore and ran towards the carriages, guarded by the soldiers.
Jiang charged straight into the ranks, immediately killing two of the
closest soldiers. The others frantically gave way. Luo Bing charged
over to one of the carriages, and lifted up the carriage curtain.
"Fourth Brother, are you in there?" she called. But it was 'Scholar'
Yu, still seriously wounded. Suddenly hearing Luo Bing's voice through
his stupor, he could only think that it was a dream, or that he had
died and was meeting her in the other world.
"You've come!" he cried happily.
Luo Bing knew that the voice was not her husband's and ran to the next
carriage. But before she could pull aside the curtain, a saw-toothed
sword chopped at her from the right. She parried with her sword, and
looking up at her attacker in the watery moonlight, recognised him as
one of the eight bodyguards who had attacked Wen and herself in Suzhou.
With a surge of hatred, she redoubled her attack. Rui was aware of her
ability with throwing knives and speeded up his strokes to avoid giving
her an opportunity to use them. Then two other bodyguards joined the
battle while the soldiers closed in from all sides.
Four more of the heroes led by 'Leopard' Wei galloped towards her
through a hail of arrows. One arrow planted itself in the neck of Wei's
horse, and the pain made it gallop even more furiously. The animal's
hooves hit the chest of one of the soldiers, Wei flew off the horse
with his hooks raised, and amid a chorus of screams, gouged them into
the breasts of two other soldiers. Wei then aimed the hooks at
Bodyguard Rui who was forced to abandon his attack on Luo Bing.
'Hunchback' Zhang Jin and the others also raced up and the soldiers
scattered.
Free once more, Luo Bing threw herself into the carriage and hugged
Wen's neck, then burst into tears.
After a while, Zhang Jin stuck his head in through the carriage
curtain. "Fourth Brother," he grinned. "We've come to take you back."
He climbed onto the driver's seat and the carriage moved off northwards
away from the river, and stopped by the side of a mound, from which
they could get a good view of the battle.
Suddenly, Zhang broke away from his duel with Chen and ran for Wen's
carriage.
Luo Bing saw him coming and brandished her sword at him. But Zhang's
sword was extraordinarily tough, and as they clashed with a 'clang', it
snapped her blade in two. With the rest of his strength, Zhang leapt up
into the carriage and pulled Luo Bing in with him. Greatly frightened,
the other heroes raced up to save her, and Zhang lifted her up and
threw her at them. The Twin Knights raced over and caught her.
Meanwhile, Zhang turned and grabbed Wen, and pulled him to the carriage
door. "Wen Tailai is here," he shouted. "If anyone dares to come any
closer, I'll kill him!"
The cold gleam of Zhang's 'Frozen Emerald' sword was poised at Wen's
neck.
"Fourth Brother," Luo Bing wailed, and tried to throw herself at the
carriage, but Lu Feiqing held her back and took a step forward himself.
"Zhang!" he called out. "Can you see who I am?" Zhang and he had not
seen each other for a long time and it was difficult to see clearly in
the moonlight, so Lu drew his White Dragon sword, took hold of the tip
of the blade, and bent the handle back so that it formed a circle. Then
he let the tip go and the blade bounced back upright and swayed
slightly.
Zhang grunted. "Ah, so it's Brother Lu," he said. "Why have you come
looking for me?"
"You are wounded," Lu replied. "All the heroes of the Red Flower
Society are here as well as 'Iron Gall' Zhou Zhongying. It is going to
be hard for you to escape today with your life. But in memory of our
benevolent teacher, I will give you a way out."
Zhang grunted again, but said nothing.
Suddenly they heard shouts and cries drifting over from the east, as if
a thousand armies were racing towards them. The heroes were filled with
apprehension, but Zhang was even more worried.
"This Red Flower Society is truly resourceful," he thought. "Even here
in the northwest, they can still call up huge reinforcements."
"Release Master Wen," Lu Feiqing continued, "and I will ask the heroes,
out of respect for me, to release you. But there is one thing you must
swear to."
Zhang eyed the strong enemies surrounding him. "What?" he said.
"You must swear that you will immediately retire from public life and
no longer be a running dog of the Manchus."
Zhang had pursued glory and wealth with fervour and he had risen in
rank as fast as though swept upwards up by a whirlwind. Wanting him to
give up his position was just the same as wanting his life. He released
Wen from his grip, pulled at the mule's reins, and the carriage charged
forward.
The heroes held back afraid of risking Wen's life, but Luo Bing could
not stand it. "Release him and we'll let you go without having to swear
to anything," she called desperately.
Zhang took no notice and drove the carriage on towards the ranks of
Manchu troops, who had by now regrouped.
Bodyguard Rui saw Zhang approaching and ordered the soldiers to fix
arrows in their bows in readiness. The roar of the approaching column
was getting louder and both Red Flower Society and the soldiers were
afraid that they were reinforcements for the other side.
"Brother Wei, take three others and scatter the Eagle's Claws," Chen
shouted.
Wei and the others raised their weapons and charged into the Manchu
ranks, slaughtering as they went.
A youngster darted out from behind Lu Feiqing saying: "I'm going too!"
Chen frowned: it was Li Yuanzhi, once more dressed in boy's clothes.
When Lu met up with her again after the battle, Yuanzhi had insisted
that he take her with him to help rescue Wen. Lu finally agreed, but
made her promise that she would do as she was told. Yuanzhi then wrote
a letter to her mother in which she said she had decided to go on ahead
alone to see her father in Hangzhou.
Chen quickly issued his instructions, and 'Buddha' Zhao raced after the
carriage and sent two sleeve arrows flying into the eyes of the mule
pulling it along. The mule gave a long scream and reared up on its hind
legs. The Twin Knights charged to either side of the carriage and flung
their Flying Claws at Zhang, who fended them off with his sword.
Simultaneously, Priest Wu Chen and Xu attacked Zhang's back.
"Now!" Chen shouted to Xin Yan. The two soared through the air and
landed on top of the carriage.
Zhang heard Chen and Xin Yan land above and behind him and threw a
handful of Golden Needles at them.
Chen saw the movement, and pushed Xin Yan off the carriage and placed
the shield in front of his own body. There was a patter of metallic
noises as the needles hit it, but despite the extraordinary speed of
his reflexes, he heard Xin Yan cry out. Knowing the boy had been hit,
Chen hastily leapt down to help him. Zhang threw another handful of the
needles at Priest Wu Chen and Xu. The Priest flew out of the back of
the carriage like an arrow, moving faster and further than the needles.
Xu, however, only had time to lift a cotton coverlet in the carriage to
block the needles. But his left shoulder was left exposed and with a
sudden feeling of numbness, he fell out of the carriage.
Zhang Jin raced over to help him. "Brother Xu, are you all right?" he
shouted, bending over. Suddenly he felt a great pain in his back as he
was hit by an arrow, and stumbled.
"Brothers! Everyone regroup!" Chen shouted. Arrows were flying towards
them like thick clouds of locusts. Zhang Jin put his left hand on
Priest Wu Chen's shoulder and hit out at the arrows with his wolf's
tooth club.
"Tenth Brother, don't move!" the Priest said. "Control yourself." He
stopped the flow of blood from Zhang Jin's wound with a touch to the
artery and carefully pulled the arrow out. Then he ripped a corner off
his robes and bound up the wound.
Then they saw a pitch-black mass of Manchu soldiers surging towards
them from the east.
Zhang was ecstatic at the sight of reinforcements arriving, but his
breathing was becoming difficult and he knew that his injuries were
serious. Chen and the others attacked the carriage once more, and he
lifted up Wen's body, and swung it round and round as a detachment of
cavalry charged towards the Red Flower Society fighters with sabres
raised. Chen could see that Wen would certainly be killed if they
attempted to recapture him by force, so he gave a loud whistle and
raced behind a nearby mound with the others following.
Chen conducted a head-count, and found that Xu, Zhou Qi, Yuanzhi, Lord
Zhou and Meng were missing.
"Has anyone seen Brother Xu and Lord Zhou?" Chen asked.
Zhang Jin, who was lying on the ground, raised his head and said:
"Seventh Brother was injured. Isn't he here? I'll go and find him."
He stood up, but the arrow wound on his back was too serious, and he
swayed unsteadily.
"Don't you move, Tenth Brother," said 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi. "I'll
go."
"I'll go too," added 'Crocodile' Jiang, but Chen held him back. "You
and Fourth Sister make your way to the river bank and prepare the
rafts," he said. Jiang and Luo Bing, her hopes dashed again, left.
Shi leapt onto a horse and galloped off around the mound with sword in
hand. By this time, the Manchu troops were everywhere. Shi rode up onto
higher ground and looked around, but could see no sign of Xu and the
others, so he rode into the enemy's ranks to search for them.
Not long after, Lord Zhou and Meng appeared.
"Have you seen your daughter?" Chen asked. Zhou shook his head, full of
anxiety.
"My young pupil has disappeared too," Lu Feiqing said. "I'll go and
look for them."
As he rode out, the ranks of the Manchu troops suddenly parted and
several horses charged towards him. In the lead was Priest Wu Chen
dragging Wei along with his hand. Lu started in surprise when he saw
Wei, his whole body covered in blood and dirt, and immediately moved
forward to obstruct any pursuers. But the Manchu troops did not dare to
obsttruct these ferocious-looking men and let them retreat behind the
mound.
Chen quickly went to see Wei, who was delirious, shouting: "Kill the
bastards!"
"Ninth Brother has worn himself out with all this killing," Priest Wu
Chen said. "His mind is a little confused. Nothing serious."
"Have you seen Brother Xu and Brother Shi?" Chen asked.
"I'll go and look for them" the Priest said.
"There's also Mistress Zhou and the Master Lu's pupil," Chen said.
Priest Wu Chen mounted up, sword at the ready, and charged back into
the Manchu ranks. A Manchu officer spurred his horse forward and
charged at him with spear raised, but the priest dodged the spear
thrust and drove his sword into the officer's heart. The officer
slumped off his horse and the soldiers under his command howled and
scattered in all directions. Priest Wu Chen continued his onslaught and
soldiers fell wherever his sword went. As he galloped along a stretch
of the road, he saw a crowd of soldiers with 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi in
the middle fighting fiercely with three officers.
"Get away, I'll cover you!" Priest Wu Chen shouted.
The two raced back to the mound, but there was still no indication of
what had happened to Xu and the others. A Manchu company commander led
his soldiers in an attack on the mound occupied by the Red Flower
Society, but the heroes immediately killed more than a dozen of them,
and the rest retreated.
Chen led his horse up onto the mound. "Brother Meng," he said, handing
him the reins. "Hold it steady and made sure it doesn't get hit by a
stray arrow." He leapt up onto the horse's back and stood on the
saddle. Looking around, he saw the huge Manchu column surging towards
them from the east. A bugle sounded and the column turned into a fiery
dragon as each soldier raised a torch. Amidst the glow, he saw a large
banner flowing in the wind on which he could just made out the words
"Border Pacification General Zhao" written in large characters. Each
soldier in the column was riding a tall, sturdy horse, and there was a
clanking noise as they marched, indicating they were probably wearing
armour.
Chen jumped down from the horse. "Armoured troops on the way," he
shouted. "Everyone head for the river."
Lord Zhou was very worried about his daughter, but finding her among
such a huge body of troops was impossible. The heroes helped up Wei,
Zhang Jin and the other wounded, and galloped towards the banks of the
Yellow River with the Manchu cavalry in hot pursuit. Luo Bing and Jiang
punted the sheepskin rafts up to the shore and took the wounded on
board first.
"Everyone get on the rafts quickly!" Chen yelled. "Priest Wu Chen,
Third Brother, Lord Zhou, we four will hold..."
Before he could finish, a wave of crossbow arrows flew towards them.
"Charge!" roared Priest Wu Chen, and the four threw themselves at the
first ranks of cavalry. Lord Zhou's huge sword rose and fell, cutting
Manchu soldiers down from their horses, while 'Buddha' Zhao slung
copper coins at the eye-slits in their armour. Although it was
impossible to see clearly in the dark, he still managed to blind five
or six men. By this time, everyone except Chen and the other three had
boarded the rafts.
Chen spotted a mounted officer directing the troops, and sprang over to
him. He pulled the fficer from his horse and ran for the river bank
with him under his arm. The Manchu troops rushed forward to try to save
their commanding officer, but they didn't dare to fire any arrows. Chen
leapt onto one of the rafts and Jiang and Luo Bing began to move them
out towards the centre of the river.
The Yellow River was in full flood and with the current powerful and
turbulant, the two large sheepskin rafts flew off downstream. The
hubbub of the great armed column slowly faded as the river roared
around them.
The heroes set about tending to the wounded. 'Leopard' Wei's mind
gradually cleared and his body was found to be free from wounds.
'Buddha' Zhao was an expert at medical treatment as well as with darts
and he bound up 'Iron Pagoda' Yang's and Zhang Jin's wounds. Zhang Jin
was more seriously injured, but was in no danger. Xin Yan had been hit
by several Golden Needles, and was in such pain that he cried out
continually. The needles had penetrated right through the flesh into
the bones, and Zhao took a magnet from his medicine bag and drew them
out one by one. Luo Bing rowed on silently. Not only had they failed to
rescue Wen, but 'Mastermind' Xu, Zhou Qi, Lu Feiqing and his pupil had
been lost as well, and no-one knew where 'Scholar' Yu had got to.
Chen roused the captured Manchu officer. "What the hell was your column
doing travelling through the night like that?" he asked.
The officer said nothing. Yang slapped him on the face. "Are you going
to talk?" he shouted.
"I'll talk...I'll talk," the officer said quickly, holding his cheek.
"What do you want me to say?"
"What was your column doing travelling at night?"
"General Zhao Wei received an Imperial command ordering us to attack
the Muslim areas and take them over before a certain date. He was
afraid we wouldn't make it in the time limit, and also that the Muslims
would hear of our approach and make preparations. So we've been
marching day and night."
"The Muslims are very well-behaved," said Chen. "Why are you going to
attack them?"
"That...that, I don't know." the officer said.
"If you are heading for the Muslim areas, why did you come to interfere
in our business?"
"General Zhao heard of some bandits making trouble in this area and
ordered me to lead a detail to deal with them, but the main army didn't
stop..."
Before he could finish, Yang gave him another slap. "Damn your mother!"
he shouted. "It's you who are the bandits!"
"Yes, yes! I made a mistake!" the officer cried.
Chen was silent for a while, then questioned the officer closely
regarding the army's troop strength, route and rations. Some of it the
officer didn't know, but he did not dare to hide what he did know.
"Head...For...The...Shore" Chen shouted at the top of his voice. Luo
Bing and Jiang steered the rafts towards the bank and everyone stepped
ashore.
Chen called the Twin Knights over.
"Travel back as fast as you can and find out what happened to the
others," he said. "If they have fallen into the hands of the Manchus,
they will certainly be taken back to Beijing along the Great Road. We
can intercept them further east and work out some way of rescuing
them."
The Twin Knights nodded and started out.
"Twelfth Brother," Chen continued, turning to 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi.
"I want you to do something for me."
"Whatever you say, Great Helmsman."
Chen wrote out a letter under the light of the moon.
"Please take this letter to Master Muzhuolun in the Muslim regions," he
said. "We have only met him and his people once, but they showed the
greatest friendship towards us, so we cannot stand idly by. Fourth
Sister, please lend your white horse to Twelfth Brother for the trip."
Luo Bing had kept the animal aboard the raft throughout the battle.
Shi mounted up and disappeared in a cloud of dust. With the horse's
phenomenal speed, he estimated he could overtake the army in a day and
be in time to warn Muzhuolun.
Chen then directed Jiang to tie the officer's hands behind his back.
They placed him on one of the rafts and pushed it out into the stream
and left it for Fate to decide whether he should live or die.
** 4 **
Zhou Qi was separated from the others in the midst of the battle. The
Manchu troops surged around her, and she galloped blindly off trying to
escape them. In the darkness, her horse suddenly tripped, and she
tumbled to the ground, her head crashing heavily against the hard
earth. She passed out, but luckily it was still dark, and the soldiers
did not find her.
She had been unconscious for she did not know how long when there was a
sudden bright flash before her eyes and a great roar followed by a wave
of coolness on her face. She opened her eyes and saw the sky was full
of black clouds and torrential rain sweeping down.
She jumped up. Someone beside her sat up as well, and she started in
fright and frantically grabbed for her sword. Then she gasped in
surprise: it was 'Mastermind' Xu.
"Mistress Zhou, what are you doing here?" he called out above the roar
of the rain.
Zhou Qi had never liked Xu and had gone out of her way to quarrel with
him. But he was at least one of her own people, and she burst into
tears.
"What about my father?" she asked, biting her lip.
Xu motioned her to lie down. "Soldiers," he whispered.
Zhou Qi threw herself to the ground, and they slowly crawled behind a
small mound of earth.
The sky was already light, and through the rain, they saw several dozen
Manchu soldiers hastily burying corpses, cursing as they worked. "You
two, have a look round for any more bodies," an officer shouted, and
two soldiers went onto higher ground. Looking around, they spotted Zhou
Qi and Xu and called out: "There's two more over there."
"Wait for them to come over," Xu whispered.
The soldiers walked over carrying shovels, and as they bent over them,
Zhou Qi and Xu simultaneously thrust their swords into the bellies of
the two. They died without a sound.
The officer waited for a while, but with no sign of the soldiers
returning and the rain getting heavier, he rode over to investigate.
"Don't make a sound. I'll steal his horse," Xu whispered. As the
officer rode closer, he saw the bodies of the two soldiers, but before
he could call out, Xu leapt up and slashed at him with his sword. The
officer raised his horse whip to stop the blow, but both his whip and
head were sliced off.
"Mount up quickly!" Xu called, holding the horse's reins. Zhou Qi leapt
onto the horse and galloped off with Xu running along behind.
The Manchu troops began to give chase. After only a few dozen paces,
the pain in Xu's shoulder where he had been hit by the Golden Needles
became unbearable and he fell to the ground with a cry. Zhou Qi reined
the horse round and galloped back. Leaning over, she pulled him across
the saddle, then slapped the horse's haunches and raced off again. The
soldiers soon dropped far behind.
When they had gone some distance, Zhou Qi stopped and had a look at Xu.
His eyes were tightly closed, his face white and his breathing shallow.
Greatly frightened, she sat him properly on the horse, then with her
left arm around his waist to keep him from falling, galloped on,
keeping to lonely, deserted tracks. After a while, she saw an
inky-black section of forest ahead and rode in amongst the trees. The
rain had stopped, and she dismounted and continued on foot leading the
horse with Xu on it behind her until she came to a clearing in the
forest. Xu was still unconscious, and Zhou Qi lifted him off the horse
and laid him on the grass. Then she sat down, letting the horse wander
off to graze. Here she was, a young girl not yet twenty, alone in a
strange forest. She began to sob, her tears falling onto Xu's face.
Xu slowly recovered consciousness and thought it was raining again. He
opened his eye a little way and saw a beautiful face before him with
two big eyes red from crying. His left shoulder began hurting again and
he cried out in pain.
Zhou Qi was overjoyed to see he was still alive. "How are you?" she
asked.
"My shoulder is extremely painful. Please look at it for me, Mistress
Zhou," he replied. He forced himself to sit up and used his right hand
to cut a hole in the shoulder of his jacket with his knife.
"I was hit by three Golden Needles here," he said, examining the
shoulder out of the corner of his eye." The needles were small, but
they had penetrated deep into the flesh.
"What shall we do?" Zhou Qi asked. "Shall we go to a town and find a
doctor?"
"We can't do that," replied Xu. "After last night's battle, going to
see a doctor would be like walking straight into a trap. What we really
need is a magnet to draw the needles out, but we don't have one. I
wonder if I could ask you to cut away the flesh and pull them out?"
During the night battle, Zhou Qi had killed quite a number of the
Manchu troops without losing her composure once. But now, faced with
the prospect of cutting away the flesh on Xu's
shoulder, she hesitated.
"I can't stand the pain," he pleaded. "Do it now...no, wait. Do you
have a tinder box with you?"
Zhou Qi felt around in her bag. "Yes. What do you want it for?"
"Collect some dried grass and leaves and burn up some ash. When you've
pulled the needles out, you can cover the wound with the ash and then
bandage it."
She did as he said and burnt up a large pile of ash.
"That's fine," said Xu with a laugh. "There's enough there to stop a
hundred wounds bleeding."
"I'm just a stupid girl," Zhou Qi replied crossly. "Come and do it
yourself."
She pressed on his shoulder beside the needle holes. As her fingers
came into contact with male flesh, she involuntarily pulled back and
her whole face turned bright red down to the roots of her hair.
Xu noticed her blush, but misinterpreted her reaction in spite of his
nickname.
"Are you afraid?" he asked.
"What have I got to be afraid of?" she replied, suddenly angry. "It's
you that's afraid! Turn your head away and don't look."
Xu did as he was told. Zhou Qi pressed the skin around the needle holes
tightly, then slipped the tip of the knife into the flesh and slowly
began to turn it. Blood flowed out of the wound. Xu silently gritted
his teeth, his whole face covered in beads of sweat the size of
soyabeans. She cut away the flesh until the end of a needle appeared,
then grasping it tightly between the thumb and forefinger, pulled it
out.
Xu forced himself to maintain his jocular front.
"It's a pity that needle doesn't have an eye to thread through,
otherwise I'd give it to you to use in embroidery," he said.
"I can't do embroidery," Zhou Qi replied. "Last year, my mother told me
to learn, but I kept snapping the needle or breaking the thread. She
scolded me, and I said: "Mother, I can't do it, you teach me." But she
said 'I've no time.' Afterwards I discovered that she can't do
embroidery either."
Xu laughed. As they had been talking, another needle had been removed.
"I didn't really want to learn," Zhou Qi continued with a smile. "But
when I found out that mother didn't know how, I pushed her to teach me.
But I couldn't catch her out. She said: 'If you don't know how to sew,
I don't know how you'll....'"
She stopped in mid-sentence. Her mother had said: "I don't know you'll
ever find a husband."
"Don't you know how you'll what?" asked Xu.
"I don't feel like telling you."
As they talked, her hands never stopped, and the third needle was
finally out as well. She covered the wound with ash, then bandaged it
with strips of cloth. She couldn't help but admire him for the way he
continued to smile and chat to her despite the pain.
"He may be short, but he's a brave man," she thought. By this time, her
hands were covered in blood.
"You lie here and don't move," she said. "I'll go and find some water
to drink."
She looked at the lie of the land, then ran out of the trees. Several
hundred paces away, she found a small stream which was flowing swiftly
after the heavy rain. As she bent down to wash her hands, she caught
sight of her reflection in the water, the dishevelled hair, her wet and
crumpled clothes, and her face, covered in blood and dirt.
"Damn!" she thought. "How could I let him see me looking so awful?"
She washed her face clean, combed her hair with her fingers. Then,
scooping water from the stream, she drank deeply. She knew Xu would
certainly be thirsty too, but had nothing in which to carry water.
After a moment's thought, she took a piece of clothing from the
knapsack on her back, dipped it in the stream so that it was soaking
wet than ran back.
Zhou Qi could see from his face that he was in great pain, although he
was trying to appear unconcerned, and feelings of tenderness stirred
within her. She told him to open his mouth and squeezed water into it
from the cloth.
"Is it very painful?" she asked softly.
Xu's whole life has been spent amidst mountains of knives and forests
of spears, or else in the shady world of plots and traps; no-one had
ever spoken to him with the warmth and softness he detected now in Zhou
Qi's voice. Deeply moved, he steadied himself. "I am a little better
now. Thank you."
"We can't stay here," Xu said after he had drunk some water. "Nor can
we go to any town. All we can do is to find a secluded farmhouse and
say that we are brother and sister..."
"You want me to call you brother?" asked Zhou Qi, astounded.
"If you feel that I'm too old, you could call me uncle," he suggested.
"Pah! Do you think you look like my uncle? I'll call you my brother,
but only when there are other people around. When we're on our own, I
won't."
"All right, you don't have to," he replied with a smile. "We'll say
that we met the army on the road and were attacked by the soldiers who
stole all our possessions."
Having agreed on their story, Zhou Qi helped him to mount the horse.
The two made their way out of the trees, and chose a small track
heading straight towards the sun.
The northwest is a desolate place. Hungry and tired, they had to travel
for more than two hours before finally spotting a mud hut.
Xu dismounted and knocked at the door. After a moment, an old woman
came out. Seeing the strange clothes they were wearing, she looked at
them suspiciously. Xu gave her some of the story they had concocted,
and she sighed.
"These government troops, always making trouble," she said. "What is
your name sir?"
"My name is Zhou," said Xu.
Zhou Qi glanced at him but said nothing. The old woman invited them
inside and brought out some wheat cakes. They were black and rough, but
hungry as they were, tasted delicious.
"Old woman," said Xu, "I am wounded and am not able to travel. We would
like to spend the night here."
"There's no problem about your staying here, but poor people's homes
have little to eat in them, so don't blame me on that account, sir."
"We are eternally thankful that you are willing to put us up," Xu
replied. "My sister's clothes are all wet. If you have any old clothes,
I would appreciate it if you would allow her to change into them."
"My daughter-in-law left some clothes behind. If you don't mind,
mistress, you could try them on. They'll probably fit."
Zhou Qi went to change. When she came out, she saw Xu was already
asleep in the old woman's room.
Towards evening, Xu began babbling incoherently, Zhou Qi felt his
forehead and found it feverish. She decided his wounds must be
festering. She knew such a condition was extremely dangerous, and
turned to the old woman. "Is there a doctor near here?" she asked.
"Yes, there is, in Wenguang town about twenty li east of here," the old
woman replied. "The most capable one is Doctor Cao, but he never comes
out to country places like this to see patients."
"I'll go and fetch him," Zhou Qi said. "I'll leave my...my brother
here. Please keep an eye on him."
"Don't you worry about that, miss," the old woman replied. "But the
doctor won't come."
Zhou Qi stowed her sword beside the horse's saddle and galloped off.
Night had already fallen when she entered Wenguang town.
She asked a passer-by where Doctor Cao lived, then galloped straight on
to his residence. She knocked on the door for a long time before a man
finally opened it.
"It's already dark. What are you banging on the door like that for?"
the man demanded.
Zhou Qi was furious at his manner, but remembered that she was
appealing for help. "I've come to ask Doctor Cao to visit a patient,"
she said, controlling herself.
"He's not in," said the man. Without another word, he turned and began
to close the door.
Panic-striken, Zhou Qi pulled him out of the doorway and drew her
sword. "Where's he gone to? Quickly!"
"He's gone to Little Rose's," the man replied in a quavering voice.
Zhou Qi brushed the blade over his face. "What is Little Rose's?"
The man was frantic with fright. "Your Excellency...Miss, Little Rose
is a prostitute," he said.
"Prostitutes are bad people. What's he gone to her place for?" Zhou Qi
asked.
The man wanted to laugh at the sight of this girl who was so ferocious
and yet so ignorant of worldly matters, but he did not dare. "She is a
good friend of our master," he said.
"Lead me there quickly."
With the sword resting on his neck, he dared not disobey and led her
off down the street.
"This is it," he said, pointing to a small house.
"Knock on the door. Tell the doctor to come out."
The man did as she said, and the door was opened by the Madame of the
house.
"This lady wants my master to go to visit a patient," the man said. "I
told her the master was busy, but she wouldn't believe me and forced me
to come here."
The Madame gave him a look of contempt and slammed the door.
Zhou Qi rushed forward to stop her, but was too late. She beat
thunderously on the door for a while, but not a sound came from inside.
Absolutely furious, she kicked the man to the ground.
"Get lost!" she shouted.
The man picked himself up and ran off.
Zhou Qi waited until he had disappeared then leapt over the wall into
the courtyard of the house. She saw light coming from a room nearby,
and stealthily made her way over towards it. Crouching down, she heard
two men talking. She licked the tip of her finger, then wet a small
part of the window paper and made a hole in it. Putting her eye to the
hole, she saw two men lying on a couch, talking. One was stout, and the
other thin and tall. A tartishly seductive girl was pummelling the thin
man's thighs. The stout man give a wave of his hand and the girl stood
up.
"I can see you two want to discuss more ways of creating mischief," she
said with a smile. "You ought to accumulate some good deeds, otherwise
you may give birth to sons without arseholes."
"Damned nonsense," the stout man shouted back with a laugh. The girl
smiled and walked out, locked the door, then turned and went into an
inner hall.
"That must be Little Rose," Zhou Qi thought. "She's really shameless,
but there's some truth in what she said."
She watched as the stout man pulled out four silver ingots and placed
them on the table.
"Brother Cao," he said. "There's two hundred taels of silver. We are
old business partners, and that's the old price."
"Master Tang," the thin man replied: "Take these two packets of
medicine, and have a good time. The red packet you give to the girl,
and in less time than it takes to eat a meal, she will be unconscious
to the world and you can do whatever you like with her. You don't need
me to teach you anything about that, do you?"
The two men laughed together.
"This black packet you give to the man," Cao continued. "Tell him it
will speed his recovery. Soon after he takes it, his wounds will begin
discharging blood and he will die. It will appear that his wounds have
simply re-opened and no-one will suspect you. What do you think of such
a ruse?"
"Excellent, excellent," Tang replied.
"So, Master Tang, you have gained both the girl and the money. Doesn't
two hundred taels seem like rather a small reward for such a service?"
"We are brothers, and I wouldn't try to deceive you," the other said.
"The girl certainly has a pretty face. I could hardly restrain myself
even when I thought she was a boy because of the way she was dressed.
But there is nothing much special about the man, except that he's with
the girl, so I cannot allow him to live."
"Didn't you say he had a flute made out of gold?" Cao asked. "That
flute must weigh several catties alone."
"All right, all right, I'll add another fifty taels," Tang said, and
pulled out another ingot.
Zhou Qi became angrier and angrier as she listened, and ran to the
door, kicked it open and charged straight inside. Tang gave a shout and
aimed a flying kick at Zhou Qi's sword wrist. Zhou Qi flipped the sword
over and smoothly cut off his right foot then thrust the blade into his
heart.
The thin man stood to one side, struck dumb with fright. His whole body
shook and his teeth chattered. Zhou Qi pulled her sword out of Tang's
corpse and wiped the blood off the blade onto his clothes, then grabbed
the thin man.
"Are you Doctor Cao?" she shouted. The man's legs folded and he fell to
his knees.
"Please...miss...spare my life..."
"Who wants your life? Get up."
Cao shakily stood up, but his knees were still rubbery, and he had to
kneel down again. Zhou Qi put the five silver ingots and two packets of
medicine on the table into her pocket.
"Out," she ordered.
She told him to fetch his horse, and the two mounted up and galloped
out of the town. In less than two hours, they arrived at the old
woman's hut. Zhou Qi ran to Xu and found him still unconscious. In the
candlelight, she could see his whole face was bright red and knew he
had a terrible fever. She dragged Cao over.
"My, er, brother here has been wounded. Cure him quickly," she ordered.
Hearing that he was expected to give medical treatment, Cao's fears
eased slightly. He looked at Xu's complexion and took his pulse, then
undid the bandage round his shoulder and looked at the wound. He shook
his head.
"The master is deficient in both blood and breath," he said. "His body
heat is rising..."
"Who wants to hear all that?" Zhou Qi interrupted him. "You just cure
him quickly. If you don't, you can forget about ever leaving here."
"I'll go to the town to get some medicine," Cao said. "Without medicine
I cannot do anything."
Xu awoke and he lay listening to the two talking.
"Huh, do you think I'm a three-year-old child?" Zhou Qi demanded. "You
make out the prescription and I'll go and buy the medicine."
Cao had no alternative. "Well, please bring me a pen and paper, Miss,"
he said.
But where was pen and paper to be found in such a poor hut in such a
desolate place? Zhou Qi frowned, at a loss for what to do.
"The master's condition will not allow delay," said Cao with an air of
complacency. "It would be best if you let me return to the town to get
the medicine."
"Sister," Xu said, "Take a small piece of firewood and burn it to
charcoal, then let him write on a piece of rough paper. If that can't
be done, you could write on a piece of wood."
"What a good idea!" Zhou Qi exclaimed happily, and burnt up a piece of
firewood as he had said. The old woman searched out a piece of yellow
paper originally meant to be burnt in worship of Buddha, and Cao made
out the prescription. When he had finished, Zhou Qi found a length of
grass rope and tied his hands behind his back, bound his legs together
and put him on the floor next to Xu.
"I'm going to the town to buy medicine," she told the old woman as she
placed Xu's sword beside his pillow. If this dog doctor tries to
escape, wake up my brother and he can kill him."
Zhou Qi rode back to the town and found a medicine shop. She shouted
for the shop-keeper to open up and got him to fill the prescription,
which was for more that ten different types of medicine.
The sky was growing light. She saw village militiamen patrolling the
streets and guessed that the murder at Little Rose's had been
discovered. She shrank into a corner and waited until they had passed
before galloping off.
As soon as she had returned to the old woman's hut, she hastily brewed
up the medicine then poured it into a rough bowl and took it over to
Xu. She shook him awake and told him to drink the medicine.
Xu was extremely moved at the sight of her face covered with sweat and
ash and her hair filled with twigs and grass. He knew she was the
daughter of a rich family and would never before have had to do this
sort of work. He sat up and took the bowl from her and passed it over
to Cao.
"You drink two mouthfuls," he said. Cao hesitated slightly and Zhou Qi
realised Xu's meaning.
"Yes, yes," she said. "He must drink some first. You don't know how
evil this man is," she added to Xu.
Cao opened his mouth and drank two mouthfuls.
"Rest for a while, sister," said Xu. "I'll wait a while before drinking
the medicine."
"Yes," said Zhou Qi. "Let's see if he dies first. If he dies, you
mustn't drink the medicine."
She moved the oil lamp next to Cao's face and watched him with her big,
black, unblinking eyes to see whether he would die or not.
"We doctors have the best interest of our patients at heart. Why would
I want to harm him?" Cao said, smiling bitterly.
"That secret discussion you had with that man Tang about harming some
girl and getting hold of someone else's golden flute, I heard it all,"
Zhou Qi said angrily. "Do you deny it?"
Xu's ears pricked up at the mention of a golden flute and he quickly
asked her about it. Zhou Qi related the conversation she had heard, and
how she had killed a man at Little Rose's.
Xu asked Cao: "Who is the person with the Golden flute? And who is the
girl who was dressed as a boy?"
Zhou Qi drew her sword and stood by him threateningly. "If you don't
tell us everything you know, I'll run you through with my sword
immediately," she told him.
"I...I'll tell you," said Cao, absolutely terrified. "Yesterday Master
Tang came to see me and said that two people had asked to take lodgings
at his home. He said one was very badly wounded and the other was a
pretty youngster. At first he was unwilling to take them in, but seeing
how extraordinarily beautiful the youngster was, he let them stay for
one night. He noticed the youngster's voice and manner were just like a
girl's. Also, the youngster wasn't willing to share a room with the
other, so he concluded it must be a girl dressed in boy's clothes."
"So you sold him some poison," Zhou Qi said.
"I deserve to die," replied Cao.
"What was the man like?" Xu asked.
"Master Tang asked me to examine him. He was about twenty-three or
four, dressed as a scholar, and had sword and club wounds in seven or
eight places."
"Were the wounds serious?" asked Xu.
"Very serious. But they were all external wounds. He wasn't wounded on
any fatal points."
Xu saw he would not gain much by continuing the questioning and
gingerly raised the bowl of medicine. But his hands shook and some of
the medicine slopped out. Zhou Qi took the bowl from him and raised it
to his mouth. He drank the brew down as she held the bowl, then thanked
her.
"These two bandits are not brother and sister," Cao thought as he
watched. "Whoever heard of a brother saying thank you to his sister?"
After drinking the medicine, Xu slept for a while, his whole body
sweating profusely, and towards evening, the sickness began to recede.
The next day, Xu was more than half recovered and he was able to get
up.
After another day, he decided he could just about manage to ride a
horse.
"That man with the golden flute is Fourteenth Brother," he said to Zhou
Qi. "I wonder why he should seek lodgings with such a man? But seeing
as you've already killed Tang, they shouldn't have had too much
trouble. But I'm still a little worried. Let's go tonight and see what
the situation is."
"Fourteenth Brother?" Zhou Qi asked.
"'Scholar' Yu. He was also at Iron Gall Manor. You've seen him before."
"Oh, if I had known it was him I would have brought him along with me,
then the two of you could have convalesced together."
Xu smiled. "But who could this girl dressed in boy's clothing be?" he
wondered, mystified.
That evening, Zhou Qi gave the old woman two of the silver ingots and
she accepted them with effusive blessings and thanks. Zhou Qi then
pulled Cao up, and with a swish of her blade, cut off his right ear.
"I'm only sparing your worthless life because you cured my brother,"
she shouted. "If I ever catch you doing evil again,I'll stick my sword
straight into your heart."
"We'll visit you again in three months time, to check up," Xu warned.
"You ride his horse and we'll leave," Zhou Qi said to Xu. The two
mounted up and galloped off towards Wenguang town.
"Why did you say we would be coming back in three months' time?" Zhou
Qi asked.
"I was just deceiving the doctor so that he wouldn't give the old woman
any trouble," Xu replied.
Zhou Qi nodded and they continued on for a while.
"Why are you always so crafty with people?" she suddenly asked. "I
don't like it."
"You don't realise how many evil people there are in the world," he
said after a long silence. "When dealing with friends, love and justice
should always come first, of course. But when dealing with bad people,
you must be very careful otherwise you will be tricked and will
suffer."
"My father say it's better to suffer yourself than to cheat other
people," Zhou Qi said.
"That is what makes your father the great man that he is," replied Xu.
"Well, why don't you imitate my father?"
"Lord Zhou is benevolent and generous by nature. I am afraid that such
a perverse person as myself would never be able to emulate him."
"That's what I dislike most about you: your perverse temper. My father
says that if you treat others well, they will also naturally treat you
well in return."
Xu didn't reply.
The two waited until it was dark before entering the town. They found
Tang's residence and climbed over the wall toinvestigate. Xu caught a
watchman and, threatening him with a knife, asked him about 'Scholar'
Yu's whereabouts. The watchman said the two lodgers had left during the
confusion after Doctor Cao had killed Master Tang at Little Rose's.
"We'll chase after them," Zhou Qi said.
** 5 **
In less than a day, they had passed Lanzhou. Two days further on, Xu
discovered markings on the road left by Chen saying that everyone
should meet in Kaifeng. Zhou Qi was delighted to hear that the main
group was all right. She had been very worried about her father, but
she now relaxed and drank some wine to celebrate. The wound on Xu's
shoulder had by now closed and he was fully recovered. They chatted as
they travelled. Xu told her stories of the fighting community and
explained all its taboos and rules. She took it all in eagerly.
"Why didn't you talk about these things before, instead of always
quarrelling with me?" she asked.
That day they arrived at Tongguan, a gateway town between central China
and the northwest, and searched for lodgings. They heard that the old
Yuelai Inn was the best, but when they got there, they were told there
was only one room left.
Zhou Qi was impressed with how refined and polite Xu had been towards
her, a real gentleman. But now, suddenly faced with the prospect of
having to share a room with him, she was both embarrassed and
suspicious.
As soon as they were in the room, Xu barred the door. Zhou Qi's face
went bright red and she was just about to speak when Xu hurriedly
silenced her with a wave of his hand.
"Did you see that Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency scoundrel just now?" he
whispered.
"What?" said Zhou Qi, startled. "You mean the one who led the others
round to capture Master Wen and caused the death of my brother?"
"I only caught a glimpse of him so I can't be absolutely sure. I was
afraid he would see us, which is why I rushed us into the room. We'll
go and investigate in a while."
The servant came in with some hot tea and asked if they wanted anything
to eat. Xu ordered a few dishes, then said:
"Several eminent gentlemen from the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency are also
staying here, I think?"
"Yes," replied the servant. "Whenever they pass through Tongguan, they
always give us their custom."
Xu waited for the servant to leave. "That Lead Escort Tong is the
ringleader and chief troublemaker," he said. "We'll finish him off
tonight and properly avenge your brother and Master Wen."
Zhou Qi thought once again of her brother's tragic death and the
burning of Iron Gall Manor, and her anger surged.
"Lie down for a while and rest," said Xu, seeing her impatience. "We
can wait until nightfall before making our move and still have plenty
of time."
He sat down at the table and settled himself for sleep without so much
as glancing further in Zhou Qi's direction. Zhou Qi had no option but
to suppress her anger. She sat down on the kang and tried to rest. The
time dragged by until the second bell struck, one hour to midnight, and
she decided she could control herself no longer.
"Let's go," she said, drawing her sword.
"There are many of them, and some may be good fighters," Xu whispered.
"Let us investigate first. We'll think of some way to lure Tong out,
then deal with him alone."
Zhou Qi nodded.
They went into the courtyard and saw a lamp shining in a room on the
eastern side. They walked stealthily over. Zhou Qi found a rip in the
window paper and looked through while Xu stood behind her keeping a
look out. Suddenly, she stood up and kicked out at the window. Xu
started in fright, and shot in front of her, blocking her way. Zhou Qi
hurriedly retracted her leg as it was about to strike Xu's chest, and
overbalanced. He knelt down close to her.
"What is it?" he whispered.
"Do something, quick," she hissed. "My mother's in there. They've got
her tied up."
Xu was startled. "Back to the room quickly and we'll discuss it there,"
he said.
They returned to the room.
"What is there to discuss?" demanded Zhou Qi desperately. "They've
captured my mother."
"Control yourself. I will rescue her for you," Xu replied. "How many
people were there in the room?"
"About six or seven."
Xu hung his head, deep in thought.
"What are you afraid of?" Zhou Qi asked. "If you won't do it, I'll go
by myself."
"I'm not afraid. I'm thinking of a way to save your mother and kill
that fellow at the same time. It would be best if we did the two things
together."
Just then, footsteps passed by the door, and they heard a man
muttering: "Midnight and these lead escorts are still at it. What are
they doing drinking at this time? Damn their mothers! May the blessed
Buddha make sure they meet up with robbers on the road."
Suddenly, Xu had an idea. "That Doctor Cao gave you two packets of
medicine, didn't he?" he said to Zhou Qi. "Give me the one he said
would make you unconscious, quickly."
Zhou Qi gave him the packet. "What are you going to do?" she asked. Xu
didn't answer, but opened the window and jumped out with Zhou Qi close
behind.
They ran along the corridor. Suddenly Xu whispered: "Get down, don't
move."
Zhou Qi wondered what trick he was up to. A moment passed, then
suddenly they saw a flicker of light as the servant came back towards
them carrying a candlestick and a tray. Xu picked a pebble off the
ground and threw it, extinguishing the candle.
The servant started in surprise. "This is damn ridiculous," he cursed.
"There's no wind at all, and yet the candle goes out."
He put down the tray and turned to relight the candle. While his back
was turned, Xu darted out, and in a flash, he had tipped the medicine
into the two pots of wine on the tray and slipped away without the
servant noticing.
"Let's go and wait outside their room," he said to Zhou Qi.
They made their way round to the exterior of the lead escort's room and
settled down to wait. Xu looked in through the hole in the window
covering and saw a middle-aged woman seated on the floor with her hands
tied behind her back. There were several men sitting around her,
including Master Han, the white horse's former owner, and Lead Escorts
Qian and Tong. They were engaged in a lively discussion.
"When people talked of Iron Gall Manor, they always said it was
impregnable as if it had walls of iron," Tong was saying. "But with
just my one torch, it was razed to the ground. Ha ha!"
Outside the window, Xu shook his hand at Zhou Qi, afraid that she would
have a fit of rage.
"Old Tong, stop bragging," Han replied. "I've met Zhou and I doubt if
all of us together could beat him. If he ever comes looking for you,
you'll be in a pretty situation!"
"But look!" replied Taong. "We must have a lucky star, otherwise how
could Zhou's old woman manage to find us? With her in our hands, how
would he dare to do anything to us?"
Just then, the servant entered with the wine and food, and the
bodyguards immediately began eating and drinking heartily. Han was
quiet and dispirited and Tong continually urged him to drink the wine,
saying "Brother Han, even heroes are helpless when they're outnumbered.
Next time, we'll take the Red Flower Society one to one and see who's
the better."
"And who are you going to take on, old Tong?" asked another of the
bodyguards.
"I'm going to find that daughter of Zhou's..." Before he could finish,
he slumped to the floor. The others all started in fright, but as they
jumped up to help him, and one by one, they dropped to the ground
unconscious.
Xu prised the window open with sword, then leapt into the room. Zhou Qi
hurriedly cut the ropes which bound her mother's hands. Lady Zhou was
speechless at the sight of her beloved daughter: she felt as if she was
in a dream.
Xu lifted Tong up. "Mistress Zhou," he said, "Avenge your brother."
With a sweep of her sword, Zhou Qi killed Tong instantly. She raised
her sword again to kill the other lead escorts, but Xu stopped her.
"The crimes of the others do not deserve death. Spare them," he said.
She nodded and withdrew her sword. Lady Zhou knew her daughter's
temper, and was surprised at how she obeyed Xu.
Xu searched the bodies of the lead escorts and found several letters
which he placed in his gown, planning to examine them later.
The three returned to their room. Xu picked up their knapsacks and left
a small silver ingot on the table in payment for the room and the food.
Then they went to the stables, led out three horses and galloped off
eastwards.
When she realized her daughter was not only travelling with a man but
had shared a room with him, Lady Zhou's suspicions rose even further.
Her temper was as explosive as her daughter's.
"Who is this gentleman?" she asked accusingly. "How come you are with
him? You lost your temper with you father and left, didn't you?"
"It was you that lost your temper and left," Zhou Qi replied. "Mother,
I'll talk to you about this later."
It looked as if an argument was about to start, and Xu quickly tried to
mediate.
"It's all your fault," Zhou Qi told him angrily. "Do you want to make
it worse?"
Xu smiled and walked away. Mother and daughter pouted silently, each
thinking her own thoughts.
That night, they took lodgings in a farm house, and once they were in
bed, mother and daughter together, Zhou Qi finally told her everything
that had happened. Lady Zhou kept up a constant bombardment of
questions and the two were crying one minute and laughing the next. It
was past midnight before they had each given a rough sketch of the
events since they parted.
Heartbroken and angry over the death of her son, Lady Zhou had gone to
Lanzhou to stay with relatives, but after a few days, she began to feel
restless, and left. On reaching Tongguan, he saw the Zhen Yuan Agency's
flag outside the Yuelai Inn. She remembered that the man responsible
for her son's death was a Lead Escort Tong and that evening she had
gone to the inn to investigate. She listened to the lead escorts
talking, and discovered Tong was among them. Unable to control her
anger, she attacked him, but the agency men had the superiority of
numbers and she was captured.
The next day on the road, Lady Zhou asked Xu about hisfamily
background.
"I am from Shaoxing in Zhejiang province," Xu replied. "When I was
twelve, all the members of my family were killed by the authorities. I
was the only one who managed to escape."
"Why did they do that?" asked Lady Zhou.
"The magistrate of Shaoxing prefecture liked my sister and wanted her
as his concubine. But she had already been promised to someone else, so
my father naturally refused to agree. The magistrate then accused my
father of being in collusion with bandits and put him and my mother and
brother in prison. He told my sister that all she had to do was agree,
and my father would be released. My sister's husband-to-be went to
assassinate the magistrate, but he was caught and beaten to death by
the guards. When my sister heard, she drowned herself in the river.
After that, what chance did the rest of the family have of being
spared?"
"Did you get revenge?" Zhou Qi asked.
"When I had grown up and had learned the martial arts, I went back to
look for the magistrate, but he had been promoted and transferred
somewhere else. In the last few years, I've been everywhere looking for
him, but I've never had any news."
Lady Zhou also asked him if he was married, and said that having
travelled about so much, he must surely have seen some girl he liked?
"He's too cunning. No girl would want him," Zhou Qi said with a laugh.
"Enough of your remarks, young lady," Lady Zhou scolded her.
"You want to become his match-maker, don't you?" Zhou Qi said with a
smile. "Which girl are you thinking of? One of your relatives in
Lanzhou?"
When they lodged at an inn that night, Lady Zhou spoke plainly to her
daughter.
"A virgin like yourself, travelling together with a young man and
staying in the same room! How do you expect to ever be able to marry
anyone else?" she said.
"He was wounded," Zhou Qi replied angrily. "Did I do wrong to save him?
He may be full of cunning tricks but he has been very gentlemanly
towards me all along."
"You know that, and so does he. I believe you, and your father would
believe you too. But how are other people going to believe it? If your
husband ever suspected, you would never be able to face him again. That
is the difficulty we women have."
"Well then, I shall never marry," shouted Zhou Qi.
"Shh! Master Xu is just in the next room." Lady Zhou said. "It would be
very embarrassing if he should hear."
"Why should I be afraid? I haven't done anything wrong. Why do you want
to deceive him?"
When they arose next morning, a servant brought a letter to them.
"Master Xu next door told me to give this to your Ladyships," he said.
"The master said he had some affairs to attend to and had to go on
ahead. He rode out early this morning."
Zhou Qi snatched the letter from him.
"Dear Lady Zhou and Mistress Zhou," it said. "Mistress Zhou Qi saved my
life when I was wounded and I am very grateful to her. You are now
reunited and can make your way from here to Kaifeng, which is not far.
Please do not be offended that I have gone on ahead. I will naturally
never forget how Mistress Zhou saved me, but please rest assured that I
will never mention a word of it to anyone. Yours, Xu."
Zhou Qi finished reading and stood dumbfounded for a second. Then she
threw the letter away and lay back down on the kang. Lady Zhou told her
to get up and eat, but she took no notice.
"My daughter, we are not in Iron Gall Manor now," Lady Zhou said. "What
are you losing your temper for?" Zhou Qi still took no notice.
"You're angry at him for leaving, aren't you?" Lady Zhou said.
"He did it for my sake. Why should I blame him?" Zhou Qi replied
angrily. She turned over and covered her head with the coverlet.
"Then why do you blame me?" asked Lady Zhou.
Zhou Qi suddenly sat up.
"He must have heard what you said last night. He was afraid other
people would gossip and make it impossible for me to marry, so he left.
But why worry about whether I'll marry or not? I refuse to marry
anyone. I refuse to marry anyone!"
Lady Zhou saw she was crying as she spoke, and realized that she had
fallen in love with Xu. She had unwittingly revealed her feelings
without fully understanding them herself.
"You are the only daughter I have," Lady Zhou comforted her. "Do you
think I don't love you? When we get to Kaifeng I'll speak to your
father and get him to take charge of this matter so that you can be
betrothed to Master Xu. Don't worry yourself. Your mother will see to
everything."
"Who said I wanted to marry him?" Zhou Qi replied hurriedly. "The next
time I see someone dying in front of me, I won't do anything to save
him, not the slightest thing."
** 6 **
Xu followed Chen's secret markings to Kaifeng and met the heroes at the
home of the local society leader there. The heroes were very happy to
see that he was all right, and a banquet was held to welcome him. By
this time, Zhang Jin, 'Leopard' Wei and Xin Yan had all recovered from
their wounds. 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi had not yet returned from the
Muslim border regions and the Twin Knights were still trying to find
out what had happened to Wen.
Xu did not mention anything about Lady Zhou or Zhou Qi to Lord Zhou. He
was afraid that if questioned closely, it would be difficult to word
his answers. And anyway, he thought, they will be here within a day. So
he only told the heroes about what he had heard of 'Scholar' Yu: that
he was badly wounded and travelling with a girl dressed as a boy. They
discussed the matter for a while but could not think who the girl could
be. They were all worried about his safety, but Yu was quick-witted and
they were confident he would be all right.
Early next morning, Zhou Qi arrived by herself and her father and the
others were delighted to see her. After greetings were over, she said
quietly to Xu: "Come with me. I have something to say to you."
He walked slowly after her. He thought she wanted to berate him for
leavng them behind, but he was wrong.
"My mother won't come to see my father," Zhou Qi whispered. "Think of
something."
"Well, ask your father to go to see her," said Xu, surprised.
"She still wouldn't be willing to see him. She goes on and on about the
death of my brother, saying my father has no conscience."
Xu thought for a moment. "All right," he said finally. "I have an
idea." He quietly gave her instrucitons.
"Will it work?" she asked.
"Definitely. You'd better go immediately."
Xu waited until she had left, then returned to sit with the other
heroes. When the appointed hour arrived, he quietly said to Lord Zhou:
"I understand the Bamboo Garden restaurant next to the Iron Pagoda
Temple is famous for its excellent wine. Let us go and try it."
"Good idea! I will be the host," replied Zhou, who was always
interested in wine. "We can all go and drink our fill."
"The eyes and ears of officials are numerous in this city. It would not
be a good idea for all of us to go," Xu replied. "Perhaps if just the
Great Helmsman and I accompanied you, what do you think?"
"All right," Zhou replied. "Once again, it is you that thinks things
out most carefully."
After speaking to Chen, the three went directly to the Iron Pagoda
Temple. The Bamboo Garden was as good as its reputation. The three men
talked, ate Yellow River carp and drank wine until they were drunk.
Xu raised his cup to Zhou. "I drink to you, Lord Zhou, in honour of
your being reunited today with your daughter," he said.
Zhou drank a mouthful and sighed.
"You are not happy," Xu continued. "Is it because Iron Gall Manor was
burned to the ground?"
"Wealth is not a part of the flesh. Such a thing as Iron Gall Manor is
not worthy of regret," Zhou replied.
"Well then, you must be thinking of your deceased son?"
Zhou said nothing but sighed once again.
"Seventh Brother, let us go," said Chen. "I've had enough wine.
Xu ignored him. "Why did Lady Zhou leave home?" he asked.
"She blamed me for killing the child. Ah, where could she have run to,
all alone? She loved him as much as her own life. I have truly failed
her. I had no intention of killing him. It was just a slip of the hand
in anger. Once we have rescued Master Wen, I will search to the
farthest ends of the earth to find her and bring her back."
As he spoke the door curtain parted and Lady Zhou and Zhou Qi walked
in.
"I heard what you said," said Lady Zhou. "I'm glad to see you're
willing to admit your mistake. I'm here now, so there's no need to go
looking for me."
Zhou was so startled and delighted at the sudden appearance of his wife
that he was momentarily speechless.
"Brother Chen, this is my mother," Zhou Qi said. "Mother, this is Great
Helmsman Chen of the Red Flower Society." The two greeted each other
formally.
"Father, what a coincidence this is," the girl added. "I had heard that
the wine here was good and decided to try it. Mother didn't want to
come and I had to drag her along. Who would have guessed that you would
be here too?"
They all laughed and drank, Zhou Qi was exuberantly happy, and without
thinking, she began to talk elatedly about how Lead Escort Tong had
been killed and the death of her brother and the burning of the manor
avenged. Xu surruptitiously tried to stop her, but she took no notice.
"Brother Xu was very clever to think of a way to deal with them," she
exclaimed. "After all the Lead Ecorts had passed out, we jumped in
through the window and saved mother. Then he lifted Tong up and let me
kill that villainous bandit myself."
Zhou and Chen toasted Xu.
"You have saved my wife and taken revenge on my behalf," Zhou said to
him. "I am eternally gratefuly to you."
"How did you two meet up on the way?" Chen asked, and Xu faltered along
for a few sentences trying to explain.
"Damn! Damn!" Zhou Qi thought to herself in distress. Her face flushed
and an unintentional movement of her arm knocked her chopsticks and
winecup to the ground. The winecup smashed loudly, increasing her
embarrassment.
Chen examined both their faces carefully, and when they had returned to
the residence, he called Xu over to one side.
"Brother Xu, what is your opinion of Mistress Zhou?" he asked.
"Great Helmsman," Xu replied hurriedly. "Please don't mention what she
said in the restaurant to anyone. She is a good person and has a pure
heart, but if other people knew and added a touch of filth, we wouldn't
ever be able to face Lord Zhou again."
"I think Mistress Zhou is an extremely nice person too," Chen said.
"How would you like me to be your match-maker?"
"That's impossible," said Xu, jumping up. "How could I be good enough
for her?"
"You must not be so modest. You are the 'Kungfu Mastermind', renowned
throughout the fighting community. Lord Zhou always speaks of you with
the greatest respect."
Xu stood dumbfounded for a second.
"What do you think?" Chen repeated.
"Great Helmsman, you don't know. She doesn't like me."
"How do you know?"
"She said so herself. She said she hated my peculiar ways. We have been
quarrelling and arguing ever since we met."
Chen laughed. "So you're certain?"
"Great Helmaman, there's no point talking about it. We cannot risk
being turned down."
Just then, a servant entered.
"Master Chen," he said. "Lord Zhou is outside and wishes to speak to
you."
Chen smiled at Xu and walked out of the room. He saw Zhou pacing up and
down the corridor with his hands behind his back and quickly went up to
him.
"Lord Zhou, you should have called for me. Was it necessary to come
personally?"
"It's not important," Zhou replied, and with a tug on Chen's arm, led
him into a reception room and sat down.
"I have something on my mind and want to ask your help," he said. "My
daugher is nineteen this year. She has been a good-for-nothing since
she was born, but she is basically a good and sincere person. Her
faults are the result of my teaching her something of the martial arts.
She has wasted much time and still has no husband." He hesitated a
moment before continuing. "Everyone respects your honourable Society's
Master Xu. I would like to ask you to become a match-maker and arrange
for my daughter's betrothal to him. But I am afraid that with her bad
temper, she would not be good enough."
Chen was delighted. "Leave this matter completely in my hands," he
said. "You are the Taishan Mountain and North Star of the fighting
community, Lord Zhou. It is a great honour for the Red Flower Society
that you are willing to give up your daughter to one of our brothers. I
will go and see to it immediately."
He ran to Xu's room and told him the news. Xu was so delighted, his
heart beat wildly.
"Well," Chen said. "Are you willing?"
"Why wouldn't I be willing?"
"I didn't expect that you'd be unwilling," Chen replied with a smile.
"But there is something else. All of Lord Zhou's three sons are dead,
and the youngest died because of the Red Flower Society. It looks like
the Zhou family line is finished. I wonder if you would be willing to
make a concession and become not only his son-in-law, but his son as
well?"
"You want me to become a member of the Zhou family?"
"Yes. The first of your future sons would be surnamed Zhou, and the
second Xu. It would be a small repayment of our debt to Lord Zhou."
Xu agreed. The two went round to Zhou's room and also asked Lady Zhou
to come over. Unaware of what was happening, Zhou Qi followed her in.
As soon as Zhou saw the expression on the faces of Chen and Xu, he knew
the matter was decided.
"Daughter, go outside," he said with a smile.
"You are trying to deceive me about something," she replied accusingly.
"I won't have it!" But despite her words, she turned and left.
Chen brought up his idea of Xu becoming a member of the Zhou clan, and
Lady Zhou and her husband beamed with delight.
"We are away from home and I don't have anything worthy to present to
you," Zhou said to Xu. "But later I will teach you how to use the Iron
Gallstones."
Xu was overwhelmed. He had gained both a beautiful wife and a wise
teacher, and he knelt down to kowtow in thanks.
As soon as the news leaked out, the other heroes came to offer their
congratulations. That night, a great banquet was held to celebrate, but
Zhou Qi hid herself and refused to come out.
During the drinking, 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi returned from his journey
to the Muslim regions with Muzhuolun's answer to Chen's letter.
Chen took the letter. Just then, 'Crocodile' Jiang raced in shouting:
"The Yellow River's broken it's banks!"
They clustered round and questioned him on the extent of the disaster.
"The river's already broken through at seven or eight points. In many
places the roads are completely impassable," he replied.
They were all concerned about how the peasants were faring.
Furthermore, the Twin Knights had still not returned to report on Wen's
situation.
"Brothers, we have already waited here several days," said Chen.
"Conditions on the road ahead have probably changed, and I am afraid
the floods will have ruined our plans. What do you all think we should
do?"
"We can't wait any longer," Zhang Jin called out. "Let's get on to
Beijing quickly. Even if they are holding Fourth Brother in the
Heavenly Prison, we'll still get him out."
The others voiced their agreement, and it was decided to start out
immediately. They thanked the local society chief and headed off
eastwards.
While on the road, Chen opened and read Muzhuolun's letter. In it, he
thanked the Red Flower Society for its warning and said he had called
his tribe together and was preparing for war, determined to fight the
enemy to the end. The mood of the letter was tragically heroic and
Chen's anxiety showed on his face.
"Did Master Muzhuolun have anything else to say?" he asked Shi.
"He asked after Fourth Brother. When he heard we had not yet rescued
him, he expressed great concern."
"Did you meet Master Muzhuolun's family?" Chen asked.
"I met his wife, son and two daughters. You know the eldest daughter.
She asked after your health."
Chen hesitated. "She didn't say anything other than that?" he asked
slowly.
Shi thought for a second. "Just before I left, there appeared to be
something else she wished to say to me, but she asked only about the
details of our attempt to rescue Fourth Brother."
Chen was silent. He put his hand into his gown and felt the dagger that
Huo Qingtong had given him. The blade was eight inches long, bright and
dazzling, and the handle was entwined with gold thread. Judging by the
amount that had been worn away, it was of great antiquity. Huo Qingtong
had said that a great secret was supposed to be hidden in the sword. He
had examined it closely over the past few days, but had been unable to
find anything unusual about it. He turned and looked back westwards.
The host of stars were shining brightly, and he wondered whether on the
great flat desert, the same stars were now shining on Huo Qingtong.
They travelled all night, and when morning broke, they were already
close to the places where the Yellow River had broken through. The
great plain had turned into a vast lake. The fields and homes of people
in low-lying areas had long since been submerged. Many people were
camping out in the open on the hilltops.
The heroes made their way round the flood, keeping to the high ground
and heading eastwards. Occasionally, they spotted a cluster of corpses
bobbing along beside pieces of driftwood. That night, they lodged out
in the open, and the next day had to make a long detour.
Zhou Qi had been riding with Luo Bing the whole way, but suddenly she
could restrain herself no longer. She spurred her horse on and caught
up with Xu.
"You're the one with all the ideas," she said. "Think of a way to save
these people."
During the two days since they had become engaged, the two had been too
embarrassed to speak to each other. Now, the first thing Zhou Qi did
when she opened her mouth was to present him with a problem of mammoth
proportions.
"It's all very well to say that, but how can we possibly help so many
refugees?" he replied.
"Why would I come and ask you if I knew of a way?"
"First thing tomorrow I will tell all the others that they are not to
call me 'Kung Fu Mastermind' anymore. Then you won't be able to put me
on the spot like this."
"When did I ever put you on the spot?" Zhou Qi asked quickly. "All
right, I was wrong. I would be better off if I didn't say anything."
She pouted silently.
"Sister, we are all one family now. We cannot continue to argue like
this," Xu said. Zhou Qi ignored him.
"It is I who is in the wrong," he coaxed. "Forgive me this time and
give me a smile." Zhou Qi turned her head away.
"Ah, so you won't even smile. You are so bashful in front of your new
fiance."
She burst into laughter. "You talk such nonsense," she said, raising
her horse whip.
The road was filled with refugees, dragging their sons and carrying
their daughters, crying and wailing as they went. Suddenly a horseman
appeared, galloping towards them fast. The road was very narrow and as
the rider careered from side to side, he knocked a woman carrying a
child into the water. But he took no notice, and continued to gallop
on. The heroes was furious, and as the rider passed by, 'Leopard' Wei
pulled him off his horse and punched him solidly in the face. The man
screamed and spat out a mouthful of blood and three teeth.
He was a military official.
"You bunch of bandit hooligans," he shouted as he scrambled to his
feet. "I am on important official business. I'll deal with you when I
come back." He mounted his horse but Zhang Jin pulled him off again.
"What important official business?" he roared.
"Search him," Chen ordered. Zhang Jin frisked him quickly and found an
official document which he handed over.
Chen saw the document had a singed corner and a chicken's feather stuck
to it indicating that it was an urgent report which the courier would
be required to travel day and night to deliver. On it's wrapper was
written the words: "Extra Urgent Dispatch for Border Pacification
General Zhao." He broke the seal and took out the document.
The courier went white with fear. "That's a secret military document,"
he shouted. "Aren't you afraid of execution?"
"If anyone's going to be executed, it's you," replied Xin Yan with a
laugh.
Chen saw the letter was from a certain commander in charge of
provisions reporting to General Zhao that rations for the Great Army
had reached Lanfeng, but that because of the floods, there might be a
delay of several days before they could be delivered.
Chen handed the letter to Xu. "It has nothing to do with us," he said.
But as Xu read the document an expression of delight filled his face.
"Great Helmsman," he cried. "This is truly a great treasure delivered
to us on a plate. With this, we can both assist Master Muzhuolun and
save the refugees."
He jumped off his horse and walked over to the official and tore the
document up in front of him.
"What are you going to do now?" he asked. "Isn't losing a military
document a capital offence? If you want to live, it would be best to
run."
The official was startled and angry, but he saw the truth of Xu's
words. He took off his military uniform, threw it in the water, then
ran off, melding into the mass of refugees.
"Steal the provisions and hand them out as disaster relief, and we can
kill two birds with one stone," Chen said, nodding. "The only problem
is that the provisions for the Great Army are bound to be heavily
guarded, and we are few in number. What ideas do you have, Brother Xu?"
Xu whispered a few words in his ear, and Chen nodded in agreement.
"Good, we'll do it that way," he said, and ordered the heroes to
disguise themselves and disperse.
Their instructions were to spread rumours.
The next morning, tens of thousands of refugees suddenly descended on
Lanfeng. When the county magistrate, Wang Dao, saw the extraordinary
situation, he ordered his officers to seize several refugees and
question them. They all said they had heard there would be a
distribution of relief money and provisions in the city that day. Wang
immediately ordered the city gates to be barred, but by then, a huge
crowd of refugees had already gathered inside with many more outside.
Wang sent someone to announce to the crowd that there would be no
distribution of relief, but the crowds continued to grow. Beginning to
feel nervous, he went personally to see the Provisions Commander Sun,
who was stationed in the Stone Buddha Temple in the eastern part of the
city. He asked if some of the commander's troops could be assigned to
help control the situation in the city.
"I have my orders from General Zhao," Sun replied. "Any slip-up, no
matter how small, before these provisions reach the Great Army will be
a capital offence. It is not that I am unwilling to help, but my
responsibilities are heavy. Please forgive me, Master Wang."
Wang pleaded with him, but Sun was adament. Back on the streets, he saw
the refugees creating an uproar everywhere.
Night fell, and fires started simultaneously in several parts of the
city. Magistrate Wang hurriedly dispatched men to put them out, and in
the confusion, an officer ran in to report.
"Master! There's trouble," he cried. "The west gate has been forced by
the refugees and thousands more are streaming into the city."
Wang could only rant in despair, completely at a loss for what to do.
"Prepare a horse!" he shouted frantically, and led his guards towards
the western part of the city. But before they had gone half a street,
they found the way completely blocked by refugees. He heard someone in
the midst of the crowd shout: "The food and money are to be distributed
at the Stone Buddha Temple! Everyone to the Stone Buddha Temple!" The
refugees surged forward.
Wang could see the way was impassible. He decided there was nothing for
it but to go to the Stone Buddha Temple and seek refuge there. When he
arrived, the temple gate was already tightly shut, but the guard
recognized him and let him in. Outside, the refugees had already
surrounded the temple. Someone in the crowd shouted: "All the relief
cash and food issued by the court have been swallowed by the dog
officials. Hand out the cash and food! Hand out the cash and food!"
The mass of the refugees took up the chant and their roar rattled the
roof tiles.
Wang shook uncontrollably. "Rebels!" he bellowed. "Rebels!"
For a military official, Commander Sun was quite brave. He ordered his
soldiers to place a ladder next to the wall and climbed up on top.
"Those of you who are peaceful citizens, leave the city quickly and do
not put faith in rumours," he shouted. "If you do not leave, we will be
forced to fire on you with arrows."
The two officers led a group of archers onto the top of the wall and a
roar of defiance went up from the crowd.
"Fire!" shouted Sun. A wave of arrows shot out and a dozen or more
refugees fell to the ground. The crowd turned and fled in panic and the
cries of women and children could be heard as the refugees trampled
each other.
Sun laughed out loud. But before the laugh ended, someone in the crowd
threw two stones at him, one of which hit his cheek. He felt a sharp
pain and rubbed the spot only to find his hand covered in blood.
"Fire! Fire!" he ordered in a great rage. The archers shot out another
wave of arrows and another dozen refugees were hit.
Suddenly, two tall, thin men leapt up onto the wall, grabbed several of
the archers and threw them to the ground. Incensed by the way they had
been fired on, the refugees surged back and began beating the archers
viciously.
The Red Flower Society heroes in the crowd were greatly surprised by
the sudden re-appearance of the Twin Knights. More of them jumped up
onto the wall and into the temple courtyard, and a moment later, the
temple gates opened and 'Crocodile' Jiang ran out.
"Everyone come and get some food," he shouted, beckoning to the
refugees. But the soldiers were many and the refugees did not dare to
press in too close. Commander Sun's great sword danced as he fought
desperately along the top of the wall, retreating steadily. Suddenly,
his arms went numb, and his sword clattered to the ground at the foot
of the wall. Someone forced his hands behind his back, and he felt an
icy coldness on his neck.
"You Turtle!" the man behind him shouted. "Order the troops to throw
down their weapons and retreat inside the temple!"
Sun hesitated for a second and he felt a sharp pain on his neck as the
man lightly moved his sword, breaking through a layer of skin. Not
daring to disobey further, Sun shouted out the order. Seeing their
commanding officer had been captured, the soldiers did as they were
ordered and retired inside the temple as the refugees roared their
approval.
Great Helmsman Chen walked into the main hall of the temple and saw the
altar piled high with bags of food and cash. 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi
pulled County Magistrate Wang in for Chen to dispose of.
"Are you in charge of this county?" Chen asked.
"Y-yes...your Majesty," Wang replied in a quavering voice.
Chen laughed. "Do I look like a king?" he asked.
"I deserved to die. I spoke incorrectly. What is your honourable name,
sir?"
Chen smiled slightly and ignored the question. "Since you are an
official, you must have some scholarship in you," he said. "I will give
you the first line of a couplet for you to match." He lightly waved his
fan. "If you are able to match it, your life will be spared. If you
cannot, then I will not be so polite."
The refugees gathered round, forming a circle of thousands of eyes all
focussed on Wang's face.
"Now listen," said Chen. "The first line is: 'How long must we live for
the Yellow River to be clear of mud? Rather ask if officialdom can be
cleared of corruption.'"
Wang's face was covered in sweat. He was a competent scholar, but in
the midst of his fear, he could think of nothing.
"Sir," he finally said. "Your first line is too difficult. I...I cannot
match it."
"That's all right," Chen replied. "Let me ask you plainly. Which would
be easier: to clear up the Yellow River or officialdom?"
Wang suddenly had an idea. "I consider that if all officialdom were
clear, then the Yellow River would be clear too," he said.
Chen laughed. "Well said. I shall spare your life. Call together your
guards and distribute the money and food to the refugees. Oh, and
Commander Sun, you can help too."
The refugees cheered thunderously for the Red Flower Society heroes. As
they filed past to collect the food and money, they jeered and laughed
at Sun and Wang, who pretended not to notice.
"Brothers and sisters, listen!" Chen called out. "If the authorities
should send people to investigate, you can say it was the Commander and
County Magistrate who personally made the distribution."
The refugees shouted their approval.
The heroes supervised the operation late into the night until all the
food and cash had been distributed.
"Brothers!" Xu then shouted to the refugees. "Take the soldiers'
weapons and hide them in your homes. If the dog officials know what's
good for them, they'll leave you alone, but if they should come after
you, you can fight them."
Strong men came forward and collected up the swords and spears that had
been discarded by the soldiers.
Chen walked out of the temple with Commander Sun and the other heroes
as the refugees roared their thanks. They mounted their horses and rode
out of the city. After travelling a few miles, Chen pushed Sun off his
horse.
"Commander, thank you for your help," he said. "The next time you
escort provisions, be sure to write to me." He laughed and saluted,
then galloped off in a cloud of dust with the other heroes.
"Do you have any news of Fourth Brother?" Chen asked the Twin Knights
after they had ridden on a little way.
"We found a message left by Brother Yu which said he was being taken to
Hangzhou," one of them replied.
Chen was greatly surprised. "Why is he being sent to Hangzhou and not
Beijing?" he asked. "I thought the Emperor wanted to question him
personally."
"We thought it strange too. But Brother Yu always handles things very
carefully. It's certain to be reliable information."
Chen told the others to dismount, and they sat round in a circle and
discussed the situation.
"Since Brother Wen is being sent to Hangzhou, we should head south and
try to work out some way of saving him," Xu said. "Hangzhou is our
territory. The power of the court is not as great there as in Beijing,
so it should be easier to rescue him. But we should still send someone
to Beijing to see if there is any news, just in case."
The others agreed. Chen looked over at Shi. "I wonder if I can trouble
you to go once more, Twelfth Brother," he said.
"All right," Shi replied. He headed off northwards alone towards
Beijing while the other heroes rode south.
Chen enquired further of the Twin Knights about Yu's movements, but
they said they had no further information. They had returned to report
as soon as they had seen the markings. Passing through Lanfeng, they
had come across the refugees and met up with the other heroes.
"With the provisions gone, Sister Huo Qingtong and her people should
have no trouble beating the Great Army," Zhou Qi said.
"That girl's sword style wasn't bad, and she was a nice person too,"
added Priest Wu Chen. "She deserves our help. I hope she does beat
them. It would be something everyone could rejoice at."
PARTFOUR 返回目录
The Book and The Sword
Copyright Graham Earnshaw 1995
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PART FOUR
** 1 **
In less than a day, the heroes arrived in Xuzhou. The local Red Flower
Society Chief was immediately rushed off his feet making arrangements
for them. After a night's rest, they continued on south. Every place
they passed through now, big and small, had a Red Flower Society
branch, but the heroes maintained their anonymity and sped onwards.
They reached Hangzhou several days later and took up residence in the
home of the Hangzhou Helmsman, Ma Shanjun. Ma's residence lay at the
foot of Lonely Mountain beside the West Lake.
Ma was a merchant who owned two large silk factories. About fifty years
old and portly, Ma, in his flowered silk robe and black woollen jacket,
was the picture of a wealthy man used to luxury. But the appearance was
deceptive: he was also a brave fighter. That night at a welcoming
banquet in the rear hall, the heroes told him of their plan to rescue
Wen Tailai.
"I will immediately dispatch men to find out which prison Master Wen is
in, and then we can decide on a plan of action." He ordered his son Ma
Dating to send someone to investigate.
The next morning, the son reported that his men had discreetly asked
about Wen at all the prisons and military headquarters in the area, but
had failed to find any trace of him.
Chen called a meeting of the heroes to discuss the situation.
"We have brothers in all the Yamens and in the military headquarters,"
said Ma. "If Master Wen was in an official prison, we would know about
it. I am afraid the authorities are guarding him secretly."
"Our first step is to find out where Brother Wen is," said Chen.
"Please continue to dispatch capable men around all the Yamens, Brother
Ma. This evening, I will ask Priest Wu Chen and the Twin Knights to go
to the Commander-in-chief's Yamen to see what they can find out. It is
important that we don't alert the Manchus to what we are doing so
whatever happens, there must be no fighting."
Priest Wu Chen and the Twin Knights set out at midnight and returned
four hours later to report that the Yamen was tightly guarded with at
least a thousand soldiers with torches on guard duty. Several of the
officers on patrol were second and third level Mandarins wearing red
caps. The three had waited a long time, but the troops did not drop
their vigilance in the slightest and they had no option but to return.
"The patrols have been particularly strict around Hangzhou over the
past few days," Ma said. "Yamen officers have visited every gambling
den and every brothel, and many people have been seized for no reason
at all. Could it have something to do with Master Wen?"
"I don't think so," replied Xu. "The local people must be making an
extra effort to impress some high officials visiting from Beijing.
"I haven't heard of any high officials coming here," Ma said.
The next day, Zhou Qi asked her parents to take her to see the famous
West Lake. Lord Zhou agreed and asked Xu to accompany them. Xu had lost
his parents when he was very young and had been alone ever since. To be
suddenly treated as a son by Lord Zhou and his wife and to have such a
lovely fiancee moved him greatly. He was very happy, and the brothers
were happy for him.
Great Helsman Chen also went to the lake for a stroll with Xin Yan.
They walked for a while, then sat alone on a bridge and gazed at the
depths of the lake and the mountains. The forests of bamboo and wood on
the hillsides were dark and dense, a myriad leaves glistening brightly.
The air was moist and hazy and the beautiful mountain peaks were
wreathed in clouds. Chen had been to the West Lake several times in his
youth, but had been unable, then, to appreciate its beauty.
As he gazed out at the scene, he spotted a carriage heading towards the
Hidden Spirit Temple on Flying Peak, five hundred feet above them.
"Let's go up there," he said to Xin Yan. There was no road straight up
to the peak, but the Lightness Kung Fu of both was excellent and they
reached the top quickly. They gazed up at the sky, enjoying the peace
and seclusion of the forest.
Suddenly, they saw two large men wearing blue gowns walking towards
them. The two weighed up Chen and Xin Yan as they passed, expressions
of surprise on their faces.
"Master, they're Kung fu experts," Xin Yan whispered.Two more men
appeared walking towards them dressed exactly the same. They were
discussing the scenery, and from their accents, it appeared they were
Manchus. All the way along the path, they kept passing the blue-gowned
fighters, perhaps thirty or forty in all, who all looked surprised when
they saw Chen.
Xin Yan was dizzy at the sight of so many obviously top-ranking
fighters. Chen was curious.
"Could it be that some secret society or martial arts school is holding
a meeting here?" he thought. "But Hangzhou is Red Flower Society
territory. If there was something of that sort, we would surely have
been informed. I wonder why they all look so surprised when they see
me?"
They rounded a bend and the sound of a lute accompanied by a chanting
voice and the soft tinkle of a waterfall drifted across towards them.
The voice recited:
"All is peace throughout heaven and earth,
Politics unsullied.
Fortunes and good fortune mount over four reigns.
The people wait to greet the Emperor
The banners of prosperity and wine fly in every village.
As the Imperial attendants appear."
They strolled across in the direction of the music, and saw a man
dressed in the manner of a noble seated on a rock playing the lute. He
was aged about forty. Two strong fighters and one stooped old man, all
wearing blue gowns, stood beside him.
Chen suddenly shivered. He was struck with a vague feeling of
recognition as he looked at the lute player. The man had an
aristocratic bearing, and the more Chen looked at him, the more he
seemed familiar.
The group eyed Chen and Xin Yan warily. The lute-player's fingers
performed a final swirl over the strings and the lute was silent.
Chen saluted with his fists. "I could not help overhearing the song you
just played, sir," he said. "I have never heard it before. Did you
write it yourself?"
The man smiled. "Yes. It is a recent composition of mine. Since you are
a music lover, I would be grateful of your opinion."
"Excellent, excellent," said Chen. "I especially liked the phrase 'The
banners of prosperity and wine fly in every village.'"
An expression of delight appeared on the man's face. "So you remember
the words. Please come over here and sit down, sir."
Chen refrained from adding that he disapproved of the way the song
flattered the Emperor. He walked over, bowed and sat down.
The man studied Chen carefully and with curiosity.
"While coming up to the peak, we met a large number of other strollers
all of whom looked surprised when they saw me," said Chen. "You now
look at me in the same way. Is there something strange about my face?"
The man laughed. "You wouldn't know," he said. "I have a friend who
bears a remarkable resemblance to you. The people you met on the path
are also my friends, so they were naturally puzzled."
"So that's it," Chen smiled. "I also find your face very familiar, as
if we had met before, but I can't remember when. I wonder if you can?"
The man laughed again. "Well that really is strange," he said. "What is
your honourable name, sir?"
"Lu Jiachen. And you, sir?"
The man thought for a moment. "My name is Dongfeng. I am from Hebei
Province. From your accent, I would guess you are from around here."
"That is correct," said Chen.
"I had long heard that the scenic beauty of the south was
incomparable," continued the man who called himself Master Dongfang. "I
can see today that it is true. Not only is the scenery superb, but the
area is also obviously blessed with much talent."
Chen could tell from his speech that this was no ordinary man. He
watched the reverential way in which the old man and the other two
attendants treated him, and wondered just who he was.
"Someone with such outstanding knowledge of music as yourself must
certainly be a virtuoso," Dongfang said. "Why not play a song for us?"
He pushed the seven-stringed lute in front of Chen.
Chen stretched out his hand and lightly strummed the strings and found
the lute's tone to be matchlessly crisp and clear. It looked liked an
antique of great age.
"I am not worthy of playing such an instrument," he said. He checked
the tuning, then struck up a tune, named 'The Goose Lands on the Flat
Sands'.
Dongfang listened, engrossed. "Have you ever been to the border
regions?" He asked when the tune finished.
"I have just returned from there," Chen replied. "How did you know?"
"Your playing conjures up the vast emptiness of the great desert. I
have heard that tune many times in my life, but never have I heard it
played with such feeling." Chen saw he indeed had a great knowledge of
music and was very pleased.
"There is something I would like to ask you," Dongfang continued.
"Please feel free to ask."
"I would guess that you are from the family of an official," he said.
"What post does your respected father hold? And what is your rank?"
"My father has unfortunately passed away. I myself am a man of mediocre
abilities with no official rank," Chen replied.
"But you are obviously greatly talented. Could it be that the examiners
failed to appreciate your abilities?"
"No, it is not that."
"The Commander-in-chief of Zhejing province is a friend of mine. If you
went to see him tomorrow, you could have an opportunity."
"Thank you for you kind thought, but I have no wish to be an official,"
Chen replied.
"But do you intend to hide yourself away like this forever?"
"I would prefer to live in seclusion than oppress the common people."
Dongfang's expression suddenly changed and the two blue-gowned
attendants both took a step forward. He was silent for a second, then
laughed out loud. "You are indeed a man of noble character," he said.
"Simple folk such as myself cannot be compared with you."
The two weighed each other up, aware that there was something special
about the other.
"You must have heard much news on your long journey from the Moslem
regions," Dongfang said.
"When I arrived at the Yellow River, I found great flooding and many
homeless people. I had no heart for appreciating the scenery after
that."
"I am told that the refugees in Lanfeng looted grain stores meant for
the western army. Did you hear anything about that?"
Chen started in surprise and wondered how he could have known. They had
hurried south after the Lanfeng incident without resting. "I understand
there was such an incident," he said. "The refugees had no clothes and
no food and the local officials did nothing to help them. They were
forced to break the law in order to survive, an action which under the
circumstances is pardonable."
Dongfang was silent for a while. "I understand it was not quite simple
as that," he said nonchalantly. "I heard the Red Flower Society incited
the refugees."
"What is the Red Flower Society>" asked Chen, feigning ignorance.
"It is rebellious underworld society. Have you never heard of it?"
"I am afraid that between my lute and my chess board, I have little
time for the affairs of the world."
"There's no need to be ashamed. These people are in any case no great
problem."
"What basis do you have for saying that?"
"The Emperor is on the throne and the administration of the country is
enlightened and orderly. Once one or two men with talent are assigned
to the job, the Red Flower Society will be destroyed in no time at
all."
"I know nothing of administration, so please do not laugh if I should
say something stupid. But in my humble opinion, most court officials
are drunkards and guzzlers. I doubt if they would be able to accomplish
such a mission."
As he spoke, Dongfang and his three attendants turned pale.
"That is simply the view of a scholar," Dongfang replied. "These
friends of mine here are of more than mediocre ability. If you were a
student of the martial arts, you would know that I was not
exaggerating."
"I lack even the stength to tie up a chicken, but I have always had the
greatest respect for heroic fighters," Chen said. "Are these your
pupils? I wonder if you could ask them to perform a demonstration of
their abilities?"
"Show this Master Lu one of your tricks," Dongfang said to the
attendants.
"Thank you," said Chen.
One of the attendants stepped forward. "That magpie in the tree is too
noisy," he said. "I'll knock it down so we can have some peace."
With a wave of his hand, a sleeve dart shot off towards the magpie, but
just as it neared the target, it suddenly veered off to one side and
missed.
Donggang looked surprised and the attendant's face went red with
embarrassment. He threw another dart. This time everyone was watching
closely and saw a piece of earth knock the dart off course.
The old man noticed Xin Yan's hand had moved slightly and realised he
was responsible. "This young brother's kung fu is excellent. We must
get to know one another," he said and grasped for Xin Yan's hand with
fingers of steel.
Chen was surprised to see the old man was using Great Eagle's Claw kung
fu. "There are only a handful of men as good as that," he thought. "Why
would such a man agree to be Dongfang's servant?"
He flicked open his fan in front of Xin Yan as the old man lunged at
the boy, and the old man quickly withdrew. As his master was treating
Chen in a friendly manner, it would be extremely disrespectful to
damage one of his possessions. He glanced at Chen, wondering if he knew
kung fu. Chen began fanning himself lightly, completely relaxed as if
the move a second ago had been a pure coincidence.
"This boy's kung fu is very good despite his youth," said Dongfang.
"Where did you find him?"
"He doesn't know kung fu," replied Chen. "But he has been throwing
things at insects and birds since he was small, and he's become quite
good at it."
Dongfang could see this was untrue, but did not pursue the matter. He
looked at Chen's fan.
"Whose is the calligraphy on your fan? May I look?" he asked. Chen
handed the fan over to him.
"A man who was not of such noble character as yourself would be
unworthy of this object. Where did you get it?"
"I bought it in a bookstore for ten gold pieces."
"If you had paid ten times as much, I would still consider it a
bargain," Dongfang replied. "Possessions such as this are usually
passed down from generation to generation in the great families. It is
certainly amazing that you were able to buy it so easily in a
bookstore."
Chen knew Dongfang didn't believe him, but he didn't care. He smiled
lightly.
"I like this fan very much," Dongfang said. "I wonder if I could ask
you to sell it to me?"
"If you like it, I would be pleased to give it to you," Chen replied.
Dongfang accepted the fan and lifted up the ancient lute and presented
it to Chen. "Just as an heroic fighter should be presented with a
treasured sword, so should this lute belong to you."
Chen knew the lute was extremely valuable, and he wondered why the man
wanted to exchange gifts so soon after they had met. But as the son of
a high official, he had seen many treasures and was not dazzled by
them. He saluted Dongfang with his fists in thanks and told Xin Yan to
pick the lute up.
"If there is anything I can ever do for you in the future, please come
to Beijing with that lute and just ask for me," Dongfang said. "Why
don't we walk back down the hill together?"
"Fine," said Chen, and the two started off, holding hands.
As they reached the Hidden Spirit monastery, several people came
towards them, led by a handsome-faced man wearing an embroidered gown.
The man bore a striking resemblance to Chen and was even about the same
age, but he lack Chen's imposing air. Chen and he started in surprise
as they looked at each other.
"Isn't he like you, Brother Lu?" Dongfang said. "Kang, come and meet
Master Lu."
Kang bowed towards him, and Chen quickly returned the courtesy.
All of a sudden, they heard a girl call out in surprise. Chen turned
and saw Zhou Qi with Xu and her parents emerging from the monastery,
and knew she must have struck with surprise at the sight of two Great
Helsmen Chen's. He saw Xu hustling her away and turned back.
"Brother Lu," Dongfang said. "We seem to have become good friends on
our first meeting. We will meet again. Goodbye." They bowed to each
other and Dongfang walked off guarded by several dozen of the
blue-gowned men.
Chen turned and nodded slightly in Xu's direction. Xu hurriedly made
his apologies to Lord Zhou and to Zhou Qi and followed after Dongfang
and his companions.
Towards evening, he returned to make his report. "The fellow spent a
long time floating about on the lake and then went to the Provincial
Commander-in-chief's Yamen," he said.
Chen told him about his meeting with Dongfang, and the two decided he
must be a very senior official, either an Imperial Inspector-General or
a member of the Emperor's close family. From his appearance, he did not
look like a Manchu, and so they concluded he was probably an Inspector
General.
"Could his arrival have anything to do with Fourth Brother, I wonder,"
Chen mused. "I think I will go over to the Commander-in-chief's Yamen
personally this evening to investigate."
"It would be best to take someone with you just in case," Xu replied.
"Ask Brother Zhao," said Chen. "He's from Zhejiang province so he
should know something of Hangzhou."
** 2 **
At nine o'clock, Chen and 'Buddha' Zhao started out for the
Commander-in-chief's Yamen. Using Lightness Kung Fu, they soon found
themselves near the wall of the Yamen. They spotted two figures
patrolling on a rooftop close by and crouched down to watch for a
while. Zhao waited for them both to turn their backs, then sent a
pellet shooting off towards a tree a few dozen yards away. Hearing a
noise in the branches, the guards quickly went over to investigate,
giving Chen and Zhao an opportunity to slip silently over the wall into
the Yamen.
They hid in the shadows and looked out over the Yamen's main courtyard.
To their surprise, they found it brightly lit with torches and several
hundred troops standing guard. Another strange thing was that so many
soldiers could be so quiet. When they moved, they walked lightly on
tip-toe, and the only sounds that could be heard were the call of a
cicada and an occasional crackle from the burning torches.
Chen could see there was no way of getting in. He gestured towards Zhao
and the two retreated, avoiding the rooftop guards. They stopped behind
a wall to discuss what to do.
"We don't want to alert them," Chen whispered. "We'll have to go back
and think of some other plan."
Just then, a side gate of the Yamen creaked open and an officer emerged
followed by four soldiers. The five marched down the street a few
hundred yards and then turned back, obviously on patrol.
"Get them," Chen whispered. Zhao slipped out of the shadows and threw
three darts, and three of the soldiers immediately dropped to the
ground. Chen followed with two of his chess pieces, hitting the officer
and the remaining soldier. They quickly dragged the five into the
shadows, stripped the uniforms from two of the men and put them on
themselves.
They waited once more for the rooftop guards to turn away, then jumped
over the Yamen wall and strode nonchalently into the torch-lit
courtyard. They passed through into an inner courtyard which was being
patrolled exclusively by senior military officials, commanders and
generals. Waiting for the right moment, they leapt up under the eaves
of one of the buildings, then hung onto the rafters not daring to
breathe. Once it was clear they had not been discovered. Chen hooked
his legs over a beam and hung down over a window. He moistened the
window paper and looked inside, as Zhao kept guard beside him.
Chen found himself looking in at a large hall. Five or six men wearing
the gowns of high officials stood in the centre facing another man who
was seated with his back to Chen. Another official walked in and
kowtowed nine times towards the seated man.
Chen was surprised. "That is the ceremonial form used when entering the
presence of the Emperor," he thought. "Could it be Qian Long himself is
in Hangzhou?"
"Zhejiang Province Civil Administrator Yin to see your Highness the
Emperor," the officer said.
So it was the Emperor, Chen thought. No wonder security was so tight.
"I have sent troops to quell the Muslim regions," the Emperor said. "I
hear you object to this idea."
Chen frowned: he found the Emperor's voice strangely familiar.
"I deserve to die, I would not dare," Yin said, continuing to kowtow.
"I asked Zhejiang Province to supply six thousand tons of grain to meet
the needs of the army. Why did you disobey my orders?"
"I truly would not dare, your Highness," Yin said. "But the harvest in
Zhejiang this year has been very poor. The common people are in great
hardship, and it is temporarily impossible to supply such an amount."
"So the common people are in great hardship, are they? The army is in
urgent need of food supplies. Shall I tell them to starve out there?"
"I wouldn't dare to say," Yin quavered, continuing to kowtow.
"No, I want you to tell me," replied the Emperor.
"Your Highness's ability to spread enlightenment and civilisation is
far-reaching. The Muslim barbarians are in fact not worth such a long
trek by Your Highness's armies. As the Ancients said: 'Soldiers are
instruments of violence which a man of virtue should use only as a last
resort.' Your Highness could cancel the campaign, and the whole world
would be thankful for your benevolence."
"The people are discontented because I have decided to wage this
campaign, is that correct?" Qian Long replied coldly.
Yin kowtowed even more energetically. His forehead was by now covered
in blood.
Qian Long laughed shortly. "You have a hard skull," he said. "If you
hadn't, you wouldn't dare to contradict me."
He turned round and Chen started violently: the Emperor was the Master
Dongfang he had met earlier that day.
"Get out!" he heard Qian Long shout. "And leave your cap here!" Yin
kowtowed a few more times and then retired.
"There must certainly be some irregularities in Yin's affairs," Qian
Long said to the remaining officials. "I want the Commander-in-chief to
conduct a thorough investigation and inform me of the results. He must
not be protected for personal reasons. His crimes must be exposed." The
officials assented in chorus.
"Now leave me. And arrange for six thousand tons of grain to be
collected and dispatched immediately." The officials kowtowed and
retired.
"Tell Kang to come," the Emperor added, and an attendant left and
returned a moment later with Chen's look-alike. He stood close to Qian
Long with an air of familiarity very different from the cringing manner
of the officials.
"Call for Li Keshou," Qian Long ordered, and a military officer quickly
appeared, kowtowing his way into the Emperor's presence.
"Li Keshou, commander-in-chief of Zhejiang Province, pays his respect
to Your Highness," he said.
"How is that Red Flower Society bandit chief, Wen Tailai?" asked Qian
Long.
"He was arrested after a savage battle and he is very seriously
wounded," Li replied. "I have assigned doctors to treat him. We will
have to wait until his mind is clear before we can question him."
"You must be careful," Qian Long said.
"Your servant would not dare to be the slightest bit neglectful,"
replied Li.
"Go now," said the Emperor, and Li retired.
"Let's follow him," Chen whispered, but as they dropped quietly to the
ground, someone inside the hall shouted: "Intruders!"
Chen and Zhao ran into the outer courtyard and mingled with the troops.
Bamboo clappers sounded loudly and the old man Chen had seen earlier
that day with the Emperor began directing a search.
Chen and Zhao walked slowly towards the gate.
"Who are you?" the old man shouted at them, and grabbed for Zhao. Zhao
deflected his hand, and they made a run for it with the old man
chasing. As they reached the gate, the old man lunged at Zhao. Chen
ripped off the uniform he was wearing and flung it over the old man's
head, then they raced out of the Yamen gate. The old man cast the
uniform off to one side and chased after them. But the slight delay had
made all the difference.
Two or three thousand troops swarmed out behind the old man like bees
from a hive.
"All of you get back!" he shouted. "Protecting the Emperor is more
important! You five, come with me." He ran off down the street with the
five guards, following the two black shapes flying over the rooftops
ahead.
The old man gradually closed the distance between himself and the
intruders. Suddenly, the two figures leapt down and stood stock-still
in the middle of the street. The old man lunged at Chen.
"I am your master's good friend." Chen laughed, not bothering to
retreat or defend himself. "You are an audacious old fellow!"
The old man looked at his face under the moonlight and started in
surprise.
"So it's you," he said, retracting his hand, "Come along with me."
"Do you dare to follow me?" Chen asked with a smile.
The old man hesitated, and as the five guards ran up from behind, Chen
and Zhao raced off westwards towards the West Lake.
"After them!" shouted the old man. The guards reached the lake in time
to see Chen and Zhao jump into a boat and push off from the shore. The
boatman punted the craft out several yards from the bank.
"My friends," the old man shouted. "Please tell me who you are before
you go."
"I am Zhao Banshan from Wenzhou," Zhao roared. "You, I take it, are a
member of the Songyang martial arts school?"
"Ah, so you are the one they call the Thousand Arm Buddha?"
"That's just a nickname. I don't really deserve it. And your name, sir?
"
"My surname is Bai, my name Zhen."
Zhao and Chen gasped in surprise. Bai Zhen was a famous kung fu master,
but he had not been seen or heard of for years. Obviously, he had
become the personal bodyguard of the Emperor.
"So it's you, Master Bai. No wonder your kung fu is so superb," said
Zhao.
"I hear you are a leading member of the Red Flower Society, Master
Zhao. Who is your companion?" Suddenly, he realized the answer without
having to be told. "Oh, of course, it must be Master Chen, the Great
Helmsman of the society, is that right?"
Chen opened his fan. "The moon is clear and the wind is fresh," he
said. "Why not come and drink a cup of wine with us, Master Bai?"
"You have intruded into the Commander-in-chief's Yamen, and disturbed
the official household. You must accompany me to see my master. He is
well-disposed towards you, and would not do you any harm."
"Go back and ask your master to come and have a chat with me," Chen
replied. "We can have a drink together if he wishes. I will wait for
him here."
Bai had seen the concern with which the Emperor had treated Chen
earlier, and he dared not offend Chen. But after such an intrusion into
the quarters of the Emperor, he was also loath to return without them.
There were, however, no other boats nearby, and with no way of chasing
after them across the lake, he was forced to return to report to Qian
Long.
"It would be quite nice to go to the lake and enjoy the moonlight,"
Qian Long said after a pause. "Go and tell him I will come
immediately."
"These are dangerous bandits," replied Bai. "In my humble opinion, you
should not risk such danger."
"Go," said Qian Long.
Bai did not dare to press the matter further, and rode swiftly back to
the lake. 'Crocodile' Jiang was sitting at the stern of a boat with his
arms round his knees, waiting for him.
"Tell your master that my master will be here soon," Bai shouted.
"Heaven knows what the Emperor sees in this fellow," he thought as he
hurried back to resume his guard of the Emperor's person.
Qian Long was in high spirits, and talked and laughed as Commander Li
Keshou waited on him. He had changed into an ordinary gown, while his
bodyguards had also put on civilian clothes. Once at the lakeside, he
gave his orders.
"He probably already knows who I am, but I want everyone still to
pretend to be common people."
Imperial guard units had been hidden all around the lake with troops
hand-picked by Commander Li behind them. Beyond the flickering lantern
light, they saw five boats gliding towards them across the water.
'Leopard' Wei stood on the bow of the middle boat.
"I have been sent by Master Lu to invite Master Dongfang onto the lake
to enjoy the moon," he announced, and jumped onto the bank and bowed
before Qian Long.
Qian Long nodded slightly. "Excellent," he said, and stepped onto the
boat. Commander Li, Bai and thirty or forty bodyguards boarded the
boats with him. More than a dozen of the bodyguards were expert
swimmers, and Bai ordered them to keep their wits about them.
They started out across the lake, which was a fairyland of lights.
Pleasure boats were everywhere, bedecked with lanterns that filled the
darkness like stars in the night sky and the sound of music floated
across towards them. A small sampan darted into view then turned and
led the boats to a flotilla of other craft. Despite the huge number of
troops they had stationed around the shore, Bai and the other
bodyguards were uneasy at the sight of such a powerful force, and all
covertly felt for the weapons they had hidden around their persons.
"So you decided to come, Master Dongfang," Chen called from a nearby
boat. "Please come aboard!"
The two boats drew alongside each and Qian Long, Commander Li, Bai, and
several other bodyguards jumped across. Bai and the others relaxed as
they saw that Chen and his attendant, Xin Yan, were the only other
people on the boat. The cabin was spacious, with exquisite murals on
the walls. The table in the centre was set with wine cups, bowls and
chopsticks and was covered with dishes of fruit, wine and all manner of
delicacies.
Chen and his guest shook hands and smiled broadly, then sat down facing
each other. Commander Li, Bai and the others stood behind Qian Long.
Chen smiled briefly at Bai and noticed a handsome-faced youth standing
behind Commander Li whom he recognised as Lu Feiqing's pupil.
Surprised, he wondered what the youth was doing accompanying court
officials.
Xin Yan poured some wine, and Chen, afraid that Qian Long would be
suspicious, drained his own cup first, then began eating. Qian Long
picked at a few of the dishes that Chen had already tried, then put
down his chopsticks. He heard a flute on a neighbouring boat playing
the tune 'Welcome the Honoured Guest.'
"You are truly a man of culture," he said to Chen. "It is amazing that
you managed to arrange things so well at such short notice."
Chen dismissed the praise. "One cannot drink wine without music," he
said. "I understand Beautiful Jade has the best voice in all Zhejiang
Province. Shall I ask her to sing for us?"
Qian Long clapped his hands in approval. "Who is this Beautiful Jade?"
he asked, turning to Commander Li.
"She is one of Hangzhou's most famous courtezans," he replied. "I have
heard that she is very haughty by nature and if it does not please her,
she won't even show herself let alone sing, no matter how much she is
offered."
"Have you ever seen her?" Qian Long asked.
"I...no I haven't," Li replied, extremely embarrassed.
'Leopard' Wei escorted Beautiful Jade out. Qian Long looked admiringly
at the perfect whiteness of her skin and her petite figure, but decided
her face was not particularly attractive. Her eyes, however, were full
of life, and her glance around the cabin contained an intimate greeting
for every person there.
Chen stretched out his hand towards Qian Long. "This is Master
Dongfang," he said. Beautiful Jade greeted him, then sat down next to
Chen and cuddled up to him.
"I hear you sing very well," Chen said. "I wonder if you would allow us
the pleasure of enjoying your talent?"
"If you want to hear me sing, Master Lu, I will sing for three days and
three nights continuously. But I am afraid you would tire of me." An
attendant handed her a pipa, and with a light strum, she began to sing:
"Outside the window all is quiet
You kneel before the bed eager for some kissing
I scold you, call you heartless, and turn away,
But despite my words I am still half willing."
Chen applauded enthusiastically. Qian Long, hearing her smooth, clear
voice, felt a warm feeling rising in his chest. Beautiful Jade smiled,
then strummed the pipa and turned to Qian Long:
"I want to beat you,
Don't think I'm joking," she sang.
"I clench my teeth
This time I really will
But you won't fear me
If I hit you softly,
And I cannot bear
To hit you hard.
Oh, my lover
I won't hit you after all."
The Emperor was completely carried away by the song. "If you want to
hit me, then hit me," he said.
Qian Long, born and raised in the depths of the Imperial Palace had
seen many girl singers, but all of them had been dignified and
monotonous, nothing like this southern Chinese courtesan. He was
entranced by her eyes and her seductiveness, and the song, the perfumed
lake, the moon's reflection, all conspired to make the scene dreamlike,
so that gradually he forgot that he was with renowned bandits.
Beautiful Jade poured some wine for Chen and Qian Long and the two
drank three cups in succession while Beautiful Jade drank one to keep
them company. Qian Long took a jade ring off his finger and gave it to
her.
"Sing another song," he said. Beautiful Jade looked down and giggled,
revealing two little dimples. Qian Long's heart melted.
"All right," she said. She batted her eyelids at him then struck up a
tune on the pipa. This time, the rhythm was fast and light with a
complex melody, and Qian Long shouted out his approval.
She sang of a poor man with ambitions who gradually climbs his way up,
first obtaining clothes, then a house, a wife and concubines, and then
power. Finally, he begins to covet the throne of the emperor himself.
Chen laughed heartily, but as the song progressed, Qian Long's
expression became increasingly dour. "Could this girl know who I really
am and be singing this song to make fun of me?" he wondered.
Beautiful Jade finished the song and slowly put down her pipa.
"The song makes fun of poor men," she said with a smile. "Both of you,
Master Dongfang and Master Chen, are wealthy gentlemen with large
mansions, lovely wives and beautiful concubines. You would not think of
such things."
Qian Long laughed, and his eyes travelled over her, taking in her
softness, her fun-loving spirit. He wondered how he should go about
telling Commander Li to have her brought to the Yamen, and how to make
sure the affair remained secret.
"The Emperor Xuanzong had a great interest in beautiful women," he
suddenly heard Chen say. "That in itself is not important, but he
should not have put his weakness for women above the interests of the
nation."
"The Xuanzong Emperor was at first a wise ruler, but he became
muddle-headed in his later years. He was far inferior to his ancestor,
Emperor Taizhong," Qian Long replied.
"Taizong was certainly a very capable ruler," said Chen.
The two men Qian Long most venerated in all the world were Emperor Wu
of the Han dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty. Both had
greatly expanded the empire, and their reputations had carried far
beyond their borders. Ever since he had ascended the throne, Qian Long
had worked single-mindedly to emulate them and had sent armies out on
long expeditions to the Muslim border regions with the intention of
carrying on their work.
"Emperor Taizong was wise and courageous," he said. "The barbarians
cringed in fear at the sound of his name. He was proficient in both
letters and war. Such talent would be hard to equal."
"I have read the Emperor Taizong's works," said Chen. "He makes some
points which I feel are very true."
"Such as?"
"He said: 'The ruler can be compared to a boat, and the common people
to water. The water can support the boat or sink it."
Qian Long was silent.
"Sitting as we are in this boat, the metaphor could not be more apt,"
Chen continued. "If we row smoothly, we will have a very stable ride.
But if we row about frenziedly, or if the water should rush by in a
raging torrent, the boat will certainly capsize."
His words contained not only the implication that the people could
overthrow the Emperor whenever they wished, but also the threat of
throwing Qian Long into the water there and then. Never in his life had
Qian Long had such threatening words addressed to him. His anger surged
up and unable to control himself, he threw his wine cup at the floor.
The cup flew downwards, but just as it was about to hit the deck, Xin
Yan shot out and caught it. He presented it to Qian Long on bended
knee. "Master Dongfang, you dropped your cup," he said.
The speed of his move startled Qian Long. Commander Li took the cup
from Xin Yan and watched for some sign from the Emperor's eyes. But
Qian Long composed himself and laughed.
"Brother Lu, this little helper of yours is very agile," he said, and
turned to one of the guardsman. "Play with the little fellow," he said.
The guardsman, who was surnamed Fan, bent down and struck out at Xin
Yan with his pair of large swords. Xin Yan somersaulted over backwards
and landed on the bow of the boat.
"Let's play hide and seek," he said to Fan with a smile. "If you catch
me, we'll say I've lost and then I'll chase you."
Fan was furious at having missed his target and bounded after him, but
the boy soared off through the air like a great bird and landed on a
small sampan nearby. The two chased each other across more than a dozen
boats before Fan finally cornered Xin Yan at the end of a string of
three boats. He thrust the sword in his left hand at Xin Yan's chest,
and Xin Yan countered by striking out with his fist at Fan's stomach.
Fan then leapt up in the air, aiming to fall on Xin Yan from above. But
as he jumped, the boatman, 'Crocodile' Jiang, twirled his oar and spun
the boat around. Fan shouted in fear as the boat disappeared from under
him, and he fell heavily into the lake. Xin Yan clapped in delight.
Two of Qian Long's bodyguards dived into the water to save Fan, who was
splashing and clutching at the air in desperation. Meanwhile, Jiang
placed his oar in front of Fan, who grabbed it and held on tight. Jiang
then swung the oar up, tossing Fan over towards Qian Long's boat, and
shouted "Catch!" A bodyguard ran to the bow and caught him. Another
bodyguard, surnamed Long, stepped forward.
"I understand this little brother is also very proficient with
missiles," he said darkly as Xin Yan moved back to Chen's side. "Let us
spar for a while."
"You and I are already firm friends," Chen said to Qian Long. "We
should not allow our servants to disturb the pleasant atmosphere with
their bickering. As this gentleman is an expert in the use of darts,
let us ask him to display his talent on something other than my serving
boy. What do you think?"
"Fine, except we don't have a target," Qian Long replied. Xin Yan leapt
over onto the boat on which 'Iron Pagoda' Yang was sitting and
whispered into his ear.
Yang nodded, waved to Zhang Jin in the next sampan, and pointed to
another boat nearby. "Grab the end of that boat," he said, and took
hold of the other end himself. "Up!" he shouted and the two lifted the
little boat out of the water while their own boats sank lower. The
others gasped at this awesome display of strength.
"Master, will this do as a target?" Xin Yan shouted. "Please come and
draw a bulls-eye on it."
Chen raised his wine cup and drained it, then flung it at the boat. It
sliced into the keel without shattering. The onlookers clapped and
cheered. Bai and the other bodyguards frowned at the sight of such
phenomenal power: a man whose Inner Strength Kung Fu allowed him to
drive a porcelain cup into a boat keel as if it was a steel dart was a
formidable opponent.
"Use the cup as the target," Chen suggested, smiling.Bodyguard Long
silently pulled five spiked balls from his bag and threw them one after
the other. They struck the target with a quick "rat-a-tat" and slivers
of porcelain flew in all directions.
Xin Yan slipped out from behind the boat. "Not bad!" he shouted.
Long was suddenly swept with a wave of malice, and he threw another
five of the spiked balls at Xin Yan.
A shout of surprise went up from the others, and greatly frightened,
Xin Yan lunged to one side, but one of the spiked balls struck his left
shoulder. There was no pain, but the shoulder immediately went numb.
The heroes edged their little boats forward, all eager to match
themselves against Long.
The other Imperial bodyguards were ashamed that Long should use such a
low trick against a boy in front of the Emperor. But protecting His
Highness was of overriding importance, and they immediately pulled out
their weapons. Commander Li gave a sharp whistle, signalling the troops
on the shore to mobilise.
"Brothers!" Chen called. "Master Dongfang is my honoured guest. We
cannot show any impoliteness towards him. Move back, all of you."
The heroes rowed back several yards. Yang and Zhang Jin had already put
the target boat back to the water, and Luo Bing was inspecting Xin
Yan's wound. 'Mastermind' Xu also jumped over to see how he was.
"Don't worry, it's not painful," Xin Yan said. "But it's very itchy."
He moved his hand up to scratch the wound and Xu quickly stopped him.
He could see the spiked ball had been dipped in a very powerful poison.
"Let go of me," Xin Yan yelled. "It's too itchy to bear!" He struggled
powerfully to break free.
"Be patient for a moment," Xu told Xin Yan, trying not to look as
worried as he felt. He turned to Luo Bing. "Ask Third Brother to come
over."
Another boat moved swiftly up alongside with the Red Flower Society's
Hangzhou chief Master Ma standing on the brow. He leapt over next to Xu
and whispered: "Master Xu, the whole lake is surrounded by Manchu
troops including Imperial Guard units."
"How many altogether?"
"Seven or eight thousand not counting the reserve forces waiting
further away."
"Go and call together all the brothers in Hangzhou and surrounding
areas. Tell them to gather near the lake and await orders. Also tell
them to have a red flower hidden on their persons." Ma nodded.
"How many can you get together immediately?" Xu asked.
"Including the workers from my factories, about two thousand," he
replied.
"Two thousand of our brothers should be enough to deal with fifteen
thousand of them," said Xu. "And what's more, many of the troops in the
Chinese units are society members. Go and make the arrangements." Ma
nodded and left.
'Buddha' Zhao's boat glided over. He looked at Xin Yan's wound and
frowned deeply. He carefully pulled out the poisonous spiked ball, then
took a large medicine pill from his bag and placed it into the open
wound. He looked up at Xu.
"There's nothing I can do," he said, desolation in his voice. "The
poison is extremely potent. No-one can save him except the man
responsible."
"How long can he hold on?" Xu asked, greatly frightened.
"At the most, six hours."
"Third Brother, let's go and get that fellow over here and force him to
deliver the antidote."
Zhao leapt in three great bounds over to the boat in which Chen and
Qian Long were sitting, with each bound touching down on the deck of a
different boat.
"Master Lu," he said. "I would like to ask this gentleman to acquaint
me with some of his tricks."
Chen, who was furious at the wonding of Xin Yan, turned to Qian Long.
"This friend of mine is also quite good with projectiles," he said. "It
would be interesting to see them matched against each other."
The Emperor was eager to see any spectacle, the more dangerous the
better. "Go on," he said to Long. "But don't lose." Long bowed.
"That's the Thousand-Arm Buddha," Bai whispered. "Be careful."
Long knew the name well, and shuddered at the thought of facing him.
But he had never yet met his equal in the field of projectiles. "This
is just between you and me," he said to Zhao.
"Do you think we would trick you?" Zhao demanded angrily.
"Right. That's what I wanted to hear you say," Long replied, and leapt
onto the prow of a boat nearby.
Zhao sent off a flurry of darts and sleeve arrows after him, and Long's
heart froze at the sight of such speed. He threw himself down onto the
deck and the darts struck the boat with a quick succession of popping
noises.
Long jumped up again, and spotting Zhao's figure in the moonlight,
flung a dart at him. Zhao dodged to the right to avoid it, and suddenly
found three of the poisoned spiked balls winging towards him. He leant
over backwards and the spiked balls whizzed passed the tip of his nose.
Three more spiked balls followed in quick successsion. Zhao knocked two
of them into the water with darts of his own, then caught the third and
placed it inside his gown.
Long leapt towards another boat and Zhao threw out a boomerang-shaped
blade. Long ducked and watched in surprise as the blade swirled over
him and returned to Zhao's hand. Fascinated by the sight of the strange
weapon, Long failed to notice two other darts flying towards him which
simultaneously struck both his shoulders. His body went limp and he
fell to his knees.
The Imperial Guards were astounded at the sight of him falling. Chu
Yuan, one of Long's comrades, raced over to defend him, but another
swordsman intercepted him. Chu saw in the moonlight that the man was
dressed in Taoist robes.
"Who are you?" he barked.
Priest Wu Chen smiled. "Do you mean to say you are a swordsman and you
don't know me?" he asked.
Chu attacked with a 'Buddha Ambushing the Tiger' stroke followed by a
'Nine Successions' stroke.
"That's very good," Wu Chen said, still smiling. "Now continue with a
'Gold Wheel' stroke".
As he spoke, Chu did indeed attack with a 'Gold Wheel' stroke. "How did
he know?" he wondered, startled. The priest also guessed his next two
moves correctly, just as if he was a teacher instructing a pupil. Chu
retreated two paces and stared at him, embarrassed.
Meanwhile, Zhao had grabbed Long and was pressuring him to hand over
the antidote. Long, however closed his eyes and said nothing. "Just as
long as I don't give in, the Emperor will surely reward me when we get
back," he thought.
Priest Wu Chen continued his game of forcing Bodyguard Chu to counter
with the moves he called out. Qian Long, although a mediocre fighter
himself, had a thorough knowledge of kung fu and was amused by the
spectacle. But he felt the chill of anxiety too.
"Chu is one of the top Imperial Bodyguards," he thought. "What use are
they if these bandits can play with them in such a fashion?" He watched
for a few more moves and then decided he had had enough.
"Tell him to come back," he said to Bai.
"Brother Chu," Bai shouted. "The Master asks you to come here."
Chu breathed a sigh of relief. The Emperor's order was like a reprieve
from the death sentence, and he prepared to jump away. Priest Wu Chen,
however, had other ideas.
"Just a moment," he said. He struck forward with his sword and Chu felt
a cool breeze course across his face and body as the sword flashed
about him. The courtesan Beautiful Jade suddenly laughed out loud, and
Chu looked down and saw that his clothes had been cut to shreds by the
priest's sword. Not only that: he felt his head and found his hair and
queue had been shaved completely off. As he shook with fear and shame,
his trousers suddenly fell down.
"These friends of yours are extraordinarily skilled in the martial
arts, Master Lu," Qian Long said to Chen. "Why don't you all offer your
services to the court? It is a pity to waste such talent."
Chen smiled. "We would prefer to do just as we please," he said. "But
thank you. We are very grateful of the offer."
"Since that is the case, I will take my leave. It is getting late."
Qian Long looked meaningfully over at Bodyguard Long in the other boat.
"Brother Zhao," Chen called. "Let Master Dongfang's servant come back."
"Absolutely not!" Luo Bing answered. "Xin Yan has poisoned by him and
he refuses to hand over the antidote."
Qian Long whispered some instructions to Commander Li, then turned to
Long. "Give him the antidote," he ordered.
"I deserve to die," Long replied. "I didn't bring the antidote with me.
I left it in Beijing."
"Brother Zhao, give me two of those spiked balls," said Xu. Zhao pulled
them out of his bag and handed them over. Xu ripped Long's gown off his
chest and drove the balls into him. Long cried out in panic.
"Master Lu," Xu shouted. "Please send over some wine. We want to drink
a toast with our friend here to seal our friendship, and then we will
let him go."
"All right," said Chen. Beautiful Jade filled three cups with wine, and
Chen threw them one by one over to the other boat. Zhao calmly stetched
out his hand and caught them without a drop being spilled.
Xu took one of the cups. "Master Long, let us drink a toast," he said.
Long knew that the alcohol would greatly speed up the effects of the
poison and clamped his mouth shut.
"Go on, have a drink. There's no need to stand on ceremony," said Xu
with a smile. He grabbed Long's nose between his third and little
fingers then pressed strongly on his cheeks with the thumb and
forefinger, forcing Long to open his mouth, and poured all three cups
of wine into him.
Long decided his life was more important than his reputation. "Let me
go," he said. "I...I...I'll get the antidote," Zhao laughed and
loosened his grip. Long pulled three packets of medicine from his bag.
"The red one should be taken orally, the black one sucks out the
poision and the white one closes the wound," he said and fainted away.
Zhao hurriedly poured the red medicine into one of the wine cups, mixed
it with some lake water and gave it to Xin Yan to drink, then spread
the black medicine onto the wound. A moment later, black blood welled
out of the gash. Luo Bing wiped it up as it appeared, and gradually the
blood turned red. Xin Yan cried out in pain as Zhao administered the
white medicine.
"Please forgive my friends," Chen said to Qian Long. "They are very
unrefined."
Qian Long laughed. "It has certainly been an interesting day. I will
take my leave now."
"Master Dongfang wishes to go home," Chen called. "Head back to the
shore!"
The flotilla glided slowly off, and soon reached the lakeside.
Commander Li jumped ashore and helped Qian Long across onto land as the
bodyguards formed a protective semi-circle. Li pulled out a pipe and
blew three sharp notes on it, and several hundred Imperial troops
appeared.
"You insolent wretches!" Li shouted at the Red Flower Society fighters.
"You are in the sight of the Emperor and still you don't kowtow?"
Xu gestured with his hand, and Master Ma and his son fired flares up
into the air above the lake. A moment later, a huge roar went up from
all sides, and men rushed out from the trees, from behind buildings and
from under bridges, each one with a red flower on his lapel and a sword
in his hand.
"Brothers!" Xu shouted. "The Great Helmsman has arrived!" The society
men roared their approval and surged forward.
The Imperial Bodyguards and troops drew their swords, fixed arrows to
bows, and the two sides confronted each other, each determined not to
yield. Commander Li mounted a horse and waited for Qian Long's order to
seize the Red Flower Society fighters.
Chen walked calmly over to an officer of the Imperial Bodyguard and
pointed at the horsewhip he was holding. Hypnotised by Chen's gaze, the
officer meekly dismounted and handed the whip over. Chen then leapt
onto his horse and pulled a red flower from his pocket which he fixed
to his gown. The flower was made from the finest silk stitched with
gold thread and the green leaves around it were studded with jewels
which glittered and sparkled in the torchlight. It was the badge of the
Great Helmsman and the Red Flower Socety heroes bowed before him in
respect.
Suddenly, a large number of the soldiers broke from the Manchu ranks
and swarmed forward despite shouts from their officers. They raced over
to Chen, bowed, then ran back to their ranks as another batch ran out
to pay their respects. The Red Flower Society's power was so great in
the south that many soldiers in the Manchu armies, especially those in
units under Chinese command, were members.
Qian Long was flabbergasted at the sight of so many of his own troops
breaking ranks to bow before Chen. The Imperial Guard units he had
brought with him from Beijing were clearly the only ones he could
trust, and considering the danger of his position, he decided a fight
had to be avoided at all costs.
He turned to Commander Li.
"So these are your trusted soldiers," he said coldly. "Tell them to
retire."
"Yes sir," replied Li, stunned with fear. He ordered the troops back to
camp.
"Brothers!" 'Mastermind' Xu shouted when he saw the Manchu troops were
retreating. "Thank you all for your trouble. Please go now."
An answering roar went up from the mass of the Society followers:
"Great Helmsman, goodbye!" The thunderous cry echoed out over the lake.
Qian Long raised his hands towards Chen. "Thank you for a very pleasant
outing on the lake," he said. "We will meet again."
** 3 **
Chen and the heroes returned to the boats and ate and drank to their
hearts' content. They had handed out a crushing defeat to the Imperial
Bodyguard, and were in good spirits.
"Brother Ma," Xu said to the society's Hangzhou Helmsman. "After such a
setback, the Emperor certainly won't let matters rest. Advise all the
brothers in Hangzhou to be very careful, especially those in the Manchu
ranks."
Ma nodded, finished off his cup of wine and departed with his son.
Chen also drained his wine cup and sighed as he watched the broken
reflection of the moon floating on the lake between the lotus lily
leaves.
"What date is it today?" he asked Xu, looking up. "We have been so busy
lately, I have completely lost track of time."
"It's the seventeenth. It was the mid-Autumn festival the day before
yesterday. Don't you remember?"
Chen was silent for a moment, then said: "Brothers, please go and rest
now, all of you. I will stay here for a while. Tomorrow, I have some
private business to attend to, but the day after that we will begin
preparations for rescuing Fourth Brother."
"Would you like anyone to accompany you?" Xu asked.
"No, there's no need. There is no danger. I just want to be by myself
and think about things quietly."
The boats moved over to the shore, and the heroes bade farewell to
Chen. Some of them were already half drunk, and they joined arms as
they walked through the deserted streets of Hangzhou, singing loudly
into the darkness.
Chen watched them go, then jumped into a small sampan and skulled the
boat out over the mirror-smooth surface of the lake. The shore receded,
and he stowed the oar and stared up at the moon. The next day was his
mother's birthday. For ten years, he had been away from home, and now
that he was back in southern China, his mother was already dead. He
thought of her kindly, smiling face and of the common fate that awaits
all men, and tears began to trickle down his face.
The first light of day began to spread across the sky. Chen plucked the
red flower off his gown and placed it in his bag, then strolled towards
the eastern gate to the city. The guard on duty stared at him, then
saluted: he was a Red Flower Society man. Chen nodded to him.
"Since you are leaving the city, do you need a horse, Great Helmsman?"
the guard asked.
"Yes, thank you," answred Chen. The guard went jubilantly off and came
back a short time later with a horse. Following behind were two minor
officials who both bowed respectfully before Chen. They felt fortunate
to have had an opportunity to render a service to the Great Helmsman.
Chen mounted up and galloped off. The horse was fast and he reached the
western gate of Haining city by noon. It had been ten years since he
left his home town, but everything was still as it had been. Afraid of
meeting someone who would recognise him, he turned his horse northwards
and rode two or three miles further on. He stopped at a farmhouse and
ate lunch, then lay down to sleep. Having been up the whole previous
night, he slept very deeply.
Noting his gentleman's attire and the fact that he spoke the local
dialect, the farmer and his wife treated Chen with great courtesy, and
killed a chicken for dinner. Chen questioned them about events of the
past few years and the farmer said: "The Emperor has ordered that the
whole of Haining county be exempt from taxes for three years. It's all
because of his respect for Minister Chen."
Chen thought about how many years it had been since his father had
passed away, and wondered again why the Emperor had suddenly begun to
bestow such handsome favours on his family. When he had finished
dinner, he gave three taels of silver to the farmer in thanks and rode
towards his family home in the northwest of the city.
As he reached the gate of the house, he stopped in surprise. In the old
days, it had been named 'Secluded Garden', but the old name board had
been taken down and replaced with one which read 'Peaceful Pool
Garden'. The characters were rounded and flowing, and he recognized the
calligraphy as being that of the Emperor Qian Long himself. perplexed,
he leapt over the wall into the compound. Next to the old house, new
structures had been erected with endless pavilions and platforms,
mansions and chambers.
He passed along a covered walkway towards the Jade Bracelet Hall, but
again found a new name board over its door inscribed 'Beloved Days
Hall', also written in Qian Long's hand. Chen frowned. The words
'Beloved Days' referred to the filial affection of children for their
parents. What was the Emperor doing writing such a thing here?
He emerged from the hall and walked across a zig-zag bridge with red
railings into a thick bamboo grove towards the 'Fragrant Bamboo Lodge',
the former residence of his mother. This name board had also been
changed, this time to read 'Spring Sunshine Hall'. Chen sat down on a
rock, greatly confused. 'Spring Sunshine' was a poetic allusion used to
describe a son's gratitude for his mother's love. It had no other
meaning.
"Why has Qian Long placed this name board on my mother's house?" he
wondered. "Even if he is more stupid than I think, he would not have
been so thoughtless. Could it be he knew I would come back here and
wrote out these name boards in an attempt to befriend me?"
He tiptoed up the steps, and looked through a window, into the main
room of the lodge. It was arranged exactly as it had been when his
mother was alive, with redwood furniture, a large carved bed, a clothes
chest inlaid with gold, all as he remembered them from ten years
before. A red candle flickered on the table. Suddenly, he heard the
sound of footsteps from an adjoining room and an old woman entered. It
was his mother's personal maid, Nanny Huan. The woman had reared him,
and Chen felt closer to her than to any of the other servants.
He jumped into the room and hugged the old woman.
Greatly frightened, she opened her mouth to scream, but Chen covered it
with his hand and whispered: "Don't shout, it's me." She stared at him,
too shocked to speak. In fact, his appearance and manner had changed so
much in the ten years since he had left that she did not know who he
was.
"It's me, Jialuo. Don't you recognize me?" he asked.
"You....you are Jialuo? You've come back?" the woman asked, completely
confused.
Chen smiled and nodded. She gradually recovered her senses and vaguely
discerned the features of the mischievous child she had known.
Suddenly, she threw her arms round him and began to sob loudly. Chen
hastily restrained her.
"Stop crying! No-one must know that I've returned," he said.
"It doesn't matter," she replied. "They've all gone to the new section.
There's no-one else here."
"What new section?"
"Of the mansion. It was built earlier this year. Heaven knows what it
cost, or what it's for."
Chen knew she had little understanding of such matters. "How did my
mother die? What illness?" he asked.
The woman pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes. "Mistress was
very unhappy, I don't know why. She hadn't had a good meal for days,
and she become ill. It dragged on for more than a week before she
passed away." She began to cry quietly again. "She kept calling for
you. 'Where is Jialuo? Hasn't he come yet? I want to see Jialuo!' She
was shouting like that for two days before she died."
Chen began to weep too. "Where is her grave?"
"Behind the new Sea Goddess temple," she replied.
"Sea Goddess temple?" Chen echoed.
"Yes, they built that in the spring too. It's huge, right on the sea
embankment."
"I'm going to have a look. I'll be back in a while," he said.
"No...no, you can't!" She interrupted hastily, but he had already leapt
out through the window.
He knew the path down to the embankment well and was there in a moment.
Looking west, he saw a huge structure that had not been there before,
and decided it must be the Sea Goddess temple. He ran towards the main
entrance.
Suddenly, he heard the patter of light footsteps and hid behind a
willow tree. Two men dressed in black clothes emerged from either side
of the temple wall, saluted each other and continued on in opposite
directions around the temple. Chen was mystified. Just then, two more
men appeared dressed the same as the first pair and followed the same
path round the temple wall. Even more curious, Chen waited for them to
disappear around the corners, then jumped silently up onto the wall.
Another pair passed him down below. He waited for a while and counted
about forty men constantly circling the temple, all of them alert and
silent, and obviously kung fu experts. Could this be a religious
ceremony, he wondered? Full of curiosity, he jumped quietly down into
the courtyard and crept into the main temple building to investigate.
Incense smoke curled up from in front of the central altar as candles
flickered and danced. He wondered which god the altar was dedicated to,
but when he looked up to see, he gasped out loud involuntarily. The
handsome-faced statue was a likeness of his father.
He spotted an open door to the left and crept over. Looking out, he saw
a long covered walk-way paved with white flag-stones. He knew that if
he went along the white-stoned path he would easily be spotted, so he
leapt onto the roof of the walkway and flitted silently down to its
end. In front was another altar hall outside which was written in huge
characters: 'The Palace of the Empress of Heaven.' The doors to the
hall were open and he went inside. As he caught sight of the statue on
the central altar, he started again, even more violently. It's face was
that of his mother.
It was as if he was in a thick fog of bewilderment. He ran back
outside, looking for his mother's grave and saw a long yellow tent
behind the hall. He shrunk into a corner as a sturdy black-clothed man
passed by on patrol.
The things he had seen that evening beggared the imagination, and
despite the strict guard being kept, he resolved to get to the heart of
the matter. He crept slowly over to the tent and crawled inside.
He lay absolutely still and listened carefully. There were no sounds
outside, and he concluded that he had not been discovered. He looked
round and saw the vast tent was completely deserted. The ground had
been carefully flattened and the grass cleanly cut. The tent was joined
to a string of others so that they formed a long tunnel stretching back
from the temple buildings. Two large lanterns burned brightly in every
tent, and looking down the tunnel, the two rows of lights stretching
away looked like fiery dragons. He stood up and walked forward, as if
in a dream.
Suddenly he heard the rustle of clothing in front and quickly hid to
one side. After a moment, he continued forward again and spotted a man
seated in front of two graves at the end of the tunnel. The graves were
those of his mother and father. He was about to run forward and
prostrate himself when the man stood up, gazed at the graves for a
while, then knelt down and bowed several times. Chen saw the man's back
shaking as if he was crying.
Faced with such a scene, all of Chen's suspicions disappeared. This man
was either a relative or one of his father's former subordinates. He
walked quietly over and tapped the man on his shoulder.
"Please get up," he said.
The man jumped in fright, but did not turn round.
"Who is it?" he shouted harshly.
"I have also come to pay my respects," Chen replied. He knelt before
the graves and began to cry uncontrollably.
"Mother, father," he sobbed. "I have come too late. I will never see
you again."
The man gasped and Chen turned to find it was none other than the
Emperor, Qian Long.
"What...what are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Qian Long
asked in surprise.
"Today is the anniversary of my mother's birth," Chen replied. "I have
come to pay my respects to her. And you?"
Qian Long ignored the question. "You...you are the son of Chen Shiguan?
" he exclaimed incredulously.
"Yes. Didn't you know?"
Qian Long shook his head.
In the past few years, Qian Long had been bestowing extraordinary
favours on the Chen family of Haining, and although some of his
ministers were aware that the new leader of the Red Flower Society was
a son of Minister Chen, none dared to mention it because of the
Emperor's unpredictable temper.
Chen wondered why on earth the Emperor would come secretly to kneel and
cry before the grave of a former minister. It was completely
inexplicable.
Qian Long took Chen's hand. "You must think it strange, seeing me here
paying my respects in the middle of the night," he said. "Your father
and I had great affection for each other, so I took advantage of this
visit to the south to offer my thanks to him."
Chen made a sound, half believing, half not.
"If word of this should get out, it would be extremely inconvenient,"
Qian Long continued. "Can you give me your word that you will not
reveal it to anyone?"
Chen was deeply moved by Qian Long's reverence for his own mother and
father. "Don't worry," he replied. "I will not mention this evening to
anyone."
Qian Long immediately breathed easier. The two men shook hands, one the
Emperor of China, the other the leader of the country's largest secret
society. They were silent for a while, each with his own thoughts. Far
off, they heard a low roar like thunder.
"The tide is coming in," said Chen. "Let us go to the embankment and
watch. It has been ten years since I saw it."
"All right," replied Qian Long, still holding Chen's hand. They walked
out of the tent.
The guards outside the tent spotted the two as they emerged and rushed
forward to wait on the Emperor, wondering how his companion could have
entered the tent without them being aware of it. Then Bodyguard Bai
Zhen and the other officers noticed that it was the Great Helmsman of
the Red Flower Society, and they shook with fear. One of the guards led
the Emperor's horse across to him.
"Take my horse," Qian Long said to Chen. The guards hurriedly lead over
another horse and the two rode out of the temple gate.
The roar of the ocean filled their ears and they gazed out at the pale
moonlight reflecting off it in silvery shades.
Qian Long stared at the waves for a long time, then said: "Fate seems
determined to throw us together. Tomorrow, I will return to Hangzhou,
and after three more days there, will continue back to Beijing. Why
don't you come with me? It would be best if you were always by my side.
Seeing you is like seeing your father."
Chen was surprised by the warmth of his words.
"You excel in both scholarship and the martial arts," Qian Long
continued. "It would be easy to promote you to your father's former
post, which would be ten thousand times better than hiding yourself
away in the underworld."
"I am extremely grateful to you for your goodwill," Chen said. "But if
I coveted great wealth, I would not have left home in the first place."
"Why did you leave? Why did you insist on mixing in the underworld
instead of doing what a nobleman should? Was it that you couldn't get
on with your father and brother?"
"No, it wasn't that. It was the wish of my mother. My father and elder
brother knew nothing of it. They have spent a lot of time and effort
looking for me."
"Your mother told you to leave home? That is truly strange. Why did she
do that?"
Chen hung his head. "It was the result of a tragedy she suffered. I am
not too clear about it either."
"The Chen family has been distinguished for many generations. During
the last three hundred years alone, more than two hundred members of
the family have passed the Imperial examinations, three have served as
prime ministers and eleven as other senior officials. The number is
extraordinary. Your father was an honest and hard-working man. He often
used to plead before my father on behalf of the common people, crying
as he did so. My father used to laugh and say: 'Chen Shiguan was
sobbing again today. I suppose I'll have to agree to what he says.'"
Hearing of his father's conduct as an official, Chen was at once
saddened and pleased. "He cried before the Emperor and I steal military
grain," he thought. "Our methods are different but our aim is the
same."
They stood and watched the tide thunder in.
"I would like to give you a piece of advice," Qian Long said.
"Please do."
"The actions of the Red Flower Society have come very close to
rebellion. Past behaviour I can ignore, but you must not disregard the
law in such a way again."
"All we do is for the country and the common people," Chen replied.
Qian Long sighed. "What a pity," he said. After a moment, he added: "As
a result of our meeting tonight, I promise that when we destroy the Red
Flower Society, you will be spared."
"In that case, if you should fall into the hands of the Red Flower
Society, we will not harm you either."
Qian Long laughed. "You refuse to give an inch, even before the
Emperor. All right, it's been said now. Let us join fists and swear
that from today onwards neither shall harm the other."
The two men stretched out their arms and touched fists three times.
"With such a strong tide, if the sea embankment is not renovated, the
homes and graves of the common people will sooner or later be
inundated," Qian Long said. "I must see that my officials arrange for
it to be reconstructed."
"That is the act of a ruler who loves his subjects," Chen replied. "The
common people will be very grateful."
Qian Long nodded. "Your father performed great services for the Empire.
I could not bear to see his grave swallowed by the sea."
He took Chen's hand and started to walk along the embankment with him.
The guards wanted to follow, but he waved them back.
"I gather from your expression that you are still unhappy," he said as
they strolled along. "Apart from thoughts of your parents, what other
problem do you have? You may be unwilling to become an official, but if
you have any requests, I will do my best to comply with them."
Chen was silent for a moment. "There is one thing...but I doubt if you
would agree."
"Any request you make will be granted."
"Really?"
"I never joke."
"Then I ask you to release my sworn brother, Wen Tailai."
Qian Long started in surprise. He had not guessed that this would be
the request. For a moment, he was at a loss.
"How has Master Wen offended you?" Chen asked.
"I cannot release him, but since I have promised, I cannot go back on
my word. I tell you what: I won't kill him."
"Then we have no choice but to rescue him by force," replied Chen. "I
asked you to release him not because we are unable to rescue him, but
simply to avoid injuring our friendship."
Qian Long had witnessed the might of the Red Flower Society, and he
knew this was no empty boast.
"I appreciate your good intentions," he said. "But I tell you honestly,
I cannot allow this man out of my grasp. If you insist on trying to
rescue him, then I will kill him three days from now."
Chen's blood boiled. "If you kill Master Wen, you will never eat or
sleep easy again," he threatened.
"And if I don't kill him, I will never eat or sleep easy either."
"If that is true, then even being Emperor cannot compare with the
carefree life that I lead."
"How old are you?" Qian Long asked.
"Twenty five."
"I am not jealous of your carefree life, but I am jealous of your
youth. But it is of no consequence. No matter what one's achievements,
everyone still returns to dust when their time is up."
The two strolled on for a time.
"How many wives do you have?" Qian Long asked. Without waiting for an
answer, he plucked a piece of jade off his gown and offered it to Chen,
saying: "This is a priceless treasure. Give it to your wife."
Chen did not take it. "I have not married yet," he said.
Qian Long laughed. "You always set your sights too high. Give it to the
lady of your heart as a wedding present, then."
Chen accepted the stone. The jade shone with a pale glow under the
moonlight and he found it slightly warm to the touch. He realized it
was a piece of incalculably valuable "warm jade". He placed the jade in
his pocket. "Thank you for the present," he said. "We will meet again."
He saluted with his fists, mounted his horse and started off.
Qian Long waved goodbye to him. "Look after yourself!" he shouted.
** 4 **
Putting aside thoughts of home, Chen rode back to the society's mansion
near Hangzhou where he found everyone gathered around 'Melancholy
Ghost' Shi who had just arrived from Beijing. Shi immediately broke
free from the group and bowed before Chen.
"I found out in Beijing that the Emperor had come south, and travelled
day and night to get here to tell you only to find that the brothers
had not only seen him, but had clashed with his men as well," he said.
"You've had a hard trip, Twelfth Brother," replied Chen. "Did you hear
any other news while you were there?"
"Once I heard about the Emperor, I disregarded everything else," Shi
said.
Chen noticed his haggard look and guessed he was worn out after the
hard ride. "Go and get a good sleep. We'll talk again later," he said.
Shi bowed and walked off. As he passed Luo Bing, he said: "That white
horse of yours is very fast. But don't worry, I took good care of
him...Oh," He stopped again. "I also saw the horse's former owner, Han
Wenchong, on the road."
"What? Did he want his horse back?"
"He didn't see me. I came across him in an inn in Yangzhou with several
lead escorts from the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency. I heard them cursing
our Red Flower Society, so I went across and eaves-dropped. They called
us low and vulgar, and said we had killed that fellow Tong Zhaohe."
'Mastermind' Xu and Zhou Qi smiled at each other. "What is the Zhen
Yuan Agency up to this time?" Xu asked.
"I gathered that they were escorting a consignment of treasures
presented by the Emperor to the Chen family of Haining." He turned to
Chen. "It was for your family, Great Helmsman, so I told the local
society leader to quietly make sure it was delivered safely."
"Thank you," Chen replied, smiling. "For once we can work together with
the Zhen Yuan Agency."
"The head of the agency is with them, which is an indication of the
importance they attach to the consignment."
Chen and the others gasped at the news that the North China
Earth-Shaker Wang Weiyang was escorting the consignment personally.
"Wang hasn't escorted a consignment for more than ten years," said Lord
Zhou. "Great Helmsman, your family obviously has great prestige."
"I thought it strange too," added Shi. "But later I heard that apart
from the valuables for the Great Helmsman's family, they were also
carrying a pair of jade vases."
"Jade vases?" Chen asked.
"Yes, treasures from the Muslim regions. The Muslims scored a victory
over General Zhao Wei's army, but with the Manchu forces so powerful,
they can't hold out for much longer. So they have sent the vases as a
peace offering."
The heroes excitedly asked Shi for details of the Muslims' victory.
"I heard that General Zhao Wei's troops starved for several days as a
result of us stealing their rations, and finally had to retreat. The
Muslims organised an ambush on the road and killed two or three
thousand of them." The heroes clapped and laughed.
"The Manchu army finally received more supplies," Shi continued. "It
began to advance again, but I didn't hear any further news. When the
Muslim envoys arrived in Beijing, the court officials didn't dare to
make a decision, and sent him and the vases down south for the Emperor
to dispose of."
"The vases won't make any difference," Chen said. "No matter what
valuable treasures they send, he will never agree to peace."
"I heard the agency men say that if peace was agreed to, the vases
would be kept. If not, they will have to be returned, so it is vital
that they not be damaged in any way."
Chen glanced at Xu, and the two walked away from the main group into a
side chamber.
"Brother Xu, last night I saw the Emperor. He said that he would be
returning to Beijing in three days' time, and that before he left he
intended to kill Fourth Brother."
"Then we'd better start making arrangements to save him immediately,"
Xu replied.
"The Emperor is probably not back in Hangzhou yet, and most of their
top fighters are with him, so it should be relatively easy to rescue
him if we move fast."
"The Emperor isn't in Hangzhou?"
Chen told him about their meeting in Haining. Xu fiddled meditatively
with the pens and paper on the tabletop in front of them.
"The only plan I can see at the moment is to steal the jade vases," Xu
said finally. "Since the Emperor has already sent a huge army out west,
he is certain to be unwilling to talk peace, which means he will have
to return the vases. If he is unable to, his word will lose all
credibility, and the Emperor, as we know, is obsessed with his own
prestige."
"Once we have the jade vases, we can go to him and say that if he
touches one hair on Fourth Brother's head, we will smash them," Chen
added.
"Exactly! Even if we can't exchange the vases for Fourth Brother, we
can at least postpone things for a few days which will also be of
benefit to Master Muzhuolun and his Muslims."
"All right," said Chen. "Then we attack this North China Earth-Shaker,
Wang Weiyang."
Wang Weiyang was sixty-nine years old. The Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency,
which he had built up with his own hands, had prospered in north China
for more than thirty years in spite of strong and sometimes violent
opposition, and there was a saying in the fighting community: 'It is
better to bump into the Devil than into old Wang.' He planned to retire
the following year in the expectation of living to a venerable old age,
but when the agency was entrusted with the task of escorting the jade
vases to the Emperor, he decided to accompany the consignment
personally. In light of the diplomatic sensitivity of the mission, he
did not dare to be neglectful. From each of his agency branches, he
detailed six top fighters, while the court also supplied four Imperial
Bodyguards and twenty Imperial Guardsmen to accompany the Muslim envoy
on his journey south. Precautions along the way were most strict, and
there had been no incidents of any kind.
Noon was approaching as they arrived at a town less than three miles
from Hangzhou. The agency men went into the largest restaurant and
ordered food, and were jubilantly discussing how they planned to
celebrate once they got to Hangzhou when a horse neighed outside.
Lead Escort Han pricked up his ears and ran out to find his own beloved
white steed walking slowly past with a heavy load of firewood on its
back. He tried to grab the reins, but the peasant with the horse gave
the animal a rap on the rump and it cantered off down the street.
Unwilling to give up, Han ran after them. Once outside the town, the
horse turned off the road and galloped into the trees with Han
following as best as he could.
"Brother Han's gone crazy thinking about that white horse of his," said
another of the lead escorts with a smile. "Every time he sees a horse
on the road with even a couple of white hairs, he has to chase after it
to see if it's his. When he gets home tomorrow and sees his old lady's
snow-white skin, I expect he'll probably think she's his horse and
immediately jump..."
The others exploded into laughter.
Just then, one of the waiters suddenly called out: "Master Liang,
please sit over here."
A man with the appearance of a rich merchant entered with four servants
behind him, one of them carrying a water pipe. He seated himself at a
table and a waiter hurried round pouring him a cup of tea and
chattering: "Try this Dragon's Well tea, Master Liang. It's made with
fresh spring water brought in only yesterday."
Liang grunted and said in a voice thick with the accent of Hanzhou:
"Bring me a few slices of meat, a bowl of eel soup and three catties of
the best rice wine."
The waiter bowed and a moment later, the fragrance of hot wine assailed
their noses as he returned with a large flask.
"What is Brother Han doing away so long?" Master Wang Weiyang asked.
Suddenly the main door of the restaurant was kicked open, and a dwarf
shuffled in followed by a girl and a strong young man, all three
dressed in rough clothes.
The dwarf bowed in all four directions and announced: "I am a humble
travelling player who can do a few tricks to make you laugh. If you are
impressed, please make a contribution. If you are not, please accept my
apologies."
He picked up a teacup from a table and covered it with his tattered
cap. "Change!" he shouted, and whisked the cap away: the cup had
disappeared. He waved the cap around to show that the cup was not
inside.
Intrigued, Master Liang stood up and walked over to get a closer look.
"May I borrow your snuff box, sir?" the dwarf asked him. Liang laughed
and handed the snuff box over. The dwarf placed it in his cap and made
it disappear in the same way.
"That snuff box is very precious," one of Liang's servants warned.
"Don't damage it now."
The dwarf smiled. "Please look in your pocket, sir," he replied. The
servant felt around in his coat pocket and pulled out the snuff box.
Liang and his servants were amazed, and so were the Lead Escorts and
Imperial Guardsmen. All crowded round to watch the dwarf's conjuring.
Liang pulled a jade ring off his left hand and handed it to him saying:
"Make this disappear too."
The dwarf put the ring on the table, covered it with his cap and blew
on it.
"Alter east and transpose west, Topsy-turvy like the rest!" he shouted
and whipped away the cap. The ring had disappeared. The onlookers
gasped.
"Please feel in your pocket, master," the dwarf said, and Liang pulled
the ring out and stared at it in surprise.
"Excellent, excellent!" he cried.
Several dozen people had entered the restaurant by this time, to see
what was going on, including a number of army officers.
"What's so special about a trick like that?" one of the officers said.
"Let's see if you dare to make this disappear." He slapped an official
document down on the table and the onlookers saw it was marked "Urgent
dispatch for Master Wang, Beijing Military Bureau", underneath which
was written "Zhejiang Provincial Commander-in-chief Li".
"Please don't be offended, sir," the dwarf replied. "I may earn my
living in a rather casual way, but I would never dare to touch an
urgent official dispatch."
"What does it matter?" Liang said to the dwarf. "It's just a game. Go
on, make it disappear." He turned to his servants. "Give me five taels
of silver," he said. One of the servants pulled an ingot of silver from
a bag and handed it to Liang who placed it on the table. "If you make
the dispatch disappear, this silver ingot is yours," he said to the
dwarf.
The dwarf looked at the ingot, then turned and held a whispered
conversation with the girl.
"I have found some more courage," he finally said. He covered the
document with his cap and shouted "Change! Change!" His hand pointed to
left and right, up and down, and settled on the leather case that
contained the jade vases. "In! In! Go into the case!" he roared. He
picked up the cap, and the document had indeed disappeared.
"He's got quite a talent, this Turtle," the officer commented. The
dwarf bowed before Master Liang.
"Thank you for your contribution," he said, then picked up the ingot
and handed it to the girl standing behind him. The crowd clapped in
approval.
"All right, now give me the dispatch back," said the officer.
The dwarf smiled. "It's in the leather case. Please open it and look,"
he replied. All the agency men jumped in shock as he spoke. The case
was sealed with the Imperial seal, and none dared to break it open. The
officer went over and felt the case with his hand.
"Excuse me, my man," said Wang Weiyang. "That is a treasure belonging
to the Imperial court. It cannot be touched."
"You must be joking," the officer replied and continued to feel the
case.
"Who's joking with you? Back off a bit!" one of the Imperial Guardsmen
warned.
"Yes sir," the officer said. "But please return the dispatch to me,
sir."
"Enough of your tricks!" the guardsman shouted at the dwarf. "Give him
back the dispatch, quickly!"
"It's in the leather case. If you don't believe me, open it and see,"
said the dwarf.
The officer flew into a rage and punched him on the shoulder. "Hand it
over!" he roared.
The dwarf put on a sorrowful expression. "I dare not deceive you," he
said. "The dispatch is inside the leather case, but I cannot spirit it
out again!"
Master Liang walked over to the Imperial Guardsman. "What is your
honourable surname, sir?" he asked politely.
"My surname is Lin."
"Master Lin, these marketplace scoundrels have no sense of propriety.
Please take a hand in this matter and return the dispatch to him."
"This case is the property of the Emperor," Lin replied. "Who would
dare to open it without the Emperor's permission?"
Master Liang frowned, as if in a quandary.
"If you don't return that dispatch to me, you will be guilty of
delaying important government business which is a capital offence,"
said the officer. "What do you say brothers?"
Seated around the room were another dozen or so army officers and men
who began to edge towards Lin.
Wang Weiyang, with his decades of experience, felt there was something
strange about the scene. He guessed that the dwarf was the key to the
affair and stretched out his hand to grab his arm. The dwarf shrank
away, crying: "Master, master, have mercy on me!"
Wang noted the dwarf's agility and became even more suspicious. He was
just about to chase after him when the military men began brawling with
the lead escorts and Imperial Guardsmen. He clutched the leather case
to his chest and a lead escort stood guard on either side of him. The
Guardsman Lin pulled out his dagger and slammed into the table.
"Enough of this!" he roared. "Back off, all of you!"
The army officer drew his sword. "If you don't return the document,
I'll finish you off even if I die doing it!" he shouted. "Brothers! All
together!"
He lunged forward and clashed with Lin. The other armymen drew their
weapons and charged into the fray and a great battle ensued. Guardsman
Lin was one of the best fighters in the Imperial Guard, but after a few
strokes he found this lowly army officer gaining the upper hand.
Wang Weiyang shouted repeatedly for them all to stop but no-one
listened. In the midst of the confusion, another group suddenly surged
in through the door and someone commanded: "Seize the trouble-makers!"
The army men all stopped where they were. Guardsman Lin took a deep
breath and saw that a young official had entered surrounded by several
dozen soldiers. He and immediately recognized the man as the Emperor's
favorite, Fu Kangan, who held the posts of military governor of
Manchuria, commander-in-chief of the Nine Gates of Beijing as well as
commander of the Imperial Guard. Lin hastily pushed his way forward and
greeted Fu as the other Imperial Guardsmen bowed before him.
"What's going here?" the official asked.
"They started making trouble, Commander," Lin replied, and gave an
account of what had occurred.
"And where is the magician?" the official asked. The dwarf, who had
hidden himself in a far corner, now came forward.
"This is a very strange business," the official said. "You will all
come with me to Hangzhou. I wish to conduct a thorough investigation."
"Yes, sir. A wise decision, sir," said Lin.
"Let us go," the official said, then walked outside and remounted his
horse. The soldiers under his command gathered together the agency men,
the army officer that had started the trouble and even the Muslim envoy
and herded them out after him.
"Master Fu," said Lin to the official. "This is the head of the Zhen
Yuan Bodyguard Agency, Wang Weiyang."
Wang went over and bowed in greeting, but the official merely glanced
at him once from head to foot and grunted. "Let's go," he said.
The column of men entered Hangzhou city and made its way to a huge
private residence by the West Lake.
"This must be where the commander is staying," Wang thought to himself.
"Being the Emperor's favorite, it's not surprising he has such a strong
force of men with him."
They entered the rear hall of the residence. "Please be seated," the
official said to Guardsman Lin, and continued on into an inner chamber
by himself.
A short while later, an Imperial Guard officer came out and escorted
the army officer who had started the trouble, the conjuring dwarf,
Master Liang and his servants inside.
"I was getting a bit worried during that brawl," said one of the lead
escorts. "There was something funny about those army men. I thought
they might try to damage the jade vases."
"Yes, their kung fu was surprisingly good for army officers," Guardsman
Lin replied. "It's lucky Commander Fu turned up or we may have had some
trouble."
"Commander Fu's Inner Strength Kung Fu is superb," said Wang Weiyang.
"It's very unusual for such a senior nobleman to be so accomplished in
the martial arts."
"What?" said Lin. "Commander Fu's kung fu is good? How do you know?"
"You can see it in his eyes."
As they were talking, an officer came out. "Wang Weiyang of the Zhen
Yuan Bodyguard Agency, come with me," he said. Wang stood up and
followed him out.
They passed through two courtyards and into another hall in which sat
Commander Fu Kangan on a dais. He had changed into an official gown
with a huge plume in his cap, and the imposing atmosphere was enhanced
by the long official desk in front of him and the many Imperial
Guardsmen standing on either side.
As he walked in, two officers shouted in unison: "Kneel!" Wang did as
he was told.
"So you're Wang Weiyang, are you?" Fu said shortly.
"I am sir," said Wang.
"I hear you have the nickname 'North China Earth Shaker'."
"That is just what some of my friends call me."
"Both the Emperor and I live in Beijing," Fu said coldly. "Are you
suggesting you can shake us off our feet too?"
Wang felt a sudden wave of fear. He hastily kowtowed and said: "This
humble person would not dare. I will immediately do away with the
nickname."
"Such insolence!" Fu roared. "Take him away!"
Two soldiers marched up and led him off, and Wang, in spite of his kung
fu skills, did not dare to resist.
The Imperial Guardsmen and lead escorts were brought in one after the
other, and one after another they were taken away and thrown manacled
into the dungeons. Finally, an army officer marched up to Fu's table
carrying the leather box in both hands, knelt down on one knee and
raised it above his head in presentation, saying: "Commander Fu, here
are the jade vases."
Fu laughed out loud, and stepped down off the dais. The dwarf and the
others kneeling on the ground also stood up and began laughing.
"Seventh Brother," Fu said to the dwarf. "You truly deserve the
nickname Kung Fu Mastermind!"
The conjuring dwarf was in fact 'Mastermind' Xu, while the Hangzhou
Helmsman, Master Ma, had played the part of Master Liang. Chen had
taken the role of his double, the Emperor's favorite, Fu Kangan, and
the Twin Knights and some of the other heroes had played the
trouble-making army officers. Xu had remembered that Han Wenchong would
be able to recognize the heroes and so had arranged for him to be lured
away using the white horse as bait into the forest where he had been
seized.
Chen broke the seal on the leather box and lifted the lid. Inside were
a pair of jade vases about one foot in height. On each was drawn the
picture of a beautiful girl dressed in Muslim clothes, her hair plaited
in a long queue. The girl was stunningly attractive with bewitching
eyes and cherry-red lips that almost seemed to move. She looked as if
she was about to walk out of the picture.
Everyone gathered round and voiced their admiration for the vases.
"When I saw Huo Qingtong, I thought she was certainly the most
beautiful girl under heaven," added Luo Bing. "But this girl is even
more lovely."
"It's just a picture," Zhou Qi protested. "You don't think there's
really anyone that beautiful, do you?"
"I don't think the artist could have invented such a face," Luo Bing
replied.
"Let's bring the Muslim envoy in and ask him," Xu suggested.
As he entered, the envoy bowed respectfully before Chen, in the belief
that he was a senior court official.
"You have had a long hard journey, sir," said Chen. "What is your name?
"
"My name is Kaibiexing. May I ask your name?"
Chen smiled but did not reply.
"This is General Li, Commander-in-chief of Zhejiang Province," said Xu.
The others stared at him in surprise, wondering what he had in mind.
"I trust Master Muzhuolun is well?" Chen said to the envoy.
"Thank you for asking, Commander. Our leader is very well."
"I wonder if you could tell me, sir, who is this beautiful girl on the
vases? Is it a real person, or did the artist draw it from his own
imagination?"
"The vases originally belonged to Master Muzhuolun's daughter. The girl
in the picture is her."
"Is she Huo Qingtong's elder or younger sister?" Zhou Qi asked.
The envoy was surprised. "Do you know her, miss?"
"I have met her," she replied.
Chen wanted to ask about how Huo Qingtong was, but stopped himself.
"Please go and rest now," he said to the envoy. "We will talk again
later."
The envoy bowed. "Thank you, Commander. Where shall the vases be kept?"
"We have other arrangements," said Chen.
The envoy was led away.
PARTFIVE 返回目录
The Book and The Sword
Copyright Graham Earnshaw 1995
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PART FIVE
** 1 **
`Mastermind' Xu went later to see the Muslim envoy.
"I will take you to see the Emperor," he said, and they left,
accompanied by Meng carrying the leather box containing the vases.
Unknown to the envoy, one of the vases had been removed.
When they arrived at the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen, Meng handed the
leather box to the envoy and pointed to the main gate.
"Go in on your own," he said.
That afternoon, an attendant handed a visiting card to Great Helmsman
Chen. It was signed 'Your servant Deng Tunan', the trusted lieutenant
of Commander Li Keshou.
"Your plan has probably worked, Brother Xu," Chen said. "Brother Wei,
please go and receive him."
'Leopard' Wei went to the reception room and saw a robust military
official seated in a chair. "What is it you wish to see our master
about, Master Deng?" he asked.
"I have come with instructions from Commander-in-Chief Li to see the
Great Helmsman of your society to discuss a certain matter with him,"
Deng replied.
"Our master is not free at present. It is the same if you talk to me."
"It concerns a Muslim vase," he said.
Wei frowned enquiringly.
"The Muslims dispatched an envoy with a pair of vases to plead for
peace. But when the Emperor opened the box, only one of the vases was
inside. He was very angry and questioned the envoy, who said that he
had already had an audience with the Commander-in-Chief of Zhejiang
Province. The Emperor called in Commander Li, who was naturally
mystified. Luckily, the Emperor knew Commander Li would not do such a
thing, that there must be some good explanation."
"That is good," said Wei, nodding.
"But the Emperor said that Commander Li would be held responsible for
the affair and gave him three days to find and return the other vase.
This presents a great difficulty."
"He's afraid that if he doesn't find the vase, he will be removed from
office, is that it? It's probably easier not being an official. If
one's whole family could to be executed and all one's possessions
seized, it must be rather distressing."
Deng ignored his sarcasm. "Let us not deceive each other. I have come
to ask your society to return the vase."
"We have not heard of any such vase," replied Wei. "But as Commander Li
has encountered this difficulty, there is no reason why we shouldn't
help him find it. We may possibly come across some clue to its
whereabouts in a year or two."
"Commander Li said he had great respect for Master Chen. He sent me
today to ask your assistance, but would not feel at ease if he was
unable to do anything in return. Please do not hesitate to inform us of
Master Chen's wishes."
"You are very frank, General Deng. That is excellent," Wei replied.
"Our Master Chen has two wishes. Firstly, the Red Flower Society has
offended Commander Li, and he would like to ask him to let bygones be
bygones."
"That goes without saying. I can guarantee that the Commander will
never make difficulties for your society over this matter. And the
second thing?"
"Our Fourth Brother Wen Tailai is imprisoned in the Commander's Yamen."
Deng grunted.
"He is an Imperial criminal," Wei continued. "No matter how courageous
Commander Li is, he would never dare to release him. We understand
that. But Master Chen misses him greatly and would like to see him
alone tonight."
Deng thought for a second. "This is an extremely serious matter. I will
have to ask the Commander and return with the reply."
Deng returned two hours later.
"The Commander says that Master Wen's crimes are serious in the
extreme, and that normally no-one would be allowed to visit him," he
said.
"Normally!" Wei exclaimed.
"But as Master Chen has agreed to return the vase, the Commander will
risk his neck and allow Master Chen to see him. However, there are two
small conditions he must agree to. First, the Commander has recklessly
agreed to this purely in order to cement his friendship with Master
Chen. If anyone else found out about it, it would be disastrous."
"Commander Li wants Master Chen to agree not to reveal a word about the
affair to anyone, is that it?"
"Exactly."
"I can agree to that on our Master's behalf," Wei said.
"The second point is that only Master Chen will be allowed to make the
visit."
Wei smiled. "Commander Li is naturally afraid that we will take
advantage of the opportunity to try to rescue Master Wen. All right, we
agree. Master Chen will go by himself. But we have not agreed not to
attempt a rescue."
"You are a good man, Brother Wei, and I value your word. Please ask
Master Chen to come to the Yamen this evening."
"If Zhang Zhaozhong is around when Master Chen and Master Wen meet, it
will naturally be impossible to preserve the secrecy of the agreement,
which could be extremely inconvenient for Commander Li."
"That is true," Deng replied. "The Commander will think of some excuse
for getting him away."
When Deng had left, the heroes gathered in the Great Hall to await
their orders for Wen's rescue.
"Brother Xu, I will leave the arrangements to you," Chen said.
Xu was silent for a moment. "Now that we know Zhang Zhaozhong will be
elsewhere and that the Great Helmsman can get inside, it will of course
be much easier to rescue Brother Wen," he said. "But Li is also certain
to prepare for that eventuality. We must first work out what he plans
to do and then do something unexpected."
"He will gather a large contingent of troops and surround the entrance
to the dungeon and may even enlist the support of some Imperial
Bodyguards," Yang pointed out. "They will allow only the Great Helmsman
in, and only the Great Helmsman out."
"We had better be waiting outside the Yamen just in case the Turtles
try anything against the Great Helmsman," said one of the Twin Knights.
"We will of course be waiting outside," answered Xu. "But I don't think
Li will dare to harm the Great Helmsman with the vase in our hands."
"I've got it," Chen said suddenly. "When I go to see Fourth Brother, I
will wear a wide cape and a large hat with a face cover..."
Xu knew what he meant. "But that way, we would gain one man only to
lose another. It's not a good idea."
"Finish what you were saying, Great Helmsman," said Priest Wu Chen.
"Once I am in the dungeon, I will exchange clothes with Fourth Brother
and then let him leave. The guards will think it is me. You can be
waiting outside to receive him."
"But what about you?"
"The Emperor and I have a special relationship. Once they discover the
switch, they will let me go."
The heroes were unhappy that their leader was placing himself in such
danger, but they were forced to agree it was probably the best plan.
All the arrangements were completed. Chen threw on a large cape with
the collar turned up, pulled a hat well down over his face, and set off
for the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen accompanied by 'Leopard' Wei. By the
time they arrived, it was already close to dusk and the first stars had
began to appear at the edge of the sky. A man came out to meet them.
"Is that Master Chen?" he whispered. Wei nodded. "Please come with me.
This other gentleman, please stay here."
Wei stood and watched as Chen followed the man into the Yamen. A flight
of ravens flew overhead through the evening mist on their way home,
cawing as they went, and Wei's heart beat wildly as he wondered what
would happened to the Great Helmsman. After a while, the rest of the
heroes arrived and spread out around the Yamen.
As he entered the gate, Chen saw the Yamen was filled with thousands of
soldiers on guard. The man led him through three courtyards and into a
room.
"Please take a seat," he said, and left. A moment later, Commander Li
entered and saluted Chen. "It is an honour to meet you," he said.
Chen opened his cape and revealed his face. "We met the day before
yesterday on the lake," he answered with a smile.
"You may now see the prisoner," said Li. "Please follow me."
As they reached the door, an attendant rushed breathlessly towards
them.
"Commander, the Emperor has arrived," he reported. "Master Deng has
gone out to meet him."
Li started in surprise and turned to Chen. "You had better wait here
for a while," he said.
Li ran through to the front courtyard and saw Qian Long with a large
contingent of Imperial Guardsmen. He hurriedly knelt down before him
and kowtowed.
"Arrange a well-guarded room," said Qian Long. "I want to personally
interrogate Wen Tailai."
Li invited the Emperor into his own study, and the Imperial Bodyguards
established themselves on all sides of the study and even on the roof.
"I have important matters of a confidential nature to discuss with this
prisoner. No-one else must hear," Qian Long told Bodyguard Bai Zhen.
"Yes, Your Highness," Bai replied and retired.
A moment later, four bodyguards entered carrying a stretcher on which
Wen, handcuffed and chained, lay asleep. The bodyguards retired and
there was silence for a time.
"How are your injuries?" Qian Long asked. Wen's eyes opened and he sat
up. His wounds had not yet healed, but his mind was clear. He had seen
Qian Long once before when he had entered the Imperial Palace with
Master Yu, but was surprised at suddenly meeting him again in Hangzhou.
"I'm not dead yet," he said coldly.
"I asked my men to invite you to come to see me because there is
something I wish to discuss with you."
Wen grunted.
"When you visited me with that leader of yours, Master Yu, I discussed
an important matter with him. Unfortunately, I hear he became ill and
died very soon afterwards. It was a great pity."
"If Master Yu had not died, I expect he would be imprisoned here with
me," replied Wen.
Qian Long laughed. "You underworld fighters, you're very frank. You say
whatever you are thinking. Now, Master Wen, I have only one question
for you. Answer me honestly, and I will immediately release you."
"Release me? Ha! Do you think I am a three-year-old child? I know that
you cannot eat or sleep easy knowing that I'm still alive. You have
stayed your hand until today only because you wish to question me."
"You're much too suspicious," said Qian Long with a smile. He walked
forward two paces.
"Did Master Yu tell you what it was he talked to me about?" he asked.
"What did you talk about?"
Qian Long stared at him, and Wen returned the gaze unflinchingly. After
a while, Qian Long turned his head away.
"About my origins," he said quietly.
"He didn't say. You are the Emperor, the son of the late Emperor and
Empress. Everyone knows about your origins. What more is there to say?"
Qian Long breathed a sigh of relief. "That night you visited me, you
must have known what the reason was?"
"Master Yu said that he had helped you once over some important matter.
The Red Flower Society was short of funds and he went to ask you for
three million taels of silver. But you refused the request, and have
even had me seized. If I ever get out of this, I will reveal how
ungrateful you are."
Qian Long laughed out loud. He glanced at Wen: his anger did not appear
to be a pretence. "If that is the case, I had better have you killed,"
he said, half-believing him. "Otherwise, if I let you go, it could
damage my reputation."
"Why didn't you kill me earlier? If you had, you wouldn't have had to
harbour such evil schemes against your mother."
"What about my mother?" Qian Long asked, turning pale.
"You understand."
"So you know everything?"
"No, not everything. Master Yu said the Empress Dowager knew he had
helped you and had asked you to repay him, but that you were still
unwilling to part with the silver. You have mountains of money. Three
million taels should be nothing to you. But you insist on being petty."
Qian Long laughed nervously. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped
away the beads of sweat on his brow. He paced the room to steady
himself, then smiled. "You show no fear at all before the Emperor. You
are indeed a man of steel," he said.
"What have I to be afraid of? I doubt if you would dare to kill me,"
said Wen.
"Wouldn't dare?"
"You want to kill me because you're afraid your secret will be revealed
but as soon as you kill me, your secret will be impossible to keep."
"Can dead men talk?"
"As soon as I die, someone will open a certain letter and reveal the
evidence to the world. Then you will be in a real predicament."
"What letter?" Qian Long asked.
"Before we went to the palace to see you, Master Yu wrote down every
detail of the affair and sealed the document in an envelope together
with two important pieces of evidence and left it with a friend."
"Was he afraid that something untoward might happen?"
"Of course. How could he trust you? Master Yu told his friend that if
we were both to die suddenly, he should open the letter and do what it
said, but if one of us was still alive, not to open it under any
circumstances. Master Yu has already passed away, so I don't think
you'll dare to kill me."
Qian Long wrung his hands, anxiety written all over his face.
"Wouldn't it be worth spending three million taels of silver to buy
that letter and the two pieces of evidence?" Wen asked.
"The silver? I had always planned to hand it over and then release you.
Write a letter to your friend telling him to bring the letter to me and
I will immediately pay up the money."
"Ha, ha. Once I tell you his name, you can send your bodyguards to kill
or capture him. Actually, I'm very comfortable here. I would be happy
to stay the rest of my life. You and I have the same fate. If I die
first, you won't live much longer."
Qian Long bit his lip. "If you won't write the letter, it is of no
importance," he said after a pause. "I will give you two days. If you
persist in being stubborn, I will have no alternative but to kill you.
No-one else will know about it and your friend will think you're still
alive. And even if I don't kill you, I can still have your eyes gouged
out, your tongue removed, your arms cut off...Think about it over the
next two days."
He pushed open the door and walked out. His bodyguards re-assembled
around him, and Commander Li saw him out of the Yamen.
Wen was carried back to the dungeon by the Commander's personal guards
with Zhang Zhaozhong providing an escort. Once in the cell, one of the
guards handed Zhang a letter.
"Commander Li asked me to give you this," he said. Zhang opened and
read the letter, then left.
Wen lay on the bed thinking about his wife and friends. He hoped none
of them would be harmed if they should attempt a rescue.
Just then, the iron door to his cell opened with a clang and a man
walked in. Wen thought it was Zhang returning and did not open his
eyes.
The man walked over to the bed. "Fourth Brother," he said quietly.
Wen was stunned. He looked up and saw it was Chen. "Great Helmsman!" he
exclaimed, sitting up.
Chen smiled and nodded. He pulled two steel files from his pocket, and
began filing at Wen's manacles. After a few strong strokes, a series of
light scratches appeared on the surface, but the file was ruined. The
manacles were made of a specially-cast steel brought from the West, and
an ordinary file was useless against it.
"Great Helmsman, only the finest of swords could break through these
chains and manacles," said Wen.
Chen remembered the battle with Zhang Zhaozhong at the Yellow River
crossing and how sharp Zhang's 'Frozen Emerald' sword had been.
"Does Zhang guard you night and day?" he asked quickly.
"He's never more than a step from me. He only left a short while ago."
"Good. We'll wait for him to return and steal his sword." Chen threw
the files under the bed.
"It's possible I won't be able to get out of here," Wen said. "The
Emperor wants to silence me because he's afraid I will reveal his
secret. I had better tell you what it is, Great Helmsman, so that no
matter if I live or die, there will be no delay."
Chen nodded.
"The night I went to the Imperial Palace with Master Yu, Qian Long was
very surprised to see us. Master Yu said: 'A lady from the Chen family
in Haining asked me to come,' and handed him a letter. The Emperor's
face went pale as he read it, and he told me to wait outside. The two
of them then talked for about two hours before Master Yu finally came
out. On the way back, he told me the Emperor was not a Manchu at all,
but a Chinese and also your elder brother."
Chen started in shock. "That's impossible," he said firmly. "My brother
is in Haining."
"Master Yu said that on the day the Emperor Yong Zheng's wife gave
birth to a girl, your mother by coincidence also gave birth to a boy.
Yong Zheng ordered the Chen family's child to be brought for him to
look at, and when it was returned, it had become a girl. The boy is now
the Emperor Qian Long..."
Before he could finish, they heard the sound of footsteps in the
corridor and a guard came in.
"What is it?" asked Chen.
"Master Zhang is returning. Commander Li is unable to detain him
further and asks you to leave quickly."
"Thank you," Chen replied. His left hand shot out and touched a Yuedao
point on the guard's body. The guard toppled to the floor without a
sound, and Chen pushed him under the bed.
"With Zhang on his way, I don't have time to give you all the details,"
Wen continued. "Master Yu knew the Emperor was Chinese and went to urge
him to overthrow the Manchus and restore China to the Chinese while
remaining as Emperor himself. Qian Long appeared moved by the appeal,
and asked Master Yu to bring evidence before making a decision. But as
soon as Master Yu returned home, he fell ill and never recovered. His
last wish was that you should be the Great Helmsman, and he said to me
that this was a good opportunity for us to restore the honour of the
Chinese people. The Emperor is your elder brother. If he is unwilling
to overthrow the Manchus, then everyone will support you to take his
place."
His words left Chen too stunned to speak. He thought back to when he
had first seen Qian Long by the lake and afterwards crying before the
tomb of his parents. Could it really be that the Emperor was born of
his own mother and father?
"I understand your mother wrote down the full details of how the
Emperor Yong Zheng swapped the girl for your brother in a letter which
Master Yu gave along with several other pieces of evidence to your
teacher, Master Yuan, to look after."
"Ah, so when the Twin Knights went to see my teacher this summer, they
were carrying these things to him on Master Yu's orders?"
"That's right. It was so secret that not even you could be told. All
that Master Yuan knows is that they are extremely important, but he
does not know what they are. Just before Master Yu passed away, he said
that after you became Great Helmsman, you should open the letter and
make your plans accordingly. But I stupidly allowed myself to be
captured and risked the whole enterprise. Great Helmsman, if you can't
get me out today, you must go to the Muslim regions as quickly as
possible to see your teacher. You must not endanger the great cause of
restoration just for my sake."
Wen was clearly relieved to have completed what he had to say.
He was about to add something when footsteps sounded in the corridor
again. He signalled quickly with his hand, and Chen hid under the bed.
Wen then draped himself over the side of bed with his head resting on
the floor.
Zhang entered the cell, and under the faint light of the room's single
candle, saw Wen lying half on the floor as if dead. Shocked, he leapt
forward and touched Wen's back, but there was no reaction. He started
to lift Wen's body back onto the bed, but as he did so, Wen leapt up
and attacked him. Zhang fell back in surprise, felt a sudden numbness
in his lower abdomen, and knew he had been hit by someone waiting in
ambush under the bed. He roared angrily, sidestepped two paces and
suppressed his breathing to control the numbness. Chen, who was
startled to see Zhang still standing, leapt out from beneath the bed
and struck his face with his fists seven or eight times.
If he responded, Zhang knew his control would be lost and the paralysis
in his abdomen would spread. He retreated as Chen's foot flew up and
struck another yuedao point. This time, he could not sustain his
control. His whole body went limp and he fell to the ground.
Chen searched him and was extremely disappointed to find he did not
have the Frozen Emerald sword with him. He pulled a piece of paper out
of Zhang's pocket and saw under the candlelight that it was a note from
Commander Li asking Zhang to show his sword to an important official
who was waiting to see it:this must have been the excuse Li had used to
draw Zhang away. He guessed that Zhang had been anxious to get back to
the dungeon to resume his guard duties and had left early without the
sword.
Chen continued his search of Zhang's body, and suddenly leapt up
jubilantly.
"What is it?" Wen asked. Chen held his hand up and displayed a set of
keys. He tried one on the manacles and they opened immediately.
Finally freed, Wen exercised his arms and legs as Chen took off his
cape and hat.
"Put these on and get out quickly," he said.
"What about you?"
"I'll wait here for a while. You get out."
Wen understood his meaning. "Great Helmsman, I am very grateful for
your good intentions, but we cannot do it that way."
"Fourth Brother, you don't understand. I am in no danger if I stay
here." He told Wen about how the Emperor and he had sworn an oath to
each other.
"It is still impossible,," Wen said.
Chen frowned. "I am the Great Helmsman. All members of the Red Flower
Society must follow my orders, is that not correct?"
"Of course."
"Fine. Then this my order. Put these on quickly and get out. The
brothers are outside waiting for you."
"This time I am forced to disobey your order," Wen said. "I would
prefer to accept whatever penalty you decide upon."
They were deadlocked. Chen pursed his lips and then had an idea.
"Well, we'll have to risk going out together then. Put on his clothes,"
he said pointing at Zhang.
"Excellent! Why didn't you say so earlier?" Wen exclaimed.
The two stripped Zhang of his clothes and exchanged them for Wen's,
then locked the chains and manacles onto him. Zhang shook with rage,
his eyes blood-red with hate, but he was unable to utter a sound.
The two walked quietly through the door and along the corridor. As they
ascended a flight of stone steps, a bright light assailed their eyes
and they saw the whole courtyard was filled with torches. Several dozen
soldiers stood with shining spear tips pointed at the dungeon entrance.
Behind them were several hundred archers with bows drawn. Commander Li
stood with his right hand held high. Once it dropped, the spears and
arrows would be loosed, and Chen and Wen would be dead.
Chen stepped back a pace. "How are your wounds?" he whispered to Wen.
"Can you charge through?"
"No, my leg is not up to it," Wen replied with a rueful smile. "You go
by yourself, Great Helmsman, don't worry about me."
"All right, pretend you're Zhang and we'll see how we do," Chen
replied.
Wen pulled his cap down to his eyebrows and strode out. Commander Li's
heart sank at the sight of Zhang and Chen together and he assumed that
Zhang had arrested him. He turned to his daughter Yuanzhi.
"Give Zhang's sword back to him and distract him so that Chen can get
away," he said.
Yuanzhi walked over with the 'Frozen Emerald' sword in her hand and
held it out to Wen, positioning herself between the two men.
"Uncle Zhang, here is your sword," she said, giving Chen a slight nudge
with her elbow. Wen grunted and moved to accept the sword, and suddenly
under the torch light she recognized him.
"Wen Tailai! So you're trying to escape," she cried and thrust the
sword at his chest.
Wen feinted to one side and caught the blade with his fingers while his
right hand struck out at the Solar Yuedao points on her forehead.
Frightened, Yuanzhi tried to retreat a step, but found that with his
fingers still holding the sword, she was unable to move an inch. She
let go of the sword and tried to slip away, but Wen struck her left
shoulder and a bone-splitting pain surged through her. She cried out
and squatted down. Looking back, Chen saw Wen was surrounded but he
continued to fight fiercely.
"Stop or the archers will shoot," Commander Li roared.
The old wounds on Wen's thigh burst open with the sudden effort and
blood poured out. He knew he did not have the strength to break out of
the circle of soldiers.
"Great Helmsman, catch the sword and get out!" he shouted. He tried to
throw the Frozen Emerald Sword, but with a sudden pain in his shoulder,
his hand went limp and the sword fell to the ground only a few feet
from him. He had been hit by an arrow.
Chen turned to Commander Li. "Stop shooting!" he shouted. Li waved his
hand and the archers stopped.
"Get a doctor quickly to deal with Master Wen's wounds. I'm going,"
Chen said, and raced out of the Yamen. Following Li's orders, the
guards pretended to give chase, without really obstructing him.
Once out of the Yamen, 'Leopard' Wei and Luo Bing came up to meet him.
Chen smiled bitterly and shook his head. The eastern sky was already
pale as with heavy hearts the heroes returned home.
** 2 **
They gathered later in the Great Hall to discuss the situation.
Chen said to Wei: "Ninth Brother, send the vase to Commander Li. We
cannot betray our word." Wei bowed and left.
Master Ma's son entered the hall and walked over to Chen. "Great
Helmsman, Zhang Zhaozhong has sent a letter to you," He said.
"Zhang? That is strange. I wonder what he has to say?"
He opened the letter and found it angrily accused him of deception and
plotting, of behaviour unbefitting an honourable man, and challenged
him to a duel at a time and place of his choice. "He wants to get
revenge for last night," Chen told the others. "Huh, a duel! Does he
think I'm scared?"
"We have to rescue Fourth Brother in the next two days," said Xu. "Why
don't you ask Zhang to postpone the meeting for a few days? We should
not allow this matter to interfere with our real purpose."
"That is true," said Chen. "Today is the twentieth, so I will set the
meeting for noon on the twenty-third."
He immediately wrote a letter inviting Zhang to meet him alone on that
day and ordered an attendant to take it to the Commander-in-Chief's
Yamen.
An attendant entered and said to Master Ma: "Master, the old man Wang
Weiyang still refuses to eat and does nothing but curse."
"Who does he curse?" Ma asked.
"The Imperial Bodyguard for their lack of sense. He says he doesn't
understand why they have imprisoned him."
"The North China Earth-Shaker," Priest Wu Chen chuckled. "As soon as he
comes down to the south, he has to put up with some hardship."
Xu's face suddenly brightened. "I have a plan that should make it
easier for you to deal with Zhang, Great Helmsman," he said. He told
them the plan and they all clapped and laughed in delight.
"Excellent, very cunning," said Priest Wu Chen. Zhou Qi smiled and
shook her head.
"Mistress Zhou once again thinks that Seventh Brother is not being
straightforward enough," Chen said with a smile. "But when dealing with
dishonourable men, one does not have to be completely honourable.
Brother Meng, go and have a talk with the North China Earth-Shaker."
In forty years, Wang Weiyang had never suffered a setback. Now, on his
first trip to the south, he was in dire straights. He yelled and
shouted, insisting that he should be allowed to see the Imperial Guard
Commander to settle the matter. As he ranted, the door to his cell
opened and Meng walked in wearing the uniform of an Imperial Guard
officer.
"So you are the North China Earth-Shaker?" he said unceremoniously.
Wang raged inwardly. "Yes," he said. "It is a nickname given to me by
my friends. If Commander Fu finds it unpleasing, I will change it
immediately."
"Commander Fu is a confidante of the Emperor," said Meng coldly. "He
has no interest in such things."
"I am escorting a quantity of precious articles to Hangzhou for the
court. Why are you detaining me here?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Of course!"
"I am just afraid that at you age, you may not be able to stand the
shock."
Wang hated references to his age more than anything. In a rage, he
struck the corner of the table with his fist and splinters flew.
"I may be old, but my heart is still strong," he shouted. "What shock
have I to be afraid of?"
Meng laughed. "Your're truly remarkable, Master Wang. There is a saying
in the fighting community. 'Meeting the Devil is preferable to meeting
old Wang, bumping into a spear is preferable to bumping into Zhang
Zhaozhong', isn't that right?"
"That's the reputation I have amongst bandits."
"Why does 'old Wang' come before 'Zhang'? Could it be that old Wang's
kung fu is better than Zhang's?"
Wang stood up. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "So the Fire Hand Judge wants to
test me. I'm getting too slow in my old age. I never thought of that."
"Master Zhang is my superior, did you know that?"
"I knew that Master Zhang was in the Imperial Guard."
"Would you recognize him?" asked Meng.
"We both live in Beijing, But he is an official and I am an ordinary
citizen. I have heard much about him, but have never had the good
fortune to meet him."
"Master Zhang has also heard much about you," said Meng. "He says there
are three matters he wants to raise with you. If you agree to them, you
will be allowed to leave immediately."
"Well?"
"Firstly, he wants you to abandon the nickname 'North China
Earth-Shaker."
"Huh! What's the second thing?"
"Please close down the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency."
"My Bodyguard Agency has been operating for more than thirty years,"
Wang protested angrily. "Never have I suffered a loss at the hands of
our friends in the fighting community, yet Master Zhang wants me to
retire! And the third thing?"
"The third thing is to ask you to issue a proclamation asking members
of the fighting community to reverse the order of the saying about you
and Master Zhang. Master Zhang also says that as you are now getting on
in age, your Eight Diagrams sword is probably no longer of much use to
you, and suggests that you donate it to the Imperial Guard."
Wang's anger surged. "Zhang Zhaozhong and I have nothing against one
another. He's carrying this too far!" he shouted.
"You have enjoyed a great name for forty years. Perhaps you ought to
retire. As the saying goes, one mountain cannot contain two tigers.
Surely you understand the sense of that?"
"So he wishes to humiliate me to promote his own name. Huh! And what if
I don't agree. Will he continue to hold me here?"
"Master Zhang is an honourable man. He would not do such a thing," said
Meng. "He invites you to duel with him at noon today on Lion Peak. If
you win, the three conditions will not be mentioned again. If you lose,
then he asks you to agree to all three. He says it would be rather
inconvenient if the Emperor found out about this, and asks you to go
alone. That is, if you dare."
Wang spluttered with rage. "Even if I was to die there, I would still
go alone."
"Then please write out a letter and I will take it back to Master
Zhang," said Meng. He pulled out some paper and a writing brush.
Wang, his hand shaking in anger, wrote out a short note:
"To His Excellency Master Zhang Zhaozhong. Your words and behaviour
have gone too far. I will meet you today at noon on Lion Peak. If I
lose, I will be at your disposal. Wang Weiyang."
Meng smiled, picked up the letter and walked out, closing the door of
the cell behind him.
That morning, Master Han, the original owner of the white horse, was
moved from one cell to another. Having fallen into the hands of Red
Flower Society once again, he was afraid he would not be able to escape
so easily again. As he morosely considered his dilemma, he heard
someone shouting in the cell next to his, and recognized the voice of
Wang Weiyang. He could hear he was cursing Zhang Zhaozhong. Greatly
curious, he was just about to call out to Wang when the door opened and
two men walked in.
"Please come with us to the Great Hall for a chat, Master Han," one of
them said.
As they entered the hall, Han saw three men sitting on the left. In the
middle was the Red Flower Society's Great Helmsman Chen, while on
either side of him sat a dwarf and a man with a flowing white beard.
Han bowed silently and sat down.
"Brother Han, I never thought that we would meet again here," said
Chen. "Our fates seem to be tied."
Han hesitated for a moment. "I know I agreed to give up my sword and
return home," he said finally. "But Master Wang insisted that I do this
job. Out of feelings of friendship and because I knew the valuables
belonged to your family, I..."
"Brother Han," Xu interrupted harshly. "We of the fighting community
are very particular about two things: trust and honour. By your own
word, you have proved to be untrustworthy. How do you think you should
be dealt with?"
Han steeled himself. "What is there to say? If you're going to kill me
then kill me."
"There's no need to talk like that," Chen said. "Master Wang has been
grossly insulted by Zhang Zhaozhong, and says that no matter what, he
must fight it out with him. We of the fighting community are very
annoyed over this affair. What is your relationship with Zhang
Zhaozhong?"
"I've met him a few times in Beijing, but we are from two different
worlds. You couldn't say we had any relationship."
"As I thought. Have a look at this letter," said Chen, and handed him
the note Wang had written.
Han knew that Wang always showed the greatest respect for officialdom.
But if Zhang really had been that insulting, he would have been unable
to swallow it. Having himself heard Wang cursing and now seeing the
letter, there was no room for doubt.
"I would like to see Master Wang and discuss the situation with him,"
he said.
"There is not enough time," Chen replied. "I would like you to take
this letter to Zhang now and you can see Master Wang when you return.
Twelfth Brother, please come here," he called. 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi
emerged from an inner chamber and Chen introduced him to Han. "Brother
Shi will accompany you to see Zhang Zhaozhong. You are unaware of how
Zhang has caused Master Wang to lose face, but there is no time to give
you the details now. When you see Zhang, you can say that Brother Shi
here is a lead escort with the bodyguard agency. Do exactly as he
says."
Han's suspicions rose again and he hesitated once more.
"Do you have any doubts, Brother Han?"
"No, no," he answered hastily.
Xu knew that Han suspected. "Please wait a moment," he said. He left
the hall for a moment, returning with a flask of wine and a wine cup
into which he poured some wine.
"I was too abrupt in what I said just now," he said, offering the cup
to Han. "Please accept this as a token of my apology. Let there be no
hard feelings."
"Well said!" Han replied. He drained the cup, picked up the letter and
walked towards the door.
"Oh no!" Xu suddenly exclaimed. "Brother Han, I've made a mistake. That
cup of wine had poison in it!"
Han went pale, and he turned back towards them.
"I am truly sorry," said Xu. "That flask was poisoned for use whenever
needed and one of the servants gave it to me by mistake. I didn't
realize it until I smelt it. You've already drunk a cupful. Brother
Han, oh dear, oh dear. Get the antidote quickly," he added to an
attendant.
"The antidote is in the east city residence," the attendant replied.
"You fool. Ride over there and get it!" Xu shouted at him. The
attendant bowed and left.
"I have been neglectful," Xu said apologetically to Han. "Please
deliver the letter first. If you do exactly as Brother Shi says, you
can take the antidote when you get back, and everything will be fine."
Han knew he either did as the Red Flower Society ordered or he was a
dead man. He gave Xu a look of hatred, then turned and walked out
without a word. Shi followed him.
Lord Zhou frowned as the two left. "Han doesn't appear to me to be all
that evil," he said. "Poisoning him like that was not a very honourable
thing to do."
"But there was no poison in the wine," Xu replied.
"No poison?"
"None." Xu poured himself a cup and drank it down.
"I was afraid he might mess up our plan in front of Zhang, so I scared
him a little. When he comes back, he can drink another cup and it will
all be over."
The others laughed.
Zhang was sitting beside Wen Tailai keeping watch when the cell door
opened and a guard came in with a visiting card inscribed with the
words: 'North China Earth-Shaker Wang Weiyang.'
"Go and tell him that I cannot see visitors," he said.
The guard left, but returned a moment later to say: "The visitors won't
leave. They have a letter for you."
Zhang read the letter, and was both angered and perplexed by it. He had
never had any disputes with Wang and wondered why the old man should
challenge him to a kung fu duel.
"Tell Commander Li that I have to see a visitor and ask him to send
someone to stand watch in my place," he said to the guard.
Four bodyguards arrived to replace him, and Zhang went to the reception
hall. He recognized Lead Escort Han and saluted him with his fists.
"Isn't Master Wang here?" he asked.
"This is Lead Escort Shi of our bodyguard agency," Han replied,
pointing to his companion. "There are a number of things Master Wang
wants him to say to you."
Zhang threw Wang's letter onto the table. "I have respected Wang from
afar for a long time, but I have never had any dealings with him
whatsoever," he said. "How can he say that my words and behaviour have
gone too far? There appears to be some misunderstanding here."
"Master Wang is a leading member of the fighting community," said Shi
coldly. "When the community produces scum, he considers it to be his
business regardless of whether there is a direct connection."
Zhang stood up, absolutely furious. "So Wang Weiyang says I am scum,
does he?"
Shi said nothing in silent confirmation.
"Please enlighten me as to just how I have dishonoured the fighting
community," demanded Zhang.
"Members of the fighting community abhor disrespect for superiors above
all else," Shi replied. "You, Master Zhang, are a senior member of the
Wudang School. It is said that you have not only turned hostile towards
your own martial brothers, but have also attempted to arrest one of
them for the Manchu court. Is this true?"
"The affairs of my martial brothers and I are of no concern to anyone
else," Zhang said angrily.
"Secondly, there is no personal emnity between yourself and the Red
Flower Society and yet purely for the purpose of your own career and
enrichment, you seized Master Wen Tailai, and caused the death of the
young son of Lord Zhou of Iron Gall Manor. Is your mind at ease over
such things?"
"I am employed by the Emperor and I am loyal to him. What has that got
to do with the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency?"
"Did you not work to implicate the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency in your
schemes, as a result of which many of our men were killed and wounded?"
said Shi.
"You really did do wrong there, Master Zhang," Han added. "You can't
blame Master Wang for being angry."
"We will ignore other examples for the moment," Shi continued coldly.
"How do you think these three questions should be handled?" He rolled
up his eyes and struck an expression of dignified authority.
Zhang was incensed at being treated like a criminal in the dock. "All
right, you," he shouted, striding forward. "You're obviously looking
for trouble!"
Shi retreated a pace. "What's this?" he asked. "You want to take me on
because you don't dare to accept the North China Earth-Shaker's
challenge, is that it?"
"Who says I don't dare?" Zhang roared. "I will be there on Lion Peak at
noon today."
"If you decide not to go, then never again consider yourself to be a
member of the fighting community," Shi said. "Master Wang says that if
you have any guts at all, you will go alone. There will be no one else
from the Bodyguard Agency there."
"Why should I need help? Do you think I am afraid of this egotistical,
stupid old man?"
"Master Wang is not a great orator," Shi continued, ignoring Zhang's
comment. "When you meet him, the issue will be decided by kung fu
alone. If you want to curse and swear, please feel free to do so now."
Zhang was speechless with rage.
Shi laughed coldly, then turned on his heel and left with Han
following.
While the two had argued, Han's mind had been on the poison he had
taken, and wished that Shi would hurry up and finish so that he could
get back and take the antidote.
"We agreed to meet at noon," Shi reported on their return to the
mansion at Solitary Peak.
Han collapsed on a chair with what appeared to be stomach cramps. Xu
poured out a cup of wine and handed it to him.
"This is the antidote. Drink it up, Brother Han."
Han quickly stretched out his hand to take it, but Lord Zhou snatched
the cup away first and drank it down at one draught. Han stared at him
an amazement.
"We have joked with you enough, Master Han," Zhou said with a smile.
"You didn't take any poison at all. He was just playing with you.
Master Xu, come and apologise."
Xu walked over, grinning and bowed. "Please forgive me, Brother Han,"
he said.
Meng went in once more to see Wang Weiyang. "Master Zhang has agreed,"
he said. "You can go now. And by the way, he does not like naggers, so
if you have anything to say, say it now. When you get to Lion Peak, the
matter will be decided with fists and blades. If you try talking to him
even to beg for mercy, I doubt if he will listen to you. If you are
afraid, there is still time to pull out."
"I am prepared to die today if need be," Wang shouted, huffily stroking
his beard. He stood up and strode out. Meng motioned with his hands to
an attendant who handed Wang his sword and a bag of projectiles.
Han was standing by the door. "Please be careful Master Wang," he said.
"You know about this too?"
Han nodded. "I have seen Zhang."
"What did he call me?"
"It was demeaning. You would not wish to hear it."
"Speak," ordered Wang.
"He called you ... an egotistical, stupid old man."
Wang grunted. "We shall see whether or not I am egotistical. Brother
Han, if anything should happen to me, please look after the agency and
the affairs of my family for me." He hesitated. "And tell my two sons
not to rush into taking revenge. Their kung fu is still not good
enough, and they would lose their lives to no good purpose."
He then started out for Lion Peak and the duel.
** 3 **
The slopes of Lion Peak produce abundant quantities of tea, one of the
most exquisite varieties of the leaf under heaven. The mountain itself
is high and precipitous, and few people go to the very top.
Wang Weiyang, his great sword slung across his back, clambered up the
steep slope and emerged through the tea bushes onto an expanse of open
ground on the summit. He noticed walking towards him a tall, robust man
wearing a short jacket. The man stared at him for a moment.
"Are you Wang Weiyang?" he asked.
"Yes. And you are the Fire Hand Judge, Zhang Zhaozhong?"
"I am. Do you wish to fight bare-handed or with weapons?" Zhang was a
very thorough man. He had searched about carefully during his climb up
the peak, but had found no sign of anyone lying in ambush.
Wang was startled to see Zhang's mouth and nose were swollen and with
his right eye ringed in black, injuries caused by Chen the night
before. "We have no great grudges against each other," thought Wang.
"Why risk killing him with a sword-stroke? The consequences of killing
an official of his rank are unthinkable. It will be enough to humiliate
him with my Eight Diagram Kung Fu. I'll show him I'm not egotistical."
"I would be honoured to pit myself against your famous Limitless Occult
Kung Fu, Master Zhang," he said out loud.
"Fine," Zhang replied. He brought his fists together in salute and
waited for the other to attack.
"If I may..." Wang said, and as he spoke, his left fist shot out and
his right hand sliced across towards Zhang's right shoulder. Then in a
flash, his left fist flipped over and aimed for the right shoulder
while the right hand went for the chest. Zhang retreated three paces
and fended off the blows. The two circled around, surprised at the
extent of the other's ability.
"His moves are fast and powerful," Zhang thought. "He's a strong
adversary."
"He avoided those blows of mine with ease," Wang thought. "Fire Hand
Judge is no misnomer."
Suddenly, Zhang stepped forward and swept his left leg across at Wang,
who jumped clear off the ground to avoid it and countered with a fist
aimed at Zhang's face.
They were evenly matched and fought close and fast. The sun was riding
high and their two shadows danced on the ground, merging and separating
in a flash. Wang knew that at his age, a long battle would finish him.
So he quickly changed his style, and with one hand protecting his body
and the other facing outwards, he raced round Zhang, his feet following
the pattern of the Eight Diagrams.
The style dictated that he keep moving, circling round Zhang to the
left and right, waiting for an opportunity to strike. It would make
even a kung fu master dizzy after a few circuits.
Zhang knew how ferocious this style was, and lunged at his opponent.
But Wang had already circled round the other way. Suddenly he struck at
Zhang with both fists, one of which slammed into his shoulder. Zhang
caught hold of Wang's wrist and struck out at his elbow in retaliation.
With his free hand, Wang swung at Zhang's other shoulder and the two
leapt apart.
Zhang had had the worst of the encounter. "Your kung fu is excellent,"
he shouted. "Let us duel with swords."
He drew his Frozen Emerald sword, Wang also drew his sword and the two
stood facing each other.
Zhang's mind was bent on recovering face, and he struck out with a
series of attacking sword strokes, fast and vicious. Wang could tell
from the way the light glinted on the Frozen Emerald sword that it was
a superb weapon, and knew that if the two swords clashed, his own blade
would come off the worst. So he did not dare to directly parry the
strokes.
They fought round and round. Wang began to sweat and he secretly worked
a number of darts into his palm and then swapped his sword over to his
left hand. He slashed out with a left-handed stoke, and simultaneously
flung the darts at Zhang. Zhang managed to dodge both dangers, but he
was becoming flustered by the onslaught. He swept his sword across at
Wang's waist, and as the two swords clashed, Wang's blade snapped
cleanly in two.
Wang roared and hurled the remaining half at Zhang, and followed it
with his remaining three darts. With a cry, Zhang fell over backwards
and the Frozen Emerald Sword dropped to the ground.
"Master Zhang, forgive me!" Wang cried out anxiously. "I have some
Golden Scar Ointment here."
Zhang was silent. Wang feared he was dead, and killing a court official
was no laughing matter so he rushed across and bent down to examine
Zhang.
As he did so, he saw flashes of gold before his eyes. Cursing himself,
he leant over backwards as fast as he could, but too late. He felt
stabs of pain in his left chest and shoulder as the needles plunged
home. He gave another angry roar and jumped up ready to fight Zhang to
the death. But as he swung his sword, the pain in his chest and
shoulder was so extreme that he fell back to the ground with a groan.
Zhang laughed out loud. He pulled one of Wang's darts from his wrist,
ripped a strip of cloth off his jacket, bound the wound then stood up.
"How could you attack me when I was coming to see if you were injured?"
Wang demanded angrily. "What sort of man are you to do such a
despicable thing? We'll see if you have the effrontery to face the rest
of the fighting community after today."
"There's only the two of us here. Who else knows about it?" asked Zhang
with a smile. "Having lived to such a ripe old age, it's about time you
went to meet your forefathers."
He picked up half of Wang's snapped sword and dug a hole in the ground,
then heaved Wang to the edge of it.
"So you're the North China Earth-Shaker," he said. "I'll give you some
earth to shake." He kicked Wang into the hole and began to bury him
alive.
As he worked, he heard a long, cold laugh from somewhere behind. He
whirled round in fright and found Lead Escort Han standing there with
an Iron Pipa in his hand.
"So that's it!" Zhang shouted angrily. "The Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency
arranges a one-to-one duel and secretly sets up an ambush. Do you have
no shame?"
"It is you that is shameless," Han replied pointing to Wang.
"All right, you can demonstrate your Iron Pipa kung fu for me," Zhang
said. He flew at Han using Lightness Kung Fu and thrust his sword at
him. Han retreated two steps and a sword struck out at Zhang from
amongst the bushes. Zhang parried the stroke, and saw the swordsman was
the other lead escort who had accompanied Han to see him earlier.
"Come on, fight me together. It is of no consequence to the Fire Hand
Judge," he shouted.
Just as he was about to strike, he heard a noise behind and turned to
see eight or nine men walking towards him led by the Red Flower
Society's Great Helmsman, Chen Jialuo. A shiver of panic passed through
him, and he glanced about, looking for some avenue of escape.
"Brother Han, go and look after Master Wang," said Chen. Han ran over
to the hole and helped Wang out.
"Master Wang said he wished to have a private duel with no observers or
seconds," Zhang shouted.
"My brothers and I came to admire the scenery and happened to come
across the two of you," Chen replied. "It was a very artistic display,
but you did not win very honourably, Master Zhang."
"We were matching our strength and our wits. What is wrong with such a
victory?"
"You are wise indeed, Master Zhang." Chen walked slowly forward. "We
want to rescue Master Wen."
"Well?"
"His manacles are made of the finest steel which no file could get
through. I therefore have no alternative but to ask you to lend us your
excellent sword. As a member of the fighting community, I am sure you
will be happy to oblige."
Zhang looked at the number of his adversaries and knew it would be
difficult to get away.
"If you wish to borrow my sword, you will have to take it by force," he
said. He turned and sprinted towards the southern path down the
mountain slope. Suddenly, he saw in front of him the one-armed Taoist
priest, and slung two Golden Needles at him. He knew there was no
chance of hitting the priest, but he hoped that the needles would
occupy him long enough to get past. Priest Wu Chen, however, deftly
dodged out of the way then crouched down and thrust his sword at
Zhang's right leg. Zhang brought his own blade down to parry the stroke
and the two fought fiercely. Zhang found his strength beginning to
wane. The priest gave a shout and the Frozen Emerald sword was jolted
out of Zhang's hand. For a split second, Zhang stared at it in
surprise, and the priest aimed a flying kick at his groin, knocking him
to the ground. Zhang Jin and two of the other fighters then jumped on
him while Luo Bing pulled out some rope and bound his hands.
Remembering Zhang had led the capture of her husband at Iron Gall
Manor, she punched him smartly on the nose.
Chen walked over.
"You have only won because of numerical superiority," Zhang shouted
angrily. "If you bandits are going to kill me then get it over with."
"He ought to be buried in the hole that he dug," suggested 'Melancholy
Ghost' Shi. The others shouted their agreement, and Zhang broke into a
cold sweat.
"What do you say?" asked Chen. "If you admit defeat and swear never
again to go against the Red Flower Society, we will spare you for the
sake of your martial brother, Master Lu."
"Stop wasting words!" Zhang shouted stubbornly. "After all your crafty
tricks, how can you expect anyone to concede defeat to you?"
"All right," said Chen. "I will kill you to relieve you of the horror
of being buried alive." He pulled out his dagger and walked over to
Zhang. "Are you not afraid of death?" he asked.
"Do your worst," Zhang replied, and laughed bitterly. He closed his
eyes and waited for death.
Suddenly they heard shouts from the mountainside below, and turned to
see two men running towards them, moving as fast as the wind with
superb Lightness Kung Ku.
As they approached, the heroes saw that one was Lu Feiqing, and the
other a kindly-looking old Taoist priest.
Just as Lu was about to introduce the old man, Zhang went up to him and
bowed.
"Brother, we have not seen each other for many years," he said. "How
are you?"
The heroes realized that it must be Ma Zhen, 'Scholar' Yu's teacher.
They all bowed before him.
"We came as fast as we could when we heard about the duel," Lu said. He
looked round and saw with relief that no-one had been injured.
Ma Zhen had long heard of Zhang's unsavoury record, but seeing his
blood-stained clothes and swollen face, he now found himself feeling
almost sorry for him. "Brother Zhang, how did you get into such a mess?
" he asked.
"With one against so many, how could I look any different?" Zhang
replied indignantly.
The heroes were furious at his insinuation. "So you're blameless are
you?" shouted Zhou Qi. She brandished her sword and made as to charge
at Zhang, but her father held her back.
"His two martial brothers are here now," Lord Zhou said. "Let us see
what they have to say." His words put the onus of dealing with Zhang
squarely on Ma Zhen.
Ma Zhen looked at Lu, and then at Zhang. Suddenly, his knees folded and
he knelt down before the heroes. Greatly surprised, Chen helped him up
again.
"My brothers," he said, his voice choked with sobs. "This useless
martial brother of mine has committed truly heinous crimes. To the
shame of our school, we have failed to discipline him and have lost
face before all our brothers in the fighting community...I...I..." He
was overcome with emotion. "Brother Lu," he added. "Tell them what I
mean."
"Brother Ma is very angry about Zhang's behaviour. But in memory of our
late teacher, he wishes to ask you to spare him."
The heroes looked at Chen and Lord Zhou, waiting for their decision.
"Master Zhou will be the arbiter," said Chen. "We will do whatever he
says."
"Considering he had Iron Gall Manor burnt to the ground, I should not
rest until revenge has been gained," Zhou said, then paused. "But
having heard your words, Master Ma, I will hand him over to you with
all past scores forgotten."
"Father!" Zhou Qi cried, horrified.
Zhou stroked her hair. "Forget about it, child," he said softly.
"Out of respect for your wishes, Master Ma, the Red Flower Society will
also let bygones be bygones," added Chen.
Ma and Lu bowed to the heroes. "We will be eternally grateful," said
Ma.
"Brother Ma, what do you intend to do if he does evil again?" Priest Wu
Chen asked sternly.
"I will insist that he turn over a new leaf," Ma replied. "But if he
does revert to his old ways, then I will be the first to strike, unless
he kills me first! I will now take him back to Wudang Mountain so that
he can reflect on his misdeeds in solitude. Brother Lu, once Master Wen
is out of danger, please write and inform me so that my mind can rest
easy. By the way, where is my pupil, Yu Yutong?"
"He was separated from us at the Yellow River," Chen replied. "We later
heard that he had been rescued by a girl, but we have no further
information. As soon as we have rescued Brother Wen, we will go and
investigate. Please don't worry, sir."
"That pupil of mine is very clever but he is not steady enough. Please
give him whatever direction is necessary, Master Chen."
"We treat our brothers as blood relations," Chen replied. "Brother Yu
is a capable man. We place great faith in him."
"I am very grateful for what you have done today," said Ma. "My
brothers! Next time any of you are in Hubei Province, please come to
stay at Wudang Mountain." The heroes all thanked him.
"All right, let's go!" Ma told Zhang curtly. Zhang noticed that Luo
Bing had slung his Frozen Emerald Sword across her back, and he knew
that to try to retrieve it would only result in more punishment. So he
bit his lip and followed after Ma Zhen, his head bowed.
When they had gone, the others asked Lu what had happened to him since
they had parted. He told them that for a time he had searched
unsuccessfully for Yuanzhi. Then, realising that Zhang was the key to
the affair, he went south and asked Ma Zhen to help him. They hurried
to Beijing only to discover that Zhang had gone to Hangzhou, so they
travelled south once more.
The heroes walked slowly down from the peak, talking as they went. Chen
turned to Wang and Han.
"You are both free to go," he said.
"Master Chen, I will never forget how you saved my life," Wang replied.
Chen laughed. "I must ask your forgiveness, Master Wang," he said and
related how they had stolen the jade vases and provoked the duel
between himself and Zhang. Having just escaped from the jaws of death,
Wang did not seem to blame him for the deception.
"You are certainly a born leader," he said to Chen, and laughed. "So
young and already a hero. I may be old, but I still have a thing or two
to learn."
"When our affairs have been successfully concluded, we will drink a few
cups of wine together," Chen replied.
They arrived at the lake and returned to Lonely Mountain by boat. Lu
Feiqing extracted the Golden Needles from Wang's wounds with the use of
a magnet, and then treated them with Golden Scar ointment.
By this time, evening was approaching.
"Most of the work on the tunnel has been completed," Master Ma, the
Hangzhou Helmsman, reported. "We should be finished in another six
hours."
Chen nodded. "Good, thank you Brother Ma. Thirteenth Brother, please go
and supervise the work." 'Crocodile' Jiang bowed and left.
Chen turned once more to Wang and Han.
"We have been looking after a few members of your honourable bodyguard
agency," he said. "Why don't you take them to the lake for some
recreation?"
Wang watched the Red Flower Society fighters hurrying to and fro and
guessed they were preparing to rescue Wen Tailai. He decided that if he
were to go out by himself now and the plan should go wrong, they could
easily suspect that he had informed the authorities.
"I am getting old, and what with these Golden Needle wounds, I am not
feeling at all well," he replied. "I would like to rest here for a
day."
"As you wish," said Chen.
** 4 **
The heroes ate a full meal and then returned to their rooms to rest. At
six o'clock that evening, an attendant reported that the tunnel diggers
were already under the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen, but that a large
rock was blocking their path which they were trying to dig around. Chen
and Xu assigned their forces: some were to attack from the left, some
from the right, and some would be held in reserve. At about eight
o'clock, the attendant returned to report that the diggers had come up
against an iron plate and had decided to stop work for a while for fear
of alerting those inside.
"We will wait another two hours and then make our move," Chen said.
During those two hours, the heroes could hardly control their
impatience. Zhang Jin paced up and down the hall mumbling curses.
Master Ma kept taking out a large gold watch and checking the time
while Chen read a book.
"The time has arrived," Ma finally announced.
The heroes all charged for the door. They donned various disguises and
made their way separately through the darkened streets of Hangzhou to a
house just outside the Commander-in-Chief's Yamen.
'Crocodile' Jiang was waiting for them. "This area is being tightly
patrolled by Manchu troops," he said. "Be as quiet as possible."
He stood at the entrance of the tunnel with his iron oar at the ready,
as the heroes filed through one by one. The tunnel had been dug deep,
and with Hangzhou being such a low-lying area, it was ankle-deep in
water. By the time they reached the big rock, the muddy water was up to
their chests, while several dozen yards further on, it rose to their
heads.
Seven or eight attendants were waiting near the iron plate with torches
and spades in hand.
"Start work!" Chen ordered.
With the Great Helmsman there watching them, the attendants worked like
demons, and soon shifted the rock to the side of the iron plate.
Another moment of furious digging and the iron plate was dislodged, and
'Leopard' Wei, his pair of hooks at the ready, went through first with
the rest of the heroes behind.
The attendants held the torches high to illuminate the way as Wei ran
along a corridor towards Wen's cell, but found the way blocked by a
locked iron gate.
"Eighth Brother, Ninth Brother," said Xu suddenly. "Go and guard the
exit to the dungeon just in case the Manchus have some secret scheme."
Yang and Wei assented and left. Several of the attendants worked to
loosen the stones to the side of the gate, and then with the help of
several of the heroes, lifted the gate out of position. Luo Bing ran
through, and into Wen's cell only to find it empty.
After so many disappointments, Luo Bing crumpled onto the floor and
began to sob. Zhou Qi wanted to comfort her, but her father held her
back.
"Let her be," he said. "A cry will do her good."
"Commander Li was afraid we would come to organise a jail break and has
moved Fourth Brother somewhere else," Xu said.
"But now we are in the Yamen, we will find him no matter what," Chen
replied.
They went to the door of the dungeon and saw Yang fighting fiercely
with a group of Manchu soldiers. Priest Wu Chen gave a shout and
charged out of the dungeon and finished off two Manchu soldiers on the
spot. Further on, they found Wei battling six or seven officers.
"Considering my relationship with Commander Li, I had better not reveal
myself," Lu Feiqing thought. He ripped a strip off his gown and covered
his face so that only the eyes were showing. Just then, the Manchu
soldiers broke and retreated up to the Yamen courtyard in confusion
with Wei and the others in hot pursuit.
Xu leapt up onto a nearby wall and saw soldiers standing guard
throughout the whole Yamen. A drum sounded, and Xu guessed the
commanders were still positioning their soldiers. Then he spotted a
lonely two-storey building in the southern part of the main courtyard
surrounded by several hundred troops. There was nothing special about
the building except for the tight defences, and he decided that was
probably where Wen was being held. He jumped down from the wall and
whirled his sword around his head.
"Brothers, follow me!" he shouted, and charged towards the building.
The further they went, the more soldiers appeared. But despite their
numerical superiority, the Manchu troops were unable to contain the Red
Flower Society fighters, each of them a master of the martial arts. In
only a short while, the heroes had fought to within a few yards of the
building.
"Third Brother, let's go and have a look inside," Priest Wu Chen said
to 'Buddha' Zhao.
"Right," said Zhao, and they sprang over to the doorway with two long
strides. A sword sliced towards them, but with one thrust from the
priest's blade, the swordsman screamed and his weapon clattered to the
ground. They raced into the building with Luo Bing and the others close
behind.
As the fighting continued, the heroes found the numbers of Manchu
soldiers diminishing. Suddenly they heard Priest Wu Chen yell from
upstairs: "Fourth Brother is here! We've got him!" The heroes shouted
in joy.
Zhou Qi raced up the stairs and saw everyone gathered round an iron
cage. Chen was sawing at the bars with the Frozen Emerald Sword. Zhou
Qi went close and noticed that inside the iron cage was another smaller
cage in which Wen sat with his legs and arms manacled like a captured
wild animal. Chen sawed through two bars, and Zhang Jin used brute
strength to twist them back. Luo Bing, thanks to her slim figure,
managed to wriggle into the outer cage, then took the sword from Chen
and began to saw away at the lock on the small cage. The heroes were
all smiling jubilantly. Suddenly they heard a bugle sound, and the
remaining Manchu troops retreated out about one hundred feet and formed
themselves into ranks around the building.
"Master Chen!" someone shouted from amongst the Manchu ranks. "I wish
to speak with Master Chen!"
Chen went to the window and spotted Commander Li outside. "I am here.
What is it, Commander?"
"Come out quickly or you will all die."
"We will not come out alone, even faced with death," Chen replied. "I
am sorry, but today we intend to leave with Master Wen."
"Don't be so stubborn," Li shouted. "Start the fire!"
The troops pushed out huge piles of firewood and grass and surrounded
the building with them. The firewood was soaked in oil and a second
after a torch was thrown into it, a fiery ring sprang up with the
heroes trapped inside.
Chen could see how dangerous the situation was, but he remained calm.
"Everyone together," he said quietly. "Cut through the bars as quickly
as you can."
A man walked out from behind Li and pointed angrily at Chen. "Death is
staring you in the face and still you don't go down on your knees and
beg for mercy?" he boomed. "Do you realize what we have in that
building?"
As Chen stood thinking, he heard Xu exclaim in their secret code: "Oh
no, they've packed the place with gunpowder."
Chen noticed a row of wooden barrels around the room they were in. With
a quick movement, he smashed one of them open and black dust flew out
in all directions, the smell of saltpetre filling their noses. His
heart froze. "Is the whole Red Flower Society going to be blown to
pieces today?" he wondered. He turned and saw the inner cage had been
opened and Luo Bing helping Wen out.
"Sister Luo Bing, Brother Zhao!" he shouted. "You two look after Fourth
Brother. Everyone else follow me." He charged down the stairs. Zhang
Jin bent over and heaved Wen onto his back while Luo Bing and Zhao
escorted them down to the ground floor. As they reached the door, they
saw swarms of arrows like locusts flying at them. Wei and the Twin
Knights tried several times to break out of the building, but each time
they were forced back inside.
"You are standing in a gunpowder keg and I have the fuse here,"
Commander Li shouted. He raised a fiery torch and waved it.
"As soon as I light the fuse, you will all be burnt to ashes. Put Wen
down immediately."
Chen knew that what he said was true, but he also guessed that because
of Wen's importance to the Emperor, Li would not dare to light the
fuse.
"Put Fourth Brother down!" he shouted. "Let's get out of here!" He
brandished his long sword and charged out with Wei and the Twin Knights
at his side.
Zhang Jin, running flat out with his head down, didn't hear what Chen
had said.
"Put Fourth Brother down," Zhao told him. "It's too dangerous. We've
got to get out or he'll get killed."
Zhang Jin placed Wen on the ground near the door. Luo Bing hesitated,
but Zhang Jin grabbed her arm and charged on after the others. Li saw
in the firelight that they had abandoned Wen, and with a wave of his
hand ordered the archers to stop firing to prevent him being hit by
mistake.
Having made it out of the building, the heroes regrouped by the wall.
"Eighth Brother, Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother and the Twin Knights, you
five lead an attack on the Manchu troops and disperse them," ordered
Chen. "Brother Xu, you think of a way to cut the gunpowder fuse. The
rest of you, as soon as that's done, we will go back and rescue Fourth
Brother."
Commander Li was just about to order someone over to keep watch on Wen
when he spotted the Twin Knights approaching. He hastily shouted to a
detachment of Imperial Bodyguards who raced over to intercept the Red
Flower Society fighters.
Lu Feiqing was the first to spot a way out of the dilemma. He ran like
an arrow straight for Commander Li. Li's bodyguards moved to stop him,
but Lu dodged to left and right and slipped past them all. In a moment,
he was at Li's side. Yuanzhi, wearing boy's clothes, was standing by
her father's side. Seeing this strange masked man charging forward, she
cried out shrilly: "How dare you!" and thrust her sword straight at his
chest. Lu ducked under the stroke, then slipped round behind Commander
Li and gave him a powerful shove which sent him reeling forward. Full
of fear for her father, Yuanzhi struck out again with her sword, but Lu
dodged out of the way once more, picked Li up in his arms and ran
inside the circle of fire. The Manchu troops shouted in alarm, but the
heat from the flames was so intense that none dared to follow him.
The Red Flower Society heroes saw Lu carrying Commander Li into the
danger zone, and Zhang Jin and 'Crocodile' Jiang went in after them.
"That's enough," ordered Chen. "No-one else need go in."
The Manchu troops completely ignored the Red Flower Society fighters,
and stared anxiously at the men in the centre of the ring of fire.
Suddenly, someone with a torch leapt over to the gunpowder fuse and lit
it. Deng Tunan recognized him as Imperial Bodyguard Fan who had shamed
himself in front of the Emperor the day before. He bore such a deep
grudge over the incident, that he wanted only to snatch victory away
from the Red Flower Society with no concern for whether Commander Li
lived or died.
The thread of sparks whirled off at an incredible speed. Once it
reached the circle of fire, disaster would be inevitable. The Manchu
troops scattered in panic and in the midst of the confusion, a figure,
his face covered with a blue silk mask, raced forward and threw himself
down on to the gunpowder. His clothes burst into flames, but the fuse
was stopped.
The immediate danger past, Zhang Jin and 'Crocodile' Jiang charged out
through the circle of fire with Wen Tailai in their arms. The flames
were now even more fierce, and all three caught fire. The Twin Knights,
racing forward to meet them, shouting: "Roll! Roll!" Zhang Jin and
Jiang first put Wen down and rolled him about until all the flames on
him had been extinguished, then put out their own fires. Luo Bing ran
up to attend to Wen.
The Twin Knights meanwhile ran over to rescue the masked man, who had
collapsed on the ground. By the time the flames had been extinguished,
his body was a mass of burns.
Once Wen was out of danger, Lu slung Commander Li over his shoulder,
took a deep breath and leapt back out of the circle like a great bird.
"We've done it!" Chen shouted. "Retreat, retreat!"
Priest Wu Chen led the way, his sword flying, and the others followed,
the Twin Knights carrying the masked man, Zhang Jin carrying Wen and Lu
with Commander Li over his shoulder.
The Manchu troops chased after them, shouting and yelling, but none
dared get too close. The Imperial Bodyguards, however, were frantic at
the sight of Wen escaping: his loss could cost them their heads. Among
them was Fan, the one who had lit the fuse. Chen handed the Frozen
Emerald sword to 'Buddha' Zhao.
"Cover the others as they retreat, Third Brother," he said. "I'm going
to deal with this fellow." He pulled out his 'Pearl Strings', the ropes
with steel balls fastened to the ends, and with a flick of his hand,
sent them flying towards Fan.
Fan tried to leap out of the way, but he was not quick enough, and the
strings wrapped themselves round his legs. Chen yanked them back
fiercely, and threw Fan into the heart of the roaring flames.
By this time, almost all of the heroes had escaped over the Yamen
walls. Chen raised his hand and shouted to the rest: "Retreat!"
'Leopard' Wei raced over to the gunpowder fuse and relit it, and the
Manchu troops cried out in fear as the remaining Red Flower Society
fighters retired.
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash, and a roar as the gunpowder
stacked in the building ignited. Explosion followed explosion, black
smoke swirled up and bricks flew in all directions. The soldiers and
guardsmen threw themselves on the ground, but despite their great
distance from the building, several dozen of them had their heads
smashed to pieces by stray bricks and pieces of wood. By the time the
rest crawled back onto their feet, the Red Flower Society heroes were
gone.
Only when they were certain they were not being chased did the heroes
relax. They rode out of Hangzhou and arrived at a river with more than
a dozen boats lined up along the bank. The heroes joyfully boarded the
craft.
"Master Chen," Lu Feiqing whispered. "I have had connections with
Commander Li in the past. Now that Brother Wen is safe, why don't we
let him go?"
"Whatever you say," Chen replied, and on his orders, an attendant
untied Li's bonds and released him.
"Anchors aweigh!" Chen called. "Head for Jiaxing!"
The rivers and canals of Zhejiang Province are an endless maze with
countless twists and turns, and in a moment the boats had disappeared.
"We'll head west and take Fourth Brother to Heavenly Eye Mountain to
convalesce," said Chen. "Let Commander Li race off to Jiaxing after us!
"
The heroes all burst out laughing and the accumulated low spirits of
several months were swept away.
Dawn was just breaking as Luo Bing wiped Wen's body clean. His manacles
had been sawn off with the Frozen Emerald sword, and he was in a deep
sleep.
"Great Helmsman," said Xu. "That masked man who saved Fourth Brother is
very badly wounded. Shall we have a look at him?"
"Since he keeps his face covered, he obviously does not wish to be
recognized. I don't think we should," said Lord Zhou.
Xin Yan gently applied white soya sauce to the masked man's burns, but
his whole body had been blistered by the flames, and he cried out
incessantly in pain. His hands were clawing about aimlessly as he
screamed in pain, and suddenly ripped the mask off. The heroes all
cried out in unison: "Fourteenth Brother!"
It was 'Scholar' Yu. They looked at his face, red-black and swollen
with countless blisters, and were horrified. Luo Bing brought over a
wet cloth and lightly wiped the dirt and gunpowder from his face then
applied more white soya sauce. Whenever she thought about his
disgraceful behaviour that night near Iron Gall Manor she still felt
angry, but having seen what he was willing to go through to save her
own husband, she knew that his infatuation was more than just lust. She
looked down at him and wondered how she could ever repay him.
The boats docked and Master Ma sent someone hurrying off to find a
doctor. When he came, the doctor examined Wen and said: "This
gentleman's wounds are only superficial. He is strong and healthy, and
with several months of recuperation there should be no problem."
Pointing at Yu, he added: "This gentleman, however, has extremely
serious burns. There is a danger that the fire poison will attack his
heart. I will make out a prescription to counter it and have another
look later." From his tone, he appeard to consider it hopeless.
The doctor went ashore. A while later, Wen opened his eyes and looked
at everyone standing around him.
"What are you all doing here?" he asked wearily.
Luo Bing burst into tears. "Brother!" she cried happily. "You've come
back. You've come back!"
Wen nodded slightly and closed his eyes again.
During the night battle at the Yellow River crossing, Yuanzhi had been
cut off from the Red Flower Society fighters. She spotted a carriage
and jumped into it, urged the mules and raced blindly away. It was only
next morning when she had put a great distance between herself and the
Manchu army that she stopped to rest. Opening the carriage curtain, she
found 'Scholar' Yu lying inside unconscious and badly wounded. After
carefully considering the situation, she climbed back onto the carriage
and drove on to Wenguang town.
As the daughter of an official, she was used to doing things in an
impressive manner. She chose the largest residence in the town and
knocked on it's door to ask for lodgings. The residence belonged to the
evil landowner, Tang, who took them in. When Tang was found murdered,
Yu realized immediately that they could be implicated, and they escaped
in the confusion. Yuanzhi was planning to go to Hangzhou to be with her
parents and Yu, knowing that Hangzhou was also where Wen was being
held, decided they may as well go together. He was still seriously
wounded, and Yuanzhi looked after him carefully as they travelled.
When they reached Hangzhou, Yuanzhi told her parents that Yu had been
wounded while saving her from bandits, and her father, Commander Li,
allowed him to stay in the Yamen as an expression of his gratitude. A
doctor was called to treat his injuries. When Li saw what a refined
person Yu was, skilled in both scholarly and martial pursuits, he
decided that once his wounds had healed he would invite Yu to become
his son-in-law. Little did he know that Yu was also a key member of the
Red Flower Society.
** 5 **
When Qian Long was told that the Red Flower Society had rescued Wen, he
was both surprised and angry. But he decided there was nothing to be
gained in punishing the Imperial Bodyguards. He could see from their
wounds that they had fought bravely.
A while later, Commander Li also arrived, and was informed by the
Emperor that a decision on whether or not he would lose his post would
be deferred until later. Li was overjoyed at this unexpected luck.
After Li had left, Qian Long thought about Wen's escape and wondered if
his secret would get out. From what Wen had said, it did not appear
that he knew, but there was something about his manner which suggested
there was still much he could tell. Wen had said there were two
important pieces of evidence hidden somewhere and he wondered what the
evidence could be. He was already almost certain he was a Chinese and
not a Manchu, but what good could come of such knowledge leaking out?
He paced about the room, extremely angry that he, the Son of Heaven,
should be out-witted by a band of brigands. If they discovered his
secret, would he be forced to submit to them for the rest of his life
on pain of having the secret revealed? The more he thought about it,
the angrier he became, and he picked up a large porcelain flower vase
and threw it violently to the floor.
The guards and eunuchs waiting outside heard the crash clearly and
trembled in their boots, not daring to enter.
Qian Long passed most of the day in a state of mental confusion.
Towards evening, he heard the sound of gentle music drifting in from
outside. The music moved closer and closer, passed by the gates of the
Yamen then gradually receded. A moment later, another musical troupe
passed by. He had always been very fond of music, and hearing it now,
his mood suddenly changed.
"Servants!" he shouted.
A senior bodyguard named He Jia, who had recently come to favour,
hurried in. Hearing the Emperor's call, the others had pushed him
forward.
"What is that music outside?" Qian Long asked. "Go and find out."
After a while, He Jia came back to report: "Your slave made enquiries
and learned that all of the famous courtesans of Hangzhou will gather
on the West Lake this evening to choose what they call the 'Top
Candidate of the Boudoir', as well as second, third and fourth ranking
candidates."
"How dare they make fun of the Imperial Civil Service Examinations in
such a way!" Qian Long said, amused. "Ridiculous!"
Seeing the smile on the Emperor's face, he advanced a step and added in
a low voice: "I heard that the Four Beauties of Qiantang River will be
there."
"And who are the Four Beauties of Qiantang River?"
"Your slave was talking to a local just now who said that they are the
four most famous prostitutes of Hangzhou. Everyone out in the streets
is trying to guess which one will be the Top Candidate of the Boudoir
this year."
"The Top Candidate in the Imperial Examination is chosen by me. Who
chooses this Top Candidate of the Boudoir? Don't tell me there is an
Emperor of the Boudoir as well?"
"I hear that each prostitute sits in a flower boat on which are
displayed the gold and jewels presented by her customers. Then the
winner is chosen by some of Hangzhou's most eminent gentlemen."
"When do they play this game?" Qian Long asked, fascinated.
"It starts soon," He Jia replied. "As soon as it gets a bit darker, the
judging will begin. If Your Highness is interested, you could go and
watch."
Qian Long smiled. "I'm afraid people may laugh at me," he said. "If the
Empress should hear that I chose the Top Candidate manner which
suggested there was still much he could tell. Wen had said there were
two important pieces of evidence hidden somewhere and he wondered what
the evidence could be. He was already almost certain he was a Chinese
and not a Manchu, but what good could come of such knowledge leaking
out?
He paced about the room, extremely angry that he, the Son of Heaven,
should be out-witted by a band of brigands. If they discovered his
secret, would he be forced to submit to them for the rest of his life
on pain of having the secret revealed? The more he thought about it,
the angrier he became, and he picked up a large porcelain flower vase
and threw it violently to the floor.
The guards and eunuchs waiting outside heard the crash clearly and
trembled in their boots, not daring to enter.
Qian Long passed most of the day in a state of mental confusion.
Towards evening, he heard the sound of gentle music drifting in from
outside. The music moved closer and closer, passed by the gates of the
Yamen then gradually receded. A moment later, another musical troupe
passed by. He had always been very fond of music, and hearing it now,
his mood suddenly changed.
"Servants!" he shouted.
A senior bodyguard named He Jia, who had recently come to favour,
hurried in. Hearing the Emperor's call, the others had pushed him
forward.
"What is that music outside?" Qian Long asked. "Go and find out."
After a while, He Jia came back to report: "Your slave made enquiries
and learned that all of the famous courtesans of Hangzhou will gather
on the West Lake this evening to choose what they call the 'Top
Candidate of the Boudoir', as well as second, third and fourth ranking
candidates."
"How dare they make fun of the Imperial Civil Service Examinations in
such a way!" Qian Long said, amused. "Ridiculous!"
Seeing the smile on the Emperor's face, he advanced a step and added in
a low voice: "I heard that the Four Beauties of Qiantang River will be
there."
"And who are the Four Beauties of Qiantang River?"
"Your slave was talking to a local just now who said that they are the
four most famous prostitutes of Hangzhou. Everyone out in the streets
is trying to guess which one will be the Top Candidate of the Boudoir
this year."
"The Top Candidate in the Imperial Examination is chosen by me. Who
chooses this Top Candidate of the Boudoir? Don't tell me there is an
Emperor of the Boudoir as well?"
"I hear that each prostitute sits in a flower boat on which are
displayed the gold and jewels presented by her customers. Then the
winner is chosen by some of Hangzhou's most eminent gentlemen."
"When do they play this game?" Qian Long asked, fascinated.
"It starts soon,"He Jia replied. "As soon as it gets a bit darker, the
judging will begin. If Your Highness is interested, you could go and
watch."
Qian Long smiled. "I'm afraid people may laugh at me,"he said. "If the
Empress should hear that I chose the Top Candidate of the Boudoir, she
may have something to say about it. Ha, ha!"
"If Your Highness dressed up as a member of the common people, no one
would know," He Jia suggested.
"All right, we'll go and have a quiet look and then come back. But tell
everyone not to attract attention,"said Qian Long.
He Jia quickly helped Qian Long change into a long silk gown and a
closely-embroidered jacket, the attire of a member of the gentry. Then
they left for the West Lake together with Bai Zhen and several dozen
bodyguards.
Once at the lakeside, a bodyguard steered a boat up to meet them. Music
and singing could be heard coming from different parts of the lake,
while the multitude of lanterns provided a sumptuous sight. They
watched as more than twenty flower boats glided lazily back and forth
over the water, each boat draped with silk curtains and lanterns. Qian
Long ordered the oarsman to steer close to the flower boats. Some of
them were decorated with flowers and animals cleverly constructed out
of silk and lit with lanterns. Qian Long sighed in praise for the
richness of life in the south of China with which the north could not
hope to compete. As many as a hundred other small boats moved to and
fro carrying well-to-do pleasure seekers.
A gong sounded and the music from the boats ceased. One rocket after
another soared up into the air and burst in a dazzling array of colours
before falling into the lake with a hiss. As the firework display
ended, the curtains on each flower boat were drawn apart simultaneously
to reveal a gorgeously-attired woman seated inside. Thunderous cheers
and applause arose from every part of the lake.
Servants produced wine and food for the Emperor to partake of while
enjoying the scene. The boat slid slowly over the lake past the flower
boats. Qian Long, who kept three thousand concubines in his palace, had
seen countless beauties in his time. But now, with the lanterns
reflecting on the water, the splash of the oars and the slight waft of
perfume, he was completely captivated. They neared the boats of the
Four Beauties of the Qiantang River, and saw they were different from
the other flower boats. One was decorated entirely with paper water
lilies while the second was topped by two pagodas. The third was decked
out as the Lunar Palace and lit with lanterns shaped as toads and
hares, the animals which are supposed to inhabit the moon.
Qian Long gasped in delight. As they glided towards the fourth, he saw
it was decorated entirely with real bushes and flowers, the branches
criss-crossing each other and covered with a thick foliage, as simple
as nature, and as beautiful as a painting. The courtezan, dressed all
in white, was seated with her back to them, but she had an air of
other-worldliness about her, as of a goddess.
Overwhelmed, Qian Long could not help but sing out a line from the
opera, 'The Western Chamber': "Oh, will you not turn your face to me?"
The prostitute, hearing the snatch of song, did indeed turn and smiled.
Qian Long's heart leapt: it was the girl he had met on the West Lake
several days before, Beautiful Jade.
He heard the tinkle of a feminine voice as the courtesan on the water
lily boat began to sing. At the end of the song, the crowd applauded
and a pile of ingots, big and small mounted on the table in front of
her. Then the courtesan in the Twin-Pagoda boat picked up a pipa and
lightly strummed a tune, following which the third played the flute.
Qian Long ordered He Jia to give her ten taels of gold.
The pleasure launches then crowded round Beautiful Jade's boat. She
opened her ruby lips, revealing her sparkling white teeth, and began to
sing accompanied by a flute.
It was the middle of the eighth month and it was already cool on the
lake, but Beautiful Jade's voice suggested warm breezes and fragrant
flowers.
"Such talent," Qian Long sighed.
To his great delight, Beautiful Jade's dew-drop eyes constantly looked
over in his direction as she sang. Qian Long loved demonstrating his
talents in art, calligraphy and poetry and his ministers, not
surprisingly, praised everything he did. But for a beautiful woman to
favour him not because of reverence for his position as Emperor, but
because of his real worth meant she had recognized his ardour, good
looks and talent. Famous courtesans are truly discerning, he thought.
He immediately ordered He Jia to present Beautiful Jade with fifty
taels of gold.
The boats of all the courtesans were piled up with gifts, especially
those of the Four Beauties. Midnight approached and the judge began the
job of inspecting the gifts. As with the imperial examinations, not
only the courtesans, but also the spectators on the lake, were anxious
about the outcome.
Qian Long said a few quiet words to He Jia, who nodded and hurried back
to the Yamen. He returned a while later with a package.
The inspection over, the boats all clustered round the launch on which
the judge sat to hear him announce the winners.
"The gifts presented to Miss Twin Pagodas are the most numerous," he
announced. There was a roar from the other boats as some applauded and
some groaned.
"Not so fast," someone shouted. "I will present one hundred taels of
gold to Miss Water Lily."
"And I present Miss Lunar Palace with a jade bracelet and ten pearls,"
another wealthy gentleman called out. The crowd saw the green bracelet
and the large round pearls sparkling under the lantern light and knew
that they must be worth well over a hundred taels of gold. All
concluded that Miss Lunar Palace was certain to be chosen at the Top
Candidate for the years.
Suddenly He Jia called out: "Our master has a number of items he would
like to present to Miss Beautiful Jade!"
A servant carried the package over to the judge, a man of about forty
with a lean, handsome face and a wisp of moustache. He opened it to
find it contained three scrolls. He turned to the old man on his left
and said: "Master Fan, this is indeed a refined gentleman. I wonder
what treasures he has presented?" He ordered the servants to unrill the
scrolls.
As the first scroll was unrolled, the judge and the others started in
surprise: it was a poem written in the hand of the famous cillgrapher,
Zu Yunning.
"This is extremely valuable," exclaimed the man called Master Fan. They
hurriedly opened the second scroll and saw it was a painting of flowers
on the top of which was the Imperial vermilion seal of Qian Long. Yuan
Mei was puzzled and turned to ask his colleagues if they knew who the
benefactor was. They looked at the scrolls and pondered silently.
"Why don't we go over and meet him?" one finally suggested.
"If we do that, people will accuse us of being unfair," replied
another. "With such treasures as these two scrolls, the Top Candidate
is obviously Beautiful Jade."
"Let us have a look at the third scroll," suggested a third.
They unrolled it and saw it was a piece of unsigned calligraphy.
"Not very graceful," remarked one of the experts. "The writing style
lacks strength."
"Shh! It's written in the Emperor's hand," another whispered urgently.
The others all jumped in fright and dared not discuss the matter
further.
"The judging of the gifts has been completed," Yuan Mei announced in a
loud voice. "The Top Candidate is Miss Beautiful Jade, second is Miss
Lunar Palace, third is Miss Water Lily."
Applause arose from all corners of the lake.
Beutiful Jade began to sing again, and her tender voice penetrated Qian
Long's bones, making his heart itch unbearably.
"Go and tell that girl to come over," he said to He Jia. "And don't say
who I am."
The boat glided over to Beautiful Jade's and He Jia leapt across. After
an interval, he returned with a piece of paper and handed it to Qian
Long and said: "She told me to give this to you."
Qian Long peered at the note under the lamplight and saw it read:
"Tomorrow."
The calligraphy was very poor, but the paper was heavily scented with a
fragrance that made his heart quiver.
"Why wait until tomorrow? I am here now," he said. But when he looked
up again, he saw Beautiful Jade's boat was already moving off. As
Emperor, the concubines of the palace tried every trick they could
think of to be favoured by him. When had a woman ever rejected his
advances? But the more she kept him at arms length, the more he desired
her. He hurriedly issued an Imperial command: "Chase after that boat!"
Qian Long stood silently on the prow, his heart pursuing the boat
ahead. The lights on the lake were going out but the music had not yet
been extinguished. He indistinctly heard what he thought was the sound
of laughter and soft words from the boat in front.
The distance between the two boats gradually closed. Suddenly the
curtain on the flower boat parted for a second and a object was flung
in the direction of Qian Long. Bai Zhen lunged forward to intercept it,
and as it hit his hand he noticed the object was not a dart as he had
expected but a red handkerchief with all four corners knotted together.
He quickly presented it to the Emperor.
Qian Long untied it and inside he found a lotus sweet and a lily bulb:
both were symbols of a well-matched couple. How could he fail to catch
the meaning of such a romantic message?
The flower boat reached the bank, and Beautiful Jade stepped off and
into a small horse-drawn carriage. She looked out of the carriage
window and smiled seductively at Qian Long, then released the carriage
curtain.
"Hey! Wait a moment, don't go!" He Jia yelled, but the driver took no
notice and with a clatter of horses' hooves, the carriage moved off
south.
"Get another carriage quickly!" He Jia called. The bodyguards soon
found a carriage and forced its occupants out. Qian Long stepped inside
and it raced off after the other carriage.
Bodyguard Bai Zhen saw they were heading towards the prosperous
district of the city, and decided everything was all right: the Emperor
had obviously decided to spend the night at the home of the courtesan.
But having seen her only a few days before with the Red Flower Society
men, he had to take precautions against a trap. He quickly ordered Rui
Dalin to bring extra men to help protect the Emperor.
Beautiful Jade's carriage passed along several streets, then turned
into an alley and stopped in front of a pair of black-painted gates. An
attendant on the carriage jumped down and knocked on them just as Qian
Long was descending from his carriage. With a long squeak, the gates
were opened, and an old woman came out, pulled aside the carriage
curtain and greeted Beautiful Jade. She stepped out of the carriage
and, seeing Qian Long standing to one side, hurried over to greet him.
"Aiya, Master Dongfang," she said. "Thank you so much for your gifts
just now. Please come in and have some tea." Qian Long smiled and
walked through the gates.
One of the bodyguards rushed in ahead of the Emperor, his hand on the
hilt of his sword, checking for assassins or perhaps a customer of the
prostitute who would wish to protest that he was first.
Beyond the gates was a courtyard. A wave of flowery fragrance assailed
their noses and tree shadows danced on the ground around two cinnamon
bushes which were in full bloom. Qian Long followed Beautiful Jade into
a small, elegantly-decorated chamber lit by two tall, red candles.
A maid brought in wine and food. Qian Long looked at the plates of
delicacies, including marinated chicken and Thousand-Year-Old eggs, and
marvelled at how exquisite they were compared to the heavy food he was
served in the Imperial palace. The maid strained two cups of aged,
deeply-fragrant rice wine.
Beautiful Jade took a sip and smiled. "Master Dongfang, how can I ever
thank you?" she said.
Qian Long raised his cup and drained it in one draught. "Sing a song
first," he said, also smiling. "We will discuss at our leisure how you
can thank me."
Beautiful Jade picked up a pipa and began to play softly.
While the Emperor drank and enjoyed himself inside, Commander-in-Chief
Li arrived with a detachment of troops and encircled the alley with
ring after ring of guards. His officers searched every nearby house
thoroughly, leaving only Beautiful Jade's room untouched. Bai Zhen
ordered a group of guardsmen to patrol the roof tops with bows and
arrows at the ready. Countless men have been to brothels over the
centuries, but Qian Long's visit was surely the most imposing and
awe-inspiring visit of all.
The guards and soldiers were kept busy the whole night, but dawn
finally broke without anything untoward having happened. The sun rose,
and He Jia tiptoed over to Beautiful Jade's bed-chamber to peek through
a crack in the window. He spied Qian Long's boots lying by the bed and
retreated. Eight o'clock passed, nine o'clock and ten o'clock and still
there was no sign of the Emperor rising. Becoming anxious, He Jia
returned to the window and called quietly: "Master, would you like some
breakfast?" He called several times, but there was no response.
He went to the door and gave it a push, but it was barred from inside.
"Master!" he called out loudly. Still no answer from the room. He Jia
was very concerned, but he didn't dare break the door down. Instead, he
went to discuss the situation with Commander Li and Bai Zhen.
"Why don't we tell the old house woman to go and knock on the door with
some breakfast. His Highness won't be offended," suggested Li.
"An excellent idea, Commander," Bai Zhen said.
The three went off to look for the old woman, but found the whole
establishment was deserted. Greatly alarmed at the situation, they
began banging frantically on Beautiful Jade's door.
"Force it open!" ordered Li. Bai Zhen put both of his palms on the
door, and with a sight push, snapped the door bar.
He Jia went in first and carefully pulled apart the bed curtains to
find the bed clothes in disarray but absolutely no sign of Qian Long or
Beautiful Jade. He fainted to the floor in fright.
Bai Zhen hastily called in some guards and searched the establishment,
but they failed to find so much as half a clue. How could the Emperor
have disappeared when the guard they had mounted was so tight that not
even a sparrow could have escaped without being noticed? Bai Zhen
toured round the room once more looking for a secret door, but he
knocked and banged for a long time without finding anything suspicious.
The Imperial Guard Commander Fu Kangan and the provincial governor
arrived having received news of Qian Long's disappearance, and they all
gathered in the middle of Beautiful Jade's boudoir, pale frightened and
completely at a loss for what to do.
** 6 **
After listening to Beautiful Jade sing for a while and drinking a few
cups of wine, Qian Long had begun to feel a little sleepy.
Beautiful Jade smiled. "Would you like to lie down?" she asked. He
nodded in answer, and she helped him take off his clothes and boots,
led him over to the bed and covered him with the bed clothes.
"I'll just go out for a second, then come back to you," she said.
Feeling lulled and drowsy from the scented pillow and sheets, Qian Long
heard a faint sound in front of the bed.
"You mischievous girl," he said with a smile. "What's the hold up?"
The curtain opened and a head appeared. Under the candlelight Qian Long
could see it had a pock-marked face, and thick sideburns, very
different from Beautiful Jade's fair features. He rubbed his eyes in
disbelief and looked again just as the intruder placed a shining dagger
by his neck and said quietly in Cantonese: "Damn your ancestors, you
bastard Emperor, make one sound and I'll use this."
Qian Long's lust dissipated in a flash as if he had been doused with a
bucket of iced water. The man said nothing more, but stuffed a
handkerchief into Qian Long's mouth, then rolled him up tightly in the
eiderdown and carried him off.
Unable to move or make a sound, Qian Long's eyes stared at the
blackness and felt himself being carried down a flight of steps. His
nose caught the musty smell of mud and dank humidity, then after a
moment, he felt himself being carried upwards again. He realized the
man must have emerged from a hidden tunnel in the room.
He felt himself being shaken and heard the sound of wheels starting to
move, and knew he was in a carriage. In his terror, he wondered who had
kidnapped him and where they were taking him.
The carriage travelled for a long time. After a while the road became
uneven, and the carriage shook and bumped about, indicating they had
left the city. Finally they stopped, and Qian Long felt himself lifted
out of the carriage and carried upwards, one step after another
endlessly until he thought they must be ascending a high peak. He was
so frightened, his whole body quaked, and surrounded by darkness inside
the quilt, he almost began to cry.
Finally, he was put down with a bump. He waited quietly, not daring to
speak, but a long while passed without anything happening. He slowly
pushed aside the quilt in which he was wrapped and looked out to find
everything in total darkness. He fancied he could hear the sound of
waves breaking a long way off, and concentating he also heard the wind
rippling through fir trees and the clear, steady chime of a brass bell.
The wind became stronger and stronger, gusting angrily, and he thought
he felt the structure he was in rocking slightly. Even more afraid, he
moved as if to stand up.
"If you want to live, don't move," a deep voice close by growled. Qian
Long jumped in fright and stayed as still as he could.
Gradually, the wind subsided and it began to grow light until he could
see he was in a small room. Having climbed for so long to reach it, he
wondered if it was a house on the peak of a mountain. He heard a series
of snuffling noises, and listening carefully, realised the guards were
eating noodles. From the sound of it there were two of them, chewing
great mouthfuls with relish. Having been awake all night, he felt
hungry and his appetite sharpened as the smell of the noodles wafted
over to him.
The two finished eating. One of the guards walked over and placed a
full bowl of prawn and eel noodle soup about five feet from his head.
"Is that for me?" Qian Long wondered to himself. But the guards said
nothing, and despite his hunger he did not dare to open his mouth to
ask.
"That bowl of noodles is for you," one of the guards finally said.
"There's no poison in it."
Qian Long was overjoyed. He sat up to get the bowl, but a wave of cold
struck his body and he remembered that he was naked. He hastily lay
down again and wrapped himself in the quilt. How could he stand up in
front of strangers without a stitch on?
"Damn your ancestors, so you're afraid of poison are you?" one of the
guards said. "All right, I'll eat it to show you." He picked up the
bowl and guzzled its contents down.
Qian Long looked at his scar-covered face in fright. "I am not wearing
anything," he said. "Please get me some clothing."
Even though he said please, his words still smacked of an Imperial
order. The man grunted. "I don't have time," he replied. It was
'Melancholy Ghost' Shi.
Qian Long's anger surged up, but remembering his life was in their
hands, he swallowed his Imperial pride.
"Are you Red Flower Society men?" he asked. "I want to see your leader,
Chen."
"You had our Brother Wen treated so badly, his body is a mass of
wounds. The Great Helmsman is busy finding a doctor to help heal him.
He has no time to see you," Shi replied. "Maybe when Brother Wen has
recovered, we'll think about it."
Qian Long wondered how many months or years it might take for Wen to
recover.
"And if Brother Wen doesn't recover," said the other guard, 'Iron
Pagoda' Yang, "that's it for you. A life for a life."
Qian Long pretended he hadn't heard.
The two guards began talking at once, cursing the Manchu invaders for
seizing the lands of the Chinese people, and the officials and
landlords for the way they oppressed the common folk. Qian Long was
shocked by the hatred evident in every word. At noon, two other guards
arrived to relieve them, and as the new pair ate, they discussed the
sadistic ways in which magistrates punished and tortured honest
citizens, describing in great detail how slivers of bamboo were forced
under finger nails, buttocks branded with red-hot iron bars and bodies
stretched on racks.
"When we have seized all these corrupt officials," said one, "we'll
give them a taste of their own medicine."
"First we have to deal with their leader," replied the other.
To Qian Long, that day seemed as long as a year. Towards evening, the
Twin Knights took over. First, they drank in dour silence. Then, when
they were slightly drunk, they began discussing the cruel and unusual
methods used by the fighting community to take vengeance on enemies:
how Black Tiger Kao had once been arrested, and later went back and
gouged out the eyes of the official responsible; how White Horse Tan
had avenged his brother's death by burying alive the murderer's family.
Hungry and frightened, Qian Long covered his ears, but every word still
found its way in. The twins displayed great staying-power, and talked
until morning, cursing the "Turtles" an untold number of times. The
candlelight flickering on the Twin Knights' features made them look
like living ghosts, and Qian Long was unable to close his eyes once
during the night.
The next morning, 'Buddha' Zhao and 'Leopard' Wei came. Qian Long
looked at the kindly face of Zhao and the handsome face of Wei, very
different from the demon-like guards they replaced and he relaxed
slightly. But his hunger was becoming too much to bear.
"I want to see your leader, Chen," he said to Zhao. "Please pass on the
message for me."
"The Great Helmsman is busy today," Zhao replied. "Maybe in a few days
time."
Qian Long wondered if he would still be alive after a few more days of
such treatment. "Well, please get me something to eat first to ease my
hunger."
"All right," replied Zhao. "His Imperial Highness wants a banquet," he
shouted at the top of his voice. "Make preparations quickly!" Wei bowed
and left.
Qian Long was overjoyed. "Get a set of clothing for me," he said.
"His Imperial Highness wants some clothes! Bring a gown for him
quickly!" Zhao bawled out again.
"You're a good man," said Qian Long. "What's your name? I will reward
you well later." Zhao smiled slightly but did not answer. Qian Long
suddenly recogized him. "Ah, now I remember," he said. "You're the one
who is so good at Dart Kung Fu."
Meng brought a set of clothing in and placed it on the quilt. Qian Long
sat up, then saw it was a suit of chinese clothes in the style of the
Ming dynasty which the Manchus had overthrown. He hesitated.
"That's the only set of clothes we have," Zhao said. "Wear them or not,
as you like."
Qian Long considered the situation. How could he, as the Emperor of the
Manchu dynasty, wear a set of Ming dynasty chinese clothes? But if he
didn't put something on, he would not be able to eat, and after one day
and two nights of hunger, he dispensed with his misgivings and donned
the garments.
The clothes felt unfamiliar, but there was something dashing and
elegant about them. He walked the few steps over to the window and
looked out, and started involuntarily. Forests and fields were spread
out before him like a chess board, and in the far distance was a great
river spotted with sails. He realised he was at the top of a tall
pagoda, and from its position and design, recognized it as the famous
Six Harmonies Pagoda near Hangzhou.
Several more hours passed before someone came to announce: "The banquet
is ready. Please come down and eat."
Qian Long followed Zhao and Wei down one floor where a large round
table had been set up in the centre of the room. All the seats around
the table were already occupied except for three, and as Qian Long
descended, the diners stood up and saluted him. Qian Long was secretly
ecstatic at this sudden display of respect.
"Our Great Helmsman says Your Highness and he have been close friends
ever since you first met," said Priest Wu Chen. "As a result, he has
invited you here to stay for a few days to provide an opportunity for
the two of you to have a discussion. However, important matters have
suddenly come up which require the Great Helmsman's attention and he
has asked me to convey his sincere apologies."
Qian Long grunted noncommitally. Priest Wu Chen invited him to take a
seat, and Qian Long took the guest of honour's place.
A servant brought up a flask of wine and the priest took it from him.
"We brothers are very uncouth, completely incapable of waiting on Your
Highness properly. Please do not be offended," he said, pouring wine
into Qian Long's cup. But as it reached the rim, his face darkened.
"His Majesty must have the very best wine," he shouted angrily at the
servant. "How dare you bring us this tepid spirit?" He picked up the
cup and threw its contents into the servant's face.
"This is only wine we have here, sir," replied the servant
apologetically. "I will immediately go to the city and buy some of
better quality."
"And be quick about it," shouted Priest Wu Chen. "Wine such as this is
all right for coarse people like ourselves, but how can you offer it to
His Highness?"
'Mastermind' Xu took the wine flask from him and poured out a cup for
everyone else, leaving only Qian Long's cup empty, apologising
effusively as he did so.
A moment later, another servant brought in four steaming dishes of
food, one of lightly-fried shrimps, another piled with salted pork
ribs, a third with steamed fish, and a fourth of fried chicken slices.
Qian Long breathed in the fragrant aroma of the food, but Priest Wu
Chen frowned.
"Who cooked this food?" he demanded. A man took two steps forward. "I
did," he said.
"What sort of object are you? Why didn't you arrange for His Majesty's
favourite cook, Zhang Anguan, to come to prepare some dishes? How can
you expect His Majesty to eat such rough Hangzhou food?"
"These dishes look delicious," protested Qian Long. "They certainly
cannot be called rough." He picked up his chopsticks and stretched over
to pick up some food. Lu Feiqing, sitting next to him, stretched out
his own chopsticks and caught Qian Long's between them.
"These dishes are too coarse for Your Highness. You would not wish to
have an upset stomach," he said, and applying a slight amount of
pressure, snapped Qian Long's chopsticks in two.
Qian Long's face flushed deep red and he slammed the chopstick ends
down onto the table. The others pretended not to notice and began
eating.
"Go and get His Highness's personal cook to prepare some food quickly,"
Xu shouted. "His Highness is hungry, do you hear?"
The cook hastily retired. Qian Long knew they were playing with him.
Hunger burned in his stomach as he watched the others eating and
drinking voraciously. He was livid with rage, but he could not risk
displaying his feelings. When they had finished, a servant came in with
some tea.
"This tea is not too bad," said Xu. "Your Highness may like to drink a
cupful."
Qian Long drank the cup dry in two mouthfuls, but it only served to
aggravate his hunger. 'Crocodile' Jiang rubbed his belly appreciatively
and said: "I'm full!"
"We are making arrangements for a proper banquet for you, Your
Highness," 'Buddha' Zhao said.
Priest Wu Chen stamped his foot and exclaimed that the Great Helmsman
would be very displeased to find his honoured guest had been kept
waiting.
Lord Zhou began clicking his iron gallstones together. "Are you hungry,
Your Majesty?" he asked. Qian Long said nothing.
"What do you mean, hungry?" asked 'Crocodile' Jiang. "I'm full!"
"The well-fed never appreciate the anguish of the hungry," added Xu.
"There are countless millions of common people who are starving, but
when have those in authority ever spared a thought for them? Having
been a little bit hungry today, perhaps Your Highness will in future
understand more about how the common people suffer when they starve."
"Some people are hungry for months and years on end. Some never eat
their fill once in a whole lifetime," said one of the Twin Knights.
"What's so special about not eating anything for a day or two?"
Most of the Red Flower Society heroes had been born into poverty. Their
anger rose as they thought of the past and they all began talking at
once, swapping stories.
Qian Long's face went pale as he listened. He found himself moved by
their sincerity. "Could such misery really exist in the world?" he
asked himself. The more he heard, the more embarrassed he felt, and
finally he rose and went back upstairs. The heroes did not try to stop
him.
A few hours later, he smelt the aroma of mutton with onions and green
peppers wafting up from below. This was a speciality of the Imperial
chef, Zhang Anguan, and just as Qian Long was wondering if it could
really be him, Zhang Anguan ran up and kowtowed, saying: "Please come
and eat, Your Highness."
"What are you doing here?" Qian Long asked in amazement.
"Your slave was watching an opera performance in a park yesterday when
I was kidnapped. Today, I was asked to wait on you, and your slave was
delighted to have the opportunity."
Qian Long nodded and went downstairs. The table had been set with a
number of dishes including the mutton, all them his personal favorites.
As well as the main dishes, there were also a dozen or so plates of
small delicacies, and his heart leapt for joy at the sight of the
feast. Chef Zhang filled a bowl of rice for him.
"Please eat, Your Highness," said Priest Wu Chen.
Qian Long wondered whether they would allow him to eat this time. He
was just about to raise his chopsticks when a young girl came in
carrying a cat.
"Daddy," she said to Lord Zhou. "Kitty is hungry."
The cat struggled to free itself and jumped onto the table. The animal
ate a couple of mouthfuls from the dishes spread before Qian Long, then
it suddenly went rigid, dropped onto the table top, dead.
Qian Long's face went white, and Chef Zhang, shaking from fright, knelt
down and said: "Your Highness...Your Highness...the food...they've
poisoned the food...don't eat it!"
Qian Long laughed out loud. "You have committed rebellion and other
heinous crimes. Now you wish to assassinate me," he said. "If you are
going to kill me, do it cleanly. Why go to the trouble of poisoning the
food?" He pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Your Highness, are you sure this meal is inedible?" asked Priest Wu
Chen.
"You traitorous thieves!" Qian Long shouted, his anger breaking
through. "We'll see what sort of an end you all come to!"
Priest Wu Chen slammed his hand down on the table. "For a real man,
life and death are decided by Heaven!" he shouted. "If you won't eat,
then I will! Who has the guts to join me?"
He picked up his chopsticks, took some food from one of the dishes the
cat had tried, and began chewing noisily. The other heroes sat down
again too, all saying: "If we die, we die. What does it matter?" Qian
Long was stunned at the sight of these criminals eating poisoned food.
The heroes, who had fed the cat poison in advance, ate all the dishes
clean in a trice, and suffered no ill effects. Qian Long, having failed
to eat even one mouthful, had lost yet another round.
** 7 **
While Qian Long went hungry, the official administration in Hangzhou
was turned upside down. News of the Emperor's disappearance had not yet
leaked out but the whole city had been searched. All exits from
Hangzhou by both land and water were heavily guarded, and several
thousand "suspected bandits" had been arrested until every prison was
full. The local officials were very worried, but they also took
advantage of the situation to seize rich businessmen and merchants and
extort large sums of money from them.
Fu Kangan, Commander Li and Bai Zhen jumped about like ants on a hot
plate, completely at a loss for what to do.
Early on the morning of the third day, Fu Kangan called a meeting in
the provincial governor's residence. Glum-faced and powerless, they
argued about whether or not the Empress should be informed. But none of
them dared consider the consequences once such a report had been sent.
As they sat gripped by indecision, one of the Imperial Bodyguards,
named Rui, ran in, his face deathly pale, and whispered into Bai Zhen's
ear.
Bai Zhen went white and stood up. "How could this happen?" he demanded.
Fu Kangan hurriedly asked what was wrong.
"The six bodyguards standing guard outside the Emperor's bed chamber
have been killed," Rui said. Far from being alarmed, Fu was pleased by
this news.
"Let us go and see," he said. "This event must be connected with His
Majesty's disappearance. We may even find some clues."
They hurried to the bed chamber that had been set aside in the
Governor's residence for Qian Long. Six corpses lay at all angles
around the room. Some had had their eyes gouged out, some had gaping
holes in their chests: All had died horribly.
"These six brothers were good fighters," said Bai Zhen. "How could they
have been finished off without being able to even utter a sound?"
They stared in open-mouthed horror, incapabale of deciphering the
scene. Bai Zhen examined the corpse. The assassins had moved so fast,
some of the six had not even had time to draw their swords.
He frowned. "This room is not big enough for a large number of people
to fight in, so at the very most there cannot have been more than two
or three of them," he said. "Their kung fu must be extraordinary."
"Since they already have the Emperor, why should they come and kill
these bodyguards?" asked Commander Li. "From the look of it, last
night's assassins and the people who kidnapped the Emperor are not the
same bunch."
"That's right!" exclaimed Fu Kangan. "The assassins came, planning to
kill the Emperor, but found he wasn't there."
"I would guess that you are correct," said Bai Zhen. "If the men who
killed the bodyguards were from the Red Flower Society, then the
Emperor has fallen into someone else's hands. But apart from the Red
Flower Society, who else is there whose kung fu is so good?" The Red
Flower Society's fighters were already difficult enough to handle: the
sudden appearance of yet another group of powerful enemies froze his
heart.
Bending over to look at the corpses again, Bai Zhen noticed that some
of the wounds appeared to have been made by the claws and teeth of a
dog, and he hurriedly asked Commander Li to send someone to find some
hunting hounds.
About two hours later, a soldier appeared with three hunters and six
hounds. Bai Zhen ordered the hunters to let their charges sniff around
the corpses, and after a second the dogs charged out of the chamber on
the trail of a scent. They ran straight to the lake and barked madly
across the water. After a moment, they raced off again along the lake
shore to where Qian Long had stepped ashore following the courtesan
contest, then turned towards the city. The streets were crowded and the
scent confused, and the dogs were forced to slow down, but they
continued to head towards Beautiful Jade's establishment.
There should have been troops on guard outside the entrance, but none
were to be seen, and as they entered the courtyard they found a dozen
corpses lying on the ground. The ruthless assassins had not left one
bodyguard alive. Some had had their throats ripped out by dogs, which
Bai Zhen thought appeared from the wounds to be very large animals,
possibly a cross between dogs and wolves such as were bred in the
northwest. Could the assassins have come from there?
The dogs sniffed their way around Beautiful Jade's chamber several
times, then began scratching and pawing at a certain point on the
floor. Bai Zhen ordered the soldiers to prise up the floor boards with
their swords and underneath they found a stone slab.
"Lift it up!" Bai Zhen ordered urgently. The soldiers heaved the slab
up, revealing a deep hole into which the dogs immediately leapt.
Commander Li and Bai Zhen looked down at the tunnel glumly. The
kidnappers had avoided the heavy guard by coming and going via the
tunnel. Full of shame, they led their troops down into the darkness.
PARTSIX 返回目录
The Book and The Sword
Copyright Graham Earnshaw 1995
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PART SIX
** 1 **
After two days and nights of being starved, frightened and angered,
Qian Long's resistance was virtually worn away. On the morning of the
third day, a boy appeared and said: "Master Dongfang, our master
invites you to come and talk with him."
Qian Long recognized the boy as Chen's attendant, and he followed him
down to the floor below.
As he entered, Chen, smiling broadly, advanced to greet him, and bowed.
Qian Long returned the bow, and the two sat down. Xin Yan served some
tea.
"Bring some titbits to eat," Chen ordered. A moment later, Xin Yan
carried in a tray on which was placed plates of spring rolls, prawns,
chicken and ham. He set out two sets of bowls and chopsticks and poured
wine for them both.
"Please forgive me for not being able to see you sooner. I had to go to
visit a friend who was wounded," said Chen.
"It is nothing."
"There is something I wish to talk to you about, but please eat first,"
Chen added. He chose a morsel from each plate, then put down his
chopsticks and watched Qian Long wolf down the food.
When he had finished, Qian Long sat back, unspeakably contented, and
raised his tea cup. He looked closely at the tiny Dragon's Well tea
leaves and took a leisurely sip, savouring the feeling of the liquid
seeping into his stomach.
Chen walked over to the door and pushed it open. "All the others are
downstairs standing guard. There could not be a more convenient place
for us to talk. No one will hear us," he said.
Qian Long's expression hardened. "Why did you have me brought here?" he
asked. "What is it you want?"
Chen stepped forward and stared into his face.
"Do you still not recognize me, brother?" Chen asked after a moment's
silence. The words were soft, the tone intimate, but they hit Qian
Long's ears with the force of a clap of thunder, and he jumped. An
expression of deep sincerity on his face, Chen slowly extended his hand
and took Qian Long's.
"We are blood brothers," he said. "There is no need to continue the
deception, my brother, I know everything."
Chen pulled on a chord beside a painting hanging on the wall and the
painting rolled up to reveal a mirror. "Take a look at yourself," he
said.
Qian Long stood up and gazed at himself in the mirror, wearing Chinese
clothes: his face contained not the slightest likeness to a Manchu. He
looked at Chen standing beside him, and had to admit that despite their
difference in age, their faces were similar. He sighed and sat down.
"Brother, we were not aware of the situation before," said Chen. "We
even took up arms against each other. The spirits of father and mother
up in heaven must have been heartbroken. Luckily neither of us was hurt
and nothing happened which cannot be rectified."
Qian Long felt a rasping dryness in his throat and his heart beating
rapidly. A moment passed. "I asked you to go to Beijing with me to
work, but you refused," he said finally. Chen turned and gazed out at
the great river without answering.
"With your scholastic abilities," Qian Long continued, "what reason
would there be for not promoting you? Such a situation would be of
great benefit to our family and to the nation, to both you and I. Why
be so disloyal and unfilial as to continue with this criminal course of
action?"
Chen spun round. "I have never accused you of being disloyal or
unfilial, or of acting criminally, and yet you accuse me of these
things."
"Hah!" replied Qian Long. "It is true that ministers must be completely
loyal to their emperor. But since I am already emperor, how could I be
disloyal?"
"You are obviously a Chinese and yet you submit to the Manchus. Is that
loyalty? When our father and mother were alive, you never attended to
them properly. Is that filial behaviour?"
Beads of sweat dripped off Qian Long's forehead. "At the time, I did
not know," he said quietly. "I first heard about it when the former
leader of your Red Flower Society, Master Yu, visited me last spring.
Even now, I'm not sure whether I believe it."
"Look at yourself," Chen said. "What resemblance is there to a Manchu?
How can you have any further doubt?"
Qian Long brooded in silence.
"You are Chinese. The homeland of the Chinese people has fallen into
the hands of the Manchus, and you yourself lead them in the oppression
of our people. Is that not disloyal, unfilial and criminal behaviour?"
For a moment, Qian Long was at a loss for a reply. "And now I have
fallen into your hands," he finally said, haughtily. "If you are going
to kill me, then kill me. There is no point wasting words."
"But we made a pact on the embankment at Haining that we would never do
anything to hurt one other," Chen replied softly. "How can I go back on
my word? And anyway, now that we know we are blood brothers, we have
even less reason to do each other harm." A tear trickled unbidden down
his cheek.
"Well, what do you want me to do? Do you want to force me to abdicate?"
"No," said Chen, wiping his eyes. "You can continue to be emperor. But
as the wise, enlightened founder of a new dynasty."
"Founder of a new dynasty?" Qian Long echoed in surprise.
"Yes. You will be a Chinese emperor, not an emperor of the Manchus."
Qian Long suddenly understood. "So you want me to drive out the
Manchus?" he said.
"Yes, you will be emperor just the same, but instead of being regarded
as a criminal and cursed by future generations, why not establish an
outstanding and rejuvenating dynasty that will last?"
Chen saw from Qian Long's expression that his words were having the
desired effect.
"Being the emperor you are at present, you are simply basking in the
glory of the former Manchu rulers," he continued. "What is so special
about that? Look at that man."
Qian Long went over to the window and looked down in the direction Chen
was pointing, and saw a peasant in the distance hoeing the ground.
"If that man had been born in the Imperial Palace and you had been born
in his farm house, he would be emperor, and you would have no choice
but to hoe the field."
Qian Long started at the novelty of the idea.
"A man is born into the world and his life is gone in a flash," said
Chen. "If you achieve nothing worthwhile, you decay and rot like grass
and trees without leaving a trace behind. The emperors of the past who
established their own noble dynasties were truly great men. Even a
Tartar such as Genghis Khan could also be considered to be
outstanding."
Every word stabbed deep into Qian Long's heart. If, he thought, if I
really do as he says and throw the Manchus out and restore the Chinese
homelands, I would truly be the founder of a dynasty and a man of
greater achievements than any emperor before me.
Just as he was considering an answer, he heard the sound of dogs
barking in the distance. Seeing Chen frown slightly, he looked out and
spied four massive hounds galloping towards the pagoda with two figures
following.
In the wink of an eye, they reached the base of the pagoda and there
was a sharp challenge from below. Qian Long and Chen, in the
second-highest storey of the thirteen-storey pavilion could not hear
distinctly what was said, but they saw the two new-comers and their
dogs charge into the pavilion. A moment later, there was a loud whistle
indicating danger.
Seeing help had arrived, Qian Long was overjoyed. Chen looked around
carefully, but could see no other signs of movement: the two intruders
were alone.
He heard the shouts of youngsters mingling with the barks and growls of
the dogs, indicating Zhou Qi and Xin Yan on the second floor were doing
battle with the animals. All of a sudden, there were two screams, and
two swords were hurled out of the window. Just then, 'Crocodile' Jiang
wielding his mighty iron oar chased the four dogs out of the pagoda and
began beating them mercilessly. Someone on the sixth floor and gave an
ear-splitting whistle. The four dogs turned and raced away.
Noting the intruders had reached the sixth floor, Chen realised it
meant Twelfth Brother, Ninth Brother and Eighth Brother had been unable
to stop them. He groaned inwardly.
Suddenly, he saw 'Mastermind' Xu leap out of the seventh floor window
onto the narrow roof pursued by a tiny old woman with a head of white
hair and a sword slung over her back.
"Watch the dart!" Xu yelled with a wave of his hand, and his opponent
hastily withdrew. But it had been merely a feint, and Xu took advantage
of the trick to escape round the corner.
The old woman chased after him.
"Watch out!" Xu yelled.
"You bastard monkey," the old woman cursed. "You can't fool your
grandma again."
She made a grab for him, but this time, it was no feint: a piece of
tile Xu had picked up from the roof hurtled towards her. Unable to
avoid it, the old woman blocked the tile with her hand and it
shattered. The Twin Knights, standing guard on the eighth floor,
appeared to be fully occupied dealing with the old woman's partner, for
they gave Xu no help. Xu's kung fu was no match for the old woman's,
and after a few moves, he was forced to dodge out of the way again.
Qian Long watched with pleasure as the two new-comers fought their way
up, but Chen also seemed strangely unconcerned. He pulled a chair to
the window so that he could sit and observe the battle. There were only
two of them, he thought. In the end, they could not overcome all the
Red Flower Society's fighters.
Then he heard the sound of more dogs barking in the distance
intermingled with shouting and galloping horses.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Xin Yan raced in.
"The guards outside report that more than two thousand Manchu troops
are approaching, heading straight for us," he told Chen, using the Red
Flower Society's secret language.
Chen nodded and Xin Yan raced back downstairs. Qian Long did not
understand what Xin Yan had said, but seeing Chen's anxious expression,
he knew it was unwelcome news. He looked into the distance and spotted
amongst the maple trees a white flag on which was written one large
word: "Li". Overjoyed, he realized Commander Li had come to save him.
Chen leaned out of the window and shouted: "Brother Ma, retreat into
the pagoda and prepare the bows and arrows!"
Suddenly the old woman rushed into the room with the heroes close
behind. Lord Zhou attacked her with his great sword while Chen pulled
Qian Long into a corner.
Xu motioned some of the others to guard the windows, and Chen shouted:
"Throw down your sword and we'll spare you!"
The old woman could see she was surrounded, but she continued to fight,
completely unafraid.
"I've seen her sword style somewhere before, I'm sure," Zhou Qi said to
Xu.
"Yes, I thought it was familiar too," he replied.
The old woman forced Lord Zhou back a pace, then shouted at Qian Long:
"Are you the emperor?"
"Yes, I'm the emperor," he replied hastily. "Are all the rescue forces
here?" The woman leapt onto the table, then with her sword pointing
straight out, flew at him like a great bird, thrusting the blade at his
heart. The heroes had assumed she was one of Qian Long's underlings
come to rescue him, and were caught completely unaware by this fast
move. But Chen, who was standing by Qian Long's side, thrust his
fingers at a Yuedao point on the old woman's arm. Her blade slowed,
giving Chen time to draw his dagger and place it in the way of the
sword. The two blades clashed, then both retreated two paces. Chen
pulled Qian Long back and placed himself in front of him, then saluted.
"What is your honourable name, Madame," he asked.
"Where did that dagger of yours come from?" she replied.
Chen was surprised by the question. "A friend gave it to me," he said.
"What friend?" the woman demanded. "You are a servant of the Emperor.
Why would she give it to you? What is your relationship with Master
Yuan, the Strange Knight of the Heavenly Pool?"
"He is my teacher," said Chen, answering the last question first.
"So that's it," the woman said. "Your teacher may be peculiar, but he's
an upright gentleman. How could you have dishonoured him by becoming a
running dog of the Manchus?"
"This is our Great Helmsman, Master Chen," 'Iron Pagoda' Yang shouted.
"Don't talk such nonsense."
The old woman's face took on a puzzled expression. "Are you the Red
Flower Society?" she asked.
"Correct," said Yang.
She turned on Chen. "Have you surrendered to the Manchus?" she
screeched in rage.
"The Red Flower Society is just and upright. How could we bend our
knees before the Manchu court?" he replied. "Please sit down, madame.
Let us discuss this calmly."
Her expression softened slightly. "Where did your dagger come from?"
she asked again.
Having seen her kung fu style, and hearing her questions, Chen had
already almost solved the puzzle.
"It was given to me by a Muslim friend," he said. The exchange of
presents between boys and girls was not an ordinary thing, and Chen was
unhappy about discussing the matter in front of everyone.
"Do you know Huo Qingtong?" the old woman demanded. Chen nodded.
"It was Sister Huo Qingtong who gave it to him," Zhou Qi interjected.
"Do you know her? If you do, we're all on the same side!"
"She is my pupil," the old woman said. "Since you say we are all on the
same side, what are you doing helping the Emperor, and stopping me from
killing him?"
"We caught the Emperor," said one of the Twin Knights. "If he is to be
killed, it will not be you who does it."
"Huh!" the woman exclaimed. "You mean you caught the emperor and
brought him here?"
"This is a misunderstanding, Madame," said Chen. "We invited the
Emperor to come here. We assumed you were palace bodyguards coming to
rescue him, that is why we tried to obstruct you."
The old woman went over to the window and stuck her head out. "Come
down, husband!" she shouted at the top of her voice. An arrow shot in
through the window from below and the old woman grabbed it by its tail,
then turned in one movement and threw the arrow so that it implanted
itself in the table top.
"You untrustworthy rascal," she screeched at Chen as the arrow
quivered. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Please don't be angry Madame," replied Chen hastily. "Our brothers at
the base of the pagoda are not yet aware of the situation." He walked
to the window planning to tell the heroes to stop firing and saw that
the pagoda was already surrounded by Manchu troops.
"Third Brother," he said to 'Buddha' Zhao. "Tell the others to guard
the doorway, but not to go outside." Zhao nodded and went downstairs.
"You must be Madame Guan," said Lord Zhou to the old woman. "I have
long respected you."
Madame Guan nodded slightly.
"This is Lord Zhou Zhongying," said Chen to her.
"Ah, I have heard about you too," she said, then suddenly screeched
out: "Husband, come down! What are you doing?"
The others all jumped at this unexpected outburst.
"Your husband is fighting with Priest Wu Chen," said Lord Zhou. "Let's
go and explain the situation to them quickly."
Chen motioned to the Twin Knights to guard Qian Long, and the rest
raced up the stairs to the thirteenth floor.
"Husband!" Madame Guan shouted. "They're the Red Flower Society!"
Her husband Bald Vulture, locked in fierce combat with the Taoist
priest, started in surprise, and hesitated in his attack. "Really?" he
said.
There was a laugh from above their heads and Master Lu Feiqing dropped
to the floor.
"Excellent swordsmanship, excellent," he chuckled, nodding
appreciatively at both Bald Vulture and at Priest Wu Chen.
"Do you recognize me?" he asked Bald Vulture.
Bald Vulture looked at him closely for a moment, then gave a shout.
"Ah! You're 'Hidden Needle' Lu," he exclaimed.
"That's right," Lu smiled.
"What are you doing here?" Bald Vulture asked.
Lu turned without answering and bowed before the old woman. "Madame, it
has been many years since I last saw you, but your kung fu is better
than ever!"
"Ah," exclaimed Bald Vulture again, staring at Lu's blade. "That's a
very precious sword you have there!"
Lu smiled. "It belongs to someone else," he said. "I'm just using it
temporarily." But let me introduce you. He introduced all the heroes,
to 'Bald Vulture' Lin and his wife Madame Guan, the Tianshan Twin
Eagles.
"I thought you two were living happily in the Tianshan mountains," Lu
said. "And here you are, trying to kill the Emperor."
"You have all met my young pupil, Huo Qingtong," replied Madame Guan.
"This affair started with her. The Emperor sent an army to attack the
Muslims, but they couldn't match the Manchu troops' strength and lost
some battles. Later, the Manchu grain supplies were ransacked..."
"That was the Red Flower Society," interrupted Lu. "They did it to help
Muzhuolun."
"Mm, I heard about that," said Madame Guan. She glanced at Chen. "No
wonder she gave you that dagger."
"That was before. We met when they came to recover their sacred Koran."
"You also helped to get that back. The way the Muslims talk of you,
you're all great heroes!" Her tone suggested she disagreed. "After the
Manchu troops lost their grain, they also lost a battle and Muzhuolun
suggested peace talks. But just as the truce talks were getting
started, the Manchu general got hold of some rations and attacked
again."
"Manchu officers have no sense of honour," said Lu, shaking his head
sagely.
"The ordinary people of the Muslim areas have been brutally treated by
the Manchu troops," Madame Guan continued. "Master Muzhuolun asked us
to help. We originally didn't want to have anything to do with it...."
"It was you!" Bald Vulture butted in accusingly. "Now you're trying to
feign innocence."
"What do you mean, me? Look at the way the Manchus are burning and
pillaging across the Muslim lands, oppressing the people. Don't you
care?"
Bald Vulture grunted in indignation and was about to argue further when
Lu raised his hand.
"You two are just the same as ever," he said with a smile. "As soon as
you open your mouths, you're arguing. Don't take any notice, Madame,
please continue."
She eyed her husband distastefully, then said: "We first thought of
assassinating the Manchu general, Zhao Wei, but there wasn't much point
in killing one general, because the Emperor would just send another and
it would go on for ever. So we decided to kill the Emperor instead. We
went to Beijing, but heard on the road that he had come down south. We
followed him out of Hangzhou with our dogs using the tunnel you used to
bring him here. At the time, we were very puzzled as to why the Emperor
would suddenly want to travel around in tunnels."
"What? So you captured the Emperor?" said Bald Vulture. Chen nodded.
"You did pretty well," Bald Vulture commented.
Suddenly, there was a roar from the Manchu troops around the base of
the pagoda.
"I'll go and tell the Emperor to shut them up," said Xu, and ran
downstairs. A moment later they saw Qian Long stick his head out of the
window on the seventh floor and shout: "I'm here!"
"There's His Highness!" called Bai Zhen down below and the troops all
prostrated themselves on the ground.
"I am all right up here!" Qian Long added. "There is no need for such
noise." There was a pause, then he added: "All of you retire thirty
paces!" They complied immediately.
"Seventh Brother directs the Emperor and the Emperor directs the
troops," said Chen with a smile. "That's much better than charging out
and killing and slaughtering. The Emperor is the most precious object
under heaven. It is better to use him than to kill him." The others
laughed.
'Leopard' Wei, who was watching the Manchu soldiers withdraw, saw
several men in their midst with hunting dogs on leashes.
"Ah, I was wondering how they found their way here," he said. He took a
bow from one of the attendants, and shot off two arrows, and there were
two long screams and two of the dogs fell to the ground, dead. A roar
went up from the Manchu troops, who speeded up their retreat.
"Master Lu, Lord Zhou," said Chen. "Please entertain the Twin Eagles
while I go downstairs and have another talk with the Emperor."
As Chen reached the seventh floor, the Twin Knights and Xu bowed to him
and retired. Qian Long was sitting despondently in a chair.
"Have you made a decision yet?" asked Chen.
"Since you have caught me, you might as well kill me if you are going
to. What is the point of talking?"
Chen sighed. "It is such a pity," he said.
"What's a pity?"
"I have always thought of you as an extremely talented man and have
pride in the fact my parents gave birth to such a good son, my brother.
But..."
"But what?"
Chen was silent for a moment. "But although outwardly you appear to be
a man of courage, you are virtually hollow inside. Not being afraid of
death is the easiest thing in the world. But the formation of a grand
designs, the making of great decisions, that is something that can only
be done by a man with true courage. That is precisely what you are
incapable of doing."
Qian Long was silent, but he appeared to be moved by Chen's words.
"All you have to do is to decide to restore the Chinese nation and we
unruly fighters will immediately follow your every instruction," Chen
added. "I can strike my chest and guarantee that they will not dare to
do anything disrespectful towards you."
Qian Long nodded several times, but there was still an area of doubt in
his mind which made it impossible for him to speak out. Chen guessed
his thoughts.
"All I want is to see you throw the barbarian Manchus out of China," he
said. "Then I will be content," he said. "Then I will ask you to allow
me to retire to the seclusion of the Western Lake and live out the rest
of my life in peace."
"What sort of talk is that?" said Qian Long. "If this Grand Design was
achieved, your assistance would be required in planning affairs of
state."
"We are getting ahead of ourselves," replied Chen. "But once the Grand
Design has been completed, you must allow me to retire."
Qian Long slapped his hand down on the table. "All right," he said.
"We'll do as you say."
Chen was overjoyed. "You have no further doubts?" he asked.
"None. But there is one thing I would like you to do for me. Your
former Great Helmsman, Yu Wanting, had several items stored in the
Muslim areas and said they were proof of my birth. Go and get them so
that I can see them. Only then will my last doubts disappear. Then we
will discuss detailed plans."
Chen felt this was reasonable. "All right," he replied. "I will start
out tomorrow and get them myself."
"When you get back, I will assign you to the Imperial Bodyguard, then
promote you to be commander of the Beijing garrison," said Qian Long.
"I will gradually transfer the military power in every province into
the hands of Chinese we can trust. I'll make you Secretary of the Armed
Forces with orders to disperse the key Manchu Banner units, and then we
can act."
Chen knelt down and performed the ritual act of obeiscence of a vassal
before his Lord, but Qian Long hurriedly helped him up.
"An oath must be sworn in front of the others over this," Chen said.
"There must be no reneging."
Qian Long nodded.
Chen clapped his hands once and ordered Xin Yan to help Qian Long
change back into his original clothes.
"Please ask everyone to come to pay their respects to the Emperor," he
said.
The heroes crowded in. Chen told them Qian Long had agreed to chase out
the Manchus and restore the Chinese throne, then swore in a clear
voice: "In future, we will assist Your Highness, and together plan the
Grand Design. If anyone should reveal this secret, he will be damned by
heaven and earth."
He drank a draught of a specially prepared brew of Covenant Wine to
seal the pact, and Qian Long did likewise.
"Bald Vulture, Madame Guan," said Lu. "Come and drink a cup of the
Covenant Wine as well."
"I have never believed the word of any official, so why should I trust
their leader?" said Bald Vulture.
His right hand suddenly struck the wall, smashing a section of it to
rubble and pulled out a brick. "Whoever breaks the covenant, betrays
his friends, and destroys the Grand Design will be crushed like this!"
he shouted harshly, and with one movement of his hand, the brick broke
into a thousand pieces which tumbled to the floor. Qian Long looked at
the hole in the wall and down at the smashed brick in fright.
"Even though you decline to join the vow, we are all friends," said
Chen. "But I trust Your Highness will not vacillate and forget the
covenant established today."
"Please rest easy over that," replied Qian Long.
"All right. Let us escort His Highness out," said Chen. Wei raced out
of the pagoda and shouted: "Come and meet His Highness!"
Half-suspicious, Commander Li and Bai Zhen ordered the troops to move
slowly forward, afraid that this was yet another Red Flower Society
trick. Suddenly, they saw Qian Long emerge from the pagoda and
prostrated themselves on the ground. Bai Zhen led a horse over and Qian
Long mounted.
"I have been drinking and composing poetry with them here," he said to
Bai Zhen. "I wanted a few days' peace and quiet and you had to make a
mountain out a molehill and rob me of my pleasure."
The heroes returned to the pagoda.
"We are extemely happy to have met you all today," said Bald Vulture.
"Especially Lord Zhou, whom we have respected for so long, and Master
Lu, whom we have not seen for many years. But now my wife and I have
some other minor affairs to deal with, and will take our leave."
Madame Guan pulled Chen over to one side. "Are you married?" she asked.
Chen blushed deep red. "No," he replied.
"Are you engaged?"
"Not engaged either," he said. Madame Guan smiled to herself. Then she
suddenly screeched: "If you are ever so ungrateful as to turn your back
on the one who gave you that dagger, I will never forgive you." Chen
was so shocked by the outburst he was completely lost for a reply.
"You scorpion!" her husband shouted from the other side of the side of
the room. "What are you lecturing that young man about? Let's be going!
"
Madame Guan turned round, emitted an ear-splitting whistle and four
dogs raced out of the trees. The couple bowed before the heroes and
took their leave.
"Let us go back upstairs to talk," Chen said. They followed him back up
to the top floor of the pagoda.
"I promised the Emperor that I would go to see my teacher and collect
two important items from him," said Chen. "But let us first go to
Heaven's Eye Mountain to see how Brother Wen and Brother Yu are doing
and then make further arrangements."
They left the pagoda and Master Ma and his son returned to Hangzhou by
themselves while the rest of the heroes galloped off westwards.
** 2 **
The trees on the hillsides were dense and dark. It was already deep
autumn and Heaven's Eye Mountain was covered in fiery-red leaves and
yellowing grass. Lookouts sent word of the approach of Chen and his
comrades and Zhang Jin and the other heroes came down to greet them.
Luo Bing was not among them, and Chen's heart missed a beat, afraid
that something had happened to her.
"Where's Fourth Sister?" he asked. "And how are Brother Wen and Brother
Yu?"
"They're fine," Zhang Jin replied. "Fourth Sister said she was going to
get a present for Fourth Brother. She's been away two days already. You
didn't meet her on the road?"
Chen shook his head. "What present?"
Zhang Jin smiled. "I don't know. Fourth Brother's wounds have healed
well, but he spends all his time in bed moping. Then Fourth Sister came
up with this idea of going to get him a present. I wonder who will lose
out as a result?" The others laughed.
They made their way up the mountain and entered the courtyard of a
large mansion. Wen Tailai was lying dejectedly on a rattan couch. They
told him briefly about what had transpired and then went to the room
next door to see 'Scholar' Yu.
As they stepped inside, they heard the sound of sobbing. Chen walked
over and pulled aside the bed curtain to reveal Yu lying face-down on
the bed, his back shaking uncontrollably. Even girls like Luo Bing and
Zhou Qi rarely cried, and they were shocked and embarrassed by his
behaviour.
"Fourteenth Brother," Chen said quietly. "We've come to see you. How do
you feel? Are your wounds very painful?"
Yu stopped crying, but did not turn over. "Great Helmsman, Brothers,
thank you all for coming to see me. Forgive me for not getting up to
greet you properly. My health has improved a lot over the past few
days, but my face has been burnt so badly, it's so ugly that I cannot
face anyone."
Zhou Qi smiled. "What does it matter if a man has burn marks on his
face?" she said. "Don't tell my you're afraid you won't be able to find
a girl willing to marry you?" Some of the heroes laughed at her lack of
restraint.
"Brother Yu," said Lu Feiqing. "Your face was burnt while saving myself
and Wen Tailai. When people hear of this act, do you think there is
anyone who would not proclaim you to be a hero? What need is there for
such distress?"
"You are right, uncle," said Yu, and burst into tears again.
The heroes returned to the main hall. Chen and Xu talked together in
low tones, then clapped their hands and the heroes stood up.
"Brothers," said Chen. "So far, things have gone very well for us. But
in the future, we will face even tougher problems. I will now give you
your assignments. Ninth Brother, Twelfth Brother, you two go to Beijing
and see what you can find out about the Emperor's plans and if he
intends to break our pact. This will be extremely difficult to execute.
You must both exercise great caution." Wei and Shi nodded.
"Now, the Twin Knights," Chen continued. "Please go to the Southwest
and make contact with the fighters in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou
provinces. Eighth Brother, you go to Anhui and Jiangsu provinces,
Priest Wu Chen to Hubei and Hunan. Thirteenth Brother and Brother Ma in
Hangzhou will contact people in Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, while I
would like to ask Master Lu to deal with Shandong and Henan. I would
like Lord Zhou, Master Meng, Brother Xu and Mistress Zhou Qi to handle
the northwest provinces. Fourth Brother and Fourteenth Brother will
remain here convalescing with Fourth Sister and Tenth Brother to look
after them. Xin Yan will accompany me to the Muslim areas.
"I am not asking you to begin preparations for an uprising, but simply
to improve relations with members of the fighting community in all
areas and to provide a basis on which we can act later," he added.
"Absolute secrecy is essential, so do not reveal anything to anyone no
matter how close or respected they are."
"We understand," they replied in unison.
"In exactly one year's time we will all gather in Beijing. By that
time, Fourth Brother and Fourteenth Brother will be fully recovered and
we can begin the great task!"
Cheers arose from the heroes. They followed Chen out of the hall,
elated by the prospect of the future.
Only Zhang Jin, assigned by the Great Helmsman to stay at Heaven's Eye
Mountain, was unhappy. Wen guessed his thoughts, and went over to speak
to Chen.
"Great Helmsman, my wounds are almost healed, and although Fourteenth
Brother's burns are serious, he is recovering quickly," he said. "It is
a bit much to ask us to stay cooped up here for a year. The four of us
would like to accompany you to the Muslim regions. The trip would also
help to take Fourteenth Brother's mind off other things."
"All right, we'll do it that way," Chen agreed. Zhang Jin ran joyfully
in to tell Yu the news.
Lord Zhou took Chen aside. "Great Helmsman," he said. "The fact that we
have discovered through Master Wen that you and the Emperor are blood
relations is a matter worthy of great rejoicing. I would like to add to
it one more happy event. What do you think?"
"You wish to hold a wedding for Seventh Brother and Mistress Zhou, is
that right?"
"Exactly," Zhou replied, smiling.
Chen walked over to Zhou Qi, his face wreathed in smiles, and bowed
before her. "Mistress, congratulations," he said.
She blushed deeply. "What do you mean?"
"I should call you Seventh Sister. Seventh Sister, congratulations!" He
clapped his hands loudly and the heroes immediately fell silent.
"Just now, Lord Zhou told me he wants Mistress Zhou Qi and Seventh
Brother to be married this evening. So we have something else to
celebrate!"
The heroes cheered loudly and congratulated Lord Zhou and Xu. Zhou Qi
hastily made for her bedroom in embarrassment.
"Tenth Brother!" Wei called to Zhang Jin. "Stop her. Don't let the
bride escape!" Zhang made as to grab her and Zhou Qi chopped out with
her left hand to fend him off.
"Help!" he cried in mock surprise, dodging to one side. "The bride's
attacking me!"
A laugh escaped from her as she charged out of the hall.
Just then, there was the sound of bells outside and Luo Bing ran in
carrying a large box.
"Oh good, everyone's here!" she cried. "What's happened to make you all
so happy?" She looked enquiringly at Chen.
"Ask Seventh Brother," said Wei.
"What's happened, Brother Xu?" Luo Bing asked, but Xu was speechless
for a moment. "Mm? That's strange. Has the Kung Fu Mastermind gone
silly?"
'Crocodile' Jiang dodged behind Xu and held up his thumbs and made them
bow to each other. "The Mastermind is getting married today," he said
with glee.
"Oh, how awful, how awful!" Luo Bing exclaimed, absolutely delighted.
The others laughed. "What do you mean, awful?" asked 'Pagoda' Yang.
"If I'd known, I could have brought a sheep and some nice things back
with me. As it is, I have almost nothing to give them as presents.
Isn't that awful?"
"Will you let us all see what you've brought for Fourth Brother?" Yang
asked.
Luo Bing smiled and opened up the box. Glinting inside were the two
jade vases which the Muslims had sent to the Emperor along with their
request for a truce.
"Where did you get them?" the heroes asked in astonishment.
"I was chatting with Fourth Brother and mentioned how beautiful the
girl on the vases was, but he didn't believe me..."
"I'll bet Fourth Brother said: 'I don't believe she is more beautiful
than you.' Am I right?" interrupted Xu.
Luo Bing smiled but did not answer. "Did you go to Hangzhou and steal
them from the Emperor?" Xu asked.
Luo Bing nodded, very pleased with herself. "I got them so Fourth
Brother could have a look. The Great Helmsman will decide what should
be done with them after that, whether we should keep them or return
them to Sister Huo Qingtong." Wen examined the vases and tutted in
admiration.
"I was right, wasn't I?" asked Luo Bing. Wen smiled and shook his head.
Luo Bing started, then realised her husband meant that the girl on the
vase could not be more beautiful than she was. Her cheeks flushed.
"The Emperor has many top fighters around him and such precious items
as these vases must have been very well guarded," said Priest Wu Chen.
"How did you manage to steal them?"
Luo Bing told them how she had slipped into the Yamen, grabbed a eunuch
and forced him to tell her where the vases were, slipped poison into
the food of some of the guards, and made cat noises to distract the
rest, then grabbed the vases. The heroes praised her artistry, all
except Lu Feiqing.
"Fourth Sister," he said. "You are very brave, but was it wise to take
such a risk alone just for the sake of a remark you made to Master Wen?
As it happened, the Imperial bodyguards were fully occupied that
particular night searching for the Emperor. If they had been there,
things could have turned out differently."
"Yes," Luo Bing replied, then turned and stuck out her tongue at Wen.
The wedding ceremony took place amidst great merriment, and the next
morning the heroes made their way down the mountain, wished each other
well, and went their separate ways.
Chen and Lord Zhou were both heading for the northwest and Chen
suggested they travel together. But Zhou said he wished to take
advantage of their presence in the south to visit the Shaolin monastery
in Fujian province whose style of kung fu was related to his own. So
taking his wife and his assistant Meng with him, he headed south.
Chen, Wen, Luo Bing, Xu, Zhou Qi, Zhang Jin, 'Scholar' Yu and Xin Yan
travelled north through Nanking. By the time they had crossed the
Yangtse, Wen had completely recovered and Yu was progressing well. As
they continued north, the weather became cooler, the grass and trees
turned yellow as early winter set in. After passing through Kaifeng, Yu
was well enough to ride a horse, and the eight of them galloped
together along the highway. The north wind blew angrily, throwing dust
and sand into their faces.
Wen, riding the white horse, galloped ahead of the others and stopped
at an inn in a small village and told the servants to kill a chicken
and prepare a meal, Then he sat down near the door to await the arrival
of his friends. He ordered a pot of tea and wiped his face with the hot
flannel brought out to him. Suddenly, a figure darted out from a room
on the eastern side of the inn but immediately withdrew on catching
sight of Wen.
About an hour later, Chen and the others rode up and Wen quietly
informed them of what had happened. Xu looked round towards the room
and saw a section of the window paper was wet with a black eyeball in
the centre which immediately disappeared. He smiled.
"It's a novice," he said. "As soon as he starts, he reveals himself."
"Go over and see him," Chen said to Xin Yan. "If he has financial
problems, lend him some money."
Xin Yan went over to the room and said in a loud voice: "All streams
under heaven have the same source, Red Flowers and green leaves are all
one family."
This was the Red Flower Society members' catch-phrase for identifying
themselves to other members of the fighting community. Even if the
other party was not an associate of the Red Flower Society, as long as
he knew the phrase and asked for help, he would receive it. But all was
quiet in the room. Xin Yan repeated his call, and the door creaked open
and a figure dressed in black with a large hat pulled down low came out
and gave him a letter.
"Give this to your Master Yu."
Xin Yan took the letter and the figure rsn out of the inn, jumped onto
a horse and galloped away. He gave the letter to Yu who opened it and
found the following written inside:
"What do ugliness and beauty have to do with true love? I will follow
you even over a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers. And tell
your Great Helmsman that the Three Devils of Guandong are on their way
to the Muslim regions to get their revenge on Huo Qingtong for killing
their martial brother." Recognising the calligraphy as being that of Li
Yuanzhi, he frowned and handed the sheet to Chen.
Chen studiously ignored the first sentence, which obviously dealt with
private romantic affairs. But he immediately informed the others of the
news about the Three Devils of Guandong.
"They are tough fighters," said Wen. "I wonder if she can handle them?"
"We once watched Mistress Huo fighting with that Guangdong Devil, Yan
Shizhang, and she proved herself to be a little better than him," Xu
replied. "But if the Great Helmsman hadn't stepped in to save her, I'm
afraid she would have fallen victim to his evil tricks."
"The eldest of the Devils, Tang Yilei, is very strong, a formidable
man," said Wen.
"Since the Three Devils are already on their way, it would be best if
someone went on ahead on Sister Luo Bing's horse," Xu suggested. "From
the look of things, the military situation in the Muslim regions is
tense, and Master Muzhuolun and his people must be busy making
defensive preparations. We shouldn't let Mistress Huo be caught
unawares by the Three Devils." Chen knew he was right, and he frowned
silently.
"Great Helmsman, I think it would be best if you went on ahead," said
Xu. "You speak the Muslim language, your kung fu is good, and the Three
Devils have never seen you before. If General Zhao Wei has not
withdrawn by the time you get there, you can also help the Muslims."
"All right!" said Chen after a moment's hesitation.
** 3 **
Chen was extremely concerned at the news that the Three Devils of
Guandong were out to get Huo Qingtong. The image of her gradually
disappearing into the dust of the Great Desert forced its way into his
mind once more, but remembering how familiar she had been with Master
Lu's pupil, he decided that he was fooling himself about her feelings
for him. But he was unable to forget her image.
The white horse was extraordinarily fast, and in less than two days he
arrived at Jiayu Fortress, the western end of the Great Wall. He
climbed up onto the battlements and looked out at the Wall snaking away
into the distance, holding at bay the great wilderness. He felt a sense
of excitement at the thought of once more entering the border regions,
and followed custom by throwing a stone at the wall. The sandstorms
outside the Wall were perilous, the way would be hard, and according to
tradition, if a traveller threw a stone at the wall as he passed
through the Jiayu Gate, he would be able to return alive.
He travelled by day, rested by night. After he had passed the Jade Gate
and Anxi, the desert changed colour gradually from pale to dark yellow,
and then slowly turned to grey as he skirted the Gobi. The region was
uninhabited, containing nothing but endless expanses of broad desert.
He passed through the Stellar Gorge, the main link between Gansu
Province and the Muslim regions. It was already winter and the first
accumulations of snow coud be seen along the gorge, providing a
thrilling contrast of black and white.
"What a perfect place for an ambush," Chen thought.
That night, he lodged in a small hut and the next day found himself at
the edge of the Gobi desert. The Gobi was as flat as a mirror,
completely different from a sandy desert with its rolling dunes. Gazing
into the distance, it seemed to him as if the sky and earth touched one
another. All was silent, and it seemed as if he and his horse were the
only beings in the universe.
The As he rode, day after day, he considered the problem of how to find
Huo Qingtong. As a Chinese, the Muslims could suspect him of being a
spy, so to gain their confidence he would have to resort to deception.
He decided to disguise himself as a Muslim, and at the next settlement,
bought a small embroidered cap, a pair of leather boots and a striped
gown. Riding on, he found a deserted place and changed into his new
clothes, burying the old ones in the sand. He looked at his reflection
in a nearby stream and was so pleased with his appearance as a young
Muslim boy that he let out a laugh.
But he met no Muslims on the road. The Muslim villages and dwellings he
came upon were all burnt to the ground, obviously the good work of
General Zhao Wei's army. He decided he was unlikely to meet any Muslims
on the main highway, so he cut off south, and headed into the
mountains. In such desolate wilderness, there was little chance of
finding any settlement, and after three days, his dry rations were
finished. But luckily, he managed to catch and kill a goat.
Two days further on, he met a number of Kazakh herdsmen. They knew that
the Muslim army had retreated westwards in the face of the Manchu
force, but had no idea where it had gone.
There was nothing for it but to continue west. Chen gave the horse its
head and made no attempt to divert it. For four days he covered more
than a hundred miles a day with nothing but sand and sky before his
eyes.
On the fourth day, the weather turned hot. The burning sun scorched
down on both man and horse. He wanted to find somewhere shady where
they could rest, but wherever he looked there was nothing but sand
dunes. He opened his water flask, drank three mouthfuls, and let the
white horse drink the same amount. Despite a terrible thirst, he did
not dare to drink more.
They rested for two hours, then started out once more. Suddenly, the
white horse raised its head and sniffed at the wind, whinnied loudly,
then turned and galloped off south. Chen gave it its head. Soon, sparse
grasses began to appear on the sand dunes around them, then green
grass. Chen knew there must be an oasis ahead, and his heart leapt. The
white horse too was in high spirits and its hooves flew.
After a while, they heard the sound of running water and a small steam
appeared before them. Chen dismounted and scooped up a mouthful of
water. As he drank, he felt a coolness penetrate to his lungs and
noticed a slight fragrance to the water. The stream was full of little
pieces of ice which jostled each other, emitting a crisp jingling
noise, like the music of fairies. After drinking a few mouthfuls, the
white horse gave a whinny and gambolled about happily for a moment.
Having drunk his fill, Chen felt relaxed and content. He filled his two
leather water flasks. In the midst of the sparkling ice fragments, he
spotted flower petals floating past, and realized it must be flower
beds further upstream which made the waters so fragrant.
"If I follow the stream up," he thought, "I may come across someone who
can tell me where Huo Qingtong might be." He remounted and started
along the bank.
The stream gradually widened. In the desert, most rivers and streams
are larger close to their source as the water is soaked up by the
desert sands and eventually disappears. Having lived many years in the
Muslim areas, Chen did not consider it strange. The trees along the
banks of the stream also increased in number and he spurred his horse
into a gallop. As they turned a bend in the stream round a hill, a
silver waterfall came into view.
Chen felt invigorated by the discovery of such a gorgeous place in the
midst of the barren desert, and was curious to know what vistas would
present themselves above the waterfall. He led the horse round and up,
and as they emerged from a line of tall fir trees, he stopped in
amazement.
Before him was a wide lake fed by another large waterfall at its
southern end. The spray from the cascade spread out in all directions,
combining with the sunlight to create a glorious rainbow, while a
profusion of trees and flowers of many colours surrounded the lake and
reflected in its turquoise-green waters. Beyond was a huge expanse of
verdant grass stretching off to the horizon on which he could see
several hundred white sheep. A high mountain rose into the clouds from
the western bank of the lake, the lower slopes covered in green foliage
and the upper slopes in brilliant white snow.
He stood staring at the scene for a moment. The sound of small birds
singing in the trees and ice slabs in the lake jostling against each
other combined with the roar of the waterfall into a work of music.
Looking at the surface of the lake, he suddenly noticed a circle of
small ripples, and a jade-white hand emerged from the water followed by
a dripping-wet head. It turned and saw him, and with a shriek
disappeared back into the water.
In that moment, Chen had been able to see that the head belonged to an
extremely beautiful young girl.
"Could there really be such things as water spirits and monsters?" he
wondered. He pulled out three chess pieces and lodged them in his palm
just in case.
A string of ripples stretched across the surface of the lake
northwards, then with a splash, the girl's head re-emerged amidst an
outgrowth of flowers and bushes. Through a gap in the leaves, he could
see her snow-white skin, her raven hair splayed out over the surface of
the water and her eyes, as bright as stars, gazing across at him.
"Who are you?" a clear voice asked. "Why have you come here?"
She spoke in the Muslim language, and although Chen understood, he was
unable to answer. He felt dazed, as if drunk or in a dream.
"Go away and let me put my clothes on," the girl said. Chen's face
flushed and he quickly went back into the trees.
He was extremely embarrassed and wanted to escape, but he thought he
should at least ask the girl for news of Huo Qingtong. For a while he
was undecided. Then the sound of singing, soft but clear, floated over
from the opposite side of the lake:
"Brother, brother, passing by,
Please come back
Why have you run off so fast
Without a word?"
He walked slowly back to the lake and, looking across, saw a young girl
dressed in a brilliantly white gown sitting bare-foot on a bed of red
flowers by the water's edge. She was slowly combing her long hair,
still covered in beads of water, as flower petals drifted slowly down
onto her head. He marvelled that such a beautiful girl could exist.
The girl smiled radiantly and motioned with her hand for him to come
over.
"I was passing this way and felt thirsty," Chen said in the Muslim
language. "I chanced upon a stream and followed it here. I did not
expect to run into you, miss. It was an unintentional error. Please
forgive me." He bowed as he spoke.
"What is your name?" she asked.
"I am called Ahmed."
This was the most common name among Muslim men, and the girl smiled
again.
"All right," she said. "Then my name Ayesha." This was the most common
name among Muslim women. "Who are you looking for?"
"I have to find Master Muzhuolun."
The girl looked startled. "Do you know him?"
"Yes, I do," said Chen. "I also know his son, Huo Ayi, and his
daughter, Huo Qingtong."
"Where did you meet them?"
"They travelled to the central plains to recover the sacred Koran and I
happened to come across them there."
"Why are you looking for Master Muzhuolun?"
Chen recognised the note of respect in her voice. "Is he of the same
tribe as you, miss?" The girl nodded.
"They killed a number of bodyguard agency escorts while recovering the
sacred Koran, and friends of the escorts are now seeking revenge. I
want to warn them."
The girl had had a smile constantly playing around her lips, but now it
disappeared. "Are the men that are coming to take revenge very
terrible?" she asked. "Are there many of them?"
"No, not many. They are good fighters, but as long as we are prepared,
there is nothing to fear."
The girl relaxed and smiled again. "I will take you to see Master
Muzhuolun," she said. "We will have to travel for several days." She
began to plait her hair. "The great Manchu army came and attacked us
for no reason and all the men have gone away to fight. My sisters and I
have remained here to watch over the livestock."
As she talked, Chen gazed at her in wonder. He could never have
imagined such jade-like beauty, even in his wildest dreams. Such a
scene, such a situation was simply not of this world.
The girl finished combing her hair, picked up an ox horn and blew
several notes on it. A short while later, a number of Muslim girls on
horse-back galloped towards them across the pastures. She went over and
talked with them while the other girls weighed Chen up, very curious as
to who he was. She then walked over to a tent pitched between the trees
and came back leading a chestnut horse carrying food and other
essentials.
"Let's go." She mounted in one effortless bound, and rode off ahead of
him heading south along the course of the stream.
"How did the Chinese people treat you when you were in the Chinese
areas?" she asked as they rode along.
"Some well, some not, but mostly well." Chen replied. He wanted to tell
her he was himself Chinese, but her complete lack of suspicion somehow
made it difficult for him to do so. She asked about what the Chinese
regions were like. Chen chose a few interesting stories to tell her,
and she listened enthralled.
As the sky grew dark, they camped for the night underneath a huge rock
by a river. The girl lit a fire, roasted some dried mutton she had
brought and shared it with Chen. She was silent throughout, and Chen
did not dare to speak, as if words would desecrate the sacred purity of
the scene.
The girl began telling him about her youth, how she had grown up as a
shepherdess on the grasslands, and how she loved flowers more than
anything in the world.
"There are so many, many beautiful flowers on the grasslands. As you
look out, you can see flowers stretching to the horizon. I much prefer
to eat flowers than mutton."
"Can you eat flowers?" Chen asked in surprise.
"Of course. I've been eating them since I was small. My father and my
elder brother tried to stop me at first, but when I went out by myself
to look after the sheep, there was nothing they could do. Later, when
they saw that it did me no harm, they didn't bother about it any more."
Chen wanted to say that it was no wonder she was as beautiful as a
flower, but he restrained himself. Sitting beside her, he became aware
that her body exuded a slight fragrance, more intoxicating than that of
any flower. Light-headed, he wondered what lotion she used that was so
fragrant. Then he remembered the rules of etiquette and discreetly
moved to sit a little further away from her. The girl saw that he had
noticed the fragrance and laughed.
"Ever since I was young, my body has given off a fragrance," she said.
"It's probably because I eat flowers. Do you like it?"
Chen blushed at the question and marvelled at her simplicity and
frankness. But gradually, his reticence towards her faded.
The girl talked of shepherding, of picking flowers and looking at stars
and of the games that young girls play. Since leaving home, Chen had
spent all his time amongst the fighting community and had long ago
forgotten about these child-like matters. After a while, the girl
stopped talking and looked up at the Milky Way sparkling its way across
the heavens.
Chen pointed up. "That constellation is the Weaving Girl star," he
said, "and that one on the other side is the Cowherd Star."
She was fascinated by the names. "Tell me the story about them," she
said, and Chen told her how the Cowherd and the Weaving Girl fell in
love but found themselves separated by a silvery river, the Milky Way,
and how a stork built a bridge across to unite them once a year.
The girl looked sombrely up at the stars. "I have never liked storks
before, but seeing as they built a bridge to bring the Cowherd and the
Weaving Girl together, I have changed my mind. From now on when I see
them, I will give them something to eat."
"They may only be able to meet once a year, but they have done so for
hundreds of millions of years. They are much better off than we
ordinary people, doomed to die after a few decades," Chen replied. The
girl nodded.
The desert had grown very cold with the coming of night and Chen went
to look for some dead wood and grass to build up the fire. Then they
wrapped themselves in blankets and went to sleep. Despite the distance
between them as they slept, it still seemed to Chen that he could smell
the girl's fragrance in his dreams.
Early next morning they started out again heading west, and after
several days arrived at the banks of the Tarin River. That afternoon,
they chanced upon two mounted Muslim warriers. The girl went over and
spoke with them and after a moment the Muslims bowed and left.
"The Manchu army has already taken Aksu and Kashgar, and Master
Muzhuolun and the others have retreated to Yarkand," she reported to
Chen. "That's more than ten days's ride from here."
Chen was very concerned at the news that the Manchu forces had scored a
victory.
"They also said that the Manchu troops are so numerous that our army's
only option is to retreat and stretch their lines of communication.
When their rations are exhausted, they will not have enough strength
left to fight."
Chen decided the Muslim force would probably be safe for a while using
this strategy. Once Qian Long's order to halt the war arrived, General
Zhao Wei would retire with his troops. Huo Qingtong was now far away
from central China and had the protection of a large army, so there was
no longer any reason to fear the vengeful Devils of Guandong, Tang
Yilei and his two friends. With that thought, he relaxed.
They travelled by day and slept by night, talking and laughing as they
went. As the days passed, they became closer and closer, and Chen found
himself secretly hoping that the journey would never end, that they
could continue as they were forever.
One day, just as the sun was about to disappear beneath the grasslands,
they heard a bugle note, and a small deer jumped out of a spinney of
trees nearby. The girl clapped her hands and laughed in delight.
"A baby deer!" she cried. The deer had been born only a short time
before and was very small and very unsteady on its feet. It gave two
plaintive cries and then leapt back into the trees.
The girl watched it go, then suddenly reined in her horse. "There's
someone over there," she whispered.
Chen looked over and saw four Manchu soldiers and an officer carving up
a large deer while the fawn circled around them making pitiful cries.
The dead deer was obviously its mother.
"Goddamn it, we'll eat you too!" cursed one of the soldiers, standing
up. He fixed an arrow on his bow and prepared to shoot the fawn which,
ignorant of the danger, moved closer and closer to him.
The girl gave a cry of alarm. She jumped off her horse, ran into the
trees and placed herself in front of the fawn. "Don't shoot, don't
shoot!" she cried. The soldier started in surprise and took a step
backwards, dazzled by her beauty. She picked up the fawn and stroked
its soft coat. "You poor thing," she crooned. She glanced hatefully at
the soldier, then turned and walked out of the trees with the fawn.
The five soldiers whispered amongst themselves for a moment, then ran
after her, shouting and brandishing their swords. The girl started
running too and quickly reached Chen and the horses. The officer barked
out an order and the five fanned out around them.
Chen squeezed the girl's hand. "Don't be afraid," he said. "I'll kill
these villains to avenge the death of the fawn's mother." She stood
beside him, the fawn cradled in her arms. Chen stretched out his hand
and stroked the animal.
"What you doing?" the officer asked haltingly in the Muslim tongue.
"Come here!"
The girl looked up at Chen, who smiled at her. She smiled back,
confident that they would not be harmed.
"No weapons!" the officer shouted, and the other soldiers threw their
swords to the ground and advanced. Strangely, despite the usual
preference of soldiers for young maidens, they seemed cowed by her
glowing beauty and made for Chen instead. The girl cried out in alarm,
but before the cry was fully out, there was a whooshing sound and the
four soldiers flew through the air, landing heavily on the ground some
distance away. They grunted and groaned, unable to get up, for they had
all been touched on Yuedao points. The officer, seeing the situation
was unfavourable, turned and fled.
"Come back!" Chen ordered. He sent his Pearl Strings flying out and
wrapped them around the officer's neck, then sharply pulled him back.
The girl clapped her hands and laughed in delight. She looked over at
Chen, her eyes full of admiration.
"What are you doing here?" he asked the officer in the Muslim language.
The officer clambered to his feet, still dazed. He looked around and
saw his four comrades lying morionless on the ground and knew he was in
trouble.
"We, General Zhao Wei, soldiers, orders, here, we here," he replied.
Well said, thought Chen. "Where are the five of you going? You'd better
tell me the truth."
"Not cheat," the officer said, shaking with fear. "Orders, go, Stellar
Canyon, meet people."
His stuttering Muslim speech was unclear and Chen switched to Chinese.
"Who are you going to meet," he asked.
"A deputy commander of the Imperial Guard."
"What is his name? Give me the documents you are carrying."
The officer hesitated then pulled an official document from his pocket.
Chen glanced at it and noted with surprise that it was addressed to
"Deputy Commander Zhang Zhaozhong".
Master Ma Zhen took Zhang away to discipline him, he thought. How could
he be on his way here?
He ripped the letter open and read: "I am delighted to hear you have
received Imperial orders to come to the Muslim regions, and have sent
this detachment to meet you." It was signed by General Zhao Wei.
If Zhang is coming at the Emperor's command, he must have been
entrusted with passing on the order to retreat, Chen thought. I
shouldn't interfere. He gave the letter back to the officer, released
the paralysis of the four soldiers, then rode off with the girl without
saying another word.
"You are very capable," the girl said. "Such a man as yourself would
certainly be very well known in our tribe. How is it I have never heard
of you before?"
Chen smiled. "The little fawn must be hungry," he said. "Why don't you
give it something to eat?"
"Yes, yes!" she cried. She pured some horse's milk from the leather
gourd into her palm and let the fawn lap it up. After a few mouthfuls,
the fawn bleated mournfully. "She's calling for her mother," the girl
said.
** 4 **
They travelled on for another six days. On the morning of the seventh
day, they spotted dark clouds in the distance.
"Is that a storm brewing?" Chen asked.
The girl studied the horizon. "They're not rain clouds," she said.
"It's dust from the ground."
"How could there be so much?"
"I don't know. Let's go and look!" They spurred their horses forward,
and as the swirling dust cloud rose before them, they began to hear the
sound of metal clashing with metal drifting over towards them. Chen
reined in his horse.
"It's an army," he said. "We must get out of the way quickly." They
turned and rode off east, but after a while, another dust cloud arose
in front of them and a column of mounted troops appeared. Amidst the
dust, Chen saw a huge flag inscribed with the name of General Zhao.
Having already clashed once with Zhao's armoured troops at the Yellow
River crossing, he knew them to be formidable fighters, and he motioned
to the girl with his hand and galloped off southwards. Luckily, both
their horses were swift, and after a moment's hard riding, the armoured
column had dropped far behind.
The girl looked anxious. "I hope our army will be able to hold their
own," she said. Chen was just about to say something comforting when
horns sounded in front, and rank upon rank of soldiers appeared over a
rise. To the left, there was a thundrous ground-shaking roar and a vast
carpet of cavalry moved across the hills towards them. With one sweep
of his left arm, Chen swung the girl onto his horse and took out his
shield to protect her.
"Don't be afraid," he said. The girl, still hugging the little deer,
looked round at him and nodded. "If you say there's no need to be
afraid, then I won't be," she said. As she spoke, her soft, orchid-like
fragrance, enveloped him, and feelings of tenderness rose within him
despite the danger of their situation.
With enemy troops advancing from the east, north and south, Chen urged
the white horse westwards as her chestnut horse followed along behind.
After a while, they spotted Manchu troops ahead of them once more. Very
worried, Chen spurred the horse up onto high ground to get a better
idea of the Manchu positions and to look for a gap through which they
could escape. But he could see at a glance that they were completely
surrounded by the Manchu army. To the west, beyond the thousands of
Manchu foot soldiers in close ranks protected on both flanks by
cavalry, was the Muslim army, also an imposing force with a forest of
spears and scimitars rising above the striped gowns of the warriors.
The two sides had halted, obviously in preparation for battle, and
Manchu officers rode back and forth making final prepartions. The huge
army gradually became deathly quiet. Chen and the girl had by this time
been noticed, and several soldiers approached to question them.
"The gods have conspired to deliver us into the hands of the Manchus,"
Chen thought. But the idea of dying with the girl beside him gave him a
strange pleasure. He grasped the Pearl Strings in his right hand, the
reins in his left, and shouted: "Let's go!"
The horse galloped off towards the end of the Manchu lines, and in the
blink of an eye, had passed three companies of troops. Rank upon rank
of armoured soldiers, bows at the ready, passed before them, and Chen
knew that with one word from the Manchu commanders, he and the girl in
his arms would immediately become the repositories of a thousand spears
and ten thousand arrows. He pulled the reins in tightly and slowly
cantered along, not even glancing at the soldiers.
The morning sun had just risen, and as they rode towards it, the troops
stared in shock at the girl's glorious beauty, her hair, face, arms and
gown splashed with pale sunlight, and each one, whether general or
trooper, found his heart thumping furiously. They watched as the two
gradually rode off into the distance.
Even General Zhao, who was in personal command, was overcome by a
feeling of calm and peace, and he knew he was in no mood for killing.
Looking round, he found all his officers and underlings likewise had
expressions of serenity on their faces. They had already replaced their
swords in their scabbards, and were obviously awaiting the general's
order to retire.
"Return to camp," Zhao said in a far-away voice. The order was relayed
back, and the tens of thousands of soldiers turned and went back to
their camp site more than ten miles away beside the Black Water River.
Chen was covered in a cold sweat and his hands shook with fear, but the
girl looked un-worried, apparently unaware of the great danger they had
passed through. She smiled at him and leapt over onto the back of the
chestnut horse.
"That is our army in front," she said. Chen put away his shield and
galloped towards the Muslim lines. A small detail of cavalrymen rode
out to meet them, shouting and cheering as they came, then jumped off
their horses and bowed before the girl. The officer in charge walked
over to Chen and bowed before him too.
"Brother, you have endured great hardship. May Allah the true God
protect you," he said.
Chen bowed in return and thanked him. The girl rode straight into the
Muslim ranks without waiting for Chen. She obviously commanded a degree
of respect, for wherever the chestnut horse went, the soldiers made way
for it with cheers.
A brigade commander invited Chen to the barracks to eat and rest, and
Chen told him he wanted to see the tribe's leader, Master Muzhuolun.
"The Master has gone to observe the enemy's strength," the commander
replied. "When he returns, I will immediately inform him." Following
the long journey and the tense encounter with the Manchu army, Chen
felt worn out, and after he had been shown to a small tent, he
immediately slept.
Some time after noon, the commander returned to say that Muzhuolun was
now not expected to return until evening. Chen asked him who the
white-gowned girl was.
The commander smiled. "How could anyone be more beautiful than she?" he
said. "We are having a love-match meeting tonight. Why don't you come
along, brother? You will be able to meet our leader there."
Chen did not press him further. Towards evening, he saw the young
warriors donning their finery, each face alive with excitement. The
desert evening sky slowly deepened in colour and a thin crescent moon
rose above the horizon. Chen heard the sound of music strike up and
soon afterwards, the commander came into the tent.
"The new moon has risen," he said, taking Chen's hand. "Let us go,
brother!" The two walked towards a huge bonfire where the young Muslim
warriors were gathering. All around, people were roasting beef and
mutton, and preparing various delicacies while others played musical
instruments. A horn blew, and a group of people emerged from a large
tent near the bonfire, among whom Chen recognised Muzhuolun and his
son, Huo Ayi. Chen decided he would wait until the official ceremony
was over before revealing himself, and turned up the collar of his gown
to hide his face.
Muzhuolun motioned to the crowd, and they all knelt down and prayed to
Allah. When the prayer was ended, he spoke.
"Those brothers who have already taken legal wives, I am afraid I must
ask you to go and stand guard," he said. "Let your younger brothers
have a pleasant evening."
Three columns of warriors formed up. Huo Ayi, flourishing his sabre,
led them off into the darkness.
Having lived many years in the Muslim regions, Chen knew that although
marriages were arranged by parents according to various considerations
of wealth and property, the procedure was still much more liberal than
that of the Chinese. The love-match party was a tradition among the
Muslims that had been passed down for many generations at which young,
unmarried boys and girls could seal their romances and become engaged.
The initiative was taken by the girl, who would place a belt round the
neck of her chosen boy and lead him to dance.
After a while, the music became softer in tone. The tent door flaps
parted and out came a large group of young Muslim girls who sang and
danced their way towards the bonfire. They all wore colourful clothes
and small caps laced with gold and silver threads which sparkled
brightly in the firelight. Chen noticed two beautiful girls walking
over to Muzhuolun, one in yellow, the other in white, and with a start,
he recognised them as Huo Qingtong and the girl who had brought him to
the Muslim camp. Under the moonlight, they both looked extremely
graceful and attractive. The two girls sat down, one on either side of
Muzhuolun.
A thought suddenly struck Chen. "The girl in white must be Huo
Qingtong's younger sister. No wonder I kept thinking her face was
familiar: it's the same face as that on the jade vases, although the
drawing does not even come close to reproducing her real beauty."
His heart began to thump wildly. From the day he had first met Huo
Qingtong, his love for her had begun to grow, but the familiar
closeness between her and Lu Feiqing's pupil had convinced him that she
already had a suitor. Also, having spent the past few days with such a
matchless beauty, his romantic thoughts had turned completely towards
the white-gowned girl.
The music stopped, and Muzhuolun's voice rang out clearly: "The prophet
Mohammed teaches us in the Koran in the 190th verse of the second
chapter: 'Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you', and in the
39th verse of the 22nd chapter: 'To those against whom war is made,
permission is given to fight because they are wronged, and verily,
Allah is most powerful for their aid.' We are being oppressed and Allah
will certainly assist and protect us." A thunderous cheer went up from
the crowd. "Brothers and sisters!" he shouted. "Enjoy yourselves fully!
"
Singing and laughter rose all about, accompanied by the music of Horse
Head fiddles. Cooks distributed roast meat, honeymelons, dried grapes
and horse milk wine among the throng. Everyone held in their hands a
small bowl made out of salt rock in which they rubbed the roast meat.
After a while, the new moon rose up into the sky and the merry-making
became even more intense. Some of the young girls jumped up and danced
over to the boy of their choice, took the embroidered belt from their
waists and placed it round the boy's neck, then led him off to dance
near the bonfire.
Chen had grown up in a world of strict conventions and had never before
seen an occasion of such open-minded and unrestrained merriment. With
the singing ringing in his ears and emotions swirling through his
heart, he found his face beginning to flush after only a few cups of
horse's milk wine.
The music stopped momentarily, then started again, even faster than
before. Everyone looked curiously towards Muzhuolun, and following the
direction of their gaze, Chen saw the white-robed girl had stood up and
was floating gracefully towards them. The crowd was greatly excited and
a hubbub of discussion arose. Chen heard the cavalry commander beside
him say: "The Fragrant Princess has chosen a lover. But who could
possibly be worthy of her?"
That his beloved younger daughter had found a boy she loved was a great
surprise and a great joy to Muzhuolun. He watched her intently with
tears glistening in his eyes.
Princess Fragrance glided round and round, passing along the edge of
the circle that had formed. In her hands, she held a
brilliantly-embroidered belt and she softly sang:
"Please come out,
You who picked the snow lily for me.
I am searching for you,
You who saved my little deer."
The words hit Chen's ears like a clap of thunder. A white hand touched
his shoulder and the embroidered belt fell around his neck. The
Princess tugged gently and Chen, scared out of his wits, followed her.
The crowd cheered, and all around him people started singing.
In the hazy moonlight, Muzhuolun and Huo Qingtong failed to recognise
Chen, and walked forward to congratulate him along with the others
thinking he was an ordinary Muslim. Suddenly, they heard three blasts
from a distant horn, the signal for danger, and the crowd immediately
dispersed. Muzhuolun and Huo Qingtong returned to their seats. The
Princess took Chen's hand and led him off to sit at the back of the
crowd. Chen felt her soft body leaning towards him, and a light
fragrance entered his nostrils, intoxicating his senses. He truly could
not tell if he was in a dream or in heaven.
** 5 **
All eyes turned in the direction from which the horn blast had come.
Two Muslim guards rode up and reported to Muzhuolun: "The Manchu
General Zhao Wei has sent an envoy who requests an audience."
"All right," replied Muzhuolun. "Bring him here." The two riders
galloped off, and returned with five other riders who dismounted about
a hundred feet from the crowd.
The Manchu envoy was robust man and walked towards them with powerful
strides. But his four attendents made the Muslims jump in surprise. All
four were giants, a good two heads higher than ordinary men, and their
bodies were broad and thick.
The envoy strode up to Muzhuolun and nodded at him. "Are you the head
of the tribe?" he asked arrogantly. The Muslims were outraged, and
several of the younger warriors drew their sabres. The envoy ignored
him.
"I am under orders from General Zhao Wei to give you an ultimatum," he
announced loudly in the Muslim tongue. "If you know what's good for
you, you will surrender immediately, in which case your lives will be
spared. Otherwise, our two armies will meet at daybreak the day after
tomorrow and you will be completely annihilated. It will be too late
then for regrets."
The crowd of Muslims sprang to their feet in rage, but Muzhuolun, with
a wave of his hand, ordered them to be seated and turned to the envoy.
"You come without reason or justification and kill our people, steal
our property. The True God on High will punish you for your
dishonourable behaviour. If you want to fight, we will fight. Even if
our army is reduced to only one man, that man will still never
surrender."
The Muslims raised their sabres and repeated his words in unison: "If
you want to fight, we shall fight!" they roared. "Even if our army is
reduced to only one man, he will never surrender!" The mood was sombre
but determined. The Muslims knew the Manchu force was powerful and that
in a battle to the finish, the chances were they would lose. But they
were loyal believers in Islam, they loved freedom and would be no man's
slave.
The envoy looked about him and sneered. "All right," he said. "The day
after tomorrow, each and every one of you will die." He spat savagely
onto the ground in a calculated insult, and three young Muslims leapt
towards him. "Today, you are an envoy, so you will be allowed to leave
safely," one of them shouted. "But when we meet on the battlefield, we
will not be so polite."
The envoy's mouth twisted in anger, and his four giant attendants
roughly pushed aside the three Muslim boys and took up positions around
him.
"Ha!" The envoy cried in contempt. "You useless scum! We'll give you a
taste of our Manchu skills!" He clapped his hands and one of the four
giants glanced round and strode over to a poplar tree nearby to which
several camels were tethered. He grasped its trunk in his arms and
after a few rigorous shakes, pulled the tree bodily from the ground.
Then he snapped the reins of one of the camels and gave it a kick on
its rump, sending it racing away in great pain. When the camel was more
than a hundred feet away, another of the giants sprinted after it and
in a moment caught up with the animal. He swung the huge camel onto his
shoulders, ran back towards the bonfire and set it back on its feet,
then stood proudly beside it. "Huh!" exclaimed the third giant in
contempt, and drove a fist at the camel's head. The animal swayed
unsteadily and crashed to the ground. The fourth giant grabbed hold of
its two hind legs and swung it round and round above his head, then
with a shout let it go. The camel fell to earth sixty or seventy feet
away.
The giants, known as the Four Tigers, were quadruplets, and their
mother had died giving birth to them. Their father was a poor hunter in
the forests of Manchuria, and with his wife dead, he had no milk to
feed the four babies, but soon after, he heard a mournful cry outside
in the forest and found a female tiger caught in a trap. He and a
companion were tying the animal up when he happened to notice three
tiger pups lying close by. In a flash of inspiration, he killed the
pups and took the tiger back to his hut where he reared her, feeding
her meat every day, and milking her to feed his four sons. From the
start, they were uncommonly big and strong, and became more so as they
grew. The only problem was that they were a little stupid and
impetuous.
The Muslims were startled by this amazing show of strength, but
unwilling to appear weak before the enemy, they roared out their
defiance.
"What are you doing, killing a good camel? Are you inhuman?" someone
shouted. The envoy curled his lips into another sneer. The crowd became
even more incensed, and it looked as though he would be mobbed.
"So you're going to bully an envoy, are you?" he shouted.
Muzhuolun restrained the crowd with difficulty. "You are an envoy, but
you ordered your men to kill one of our camels, which is a great
insult," he said. "If you were not guests here, I would not let you get
away with it. Leave immediately."
"Do you think we Manchus are afraid of you scum?" the envoy shouted.
"If you have a reply, give it to me to pass on. I'm sure none of you
would dare to go and hand it to General Zhao Wei personally." Another
roar went up from the Muslims.
Huo Qingtong jumped to her feet. "You say none of us would dare to go
to see General Zhao Wei. Huh! Every single person here would dare, men
and girls alike." The envoy looked stunned for a second, then threw
back his head and roared with laughter. "If any of these girls didn't
die of fright on seeing General Zhao Wei, I would be amazed."
"Don't underestimate us," replied Huo Qingtong angrily. "We will send
someone back with you immediately. Pick someone yourself. Whoever you
choose will go. You will see what spirit we followers of Mohammed
have," The Muslims roared their approval and everyone began shouting
"Choose me! Choose me!"
"All right," said the envoy coldly. He wanted to find the weakest, most
useless girl who would immediately burst into tears so that the Muslims
would lose face completely. His eyes roved over the crowd, searching
back and forth, and suddenly lit up. He walked over to Princess
Fragrance and pointed at her. "Let her go!" he said.
The Princess glanced at him and slowly stood up. "For my tribe, for my
brothers and sisters, I would go anywhere without fear. Allah the true
God will surely protect me," she said.
Her apparent weakness had given way to calm dignity. Faced with her
stunning beauty, the envoy involuntarily lowered his eyes, and he felt
a tinge of regret at his choice. Muzhuolun, Huo Qingtong and the other
Muslims, although proud that she had not displayed weakness, were
nonetheless anxious. Huo Qingtong was particularly worried. Her sister
knew no kung fu, and could not be allowed to enter the Tiger's Lair
unprotected. "She is my sister," she said. "I will go in her place."
The envoy laughed. "I always knew the word of a girl could not be
relied upon. If you don't have the nerve, why bother sending anyone?
War or surrender, I can take the message for you."
"If we meet on the battlefield and if you don't run away, I'll let you
see whether us girls are useless or not," said Huo Qingtong, livid with
anger.
"I would naturally be merciful with a beauty such as you," he replied,
smiling. The Muslims gnashed their teeth at his insolence.
"Sister, I will go," the Princess said to Huo Qingtong. "Don't be
afraid." She pulled Chen up by the hand. "He will go with me."
In the light of the flames from the bonfire, Huo Qingtong suddenly
recognised Chen and stared at him in shock. Chen surreptitiously
motioned with his hand indicating that she should not reveal his
identity yet, then turned to the envoy.
"We mean what we say," he said. "I will go alone with her to see
General Zhao Wei. Unlike you, we do not require four giants to protect
us. What use are these giants anyway?"
"A camel can carry a load of thousand catties, but a man can only carry
one tenth as much," added the Princess. "Should the man ride the camel
or the camel the man?" A great laugh went up from the crowd at this
taunt.
"What are they laughing at?" one of the four giants asked the envoy.
"They say that you are useless even though you are large and strong."
Incensed, the giant beat his chest with his hands. "Who dares to match
himself against me?" he roared.
"What use are you?" the envoy said to Chen. "You've just a little
stripling. Even if you were ten times stouter, you would still not be
as strong as he."
Chen decided this envoy needed to be cut down to size to save the face
of the Muslims. He took three steps forward.
"I may be the most useless member of our tribe but I am still better
than you Manchus," he said. "Tell those four hulks to come over here."
By this time, Muzhuolun had also recognized Chen. "Daughter, look who
it is!" he cried to Huo Qingtong in surprise and joy. The girl did not
answer. Muzhuolun looked over and saw her eyes brimming with tears, and
realised both his daughters were in love with the same man. He wondered
how Chen had met his younger daughter.
Next to the giants, Chen looked like a small child. He had come
forward, the Muslims decided, for the honour of the Princess and the
tribe, but was obviously no match for the giants. Chen raised his hands
to the crowd.
"Brothers," he said. "These Manchurians are useless. Let me deal with
them by myself."
The envoy translated his words to the four giants, who angrily sprang
forward to grab Chen. Chen stood solid, smiling faintly, and the envoy
hurriedly restrained the four.
"Since this gentleman wants a contest, there will be no blame if anyone
gets hurt," the envoy said to Muzhuolun. "It must be one against one,
no-one else is allowed to interfere."
Muzhuolun grunted once.
"What fun is there in one to one?" said Chen. "Tell the four of them to
come at once."
"How many will there be on your side?" the envoy asked.
"How many? Why, just myself of course." A murmur ran through the crowd:
he had gone too far this time.
The envoy laughed coldly. "Are you Muslims really so formidable? First
Tiger," he said to the largest of the four giants. "You first." First
Tiger strode forward. "You will take it in turns to punch each other.
Neither is allowed to block or retreat. The first one to fall loses."
"One is not enough," Chen said. "If we are going to fight, let them all
fight together."
The envoy began to suspect Chen had some plan worked out. "Don't
worry," he said. "If you beat this one, the others will come after you
of their own accord."
Chen smiled. "All right. It's all the same to me." The giant ripped off
his upper clothing, exposing ranks of huge, rippling muscles. Huo
Qingtong glanced furtively at her sister and saw her gazing intently at
Chen, her eyes full of adoration and love. Huo Qingtong sighed and
looked over at Chen, and as their eyes met, he smiled warmly. She
blushed and looked away.
"We will draw lots to decide who strikes first," said the envoy.
"You are the guests. You may go first," replied Chen. He took two steps
towards the giant and thrust out his chest, "Hit me!" he said.
"Please come over here," the envoy said to Huo Qingtong. "We two will
act as judges. Whoever moves his feet, uses his arms to deflect a blow,
bends or dodges away will be considered the loser."
Huo Qingtong walked over and stood with the envoy as Chen and the giant
faced each other, less than an arm's length apart. The huge crowd stood
silently about them, watching intently.
"The Manchurian gentleman strikes the first blow," the envoy called
out. "The Muslim gentleman will strike the second blow. If both are
still all right, then the Manchurian gentleman will strike again
followed by the Muslim gentleman. Right! The Manchurian shall strike!"
The silence was broken by the sound of First Tiger breathing deeply.
Joints all over his body cracked loudly as he concentrated his
strength. Suddenly, the right side of his chest bulged outwards and his
right arm swelled to almost twice its normal size. Chen leaned slightly
forward. "Punch me," he said.
Several Muslim men moved behind Chen to catch him. Muzhuolun and Huo
Qingtong silently prayed to Allah, but Princess Fragrance was
unworried. If Chen said he was unafraid, there was certainly nothing to
be afraid of.
The giant crouched slightly, then with a mighty roar slammed his right
fist at Chen's chest. But at its maximum extension, the fist only
lightly grazed the lapel of Chen's gown. Dumbfounded, the giant stared
at Chen, neglecting even to withdraw his fist.
"Is that it?" Chen asked. The giant blushed deep red and hastily
retracted his arm.
To the crowd, it looked as if the blow had struck home, and they were
puzzled that Chen seemed unaffected. Muzhuolun and Huo Qingtong,
however, knew that he had made use of Inner Strength Kung Fu to draw in
his chest. Huo Qingtong smiled brilliantly and breathed a sigh of
relief. The envoy, also a kung fu expert, scowled in annoyance.
Chen smiled. "Now it's my turn," he said.
"Go ahead!" First Tiger roared. He thrust out his hairy chest and
Chen's fist shot out and punched it lightly. The giant felt no pain,
but was aware of a great force pushing him backwards and put all his
weight into countering it by leaning forward. Suddenly, Chen withdrew
his fist, and with no time to stabilise himself, the giant toppled
forward and crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust. All this took
place in the blink of an eye. There was a stunned silence for a second,
then the crowd erupted in applause and laughter. The envoy rushed over
to help First Tiger who was wailing as blood poured from his mouth: two
of his front teeth had snapped off.
Seeing their brother injured, the other three giants charged at Chen
with a single howl of rage. Chen skipped around behind Third Tiger and
shoved him at Second Tiger. Fourth Tiger lunged at Chen with his arms
out-stretched, but Chen ducked down and ticked his armpit as he passed.
Fourth Tiger was very ticklish, and he immediately rolled into a ball,
laughing hysterically.
Chen danced amongst the four, making them look foolish without even
hitting them. The envoy could see that Chen was a martial arts master
and tried vainly to stop the fight. But once roused, the four Tigers
were impossible to stop. They closed in on Chen again, First Tiger from
in front while the other three closed off his line of retreat behind.
Chen waited until First Tiger was within arm's length then toppled him
over backwards with a push, grabbed his leg and hurled him away so that
he landed head-first in the hole where the tree he had up-rooted had
stood.
Fourth Tiger roared and kicked out with his right leg, but Chen grabbed
his trousers and shirt, lifted him up and with a solid kick sent him
flying through the air. The giant landed with a thump on the corpse of
the camel he had himself killed.
While Fourth Tiger was still in the air, Second and Third Tiger charged
at Chen from opposite directions. Chen waited until they were almost
upon him before leaping out of the way, and the two giants smashed into
each other and toppled like a great pagoda to the ground. Before they
could clamber to their feet, Chen tied their two queues together, then
with a laugh, he walked back to Princess Fragrance's side. The Princess
clapped her hands in delight as the other Muslims cheered and shouted.
The Four Tigers picked themselves up and the envoy rushed over and
struggled to undo the knot in Second and Third Tigers' hair. The four
giants looked across at Chen, not in hate but in respect. First Tiger
raised a thumb in Chen's direction.
"You're good," he said. "I concede defeat." He bowed, and the other
three giants followed suit. Chen hurriedly returned the compliment.
Seeing their simple nature, he began to rather regret the way he had
played with them.
Fourth Tiger suddenly ran over and brought back the camel's corpse
while Third Tiger led their horses over to Muzhuolun.
"It was wrong of us to kill your camel," he said. "We give these four
horses to you in compensation." Muzhuolun declined the offer with
thanks.
The envoy was extremely embarrassed by this turn of events. "Let's go!"
he shouted to the Four Tigers and leapt onto his horse. He turned to
Princess Fragrance.
"Do you really dare to go?" he asked.
"What is there to be scared of?" she replied. She walked over to
Muzhuolun. "Father, write out a reply and I will deliver it for you."
Muzhuolun hesitated. If she didn't go, the whole tribe would lose face,
but if he let her go, he would worry endlessly. He motioned Chen over,
and led him by the hand into the tent with Huo Qingtong and her sister
following behind. Once inside, Muzhuolun immediately hugged him.
"Great Helmsman," he said. "What fortuitous wind is it that has blown
you here?"
"I was on my way to the Tianshan Mountains on personal business and
heard some important news which I wanted to pass on to you. By
coincidence, I met your daughter, who brought me here." Princess
Fragrance was dumb-struck at hearing her father call Chen 'Great
Helmsman', and seeing the shocked expression on her face, Chen said:
"There is something I must apologise for. I did not tell you that I am
Chinese."
"Great Helmsman Chen is a good friend of our tribe," Muzhuolun added.
"He recovered our sacred Koran for us. He has saved your sister's life
and recently intercepted the Manchu army's rations which slowed their
advance and gave us time to collect our forces. The favours he has
rendered us are truly uncountable." Chen modestly declined the
compliments.
"I don't blame you at all," the Princess said with a smile. "I'm sure
you didn't tell me who you were because you did not want to bring up
all the things you have done for us."
"That Manchu envoy was unforgivably arrogant," said Muzhuolun. "It was
fortunate that you intervened, Great Helmsman. You certainly deflated
his pride. He chose my daughter to be our envoy. What do you think we
should do?"
Chen was reluctant to meddle in the affairs of the tribe. "I come from
the interior of China and know nothing of the situation here, sir," he
said. "If you decide that she should go, then I will do my utmost to
protect her. If you feel it would be better for her not to go, then we
will think of some other way to deal with him."
"Father, you and my sister worry everyday about the affairs of the
tribe," Princess Fragrance interrupted. "Making one trip as an envoy is
no big affair. And if I don't go, the Manchus will laugh at us."
"I am just afraid that they will want to harm you, sister," said Huo
Qingtong.
"Every time you go out on the battle field you risk your life, so it is
only right that I should risk my life this once," the Princess replied.
She looked at Chen. "He is so capable, if he goes with me I won't be
the slightest bit afraid, not at all."
Huo Qingtong could see how deep her sister's feelings were for Chen,
and an inexpressible emotion swept through her heart.
"Father," she said. "Let her go."
"All right then, Master Chen, I entrust my young daughter to you." Chen
blushed and Princess Fragrance's eyes, as bright as autumn rain, gazed
up at him. Huo Qingtong looked away.
Muzhuolun wrote out a reply which said simply: "We will fight. Allah
will protect us." Chen nodded his head in approval. Muzhuolun handed
the note to Princess Fragrance, then kissed her cheeks.
"Allah will protect you, sister," said Huo Qingtong. "I hope you come
back soon." The Princess hugged and thanked her. A feast was organised
to entertain the Manchu envoy, after which there was music and dancing
to see off the guests, then the envoy raised his hand and galloped off
with Princess Fragrance and the others following behind. Huo Qingtong
watched the seven figures disappear into the darkness and felt a great
emptiness in her chest as if her heart had disappeared with them into
the infinite desert.
"Your sister is very brave," Muzhuolun said. She nodded, then suddenly
covered her face and ran inside the tent.
** 6 **
They galloped for most of the night, and arrived at the Manchu camp at
dawn. The envoy ushered Princess Fragrance and Chen into a tent to rest
then went off alone to see General Zhao Wei. As he bowed before the
general, he noticed a military official seated beside him wearing the
uniform of a Deputy Commander of the Imperial Bodyguard.
"My report, General," he said. "I delivered the ultimatum and their
reply was perverse. They refuse to surrender and have sent someone to
present you with their answer."
Zhao Wei grunted. "These people are truly ignorant unto death," he
said, and turned to one of his attendants. "Prepare for an audience,"
he ordered. Horns blew and drums rolled and all the senior officers of
the army gathered in the great tent. Then three hundred armoured troops
formed two lines outside and the Muslim envoy was summoned.
Princess Fragrance walked fearlessly in ahead of Chen. The officers
recognized them instantly as the two they had seen the day before
crossing their lines, and all felt surprised. Zhao Wei had planned to
overawe the envoy with a show of military might, and was taken aback
for a moment when a beautiful girl appeared. Princess Fragrance bowed
before the general, then took out her father's note and offered it to
him with both hands.
One of Zhao Wei's bodyguards moved forward to accept the letter. As he
neared her, he was overwhelmed by her sweet fragrance and lowered his
head, not daring to look at her directly. His eyes lighted on her
flawless white hands, and he stood stock still, completely flustered.
"Bring the letter here!" Zhao Wei shouted.
The bodyguard started in fright, then stumbled and almost fell. The
Princess placed the letter in his hands and smiled at him. The
bodyguard gazed at her, oblivious of all else. Only after Princess
pointed at Zhao Wei and gave him a slight push, did he go and place the
letter on the table in front of the general.
Zhao Wei was furious at the sight of his bodyguard so spell-bound.
"Take him out and behead him!" he roared. Several soldiers ran forward
and dragged the bodyguard outside the tent, and a moment later, a
bloody head was brought in on a plate and presented to the general.
"Put it on public display!" Zhao Wei ordered, and the soldiers began to
retire. But the Princess was heart-broken at the sight of such cruelty
and at the thought that the bodyguard had died because of her. She took
the plate from the soldiers and gazed at the head, tears falling one
after another down her cheeks onto the floor.
The officers in the tent were by now completely carried away by the
sight of her, and any one of them would have willingly died for her.
"If she cried before my head, would not death be welcome?" they
thought. Suddenly, the soldier who had performed the execution, greatly
distressed at the sight of her crying, shouted: "I did wrong to kill
him. Don't cry!" He slashed his sword across his own neck and fell to
the ground, dead.
Princess Fragrance became even more upset. Chen was uneasy about the
situation: an envoy should not cry in such a fashion, and he leaned
forward to comfort her.
Zhao Wei was a man of great cruelty and brutality, but even his heart
softened at the sight of her tears. "Bury these two properly," he said
to his attendants. He opened the letter and read it with a grunt.
"Right," he said. "We fight tomorrow. You may leave."
"General," the officer sitting next to him suddenly interrupted. "I
think this girl may be the one the Emperor wants."
Chen's attention had been directed entirely at Princess Fragrance, but
hearing the officer speak, he looked up and saw it was Zhang Zhaozhong.
At the same instant Zhang also recognised Chen, despite his Muslim
disguise.
They stared at each other, amazed at finding the other in such a place.
"Well, Great Helmsman," Zhang said, and laughed coldly. "Fancy meeting
you here."
Chen grabbed Princess Fragrance's hand and turned to leave, but as he
did so, Zhang bounded over and struck out at him with all his might.
Chen picked the Princess up in his left hand, deflected Zhang's blow
with his right and charged out of the tent with Zhang close on his
heels. None of the other officers or soldiers intervened to stop Chen.
All were dazzled by the Princess, and considered this Imperial
Guardsman was interfering in matters that should not concern him.
Chen ran for their horses, and as Zhang closed in, he threw six chess
pieces at him. "I'll keep him busy," he shouted to Princess Fragrance.
"You escape on the horse!"
"No, I'll wait for you to beat him."
Chen had no time to explain, and dumped her on the saddle of the
chestnut horse as Zhang dodged the projectiles and attacked again. Not
daring to face him head on, Chen crouched down underneath the white
horse and punched it in the belly. The horse kicked out with its back
legs in fright, straight at Zhang, who just managed to jump clear.
"Go!" shouted Chen as Zhang grabbed for Princess Fragrance, and her
horse leapt forward just in time. Chen knew he was no match for Zhang
on equal terms, so he drew his dagger and thrust out with it. Zhang
caught his wrist and the two fell to the ground, rolling together,
neither daring to let go of the other.
The officers crowded out of the tent to watch, and the Four Tigers, who
had great respect for Chen and were annoyed at the way he was being
treated, ran over to help him.
Chen's strength was fading as he grappled with Zhang, and when he saw
the four giants running over he thought: "Oh no, this is it." But
instead of attacking him, the four grabbed Zhang and pinned him to the
ground, shouting: "Get away!" All Zhang's skill was not enough to
counter the immense strength of the Four Tigers, and Chen leapt to his
feet, mounted the white horse and galloped off after Princess
Fragrance. Zhang stared after them helplessly as they disappeared into
the distance.
The two horses raced like the wind and were soon beyond the army's
furthest guard posts. Chen's fight with Zhang had been short but
extremely intense, and after riding on for a while, he gradually felt
his control slipping. Princess Fragrance saw he was in difficulty, and
noticed his wrist was covered in black and purple stripes.
"They won't be able to catch us now," she said. "Let's dismount and
rest for a while." Chen fell off his horse, and lay on the ground,
shuddering and gasping. The Princess pulled a container of sheep's milk
from her leather satchel and rubbed some onto his wrist. Chen gradually
recovered, but just as they were getting ready to start out again, they
heard the sound of galloping hooves and saw several dozen soldiers
riding after them. They leapt onto their horses without bothering to
pick up their belongings and sprang forward. A moment later, Chen
noticed a dust cloud rising in front, and cursing their bad luck,
galloped on ahead of the Princess. As they rode closer, he saw that
there were only seven or eight riders in the group ahead, and his
anxiety eased. He reined in his horse and took out his Pearl Strings to
prepare for the riders as they closed in.
Suddenly, one of the riders shouted: "Great Helmsman, how are you?"
Chen looked through the dust and saw it was a hunchback.
"Tenth Brother!" he yelled, overjoyed. "Come here, quick!" As he spoke,
the first arrow from the pursuing Manchu troops flew towards them.
** 7 **
"Enemy soldiers are chasing us," Chen shouted. "Hold them off for a
while!"
"Excellent!" Zhang Jin exclaimed. 'Leopard' Wei galloped up as well and
the two charged at the Manchu horsemen. As Chen watched in surprise,
Wen, Luo Bing, Xu, Zhou Qi, and Yu Yutong galloped passed him with
cries of greeting on their way to engage the Manchu troops. Xin Yan
raced up behind, leapt off his horse and kowtowed before Chen.
"I have arrived, master," he announced, standing up.
Wen and the others quickly killed or dispersed the Manchu troops, but
in the distance they could see a much larger force heading towards
them. They rode back to Chen.
"Which way shall we go?" Wen asked.
Chen looked at the size of the pursuing enemy force and decided it
would be best to try and lead them away from the main Muslim army to
the west.
"South," he said, pointing with his hand. The others complied
automatically. They were all riding good horses, and slowly drew away
from their pursuers as they galloped across the featureless desert
stretching out about them. Chen wondered why General Zhao Wei would
send such a huge force after the two of them, and suddenly recalled
Zhang Zhaozhong's remark: "I think this girl is the one the Emperor
wants." As he considered the significance of this, he noticed another
column of soldiers riding round to head them off from the south. The
heroes reined in their horses, uncertain of what to do.
"We must make some sort of cover quickly, and wait until dark to
escape," said Xu.
"Yes," Chen agreed. "Travelling across the desert in daylight is
impossible." They dismounted and used their weapons and bare hands to
dig a large hole in the sand.
"You go in first, sister," Luo Bing said to Princess Fragrance. But not
understanding Chinese, she simply smiled back and made no move.
The Manchu troops gradually closed in upon them, and Luo Bing grabbed
Princess Fragrance and jumped into the hole with the rest close behind.
Wen and the other heroes had brought bows and arrows with them and they
quickly fired off a volley of arrows, downing a dozen or so soldiers.
As one column of Manchu troops galloped up to the mouth of the hole,
Wen shot an arrow at the commander which hit him in the chest, passed
right through him and flew on for several dozen yards further before
falling to the ground. The other soldiers were so frightened by this
demonstration of power that they turned and fled.
The first attack had been beaten back, but looking round them, the
heroes saw they were completely surrounded.
"This hole is deep enough, but we should start making it bigger," Xu
said. Seven or eight feet below the loose sand was firm earth, and Chen
and the others dug away at the sides, piling the sand up on top as a
defensive wall.
Zhang Jin pointed to the dead Manchu soldiers lying just beyond the
hole. "Let's go and collect their weapons," he suggested to Xin Yan.
The two leapt out of the hole and collected seven or eight bows and a
large batch of arrows from around the corpses.
Only now did Chen have a chance to introduce Princess Fragrance to the
heroes. When they heard that she was Huo Qingtong's sister, they all
welcomed her, but the language barrier made it impossible for them to
talk to her. Chen rested for a while, and gradually his strength
returned. He ordered the other heroes to keep a close watch on the
Manchu forces and told them they would try to break out after
nightfall.
** 8 **
Chen had been surprised to see 'Leopard' Wei, whom he has sent along
with 'Pagoda' Yang to Beijing to discover what the Manchu court was up
to. "What are you doing here, Ninth Brother?" he asked. "And where is
Twelfth Brother?"
Wei jumped down from the edge of the hole to report to the Great
Helmsman.
"Twelfth Brother and I went Beijing as ordered, but for a long time we
discovered nothing," he began. "Then one day, we happened to see that
traitor Zhang Zhaozhong and Master Ma Zhen in the street."
Chen nodded. "So they went to Beijing," he said. "I was wondering how
Zhang managed to escape. Master Ma told us he would take him back to
Wudang mountain."
"Have you seen Zhang recently?" asked Xu, who was listening.
"Just a short while ago. He is very dangerous." Chen told them what had
happened at the Manchu camp.
"Master Ma and Zhang were walking alone talking animatedly, and they
didn't see us," Wei continued. "We suspected they may have joined
forces against us, and carefully followed them to a house in an
alleyway. We waited until after dark, but they didn't come out again,
so we decided to go in to have a look. We two are no match even for
Zhang by himself, let alone he and his martial brother together, so
once over the wall into the courtyard, we lay dead still, not daring to
even breath. After a long time, we heard talking in a room nearby and
went across to investigate. Through a crack in the window, we saw
Master Ma lying on a kang while that traitor Zhang paced back and
forth. The two were arguing. We didn't dare to look for too long and
squatted down to listen. It seems Zhang had insisted he had to go to
Beijing to sort out a few private financial matters before he could go
to Wudang Mountain, and Master Ma had agreed. A few days after they got
there, the Emperor returned to Beijing as well. Zhang said that the
Emperor had ordered him to go to the Muslim regions on important
business."
"What important business?" Chen asked quickly.
"He didn't say exactly, but he apparently had to go and look for
someone." Chen frowned. "Master Ma spoke to him very sternly and told
him he should immediately resign from his official post, but Zhang said
he could not refuse an Imperial edict. If he did, he said, he was
afraid the whole of Wudang Mountain would be stamped flat by the
Emperor's troops. Master Ma told him that the whole country was under
the heel of the Manchus, and that by comparison the destruction of
Wudang Mountain would be nothing to grieve about. The more they argued,
the more adamant they both became. Eventually, Master Ma jumped off the
kang, absolutely furious, and shouted: 'I promised our friends of the
Red Flower Society!' to which Zhang replied: 'Those rebellious bandits.
Why take them seriously?' Then there was a metallic sound as if Master
Ma had drawn his sword. I had a look through the window crack and saw
Master Ma with sword in hand, his face black with rage, as he roared:
'Don't you remember our teacher's last wishes? You ungrateful pupil!
You are truly shameless, becoming a running dog of the Manchu court. I
will fight you to the death.' Zhang appeared to soften. He sighed and
said: 'If that's the way you feel, we'll leave for Wudang Mountain
tomorrow.' Master Ma then resheathed his sword and went to sleep on the
kang while Zhang sat on the chair nearby. He appeared undecided about
something. His body shook slightly. Twelfth Brother and I were worried
he would discover us, and wanted to wait for him to sleep before
leaving. Almost an hour passed, but still he didn't sleep. He got up
several times and then sat down again. Finally, he bit his teeth
together and said softly: 'Brother Ma.' Master Ma was by this time
sleeping very soundly and snoring slightly. Zhang quietly walked over
to the kang..."
Princess Fragrance suddenly let out a scream. She didn't understand
what Wei was saying, but she could feel the dark, sinister tone of his
voice, and was terrified by it. She took hold of Chen's hand and
snuggled up to him. Zhou Qi glanced at her in hatred.
Wei continued. "Zhang went to the kang, then lunged forward and sprang
back again. Master Ma gave a wail of agony and jumped up, blood pouring
from both his eye sockets. Both his eyes had been gouged out by the
dog-hearted traitor."
Absolutely enraged, Chen leapt up and slammed his fist into the side of
the pit sending sand flying in all directions.
"I swear I will kill that traitor," he said through clenched teeth.
Princess Fragrance had never seen him so angry, and she tugged on his
sleeve in fear.
Wei's voice shook as he went on: "Master Ma went silent. His face
looked horrible. He walked slowly towards Zhang, then suddenly kicked
out with his leg. Zhang leapt out of the way, and Master Ma's foot
slammed into the kang. Zhang looked a little shaken, and tried to get
out, but Master Ma made it to the door first and stood straining his
ears to hear Zhang's movements. Zhang suddenly laughed, and Master Ma
kicked out with his left leg in the direction of the sound. But Zhang
stuck his sword out in front of him and Ma's leg hit the blade and was
cut clean off." Zhou Qi ground her teeth and stabbed the walls of the
pit with her sword.
"By this time, Twelth Brother and I could stand it no longer. We burst
through the window into the room and fought with Zhang for only a
second before he escaped, probably scared that we were not alone. We
chased after him, but Twelfth Brother was hit by his golden needles,
and I had to help him back into the house. I tried to stop Master Ma's
bleeding, but he died after saying only a few words.
"What did he say?" asked Chen. A cold wind suddenly blew down on them
and they all shivered.
"He said 'Tell Brother Lu and Yu Yutong to avenge my death!' Just then,
some people outside who had heard the fighting started shouting, so I
helped Twelfth Brother out and we returned to our lodgings. The next
day, I went back to have a look and saw Master Ma's body had already
been taken away. Twelfth Brother had been hit by five golden needles,
but I extracted them for him and he's now convalescing in Twin Willows
Lane in Beijing.
"Zhang said the Emperor wanted him to come to the Northwest to look for
someone, and I thought perhaps it could be your teacher, Great
Helmsman. I remember you said once that there were two important items
relating to the Emperor being kept by your teacher, Master Yuan. So I
came out with the others to warn him."
"How is Twelfth Brother?" Chen asked.
"His wounds are serious, but luckily not fatal," Wei replied.
By now, the cold wind was blowing hard, and thick, leaden clouds were
gathering above them.
"It's going to snow soon," Princess Fragrance said, and moved even
closer to Chen.
Zhou Qi could control herself no longer. "What did she say?" she
demanded.
Chen was surprised by her outraged tone. "She said it's going to snow."
"Huh! How would she know?" She paused for a moment, then suddenly
added: "Great Helmsman, just who it is that you love? Sister Huo
Qingtong is a nice girl and I won't allow her to be cheated."
"Mistress Huo Qingtong is indeed a nice person and we all have a great
deal of respect for her...." Chen began.
"Then why did you cast her aside as soon as you met her beautiful
sister?" Zhou Qi interrupted.
Chen blushed, and Luo Bing came to his rescue. "The Great Helmsman,
like the rest of us, has only met Sister Huo Qingtong once. She is just
an ordinary friend. You can't start talking about whether he loves her
or not."
"What are you supporting him for?" Zhou Qi demanded, even more
agitated. "She gave him an antique dagger, and the way the Great
Helmsman looked at her, it was plainly a case of love at first
sight....."
Princess Fragrance listened to them talking excitedly and looked on
with her big round eyes, full of curiosity.
"Mistress Huo Qingtong already had a suitor before she met me," Chen
said. "Even if I had such an intention, what would be the point of
unnecessarily making things difficult for myself?"
Zhou Qi stared at him in surprise. "Is that true?"
"Why would I deceive you?"
"Well, that's all right, then," she said, immediately changing her
tone. "You are a good man. I was wrong to accuse you. I'm sorry." The
others laughed at her frankness. Zhou Qi took Princess Fragrance's hand
and squeezed it. Suddenly, they felt a wave of coldness on their faces
and looked up to see snow flakes as big as goose feathers floating down
towards them.
"You were right," she said. "It's snowing!"
"If we don't get reinforcements to rescue us, we are going to die
here," said Luo Bing.
"Master Muzhuolun will certainly send out scouts to look for his
daughter and the Great Helmsman when they fail to return," Xu replied.
"I`m sure they have," Chen said. "But we have come so far south, I'm
afraid they may have difficulty finding us."
"Well then, we will have to send someone out to get help."
"I'll go!" volunteered Xin Yan.
Chen thought for a moment and then nodded. He asked Princess Fragrance
to write a note to her father, and Xin Yan took a writing brush and
some ink from his knapsack and gave them to her.
"Take Sister Luo Bing's white horse," Chen said to Xin Yan. "We will
make a diversionary attack to the east, and you can make a break for it
to the west." He then gave him directions to the Muslim camp. On the
signal, the heroes leapt out of the pit and charged eastwards with
shouts and battle cries leaving only Zhou Qi and Princess Fragrance
behind. Xin Yan led the white horse out of the hole, jumped onto its
back and galloped off westwards. The Manchu troops loosed off a few
arrows but none came even close to hitting him. Once the heroes were
sure Xin Yan had escaped, they retreated back to the pit.
By this time, the snow was falling heavily and the ground about them
had been transformed into a vast white carpet. They settled down for
the night, but all slept badly except for Princess Fragrance was still
fast asleep when dawn broke. Her hair and shoulders were covered with
snow which shuddered slightly as she breathed. Luo Bing laughed gently.
"This child is not the least bit concerned," she said.
Time dragged by and Xu frowned deeply. "Why is there still no sign of a
rescue attempt?" he asked slowly.
"Could Xin Yan have met some trouble on the road?" said Wen.
"What I'm worried about is something else," replied Xu.
"What is it?" Zhou Qi demanded. "Stop mumbling and get on with it."
"Great Helmsman, who makes the decisions in the Muslim camp?" Xu asked.
"Master Muzhuolun or Mistress Huo Qingtong?"
"Both, apparently. Master Muzhuolun discusses everything with his
daughter."
"If Huo Qingtong refused to send out soldiers, then... things would be
difficult," Xu continued. The others saw what he was getting at.
"How could you say such a thing about Sister Huo Qingtong?" Zhou Qi
demanded, jumping up. "Doesn't she already have a suitor? And even if
she was jealous of her sister, would she refuse to save the man she
loved?"
"When women become jealous, they are capable of anything," answered Xu.
Zhou Qi began shouting angrily, and Princess Fragrance woke with a
start. The heroes had only met Huo Qingtong once and although she
seemed nice, they knew very little about her. Xu's words seemed not
unreasonable.
** 9 **
After breaking out of the ring, Xin Yan followed the route Chen had
indicated, galloped to the Muslim camp and presented the letter to
Muzhuolun. The old man had been frantic with worry, and jumped up
joyfully as he read his daughter's note.
"Call the troops together!" he ordered.
"How many Manchu troops were there surrounding you?" Huo Qingtong asked
Xin Yan.
"Four or five thousand altogether."
Huo Qingtong bit her lip and paced from one side of the tent to the
other, deep in thought. Horns sounded outside as the soldiers began to
gather, and Muzhuolun was just about to go out to join them when Huo
Qingtong suddenly turned to him.
"Father, we can't go," she said.
Muzhuolun looked at her in astonishment, uncertain if he had heard
correctly. "What....what did you say?"
"I said we can't go."
He was about to fly into a rage, but then remembered how clear-thinking
and intelligent his daughter usually was. "Why?" he asked.
"Zhao Wei is a very capable general. He would not dispatch four or five
thousand troops just to capture our two envoys. It must be a trap."
"Even if it is a trap, how can we stand by and let the Manchus kill
your sister and our Red Flower Society friends?"
Huo Qingtong hung her head and said nothing. "I am afraid that if we
go, we will not only fail to rescue them, but will sacrifice several
thousand more lives as well." she said finally.
Muzhuolun slapped his thigh in exasperation. "But she is your own flesh
and blood!" he cried. "And we owe Master Chen and the others a great
debt. Even if we died trying to save them, what would it matter?
You....you...." He was both angry and hurt by his daughter's
ungratefulness.
"Father, listen to me. It may be possible to save them and win a great
victory as well."
Muzhuolun's expression changed immediately. "Well, why didn't you say
so earlier, child?" he said. "How can we do it? I will do whatever you
say."
"Father, are you truly willing to do whatever I say?"
"I was talking nonsense a moment ago. Don't pay any attention. How
should we proceed? Tell me quickly!"
"Well, give me the Command Arrow. I will command this battle."
Muzhuolun hesitated for a second then handed it to her. Huo Qingtong
knelt to receive it, then prostrated herself on the ground, praying to
Allah.
"Father," she said when she stood up. "You and Brother must follow my
orders."
"If you can save them and beat the Manchus, I will do anything," he
replied.
"All right, then it is settled." She walked out of the tent with her
father and over to the troops, already waiting in ranks with their
commanders.
"Brothers!" Muzhuolun called out to them. "Today, we will fight the
Manchus to the death. The battle will be commanded by Mistress Huo
Qingtong."
The soldiers raised their sabres and roared: "May the True God protect
her and lead us to victory!"
"Right," said Huo Qingtong flourishing her Command Arrow. "Everyone
return to their tents to rest." The commanders led their troops away.
Muzhuolun was too stunned to speak.
They went back inside the tent and Xin Yan prostrated himself before
Huo Qingtong and kowtowed frantically.
"Mistress, if you don't send troops to save them, my master will surely
die," he pleaded.
"Get up. I didn't say I wouldn't save them."
"There are only nine of them, of whom your sister does not know kung
fu," he cried. "But the enemy is numbered in thousands. If we delay
even for a moment, they will be, they will be..."
"Have the Manchu armoured troops charged them yet?" Huo Qingtong
interrupted him.
"Not when I had left, but I'm afraid they will have done so by now."
Huo Qingtong frowned silently. Xin Yan cried even more mournfully and
Muzhuolun paced about the tent, uncertain of what to do.
"Father, have you ever seen a wolf trap? A piece of mutton is fastened
to a metal hook, the wolf bites on it and pulls and the trap snaps
shut. Zhao Wei sees us as the wolf and my sister as the mutton. No
matter how brave the Red Flower Society fighters are, they could not
stop four or five thousand determined soldiers. That means that Zhao
Wei has purposely decided not to order an attack." Muzhuolun nodded.
"The Manchus let this young man out on purpose to get us to send a
rescue force. Otherwise how could he have made it alone through so many
troops?"
"Well, let us attack Zhao Wei's forces from the side and catch them
unawares," he replied.
"They have more than forty thousand troops while we only have fifteen
thousand," she pointed out. "In a pitched battle we would certainly
lose."
"So from what you say, your sister and the others are bound to die,"
Muzhuolun exclaimed. "I cannot bear to lose your sister, and I refuse
to leave our friends in danger. I will take five hundred men with me.
If we can rescue them, it will be because of Allah's help. If we
cannot, then we will die with them."
Huo Qingtong said nothing.
Xin Yan began frantically kowtowing before her once more, his forehead
striking the ground heavily. "If our master has done anything to offend
you mistress, please forgive him," he cried.
Huo Qingtong realised he suspected her motives. "Don't talk such
nonsense," she said angrily.
Xin Yan looked startled for a second, then jumped up. "If you are
determined to be so cruel, I will go and die with my master," he said.
He ran out of the tent, leapt on the white horse and galloped away.
"We must go and help them!" Muzhuolun pleaded.
"Father, the Chinese have a saying that it is better to rely on a good
plan than on bravery. We are out-numbered, so we must make use of
surprise if we are to gain victory. We must beat Zhao Wei's trap with a
trap of our own."
"Really?" said Muzhuolun, only half believing her.
"Father!" she exclaimed, her voice shaking. "Don't say that you suspect
me too?"
Muzhuolun saw the tears brimming in her eyes and his heart softened.
"All right," he said. "We will do as you say. Now send out the troops
immediately."
Huo Qingtong thought for a moment, then said to an attendant: "Strike
up the drums." The drums rolled and the commanders of each of the
military units entered the tent. By now, the snow was falling thickly
outside the tent and was already several inches thick on the ground.
Huo Qingtong flourished the Command Arrow and announced: "The first
unit of the Green Flag Brigade will go to the western side of the Great
Gobi Quagmire, and the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth units of
the Green Flag will gather together the local herdsmen and farmers
around the other sides." She gave the commanders their orders and the
units departed one by one. Muzhuolun was unhappy that some of their
best troops had been sent off to do construction work rather than being
sent to the rescue.
"The first, second and third units of the White Flag Brigade will go to
Yarkand City and to the Black River, and will make various preparations
as I will indicate," Huo Qingtong continued. "The first unit of the
Black Flag and the Kazakh unit will go up into the hills along the
Black River. The Mongol unit will station itself on Yingqipan
Mountain." She gave each commander his individual orders, after which
they bowed and left.
"Father, you will command the forces to the east. Brother, you will
command the forces to the west, I myself will command the second unit
of the Black Flag Brigade and coordinate things from the centre. The
general campaign plan is like this..." She was just about to explain in
detail when Muzhuolun stopped her.
"Who is going to rescue your sister and the others?" he demanded.
"The third unit of the Black Flag will ride in from the east to save
them. The fourth unit of the Black Flag will do the same from the west.
When you meet Manchu troops you must do as I indicate in these orders."
She quickly wrote out two notes and handed them to the commanders.
"Your units must have the best mounts available," she added. The two
Black Flag unit commanders bowed and retired.
"You have sent thirteen thousand of our best soldiers off to do
unimportant work and two thousand young boys and old men to effect a
rescue. What is the meaning of this?" Muzhuolun demanded.
"My plan is to...." Huo Qingtong began, but Muzhuolun angrily cut her
off.
"I don't believe you any more! You love Master Chen, but he loves your
sister, so you intend to let both of them die. You.... you're
heartless!"
Huo Qingtong almost fainted from shock. Muzhuolun stared at her for a
second, then stormed out of the tent shouting: "I will go and die with
your sister!" He leapt onto his horse and galloped away into the
desert, brandishing his sabre.
Her brother saw how distressed she was and tried to comfort her.
"Father is very confused," he said. "He didn't know what he was saying.
Don't worry."
** 10 **
Xin Yan rode back to where Chen and the others were waiting, crying all
the way. The beseiging Manchu forces did little to stop him as he
passed, loosing off a dozen or so arrows as a matter of form only. He
jumped off the white horse, led it onto the pit then sat down and began
sobbing loudly.
"Don't cry, what's the matter?" Zhou Qi asked.
Xu sighed. "Is there any need to ask? Huo Qingtong refuses to send
troops to rescue us."
"I kowtowed before her...I pleaded..." Xin Yan sobbed. The others were
silent.
Princess Fragrance asked Chen why he was crying. Not wishing to hurt
her, he said: "He couldn't break through to get help." The Princess
took out her handkerchief and gave it to him.
The morning of the third day dawned with the snow still falling heavily
and the Manchu forces showing no signs of attacking. Xu was greatly
puzzled. He turned to Xin Yan and said: "What questions did Mistress
Huo Qingtong ask you?"
"She asked how may Manchu troops were surrounding us and whether the
armoured units had attacked yet."
Xu was excited. "We're saved! We're saved!" he exclaimed happily. The
others stared at him uncomprehendingly.
"I was stupid to have doubted Mistress Huo Qingtong," he said. "Truly
small-minded. She is much, much wiser than I."
"What?" asked Zhou Qi.
"If the Manchu armoured cavalry attacked us, would we stand a chance?"
"Hmm," Zhou Qi replied. "Yes, it's strange."
"And even if they didn't have armoured cavalry, if so many thousands of
soldiers charged at once, could the eight of us hold them off? We would
be trampled to mincemeat." The others agreed the Manchus had been
remarkably restrained.
Chen suddenly understood. "Yes, that's it!" he cried. "They have held
back on purpose in the hope of luring the Muslim forces in to try and
rescue us. But Mistress Huo Qingtong has guessed it and refused to be
tricked."
"Whether she's tricked or not, we're still finished," commented Zhang
Jin.
"No, we're not," Chen replied. "She is certain to think of a way out."
Their spirits were suddenly revived, and leaving two of the heroes to
keep guard, the others settled down to rest at the bottom of the pit.
PARTSEVEN 返回目录
The Book and The Sword
Copyright Graham Earnshaw 1995
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PART SEVEN
** 1 **
Many hours later, they heard shouting in the distance. The sound of
galloping hooves and clashing swords increased in volume until they
heard a man near the pit shout: "Daughter! Master Chen! Where are you?"
"Father! Father! We're here!" Princess Fragrance called.
The heroes leapt out of the pit and saw Muzhuolun, sabre in hand,
galloping towards them with a ragged bunch of Muslim soldiers behind,
fighting bravely. Princess Fragrance ran to him crying "Father! Father!
"
Muzhuolun took her in his arms. "Don't be afraid," he said soothingly.
"I have come to save you."
Xu jumped onto the back of a horse to get a better view of the
situation. He saw a great cloud of dust rising to the east and knew the
Manchu armoured cavalry were coming.
"Master Muzhuolun!" he called. "Let's retreat to that high ground to
the west!" Muzhuolun immediately ordered his troops to comply. They
started out from the pit with the Manchus close behind, and as they
reached the hill, saw another force of Manchu troops moving in from the
west.
"Huo Qingtong was right," Muzhuolun thought glumly. "I should not have
accused her like that. She must be feeling very bad."
They threw up temporary defences on the hilltop and settled down to
wait for an opportunity to escape. With the Muslims firmly established
on high ground, the Manchus did not dare, for the moment, to attack.
** 2 **
Huo Qingtong stationed her unit about four miles away from the enemy
forces. At noon, the unit commanders came to report. She told the
commander of the Green Flag's second unit: "Go with five hundred troops
and take up positions along the southern bank of the Black River. The
Manchu troops are not allowed to cross the river. If they attack, do
not engage them head on, but rather delay them as long as possible."
The commander bowed and retired.
She then turned to the commander of the White Flag's first unit. "I
want you to lure the Manchu forces westwards. If your troops clash with
the enemy, they are not allowed to win the engagement, but must
continue to flee into the desert, the further the better. Take our four
thousand head of cattle and goats with you and leave them along the
road for them to seize."
"Why should we give them our livestock? I won't do it!"
Huo Qingtong's lips tightened. "Do you refuse to follow my orders?" she
asked quietly.
The commander brandished his sabre. "If you tell me to win a battle. I
will follow your orders. If you tell me to lose a battle, I would
rather die then comply!"
"Seize him!" Huo Qingtong commanded. Four guards ran forward and
grabbed the commander's arms. "The Manchu forces are oppressing us and
to beat them, we must work together with one heart. Will you or will
you not follow my orders?"
"No! What are you going to do about it?"
"Execute him!" she commanded, and the officer's face turned pale. The
guards pushed him out of the tent and sliced off his head with one
sword stroke as the other commanders quivered with fear.
Huo Qingtong promoted the assistant commander to take the dead
officer's place and told him to retreat westwards before the Manchu
forces until he saw smoke rising from the east, then to return as
quickly as possible, avoiding battle with the Manchus. She ordered the
other units to gather beside the Great Quagmire to the east.
Her work complete, she mounted her horse and drew her sword. "The first
and second units of the Black Flag, follow me," she shouted.
** 3 **
Muzhuolun, Chen and the others were trapped on the hill. The Manchu
troops had attacked twice, but had been beaten back. The hill was
surrounded by piles of corpses. Losses on both sides had been heavy.
Sometime after noon, there was a movement in the Manchu lines, and a
column of mounted Muslim soldiers charged through towards them. Amidst
the flying snow flakes, they spotted Huo Qingtong at its head.
"Charge!" shouted Muzhuolun, and led his men down the hill to meet her.
Princess Fragrance galloped over to her sister and embraced her.
Huo Qingtong took her hand and shouted: "Commander of the Black Flag
Third Unit: lead your men west until you meet up with the first unit of
the White Flag and follow the orders of its commander."
The officer and his troops galloped off, and a column of Manchu cavalry
broke from the main force and chased after them.
"Excellent!" exclaimed Huo Qingtong. "Commander of the Black Flag First
Unit: retreat with your men towards Yarkand and follow the orders of my
brother. Commander of the Second Unit, you retreat towards the Black
River." The two units broke out of the encirclement, and disappeared
into the distance pursued by two more columns of Manchu cavalry.
"Everyone else head eastwards!" Huo Qingtong ordered, and the remaining
Muslim soldiers along with the Red Flower Society fighters galloped
through the circle of Manchu troops and away.
The Manchu cavalry, under the command of Zhao Wei closed in on the
fleeing Muslims and cut off several hundred of them. All were
slaughtered. Zhao Wei was delighted. He pointed to the huge Crescent
Moon banner near Huo Qingtong and shouted: "Whoever seizes that banner
gets a reward!" The cavalrymen surged forward, galloping madly across
the desert.
The Muslims were riding good horses and the Manchu cavalry had
difficulty keeping up with them. But after ten or fifteen miles, some
of the Muslim fighters began to fall behind and were killed by the
Manchu troops. Zhao Wei saw they were all either old men or boys, and
exclaimed: "Their leader has no crack troops with him. After them!"
They galloped on for another two or three miles and saw the Muslim
force dispersing, apparently in confusion. Fluttering on the top of a
large sand dune ahead was the crescent banner.
Zhao Wei flourished his sword and led the charge towards the dune with
his bodyguards behind. But as he reached the top and looked out beyond,
he was almost frightened out of his wits. To the north and south, were
rank after orderly rank of Muslim warriors, waiting silently. The
Manchu force had originally been several times larger than the Muslim
force, but so many units had been sent out in pursuit of the breakaway
Muslim columns that only ten thousand armoured cavalry now faced the
concentrated might of the Muslim army. Two more Muslim columns appeared
behind them, and with enemy troops to the north, south and west, Zhao
Wei shouted: "Everyone forward! Eastwards!" The Manchu forces surged
forward as the Muslim fighters gradually closed in on them.
Suddenly, there was a chorus of cries from the cavalry unit in the
lead. A soldier rode up to Zhao Wei and said: "General! We're finished!
There's quicksand ahead!" He could see a thousand cavalrymen and their
horses already flailing about as they sank into the soft mud.
Chen and the others stood on a sand dune and watched as the Manchu
troops fell into the quagmire. The soldiers behind tried to escape, but
the Muslims pressed relentlessly in, forcing them into the mud. The air
was filled with the screams of the hapless Manchu soldiers, but the mud
crept up their legs, and when it reached their mouths, the noise
ceased. The dwindling numbers of Manchu troops fought desperately, but
in less than an hour, the whole army had been forced into the quagmire.
Only Zhao Wei and a hundred or so guards managed to escape after
carving a path of blood through the Muslim ranks.
"Everyone head westwards and gather on the south bank of the Black
River," Huo Qingtong ordered. The entire force of more than ten
thousand troops galloped off.
As they rode, Chen and Muzhuolun discussed what had happened since they
parted. Muzhuolun's heart was uneasy. He loved his two daughters more
than anything in the world, and they had both fallen in love with the
same Chinese man. According to Islamic law, a man could marry four
wives, but Chen was not a believer, and he had heard that Chinese had
only one wife while the second and subsequent women were not considered
real wives. He wondered how the matter could be resolved. "Wait until
the Manchus have been beaten," he thought. "One daughter is wise and
the other kind. A way will be found."
The great Muslim column arrived at the south bank of the Black River
towards evening. A soldier galloped up and breathlessly reported: "The
Manchus are attacking hard. The commander of the Green Flag Second Unit
is dead, and the commander of the Black Flag Second Unit is badly
wounded. Losses are heavy."
"Tell the deputy commander of the Green Flag second unit to take over.
He is not to retreat one step," Huo Qingtong ordered. The soldier
galloped off again.
"Let's go and reinforce them!" Muzhuolun suggested.
"No!" she replied and turned to her personal guards. "The whole army
will rest here. No one is allowed to light a fire or make a sound.
Everyone will eat dry rations." The order was transmitted, and the
soldiers settled down silently in the darkness. Far off, they could
hear the waters of the Black River and the cries and shouts of Manchu
and Muslim fighters.
Another soldier galloped frantically up. "The Green Flag Second Unit's
deputy commander has also been killed," he reported. "We can't hold
them back much longer!"
Huo Qingtong turned to the commmander of the Green Flag Third Unit. "Go
and reinforce them," she said. "You will be in command." He raised his
sabre in salute and led his unit away. Soon after, the sound of battle
rose to a roar.
"The Green Flag units will lie in ambush behind the sand dunes to the
east. The White Flag and Mongol units will lie in ambush to the west,"
Huo Qingtong ordered. "The rest, come with me."
She rode off towards the Black River, and as they approached it, the
metallic ring of weapons clashing became deafening. In the torchlight,
they saw the Muslim fighters bravely defending the wooden bridge across
the river in the face of ferocious assaults by the best Manchu cavalry.
"Give way!" Huo Qingtong shouted, and the fighters on the bridge
retreated, leaving a gap through which several thousand Manchu mounted
troops swarmed like bees. When about half of the Manchu troops had
crossed, she shouted: "Pull away the bridge!"
The Muslims had earlier loosened the beams of the bridge and used long
ropes to tie them to horses on the river bank below. The horses
strained forward, a series of loud cracks rent the air, and the bridge
collapsed, throwing hundreds of Manchu soldiers into the river. The
Manchu army was thus cut in two by the river, with neither side able to
assist the other.
At the order from Huo Qingtong, the mass of the Muslim army, hiding
behind the sand dunes, emerged and overwhelmed the Manchu troops on the
near bank. In a short time, they were all dead, and the Manchu force on
the other side of the river were so frightened by the sight of the
slaughter that they turned and fled towards Yarkand city.
"Across the river and after them!" shouted Huo Qingtong. A make-shift
bridge was swiftly constructed with the remains of the former structure
and the Muslim army charged off towards Yarkand.
The citizens of Yarkand had long since evacuated their city. Huo
Qingtong's brother, on her instructions, had resisted perfunctorily
when the Manchus attacked, then led his troops in retreat from the
city. Soon after, the Manchu forces fleeing from the banks of the Black
River arrived along with General Zhao Wei and his hundred-odd battered
bodyguards. The walled city was now full of Manchu soldiers.
Just as Zhao Wei was about to go to bed, he received a report that
several hundred troops who had drank water from wells in the city had
died of poisoning. He sent a unit to collect some uncontaminated water
from outside. Then the sky turned red. All over the city, fires were
lit by a small number of Muslim soldiers left behind, and the city
turned into a huge oven.
Under the protection of his bodyguard, Zhao Wei fought his way through
the flames and smoke towards the west gate as the rest of the Manchu
soldiers trampled each other in their haste to escape. The bodyguards
slashed at them with their swords, forcing them to make way for their
general. But when they got to the west gate, they found it had been
blocked by the Muslims. The fires were burning even more ferociously,
and the streets were filled with frenzied mobs of soldiers and horses.
Through the confusion, a small group of riders appeared shouting:
"Where is the General?"
"Here!" Zhao Wei's bodyguards shouted back.
"There are fewer enemy troops at the east gate," replied one of the
riders. "We can force our way out there."
Even in such danger, Zhao Wei remained calm and led his troops in the
attack on the east gate. The Muslims fired wave after wave of arrows at
them, and several attempts to break out failed with heavy losses. But
at the critical moment, Zhang Zhaozhong led a troop of Manchu soldiers
in an attack from outside the city and managed to snatch Zhao Wei away
to safety.
Many thousands of Manchu soldiers had already been burned to death, and
the stench was sickening. The whole city was filled with cries and
screams. Huo Qingtong and the others watched from a piece of high
ground.
"It's terrible! Terrible!" cried Muzhuolun. Huo Qingtong sent more
troops down to help blockade the east gate of the city. With Zhao Wei
gone, the Manchu soldiers left inside were leaderless. They raced
frantically about, but with the four gates blocked by the Muslims, they
all died in the monster furnace.
"Light the signal fires!" Huo Qingtong ordered, and piles of wolf
droppings that had been prepared were put to the torch, sending a huge
column of black smoke up to the heavens. (The smoke from burning wolf's
dropping is the thickest and blackest of all.) A short while later, a
similar column of smoke arose five or so miles to the west.
The Muslims had won three victories and wiped out more than thirty
thousand of the best Manchu troops. The warriors embraced each other
and sang and danced around the Yarkand city wall.
Huo Qingtong called her officers together. "We will camp out here
tonight," she said. "Each man must start ten fires and must spread them
out as much as possible."
** 4 **
More than ten thousand Manchu cavalry chased westwards after the Third
Unit of the Muslim's Black Flag Brigade. The Muslims were riding the
best horses, but the commander of the Manchu troops was under orders
from General Zhao Wei to catch the Muslim force, and he urged his men
on mercilessly. The two armies charged across the desert, the roar of
horses's hooves sounding like thunder. After a few dozen miles, a herd
of several thousand cattle and sheep suddenly appeared in the path of
the Manchu army and the soldiers chased after them shouting for joy,
and killed as many as they could for food. Their pace slowed. The
Muslims, meanwhile, galloped on, never once being forced to clash with
the pursuing Manchu troops. Close to evening, they saw a pall of thick
smoke rising from the east.
"Mistress Huo Qingtong has won!" The Muslim commander shouted. "Turn
back east!" The warriors' spirits soared and they reined their horses
round. Seeing them turning, the Manchu troops were perplexed and
charged forward to attack, but the Muslims swung round them at a
distance, the Manchus following.
The Muslim units galloped through the night, the Manchus always in
sight. The Manchu commander wanted to gain great merit for himself, and
many of his cavalry horses died of exhaustion. Towards midnight, they
came across General Zhao Wei riding in front of about three thousand
wounded. Zhao Wei's hope rose slightly as he saw the Manchu column
approach.
"After their success, the enemy will be in a state of unpreparedness,"
he thought. "So if we attack now, we will be able to turn defeat into
victory." He ordered the troops to advance towards the Black River, and
after ten miles or so, scouts reported that the Muslim army was camped
ahead. Zhao Wei led his commanders onto a rise to view the scene and a
chill shook each of them to the bottom of their hearts.
The entire plain was covered in camp fires, stretching seemingly
endlessly before them. They heard from far off the shouts of men and
the neighing of horses, and they wondered how many warriors the Muslims
had mustered. Zhao Wei was silent.
"With such a huge army against us, no wonder...no wonder we have
encountered some set-backs," one of the senior military officials,
Commander Herda, said.
Zhao Wei turned to the others. "All units are to mount up and retreat
south," he ordered. "No-one is to make a sound."
The order was received badly by the troops who had hoped to stop at
least long enough for a meal.
"According to the guides, the road south passes the foot of Yingqipan
Mountain and is very dangerous after heavy snows," Herda pointed out.
"The enemy's forces are so powerful, we have no choice but to head
southeast and try to meet up with General Fu De," Zhao Wei replied.
The remnants of the great army headed south, and found the road
becoming more and more treacherous as they went. To the left was the
Black River, to the right, the Yingqipan Mountain. The night sky was
cloudy and ink-black, and the only light was a faint glow reflecting
off the snow further up the mountain slope.
Zhao Wei issued a further order: "Whoever makes a sound will be
immediately executed." Most of the soldiers came from Northeast China
and knew that any noise could shake loose the heavy snow above them and
cause an avalanche that would kill them all. They all dismounted and
led their horses along with extreme care, many walking on tip-toe.
Three or four miles further on, the road became very steep, but as luck
would have it, the sky was by now growing light. The Manchu troops had
been fighting and running for a whole day and a night, and there was a
deathly expression on the face of each one.
Suddenly, there was a shout from a scout and several hundred Muslim
warriors appeared on the road ahead standing behind a number of
primitive cannons. Scared out of their wits, the Manchu troops were
thrown into confusion and many turned and fled just as the cannons went
off with a roar, spraying iron shards and nails into them, instantly
killing more than two hundred.
As the boom of the cannon faded, Zhao Wei heard a faint rustling noise,
and felt a coldness on his neck as a small amount of snow fell inside
his collar. He looked up the mountain side and saw the snow fields
above them slowly beginning to move.
"General!" Herda shouted. "We must escape!"
Zhao Wei reined his horse round and started galloping back the way they
had come. His bodyguards slashed and hacked at the soldiers in their
path, frantically pushing them off the road into the river below as the
rumble of the approaching snow avalanche grew louder and louder.
Suddenly, tons of snow intermingled with rocks and mud surged down onto
the road with a deafening roar that shook the heavens.
Zhao Wei, with Herda on one side and Zhang Zhaozhong on the other,
escaped the catastrophe. They galloped on for more than a mile before
daring to stop. When they did look back, they saw the several thousand
troops had been buried by snow drifts more than a hundred feet thick.
The road ahead was also covered in deep snow. Surrounded by such danger
and having lost an entire army of forty thousand men in one day, Zhao
Wei burst into tears.
"General, let us go up the mountain slope," said Zhang. He picked up
Zhao Wei and raced off up the slope with Herda following along behind.
Huo Qingtong, watching from a distant crest, shouted: "Someone's trying
to escape! Catch them quickly!" Several dozen Muslims ran off to
intercept them. When they saw the three were wearing the uniforms of
officials, they rubbed their hands in delight, determined to catch them
alive. Zhang silently increased his pace. Despite the weight of Zhao
Wei, he seemed to fly across the treacherously slippery slope. Herda
could not keep up with him and was cut off by the Muslims and captured
after a spirited fight. Apart from Zhao Wei and Zhang, only a few dozen
of the Manchu troops survived the avalanche.
Huo Qingtong led the Muslim warriors back to their camp, along with the
prisoners. By now, the Muslims had taken the main Manchu camp, thereby
acquiring huge supplies of food and weapons. The Four Tigers were among
those taken prisoner after being found bound and gagged inside a tent.
Chen asked them why they had been put there, and the eldest of the four
giants replied: "Because we helped you. General Zhao said he would have
us killed after the battle." Chen pleaded before Huo Qingtong to allow
the four to go free, and she agreed.
** 5 **
Mournful dirges played as the Muslims dug deep trenches and buried the
bodies of the fallen warriors upright and facing west. Puzzled, Chen
asked one of the nearby soldiers why the dead were buried in this way.
"Because we believe in Islam," the soldier replied. "If the body is
buried upright, then the spirit will ascend to the heavenly kingdom.
They face west because that is the direction of sacred Mecca."
When the burials were finished, Muzhuolun led the entire army in prayer
to thank Allah for helping them achieve such a great victory. Then a
great cheer went up from the ranks and the commanders of all the units
went before Huo Qingtong and presented their sabres to her in respect.
"Inflicting such a crushing defeat on the Manchus also does us a great
service," 'Leopard' Wei remarked to Xu, but Xu was deep in thought.
"The Emperor made a pact with us, yet he didn't withdraw his forces,"
he said. "Could it be that he intentionally sent his troops into the
desert to be destroyed?"
"I have no faith in this Emperor," said Wen. "How could he know
Mistress Huo Qingtong would win so decisively? What's more, I doubt if
he sent Zhang Zhaozhong out here for any good purpose."
As the heroes talked, they noticed Chen gazing at Huo Qingtong in
concern. She was seated to one side, her face as white as a sheet, with
a wild look in her eyes. Luo Bing went over to talk to her and as Huo
Qingtong stood up to greet her, she swayed unsteadily. Luo Bing caught
hold of her.
"Sister, what's wrong?" she asked. Huo Qingtong said nothing, but
fought to control her breathing. Princess Fragrance, Muzhuolun, Chen
and the others ran over. Princess Fragrance led her into a tent and
laid her down on a carpet.
Muzhuolun knew his daughter was exhausted after the battle which she
had both directed and taken part in alongside the other warriors. She
had also had to bear the suspicions of her own commanders. But he was
afraid that the thing affecting her most was the relationship between
Chen and her sister. Unable to think of anything to say to comfort her,
he sighed and left the tent. He went for a walk round the camp, and
from all sides heard nothing but praise for Huo Qingtong's brilliant
strategy.
That night, he slept badly, worrying about his daughter. Early the next
day before the sky was light, he went over to her tent to see how she
was, but found her tent was empty. He hurriedly asked the guard outside
what had happened to her.
"Mistress Huo Qingtong left about two hours ago," the guard replied.
"Where did she go?"
"I don't know, Lord. She told me to give you this letter." Muzhuolun
grabbed it and tore it open. Inside, in Huo Qingtong's delicate hand,
was written:
"Father, the war is now over. All that is necessary is to tighten the
encirclement and the remaining Manchu soldiers will be annhilated in a
few days, (signed) your daughter."
"Which direction did she go?" he asked. The guard pointed east.
Muzhuolun found a horse and galloped off immediately in pursuit. He
rode for an hour into the depths of the flat desert where it was
possible to see several miles in all directions, but found no sign of
any living being. Afraid that she may have changed direction, he
decided the only thing to do was to return to the camp. Half way back,
he met Princess Fragrance, Chen and the other heroes who were all
anxious about her safety. Once back in camp, Muzhuolun sent units out
to the north, south, east and west to search. By evening, three units
had returned without finding anything, while the fourth brought back a
young Chinese youth dressed in black clothes.
'Scholar' Yu stared at the youth in shock: it was Li Yuanzhi dressed as
usual in boy's clothes.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, hurrying up to meet her.
"I came to find you, and happened to run into them," she replied, very
happy to see him again.
Princess Fragrance was frantic with worry about her lost sister. "What
can have happened to her?" she asked Chen. "What can we do?"
"I will go and find her," he replied. "Come what may, I`ll convince her
to come back."
"I'll go with you," she said at once.
Chen nodded. "All right. Go and ask your father."
"You all do just as you like anyway," Muzhuolun replied angrily,
stamping his foot. Princess Fragrance looked up at her father and saw
how bloodshot his eyes were. She took his hand and squeezed it.
Yuanzhi ignored the others, and bombarded Yu with questions about what
had happened to him since they had parted.
"That's the boy your sister likes," Chen said to Princess Fragrance,
pointing at Yuanzhi. "He will certainly be able to convince her to come
back."
"Really? Why has she never told me? She's too horrible!" the Princess
replied. She walked over towards Yuanzhi to get a closer look.
Muzhuolun, who was equally curious, did the same.
Yuanzhi had met Muzhuolun previously and she bowed before him in
greeting. Then she saw Princess Fragrance and was immediately struck
speechless by her extraordinary beauty. Princess Fragrance smiled at
Chen and said: "Tell this gentleman that we are very pleased to see
him, and ask him to come with us to help find my sister."
Only now did Chen greet Yuanzhi. "Why are you here, Brother?" he asked.
"How have you been since we last met?"
Yuanzhi blushed and laughed. She glanced at Yu, wanting him to explain.
"Great Helmsman, this is Master Lu's pupil," Yu said.
"I know, we've met several times."
Yu smiled. "She is therefore my martial sister."
"What?" Chen exclaimed in surprise.
"She likes wearing boy's clothes when she travels."
Chen looked closely at Yuanzhi and noticed for the first time how
delicate her eyebrows were, and how small her mouth, not at all like a
man's. Because of the relationship with Huo Qingtong, Chen had never
looked closely at her before, but now he stared in shock.
"I was completely wrong about Mistress Huo Qingtong," he thought. "She
told me to go and ask Master Lu about his pupil and I never did. Could
she have left the camp because of me? And then there's her sister who
loves me deeply."
Luo Bing could see how Yuanzhi felt towards Yu and she hoped that with
such a beautiful girl in love with him, he could release himself from
the self-torture of his adoration of herself. But he looked as desolate
and unhappy as ever.
"Where is Sister Huo Qingtong?" Yuanzhi asked. "I have something
important to tell her."
"She's gone. We're looking for her now," Luo Bing replied.
"She went out by herself?"
Luo Bing nodded.
"Where did she go?" Yuanzhi asked urgently.
"She left the camp heading east, but whether or not she changed
direction, we don't know."
"Oh, no!" Yuanzhi exclaimed, stamping her foot. They asked her what was
wrong. "The Three Guandong Devils are looking for Sister Huo Qingtong
to get their revenge on her. You know that already. But I met them on
the road. They're behind me. If she is heading east, she might run into
them."
"We don't have a moment to lose," said Chen. "I will go and find her."
"Don't underestimate the Three Devils," Xu warned. "It would be better
if several of us went. Great Helmsman Chen should go first with
Princess Fragrance. Mistress Li, you also know her, but it would be too
dangerous for you to go alone. Perhaps Brother Yu could go with you. My
wife and I can go and search too, while the others remain here at the
camp to watch for Zhang Zhaozhong."
"Fine!" said Chen. He borrowed Luo Bing's white horse and he and
Princess Frangrance galloped off with the others not far behind.
At about noon that day, Wen and the other heroes were chatting with
Muzhuolun in his tent when a guard rushed in to report that the Manchu
general Herda had escaped and the four soldiers guarding him had been
killed. They hurried over, and found a dagger stuck in the chest of one
of the dead soldiers with a note attached to it which read: "To the
heroes of the Red Flower Society from Zhang Zhaozhong".
Wen angrily screwed the piece of paper up into a ball. "Master
Muzhuolun," he said. "You maintain the encirclement of the Manchus, and
we'll go and find this traitor Zhang Zhaozhong." Muzhuolun nodded, and
Wen led the other heroes off into the desert, following the tracks of
the Manchu horses.
** 6 **
Huo Qingtong left the camp feeling lonely and confused. "I'll go to my
teachers' home at Precious Mountain and lose myself in the desert with
them," she thought. She was unwell, and even though her kung fu
training enabled her to keep going, after ten days travelling across
the desert, she was absolutely exhausted and still four or five days
from the home of the Tianshan Eagles. Finally, she stopped beside a
small sand dune and let her horse graze on the sparse, dry grasses
nearby.
She set up her tent and slept for several hours. In the middle of the
night she was awakened by the sound of three horses approaching from
the east. As they neared the sand dune, they slowed and headed for the
same patch of dry grass that had attracted her mount. The horses were
unwilling to continue, so the three riders dismounted to rest. They did
not see Huo Qingtong's tent, which was on the other side of the dune.
She heard them talking Chinese, but she was still sleepy and did not
bother to listen closely. Suddenly, however, she heard one of the men
say: "That damned bitch! If I don't skin her alive and rip out all her
tendons, then my name isn't Gu."
"Brother Yan's kungfu was excellent," said another. "I don't believe
that a girl could kill him without using some sort of trickery."
"Well, of course," added a third. "As I said, we have to be very
careful. There are a lot of Muslims around."
Huo Qingtong realised in astonishment that they were the Guandong
Devils and that they were talking about her.
"There's not much water left in the satchel and we don't know how many
more days we have to go before we find water again," one of them said.
"From tomorrow, we'll have to drink even less." Soon afterwards, they
went to sleep.
Huo Qingtong was uncertain of what to do. The desert was flat and empty
for miles in every direction, so there was no way she could escape if
they found her, especially as she was still sick. After some thought,
she decided the safest course would be to reveal herself, and find some
way to lead the three to her teacher's home.
Early next morning, the Guandong Devils woke to find Huo Qingtong
standing in front of them. She examined them carefully. One was a tall
man who looked like a member of the gentry. The second had a thick
black beard, while the third was wearing Mongol clothes.
"Mistress, do you have any water to spare?" the first man, Tang, asked
her, pulling out a silver ingot as he spoke. Huo Qingtong shook her
head to indicate she did not understand Chinese. The Mongol, who was
named Hahetai, repeated the request in Mongolian and she replied in the
same tongue: "I cannot give you any of my water. The Yellow-Robed Lady,
Mistress Huo Qingtong, sent me on an important errand and I am now
returning to report." She quickly dismantled her tent and mounted her
horse. Hahetai ran forward and grabbed hold of her horse's reins.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
"We are her friends. There is urgent news we have to pass on to her."
Huo Qingtong pouted. "That's an outright lie! She is at Precious
Mountain, but you are heading west. Don't try to cheat me!"
Hahetai turned to the other two and said: "She's on her way to see the
damned bitch now."
With her unhealthy appearance and the way she wheezed as she spoke, she
did not look at all like someone who knew kung fu. So not suspecting
her in the slightest, the Devils took advantage of what they took to be
her ignorance of Chinese and loudly discussed how they would kill her
when they reached Precious Mountain, and then go to find Huo Qingtong.
The bearded man, Gu, could see that she was very beautiful despite her
haggard look, and his lust began to stir.
Huo Qingtong noticed him constantly staring at her covetously, and knew
that even though they had not recognised her, travelling alone for four
or five days with these three Devils was too dangerous. She ripped a
strip of material off her jacket and tied it round the leg of one of
her two eagles then threw the bird up into the air. It spread its wings
and flew off towards the horizon.
"What are you doing?" Tang demanded suspiciously. Huo Qingtong shook
her head, and Hahetai translated what he had said into Mongolian.
"There are no more water springs for another seven or eight days.
You've got so little water, how could it be enough? I'm letting the
eagles go so they can go and find water themselves." As she spoke, she
released the second eagle.
"Two eagles wouldn't drink very much water," Tang replied.
"When you're dying of thirst, even a drop may be enough to save your
life." Afraid they would try to harm her, she had exaggerated the
distance to the next water.
Hahetai mumbled oaths. "Even in the deserts of Mongolia, you would
never have to travel for seven or eight days without water. This is a
cursed region!"
They camped that night in the middle of the desert. Huo Qingtong could
see Gu's gaze constantly sweeping over her and became very worried. She
went into her tent, drew her sword, and sat down beside the tent
entrance, not daring to sleep. Towards midnight, she heard someone
tiptoeing over. Suddenly, the tent flap opened and Gu crept inside. He
began feeling about in the darkness for her, and an instant later, felt
an icy coldness on his neck as a sharp blade gently touched it.
"If you so much as twitch, I will run it through you," Huo Qingtong
whispered. "Lie on the ground!" He immediately complied. She placed the
tip of the sword on his back, then sat down and wondered what she
should do.
"If I kill him, the other two won't let me get away with it," she
thought. "It's probably best to wait for my teacher to get here."
A couple of hours later, Tang woke and noticed Gu was missing. He
jumped up and began shouting "Brother Gu! Brother Gu!"
"Answer him quickly," Huo Qingtong whispered fiercely. "Tell him you're
here."
"It's all right, Brother, I'm here!" he shouted back, well aware that
he had no choice.
Tang laughed. "You horny old thief! You'll never change."
The next morning, Huo Qingtong waited until the other two were up
before letting Gu out.
"Brother Gu," Hahetai berated him as he emerged. "We have come to seek
revenge not to make trouble." Gu's teeth were almost chattering with
hate but he didn't tell them what had happened. If he did, the shame of
it would follow him for the rest of his life. But he decided that he
would have the girl the following night and then kill her.
At about midnight, Gu advanced on Huo Qingtong's tent again, a spear in
one hand and a torch in the other. As he entered, he saw her crouching
in the far corner and lunged at her triumphantly. But suddenly he felt
something cut into his legs as a rope noose hidden on the ground caught
him. Huo Qingting gave it a tug and he overbalanced and fell heavily.
"Don't move!" she hissed, and placed the tip of her sword against his
stomach. She didn't think she could not stand another night like the
previous one, but killing Gu was not enough. She had to finish off all
three.
"Tell your elder brother to come over here," she whispered. Gu guessed
what she was planning and remained silent. She increased the pressure
so that the sword cut through his clothes and the top layer of skin. Gu
knew a sword in the stomach was the most painful way to die. "He won't
come," he whispered back.
"All right, then I'll kill you first," she replied, and the sword moved
again.
"Elder Brother! Come here! Come quickly!" Gu called frantically.
"Laugh," Huo Qingtong ordered. Gu frowned and uttered several dry
laughs.
"Laugh more happily!"
He silently cursed her, but with the sword already inside his flesh, he
forced out a loud hysterical laugh. Tang and Hahetai had already been
awakened by the racket.
"Stop playing around, Brother, and conserve some of your strength,"
Tang yelled.
Huo Qingtong could see he wouldn't come. "Call the other one," she
hissed, and Gu shouted out again. Although he was a bandit, Hahetai did
not take advantage of women, and he was very unhappy with Gu's
behaviour. But he was his sworn brother, so he just pretended not to
hear.
"If I don't kill these three, it is going to be difficult to free
myself of today's shame," she thought. Holding the sword in her right
hand, she wound the rope round and round Gu until he could not move.
Only then did she relax. She leant against the side of the tent, but
did not dare to fall asleep.
The next morning, as it grew light, she saw that Gu was fast asleep and
angrily whipped him awake with her horse's whip. She placed the tip of
her sword on his heart and said: "If you so much as grunt, I will
skewer you!" She wondered again whether she should kill him, but
decided that it would immediately bring disaster down on her head. She
estimated her teacher should reach them by that afternoon anyway, so
after untying the rope, she pushed Gu out of the tent.
Tang looked at the bloody welts on his face suspiciously. "Who is this
girl?" he asked in a low voice. "What's she up to?"
Gu glanced meaningfully at him. "Let's grab her," he said. The two men
started to walk slowly towards her, but she saw them coming and ran
over to the horses. She pulled out her sword and punctured Gu's and
Hahetai's water bags, then grabbed the largest of Tang's water bags and
jumped onto her own horse. The Three Devils stood watching dumbly for a
second as the precious water drained out of the two water bags and was
instantly swallowed by the sand, then charged at her angrily.
She lay along the horse's back breathing heavily. "If you come a step
closer, I'll slash this bag too," she wheezed. The Three Devils
stopped.
"I agreed to take you to see Mistress Huo Qingtong and in return you
bully me," she added when she had recovered slightly. "From here to the
next water is six days travelling. If you don't leave me alone, I'll
slash this bag too and we will all die of thirst."
"We won't harm you," protested Tang.
"Let's go," she ordered. "You three first." So they rode on across the
desert, the three men in front, the girl behind.
By noon, the burning sun was riding high in the sky, and their lips and
tongues were parched dry. Huo Qingtong began to see stars before her
eyes and moments of faintness swept over her. She wondered if she was
going to die.
"Hey! Give us some water!" she heard Hahetai shout. She shook herself
awake.
"Take out a bowl and put it on the ground," she replied. Hahetai did as
she said. "Now retreat one hundred paces." Gu hesitated suspiciously.
"If you don't, you won't get any water," she added. They cursed her,
but retreated. Huo Qingtong rode forward, undid the cap of the water
bag and filled the bowl, then rode away again. The three men ran over
to the bowl and took turns at gulping down the liquid.
They continued on their way, and about four hours later green grass
began to appear beside the road. Tang's eyes lit up. "There must be
water ahead!" he shouted. Huo Qingtong was worried. She tried to think
of some course of action, but her head was splitting with pain.
Suddenly, there was a long eagle's cry from above and she looked up to
see a black shape swooping downwards. Overjoyed, she raised her arm and
the eagle landed on her shoulder. She saw a piece of black material
fastened to one of its legs and knew her teacher would arrive soon.
Tang could see something funny was going on, and with a wave of his
hand sent a sleeve dart flying towards Huo Qingtong's right wrist,
hoping to knock the sword from her grasp. But she blocked the dart with
her sword and with a wave of the reins, galloped around them and into
the lead. The Three Devils began shouting and chased after her. After
two or three miles, her legs and arms were numb, and she could hold on
no longer. The horse gave a jolt and she toppled to the ground.
The Three Devils spurred their horses on. Huo Qingtong struggled to get
back onto the horse, but she was too weak. Then in a flash of
inspiration, she slung the water bag's leather strap over the eagle's
neck and threw the bird up into the air. Tang and the others forgot Huo
Qingtong at the sight of their water bag being carried away and chased
frantically after the eagle. The water bag was almost full of water and
not light, so the eagle was not able to fly high or fast, and the three
were able to keep up with it.
A few miles further on, the eagle glided downwards just as two riders
appeared in a cloud of dust ahead of them. The eagle circled twice and
landed on the shoulder of one of the riders. The Three Devils spurred
their horses on and saw that one of the strangers was a bald, red-faced
old man, and the other a white-haired old lady.
"Where's Huo Qingtong?" the old man barked, and the three stared at him
in surprise. The old man removed the water bag from the eagle's neck
and hurled the bird back into the air. He gave a harsh whistle and the
bird answered with a squeak and headed back the way it had come. The
old couple took no further notice of the Three Devils and galloped past
them, chasing after the eagle. Tang saw the old man still had the water
bag, and with a wave of his hand to the others, followed along behind.
The two old people were the Tianshan Twin Eagles, Bald Vulture and
Madame Guan. After three or four miles, they saw the eagle glide
downwards to where Huo Qingtong was lying on the ground. Madame Guan
leapt off her horse and grabbed the girl up into her arms and began
sobbing.
"Who has been treating you so badly?" she demanded, looking down at the
girl's deathly appearance. Just then, the Three Devils rode up. Huo
Qingtong pointed at them, then fainted away.
"Well, are you just going to sit there?" Madame Guan demanded angrily
of her husband. Bald Vulture wheeled his horse round and charged at the
three, and began fighting furiously with them.
Madame Guan slowly poured water into Huo Qingtong's mouth and the girl
gradually regained consciousness. Only then did she look round to see
how her husband was doing. He was struggling to keep the three at bay,
and so she drew her sword and jumped into the melee. She struck out at
Tang, who swung round to counter the stroke, but immediately found her
style had changed. Amazed that this thin old woman could be such a
formidable swordswoman, he concentrated completely on defence.
Huo Qingtong sat up and observed the Twin Eagles gradually gaining the
upper hand. As she watched, she faintly heard a strange sound floating
towards them on the wind from far off, a sound full of violence and
dread, hunger and evil, as if hundreds of wild beasts were howling in
unison.
"Teacher, listen!" she cried. The Twin Eagles disengaged themselves
from the fight and cocked an ear to listen carefully. The Devils had
been hard pressed to hold their own, and did not dare to attack the old
couple.
The sound increased slightly in volume, and the Twin Eagles turned
pale. Bald Vulture ran over to his horse and stood on its back.
"Come and look!" he shouted. "See if there's anywhere we can take
cover."
Madame Guan picked Huo Qingtong up and placed her on her own horse,
then vaulted up onto her husband's horse and stood on his shoulders.
The Three Devils looked at each other, absolutely baffled. Their
attackers had broken off the fight when they had already won, and were
now building human pyramids on a horse's back.
"What devilry are they up to?" Gu growled darkly. Tang had no idea what
was happening and could only concentrate on being prepared for
anything.
Madame Guan gazed about in all directions, and then shouted: "I think
there are two big trees to the north!"
"Whether there are or not, let's go!" her husband replied. Madame Guan
jumped over to Hua Qingtong's horse, and they galloped off north
without taking any further notice of the Three Devils.
Hahetai noticed that in their hurry to get away, they had left the
water bag behind, and bent down to pick it up. By now, the terrifying
howling sound was becoming even louder. Gu's face turned grey. "It's a
wolf pack!" he cried. The three leapt onto their horses and galloped
after the Twin Eagles. Looking back, they saw large wild cats, camels,
goats and horses racing for their lives before a grey tide of thousands
of hungry wolves.
A few dozen yards ahead of the multitude was a rider, galloping along
as if leading the way. In a flash, his powerful horse raced up and
passed the Three Devils, who saw he was an old man. The rider turned to
look back at them, and shouted: "Do you want to die? Faster!"
Tang's horse was scared out of its wits by the mass of animals bearing
down upon them, and it stumbled and threw him. Tang leapt to his feet
as a dozen wild cats rushed past him.
"I'm finished," he thought, and began screaming at the top of his
voice. Gu and Hahetai heard his screams and turned and headed back to
rescue him, the wolves bearing down upon them. A huge wolf, its
snow-white teeth bared, charged at Tang, who drew his sword to defend
himself even though he knew it was useless. Suddenly, there was the
sound of horse's hooves behind, and the old man galloped up, grabbed
Tang by his collar and threw his fat body towards Hahetai. Tang
somersaulted through the air and landed in a sitting position on
Hahetai's horse. The three riders pulled their horses round, and flew
for their lives.
The Twin Eagles had lived in the desert many years and were well aware
that even the most ferocious animal could not survive an encounter with
the wolf pack. They galloped on, and as the two tall trees rose before
them, thanked the Heavens that they had once again avoided ending up in
a wolf's stomach. Once at the trees, Bald Vulture leapt up in to the
branches of one, and Madame Guan handed Huo Qingtong up to him. The
wolf pack was approaching fast. Madame Guan whipped the backs of their
two horses and shouted: "Run for your lives! We cannot help you!" The
two horses dashed away.
Just as the three of them had found somewhere to sit in the branches,
they noticed the grey-gowned rider galloping along ahead of the wolf
pack. As the rider passed by below, Bald Vulture embraced him with his
free hand and lifted him up.
The old man was taken by surprise. His horse shot onwards, while he
himself was left dangling in space, a host of animals passing under his
feet. He performed a somersault, and landed on his feet on a branch
further up the tree.
"What's wrong?" said Bald Vulture. "Don't tell you're afraid of wolves
too, Master Yuan?"
"Who asked you to interfere?" the old man replied angrily.
"There's no need to be like that," Madame Guan interrupted him. "My
husband just saved your life."
The old man laughed coldly. "Saved me? You've messed up everything!"
He was Great Helmsman Chen's teacher, Master Yuan. He and Madame Guan
had grown up together in central China and had fallen in love. But they
had argued constantly, and eventually Yuan left and spent more than ten
years travelling in the Northern Deserts. There was no news of him, and
Madame Guan presumed he would never come back. Eventually, she married
Bald Vulture, but shortly after the wedding, Yuan unexpectedly returned
home. Both Yuan and Madame Guan were heart-broken although they never
spoke of the matter again. Bald Vulture was also very unhappy, and on
several occasions went after Yuan to get revenge, but his kung fu was
not good enough, and only Yuan's regard for Madame Guan's feelings kept
her husband from being seriously hurt. So Bald Vulture took his wife
and travelled far away into the Muslim regions. Yuan, however, could
not forget her, and also moved to the Tianshan Mountains. He never
visited them, but just living close to the woman he loved made him feel
a little happier. Madame Guan did all she could to keep from seeing her
former lover, but Bald Vulture would not let the matter drop, and the
couple had fought and argued for decades since. All three were now old
and white-haired, but a day did not pass when they did not think of the
entanglement.
Bald Vulture was very pleased with himself for having saved Yuan. You
have always had the upper hand, he thought, but perhaps you'll show
gratitude towards me after this. Madame Guan, however, was puzzled by
Yuan's anger.
"What do you mean, 'messed everything up'?" she asked. "Messed what up?
"
"This wolf pack is growing bigger and bigger, and has become a real
plague on the desert," Yuan replied. "Several Muslim villages have been
completely wiped out already. The wolves eat people, animals,
everything. So I prepared a trap and was just leading them to their
deaths when you interfered."
Bald Vulture knew Yuan was telling the truth, and felt acutely
embarrassed.
Yuan saw the apologetic expression on Madame Guan's face and brought
his anger under control. "But you were doing what you thought was
best," he added. "I thank you, anyway."
"What sort of trap is it?" asked Bald Vulture.
"Save them!" Yuan suddenly shouted, and jumped down from the tree into
the midst of the wolves.
The Three Devils had already been overtaken by the wolves, and their
horses had been ripped to shreds. The three of them were standing
back-to-back fighting furiously, and although they had killed more than
a dozen wolves, others continued to lunge at them. All three were
already wounded in several places, and it looked as if they could not
hold out for long. Yuan raced over, his hands flew out and smashed the
skulls of two wolves. He picked Hahetai up and threw him up into the
tree, shouting "Catch!", and Bald Vulture caught him. In the same way,
Yuan threw Tang and Gu up, then killed another two wolves, grabbed one
of the corpses by the neck and swung it round and round, opening up a
path to the tree, then leapt up into the branches. The Three Devils,
having been literally snatched from the jaws of death, showered him
with thanks. They were astonished by the speed and strength he had
displayed, and the way he made killing wolves seem as easy as catching
rabbits.
Several hundred wolves circled the base of the tree, scratching at the
trunk, raising their heads and howling. A short distance away, several
dozen of the fleeing animals had been cut off and encircled by the
wolves, who filled the air with their cries and howls. The animals
leapt frantically about as the wolves tore and gnashed at them. It was
a horrible sight. In only a moment, the animals had all been ripped
apart and eaten. Those sitting up in the tree were all brave fighters,
but it was the first time any of them had witnessed such a terrifying
scene, and they were very frightened.
Bald Vulture eyed the Three Devils suspiciously.
"They are not good men," Huo Qingtong told him.
"All right, then," he replied. "They can go and feed the wolves." Just
as he was about to push them off the tree, he looked down once more at
the tragic scene below and hesitated just long enough for Tang to
shout: "Let's go!" He leapt over to the other tree and Gu and Hahetai
followed him.
Madame Guan looked at Huo Qingtong. "My dear, what do you say?" She
wanted to know if the girl wanted them to chase after the three and
kill them.
Huo Qingtong's heart softened. "Forget about it," she said.
"I am Huo Qingtong," she shouted to the Three Devils. "If you want to
get your revenge on me, why don't you come over?" Tang and the others
were astonished and infuriated by her words, but they did not dare to
return to the other tree.
The wolf pack came fast, and left fast too. They swirled around the
trees for a while, howling and barking, then chased off after the
remaining wild animals.
Madame Guan told Huo Qingtong to pay her respects to Master Yuan.
Seeing her sickly appearance, Yuan took two red pills from his bag and
gave them to her, saying: "Take them. They're Snow Ginseng Pills." Snow
Ginseng pills were made from the rarest medicinal herbs, and were well
known for their ability to even restore life to the dying.
Just as Huo Qingtong was about to bow before him, Yuan jumped down from
the tree and ran off. In a moment, he had become just a black dot
amidst the swirling desert dust.
** 7 **
Madame Guan helped Huo Qingtong down from the tree, and told her to
swallow one of the Snow Ginseng pills. She did so, and soon after, a
wave of heat rose from the pit of her stomach, and she felt much
better.
"You are very lucky," Madame Guan said. "With these wonderful pills you
will recover much quicker."
"She wouldn't die even if she didn't take them," Bald Vulture commented
coldly.
"So you'd prefer her to suffer a bit longer, would you?" his wife
snapped back.
"If it was me, I'd die rather than take one of his pills. But you,
you'd take one even if there was nothing wrong with you."
Madame Guan put the girl on her back, and started walking off north
with Bald Vulture following behind, nattering ceaselessly.
They went to the old couple's home on Precious Mountain. Huo Qingtong
took another pill, then slept peacefully, and felt much refreshed when
she woke. Madame Guan sat on the edge of the bed and asked her what she
had been doing travelling alone and sick through the desert. Huo
Qingtong told her about how the Manchu army had been destroyed and how
she had met the Three Devils on the road, but did not say why she had
left the camp. Madame Guan, however, was an impatient person and
pressed her. Huo Qingtong respected her teacher more than anyone, and
found it impossible to deceive her.
"He...he has become friendly with my sister," she sobbed. "And when I
gave the orders to the troops before the battle, my father and everyone
thought I was acting out of my own selfish interests."
Madame Guan jumped up. "Is it that Great Helmsman Chen that you gave
the dagger to?" Huo Qingtong nodded. "Then he's fickle-hearted and your
sister has no sisterly feelings for you. They should both be killed!"
"No, no..." Huo Qingtong replied hastily.
"I'll go and settle this for you," Madame Guan declared fiercely and
rushed out of the room, almost bumping into her husband who had come to
find out what the shouting was about.
"Come with me!" Madame Guan cried. "There's two heartless ingrates that
need to be killed!"
"Right!" he replied, and ran out after her.
Huo Qingtong jumped off the bed, wanting to explain, but she collapsed
on the ground, and by the time she had recovered, they were already far
away. She knew that together they could easily beat Chen, and was
worried they actually would kill him and her sister. So disregarding
her weakness, she climbed onto her horse and galloped off after them.
As they rode along, Madame Guan talked at length about how all the
heartless men under heaven should be killed.
"That dagger that she gave him is a priceless treasure," she said
angrily. "She gave it in good faith, but what notice has he taken of
it? None. He ignores her and then decides he likes her sister instead.
He should be carved into a thousand pieces!"
"And how could her sister be so shameless as to steal him away like
that?" her husband added.
On the third day, the Twin Eagles spotted a dust cloud in the distance
and saw two riders galloping from the south towards them.
"Ah!" Madame Guan exclaimed.
"What is it?" her husband asked, and then spotted Chen. He moved to
draw his sword.
"Not so fast," Madame Guan said. "Let's pretend we know nothing and
take them by surprise."
Chen had also seen them and galloped over. He dismounted and bowed
before them.
"It is fortunate that we have met you," he said. "Have you seen
Mistress Huo Qingtong?"
"No," Madame Guan replied, secretly furious at his brazen behaviour.
"What's the matter?" Suddenly, her eyes opened wide as the other rider
approached and she saw it was an extremely beautiful girl.
"This is your sister's teacher," Chen said to Princess Fragrance. "Pay
your respects to her." She dismounted and bowed before Madame Guan.
"My sister has often spoken of you both," she said, smiling. "Have you
seen her?"
Bald Vulture was stunned by her beauty and thought: no wonder he
changed his mind. She's much more beautiful than Huo Qingtong.
Madame Guan was incensed at their craftiness, but her voice betrayed
none of her feelings she asked again what was wrong. Chen told her.
"Let's go and look for her together," Madame Guan said.
The four started out together heading north. That evening, they set up
camp in the lee of a sand dune, and after dinner, sat around and
talked. Princess Fragrance pulled a candle from her bag and lit it. The
Twin Eagles looked at Chen and the girl in the candlelight, so young
and good-looking, like figures from a mural, and wondered how they
could be so evil.
"Are you sure my sister is not in any danger?" Princess Fragrance asked
Chen.
He was also very concerned but he comforted her, saying: "Your sister's
kung fu is good and she is intelligent. I'm sure she's all right."
Princess Fragrance had complete faith in him and relaxed. "But she's
ill," she added after a moment. "When we've found her, we must convince
her to come home with us and rest." Chen nodded.
Madame Guan's face turned white with anger as she listened to them
engage in what she thought was play-acting.
"Let us play a game," Princess Fragrance suddenly said to Bald Vulture.
He looked at his wife. Madame Guan nodded slowly.
"All right!" he said. "What game?"
She smiled at Madame Guan and at Chen "You two will play as well, won't
you?" she asked. They nodded.
She brought a horse saddle over and placed it in the middle of the
circle, then scooped a pile of sand onto it, patted it down firmly and
planted a small candle on top.
"We each take turns at cutting away a slice of the pile," she said.
"The one who causes the candle to fall has to sing a song or tell a
story. You start first, sir." She handed the knife to Bald Vulture.
The old man had not played such a game for decades, and an expression
of embarrassment appeared on his face. Madame Guan gave him a push, "Go
on!" she said. He laughed and sliced away a section of sand, then
handed the knife to his wife who did the same. They went round three
times and the pile became a pillar only slightly thicker than the
candle on top. Chen carefully made a slight indent in the pillar.
Princess Fragrance laughed and made a little hole on the opposite side
and the pillar began to sway slightly. Bald Vulture's hand shook
slightly as he accepted the knife.
"Don't breathe!" Madame Guan hissed at him.
"Even one grain of sand counts," Princess Fragrance said. He touched
the pillar with the knife and it collapsed, taking the candle with it.
He gave a cry of annoyance. Princess Fragrance clapped her hands in
delight as Madame Guan and Chen looked on smiling.
"Well sir," said Princess Fragrance. "Are you going to sing a song or
tell a story?"
He could see it was impossible to refuse, so he said: "All right. I'll
sing a song."
In a high-pitched voice he began singing: "For you and I, life when we
were young was like a play, and we cried...." He glanced over at his
wife.
As she listened, Madame Guan remembered how good life had been just
after their marriage. If Master Yuan had not returned, they would have
been happy for the rest of their days. She leaned over and lightly
squeezed his hand. Bald Vulture felt dizzy at this sudden show of
affection from his wife, and tears welled into his eyes. Chen and
Princess Fragrance looked at each other knowingly, both aware of the
love these two old people had for each other. They played the sand game
again and Chen lost. He told a story. Then Bald Vulture lost again.
As the night deepened, Princess Fragrance began to feel cold and edged
closer to Madame Guan, who embraced her and carefully rearranged her
wind-blown hair. The Twin Eagles had no children and often felt very
much alone in the great desert. Madame Guan sighed and wished she could
have had such a daughter. She looked down and saw the girl was already
asleep. The candle had been blown out by the wind, but under the
starlight, she could see a vague smile on her face.
"Let's get some rest," Bald Vulture said.
"Don't wake her," his wife whispered. She carefully carried Princess
Fragrance into the tent and covered her with a blanket.
"Mother," the girl called faintly, and Madame Guan froze for a second
in shock.
"It's all right, go to sleep now," she replied softly. She crept out of
the tent and saw Chen setting up his tent a long way from the girl's.
She nodded slightly.
"Are we going to wait till he's asleep or go over and give him a chance
to explain first?" Bald Vulture asked.
"What do you think?"
His heart was full of tender thoughts and he had no stomach for killing
at that moment. "Let's sit a while and wait for him to sleep so that he
can die painlessly." He took his wife's hand and the two sat silently
together on the sand. Soon after, Chen entered his tent and went to
sleep.
The Twin Eagles could normally kill people without batting an eyelid,
but they found it difficult to deal with these two slumbering
youngsters. The constellations slowly turned, the wind grew colder and
the old couple hugged each other for warmth. Madame Guan buried her
face in her husband's chest and Bald Vulture lightly stroked her back.
Before long, both were asleep.
** 8 **
Next morning, Chen and Princess Fragrance awoke to find the Twin Eagles
gone, and were puzzled.
"Look, what's that?" Princess Fragrance asked suddenly. Chen turned and
saw several huge characters drawn on the sand: "Your evil deeds cannot
be forgiven. You will have to die." The characters were five foot
square and looked as if they had been drawn with the tip of a sword.
Chen frowned, wondering what the message meant. Princess Fragrance
could not read Chinese and asked what is said.
"They had some other business and went on ahead," Chen replied, not
wishing to worry her.
"Sister's teacher and her husband are really nice..." Suddenly, she
stopped in mid-sentence and jumped up. "Listen!"
Chen had also heard the distant, blood-curdling howl, and having lived
in the northwest many years, instantly recognised it.
"There's a wolf pack coming," he said urgently. "We must go quickly!"
They hurriedly packed up their tents and provisions and galloped away
just as the wolf pack closed in on them. Luckily, they were both riding
extremely fast horses and the pack was soon left far behind. But the
wolves had been hungry for a long time and having glimpsed them,
continued to track them, following the hoof prints in the sand.
After half a day of hard riding, they dismounted to rest, but just as
they had prepared a fire to cook some food, the wolf howls neared once
more, and they hurriedly re-mounted, and rode off again. Only when
darkness had fallen and they estimated the wolf pack to be at least
thirty miles behind them did they stop and rest. Around midnight, the
white horse began to neigh and kick about, waking Chen. The wolf pack
was closing in once more. With no time to pack their tents, they
grabbed up their rations and water bags and jumped onto the horses.
They travelled a great arc through the desert, never managing to shake
off the wolves. The chestnut horse could finally take no more and
dropped dead of exhaustion, and they had to continue with both of them
on the white horse. The extra weight slowed the horse down, and by the
third day, it was no longer able to outrun the wolf pack. They spotted
a clump of bushes and small trees and went over.
"We'll stop here and let the horse rest," said Chen, dismounting. With
Princess Fragrance's help, he built a low circular wall of sand and
placed some dead branches on the top. When lit, the branches became a
protective ring of fire for themselves and the horse inside.
Not long after, the wolf pack raced up. Afraid of the flames, the
wolves milled around outside the circle howling, not daring to get too
close.
"We'll wait for the horse to recover its strength and then break out,"
said Chen.
"Do you think we'll be able to?"
"Of course," he replied. But he had no idea how.
Princess Fragrance saw how thin and emaciated the hungry wolves were.
"The poor things," she said. "I wonder how long it's been since they
last ate?"
Chen laughed shortly. The long, sharp fangs of the wolves gleamed
through the flames, the saliva dripping, drop by drop from their mouths
onto the sand. They howled angrily, waiting from a slight opening in
the flames through which they could leap.
Princess Fragrance knew the chance of them getting out alive was very
slight. She moved closer to Chem and took his hands.
"When I'm with you, I'm not afraid of anything," she said. "After we
die, we will live happily together in heaven forever."
Chen pulled her towards him and embraced her. She sighed, and was just
about to close her eyes, when she noticed the flames were dying down in
one section of the circle. She screamed and jumped over to add more
branches, but three wolves had already slipped inside. Chen pulled her
behind him. The white horse kicked its hind legs up and sent one wolf
flying back out of the fiery circle. Chen grabbed another wolf by the
scruff of its neck and slung it bodily at the third, a huge grey beast
which dodged out of the way, then opened its mouth and reared up on its
hind legs to go for Chen's throat. Chen picked up a burning branch and
rammed it down the wolf's throat, and the animal leapt back out of the
circle and rolled about on the ground in great pain.
Chen added more branches to the gap.
After a while, their reserves were getting low, and Chen decided he
would have to risk going to get more from some bushes about one hundred
feet away.
"I'm going to get some more wood," he told Princess Fragrance, taking
out his shield and Pearl Strings. "Build up the fire a bit more until I
get back."
She nodded. "Be careful," she said, but did not add any more wood to
the fire. She knew that the branches kept the two of them alive, and
that when the flames were extinguished, they would be too.
Chen leapt out of the burning circle and raced off using Lightness Kung
Fu, fending off the wolves as he went. The wolves surged at him, but in
three leaps he was already beside the bushes. He quickly collected
firewood with one hand while protecting himself with the shield in the
other. Several dozen wolves surrounded him, snarling fiercely, but the
flashing hooks on his shield kept them at bay. He collected a large
pile of wood and was leaning over to tie the branches up when a large
wolf lunged forward. He swirled the shield, and the animal died
instantly. But its carcass was caught on the hooks, and the other
wolves barked even more frantically as it swung lifelessly before them.
He dislodged the body and flung it to one side, and the wolves charged
forward to rip it apart. He took advantage of this diversion to pick up
the firewood and return into the ring of fire.
Princess Fragrance ran forward and threw herself into his arms. Chen
smiled and embraced her, then threw the firewood on the ground. As he
looked up, he started involuntarily: there was a third person in the
circle, a large man whose clothes had been ripped to shreds by the
wolves. In his hand was a sword. His whole body was covered in blood,
but his face was calm. It was his enemy, Zhang Zhaozhong.
The two gazed at each other silently.
"He must have seen the fire and run over this way," said Princess
Fragrance. "See how exhausted he looks." She poured a bowl of water
from the water bag and handed it to Zhang, who grabbed it and slurped
it down in one draught. He wiped the blood and sweat from his face with
his sleeve, and Princess Fragrance gasped as she suddenly recognised
him as the Manchu official Chen had fought with.
Chen rapped his shield with the Pearl Strings. "Come on!" he shouted.
Zhang's eyes glazed over and he fell forward onto his face.
He had been tracking Chen and Princess Fragrance with Prince Herda when
he had met the wolf pack. Herda had been devoured, but with his superb
kung fu, Zhang had managed to escape after killing several dozen of the
ferocious creatures. He had fled across the desert for a day and a
night, but finally his horse had dropped dead under him. He had no
alternative but to continue on foot and kept going for another day
without food or water. Finally, he had spotted the flames in the far
distance and had fought his way over.
Princess Fragrance moved to help Zhang up, but Chen stopped her.
"This man is extremely dangerous. Don't fall for his tricks," he
warned. He waited for a while to make sure Zhang really was unconscious
before going closer.
Princess Fragrance wiped some cold water onto Zhang's forehead, then
poured lamb's milk into his mouth. Zhang slowly revived, drank half a
bowl of the milk, then fell back onto the ground, sound asleep.
Chen wondered what sort of devil's emissary had delivered this traitor
into his hands. Killing Zhang now would be as easy as blowing away a
speck of ash, but taking advantage of another's hardship was not a
manly thing to do. What was more, Princess Fragrance would certainly be
unhappy to see him kill a defenceless man. He decided to spare Zhang
once more. In any case, he thought, Zhang would be a great help in
killing wolves. Perhaps the two of them together could save Princess
Fragrance. He knew he would never be able to do it alone. He drank a
few mouthfuls of lamb's milk, then closed his eyes to rest.
After a while, Zhang woke again. Princess Fragrance passed a piece of
dried mutton to him, and helped him to bandage several wolf bite wounds
on his legs.
"Brother Zhang, all three of us are in great danger," Chen said. "Let
us temporarily put aside our differences and cooperate."
Zhang nodded. "Yes, if we fight now, we will all end up inside a wolf's
stomach." Having rested for more than two hours, his strength had
partially returned, and he began to consider how he could kill Chen and
escape with the girl.
Chen wracked his brain for a way out of their present predicament. He
saw the many piles of wolf droppings outside the circle of fire, and
remembered how Huo Qingtong had used them to fuel signal fires. Using
his Pearl Strings, he dragged some of the piles over, formed them into
one heap and lit it. A thick pall of smoke rose straight up into the
heavens.
Zhang shook his head. "Even if someone saw it, they wouldn't dare to
come to help us," he said. "It would take an army to chase away so many
wolves."
Chen also knew it would probably do no good, but it was better than
doing nothing.
The daylight faded, and the three gradually added more branches to the
ring of fire and took turns to sleep.
"He is a very bad man," Chen whispered to Princess Fragrance. "When I'm
asleep, you must watch him with especial care." She nodded.
Towards midnight, the moon rose and the wolves began to howl
mournfully, a sound which made their skin crawl. Early next morning,
they saw the wolves were still pacing around outside the ring with
obviously no intention of leaving.
"The only thing that would draw these devils away would be a herd of
wild camels passing nearby," said Chen. Suddenly they heard more wolf
howls from the distance.
"It looks like more of the devils are coming," Zhang said.
A cloud of dust arose, and three riders galloped towards them with
several hundred wolves on their heels. The wolves on that side of the
ring of fire spotted them too, and surged forward, encircling the three
riders, who fought them off frantically.
"Help them!" Princess Fragrance shouted.
"Let's go," Chen said to Zhang. They charged out of the ring, carving a
path of blood through the wolf pack and led the three back into the
circle. They noticed one of the horses was carrying a second person,
apparently a Muslim girl, lying limply across the saddle with her hands
were tied behind her back. The three riders jumped off their horses,
and one of them pulled the girl down after him.
"Sister!" Princess Fragrance screamed, and threw herself onto the girl.
It was Huo Qingtong. She had run into the Three Devils again while
searching for Chen and her sister and had had no strength to resist.
Hahetai had wanted to kill her immediately to avenge the death of their
brother, but Gu overruled him saying they should take her back and kill
her in front of their dead brother's grave. They started heading back
east, but after a day or so, they found themselves being chased by a
wolf pack. As they fled, they happened to spot the column of black
smoke started by Chen and rode towards it.
Huo Qingtong began to regain consciousness. Princess Fragrance looked
at Chen beseechingly. "Tell them to let my sister go," she implored.
Chen turned to Gu. "Who are you and why have you seized my friend?" he
asked. Tang strode in front of Gu and coldly sized up Chen and Zhang.
"We thank you two gentlemen for saving us," he said. "What are your
names?"
Before Chen could answer, Zhang said, "He is the Great Helmsman of the
Red Flower Society, Chen Jialuo." The Three Devils started in shock.
"And you, sir?" Tang asked.
"I am Zhang Zhaozhong."
Tang gasped. "It's the Fire Hand Judge. No wonder you're both so
capable." He told them his name and those of his two colleagues.
Chen's anxiety immediately increased, and he wondered again how they
were going to escape. With four tough opponents to deal with now, it
would be even harder than before.
"Let us forget our differences for the moment," he said. "Do any of you
have any idea of how we might escape?"
The Three Devils looked at each other. "We would welcome your
suggestions, Master Chen," said Hahetai.
"If we face the wolves together, there is a chance we will survive. If
we fight amongst ourselves, they will eat us all." Tang and Hahetai
nodded slightly, but Gu just glared at him angrily. "Therefore, I ask
Brother Gu to immediately release my friend, following which we can
together work out a plan to beat the wolves."
"And what if I won't let her go?" Gu shouted back.
"Master Gu, if we start fighting, it doesn't matter who wins or loses,
we will all die. Please reconsider."
"You'd better let her go," Tang whispered to him." Gu had gone to
considerable trouble to capture Huo Qingtong and he was extremely loath
to give her up again. "Brother, if you don't let her go, I won't be
able to help you," Tang added.
Hahetai walked over and cut the bonds binding Huo Qingtong. As Chen
walked over to her, Huo Qingtong suddenly shouted: "Watch out behind!"
and he ducked down just as a wolf swept over him. It charged at
Princess Fragrance, but Chen grabbed its tail and using all his
strength pulled it to a halt. The wolf whipped its head round, snapping
and snarling, and with a single blow, Chen broke its neck. Another wolf
leapt towards him, and he quickly drew his dagger and thrust it at the
beast, a huge, cunning animal which dodged the blade with ease.
Three more wolves jumped into the ring. Hahetai grabbed one by the neck
and slung it back out, Zhang cut the second in two with his sword,
while Tang fought fiercely with the third. Hahetai stoked up the fire
to stop other wolves from entering.
On the other side, Chen feinted with the dagger to the left to throw
his attacker off guard, then plunged the blade down towards its head.
Unable to avoid the stroke, the wolf opened its huge mouth and bit hard
onto the dagger. Chen pushed the blade in with all strength, but
despite the pain, it hung on desperately. Chen tried to pull the dagger
back out but the beast refused to yield. Increasingly anxious, Chen
mustered his strength once more and punched the wolf right between its
eyes, smashing its skull. The wolf fell back dead and the dagger came
free, the blade glinting coldly as it reflected the flames.
But the dagger's blade was also still firmly lodged between its teeth.
They were all perplexed at this: the dagger was obviously in Chen's
hand and had not snapped. Where had the blade in the wolf's mouth come
from?
Chen bent over and tried to pull the blade out of the beast's mouth,
but although the wolf was dead, its teeth was still clamped tightly
shut. He used the dagger to slit open the wolf's jowls, and the muscles
and tendons on its face collapsed, freeing the blade. Chen examined it
closely and saw that it was hollow, like a scabbard. He stuck the
dagger blade inside, and found it fitted perfectly. Huo Qingtong had
said when she presented the dagger to him that it was said to contain a
great secret. If it had not been for this wolf and its strong teeth,
who would have guessed that there was a blade within the blade?
Princess Fragrance took the dagger from Chen and examined it,
marvelling at the design of the second scabbard and the precision of
the workmanship. She turned the hollow outer blade upside down and a
small white pellet rolled out. Chen and Huo Qingtong bent down to get a
closer look and saw it was a small ball of wax.
"Let's open it," Chen said. Huo Qingtong nodded. He picked the ball up
and lightly squeezed it, cracking the wax open, revealing a small piece
of paper inside, which he spread out. On the paper was a map drawn as
densely as a spider's web.
Zhang had seen them discover the piece of paper, and glanced at it
stealthily. But he was disappointed to find it was covered in Muslim
writing, which he could not understand.
Chen knew something of the Muslim written language, but he could not
grasp the meaning of the classical characters on the piece of paper and
handed it over to Huo Qingtong. She examined it closely for a long
time, then folded it up and placed it in her pocket.
"What does it say?" Chen asked. Huo Qingtong did not answer, her head
hung low.
Princess Fragrance knew her sister well and smiled. "She is trying to
work out a difficult problem. Don't disturb her," she said.
Huo Qingtong sat down on the ground and began to draw lines in the sand
with her finger. She drew a diagram then rubbed it out and drew
another. After a while, she wrapped her arms around her knees, deep in
thought.
"You are still weak. Don't overtax yourself," Chen said to her. "You
can work it out later. The important thing now is to think of a plan
for getting out of here."
"I'm working on a way to escape these hungry wolves and these human
wolves as well," Huo Qingtong replied, pouting angrily at Zhang as she
spoke. She continued her meditations for a moment, then said to Chen:
"Please stand on a horse and look westwards. Tell me if you can see a
mountain with a white peak."
Chen led the white horse over and did as she said. In the distance, he
spied a cluster of mountains, but could see none with a white peak. He
searched carefully for a minute longer then looked down at Huo Qingtong
and shook his head.
"According to the map, the Secret City should not be far from here, and
we should be able to see the White Jade Peak."
Chen jumped off the horse's back. "What secret city?" he asked.
"When I was young, I heard people talk about an ancient city that was
buried in this desert," she replied. "The city was once extremely
prosperous, but one day a great sand storm arose, and dunes as large as
mountains buried it. None of the city's residents escaped." She turned
to Princess Fragrance. "Sister, you know the story better than I do.
You tell it."
"There are many stories about the place, but no one has ever seen the
city with their own eyes. No," she corrected herself. "Many people have
been there, but few have returned alive. It is said that there are huge
amounts of gold, silver and jewels there. Some people who have lost
their way in the desert have found their way into the city by chance
and have been overwhelmed by the sight of such wealth. They naturally
began to load the gold and jewels onto their camels to take away with
them. But no matter which way they went, they found it impossible to
get out of the city.
"Why?" Chen asked.
"It's said that all the people of the city turned into ghosts when they
were buried by the sand, and that they bewitch visitors who try to take
valuables away with them. But if you put down the valuables, every
single piece, then it's easy to find your way out."
"I doubt if many people would be willing to do that," said Chen.
"Yes. Seeing such riches, who wouldn't want to take some? It is said
that if you don't take anything, but even leave a few extra taels of
silver in one of the houses, then the wells will spurt clear, fresh
water for you to drink. The more silver you leave, the more fresh water
there is."
Chen laughed. "The ghosts of this secret city sound very greedy."
"Some members of our tribe who were badly in debt have gone to look for
the city, but only those who didn't find it have ever come back,"
Princess Fragrance continued. "Once, a caravan crossing the desert came
across a man who was half dead. He said he had entered the city, but
had found himself going in circles when he tried to get out again.
Finally, his strength gave out and he collapsed, and the next thing he
knew was the arrival of the caravan. The caravan leader asked him to
lead them to the city, but he refused. He said he wouldn't take one
step into that haunted place again even if he received all the riches
of the city as a reward."
"It doesn't necessarily have to be that these people were bewitched by
ghosts," said Chen. "If someone suddenly came upon a huge amount of
gold and jewels, it could affect their minds and make it difficult for
them to think clearly. But if they decided they did not want the
riches, it could clear their heads, and make it easier to find the way
out."
"The map hidden in the scabbard shows the way to the Secret City," Huo
Qingtong said quietly.
"Ah," exclaimed Chen, suddenly understanding.
"The map indicates that the city was built around a high snow-capped
mountain." she continued. "From the look of it, the mountain should not
be too far from here. We should be able to see it. I cannot understand
why we can't."
"Sister, you're wasting your time," said Princess Fragrance. "Even if
we could find the mountain, what use would it be?"
"We could escape into the city. There are houses and fortresses in the
city and our chance of escaping the wolves would be much greater than
here."
"That's right!" Chen said. He stood on the horse's back once more
looking west. But all he could see was a hazy white sky stretching to
the horizon.
Zhang and the Three Devils could not understand a word of what they
said, but they watched suspiciously as Chen stood on the back of his
horse twice, and wondered what devilment he was up to.
Princess Fragrance took out some dry rations and divided them up
amongst all of them. As she sat eating, she gazed out beyond the flames
at the horizon. Suddenly, she jumped up.
"Sister! Look!" Huo Qingtong followed the direction of her hand and saw
a black spot stationary in the sky.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's an eagle," Princess Fragrance replied. "I saw it fly over from
here. But how could it suddenly stop in mid-air?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I clearly saw it fly across."
"If the black spot isn't an eagle, what could it be?" asked Chen. "If
it is an eagle, how could it remain motionless in mid-air? It's very
strange." The three watched the spot for a while, then saw it move and
become larger. A black eagle swept over their heads.
Princess Fragrance raised her hand to tidy her hair, which had been
blown about by the wind. Chen looked at her snow-white skin and the
white material of her dress next to it and realised the answer.
"Look at her hand!" he said excitedly to Huo Qingtong.
"Yes, her hands are very pretty," she replied absent-mindedly.
"Of course her hands are beautiful. But don't you see? Because her skin
is so white, it's difficult at a glance to tell where the hand begins
and the dress ends."
"So?" asked Huo Qingtong, puzzled.
"The eagle was sitting on top of a white mountain!"
"Yes! You're right," Huo Qingtong exclaimed. "The sky over there is
white, the same colour as the peak, so from a distance, it can't be
seen."
"Exactly," said Chen.
Princess Fragrance realised they were talking about the Secret City.
"How do we get there?" she asked.
"That is what we have to carefully work out," Huo Qingtong replied. She
pulled out the map again and studied it carefully again for a while.
"When the sun starts to sink towards the west, we'll be able to tell if
there's a mountain there or not by its shadow."
"We mustn't give ourselves away," said Chen. "We don't want the others
to work out what we're doing."
"Yes. Let's pretend we're talking about this wolf," she suggested.
Chen pulled the wolf across and the three sat around it, now pulling
out one of its hairs and examine it closely, now opening its mouth to
look at its teeth. The sun gradually sank towards the west and the
mountain's shadow did indeed appear, stretching out longer and longer
across the desert like some giant lying down. Huo Qingtong drew a map
on the ground, estimating the distances.
"From here to the mountain must be about twenty or thirty miles," she
said, turning the wolf over.
Chen picked up one of its legs and played with its sharp claws. "If we
had another horse apart from the white horse, the three of us could
make that in one go."
"So we have to think of some way to get them to allow us to go," Huo
Qingtong replied.
"Yes." He picked up his dagger and slit open the wolf's stomach.
"What's so interesting about that dead wolf?" Zhang shouted, annoyed at
not being able to understand what they were saying. "Are you discussing
how to bury him, Master Chen?"
"We are discussing how to get out," Chen said. "Look, the wolf's
stomach is completely empty."
"Do you have a plan?" Zhang asked.
"When the firewood has all been burned and there is no more to collect,
then we are all going to die, is that not so?" Zhang and the Three
Devils nodded. "But if one of us were willing to sacrifice himself and
ride out of the circle, the wolves would swarm after him like bees from
a hive. Once they were drawn off, the others could escape.
"But what about the one who goes?" asked Zhang.
"If he comes across either the Manchu or Muslim armies then he will be
all right. Otherwise he will die. But it is better than us all dying
here together."
"It's not a bad idea," said Tang. "But who's going to lead the wolves
away? It's certain death."
"What do you suggest, Brother Tang?"
Tang was silent. "Let's draw lots," Hahetai suggested. "Whoever loses,
goes."
"Yes, let's draw lots," Zhang said eagerly. Chen had wanted to offer
himself and then break out with the sisters. But he could not suggest
it without arousing their suspicions, so he said: "Just the five of us
will draw. Let us exempt the two girls."
"We're all people," Gu protested. "Why should they be exempted?"
"How could we live down the shame of being saved by a girl?" said
Hahetai. "I would prefer to die here."
"I think that if we're going to draw lots, we should all draw," said
Tang, wanting to lessen the chance of himself being chosen.
They all looked at Zhang, waiting to hear his opinion. Zhang had
already worked out a plan and knew he could not lose. Moreover, one of
the girls was wanted by the Emperor and he fancied the other for
himself.
"I will not allow a lady to save my life," he said proudly.
"All right, then," said Gu. "We'll let them off."
"I'll collect some sticks to use," said Tang, but Zhang stopped him.
"No," he said. "It's too easy to cheat with sticks. We'll use copper
coins instead." He pulled a dozen or so coins from his pocket and
selected five. "Four of these are Emperor Yong Zheng coins and the
fifth is from the reign of Emperor Sun Zhi. Please examine them. They
are exactly the same size."
"And whoever picks the Emperor Sun Zhi coin leads the wolves away,"
Tang added, as he carefully examined the coins.
"Exactly," said Zhang. "Why not put them in your bag for the draw,
Brother Tang?" Tang did as he said.
"Now, who will go first?" Zhang asked. He looked at Gu and saw his
hands were shaking. "Brother Gu is afraid," he said with a smile. "Life
and death are governed by fate. I will go first." He stretched his hand
onto Tang's bag and pulled an Emperor Yong Zheng coin out.
"Oh, what a pity!" he exclaimed. "I won't be able to be the hero." He
opened his first and showed the coin to the other four. The five coins
were the same size, but the Emperor Sun Zhi coin was about eighty years
older than the others and therefore slightly smoother and thinner,
although not enough to be immediately obvious.
Chen's turn was next, and to his disappointment he chose an Emperor
Yong Zheng coin.
"Brother Gu, if you please," Zhang said. Gu drew his sword and
flourished it threateningly.
"It's a trick!" he shouted. "You already decided that it would be one
of us three."
"What do you mean, a trick?" Zhang demanded.
"They're your coins, and you had first choice. How do we know you
haven't marked them in some way?"
Zhang's face went white. "Then what do you suggest, Brother Gu?"
"One of those Yong Zheng coins in your pocket is lighter in colour than
the others. Put that in with four dark ones, and whoever picks the
light one goes."
Zhang hesitated for a second, then smiled. "Just as you say. But I fear
it will still be you who goes to feed the wolves." He surreptitiously
bent the light-coloured coin slightly before placing it with the
others.
"If neither you nor I lose, I will fight you afterwards," Gu said
threateningly.
"It will be my pleasure," replied Zhang. He put the five coins in the
bag. "You three gentlemen choose first, then myself and lastly Master
Chen, is that satisfactory?"
The Three Devils did not object. "Brother Hahetai, you first," said
Tang.
Just as Hahetai put his hand in the bag, Huo Qingtong shouted out in
Mongolian: "Don't take the bent one!" He started in fright. The first
coin he felt was indeed slightly bent. He chose another one and pulled
it out: it was dark coloured.
Huo Qingtong had seen Zhang bend the coin, and had warned Hahetai
because he was the most decent of the Three Devils.
Next was Gu's turn. Hahetai told him in the thick, unintelligable
dialect of northeast China not to take the bent coin. Gu and Tang both
glanced angrily at Zhang and pulled out dark coloured coins. Chen
looked questioningly at Huo Qingtong.
"Don't take the bent one," Princess Fragrance said.
Chen knew Zhang would certainly take the unbent coin, thereby giving
him both the light-coloured coin and the chance to escape with the
girls. But as Zhang put his hand into Hahetai's bag, Chen saw Gu
looking covertly at Huo Qingtong, and realised they would never let him
take the girls with him. Uncertain of what to do and with no time left
to think, he suddenly blurted out: "Take the bent one! Leave the flat
one for me!"
Zhang started in shock and drew his hand back. "What do you mean, bent?
" he demanded.
"One of the two coins in the bag has been bent by you. I want the one
that's not bent." He put his hand in the bag and pulled out the dark
coin. "You've caused your own funeral," he said to Zhang with a smile.
Zhang's face went dark and he drew his sword. "We had agreed that I
would choose first," he said, and swung the blade at Chen's neck. Chen
ducked and thrust his dagger at Zhang's stomach. The two fought closely
for a moment. Suddenly, Zhang flung his sword at Huo Qingtong. Chen was
afraid she would be too weak to dodge it and raced over to intercept
the weapon. But it was just a diversion. As Chen ran towards Huo
Qingtong, Zhang jumped over to Princess Fragrance and grabbed her.
"Get out!" he shouted to Chen, who stopped in his tracks and stared
dumbly back at Zhang. "If you don't get out, I'll throw her to the
wolves!" He picked the girl up and swung her about above his head. Chen
heart pounded and his brain whirled in confusion.
"Ride out and lead the wolves away!" Zhang shouted again.
Chen knew Zhang would do what he said and so he slowly untied the white
horse's reins and mounted up.
"I'll count to three. If you're not out of the circle by then, I'll let
her go. One....two....three!" As he said three, the white horse bounded
out of the ring.
Chen landed in the midst of the wolves, grabbed the first two that
attacked him by the scruffs of their necks, then turned the horse
round, soared back into the ring of fire and flung them at Zhang.
With two such ferocious animals flying at him, Zhang was forced to drop
Princess Fragrance to protect himself. Chen threw two of his chess
pieces at him, scooped Princess Fragrance up, then leapt out of the
circle of fire once more with another horse close behind: Huo Qingtong
had taken advantage of the fight to cut the reins of a horse and mount
up without the Three Devils noticing.
She and Chen waded through the wolf pack, slashing right and left with
their weapons as if chopping vegetables, and in a moment, the two
horses were out in the open and galloping off westwards with the wolf
pack chasing behind. The horses were much faster than the wolves, and
before long, they had left the pack far behind. But Chen knew the hard
part would be staying ahead of these tireless, hungry beasts.
** 9 **
As the three rode along, the land about them gradually became more
rocky and a crooked path appeared. It grew dark, and the White Jade
Peak began to tower over them.
"According to the map, the Secret City was built around the base of the
mountain," said Huo Qingtong. "It doesn't look as if it would be more
than three or four miles from here." The three dismounted and gave
their two horses some water.
Chen stroked the white horse's mane lovingly, knowing that without it,
he would never have been able to rescue Princess Fragrance. He also
knew he would not have left without her.
They rested for a while until the horses had recovered some of their
strength and then continued on, the cries of the wolves already vaguely
discernible in the distance. Chen rode the chestnut horse alone and the
two sisters rode together on the white horse.
The night was cool and the snow on the peak glistened brilliant white
under the moon, looking almost close enough to touch. The path became
rough and treacherous and suddenly split a dozen or so ways, with no
indication of which was the correct one.
"With so many paths, it's not surprising people get lost," said Chen.
Huo Qingtong pulled out the map and examined it under the moonlight.
"It says: `left three right two'," she said.
"What does that mean?"
"It doesn't explain." In the distance, they heard the wolves howling in
unison.
"It's about midnight," Huo Qingtong said. "They must have stopped to
howl at the moon. When they've finished, they will be after us again.
We must choose the path and go quickly."
"There are five paths on the left here," said Chen pointing. "The map
says left three right two, so let's take the third."
"If it's a dead end, we won't have time to come back again," replied
Huo Qingtong.
"In that case, the three of us will die together," said Chen.
As Chen spoke, Huo Qingtong felt a sudden warmth in her breast and
tears welled into her eyes. She raised her horse whip and led them into
the middle path.
The track narrowed into a stone-walled corridor which had obviously
been hacked out of the mountainside by men. After a while, they came to
another crossroads from which three paths branched out to the right.
"We're saved! We're saved!" Huo Qingtong shouted with joy, and they
spurred their horses up the middle path with renewed energy. But the
track had not been traversed for many years, and in some places, it was
completely overgrown by grasses taller than a man, while in others, it
was blocked by sand drifts. The three had to dismount and lead the
horses over the obstacles. Chen also moved rocks onto the top of the
drifts to slow the wolves' pursuit.
Less than half a mile further on, they came upon three more paths
forking to the left. Suddenly, Princess Fragrance screamed and pointed
to a pile of white bones at the mouth of one of the paths. Chen
dismounted to investigate and found they were the remains of a man and
a camel.
"He must have been unable to decide which path to take and ended up
dying here," he sighed.
They entered the third path and found it suddenly steepened sharply.
The cold and darkness became oppressive. A short while later another
skeleton appeared by the side of the path with jewels glistening
amongst the bones.
"He was rich but he couldn't get out," Huo Qingtong said.
"But it means we're on the right path," replied Chen. "There must be
even more skeletons on the wrong paths."
"When we leave, none of us must take any jewels, all right?" Princess
Fragrance said.
"You're afraid the ghosts won't let us go," said Chen with a smile.
"Promise me!"
He heard the pleading tone in her voice and hurriedly replied: "I won't
take anything, don't worry." All the jewels in the world could not
match having you two sisters as companions, he thought, and suddenly
felt ashamed. Why did he include them both together?
They continued up the twisted path the whole night, and by morning,
they and the two horses were exhausted.
"Let's rest a while," said Huo Qingtong.
"We must concentrate on finding shelter first and then we can all sleep
easily," Chen replied firmly.
** 10 **
A short way further on, the path opened out into a wide, flat valley of
extraordinary beauty. The sun was just rising and the white mountain
soared up into the sky from the valley floor. Around its base was a
city that looked as if it had once been very prosperous. But now, the
thousands of houses that they could see, although magnificent in scale
and design, were in various stages of ruin and collapse. Not a sound
was to be heard, not even the twittering of birds. The three had never
seen a place that was at once so beautiful and so terrible. They stood
for a moment, over-awed by the crushing silence, hardly daring to even
breathe, then Chen urged his horse forward and they entered the city.
The area was extremely dry, so dry that there was virtually no
vegetation on the ground. The contents of the houses had stayed
undisturbed for countless years and most appeared to still be in good
condition. They entered the first house they came to and Princess
Fragrance noticed a pair of ladies' shoes on the floor. Their colour
was still fresh, but as soon as she touched them, they disintegrated
into dust, and she jumped in shock.
"This city is in a basin surrounded by high mountains which protect it
from rain and wind," Chen said.
As they continued through the streets, they found skeletons everywhere
and swords and other weapons thrown about at random.
"It doesn't look as if the city was buried in a sand storm as the story
says," Chen commented.
"No," Huo Qingtong agreed. "It looks more like there was a big battle
and all the people were killed."
"But there's so many paths outside the city," Princess Fragrance
objected. "How would the enemy find their way in?"
"There must have been a traitor," Huo Qingtong replied.
They went into another house, and she spread the map out on a table and
leaned over to examine it. But the table was completely rotten despite
its apparent sturdiness, and it collapsed under the weight of her arms.
She picked up the map and studied it for a moment. "I'm afraid these
houses wouldn't withstand an attack by the wolves for very long," she
said. She pointed at a place on the map. "This is the centre of the
city, right at the foot of the mountain. There are a lot of markings
around it, which probably means it is a place of importance. If it's a
palace or fortress, it is bound to be very sturdily built, so let's go
there."
"Right!" said Chen. The three continued on their way, following the
path indicated on the map. The roads in the centre of the city were
like a maze, twisting and turning until their head's swam. If they had
not had the map, they would surely have lost their way.
After an hour or so, they came to the place marked on the map as the
city centre, but were disappointed to find no sign of any palace or
fortress. From close up, the White Jade Peak looked even more beautiful
than from a distance. It was completely white, pure and shining. A jade
carver who found even a small piece of white jade would never go hungry
for the rest of his life, but here was a whole mountain of the precious
stone. They looked up at the towering peak and felt a sense of
spiritual upliftment. Their cares and worries dispersed and they
reflected on the wonderful mystery of creation.
Then, amidst the silence, they heard far off the howls of wolves
drifting towards them.
"They're coming!" cried Princess Fragrance. "Could it be the wolves
have a map as well?"
"Their nose is their map," Chen replied. "We have left our scent
wherever we have gone and by following it, they will never make a
mistake."
Huo Qingtong pointed at the map. "Look," she said. "There is the
mountain, but there are many roads marked inside."
"They must be tunnels," he said.
"Yes. Now how do we find them?" She looked at the explanation on the
map and slowly deciphered it. "To enter the palace, climb the tall tree
and call out "Ailongabasheng" three times towards the sacred mountain."
"What is Ailongabasheng?" Princess Fragrance asked.
"It must be the password," Huo Qingtong replied. "But where is the tall
tree? And could this really be a magic spell?"
"Of course it could," said Princess Fragrance, who had always believed
in spirits and fairies.
"In the old days, there would have been people in the mountain who
would have pushed a switch when they heard the password, opening a cave
entrance," said Chen. But after so many years, everyone in there is
certainly dead."
The howls of the wolves sounded closer. "Let's go and hide in one of
the houses," Huo Qingtong suggested.
The three turned and ran towards the closest of the buildings. As they
ran, Chen tripped on a bulge on the ground and saw it was the stump of
a huge tree. "The tree's here!" he called.
Princess Fragrance examined the sheer face of the mountain above and
pointed. "That must be the cave mouth there. Look, aren't those
footholds?" Chen and Huo Qingtong looked up and saw with delight that
there were indeed notches in the rock face.
"I'll go up and have a look," said Chen. With the dagger in his right
hand, he bounded up the cliff. He made it up about a dozen feet then
used his Inner Strength Kung Fu to lodge the dagger in the rock face
for an instant and race up further. Finally, he reached the point where
the footholds began. The two girls cheered from below, and Chen waved
to them before turning his attention to the cliff above. Over the
years, the cave mouth had become blocked by sand. Chen grabbed an
outcrop of jade rock with one hand and started to shift some of the
sand with the dagger. He pulled broken slabs of rock out one after
another, and let them drop to the ground, and in a short while had made
a hole large enough to wriggle through. He crawled in and sat down.
Then, pulling his Pearl Strings from his pocket, he undid them all,
tied them together end to end and dangled the resulting rope down the
cliff face to the girls waiting below.
Huo Qingtong tied the rope round her sister's waist and Chen slowly
pulled her up. Just as she reached the cave mouth, she screamed, and
Chen quickly helped her inside, saying: "Don't worry, you've made it."
Her face was deathly pale. "Wolves!" she cried.
Chen looked down and saw seven or eight wolves had already arrived at
the base of the cliff. Huo Qingtong was valiantly fighting them off
with her sword. The white horse shook its mane and neighed loudly then
galloped off through the streets of the ancient city.
Chen hastily grabbed some large rocks from around the cave mouth and
threw them down, forcing some of the wolves to back away, then dropped
the rope down again. Huo Qingtong was afraid that in her weak
condition, she would be unable to hold on long enough, so she
transferred the sword to her left hand, and tied the rope round her
waist as she continued to fight off the wolves.
"Right!" she yelled. Chen yanked on the rope and she flew into the air
just as two wolves threw themselves at her. One of them bit deeply into
her boot and refused to let go. As Princess Fragrance screamed in
fright, Huo Qingtong bent over in mid-air and chopped it in half across
its belly. The top half of its body accompanied her up to the cave
mouth.
Chen helped her inside and tried unsuccessfully to pull the half-wolf
off her boot.
"Did it bite into you?" he asked quickly.
"I'm all right," she replied. She took the dagger from his hand and cut
open the wolf's mouth, revealing the serried ranks of teeth sunk deep
into her boot. A small trickle of blood oozed out of one of the holes
in the leather.
"Your foot is wounded," Princess Fragrance said. She helped her sister
remove the boot, and ripped a strip of material off her gown to bandage
the wound. Chen turned his head away, not daring to look at her bare
feet.* (* In traditional China, feet were considered one of the most
erotic parts of the female anatomy.)
When she had finished the bandaging, Princess Fragrance looked down at
the thousands of wolves amongst the buildings below, and wagged her
finger at them angrily. "You evil wolves, biting my sister's foot! I
won't feel sorry for you any more," she scolded them as Chen and Huo
Qingtong smiled.
They turned to look into the cave, but all they could see was
pitch-blackness. Huo Qingtong took out her tinderbox and lit it, and
immediately jumped in fright: they were sitting on a thin ledge and
next to them was a drop of nearly two hundred feet down to the floor of
the cave, which looked even lower than the ground outside the mountain.
"There has been no fresh air in here for a long time," said Chen. "We
can't go down yet." After a while, when he thought most of the stale
air would have dissipated, he said: "I'll go down first to have a look
around."
"Once we're down it won't be easy to get back up again," said Huo
Qingtong.
Chen smiled. "If we can't, we can't," he said. Huo Qingtong blushed and
looked away.
He tied one end of the rope round a rock outcrop and started to slide
down into the abyss, but when he reached the end of the rope, he was
still a hundred feet from the bottom. Abandoning the rope, he climbed
down the cliff face for a way, and then jumped lightly to the floor.
"Throw down the tinderbox!" he shouted and Huo Qingtong did so. He
struck a light, and under its glow, he saw he was in a chamber carved
entirely out of white jade furnished with several sets of wooden tables
and chairs. Chen looked up and saw the two girls peering down from the
ledge, and shouted: "Come down!"
"You go down first, sister," Huo Qingtong said. Princess Fragrance took
hold of the rope and slid slowly down to its end. She saw Chen standing
beneath her with his hands opened wide, closed her eyes tightly and let
go. Almost immediately, she felt his strong arms catch her and place
her lightly on the ground. Huo Qingtong jumped down in the same fashion
and as Chen embraced her, she flushed deep red with embarrassment.
By now, the howls of the wolves outside the mountain were becoming
faint. Chen looked at their shadows dancing on the white jade walls,
and then at the two beauties beside him. Under the glow of the
reflected light, they looked even more exquisite. Here they were, the
three of them, in the bowels of a mountain, not knowing what was in
store for them. Of all the strange things that had happened to him in
his eventful life, this was the strangest.
Chen snapped off a chair leg and lit it with the flame from the
tinder-box. Princess Fragrance exclaimed at the beauty of the chamber
they were in, and taking the torch from Chen began walking about. He
broke off another seven chair legs and the three began to walk off
along a long tunnel which turned out to be a cul-de-sac. Chen wondered
how they would get out. Then in a corner of the tunnel, he noticed
something sparkling under the torchlight. He walked over and saw it was
a gold suit of armour containing a pile of old bones. The suit of
armour was exquisitely-made, and the three marvelled at the fine
workmanship.
"He must have been a nobleman," said Princess Fragrance. Huo Qingtong
noticed that there was a winged camel engraved on the breast plate and
added: "He may even have been the king or a prince. I've heard that in
ancient times, only kings could use winged camels as their emblem."
"It's the same with the dragon in China," replied Chen. He took the
torch from Princess Fragrance and began to examine the end wall of the
tunnel for some trace of a door or an opening mechanism. Raising the
torch, he saw a huge ring door knocker with a long-handled axe lodged
in it.
"There's a door," Huo Qingtong exclaimed joyfully. Chen passed the
torch over to her and tried to pull the axe away, but it had rusted
onto the iron ring and was immovable. He took out his dagger and
scraped away the rust, then with an effort, managed to pull the axe
free. He found it very heavy.
"If this was his weapon, then His Highness was a strong man," he said
with a smile.
On closer examination, they found there was an iron ring fastened to
all four corners of the stone door. Chen took hold of each of the rings
and gave them a mighty tug, but the door did not move even a fraction.
He tried pushing it instead, and with load squeaks, it slowly began to
swing open. They saw the door was at least ten feet thick, and in fact
was more like a huge boulder than a door.
The three looked at each other with expressions of jubilation on their
faces. Chen raised the torch high and with the dagger in his other
hand, led the way through the door. One step inside, something crunched
under his foot, and he saw a pile of bones on the floor. Looking ahead,
there was a narrow tunnel leading off into the darkness, just big
enough for a person to walk along. Skeletons and swords were scattered
all about them.
Huo Qingtong pointed to the back of the great stone door. "Look," she
said. Under the torchlight they saw deeply scored lines obviously
scratched out with swords.
"These people must have been locked in here by the king," said Chen in
a startled voice. "They tried the best they could to get out, but the
door was too thick and the jade rock too solid."
"Even if they had had ten blades as sharp as your dagger, they would
still never have broken through this door," replied Huo Qingtong.
"They must have considered every alternative, and finally one by one
died as hope faded...."
"Don't! Don't go on," Princess Fragrance pleaded. The scene was too
tragic. She could not bear to hear any more.
"Why did the king stand guard on the other side of the door instead of
escaping?" Huo Qingtong asked. "I can't work that out at all." She
pulled out the map and looked at it for a moment. Her face brightened.
"At the end of this tunnel there should be a great hall and other
rooms," she said.
Slowly, they walked forward, treading on human bones as they went. They
turned two corners, and emerged into a cavernous hall as Huo Qingtong
had predicted. They stood at the entrance and looked about. The floor
of the great hall was filled with skeletons and weapons lying about at
random, evidence that a furious battle had been fought here.
As they walked into the hall, Chen's dagger suddenly shot out of his
hand and fell to the floor with a clatter. At the same instant, the
belt supporting Huo Qingtong's sword around her waist snapped, and the
scabbard fell heavily to the floor. The three jumped in fright. Huo
Qingtong bent down to pick up her sword, but as she did so, the darts
in her pocket flew out with a whoosh and dropped to the ground in the
same manner.
Chen grabbed the two girls and leapt backwards several paces, steeling
himself to defend them against any attackers. But there was not a sound
from the hall. He wondered what kung fu could snatch the weapons from
their hands and even suck Huo Qingtong's darts from her pocket.
"We have come only to escape wolves and with no other purpose," Chen
shouted into the darkness in the Muslim language. "Please forgive us
for any indiscretions we may have committed."
There was no answer but the echo of his own words returning from the
far side of the hall.
As Huo Qingtong's initial fright receded, she walked forward again and
stooped to pick up her sword. But it was stuck to the floor as if
nailed in place. She tried again using all her strength and managed to
free it, but a second later, it flew out of her hand again and hit the
ground with a clang.
Chen realised what was happening.
"There must be a magnet under here," he said.
"What's a magnet?" asked Huo Qingtong.
"Sailors say there is a big mountain in the far north which attracts
pieces of iron which hang free, making them point north to south. When
they're on the ocean, they rely on something called a magnetic compass
to find their direction."
"And you think there's another magnet mountain under here which is
attracting our weapons?" asked Huo Qingtong.
"I think so. Let's try it." He prized up his dagger and placed it and a
wooden chair leg on his left hand with his right hand on top to hold
them in place. When he took his hand away, the dagger flew to the
ground but the chair leg remained motionless.
"So as you see, the magnet is powerful," said Chen, picking up the
dagger again and gripping it tightly.
Huo Qingtong walked on a few more steps. "Come here!" she called. Chen
ran over and saw a skeleton which was still standing. A few tattered
pieces of clothing hung on the frame, and its right hand was holding a
white-coloured sword which was stuck into the skeleton next to it.
"It's a jade sword!" Huo Qingtong exclaimed. Chen carefully extracted
the sword from the skeleton's grasp, and with its support gone, it
collapsed to the floor in a heap.
The jade sword's blade was very sharp, but it was still frail enough to
shatter if it clashed with a metal blade. Looking round, they saw there
were many other jade weapons of all sizes lying about the hall.
"I know!" Huo Qingtong suddenly said. "The master of this mountain
certainly planned things very carefully."
"What?" asked Chen.
"He used this magnet to draw the enemy's weapons away and then his
guards finished them off with the jade swords."
Princess Fragrance pointed at a skeleton wearing a metal breast plate.
"Look! Some of the attackers were wearing armour. i'll bet they
couldn't get on their feet."
"But what I don't understand," Huo Qingtong continued, "is if the
guards with the jade weapons killed all the attackers, why did they
also die here as well?"
Chen had also been considering that problem, but could think of no
explanation.
"Let's go further in and explore," said Huo Qingtong.
"No," Princess Fragrance said. "Let's not, sister."
Huo Qingtong saw the anguished expression on her face and squeezed her
arm. "Don't be afraid. Perhaps there are no skeletons over there."
They walked to the other side of the hall and looked into a smaller
chamber. But the scene there was even more terrible than in the first
hall. Dozens of skeletons were piled about the room, most of them still
standing as if alive. Some had weapons in their hands, some didn't.
"Don't touch anything!" said Chen. "There must be some strange reason
for them dying like this." They continued on, and passed out of the
chamber into a tunnel. After a couple of bends, they came upon a small
swing door. As they pushed it open, their eyes were assailed by a
bright light. Sunlight poured in from a crack in the ceiling hundreds
of feet above into an excuisite jade room which had obviously been
carved out of the mountain at this spot to take advantage of the
natural lighting.
Although it was only a single shaft of sunlight, the three were very
excited at the sight of it. The room they found themselves in had a
jade bed, a jade table, jade chairs, all beautifully carved. A skeleton
reclined on the jade bed, while in one corner of the room, there were
two other skeletons, one large and one small.
Chen extinguished the torch. "We'll rest here," he said. They pulled
out their dry rations and water and had a small meal.
"I wonder how long the wolves will wait outside the mountain for us?"
said Huo Qingtong. "This has became a contest between us and the
wolves, so we will have to make the food and water last as long as
possible."
For the past several days, Chen and the two sisters had not had a
moment in which they could relax. Now, in this silent jade room, an
immense exhaustion came over them and before very long, they fell into
a deep, deep sleep.
PARTEIGHT 返回目录
The Book and The Sword
Copyright Graham Earnshaw 1995
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PART EIGHT
** 1 **
Zhang and the Three Devils watched the wolves swarm after Chen and the
girls with great relief, although they felt a tinge of regret at the
thought of two such beautiful girls being ravished by the animals. The
four men sat down to rest for a while, then roasted and ate one of the
dead wolves left behind. Gu noticed that the supply of tree branches
was almost exhausted, and too lazy to go and get more, he threw piles
of wolf's dung onto the fire to stoke up the flames. Before long, a
column of thick, black smoke was rising towards the heavens.
Just as they had eaten their fill of wolf meat, they noticed a dust
cloud approaching from the east. Assuming it to be another wolf pack,
they frantically jumped up and ran for the horses. Only two horses were
left, both of which had been brought by the Three Devils. Zhang
stretched out his hand to take the reins of one of the mounts, but
Hahetai lunged in front of him and grabbed them first, shouting: "What
do you think you're doing?"
Zhang was about to attack him when he spied Tang and Gu with weapons in
their hands closing in. "Why are you getting so excited?" he protested.
"They aren't wolves."
The Three Devils turned to look and Zhang vaulted onto the horse's
back. Only then did he notice that his lie was in fact the truth: in
the midst of the dust cloud was a large herd of camels and goats. He
galloped off towards the herd, shouting: "I'll go and have a look!"
After riding only a short way, he saw a rider coming towards him. The
rider, an old man dressed in grey, raced up and stopped his mount
instantly with a tug on the reins. Zhang marvelled at his horsemanship.
The rider saw Zhang was wearing the tattered uniform of a Manchu
military officer and asked in Chinese: "What happened to the wolves?"
Zhang pointed west.
By this time, the herd was upon them and in the midst of the dust and
noise and confusion, Zhang noticed a bald-headed, red-faced old man and
a white-haired old woman riding herd. He was just about to ask who they
were when the Three Devils came over and bowed respectfully before the
old man in grey.
"We are honoured to meet you again, sir," Tang said obsequiously. "How
are you?"
The old man grunted. "Nothing to complain about," he mumbled. It was
the Strange Knight of the Heavenly Pool, Master Yuan.
Zhang knew nothing of the old man, but he noted the respect with which
the Three Devils treated him.
Master Yuan examined the four of them for a moment, then said: "We are
going to catch the wolves. You will all come with me."
They started in fright and wondered if he was insane. But the Three
Devils knew his kung fu was formidable and did not dare to refuse.
Zhang, however, emitted a "humph" of astonishment and said: "I want to
live a few more years. Sorry, but I will be unable to accompany you."
He turned to leave.
Absolutely furious, Bald Vulture grabbed for Zhang's wrist shouting:
"So you refuse to heed Master Yuan's orders! Do you wish to die?"
Zhang deflected his hand deftly with a 'Dividing The Clouds and Moon'
stroke, and the two fought closely for a while, neither gaining the
upper hand. Then they leapt apart, both surprised that they should come
upon such a master of the martial arts in the middle of the desert.
"What is your name, friend?" Zhang shouted.
"What makes you think you're good enough to be my friend? Will you or
will you not do what Master Yuan says?"
Zhang knew he was as good a fighter as himself, and yet he still
respectfully referred to the other old man as "Master Yuan", indicating
Yuan's kung fu was probably even better. Who is this Master Yuan? he
wondered. "What is your full name, sir?" he asked Yuan. "If you are my
superior, I will naturally respect your orders."
"Ha! So you wish to question me, do you?" Master Yuan exclaimed. "It is
I that does the questioning. I ask you: just now, you used a 'Dividing
the Clouds and Moon' move. But what would you have done if I had
replied with a 'Descending the Mountain to Kill the Tiger' stroke on
your left while going for your Spiritual Yuedao point on your right?"
Zhang thought for a second. "I would have kicked out with an 'Arrow
Shooting the Hawk' move, and grabbed your wrist."
"Then you are obviously a member of the Wudang School," Yuan replied,
to Zhang's evident surprise. "Once when I was in Hubei, I sparred with
Master Ma Zhen." Zhang went deathly pale. "Now then, if I used a
'Secret Hand' move to counter your attempt to seize my wrist, and then
struck at your face with my left hand, what would you do? Master Ma
Zhen was unable to avoid this move. Let's see if you can work it out."
Zhang thought deeply for a while. "If you were fast, I would naturally
be unable to avoid the blow," he said finally. "I could aim a 'Yuanyang
Kick' at your left ribs to force you to retract your hand to defend
yourself."
Yuan laughed. "Not bad. Of all the fighters in the Wudang School, you
are probably the best."
"I would then aim to touch your 'Xianji' Yuedao point," Zhang
continued.
"Good! A master always attacks if he can. But I would then step into
the 'Guimei' position and attack your lower body."
"I would then retreat to the 'Song' position and strike out for your
'Heavenly Spring' Yuedao point."
Gu and Hahetai listened in bewilderment to the strange words. Hahetai
gave Tang's gown a tug and whispered: "What's this code they're
speaking in?"
"It's not code, they're using the names of the Sixty Four Positions and
the Yuedao points on the human body," Tang replied.
"I advance to the 'Ming Ye' positon and attack with a Qimen move," Yuan
said.
"I retreat to the 'Zhong Fu' position and counter with a Phoenix Eye
move," replied Zhang.
"I advance to the 'Jizhai' position and go for your 'Huan Jiao'
Yuedao."
The pressure was begining to show on Zhang's face, and there was a
pause before he answered: "I retreat to the 'Zhen' position and then to
the Fu position."
"How come he keeps retreating?" whispered Hahetai, but Tang waved him
to silence. The verbal sparring continued, Yuan smiling and obviously
at ease, Zhang beginning to sweat and sometimes taking a long time to
come up with a response. The Three Devils knew that in a real fight, he
would have had no time for such thinking, and would have been beaten
long ago.
After a few more moves, Zhang said: "I attack with a 'Xiao Shu' move
and then strike at your wrist."
"That's not good enough," Yuan replied. "You lose."
"Please explain," said Zhang.
"If you don't believe me, I'll show you. Be careful!" Yuan's right leg
kicked up at Zhang's knees.
Zhang jumped away shouting: "If you touch me..." but before he could
finish, Yuan's right hand had shot out and touched a Yuedao point on
his chest. He felt a surge of pain and immediately began to cough
uncontrollably.
Yuan smiled at him. "Well?" he asked.
The others were amazed by this nonchalant display of such profound kung
fu skills. Zhang, looking deathly pale, did not dare to continue his
intransigence. "I will do as you say, Master Yuan," he replied.
"But your kung fu is first class," Bald Vulture added. "What is your
name?"
"My surname is Zhang, my given name Zhaozhong. And may I ask your
names?"
"Ah, so it's the Fire Hand Judge," Bald Vulture replied. "Brother Yuan,
he's a martial brother of Master Ma Zhen."
Yuan grunted. "His brother is not as good as him. Let's go." He
galloped off.
There were several horses mixed in amongst the camels and goats, and
Zhang and Hahetai chose a mount each and began helping to herd the
animals after Master Yuan.
As they galloped along, Zhang said to Bald Vulture: "Excuse me. These
wolves are very numerous. How do you intend to catch them?"
"You just do as Master Yuan says," Bald Vulture replied. "What's so
terrifying about a few little wolves?" Madame Guan, riding nearby,
smiled to hear her husband bluffing Zhang.
They rode on. Suddenly Yuan wheeled his horse round and shouted: "The
wolf droppings are very fresh. The pack passed here not long ago. From
the look of it, we'll catch up to them in another ten miles or so.
We'll ride another five miles and then all pick fresh horses. When we
have caught up to them, I will lead the way. The six of you must divide
up, three on each side to make sure the animals don't escape, otherwise
the wolf pack will split up." Just as Tang was about to ask a question,
Yuan turned and galloped off.
The wolf droppings around them became increasingly moist as they went.
"The pack must be just ahead," said Madame Guan. "With our camels and
horses making such a noise, it's surprising they haven't turned back
already."
"Yes, it is strange," her husband replied. A couple of miles further
on, the topography began to change and they saw a cluster of hills
ahead with a tall white mountain in their midst. The Twin Eagles had
long lived in the desert, and had heard many stories about this
beautiful mountain, sparkling in the bright sunshine.
"The wolves must have gone into the maze!" Yuan shouted. "Everyone whip
the animals!" They raised their horses whips and began beating the
camels and horses, and a great roar went up as the beasts snorted and
neighed in pain and anger. Before long, a large grey wolf appeared,
running towards them from the hills.
Yuan whirled his long whip about his head and cracked it sharply in the
air. Then with a shout, he whirled his horse round and galloped off
south, with the Twin Eagles, Zhang and the Three Devils driving the
herd after him. After a couple of miles, the howls of the wolf pack
arose from behind. Bald Vulture glanced back and saw the grey tide
moving towards them across the desert. He spurred his horse on and
caught up with the others. Zhang, Gu and Tang appeared to be having
difficulty keeping their terror under control, but Hahetai was shouting
and whistling crazily, driving the animals on and intercepting strays.
He was a herdsman by birth and he made sure not one was lost.
The wolves were ferocious and persistent, but they lacked stamina.
After four or five miles, they had already been left far behind, and
another five miles further on, Yuan shouted: "Let's rest for a while!"
They all dismounted and ate some rations while Hahetai herded the
animals together. When the wolves began to close in, they started off
again.
They continued south in this way, stopping occasionally to rest. Later
in the day, two Muslim riders appeared, galloping towards them.
"Master Yuan," they shouted. "Did it work?"
"They're coming, they're coming!" he shouted back. "Tell everyone to
get ready." The riders turned and galloped off ahead.
A short while later, they spied a huge circular wall rising up out of
the desert, at least forty feet in height with only one narrow
entrance. Yuan rode through the opening with the herd of animals close
behind him. The Twin Eagles and the others drove them through the gate
and then veered off to either side just as the first of the wolves
arrived. The huge wolf pack charged into the enclosure and threw
themselves at the animals. When the last wolf was inside, a horn
sounded and several hundred Muslims sprang from trenches on either side
of the entrance, each man carrying a bag of sand on his shoulders. They
raced for the opening and in a moment, the gap was completely blocked.
As they clapped and cheered, Zhang wondered what had happened to Yuan
inside the stockade. He saw several dozen Muslims standing on top of
the wall, and jumped off his horse and ran up a flight of steps,
arriving at the top just in time to see Yuan being pulled up by a rope.
He glanced down into the pit and jumped in fright: down below were the
hundreds of camels and horses, and thousands upon thousands of hungry
wolves tearing and biting at them. The noise was terrifying, and blood
flowed freely about the floor of the pit. The stockade was built with
sand bricks, more than a thousand feet in circumference and its walls
coated with mud to make sure there were no footholds available. Yuan
stood with the Twin Eagles on the top of the wall laughing heartily,
obviously very pleased with himself.
"This wolf pack has been terrorizing the Tianshan mountains for
hundreds of years, but you have now destroyed it, Master Yuan," said
Bald Vulture. "You have done the people a great service."
"It needed everyone's cooperation. How could I have done it by myself?"
he replied. "Just this stockade alone took three thousand men half a
year to complete. You have also been a great help today."
"I'm afraid it will take a long time before all these wolves finally
die of hunger," said Madame Guan.
"Of course, especially after they've feasted on all those animals down
there."
A cheer arose from the crowd of Muslims below and several of their
leaders came up to express their thanks to Yuan and the others. The
Muslims brought goat meat and horse milk wine for them to eat and
drink.
"Mistress Huo Qingtong defeated the Manchus at Black River and we have
defeated the wolves here," said one of the leaders. "Now that the
wolves have been caught, we can go and look for her..." He stopped as
he spotted Zhang, wearing the uniform of a Manchu officer, standing
close by.
"Master Yuan, I have something important to discuss with you," Bald
Vulture said later. "Please don't be offended."
"Ha! You've learned some manners in your old age," Yuan replied,
surprised by his formality.
"Your pupil's moral character is very bad and he needs to be severely
disciplined."
Yuan looked startled. "Who? Chen Jialuo?"
"Yes." Bald Vulture told him about how Chen had first won Huo
Qingtong's heart, and then shifted his affections to her sister.
"He is very reliable," Yuan said firmly. "He would never do such a
thing."
"We saw it with our own eyes," added Madame Guan, and related how they
met Chen and Princess Fragrance in the desert. Yuan stared at them for
a moment, then his anger exploded.
"I accepted the job of being his foster father," he exclaimed, "raised
him from when he was small. And now this happens. How can I face Great
Helmsman Yu in the other world? We must go and find him and question
him face-to-face." He leapt off the wall and mounted his horse: "Let's
go!" he roared, and galloped off, with the Twin Eagles following
behind.
Zhang's spirits rose as he saw his enemies departing. The Emperor had
sent him to find Chen and Princess Fragrance, and before he returned to
the court, he wanted to make sure they had been eaten by the wolves. If
they had, there was nothing more to be said. But if they were still
alive, he would have to catch them. Chen's kung fu, he knew, was only
marginally inferior to his own, and if Huo Qingtong joined Chen against
him he would lose, so he decided to invite the Three Devils along as
well. He gave Gu's sleeve a tug and the two walked off a few paces
together.
"Brother Gu," he whispered. "Do you miss that beauty?"
Gu thought Zhang was sneering at him. "What's it to you?" he replied
angrily.
"I have a score to settle with that fellow Chen, and I want to go and
make sure he's dead. If you come with me, the girl is yours, if she's
still alive."
Gu hesitated. "They've probably already been eaten by the wolves," he
said slowly. "And anyway, I don't know if Brother Tang would be willing
to go."
"If they've been eaten, then you're out of luck," Zhang replied. "But
you never know. As to your Brother Tang, I'll go and talk to him."
He went over to Tang and said: "I'm going to look for that fellow Chen
to settle accounts with him. If you would be willing to help me, his
dagger is yours."
What student of the martial arts would not covet such a precious
weapon? Even if Chen is already inside a wolf's belly, Tang thought,
the dagger will not have been eaten. He agreed immediately. "Brother
Hahetai, let's go," he shouted.
Hahetai was standing on the stockade wall animatedly discussing the
wolf pack with the Muslims. Hearing Tang's call, he turned and shouted:
"Where are we going?"
"To look for Chen and the others. If their bodies haven't been
completely devoured, we can bury them properly. We owe them that much!"
Hahetai respected Chen, and he immediately agreed. The four obtained
some rations and water from the Muslims, then mounted up and started
northwards, back the way they had come.
At about midnight, Tang protested that he wanted to stop for the night.
But Zhang and Gu insisted that they continue. The moon was high in the
sky, making the scene look like a silvery painting. Suddenly, a figure
darted from the side of the road and into a stone grave nearby.
"Who's that?" Zhang shouted, reining in his horse.
A moment passed, and then the laughing head of a Muslim appeared from a
hole between the flagstones. "I am the corpse of this grave," he said.
He wore a flowered hat and, to the great surprise of Zhang and the
others, spoke in Chinese.
"What are you doing out here if you're a corpse?" Gu shouted.
"I just wanted to go for a stroll."
"Do corpses go for strolls?" Gu replied angrily.
The head nodded. "Yes, yes, you're right. I am wrong. So sorry." It
disappeared back into the hole.
Hahetai burst out laughing, but Gu was furious. He dismounted and stuck
his hand into the grave, wanting to pull the Muslim out, but he felt
about inside without finding anything.
"Don't take any notice of him," said Zhang. "Let's go."
As the four turned their horses round, they spotted a small, skinny
donkey by the side of the grave, chomping grass.
"I'm sick to death of dry rations," said Gu gleefully. "Some roast
donkey meat wouldn't be bad at all." He jumped off his horse again and
was about to take hold of the donkey's reins when he noticed the animal
had no tail.
"Someone seems to have cut off the donkey's tail and eaten it already,"
he observed with a smile.
There was a whoosh of sound and the Muslim appeared on the donkey's
back. He laughed and pulled a donkey's tail from his pocket and waved
it about. "The donkey's tail got covered in mud today, which didn't
look very nice, so I cut it off," he said.
Zhang looked at the man's full beard and crazy appearance and wondered
who he was. He raised his horse whip and rode by the donkey, striking
out at the Muslim's shoulder as he passed. The Muslim dodged to one
side, and Zhang suddenly found himself holding the donkey's tail, which
was indeed covered in mud. He also noticed a coolness on his head, and
found his cap had disappeared.
"So you're a Manchu officer," the Muslim said, swinging the cap about
on his finger. "You've come to attack us Muslims, I suppose. This cap
is very pretty."
Startled and angry, Zhang threw the donkey's tail at the Muslim who
caught it easily. Zhang leapt off his horse and faced him. "Who are
you?" he shouted. "Come on! I'll fight you."
The Muslim placed Zhang's cap on the donkey's head and clapped his
hands in delight. "The dumb donkey wearing an official's hat!" he
excalimed. He twitched his thighs and the donkey trotted off. Zhang
began to run after him, but stopped as a projectile flew towards him.
He caught the cold, glittering object deftly and with a surge of fury,
recognised it as the sapphire off the front of his cap. By now, the
donkey was already a long way away, but he picked a stone off the
ground and hurled it at the Muslim's back. The Muslim made no effort to
avoid it, and Zhang was delighted, certain that this time he had him.
There was a loud clang as the stone hit something metallic, and the
Muslim cried out in despair.
"Oh no! He's killed my saucepan! It's dead for certain!"
The four men looked at each other dumb-founded as the Muslim and his
donkey disappeared into the distance.
"Was that a man or a demon?" Zhang asked finally. The Three Devils
silently shook their heads. "Come on, let's go. This place is evil
beyond belief."
They galloped off, and early the next morning, they arrived outside the
Secret City. The paths were many and confusing, but the trail of wolf
droppings was a perfect guide which brought them unerringly to the base
of the White Jade Peak. Looking up, they saw the cave-mouth that Chen
had excavated.
** 2 **
Chen woke towards midnight, his strength revived. Under the light of a
moonbeam shining down from the crack in the roof of the cave, he could
see Huo Qingtong and Princess Fragrance leaning against one another on
one of the jade seats, fast asleep. In the silence, he heard their
breathing and smelt the fragrance, even more beautiful than that of
fresh flowers or musk, emanating from the younger sister.
He wondered again what the wolves outside the mountain were doing and
whether the three of them would ever be able to escape. And if they
did, would his brother the Emperor hold to his word and throw out the
Manchus?
"Which one do I really love?" Over the past few days, this thought had
been gyrating round his brain continuously. "Well, which one really
loves me? If I were to die, Princess Fragrance would not be able to go
on living, but Huo Qingtong would. But that doesn't mean Princess
Fragrance loves me more."
The moon beam slowly shifted onto Huo Qingtong's face.
"Princess Fragrance and I have declared our love for each other, but
although Huo Qingtong has never said a word about it, her feelings
towards me are clear too," he thought. "And why did I come so far to
give her a message if it was not because I loved her? What is more,
restoring the throne to the Chinese people will involve immense trials
and tribulations. She is a better strategist even than Brother Xu, and
her assistance would be invaluable," He stopped himself, ashamed of his
own thoughts.
"Ah, Chen Jialuo," he whispered under his breath. "Are you really so
narrow-minded?"
Time passed and the moonbeam moved across onto Princess Fragrance.
"With her, all I would have is happiness, happiness, happiness," he
thought.
His eyes opened wide and he stared up at the crack of light in the rock
high above them for a long, long time. Slowly, the moonlight faded and
a sunbeam began to slant in, filling the room with daylight. With a
yawn, Princes Fragrance woke. She looked over at him through half-open
eyes and smiled, her face looking like a newly-opened flower.
Suddenly she jerked upright. "Listen!" she whispered.
Footsteps sounded distantly from the tunnel, gradually moving closer.
In the silence of the old caverns, each step could be heard clearly,
and their skin crawled as they listened. Chen shook Huo Qingtong's arm
to wake her and the three ran quickly back down the tunnel.
When they reached the main chamber, Chen picked up three jade swords
and gave one each to the two sisters. "Jade wards off evil," he
whispered.
By now, the footsteps were just outside the chamber, and the three hid
in a corner near the entrance, not daring to move. They saw the
flickering light of torches and four men walked in. The two in front,
they instantly recognised as Zhang and Gu.
There was a series of clanging sounds as the weapons of the four flew
out of their hands to the ground. Chen knew this was an opportunity not
to be missed, and as they stood staring at the floor in dumb surprise,
he gave a shout and leapt out, and with knocked the torches to the
ground, plunging the chamber into complete darkness. Zhang and the
Three Devils turned and raced back down the tunnel. They heard a dull
thud followed by a sharp curse as one of them bumped into the wall.
The footsteps gradually receded again.
Suddenly, Huo Qingtong gave a scream of panic. "Oh no! Chase them!"
Chen immediately realised what she meant and raced out of the chamber
into the tunnel. But before he reached its end, he heard a steady
creaking sound followed by a heavy bang, and he knew the stone door was
closed.
Huo Qingtong and Princess Fragrance ran up behind him. He felt around
for a piece of wood, found one and lit it, then looked again at the
scarred surface of the stone door, the relic of the death struggle of
the skeletons around them.
"We're finished!" Huo Qingtong said, despairingly.
Princess Fragrance grabbed her hand. "Sister, don't be afraid!"
Chen forced a smile. "It would be strange if we three died here."
For some reason, he felt a sense of relief wash over him as if a great
weight had been taken from his shoulders. He picked a skull off the
ground and said to it: "Well brother, you have three new companions."
Princess Fragrance gasped, and then laughed out loud.
Huo Qingtong looked at them both. "Let's go back to the Jade Room," she
said after a while. "Once we've settled down we can start thinking
things through."
They walked back the way they had come. Huo Qingtong pulled out the map
once more and pored over it, desperately searching for a way out. Chen
knew that if they were to escape it was more likely to be because of
outside help or because Zhang returned to look for them. But how could
rescuers find them? And Zhang, after the fright he had just received,
was unlikely to dare to come in again.
"I want to sing a song," Princess Fragrance announced.
"Please do," replied Chen.
She sang for a while then stopped, concerned about Huo Qingtong who was
still staring hard at the map, her head resting on her hands.
"Sister, you should rest for while," Princess Fragrance said. She stood
up and went over to the jade bed and said to the skeleton lying on it:
"Excuse me, I wonder if you could move over a bit? My sister needs to
lie down and rest." She carefully pushed the bones into a pile in the
corner of the bed. "Oh!" she said, picking something up. "What's this?"
Chen and Huo Qingtong walked over and saw she was holding a goatskin
scroll of great antiquity. The scroll had turned black, but under the
sunlight, it was possible to see it was covered in writing, all in an
ancient Muslim hand. Huo Qingtong glanced through it, and pointed at
the skeleton on the bed.
"It was written by this girl with her own blood just before she died.
Her name was Mami," she said.
"Mami?" asked Chen.
"It means 'beautiful'. I'm sure she was very beautiful when she was
alive." She put down the book and went back to examining the map.
"Does the map indicate some other exit?" Chen asked.
"There appears to be a secret tunnel somewhere, but I can't work out
where."
Chen sighed. "Would you read out this Miss Mami's last words to me?" he
asked Princess Fragrance. She nodded, and began to quietly recite:
"Everyone in the city, thousands upon thousands of people are all dead.
The guards of the Mountain and the warriors of Islam are all dead. My
Ali has gone to meet Allah, and his Mami will be going soon too. I will
write our story out here, so that the children of Allah will know that,
victorious or defeated, our warriors of Islam fight to the end, and
never surrender!"
"So this lady was not only beautiful, but courageous too," commented
Chen.
Princess Fragrance continued to read:
"Baojunlonga oppressed us for forty years. In those forty years, he
forced thousands of commoners to construct this secret city and carve
out the chambers and halls within the Sacred Mountain. He killed them
all. After he died, his son Sanglaba proved to be even more cruel. Of
every ten goats raised by the Muslim people every year, four had to be
given to him; of every five camels, he claimed two. We became poorer
and poorer each year. Any beautiful daughters among the Muslim families
were taken into the city, and once there, none ever came out alive.
"We are the brave children of Islam. Could we stand such oppression
from these pagans? Of course not! Over a period of twenty years, our
warriors attacked the city five times. But each time, they lost because
they could not find their way through the maze. On two occasions, they
made it into the Sacred Mountain but Sanglaba used some devilry to
steal their weapons, and they were all killed by his guards."
"That's the magnet," said Chen. Princess Fragrance nodded and
continued:
"In the year that I turned eighteen, my mother and father were killed
by Sanglaba's men and my elder brother became the chief of our tribe.
That spring, I met Ali. He was a hero of the tribe. He had killed three
tigers, and wolf packs scattered when they saw him. He could beat ten
ordinary men, no, a hundred. His eyes were as soft as those of a deer
and his body was as beautiful as a fresh flower, but he had the
strength of a desert hurricane..."
"The lady is exaggerating, I think," Chen said with a smile.
"Why do you say that?" Princess Fragrance asked solemly. "Are there not
such people in the world?"
"One day, Ali came to our tent to talk to my brother about another
attack on the City. He had obtained a copy of a book about Chinese kung
fu and had studied it for a year. He said he now understood the basics
of the martial arts, and was convinced that even without weapons, they
could kill Sanglaba's man. He took five hundred fighters and taught
them what he knew, and they practised for another year. By then, I was
already Ali's. I was his from the moment I first saw him. He told me
that when he saw me, he knew that we would win this time. But although
they had mastered kung fu, they still did not know the way through the
maze of the City, much less the secrets of the Sacred Mountain. Ali and
my brother talked for ten days and nights, but could find solution.
"Finally, I said: 'Brother,let me go.' They understood my meaning. Ali
was a brave warrior but he began to cry. I took a hundred goats and
went to graze them outside the city. On the fourth day, Sanglaba's men
seized me and took me to him. I cried for three days and three nights
before giving in to him. He liked me very much and gave me everything I
wanted.
"At first Sanglaba would not let me take so much as one step outside,
but he liked me more and more. I thought about our people every day and
of singing while tending goats on the grasslands: that is real
happiness. What I thought of most was Ali. Sanglaba saw me becoming
more thin and haggard each day and asked me what I wanted. I said I
wanted to go out and wander round everywhere. He flew into a great rage
and slapped me, so for seven days and nights I didn't smile or say a
word to him. On the eighth day, he took me out, and after that on every
third day. At first, we only travelled about the city, but later we
even went to the very entrance of the maze. I memorized clearly every
single street and path until I could have found my way through the maze
even if I was blind.
"This took almost a year. I knew my brother and Ali would be getting
impatient, but I still did not know the secrets of the Sacred Mountain.
Soon after, I became pregnant with Sanglaba's bastard child. He was
delighted, but I cried every day in loathing. He asked me what I
wanted, and I said: 'You have made me pregnant but you don't love me at
all.'
"'I don't love you?' he replied. 'Do you think there is anything I
would not give you? Do you want red coral from the bottom of the sea,
or sapphires from the south? They are yours."
"'I have heard that you have a jade pool which makes beautiful people
who wash in it even more beautiful and ugly people even uglier,'" I
said.
"His face drained of all colour and in a shaky voice, he asked me where
I had heard this. I told him a fairy had whispered it to me in a dream,
but in fact I had heard about the pool from the servant girls who said
that Sanglaba had never let anyone see it.
"'You can go and wash there, but whoever sees the pool must have their
tongue cut out afterwards to prevent the secret being revealed. It is a
rule decided by the ancestors,'" he said. He begged me not to go, but I
insisted. I said: 'You must think I am very ugly and do not wish me to
become even uglier.' Finally, he took me there.
"I took a small knife with me, planning to stab him to death by the
pool, which was the only place in the palace where there were no
guards, but the knife was snatched away by some magic under the floor
of the great hall. After I had bathed in the Jade Pool, I don't know if
I really became more beautiful or not, but he loved me even more.
However, he still cut out my tongue, because he feared that I would
reveal the secret. I knew everything, but had no way of telling my
brother and Ali.
"Every day and every night, I prayed to Allah, and Allah finally heard
the cries of his poor daughter. He gave me wisdom. Sanglaba had a small
dagger which he kept on his person at all times. The dagger had two
scabbards, and the inner scabbard was exactly like the blade of a
knife. I asked him for it, then I drew a map of the city including all
the paths and tunnels in it, sealed it inside a ball of wax and placed
it inside the inner scabbard. In the third month after the birth of the
child, he took me out hunting. When no-one was looking, I threw the
dagger into the Tengbo lake. When we returned to the palace, I released
many eagles with 'Tengbo Lake' written on pieces of paper tied to their
legs."
Huo Qingtong put down the map and concentrated on listening to her
sister's translation of the ancient scroll.
"Several of the eagles were shot down by Sanglaba's men, but I knew
that at least one or two would be caught by people of our tribe and
that my brother and Ali would go to Tengbo Lake and make a thorough
search. They would then find the knife and know the way through the
city.
"Ah! How could I guess that although they found the dagger, they did
not discover its secret, and did not work out that there was a scabbard
within the scabbard? My brother, and Ali decided that the dagger must
be a call for them to attack. So they attacked. Most of the warriors
lost their way in the maze. My brother, stronger than two camels, was
lost in this way. Ali and some of the others caught one of Sanglaba's
men and forced him to lead them in their attack on the Sacred Mountain.
In the Great Hall, Sanglaba's men fell on them with their jade weapons.
But Ali and his warriors had learned their lessons well and even
empty-handed they held their own and most died along with their
opponents. Seeing his guards being slaughtered and Ali pressing in
closer all the time, Sanglaba ran into the Jade Room and wanted me to
escape with him via the Jade Pool..."
Huo Qingtong jumped to her feet. "Aha!" she exclaimed. "He wanted to
escape via the Jade Pool!"
"Suddenly Ali ran in, and I flung myself into his arms. We embraced,
and he called me many beautiful things. I had no tongue and could not
answer him, but he understood the cry of my heart. Then that despicable
Sanglaba, ten thousands times more evil than a thousand devils, struck
him with an axe from behind...."
Princess Fragrance screamed and threw the scroll back onto the bed, an
expression of horror on his face. Huo Qingtong gently patted her
shoulder, then picked up the scroll herself and continued to read it
out loud:
"....with an axe from behind and split my Ali's head in two. His blood
spurted out all over my body. Sanglaba picked the child up off the bed,
placed it in my hands and shouted: 'We must leave quickly!' I raised
that bastard baby high about my head and threw it to the ground with
all my strength, and he died in Ali's blood. Sanglaba was deeply
shocked at the sight of me killing his son. He raised his golden axe,
and I bowed my head, offering my neck to him, but he sighed and rushed
back out into the Great Hall.
"Ali has gone to Allah's side and I will soon follow him. Our warriors
are many, and with all his soldiers dead, Sanglaba will certainly not
survive. He will never again be able to oppress us followers of Islam.
I myself killed his only son, so we will be free of oppression from his
descendants, because he has none. In the future, our people will be
able to live peacefully in the desert and on the grasslands, young
girls will be able to lie in their lovers' arms and sing. My brother,
Ali, myself, we are all dead, but we conquered the tyrants. Even if
their fortress had been stronger than it is, we would still have broken
through eventually. May Allah, the True God, protect our people."
Huo Qingtong slowly rolled up the ancient scroll. The three of them sat
for a long time without saying a word, deeply moved by Mami's courage
and virtue. Finally Princess Fragrance, her eyes full of tears, sighed.
"To relieve the oppression of her people, she was willing to leave her
loved ones, to have her tongue cut out and even to kill her own child,"
she said.
Chen started in fright, thinking of his own conduct compared to this
lady of old. Faced with the task of recovering China for the Chinese
people, he selfishly thought only of his own romantic problems.
Princess Fragrance noticed the sudden change in his expression. She
pulled out her handkerchief and went over to wipe the beads of sweat
from his brow, but Chen pushed her away impatiently. She stepped back,
startled at his aggressiveness, and Chen's heart softened. Taking the
handkerchief from her, he made up his mind that while the great
endeavour of the Restoration remained unfinished he would pay no
further attention to his romantic affairs, and would treat both sisters
purely as friends, as his own sisters.
Huo Qingtong, meanwhile, was once more poring over the map and
pondering phrases in the ancient scroll.
"It says here that Sanglaba came to this Jade Room and wanted her to
escape with him to the Jade Pool," she murmured. "But this room is a
dead end ... Afterwards, he returned the way he had come. He must have
been extraordinarily strong. The Islam warriors failed to stop him and
he forced his way through to the stone door and locked them all inside,
condemning them to death. But the map clearly indicates another tunnel
to the pool...."
"Then it must be in this room," Chen replied. He lit another torch and
began to examine the walls closely for cracks, while Huo Qingtong
looked at the jade bed. Chen remembered how Wen Tailai had been
captured at Iron Gall Manor and said: "Could the tunnel be under the
table?" He placed his hands beneath the round table top and tried to
lift it, but it did not budge.
"There's something strange about this table," he said, pleased. Huo
Qingtong brought the torch over to give him more light.
"Oh, look!" Princess Fragrance exclaimed. "There's a design carved onto
the surface." They looked closer and saw that it was a herd of winged
camels. They had not noticed it before because the carving was
extremely shallow. But strangely, the heads and bodies of the camels
were not joined, and were more than a foot away from each other. On an
impulse, Princess Fragrance grasped the table edge and pulled it from
left to right in an attempt to line up the heads and bodies, and it did
indeed move an inch or so. Chen and Huo Qingtong joined her and slowly
moved the rim round until the camels were whole again. Just as the
carving was complete, a grinding sound began and a panel beside the bed
slid back to reveal a row of steps leading downwards. The three shouted
in triumph.
Chen led the way into the hole, torch in hand. The passage twisted and
turned for a while and then ran straight for more than a hundred feet.
Then, around a corner, they burst out into daylight. Looking around
they saw they were in a small basin surrounded by high mountains. In
the centre was a circular pool, the water in which was as green as
jade. They were immediately enraptured by the beauty of the scene
before them.
"The scroll said that if beautiful people washed in the pool they would
become even more beautiful," Huo Qingtong said to her sister with a
smile. "You should go and wash."
Princess Fragrance blushed. "You are older than I, you go first," she
replied.
"Ai-ya! But I will become more ugly," Huo Qingtong protested. "Are you
going to wash or not?" Princess Fragrance shook her head.
Huo Qingtong walked to the edge of the pool and put her hands in the
water: it was intensely cold. She cupped her hands and scooped up some
water and saw it was very clear: the water appeared green only because
of the jade all about. She took a sip and found it extraordinarily cool
and tasty. They all drank their fill. The white peak towering above
them reflected off the surface of the pool in a picture of loveliness,
and Princess Fragrance lazily moved her hand about in the water,
unwilling to leave such an enchanting place.
"The thing to do now is to think of a way to avoid those four devils
outside," said Huo Qingtong.
"First, let's bring Mami's remains out and bury them beside the pool,"
Chen suggested.
Princess Fragrance clapped her hands in delight. "It would be best if
we buried her and Ali together," she said.
"Yes. I expect the skeleton in the corner is Ali's."
They returned to the Jade Room. As they were collecting Ali's bones,
they found amongst them some bamboo slivers used in China in ancient
times for writing. Chen picked them up, and saw they were thickly
covered with Chinese characters written in red ink on a black
background. Glancing through them, he recognized the writings of the
Chinese philospher Zhuangzi. He had thought it might be some special
book and was rather disappointed to find it was instead something he
had read and memorized as a child.
"What is it?" Princess Fragrance asked.
"It's an old Chinese book, but it's not much use except to
archaeologists." He threw the slivers back on the ground, and as they
scattered, he noticed one which looked slightly different from the
rest. Beside every character, were circles and dots and Muslim writing.
Chen picked the sliver up and saw it was a section entitled 'The
Butcher Dissects the Cow' from the philosopher Zhuangzi's lecture, 'The
Secret of Caring for Life.' He pointed to the Muslim characters written
alongside.
"What does this say?" he asked Princess Fragrance.
"'The key to smashing the enemy is here'," she replied.
"What can that mean?" he wondered out loud, greatly surprised.
"Mami's last testament said Ali got hold of a Chinese book and had
learned kung fu from it. This could be it," Huo Qingtong suggested.
"Zhuangzi taught that one should be oblivious of emotion in adversity
and obedient to one's superiors," said Chen. "It has nothing to do with
kung fu." He threw the sliver back down again, then picked up the pile
of bones and walked out. They buried the remains of Mami and Ali beside
the Jade Pool and bowed respectfully before the graves.
"Let's go now," said Chen. "I wonder if the white horse managed to
escape the wolves?"
"What is the section of that book about?" Huo Qingtong asked.
"It's about a butcher who is very good at his job. The movements of his
hands and legs, the sound of his knife chopping, are all perfectly
coordinated. The sound has the rhythm of music, the movements are like
dancing."
"It would be useful to have such skill when facing an enemy," Huo
Qingtong commented.
Chen stared at her in surprise. Every word of Zhuangzi was familiar to
him, but suddenly he felt as if he had never read it before. The words
of 'The Butcher Dissects The Cow' ran through his mind: 'When I first
began cutting up oxen, all I could see was the ox itself. After three
years, I no longer saw the whole ox. And now -- now, I go at it by
spirit and don't look with my eyes. Perception and understanding have
come to a stop and spirit moves where it wants.'
"If it really is like that," he thought, "I could kill that traitor
Zhang with my eyes closed with just a slight movement of the knife..."
The two sisters stared at him, wondering what he was thinking about.
"Wait a moment," he said, and ran back inside. A long time passed and
still he did not re-emerge. Feeling worried, the two sisters went in as
well and found him prancing about among the skeletons in the Great
Hall, his face wreathed in smiles. He danced around a pair of skeletons
for a moment and then stood stock-still staring at another pair.
Princess Fragrance glanced to her sister in fright, afraid that he had
lost his mind.
Huo Qingtong took her sister's hand. "Don't be afraid, he's all right,"
she said. "Let's go and wait for him outside."
The two returned to the Jade Pool. "What's he doing in there?" Princess
Fragrance asked.
"I think he's worked out some new kung fu moves after having read those
bamboo slivers and he's now practising them by copying the positions of
the skeletons. It would be best if we didn't disturb him."
Princess Fragrance nodded. After a while, she sighed. "Now I
understand." she said.
"What?"
"All those people in the Great Hall must have been very good fighters.
Even after their weapons had been snatched from them, they still fought
on with Sanglaba's guards."
"Yes, but they weren't necessarily very good at kung fu," Huo Qingtong
replied. "I would guess they just learned a few really formidable moves
which allowed them to take their enemies with them."
"Ah, they were so brave ... But what is he learning them for? Does he
want to die with his enemies too?"
"No, a martial arts master would not be killed along with his opponent.
He is just studying the finer points of the moves."
Princess Fragrance smiled. "Well I won't worry any more, then." She
looked out over the surface of the pool. "Sister," she said. "Let's
bathe in the water."
"Don't be ridiculous. What if he should come out?"
"I really want to go and bathe," Princess Fragrance replied. She stared
out at the cool water once again. "Wouldn't it be nice if the three of
us could live here together forever!" she said softly.
Huo Qingtong's heart jumped. She blushed, and quickly turned her head
away towards the White Jade Peak.
A long time passed and still Chen did not emerge. Princess Fragrance
took off her leather boots and put her feet in the water. Resting her
head on her sister's lap, she gazed up at the white clouds in the sky
and slowly fell asleep.
** 3 **
'Scholar' Yu and Yuanzhi understood why Xu had sent them out together
to look for Huo Qingtong. Yu was greatly moved by Yuanzhi's obvious
love for him, and by the fact that she had saved his life several
times. But the more infatuated she became, the more he shrank away from
her, for what reasons, he didn't himself understand. As they travelled,
she laughed and chattered with him, but he remained cool to her
advances.
One day towards noon, they spied a small donkey hobbling towards them
across the desert, its rider nodding from side to side as he snoozed.
As they got closer, they saw it was a Muslim with a large saucepan
slung across his back and a donkey's tail in his right hand. The
donkey, they noticed, was tail-less and was wearing an Imperial Guard
officer's cap. The rider looked about forty years of age and had a
luxuriant beard covering his face. When he saw them, he smiled warmly.
Yu knew Huo Qingtong's name was known across the length and breadth of
the desert. "Excuse me," he said. "Have you seen Mistress Huo Qingtong?
"
The man laughed. "Why are you looking for her?" he asked.
"There are several bad men after her and we want to warn her. If you
see her, could you give her the message?"
"All right. What sort of bad men?"
"Two are big Chinese, and the third is a Mongol," Yuanzhi answered.
The man nodded. "Yes, they are bad. They wanted to eat my donkey, but I
stole this hat from them." Yu and Yuanzhi glanced at each other.
"There was someone else with them?" Yu asked.
"The man wearing this cap. But who are you?"
"We are friends of Master Muzhuolun," Yu replied. We must stop the men
from finding Mistress Huo Qingtong. Take us to where you met them and
we will give you some silver."
"I don't need any silver. But I'll have to ask the donkey if he's
willing to go first," the Muslim replied. He leant over close to the
donkey's ear and mumbled into it for a while, then placed his own ear
near the donkey's mouth, and nodded repeatedly. Yu and Yuanzhi grinned
at his clowning.
The man listened intently for a moment and then frowned. "This donkey
has had a very high opinion of himself ever since he got the official
cap," he said. "He's rather contemptuous of your horses and doesn't
want to travel with them for fear of losing face."
Yuanzhi looked at the skinny, lame animal, it's body covered in dirt,
and burst out laughing.
"You don't believe me?" the Muslim exclaimed. "Well then, my donkey
shall compete with your horse."
Yu and Yuanzhi were riding two of Muzhuolun's best horses, as superior
to the donkey as clouds are from mud.
"All right," said Yuanzhi. "When we've won, you must lead us to find
the three bad men."
"It's four, not three. But what happens if you lose?"
"Whatever you say."
"If you lose, you have to wash the donkey clean so that he can show
off."
"All right," Yuanzhi agreed. "What sort of competition will we have?"
"You can decide."
The Muslim seemed absolutely certain of victory and Yuanzhi began to
feel suspicious. "What's that in your hand?" she asked.
"It's the donkey's tail," he replied, waving it about. "After he
started wearing the official cap, he thought it didn't go well with his
dirty tail, so he decided he didn't want it."
"Let me have a look," she said.
He threw the tail across and she caught it, then pointed with it at a
small sand dune some distance away. "We'll race from here to that sand
dune," she said. "The winner will be the first to get there, your
donkey or my horse." The man nodded. "You go over there and be the
judge," she added to Yu. He slapped his horse and galloped off across
to the dune.
"Go!" Yuanzhi shouted, and with a lash of her whip, her horse leapt
forward. After a few hundred feet, she glanced back and saw the donkey,
limping along far behind. She laughed and spurred her horse on even
faster. Then all of a sudden a black shape shot past her. She almost
fell off her saddle in shock when she saw the man had slung the donkey
around his shoulders and was running with long strides, already a good
distance ahead of her. She recovered and tried to catch him up again,
but he ran like the wind and stayed ahead all the way to the finish.
Just before she reached the dune, Yuanzhi threw the donkey's tail back
the way they had come and shouted: "The horse is first!"
The Muslim and Yu looked at each other in puzzlement.
"Mistress!" the Muslim protested. "We agreed that whichever got here
first, the donkey or the horse, was the winner, isn't that right?"
Yuanzhi tidied her hair with her hand. "Yes," she replied. "But only
part of the donkey got here first."
The man pulled on his beard. "I don't understand. What do you mean,
only part of the donkey?"
Yuanzhi pointed to the tail she had thrown far behind them. "My horse
arrived complete, but only a part of your donkey made it. His tail
didn't."
The man laughed heartily. "Yes, you're right!" he exclaimed. "You win.
I'll take you to find those four bad men." He went over and picked the
tail up and brought it back. "You stupid donkey!" he said to the
animal. "Don't think that just because you're wearing an official's cap
that you don't need your dirty tail." He leapt onto its back.
Yu had been greatly impressed by the Muslim's immense strength that
allowed him to run faster than a horse even with the donkey slung over
his shoulders. He knew he must be a martial arts master and bowed
before him.
"If you just tell us which direction to go, we will go and find them
ourselves," he said respectfully. "We don't wish to trouble you, sir."
"But I lost," the Muslim replied, smiling. "How can I back out now?" He
turned the donkey round and shouted: "Follow me!"
They travelled on. Yu asked the man for his name, but he simply smiled
and answered with more crazy jokes. The lame donkey walked very slowly,
and after half a day they had covered only ten miles. They saw riders
approaching from behind, and 'Mastermind' Xu and Zhou Qi galloped up.
Yu introduced them saying: "This gentleman is taking us to find the
Three Devils." Xu dismounted and bowed.
The Muslim simply smiled in response. "Your wife should be resting
more," he said to Xu. "What's she doing, racing about like this?"
Xu stared at him, not understanding. Zhou Qi, however, blushed red, and
galloped on ahead.
The Muslim was very familiar with the roads and paths of the desert,
and towards evening, he led them to a small village. As they
approached, they saw that a Manchu military unit had also just
descended on the village. The Muslims were fleeing in all directions
dragging their children after them.
"Most of the Manchu forces have already been exterminated, and the
remnants have been surrounded, so where did these come from?" Xu
wondered aloud.
A group of about twenty Muslims dashed towards them with a dozen
soldiers on their heels, shouting and brandishing their swords. When
the Muslims caught sight of the man on the donkey, they began to call
out his name ecstatically: "Afanti! Afanti! Save us!"
"Everyone flee!" Afanti shouted. He raised his whip and galloped off
into the desert with the Muslims and Manchu troops following behind.
After a while, several of the Muslim women fell behind and were
captured by the soldiers. Zhou Qi could not bear to leave them, and she
drew her sword and whirled her horse round. She charged the Manchu
troops and with a swish of her blade, cut off half the head of one of
them. The other soldiers surrounded her, and Xu and the others galloped
up to rescue her. Suddenly, Zhou Qi felt a wave of nausea and as one of
the soldiers leapt forward to grab her, she vomited all over his face.
He frantically tried to wipe the mess off, and Zhou Qi killed him with
her sword. Her legs and arms became rubbery and she swayed unsteadily.
Xu rushed over to support her.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
Yu and Yuanzhi had by now killed or chased away the rest of the
soldiers. Xu caught one of the fleeing troops and interrogated him
about where the column had come from. The soldier threw himself down on
the ground and begged for mercy, gabbling incoherently. Finally they
extracted from him the fact that he was attached to a relief force
coming from the east. Xu chose two strong young men from amongst the
group of Muslims and sent them off immediately to inform Muzhuolun, so
he would be prepared. He gave the soldier a kick on the behind and
shouted "Go to hell!" The soldier scampered away.
Xu turned back to his wife. "Are you all right?" he asked. "What's the
matter?"
Zhou Qi blushed and turned her head away.
"The cow is going to calve," Afanti said.
"How do you know?" Xu asked, surprised.
"It's strange. The bull didn't know the cow was going to calve, but the
donkey did."
They all laughed, then countinued on their way. As evening approached,
they stopped and set up tents for the night.
"How many months gone are you?" Xu quietly asked his wife. "How is it
that I didn't know?"
"How would my stupid bull know?" Zhou Qi replied, smiling. After a
moment she added: "If we have a boy, then he will be surnamed Zhou.
Father and mother will die of happiness! Just so long as he's not as
crafty as you."
"You must be careful from now on," said Xu. "No more sword-fighting."
She nodded.
The next morning, Afanti said to Xu: "Your wife can stay at my home
while we go and look for those men. It's another ten miles further on.
I have a very beautiful wife there ..."
"Really?" Yuanzhi interrupted. "I must meet her. Why would she like a
bearded fellow like you?"
"Aha, that's a secret," Afanti laughed.
They arrived in a village and Afanti led them to his house. Raising his
saucepan, he began to bang it loudly, and a woman in her thirties came
out to greet him. Her features were indeed beautiful and her skin white
and delicate. They could tell she was overjoyed to see Afanti, but from
her mouth issued a stream of curses: "Where the hell have you been,
Whiskers? Do you still remember who I am after all this time?"
"Enough of your noise," Afanti replied with a smile. "Haven't I come
back? Bring something out for me to eat. Your Whiskers is starving to
death."
"Aren't you satisfied just looking at my lovely face?" The wife
countered, also smiling.
"That's very true, your beautiful face is a great delicacy, but if I
had some bread or something to go with it, it would be even better."
She reached over and gave his ear a sharp twist. "I won't allow you to
go out again," she said. She went back inside, and re-appeared soon
after with piles of bread, water-melon, honey and lamb. Yuanzhi didn't
understand a word Afanti and his wife said to each other, but she could
see from their teasing that they loved each other dearly, and felt
desolate.
While they ate lunch, two people walked into the house, one a young boy
and the other a labourer.
"Master Hu says that you should return the saucepan that you borrowed
from him," the boy said.
Afanti glanced at Zhou Qi and smiled. "You tell Master Hu that the
saucepan is pregnant and will soon give birth to a baby saucepan, and
cannot be moved at the moment."
The boy looked puzzled, but he turned and left.
"What are you here for?" Afanti asked the labourer.
"Last year, I went to an inn in the village and ate a chicken. Before I
left I asked the innkeeper for the bill, but he said: 'We'll settle it
next time, there's no rush.' I thought at the time that he was being
nice so I thanked him and left. Two months later, I went back to pay,
and he started counting his fingers and mumbling away as if he was
trying to calculate a very complicated account. I said: 'How much was
that chicken? All you have to do is tell me!' The innkeeper waved his
hand and told me to be quiet."
"A chicken, even if it was the biggest fat chicken, would not be more
than a hundred copper pieces," said Afanti's wife.
"That's what I thought too," said the labourer. "But after he had been
figuring for a long time, he said twelve taels of silver!"
"Ai-ya!" exclaimed Afanti's wife. "How could a chicken be so expensive?
You could buy several hundred chickens with twelve taels of silver."
"Yes, that's what I said. But the innkeeper said: 'There's no mistake.
If you had not eaten my chicken, how many eggs would that chicken have
laid? And how many of those eggs would have become little chicks? And
when those little chicks grew, how many eggs would they have laid...?"
The longer he calculated, the higher the price became and finally he
said: "Twelve taels of silver is actually very cheap!" Naturally, I
refused to give him the money so he dragged me over to see Master Hu
for him to settle the dispute. Master Hu listened to the innkeeper and
told me to pay up. He said that if I didn't settle the account quickly,
the eggs would become even more chickens and I wouldn't have a hope.
Afanti, tell me who is right."
Just then, the boy returned.
"Master Hu says how could a saucepan be pregnant? He doesn't believe
you and says you must return the saucepan to him immediately."
Afanti went into the kitchen and brought out a small saucepan which he
gave to the boy. "This is clearly the son of a saucepan," he said. "You
give it to Master Hu."
Uncertain whether to believe him or not, the boy took the small
saucepan and left.
Afanti turned to the labourer and said: "You tell Master Hu you want to
hold a meeting to settle the matter."
"But if I lose, I'll have to give him twenty-four taels of silver,
won't I?"
"Don't worry," said Afanti, "You can't lose."
After an hour or so, the labourer returned and said: "Uncle Afanti,
Master Hu had already called the meeting, and the deliberation has
begun. Please come."
"I'm busy at the moment," Afanti replied. "Come back in a little
while." He sat laughing and chatting with his wife and the others. The
labourer was extremely anxious and pleaded with him and finally Afanti
got up and accompanied him to the meeting.
Xu and the others went along too to see the fun, and they found seven
or eight hundred people gathered in the centre of the village. A fat
man wearing an embroidered fur-lined gown sat in the middle, and they
decided he must be Master Hu. The crowd had become very restless
waiting for Afanti.
"Afanti," called Master Hu. "This labourer says you're going to speak
for him. Why are you so late?"
Afanti bowed before him. "I'm sorry, but I had some important business
to attend to," he said.
"How could it be more important than settling this dispute?" Master Hu
replied.
"It was much more important," said Afanti. "Tomorrow, I am going to
plant some wheat, but I had not yet fried the seeds or eaten them. I
fried them three times and it took me a long time to finish them up."
"Nonsense!" roared Master Hu. "How can you plant seeds that you have
eaten?"
The crowd laughed heartily, but Afanti just stroked his large beard and
smiled. After a while, the hubbub died down, and he said: "You say that
wheat seeds that have been eaten cannot be planted. Well, how can the
chicken that the labourer ate lay any eggs?"
The crowd thought for a second, and then cried out: "Yes, that's right,
how can a chicken that's been eaten lay eggs?" Everyone began shouting
and laughing and lifted Afanti up onto their shoulders.
Seeing the crowd's reaction, Master Hu had no alternative but to
announce: "The labourer should pay one hundred copper pieces to the
innkeeper in return for the chicken he ate."
The labourer happily handed over the string of copper coins to the
innkeeper. "I wouldn't dare to eat on of your chickens again," he said.
The innkeeper took the money and walked silently away. The crowd of
Muslims laughed at him and some small children threw stones at his
back.
Master Hu walked up to Afanti. "The saucepan I lent to you gave birth
to a son. That's very good. When will it be giving birth again?"
An expression of deep sadness appeared on Afanti's face. "Master Hu,"
he said. "Your saucepan is dead."
"How can a saucepan die?" Master Hu replied angrily.
"If a saucepan can give birth to a son, of course it can die."
"You charlatan," cried Master Hu. "You just don't want to return my
saucepan."
"All right," Afanti shouted back. "We'll let everyone decide."
But Master Hu remembered how he had accepted the small saucepan, and
decided he had lost enough face. He waved his hand to indicate he had
had enough and walked off through the crowd.
Afanti was extremely pleased with himself for having managed to cheat
Master Hu, himself a master at cheating the poor, and he threw back his
head and roared with laughter. Suddenly, a voice behind him said: "Well
Whiskers, what ridiculousness are you up to now?"
Afanti turned and saw it was the Strange Knight of the Heavenly Pool,
Master Yuan. He jumped up happily and grabbed Yuan's arm.
"Aha! So you're here. Come and see my wife," he said.
"What's so special about your wife that you keep showing her off like a
monkey would a jewel ..." Before Yuan could finish, Xu and Yu came
forward and kowtowed before him.
"Enough, enough, there's no need to kowtow. I'm not your teacher," Yuan
protested. "Where is your Master Chen?"
"The Great Helmsman came on ahead of us..." Xu began. Suddenly, he
noticed the Twin Eagles of Tianshan, Bald Vulture and Madame Guan,
behind Yuan and bowed to them. He was surprised to see Madame Guan was
riding Chen's white horse.
"Where did you find that horse?" he asked.
"We found him running free in the desert. It took the three of us quite
a while to catch him," she said.
Xu was shocked. "Could the Great Helmsman be in danger? We had better
go and find him," he said.
They finished lunch quickly and bade farewell to Zhou Qi. Afanti's
wife, was furious that he was leaving again after only a few hours at
home, and grabbed his beard, wailing and screaming as she did so.
Afanti laughed and tried to comfort her.
"I`ve found a young lady to keep you company," he said. "In fact,
there's a baby inside her, which means two people to keep you company,
much better than me by myself." But his wife wailed even louder.
Yuanzhi rode the white horse and let it lead the way to back to Chen.
Afanti again rode his donkey, but the animal was much too slow. By
nightfall, they had gone only ten miles, and everyone was getting
anxious.
"We will go on ahead," Xu finally said to Afanti. "We are afraid that
our Great Helmsman may be in trouble."
"All right, all rightm" Afanti replied. "When we get to the next
village, I'll buy a better donkey. This stupid donkey thinks he's
something special, but really he's useless." He urged the animal on and
caught up with Yuanzhi.
"Mistress, why are you so unhappy all the time?" he asked.
Despite his apparent silliness, Yuanzhi knew that this strange Muslim
was very wise, and she decided to ask his advice.
"Uncle Afanti," she replied. "How would you deal with someone who was
unreasonable?"
"I would cover his head with my saucepan and skewer him with a sword."
Yuanzhi shook her head. "That won't do. For instance, what if he was
someone very ... dear to you. The nicer you are towards him, the more
stubborn he becomes, like your donkey."
Afanti pulled at his beard, fully understanding her meaning. "I ride
this donkey every day and I've learned a few tricks about how to deal
with his bad temper," he replied with a smile.
They entered a village. As they approached the square at its centre,
the white horse suddenly gave a long neigh and galloped forward.
Yuanzhi pulled desperatelyon the reins, but could not control him and
the villagers scattered in front of the apparently crazed animal as it
raced up to a group of people and stopped. Yuanzhi dismounted in front
of Luo Bing, Wen, 'Leopard' Wei, Zhang Jin, Xin Yan and white-bearded
Lu Feiqing.
Yu ran over to Lu and knelt down before him. "Uncle," he cried, and
began to sob.
Lu helped him up, tears also glistening in his eyes. "I started out as
soon as I heard the shocking news about your teacher, Master Ma Zhen,"
he said. "I met Master Wen and the others on the road. They are also
after that traitor, Zhang. Don't worry. We will avenge the death of
your teacher."
The heroes found somewhere to rest briefly while Afanti went off to buy
a donkey, Yuanzhi quietly following him. He found and purchased a
strong animal, twice as tall as his tail-less donkey which he sold to
the donkey merchant for a small sum.
"The official's cap was the undoing of this stupid donkey," he said,
and laughed. He threw the cap on the ground, and trampled it into the
dust. Yuanzhi led the new donkey for him as they walked back.
"I once raised a donkey that was appallingly stubborn," Afanti said.
"If I wanted him to move, he would stand still. If I wanted him to
stand still, he would walk round in circles. One day, I wanted him to
pull a cart to a mill a few hundred feet away, but no matter what I
said, he wouldn't budge. The more I pushed him, the more determined he
was to stay put. I shouted, I hit him, it made no difference. So you
can guess what I did?"
"I'm sure you thought of something."
"The mill was to the east, so I pulled the donkey round to face west
and then urged him to moved forward. He retreated one step after
another all the way to the mill!"
"You wanted to go east, so it insisted on going west," Yuanzhi said
thoughtfully. "So you pushed him westwards."
Afanti stuck up his thumb. "That's right. That's the way." Yuanzhi
smiled. "Thank you for your advice," she said.
She decided he was right. The more she was nice to Yu, the more he
avoided her, so she decided that she would ignore him instead. Luo Bing
and Xu were surprised by her sudden change in attitude, but Afanti just
stroked his beard and smiled.
With Afanti riding his new donkey, they made much faster progress. The
white horse led them to the White Jade Peak, but it was still fearful
of the wolves and stopped outside the maze of paths leading to the
Secret City, refusing to go any further.
"The wolf pack went in here," said Master Yuan. "We should be able to
find our way easily by following the trail of wolf droppings." Their
anxiety about Chen's safety increased.
The path twisted back and forth for a long time. Suddenly, they heard
footsteps ahead and four men appeared round a corner, the first of whom
was Zhang. His face turned pale at the sight of the heroes, and
particularly his martial brother Lu Feiqing. Yu gripped hold of his
golden flute and was about to charge forward when Master Yuan lightly
touched his shoulder, stopping him dead in his tracks.
Master Yuan pointed at Zhang accusingly. "When we met several days ago,
I called you a master of the Wudang School. I did not know then that
you were capable of even killing your own martial brother. Why not end
it cleanly and quickly yourself?"
Zhang calculated that at least five of his opponents were his equal at
kung fu or better and that he would gain nothing from a head-on
confrontation.
With one swift, smooth movement, he drew his sword, and flung a large
handful of Golden Needles at the heroes. As they ducked, he grabbed
Hahetai and squeezed a key Yuedao point on his right wrist. "Run!" he
shouted.
Hahetai was no longer master of his own movements. He ran with Zhang
back along the path towards the Secret City, with Tang and Gu following
along behind. By the time the heroes had picked themselves up, the four
had disappeared around the bend. Master Yuan and Afanti were furious,
and shot after them at high speed. Master Yuan was particularly fast,
and in a moment he had caught up with Tang. He grasped him by the neck
and lifted his fat body up off the ground. Unable to see his attacker,
Tang kicked out backwards with his foot, but a huge force propelled him
through the air, smashing his head into the rock face, killing him
instantly.
Master Yuan ran on and, rounding the next corner, found himself
confronted by three paths leading off the main track.
Xu looked carefully at the ground. "Someone trod in this pile of wolf
droppings," he said, pointing. "They must have followed the trail of
droppings back."
"Very good. Let's go," Master Yuan replied. They followed the droppings
all the way to the base of the White Jade Peak without seeing any sign
of Zhang and the other two. But they noticed the cave mouth above them,
and Master Yuan and some of the others jumped up the cliff while the
rest were hauled one by one by Lu and Wen.
Master Yuan pushed open the massive stone door, and ran on ahead of the
others down the tunnel. When they entered the Great Hall, their weapons
were snatched away by the magnetic force, giving them all a bad shock.
But they had urgent business, and picked up their swords and others
weapons without bothering to work out what had happened and ran on to
the Jade Room, where they saw the tunnel mouth beside the bed. The
further they went into the bowels of the mountain, the more astounded
they became. Suddenly, they emerged once more into bright daylight, and
saw six people standing around the Jade Pool, three on one side and
three on the other. On the far side were Chen, Huo Qingtong and
Princess Fragrance, while on the near side were Zhang, Gu and Hahetai.
"Master, master!" Xin Yan called excitedly. "We're here!"
"Child! Are you all right?" Madame Guan shouted to Huo Qingtong.
"Fine!" she called back. She pointed at Gu and added: "Please kill that
villain quickly." Bald Vulture drew his sword and sprung at him, while
Madame Guan began to fight with Hahetai. The other heroes quietly
surrounded Zhang.
Gu and Hehetai fought for their lives, but could not hope to win
against the "Three-Part" sword style of the Twin Eagles. In the midst
of the clash of swords, Bald Vulture gave a roar and blood appeared on
Gu's chest. He followed with a swift kick, and Gu fell backwards into
the pool, sending fountains of water spraying out in all directions. A
trail of blood rose to the surface.
A moment later, there was another splash as Gu surfaced, and began
swimming slowly towards the bank. Hahetai threw down his sword and
helped him out of the water. Gu was badly wounded and had taken in a
large quantity of water, and after laying him down on the bank, Hahetai
massaged his chest.
Zhang watched helplessly as Gu and Hahetai were overcome. Then
'Scholar' Yu lunged at him. Zhang swept his left hand across, and as Yu
dodged to avoid the blow, Zhang grabbed him with his right hand and
threw him at a nearby stone wall with a roar. Horrified, Yuanzhi jumped
forward to grab Yu, but Zhang's strength was too great and the two
slammed into the wall. A sharp 'crack' sounded as Yuanzhi's left arm
snapped.
The heroes's anger flared once more. Master Yuan went over to Yuanzhi
and placed a medicine pill in her mouth to ease her intense pain while
the others surrounded Zhang.
"The 'Fire Hand Judge' will die as a hero!" he shouted defiantly.
"Well, are you coming altogether or one at a time?"
"I'll fight you first!" Bald Vulture shouted back.
"This traitor has wronged me too deeply," Wen interrupted him. "Let me
go first."
"He killed my teacher," Yu shouted. "I may not be as good a fighter as
him, but I want to be first. Brother Wen, you can take over when I
can't take any more."
"Let us draw lots," Chen suggested.
"Master Chen," Zhang broke in on them. "We agreed in Hangzhou to meet
at a later date for a duel. Does that still hold?"
"Yes," Chen replied. "As I remember, we postponed the meeting because
your hand was injured. Now is an excellent time to settle the affair."
"Then you and I will compete first and the others will wait their
turns, agreed?" Zhang had fought with Chen on several occasions and
knew he could beat him. He reckoned that if he could capture him, he
might be able to find some way to escape. And if he could not capture
him, he would at least have the satisfaction of killing the Red Flower
Society's leader.
"If you think you are going to escape with your life today, you are
deluding yourself," said Chen. "We spared your life in that dungeon in
Hangzhou, and on Lion Peak. Only a few days ago, I saved you once again
from the wolves. But the Red Flower Society has run out of benevolence
towards you."
"Well, come on then," Zhang replied impatiently. Chen leapt at him, his
two fists aimed straight at Zhang's face. Zhang ducked and then jumped
up out of the way, and Chen followed with a sweeping kick, timing it to
strike Zhang as he fell back to earth. Surprised, Zhang had to thrust
his sword at Chen's chest to extricate himself. Chen moved back and as
fast as lightning, Zhang struck out again.
Lu Feiqing was shocked by Zhang's speed, even faster than their teacher
in his prime. He drew his sword and watched the battle carefully, ready
to help Chen if necessary.
To one side, Yu and Luo Bing were looking after Yuanzhi who had fainted
from the shock and pain of her broken arm. Yuanzhi opened her eyes and
pointed to the east with a gasp of surprise. Yu looked round but could
see nothing but the afternoon sun shimmering on the hills about them.
"What's that?" Yuanzhi asked. "Are we back in Hangzhou?"
"It's just the sun," Yu said softly. "Close your eyes and rest."
"No, that's the Thunder Peak Pagoda in Hangzhou," she replied. "I've
been there with my father. Where is my father? I want to see him."
Yu lightly patted the back of her hand. "We'll go there together after
this, and I'll see your father with you."
A smile appeared on her face. "Who are you?" she asked. Yu saw her
staring at him, her face completely devoid of colour and fear struck
him.
"I'm your martial brother Yu. I promise I will look after you from now
on."
"But in your heart, you don't like me, I know," she cried, tears
beginning to course down her cheeks. "Take me back to see my father. I
want to die."
On a sudden impulse, Yu embraced her. "I truly love you," he whispered.
"You won't die." She sighed. "Tell me you won't die," he repeated.
Another wave of pain from her arm struck her and she fainted away.
Meanwhile, Zhang and Chen continued to fight round and round. At first,
Chen was able to contain his enemy with the 'Hundred Flowers' kung fu
style. But as Zhang gradually came to grips with it, he became more
daring and forced Chen onto the defensive. He swept his sword across at
Chen forcing Chen to jump away, and with a quick double movement of his
sword, struck out at 'Leopard' Wei and Zhang Jin, wounding them both.
Wen roared with anger and was about to leap forward when Chen slipped
past him and struck out at Zhang's face with his open hands. There
appeared to be no force behind the blow, but they struck Zhang's ears
with two sharp claps. Surprised and angry, Zhang retreated.
The heroes were perplexed by the effortless way in which Chen had
managed to box Zhang's ears.
"Fourteenth Brother," Chen said to Yu. "Play me a tune on your flute."
"What do you want me to play?" he asked, putting the flute to his lips.
Chen hesitated for a moment. "The tune 'Ambush From All Sides'," he
replied.
Yu did not understand what he was getting at, but having received an
order from the Great Helmsman, he complied immediately and began to
play with all the skill he could muster. The tune was a martial piece
written originally for the bamboo flute. Played on the golden flute, it
sounded even more stentorian, raising the image of armoured troops on
the march.
Chen set himself in a pose facing Zhang. "Come on," he invited, then
turned and kicked out into the thin air as if dancing. Seeing his back
undefended, Zhang thrust his sword at him, and the heroes gasped in
fright. But Chen suddenly turned again, grabbed Zhang's queue with his
left hand and pulled it over the edge of the sword, slicing it in two.
With his right hand, he gave Zhang's shoulder a sharp blow.
Zhang had now been struck three times, and although he had not yet been
badly hurt, he was obviously baffled by Chen's kung fu style and had
had to suffer the shame of having his queue cut off. But he was a
master of self-control and he carefully retreated several steps,
staring fixedly at his enemy.
Chen moved forward slowly, his feet following the rhythm of the tune Yu
was playing.
"Look!" Huo Qingtong said to her sister excitedly. "It's the kung fu
style he learned in the cave."
The two whirled round each other. Zhang kept his sword strictly on the
defensive, striking out only when Chen got too close.
"Master Yuan, I have never had so much respect for you as I do today,"
Bald Vulture said. "Your pupil is doing you proud."
Master Yuan was greatly perplexed: he was probably the best martial
arts fighter in the land and yet he had never seen anything remotely
like the kung fu style Chen was using. "I didn't teach him this," he
replied. "I wouldn't know how to."
Yu played his flute even more furiously. At first, Chen had felt
unfamiliar with the new kung fu style, but by now he was using it
smoothly, advancing and retreating with great precision until Zhang's
clothes were covered in the sweat of fear. The melody hit a high note,
then fell like a shooting star exploding, and Zhang gave a cry as Chen
touched the Yuedao point on his right wrist, forcing him to drop the
sword. Chen followed quickly with two blows to Zhang's back, then
jumped away, laughing. Zhang stumbled forward a few steps, as if drunk,
and collapsed on the ground. Jubilant, the heroes rushed forward to
tied him up. Zhang, his face deathly white, made no attempt to resist.
"Master Yuan, Master Lu," Chen said. "What should we do with this
traitor?"
"Feed him to the wolves," Yu interjected. "First he killed my teacher
and now he, now he ..." He looked down at Yuanzhi's broken arm.
"Good idea! We'll take him to feed the wolves," said Yuan. "We have to
go and see how the pack is doing anyway."
Lu carefully set Yuanzhi's broken arm and bound it tightly with cloth.
Master Yuan slipped a Snow Ginseng pill into her mouth and felt her
pulse.
"Don't worry," he said to Yu. "She won't die."
"Put your arms round her, and she'll get better much quicker," Luo Bing
whispered to him with a smile.
Huo Qingtong, meanwhile, was examining her map again, looking for a
path from the Jade Pool out to the Secret City, when she heard shouts
and turned to see Gu running crazily towards her screaming: "Kill me!
Kill me!" Shocked and angry, she raised her sword and ran it through
his chest. As she pulled the blade out again, a stream of blood
spattered her yellow robe and Gu collapsed on the ground. Hahetai knelt
over him and tried to stop the blood flow, but it was impossible. Gu
gasped in pain.
"Do you have any affairs that need settling, Brother?" Hahetai asked
him.
"I just want to touch her hand, then I can die happy," Gu whispered,
looking up at Huo Qingtong.
"Mistress!" Hahetai pleaded. "He's about to die. Take pity...." Huo
Qingtong turned without a word, and walked away, her face deathly pale.
Gu gave a long sigh, and his head fell to one side, dead.
Holding back his tears, Hahetai jumped up and pointed his finger
accusingly at Huo Qingtong.
"You're merciless!" he shouted. "I don't blame you for killing him, but
you could at least have given him your hand to touch, so that he could
die peacefully. What difference would it have made to you?"
"Nonsense! Shut your mouth!" Zhang Jin said angrily.
Hahetai made no reply. He picked up Gu's body and strode away. Yu led
over a horse for him.
"Brother Hahetai," he said. "I respect you for being an upright man.
Please take this horse."
Hahetai nodded and slung Gu's body over the horse's back. Yu filled a
bowl with water and drank half of it, then presented it to the Mongol.
"This water can take the place of wine," he said. Hahetai threw back
his head and drained the bowl at one draught, then rode away without
looking back.
** 4 **
The heroes started out for the wolf stockade in high spirits, singing
and laughing as they went. Master Yuan questioned Chen about the origin
of the strange kung fu style he had used, and Chen gave him a detailed
account of his discovery.
"What an extraordinary coincidence," Yuan said in delight. "One could
never make such a find by purposely looking for it."
After several days travel, they arrived at the stockade and climbed up
on to the parapet to look inside. The wolf pack had long since eaten
the herd of animals and were now fighting over the carcases of their
dead comrades, barking and snapping at each other. The scene was
cruelly tragic and even the hardened heroes were shocked. Princess
Fragrance could not bear the sight, and went back down to talk with the
Muslim guards.
Yu pulled Zhang to the edge of the wall, and began to mumble a prayer:
"Oh, spirit of my benevolent teacher, we have today avenged your
death." He reached over and took the knife Xu was holding, cut the rope
binding Zhang's hands and feet and kicked him off the edge.
Zhang had been seriously injured by Chen's last two blows, but his
Inner Strength Kung Fu was profound, and he had basically recovered by
the time they reached the stockade. As he fell towards the floor of the
stockade, he knew he had no chance of survival, but he still had to
fight one last time. The wolves threw themselves at him just before he
hit the ground. He grabbed two of the beasts by their necks and whirled
them round and round, forcing the others to back off and slowly made
his way to the stockade wall.
They knew he would die. Despite their hatred for him, Chen, Luo Bing
and the others with weaker stomachs could not bear to watch to the end
and walked back down from the parapet.
** 5 **
That evening, after they had set up camp, Chen told Master Yuan about
his meetings with the Emperor Qian Long. Yuan was amazed by the twists
and turns in the story, and when it was finished, he pulled a small,
yellow cloth bundle from his bag.
"Last spring," he said, handing the bag to Chen, "your foster father,
Great Helmsman Yu, sent the Twin Knights to see me and asked me to look
after this, saying there were two important items inside. They didn't
say what they were and I haven't opened the bag to see, but I imagine
they must be the evidence the Emperor wants."
Chen opened the bag and and found a small parcel tightly wrapped in
three layers of water-proof oil paper. Inside was a tiny box made of
redwood. He opened the lid, revealing two plain envelopes yellowed with
age. Inside the first envelope was a sheet of paper on which was
written: "Master Chen, send someone over with your newborn son for me
to see. Yong Di."
Master Yuan read it, but could not grasp it's significance. "What does
it mean?" he asked. "Why would your foster father have considered this
note to be so important?"
"It's written by the Emperor Yong Zheng," Chen replied.
"How do you know?"
"There were many examples of the Emperor's calligraphy around our home
when I was young, so I recognise it easily. But this note was obviously
written before he became Emperor. Yong Di was the name he used before
he ascended the throne. Also, after he became Emperor, he would not
have referred to my father as 'Master'." Yuan nodded.
Chen counted off the months and years on his fingers. "I was born after
Yong Zheng became Emperor, and so was my brother. My sister was born at
about that time, but this letter says: 'Your newborn son'. This is
excellent evidence!"
He opened the second envelope and took out a letter. As soon as he saw
the writing, tears sprang to his eyes.
"What is it?" Yuan asked.
"This is my mother's writing," he replied. He wiped away his tears and
began to read the letter:
"Dear Brother Yu, our fate has run its course. What more is there to
say of my ill-fated life? All I am concerned about now is the troubles
I have brought upon you. You are a brave and upright man, but because
of me, you have been rejected even by your own martial school. Of my
three sons, one is in the depths of the Imperial Palace, one has gone
off into the desert, and the one who is left to keep me company is both
stupid and wicked. It makes me very sad. My youngest son is very
intelligent and has been put under the care of an excellent teacher. I
love and miss him, but I am not worried about him.
"My eldest son is playing the role of Manchu Emperor and knows nothing
of his origins. Brother Yu, can you enlighten him for me? To prove it,
tell him he has a bright red birthmark on his left buttock, and he will
have to believe you.
"My strength is gradually failing. Day and night, all I think and dream
of is the times we had together when we were young. If Heaven has pity
on us, we will meet after death and spend the rest of eternity together
as man and wife. (signed) Sister Chaosheng."
Chen was deeply shocked as he read the letter.
"Teacher," he said, his voice quavering. "Is the ... the 'Brother Yu'
in the letter my foster father?"
"Who else?" Master Yuan replied sombrely. "He and your mother fell in
love when they were young, but things did not go as they wished, and
they were separated. As a result, he never married."
"Why did my mother want me to go and live with him and treat him as my
real father? Could it be....?"
"I was Master Yu's closest friend, but I only know that he broke the
regulations of the Shaolin School and was expelled. He would never
raise such a humiliating matter himself and it was difficult for others
to ask him about it. But he was a good man, and I'm certain he would
not have done anything to be ashamed of." He slapped his thigh. "When
he was expelled, I felt sure he had been falsely accused and I got
together some fighters with the idea of going to Shaolin monastery and
demanding an explanation. It nearly created a serious split in the
fighting community. But your foster father disagreed strenuously,
insisting that the expulsion was his own fault and all he deserved. In
the end, I did nothing. But I still don't believe he would have done
anything shameful. I don't know what it could have been." His lingering
anger was still apparent. "After he was expelled from the Shaolin
school, he went and lived as a hermit for several years. Later he
founded the Red Flower Society."
"But why did my foster father and my mother want me to leave home? Do
you know?"
"What face did I have left when he stopped me from forcing the Shaolin
School to explain?" Yuan replied angrily. "I refused to have anything
to do with him after that. He sent you to me, and I taught you the
martial arts, so I don't owe him anything."
Chen knew there was no point in questioning him further. But the key to
restoring the throne to the Chinese race lay with his elder brother's
origins. Even the slightest error, and all their efforts could be
rendered useless. So he decided to first go to the Shaolin Monastery.
He told Yuan of his plan.
"Good idea," the old man replied. "But the monks there are a strange
lot. I'm afraid they won't tell you anything."
"We'll see," said Chen.
Yuan looked at his pupil thoughtfully. "Both of those Muslim girls are
very nice. Which one do you want?" he asked.
"The famous Han dynasty general Huo Qubing said: 'How can I think of
marriage until the barbarians are defeated?' I feel the same way," Chen
replied.
Yuan nodded. "That's very commendable. I will speak to the Twin Eagles
so they won't accuse me again of being a bad teacher."
"Have they said something about me?"
"They accused you of fickleness, of shoving aside one sister for the
other."
Chen remembered how he and Princess Fragrance had met the Twin Eagles
in the desert, and how they had departed without saying farewell,
leaving their message in the sand. With a shock, he realised what they
had meant.
The next day, Chen informed the heroes of his decision to go to the
Shaolin Monastery in Fujian Province and bade farewell to Master Yuan,
the Twin Eagles, Huo Qingtong and her sister.
Princess Fragrance wanted to go with him, and Chen felt very bad about
leaving her behind. He had no idea of when they would meet again, but
with Heaven's help, the great task of driving the Manchus out of China
would one day succeed and they would be re-united. If it did not
succeed, he and his brothers would probably die and be buried far from
the Muslim areas.
"You stay with your sister," Chen said, hardening his heart.
"You must come back!" Princess Fragrance cried, tears coursing down her
face. He nodded. "If it takes ten years for you to come back, I'll wait
ten years. If it takes a lifetime, I'll wait a lifetime."
Chen wanted to give her something. He felt around in his bag and his
hand touched on something warm: the piece of Warm Jade the Emperor had
given him in Haining. He took it out and placed it in her hand.
"When you look at this jade, pretend you are looking at me," he said
softly.
"But I must see you," she replied tearfully.
"What's all this crying about?" he said. "When the Great Task is
completed, I will take you to see the Great Wall outside Beijing. I
promise."
Princess Fragrance stared at him for a moment, then the trace of a
smile appeared on her face. "You're not allowed to say anything you
don't mean," she said.
"When have I lied to you?"
Only then did she agree to stay behind.
They started out. As they rode away, Chen found himself constantly
looking back at the two sisters as they faded and gradually disappeared
on the horizon of the desert.
The heroes travelled slowly due to Yuanzhi's injuries. With his
master's death avenged, Yu was in high spirits and looked after the
girl with loving care and attention.
After several days, they arrived back at Afanti's home. Zhou Qi was
delighted to hear Zhang was dead. Chen wanted Xu to stay with her in
the Muslim areas until the child was born and she had recovered, but
Zhou Qi would have none of it. Apart from the boredom, she did not want
to miss a chance to travel to the Shaolin Monastery, where her father
was staying. The heroes finally agreed, and Xu rented a carriage for
his wife and Yuanzhi to ride in.
By the time they re-entered the Jade Gate to central China, the weather
was growing warmer and the beginnings of spring were apparent.
PARTNINE 返回目录
The Book and The Sword
Copyright Graham Earnshaw 1995
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PART NINE
** 1 **
The day they crossed the provincial border into Fujian, the hills were
covered in flowers and dancing butterflies. Chen thought of Princess
Fragrance and how she would have loved such a scene.
They were met at the Shaolin Monastery by Lord Zhou, who had come south
to Fujian with his wife and servants to meet the Monastery's abbot,
Heavenly Rainbow. With Zhou's great name in the fighting community, the
Shaolin priests were happy to exchange knowledge with him. Heavenly
Rainbow insisted that he stay in the temple, and by the time the Red
Flower Society heroes arrived, several months had slipped by.
The abbot led his assistants, Great Insanity, Heavenly Mirror, Great
Hardship and Great Idiocy into the great hall to meet the visitors.
After they had introduced each other, the abbot led them to a quiet
antechamber when tea was served. He asked the reason for their visit.
Chen knelt down before the abbot, tears glistening in his eyes. Greatly
surprised, Heavenly Rainbow moved quickly to help him up.
"Great Helmsman," he said. "What need is there for such formality?
Please say whatever you wish."
"I have an embarrassing request to make that according to the rules of
the fighting community should not even be uttered," Chen replied. "But,
Venerable Sir, for the sake of millions of souls, I boldly make this
appeal to you."
"Please speak freely," the abbot said.
"The former Great Helmsman of the Red Flower Society, Master Yu Wanting
was my foster father..." Heavenly Rainbow's expression changed
immediately as he heard the name, and he raised his white eyebrows.
Chen told him in detail about his relationship with the Emperor Qian
Long and about the plan to restore the Chinese throne and overthrow the
Manchus. Then he asked why his foster father had been expelled from the
Shaolin school and whether it had anything to do with Qian Long's
identity.
"Please, Venerable Sir," he concluded, his voice almost choked with
sobs. "Think of the common people....."
Heavenly Rainbow sat in silence, his long eyebrows trailing over his
closed eyes. He was in deep meditation and no-one dared disturb him.
After a while, his eyes sprang open, and he said: "For several hundred
years, it has been the practice of the Shaolin school not to reveal to
outsiders information on members who offend against the school's
regulations. Great Helmsman Chen, you have come a great distance to our
monastery to enquire into the behaviour of our expelled pupil, Yu
Wanting. According to the monastery's rules, this would ordinarily be
out of the question..." the faces of the heroes lit up with delight.
"...but as this affair involves the fate of the common people, I will
make an exception. Great Helmsman Chen, please send someone to the
Upholding the Monastic Regulations Hall to collect the file."
Chen bowed to the abbot in thanks, and another monk led the heroes to
guest rooms to rest.
Chen was congratulating himself on his success when he saw Lord Zhou
looking worried. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"The abbot asked you to send someone to the Hall to collect the file.
But to get there, it is necessary to pass through five other halls,
each guarded by a kung fu master and each one stronger than the last.
It will be difficult to make it through all five," Zhou replied.
"We could try and force our way through together," Wen suggested.
Zhou shook his head. "No, the problem is that one person has to win
through all five halls alone. If anyone helped him, the monks would
come to the assistance of the guardians of the halls and it would turn
into a brawl. That wouldn't do at all."
"This is an affair involving my family," Chen said quietly. "Perhaps
Buddha will be merciful and let me through."
He took off his long gown, picked up a bag of his 'chess piece'
projectiles, tucked the ancient dagger into his belt, and let Zhou lead
him to the first hall.
As they reached the hall entrance, Zhou stopped. "Master Chen," he
whispered. "If you can't make it, please come back and we'll think of
some other way. Whatever you do, don't try and force your way through
or you may get hurt." Chen nodded.
"Everything is arranged!" Zhou shouted, and then stepped to one side.
Chen pushed open the door and walked inside. Under the bright
candle-light, he saw a monk seated on a mat, and recognised him as one
of the abbot's chief assistants, Great Hardship.
The monk stood up and smiled. "So you have come yourself, Great
Helmsman Chen. That is excellent. I would like to ask you to instruct
me in a few martial arts moves."
Chen saluted him with his fists. "Please," he replied.
Great Hardship bunched his left hand into a fist and swung it round in
a great arc while his right palm swept up. Chen recognised it as the
'Drunken Boxing' style kung fu. He had once studied the style, but
decided not to reveal the fact by using it now. He clapped his hands
together and countered with the 'Hundred Flowers' kung fu style. Great
Hardship was taken off guard and only avoided being struck by dropping
to the floor. He rolled away and stood up, and the two continued to
fight closely, each a master of his own style.
Great Hardship aimed a blow at Chen's legs. Chen leapt up, and as he
landed, hooked his right leg round, tripping the monk up neatly. As
fast as lightning, Chen bent over and stopped him from falling. Great
Hardship's face flushed red with embarrassment and he pointed behind
him.
"Please proceed," he said.
Chen saluted once more and walked through into another hall, seated in
the middle of which was the senior monk, Great Insanity. As Chen
entered, the monk rose and picked up a thick staff lying beside him. He
casually tapped the floor with its tip, and the impact shook the very
walls of the hall, bringing a shower of dust down from the rafters. The
monk lightly flipped the staff from left hand to right, then attacked
using the 'Crazy Demon' staff style of kung fu. Chen knew it would be
folly to underestimate the power of this opponent, and he drew his
dagger. Great Insanity swept the staff across and Chen ducked down to
avoid it then countered with a thrust from his dagger. The two fought
round and round inside the hall, their weapons apparently greatly
mis-matched.
Rather than attack, Chen concentrated instead on trying to tire the
monk out. But Great Insanity's Inner Strength Kung Fu was profound, and
as time passed, Chen could discern no hesitation in the monk's actions.
On the contrary, the staff seemed to whirl and dance with
ever-increasing speed, forcing Chen back into a corner of the hall.
Seeing Chen could not escape, Great Insanity grasped the staff in both
hands and swung it down at his head with all his strength. Chen stood
stock-still until the staff was no more than two inches from him, then
grabbed its end and carved a deep line across the middle with his
dagger, snapping it in two.
Great Insanity was furious, and charged at Chen again. But with the
staff only half its former length, he wielded it with much less
dexterity. A moment later, Chen snapped another piece off the end, then
dodged passed the monk and ran towards the rear of the hall. With a
roar of anger, Great Insanity threw what was left of his staff to the
floor and sparks flew in all directions.
As he entered the third hall, Chen's eyes were struck by a bright
glare, and he saw both sides of the hall were full of burning candles,
several hundred of them at least. In the centre, stood the monk Great
Idiocy.
"Master Chen," he said, a welcoming smile on his face. "Let us compete
using projectiles."
Chen bowed. "As your Reverence wishes," he replied.
"There are nine candles and eighty-one incense sticks on each side of
the hall. Whoever can extinguish all the candles and incense sticks on
his opponent's side is the winner." The monk pointed to the altar table
in the centre of the hall. "You will find darts and projectiles of all
kinds over there. When you have used up all the ones you have, you can
go and get more."
Chen pulled a pile of chess pieces from his pocket and wished he had
spent more time in the past learning the finer points of dart kung fu
from the Red Flower Society's dart expert, 'Buddha' Zhao. "After you,"
he said.
Great Idiocy smiled again. "Guests first," he replied.
Selecting five chess pieces, Chen threw them simultaneously at the foot
of the opposite wall and extinguished five incense sticks.
"Excellent kung fu," Great Idiocy praised him. He took a string of
prayer beads from around his neck, snapped the chord and let five of
the beads fall into his palm. With one movement, he slung them away,
snuffing out five incense sticks on Chen's side.
Chen quickly extinguished another five sticks of incense. Great Idiocy
replied by knocking out all nine candles on Chen's side, and in the
darkness, the burning tips of the incense sticks became much easier
targets for the monk.
"Of course, why didn't I think of that?" Chen thought. He chose nine
chess pieces and threw them three at a time at the candles on the
monk's side of the hall. But the flames were untouched. He had heard a
series of clicks coming from the centre of the hall and he realised
that Great Idiocy had knocked each of his nine projectiles down with
his prayer beads. As Chen gaped in surprise at such skill, the monk
extinguished another four incense sticks. Chen waited for the monk to
throw another wave of prayer beads, and then aimed chess pieces to
intercept them. But with the candles on the opposite side still burning
he found it difficult to spot the small beads clearly and only managed
to hit two of the five. The other three struck home.
Great Idiocy, already nine candles and two incense sticks ahead,
concentrated on protecting his own candles, while extinguishing more of
Chen's incense sticks whenever the opportunity arose. In a short while,
he had snuffed out another fourteen, while Chen, putting his all into
the task, only managed to extinguish two of the candles. Suddenly, he
remembered one of 'Buddha' Zhao's tricks and threw three chess pieces
at the side wall with great force. They ricocheted off and two of them
struck their targets. Great Idiocy, who had thought the throw was a
show of childish petulance on Chen's part, let out a cry of surprise.
Chen continued in this way, bouncing chess pieces off the wall. Great
Idiocy had no way of protecting the candles, but he was already several
dozen incense sticks ahead, and without taking any further notice of
his opponent, he redoubled his efforts to knock out the rest. As the
last of the monk's candles went out, the hall was plunged into
darkness. Chen counted seven incense sticks left on the monks side
while his own was still a mass of red dots, perhaps thirty or forty.
Just as he was coming to the conclusion that he had lost, he heard
Great Idiocy shout: "Master Chen, I've used up all my projectiles. Let
us stop for a moment and get more from the altar table."
Chen felt in his bag and found he only had five or six chess pieces
left.
"You go first," the monk added. Chen walked over to the altar table and
with a flash of inspiration, stretched out his arm and swept all of the
projectiles into his bag. He jumped back to his place and Great Idiocy
ran over to find the table top was empty. Chen threw a shower of
projectiles at the remaining fiery spots, and in a moment had
extinguished them all.
Great Idiocy let out a hearty laugh. "I have to hand it to you, Master
Chen," he said. "That was more of a battle of wits than a trial of
strength. You win. Please continue."
"I apologise," Chen replied. "I had already lost, and only used such a
trick because of the importance of the matter. Please forgive me."
"The masters guarding the next two halls are my martial uncles. Their
kung fu is very good. You must be careful."
Chen thanked him and went on to the next hall. This hall was also
brightly lit with candles, but it was much smaller than the previous
three. Two rattan mats lay on the floor in the centre of the hall, and
the senior monk Heavenly Mirror was seated on one of them. As Chen
entered, he monk stood up in greeting.
"Please sit down," he said, gesturing to the other other mat. Chen
wondered how he wanted to compete, but took his seat in silence.
Heavenly Mirror was an extremely tall man and very formidable to look
at. Even seated on the mat, he was not much shorter than an ordinary
person. His cheeks were two deep hollows, and there appeared to be no
flesh on his body at all.
"You have passed through three halls, which is greatly to your credit,"
he said. "But you are still junior to me, so I cannot compete with you
on equal terms. Let us do it this way: if you can go ten moves with me
without losing, I will let you go through."
Chens bowed to him. "Thank you for your kindness, Your Reverence."
Heavenly Mirror grunted. "Now parry this!"
Chen felt a force striking towards his chest and raised his hands to
counter it. Their palms met and Chen was forced to make use of his full
strength to keep from falling backwards. The shock of the impact caused
a dull ache to grow in his left arm.
"Now the second move!" Heavenly Mirror called. Chen did not dare to
counter his hand directly again. He leant to one side, then hit out at
the monk's elbow. Heavenly Mirror should have responded by withdrawing
his arm, but instead he swept it across in attack, and Chen only just
managed to parry it. A bell close to the hall began to chime, and as it
resounded, Chen had an idea. He switched to the kung fu style he had
learned in the White Jade Peak, synchronising his movements to the
sound of the bell. Heavenly Mirror gasped in surprise and fought back
carefully.
When the bell ceased, Chen withdrew his hands. "I cannot continue," he
said.
"All right. We have already exchanged more than forty moves. Your kung
fu is very good. Please pass."
Chen stood up, and was about to walk off when he suddenly swayed and
stumbled and hurriedly leant against the wall for support. Heavenly
Mirror helped him to sit down again.
"Rest here for a moment and catch your breath," he said. "It won't
affect matters."
Chen close his eyes and did as the monk said.
"Where did you learn that style of kung fu?" Heavenly Mirror asked.
Chen told him.
"I never guessed that the standard of kung fu would be so high in the
western border regions. If you had used that style from the start you
would not have hurt your arm."
"Seeing as I am hurt, I am sure I will not be able to make it through
the last hall," Chen said. "What does Your Reverence suggest I do?"
"If you can't make it through, turn back."
Chen's martial training made it impossible for him to accept defeat so
easily. He stood up and bowed to Heavenly Mirror, then strode bravely
towards the last hall.
He was surprised to find it was in fact only a tiny room in the centre
of which sat the abbot of the Shaolin Monastery, Heavenly Rainbow. Chen
wondered how he could possibly overcome the best kung fu fighter in the
Shaolin Monastery if his junior, Heavenly Mirror, was already so
formidable.
The abbot bowed. "Please be seated," he said. A steady stream of
sandlewood-scented smoke rose from a small incense stove on a table
between them. On the wall opposite Chen, was a painting of two monks
which, although executed with only a few brush-strokes, was full of
vitality.
Heavenly Rainbow meditated for a moment, then said: "There was once a
man who was very successful at goat-herding. He became very rich, but
he was by nature very miserly...."
Hearing the abbot begin to tell a story, Chen was greatly puzzled, but
he concentrated on what the old man was saying: "An acquaintance of the
goatherd knew he was very stupid, and also that he badly wanted to find
a wife. So he cheated the goatherd, saying: 'I know a girl who is very
beautiful. I can arrange for her to marry you.' The goatherd was
delighted and gave him a large amount of money. A year past, and the
man said to him: 'Your wife has given birth to your son.' The goatherd
hadn't even seen the woman, but hearing he had a son, he was even more
pleased and gave the man another large sum of money. Later, the man
came to him again and said: 'Your son has died!' The goatherd cried
uncontrollably, heart-broken in the extreme."
Chen had a fairly good general education, and knew he was quoting from
the Hundred Parables Sutra of the Mahayana school of Buddhism.
"In fact all worldly matters are like this," the abbot continued.
"Power and riches are like the wife and child of the goatherd: just
fantasies. What is the point of wasting effort to obtain them when
losing them will only cause sorrow?"
"There was once a husband and wife who had three cakes," Chen replied.
"They ate one cake each, but could not decide who should eat the third.
Finally, they agreed that whoever talked first would lose the chance to
eat the cake."
Hearing Chen relate another story from the Hundred Parables Sutra,
Heavenly Rainbow nodded.
"The two stared at each other in silence. Soon after, a thief entered
and ransacked the house for the couple's valuables, but because of
their agreement, the couple continued to stare at each other without
saying a word. Seeing them thus, the thief became even more bold and
violated the wife in front of the husband. The husband made no
complaint at all about what was happening, but in the end, the wife
could stand it no longer and cried out. The thief grabbed up the
valuables and fled, while the husband clapped his hands and shouted
triumphantly: 'You lose! The cake is mine!'"
Heavenly Rainbow could not help but smile, even though he knew the
story well.
"He ignored great suffering for the sake of minor personal
satisfaction, allowing the thief to steal his possessions and violate
his wife in order to satisfy his appetite. According to Buddhist
tenets, one should try to help all living things and should not think
only of oneself."
Heavenly Rainbow sighed, and quoted from the Buddhist scriptures:
"There are no rules to regulate behaviour, there are no rules to which
I am subject. Man is at a standstill until acted upon by a force. Those
with no desires, will not be troubled by dreams and fantasies."
"Life for most people is full of hardship," Chen replied. "The monk Zhi
Daolin once said: 'Emperors are cruel and evil by nature. How can one
stand idly by?'"
The abbot could see Chen's determination to carry out his duty and help
ease the people's burden, and was full of respect for him.
"Your enthusiasm is commendable, Master Chen," he said. "I will set you
one more question, and then you can have your way."
Chen bowed his head in acknowledgement.
"An old woman was once lying under a tree, resting. Suddenly, a huge
bear appeared wanting to eat her. She jumped up and ran behind the tree
to escape, and the bear stretched its paws round either side of the
tree to grab her. Seizing the opportunity, the old woman pressed its
paws down onto the tree trunk. As a result, the bear could not move,
but the old woman did not dare to let go either. Some time later, a man
passed by and the old woman appealed to him for help, saying they could
kill the bear together and share the meat. The man believed her and
took her place holding down the bear's paws. The old woman then fled,
leaving the man in the same dilemma she had been in."
Chen knew the moral of the story: "Never regret helping others, even if
you suffer yourself as a result," he replied.
Heavenly Rainbow lifted the the long-haired duster he was holding.
"Please go through," he said.
Chen stood up and bowed before him. "Please forgive me for trespassing
on this sacred place," he said.
The abbot nodded. As he walked out of the room, Chen heard the old man
sigh.
** 2 **
He passed along a covered pathway and into yet another hall lit by two
massive, flickering candles and filled with row after row of wooden
cabinets, each one marked with a piece of yellowing paper stuck to the
side. He picked up one of the candles and began his search. Before
long, he located the right cabinet. He opened its doors and found
inside three parcels wrapped in yellow cloth. The parcel on the left
was inscribed in vermilion ink with his foster father's name: 'Yu
Wanting'. Chen's hands shook slightly and several drops of candlewax
splattered on the floor. Then, with a silent prayer, he opened the
parcel.
Inside was a thick file of yellowing papers, a man's embroidered
waistcoat, and a woman's white undergarment which was badly ripped and
speckled with black spots that appeared to be blood stains. Chen opened
the file and began reading from the beginning: "I, Yu Wanting, a
twenty-first generation pupil of the Shaolin Monastery of Putian,
Fujian Province, do hereby respectfully confess in full my
misdemeanors.
"I was born into a peasant family and spent my youth in great poverty
and hardship. I knew the girl Xu Chaosheng, who lived next door, from
when we were very young. As we grew, we came to love one another...."
Chen's heart began to thump wildly. "Could it be my foster father's
misdemeanor had something to do with my mother?" he wondered. He
continued reading:
"We secretly agreed to remain faithful to each other for life, and
would marry no-one else. After the death of my father, there were
several years of drought, and with nothing in the fields to harvest, I
went out into the world to find a life for myself. Due to the
compassion of my benevolent master, I was taken in by the monastery.
The embroidered waistcoat enclosed was given to me by the girl Xu when
I left home.
"Before I had been fully initiated into the higher skills of the
Shaolin martial arts school, I left temporarily to return to my home
village. Because of the girl Xu's kindness, I was unable to abandon
worldly emotions and went back to see her, but was shocked to find that
her father had married her into the family of the local landlord,
surnamed Chen. In a state of extreme anguish, I entered the Chen
mansion one night to visit her. Using martial skills I had learned from
the Shaolin School, I trespassed on the property of an ordinary citizen
for personal reasons. This was my first breach of discipline.
"The girl Xu moved with her husband to Beijing, and three years later,
having failed to renounce my love for her, I went to visit her again.
As it happened, that very night, she gave birth to a son. I was outside
the window and managed to catch a glimpse of the child. Four days
later, I returned once more and found the girl Xu looking very pale.
She told me that her son had been taken away by the Princess Rong Zhang
and replaced by a baby girl. Before we had a chance to talk further,
four assassins entered, obviously sent by the Princess to kill the girl
Xu. In the heat of the fight, I received a sword wound on my forehead,
but killed all four assassins before passing out. The girl Xu bandaged
my wound with the enclosed undergarment. Having heard a secret of the
Imperial Palace and having been seen to use Shaolin kung fu, I risked
bringing great trouble upon the school. This is my second breach of
discipline.
"For the next ten years, although I was in Beijing, I did not dare to
go and see the girl Xu again, but submerged myself in learning kung fu.
Finally the Emperor Yong Zheng died and Qian Long succeeded him to the
throne. I worked out the dates and realised that Qian Long was the son
of the girl Xu. Knowing how cold-blooded Yong Zheng was and afraid that
he might have left orders to have her killed to silence her, I entered
the Chen mansion again. One night, two assassins did indeed come. I
killed them both and found Yong Zheng's written order on one of them. I
enclose the document."
Chen flipped through the rest of the pile and found at the end a note
on which was written: "If, when I die, Chen Shiguan and his wife are
still alive, they must be speedily killed." It was unmistakably the
calligraphy of the Emperor Yong Zheng. Chen guessed Yong Zheng must
have known his parents would not dare to breathe a word while he was
alive, but thought they might try to make use of the information after
his death. He continued reading.
"Qian Long apparently knew nothing of the matter, for no more assassins
were sent. But I could not rest easy, so I dressed as a commoner and
obtained employment in the Chen mansion, chopping firewood and carrying
water. This I did for five years. Only when I was certain there would
be no further repurcussions did I leave. I acted with great
recklessness, and if I had been discovered, it would have caused great
embarrassment to the Shaolin School, and have damaged the school's
honour. This is my third breach of discipline."
Now Chen understood why his mother had wanted him to go with Yu, and
why Yu had died of a broken heart after the death of his mother. He
thought of Yu working for five years as a lowly servant in his own
household to protect his mother, truly an expression of deep love and
an overwhelming sense of duty. He wondered which one of the dozens of
servants around the house when he was young was Yu.
After a while, he wiped his eyes and read on: "I am guilty of three
serious breaches of discipline. Full of fear, I hereby present the full
facts to my benevolent master and plead for leniency."
Yu's submission ended at that point and was followed by two lines of
vermillion characters which said: "Yu Wanting has committed three
misdemeanors. If he is truly willing to reform and follow the teachings
of the Buddha, why should we not forgive him since the Buddha was
willing to forgive the Ten Sins? But if he hankers after worldly
passions and refuses to use his intelligence to break the bonds of
emotion, then he should be immediately expelled. It is up to him."
So his foster father was expelled from the Shaolin School because he
could not give up my mother, Chen thought.
He looked up and saw the stars on the western horizon were beginning to
fade while in the east, day had already arrived. He blew out the
candles, wrapped the things up in the yellow cloth and picked up the
parcel. He closed the cabinet doors and slowly walked back out to the
courtyard where he found a statue of a laughing Buddha gazing down him.
He wondered what his foster father must have felt, being confronted
with this Buddha as he left the courtyard after being expelled. He
walked back through the five halls, all of them deserted.
As he passed through the last doorway, Lord Zhou and the Red Flower
Society heroes came forward to greet him. They had waited anxiously for
half the night and were delighted to see him returning safely. But as
he came closer, they saw his weary look, and his red, swollen eyes.
Chen gave them a brief account of what had happened, omitting only the
relationship between his foster father and his mother.
"Our business here is finished," he said. The others nodded.
Lord Zhou accompanied Chen back inside to bid farewell to the abbot,
then the heroes collected their belonging and started on the way.
Just as they were leaving the monastery, Zhou Qi went pale and almost
fainted. Her father quickly helped her back inside to rest, and the
monastery's physician announced after examining her that she was in no
condition to travel and would have to rest at the monastery to await
the birth. Zhou Qi could only smile bitterly and nod in agreement.
The others discussed the situation and decided that Lord Zhou and Xu
should stay to look after Zhou Qi, and join them in Beijing after the
birth of the child. Zhou rented a number of peasant huts a couple of
miles west of the monastery for them to live in, and Chen and the other
heroes started off north.
** 3 **
When they arrived in the town of Tai'an in Shandong province, they were
met by the local Red Flower Society Helmsman who informed them that
'Melancholy Ghost' Shi had also just arrived from Beijing. The heroes
were delighted and went to see him. Xin Yan ran on ahead and shouted
"Twelfth Brother! The traitor's dead!" Shi looked at him blankly.
"Zhang Zhaozhong!" Xin Yan shouted.
Shi's face lit up. "Zhang is dead?"
"Yes, he was eaten up by wolves."
Shi bowed before Chen and the others.
"Twelfth Brother," said Chen. "Have your wounds fully recovered?"
"Thank you for your concern, Great Helmsman, completely recovered. You
and the others have had a long, hard journey."
"Is there any news from the capital?"
Shi's expression turned grim. "None from the capital. But I have
hurried here to report that Master Muzhuolun's entire army has been
destroyed."
"What?" Chen's face went white and he stood up.
"When we left the Muslim regions, General Zhao Wei and the remains of
his army was competely surrounded," Luo Bing said. "How could the
Manchus score another victory?"
Shi sighed. "Reinforcements suddenly arrived from the south. From what
the Muslims who managed to flee say, Master Muzhuolun and his son
fought to the death. Mistress Huo Qingtong was ill at the time of the
attack and was unable to direct the defence. No-one knows what happened
to her."
Chen slumped down into his chair.
"Mistress Huo Qingtong has an excellent command of kung fu," Lu Feiqing
said. "She would not come to harm at the hands of the Manchu troops."
They all knew he was just trying to ease Chen's anxiety. It was
difficult to see how a sick girl could protect herself in the confusion
of battle.
"Huo Qingtong has a sister," Luo Bing said. "The Muslims call her
Princess Fragrance. Did you hear any news of her?"
"Nothing at all," Shi replied. "But she is a well-known person. If
anything had happened to her, there would be bound to be reports
circulating in the capital. I heard nothing, so I presume she is all
right."
Chen was embarrassed by their elaborate concern for his feelings. "I
will go inside and rest for a while," he said, and walked to his room.
"Go and look after him," Luo Bing whispered to Xin Yan. The boy ran
after his master.
After a short while, Chen thrust aside the curtain to his room and
strode out again. "We must eat quickly, and get to Beijing as quickly
as possible," he said.
A new note of determination in his voice surprised the heroes. Wen
raised his thumb in agreement and dug into his food with increased
gusto.
As they travelled on, Chen forced himself to smile and chat with the
others, but his features became more haggard as the days went by.
Before too long, they arrived in Beijing. Shi had rented a large
residence in Twin Willows Lane. Priest Wu Chen, the Twin Knights,
'Buddha' Zhao and 'Pagoda' Yang were there waiting for them.
"Third Brother," Chen said to 'Buddha' Zhao. "Please go with Xin Yan to
see the Emperor's chief bodyguard, Bai Zhen. Take the lute that the
Emperor presented to me and the jade vase that Luo Bing stole and give
them to him to pass on to the Emperor, to let him know that we are
here."
Zhao and Xin Yan left and returned several hours later.
"We went to Bai Zhen's home to look for him and he happened to be at
home," Xin Yan reported. "We gave Zhao's name card to one of his
servants, and he rushed out to greet us. He dragged us inside and
insisted on us drinking several cups of wine before letting us go.
Extremely friendly."
Chen nodded.
Early the next morning, Bai Zhen paid them a visit. He chatted with
'Buddha' Zhao for a while about the weather, then asked respectfully if
he could see Chen.
"The Emperor has ordered me to take you to the Palace," he whispered to
Chen when he appeared.
"Good," replied Chen. "Please wait here for a moment."
He went back inside to discuss things with the others. They all thought
he should take strict precautions.
Several of the heroes accompanied him into the Forbidden City, while
Wen and the rest stationed themselves outside the palace walls to await
their return.
With Bai Zhen leading the way, Chen and the others walked through the
palace gates, passed guards who respectfully bowed to them. They were
overawed by the imposing atmosphere of the palace: its thick, sturdy
walls, the heavy defences. They had walked for a good while when two
eunuchs ran up to Bai Zhen.
"Master Bai," said one. "The Emperor is in the Precious Moon Pavilion,
and orders you to take Master Chen there to see him."
Bai nodded, and turned to Chen. "We are now entering the forbidden area
of the palace. Please ask everyone to leave their weapons here."
Despite their uneasiness at this, the heroes had no alternative and did
as he said, placing their swords on a nearby table.
Bai led them through halls and across courtyards and stopped in front
of a large, richly-decorated pavilion.
"Announcing Chen Jialuo!" he called out. Chen straightened his cap and
gown and followed the old eunuch into the pavilion while Priest Wu Chen
and the others were forced to remain outside.
They climbed up the stairs to the fifth floor, and entered a room in
which they found Qian Long, seated and smiling. Chen knelt down and
kowtowed before him respectfully.
"You've come," said Qian Long. "Excellent. Please be seated." With a
wave of his hand he dismissed the eunuchs. Chen remained standing where
he was.
"Sit down and let us talk," Qian Long repeated. Only then did Chen
thank him and take a seat.
"What do you think of this pavilion?" the Emperor asked.
"Where else would one find such a building but in the Imperial Palace?"
"I told them to build it quickly. From start to finish, it took less
than two months. If there had been more time, it would have been even
more elegant. But it will do as it is."
"Yes," replied Chen. He wondered how many workers and craftsmen had
died of exhaustion during the construction.
Qian Long stood up. "You have just returned from the Muslim areas. Come
and look. Does this look like a desert scene?" Chen followed him to a
window, and as he looked out, started in surprise.
To the right, was a classic Imperial Chinese garden, filled with
purples and reds and twisting paths, a sumptuous scene. But looking
left, towards the west, the view was entirely different. For about a
third of a mile, the ground was covered in yellows and, arranged into
small sand dunes. Looking closely, Chen saw the signs of pavilions
having been knocked down, water pools filled in and trees and bushes
uprooted. The scene naturally lacked the majesty of the endless desert,
but it was a good likeness.
"Does your highness like desert views?" he asked.
Qian Long smiled. "What do you think of it?"
"A lot of work has been put into it," Chen replied. There were a number
of Muslim tents staked on the sand with three camels tied up nearby and
with a sudden heartache, he thought of Princess Fragrance and her
sister. Looking beyond, he saw several hundred workers demolishing
several more buildings: the Emperor had obviously decided he wanted a
bigger desert.
Chen wondered why on earth Qian Long would have had a piece of dry,
desolate desert constructed in the palace grounds. Incongruously placed
in the middle of such a lush Chinese garden, it looked simply
ludicrous.
Qian long walked away from the window and pointed to the antique lute
he had given Chen, now lying on a small table.
"Why don't you play me a tune?" he said.
Chen could see the Emperor did not wish to discuss the important
business at hand, and he could not raise it himself, so he sat down and
began to pluck the strings. As he played, something caught his eye, and
he looked up to find the jade vases decorated with Princess Fragrance's
image smiling at him across the room. With a twang, one of the strings
broke.
"What's the matter?" Qian Long asked. He smiled. "Do you find yourself
a little afraid, here in the palace?"
Chen stood up and replied respectfully: "Your humble servant has
disgraced himself in front of your Celestial Majesty."
Qian Long laughed., greatly pleased by this. Chen lowered his head and
noticed Qian Long's left hand was bound with a white cloth as if it was
wounded. Qian Long's face flushed red and he hurriedly put the hand
behind his back.
"Did you bring the things I wanted?" he asked.
"They are with my friends downstairs," Chen replied.
Qian Long picked up a small hammer and rapped the table with it twice
and a young eunuch ran in. "Tell the gentlemen accompanying Master Chen
to come up," he ordered, and the eunuch returned a moment later with
the six heroes.
Chen stood up and shot them a glance and they had no option but to
kneel down and kowtow before Qian Long.
"You stinking emperor!" Priest Wu Chen thought as he did so. "We almost
scared you out of your wits that day in the pagoda in Hangzhou, but
you're still just as damned arrogant. If it wasn't for the Great
Helmsman, I would kill you this instant."
Chen took a small, sealed wooden box from 'Buddha' Zhao and placed it
on the table. "They are in here," he said.
"Good. That will be all," Qian Long replied. "When I have looked at
them I will send for you." Chen kowtowed again. "And take the lute with
you," he added.
Chen picked up the lute and handed it to 'Leopard' Wei. "Since Your
Highness has already subdued the Muslim areas, your servant pleads with
you to be merciful and to order that there be no indiscriminate
killings there," he said.
Qian Long did not answer, but simply waving them away with his hand.
Bai Zhen led them to the palace gate where Wen and the others were
waiting.
** 4 **
When Chen had gone, Qian Long dismissed the eunuchs and opened the
small box. He read the Emperor Yong Zheng's note and the letter written
by his natural mother, which said correctly that he had a red birthmark
on his left buttock. He sighed. There could no longer be any doubt
about his true origins. He ordered a eunuch to bring him a brazier and
threw the documents one by one into the fire. As the flames leapt up,
he began to feel more at ease, and on an impulse, threw the small
wooden box into the flames as well, filling the room with heat and
smoke.
He stared for a moment at the jade vases on the table, then said to the
eunuch: "Send her up." The eunuch disappeared, and returned on his
knees to report: "Your slave deserves to die. The lady refuses to
come."
Qian Long laughed shortly and glanced at the jade vases again. Then he
stood up and went downstairs. Two eunuchs followed carrying the vase.
One floor down, a maid servant pulled aside a curtain and Qian Long
walked through into a room full of fresh flowers. Two other maids
servants took the vases from the eunuchs and carefully placed them on a
table.
A girl wearing a white gown was sitting facing the wall. With a wave of
his hand, Qian Long dismissed the maid servants from the room. He had
just opened his mouth to speak when the door curtains parted and two
bodyguards came in and stood quietly by the entrance.
"What are you doing here? Get out," he said angrily.
"Your slaves have orders from the Empress Dowager to protect Your
Highness," said one of the bodyguards.
"I'm fine. What do I need protection for?"
"The Empress Dowager knows she ... that the lady is not ... that she is
strong-willed, and is afraid that she will inflict injury on Your
Highness's precious self."
Qian Long glanced down at his bandaged hand, and shouted: "There's no
need. Get out!"
The two bodyguards kowtowed frantically but did not retire. He knew
that no matter what, they would not dare to disobey the Empress
Dowager's orders, so he took no further notice of them, and turned back
to face the girl in the white gown.
"Turn round, I have something to say," he said in the Muslim tongue.
The girl took no notice. In her hand was a dagger. She gripped it even
tighter.
Qian Long sighed. "Look at what is on the table," he said. The girl
ignored him for a moment, but finally her curiosity got the better of
her. She glanced round and saw the pair of jade vases, and at the same
moment, the Emperor and the bodyguards were dazzled by the sight of her
beauty: it was Princess Fragrance.
She had been captured by General Zhao Wei's army and sent to Beijing
under special guard to the Emperor. Qian Long thought it would be more
interesting to be able to talk to the girl directly, so he called for a
teacher to teach him the Muslim tongue. He was an intelligent man and
studied diligently, and after a few months he could talk in a halting
fashion.
But Princess Fragrance was already tightly bound to Chen. Furthermore,
Qian Long had been responsible for the death of her father, making her
even more adament in her refusal of his advances. Several times she had
been forced almost to the point of suicide, but each time she thought
of Chen and restrained herself.
"I will be just like I was when surrounded by the wolves," she thought.
"That large wolf wanted to eat me, but my knight finally saved me."
Qian Long watched her becoming more haggard day by day. He was afraid
she would die of melancholy, so he called for the capital's best
craftsmen and had the Precious Moon Pavilion built for her to live in.
But Princess Fragrance took not the slightest notice. The priceless
treasures used to decorate the pavilion were ignored, except for the
murals covering the walls. They depicted scenes of the Muslims areas,
and she stared at them glassy-eyed, reliving over and over the carefree
happiness of the days when she and Chen had been together.
Sometimes Qian Long spied on her secretly and saw her staring into
distance, the trace of a smile playing around her lips. One day he
could resist it no longer and he stretched out his hand to grasp her
arm. There was a flash of a dagger, and only Princess Fragrance's
ignorance of kung fu and his own sprightliness saved him. But his left
hand had been cut and in a moment was covered in blood. He was so
scared by the incident that from that moment on, he did not dare to
risk annoying her again. When the Emperess Dowager heard of the matter,
she ordered the eunuchs to take the dagger off her, but Princess
Fragrance pointed it at her chest whenever anyone came near her and
threatened to commit suicide. So Qian Long ordered them to stay away
from her and not to interfere.
Princess Fragrance was also afraid they would put something in her food
or drink, so apart from fresh fruit she had peeled herself, she would
touch nothing. Qian Long had a Muslim-style bath constructed for her,
but she refused to use it, and after many days of not bathing, her
body's fragrance became even more pronounced. Originally naive and
ignorant of worldly affairs, she became increasingly strong and
knowledgeable as the weeks went past as a result of her exposure to the
evil people who populated the palace.
As soon as she spotted the vases, she started in shock and quickly
turned back to face the wall, gripping the hilt of the dagger tightly
and wondering what Qian Long was up to.
He sighed. "When I first saw your image on the vases, I was certain
that such a person could not exist in this world," he said. "But now I
have seen you, I know that the greatest of craftsmen could not capture
a ten thousandth of your beauty."
Princess Fragrance ignored him.
"If you continue to worry like this all day, you are going to become
ill," he continued. "Do you miss your home? Go and look out of the
window." He ordered the bodyguards to open the window shutters.
Seeing the two bodyguards and Qian Long standing near the window,
Princess Fragrance harrumphed and turned away. Qian Long understood and
walked to the other side of the room and ordered the bodyguards to do
the same. Only then did Princess Fragrance slowly walk over to the
window and look outside. She saw the expanse of sand and the Muslim
tents and her heart twisted in pain. Two tears rolled slowly down her
cheeks, and she picked up one of the vases on the table and threw it
with all her strength at Qian Long's head.
One of the bodyguards shot forward and intercepted the vase, but it
slipped from his grasp and shattered on the floor just as the second
vase came flying after the first. The other bodyguard tried to catch
it, but it slipped through his hands and smashed beside the first vase.
Afraid that she would try some other way of harming the Emperor, the
bodyguards sprang across the room at her. Princess Fragrance
immediately turned her dagger round and put it to her throat.
"Stop!" Qian Long shouted frantically, and the bodyguards halted in the
tracks. Princess Fragrance retreated several steps, and as she did
there was a clinking sound as something fell from her dress to the
ground. The bodyguards were afraid it was some kind of weapon and
quickly picked it up. Seeing it was a piece of jade, they handed it to
the Emperor.
Qian Long took hold of it, and his face drained of colour. He
recognised it instantly as the piece of warm jade he had given to Chen
on the breakwater at Haining. When he had presented it, he had told
Chen to give it to the lady of his heart as an expression of love.
"Do you know him?" he asked, flustered. He paused for a second, then
said: "Where did this piece of jade come from?"
Princess Fragrance put out her hand. "Give it back to me," she said.
Qian Long's jealousy flared. "Tell me who gave it to you and I will
return it."
"My husband gave it to me."
Qian Long was greatly surprised by this reply.
"Are you married already?"
"I have not married him in body yet, but my heart has long been married
to him," she answered proudly. "He is the kindest and bravest person in
the world. I know he will rescue me from you. He is not afraid of you
and neither am I, even though you are Emperor."
"I know the man you are talking about," he said, his voice full of
hatred. "He is the Great Helmsman of the Red Flower Society, Chen
Jialuo. He is just a bandit leader. What is so special about him?"
Princess Fragrance's heart leapt for joy at the sound of Chen's name
and her face lit up.
"So you know of him too. It would be better if you let me go."
Qian Long looked up and happened to catch a glimpse of his own face in
a dressing table mirror. He thought of Chen, his features handsome and
cultured, equally versed in scholarship and the martial arts and knew
he was no match for him. Full of jealousy and hatred, he threw the jade
piece at his image and smashed both it and the mirror, covering the
floor in broken glass. Princess Fragrance rushed forward to pick up the
jade, which was unharmed, and wiped it lovingly, making Qian Long even
more angry. With a stamp of his foot, he stormed out of the room and
down the stairs.
He went to the quiet study where he usually read and wrote poetry, and
spotted a half-written poem on the desk entitled 'The Precious Moon
Pavilion': "The Fairy Princess is in the Pavilion, A vision from the
Son of Heaven's dreams of former days."
Now, in a flash of anger, he ripped the poem up, and then sat in
silence for a long time.
Slowly, his temper cooled, and he thought: "I am the Son of Heaven, I
am all-powerful. So it finally comes out that this barbarian girl's
stubbornness is the result of interference by Chen Jialuo. His appeal
to me to drive the Manchus out of China is a good idea, but if things
do not go as planned, not only will the affair end in failure, but
could end my life as well. I've been debating this matter for months
now, unable to come to a decision. What should I do?"
And another thought rushed to the fore: "I can do whatever I like
already, and if this affair is successful, it could mean I would be
controlled by these people. Can I allow myself to become a puppet? Why
abandon concrete assets for the sake of improving my reputation? This
Muslim girl thinks of nothing but him. All right, we'll settle these
two matters together."
He told a eunuch to call for Bai Zhen who appeared shortly afterwards.
"Station four top-ranking bodyguards on each floor of the Precious Moon
Pavilion and another twenty outside," he ordered. "There must be no
slip-ups of any kind." Bai Zhen bowed. "And call for Chen Jialuo again.
I have important business to discuss with him. Tell him to come alone."
** 5 **
When Chen received the Imperial Command, he went to discuss the
situation with the others. Master Lu and Wen were worried that the
order to go alone could indicate a trap.
"The fact that he calls me back so soon after receiving the evidence I
gave him must mean he wants to talk about it," said Chen. "This is the
big chance for us to recover China for the Chinese. I have to go no
matter what dangers are waiting for me. Second Brother," he added
turning to Priest Wu Chen. "If I don't return, please take over command
of the Red Flower Society and avenge me."
"Don't worry, Great Helmsman," the priest replied, deeply moved.
"There's no need to wait for me outside the palace this time. If he
means to harm me, there is no way you could help me and trying would
just cause needless casualties."
By the time Chen re-entered the forbidden precincts of the palace with
Bai Zhen, it was already dark. Two eunuchs carrying lanterns led them
through webs of tree-branch moon shadows to the Precious Moon Pavilion.
This time, they ascended to the fourth floor, and as soon as the
eunuchs reported Chen's arrival, Qian Long ordered him sent in. He was
seated on a couch in a small room, a far-away look in his eyes. Chen
knelt and kowtowed and Qian Long told him to be seated. He was silent
for a while. Chen looked around him and noticed a poetic couplet on the
wall written by Qian Long himself.
"What do you think?" Qian Long asked, seeing him reading the couplet.
"Your Highness has high aspirations and the spirit of an Emperor of
great courage and intelligence. When the Great Endeavour is
successfully accomplished, and the Manchus have been driven from China,
your merit will far exceed even the Han dynasty emperor who expelled
the Tartars or the Ming dynasty emperor who threw out the Mongols, and
will be remembered for ten thousand generations."
Qian Long was delighted to hear such praise. He smiled and stroked his
whiskers. "You and I may be servant and master, but in spirit we are
brothers," he said after a moment's contemplation. "In future, you must
assist me well."
Chen was overjoyed to hear these words: From his tone, Qian Long did
not appear to be planning to go back on his oath. His doubts dispersed,
Chen knelt down once again and kowtowed.
"Your Highness's wise decision is truly a great blessing for the
people," he said.
Qian Long sighed. "I may be the Son of Heaven, but I am not as
fortunate as you," he said. Chen wondered what he meant. "In August
last year, when we were in Haining, I gave you a piece of jade," he
added. "Do you have it with you?"
Chen was startled. "Your Highness told me to pass it on to someone
else, and I have already done so," he replied.
"You standards are very high. Whoever it is must be one of the world's
most beautiful women."
Chen's eyes reddened. "Unfortunately, I do not know if she is dead or
alive, or where she might be. When our business is concluded, I will
search to the ends of the earth to find her."
"Do you love this lady deeply?"
"Yes," said Chen quietly.
"The Empress is a Manchu, you know that?"
"Yes."
"She has served me for a long time and is very virtuous. If we go ahead
with this plan, she will certainly fight to the death. What do you
think should be done?"
Chen was unable to answer. "Your Highness's opinions are sacred," he
finally said. "Your servant would not dare make any reckless
suggestions."
"I cannot allow the nation to be split in two. This consideration has
made me very hesitant of late. Also, at present I have a personal
problem which unfortunately no-one can help me with."
"I will do whatever Your Highness orders."
"Gentlemen should not snatch prized possessions from others, but this
is something decided by Fate," replied Qian Long. "Ah, when one's love
is concentrated on one person, what can one do? Go over there and take
a look."
He pointed to a doorway on the western side of the room, then stood up
and walked out.
Chen was greatly confused by this strange speech, but he calmed himself
and pulled aside the thick door curtain. He walked slowly through into
what he saw was an extremely sumptuous bed chamber. A red candle burned
in the corner, and a girl in a white gown sat staring at its flame.
Suddenly seeing Princess Fragrance in the depths of the Imperial
Palace, Chen was dumbfounded. He swayed unsteadily and was unable to
speak. Upon hearing the footsteps, Princess Fragrance had grasped the
dagger hilt tightly. Then she looked round to see the very person she
had been dreaming of day and night. Her angry glare immediately melted
into an expression of delight. She cried out and threw herself across
the room into Chen's arms.
"I knew you would come and save me," she cried. "I waited patiently,
and finally you have come."
Chen held her warm body tightly. "Are we dreaming?" he asked. She
looked up and shook her head as tears began to course down her cheeks.
Chen's first thought was that the Emperor had found out she was the
lady of his heart and had brought her from the Muslim areas to be with
him. He put his arms around her waist and then unself-consciously
kissed her on the lips. In the midst of the sweetness of the long kiss,
they became oblivious to everything around them.
After a long, long time, Chen finally looked at the pink flush on her
cheeks. Behind her on a dressing table, he noticed a broken mirror, and
the image of them both embracing in each segment.
"Look," he whispered. "There are one thousand me's, and every one is
holding you."
Princess Fragrance glanced at the broken mirror, and then pulled the
piece of warm jade from her pocket.
"He stole my jade piece and broke the mirror with it," she said.
"Luckily it wasn't damaged."
"Who?" Chen asked, startled.
"That evil emperor."
"Why?" Chen asked, even more astonished.
"He bullied me, but I said I wasn't afraid because I knew you would
rescue me. He was very angry and tried to grab me, but I have this
dagger."
"Dagger?" he repeated distantly.
"Yes. I was with my father when they killed him. He gave me this dagger
and told me to kill myself if the enemy violated me. People who commit
suicide are sent to Hell, but if they are girls dying to protect their
virtue then Allah makes an exception."
Chen looked down and wondered how many times this weak, naive girl had
come close to death in the past few months. His heart was filled with
love and pain and he embraced her again. After a while, he steadied
himself and began to carefully consider the situation.
He now realized that Qian Long had had Princess Fragrance brought to
Beijing because he wanted her himself. He had obviously ordered the
construction of a desert in the Imperial Gardens to try to please her.
But she had sworn never to give in. He had threatened and cajoled her
in every way he could think of, all without effect. That must be why
Qian Long had said that he was not as fortunate as himself.
He looked down at Princess Fragrance as he held her and saw she had
closed her eyes and was fast asleep. Why did he let me see her? he
wondered. He had raised the problem of the Empress and said that if the
Great Endeavour was to accomplished, she would have to be discounted,
and that a choice would have to be made between family and country.
Yes, his meaning is......"
He shivered and began to sweat. He felt Princess Fragrance move
slightly against him and heard her sigh. A smile appeared on her face
like a flower bud opening.
"Should I break with the Emperor for her sake, or ask her to give in to
him for the sake of the Great Endeavour?" The thought shot through his
brain like a lightning bolt, and he cringed from it.
"She loves me so deeply. She's managed somehow to maintain her virtue
for my sake, she believes firmly that I will rescue her. How can I
really bring myself to reject her, to betray her? But if I think only
of us two, I must break with my brother, and this rare opportunity to
recover the throne will be lost. If I did that, would we not be cursed
by generations to come?" His brain was in turmoil, and he had no idea
what he should do.
Princess Fragrance opened her eyes. "Let's go," she said. "I'm afraid
of seeing that evil Emperor again."
"Wait here for a moment. I'll go out for a while then come back." She
nodded and took the dagger from his hand, then watched him leave the
room with smiling eyes.
He went up the stairs and found Qian Long on the next floor up sitting
on a couch, stony-faced and motionless.
"Affairs of state are of more importance than private concerns," Chen
announced. "I will urge her to give in to you."
Qian Long jumped up off the couch in delight. "Really?" he exclaimed.
"Yes, but you must swear an oath." Chen stared at him as he spoke.
"What oath?" asked Qian Long, avoiding his gaze.
"If you do not honestly do all in your power to drive the Manchu
barbarians out, what then?"
Qian Long thought for a moment. "If that is the case, then no matter
how glorious my life may be, may my grave be dug up and my skeleton
smashed to pieces."
The grave of an emperor was inviolable. Such an oath was extremely
serious.
"All right," said Chen. "I will talk to her. But I will have to do it
outside the palace."
"Outside?" Qian Long asked, startled.
Chen nodded. "At the moment, she hates you to her very bones. She won't
be able to quietly listen to what I have to say here, so I wish to take
her to the Great Wall to explain things."
"Why do you want to go so far?" said Qian Long suspiciously.
"I once promised to take her to the Great Wall. When I have done so, I
will not see her ever again."
"You will definitely bring her back?"
"We members of the fighting community consider our word to be worth
more than our lives. I will do what I have said."
Qian Long was uncertain of what to do. He wondered how he would ever
find this beauty again if Chen escaped with her. But on the other hand,
he knew the girl would never give in to him unless Chen could think of
a way of convincing her to do so. He was sure Chen was committed to
their Great Endeavour and would not give it up just for the sake of a
girl.
"All right," he said finally, slapping the table. "Go, both of you."
He waited until Chen had gone, then said to the curtain behind him:
"Take forty bodyguards and follow him the whole way. Whatever you do,
don't let them get away."
Chen returned to the fourth floor and took hold of Princess Fragrance's
hand. "Let's go," The two walked together out of the pavilion and out
of the Forbidden City. The guards had already received their orders and
made no attempt to stop them. Princess Fragrance's heart was full of
joy. She had always believed her knight was capable of doing anything,
and was in no way surprised that they could just walk out of the palace
gates.
As they reached the outside, the sky was already growing light. Xin Yan
was standing close by, the reins of the white horse in his hands,
keeping watch, and when he spotted Chen, he rushed over. Seeing
Princess Fragrance standing by his master's side, he was even more
surprised and delighted.
Chen took the rein from him. "We are going on a trip out of the city
for the day," he said. "We won't be back until late evening, so tell
the others not to worry."
Xin Yan watched the two mount up and ride off north, and was about to
leave when the sound of galloping hooves rose behind him and several
dozen palace guards thundered past. He recognised the frail old man
leading the troop as Bai Zhen, and returned quickly to Twin Willow Lane
to report.
As the white horse left the city, it galloped ever faster. Princess
Fragrance, snuggling into Chen's arms, watched the trees on either side
of the road zip past, and all the distress and sorrow of the previous
few months evaporated. The horse's strong legs carried them quickly
past the small villages to the north of Beijing, and as they approached
a crossroads, Chen said: "Let's go and see the tombs of the Ming
dynasty emperors."
The horse galloped on. Just past the Jade Stone Bridge, they came upon
a huge stone monument inscribed with the words: 'The Sacred Tombs of
the Great Ming'. On the right-hand face of the monument were several
lines of poetry in Qian Long's hand.
"What is it?" Princess Fragrance asked.
"It's a poem written by the Emperor."
"He's vile and horrible. Don't look at it," she urged. She took his
hand and they continued on, and soon found themselves walking along an
avenue flanked by stone lions, elephants, camels and strange mythical
creatures. "I have only this one day left with her so I must make sure
she enjoys it," Chen thought. "After today, we will neither of us ever
pass another happy day again." So he roused his flagging spirits and
smiled.
"You want to ride on the camel, don't you?" he said and lifted her up
onto its back and sat behind her. With shouts and calls, they urged the
stone camel forward. Princess Fragrance bent over double with laughter,
then after a moment she sighed.
"If only this camel could really run and could carry us back to the
Tianshan mountains," she said.
"What would you want to do there?"
She looked into the distance. "Oh, I would be very busy. I would have
to pick flowers for you to eat, and look after the goats and feed the
small deer. And I'd have to visit the graves of my father and mother
and brother to keep them company, and think of some way to find my
sister....."
"What happened to her?" he asked.
"She was ill the night the Manchus attacked. We were split up during
the battle and I have heard no news of her since."
Chen was silent as they remounted the horse and started on their way.
The road wound upwards and before long they arrived at Ju Yong Pass and
caught sight of the Wall, writhing like a long snake through the
clusters of hills.
"Why did they waste so much effort to build this thing?" Princess
Fragrance asked.
"It was to stop the northern enemies from invading," Chen replied.
"Countless people must have died on either side of this wall."
"Men are truly strange. Why don't they all live happily together and
dance and sing instead of fighting? I really can't see the point of it
all."
"If you ever get the chance, you must tell the Emperor not to make war
on the poor peoples of the border areas. All right?"
"I will never see that evil Emperor again," she replied, puzzled by his
sudden solemness.
"But if you were able to make him do your bidding, you must urge him
not to do bad things, and to do some good for the people. Promise me!"
"What a funny thing to say. Do you really think I would be unwilling to
do anything you asked me to do?"
"Thank you," Chen said, and she smiled.
They walked along a stretch of the wall hand-in-hand.
"I just thought of something," said Princess Fragrance.
"What?"
"I am very happy today, but is it because of this beautiful scenery?
No. I know it's because I am with you. As long as you are by my side, I
would think even the most ugly place on earth was beautiful."
The happier she was, the more uncomfortable Chen felt. "Is there
anything you would like me to do?" he asked.
"Oh, but you have already done everything. You have always given me
everything I wanted, even without asking for it." She pulled the snow
lotus from her pocket. The flower was now dry and withered, but it
still possessed a strong fragrance.
"There is only one thing you refused to do," she added with a smile.
"And that is to sing me a song."
Chen laughed. "It's true," he said. "I have never sung you a song."
Princess Fragrance pulled a face. "Well, I'm not going to sing for you
any more either."
"I remember my mother's maid servant singing several rhymes when I was
young. I'll sing one for you now, but you're not allowed to laugh."
She clapped her hands in delight. "All right! All right! Sing!"
He thought for a moment, and then began:
"The light rain falls
The wind blows in squalls
Someone outside saucily calls,
I think it's my loved one,
And softly curse him round and right.
But looking once again
I see it's not, and jump in fright."
After he had finished, Chen explained the words of the song in the
Muslim tongue, and Princess Fragrance laughed.
"The lady's eyesight was not too good, apparently," she said.
They explored the top of the wall, which consisted of battlements on
the northern side, a stone hand rail on the other and a walkway in
between. Every three hundred feet or so, there was a watchtower. They
came to a beacon tower, and Chen thought of the time Huo Qingtong had
burned wolf dung as part of her plan to destroy the Manchu army. He
wondered again if she was alive or dead, and his sadness increased.
"I know what you are thinking," said Princess Fragrance.
"Do you?"
"Yes. You are thinking of my sister."
"How did you know?"
"When the three of us were in the Secret City together, I could see how
happy you were in spite of the danger. Oh, you mustn't worry so!"
He took her hand, "What do you mean?" he asked.
She sighed. "In the old days, I was just a child. I didn't understand
anything. But every day I was in the Imperial Palace, I thought about
the times we were together and realised many things that had not
occured to me before. My sister loved you all along, and you love her,
don't you?"
"Yes. I shouldn't try to deceive you."
"But I know you truly love me too. And without you, I cannot live. So
let's go and find my sister quickly and we can all live happily
together forever. Don't you think that would be lovely?"
Her eyes and face radiated happiness. Chen squeezed her hand. "You have
thought it out perfectly," he said softly. "You and your sister are the
nicest, the best people in the world."
Princess Fragrance stood looking out into the distance, and noticed the
sun glinting off a body of water to the west. "Let's go and have a look
over there," she said.
They made their way across the hills, and came upon a clear spring
bubbling merrily out of a crack in the rocks.
"I will wash my feet here, is that all right?" Princess Fragrance
asked.
"Of course," Chen replied with a smile. She took off her shoes and
socks and stepped into the water, relishing the coolness as the crystal
clear water flowed around her milk-white feet. Chen happened to see his
own shadow on the water, and realised the sun was already sinking into
the west. He reached into his bag and pulled out some food for them.
Princess Fragrance leant against him and wiped her feet dry as she ate.
Chen gritted his teeth. "There is something I must say to you," he
said. She turned and put both her arms round him, resting her head on
his chest.
"I know you love me," she said quietly. "I understand. You don't have
to say it."
He cringed and swallowed what he had been about to say. After a while,
he started again: "Do you still remember Mami's last testament that we
read inside the White Jade Peak?"
"She is living in Heaven now with her Ali. That's the way it should
be."
"You Muslims believe that after good people die, they will live forever
in paradise, is that right?"
"Of course that's what happens."
"When I return to Beijing, I will go and find an Islamic Imam and get
him to teach me so that I can become a good follower of the Muslim
faith," said Chen.
Princess Fragrance was overjoyed. She had never guessed he would be
willing to voluntarily join the Muslim faith. "Oh my brother," she said
looking up at him. "Will you really?"
"Definitely."
"You're willing to do even that because of your love for me. I never
dared to hope for such a thing."
"Because in this life," Chen continued slowly, "we will not be able to
be together. So I want to be sure that after death, I can be with you
every day."
The words struck Princess Fragrance like a clap of thunder. After a
moment's silence, she said in shaking voice: "You....what are you
talking about? We can't be together?"
"No. After today, we will not be able to see each other again."
"Why?" Her body quivered and two large tears fell onto his gown.
Chen embraced her tenderly. "If it were possible for me to be with you,
I would be content even without food or clothing, even if I was beaten
and humiliated everyday. But do you remember Mami? The good Mami was
willing to leave her true love Ali in order that her tribe would no
longer be oppressed and bullied by Sanglaba and was even willing to go
and allow herself to be violated by him...."
Princess Fragrance's body went limp. "You want me to give in to the
Emperor?" she whispered. "You want me to kill him?"
"No, he is my blood brother." He told her everything about his
relationship with Qian Long, and the Red Flower Society's plans, about
the oath sworn in the Six Harmonies Pagoda, and of Qian Long's demand
earlier that day. As he spoke, Princess Fragrance realised that what
she had been longing for day and night and thought she had achieved,
was slipping from her grasp again. She was overwhelmed by a wave of
panic and fainted away.
As she came to, she felt Chen holding her tightly, and was aware of a
damp patch on her dress soaked by his tears. She stood up.
"Wait for me here," she said softly, and walked towards a large flat
rock in the distance where she prostrated herself in prayer towards the
west. She appealed to the True God, Allah for guidance on what she
should do. The pale sunlight glanced off her white dress, her back
presenting a picture of both great melancholy and warmth. After a
while, she walked slowly back.
"Whatever you want me to do, I will do," she announced.
Chen jumped up and ran over to her, and the two embraced each other
tightly.
"If I had known we had only today, I would have wanted you to hold me
the whole day rather than come here," she whispered. Chen kissed her,
unable to answer.
A long time passed. Then suddenly, Princess Fragrance said: "I have not
had a bath since I left home. I am going to have one now." She began to
take off her outer gown.
Chen stood up. "I'll go over there to wait for you," he said.
"No! No! I want you to watch me. When you saw me for the first time, I
was bathing. Today is the last time...After you have seen me, I want
you to never forget me."
"Do you really believe that I would ever forget you?"
"Please don't go," she pleaded, and there was nothing for Chen to do
but to sit down again.
While Chen watched and the mountain spring gurgled, she removed all her
clothing piece by piece, until the golden evening sun illuminated one
of the world's most beautiful bodies. Chen felt giddy, and hardly dare
to look directly at this vision. But he could not fail to notice her
innocent, guileless expression, and suddenly thought of her as simply a
naked three or four-year-old child. She was so beautiful and so pure.
"To make a body of such incomparable beauty, there must be an
all-knowing, all-powerful God in heaven," he thought. His heart was
filled with reverence and gratitude.
Princess Frgrance slowly wiped the pearls of water from her body, and
then put her clothes back on.
"This body," she thought self-pityingly. "I will never again be able to
show it to the one I love."
She rubbed her hair dry and then returned to sit in Chen's embrace.
"I once told you the story of the cowherd and the spinning girl, do you
remember?" Chen asked.
"Yes. I remember. You said that although they met only once a year,
they still saw each other countless times more than ordinary people."
"Yes. We cannot be together forever, but the True God will make sure we
meet again eventually. In the desert, and here, we have been very
happy. The time has been short, but we have perhaps had more happiness
than many couples who live together for decades."
She listened to his soothing voice comforting her, as the sun slowly
sank towards the hills with her heart following it down. Suddenly she
jumped up and wailed: "No! The sun is disappearing!"
Chen's heart shattered. "I have asked so much of you!" he exclaimed,
taking her hand.
She continued to stare at the point where the sun had gone down. "If
only it was able to rise again, even for just a moment," she said
quietly.
"It is right that I should undergo hardship for the sake of my people,
but you have never even seen them, let alone loved them."
"I love you, so are they not my people too? Do you not love all our
Muslim brothers?"
The sky was growing darker. The sun did not rise again, and a wave of
coldness touched her heart.
"Let's go back," she said. "I am very happy. My life is fulfilled."
They climbed onto the back of the white horse and started back the way
they had come. They were both silent and neither turned back to look at
the place of beauty they had just enjoyed.
Less than an hour's ride later, they heard the sound of many galloping
hooves in front and several dozen riders emerged out of the evening
mist with Bai Zhen in the lead. His face lit up as soon as he saw Chen
and Princess Fragrance, and signalling to the others to stop, he leapt
off his horse and stood by the roadside. Chen did not even glance at
him, but urged the white horse on even faster. Soon after, horses'
hooves sounded in front once again, and the Red Flower Society heroes
appeared.
"Great Helmsman!" 'Leopard' Wei shouted. "We're all here!"
** 6 **
The sky gradually became light and Qian Long watched the sun rising
from the east as the eunuchs laid out the Imperial breakfast for him.
It consisted of many delicacies, but he found it difficult to swallow
them. With Chen and Princess Fragrance gone, he felt nervous and
unsettled.
That day, he did not grant an audience to his ministers, and spent his
time napping fitfully. On several occasions, he sent guards out to
search for news, but the sky grew dark and the moon sailed up over the
palace walls, and still none of them had returned to report.
He started to become extremely anxious and tried to calm himself by
staring fixedly at the desert murals on the walls of the Precious Moon
Pavilion.
"Seeing as she likes him, she will certainly like Chinese clothes," he
thought. "When they return he will already have convinced her, so why
don't I take off these Manchu clothes and put on something Chinese to
give her a surprise?"
He ordered his eunuchs to find him some, but where would Chinese
clothes be found in the heart of the Manchu court? Finally, one bright
young eunuch ran over to the theatre troupe and brought back a
theatrical costume, which he helped Qian Long to don.
Qian Long examined himself in front of a mirror, and was delighted by
his dashing appearance. Then he noticed a few white hairs amongst his
whiskers and urgently ordered the young eunuch to get a pair of
tweezers to pull them out.
Just as he was sitting with bowed head to allow the eunuch to remove
the offending hairs, he heard the patter of light footsteps behind and
another eunuch announced: "Her Highness the Empress Dowager has
arrived."
Qian Long started in surprise. He looked up and saw the Dowager's image
in the mirror, her face stern and pale and full of anger.
"I trust you are well, Madame?" he said, hurriedly turning to face her.
He escorted her to the couch where she took a seat, and then dismissed
the eunuchs with a wave of her hand.
There was a moment's silence.
"The slaves say you have not been well today," she began in a deep
voice. "They said you did not hold court this morning and haven't
eaten, so I have come to see you."
"I am better now," he replied. "It was just that I ate something fatty
which made me a little uncomfortable. It was nothing. I would not have
dared to have bothered Your Highness about it."
"Huh! Was it Muslim fat or Chinese fat?" she said, to Qian Long's
consternation.
"I think some roast lamb I ate last night disagreed with me," he
replied.
"That is one of our Manchu dishes. Huh! You seem to be tired of being a
Manchu."
Qian Long did not dare to say anything.
"Where is that Muslim girl?" the Empress Dowager asked.
"She was in a bad mood so I sent her out with someone who can talk some
sense into her."
"She has a knife, and would clearly prefer to die rather than give in
to you. What use is there in getting someone to talk to her? Who did
you send?"
Qian Long noticed anxiously how close her questioning was becoming.
"An old guard officer, surnamed Bai," he replied.
The Dowager looked up and let the silence hang for a moment. Then she
laughed coldly. "You are the Emperor, the master of all under heaven.
You can do whatever you like, and concoct whatever lies you like, too."
Qian Long knew the eyes and ears of the Dowager were many and guessed
he probably would not be able to deceive her about this affair. "The
other person I sent with the girl," he answered quietly, "was a scholar
I met in the south, who is very learned..."
"It's someone from the Chen family of Haining, isn't it?" the Dowager's
voice rasped out sharply.
Qian Long hung his head, not daring to utter a sound.
"No wonder you've put on Chinese clothes. Why haven't you killed me
yet?" Her voice had become even harsher. Qian Long knelt down in fright
and began kowtowing frantically.
"May I be damned by Heaven and Earth if I have been unfilial in any
way," he said.
The Dowager flicked up the long sleeves of her gown and walked out.
Qian Long rushed after her, then stopped when he realised he was still
wearing the Chinese costume. To be seen wearing such clothes would not
do at all, so he hurriedly changed back into his usual gown and rushed
out after the Dowager. He found her in a side room of the Martial Hero
Pavilion.
"Please don't be angry, Madame," he pleaded. "I have committed some
errors and would willingly accept your criticism."
"Why have you called that man Chen into the palace several days
running?" she asked coldly. "And what happened in Haining?" Qian Long
hung his head and was silent.
"Do you really intend to restore the Chinese style of dress?" she
shrieked. "Are you going to kill every one of us Manchus?"
"Please don't listen to the nonsense spouted by servants," he replied,
his voice shaking. "How could I plan to do such a thing?"
"How do you intend to deal with this man Chen?"
"His society is large and widespread and many of his followers are
martial arts masters who would die for him, so I have been polite to
him throughout while waiting for an opportunity to deal with them all
at once. I want to remove the roots as well as chopping off the grass."
The Dowager's expression softened slightly. "Is this true?"
Qian Long knew the secret had leaked. With no room left to maneouvre,
he decided he had no choice but to swear to destroy the Red Flower
Society.
"I will see to it that Chen is beheaded within three days," he said.
The shadow of a smile appeared on the Dowager's forbidding face.
"Good," she said. "Only then will you be holding to the wishes of our
ancestors." She stood up. "Come with me," she added.
She stood up and walked over to the main hall of the Martial Hero
Pavilion with Qian Long close behind. As they approached, a eunuch gave
a shout and the huge doors were opened. Inside the brightly-lit hall,
two files of eunuchs stretched away from the entrance towards eight
princes kneeling on the floor to receive the Emperor. The Dowager and
Qian Long walked over to two chairs on the dais in the centre of the
hall and sat down. Qian Long saw all eight princes were of the
immediate Imperial family, including his own brothers. He wondered
uneasily what the Dowager was planning.
"When the late Emperor passed away," she began slowly, "he left orders
that the command of the Imperial Banner troops should be divided
amongst eight members of the Imperial family. But because of the
constant dispatch of forces to the Muslim border regions in the past
few years, it has never been possible to act on the Emperor's last
wish. Now, thanks to the blessed protection of the Ancestors, the
Muslim areas have been pacified, and from today, the leadership of the
Banners will be divided amongst the eight of you." The princes kowtowed
and expressed their great gratitude.
So she has decided to disperse my military strength, Qian Long thought.
"Please make the assignments, Your Highness," the Dowager said to him.
He knew he was in a losing position, but he decided that as long as he
did not attempt a revolt, a temporary dispersal of military power would
be of no great consequence. The Dowager, he could see, had been very
thorough, and he guessed that she had also made preparations in case he
refused. So he assigned each of the eight princes to be commander of
one of the Banners.
Meanwhile, the eight princes, all full of curiosity, were thinking:
"Based on the wishes of the founder of our dynasty, three of the
Banners should be under the direct leadership of the Emperor, and the
other five subordinate to them. The Dowager's action to divide the
Banners among us is a serious violation of rules laid down by the
Ancestors and is obviously intended to weaken the Emperor's power."
None of them dared to directly refuse the Dowager's command, but all
decided it would be best to return the command to the Emperor the
following day in order to avoid the possibility of execution.
The Dowager signalled with her hand and one of the princes came forward
holding a tray on which was placed a small iron box. He knelt before
her and she picked the box up and opened it, and took out a small
scroll. Qian Long glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and saw
the inscription, written in the Emperor Yong Zheng's hand, read
"Posthumous Edict." Next to this was a line of smaller characters: "If
there should be any political changes, the eight princes who lead the
Banners must gather together and open this."
Qian Long's face drained of colour as he realised his father had long
ago taken precautions to guard against his secret ever being revealed.
If he dared to alter in any way the instructions of his ancestors, let
alone attempt to overthrow the Manchus, the eight Banner commanders
would be required to dispose of him and set up a new Emperor. He
steadied himself.
"The late Emperor was far-sighted indeed," he said. "If I can match
even a ten thousandth of his abilities, then you have no need to worry
further, Madame."
The Dowager passed the scroll to the most senior of the eight princes
and said: "Take this edict of the late Emperor and have it placed in
the Lama Temple. Assign one hundred bodyguards to guard it day and
night." She hesitated for a moment, then added: "They are not allowed
to leave their posts for a second, even if ordered to do so by the
present Emperor."
The prince complied with her command and left with the scroll for the
Lama Temple. The temple was in the northern part of the city near the
Gate of Serenity, and had been used by the Emperor Yong Zheng as his
home before ascending the throne. After he died, Qian Long had had the
residence expanded and turned into a Tibetan Lamaist temple in memory
of his grandfather.
Her arrangements complete, the Dowager yawned lazily. "The achievements
of our Ancestors must be safeguarded," she sighed.
** 7 **
Immediately after seeing the Empress Dowager out of the Martial Hero
Pavilion, Qian Long called for his bodyguards. Bai Zhen came forward to
report.
"Master Chen has escorted the lady back to the palace, and she is now
awaiting Your Highness in the Precious Moon Pavilion," he said.
Qian Long was delighted with the news and walked briskly to the door of
the Martial Hero Pavilion. Then he stopped and turned. "Was there any
trouble on the road?" he asked.
"Your slaves came across a large number of Red Flower Society fighters
at one point, but luckily, Master Chen intervened and prevented an
incident."
When Qian Long arrived at the Precious Moon Pavilion, he found Princess
Fragrance seated as before, facing the wall.
"Did you have fun at the Great Wall?" he asked happily. She ignored
him. Qian Long decided to deal with more pressing matters first before
questioning her further. He went into the adjoining room and gave
orders for his favourite, Fu Kangan, to be summoned.
Before too long, Fu rushed in and Qian Long ordered him to lead a troop
of Imperial Guardsmen and lay an ambush around the Lama Temple. After
he had departed, Qian Long ordered Bai Zhen to also hide near the
temple.
"I intend to hold a great feast in the Lama Temple tomorrow evening,"
he added. "Tell Master Chen and all of the senior Red Flower Society
people to attend."
Bai Zhen immediately guessed the Emperor intended to deal with all the
Red Flower Society leaders at one stroke and shuddered at the thought
of the slaughter that would take place.
"Also," Qian Long added, "summon the Head Lama of the temple
immediately."
As the old Lama kowtowed his way into the Imperial presence, Qian Long
asked: "How many years is it since you came to the capital?"
"Your vassal has served the Emperor for twenty-one years."
"Do you want to go back to Tibet?"
The Lama kowtowed again but said nothing.
"There are two Living Buddhas in Tibet, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen
Lama," Qian Long continued. "Why isn't there a third?"
"Your Highness, that has always been the way, ever since..."
Qian Long silenced him with a wave of his hand. "If I made you the
third Living Buddha and gave you an area to govern, no-one would dare
to defy the order, would they?"
The Lama's joy soared to the skies, and he kowtowed furiously, unable
to believe his luck. "Your Reverence's benevolence will be difficult to
repay," he said.
"I want you now to do something for me. Go back to the temple and
gather together all your trusted lamas and prepare gunpowder, firewood
and other inflammable materials." He pointed at Bai Zhen. "When he
gives you the signal, you will put the temple to the torch."
The Head Lama began frantically kowtowing again, this time in fright.
"But it is the former residence of the late Emperor," he protested.
Many of his possessions are there, I wouldn't dare..."
"Do you dare to disobey my command?" Qian Long roared, sending the old
Lama into a cold sweat.
"I...I will do as Your Highness commands," he replied in a quavering
voice.
"If half a breath of this matter leaks out, I will have you and every
single one of your eight hundred lamas executed." After a moment, he
added in a more friendly tone: "There will be Banner troops guarding
the Suicheng Pavilion in your temple, so you must be careful. When the
time comes, I want those troops trapped inside and burned to death.
When things have been successfully completed, you will be the third
Living Buddha of Tibet. Now go!" He waved his hand and the Lama left
with Bai Zhen, thanking the Emperor for his benevolence as he went.
His preparations completed, Qian Long considered how his plan would
enable him to kill two birds with one stone, both the Red Flower
Society and the Dowager's forces. After tomorrow evening, his position
secured and stable, he could continue his reign in peace.
He felt very satisfied. Looking round, he noticed a lute sitting on a
tabletop and went over to play it. After a few phrases, his playing
became increasingly strident and aggressive, and with a twang, the
seventh string broke. He started in surprise and laughed loudly. Then,
pushing the lute aside, he stood up and walked back to the other room.
Princess Fragrance was sitting at the window staring up at the moon. As
she heard his footsteps, there was a glint of light as she pulled the
dagger out again. Qian Long frowned and sat down at a distance.
"When you and Master Chen were at the Great Wall, did he tell you to
kill me?"
"He told me to do as you said."
"Are you going to disobey him?"
"I would never do that."
Qian Long was both delighted and jealous. "Then why are you still
carrying the dagger? Give it to me!"
"No, I'll wait for you to become a good emperor first."
Aha, thought Qian Long, so that's how he hopes to control me. Anger,
jealousy, lust and hatred rose within him all at once, and he laughed
harshly. "I am already a good emperor," he replied.
"Huh! I heard you playing the lute just now. You're going to kill
people, you're going to kill many, many people. You're...you are evil."
Qian Long realised that his thoughts had indeed revealed themselves
through his playing. "Yes," he replied. "I am going to kill people. I
have already caught your Master Chen, but if you do as I say, I can
release him. If you don't do as I say..." He laughed again. "Then you
know I will kill many people."
Princess Fragrance was shocked. "You would kill your own blood brother?
" she asked in a quavering voice.
Qian Long's face went white. "So he told you everything?"
"I don't believe you've caught him. He's much cleverer than you."
"Cleverer? Huh! And even if I haven't got him today, what about
tomorrow?" She did not answer. "I advise you to forget this idea," he
went on. "Whether I'm a good emperor or a bad emperor, you are never
going to see him again."
"But you promised him that you would be a good emperor," Princess
Fragrance protested. "How can you renege on your promise?"
"I will do whatever I want," he roared. "No-one can tell me what to
do." All his pent up anger from the humiliating audience with the
Dowager spilled out.
His words struck Princess Fragrance like a fist-blow to the chest. "So
the Emperor is going to cheat him," she thought in anguish. "If only we
had known earlier, I wouldn't have had to come back here." She almost
fainted at the shock of it.
Seeing her face suddenly go pale, Qian Long immediately regretted being
so coarse. "If you will treat me well," he said, "I will naturally not
harm him. In fact, I will make him a senior official and allow him to
become rich and powerful."
But Princess Fragrance was not listening. She was trying to work out a
way of letting Chen know of the Emperor's deceitfullness, so that he
wouldn't fall into a trap. She frowned deep in thought, her expression
adding to the beauty of her face, and Qian Long stared at her,
mesmerized.
"Everyone in the palace is a servant of the Emperor," she thought. "So
who can deliver a letter for me? There's only one way to do it."
"So you promise not to harm him?" she said.
Qian Long was delighted. "I promise, I promise," he replied
immediately. There was not the slightest touch of sincerity in his
voice, and Princess Fragrance glanced at him in hatred.
"Early tomorrow, I want to go to a mosque," she said evenly. "I will
only do as you say after I have prayed to Allah."
Qian Long smiled. "All right," he replied. "But there is to be no more
delay after tomorrow."
Princess Fragrance watched him leave, laughing as he went, then found a
pen and paper and wrote out a letter to Chen warning him of the
Emperor's intentions, and telling him that the plan to overthrow the
Manchus was just a dream. She urged him to quickly devise away to
rescue her. When she had finished, she wrapped the letter in a blank
sheet of paper and wrote on it in the Moslem script: "Please deliver
speedily to the Great Helmsman of the Red Flower Society, Chen Jialuo."
She knew the respect all Muslims had for her father and sister, and the
way in which they worshipped her herself, and felt certain that if she
just had a chance to pass the letter on to any Muslim in the mosque,
they would certainly find a way to deliver it.
Having written the letter, her heart felt much easier. She was certain
Chen was capable of anything and would easily find a way to rescue her.
At that point, a sense of indescribable warmth and sweetness swept over
her, and tired out from the day's exertions, she fell fast asleep.
Through the mists of slumber, she became aware of bells chiming around
the palace, and opened her eyes to find the sky was already growing
light. Hurriedly, she arose and washed herself, then combed her hair.
The maid servants went to look after her knew she would allow no-one
near her and watched from a distance. She carefully secreted the letter
in her sleeve and then left the pavilion. Eunuchs were already waiting
outside with a palanquin and took her to the mosque on the West Avenue
of Eternal Peace while bodyguards crowded round both before and aft.
Seeing the round dome of the mosque as she descended from the palanqin,
she felt both happiness and anguish. She walked through the mosque's
entrance with head bowed and noticed two men walking on either side of
her. They were dressed as Muslims, and she was about to pass the letter
to one of them, then stopped herself. His features and manner were not
at all those of her people. She glanced at the other man and saw he was
the same.
"Were you sent by the Emperor to guard me?" she asked quietly in the
Muslim tongue. Both men nodded, not understanding what she had said.
Disappointed, she turned round and saw there were another eight palace
guards dressed as Muslims behind her, and that all the real Muslims
were being kept at a safe distance. She walked over to the chief Imam
of the mosque and said: "Please make sure this letter is delivered no
matter what happens." The Imam started in shock as Princess Fragrance
pushed the letter into his hand. A guard rushed forward and snatched
the letter away and gave the Imam a heavy push on the chest, causing
him to stumble and almost fall. The other worshippers looked at each
other in surprise, wondering what was going on.
"What do you people think you're doing?" the Imam demanded angrily.
"Mind your own business," the guard hissed at him. "We are from the
palace."
Severely frightened, the Imam did not dare to say another word, and
turned to lead the gathering in prayer.
Princess Fragrance knelt down with the others and tears welled out of
her eyes like water from a spring. In the midst of her pain and sorrow
only one thought remained: "How can I warn him to be on his guard? I
must let him know even if I die doing it, but how?"
"By dying!" The realisation streaked across her brain like a flash of
lightning. "If I die here, word will get out and he will hear of it.
That's it. There's no other way!"
Then the Prophet's words sounded in her ears like thunder: "Those who
take their own life will fall into the eternal fires and will never
escape." She was not afraid of death, and believed that people who died
could ascend to Paradise and be re-united with their loved ones for
eternity. But with suicide, there was nothing to look forward to but
never-ending pain!
A violent shiver ran through her and she suddenly felt extremely cold.
She listened for a moment to the congregation reciting the scriptures.
For a true religious believer there is nothing more terrible than the
consignment of the soul to eternal Hell, but she could see no other
way. Love overcame the greatest fear of all.
"Most sacred and Holy Allah," she whispered. "It is not that I don't
believe you care for me. But there is no other way except by using my
own blood."
She took the dagger out of her sleeve and on the stone in front of her,
carved out the words "Don't trust the Emperor." Then she lightly called
out the word "Brother!" and thrust the blade into the purest, most
beautiful breast in this world.
** 8 **
That morning, while the Red Flower Society heroes were discussing the
situation in their quarters in Twin Willow Lane, a servant appeared to
announced the arrival of the Emeror's chief bodyguard, Bai Zhen. Chen
went out alone to meet him. Bai Zhen passed on the Emperor's invitation
to all the leading members of the Red Flower Society to attend a
banquet in the Lama Temple that evening to be hosted by the Emperor
himself. He explained that the banquet was being held outside the
palace in order to avoid raising the suspicions of the Empress Dowager
and the Manchu nobles. Chen expressed his thanks. He assumed the news
indicated Princess Fragrance had already done what had to be done and
had given in to the Emperor, and felt an inexpressible mixture of
emotions. After having seen Bai Zhen out, he returned to discuss
matters with the heroes, who were very excited that the Emperor was
keeping his part of the bargain, although they were also painfully
aware of the sacrifice Chen had made to make it possible.
They passed the rest of the morning in kung fu training, and Chen
showed the others some of what he had learned inside the White Jade
Peak. Just as they were in the midst of the practice, they heard
wailing and mournful singing outside. At first, they did not take much
notice, but the noise gradually increased in volume, as if thousands of
people were gathering in an state of extreme grief.
Xin Yan had lived in the desert for a long time and recognised the song
as a Muslim funeral dirge. His curiosity aroused, he ran out to find
out what was going on, and returned a while later, unsteady on his feet
and ashen-faced. He walked over to Chen. "Master!" he exclaimed, his
voice shaking.
The heroes stopped their kung fu training, and Chen turned to him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"She ... Princess Fragrance is dead!"
The heroes blanched. For Chen, everything went black and he collapsed
to the ground. Priest Wu Chen dropped his sword and helped him up.
"How did she die?" Luo Bing asked.
"The Muslim I talked to said she stabbed herself to death while praying
in the mosque," Xin Yan replied.
"What else did he say?"
"That the Empress Dowager would not let her body back into the palace
and had it handed over to the mosque. They are just on their way back
from burying her now."
The heroes all cursed the Emperor bitterly for his cruelty in hounding
such a pure, innocent young girl to her death. Luo Bing broke down and
started to cry. Chen was silent for a while, and then suddenly said to
Prist Wu Chen: "I haven't finished showing you all the moves yet. Let
us continue."
To their amazement, he walked back out into the middle of the
courtyard. Wu Chen decided it would be a good idea to help distract
Chen from his grief, so he raised his sword and resumed the training
session. The heroes saw Chen's footwork was just as sure as before and
his hands moved with the same skill as if the news had had absolutely
no effect on him, and they began to quietly discuss it amongst
themselves.
"Men have no hearts," Yuanzhi whispered into 'Scholar' Yu's ear. "He
thinks only of his great plans for the country, and doesn't care at all
about the death of the woman he loved."
Yu said nothing. But he silently praised Chen for his self-control. If
it were me, he thought, I think I would immediately go insane.
Aware that a great change had come over Chen, Priest Wu Chen did not
dare press him too hard, and in a few moves, Chen had easily gained the
upper hand. As the Priest retreated, Chen's hand suddenly shot out and
touched his hand. The two leapt apart.
"Good! Excellent!" exclaimed the priest.
"You weren't really trying," Chen replied and laughed. But before the
laugh was finished, he vomited a mouthful of blood. The heroes rushed
forward as one to help him, but Chen waved them away with a wan smile.
"It's nothing," he said. He walked back into the house, supporting
himself on Xin Yan's shoulders.
Chen slept for more than two hours. Upon waking, he thought of all the
important things he had to do, including seeing the Emperor that
evening, and knew he had to look after himself. But as soon as he
thought about Princess Fragrance's tragic death the pain was such that
he wanted to end it all. He wondered why she would suddenly commit
suicide after clearly agreeing to give in to the Emperor. Could it be
that she had changed her mind and decided she could not renounce her
love for him? But she knew this was a matter of no small significance.
He was convinced that something must have happened, but what? He
meditated on the problem for a while but could come to no conclusion,
so he took out a set of Muslim clothes he had brought from the
northwest and put them on, then blacked his face with some diluted ink.
"I'm going out," he said to Xin Yan. "I'll be back in a while." Xin Yan
quietly followed him. Chen, who knew he was simply acting out of
loyalty, did not try to stop him.
The streets were full of people and noise, intermingled with many
carriages and horses, but in Chen's eyes, all was deserted. He walked
into the mosque on the Avenue of Eternal Peace, went straight into the
main hall, and threw himself down on the ground to pray. "Wait for me
in Heaven," he said quietly. "I promised you that I would be converted
to the Islamic faith, and I will make sure that you do not wait in
vain."
He raised his head and noticed what looked like an inscription on the
floor about five feet in front of him. He went forward to investigate
and saw it was several Muslim words etched into the stone with the
point of a knife: "Don't trust the Emperor." There was some pigment in
the grooves of the words, and Chen started in shock. Looking around, he
found a part of the floor nearby that was slightly darker in colour,
and thought: "Could this be her blood?" He bent down to smell the patch
and caught the tang of fresh blood. In a second, he was overcome with
grief and he threw himself on the ground, sobbing.
After crying for a while, he felt someone tap him lightly on his
shoulder. He leapt to his feet ready to fight, then started in
surprise: it was Huo Qingtong, dressed as a Muslim boy.
She had arrived that day with the Twin Eagles in the hope of rescuing
Princess Frangrance, but had heard almost immediately that her sister
was dead. She had come to the mosque to pray for her.
Chen noticed two palace guards enter the mosque, and with a tug on Huo
Qingtong's sleeve, pulled her down to the ground where they prostrated
themselves in prayer.
The guards walked over. "Get up!" they barked. Chen and Huo Qingtong
did as they were told and walked over to a window. Behind them, they
heard the sound of hammering as the guards used implements to prise up
the flagstone on which Princess Fragrance's message was engraved. They
carried the stone out of the mosque and rode away.
"What was that?" Huo Qingtong asked.
"If I had been one step late I would have missed the warning she wrote
in her own blood and sacrifed her life for."
"What warning?"
"There are too many eyes and ears here," Chen replied. "Let's kneel
down on the floor again and I'll tell you." So they prostrated
themselves again and Chen gave her a brief account of all that had
happened.
"How could you be stupid as to trust the Emperor?" Huo Qingtong
declared angrily.
Chen was mortified with shame. "I thought that because he is Chinese,
and also my blood brother...." he began.
"And what if he is Chinese? Do you mean to say Chinese are incapable of
doing bad? And what use is he going to have for brotherly love, as
Emperor?"
"I am responsible for her death," Chen sobbed. "I...I can't bear not to
follow her immediately."
Huo Qingtong saw how heartbroken he was and felt she had been too hard
on him. "What you did was for the good of the common people," she said
softly to comfort him. "You can't be blamed." After a moment's silence,
she asked: "Are you going to go to the banquet in the Lama Temple this
evening?"
Chen gritted his teeth in rage. "The Emperor will be there, so I'll
assassinate him and avenge her death."
"Yes," Huo Qingtong agreed. "And also avenge my father and brother, and
all the people of my tribe."
"How did you manage to escape when the Manchu troops attacked?" he
asked.
"I was very sick at the time, but luckily I had my troop of bodyguards
with me who managed to get me out and took me to my teacher's home,"
she replied.
Chen sighed. "Your sister said that even if it meant travelling to the
ends of the earth, we had to find you." The tears began to stream down
Huo Qingtong's face.
They walked out of the mosque and Xin Yan came up to meet them. He was
astonished to see Huo Qingtong with Chen.
"Mistress! How are you?" he exclaimed. "I've been thinking of you."
"Well thank you," she replied. "You've grown a lot since I last saw
you."
They returned to Twin Willow Lane to find the Twin Eagles of Tianshan
in the middle of a heated argument with the heroes. Chen swallowed his
tears and told them of the blood-stained words he had seen in the
mosque. Bald Vulture slapped the table.
"Didn't I tell you?" he demanded. "Of course that Emperor means us
harm. The girl must have obtained some definite proof of it in the
palace before she would give her life to let us know." The others
agreed.
"When we go to the banquet this evening, we won't be able to carry
swords, so everyone prepare daggers or darts," said Chen. "The food and
drink may be poisoned so don't allow anything to touch your lips. We
have to kill the Emperor tonight for the sake of revenge but we must
also plan our escape route."
"None of us will be able to live in central China again," said Bald
Vulture. "We should all go to the Muslim regions."
The heroes had long lived in the south of China, and the idea of
leaving their home was not easy to accept. But the Emperor was evil and
dangerous and bitterly hated by all of them, and everyone was willing
to do what was necessary.
Chen ordered 'Leopard' Wei to go to the west gate of the city with
several of the heroes and to kill the guards at the right moment to
allow them all to escape. He then ordered Xin Yan to arrange for horses
to be waiting outside the Lama Temple. Turning to Yu, he told him to
immediately inform all the Red Flower Society's members in Beijing and
all other provinces to go to ground to avoid being arrested.
The arrangements complete, Chen turned to the Twin Eagles and Master
Lu. "I would like to ask you three elders for suggestions on how the
assassination should be carried out," he said.
"Isn't it simple?" replied Bald Vulture. "I go up and grab his neck and
give it a good twist. That should finish him."
Lu smiled. "I'm afraid you won't get close enough to grab his neck with
all the bodyguards he is bound to have around him."
"It would be better if Third Brother attacks him with poisonous darts,"
suggested Priest Wu Chen. "Even if just one hits the target, that will
be enough."
Lu turned to Luo Bing. "You could dip your throwing knives into some
poison too, and I could do the same with my Golden Needles," he said.
Luo Bing nodded. "If we all loose our weapons at once, a few at least
will hit him no matter how many bodyguards he has," she said.
Chen watched the heroes as they dipped their various weapons into a pot
of bubbling poison on the stove, and thought uncomfortably about how
the Emperor was born of the same mother as himself. But then he
remembered his cruelty and deviousness and his rage burned up again. He
drew his dagger and placed it for a moment in the pot of poison along
with the others.
** 9 **
That afternoon, the heroes had a large meal and then waited for the
time to leave. At about four o'clock, Bai Zhen arrived with four
bodyguards to accompany them. The heroes put on formal gowns, and rode
to the Lama Temple. Bai Zhen noticed with relief that none of them were
carrying swords.
At the temple gate they dismounted, and Bai Zhen led them inside. Three
tables had been prepared in the Hall of Tranquillity, and Bai Zhen
solemnly invited the heroes to be seated. Chen sat at the head of the
middle table while Bald Vulture and Master Lu took the head seats on
the other two tables. Underneath a statue of the Buddha, a fourth table
had been set up with one large chair covered with satin and brocade,
obviously the Emperor's seat. The heroes began to weigh up the
distances in preparation for the assassination attempt.
Dishes of food were brought out and placed on the tables and the heroes
quietly awaited the arrival of the Emperor. After a while, footsteps
sounded outside and two eunuchs marched into the hall with a senior
military official whom the heroes all immediately recognised as Li
Keshou, the former Commander-in-Chief of Zhejiang Province. Yuanzhi
gripped Yu's hand and almost cried out in surprise at the sight of her
father. She wondered when he had been transferrd to the capital.
"Here is an Imperial pronouncement!" one of the eunuchs shouted, and
Commander Li, Bai Zhen and the other officials present immediately
knelt kown. Chen and the rest of the heroes had no alternative but to
do likewise.
The eunuch unrolled a scroll and announced: "On the orders of the
Heaven-ordained Emperor, the following proclamation is made: We are
benevolent in order to encourage talent just as our ministers and the
common people should strive for merit in order to gain rewards. Chen
Jialuo and the others have been loyal citizens and deserve to be
honoured. Accordingly, I bestow upon Chen Jialuo the title of
Successful Candidate of the Imperial Civil Service Examination, while
the others are to be given good positions in the Board of Rites and the
Military. We invite you to dine at the Lama Temple. The
Commander-in-chief of the Imperial Forces in Zhili Province Li Keshou
will host the banquet." The eunuch looked up from the scroll and
shouted: "Express thanks for the Imperial benevolence!"
The heroes realised with a shock that the Emperor had cheated them and
was not coming.
Commander Li walked over to Chen and bowed before him.
"Congratulations, Master Chen. You are honoured to be so highly
favoured by the Emperor. It is truly unexpected." Chen replied with a
self-deprecating remark.
Yuanzhi and Yu walked over together. "Father!" Yuanzhi said quietly.
Commander Li turned to find his lost daughter standing beside him, as
if she had dropped out of nowhere. He grasped her hand, tears welling
into his eyes.
"Yuanzhi," he said, his voice shaking. "Are you all right?" She nodded.
"Come, come and sit with me," he added, and pulled her over to a table
on the side.
The two eunuchs, obviously kung fu experts, walked over to the central
table and stood before Chen. One of them saluted with his fists, then
turned and shouted: "Boy!"
Two young attendants entered carrying a tray on which was placed a pot
of wine and several cups. The eunuch lifted the pot and filled two
cups, then picked one of them up. "I drink to you!" he said to Chen,
and drained the cup at one draught. He picked the other one up and
offered it to Chen.
But Chen had been watching intently, and had noticed two small holes on
the side of the wine pot. The eunuch had put his thumb over the left
hole when he poured the first cup of wine, and had moved it to cover
the right hole as he poured the second cup. Chen guessed the pot was
divided into two compartments inside, and that the flow of wine from
each could be controlled by covering one or other of the holes. He
glanced at the eunuch in distaste and knew that if it had not been for
Princess Fragrance's warning, he would have drunk the cup down.
He saluted with his fists in thanks, and lifted the cup as if to drink
it. Expressions of delighted anticipation sprang to the faces of the
eunuchs, but then Chen put the cup down again, picked up the wine pot
and poured out another cup. This cupful he drank then offered the
original cup to the second eunuch.
"You drink a toast as well, sir," he said.
The eunuch turned pale as he realised Chen had seen through the trick.
His right foot shot up and kicked the cup out of Chen's hand and the
other eunuch shouted: "Get them!" Several hundred Imperial bodyguards
and guardsmen sprang into view from every side.
"If you gentlemen don't wish to drink, then don't," said Chen with a
smile.
"His Imperial Highness decrees," one of the eunuchs shouted, "that the
Red Flower Society has engaged in rebellion and continues to harbour
evil intentions, and that its members must be immediately seized and
killed."
Chen waved his hand and the Twin Knights leapt over to the two eunuchs,
paralysing each with a blow to the neck. The Red Flower Society heroes
brought out their weapons from under their gowns, and Priest Wu Chen
charged for the door with the other heroes close behind. He seized a
sword from one of the guards and killed three others as he passed.
Commander Li grabbed his daughter's hand and dragged her after him as
he directed his forces to stop the heroes, but Yuanzhi pulled herself
free and ran off shouting: "Look after yourself, father!"
Commander Li stared after her for a moment, then began urgently
calling: "Yuanzhi, come back!" But she had already left the hall and
had joined Yu who was fighting fiercely with five or six guardsmen in
the courtyard outside.
Flames were licking up towards the sky from a nearby hall, and the
noise of the battle was deafening. As Chen and the other heroes broke
out of the Tranquillity Hall into the open, they were surprised to find
several dozen Lama monks fighting with a group of Manchu soldiers
outside the burning hall. From the look of things, the monks could not
hold out for long, but as they watched, Bai Zhen led some of the
Imperial guards over and helped them force the Manchu troops back into
the hall. Chen had no knowledge of the enmity between the Emperor and
the Empress Dowager, but he immediately recognised the fight as an
excellent diversion and quickly ordered the heroes to escape over the
temple walls.
As they touched the ground, the heroes involuntarily sucked in their
breaths: in front of them were rank upon rank of Manchu troops, all
with bows drawn or with swords in hand. The scene was brightly lit by
several thousand torches.
"He has arranged things very carefully," thought Chen. Priest Wu Chen
and Bald Vulture charged into the Manchu ranks, killing as they went,
and a hail of arrows descended on them.
"Everyone try and make a break for it!" shouted Huo Qingtong. The
heroes fought like demons.
Priest Wu Chen noticed seven or eight Imperial Guardsmen attacking
Zhang Jin, and he leapt over to help him. He stabbed three of them in
the neck, and the rest howled and retreated.
"Tenth Brother, are you all right?" he asked.
Zhang Jin looked up at him and dropped his wolf's tooth club. "Second
Brother, I'm finished," he said. In the fire-light, Priest Wu Chen saw
he was covered in bloody wounds. With only one arm himself, the Priest
could not support him.
"Lie on my back and hold on," the priest said between clenched teeth.
He squatted down, and Zhang Jin put his arms round his neck. He felt
the warm blood spurting out of the hunchback's wounds, but stood up and
charged off again with sword raised to continue the killing.
Chen could see things were going badly and ordered the heroes to return
to the wall to regroup.
"All right, Tenth Brother, get down," said Priest Wu Chen as they
reached the comparative safety of the wall. Zhang Jin did not move. Luo
Bing went over to help him, but found that his body was stiff and his
breathing had already ceased. She threw herself onto his corpse and
began to sob.
Just as the Manchu troops moved in for the final attack on the heroes,
their ranks parted and several dozen monks fought their way through,
their yellow robes glowing in the firelight. Leading them, his long
white beard dancing and shaking, was Lord Zhou.
"Come with me, all of you!" he shouted to the heroes, and they charged
after him through the Manchu blockade, and found Heavenly Mirror and
the monks battling fiercely with the Manchu troops.
Huo Qingtong surveyed the situation with dismay. The heroes were
killing large numbers of the enemy, but no matter which direction they
went, they were always surrounded. She looked around for some possible
solution and spotted a dozen or so people standing on a nearby Drum
Tower.
"One of those men must be the commander," she shouted to the others,
pointing at the tower. "Let's seize him."
The heroes immediately saw the wisdom of her words.
"Let's go," Priest Wu Chen roared. Wen and the Twin Knights ran after
him. They quickly reached the foot of the Drum Tower, and leapt up onto
the balcony just as several dozen guards moved to intercept them. Wen,
however, dodged nimbly past them and charged straight for an official
standing in one corner who wore a red cap signifying senior rank. As he
caught sight of the official's face in the firelight, he almost called
out "Great Helmsman!" He was almost an exact twin of Chen's. Wen
remembered his wife telling him about the resemblance of Qian Long's
favorite, Fu Kangan, to Chen. This must be Fu, he decided.
It was indeed Fu, who was also the Beijing Garrison Commander. Wen
deftly dodged the swords of two surprised bodyguards and lunged at Fu
with Priest Wu Chen close behind. Down below, the Manchu troops ceased
their attack and stood watching the drama above them.
Fu knew no kung fu and he cringed in fear as Wen lifted him bodily into
the air. A gasp went up the Manchu troops. By this time, the Twin
Knights had killed the last of the bodyguards on the tower balcony and
ran over beside Wen. Fu raised his command flag and shrieked: "Stop,
all of you! Return to your units!"
Three bodyguards bravely charged forward, but Priest Wu Chen placed the
tip of his sword on Fu's throat and smiled at them. "Come on," he said.
"Don't be shy."
The bodyguards hesitated, glanced at each other, then withdrew.
Wen squeezed Fu's arm and he screamed in agony. "Retreat!" he shouted.
"Back in position, all of you!" The Manchu troops did not dare to
disobey and immediately formed up at a distance.
Chen gathered the heroes and the Shaolin monks together on the Drum
Tower balcony. He counted up the casualties and found that apart from
Zhang Jin who was dead, eight or nine of the others had been wounded,
only one of them seriously. He surveyed his followers in the lights of
the flames from the temple.
"Let us attack the Palace and kill the Emperor to avenge Tenth Brother!
" he shouted. The heroes roared their approval, and the Shaolin monks
joined in.
"The Shaolin Monastery has been destroyed by him," Heavenly Mirror
added. "Today, the Commandment against killing is suspended."
"What?" asked Chen, shocked. "The Shaolin Monastery destroyed?"
"Yes, it's been burnt to the ground. Brother Heavenly Rainbow died
protecting the sacred scriptures."
The news compounded Chen's anger. With Commander Fu as their hostage,
the heroes marched through the ranks of Imperial Guards encircling the
Lama Temple. When they had passed the last rank, they saw Xin Yan and a
number of the Society's followers standing at a distance with several
dozen horses. They ran over and mounted up, one or two to each horse,
and with a defiant shout, galloped off towards the Imperial Palace.
Xu rode up alongside Chen and shouted: "Has an escape route been
planned, Great Helmsman?"
"Ninth Brother has gone with some of the others to the West Gate to
wait for us. What are you and the monks doing here?"
"Those Manchu devils!" replied Xu, his voice full of hatred. "They came
one night and sacked the monastery. Heavenly Rainbow would not leave
and was burned to death. They even kidnapped my son! We have been
looking for the officers responsible ever since, and the chase brought
us to Beijing. We went to Twin Willow Lane and they told us you had
gone to the Lama Temple."
By this time, they had arrived at the Forbidden City with the Imperial
Guardsmen pressing in on them from behind, loath to leave them alone
even if they did not dare to attack.
Xu looked over at the Twin Eagles. "If the Emperor gets wind of this
and hides somewhere in the depths of the palace, we'll never find him.
Could you two go on ahead and investigate?" he asked.
The two old people were delighted to have the opportunity to show their
worth, and immediately agreed. Xu took four flare rockets from his bag
and gave them to Bald Vulture.
"When you catch sight of the Emperor, kill him if you can, but if he is
guarded too tightly, signal us with these," he said.
The Twin Eagles leapt over the palace wall and ran swiftly across the
courtyard inside and then up onto the rooftops. As they raced along,
they saw the heavy palace gates and the endless courtyards and
pavilions, and wondered how they could ever hope to find the Emperor in
such a place.
"Let's grab a eunuch and question him," Madame Guan said.
"Good idea!" replied her husband, and the two jumped down to the ground
and hid themselves in a dark corner. After a while, they heard
footsteps approach and two figures walked quickly by.
"The thin one knows kung fu," Bald Vulture whispered.
"Let's follow and see where they go," Madame Guan replied.
The Twin Eagles silently shadowed the two figures, one very thin, the
other fat and much slower on his feet. The thin man had to constantly
stop to wait for him to catch up, and at one point said: "Faster!
Faster! We must report to the Emperor as soon as possible."
The Twin Eagles were overjoyed when they heard this. They passed
through doorways and courtyards and finally arrived in front of the
Precious Moon Pavilion.
"You wait here," the thin man said and disappeared upstairs, leaving
the fat man standing alone by the front door. The Twin Eagles crept
round to the side of the pavilion and climbed up onto the roof. Then,
with their feet hooked onto the eaves, they hung down over a balcony
smelling of fresh paint and flowers and saw a row of windows, one of
which glowed with the faint light of a candle. They slipped onto the
balcony, just as a shadow passed across the window paper. Madame Guan
carefully wet the paper with her finger, making a hole and then looked
through to find Qian Long seated in a chair, a fan in his hand, and the
thin man kneeling before him: it was Bai Zhen.
"The Tranquillity Hall in the Lama Temple has been burned to the ground
and not one of the soldiers guarding it escaped," he said.
"Excellent!" exclaimed Qian Long, very pleased.
Bai Zhen kowtowed. "Your slave deserves to die. The Red Flower Society
bandits eluded capture."
"What?"
"They saw through the attempt to poison them with the wine, and they
escaped while I was dealing with the guards."
Qian Long grunted and hung his head, deep in thought.
Bald Vulture pointed at Bai Zhen and the Emperor, indicating to his
wife that he would attack Bai Zhen while she killed Qian Long, and the
two were just about to burst through the window when Bai Zhen clapped
his hands twice and twelve bodyguards slipped noiselessly out from
behind cupboards and screens, each one carrying a sword. The Twin
Eagles knew they were no match for so many expert fighters and decided
to summon the other heroes first. Bai Zhen whispered something to one
of the bodyguards who left and brought the fat man back with him.
The fat man, wearing the yellow robes of a Lama priest, kowtowed
energetically before the Emperor.
"You have done well," Qian Long said. "Are you sure you left no clues?"
"Everything was done according to Your Highness's wishes. Nothing is
left of the Tranquillity Hall or what was in it."
"Good, good, good! Bai Zhen, I promised that he should be made a Living
Buddha. Go and see to it."
"Your Highness," Bai Zhen replied with a bow.
The Lama kowtowed again.
As they walked out of the pavilion, Bai Zhen stopped the Lama. "Show
your gratitude to his Highness, abbot," he said.
The abbot looked at him in surprise, but unwilling to disobey an
Imperial bodyguard, he knelt down again and kowtowed in the direction
of the Precious Moon Pavilion. Then he felt an icy coldness on his
neck, and started in shock.
"What...what's happening?" he asked, his voice shaking.
Bai Zhen laughed coldly. "The Emperor said to let you become a Living
Buddha, so I'll send you to the Western Heavens where you can be one."
He twitched his hand and the blade did its work. Two eunuchs brought a
carpet over, wrapped the abbot's corpse in it and carried it away.
Suddenly, Bai Zhen heard shouting in the distance. He turned and ran
back into the pavilion.
"There are bandits outside causing a disturbance, Your Highness," he
said. "Please retire to the inner palace."
Qian Long had seen the Red Flower Society fighters in action in
Hangzhou and he knew that his bodyguards were no match for them, so
without questioning Bai Zhen further, he stood up.
Just then, Bald Vulture released a flare, and with a 'whoosh' it
scrawled a path of white light across the night sky.
"Where do you think you're escaping to?" he roared as they burst
through the window into the room. "We've waited a long time for this!"
The bodyguards around the Emperor stared for a moment in surprise at
the red-faced old man and white-haired old woman who had suddenly
appeared in their midst, then rushed at the intruders. Bai Zhen slung
Qian Lung over his back and with four bodyguards protecting the front
and rear, ran for the stairs. But Madame Guan forced the bodyguards
back with a fistful of projectiles and lunged at Qian Long with her
sword. Bai Zhen leapt backwards in fright.
Meanwhile, Bald Vulture was fighting with three guards simultaneously.
Bai Zhen gave a whistle and four other guards joined the other three
and completely surrounded Bald Vulture. But he fought like a demon and
kept all seven at bay for a while, until one of the guards lashed out
with a whip which cracked loudly against his right arm. In great pain,
Bald Vulture switched his sword over to the left hand and forced the
bodyguards back.
Seeing her husband was wounded, Madame Guan went over to help him, and
the two retreated towards the second floor of the pavilion. Bald
Vulture knew they could not tie down so many top-class kung fu fighters
for much longer, so he slipped over to the window and shot off another
flare. He and his wife blocked the stairs, retreating a step at a time
when the pressure was too great. Luckily, the staircase was narrow and
only three or four bodyguards at most could attack at one time. Even
so, the strain of having to fight against an enemy which always had the
advantage of height was very wearying.
Bai Zhen could see things were going badly. "Brother Ma," he said to
one of the bodyguards. "Put His Highness on your back." The bodyguard
squatted down and the Emperor climbed on. Bai Zhen gave a shout and
charged at Bald Vulture. The two began to fight, and Bald Vulture
cursed his luck. The longer he fought, the more painful the wound on
his right arm became. Bai Zhen by himself was as much as he could
manage, let alone the other four or five bodyguards that also
surrounded him. Bai Zhen's hands dived and flew, every move accurate
and deadly, and Bald Vulture, completely absorbed in fending him off,
was unprepared for a cold-blooded attack from behind. A bodyguard
thrust his sword deep into Bald Vulture's back.
Bald Vulture knew instantly that he would die. He swung his elbow back
with all his strength and smashed his attacker's skull, then with a
huge roar, he raised his sword and threw it forcefully across the room
at Qian Long. The bodyguard Ma who was carrying the Emperor, saw the
blade flying towards them and with no time to dodge out of the way, put
his hand up to stop it. But this was a throw by a man on the verge of
death, backed by incalculable strength and outrage and the sword sliced
off half of his hand and plunged through his chest and out the other
side.
Bald Vulture was content, assuming that the sword must have entered
Qian Long. Exchanging his own life for that of an Emperor made death
seem worthwhile. Madame Guan ran to her husband as Bai Zhen hurriedly
picked Qian Long up off the floor.
"Your Highness, are you all right?" he asked.
Qian Long was scared out of his wits, but he struggled to control
himself. "At least I was well-prepared," he replied with a smile.
Bai Zhen could see the tip of Bald Vulture's sword extending six inches
out of Ma's back and the rip on the front of Qian Long's gown, and he
wondered in awe how the Emperor had avoided injury.
"Your Highness is very fortunate," he said. "Truly, the Son of Heaven
has the protection of a hundred Gods."
What he did not know was that Qian Long had been so fearful of an
assassination attempt as a result of his decision to break his pact
with the Red Flower Society that he decided to wear a metallic vest at
all times. It had saved his life.
Bai Zhen looked round and saw there was no longer anyone blocking the
steps. He lifted Qian Long onto his back, the bodyguards fell in around
him and they all ran straight downstairs. But just as they were about
to pass through the pavilion's main entrance, Qian Long gave a shout of
alarm and struggled free of Bai Zhen's grasp: standing in the doorway
was Chen Jialuo. Behind him, their torches dancing and swords glinting,
were several dozen kung fu fighters. The Emperor turned and ran
straight back up the stairs. The bodyguards swarmed like bees after him
with the Red flower Society heroes on their heels. Two of the guards
who were slightly slower than the rest were intercepted by the Twin
Knights and instantly killed.
Chen and the other heroes had had to fight their way through the palace
to the Precious Moon Pavilion, and they were delighted to find that in
spite of the delay, the Emperor had not yet escaped. Shouting in
triumph, the heroes galloped up the stairs. Chen assigned men to watch
the various exits. Priest Wu Chen stood with his sword at the ready at
the head of the stair well on the third floor, while the Twin Knights
guarded the bottom of the stairs. 'Buddha' Zhao and three of the
Shaolin monks took up positions by the windows.
Huo Qingtong saw her teacher Madame Guan in a corner embracing Bald
Vulture, blood welling in great surges from the gash in his back. She
went over with Master Lu who took out some ointment. Bald Vulture
smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"I'm sorry," he said to Madame Guan. "Because of me, you've been
unhappy for all these years. When you return to the Muslim areas you
must marry ... marry Brother Yuan ... and then I will be content in the
afterworld. Brother Lu, you must make sure for me that this happy event
takes place..."
Madame Guan's eyebrows flew up in outrage. "Do you mean to say," she
demanded, "that you do not know how I have felt towards you in the past
few months?"
Lu was just about to suggest it would be better for her to say a few
comforting words to her dying husband rather than start another
argument, when she jumped to her feet and shouted: "Well, I'll rest
your mind at ease!" She raised her sword and drew it firmly across her
throat. Lu and Huo Qingting were standing at her side, but neither was
quick enough to save her. Bald Vulture let loose a wail of grief which
was cut short as he also died. Huo Qingtong threw herself onto their
corpses and sobbed uncontrollably.
Chen pointed his dagger at Qian Long. "Even forgetting the pact we made
in the Six Harmonies Pagoda, we agreed on the dyke at Haining never to
harm each other. And yet you use poisoned wine to try and get rid of
me. What do you have to say?" He stepped forward and pointed the
dagger's blade, glinting coldly, directly at Qian Long's heart. "You
have decided to throw in your lot with the barbarians. You have cruelly
oppressed the common people. You are the enemy of all good men under
heaven," he announced in a formal tone. "Our fraternal bond is broken
forever. Today, I will drink your blood to avenge all those who have
been killed in your name."
Qian Long's face turned deathly pale and his whole body quivered with
terror.
Heavenly Mirror strode forward. "We of the Shaolin Monastery led a
simple life," he shouted. "We had no quarrels with the world. What
justification did you have to send your evil underlings to burn our
monastery to the ground? Today, I will disregard the sacred commandment
against killing."
Chen helped Huo Qingtong up and placed his dagger in her hand. "Your
father and mother, your brother and sister and countless members of
your tribe died at the hands of this man," he said. "You kill him."
Huo Qingtong took the dagger and walked towards Qian Long. One of the
bodyguards moved to intercept her, but Wen stopped him and with eight
or nine swift blows broke all his ribs and his spine, so that he fell
limply to the floor in a heap. A hubbub of voices rose from outside.
'Buddha' Zhao looked out and saw a sea of torches and faces around the
pavilion.
Wen walked over to the window. "The Emperor is here," he called. "If
anyone dares to come up here, I will kill him immediately." His tone
was forceful and commanding, and a hush fell over the crowd. The heroes
in the Precious Moon Pavilion also fell silent, and stared fixedly at
the gleaming blade in Huo Qingtong's hand as she advanced step by step
towards Qian Long.
Suddenly, a figure darted into the room and in front of Qian Long. Huo
Qingtong stopped in surprise as she saw it was a Manchu officer holding
a baby. He smiled and held up the white, chubby baby which was sucking
its little fingers.
"Give me back my baby!" Zhou Qi screamed and lunged forward.
"Come on, then," the man shouted. "If you want a dead baby, come and
get it."
Zhou Qi stopped in her tracks and stared at him in a daze.
The officer, surnamed Fang, had been commander of the troops sent by
Qian Long to destroy the Shaolin Monastery. He knew of the Emperor's
wish to get rid of the Red Flower Society, and during the night attack,
his men had snatched Zhou Qi's baby son. Fang had recognised this as an
achievement of great merit and made his way to Beijing for an audience
with the Emperor.
Qian Long had questioned him closely that evening, wanting to ascertain
for certain that no evidence relating to his origins could have
survived at the Shaolin Monastery. When the Twin Eagles appeared, Fang
had dodged behind a curtain, but he now recognised an opportunity to
gain even greater merit.
"All of you leave the palace and I will return the child to you," Fang
said.
"You devil!" Huo Qingtong shouted at him. "It's just a trick!" In her
excitement the words came out in the Muslim and Fang looked at her
uncomprehendingly.
The heroes had thought they finally had the Emperor in their grasp. But
one man, clearly ignorant of kung fu and holding a baby, had left them
powerless. They turned to Chen, waiting for his decision.
Chen looked at Huo Qingtong and thought of how Qian Long had forced
Princess Fragrance to suicide. How could the deaths of her whole family
remain unavenged? Looking round, he caught sight of the corpses of the
Twin Eagles of Tianshan. Then he saw Xu's face, full of fear for his
son, and glanced back at the child in Fang's arms. It was only two
months old and was gurgling happily, stretching out its little fingers
to feel the knobbly hand holding its neck. Chen looked at the other
heroes: Heavenly Mirror's eyes radiated compassion, Lu Feiqing sighed
and Lord Zhou's white beard shook as he trembled. Zhou Qi was standing
with her mouth wide open, a crazed expression on her face.
Chen knew Lord Zhou's last son and heir had died as a result of the Red
Flower Society and that the baby before them was his sole hereditory
lifeline. But if they did not kill the Emperor today, they were
unlikely to ever have another opportunity to gain revenge. So what to
do?
Huo Qingtong turned and handed the dagger back to Chen.
Chen nodded. "All right," he said to Fang. "We will not harm the
Emperor. Give the child to me." As he spoke, he replaced the dagger in
its sheath and stretched out his hands.
"Huh! Who'd believe you?" Fang replied darkly. "I'll return the child
only after you have left the palace."
Chen was furious. "We of the Red Flower Society hold to our word," he
said. "Why would we bother to cheat an animal like you?"
"That's why I don't believe you."
"All right," Chen countered. "Then you leave the palace with us." Fang
hesitated.
As soon as Qian Long heard Chen say that his life was spared, he was
ecstatic with happiness and didn't care less what happened to Fang. "Go
with them," he said. "You have gained great merit today. I will
naturally not forget it."
Fang shivered as he heard the Emperor's tone, and realised that he was
talking about honouring him posthumously. But all he could say was:
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your benevolence." He turned to Chen.
"If I leave the palace with you, what chance have I got to live?" He
wanted Chen to promise to spare him.
"You've already done enough evil," Chen replied angrily. "You should
have been consigned to Hell long ago."
Qian Long, worried that other complications could arise, and that Chen
might change his mind, urged Fang on: "Quickly, leave with them now."
"But I'm afraid that once I've gone, they will try and harm Your
Highness," Fang added.
"So what do you suggest?" Chen asked in exasperation.
"Allow his Imperial Highness to leave first and then I will accompany
you out of the palace."
Chen could see they would have to let him go. "All right," he said to
Qian Long. "Leave."
Qian Long did not concern himself further with the bearing an Emperor
should maintain, and fled for the door as fast as his feet could carry
him. Suddenly, Chen stretched out his right hand and grabbed him as he
ran past, and boxed his ears sharply with his left hand --'bang, bang,
bang!' the sound ringing out crisp and clearly. Qian Long's cheeks
immediately began to swell up. The heroes were taken by surprise, and
there was a brief silence before they roared out their approval.
"Do you still remember that poisonous oath you swore?" Chen demanded,
but Qian Long did not dare to make any reply. With a contemptuous wave
of his hand, Chen dismissed him, and Qian Long stumbled out of the room
and down the stairs.
"Get the child!" Chen shouted.
'Buddha' Zhao was holding his poisonous darts and looking out of the
window, waiting for the right moment. As soon as Chen had hold of the
child, and Qian Long appeared down below, he would fire off several
dozen projectiles at the Emperor's body.
Fang, meanwhile, was frantically looking around, trying to think of
some way out for himself. "I want to see with my own eyes that His
Highness is out of danger before I'll hand over the child," he said,
shuffling slowly towards the nearest window.
"You Turtle! You're already a dead man," snarled one of the Twin
Knights. They shadowed him, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Qian Long emerged from the main door of the pavilion, and the
bodyguards waiting down below surged forward.
"You traitor," 'Buddha' Zhao muttered to himself. "You traitor."
Fang saw the several dozen bodyguards gathered below, and decided it
was better to take a risk than to simply wait to die where he was. So
in a sudden movement, he embraced the child and threw himself out of
the window.
Taken completely unawares, a cry of surprise went up from the heroes.
One of the Twin Knights flicked out his Flying Claw and hooked it round
Fang's left leg, then tugged with all his might. Fang's body flew up,
the baby left his hands and the two began to fall. 'Buddha' Zhao
crouched down and launched himself like an arrow out of the window. As
he flew through the air, his head pointing down and his feet up, he
stretched out his left hand and grabbed hold of one of the child's tiny
legs while at the same time throwing three of his poisonous darts at
Fang, hitting him squarely on the head and chest.
A shout went up from both the heroes in the pavilion and the bodyguards
down below. Zhao steeled himself, hugged the baby to his chest and
landed firmly on his two feet. The Twin Knights, Lord Zhou and some of
the other heroes jumped down from the pavilion and surrounded Zhao and
the baby to protect them. Zhao looked down at the child in his arms and
saw it kicking and waving its arms about, chuckling away in delight. It
obviously thought the leap a moment ago that had almost ended its life
had been great fun and wanted to do it again.
Chen pushed their hostage Commander Fu to the window and shouted: "Do
you want him to live?"
Qian Long, once more under the protection of his bodyguards, caught
sight of Fu in the torchlight. "Stop! Stop everything!" he shouted. The
guards turned and waited for his directions.
Fu was in fact Qian Long's illegitimate son. The Emperor's first wife
was the elder sister of a senior minister, whose beautiful wife Qian
Long had spotted when she came to the palace one evening to pay her
respects to the Empress and he had had illicit relations with her which
resulted in the birth of Fu. Qian Long had many sons, but for some
perverse reason he loved this illegitimate one more than all the rest.
The great physical likeness between Fu and Chen was therefore the
result of the fact that they were uncle and nephew.
Chen knew nothing of this, but was aware that the Emperor doted on Fu.
He and the other heroes escorted their hostage downstairs. Zhou Qi ran
over to Zhao and took the baby from him, almost crazy with happiness.
On one side, were the Red Flower Society heroes and the Shaolin monks,
on the other, the mass of palace guards and Imperial bodyguards.
Commander Li could see his forces vastly outnumbered the enemy, but he
also knew how the Emperor felt about Fu.
"Great Helmsman Chen," he shouted. "Let Commander Fu go and we will
allow you to leave the city peacefully."
"What does the Emperor say?" Chen shouted back.
Qian Long's cheeks were painful and swollen like over-ripe peaches as a
result of Chen's blows, but seeing his beloved son in the hands of the
enemy, he could only wave his hand and say: "You can go, you can go."
"Commander Fu will see us out of the city," Chen said, then looked
straight at Qian Long and announced in a loud voice: "All the common
people under Heaven would be happy to eat your flesh and make a bed out
of your skin. If you live another hundred years, may they be one
hundred years of fear-filled days and tormented, sleepless nights!" He
turned to the heroes. "Let us go," he said.
The heroes pushed Fu forward and made their way towards the palace
gate, carrying with them the bodies of the Twin Eagles and Zhang Jin.
The Manchu guards stared at them fixedly as they passed, but did not
dare to stop them.
Soon after the heroes passed out of the palace, they spotted two
horsemen galloping after them, one of whom was Commander Li.
"Great Helmsman Chen!" he called as they drew near. "There is something
I wish to discuss with you."
The heroes reined in their horses and waited for Li and his lieutenant,
Deng Tunan, to catch up.
"His Highness says that if you allow Commander Fu to return safely, he
will agree to anything," Li said.
Chen's eyebrows shot up. "Huh! Who would believe a cursed word the
Emperor said any more?"
"Please, Master Chen. I ask you to express your wishes so that I can
return to report."
"All right," Chen said. "Firstly, I want the Emperor to rebuild the
Shaolin Monastery with his own funds, making the golden statues of
Buddha even larger than before. The court and government must never
harrass the monastery again."
"That is easy to arrange," said Li.
"Secondly, the Emperor must not increase the military burden on the
common people in the Muslim areas and all the Muslims taken prisoner
must be released."
"That is not difficult either."
"Thirdly, the Emperor must not bear a grudge against the Red Flower
Society or seize any of its members no matter where they may be."
Commander Li was silent. "Huh! If you really did try to seize any of
us, do you think we would be afraid? Did not Master Wen here spend some
time as a guest in your own military headquarters?"
"All right. I will rashly agree," Li said finally.
"Exactly one year from today, if all three demands have been fully met,
Commander Fu will be released."
"All right. We will so arrange things," replied Li and turned to Fu.
"Commander Fu. Great Helmsman Chen's word is very precious. Please do
not worry. His Highness will certainly issue orders to see that all
three requests are met. I will not allow a moment to pass without
thinking of your safety, and will make sure everything is done as
quickly as possible in the hope that Master Chen may see fit to release
you early."
Fu said nothing.
Chen suddenly remembered how they had seen Bai Zhen and Commander Li's
forces had mysteriously attacked the Banner troops guarding the Hall of
Tranquillity in the Lama Temple. He did not understand the
circumstances of the incident but knew it must involve a very dark
secret. He decided to scare Li a little.
"Tell the Emperor that we know everything about the Hall of
Tranquillity affair," he said. "If he is treacherous again, it would
not be beneficial."
Li started in surprise and hastily assented.
"Commander Li, we will take our leave of you," Chen continued and
saluted with his fists. "When you are promoted and become rich, take
care not to oppress the common people."
Li saluted in reply. "I would not dare," he said.
Yuanzhi and Yu dismounted and walked over to Li and knelt down in front
of him. Li realised sorrowfully that he would never see his daughter
again.
"Look after yourself, child," he said quietly. He stretched out his
hand and stroked her hair, then turned his horse round and rode back to
the palace. Yuanzhi began to cry as Yu helped her onto her horse.
The heroes galloped to the city gate where 'Pagoda' Yang and 'Leopard'
Wei were waiting for them. Fu ordered the city gate to be opened. The
huge bell in the bell tower above sounded, ringing out the start of the
fourth watch.
As they passed out of the city, the heroes saw an expanse of reeds
beside the city moat flailing about in the pale moonlight. A bit
further on, they came upon a graveyard, and noticed a crowd of people
there wailing and singing a Muslim funeral dirge. Chen and Huo Qinging
rode over to investigate.
"Who are you mourning for?" they asked the crowd.
An old Muslim man raised his head, his face coursed with tears, and
said: "Princess Fragrance."
"Princess Fragrance is buried here?" Chen asked.
The old man pointed at a new grave, the yellow mud on which was not yet
dry. "There," he replied.
Huo Qingtong began to cry. "We cannot allow her to remain buried here,"
she said.
"You're right," Chen replied. "She loved that Jade Pool in the heart of
the White Jade Peak, and said how much she would like to live there
forever. Let us take her remains and bury them there."
"Yes, I agree," Huo Qingtong said, swallowing her tears.
"Who are you?" the old man enquired courteously.
"I am Princess Fragrance's sister," Huo Qingtong replied.
"Ah!" another of the Muslim suddenly shouted to the other mourners.
"It's Mistress Huo Qingtong!"
"Let us open up her grave," she said, and Chen and the heroes started
work helped by several of the Muslims. They shifted the earth as fast
as they could and in a moment, had uncovered the stone slab placed over
the grave. They lifted the slab up and a perfumed fragrance emerged.
But when they looked inside, they found the grave was empty.
Chen took a burning torch from one of the mourners and held it over the
grave opening. On the floor was a small pool of blood and the piece of
jade that he himself had given her.
"We brought Princess Fragrance's remains here and buried them
ourselves," said the Muslims. "We have not left this spot since. How
could her body have disappeared?"
"She was so wondrously beautiful. Perhaps she was a spirit that
descended to earth," Luo Bing suggested. "Now she has returned to
Heaven. Don't be distressed."
Chen bent down into the grave and picked up the piece of jade.
Suddenly, he began to cry, the tears running down his face like rain.
She was so beautiful, so pure. Perhaps she was a spirit.
The people sighed and covered up the grave once more, and as they
finished the work, a large jade-coloured butterfly appeared and began
dancing to and fro above the pile of earth.
Chen turned to the old man. "I will write a few words. Please ask a
master carver to erect a stone engraved with the inscription on this
spot," he said.
The old man nodded, and Xin Yan gave him ten taels of silver to cover
the cost. Then he took writing implements from his bag and handed them
to Chen.
Chen raised his writing brush and wrote: "Fragrant Tomb" in large
characters. Then after a moment's thought, he wrote:
"Vast, vast sadness,
Boundless, boundless loss.
The song has ended,
The moon has been snatched away
In the midst of the mournful city
There is a patriot's blood.
Patriotism is sometimes exhausted
Blood sometimes runs dry
But the thread of your fragrant spirit has not been snapped!
Is it not so?
You have become a butterfly."
The heroes stood for a long time in silence. Only when the eastern sky
was already light did they mount up and ride off westwards.