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03-14-05, 09:46 AM #1

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LOCH unabridged

This is a thread to collect the various LOCH translationsinto one uninterrupted thread for people who want to readwithout all the comments. It'll also make it much easier tofind something and to pickup when a new translationappears.

Again, only a moderator or translator should post in thisthread. If I don't properly credit someone for their part inthe translation, please PM me and I'll correct my error.

Many thanks to Moinllieon, Foreva, Strunf, Patudo, Taihan,and Du Gu seeking a win for their hard work in translating

this epic for the rest of us!

Edit: I'd like to add SunnySnow, Traveller, Rayon, andXuelian to the list of people to thank!

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Mojo Jojo

Senior Member

Last edited by Mojo Jojo; 08-15-05 at 10:16 AM.

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03-14-05, 09:49 AM

(Moinllieon)

Chapter 1: Incidents in the Blizzard

Day in and day out, day after day, the QianTang Rivermajestically winds through and around Ox Village, near thecity of LinAn, on its journey toward the sea. On the shoresthere stands 30 or so tallow trees, leaves red like the fire,yet another sign that it is now August. The wild weed andgrass around the village has just started to turn yellow.The sun shines down sideways on the grass, adding evenmore to their bleakness. Under two giant pine trees theregathered a group of villagers, the crowd included bothmen and women along with more than 10 children. Everysingle one of them are listening to a thin old man, givinghim their complete attention.

The old man is about 50 or so, the green robe that he iswearing has been washed to a blueish-gray. He banged 2pieces of wood together a couple of times, and with thelittle bamboo stick in his left hand, he started to beat on alittle drum to keep pace. He started to sing:

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Mojo Jojo

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"The peach blossoms without fail, vast unused fieldsfeeding the crows. After the soldiers by the well, familiesgather in sorrow."

The old man banged together the two pieces of wood acouple of times more, then continued: "Old Man Yie had awife, a son, and a daughter. They lost each other when theJin invaded through. Finally, after much hardship anddifficulty, they were able to get back together. Theyreturned to their home to find that it was burned to theground by the Jin soldiers. They had no choice but to headoff to BianLiang (modern day KaiFeng, capitol of NorthSung). 'The heavens have unexpected storms, people haveunforseen misfortunes'. As soon as the four of them got toBianLiang, they ran into a line of Jin soldiers. The leader ofthe soldiers looked down, saw that Young Miss Yie wasquite beautiful, jumped down from his horse, and grabbedher. With a laugh, he threw her onto his saddle and said:'Pretty little girl, you are going to go home with me.' Howcould young Miss Yie agree? She struggled with all hermight. The leader yelled out: 'If you don't stop struggling,then your family will die!' He picked up his wolf-fang-cluband smashed it down on her brother's head.

"'The nether world gains a new ghost, the real world losesone more soul.'"Old Man Yie and his wife fell onto their son's body andstarted to cry their heart out. That Jin soldier lifted up thiswolf-fang-club twice more and took care of them. YoungMiss Yie did not cry, she simply said: 'Sir, please stopkilling more people. I'll go with you.' This made the soldierextremely happy. Just as he let his guard down, YoungMiss Yie suddenly grabbed the sabre around his waist,pulled it out, and thrusted at his heart. It looks like shewas about to revenge her family's death, but alas it wasnot to be. That soldier has had much experience on thebattlefield, without thinking, he merely pushed forwardvery naturally, sending Young Miss Yie falling to theground. He was just able to say: 'Little *****!' Young MissYie has already brought the blade to her neck. Poor her:

"'With flower's beauty and moon's grace, such sweet souldying sad so young.'"He alternates between talking and singing. Every singleone of the villagers by now are all sighing in sadness andrage.

That man continued: "Dear audience members, as thesaying goes: "'Treat others with an honest heart, hold your head up onhigh in pride. If evil deeds go unpunished, only the evil willsurvive.'

"Jin soldiers has conquered half of our Great Sung, killingand burning, raping and pillaging, not an evil deed leftundone. Yet no punishment whatsoever seems to be forthcoming. Our Great Sung's officials are responsible for this,

coming. Our Great Sung's officials are responsible for this,China has plenty of healthy and available soldiers. Yetevery time we go up against the Jin armies, all they do isturn around and run, leaving behind us peasants to suffer.There are stories like the one about Young Miss Yie andher family by the thousands north of the river. Living heresouth of the river, is truly like being in heaven on earth,only fearing the day the Jin soldiers come invading.

"'Rather be a dog in peace, than a man in troubled times!'

"My name is Zhang ShiWu, thank you everyone forlistening to the story of 'Miss Yie, the Young Martyr'." Afterbanging the 2 pieces of wood together several more times,he held up a tray.

Many of the villagers placed a farthing or two in the pan,which quickly filled up. Zhang ShiWu thanked the villagersand gathered the 60 to 70 farthings into his traveling bag.He got up and started to walk off.

A young man of around 20 years of age walked out fromamong the villagers. He asked: "Mr. Zhang, did you justcome from the north?" The young fellow was very tall andvery built with big eyes and a pair of very busy eye brows.Zhang ShiWu answered: "Yes." The young man answered:"Then let's go get a couple of drinks. I'll pay, what do yousay?" Zhang ShiWu replied: "I dare not receive such afavor as a stranger." The young fellow laughed andanswered: "Once we had a couple of drinks, then we areno longer strangers are we? My surname is Guo, givenname XiaoTian" Pointing at a clean, white faced fellowbehind him, he continued: "This here is Yang TieXin. The 2of us were just listening to your story. As expected, it wasa good story. But we still have several questions wewanted to ask." Zhang ShiWu replied: "No problem, noproblem. To run into the two of you today is probably fatedoing its work." Guo XiaoTian led Zhang ShiWu to one ofthe small wineshops in Ox Village and sat down at one ofthe tables.{That whole passage that Zhang ShiWu told was HARD asanything to translate. All the sayings, poems, and idiomsjust drove me up the wall! Excuse the poor excuse forpoetry in the translation, but those were as good as I canget it. To think that there is plenty more where that comesfrom in LoCH is just great. On a completely different note,Guo XiaoTian looks a lot like Guo Jing, which seems to beobvious but they are almost identical in their description. Ihave never noticed that before until now.}

The owner of this little wineshop is a cripple. Supported bytwo crutches, he slowly brought out 2 kettles of wine, aplate of peas, a plate of salted peanuts, a plate of driedbean curd, and a plate with three salted eggs. Afterwards,he just sat down on the stool by the door and stared at thesetting sun, not even glancing at the three men.

Guo XiaoTian poured the wine and made Zhang ShiWu

Guo XiaoTian poured the wine and made Zhang ShiWudown 2 shots before he began: "Here in the country, weonly get to buy meat on the 2nd and the 16th, so we don'thave anything to go down with the wine. Please forgiveus." Zhang ShiWu replied: "At least we got wine, can'tcomplain about that. From your accents, seems like you 2are from up north." Yang TieXin answered: "We are bothfrom Shan Dong province. But we moved away 3 yearsago because we can't stand the Jins running loose there.When we arrived here, we fell in love with the people hereand settled down. Just now you were saying that us livinghere south of the river is like living in heaven itself, fearingonly an invasion by the Jin. Do you really think that the Jinwill invade?"

Zhang ShiWu sighed: "The gold and silver could literallycover the ground and beautiful women every which wayyou look, such is the richness and enchantment of thesouth. There isn't a day that passes without the Jinthinking about invading. But the final decision over theinvasion of the Jin is not made by the Jin, but is made bythe Imperial Court of our Great Sung in LinAn!" This tookboth Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin by surprise as theyasked as one: "Why do you say that?"

Zhang ShiWu continued: "We Han Chinese outnumber theNuZhen by more than 100 to 1. If only the Imperial Courtstart using honest and loyal men, 100 of us going upagainst 1 of them, how can the Jin army win? The northernhalf of our country, was literally handed over to the Jinsback then by Hui Zong, Qin Zong, and Gao Zong. Those 3emperors, from grandfather to grandson, trusted and usedcorrupted officials, oppressed the masses, and then theyeither killed or got rid of all the generals that were fightingthe Jin. Such a beautiful land, and they just literally put itright into the hands of the Jin. The Jin people justrespectfully accepted it. If the Imperial Court continues todo what it did, trusting and using corrupt officials, it is as ifthey are kneeling on the ground asking the Jin army tocome. How could the Jin people refuse?" After hearingthat, Guo XiaoTian couldn't help but to slam his hand downonto the table in rage. All of the cups, plates, andchopsticks on the tables jumped from the impact.

Zhang ShiWu continued: "Thinking back, Hui Zong was allset on trying to trying to live forever, becoming immortal.He was surrounded by corrupt and useless officials: ZaiJing and Wong Yu only knew to raise taxes and skim offthe top, Tong Guan and Liang ShiChen were eunuchs thatonly knew how to kiss up, Gao Qiu and Li BangYan onlyknew how to mess around and get women for theemperor. The emperor did not attend to official matters atall, if he wasn't going off to visit monks to ask forguidance, then he was traveling around in search of rareand interesting looking rocks. Once the Jins came, hebecame a turtle and hid in his shell, and passed the throneto his son, Qin Zong. At that time Li Gang was defendingthe capital BianLiang and fought off the Jin army. But who

knew that Qin Zong would believe some rumors that wasstarted by corrupt officials and dismissed Li Gang. On topof that, he did not replace Li Gang with anotherexperienced and able general. Instead he put the defenseof the capital in the hands of a self-proclaimedambassador from the gods named Guo Jing and asked himto invite the armies of heaven to defend the city. Thearmies of heaven did not show up. How could we not losethe capital? At last both Hui Zong and Qin Zong werecaptured by the Jin army. These 2 fools had it coming andgot what they deserved, but they also brought disaster tomillions of Chinese peasants who did nothing to deserveit." {Note: the Guo Jing mentioned here is not the one inthis book. This Guo Jing is a liar and a fool who onlyhastened the demise of Northern Sung. Surprisingly, all ofwhat Zhang ShiWu says here is historical fact, it is hard toimagine anybody being foolish, let alone 2 emperors in arow.}Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin are just getting angrier andangrier. Guo XiaoTian said: "We have all heard about thecapture of emperors, the Disgrace of the year of JingKang, many times. We have also heard about the 'armiesof heaven' talk before, but we just thought it was a joke orsome unfounded rumor. Could this possibly be true?"Zhang ShiWu answered: "Absolutely true." Yang TieXinadded: "Afterwards Lord Kang declared himself emperor inNanjing, he had under him such able and loyal generalslike Yue Fei and Han ShiZhong. If he had immediatelyattacked north, although he might not have reclaimed allthe lost lands, but recapturing the capital BianLiang shouldhave been no problem. But that hated traitor such as QingGui only wanted to negotiate, turning the tables and killedour beloved General Yue." {Note: the year of Jing Kangtranslates to A.D. 1127. The Jin demanded that Yue Fei bekilled to show that the Sung were sincere in their efforts.}

Zhang ShiWu poured a cup of wine for all 3 of them anddowned his cup in one gulp. He went on: "Beloved generalYue once said these 2 lines: 'Only aspire to eat Tartarflesh, chatting away while drinking Hun's blood.' Thispoem has conveyed what is in the heart of every Chinese.Ay! This traitor Qing Gui is awfully lucky. Shame that wewere born 60 years too late." Guo XiaoTian asks: "What doyou mean?" Zhang ShiWu replied: "Then you 2 heroeswould go into LinAn and kill this traitor. Then the 3 of uswould eat his flesh and drink his blood, no more need forus to come here to eat peas and drink cold winesanymore!" All 3 of them laughed heartily at that comment.

Yang TieXin noticed that the kettle has been emptied andordered another one. The 3 of them just sat there cursingat Qing Gui. The cripple placed another dish of peas aswell as a dish of peanuts. Hearing the 3 men's spiritedcursing of Qing Gui, he suddenly let out a rather loudsneer.

Yang TieXin turned to him and asked: "Qu San, what's thematter? You don't think we are wrong to curse at Qing Gui

matter? You don't think we are wrong to curse at Qing Guido you?"

Qu San, the cripple, answered: "Good cursing! Greatcursing! Nothing wrong with that. It is just that I haveheard that Qing Gui isn't the chief culprit in killing Yue Feiin order to negotiate peace." The 3 men asked in surprise:"Qing Gui isn't? Then who is?" Qu San replied: "Qing Guiwas the Chancellor, whether or not peace is negotiated hestill is and will keep on being Chancellor. But our belovedGeneral Yue only wanted to destroy the Jin and bring backthe 2 emperors Hui and Qin. Once these 2 emperorsreturn, how do you suppose Emperor Gao Zong is going tokeep his crown?" As soon as he finished saying what hesaid, he turned around and struggled back to that stool,and returned to staring at the sky as if in a trance. QuSan's face looks no older than 20 something, yet he ishunched over with traces of white in his hair. From theback, he looks like an old man.

Zhang ShiWu and the 2 men look at each other in silence.After a while, Zhang ShiWu spoke up: "That is so true! Sir,you have really said something! The real culprit behind thekilling of our beloved General Yue could very well not beQing Gui, but Emperor Gao Zong. This Emperor Gao Zongis shameless to begin with, he definitely could dosomething like this!"

Guo XiaoTian asks: "Is he really that shameless?" ZhangShiWu replied: "Back when the beloved General Yue hadjust beaten the Jin army in several battles in a row, thatalong with the rebellion of our patriotic brothers in thenorth had the Jin army against the wall. The Tartars werejust beginning to panic as to what to do when suddenlyGao Zong sent them a letter of surrender and asked forpeace negotiations. Naturally the Jin Emperor was ecstatic,but he replied: 'There will be no peace negotiations unlessYue Fei is killed.' So Qing Gui went about his evil plan andour beloved General Yue was killed in the Pavilion ofChanges. The beloved General Yue was killed November ofthe 11th year of Zhao Xing, merely one month later, peaceis agreed upon. The boundary between Sung and Jin isdrawn at the river Huai and Emperor Gao Zong callshimself a subject toward the Jin Emperor. How do youthink the letter of surrender was written?" Yang TieXinanswered: "Shamelessly, of course."

Zhang ShiWu replied: "Of course! I happen to know whatwas written in the letter. It read: 'Your humble subjectasks for forgiveness and mercy. If received, your subjectwill be forever grateful and humble sons and descendantswill forever be of service to your majesty. Your humblesubject also swear to give yearly tribute in the amount of250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 bolts of silk.' Not onlydid he sell himself as a servant, but all of his descendantsas well. His becoming a servant is really no big deal, but isthat not like saying that every Chinese is their servants aswell?"

well?"

Bang! Guo XiaoTian slammed down hard onto the tableagain, this time tipping one of the cups over, spilling wineall over the table. In anger, he shouted: "Shameless!Disgraceful! How did this sorry excuse for a man becomean emperor?" {Note: literal translation is something to theend of "From which family did the bird emperor fly out of?"Which does not really sound like what he meant, so I tooksome creative liberties.}

Zhang ShiWu continued: "When our nation heard aboutthis treaty, there was not a person on the street who wasnot enraged. Especially for those Chinese people north ofthe river Huai were even more grieve stricken becausethey see that our country cannot be whole. Gao Zong seesthat his seat on the throne is secured, immediatelyrewarded Qing Gui for his 'meritorious'service. Qing Guiwas already Lord of Lu, and now Gao Zong added a title ofTai Shi to his name, giving him almost supreme powersunder the emperor. Xiao Zong succeeded Gao Zong, andGuang Zong succeeded him, all the while the Jin is stillcontrolling half of China. Now Guang Zong has beensucceeded by Emperor Qin Yuan, he has been on thethrone for 5 years now, mostly going with what theChancellor Han TuoZhou says. What is the future going tobe like? Hehe, hard to say, hard to say!" During the lastlittle bit, he did not stop shaking his head.

Guo XiaoTian replied: "What's so hard to say about it? Thisis the countryside, not like LinAn where you might getyour head cut off! There isn't a person in the world whodon't call Han TuoZhou a crook! If you go by betraying thecountry and oppressing the people, the man is practically asworn brother of Qing Gui!" Now that they are talking about current affairs, ZhangShiWu is starting to get a little tinge of fear and dare notto criticize and talk straight from his heart as he did. Hedowned another cup and said: "Thanks to both of yougentlemen for the wine. May I offer a modest word ofadvice? I know both of you gentlemen are passionate men,but it is still most wise to be cautious in words and deedsso as to avoid any possible calamities. At this point, themost that us normal folk can hope muddle along and dothe best that we can. Ay! Just like the saying:"Surrounded by the mountains in the halls, when will WestLake parties finally go?Southern fragrances intoxicates all, happily mistookHangZhou for BianZhou!"

Yang TieXin asks: "What the story behind these 4 lines?"Zhang ShiWu answers: "There is no story. It is just sayingthat the official of our Great Sung dynasty only care toparty and drink on the shores of the West Lake. They wantto pretend that HanZhou is our capital and never botherwith taking back our land and moving back to BianLiangagain."

By the time Zhang ShiWu said goodbye, he was deaddrunk. As he stumbles toward BianLiang, one can hear himmuttering to himself the words of "River Soaked in Red" byYue Fei: "Jing Kang's Disgrace, still fresh in mind; people'shatred, when will it stop? I drive my cart..."

Guo XiaoTian paid the tab and walked by home with YangTieXin. The two of them live right next to each other, afterwalking a short distance, they have made it back to theirhomes.

Guo XiaoTian's wife, Li, was just chasing a chicken into alittle trap. Turning around, she smiled and said: "You twogone drinking again? Brother Yang, why don't you andyour wife come over for dinner tonight? We are going tomake a whole chicken."

Yang TieXin smiled back and answered: "Alright, I guesswe are going to inconvenience you 2 again. We have somany chickens and ducks just there to waste food upon,but we can't part with any of them." Li replied: "Well yourwife is just that kind hearted. She says that she has raisedthese chickens and ducks since they were babies, howcould she possibly kill them?" Yang TieXin laughed andreplied: "I told her that I would kill them if she can't makeherself, she then starts crying and sobbing. Ay! What can Ido? Tell you what, tonight I'm going to go hunting andwe'll invite the 2 of you over tomorrow night!" GuoXiaoTian cuts in: "We are family! Quit talking about who'sinviting and who is not! Tonight we go hunting together!"

That midnight, Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin went into thewoods 3.5 kilometers (a little over 2 miles) west of thevillage, hoping to catch a boar or something of thatnature. But after waiting for more than 2 hours, nothingcould be heard. Just as they were about to lose theirpatience, they suddenly started to faintly hear sounds ofmetal thumping coming from outside of the woods. Theylooked at each other, both wondering: "What's going onnow?"

At this moment, from afar, there came several menshouting: "Where do you think you are going?" "Stop thisinstant!" Then a shadow jumped into the woods. GuoXiaoTian and Yang TieXin finally were able to see theperson now that he is under the moonlight. The two ofthem were shocked. For this man was the crippled ownerof that wineshop in the village, Qu San. He thumbed hisleft crutch into the ground, producing a "Zeng!" His bodyflew off the ground and hid behind a tree. This is a displayof an incredible level of Qing Gong (lightweight martialarts). Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin looked at each otheragain with astonishment, both of them thinking: "We hadno clue that Qu San's kungfu is this good, and we havebeen living here for 3 whole years!" Both of them stayedhidden in the bushes, not daring to move or come out.

Footsteps kept on getting closer, 3 men had made it to the

Footsteps kept on getting closer, 3 men had made it to theedge of the woods. They whispered something to eachother and started to slowly walk into the woods. All 3 weredressed in military clothing, each of them had a sabre inhand. In the moonlight, the sabres gave off a faint greenglow. One of them shouted: "Damn cripple! Your old manhere can see you, better quickly surrender and come out!"Qu San kept still behind the tree. The 3 men started towaving their sword wildly, swinging and taking a cut atanything in their way. Very slowly, the 3 of them gotcloser and closer. Suddenly there came a faint thump, QuSan stabbed his right crutch out from behind the tree,hitting one of the men squarely on his chest. That mangave off a muffled groan before flying backwards andfalling on the ground. The other 2 men immediatelyhacked down at Qu San.Qu San gave his right crutch a push and jumped severalfeet to the left, avoiding the sabres. His left crutchimmediately went straight for one of the men's face. Theman's kungfu was not that shabby either, he tried to parrythe crutch away with his sabre. Qu San did not wait for the2 to meet before withdrawing his crutch to support himagain. His right crutch came swinging in on the otherman's waist. He uses his crutches with great speed andquickness, even though he always has to use one of themto support himself, leaving only one to fight with at alltimes, he is not losing at all to the men. Guo XiaoTian andYang TieXin notices that he is carrying a huge bundle onhis back, seemingly very cumbersome. After some morefighting, one of the sabres came down and hit the bundle."Dang!" The bundle ripped and the objects inside spilledonto the ground. Qu San took advantage of his temporarydistraction and smashed down hard on the head of theman with his crutch. The man fell onto the ground withoutso much as a whimper. The only man left is by now scaredto death, he turned around and started to run. Qu Santook out something from his bosom and raised his armvery quickly. A ball-like object flew through the air underthe moonlight, followed by a muted thump as the objecthit the back of the man's head. The man let out a ghastlyscream and dropped his sabre as his arm started to swingwildly out of control. Slowly and facing upward, hecrumpled to the ground. After a couple of twitches, hestopped moving.

Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin has just witnessed Qu Sankill 3 men in succession while displaying a level of kungfuthat neither one of them has ever seen before. Both oftheir hearts are racing, afraid to even breath too loudly,for both of them were thinking the same thing: "He justkilled government officials, that is a huge crime. We don'tstand a chance if he finds us here and want to kill us tokeep this quiet."

Qu San turned around and slowly spoke out: "Brother Guo,Brother Yang, you can come out now!" Once the 2 of themgot over the shock of it, they had no choice but to step outof the bushes, although both of them were holding their

of the bushes, although both of them were holding theirpitchforks rather tightly. Yang TieXin snuck a look over atGuo XiaoTian and the pitchfork in his hand and took 2extra steps. Qu San smiled: "Brother Yang, your YangFamily Lance Technique (Yang Jia Qiang Fa) can be usedwith a pitchfork, but your adopted brother uses a pair ofshort halberds and the pitchfork does not fit his skills, soyou step up in front of him. Such righteousness, suchfriendship!" Yang TieXin, hearing that Qu San spelled outexactly what he was thinking, suddenly felt very exposedand can't decide what to do. Qu San continued: "BrotherGuo, let's say you had your double halberd in hand. Doyou think the 2 of you together can beat me?"

Guo XiaoTian shook his head: "No, we can't. The 2 of usmust have been blind, living together with you here for allthose years and not even noticing that you knew kungfu,let alone a master."

Qu San shook his head and sighed: "I can't even use mylegs, how can I be considered a master?" As if his spiritswere waning, he continued: "Back then, would I have hadso much trouble with several armed guards? Ay! I'museless now! Useless!" Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXinglanced at each other, not sure how to or dare to respond.Qu San continued: "Would you 2 help out this cripple andbury these 3 bodies?" The 2 of them glanced at each otheragain, Yang TieXin answered: "Alright!"

The 2 of them dug a big hole using their pitchforks andtossed the 3 bodies in. While they were moving the lastbody, Yang TieXin notices that part of the black object wasstill sticking out of the back of the man's head. He gave ita good tug with his right arm and pulled it out. Turns out itan Eight Diagram made out of iron, he wiped the blood offon the body and handed it back to Qu San. {The EightDiagram is 8 combination of 3 whole or broken lines usedto in religious, mostly Taoist, ceremonies. The 8combinations usually surround a ying-yang symbol. Theflag of South Korea is very similiar except it has only 4 ofthe 8 diagrams.}

Qu San took the Eight Diagram and said: "So sorry fortroubling you." He puts the Eight Diagram back into hispocket. He then laid the piece of cloth that used to be hisbundle onto the ground and started to put the objects thatis scattered on the ground back into it. Guo XiaoTian andYang TieXin finished putting dirt back into the hole, turningaround, they see 3 rolled up painting on the floor as wellas many other bright and shiny metals. Qu San leaves outa golden kettle and a golden cup out. After puttingeverything else back in the bundle, he held those 2 thingsup to Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin, saying: "These thingsare stolen by me from the Royal Palace in LinAn. Theemperor has done enough wrong to the peasants, taking alittle bit of what he stole from the peasants isn't really acrime. Consider these 2 things a present from me."

The 2 of them can't believe that he is actually brazenenough to break into the Royal Palace and steal. Neitherone of the dared to accept his offer.

Qu San said in a stern voice: "Are you guys scared toaccept? Or do you 2 not want to?" Guo XiaoTian replied:"The 2 of us did nothing to deserve such gifts and that'swhy we can't accept your gifts. As for what happenedtonight, you don't have to worry about a thing brother,neither one of us is going to let this secret get out." QuSan replied: "Hmph! Why should I be worried about you 2leaking this secret? I know all about you 2 and yourbackgrounds, or else why would I let you 2 leave herealive? Brother Guo, you are the descendent of Guo Sheng,one of the heroes of the Water Margins of Mt. Liang. Youuse the halberd skill that is taught in your family, only thatit is short instead of long, and 2 instead of 1. BrotherYang, your ancestor is Yang ZaiXing, one of the generalsunder the Beloved General Yue. You 2 are descendants of2 patriotic heroes, when the Jin army conquered theNorth, you 2 began wandering in the martial world andbecame martial brothers. And then the 2 of you moved toOx Village together. Am I right so far?"

{Note: Those familiar with Heroes of the Water Marginsshould remember 2 characters that uses halberds that arealways together: Lu Meng and Guo Sheng. The nicknameof Lu Meng was "Little Vassal" while Guo Sheng's was"Benevolent Aristocrat". They joined the rebellion at thesame time and is always deployed in battle in pairs. Bothof them even died together, smashed by rocks whileattacking an higher position during the effort to quell theRebellion of Fang La, who is the head of the Ming Cultmentioned later on in this novel and in Heaven Sword andDragon Sabre. Yang ZaiXing was one of the most famousheroes under Yue Fei. During the 2nd Jin invasion ofSouthern Sung, the group of a little over 200 scouts thatYang ZaiXing led were surrounded by the Jin army of over12000. Yang ZaiXing and his men fought to the last man,taking over 1200 Jin soldiers with them. Soon afterwards,Yue Fei lured the Jin army into engaging 800 calvary menthat he himself led while his main force snuck around andattacked the Jin army from the sides. In thoroughlydefeating in the Jin in the battle, Yue Fei became famous.His strategy was probably inspired by the effort, bravery,and the results of Yang ZaiXing and his 200 men.}

The 2 of them sees that Qu San knows their past insideout, became even more shocked. All they could do wasnod.

Qu San continued: "Guo Sheng and Yang ZaiXin were bothrebels before going over to the government's side to fightfor the Great Sung Empire. So both of them have stolenfrom the thief that is the government. So tell me, are you2 going to accept my presents or not?" Yang TieXinthought to himself: "If I refuse, then it will surely offendhim." So he took the presents from Qu San's hands and

him." So he took the presents from Qu San's hands andsaid: "We are very grateful for this. Thanks."

Qu San was pleased by this, he picked up the bundle andput it back onto his back, turning around he said: Time togo home." The 3 of them walked side-by-side out of thewoods. Qu San said: "Caught a couple of prize piecestonight, got 2 paintings by Emperor Dao Jun, and a sheetof his writing showing off his calligraphy as well. Thisfellow is no emperor, but his Red Green Plume and ThinGold Form is indeed supreme in the world."

The other 2 men had no idea what in the world "Red GreenPlume" or "Thin Gold Form" is, so all they did was nod inagreement. {Red Green Plume is a style of ancientChinese painting featuring birds and animals withemphasize on the colors of red and green, obviously. ThinGold Form is a style of calligraphy.} After walking for a while, Yang TieXin spoke up: "Earliertoday you said that half of our Great Sung's land is lost inthe hands of Emperor Dao Jun. So what is so good abouthis paintings or writings? Why would brother you gothrough such troubles and taking such a big risk to go intothe Royal Palace to steal it?" Qu San smiled: "This issomething that I guess you just won't understand." GuoXiaoTian spoke up as well: "If Emperor Dao Jun can be sogood at painting and writing, he must be pretty smart. Pitythat he does not concentrate on being a good ruler. WhenI was little my dad told me that a person, no matter whathe does, must concentrate on doing one thing. If he triesto learn a little bit here, do something there, in the end hewill get nothing accomplished."

Qu San answered: "For a normal person, this is true. Butin this world there is someone who is a genius ateverything. From language to kungfu; including writing,painting, music, and Go; from math to military tactics;even medicine, astrology, and the 5 elements; there is nota thing that he does not understand, not a thing that hedoes not excel in. It's just that you guys won't ever meethim." He looked up a the waning moon, and let out a longsigh.

Under the moonlight, Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXinsuddenly noticed tears on Qu San's face. When the 2 ofthem got home, they buried the 2 golden objects deepwithin their backyard, not even telling their wives aboutthis. After that night the 2 of them acted as if nothinghappened, living off their farm and whatever they catch,when there is spare time they practice their kungfu. Evenwhen by themselves, neither one of them ever broughtwhat happened that night up. The 2 of them still visit thelittle wineshop occasionally for a couple kettles of wine. QuSan still served the wine along with some peas, peanuts,and other snacks that helps the wine to go down.Afterwards he always goes and sits down by the door andgoes into his own little world, lost in his thoughts. It wasas if that night had never happened. The only difference is

as if that night had never happened. The only difference isthat when Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin look at Qu San,their eyes are filled with respect.

Autumn slowly gave way to Winter, the days just keptgetting colder and colder. One night, with the cold northwinds blowing, it started to snow. The day after that itcontinued to snow even more. The whole sky is filled withsnow flakes and the ground looks like it's covered withprecious jade, white as far as the eye can see. Yang TieXintold his wife that tonight he is going to get some wine andfood so that they can invite his brother and his wife overso all of them can have a nice dinner and enjoy the snow.After lunch, he grabbed 2 big bottle gourd and went off tothe wineshop to get some wine. When he got there, henoticed that the door is shut tight, even the wineshop signis taken down.

Yang TieXin knocked on the door a couple of times andshouted: "Brother Qu San, I'm here to buy 3 kilos ofwine." No response came. After waiting a bit, he called outagain and still no response came. He walked over to awindow and looked inside, everything in the room iscovered in a thick layer of dust. He thought to himself:"Haven't came in several days, turns out that Qu Sanhasn't been here for several days as well. Hope nothinghappened." So he had to brave the blizzard and walk tothe wineshop 2.5 kilometers away in Red Plum Village toget the wine as well as a chicken. When he got back hekilled the chicken and gave it to his wife to take care of therest.

His wife's surname is Bao, given name is XiRuo. She's thedaughter of the teacher at the private school in Red PlumVillage. They have been married for a little under 2 yearsnow. She puts the chicken along with some cabbage, beancurd, and vermicelli made from bean starch (fen si) into abig pot. While the pot is boiling on top of a fire, she cutteda plate of cured meat and cured fish. At dusk, she wentover and invited the Guo's over to for some wine andenjoy the snow.

Guo XiaoTian happily came over. His wife Li is not feelingvery well in the last couple of days because of herpregnancy, throwing up anything she eats, so she decidednot to come over. Li's given name is Ping. She and BaoXiRuo are like sisters and the 2 of them chatted for a longtime. Only after making her a pot of tea did she finallyreturn home. When she got back she saw that the 2 menhave already moved the charcoal stove onto the table tokeep the wine warm. The 2 of them has already started.

Guo XiaoTian said: "Sister, we weren't patient enough towait for you. Please come and join us." The 2 men havealways gotten along, both are also men of character, addthat to the fact that in the country nobody really caresabout all the rules regarding men and women meeting. SoBao XiRuo smiled and nodded, putting some more charcoal

Bao XiRuo smiled and nodded, putting some more charcoalonto the stove, she picked up another cup for the wine andsat down beside her husband. She notices that there arehints of anger on both men's faces, she smiled and asked:"Something the matter again? What's gotten the 2 of youso angry?" Yang TieXin answered: "We were just talkingabout the ##### that goes on in the Imperial Court inLinAn."

Guo XiaoTian added: "I was at the Joyful Rain Pavilion, thetea house at the head of the Tranquility Bridge yesterdaywhen I heard some people talking about the the bastardChancellor Han Zhou. Didn't sound like he was making thestuff up either. He says that no matter which official isfiling a report, if the report does not have the words: 'Alsopresent whatever to Chancellor', this bastard Chancellordoes not even give the report another glance!" Yang TieXinsighed: "When you have this kind of emperor, you'll getthis kind of chancellor. When you have this kind ofchancellor, then you'll get this kind of official. Big BrotherHuang that lives outside of Gushing Gold Gate of LinAntold me this story. One day he was cutting trees forfirewood at the side of the mountain, when he suddenlysaw a whole bunch of soldiers protecting a crowd ofofficials coming his way. Turns out that Chancellor HanZhou was taking a sight seeing trip with all his underlings.He kept on minding his own business and went on cuttinghis trees. Suddenly he heard that Han Zhou sigh and say:'The bamboo fences and thatched cottage here really domake an extraordinary country scene. Pity it's missing thesounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking.' Pretty soonafter he said this, there suddenly came barking from thebushes." Bao XiRuo laughed a little: "This little dog reallydo know how to please." Yang TieXin answered: "It suredoes, after barking for a bit, it jumped out of the bushes.What kind of dog do you suppose it was? Turns out it wasour dignified and honorable Magistrate of the city of LinAn,His Excellency Zhao!" Bao XiRuo doubled over withlaughter. Guo XiaoTian observed: "This little dog act by HisExcellency Zhao has probably insured that he would bepromoted very quickly." Yang TieXin answered: "Ofcourse, it's only natural."

The 3 of them drank for a while. The snow outside iscoming down even harder, but with some wine in theirbellies, all 3 of them felt very warm and cozy. Suddenly,from the east, there came footsteps on the road. Thefootsteps were very rapid. The 3 of them looked over andsaw a Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest is wearing a bamboo hat and a cape, butsnow is all over his body. There is a sword on his back, theyellow thread hanging off the handle of the sword swungback and forth in the wind. Snow filled the sky, the lonelyfigure walking in the snow, such a grand and gallantscene. Guo XiaoTian spoke up: "This Taoist knows quite abit of kungfu, looks like a real man of honor." Yang TieXinreplied: "That's right. Let's invite him in for a couple ofdrinks and make friends with him." Both of them always

drinks and make friends with him." Both of them alwayslove to make new friends, so they both stood up andstepped outside. They noticed that the Taoist is alreadypast them by more than 20 yards even though he is onlywalking. Such levels of Qing Gong is rarely heard of in theworld.

The 2 of them looked at each other in astonishment. YangTieXin yelled out: "Father, please stop!" The Taoist turnedaround and nodded at Yang TieXin. Yang TieXin continued:"Such kind of weather outside, Father, why don't youcome and drink a couple of cups to warm up."

The Taoist sneered and in an instant arrived in front ofthem. Face full of disdain, he asked coldly: "Want me tostop, what for? Be frank and tell me!"

Yang TieXin thought the Taoist's rudeness was completelyuncalled for, so he just lowered his head and didn't botherto answer. Guo XiaoTian cupped his fist and replied: "The2 of us were just sitting by the fire keeping warm anddrinking wine when we saw Father walking alone in thesnow. So we boldly asked if Father to join us, pleaseforgive us for our offenses." The Taoist rolled his eyes andsaid rather loudly: "Alright alright! If you want to drinkthen let's drink!" And he walked through the door.

This made Yang TieXin even angrier, he grabbed theTaoist's left wrist, and with a pull he shouted: "Still haven'task as to how to address Father." Suddenly he felt as if hewas grabbing onto a slippery fish rather than a hand asthe Taoist's hand escaped his grasp. He knew he was introuble and tried to back away, but before he could, a painshot through his wrist as the Taoist grabbed his wrist. Itwas as if he is cuffed, feeling both enormous pressure andheat, he hurriedly tried to struggle out of the Taoist'sgrasp. But his entire right arm felt lifeless and weak, withhis wrist in great pain.

Guo XiaoTian knew his adopted brother is getting theworst of it from his blood red face. He just wanted to makean acquaintance and wanted to avoid offending the Taoist,or anyone in the martial world for that matter. So hespoke up: "Father, please sit here." The Taoist sneered acouple of times more and let go of Yang TieXin. He walkedto the center of the room and sat down in a ratherostentatious matter before saying: "The 2 of you areobviously from ShangDong, yet are here pretending to befarmers. Pity that your accents are still obviously ofShangDong dialect. Why would a peasant know anykungfu anyway?"

Yang TieXin felt both embarrassed and angry as he walkedinto the backroom. He took out a small dagger from thedrawer and hid it in this shirt before walking back outagain. He poured out 3 cups of wine and toasted one forhimself, all the while not saying a word.

That Taoist just stared at the snow outside of the housewith a sneer on his face, not drinking any wine nor sayinganything. From the hostility on the Taoist's face, GuoXiaoTian figured that he is suspicious of any trickery in thewine. So he took the cup of wine in front of the Taoist anddrank it. Then he said: "Wine gets cold very quickly.Father, let me get another warm one for you." He pouredanother cup for the Taoist, which the Taoist drank down inone gulp. Afterwards the Taoist said: "Even if there areknockout drugs in the wine, it wouldn't get to me." YangTieXin finally had about all he can take: "We nicely invitedyou to come and have a drink with us, why would we triedto harm you? If you plan to keep talking in such a manner,then please leave now! It's not like we had sour wine androtten food that we can't get rid off!"

The Taoist ignored him and grabbed the wine bottle.Pouring and drinking, he downed three cups in a row. Thenhe suddenly took off his bamboo had and cape and threwthem on the ground. Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin lookedhim over carefully. The Taoist is about 30 or so, squaredface with slanted eyebrows and a hint of redness. His eyeswere bright and piercing. Next he untied the leatherbundle on his back and threw it on the table. Immediately,Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin jumped up. Because fromthe leather bundle rolled out a bloody human head!

Bao XiRuo screamed in fear and ran into the back room.Yang TieXin felt his chest to make sure the dagger is inplace. The Taoist gave the leather bundle a shake and 2more bloody objects fell out: a heart and a liver. From thelooks of them they are probably not pig heart and pig liverbut very likely to be human. Yang TieXin shouted: "Taoistbastard!" as he took out the dagger and thrusted ittowards the Taoist's chest.

The Taoist snickered: "Eagle Talon. So you want to fightnow?" He lightly hit Yang TieXin's wrist with his left hand.Yang TieXin felt a numbing pain in his wrist as his fingerslost all their strength. Before he knew it, his dagger hasalready been taken away.

Guo XiaoTian was just shocked to see all this. He knowsthat his adopted brother is the descendent of a renownedhero and his family's kungfu is slightly superior from hisown from their daily sparring. But it was as if he wasnothing in front of this Taoist, the move that he just pulledoff was obviously "Bare Hand Seizes Blade", a skill that hehas only heard of in the martial world. He immediatelypicked up a wooden bench that he was sitting on, waitingto block the dagger when the Taoist inevitably stabs backat his adopted brother.

But the Taoist completely ignored them. He just wildly cutthe human heart and liver to pieces with the dagger.Suddenly, he let out a huge roar, so loud that it rattled thetiles on the roof. He lifted up his right hand and brought it

tiles on the roof. He lifted up his right hand and brought itdown hard, so hard that the contents on the table alljumped at the impact. The 2 men looked over and saw hehad just smashed the head into smithereens, even themiddle of the table was cracked. The 2 of them were stillrecovering when the Taoist shouted: "Shamelessscoundrels, today I will have to break the no-killing rulebig time!"

Yang TieXin couldn't be any angrier; he grabbed the ironspear that was leaning against the corner of the room andjumped outside. He shouted back: "Come on! Let's teachyou a lesson in the art of the 'Yang Family Spear'!" TheTaoist snickered a bit: "You think you are worthy enoughto use the 'Yang Family Spear' based on all this fakebravado?" He walked out the door as he was finishing thesentence.

Seeing the situation has deteriorated to this point, GuoXiaoTian ran back to his house and got his doublehalberds. When he got back the Taoist was still standingthere with his sword still in the sheath and his sleevesflapped noisily in the wind. Yang TieXin yelled out:"Unsheath your sword!" The Taoist replied: "Even if the 2of you come at me together, I would still fight you with mybare hands."

Yang TieXin made a gesture signaling he is about to startand followed it with a "Poisonous Dragon Coming Out fromthe Cave". The red tassel on his spear shook, creating ahuge flash of red heading towards the heart of the Taoist.The Taoist was briefly surprised and praised: "Excellent!"His body went along with the spear and dodged to the left.His left palm spun around and came up to meet the spearhead in an attempt to grab it.

Yang TieXin has worked hard with this spear since he wasa little kid and fully received his father's skills. Yang FamilySpear is nothing to scoff at, back then, Yang ZaiXin took aspear and 300 Sung soldiers into battle against 40000 Jinsoldiers at Little Merchant Bridge. In the battle, they killedmore than 2000 Jin soldiers, not to mention one Ten-Thousand-Head, as well more than 100 Thousand-Headsand Hundred-Heads. Actually, the Jin arrows came flyingin like rain, as soon as he was hit by an arrow, he wouldbreak the wood part off and keep on fighting. At last, hishorse got tripped up in mud and he finally gave his life forhis country. When the Jin army burned his body, theamount of melted metal from the arrow heads topped anamazing 2 liters. This battle shocked and scared the Jinarmy and made Yang Family Spear famous in all of China. Although Yang TieXin is not as great as his forefathers, hedoes almost fully understand the spear skill inside out. Sothere he is, parrying, thrusting, swinging, flicking,blocking, fending, and obstructing. The point of the spearflashes silver, the tassel emits red. What a spear skill!

Yang TieXin pulled out all the stops, the moves were swiftand agile, changing and faking as if they were an illusion.

and agile, changing and faking as if they were an illusion.But the Taoist's body followed the spear around, easilydodging forward and back, making him almost impossibleto hit. After using all 72 moves of the Yang Family Spear,Yang TieXin couldn't help but get anxious and upset. Heturned around and walked away carrying the spearbackwards. As expected, the Taoist started to chase veryclose behind. Yang TieXin let out a big shout, grabbed thespear with both hands, suddenly twisted his waist andextended his arms, and thrusted the spear back right atthe Taoist's face. This move was ferocious, for it is themove in Yang Family Spear that is used to break enemyformation and kill enemy generals, called "Return HorseSpear". Back before Yang ZaiXin surrendered over to theSung army while he battled Yue Fei, he used this exactmove to kill Yue Fei's younger brother Yue Fan. The Taoist sees that the spear has already arrived in frontof him in an instant, couldn't help but praise: "Excellentmove!" Smacking his hands together, he was able toclamp on to the spear point. Yang TieXin gave one mightypush, but spear did not move at all. Shocked, he tried withall his might to pull the spear back. But it seemed as if thespear is caught underneath a mountain, no chance at all ofpulling it out. His face had turned red as he tried 3 timesmore, but the spear still would not leave the Taoist'shands. The Taoist let out a hearty laugh, suddenly his rightpalm came up and with the speed of a lightning, struck thehandle of the spear. Yang TieXin felt the part between thebase of his thumb and index finger go numb andimmediately released the spear, letting it drop onto thesnow covered ground.

The Taoist smiled and said: "You are really using YangFamily Spear. Sorry for any offense. Please honor me withknowing your surname." Yang TieXin still haven'trecovered from the shock of all this, so he replied withoutmuch thought: "My surname is Yang, given name isTieXin." The Taoist asked: "Are you related to GeneralYang, Yang ZaiXin." Yang TieXin answered: "He's my greatgreat grandfather." (I think it is great great grandfather,not sure though.)

The Taoist cupped his fist and saluted: "I mistook the 2 ofyou for scoundrels, turns out that you are descendants ofpatriots, please forgive me. May I be so bold as to ask thisgentleman's surname?" Guo XiaoTian answered: "Surnameis Guo, given name is XiaoTian." Yang TieXin added: "He'smy martial brother, he is the descendent of Guo Sheng,one of the Heroes of the Water Margins of Mount Liang."The Taoist replied: "Your humble Taoist acted rashly andrudely, please forgive me." Then he saluted again.

Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin both cupped their fist andsaluted back: "No problem, no problem at all. WouldFather please come in for 3 more drinks?" Yang TieXinconveniently picked up his spear as well. The Taoist smiledand said: "Of course! I just got the urge to drink it up withyou 2."

you 2."

Bao XiRuo was worried that her husband might get hurt,so she stood in the doorway anxiously observing. Seeingthe 3 of them stopped fighting and became friends, shefelt greatly relieved and started to set the table back.

After the 3 of them all sat down, Guo XiaoTian and YangTieXin asked the Taoist for his Taoist name. The Taoistreplied: "My name is Qiu ChuJi...." Yang TieXin jumped upand shouted: "Ah Ya!" Guo XiaoTian was shocked as well:"Man of Eternal Spring (Chang Chun Zi)?" Qiu ChuJi smiledand replied: "That's the name that my Taoist friends gaveme, I do not dare to claim such a name." Guo XiaoTianreplied: "The hero Man of Eternal Spring of the All TrueSect (Quan Zhen Pai), I am honored to meet youracquaintance!" The 2 of them threw themselves onto thefloored and saluted.

Qiu ChuJi hurriedly helped them up and said while smiling:"I personally killed a traitor today. The government waschasing me very closely, and you 2 gentlemen suddenlyinvited me in for a drink. This is the capital and neither ofyou are normal farmers, so I became suspicious." GuoXiaoTian replied: "This martial brother of mine always hada temper. When we entered he tried a hand at Father, thatprobably furthered Father's suspicion." Qiu ChuJi agreed:"How could a normal farmer be that strong? I thought thatyou 2 gentlemen were dogs of the government who werewaiting here undercover for me. So that's why I was sorude, too rash and rude." Yang TieXin smiled and replied:"Can't blame those who don't know." The 3 of themlaughed heartily. After several rounds of drinks, Qiu ChuJipointed at the head that is now in pieces on the floor:"This man's name is Wang DaoKun, a traitor! Last yearwhen the emperor sent him to pay respects to the Jinemperor on his birthday, this man actually started tocollude with the Jins in their effort to invade the South. Ichased him for 10 days before finally getting him." Theother 2 men had long heard around the martial world thatMan of Eternal Spring Qiu ChuJi's amazing kungfu andheroic character. Seeing his patriotism at this moment,killing a traitor for the country, they admired him evenmore. The 2 of them seized the opportunity to ask himsome questions about kungfu, Qiu ChuJi was only toohappy to help.

Even though Yang Family Spear never met an enemy onthe battlefield, but when going up against a kungfumaster, it becomes rather lacking. Although Qiu ChuJi'sinner and outer kungfu cannot be considered at thehighest of levels, they are nevertheless at a very highlevel, how could Yang TieXin last up to more than 10moves against him? Turns out that Qiu ChuJi wassurprised to see his skills, so he purposely yielded in orderto make him use up all 72 moves of Yang Family Spear tomake sure that it is authentic. If they were really going atit, Yang TieXin's spear would have been knocked out of his

it, Yang TieXin's spear would have been knocked out of hishand in a few moves. At this point, Qiu ChuJi observedthat Yang Family Spear was intended to be used onhorseback, if used on foot, then one has to be morecreative and imaginative and not just use it in a rigidfashion. The 2 men could not stop nodding upon hearingthis. Yang Family Spear has always been a skill of theYang males, so although Qiu ChuJi is very knowledgeable,he still does not fully understand the inner workings of theskill. So he asked a few questions about it to Yang TieXinas well.

The 3 of them had their ear turn warm from the wine andwere really hitting it off. Yang TieXin suggested: " We 2brothers are really fortunate to be able to meet Fathertoday. Father, why don't you stay a couple of days?"

Qiu ChuJi was just going to answer before his facesuddenly froze: "Someone is here for me. No matter whathappens, you 2 stay inside and don't come out,understand?" The 2 men nodded. Qiu ChuJi picked up thehuman head, walked out of the door, jumped up on a tree,and hid among its leaves.

Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin didn't really understand hisstrange actions, there were no noise whatsoever otherthan the howling of the wind. After a while, there camefaint hoof beats from the west. Yang TieXin thought:"Father's ear is incredible." Then immediately his thoughtsfollowed: "This Father's kungfu is amazing, but ifcompared with Qu San, who would come out on top?"After another while, the hoof beats got closer and closer.Finally, about 20 riders, all dressed in black, appeared outof the snow flying in the air. Galloping, they arrived infront of the door.

The leader of the group suddenly pulled his horse to a stopand yelled out: "The footprints stop here. Looks likethere's just been a fight here." Several people behind himjumped off their horses and inspected the footprints in thesnow. The head of the pack ordered: "Search the house!" 2 moremen jumped of their horse to knock on the door. Suddenlyan object came flying from the trees, hitting one of themon the head. The object was thrown with such anincredible amount of force that it smashed the skull of theman. The other men all started to yell and scream asseveral men surrounded the tree. One man picked up theobject that was thrown and yelled in shock: "It's HisExcellency Wang's head!"

The leader pulled out a sabre and let out a loud yell.Quickly 10 or so men surrounded the tree. He gave outanother command and 5 men whipped out their bow andshot 5 arrows toward Qiu ChuJi.

Yang TieXin picked up his spear and was just about to gooutside and help when Guo XiaoTian grabbed him and

whispered: "Father told us not to go out. Besides, if hestarts having trouble with how many of them there are,then it still won't be too late for us to help." Just as hefinished, an arrow came screaming down from the top ofthe tree. Qiu ChuJi had dodged 4 of the arrows and caughtthe last one, then he just threw the arrow back down likea flying weapon. With a scream of "Ah!", one of the men inblack was hit and fell off his horse. His body rolled into abush and stopped.

Qiu ChuJi pulled out his sword and jumped down. Thesword just started flashing when 2 men were hit. Theleader shouted out: "Damn Taoist! It's you!" Sha, sha,sha! He fired out 3 short bows, then his ride came forth ashis sabre came slashing through the wind. Qiu ChuJi'ssword continued to flash in the snow as 2 more men werehit and fell off their horse. Yang TieXin was awe struck,knowing that even if he practiced kungfu for 10 moreyears, he still would not be able to even see the swordclearly, much less fight back. If Qiu ChuJi wasn't holdingback just then, he would have been a dead man by now.

Qiu ChuJi moved as if carried by the wind, and now isfighting the rider with the sabre. That man's sabre skill isnot bad, each move, be it a parry or a slash, came outferociously. After fighting for a bit more, Guo XiaoTian andYang TieXin both figured out that Qiu ChuJi was prolongingtheir duel on purpose as to be able to use openings andbreaks to pick off the other opponents. He is doing this inorder to be able to kill all the enemies, for if the leaderwas killed, the rest might just all turn and run for theirlives, making it impossible to kill all of them.

After some more fighting, there were only 6 or 7 of themleft. The leader knew he was not good enough, so heturned and tried to escape. Qiu ChuJi reached out with hisleft hand and grabbed the horse's tail. With a slight pull,his body jumped off of the ground. Before even landing onthe back of the horse, his sword had already penetratedthe man's back all the way out of his chest. Qiu ChuJithrew down the body, grabbed ahold of the reins, andstarted to chase the others. Silver colored iron horseshoesdanced in the snow as silver flashes of his sword danced inthe air. Amidst the screams, one body followed anotheronto the ground. Blood stained a ground that was coveredin pure white snow into a deep red.

Qiu ChuJi stopped and looked around. Seeing only severalriderless horses running off, he laughed heartily. Turningto the 2 men by the door, he waved and said: "How didyou guys like that?"

Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin had just opened the doorand walked out, so they have not completely calmed downfrom what they just witnessed. Guo XiaoTian asked:"Father, who are these people?" Qiu ChuJi replied: "We'llknow when we search their bodies."

Guo XiaoTian searched the body of that sabre using manand found an official document. Turned out to be an orderfrom that very Magistrate Zhao that pretended to be a dogsaying that the Ambassador from Jin has ordered that thegovernment troops and Jin troops to work together tocatch the man that murdered Wang DaoKun as soon aspossible. Guo XiaoTian's rage just came on when YangTieXin yelled out. In his hand was some tags found on thebodies of some other men, the tags were written inNuZhen language. It meant that in this group of men,there were several Jin soldiers.

Guo XiaoTian spoke up: "The enemy soldiers can dowhatever they want, including capturing and killing, withinour borders, and our Sung officials are actually obeyingorders from their Ambassador! What kind of world isthis?!"

Yang TieXin sighed: "Even the Emperor of Great Sung hasto refer to himself as an official to the Jin emperor, so it'sno surprise that our officials and generals are all becomingtheir servants as well."

Qiu ChuJi bitterly said: "We taoists are supposed to bemerciful and benevolent in our hearts and actions. Butseeing a bunch of traitors and enemies that does nothingbut add to the suffering of our people, I could never bemerciful nor benevolent." The 2 other men replied at thesame time: "You were right to kill them! They deserved todie!"

This small village did not have many people at all to beginwith. Now with the blizzard going, nobody is coming out atnight. Even if someone witnessed what just happened,they would have ran back home a long time ago. Who hasguts to come out to inspect and ask questions? YangTieXin took out shovels and hoes and the 3 of them buriedall of the bodies into one big grave.

Bao XiRuo picked up a broom and started to sweep thetraces of blood on the snow. After a while, she suddenlyfelt the smell of blood go straight into her stomach. Hereyes went back for a second as she let out a little screamand sat down on the snow covered ground. Yang TieXinwas shocked and immediately ran over to help her up, allthe while asking over and over: "What's the matter?" BaoXiRuo's eyes were closed and she did not answer. Seeingher white face and feeling her cold hands, Yang TieXin justgot more and more worried.

Qiu ChuJi came over, grabbed Bao XiRuo's right wrist, andfelt her pulse for a bit. Suddenly he bursted out laughingand said: "Congratulations! Congratulations!" Yang TieXinwas quite taken aback and asked: "What?" At this timeBao XiRuo suddenly woke up with a "Yin". Seeing the 3men standing around her, she can't help but get a littleshy and immediately walked back into the house.

shy and immediately walked back into the house.

Qiu ChuJi said with a smile: "Your wife is pregnant!" YangTieXin can't quite believe it and asked: "Really?" Qiu ChuJismiled and replied: "Of all the things I learned in my life, Itake comfort in saying that I know a little something aboutonly 3 things. First is medicine, I couldn't master innerstrength, but came into contact with a lot of medicinal andherbal knowledge because of that. The 2nd thing is writinga couple of messed up lines of poetry. The little cat-liketricks called kungfu that I know can only be placed 3rd."Guo XiaoTian replied: "Father, if your kungfu can only becalled 'little cat-like tricks', then we 2 brothers can only layclaims to 'not even rat-like skills'!" The 3 of them buriedthe bodies while talking and laughing. After that they wentback into the house and started on the food and drinksagain. With all the Jins that Qiu ChuJi killed today, all ofthem felt great joys and excitement.

Thinking about his wife's pregnancy, Yang TieXin could notstop smiling. He thought: "Father here knows poetry, thenthat means he excels in all facets." So he suggested:"Brother Guo's wife is pregnant as well. Could we vexFather to think of two names?" Qiu ChuJi thought for a bitand said: "Brother Guo's child will be called Guo Jing, andBrother Yang's child will be called Yang Kang. It doesn'tmatter if they are boys or girls, they can still use thesenames." Guo XiaoTian replied: "Great! Father's remindingthe two of them to remember the Disgrace of the Year ofJing Kang, the humiliation of the capture of the twoemperors." Qiu ChuJi replied: "That's right." He reached into his shirt,took out 2 daggers and placed them on the table. This pairof daggers is completely the same in every way with greenleather sheaths, gold hand guard, and ebony handles. Hepicked up one of the daggers and carved the words "GuoJing" on the other dagger's handle. Then he carved "YangKang" on the handle of the first dagger. He carved withgreat speed and quickness, faster than most people canwrite. Before Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin can figure outwhat he was doing, he had already finished carving thewords. Smiling, he said: "I do not have anything worthywith me, only this pair of daggers. Why not leave them forthe two kids?" The two men thanked him and took theirrespective daggers. When the daggers were unsheathed, asinister coldness came from them. Their blades wereobviously very sharp.

Qiu ChuJi explained: "This pair of daggers came into mypossession by coincidence. Although they are sharp, theirsmall design does not fit me at all. But the kids can usethem to protect themselves. Ten years from now, if I amlucky to be still in this world, I would come to this placeagain and teach the kids some kungfu. How about it?" Thetwo men could not be any happier and thanked himrepeatedly. Qiu ChuJi concluded: "The Jins are occupyingthe north and torturing the people there. This situationcannot last long. Gentlemen, please take care of

cannot last long. Gentlemen, please take care ofyourselves." He picked up his cup of wine and downed it inone gulp. Then he got up and walked out of the door. GuoXiaoTian and Yang TieXin jumped up and tried to invitehim to stay. But his steps were fast and steady as he wasalready very far away.

Guo XiaoTian sighed: "Masters like him are always comingand going like the wind. We were lucky to meet him today,I was thinking of talking to him and asking for his views abit more, but alas, it was not to be." Yang TieXin smiledand replied: "Big Brother, at least Father was able to killso many Jins today and vented out some of our angers forus as well." He held up the dagger and unsheathed itagain. Gently stroking the blade, he suddenly spoke up:"Big Brother, I have a stupid idea, tell me what you thinkof it?"

Guo XiaoTian asked: "What is it?" Yang TieXin explained:"If both our kids are boys, then they will be swornbrothers. If they are girls, then they'll be sworn sisters...."Guo XiaoTian cuts in: "And if it is a boy and a girl, thenthey'll be husband and wife." The two of them grabbedeach other's hand and laughed heartily.

Bao XiRuo came back out from inside, smiled and asked:"What has made you two so happy?" Yang TieXin repeatedwhat they just said to her. Bao XiRuo blushed, but she washappy in her heart as well. Yang TieXin suggested: "Let'strade our dagger right now as a pledge to theengagement. If they turn out to be sworn brothers orsisters, we can still switch back. If they are a littlecouple...." Guo XiaoTian joked: "Then I'm really verysorry, for both daggers would belong to my family then."Bao XiRuo laughed and replied: "You never know, maybethey would both belong to our family instead." So the twomen switched daggers right there. Actually, arrangingmarriages before a child is born happens very often, therewas nothing unusual about it.

Guo XiaoTian took the dagger and happily ran back hometo inform his wife. When Li Ping heard it she was quitehappy as well.

Playing with the dagger and drinking by himself, YangTieXin was drunk before he knew it. Bao XiRuo helped herhusband onto the bed and collected the dishes and cups.Noticing that it is quite late, she went out to the backyardand collected the chicken cages. As she was closing theback door, she suddenly saw some drops of blood in thesnow just in front of the door. Startled, she thought: "Sonot all of the blood was taken care of. If some official seesthis, then we would all be in trouble." So she hurriedlygrabbed a broom and started sweeping.

The drops of blood lead all the way to the woods behindthe house. There were also traces of someone crawlingalong in the snow. Bao XiRuo's suspicion rose as shefollowed the blood into the pine trees. She arrived behind

followed the blood into the pine trees. She arrived behindan old grave and saw something black curled up on theground.

Bao XiRuo walked closer for a better look. It turned out itwas a corpse. The man was covered in black, obviouslyone of the men that came for Qiu ChuJi earlier. Heprobably didn't die right away after being wounded andcrawled here. She was just about to go wake her husbandto take care of this corpse when she suddenly thought:"What if someone came and saw him right at thismoment?" So she summoned up her strength and wentover to the corpse. She wanted to pull it into a bush closeby and then go get her husband. But just as she gave apull, the corpse suddenly twitched and groaned.

This scared all the wits out of her, thinking it was azombie, she wanted to turn around and run for her life. Yetit was as if her feet were nailed to the ground, she couldnot move at all. After a long wait, seeing that the corpsedid not move again, she gently nudged it with her broom.The corpse groaned again, but this time much weaker.Only now did she realize that the person is still alive. Shelooked closer and saw that the back of his shoulder was hitby a wolf-fanged arrow. The arrow is embedded deep andthe arrow shaft is covered in blood. Snow is still falling andthere is already a thin layer of snow on his face. It wouldonly be a little while longer before he is frozen to death.

She has always been kindhearted ever since she was little.If she saw an injured sparrow, frog, or even a bug, shewould just have to take it home and take care of it until ithas fully recovered. Only then would she release it back. Iffor some reason she can't nourish it back to health, shewould be unhappy for an entire day. This little quirk ofhers never changed with her age and led to her house justcrawling with small critters of each kind. Her father, beingthe time-tested country scholar that he is, gave her aname that goes along with this personality of hers: XiRuo,meaning weak-pitying. The Bao family in Red Plum Villagehad an unusually high amount of old roosters and hens.This is because once Bao XiRuo has taken care of a chick,she would never allow even one to be killed. If her parentswanted to eat one, they would have to go and buy one atthe market. So the chickens that the family raised all livedto a very old age before dying. Because Yang TieXin lovedthis flower-like beauty that is his wife, he always wentalong with whatever she wanted. So naturally, the yard ofthe Yang house has become the chickens and other littlecritter's world as well. The little chicks have slowly grownto be adult chickens and ducks. There aren't any oldchickens or ducks because she hasn't been in this house-hold for very long. But if things continue as they are, it willonly be a matter of time.

Right now, seeing this man lying in the snow about to die,her kind heart started to act up. Even though she clearlyknows that this man is not good, she can't just watch him

knows that this man is not good, she can't just watch himbleed and freeze to death. She hesitated for only a secondbefore running back to the house to discuss this with herhusband. But Yang TieXin was deep in his sleep because ofthe wine, no matter what she did, he wouldn't wake up.

Figuring that she save the person first and then worryabout the rest, she took out her husband's blood clottingpowder that stops bleeding. Grabbing the small dagger,some pieces of cloth, and half a kettle of warm wine thatwas on the stove, she ran back to behind the grave. Thatman was still lying on the ground, not moving. Bao XiRuohelped him sit up and slowly poured what's left of the winein the kettle into his mouth. She has been taking care andcuring animals ever since she was little, so she has a littlebit of medical knowledge. The arrow has embedded itselfdeep inside of him, pulling it out might cause blood toshoot out of him and kill him. But if the arrow isn't pulledout, there will be no way to start taking care of the wound.So she gritted her teeth, cut open the flesh around thewound using the dagger, grabbed a hold of the arrowshaft, and gave one hard pull. The man let out a savagescream and passed out. Blood shot out of the wound asBao XiRuo's shirt was covered with little specks of blood,but that arrow had finally been pulled out.

Bao XiRuo's heart was beating like crazy as she anxiouslyand hurriedly applied the blood clotting powder onto thewound and firmly bandaged it with the pieces of cloth.After a while, that man slowly began to come around, justthat he's too weak and tired to even make a sound.

Bao XiRuo had been scared to the point that there is noway for her to gather up enough strength to help movethis man. Suddenly an inspiration came to her, she wentback home and grabbed a door plank. She dragged theman onto the door plank and then pulled the door plankalong the snow, as if she was pulling a sled. She pulledhim back into the house and set him up in the barn. Afterbeing fully occupied for so long, only now did she get thechance to calm down. She switched out of the bloodiedshirt and washed her hands and face. She poured out abowl unfinished chicken soup, grabbed a stick of candle,and went to the barn once again to check on that man.When she arrived, that man's breathing was weak butsteady. Bao XiRuo felt a little better and started feedinghim the chicken soup. That man drank down half a bowlbefore suddenly breaking out with a violent coughing fit.

Startled, Bao XiRuo held up the candle for a closer look.Under the candle light, she saw the man's delicate featuresand rather high nose bridge. Turns out he was actually avery handsome young man. Her face suddenly heated upand her left hand shook, disturbing the candle holder andseveral drops of wax fell onto the man's face.

That man opened his eyes. In front of him was a face asbeautiful as a flower, cheeks blushing red, and eyes like

beautiful as a flower, cheeks blushing red, and eyes liketwinkling stars, filled with both sympathy and bashfulness.It was as if this was a dream as he couldn't help butbecome spellbound.

Bao XiRuo whispered: "Feeling any better? Here, drink therest of this bowl of soup." That man tried to take the bowlin his hands, but he had no strength in his handswhatsoever and almost spilled it all on himself. Bao XiRuoimmediately grabbed the bowl back. At this time the mostimportant thing is to save a life, so she fed him the souplittle by little.

After drinking all of the soup, that man's eyes slowlygained back some life. He stared at her, obviously gratefulbeyond words. But Bao XiRuo was getting embarrassed bythe stare. So she grabbed some straw, put it on him tokeep him warm, and went back into the house with thecandle.

She did not sleep well at all for the rest of the night forshe had several nightmares in a row. Suddenly she wouldsee her husband spearing that man to death. But then shewould see that man killing her husband with a sabre andthen start to chase her, she was surrounded by darknessand had no where to run or hide. Several times she wasscared awake by her dreams, covered with cold sweat.When she woke up in the morning, her husband hadalready gotten up. Seeing him grinding the spear head ofhis spear, her dreams last night came rushing back intoher mind. She anxiously made her way to the barn andpushed open the door. Even more startling, there wasnobody in the barn, only a messed up pile of straws. Theman had disappeared.

She ran to the backyard and noticed the backdoor wasonly half-closed. The snow showed the traces of someonecrawling and rolling toward the west. She stared at thetraces and became lost in her thoughts. After a long while,a gust of wind came in right at her face as she suddenlyfelt her waist go sore and bones go soft. Sleepy, shewalked back to the main room. Yang TieXin had alreadymade some porridge and put them on the table. Smiling,he said: "See, my porridges aren't that bad after all." BaoXiRuo knows that her husband is being even moreconsiderate because of her condition. So she smiled, satdown, brought up the bowl, and started to eat theporridge. She figured that if she told her husband aboutwhat happened last night, he would be jealous and angryand would no doubt chase the man down and kill him.Then is that not the same as killing the man? So shedecided to never mention it at all.

Winter ended and Spring returned. In a blink of an eyeseveral months had passed. Bao XiRuo's waist slowly gotbigger as she slowly began to feel more and more wearyand tired. And the incident of that night when she saved aman gradually disappeared from her memory.

On this particular day, the Yang family had just finisheddinner and Bao XiRuo was sitting by the lamp as she wasworking on sewing a new pair of trousers for her husband.Yang TieXin was hanging up the 2 pairs of straw sandalshe just finished on the wall. Remembering that he brokethe head of the plough while working in the fields earlierthat day, he turned to Bao XiRuo and said: "The head ofthe plough is broken. Tomorrow I'll go to Zhang MuEr onthe east side of the village and have him add a bit of ironand take care of it." Bao XiRuo replied: "Alright." YangTieXin looked at her and said: "I have enough clothingalready. Your body is weak and is carrying a baby, youshould rest as much as you can. Don't worry about makingclothes for me anymore." Bao XiRuo turned her headtowards him and smiled, but her hands did not stop. YangTieXin walked over and gently took the needle and threadout of her hands. Only now did Bao XiRuo let out a yawn,blow out the lamp, and went to bed.

At midnight, Bao XiRuo was suddenly snapped out of herdream by the sound of her husband sitting up. Faintsounds of hoof beats could be heard coming from very faraway. The sound came from the west, after a while, hoofbeats started coming from the east as well, followed bysounds coming from north and south. Bao XiRuo sat upand asked: "How come there are horses in all 4directions?" Yang TieXin jumped out of the bed and startedto put on cloths. Soon, the hoof beats were getting closerfrom all 4 directions and the dogs in the villages started tobark. Yang TieXin replied: "We are surrounded!" Shocked,Bao XiRuo asked: "What for?" Yang TieXin replied: "Don'tknow." He handed the dagger that Qiu ChuJi gave him tohis wife and said: "Take this, to protect yourself!" He tookdown a spear on the wall and firmly held it in his hands.

By now, the horse neighs and the human voices from all 4direction were loud and chaotic. Yang TieXin opened up awindow and looked outside. A group of soldiers hadalready surrounded the entire village with torches in hand.Seven or eight of them are galloping back and forth onhorsebacks.

The soldiers shouted as one: "Catch the traitors, don't letthem get away!" Yang TieXin thought to himself: "Are theyhere to catch Qu San? Haven't seen him around recently.Luckily, he isn't here, or else there is no way he could beatall of these soldiers, no matter how great his kungfu is."Suddenly one of the men on a horse shouted: "GuoXiaoTian, Yang TieXin. You two traitors come out now andget what's coming to you!"

This shocked Yang TieXin and Bao XiRuo's face turnedwhite. Yang TieXin whispered to her: "Don't know what'sgotten into the authorities, they only know how to malignus normal citizens. We won't get a chance with theauthorities. The only thing we can do is run for our lives.Don't panic, with this spear of mine, I can assure you that

Don't panic, with this spear of mine, I can assure you thatwe'll get out of here." His kungfu was good and had madea living in the martial world before, so even though he is ingrave danger, he did not panic. He put the arrow bag ontohis back and grabbed his wife's right hand. Bao XiRuo spoke up: "I'll pack." Yang TieXin replied: "Packwhat? We are leaving everything!" Bao XiRuo's heartsuddenly went sour as tears rolled down her cheeks. Shesaid in the shaking voice: "What's going to happen to ourhome?" Yang TieXin answered: "All we need is to survive.We can start another home somewhere else." Bao XiRuoasked: "What about these little chicks and cats?" YangTieXin sighed: "Silly, why are you still worrying aboutthem?" After a pause, he tried to console her: "Why wouldthe authorities bother the little chicks and cats?"

Just as he finished his sentence, the light from the torchesoutside fluttered. The soldiers had just lit two thatchedcottages on fire. Two more foot soldiers were heading thisway with torches to light the house on fire, all the whileshouting: "Guo XiaoTian, Yang TieXin. If the 2 of you don'tcome out now, we'll burn all of Ox Village down to theground!"

Yang TieXin had about all he can take, so he opened thedoor and walked out. He shouted at the top of his lungs: "Iam Yang TieXin! What do you people want?" The 2 footsoldiers were shocked as they dropped their torches,turned around, and ran back. In the firelight, a man rodeforth on his horse and shouted: "Good, so you are YangTieXin. Come with us to the magistrate. Seize him!" Atonce, 4 or 5 foot soldiers ran up. Yang TieXin twirled hisspear, pulled a "White Rainbow in the Sky", and swept 3 ofthe soldiers onto the ground. He followed it up with "MadlyDeafening Spring Thunder" as he picked up a soldier bythe spear shaft and threw him into the crowd. He shouted:"If you want to catch me, first tell me what crimes Icommitted."

That man shouted back: "Traitor! How dare you resistarrest!" Even though he was calling names, henevertheless feared his foe's courage as well as skill andwas afraid to get any closer. Another man on horsebackbehind him shouted: "Just come with us to the courthousepeacefully, that way there won't be anymore punishmentto add for your crimes. We have the official document foryour arrest here." Yang TieXin replied: "Let me see it!"That man replied: "What about the other traitor, GuoXiaoTian?"

Guo XiaoTian stuck half of his body out of the window withhis bow and arrow and shouted: "Guo XiaoTian is here!"The arrow was aimed at the man on horseback. That man's heart felt all hairy as cold waves washed up hisback, so he shouted: "Put down your bow and arrow, thenI'll read the document to you." Guo XiaoTian viciouslyshouted back: "Read it now!" He pulled his bow full.Seeing that he has no say in the matter, that man brought

Seeing that he has no say in the matter, that man broughtup the document and read aloud: "Guo XiaoTian and YangTieXin of Ox Village of the Prefecture of LinAn, colludedwith traitors and criminals with intentions of wrong doing.Capture them and bring them in to be strictly judged bythe law." Guo XiaoTin asked: "Which office issued theorder?" The man replied: "Chancellor Han himself." Both Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin were shocked by this:"What could be so important that Han TouZhou himself gotinvolved? Could it be that Father Qiu's actions that nightwere discovered?" Guo XiaoTian asked: "Who is theplaintiff? On what evidence?" That man shouted back: "Weonly worry about capturing you guys, if you guys want toplea your case then come to the courthouse with us." YangTieXin shouted back: "Chancellor Han only knows how todo harm to us good honest people, everyone knows that!We won't fall for that lie!" The leader shouted in response:"Refusing arrest, that is another crime to your sheet!" {Actually Han TuoZhou is not as bad as portrayed in thebook. Between Yue Fei's execution in 1142 and HanTuoZhou's ascension as head chancellor in 1206, theSouthern Sung emperors did not once invade the Jinterritories in an attempt to reclaim some lands. Only whenHan TuoZhou became chancellor did another attempt wasmade. However, this attempt was poorly planned andgeneral preparations were lacking, add on top of that theinternal conflicts within the imperial court, it is no surprisethat it failed. NingZong, the emperor at the time, and abunch of officials favoring peace executed Han TuoZhouand presented his head to the Jin emperor as a show oftheir willingness for peace. This was the last attempt bythe Southern Sung dynasty to drive out the Jins. So HanTuoZhuo was actually a patriot who died for his countryinstead of how he is portrayed in this book.}

Yang TieXin turned toward his wife and said: "Quickly puton some more clothes. I'll go get his horse for you. Once Ishoot down the leader, the rest of them will panic." Thesound of bow being released was followed by a meteor-likearrow hitting the leader's right shoulder. The leader let outan "Ai-Yo!" before tumbling down onto the ground. All thesoldiers shouted in surprise. Another official shouted:"Seize them!" All the soldiers came rushing forth. The 2men were shooting arrows one after another and in aninstant, they had already shot down 6 or 7 soldiers. Butthere were too many of them as they still managed tocharge to the front of both houses.

With a loud shout, Yang TieXin jumped out of the doorwith his spear making the soldiers back up in surprise andfear. He jumped to the side of an official that was riding awhite horse and thrusted the spear at him. The officialtried to parry with his spear.

But Yang Family Spear was too fast, Yang TieXin's speardove down and hit the official on his leg. He then lifted hisspear up and flipped the official off his horse. Yang TieXin put his spear shaft on the ground and pushedoff, jumping onto the horse. He squeezed his legs, making

off, jumping onto the horse. He squeezed his legs, makingthe horse neigh and gallop towards the house. Yang TieXinkilled a soldier by the door with a thrust, leaned down,extended his arms, grabbed Bao XiRuo, and lifted her uponto the horse as well. He then turned and shouted:"Brother, follow me!" Guo XiaoTian was waving his twinhalberds and protecting his wife as he charged out fromthe crowd. Seeing the ferocity of the 2 men, none of thesoldiers dared to get any closer. So they started to shootarrows at them.

Yang TieXin made his horse run to Li Ping's side andshouted as he jumped off: "Sister, get on!" Li Pinganxiously said: "That won't be any good." Yang TieXindidn't care what she said and threw her onto the horse.The 2 sworn brothers followed behind the horse and slowlywalked off while battling off the soldiers. After a bit of walking, suddenly loud shouting came fromahead as another group of soldiers came charging in. Thetwo men silently groaned. As they were looking foranother direction to run to, arrows started coming in fromahead. Suddenly, Bao XiRuo screamed: "Ai-Yo!" For herride was hit by an arrow and fell over, throwing the 2women on its back off. Yang TieXin said: "Brother, youguard them, I'll go get another horse." He charged towardthe crowd of soldiers. Ten or so soldiers lined up, pointedtheir spears at Yang TieXin, and let out a yell together. Seeing the overwhelming number of enemies, GuoXiaoTian thought: "For us 2 brothers, escaping is not hard.But with enemies in front and behind, there is no way ourwives could escape. It is not like we broke any laws, sogoing to the courthouse in LinAn to argue our case is muchbetter than dying for no reason here. Last time Father QiuChuJi killed all of the men there, not a single one of themgot away. Therefore nobody is there to prove we did it, sothe court can't say for sure that we were guilty ofanything. Besides, the 2 of us didn't kill any officials or Jinsoldiers." So he yelled: "Brother, stop it. Let's go withthem!" Yang TieXin was very surprised by this and ranback dragging his spear behind him. The leader of this group of soldiers ordered the men tostop shooting and surround the 2 men. Then he shouted:"Throw down your weapons and arrows, then your life willbe spared."

Yang TieXin spoke up: "Brother, don't fall for their lies."Guo XiaoTian shook his head for a while and then threwhis twin halberds onto the ground. Yang TieXin looked overat his beloved wife and could not bear the frightened lookon her face. He sighed and threw his spear on the groundas well. As soon as both of their weapons fell on theground, 10 or so long spears immediately came andsurrounded the 4 of them. Eight foot soldiers walked upand tied the 4 of them up with their hands behind theirbacks.

Yang TieXin held his head up high and sneered. The leaderof the group lifted his horse whip up and smacked Yang

of the group lifted his horse whip up and smacked YangTieXin squarely on his face: "Damn traitor! Do you reallywant to die?" A welt appeared on Yang TieXin's face fromhis forehead all the way down to his neck. In rage, YangTieXin replied: "Ok! What is your name?" That official goteven angrier as his whip came down like rain: "Your oldman here is Duan TianDe! Remember that? When you getto the gates of hell you can tell them all about me!" YangTieXin did not back up or flinch at all as he just stood therestaring at him. Duan TianDe continued: "I got a knife scaron my forehead and a birthmark on my face! Can youremember all that?" His whip came down some more.

Seeing her husband being treated like this, Bao XiRuocried out while tears rolled down her cheeks: "He's a goodman and has done nothing wrong. Why are you... youbeating him? Don't... Don't you know anything aboutjustice?" Yang TieXin suddenly spit at him, hitting him inthe face. Furious, Duan TianDe pulled out his sabre andscreamed: "I'm going to kill you traitor right now!" Hebrought his sabre up and swung it down. Yang TieXinsidestepped the strike. The 2 foot soldiers at his sidepushed their spears up against his sides to stop him frommoving as Duan TianDe chopped down once again. Withnowhere to dodge on the sides, Yang TieXin could onlyjump back to avoid the strike. Turns out this Duan TianDeknows a little bit of kungfu, even though he missed again,he immediately thrusted his sabre forward. The sabre hewas using is saw-toothed and with his move he sawed agash on Yang TieXin's left shoulder. He then immediatelyfollowed it with another chop.

Seeing that his sworn brother's life is in grave danger, GuoXiaoTian suddenly jumped up and aimed his feet at DuanTianDe's face. In shock, Duan TianDe brought his swordback to parry this away. Even though Guo XiaoTian'shands were tied behind his back, his footwork was stillquite formidable. So before his body fell down, he twirledhis left leg and brought it back and, at the same time, sentout his right leg, hitting Duan TianDe in his stomach.

In extreme pain and rage, Duan TianDe shouted: "Stickthose spears in them! Orders from above, if the traitorresist arrest, then kill them all!" The soldiers stabbed forthwith their spears. Guo XiaoTian kicked down 2 soldiers in arow, but with his hands tied behind his back his quicknesswas restricted as he had to jump away from spears. DuanTianDe came up from behind him and swung down hard,chopping Guo XiaoTian's entire right arm off at theshoulders. Yang TieXin was trying to struggle out of theropes but could not no matter how hard he tried. Suddenlyseeing his sworn brother wounded on the ground, a surgeof strength came from nowhere inside of him. He snappedthe ropes off his body, punched a soldier, grabbed hisspear, and whipped out the Yang Family Spear. This timehe is fighting without regards to his own life, it was as if hecould take on tens of thousands of soldiers all by himself.He had just started but had already taken down 2 soldiers.

He had just started but had already taken down 2 soldiers.Seeing that the situation has turned, Duan TianDeimmediately back away. Last time Yang TieXin was holdingback somewhat, not really wanting to kill governmentsoldiers; but now he could not care less. Flicking right andswinging left, he killed several soldiers in an instant.Seeing his ferociousness, the rest of the soldiers scatteredat once.

Yang TieXin did not bother chasing them as he helped hissworn brother sit up. Blood is gushing out where GuoXiaoTian's arm was chopped off and by now his wholebody was covered in blood. Yang TieXin could not stop histears from falling down at the sight. Guo XiaoTian grittedhis teeth and shouted out: "Brother, don't worry aboutme... leave, leave now!" Yang TieXin replied desperately:"I'm going to get a horse, and then I'm going to fight untilI die to make sure you escape." Guo XiaoTian faintlyreplied: "No... no...." He passed out. Yang TieXin took offhis outer shirt so he can bandage up the wound. But DuanTianDe chopped off his shoulder and portions of his chestas well, the wound is almost half-a-body in length,impossible to bandage up. Guo XiaoTian had slowly cometo and shouted: "Brother, go save our wives. I... I can't...make it...." Before he finished what he was saying, heslumped over and died.

The 2 sworn brothers always thought of each other as realblood brothers. Seeing his brother die like this, a phrasepopped up amidst the anger and the rage in Yang TieXin'smind. It is the phrase that they said when they becamesworn brothers: "Hope to die on the same day of the samemonth of the same year." He lifted his head up to lookaround. The 2 wives had gone missing in all the chaos.

He screamed: "Brother, I'm going to avenge your death!"He grabbed his spear and ran toward the crowd ofsoldiers. By now, the soldiers have already line up information. Duan TianDe issued an order and immediately,arrows came flying out towards him. Yang TieXin did notcare, knocking the arrows out of the way and chargedahead. An official swung the sabre in his hand down hardat Yang TieXin's head. Yang TieXin ducked and suddenlyscrambled underneath the belly of his ride. That officialwas just about to turn his horse around when a spearpenetrated through his heart from the back. Yang TieXinthrew off the corpse and jumped onto the horse. Wavinghis spears around, none of the soldiers dared to comecloser to battle as they started to run off.

After chasing for a while, he suddenly saw an officialrunning away as fast as he could with a woman in hisarms. Yang TieXin jumped off his horse and knocked downa foot soldier. Picking up the soldier's bow and arrow, heaimed the best he could in the dim fire light and let loose.The arrow hit the horse's behind, making the horse kneeldown all of a sudden. The 2 people on the horse cametumbling off. Yang TieXin let loose another arrow andkilled the official. Running up, he saw that the woman who

killed the official. Running up, he saw that the woman whois now trying to sit up on the ground is his wife.

Overwhelmed with surprise and excitement upon seeingher husband, Bao XiRuo jumped into his arms. Yang TieXinasked: "Where's our sister-in-law?" Bao XiRuo answered:"Ahead, with... with more soldiers." Yang TieXininstructed: "You stay here and wait for me. I'm going tosave her." Bao XiRuo suddenly said in shock: "There aremore soldiers coming from behind!"

Yang TieXin turned around and, as she had said, therereally was a group of soldiers coming this way with torchesin hand. Yang TieXin gritted his teeth and said: "Brother isdead. No matter what, I have to save sister-in-law to savethe Guo family bloodline. If the heavens pity us, there willbe a day when we meet again." Bao XiRuo put her armsaround her husband's neck and would not let go. She saidin between sobs: "We'll never be apart, you said ityourself, even if we die we will die together! Remember?You said it yourself!" Yang TieXin's heart went sour for amoment as he picked up his wife and gave her a kiss.Then despite every part of his heart not wanting to, heshook free of her arms and charged forward with hisspear. After charging for 10 steps he turned around andsaw that his wife was sobbing in a cloud of dust and thesoldiers have already arrived at her side.

Wiping away the sweat, blood, and tears on his face, YangTieXin threw his own life out of consideration and thoughtonly about saving Li Ping to make sure that his swornbrother has descendants. After chasing a while, he gotanother horse. After grilling the official, he found out thatLi was just a bit ahead. So he chased as hard as he couldon the horse. Suddenly, he heard the cries and screams ofa woman coming from the woods by the path. Heimmediately turned the horse and charged into the woods.Li had already freed her hands from the ropes and wasdesperately fighting off 2 foot soldiers. Being born andraised in the farms, she was very strong for a girl; soalthough she does not know any kungfu, her desperatefighting is quite tough to handle as well. The 2 footsoldiers were cursing and laughing at her, but still couldnot quite handle her at the moment. Yang TieXin did notbother to say anything and just charged up and killed the2 with 2 thrusts. He then helped Li up onto the horse. The2 of them rode back together, trying to find his wife. Whenthey got back to the place where they parted ways,nobody was there. By now the sky is getting slightlybrighter, so he jumped off the horse to inspect the ground.There were traces of someone being dragged away, hiswife was probably captured by the soldiers again. Yang TieXin immediately jumped up onto the horse andgave the horse several wild kicks in the stomach. In greatpain, the horse shot forward. Just as they were gallopingat full speed, suddenly a bugle sounded on the side of thepath and 10 or so warriors clad in black charged out. Thefirst one lifted up his wolf-ganged-club and smashed down.

first one lifted up his wolf-ganged-club and smashed down.Yang TieXin parried it away with his spear and answeredwith a thrust. That man replied by a swing of his clubsideways. His club techniques were very unique, as if itisn't a skill from the Central Plains. When Yang TieXin and Guo XiaoTian used to discusskungfu and kungfu techniques, they talked about one ofthe Heroes of the Water Margins, Thunderclap Fire QingMing, who used to be the best in the world in wolf-fangedclub techniques. But outside of him, it was very rare tomeet someone in the martial world who uses this weapon.This was because the sheer weight of the weapon requiredthat the user had to have enormous upper back strength.However, the Jin army loved to use this weapon. This isbecause the Jin people lived in the freezing cold climate ofLiaoDong, so they were all very strong. When using thisweapon in the battlefield, its heaviness gave them adistinctive advantage. Back when the Jins invaded anddefeated the Song armies using the wolf-fanged club, inthe rage and anger of the peasants and farmers, suddenlya joke went around. Someone, A, said: "What's so scaryabout the Jin army? For any one thing they got, we haveone thing to counter them." Another person, B,responded: "They got Akutta." A replied: "We gotProtector Han." B went on: "They got Crippled Horse." Areplied: "We got Thin Coarse Sabre." B said: "They got wolf-fanged club." To which A replied:"We got the crown of our heads." Meaning when that wolf-fanged club comes down, the farmers of Song could onlymeet it with the top of their heads. This joke is actuallyfilled with bitterness and anger.

So now Yang TieXin has fought several exchanges with thisman with the wolf-fanged club. Remembering hisdiscussion with Guo XiaoTian, he became more and moresuspicious. From the moves and techniques of this man, itwas obvious that he was a Jin army official. What's hedoing here? Several more exchanges passed when hesuddenly quickened his spear moves and stabbed the manoff his horse. The rest of them turned around and ran inshock.

Yang TieXin turned around to check up on whether or notLi was hurt in that last fight. Suddenly a sniper arrow wasshot out from the woods. It caught Yang TieXin by surpriseand hit him from the back. In utter panic, Li shouted:"Brother Yang, arrow! Arrow!" Yang TieXin's heart wentcold: "So this is when and where I die! But I have to atleast disperse these bastard soldiers before I die, that waySister-in-Law can get away." So he waved his spear wildlyand charged straight at an area crowded with soldiers. Butthe pain from the arrow on his back was too much as hiseyes went black and he fainted.

Back when her husband pushed her off, Bao XiRuo felt asif her heart had been shredded. In a blink of an eye thesoldiers had made it to her side. By the time she tried torun away, she was already tied up and thrown onto a

run away, she was already tied up and thrown onto ahorse. One of the army officials brought a torch up to herface and gave her a good look-over. Nodding, he said:"Hard to believe those two bastards can actually do a thingor 2, wounded so many of our men." Another officialsmiled and said: "Well, finally we can call it a wrap and ajob well done. After all that trouble, I would have to saythat everyone deserves at least more than 10 taels ofsilver each." The first official replied: "Hmph! Just hope thehigher ups don't take it all for themselves." Turningaround, he instructed the bugler: "Let's head back!" Thebugler brought up his bugle and blew several notes. BaoXiRuo could only sob because all she could think about washer husband and whether or not he's still alive. By now thesky has brightened up somewhat as people are slowlyappearing on the path. Seeing a group of army men, all ofthe farmers quickly got out of the way as far as theycould. At first Bao XiRuo was worried that the soldiersmight get ideas about her, but surprisingly, these menactually were polite in their actions and words, so sheslowly stopped worrying about it.

After several kilometers, shouts suddenly came fromahead as 10 or so armed men dressed in black camecharging in from the side of the path. The leader of thegroup yelled: "Shameless scums! Killing good innocentpeople! Come down here at once and get what's coming toyou!" The leading official was furious and shouted back:"Who do you think you scums are, making trouble here inthe outskirts of the capital? Get out of the way now!" Thegang of men in black did not reply as they charged intothe soldiers. Even though there were more soldiers, themen in black were all well versed in kungfu, so neither sideseemed to have gained an advantage at this moment.

Bao XiRuo was silently excited as she thought to herself:"Maybe Dear Tie's friends heard the news and came torescue us." In the chaos of battle an arrow came flying inand hit the butt of the horse she was on. Driven by thepain, the horse ran off as fast as it could to the north.

{Here's something to think about, the first time I read thispart I missed it but now I get it: she was obviously notriding in the front of the group of soldiers (because it justdoesn't make sense to put a person that might run awayin front of everyone else, that's like giving them a headstart) and the men in black came charging in from thefront, yet the arrow that hit her horse had to have camefrom behind. So doesn't that seem rather fishy to you guysas well?}

In utter shock, Bao XiRuo grabbed ahold of the horse'sneck with both arms in fear of falling off. Sounds ofhoofbeats came as another horse came chasing up frombehind. In an instant, a black horse came over her. Theman on the horse twirled a lasso in the air a couple of timeand skillfully tossed it around her horse's neck. The 2horses galloped side-by-side. The man slowly shortened

the lasso and the 2 horses gradually slowed down. Afterseveral more steps, the man whistled and the black horseimmediately stopped dead in its tracks. Because of thelasso, Bao XiRuo's horse could not continue forward andstood up on its hind legs, neighing loudly.

Bao XiRuo has been worn out by the events of the night.In a mixture of sadness and horror, she could no longerhang on to the reins. She fell off the horse and fainted.

After sleeping for what seemed like forever, she slowlywoke up. It felt like she was sleeping on a very soft andcomfortable bed with a thick cotton quilt over her, she feltwarm all over. She opened her eyes and the first thingthat she saw was the green colored canopy of the bed, itturns out she really was sleeping on a bed. A lamp was liton the table by the bed and it seemed like there was aman dressed in black sitting by the bed. Hearing her turn,that man immediately stood up, parted the bed curtains,and quietly asked: "Are you awake?" Bao XiRuo haven'tcompletely recovered all of her consciousness, all shecould tell was that this man was somewhat familiar. Thatman placed his hand on her forehead and gently said:"Still very hot, don't worry, the doctor will be here soon."In a daze, Bao XiRuo slowly fell back asleep.

After a while, it seemed like a doctor was examining herand then someone was feeding her medicine. Yet all shecould do was sleep. She snapped out of her dream andscreamed: "Dear Tie! Dear Tie!" This was followed bysomeone patting her softly on the shoulder and gentlyconsoling her.

The next time she woke up was in the middle of the dayand she couldn't help but groan. A person walked up andparted the bed curtains. This time they faced each other,Bao XiRuo saw the face clearly. She was shocked, for thishandsome, smiling man in front of her was that very manshe saved from certain death in the snow several monthsago.

Bao XiRuo asked: "Where am I? Where's my husband?"That young man shook his hand, telling her not to be loud,and then lightly replied: "The soldiers are looking all overthe place outside, right now we are borrowing a room at afarmer's place. So very sorry, I had to lie and say that Iam your husband, please don't accidentally tell them thetruth." Bao XiRuo blushed and nodded, but she askedagain: "Where's my husband?" That man answered: "Yourbody is very weak right now. After you get better, then I'lltell you everything."

Bao XiRuo was shocked, from his tone of voice, it seemedlike something has happened to her husband. She grabbedthe corner of her quilt tightly with both hands and asked ina shaking voice: "He... What... What happened to him?"That man only replied: "Worrying will get nothingaccomplished now, the most important thing is your

accomplished now, the most important thing is yourhealth." Bao XiRuo kept on asking: "Is... Is he dead?" Theman's face showed that he realized he had no choice in thematter as he gently nodded: "Mr. Yang was killed by thosebastard soldiers." He shook his head and sighed. BaoXiRuo felt as if her heart was being stabbed as she fainted.When she came to after a long time, she started to cry hereyes out.

That man gently consoled her. In between sobs, Bao XiRuoasked: "He... How did he died?" That man replied: "WasMr. Yang a tall, broad-shouldered man around the age of20, and uses a spear as a weapon?" Bao XiRuo answered:"Yes, that's him." That man answered: "Earlier today I sawhim fighting with several soldiers, killing a couple of them.But... ay! But one of the army officials snuck behind himand stabbed him squarely in the back with his spear."

Bao XiRuo fainted again. She did not drink nor eat for thatentire day as she felt obligated to die with her husband.That man didn't force her either as he just talked to her ina very gentlemanly manner to keep her company. As thiscontinued Bao XiRuo started to feel as if she wasneglecting him, so she asked: "What is your name? Howdid you know that we were in trouble and came to help?"That man replied: "My surname is Yan, given name is Lie.I and some of my friends were just passing by hereyesterday when we saw soldiers causing trouble. We didn'tlike what we saw so we decided to help. Who knew that Iwould end up rescuing my savior. It was as if we destinedto meet like this." Hearing the words "destined to meet", Bao XiRuo's faceturned a little red as she tried to ignore him by turning toface inward. She thought about all this in her head a bit.Suddenly something suspicious popped up in her mind asshe found a hole in his story. She turned and asked:"Were you on the same side as the soldiers?" Yan Lie wasshocked: "Wh... What?" Bao XiRuo explained: "Back onthat day weren't you with the soldiers that tried to catchthat Taoist Priest? That's why you were injured right?" YanLie answered: "Such bad luck on that day. I came from upnorth and was heading for LinAn, passing by your village.Who was to know that an arrow was going to come out ofnowhere and hit me on the shoulder. If it wasn't for yourbenevolent heart and kindness I would have really diedwithout even knowing why or how. Why were they afterthat whatever Taoist Priest anyway? Taoist Priests getscatch ghosts, but soldiers catch Taoist Priests, what kind oflogic is that?" When he got to here he couldn't help butlaugh a little.

Bao XiRuo observed: "Oh, so you were just passing by andnot with them. I thought you were one of those peoplethat was there to catch that Taoist. I really didn't knowwhether or not I should have saved you." She then wenton to explain of why the soldiers were there and how QiuChuJi killed them all. After talking for a while, Bao XiRuo suddenly noticed that

After talking for a while, Bao XiRuo suddenly noticed thathe was staring at her with a trance-like gaze andimmediately stopped talking. This snapped Yan Lie out ofhis trance, he smiled and said: "Sorry. I was just thinkingabout how we can escape without being caught by thesoldiers."

Bao XiRuo started to cry and replied: "My... My husband isgone now, how can I live on? Why don't you just escapeby yourself and not worry about me?" Yan Lie replied witha straight face: "Madame, your husband was murdered bythose bastard soldiers, his death has not been revengedfor. Yet you are not trying to bring the culprits to justiceand is only seeking death. Your husband was a heroamong men when he was alive, I'm afraid he won't rest inpeace when he finds out about this in the netherworld."

Bao XiRuo replied: "I'm only a weak female, how can Ipossibly avenge his death?" In anger, Yan Lie replied:"Madame's burden, I will gladly take upon my shoulders.Do you know who the culprit is?" Bao XiRuo thought for abit and answered: "The leader of the soldier's name isDuan TianDe. He has a knife scar on his forehead and abirthmark on his face." Yan Lie replied: "With a name anda way of recognizing him, no matter how far away he runsoff to, we have to bring him to justice!" He went outsideand came back with a bowl of porridge with some saltedeggs. He spoke up: "If you don't take care of your health,how can you get your revenge?" Bao XiRuo thought whathe said made some sense, so she took over the bowl andstarted to slowly eat its contents.

The next morning, Bao XiRuo arranged her cloth and gotoff of bed. She brushed her hair properly against a mirror,found a piece of white cloth and placed a white flower inher hair to pay respects to her husband. What she saw inthe mirror was a beautiful woman in the prime of her life,yet her husband had already left her behind. Overwhelmedby sadness and loneliness, she put her head down andstarted crying. Yan Lie walked in and saw her. He saidsoftly: "The soldiers are gone now, let's go." Bao XiRuofollowed him out. Yan Lie gave a bit of silver to the masterof the house and then led the 2 horses over. The horsethat Bao XiRuo had ridden on was hit by an arrow, but YanLie had taken care of the wound. Bao XiRuo asked: "Where do we go to now?" Yan Lie gaveher a look, signaling her not to talk so much in front ofothers. He helped her onto the horse and the 2 of themrode side by side northward. After riding for over tenkilometers, Bao XiRuo asked again: "Where do we go tonow?" Yan Li replied: "Let's find a place where we cansettle down for a while and wait out this storm. After thesoldiers stop looking for us and let their guards down, thenI'll go and find your husband's body so we can give him aproper burial. After that I'm going to find that bastardDuan TianDe and kill him."

Bao XiRuo has a very tender and selfless personality,

Bao XiRuo has a very tender and selfless personality,rarely does she come up with ideas of her own. Besides,right now she's all by herself in the world, seeing that hehas it all figured out, she could not help but be touched.She said: "Mr. Yan, how... how will I ever be able to repayyou?" Yan Lie confidently replied: "Madame, this life ofmine was saved by you. So even if I have to jump intoboiling oil or be smashed into dust, I would serve you forthe rest of my life." Bao XiRuo replied: "I only hope thatwe can avenge my husband's death and kill that evil DuanTianDe as soon as possible so I can join him on the otherside." When she thought to here, tears started to roll outof her eyes again. The 2 of them rode for the rest of theday and then stopped at a little hotel in ChangAn for thenight. Yan Lie put the 2 down as a couple and got oneroom. Bao XiRuo could not help but feel that there issomething wrong about this. So she did not utter a wordduring dinner as she secretly touched that dagger that QiuChuJi gave her to make sure it's there. She made up hermind: "If he gets the slightest bit of ideas, I would killmyself right there on the spot."

Yan Lie instructed the floor manager to bring him 2bundles of straws into the room. He waited until the floormanager left before locking the door up and laying out thestraws on the floor. He lied down on the straws andcovered himself with a felt blanket. He turned to BaoXiRuo: "Goodnight Madame." And then he closed his eyes.

Bao XiRuo's heart was beating a mile a minute.Remembering her dead husband, she felt all torn upinside. She blankly sat there for over an hour before finallysighing and blowing out the candle. Still clutching thedagger tightly, she climbed into the bed with her cloths on.

When Bao XiRuo woke up the next day, Yan Lie hadalready packed and readied everything, not to mentioninstructing the floor manager to get some breakfast ready.Bao XiRuo was very thankful for his gentlemanly actionsand let most of her guard down. By the time she atebreakfast, she noticed that it was a dish of chicken friednoodles, a dish of ham, a dish of sausages, a dish ofsmoked fish, and a small pot of deliciously smelling riceand stalk gruel. She was raised in a moderately well offfamily, even after marrying into the Yang family, she hadalways had a life of normal farmer. Usually, breakfast forher is a couple of salted vegetables and half a salted egg.Other than New Years and weddings, she had never eatensuch delicacies. So she felt quite uncomfortable during allof breakfast.

Once she finished eating, the floor manager came in with abundle. By now Yan Lie had left their room. Bao XiRuoasked: "What is this?" The floor manager replied: "Misterwent out as soon as the sun rose and bought a change ofclothing for Madame. He told me to ask you to change intoit." Once he finished he put down the bundle and left. BaoXiRuo opened the bundle and was shocked. It was acompletely white mourning dress made out of silver with

completely white mourning dress made out of silver withmatching white socks, shoes, inner garments, and jacket,as well as matching scarf, bandanas, and otheraccessories. She thought: "So hard for a young man likehim to think of everything." When she changed into theclothing, the thought that Yan Lie bought these himselfmade her blush. She had left the house in a hurry in themiddle of the night, so her clothing was not very neat tobegin with, then after a whole night of misadventures, shewas covered in dirt and sweat. Now that she had brushedup somewhat, her spirit picked up somewhat as well.When Yan Lie returned, she noticed he had changed intocolorful and expensive attires as well. The 2 of them got on the way again. Sometimes one ofthem rode in front while the other one followed, othertimes they rode side-by-side. The season of Spring was inits full glory south of the the Yangtze, willows brushedpeople's shoulder on the road, flower fragrances filling theair and people's hearts, and plants were starting to sproutin the farms.

In order to distract her thoughts and lessen her troubles,Yan Lie kept on talking to her about varies randomsubjects. Bao XiRuo's father was an unaccomplishedscholar in a little village, her husband and his swornbrother were both straightforward and unrefined men. Soshe had never met someone as refined, gentlemanly, andknowledgeable as him. When they talk she felt that everyword, every sentence that he said was greatly intelligentand thought-provoking, she could not help but secretlylook at him in wonder. However, they kept on headingnorth and getting further and further away from LinAn, notonly did he never once mentioned about revenge, he didnot even bring up the subject of a proper burial for herhusband. Finally, she could not keep it in anymore andasked: "Mr. Yan, what are your plans regarding myhusband's body?"

Yan Lie relied: "It's not that I don't want to search for yourhusband's body and give him a proper burial but I killedgovernment officials when I rescued Madame, so right nowit is very dangerous for me there. As soon as I showmyself around LinAh, I would no doubt be killed bysoldiers. Besides, right now the soldiers are all over theplace looking for Madame. After all, your husband didcommit treason by killing officials, this is a huge crime. Ifhis relatives are captured, men are executed and womenare made into prostitutes for the soldiers. Dying for me isno big deal, but if nobody was around to protect Madameand the soldiers catch you, I could not bear and think ofthe consequences. Even in the nether world, I would besaddened beyond my own imagination." Seeing howhonest and sincere he looked, Bao XiRuo nodded. Yan Liecontinued: "I have thought this over thoroughly, the mostimportant thing right now is to give you husband a properburial. So we are going to JiaXing, then I can take outsome money and get someone to take care of it at LinAn.If Madame has to do it by herself, then let me settle you

If Madame has to do it by herself, then let me settle youdown in JiaXing and take the risk by myself." Bao XiRuofelt she was asking a bit too much to ask him to take sucha big risk for her and replied: "If Mister can find someonereliable to take care of the whole matter, then that wouldbe for the best." She continued: "My husband had a swornbrother with the surname of Guo, he died with myhusband. I am sorry to trouble you by asking you to try togive him a proper burial as well. I... I...." She startedcrying. Yan Lie replied: "It's no trouble at all, just leave it all tome. As for revenge, that bastard Duan TianDe is agovernment official, so killing him is not easy. Besides, heis extra careful right now, all we can do is patiently waitfor our chance." Bao XiRuo only wanted to kill him toavenge her husband and then follow him into the netherworld. Even though Yan Lie's every word was true, shedidn't know how long she would have to wait for this tohappen. In a moment of impatience, she started to sobloudly. In between sobs, she replied: "I really don't knowabout revenge. Even a hero like my husband could notdefeat him. I... I'm just a weak woman, what... what can Ido? Just let me die and join my husband and that'll bethat."

Feeling that the situation was truly difficult, Yan Liethought for a long while before finally saying: "Madame,do you trust me?" Bao XiRuo nodded. Yan Lie continued:"The only thing we can do now is to head up north to avoidthe soldiers. The Song officials can't chase us if we are upnorth. So as soon as we cross the Yangtze, we should beout of danger. We'll wait until things have cooled downbefore returning down south and avenge your husband.Madame, please rest assured. I will take care of this wholematter of justice for your husband." Bao XiRuo hesitated: "I am homeless without any relativesin the world, if I don't follow him, where can a woman likemyself settle down in this world? The faces of the soldiersthat night were beastly, if I had fallen into their hands, Iwould definitely suffer a fate worse than death itself. Yetthis man is not a friend nor a relative, should a widow likeme be traveling together with a young man like him? If Itried to kill myself right now, he would without a doubtstop me." She felt lost, the only thing she was sure of isthat the future will be difficult. Thinking forward andlooking back like this, she felt as if her intestines werebeing twisted. For several days straight now she had shedtears and now it seems as if she has ran out of tears toshed.

Yan Lie spoke up: "If Madame feels that any part of myplan is bad, then please tell me. There is nothing Iwouldn't do for you." Seeing how accommodating he is,Bao XiRuo actually felt a little bad about hesitating. Otherthan committing suicide, she really could not find anotherway out. Having no other choice, she lowered her headand replied: "Why don't you take care of it."

Yan Lie could not be happier: "I will forever be gratefulthat Madame saved my life. Madame...." Bao XiRuointerrupted him: "You don't have to mention that matterever again." Yan Lie replied: "Yes, yes of course."

That night, the 2 of them stopped at an inn in the town ofXiaShi, still only getting one room. Ever since Bao XiRuoagreed to go up north with him, Yan Lie's actions have notbeen as gentlemanly and proper as before, for once in awhile, his excitement would get out of hand. Bao XiRuo feltan indistinct notion that something might not beappropriate. But seeing that he had not shown even theslightest trace of getting any ideas, she figured that hemust be a little too excited about being able to fully showhis gratitude.

The 2 of them reached JiaXin at noon the next day. JiaXinis a big city in the western parts of ZheJiang. Since thiswas the place where many trade routes come together, ithad always been a very prosperous place. When the Songdynasty moved south, JiaXin had also become much closerto the capital, thus becoming even more prosperous andbustling.

Yan Lie suggested: "Let's find an inn and rest up for a bit."Bao XiRuo was worried about soldiers finding them andsaid: "It's still early, we can still cover some ground." YanLie replied: "The stores here aren't half bad. Madame'sclothing is old and worn, have to buy some new ones."This surprised Bao XiRuo as she took a moment to recoverand replied: "Didn't you just buy this yesterday? How is italready old and worn?" Yan Lie answered: "There were alotof dust on the way, after wearing the same clothes for acouple of days it is no longer colorful anymore. Besides, asbeautiful as Madame is, how can Madame possibly notwear the best clothing in the world?"

Hearing him praising her beauty, Bao XiRuo was secretlyhappy inside, but she lowered her head and said: "I am inthe middle of paying my respects...." Yan Lie immediatelycut her off: "Yes, of course. I understand." Bao XiRuo didnot say anything more. Her husband had never praised herbeauty to her face like this before, she peeked over at YanLie and saw only sincerity on his face. At once her heartshook, but she couldn't figure out if it was from happinessor sadness. Yan Lie asked around and went to the biggest hotelaround, "Elegant Waters Hotel". After washing up, the YanLie and Bao XiRuo ate some snacks together, sitting acrossfrom each other. Bao XiRuo wanted to ask him for aseparate room but didn't know how to word it. Her facechanged colors several times for this was a heavy burdenon her heart. After a bit, Yan Lie spoke up: "Madame,please make yourself at home. I'm going out to buy somethings and coming right back afterwards." Bao XiRuonodded: "Please don't spent too much money." Yan Liesmiled and replied: "Pity that Madame is wearingmourning apparel and can't wear any jewelry. Even if I

mourning apparel and can't wear any jewelry. Even if Iwant to spend too much I can't."

Last edited by Mojo Jojo; 03-21-05 at 08:04 PM.

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03-14-05, 09:51 AM

(Moinllieon)

Chapter 2: Seven Weirdos of the South

Just as Yan Lie walked out of the door, he saw a middleaged scholar walking this way in the hallway, dragging hisboots and yawning constantly; he was sort of smiling butnot really and kept on giving him curious looks, all thewhile looking very slack and lazy. He was covered with dirtand oil and his clothings were a mess, obviously haven'ttook a shower in a long time. He had an old and brokenblack oil paper fan in hand that he was fanning as he waswalking.

Seeing such an obviously refined scholar looking so dirty,Yan Lie frowned and picked up his pace in fear of gettingsome dirt on himself. Suddenly that scholar beganlaughing very drily, a laugh that was very harsh to theear; when walking by him, he naturally reached out withhis fan and patted Yan Lie on the shoulder. Even thoughYan Lie knew kungfu, he was not able to get out of theway in time, this set him off and he shouted: "What doyou think you are doing?"

The scholar laughed drily a bit more as he kept onwalking, dragging his boots all through the hallway andsaid to the manager: "Hey, fellow, even though your oldman here is looking really rough, I have lots of money.Some people you have to watch out for though, they trickpeople with their nice and refined looks. They put up ashow to everyone, seducing women, eat free food, live inhotels for free, you know the type, so be on the lookoutfor them. To be safe, make them pay the bill beforehand."He didn't wait for the manager to respond before walkingoff, still dragging his boots. Yan Lie got even madder,knowing that that whole talk was aimed at him.

After that little comment from the scholar, the managerturned his sights towards Yan Lie as he couldn't help butget a little suspicious; walking up to Yan Lie, he yawned alittle, smiled and said: "Sir, please don't mind too much,it's not that I want to be impolite...." Yan Lie knew whathe meant as he humphed and replied: "Put this money on

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the drawer!" He put his hand into his shirt to take themoney out and was shocked. There was at least 40 or 50taels of silver on him, but nothing was there now that hewas looking for it. The manager saw the expression on hisface and actually thought that the scholar's words weretrue, immediately his expression became less polite as hethrusted his chest out and asked: "What? No money?"

Yan Lie replied: "Wait here, I'm going to get some rightnow." He thought that he had forgot his money while hewas in a hurry to leave; but as it turns out when he wentback and looked into the bag that he had with him, all thetaels of gold was gone as well. As to where this moneywent off to, he had no idea at all; he thought: "Just a bitago Madame Bao and I both went to the water closet, butthat was only several minutes or so, how could anyonehave entered and mess around with the room? The thieveshere in JiaXin are really getting good." The manager stuck his head in through the door andlooked around, seeing that he does not have any money,he went off: "Is this woman your wife? If you're doingsomething indecent, then don't bring it here because it'llbring us trouble as well!" Bao XiRuo was thoroughlyembarrassed as her entire face turned burning red. Yan Lietook one quick step towards the door and swung his arm,slapping the manager so hard that his face was coveredwith blood and lost several teeth. The manager had hisface in his hands as he began to scream: "Alright! Firstyou don't pay, now you want to fight!" Yan Lie addedanother kick on his behind and the manager went rollingout of the room.

In shock, Bao XiRuo suggested: "Let's get out of here, wecan't stay here anymore." Yan Lie smiled: "Don't worry, ifwe don't have any money then we'll just ask them forsome." He grabbed a chair and sat down by the door. Notlong afterwards, the manager came back with 12 or somen, each with clubs and sticks in hand as they chargedinto the yard. Yan Lie let out a big laugh and shouted: "Soyou guys want a fight?" He suddenly jumped out andconveniently grabbed a stick from one of the men; fakingleft and hitting right, in a blink of an eye he had alreadyknocked 4 or 5 men down. These ruffians usually only getby using intimidation and bullying the weak, but seeingthat this time the opponent was actually a match for them,they immediately threw down their weapons andscrambled out of the yard; those who were on the groundwere crawling and rolling with all their might in fear ofbeing left behind.

Bao XiRuo, who had been scared out of her mind a longtime ago, said in a shaky voice: "Things are getting out ofhand, the authorities might catch wind of this." Yan Liesmiled and replied: "I want the authorities to show up."Bao XiRuo could not figure out his plan, so she decided tostay quiet and see.

After not even an hour's time, a ruckus occurred outside

After not even an hour's time, a ruckus occurred outsideas 10 or so government henchmen came bursting in withiron sabres in hand, the rings on the sabres were bangingagainst each other, making all kinds of noise; theyshouted up above the cacophony: "Not only kidnapping,but assault as well, how dare he? Where is theperpetrator?" Yan Lie sat there motionless in that chair.Seeing his fancy cloth and his proud arrogance, thehenchmen didn't really dare to charge up. The leader ofthe bunch shouted: "Ay! What's your name? What are youdoing here in JiaXin?" Yan Lie shouted back: "Go get GaiYunCong!"

Gai YunCong was the governor of the prefecture of JiaXin,hearing that he dared to speak their boss's name directly,the henchmen were both shocked and furious, the leadershouted: "Are you crazy? How dare you shout theHonorable Governor Gai's name in public!" Yan Lie tookout an envelope from inside his shirt and put it down onthe table, he looked up at the ceiling and said: "Take thisto Gai YunCong and see if he comes or not!" The leadertook the envelope, seeing the words on the envelope, hetook a step back in shock; not sure if it was real or not, hewhispered to the other henchmen: "Look after him, don'tlet him get away." He then went flying off. Bao XiRuo justsat there in the room nervously, not knowing what willhappen next.

Soon another 10 or so government henchmen camerunning in, along with them walked in 2 men wearingofficial uniforms who scrambled in front of Yan Lie andkneeled while saying: "Humble Governor Gai YunCong ofthe city of JiaXin and Administrator Jiang Wen of thecounty of XiuShui are honored to meet your excellency.Your humble servant did not know that your excellencyhad arrived, so please forgive us for not welcoming youproperly." Yan Lie waved his hand a little and shifted hisweight slightly: "I lost a little bit of money in this countyand would like to request you 2 genius judges toinvestigate the matter a little." Gai YunCong immediatelynodded: "Yes, of course." He then waved his arm, 2 of thehenchmen came walking up with a plate in each of theirhands, one of them was glowing yellow because of thegold on it, the other one, needless to say, had silver on it.

Gai YunCong spoke up: "To think that there are suchbrazen thieves under my jurisdiction, it is my fault as well.Hope your excellency would first accept this as a slightcompensation." Yan Lie smiled and nodded. Gai YunCongreverentially held up that envelope and said: "Your humbleservant had just cleaned up my humble dwellings andwould be honored if your excellency and madame wouldmove in there." Yan Lie replied: "This place isn't too bad, Ilike the peace and quiet here," his face suddenlydarkened, "don't come around disturbing us anymore." GaiYunCong immediately nodded and said: "Yes, yes ofcourse! If your excellency still want anything, then pleasedo not hesitate at all to come and tell your humble

do not hesitate at all to come and tell your humbleservant." Yan Lie did not reply, only shaking his head andwaving his arm repeatedly. The 2 men quickly led all thehenchmen away.

The manager had long been scared out of his wits as theowner of the place dragged him out, kneeled down, andkowtowed in order to ask for mercy on them both, sayingthat as long as they are left alive, they are willing towhatever other punishment that might come their way.Yan Lie took out an ingot of silver from the plate, threw itdown on the floor, and said smiling: "Take it, it's a reward.Now get out of my sight." The manager couldn't quitebelieve it all, but the owner saw that Yan Lie had no ill willon his expression, so he immediately picked up the ingotof silver, kowtowed a couple of times, and dragged themanager out of sight in fear that Yan Lie might change hismind.

Bao XiRuo could not quite believe what she just saweither: "What kind of magic does that envelope have? Howcome when the authorities were scared out of their witswhen they saw it?" Yan Lie smiled: "I actually have nopower over them really, but these officials are justhopeless. Zhao Kuo only has this kind of people servinghim, if he doesn't lose the country, then there is no justicein the world." Bao XiRuo asked: "Zhao Kuo, who is that?"Yan Lie casually replied: "The present Song Emperor NingZong." Shocked, Bao XiRuo immediately admonished:"Quiet! How can you say His Majesty's name out loud likethat?" Seeing that she cared about his safety, Yan Lie wasecstatic; smiling, he said: "It's no big deal if I say it outloud. Up north, what do we call him if we don't call himZhao Kuo?" Bao XiRuo was confused: "Up north?" Yan Lienodded and was about to explain when suddenly hurriedhoof beats suddenly come from outside as 10 or so riderscame and stopped in front of the door. Some redness hadjust returned to Bao XiRuo's white face; but upon hearingthe hoof beats, events of that night all came back to her,making her face turn white as a sheet again. But Yan Liewas frowning, looking as if he wasn't quite pleased.

Then came sound of boots as another several soldiers infine clothing came walking in. Upon seeing Yan Lie, theirfaces immediately broke out into a smile as theysimultaneously shouted: "Your Majesty!" All of themkneeled down and saluted. Yan Lie smiled: "You guys arefinally here." Hearing that they would call Yan Lie "YourMajesty", Bao XiRuo was both surprised and puzzled. Asthose men got up off the floor, she noticed that they wereall very strong and well built. Yan Lie waved his arm a bitand said: "Go wait outside." The soldiers all answered andran out. Yan Lie turned to Bao XiRuo: "How do you thinkmy men compare with those Song soldiers?" Bao XiRuowas even more surprised: "They are not Song soldiers?"Yan Lie smiled: "I guess I have to come clean now, theyare all Great Jin's elite soldiers!" He could not help butlaugh out of pride.

laugh out of pride.

Bao XiRuo suddenly realized: "Then... you... you are..."Yan Lie smiled and answered: "To tell madame the truth,my surname need one more word: 'Wan', and my givenname also has one more word: 'Hong'. WanYan HongLie,the 6th Prince of the Great Jin, titled as the Lord Zhao, atyour service."

Ever since she was little, Bao XiRuo had heard from herfather the devious ways that the Jins took the land of herGreat Song, the shame of the capture of the 2 emperors,and the cruelty with which the Jins torture and treat theHan peasants up north. It was the same after she marriedYang TieXin, who hated the Jins even more. But to find outthat the person that she had spent all this time with theselast couple days was actually a prince of the Jins, she wasleft speechless in shock.

Seeing the expression on her face change, WanYanHongLie smiled and continued: "I have always beenfascinated by the south. So last year I asked my father tolet me travel down to LinAn as the ambassador of goodwill for the new years. On a side note, the Emperor ofSong still owed a couple hundred thousand taels of silverin annual tribute, so father wanted me to get those on mytrip as well." Bao XiRuo interrupted: "Annual tribute?"WanYan HongLie replied: "Yes, the Song emperors, inorder to convince us not to invade, pays us a tribute everyyear in silk and silver. But they always say something interms of not enough revenue was generated throughtaxes, so they never just gave us the tributestraightforward. This time I didn't leave any grounds forHan TuoZhuo to back to. I told him that if he didn't get allthe money together within the month, I would personallylead an army down to collect it ourselves so he doesn'thave to worry about it anymore." Bao XiRuo interruptedagain: "What did Chancellor Han say?" WanYan HongLieproudly replied: "What can he say? I haven't even leftLinAn, the silk and silver were all north of the river! Haha!"Seeing Bao XiRuo looking downwards and not responding,he went on: "Actually, this tribute stuff doesn't really needme, any plain emissary would have done the job. What Ireally wanted to do was to see the south, to experience itsbeauty, to meet its people for myself. Who's to know that Iwould meet madame, I dare not hope for such goodfortune." Bao XiRuo was still at a lost as to what to makeof the situation and did not reply. WanYan HongLieoffered: "I'm off to buy some clothes for madame now."Bao XiRuo replied with her head down: "No need." WanYanHongLie smiled and said: "The traveling money ChancellorHan gave me under the table wouldn't be gone if I boughta new set of cloth for madame everyday for 1000 years.Madame, don't worry, my soldiers are stationed all aroundhis place, nobody would dare to trouble you." After hefinished, he walked off. Bao XiRuo thought about all thathas happened since she has met him, a royal prince likehim, treating her as politely as he does, what does he planto do? Then her thoughts drifted to her husband's love and

to do? Then her thoughts drifted to her husband's love andcare for her, and yet he was still killed and left her herealone, she really didn't know what she should do or coulddo. In desperation and confusion, all she could do wasclutch her pillow and cry her heart out.

WanYan HongLie put the gold and silver into his shirt andwalked out onto the street. Seeing the friendly attitude ofthe people and the place, compounded by the fact thateven though most of them were peasants, there were stillmany refined and educated people, he could not but beimpressed. Suddenly, hurried hoof beats came from aheadof him as a horse galloped through the streets towardshim. This street wasn't wide to begin with, now it was filledwith people and merchants, add that to the fact thatpeople have sent up small vendor booths on both side ofthe street, how could a horse gallop through it? WanYanHongLie immediately dodged onto the side of the street asin a blink of an eye a yellow horse came bursting outthrough the crowd of people. This was no ordinary horse,it was tall and fit, with muscles rippling through its body,obviously it was a very rare thoroughbred. WanYanHongLie was just admiring the horse when he looked up atthe rider and was surprised yet again. Such a beautifulhorse, but the rider was a sorry looking fellow who wasboth short and fat, he looked like a giant swab of meatriding on that horse. This person's arms and legs wereamazingly short, he did not have a neck, yet his head wasextraordinarily big, as if his neck was sucked into hisshoulders. Seems rather odd really, that horse wasgalloping through the crowd of people at full speed, yet itdid not run into a single person or knock over a singleobject. His hooves landed on the ground softly and nimbly,jumping over pottery, stepping besides vegetables, everytime it seemed to be flashing through some non-existentgap in the crowd, as if this crowded street was a wideopen plain to it. WanYan HongLie could no longer containhimself and shouted out loud: "Excellent!"

Hearing that praise, that short chubby fellow turned hishead and glanced at him. WanYan HongLie noticed that hisentire face was covered with red spots caused by drinkingtoo much wine; his wine nose was big and round as well asequally red, as if there was a red tomato stuck on his face.He thought to himself: "Such an excellent horse, I have tohave it, no matter the price." At this moment, 2 kidsplaying tag ran onto the street just in front of the horse.They came out of nowhere and gave the horse quite ascare as it did not get out of the way. The horse's left footwas just about to land on the kid when the rider lifted upthe reins and jumped off of the saddle. Suddenly becominglighter, the horse's stride became higher and longer, easilyflying over the kid's head. That rider then softly and gentlylanded back onto the saddle.

Shocked, WanYan HongLie's immediately decided thateven though there were a great number of skilled ridersamong the Jins, none were a match for him. If he could

among the Jins, none were a match for him. If he couldget this man to go back with him to train the calvary, thenhis calvary would be almost invincible, this was somethingmuch more important to him than a great horse. This tripsouth, he made mental notes on where an army could bestationed and where the rivers could be crossed, he evenasked around for the skills and names of everyadministrator in the counties he crossed. Seeing theamazing skill of this short fellow, he couldn't believe howstupid the Song authorities were for letting a talent likethis go to waste. So he decided then and there that he wasgoing to somehow convince this man to go back toYianJing with him. Having made the decision, heimmediately started running after them, fearing that thehorse's speed would lose him. He was just about to shoutat them when he saw the horse had ran to the corner ofthe street and stopped. This was quite unexpected to himas he figured with the speed that the horse was running hewould have to be slowly come to a stop, yet this horse wasable to stop on a dime. This is something he had neverever seen before, even some great kungfu practitionerswouldn't be able to just come to a complete stop whenthey are exerting themselves like this. The short, fat fellowjumped off the horse and charged into a building.

WanYan HongLie hurried to in front of the building, insidethe building was erected a large wooden sign: "HandedDown from Venus", it was a 2-storied restaurant. Lookingup, a huge sign hanging from the roof had the words"Pavilion of Drunken Goddess" written on it, thecalligraphy was very elegant; on the side was written, insmaller letters, "By Resident DongPo", turns out that thewords were written by Su DongPo. {One of the greatestscholars during the Song dynasty as well as all of Chinesehistory.} Seeing the grandeur of this restaurant, WanYanHongLie thought: "Since he is here, then I might as wellinvite him to a great big meal, that way I can becomegreat friends with him and everything after that would besimple." Suddenly, that fellow came running down fromupstairs to the horse's side with a wine jug in hand.WanYan HongLie immediately got out of the way.

Now that he is standing on the ground, the fellow lookseven more out of proportion. He wasn't over 1.5 metershigh, yet he was almost 1.5 meters wide as well. Thathorse just had to be very tall in stature because of its longlegs, his head was barely as high as the stirrup on thehorse. He placed the wine jug in front of the horse, gentlyhit the jug a couple of times, and then casually picked thetop half of the jug off, turning the jug into a gigantic bowlwith wine in it. The horse stood up on its hindlegs and letout a huge neigh before bending back down and drankfrom the bowl. From the sweet fragrance in the air,WanYan HongLie could tell that the wine was actually thefamed wine "Blushing Daughter" {Nu-Er Hong} fromShaoXing county in ZheJiang province. And from thefragrance it had at least been left sitting for more than 10years.

years.

The short, fat fellow walked back into the restaurant andtossed a huge silver ingot onto the owner's desk: "Prepare3 tables of the best food, 2 of them can have meat andwine, the other one can't." The owner smiled and replied:"Right away, Mr. Han. We just received 4 SaiLu Fish fromSong River, they are the best when served with wine.Please take the money back Mr. Han, we'll sort out all thatlater." The short, chubby fellow rolled his eyes andshouted: "What's the matter? Eating and drinking are free?Do you think I'm broke and just bum off of other people?"Still with a smile on his face, the owner argued no furtheras he turned and shouted: "Men, prepare some really goodstuff for Mr. Han!" The cooks and waiters all around theplace answered back and went about their jobs. WanYan HongLie was taking all this in: "Although he'sdressed plainly, he spends money like a wealthy man; andjudging from how everyone is treating him with suchmanners, he's probably a powerful men in JiaXing. Lookslike convincing him to go up north with me to teach horseriding is going to be quite difficult. Let's see who are allthe people he's inviting to lunch before going any further."So he went into the restaurant, sat down at a table by thewindow, and ordered a couple of small dishes along with acatty of wine.

Pavilion of Drunken Goddess was situated on the shores ofthe South Lake. The lake surface was covered by a lightfog as several small boats were slowly making their wayaround the lake. Green and smooth looking water caltropleaves cover about half of the lake. Upon seeing such asight, he immediately felt relaxed and at peace. JiaXing isa famous city of the ancient state of Yue, the plums grownhere were sweet and delicious like the best wines. Soduring the Spring and Autumn Period this place was calledZuiLi, meaning Drunken Plums. It was also here that thefamed Lord of Yue, Gou Jian, had thoroughly defeated thefamed Lord of Wu, He Lu, for this place was the point atwhich travelers and merchants between the 2 states cametogether. The South Lake here was famous for anotherthing, the green water caltrops grown in it. Not only arethe stalk of the caltrops sweet and smooth, they are alsocrunchy and refreshing, deservedly proclaimed as the bestin the world, causing a lot of caltrop to be grown in thelake. It was right in the middle of Spring, the lake wasclean and the leaves were green, as if someone hadcovered a sheet of jade glass with small pieces of jadeite.

WanYan HongLie was just enjoying the scene when hesuddenly noticed a single boat came flying into view. Thisboat was unusually narrow in width and the head of theboat was extraordinarily high, along the side of the boatthere were 2 rows of waterfowls. At first he didn't paymuch attention to it, but in a blink of an eye, that boat hadovertaken another boat that was far in front of it. Thespeed at which the boat was going was astounding, soon ithad neared, WanYan HongLie saw that there was personsitting in the middle of the boat; another person wearing a

sitting in the middle of the boat; another person wearing astraw cape sat at the end steering the boat, surprisingly itwas a girl. She had to only lightly flicked the oar in thewater and the boat would shoot forward like an arrow.That one flicked had to be at least powerful enough tomove an 100 catty object, it was odd enough that a girlwould be so strong, but how could she exert such a forcethrough a wooden oar? A few more strokes and the boathad neared the pavilion. The sun shined down onto theoar, turned out the oar was made of copper. The girl tiedthe boat to one of the wooden posts besides the stonestaircase next to the pavilion and nimbly jumped ashore.The man sitting in the middle of the boat put a pole with aload of firewood on each end on his shoulders and followedher ashore. The 2 of them walked up into the pavilion. Thegirl shouted at the fat, chubby fellow: "Third Brother!" Sheproceeded to sit down next to him. The fat guy greeted:"Fourth Brother, Little Sister, you 2 showed up early."When WanYan HongLie sized the 2 newcomers up, henoticed that the girl was about 17 or 18 of age with aslender body, big eyes, long eye-lashes, and snow whiteskin, she was obviously a local girl from south of theYangtze. She had the copper oar in her left hand and tookoff her straw hat with her right hand, revealing a head ofsoft, shining, black hair. WanYan HongLie mused:"Although this girl isn't as beautiful as Madame Bao, she isstill very attractive in another way."

The man carrying the firewood was about 30 or so, hisclothing was all green colored with a belt made of strawaround his waist and straw sandals on his foot. His handsand feet were huge and his face was without emotion. Heput down the 2 loads of wood and rested his carrying poleagainst the table. "Errrrr"! The entire table was pushedseveral centimeters by the weight of the pole. Shocked,WanYan HongLie inspected the pole closely, but there wasnothing out of the ordinary with this pole, it was black andsmooth all over with a slight curve in the middle and 2little covers on either end. For this pole to be that heavy, ithad to be made of iron of some other kind of heavy metal.A wooden ax hung around this man's waist, there weresome noticeable dents on the blade of the ax. The 2 of them had just sat down when foot steps came infrom the stairs as 2 more men came walking up. The girlshouted: "Fifth, Sixth Brother, did you 2 come together?"The first man was big and tall, at least 130 or 140kilograms, he wore an apron around his waist. His bodywas naturally oily and his top of his shirt was open,revealing some of what must be a chest full of hair. Hissleeves were all rolled up as well and his arms werecovered with black hair that's several centimeters long andaround his waist was a foot-long knife. From hisappearence he was a butcher. The one behind him wasunusually short with a small felt hat on his head and asmall scale and bamboo basket in his hands; looking justlike a street vendor. WanYan HongLie could not help butwonder: "These 3 people obviously know kungfu, yet theycall these 2 average city dwellers brothers?"

call these 2 average city dwellers brothers?" Suddenly there came a constant knocking outside on thestreet, like those made from metal hitting stone. Theknocking slowly came up the staircase, and a blind mandressed in ragged clothing followed. He looked around 40years of age, his lips were sharp and his cheekbones werepronounced. His face looked gray and seemed full of hateand anger. The 5 people sitting at the table all stood upand greeted: "Big Brother!" The girl lightly knocked on theseat of one of the chairs: "Big Brother, you sit here." Thatblind man replied: "Alright, is Second Brother here yet?"That butcher looking man replied: "Second Brother hasarrived in JiaXing, he should be here any time soon." Thegirl laughed: "Speak of the devil!" The sound of someonedragging his boots as he walked came from the staircase.

Before WanYan HongLie figured it all out, up the stairscame a dirty rotten fan, the fan was flicked a couple oftimes, only then did a poor, lackadaisical scholar camewalking up, the very one that he had met earlier in thehotel. A thought popped in WanYan HongLie's mind: "Hemust have been the one that took my money...." Just ashis anger was coming on, the man shot a smile at him andthen stuck his tongue out and made a face; only then didhe turn to the others and greet them, turns out that hewas second among them. WanYan HongLie speculated:"Looks like everyone of them are kungfu masters, if I cansomehow take them under my wings, they would be anenormous amount of help to everything. As for the smallmatter of the poor scholar taking my money, that could beeasily forgiven. Best to see what's going on first." Thatpoor and pedantic scholar downed a cup of wine, thenproceeded to, still shaking his head from one side toanother, loudly orating: "Dishonorable riches... let it go ...The Jade Emperor {Yu Huang Da Di, the Supreme Diety inTaoism whose kingdom the Monkey King smashed in TheJourney West}... will get mad!" As he was reciting theselines, he reached into his shirt and took out one gold orsilver ingot after another and neatly lined them up on thetable. In total there were 8 ingots of silver and 2 ingots ofgold.

From these ingots' color and shape, WanYan HongLie knewthat these were his. But he did not get mad; on thecontrary, this piqued his interest even more: "Entering myroom and stealing the money isn't hard, but he onlytapped my shoulder one time with his fan, yet he was ableto steal all the money that was inside my shirt without mydetection. That magical hand skill of his is indeedsomething rarely seen in this world."

From the actions of these 7 men, it seemed like they weredoing the inviting, inviting 2 tables of men here for adrink. Because guests hadn't arrived yet, the 7 of themwere only drinking some light wine and the dishes haven'tbeen brought out either. But on the other 2 tables wereonly placed one pair of chopsticks each, then that meansthere were only 2 guests. WanYan HongLie mused: "These

there were only 2 guests. WanYan HongLie mused: "These7 weirdos are waiting for guests, wonder what kind ofweird guests they would have?" After waiting for about thetime it would take to boil a pot of water, a voice came upfrom downstairs: "Amida Buddha!" The blind man spokeup: "Father Burnt-Wood is here!" He stood up; the other 6weirdos followed him as they all stood up in preparation towelcome the guest. "Amida Buddha!" The voice said againas a monk that looked every bit like a withered piece ofwood came walking up the stairs. This monk was about 40or so, he was wearing a yellow monk robe and in his handwas a piece of wood with one end burnt black, althoughit's unclear what it's used for.

After the monk and the 7 of them went through the formalgreetings, the poor scholar led him to one of the emptytables and all of them sat down. The monk rose slightlyout of his seat in respect and said: "That person came allthe way to our gates, I knew that I was no match for him.Now that the 7 Heroes of the South are willing to lend ahand, I could not be anymore grateful."

The blind man replied: "Father Burnt Wood, you do notneed to be so polite. We 7 brothers and sisters have allbeen dependent upon Father now and then, now thatFather is in trouble, how could we not get involved?Besides, that man came and, relying entirely upon hiskungfu skills, made trouble for Father for no reason; it isclear that he thinks nothing of all of us here in the martialworld around here. Even if Father did not ask us, we wouldhave came had we found out about...." He hadn't finished what he was going to say when thestairs started to sound like as if it was going to collapse,like a huge, heavy beast, if not an elephant then a hugewater buffalo, was walking up the stairs. The owner of theplace and the waiters were all screaming downstairs: "Ay!You idiot, you can't take that up there!" "The stairs aregoing to collapse!" "Quick, quick, stop him, get him backdown here!" But the sound of wood bending got louder andlouder. "Crack"! One of the pieces of wood snapped. Soon2 more pieces snapped as well. For a moment WanYan HongLie wasn't sure what he wasseeing, a Taoist monk came walking up the stairs with ahuge copper vat in his hands. After taking another look, hewas scared out of his wits; the Taoist monk was Son ofEternal Spring Qiu ChuJi.

WanYan HongLie's mission as emissary to the SongImperial Courts was to coerce some of the officials of theSong court so that when they eventually invade Souththere would be agents lending a hand from the inside aswell. The Song Emissary, Wang DaoKun, that accompaniedhim down from YanJing (Present Day BeiJing) was greedyand corrupt, he had already secretly sworn allegiance tothe Jin dynasty. When they arrived at LinAn, he was theone that did the legwork for WanYan HongLie. Butunexpectedly he was suddenly killed by a Taoist monk;even his head, heart, and liver was gone. Shocked, and infear that someone had found out about his plan, WanYan

fear that someone had found out about his plan, WanYanHongLie decided to lead his bodyguards and, with the bestcity guards of LinAn leading the way, personally chasedown the assassin. When they chased to Ox Village themet up with Qiu ChuJi; but unexpectedly, this Taoist monkwas a kungfu master. WanYan HongLie hadn't even madea move before he was shot through the shoulders with anarrow that Qiu ChuJi threw back and the men that camewith him were all killed. If WanYan HongLie had not quietlycrawled away during the confusion of the battle and wasthen rescued by Bao XiRuo, the dignified and honorableroyal prince of the Jin dynasty would have died there in afarm village without even really knowing how. WanYan HongLie forced himself to calm down, and noticedthat Qiu ChuJi glanced at face for a moment before movinghis attention entirely onto Father Burnt Wood and the 7men; obviously, he had not recognized him. Figuring thatthis was because he had been shot as soon as he showedup that night so Qiu ChuJi was not able to see his faceclearly, only then did he feel a little better. But when hiseyes moved onto the copper vat, he was shocked again, somuch so that he almost jumped out of his seat.

This kind of vat was common in temples or shrines andwas commonly used for burning papers and fake moneyfor the dead. It was more than a meter across and wasprobably around 200 kilograms or so. From the vat camethe sweet smell of wine, obviously it was filled withexpensive wine, which without a doubt added a lot moreweight to the vat. But he did not seem to be using anystrength in his arm at all. Every step he took thefloorboards moaned and bent from the weight. Panicengulfed the bottom level as the owner, waiters, cooks, allthe patrons, and everyone else scrambled out, fearing thatthe entire floor would collapse on top of them.

Coldly, Father Burnt-Wood spoke up: "Honored that myTaoist brother would show yourself here, but what's thepoint in bringing the paper burning vat from our humblelittle temple? Let me introduce you to the 7 Heroes of theSouth!" Qiu ChuJi made a respectful gesture with his lefthand and said: "Humble Taoist just visited your holytemple when I heard from the other monks there thatFather was inviting me for a drink at Pavilion of DrunkenGoddess. I figured that Father would have undoubtedlyinvited some other friend, turns out I was right. I havelong admired the 7 Heroes of the South, so fortunatetoday to meet your acquaintance." Father Burnt-Woodturned to the 7 oddballs and said: "This here is Man ofEternal Spring Qiu ChuJi of QuanZhen Sect, I'm sureeveryone has heard of him." Turning around to Qiu ChuJi,he pointed at the blind man and continued: "This is thehead of the 7 Heroes, the hero Ke, Flying Bat Ke ZhenE."He followed by introducing the others, all the whileWanYan HongLie giving this all his attention andmemorizing their names. Number 2 in rank was that poorand downtrodden scholar that stole his money, namedMagic Hands Scholar Zhu Cong. The fat, short fellow that

Magic Hands Scholar Zhu Cong. The fat, short fellow thatarrived first was Horse God Han BaoJu, he ranked 3rd. Thepeasant that carried the load of firewood was number 4,his name was Wood Chopper of the Southern MountainsNan XiRen. Ranked number 5 was that huge and butcherlooking man, Smiling Dhuda Zhang AhSheng. The littlevendor looking fellow's surname was Quan, JinFa was hisgiven name, and his nickname was Hidden Hero of theBustling City. That fisher girl was called Yue Maiden SwordHan XiaoYing, obviously the youngest of the 7 Heroes.

All the while Father Burnt-Wood was introducing everyone,Qiu ChuJi would always very respectfully bow a little as asign of respect, but his right hand was still holding up thevat and there was no sign of fatigue at all. A few of thebraver ones of the people downstairs saw that there wasno immediate danger and actually walked back in to seewhat's going on.

Ke ZhenE spoke up: "People call us 7 brothers and sistersthe 7 Weirdos because we are a rather odd collection ofcharacters; we dare not assume the name '7 Heroes' thatFather Burnt-Wood called us. All of us have long admiredthe famed 7 Disciples of QuanZhen, especially that of Manof Eternal Spring, whose many chivalrous deeds we haveall heard of. Father Burnt-Wood is a most warm andfriendly man; we can't understand how he could haveoffended Father. If Father here thinks anything of us, thenplease let the 7 of us be a mediator for once. Besides,even though Taoism and Buddhism worship different typesof deity, you 2 gentlemen are still both monks andmembers of the martial world. Why don't we forget andforgive so we can just get together and have a nice littledrink here?" Qiu ChuJi replied: "I have never met Father Burnt-Woodbefore, nor are there any gratitude or revenge betweenthe 2 of us. As long as he hand over 2 people, then Ipersonally will automatically go to China Zen Temple toask for forgiveness." Ke ZhenE asked: "Which 2 people?"Qiu ChuJi replied: "I have 2 very good friends who waskilled by corrupted officials working with the Jins. Theirwidows are all alone in the world. Hero Ke, do you thinkthat I should step into this matter?" When YanLie heardthis, the cup in his hand suddenly shook and some winewas spilled onto the table. Ke ZhenE replied: "It wouldn'teven matter if they are widows of Father's good friends,even if none of us have ever met them, we would step inand do the best we can to take care of them if we knewabout something like this happening. This is somethingthat just should be done without any hesitation." Qiu ChuJiloudly replied: "That's right! I just want Father Burnt-Wood to hand those 2 widows to me! He is a monk, howcould he keep 2 widows in his monastery and not handthem over? The 7 heroes here are reasonable andrighteous people, please do the right thing here!" When he finished saying this, not only was Father Burnt-Wood and the 7 Weirdos shocked, WanYan HongLie wasquite surprised as well. He thought: "Is he actually not

quite surprised as well. He thought: "Is he actually nottalking about Madame Yang and Madame Guo butsomeone else?" Father Burnt-Wood's face was burnt yellowish to beginwith, now it was even more burnt looking. He could notbring himself to reply for a while as he could onlystammer: "You... you... are talking nonsense...nonsense...."

Qiu ChuJi was furious: "You are a man of the martial worldtoo, how dare you do such a shameful deed?" He pushedwith his right hand and the several hundred kilogramsheavy vat with the wine still in it went flying out towardsFather Burnt-Wood. Father Burnt-Wood immediatelyjumped aside.

The people that gathered at the end of the stairs werescared out of their mind as all of them turned around andpushed their way down the stairs in a panic. Smiling Dhuda Zhang AhSheng figured that although thisvat was heavy, he could still be able to handle it with hisstrength. So he stepped up, moved some inner strengthinto his arms, and waited until the vat arrived before he,with a shout, grabbed a hold of the vat. The muscles onhis back and his shoulders bulged out as he was actuallyable to control the vat all by himself. As he lifted the vatup over his head, the amount of force exerted under hisfeet was too great as with one single crack, his left footwent through the floorboards, causing the crowddownstairs to scream. Zhang AhSheng took 2 stepsforward, bent his arms slightly, and, with the move"Opening the Windows to View the Moon", he threw thevat back at Qiu ChuJi. Qiu ChuJi caught the vat with hisright hand and laughed: "7 Weirdos of the South are justlike the rumors say, very deserving of their fame!" Thenhis expression darkened as he turned to Father Burnt-Wood: "What happened to those 2 widows? You areforcing 2 widows to live in your monastery, what for? Ifyou dare to touch a single strand of their hair, I'll smashesyour bones until they are dust and burn down thatmonastery of yours!" Zhu Cong flicked his fan and saidwhile shaking his head: "Father Burnt-Wood is anhonorable and respected monk, how could he do such ashameful thing? Father must have heard of this fromsomeone shameless and despicable. This kind of gossipcan't be trusted."

Qiu ChuJi was still furious: "I saw it with my own eyes,how could that be untrue?" The 7 Weirdos were allsurprised by this. Father Burnt-Wood finally spoke up:"You want to come here and make a name for yourselfhere south of the Yangtze, alright. But you don't need todrag my name through the dirt... you... you... go out intoJiaXing and ask around, see how many people think Iwould do such a thing?" Qiu ChuJi snickered: "Alright, yougot helpers and want to win by sheer numbers. I aminvolved in this matter now, so there's no way you can getaway from this. You are using the sacred ground of youdeity to hide women, that's bad already, but the women's

deity to hide women, that's bad already, but the women'shusbands are the descendants of patriots and they weremurdered."

Ke ZhenE spoke up: "Father accused Father Burnt-Wood ofhiding 2 women, but Father Burnt-Wood denies it. Whydon't all of us go to the temple and see who's right andwho's not. Although I'm blind, my ears are still workingfine." His 6 brothers and sisters immediately agreed withhim.

Qiu ChuJi sneered: "Search the temple? I have alreadysearched it inside and out. But apparently 2 womenwalked in and disappeared. The only possibility is if themonk hands them over." Zhu Cong replied: "So it turnsout that these 2 women aren't women." Qiu ChuJi wasconfused: "What?" Zhu Cong answered with a straightface: "They are fairies and either knows how to turninvisible or become one with the ground!" The other 6weirdos couldn't help but laugh at that remark.Qiu ChuJi was furious: "So you guys are mocking me?Alright, it seems like you guys are taking the monk's side,right?"

Ke ZhenE righteously replied: "Although our kungfu mightbe laughable in the eyes of a master from QuanZhen Sect,but we still have a little bit of a name here south of theYangtze. Ask around, people will say: 'Seven Weirdos ofthe South? They may be crazy, but they are not cowards.'We wouldn't dare bully others, but we can't let others bullyus either." Qiu ChuJi replied: "I have heard much aboutthe good name of the 7 Heroes of the South. This matterdoes not concern you so please do not get involved in thissticky matter and let this monk and me settle it amongourselves. Monk, follow me." He reached out towardsFather Burnt-Wood's wrist. Father Burnt-Wood dipped hiswrist and dodged this move. Seeing that the 2 of themhave started to fight, Horse God Han BaoJu shouted:"Father, why are you being so unreasonable?" Qiu ChuJistepped back and asked: "What do you mean?" Han BaoJureplied: "We trust Father Burnt-Wood, if he says there isn'tthen there really isn't any women. Which man living in themartial world would lie?" Qiu ChuJi replied: "He isn't lying,then am I causing him trouble for no reason whatsoever? Isaw it with my own eyes! If I'm wrong then I'll dig outthese 2 eyeballs and give it to you. I am definitely going tosee this to the end, seems like the 7 of you are definitelygetting involved right?" The 7 Weirdos answeredsimultaneously: "Right!"

Qiu ChuJi replied: "Alright, I'll toast a shot to all 7 heroes.Let's get started after we are finished toasting." He dippedhis right hand and lowered the vat to his mouth. Aftertaking a good shot, he shouted: "If you please!" With oneflick of the hand, the vat went flying towards ZhangAhSheng again.

Zhang AhSheng thought to himself: "If I catch it over my

Zhang AhSheng thought to himself: "If I catch it over myhead like I did last time, then it would be impossible forme to drink out of it wouldn't it?" So he took two stepsback, held his hands in front of his chest, and waited forthe vat. Once it arrived, he threw his arms to the side andlet the vat hit him straight on the chest. He was bornchubby so his chest was covered with layers upon layers offat and muscle, which acted like a mattress as the vat hithis chest. He immediately took a deep breath, flexed hischest muscles, brought his arms along the side of the vatwith his arms, and caught the vat. He then lowered hishead and took a huge chug of the wine. "Excellent Wine!"He praised as he suddenly retracted his arms back to thefront of his chest and, before the vat could fall onto thefloor, executed the move "Mountain Moving DoublePalms", sending the vat flying back towards Qiu ChuJi.This move was powerful, fast, and quick, obviously a movefrom a master of kungfu moves. WanYan HongLie wassecretly shocked by what he had just witnessed.

Qiu ChuJi caught the vat and took another gulp beforeshouting: "A toast to Big Brother Ke!" And the vat wentflying towards Ke ZhenE.

A thought shot across WanYan HongLie's mind: "This manis blind, how is he suppose to catch it?" But it turned outthat not only was Ke ZhenE the head of the 7 weirdos, hiskungfu was also the best and he could easily tell where thesmallest of weapons were from the sound they made, sothis huge vat was no problem for him. He just calmly satthere as if he didn't notice anything until the vat was justabout to hit his head. Only then did he suddenly raise hisright arm and hit the bottom of the vat with his staff. Thatstaff spun endlessly at the top of the staff, just like thoseplates at the end of an acrobat's stick. Suddenly his ironstaff moved a little off-center and the vat began to lean asif it was going to fall onto his head. But for some reasonthe vat just could not fall over as it just stayed there,tilted. The wine in the vat poured out of it in a neat littleline, Ke ZhenE opened his mouth and the wine fell neatlyinto it. After taking 3 or 4 mouthfuls, his iron staff movedagain and was again in the middle of the vat bottom. Hepushed his staff upwards and the vat flew straight up; witha swing of the staff, he smacked the vat back towards QiuChuJi with a loud "Bang!" The echoes could still be heardwhen Qiu ChuJi caught it again.

Laughing, Qiu ChuJi commented: "Hero Ke must like tospin plates in his spare time." Ke ZhenE coldly answered:"When I was little, I used to live off of the money I getfrom that little trick." Qiu ChuJi observed: "Not forgettingwhere he comes from is the sign of a real man! FourthBrother Nan, a toast!" I took another gulp from the vatand threw it at him.

Nan XiRen didn't say a word as he waited for the vat toarrive and then lifted his carrying stick to block. "Dang"!The vat was stopped cold in mid-air and began to fall. Nan

The vat was stopped cold in mid-air and began to fall. NanXiRen cupped his hand, scooped up some wine from thevat, and downed it. He held his carrying stick flat, kneeleddown on his right knee with the middle of the carryingstick resting on his left knee. He pushed down on one endof the stick with his right hand and caught the bottom ofthe vat with the other end, flicking the vat up in the aironce again.

He was just about to hit the vat back to Qiu ChuJi whenHidden Hero of the Bustling City Quan JinFa laughed andsaid: "I make a living selling stuff, so I like takingadvantages. So I might as well get a bit of wine withoutdoing anything." He ran up to Nan XiRen's side and, whenthe vat fell back down again, scooped up a bit of wine anddowned it. Suddenly he jumped up and curled his legs sothat the bottom of both of his feet were on to the vat ashe pushed in midair, causing his body to take off like anarrow and the vat to fly off in the opposite directiontowards Qiu ChuJi. His body landed on the side of the walland lightly scaled down. The fan in Magical Hands ScholarZhu Cong's hand did not stop flicking as he could not stopcommenting: "Beautiful, beautiful!"

Qiu ChuJi caught the vat and took another big gulp beforesaying: "Beautiful, beautiful! A toast to Brother Zhu!" ZhuCong shouted in desperation: "Ai-yo! Don't do that! I'mnot even strong enough to subdue a chicken, and I can'thold my alcohol at all! I'll surely drink to death if I'm notsquashed to death first...." Before he finished, the vat wasalready heading his way. Zhu Cong was shouting at thetop of his lungs: "Someone's going to be smashed todeath! Help! Help...." He made a scoop with his fan intothe vat and brought it up to his mouth. Then he turned thefan around and hit the bottom of the vat with it and sent itflying off. "Crack!" The floorboards underneath himsuddenly collapsed, forming a huge hole in the ground andhe fell through it, all the while screaming: "Help! Help!"Everyone present knew that he was just playing around sonobody was really surprised or worried. WanYan HongLie,however, seeing that he was able to flick away a huge vatlike that with a force that was no weaker than that whichcame from Nan XiRen's stick with a small fan like that, wassecretly in shock.

Yue Sword Maiden Han XiaoYing shouted: "My turn for adrink!" She hopped off of her right foot as she took off likea bird. Just as she flew over the top of the vat, shelowered her head and took a gulp before nimbly and gentlylanding on the windowsill on the opposite side of the room.She was skilled at Qing Gong and swordplay and herstrength wasn't up to par, so she figured that there was noway she would be able to catch this vat when it comesflying towards her, tossing it back towards Qiu ChuJi waseven further out of the question. So she seized theopportunity and took her turn using her Qing Gong.

The vat was still flying out onto the street. With the street

crowded like it was, it would be disastrous if the vatlanded outside. Qiu ChuJi was a bit worried and was justabout to jump out onto the street to catch it when hesuddenly a whistle as a person in yellow ran past him.Another whistle and the yellow horse that was downstairshad ran out onto the street.

To the people gathered around, it looked as if the hugeball of meat suddenly hit the vat and fell with it as one.The ball of meat and the vat both landed onto the back ofthe yellow horse. The yellow horse ran forward a couple ofmeters before turning around and running back into thepavilion and up the stairs.

Horse God Han BaoJu's body was actually underneath thebelly of the horse with his left foot was in the stirrup as hisright foot and both of his hands were holding the vat,making it sit neatly in the saddle. The horse was fast andsteady, as if the stairs were flat ground to him. Han BaoJujumped back onto the horse, put his head into the vat andtook a huge mouthful before pushing the vat off onto thefloor with his left hand. Letting out a hearty laugh, hecracked his whip and the horse jumped out of the windowand, like a pegasus, gently landed in the middle of thestreet. Han BaoJu jumped off his horse and walked backup along with Zhu Cong.

Qiu ChuJi complimented: "7 Heroes of the South are reallyas good as the rumors say! I am speechless at the displayof kungfu I have just seen. Giving the 7 heroes face, Ipromise not to cause this monk anymore trouble if hehand over the 2 women and will leave at once when hehas."

Ke ZhenE replied: "Father Qiu, you are in the wrong here.Father Burnt-Wood has been fasting and clean for severaldecades now, he is a truly enlightened monk, someonethat all of us have admired for a long time. Temple ofOriental Zen is also one of the famous sacred Buddhistlandmarks here in the city of JiaXing. How could females,not to mention widows, possibly be hidden inside?" QiuChuJi replied: "In this world, there are always those peoplewho are hypocrites and does not deserve theirreputations." Trying to control his anger, Han BaoJushouted back: "So is Father saying that he doesn't believeus?" Qiu ChuJi replied just as loudly: "I much ratherbelieve my very own eyes." Han BaoJu replied: "So what isFather planning to do now?" Even though he was short, hestill was quite intimidating and heroic in his own waybecause of his loud and clear voice.Qiu ChuJi replied: "This matter originally had nothing to dowith you 7, but since you are insisting on jumping into thismatter, you are obviously quite confident of your abilities.Forgive me for daring to challenge the 7 heroes, if I lose,then I'll do as everyone here wishes." Ke ZhenE replied:"If Father insists on going through like this, then wouldFather please choose on how we should settle this."Qiu ChuJi thought for a moment and said: "We never had

Qiu ChuJi thought for a moment and said: "We never hadany grudges nor have we wronged each other, I have longadmired the heroic name and reputation of the 7 Heroes ofthe South. I don't think any of us want to start fightingwith swords or fists. How about this?" He shouted: "Winekeeper! Bring 14 big bowls!"The wine keeper had been hiding in the floor below, butupon hearing his instructions and noticing that it had beenquiet for a while upstairs, he immediately went to broughtthe bowls up.

Qiu ChuJi instructed him to place the bowls in 2 rows andfill them to the brim with wine. Turning to the 7 Weirdos,he said: "I challenge everyone to a drinking contest. Forevery bowl you guys drink, I will drink one as well untilthere is a winner. What do you say?"

Han BaoJu and Zhang AhSheng were both huge drinkers,so they immediately agreed without any hesitation. KenZhenE frowned and replied: "This is one against 7, even ifwe win we didn't win it fairly. Could Father please choosesomething else?" Qiu ChuJi frowned: "What makes you sosure that you'll beat me?"

Even though Han XiaoYing was a girl, she was still quitemacho, so she immediately answered back: "Alright, let'sgo at it then! This is the first time I have met someonethat dares to look down at us so much." As she talked shegrabbed a bowl of wine and downed it in one breath. Itwas obvious she drank it too quickly as her face flushedred immediately.

Qiu ChuJi complimented: "Miss Han really is a man amongfemales! Everyone, please!" The other 6 of the 7 Weirdoseach picked up a bowl and drank it. Qiu ChuJi respondedby downing 7 bowls of wine in an instant, each with justone gulp, without a single pause for breath in between.The winekeeper immediately shouted praise to everyoneand filled up the 14 bowls, which the 8 of them finished offimmediately.

By the 3rd round of drinks, Han XiaoYing could only drinkhalf a bowl before having to pause because her handswere shaking. Zhang AhSheng took the bowl out of herhand: "Sister, I'll finish this for you." Han XiaoYinginquired: "Father, is that alright?" Qiu ChuJi repliedwithout hesitation: "Of course, doesn't matter who drinksit as long as it is 7 bowls." Another round and Quan JinFahad to back out as well.

Seeing that even after 28 bowls Qiu ChuJi was still lookingsober and normal, the 7 Weirdos were quite shocked.WanYan HongLie thought as he looked on: "Hopefully thisTaoist would just get smashed and these 7 Weirdos wouldfinish him off before he could do anything."

Quan JinFa calculated that his side still had 5 men left,each a heavy drinker and could probably drink 3 or 4 more

each a heavy drinker and could probably drink 3 or 4 morerounds, the opponent could not possibly be able to holdanother 20 or so drinks in his belly, or could he? Even if hereally could not get drunk, his belly could only hold somuch. So, figuring that victory was in hand, he was justfeeling pretty good when he accidentally glanced down atthe ground and saw that the floorboards under Qiu ChuJi'sfeet were obviously soaked through. Shocked, hewhispered to Zhu Cong: "Second Brother, take a look athis feet." Zhu Cong only looked down for a moment beforemuttering: "Not good, he's using his inner strength toforce the wine out through his feet." Quan JinFa quietlyreplied: "That's right, didn't think that his inner strengthwould be so powerful, what do we do?"

Zhu Cong thought to himself: "With this little trick, hecould go 100 more bowls without any problem. I have tocome up with another contest or something." He took astep back before suddenly falling through the hole in thefloorboards that he caused earlier and climbing back upthrough the hole, all the while shouting: "So drunk, I amso drunk!"

Another round of drinks and now the floor boards underQiu ChuJi's feet were saturated with wine as a little bit of afountain shot out from the wood onto the floor. By nowNan XiRen, Han BaoJu, and everyone else all noticed, andeveryone was secretly admiring such a powerful display ofinner strength.

Han BaoJu put his bowl back onto the table and was justabout to admit defeat when Zhu Cong shot him a look andturned Qiu ChuJi: "Father's inner strength is almost god-like and we can't but admire such a display. But it is still 5against 1, doesn't seem quite fair really." Qiu ChuJi was abit surprised and asked: "Then what does Second BrotherZhu suggest we should do?" Zhu Cong smiled and said: "Isay let the 2 of us battle it out to see who's the best."

All the spectators were rather baffled by this, Zhu Congwas one of the group of 5 that went up against him thatwas obviously losing, why would he go and lower his oddssome more? But the other 8 Weirdos knew that althoughthis brother of theirs doesn't seem to take anythingserious, he's full of ideas and tricks and his actions wereoften genius. Figuring that he must have a plan in mind,the 6 of them didn't object.

Qiu ChuJi let out a little laugh: "The 7 Weirdos of theSouth really do want to look good no matter what. Howabout this? If Second Brother Zhu finish the wine left inthis vat with me, if nobody is losing, then it'll count as adefeat for me. How about it?"

By now the vat was a little bit less than half full, aboutupteen bowls, which would mean that only 2 drunkenBuddhas with their big bellies could hold all of it. But ZhuCong didn't seem to mind that as he smiled and said:

Cong didn't seem to mind that as he smiled and said:"Although I am not a very big drinker, I once beat severalpretty big drinkers in one of my adventures. A toast!"Waving his fan in his right hand and his left shirt sleeve,he downed a bowl.

So the 2 of them downed one bowl after another, inbetween drinks, Qiu ChuJi asked: "What kind of bigdrinkers?" Zhu Cong replied: "Well, once I traveled toTibet and the Tibetan King dragged out a water buffalo tochallenge me in a drinking match. But in the end neither ofus won out or lost."

Knowing that Zhu Cong was poking fun at him, so he justsnorted in response and downed another bowl. However,he noticed that even though Zhu Cong was waving hishands all over the place while talking nonsense, he wasstill matching him bowl for bowl. There wasn't any winespilling out from his hands or feet, obviously not forcingthe wine out of his body with inner strength; but there wasa huge bulge in his stomach, he figured that Zhu Congmay know how to expand and retract his stomach at will.He was feeling rather puzzled when Zhu Cong spoke upagain: "The year before last I went to Siam, ha, now that'seven more ridiculous. This time the king of Siam got anelephant to challenge me. That huge thing drank 7 vats!How much do you think I drank?"

Even though Qiu ChuJi knew he was just making stuff up,he could not help but ask: "How much?" Zhu Cong's facesuddenly turned dead serious as he lowered his voice andsaid: "9 vats!" Suddenly he raised his voice again andshouted: "Drink up, drink up!"

So he just went on like this, sort of drunk but not really,kind of crazy but kind of not, and soon the 2 of them hadfinished off the entire vat. The rest of the weirdos had noidea that he could hold all of that wine as all of them werepleasantly surprised.

Qiu ChuJi gave him a thumbs up: "Brother Zhu really isamazing!"

With a smile, Zhu Cong replied: "To keep the wine out ofour bodies, Father used inner force, but I had to resort tomerely outer techniques. Here, have a look." With a heartylaugh, he suddenly did a backflip and when he landedthere was a wooden bucket in his hand. With a slight waveof his hand, the fragrances of the wine that filled half thebucket came pouring out. All of the people present werekungfu masters and, with the exception of Ke ZhenE, weresharp to pick up any trickery or moves, yet not a singleone of saw where the bucket came from. Looking down,Zhu Cong's belly suddenly returned to its normal flatshape; obviously the bucket was originally hiddenunderneath his robe. The 7 Weirdos of the South all burstout laughing and Qiu ChuJi was shocked.

Turned out that Zhu Cong was best at trickery and

Turned out that Zhu Cong was best at trickery andillusions, which was where the nickname "Magical HandsScholar" came from. This little trick that he just pulled haspassed down all the way to today. A magician would walkonto the stage with nothing in hand, with one backflip agoldfish bowl would be in his hand, another backflip and abowl filled with water appears; this would go on until therewere enough bowls on stage to hold one goldfish in eachbowl, just absolutely astounding when witnessed first handand has to be seen to be believed. The second time ZhuCong fell through the hole was when he hid the bucketunderneath his robe. All those crazy talk was to distractQiu ChuJi. When a magician does his trick right, evenhundreds upon thousands pairs of eyes could not spot howthe trick was done. Not to mention that at that time QiuChuJi did not even suspect that he would be pulling thiskind of trick and was not able to catch him pour one bowlafter another into the bucket underneath his robe.Qiu ChuJi snorted: "Hmph! You call this drinking?" ZhuCong laughed: "And what you did was? The wine I drank isin this bucket, the wine that you drank is on the ground,any differences there?"

He paced back and forth as he talked, suddenly heaccidentally slipped on the puddle of wine by Qiu ChuJi'sfeet and fell towards Qiu ChuJi. Qiu ChuJi caught him andlet Zhu Cong balance himself. After pacing back and forthonce more, he suddenly said in a loud voice: "Wonderfulpoem! Such wonderful poetry! Mid-Autumn have always...moon most bright, cool winds lead the way... forrefreshing night. A day's fortunes... sinks man and silver,the dragons in 4 seas... leap out water...." His voice wereslowly dragging out as he began to sing the lines.

Shocked, Qiu ChuJi thought to himself: "That's the poemthat I started but didn't finish last Mid-Autumn, so I alwayshave it by my side in case I ever thought of the next 4lines. Nobody else has seen it, how does he know it?"Reaching into his shirt, he found that the scroll thatcontained the poem was missing.

With a smile, Zhu Cong unrolled the scroll and laid it outon the table: "Not only is Father's kungfu among the bestin the world, his poetry and style is as well. Amazing, trulyamazing." He slipped and fell on purpose, enabling him touse those magical skills of his and steal the scroll from QiuChuJi.

Qiu ChuJi thought to himself: "I didn't notice it at all whenhe reached into my shirt and took the scroll out. If hedidn't intend to take my poem but was instead trying tostab me, would I still be alive now? Obviously he had mylife in his hands and let me live." Now that he thoughtabout that, the anger in him subsided as he said: "SinceHero Zhu has finished this entire vat of wine with me, Iwill do as I promised and admit defeat. This little matchtoday in Pavilion of Drunken Goddess, Qiu ChuJi lost to the7 Heroes of the South."

7 Heroes of the South."

Amid smiles, the 7 Weirdos of the South replied: "No, no,that's ok. This kind of game can't be taken seriously." ZhuCong added: "Besides, Father's inner strength is milesabove all of us."

Qiu ChuJi continued: "Although I have admitted defeat,those 2 widows have to be rescued." He saluted with hishands and lifted up the vat: "I'm heading off to Temple ofOriental Zen to get them." In anger, Ke ZhenE demanded:"You have admitted defeat, why are you still troublingFather Burnt-Wood?" Qiu ChuJi replied: "Lives are atstake, it has nothing to do with win or lose. Honored HeroKe, if your friend met an unfortunate end and his widowwas suffering in the hands of others, would you do all youcan to save them?" Suddenly his expression changed as heshouted: "Oh I see how it is, you had more people coming!Even if you get the entire Jin army here I'm still going tosee this to the very end, even if it means giving up mylife!"

Zhang AhSeng replied: "There's just the 7 of us, no needfor more people." But Ke ZhenE had heard several dozensof men running in this direction as well as the clanking oftheir weapons as well, so he immediately stood up andcommanded: "Everyone back off!" Zhang AhSeng and allthe others hid their weapons as all of them heard thefootsteps by now. Before long, several dozen men camerunning up the stairs.

These men were Jin soldiers. Qiu ChuJi had respected the7 Weirdos of the South and figured that they were justkept in the dark by the lies of Father Burnt-Wood, so healways watched what he said so as to not offend them toomuch. But suddenly seeing dozens of Jin soldiers showingup, he could not control his anger any longer as heshouted: "Monk Burnt-Wood, 7 Weirdos, how dare youguys actually befriend and ask the Jins for help! How canyou still call yourself righteous men of the martial world?"Han BaoJu shouted back: "Who's asking the Jins for help?"

These soldiers were actually the personal guards ofWanYan HongLie, they felt unsettled because WanYanHongLie had been out for a long time and followed himinto town. Upon hearing that there was fighting in thePavilion of Drunken Goddess and fearing the worst, theycame running over.

Qiu ChuJi snorted: "Hmph! Alright, alright! Please forgiveme for not staying any longer! This matter between us isnot over yet!" He picked up his vat and started to walktoward the stairs.

Ke ZhenE stood back up: "Father Qiu, there's somemisunderstanding here." Still walking, Qiu ChuJi replied:"Misunderstanding? You guys are all righteous heroes?Why ask Jin soldiers to help you in a fight?" Ke ZhenE

Why ask Jin soldiers to help you in a fight?" Ke ZhenEreplied: "But we didn't." Qiu ChuJi rebuked: "I can seewhat's going on in front of me, I'm not blind" What KeZhenE hated the most was the fact that he was blind andanything that reminded him of it. So he slammed that ironstaff of his onto the ground and demanded: "And what if Iam blind?" Qiu ChuJi didn't answer as he lifted up his lefthand and struck a Jin soldier on his forehead with hispalm. The soldier did not even have a chance to mutter asound before his head split open. Qiu ChuJi shouted back:"He is a good example!" Tossing his sleeves in the 7Weirdos' general direction, he walked down the stairs.

Seeing that one of them have died, the Jin soldersimmediately descended into chaos as several of themcharged at Qiu ChuJi with lances pointed at his back. Hedid not even turn around and, as if there were eyes on theback of his head, knocked each of the lances down one byone. The rest of the soldiers were just about to charge upas well when WanYan HongLie ordered them to stop.Turning to Ke ZhenE, he said: "This Taoist bastard is justintolerable, whey don't all of us sit down and have a nicedrink while we discuss how to take care of him?" When heordered the Jin soldiers to stop, Ke ZhenE had figured outthat he was the head of the soldiers, so he shouted back:"TaMaDe! Get out of my face!" WanYan HongLie hadn'teven recovered from the shock when Han BaoJu added:"My Big Brother told you to get out of his face!" Hebumped WanYan HongLie on his waist with his rightshoulder. WanYan HongLie stumbled back several steps asthe 7 Weirdos and Father Burnt-Wood all quickly filed out.

Zhu Cong was trailing behind them. As he walked byWanYan HongLie, he gently tapped him on the shoulderwith his fan and asked with a smile: "Have you sold offthat girl? How about selling her to me? Haha!" He hurrieddown the steps as he was laughing. Before, although ZhuCong did not know anything about WanYan HongLie, hecould tell from the way that he was treating Bao XiRuothat they were not a couple. Then he overheard himbragging about his wealth, so he had to take a bit of hismoney, just to cause a little trouble. But now that hefound out that he's a leader of Jin soldiers, how could henot take more of his money?

WanYan HongLie reached into his shirt and, as expected,all the money that was in his shirt had, inexplicably,disappeared. Not only was he worried about the fact thatall these men were such great kungfu masters, but if theysomehow found out that he has Madame Bao with him,what a disaster that would be? Luckily, now that Qiu ChuJiand the 7 Weirdos still haven't worked out theirmisunderstanding, this was the perfect time for him to getout of town. So he immediately went back to the hotel andheaded north with Bao XiRuo that very night, all the wayuntil they arrived back at the capital of the Jin Empire,YanJing. {Modern day Beijing}

As it turned out, after that night in which Qiu ChuJi killed

As it turned out, after that night in which Qiu ChuJi killedWang DaoKun, met the 2 men, and killed another group ofJin soldiers, he arrived in HangZhou in great spirit. So hespent several days in a row by the lake. The Ge Peak atthe north end of the West Lake, besides being a famousTaoist retreat, was just the place where Ge Hongconcocted his medicine pills at that time. So Qiu ChuJispent his mornings enjoying the land and the people andhis afternoons inside the Taoist temple on top of Ge Peak,making medicine and practicing kungfu.

One day, he was walking by a pier at the shore of QingRiver when he suddenly saw a group of 10 or sogovernment soldiers walking by in a very sorry state withtheir armor falling apart and their weapons all broken.Obviously they had just lost a battle. He was ratherpuzzled: "We aren't at war with the Jins nowadays, and Ihaven't heard anything about any ruffians or uprisingsaround here. Where in the world did they lose this battle?"He asked around but nobody knew about it either. Hiscuriosity piqued as he followed the soldiers back to theircamp, under Command Post 6.

He waited until after midnight before he snuck into thecamp and dragged a soldier out into a small alley tointerrogate. That soldier was in the middle of a dreamwhen suddenly, out of nowhere, a sharp blade was put upagainst his throat. In shock and fear, he did not hide athing as he spilled all the secrets about going into OxVillage to capture 2 men and all that happened that night.Qiu ChuJi just could not believe it when that soldier toldhim that Guo XiaoTian had died that night; and YangTieXin, gravely wounded, was missing, most likely dead aswell. The soldier kept on saying that the 2 widows hadbeen captured, but on their way back they had ran intoanother group of soldiers out of nowhere and, for someweird and stupid reason, they fought and lost. Qiu ChuJiwas about to lose his temper when he realized that thisman was merely a soldier who was following orders andnot truly responsible for what happened. So he demanded:"Who's your superior?" The soldier answered: "Thecommander's... s... surname is Duan, given name TianDe."Qiu ChuJi let him go and snuck back trying to find DuanTianDe, but to no avail.

The next morning, a pole was erected in front of thecommand house, a head was dangling off of the top of it,as a warning to other criminals. Qiu ChuJi only took onelook and recognized that it belonged to Guo XiaoTian. Insadness and anger, he thought: "Qiu ChuJi, Qiu ChuJi, thisman is a descendent of a patriot. Out of kindness, heasked you to have a drink with him, yet you brought uponhim such calamities. If you do not bring justice for him,how can you go on pretending to be a man?" In fury, heflicked his arm and shattered the flag pole in front of thecommand post to pieces.

After forcing himself to wait until night fall, he climbed up

After forcing himself to wait until night fall, he climbed upthe pole and took down Guo XiaoTian's head. He dug ahole on the shore of the West Lake and buried the headthere. After several kowtows, he wiped the tears awayfrom his face as he silently swore: "I promised to teachthe 2 hero's children kungfu. I keep every promise I haveever made, if I could not turn your children into heroesamong men, then let me never see my brothers in theafterlife, I no longer deserve such an honor." He calculatedthat the first thing he needed to do was find that DuanTianDe and get revenge for his 2 dead sworn brothers.After that he would rescue the 2 widows and take them tosome place safe, so that the 2 kids could be born andleave a legacy for these 2 heroes.

For 2 straight nights, he searched through Command Post6, but was not able to find Duan TianDe at all. He becameworried that this man, out of greed and corruption so as tonot follow military regulations at all, might not spend timewith the soldiers under him at all. On the 3rd night, hestepped out in front of the command post and shouted:"Duan TianDe! Come out here this instant!"Because of the fact that Guo XiaoTian's head had beentaken, Duan TianDe was just inside interrogating Li Pingabout any other criminal mastermind that her husbandmight know when suddenly there was chaos outside. Hestuck his head out of a window and saw a tall and bigTaoist, with incredible ferocity and style, grabbed a soldierin each hand and tossed them out of the way as he madehis way through the crowd of soldiers. One of thecommanders repeatedly shouted: "Let loose the arrows!Let loose!" In the chaos, some of the soldiers grabbed abow but couldn't find any arrows while other soldiersgathered some arrows but did not grab any bow.

Furious, Duan TianDe pulled out his sabre and charged upscreaming: "Want to rebel?" He swung at Qiu ChuJi'swaist. Seeing that he was an officer, Qiu ChuJi did notbudge at all. Instead he tossed aside the soldier that wasin his hands and, with one simple motion of his left hand,grabbed Duan TianDe's wrist and demanded: "Where'sthat bastard Duan TianDe?"

Just writhing in pain, Duan TianDe immediately replied: "IsFather looking for Mr. Duan? He... He's drinking on theWest Lake, don't know if he's going to make it backtoday." Believing him, Qiu ChuJi let him go. Duan TianDeturned to 2 soldiers by his side and ordered: "Take Fatherto the lake shore so that he could find the commander."The 2 soldiers didn't catch on, so he shouted: "What areyou standing there for? Hurry! Father will get mad!" The 2men finally caught on and began walking. Qiu ChuJifollowed them off.

Not daring to stay a moment longer, Duan TianDe tookseveral guards and Li Ping and headed straight towardsthe 8th command post. The commander was his drinkingpal and, upon hearing what had happened, immediately

pal and, upon hearing what had happened, immediatelyoffered to dispatch some help to him to catch this Taoistbastard. He was just about to dispatch his troops when hiscamp suddenly descended into chaos as one of the soldierran in and reported that a Taoist had came charging intocamp. Turned out the soldiers that were with him couldn'ttake the pressure and told him about the places that DuanTianDe frequently goes to.

Being the alert man he was, Duan TianDe did not hesitateas he grabbed Li Ping and ran. He ran away to the 2ndCommand Post outside of the city, figuring that he couldlose Qiu ChuJi because of its remote location. After hesettled down, the images of that Taoist rampaging throughthe army haunted him. By this time his wrist began to hurtand swell again. He went to an injury doctor in the campand it turned out that 2 bones in his wrist had actuallysnapped. Too scared to go home, he decided to stay in the2nd Command Post for the night. He slept till midnightwhen some disturbances outside woke him up, apparentlyone of the soldiers standing guard had disappeared.

Duan TianDe jumped out of his bed, somehow knowingthat the guard must have been kidnapped by that Taoist.Deciding that no matter where he hides in the armycamps, the Taoist would eventually find him, he had tofind something to do! This Taoist had already met him andwas only coming at him and him alone. Even though therewere lots of soldiers in the army, he was probably notgoing to come out unscratched. He was about to breakdown into a panic when he suddenly remembered that hisuncle, who's kungfu was quite good, had retreated toCloudy Pavilion Temple to become a monk, why not hidethere? Figuring that this Taoist's attacks probably hadsomething to do with Guo XiaoTian, he ordered Li Ping tobe changed into a soldier's uniform and dragged her toCloudy Pavilion Temple with him in the middle of the night,thinking that if he really got into trouble he could use herto threaten the monk.

His uncle, given the Buddhist name of Withered-Wood,became a monk a long time ago and had became theAbbot of Cloudy Pavilion Temple. Before he had been anarmy officer and his kungfu training came as a disciple ofXianXia Sect that was prevalent in the province ofZheJiang and JiangSu and could be considered a branch ofShaoLin kungfu. He never approved Duan TianDe'scharacter and kept a distance between them. Seeing himstumbling in to the monastery in such a sorry state in themiddle of the night, he was quite annoyed and askedcoldly: "What are you doing here?"

Knowing that his uncle hated the Jins to the bone, DuanTianDe knew that if he told the truth his uncle might havekilled him on the spot himself, so on the way here he hadalready thought of a lie. So seeing that his uncle's coldstare at this moment, he immediately knelt down andkowtowed: "Someone is troubling me, please help meuncle!"

uncle!"

Father Withered-Wood replied: "You are an army officerhere, it's already a miracle if you don't go troubling others,who would dare to trouble you?" With an innocent look onhis face, Duan TianDe replied: "I'm no good, hiding hereand there from this Taoist bastard. Hope that uncle would,for sake of late father, save me." Out of pity, FatherWithered-Wood asked him: "Why is the Taoist chasingyou?"

Duan TianDe knew that the more repentant he soundedthe better of he was, so he said: "It's all my fault, myfault! Two days ago I went to the Wah-Zi on the west sideof Clear Coolness Bridge...." Father Withered-Woodsnorted and his face dropped. "Wah She", or "Wah-Zi",was the slang for brothels back at that time; from thatcame the saying "Wahs gather when time comes, wahsscatters when time goes", which is used to describesomething that comes easily and goes just as fast.

Duan TianDe continued: "There was someone there that Ihad met on many occassions and she was in the middle ofa song when a Taoist suddenly burst in and say that shehad to entertain him because her song was so good...."Father Withered-Wood abruptly cut in: "Bull! What is amonk doing in a place like that?" Duan TianDe replied:"That's what I said and then I told him to leave. But itturned out that Taoist was a low-life and cursed me forenjoying myself despite of the fact that I would lose myhead in the next couple of days." Father Withered-Woodasked: "What is he talking about?" Duan TianDe replied:"He said that the Jin army was going to cross the river andinvade south soon and was going to kill every single one ofus Song soldiers."

Furious, Father Withered-Wood demanded: "Did he reallysay that?" Duan TianDe nodded: "Yes! I guess my temperwas not really good either and I got into an argument withhim, saying that if the Jins really did invade, we would atleast all die fighting and wouldn't necessarily lose." Thisreally rubbed Father Withered-Wood the right way, somuch so that he could not help but nod in approval as hethought this was the best thing that this nephew of hisever said. Seeing him nod, Duan TianDe's heart lit up andcontinued: "We just kept on arguing until we began tofight, but I wasn't a match for the Taoist. He came chasingafter me, I had nowhere else to go, so that's why I camehere. Uncle, please help me!" Father Withered-Woodreplied: "I am a monk, I'm not getting involved in thesekind of name-seeking matters that you guys got yourselfinto." Duan TianDe begged: "Just this one time, uncle, Iwill never do anything like this again."Remembering his brother of yesteryears and quite mad atthe Taoist for saying what he said, Father Withered-Woodfinally relented: "Alright, you can hide here for a couple ofdays. I don't want any kind of troubles from you." DuanTianDe agreed to everything and anything he demanded.

TianDe agreed to everything and anything he demanded.Father Withered-Wood sighed: "An honorable army officer,so useless. If the Jin army really did invade, then whatcould we do? Ay! Back then, I...."

Scared by threats from Duan TianDe, Li Ping just stoodthere by his side through all his lies, not daring to say asingle word.

The next afternoon, the camerarius ran in and reported toFather Withered-Wood: "There's a Taoist monk out front,shouting all kinds of stuff and creating a havoc, sayingsomething about making Duan.... Commander Duan comeout."{Note: the camerarius is a monk that basically greetseveryone that visits the first temple and serves as both anone-man welcoming committee and a guide.}

Father Withered-Wood went and got Duan TianDe and toldhim. In a panic, Duan TianDe said: "It's him, it's him!"Father Withered-Wood observed: "Which sect does thisvicious Taoist belong under?" Duan TianDe replied: "Don'twhich hole that barbarian crawled out of, but his kungfudoesn't seem that great either, just that his arm strengthis enormous. The only reason I lost is because I didn'tknow any kungfu at all." Father Withered-Wood replied:"Alright, I'm going to go meet him in person." Walking outto the Main Hall, he ran right into a Qiu ChuJi who wastrying to bust into the temple. The guard monks weretrying their best to slow him down, but they were failing.Father Withered-Wood walked up to him and gentlypushed Qiu ChuJi's shoulder, using a bit of inner strength,he figured he would just push Qiu ChuJi out of the MainHall. But, to his surprise, it felt as if he was pushing downon a pile of cotton, there was nothing there that he couldactually push against. Knowing he was in trouble, heimmediately tried to pull back. But it was too late as hestumbled back out of control and backed into the offeringtable. "Crack!" "Boom!" Half of the offering table collapsedand all the offerings on it were scattered or fell onto thefloor.

Shocked, a thought ran through his mind: "This Taoist'skungfu is truly amazing, much more than just enormousarm strength, that's for sure." So he immediately held hispalm up and saluted: "May I ask why Father has come andvisited our humble monastery?" Qiu ChuJi replied: "I'mlooking for an evil criminal with the surname of Duan."Knowing that he himself was no match for Qiu ChuJi,Father Withered-Wood replied: "We monks should alwaysbe merciful and forgiving, why is Father stooping to thesame level as those laymen?"

Ignoring him, Qiu ChuJi walked into the Inner Hall. By nowDuan TianDe had already hid himself and Li Ping. CloudyPavilion Temple's incense was very popular and it was justthe Spring pilgrimage season, so the hall was filled withbelievers of both genders. Realizing that it was impossible

believers of both genders. Realizing that it was impossibleto search thoroughly, Qiu ChuJi snickered a bit and walkedout.

When Duan TianDe came out from his hiding place, FatherWithered-Wood demanded angrily: "Barbarian? If hewasn't holding back, I would be dead by now!" DuanTianDe replied: "That barbaric Taoist is a spy of the Jins,why else would he make a point to specifically trouble usofficers of the Great Song?" The camerarius came back inand reported that the Taoist had left. Father Withered-Wood asked: "Did he say anything as he left?" Thecamerarius replied: "He said that he would never give upuntil we turn over that... that officer named Duan."Father Withered-Wood shot an angry look at Duan TianDeand said: "I can't figure out what you are hiding from whatyou said. It's just that this Taoist's kungfu is really toostrong. You probably wouldn't come out alive if you fallinto his hands." After quietly thinking for a while, hecontinued: "You can't stay here any longer. My youngermartial brother Father Burnt-Wood's kungfu is better thanmine. He's the only one who has a chance to stop thatTaoist, why don't you go and hide with him for a while?"Duan TianDe didn't even dare to utter a single wordfearing that he might anger his uncle. After his unclehanded him a letter to give to Father Burnt-Woodexplaining the situation, he immediately rented a boat andheaded for JiaXing in the middle of the night.

How could Father Burnt-Wood have guessed that theperson he dragged in with him was actually a girl? Sincehe had the letter from his elder martial brother, henaturally allowed Duan TianDe to stay. When Qiu ChuJifound out about this, he came chasing along as well. Heeven spotted Li Ping in the back gardens of the temple.But by the time he burst into the temple, Duan TianDe hadalready dragged Li Ping into the underground storage withhim. Qiu ChuJi, still thinking that Li Ping was in thetemple, demanded her to be handed over. Since he sawher with his own eyes, he did not believe any reasoningthat Father Burnt-Wood came up with, and their argumentgot worse and worse. As soon as Qiu ChuJi revealed a bitof his kungfu, Father Burnt-Wood knew he was no match.Having always been good friends with the 7 Weirdos, heset up a meeting with Qiu ChuJi in the Pavilion of DrunkenGoddess. That huge vat that Qiu ChuJi had with him camefrom that very Temple of Oriental Zen. When he ran intothe Jin soldiers in the Pavilion of Drunken Goddess, QiuChuJi's misunderstanding got even worse.Father Burnt-Wood really did not know much about thetruth of the entire matter. So on the way back to Templeof Oriental Zen from the Pavilion of Drunken Goddess, hetold the 7 Weirdos about the men that his martial brotherAbbot Withered-Wood sent to him. He added at the end: "Ihave heard that all of the 7 Disciples of QuanZhen Sect aremasters of kungfu, each receiving the direct teachings ofSaint ChongYang. Among them, Son of Eternal Spring wasknown as the best, and it turns out that he's as good asadvertised. Even though he's rather rude, he doesn't seem

advertised. Even though he's rather rude, he doesn't seemto be the kind who just doesn't care for reason, and therearen't any enmities between the 2 of us. So there must besome great misunderstanding at work here."

Quan JinFa suggested: "I think the best thing to do is tobring out the 2 men that your martial brother sent to youso we can sort all of this out." Father Burnt-Wood nodded:"Good point, I haven't really interrogated them very wellyet." He was just about to sent some people to go getDuan TianDe when Ke ZhenE spoke up: "That Qiu ChuJi'stemper is really something, just terrible. He obviously donot even consider us people in the martial world just southof the Yangtze as worthy of respect. His QuanZhen Sectmay be able to act like bosses up north, but we can't allowthem to act like bosses when they come down south likethis. If we can't clear up the misunderstanding, then wehave to sort this out with kungfu. If we go up against himone-on-one, none of us are a match for him. But he didn'tcome with good intentions, and came without any goodintentions.'" Zhu Cong added: "Let's gang up on himtogether!" Han BaoJu commented: "Eight against one? Notvery heroic don't you think?" Quan JinFa reasoned: "It'snot like we are going to kill him, we are only trying to calmhim down so he can listen to Father Burnt-Wood'sexplanations." Han XiaoYing was rather worried: "If it getsout that Father Burnt-Wood and the 7 Weirdos of theSouth ganged up on someone, wouldn't that tarnish ourname?"

The 8 of them hadn't worked out what to do yet when athunderous knell came from the Main Hall of the templefollowed by a cacophony of metals banging on the floor.Qiu ChuJi was banging the huge bell that hung from theceiling of the Main Hall with the bronze vat. After severalhits, the vat began to crack. The look on his face was filledwith fury and anger. The 7 Weirdos didn't know that QiuChuJi wasn't always this unreasonable and rash. He hadbeen so frustrated by his own inability to capture DuanTianDe that he was about to blow, add to that his deep-seeded hatred of the Jins and that would be the reason hewas behaving this way. The 7 Weirdos all thought that hewas trying to just bully them with his reputation, so theydecided and were determined to fight it out. The morefamous the 7 Disciples of QuanZhen were, the moredetermined the 7 Weirdos were not to back down andappear to be bullied. If Qiu ChuJi had been some unknownkungfu practitioner, this situation would have, ironically,been much easier to resolve and probably would havealready been resolved.Han BaoJu shouted: "Sister, let's take the lead." He's HanXiaoYing's first cousin on her father's side and had theleast amount of patience. In one motion, the golden-dragon whip that was around his waist was now in hishands as he pulled a "Wind Swirling the Crippled Cloud"causing the whip to snap toward Qiu ChuJi's right hand,which was holding up the vat. Han XiaoYing unsheathedher sword as well and thrusted toward the center of Qiu

her sword as well and thrusted toward the center of QiuChuJi's back. Attacked from both fronts, Qiu ChuJi rotatedhis wrist, causing the whip to hit the vat instead. Then heturned his body slightly sideways and let the sword thrustby his side.In the last years of the Spring and Autumn era, the statesYue and Wu were mortal enemies. The Lord of Yue GouQian, in order to remind himself of the shame of defeatand to motivate himself to excel, tortured himself bysleeping on a straw bed and tasting a gall-bladder that hehung from the ceiling everyday. But nevertheless, the Lordof Wu had a general under him named Wu ZiYi(not sureabout the pinyin here, any help?) who, being a disciple ofSun-Tze's school of combat, was a great tactician andtrainer. Seeing that his army was still no match for hisenemy's, Gou Qian got more and more depressed. Oneday, a beautiful young girl with amazing sword skillssuddenly appeared inside Yue borders. Happy beyondwords, Gou Qian immediately asked her to teach hissoldiers her skills and was finally able to defeat the Wuarmy because of it. JiaXing, being the meeting placebetween the 2 states, was a place where several battlesoccurred. So it was no surprise that the entire swordtechniques was passed down around here. Only problemwas that the sword skill was mostly designed to be mosteffective on the battle-field, meaning that it was mostlyused to chop down numerous soldiers and bringing downhorses in a crowd and not nimble or agile enough whenused against kungfu practitioners in the martial world. Itwas only until the last days of the Tang dynasty did thissword technique receive a much needed upgrade from aswordplay genius around this area, who made the movesmuch more complex and speed. Although Han XiaoYinghadn't mastered this entire repertoire that she learnedfrom her master yet, she was still very deadly. Hernickname "Yue Sword Maiden" was a reference to this.

{Note: This entire story regarding this sword technique iscovered in another Jin Yong short story, Yue MaidenSword, or Yue Nu Jian.}

However, only after a few moves, Qiu ChuJi had figuredout her repertoire and decided to beat its speed with evenmore speed. She was fast, Qiu ChuJi was even faster,using his right arm to blocked off Han BaoHu's whip, hisleft hand came shooting out in an attempt to snatch thesword out of her hand by sheer force. In an instant, HanXiaoYing was forced to retreat to the side of the Buddhastatue.

Nan XiRen and Zhang AhSheng both charged up andattacked from both sides. Nan XiRen was just as quiet ascan be, letting his carrying stick make all the sounds. ButZhang AhSheng was completely opposite, shouting andscreaming all kinds of street talk, all in his south Yangtzeaccent. Qiu ChuJi didn't understand a thing that he'sshouting, so he just pretended he didn't hear it.

In flurry of the fight Qiu ChuJi's left palm suddenly camestraight out right at Zhang AhSheng's face. Instinctively,Zhang AhSeng bent himself over backwards to avoid it,but the move turned out to be a fake as Qiu ChuJi's rightfoot came flying out and hitting Zhang AhSheng's rightwrist, knocking his knife loose. But Zhang AhSheng's muchbetter with nothing in his hands, so he did not miss a beatas he balanced himself with his left leg, faked with a righthand, and attacked with his left fist.

Qiu ChuJi let out a shout of approval before dodging out ofthe way and uttering: "Pity, pity!" Zhang AhSeng had toask: "What?" Qiu ChuJi replied: "Pity that you, such akungfu artist, would bring on shame to yourself bybefriending evil monks and serving the Jins." Furious bythat accusation, Zhang AhSheng shouted back: "BastardTaoist, you are the one that's serving the Jins!" He took 3swings at Qiu ChuJi in quick succession during that. QiuChuJi dodged out of the way and tilted the vat, causing 2of Zhang AhSheng's punches to actually land on the vat.

Seeing that they were still losing despite of their 4 to 1advantage, Zhu Cong made a gesture towards Quan JinFaand the 2 of them charged into the scuffle. Quan JinFa'sweapon was a huge hand scale in which he used the scalehandle as a bat, the scale hook as a flying hook, and thescale weight as a mace; literally 3 weapons in 1. ZhuCong, on the other hand, excelled at hitting pressurepoints. That dirty and broken fan of his was actually madeof iron which he used like a extension of his arm, whichfacilitates hitting pressure points with distractions such asother weapons or enemies flying at him.

Qiu ChuJi spun and tilted the vat in his hand at will,making it a huge shield that guarded his frontside whileusing his other, left, hand to fight back and attack.Although with such a huge burden in his hand, he could nolonger move around as nimbly as he could, it was stillquite advantageous for him because he could just use thevat to block all of the attacks coming towards him.

Father Burnt-Wood, seeing the fight quickly getting out ofhand, figured that someone could be seriously hurt anymoment now. So he tried to get everyone's attention byshouting as loud as he could: "Everyone please stop!Please listen to what I have to say!" But who wouldactually stop in the middle of a fierce fight?Qiu ChuJi shouted back: "Pervert! Who wants to hear youtalk? Watch this!" Suddenly his left hand turnedferociously towards Zhang AhSheng as it shifted betweenfist and palm over and over again without a rhyme orreason. This move, called "Flying Mountain Outside theHeavens," was based on weird form and incredible speed,meant to take an opponent by surprise, as it did to ZhangAhSheng. Father Burnt-Wood shouted: "No! Father! Pleasedon't!" But Qiu ChuJi had been fighting for so long andagainst so many able opponents that he was afraid for the

fight to last too long, especially when there were 2 menstanding on the sidelines waiting to jump in at anymoment, so at that time he was worried very much abouthis own life. Now that he had found an opening in hisopponents, how could he just let that go? Therefore he putall his strength and power behind this move.

Having trained his body specifically to strengthen up hisskin in his kungfu training plus the fact that he liked towrestle with wild bulls and buffaloes for work and hobby,Zhang AhSheng's body was covered with a layer of thickand hard muscles, which sometimes resembles the thickskins of bulls. So even though he knew that this strikepacked quite a force, he, figuring that he couldn't get outof the way anyway, immediately gathered his innerstrength and prepared himself for a strike on his shouldersand shouted: "Come on!". And hence, he caught the palmfull on. "Crack!" Incredibly, his collar bone, despite of allhis preparation, snapped in half under the sheer force ofthe pure inner force of the QuanZhen Sect.

Shocked, Zhu Cong attacked aggressively with his ironfan, aimed right at a pressure point of Qiu ChuJi. As thesaying goes, offense is the best defense; Zhu Congattacked to protect his sworn brother from further harmnow that he's injured. But Qiu ChuJi, having just gainedthe upperhand, immediately began trying to seize some ofthe weapons that were flying around him. "Ai-Yo!" QuanJingFa shouted as Qiu ChuJi got a hold of his scale. With ajerk, Qiu ChuJi had pulled him a meter closer. Puttingbetween the 2 of them and 2 other attackers, Nan XiRenand Zhu Cong, Qiu ChuJi's left palm came flying downtowards the scalp of Quan JingFa.

Han BaoJu and Han XiaoYing both immediately jumped inand lunged their weapons at Qiu ChuJi's head in anattempt to stop him. Qiu ChuJi had no choice but to dodgeout of the way and let Quan JingFa escape. Having justescaped death, Quan JingFa was covered in sweat, but henevertheless still took a kick to his side that made himwrithe on the ground in pain, not able to get up at all.Father Burnt-Wood didn't want to actually come to blows,having hoped that his misunderstanding with Qiu ChuJiwould have been peacefully worked out, but seeing thathis friends that had came to his aid are going down one byone, he had to join in the scuffle. So he tossed his longsleeve, raised that piece of burnt-wood in his hand, andlunged at Qiu ChuJi. Qiu ChuJi thought: "So it turns outthat this monk is a master at hitting pressure points." Sohe put his guard up against him.

Ke ZhenE figured from all the shouting that his swornbrothers and sisters are hurt, so he grabbed his iron staffand was about to charge into the fight when Quan JingFashouted: "Big Brother, fire your projectiles! First at 'Jin',then go for 'Xiao Guo'!" Before his voice even died down, 2projectiles came flying directly towards Qiu ChuJi'sforehead and right hip.

forehead and right hip.

Qiu ChuJi was shocked. It's not often that one meets ablind man able to fire projectiles so accurately, even with aperson on the side telling him where to fire it at. So heimmediately spun the vat in his hand and knocked the 2projectiles down. These projectiles are used only by KeZhenE, with corners on all 4 sides like a diamond, but assharp anyone could make it. He learned to use this afterhe was blinded because the projectiles are heavy, makingit easy for him to be accurate. After knocking theprojectiles down with the vat, Qiu ChuJi actually felt thevat shake! He thought: "Wow, what strength!"

By now all the other weirdos had dodged out of the way.Quan JingFa still kept shouting: "'Zhong Fu', now 'Lie'!....Good, now the Taoist has moved into ' Ming Yi"...." He haddone this with Ke ZhenE so many times with over theyears that it's almost as if his eyes were Ke ZhenE's; he'sthe only one among the other weirdoes that could do this.

Ke ZhenE was firing as if he could see and in an instant hehad fired dozens of projectiles. So much so that Qiu ChuJiwas now forced to merely fending off the projectiles withno opportunity to fight back whatsoever.

Suddenly a thought came to Ke ZhenE: "He's hearing 6thbrother as well, so he's prepared every time, no wonder Ican't hit him." Quan JingFa's voice was getting softer andsofter with moans sandwiched in between, obviously ingreat pain. But Ke ZhenE did not hear Zhang AhSengmake a single bit of noise at all as nobody was quite surewhether or not he's alive. Quan JingFa struggled to getout: "Hit... hit... 'Tong Ren'...." But this time Ke ZhenE didnot follow his advice, instead he threw up both arms andfired 4 projectiles, one each at the "Jie" and "Sun"positions right of "Tong Ren" and the other 2 heading forthe "Feng" and "Lie" position left of "Tong Ren."

Not expect Ke ZhenE to suddenly use trickery, Qiu ChuJitook a big step left and dodged the "Tong Ren" position as2 people suddenly screamed in pain.Qiu ChuJi's right shoulder was hit, but the projectile aimedtowards the "Sun" position hit Han XiaoYin's back.

Surprised and pleased, Ke ZhenE shouted: "Little sister,come here!"

Knowing that her big brother soaked his projectiles inextreme poison, Han XiaoYin immediately scrambled to hisside. Ke ZhenE took out a small, yellow looking pill fromhis bag, stuffed it in her mouth, and instructed: "Go to theyard outside and sleep, do not move, I'll come and attendto you later." Han XiaoYin immediately got up and rantowards the yard. But Ke ZhenE shouted: "Don't run! Don'trun! Walk slowly!" Han XiaoYin immediately understoodand cursed at herself for being so stupid. Because bloodwill circulate faster when she runs and if the poison was

will circulate faster when she runs and if the poison wascarried into the heart then there would be know way shecould be saved. So she stopped and slowly walked out.

After being hit, Qiu ChuJi just kind of ignored it because itwas not very painful and just kept on fighting against therest of the crowd. However, in the midst of the fight hesuddenly heard Ke ZhenE shout "Don't run!" several times.A chill went through his heart as he suddenly noticed thathis arm around the wound felt very numb and he realizedthat the projectile had poison on it. Not daring to hesitate,he collected his strength and aimed a punch at NanXiRen's face as hard as he can.

Noticing that the punch was coming his way, Nan XiRenbent his knees, held his iron carrying stick across hischest, and pulled a move called "Iron Chain Across theRiver" to block the punch. Qiu ChuJi did not pull the punchat all. On the contrary, he actually took a deep breath andput even more force into the punch, hitting the sticksquarely in the middle. Nan XiRen's body shook violentlyand he had to drop his stick as the part of his handbetween his thumb and index finger split open and bloodbegan rushing out. Turned out that Qiu ChuJi wasn'tleaving anything in reserve in an attempt to bring the fightto a speedy end so he could save his own life. So he prettymuch put all he's worth into this punch, causing massiveinternal injuries to Nan XiRen. Feeling light on his feet andnumbness in his mouth as well as seeing stars, Nan XiRensuddenly fell to the ground throwing up blood.

Although he had taken down another foe, the numbness inQiu ChuJi's shoulder was getting worse and worse, causinghim to start having trouble controlling that huge vat in hishand. So with a shout, he swept his left leg, making HanBaoJu leave his feet to dodge the attack. "Where do youthink you are going?" Qiu ChuJi yelled as as he pushed thevat off so that it came down on top of Han BaoJu. Becausehe was in midair, Han BaoJu could not do a thing otherthan do half of a flip. By then the vat had already coveredhis head. In an attempt to avoid any serious injuries, heimmediately put his hands over his head and curled upinto a ball. "Bang!" The vat hit the floor as it convenientlyand neatly covered up Han BaoJu.

As soon as he let go of the vat, Qiu ChuJi unsheathed hissword. With a little kick against the ground with his toes,he jumped up and cut the rope that held the huge bell tothe ceiling. At the same time, he gave the bell a little pushto aim the bell directly at the vat, making it come downright on top of the vat. Now Han BaoJu was truly stuck;however, Qiu ChuJi had really spent a huge amount ofenergy with these last 2 moves and as a result, all of hisextremities were beginning to feel numb and huge dropsof sweat were beginning to bead on his forehead.

Ke ZhenE shouted: "Drop your weapons and stop now! Ifyou wait any longer, your life could be in danger!" But Qiu

you wait any longer, your life could be in danger!" But QiuChuJi figured that since the monk was in bed with both theJin and the Song soldiers and hid women in his temple,then his friends, the weirdoes, could not be anythingbetter. He would rather die than to submit to thesebastards. So he turned around and began to try and fighthis way out.

With only Ke ZhenE and Zhu Cong still unharmed and theconditions of others still unknown, how could either one ofthem let him get away? So Ke ZhenE held up his iron staffand stood in front of the door, blocking his way out.Desperate to fight out any way he could, Qiu ChuJi stuckhis sword out right at Ke ZhenE's face. Ke ZhenE'snickname Flying Bat came about for a reason, so he easilyheard what's going on and parried away the sword with hisstaff, almost knocking the sword out of Qiu ChuJi's hand.Shocked, Qiu ChuJi said to himself: "How strong is thisblind man's inner strength? Could it possibly be strongerthan mine?" So he immediately followed with anotherthrust, which was parried away again. But Qiu ChuJi hadfound out that it wasn't because Ke ZhenE's inner strengthwas stronger, it was because his right arm was woundedand therefore he could not exert his full force through it.So he switched the sword over to his left hand and beganusing a skill that he never used combat before, "CommonRuin Sword Skill." The sword flashed as one move afteranother came flying towards the vitals of Ke ZhenE, ZhuCong, and Father Burnt-Wood; he wasn't defending at all,every single one of his moves was an attack.

The name "Common Ruin Sword Skill" was designed forone to fight for his life against a much more powerfulopponent. Every move is designed to attack the enemy inan vital spot with incredible force without the slightest carefor one's life. Although this is a highly refined sword skill,it's actually very similiar to those scraps between theruffians and low-lifes on the streets. Turned out that QuanZhen Sect has a nemesis that resides in the westernregions. This man was much more powerful than the 7Disciples of Quan Zhen, and he was as ruthless as he waspowerful. Back then only the disciples' master couldsubdue and control this man, but now that the master hadpassed away, there's a chance that this man could comeback to the central plains any time and destroy the entireQuan Zhen Sect. The 7 disciples do have a "Big DipperFormation" that could contain this man; however, thisformation only works with all 7 disciples present, so therewas the possibility that they might ran into this manwithout every present. This "Common Ruin Sword Skill"was meant to be used against this man, especially insingle combat, in the hopes that the 2 combatants wouldboth perish and thus preserving the sect. Poisoned andsurrounded by 3 kungfu masters, Qiu ChuJi had no choicebut to use this skill.

After about a dozen exchanges or so, Ke ZhenE's leg washit. Father Burnt-Wood shouted: "Big Brother Ke, BrotherZhu, why don't we just let him go on his way?" But

Zhu, why don't we just let him go on his way?" Butbecause of this little distraction, his right rib was hit,causing him to fall to the ground screaming.

By now, Qiu ChuJi was having trouble keeping his balanceas well. His eyes bloodshot, Zhu Chong exchanged severalmore moves with him, all the while cursing at himnonstop. Ke ZhenE, not being able to see, was completelybaffled by the sound created by Qiu ChuJi's sword and washit again, this time on his right leg, as he fell to theground.

Zhu Cong cursed: "Dog of a Taoist, bastard Taoist! Thepoison in your veins have reached your heart now! Whydon't you try and make 3 more moves at me?"Furious, Qiu ChuJi gimply came charging at him, but ZhuCong's lightness kungfu was very good as he flew aroundthe hall. Knowing that he could not keep this up anymore,Qiu ChuJi stopped and sighed. Suddenly every turned darkin front of him. He tried to shake his mind clear and wasjust about to go look for a way out when suddenlysomething smacked his back. It was a shoe that Zhu Conghad taken off.

Even though the shoe was soft, he still carried quite a bitof force with it because of Zhu Cong's inner strength. QiuChuJi teetered as he fought hard to maintainconsciousness. Suddenly something else hit the back of hishead. This time it's a wooden fish that Zhu Cong hadfound lying in front the Buddha statue.

Fortunately, Qiu ChuJi's inner strength was very strong,for a normal person would have undoubtedly died fromthat hit, but even he almost black out from that hit. So QiuChuJi yelled at the top of his lungs: "Forget it, forget it!Son of Eternal Spring shall die today in the hands of theseshameless bastards!" Feeling his knees suddenly giveaway, he collapsed onto the floor.

{Note: the wooden fish is a wooden percussion instrumentthat Buddhist priests use to keep rhythm while chanting.}

Fearing that he might jump back up again, Zhu Congreached down to hit the pressure point in the middle of QiuChuJi's chest when he suddenly saw Qiu ChuJi's left handmove. Knowing that he was in trouble, Zhu Congimmediately tried to bring his right arm back in front of hischest to block the blow. But a huge force came flying upfrom underneath his belly and shot him off. He wasspitting out blood even before he landed. Even though hecould not move, Qiu ChuJi put all the strength left in himinto this strike. There was no way in the world that ZhuCong could take such a force.

Not only does none of the other monks in the temple knewany kungfu, none of them even knew that their masterknew kungfu. So the sudden chaos in the main hall hadsent them fleeing for their lives a long time ago. Only after

sent them fleeing for their lives a long time ago. Only afterthing had quieted down for quite a while did they a coupleof the braver monks stuck their heads out to see what hadhappened. What they saw, blood everywhere, bodieseverywhere, sent them screaming and scrambling to DuanTianDe.

Duan TianDe had been hiding in the underground storagethe entire time and was ecstatic upon hearing the newsthat both sides were completely destroyed in the fight.Making sure that Qiu ChuJi was among those fighting, hetold the monks to go and check whether or not the Taoisthad died. Only when the monks came back with the newsthat the Taoist was lying on the ground with his eyes shutdid he finally feel safe and dragged Li Ping to the mainhall.

He gave Qiu ChuJi a kick, causing Qiu ChuJi to let out analmost imperceptible moan. So Duan TianDe pulled out hissabre and shouted: "You have any idea how muchsuffering you have given me you Taoist bastard? Well nowyour old man is going to send you on your way to theWestern Paradise!"

Even though he was greatly injured, Father Burnt-Woodsummoned all his strength and shouted: "Don't... don'tharm him!" Duan TianDe inquired: "Why not?" FatherBurnt-Wood, still recovering from the shout, got outbetween breaths: "He's a good man... just a little im...impatient, so there was some misunderstand...." DuanTianDe replied: "A good man? Who cares? Let me kill himfirst!" Father Burnt-Wood angrily rebuked: "Are you goingto listen to me or not? Put... put down your sabre!" DuanTianDe laughed heartily at that remark and shouted back:"Put down my sabre? Then what? Become enlightened onthe spot?" He lifted up his sabre and began to swing itdown at Qiu ChuJi.

{Note: Duan TianDe's becoming enlightened remark is areference to a Buddhist saying that one could put down hisweapon and become enlightened on the spot.}

Furious, Father Burnt-Wood summoned up all his strengthagain and tossed the piece of burnt wood in his hand atDuan TianDe as hard as he could. Duan TianDe tried tododge out of the way, but his kungfu was just not goodenough as it caught him on the side of his mouth andknocked out 3 of his teeth. In pain and humiliation, DuanTianDe, ignoring the fact that he owed his life to FatherBurnt-Wood, lifted his sabre and tried to chop off FatherBurnt-Wood's head. However, a small monk who was rightbeside him grabbed onto his right arm and held on for hislife while another one grabbed his collar. In fury, DuanTianDe swung his sabre back and brought it down uponthose 2 monks.

Even though Qiu ChuJi, Father Burnt-Wood, and Weirdoeswere all kungfu masters, every single one of them was

were all kungfu masters, every single one of them wasgravely injured and could not do a thing to stop him.

Li Ping screamed: "Bastard! Stop! Stop!" She had beendragged all over the place by Duan TianDe and was justbasically waiting for an opportunity to present itself for herto avenge her husband. But seeing the ground covered inblood and this man about to commit more murders, shecould not hold back anymore. She charged up at him andbegan to fight for all she's worth.

The others had thought she was just an underling of DuanTianDe because of her uniform. So everyone was quitesurprised when she suddenly attacked Duan TianDe.

Being blind, Ke ZhenE's hearing was especially sensitiveand knew that she was female as soon as he heard her. Heturned to Father Burnt-Wood: "Monk Burnt-Wood, we areall going to die because of you. You really did have a girlhidden in your temple!"

After a moment of surprise, Father Burnt-Woodunderstood what had happened. Thinking that because ofone slight oversight on his part, he had not only hurthimself, he had taken his friends down with him as well. Inanger and humiliation, he punched the ground with bothhands to help him stand up and charged at Duan TianDewith all his might. Seeing him coming with suchferociousness, Duan TianDe immediately dodged out of theway in fear. Not being able to control his own bodybecause of the injury, Father Burnt-Wood's ran smack intoone of the columns head first and died on the spot.

Scared out of his wits, Duan TianDe grabbed Li Ping andran off as fast as he could. Li Ping's shout for help gotfurther and further.

Last edited by Mojo Jojo; 03-21-05 at 08:15 PM.

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03-14-05, 09:53 AM

(Moinllieon)

Chapter 3: The Winds of the Steppe

The monks were all crying because of Father Burnt-Wood'sdeath but some of them were still able to take care of thewounded by bandaging up their wounds and carrying theminto the guest rooms.

Suddenly there came an incessant banging from the vat

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Suddenly there came an incessant banging from the vatunderneath the huge bell. Not knowing what kind ofmonster was present, the monks looked at each other withblank faces and, not knowing what to do, started to chant"Sutra of the High King" {Gao Wang Jing}. But thebanging continued through all the chants of "help thesufferers" and "Amida Buddha". Finally, a dozen or so ofthe more courageous monk pulled the huge bell back upagain with a huge thick rope. As soon as they lifted thevat, a huge ball of meat came rolling out from underneathit. Scared beyond words, the monks scattered. That ball ofmeat suddenly stood up, turned out it was Han BaoJu.Being covered for the last half of the fight, he had no ideawhat had happened. Looking around, he noticed FatherBurnt-Wood had died and all his sworn brothers weregreatly injured and almost panicked. He walked over toQiu ChuJi and was just about to strike down at his headwith his Golden Dragon Whip.

"Third Brother, no!" Quan JinFa shouted.

"Why not?" Han BaoJu demanded out of anger.

"You... just can't," was all Quan JinFa could get outbecause of the pain in his abdomen.

Even though both of his legs were wounded, Ke ZhenE'smind was still working fine. So he took out the cure for hispoison and instructed the monk to give the right amountsto both Qiu ChuJi and Han XiaoYin, all the while explainingwhat happened to Han BaoJu. Enraged, Han BaoJu wasabout to go chasing after Duan TianDe when Ke ZhenEshouted: "We'll find that bastard sooner or later. First helpthose of your brothers that suffered internal injuries."

Both Zhu Cong and Nan XiRen suffered severe internalinjuries and that kick in Quan JinFa's gut was quite a shottoo. Zhang AhSheng's arm was broken and his chest washit as well, knocking him out temporarily, but once hewoke up, it turned out he wasn't in any mortal danger. Sohe immediately began helping others in the temple.

Temple of Oriental Zen sent a couple of errand runners togo report the events to Father Whithered-Wood in CloudyPavilion Temple and also began to make funeralarrangements for Father Burnt-Wood.

After several days, the poison in Qiu ChuJi and HanXiaoYin's body were eradicated. Being the medical expertthat he was, Qiu ChuJi immediately began making herbsand treating Zhu Cong and others as well as massagingand snapping every bone back into place. Luckily,everyone's kungfu base was strong enough so that theinternal as well as the external injuries were not serious.After several more days, everyone was able to sit back upagain. One day all 8 of them gathered in one of the monk'srooms and reflected how they were manipulated intofighting each other, resulting in the death of Father Burnt-

Wood and injuries to all parties. All of them were silent,not knowing what to say.After a while, Han XiaoYin finally broke the silence:"Everyone knows about Father Qiu's intelligence and wit,and the 7 of us didn't exactly begin wandering the worldyesterday. Yet we were all manipulated into this by somelittle nobody. If this ever gets out, everyone in the martialworld would laugh at us. Father, do you have any idea asto how to clean up this mess?"

Qiu ChuJi had been blaming himself for the last couple ofdays, thinking that if only he had sat down and calmlytalked with Father Burnt-Wood then all of this could havebeen avoided. So, out of deference, he turned to KeZhenE: "Big Brother Ke, what do you say?"

Ke ZhenE's temper was bad to begin with, after his eyeswere blinded it got even worse. The fact that Qiu ChuJihimself brought down all 7 of them combined was, in fact,what he considers to be one of the biggest embarrassmentof his life. Coupled with the fact that the pain on his legfrom the sword wound was still throbbing, he was barelyable to hold back his indignation. So he sneered andreplied: "Father Qiu uses his sword skills to take downanyone in his way and is never in need to respect anyone.Why consult us over this matter?"

Qiu ChuJi was taken aback for a moment, but immediatelyrealized that he was still mad over the matter. So he stoodup, cupped his fist, and bowed to the 7 Weirdos. "I waswrong in my actions, I was too rude and headstrong. Thisentire matter is entirely my fault and I ask for all of yourforgiveness."

Zhu Cong and the rest of the Weirdos all returned thegesture. Ke ZhenE pretended not to notice and coldlyreplied: "I say the 7 of us have lost all of our rights tomeddle in the affairs of the martial world. We should settledown here, fishing, chopping wood, whatever. As long asFather do not come around again, we would at least beable to spend the rest of our lives in peace."

Qiu ChuJi blushed a bit from that verbal thrashing. After abrief pause, he suddenly stood up and said: "Since I wasat fault this time, I will never dare to step into this areaagain. As for retribution for Father Burnt-Wood's death, itwill all fall on my shoulders and I will kill that bastard withmy own hands and avenge him. Having said all that I needto say, now it's time for me to leave."

Qiu ChuJi bowed towards everyone again and began towalk out.

"Stop!" Ke ZhenE shouted.

"Does Big Brother Ke have something else to say?" QiuChuJi turned around and said.

"You have injured all of us," Ke ZhenE replied, "and youexpect all of this to just disappear because you said acouple of words?"

"Then what does Big Brother Ke want? As long as it iswithin my abilities I will try my best to do it."

"We just can't let this slip right now," Ke ZhenE answered,"so it would be nice if Father give us something more."

Although the 7 Weirdos were all very righteous and moralindividuals, they were also all very proud and act verystrange, making them well deserving the title of "7Weirdos". Each is a master of kungfu and always workedtogether, so they have never come out on the short end ofthe struggle when going up against others in the martialworld. Several years ago they got into a fight with theHuaiYang Clan, the 7 of them killed over 100 or so of theHuaiYang Clan members on the shores of the Yangtze.Back then Han XiaoYin was still a kid, but she stillmanaged to kill 2 foes and the name of the "7 Weirdos ofthe South" were famous throughout the martial world. Solosing at the hands of Qiu ChuJi did not go down very wellwith any of them. Add that to the fact that Father Burnt-Wood, a good friend of the Weirdos, died because of, onecould argue, Qiu ChuJi's rashness. But there was still thefact that a woman was hidden inside the temple and shewas the widow of Guo XiaoTian, like Qiu ChuJi hadclaimed, which puts the Weirdos in the wrong. However,the Weirdos at this moment had forgotten about that.

"I was hit by your projectile," Qiu ChuJi replied. "And if itwasn't for Big Brother Ke's antidote, I would have beendead a long time ago. So for this fight, I wholeheartedlyadmit defeat."

"If that's the case," Ke ZhenE replied, "then leave thatsword of yours that you carry around on your back andyou can leave." He knew that if the 2 sides fought again atthis moment only the Han siblings would be able to evenput up a fight and that victory for his side was impossible.But all of the Weirdos would rather die than to let thematter pass like this.

This angered Qiu ChuJi greatly: "I have already given youguys a lot of face, that should be enough. Then I alsoadmitted defeat, what else do you want?"

"This is for my protection," he continued, "just like thatstick Big Brother Ke carries around."

"Are you poking fun at my blindness?" Ke ZhenE shoutedback.

"I dare not!"

"We are all injured right now, so it's hard to actually fight

"We are all injured right now, so it's hard to actually fightat this moment." Ke ZhenE shouted angrily. "So I inviteFather to come and duel it out with the 7 of us a year fromtoday at the Pavilion of Drunken Goddess."

Qiu ChuJi frowned at that remark. He figured that becausethe 7 Weirdos weren't bad people, there's really no pointin keeping this grudge going between them; that day afterFather Burnt-Wood died, Han BaoJu could have killed meeasily once he got out from underneath the bell; besides,this whole matter was caused more or less by his ownrashness; and lastly, a real man knows what's right andwrong, if he's wrong then he should admit it. But to sortall of this out with the Weirdos won't be easy either. Afterthinking silently for a bit, an idea suddenly came to him.

"If you really want to determine who's better between us,then we could do that," he said. "But only according to therules I lay down. Otherwise, I have already lost to HeroZhu at Pavilion of Drunken Goddess, and I lost againfighting here in the temple. I have already lost twice andwould inevitably lose the third time as well, no point ingoing any further."

Han BaoJu, Han XiaoYin, and Zhang AhSheng immediatelystood up, the other 4 guys could not stand up but all satup as much as they can. They answered in unison: "Whenthe 7 Weirdos of the South duel with another, we alwayslet our opponent to choose the time, place, and method."

Seeing how competitive they were, Qiu ChuJi smiled: "So Idecide how we should fight no matter what?"

Figuring that no matter what dirty trick Qiu ChuJi wouldcome up with wouldn't necessarily mean defeat for them,Zhu Cong and Quan JingFa answered simultaneously:"That's right!"

"A man's word..." Qiu ChuJi replied.

"... wild horses can't bring back!" Han XiaoYin finished, butKe ZhenE remained silent.

{The saying "A man's word can't be brought back by wildhorses" is a famous saying in China about keeping one'sword. When a person says it, it means that he's not goingback on his word.}

"If you gentlemen feel that my way is unfair in any way,"Qiu ChuJi continued, "then I will admit defeat right thenand there." Obviously planning to gain ground by giving upa little because he knew that the Weirdos would never lethim admit defeat that easily because of theircompetitiveness.

"No need to play all these word games to anger us, justtell us what it is," Ke ZhenE replied, as expected.

Qiu ChuJi sat down and began to explain: "This way that Ihave on my mind might be a little bit dragged out, butwhat it really measures is real abilities and skills andsusceptible to some temporary mishap or surge. Everyonethat knows any martial arts can fight with blades and fists.We all have names in the martial world and absolutelycannot stoop down to those lowly underling's level."

"What's left to fight if we can't do it with blades or fist? Arewe doing a drinking contest again?" All of the Weirdoswondered at that comment.

"This huge contest between us, you 7 against me 1, notonly does it measure our kungfu skills, but also our will,determination, and wit. With this huge contest, we wouldsee once and for all who is a real hero."

This entire talk had all of the 7 Weirdos shaking inanticipation and excitement. "Stop stalling, tell us!" HanXiaoYin demanded. "The harder the better!"

"If we are competing meditating, making medicine,fortunetelling, or ghost-busting; then we are no match forFather at all." Zhu Cong said with a smile.

"And I don't really want to compete with Second BrotherZhu in stealing chicken or taking sheep." Qiu ChuJi repliedwith a smile.

This caused a small bit of laughter from Han XiaoYin, whoquickly went back to urging Qiu ChuJi on: "Come on, sayit!"

"At the very bottom of all of this, our misunderstandingthat led to our fight was for saving the descendants of acouple of good men. Then this matter would be best toend it that way as well." Qiu ChuJi went on to tell how hemet up with Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin all the way tohow he chased Duan TianDe to this temple. Throughouthis entire explanation, the Weirdos could not stop cursingthe Jins as well as the Song government for its corruption.

After he had finished the story, Qiu ChuJi went on further:"That woman that Duan TianDe dragged away was GuoXiaoTian's widow, Mrs. Li, other than Big Brother Ke andthe Han siblings, I'm sure the other 4 of you saw them."

"I remember her voice," Ke ZhenE interrupted, "I willnever forget that voice!"

"Great." Qiu ChuJi continued, "As for Yang TieXin's widow,Mrs. Bao, there is no clue on where she might be. I haveseen her before, but you guys haven't. So what I proposewe do is...."

"... that the 7 of us would go rescue Mrs. Li while you gosave Mrs. Bao and that whoever succeeds wins. Right?"Han XiaoYin eagerly cut in.

Han XiaoYin eagerly cut in.

Qiu ChuJi smiled and replied: "Saving people, whiledefinitely not easy, can't really be used to determine who'sa hero and who's not. What I have in mind is much harderand troublesome."

"So what are you suggesting?" Ke ZhenE demanded.

"Both of the women are pregnant," Qiu ChuJi explained."After we save them, we must make sure they settle downnicely and allow them to give birth. After that I wouldteach the Yang kid while the 7 of you teach the Guokid...."

The 7 Weirdos were getting more and more amazed withevery word that he says. They were practicallymesmerized when Han BaoJu cut in: "Then what?"

"Then after 18 years, when the kids would both be 18, allof us, as well as invited friends from all over the martial,shall gather at the Pavilion of Drunken Goddess once againfor a huge feast. Then, when we are all sufficiently full andmerry, we'll let the 2 kids duel it out to see whether it ismy disciple better or is the disciple of the 7 Heroes reallythe man."

The 7 Weirdos stared at each other, completelyspeechless.

Qiu ChuJi continued: "If the 7 Heroes fight me once moreand defeat me, then it could easily be because yououtnumber me, not much glory there. But if I pass all mykungfu to another and you guys pass all of your kungfu toone person, then whichever one wins must mean that theirmaster or masters were better."

Filled with pride, Ke ZhenE slammed his iron staff onto theground: "Alright! That's what we'll do!"

"What if that bastard Duan TianDe had already killed Mrs.Li? Then what?" Quan JingFa asked.

"That's just the luck of the draw," Qiu ChuJi replied. "Theheavens wanted me to win, what else more could besaid?"

"Alright!" Han BaoJu pitched in his opinion. "Rescuingwidows and orphans are the right things to do to beginwith. Even if we weren't competing against you we woulddo it."

Qiu ChuJi gave him a thumbs-up and declared: "ThirdBrother Han is exactly right. If the 7 Heroes are willing tocare for the Guo kid to adulthood, then I would like tothank everyone for my late Brother Guo." He bowed toeach of them again.

"This idea of yours is rather cunning," Zhu Cong observed."With those several sentences of yours, we brothers andsisters would have to waste 18 years of our lives?"

Qiu ChuJi's face changed colors a bit and he suddenly letout a loud laughter.

"What's so funny?" Han XiaoYin demanded.

"I have long heard and admired the name of the 7 Weirdosof the South," Qiu ChuJi replied. "Everyone says that the 7Heroes are real, righteous heroes that are always therewhen you need them. But today, upon inspection... hehe...I see that the rumors were greatly exaggerated."

This made all of the Weirdos furious. Han BaoJu slammedhis fist down onto the bench that he was sitting on andwas about to say something when Qiu ChuJi cut him off:"Since ancient times, for the real heroes and men, makingfriends was for life in every way and giving one's life to afriend would be no big deal if loyalty and friendship calledfor it. Nobody has ever heard about Jing Ke and Nie Zhenghaggling about some little thing. The Yang and Guo familyare in need of help right now, how could anyone starthaggling about anything?"

{In popular Chinese lore and most versions of Chinesehistory, Jing Ke and Nie Zheng were 2 great friends thathad helped the Lord of Qi during the beginning of theSpring and Autumn Period. Their friendship was legendaryand, in view of most Chinese, including Confucius, theepitome of what friendship should be.)

After that little speech, Zhu Cong's face was pale withembarrassment. He flicked his fan and replied: "Father isright, I realize my mistake now. The 7 of us will take onthis matter!"

Qiu ChuJi stood up and said: "Today is the 24th of March,18 years from today at noon, we'll meet again upstairs inthe Pavilion of Drunken Goddess and, there, in front of allof the martial world, we will find out who's the real hero!"And, with a flick of his sleeve, he walked out of the door.

Han BaoJu shouted: "I'm off to look for that Duan TianDenow, if he crawled into a tortoise hole and disappeared,then we are going to have to waste a lot of energy."

He was the only one among the 7 Weirdos that wasn'tinjured, so he charged out of the door, mounted Wind-Chaser, his yellow horse, and began to go chase afterDuan TianDe and Li Ping.

"Third Brother! Third Brother!" Zhu Cong shouted. "Youdon't know what they look like!" But Han BaoJu wasn't thepatient type and with Wind-Chaser well deserving of hisname, he was long gone.

name, he was long gone.---------------------------------------Once he was out of the temple, Duan TianDe ran as fast ashis legs would carry him, all the while dragging Li Ping.Only after he was sure that nobody was chasing after himdid he finally stop and take a breath. Then he ran to thebank of the nearest river and jumped on the first boat thathe saw. Taking out his sabre and putting it up against theneck of the fisherman, he ordered the man to start theboat. The rivers and canals south of Yangtze were denselike a spiderweb and boats were the everyday mode oftransportation, as common as horses and carriages wereup North. Hence the saying: "Northerners ride horses,Southerner rides boats." With Duan TianDe looking asvicious as he did, as well as being dressed like an official,how could the fisherman dare to not obey? So heimmediately undocked and guided the boat out of the city.

"What a mess! If I go back to Lin-An, if nothing else, myuncle would kill me at first sight." Duan TianDe thought tohimself. "The best thing is probably to head north to getaway for a while. Hopefully that bastard of a Taoist andthose 7 Weirdos all died of their injuries and then my unclewould get so angry that he just passes away. Then I cango back and get my position back."

Once he made up his mind, he instructed the fisherman tostart heading north. Even though Han BaoJu's horse wasfaster, he was nevertheless searching on land, and thus letthe 2 of them slip through.

Duan TianDe switched boats a couple of more times aswell as change his clothes and forced Li Ping to changehers. After 10 days or so, he arrived in YangZhou anddecided to check into an inn. He was hoping to be able tojust settle down in the city for a while and wait throughthe storm. By an extraordinary coincidence, he justhappened to overhear someone inquiring about his ownwhereabouts. Shocked, he peeped through the little crackin the door and saw an amazingly ugly, short, and fat guywith a beautiful young girl. Both of them had a JiaXinaccent. Figuring that they were of the Seven Freaks, heimmediately grabbed Li Ping and ran out of the back door.Luckily, the YangZhou native at the front desk did notquite understand their dialect and didn't realize what theywere asking for, making it possible for Duan TianDe to getaway and rent another boat.Not daring to stop even for a second, he made his waynorth, up the Grand Canal, all the way to the shore ofLiGuo Post on the shores of Mount Wei Lake inside theborders of ShangDong province.

Li Ping, who was extraordinarily homely and whosestomach was quite bulged out by now, was spending dayson end cursing and crying. So even though Duan TianDewas by no means a gentleman, he never had anyinclinations towards her. All the two ever did was fight andcurse at each other, there wasn't a moment of peacebetween them.

between them.

After several more days, that ugly dwarf and pretty girlshowed up again. Duan TianDe was hoping to hide in theback. But Li Ping, knowing that her rescuers were near,began to shout at the top of her lungs. Duan TianDeimmediately stuffed a wad of cotton into her mouth andbeat her. Li Ping struggled and shouted for her life. Eventhough she wasn't successful in her attempt to get theirattention, it was too much of a close call for Duan TianDe.

At first, Duan TianDe had brought Li Ping along hoping touse her as a hostage, so as to help him get out of a jamshould it ever come that. But the situation had changed.Figuring that it would be much easier if he was by himselfand that this feisty woman was a disaster waiting tohappen, he decided that it was best to kill her. So once theHan siblings had left, he took out his sabre.

Li Ping had been waiting the entire time for an opportunityto avenge her husband's death. However, she was tied upevery night, making it impossible. Now, upon seeing themurderous look in his eyes, she prayed: "Xiao-Ge, pleaseprotect me and allow me to kill his monster. Then I willjoin you."

{Note: Xiao-Ge is an affectionate reference by Li Ping toGuo XiaoTian.}

So she reached into her shirt and placed her hands on thatdagger that Qiu ChuJi gave her. She had hidden thedagger very well and was able to slip it by Duan TianDe'sguard.

With a snicker, Duan TianDe raised his sabre and swungdown at her. Prepared to die, Li Ping summoned all herstrength, pointed the dagger at Duan TianDe, andcharged. Feeling a shot of murderous cold air upon hisface, Duan TianDe flicked his sword in an attempt to knockher dagger out of her hands. But unexpectedly, the daggerwas so sharp that, with a loud bang, it sliced the sabre inhalf. The sabre fell onto the ground as the tip of thedagger was touching Duan TianDe's chest. Shocked, DuanTianDe instinctively jumped back. Nevertheless, the frontof his shirt was slashed wide open. In complete shock andpanic, he picked up the chair at his side and shouted: "Putthat down this instant! Else I'll kill you!"

Li Ping was exhausted and the baby in her belly waskicking non-stop. Not able to fight anymore, she fell ontothe ground and tried to catch her breath. But she was stillclenching the dagger tightly.

Duan TianDe was afraid that Han BaoJu was come aroundagain. But if he ran off by himself, he was afraid that LiPing would reveal where he was going to those chasinghim. So he immediately forced her onto another boat andwent further up north the Grand Canal, passing LinQing,

went further up north the Grand Canal, passing LinQing,DeZhou, and arrived within HeBei province.

Every time he set up camp, no matter how remote thelocation, there would always be several men arriving tolook for him before long. Eventually, the ugly gnome andthe girl was joined by a staff wielding blind man. Luckily,none of them recognized him, so he was able to escapeevery time.

Soon another troublesome thing happened, Li Pingsuddenly began acting crazy. Every time they stoppedsomewhere, she would periodically begin shouting andscreaming nonsense; sometimes, she would even start totear and rip at her clothes and make all kinds of weirdfaces and gestures. At first Duan TianDe thought that shereally had gone crazy, but after a few days he suddenlyrealized. Turned out that she was afraid that her pursuershad lost her trails and was purposefully leaving a trail forthem to follow. This was making it even harder for him tolose them. By now the dead of summer had passed andthe cool breeze began to blow. In order to avoid capture,Duan TianDe was well up in the North country, and themoney he had taken with him was about to run out, yetthe Freaks were still close on his tail.

"Back in HangZhou, I was important, I was somebody.Meat, wine, money, woman, I had it all. But I had to getgreedy and go to Ox Village and kill this *****'s hubbyand get into all this mess." He cursed at himself.

Several times, he was on the verge of leaving Li Ping andjust run off by himself. But every time, he could notsummon up enough courage to just leave her. Every timehe tried to kill her ended in failure as well. What wassupposed to be protection had somehow turned into acurse that he just could not get rid off. Not only that, hehad to be constantly on the look-out against her attemptsto avenge her husband on top of everything else. He wasfrustrated, scared, and mad, yet there was nothing hecould do.

Before he realized it, he had arrived at the capital of theJin Empire, YanJing. Duan TianDe thought for a bit anddecided to try and find an out of the way place and finishoff Li Ping. In such a huge and bustling town, there was noway those who were chasing him could find him then.

Happy that things were finally going to work out, he madehis way towards the city. Unexpectedly, just as he arrivedat the front of the gate into the city, a team of Jin soldierscame walking out from inside. Not even bothering to askany questions, they seized both him and Li Ping, handedthem each a carrying stick, and commanded them to carrycargoes for them. Because Li Ping was short and a woman,her load was reasonably light. But Duan TianDe was giventwo 50 kilograms worth of load and they were practicallysmashing him into the ground.

smashing him into the ground.This group of soldiers followed an official as they headednorth. Turned out that particular official was an emissarywho was sent out in order to give Royal Edicts of the JinEmperor to the Mongolian subjects of the Jin Empire. TheJin soldiers that accompanied him were seizing randomHan Chinese that they ran into to carry their heavy cargoand food so as to save themselves some work and labor.Duan TianDe argued back a couple of times and wasimmediately answered to by several stinging whips on hishead. This situation he had seen many times before so itwas all quite familiar to him; but before, he had been theone that was doing the whipping, not the other wayaround.

By now, Li Ping's belly was huge and doing all this heavywork was on the verge of killing her. However, sodetermined was she to get revenge that she tried her bestnot to let the Jin soldiers find out about her condition.Fortunately, she had been working on a farm ever sinceshe was able to walk, which made her strong and used tothis kind of tortuous work. Having basically resignedherself to death, she was barely able to grind out thedozen of days they spent walking through the freezing andmiserable steppe.

Even though it was only October, being as far North asthey were, a blizzard hit one day that not only broughtsnow, but also a sandstorm. Having nowhere to hide fromthe sand and the snow, the entire group, all 300 or so ofthem, lined up single-filed and continued to make theirway through the endless grasslands of the steppe.Suddenly, faint shouting noises could be heardapproaching from the north. Through the sand filled air, anarmy of countless horsemen came charging at them.

Before any of them realized what was going on, the armyhad already arrived. Turned out they were an army fromsome unknown tribe to the north that had just lost abattle. Chaos descended on the group as everyone tossedtheir weapons away and began running for their lives.Some of those who did not have horses were quicklytrampled over by those who had horses.

The Jin soldiers, seeing that defeat was inevitable,immediately scattered as well. Li Ping was originally atDuan TianDe's side, but lost him during the chaos of thestampede. She threw off her share of the cargo and ran asfast as she could in the direction where there seemed tobe the least amount of people. Luckily, everyone was soconcerned with their own survival that nobody harmedher.After some running, her belly was hurting like crazy. Notable to go any further because of the pain, she lied downbehind a sand dune and fainted. After what seemed likeforever, she began to slowly come around. In the back ofher mind, there seemed to be the crying noises of a baby.Not completely coherent, she still wasn't quite surewhether or not she was dead or alive yet. But the crying

whether or not she was dead or alive yet. But the cryinggradually got louder. She twitched and suddenly realizedthat there seemed to be a warm object between her legs.By now it was after midnight, the snow had just stoppedand the moon had finally appeared from behind theparting clouds. She snapped wide awake and began to cry.Under this impossible situation, the baby in her belly wasborn.

She immediately sat up and took the baby in her hands. Itwas a boy. Overjoyed and crying, she used her teeth tobite off the umbilical cord and hugged the baby as tightlyas she could. Under the moonlight, she saw that theinfant's eyes were huge and bright and looked very muchlike her deceased husband, not to mention his cry wasincredibly loud. Under normal circumstances, there shouldhave been no way that she was going to survive aftergiving birth in such harsh conditions. But upon seeing herchild, she suddenly found strength that she didn't knowexisted before as she slowly got up and crawled into asmall ditch close by to hide from the cold. Looking at thebaby and thinking of her husband, bittersweet memoriesand emotions overwhelmed her.

The 2 of them spent the night in that ditch. The nextmorning, hearing nothing all around her, she summonedup enough courage to climb out of it. The ground, amongthe white snow and yellow sands, was covered withdiscarded weapons and the corpses. Nobody alive was tobe seen.

She dug out some preserved food from one of the deadsoldiers as well as some fire making stone and knives.After carving out some horse meat and cooking it, shesearched around for some thicker clothing. She wrappedone around her baby and put one herself as well. Luckily,the weather is so cold around this time of the year thatnothing rots, so the horse meat was able to last her for agood few days, during which she was able to recover herstrength. After which she carried her baby and beganwalking confidently towards the East. Even though she haslost that hated Duan TianDe, all the hatred in her hearthas turned into love and tenderness. All she wanted was toprotect the baby's face from the harsh steppe winds.

After several more days, she noticed that the plant livesaround her were getting denser. This particular dusk, shesuddenly spotted 2 horses come galloping towards her.The riders noticed her and stopped to ask her whathappened. Making wild gestures with her arms, shedescribed her experience of meeting the defeated armyand giving birth in the snow. Turned out these 2 riderswere Mongolians. Even though they couldn't understandher at all, they, being the friendly and hospitable kind ofpeople Mongolians are and feeling sorry for her, invitedher to spent the night with them in their Mongolian gers.Mongolians are a nomadic group of people, migratingalong with the herds and the weather. So they live in huge

along with the herds and the weather. So they live in hugetents called gers that are easily put up. The next morning,this particular group of nomads left, but decided to leaveher 4 small sheep to help her survive.

Through all the suffering and labor, Li Ping settled down inthe steppe. She erected a little hut by the reeds using treebranches and obtained food through barter using thesweaters she knitted using the wool from the sheep.

Time flies, and the little kid was already 6 years old.Following the wishes of her former husband, Li Ping gavehim the name of Guo Jing. The boy was rather slow andonly began to speak at the age of 4. Luckily, he was a verystrong boy and was able to herd the animals by himself.The 2 of them, mother and son, relied on each other,surviving on only the mere essentials and leading a verysimple and happy life. Both of them had learnedMongolian, and only when they were alone with each otherdid they speak in the Lin-An dialect of Chinese. Seeing themanly face on her son and hearing him saying everythingin the Lin-An dialect of her home frequently made her feelbittersweet: "You dad was a man among men inShanDong, you should by all means speak in ShanDongdialect as well. But we weren't together for long enough ofa time and I couldn't learn it from him, so I can't teachyou."

It was October and the weather was slowly turning colderand colder. Guo Jing climbed onto his own little pony andset out, with a shepard dog, to herd the sheep. Aroundnoon, a huge black eagle suddenly appeared in the skyand dove down towards the herd. A particular young sheepwas frightened and began to run for his life towards theEast. Guo Jing shouted several times at it to make thesheep stop, but it just kept on going.

Guo Jing immediately climbed onto his pony and wentchasing after it. After 4 or 5 kilometers or so, he finallycaught up to that little sheep. Just as he was about tohead back, he suddenly heard a very loud and constantrumble. Startled, he could not figure what the rumble was,even though he suspected that it might be thunder. Therumble got louder and louder until, after a while, he wasable to distinct the sounds of horses neighing and humansscreaming within the rumbling.Having never heard such things before, he was scared andhurriedly led his little pony and sheep into a little bush ontop of a close-by hill top. Only then did he dare to stick hishead out to see what was going on.

What he saw was dusts covering the sky as countlessnumber of chariots were bustling about. Several leaderswere shouting out commands as the armies were lining up.One was to the East while another one was to the West,both contained more people than Guo Jing thought therewere in the world. Everyone was wearing a white-coloredbandana on their head, some even stuck colorful feathers

bandana on their head, some even stuck colorful featherson their bandanas. By now Guo Jing wasn't scaredanymore, he was too curious and excited.

After another pause, from the left there suddenly cametrumpet sounds as several rows of soldiers came charging,they led by a tall and thin looking young man wearing ablood red cape. He was holding his sabre above his head,ready to strike at anyone he happened upon. The 2 armiesclashed and gruesome fighting ensued. The attacking sidewas outnumbered and was slowly being overwhelmed andbegan to retreat. But reserves soon came to support andthe fighting escalated to a deafening level once again.

It looked as if the attacking armies were about to collapseonce again when those 10 horns that sounded the start ofthe battle suddenly came to life again, making the noiselevel even more deafening than it was. The attackingsoldiers shouted: "Temujin is here! The great KhanTemujin is here!" Even though the 2 armies were stillfighting relentlessly, everyone's head periodically turnedtowards the East, where the horns were located.

Following their gazes, Guo Jing looked towards the East aswell. Through all the sand and dust that was filling up thesky, he saw a group of riders galloping forth. Within thegroup there was a huge pole, on which there were severalwhite feathers. The cheering got louder as the the ridersgot closer as the attackers seemed to fight more and morefiercely and the formations of the defending army weretorn apart instantly. The huge pole slowly moved towardsthis very little hill that Guo Jing was hiding on, whoretreated even deeper into the bush, but was still peekingout with that huge, bright pair of eyes of his. He noticed avery tall and big middle-aged man in the midst of theriders who climbed onto the hill. He was wearing an ironhelmet on his head and had a brown tuft of beard on hischin. His eyes were beaming with energy and force. WhatGuo Jing didn't know was that he was the leader of theMongolian tribe, Temujin; but even if he did, he wouldn'thave known what a "khan" was.

On his horse, Temujin calmly surveyed the battle that wasoccurring at the foot of the hill accompanied by severalriders. After a while, that young man with a red cape cameriding up the hill. "Father, there are too many of them,should we retreat a bit?" He shouted once he made it upthe hill.

By now Temujin had already finished surveying thebattlefield. In a low voice, he commanded: "Take yourteam and fall back to the East."

"Muqali, go with 2nd Prince and fall back to the West.Bogurchi, you and Tchila'un retreat to the North. Kublai,you and Subutai take your army and head South." Temujincontinued, never taking his eyes off the battlefield. "Whenyou see my banner raised up on high, that's my signal.Immediately sound the horns, turn around and counter-

Immediately sound the horns, turn around and counter-attack!"

All the officers rode off with their orders. Within seconds,the Mongol troops began retreating on all fronts.

The enemy soldiers let out a great collective howl and,upon seeing Temujin's White Feathered Banner beingraised on high at the top of the hill, shouted in unison:"Capture Temujin! Capture Temujin!" Like ants, theopposing army began charging up the hill, completelyignoring the other, retreating Mongol troops. Horses andmen were charged without abandon; a yellow fogsurrounded the hill from the dust they kicked up.

Temujin stood at the top of the hill, not moving andresolute. A score of foot soldiers held up their shields andwas protecting him from arrows flying in from alldirections. Temujin's sworn brother Kutuku and standoutgeneral Jelmi, along with 3000 elite troops, were guardingthe base of the hill with everything they can muster,determined to the last man.

Amid the flashes of blades and spears, the cries of battlewere shaking the earth. Witnessing this, Guo Jing was atthe same time excited and scared.

After an hour or so of intense fighting, and under therelentless charges of tens of thousands of enemy troops,Temujin's elite guard of 3000 had suffered about 400casualties while cutting down more than 1000 enemies aswell. Looking out, Temujin saw that even though thebattlefield was covered with enemy bodies and riderlesshorses running aimlessly; the enemy arrows flying in wasstill strong. On the Northeastern end of the battle, theenemy attack was especially fierce as the defense lookedcloser and closer to collapse. "Father," Ogedei, Temujin'sthird son, anxiously suggested, "is it time to raise thebanner?"

"Their troops aren't tired yet!" Temujin answered gravely,not moving his eyes away from the battle, even for amoment.

By now there was 3 black banners at the northeast end ofthe battle, meaning that the enemy had gathered 3standout generals there to command the troops. TheMongol defenders were steadily dropping back. Up the hillcame Jelmi, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Khan, wecan't stop them anymore!"

"Can't stop them?" Temujin angrily shouted back. "Whatkind of man are you?"Jelmi's expression changed and grabbed a sabre from oneof the foot soldiers. With a shout, he charged into theenemy formation. Fighting with utter abandon, he carved apath of blood to the black banners. The enemycommanders, seeing his fierceness, immediately pulled

commanders, seeing his fierceness, immediately pulledhard on their reins and backed away. Jelmi, with 3 swingsof his sabre, cut down the 3 men that were carrying thebanners. Throwing down his sabre, he wrapped his armsaround the 3 banners, took them back to the top of thehill, and stuck into the ground upside down. Seeing thisincredible display, the enemy morale was rocked. TheMongol troops responded with a fury and the hole in thedefense on the northeast end was quickly plugged.After more fighting, an enemy general, with a black cape,suddenly appeared on the southwest corner. Not wasting ashot, he quickly took down a dozen or so Mongol soldierswith his bow and arrow. Two Mongol officers turned andcharged at him with their spears. Using only 2 arrows, heeasily shot the 2 officers off their horses.

"Such amazing skills!" Upon seeing that, even Temujin hadto praise him.By now, the general with the black cape had fought tonear the foot of the hill. With a faint twang of a releasedbow, an arrow hit Temujin on his neck. Another arrowquickly followed, heading straight for Temujin's stomach.Just realizing that he had been shot and another arrowwas coming, Temujin immediately pulled hard on his reins,making his horse stand up on his hind legs. The arrowburied into the horse's chest all the way to the feathers,knocking the horse to the ground. Seeing the leader hitand fall, the Mongol troops were shocked. Screaming atthe top of their lungs, pouncing on the opportunity, theenemy charged forward like floodwater.

Ogedei had just finished helped his father pull out thearrow in his neck and was tearing off his shirt in order tobandage up the wound when Temujin shouted: "Forgetabout me, defend the hill!"

Nodding quickly, Ogedei turned and immediately shotdown 2 enemy officers.Kutuku was commanding his troops guarding the west endof the hill, but, due to the fact that they had ran out ofarrows and spears, he had to retreat. Jelmi's eyes turnedred as he saw him: "Kutuku, are you going to run like ascared rabbit?"

"Who's running?" Kutuku smiled back, "I ran out ofarrows."

Temujin, still lying on the ground, took out a handful ofarrows and tossed it over to him. Kutuku quickly put a putan arrow onto his bow and shot the closest black banneredgeneral off his horse. Quickly charging downhill, Kutukugrabbed onto that general's horse and returned.

"Brother, you are really something!" Temujin praised.

Covered with blood from head to toe, Kutuku quietlyasked: "Can we raise the banner and sound the horns?"

"The enemy still isn't tired yet, just a bit longer." Temujinsaid, blood streaming down his palm that's pressing hardon the wound in his neck, trying to stop the bleeding.

Upon hearing that, Kutuku dropped to one knee andbegged: "We owe our lives to you and have no reservationfor dying here. But Khan, please, you have to take care ofyourself."

Temujin shakily stood up, took over the reins of the horsefrom Kutuku, and struggled mightily before finallymounting the horse. Waving his sabre and shouting, "Holdthe hill!" at the top of his lungs, he cut down 3 enemysoldiers that had charged up the hill. Seeing Temujinreappear, the opposing army's morale was shaken onceagain and the momentum shifted as it began to fall backdown the hill.

"Raise the banners! Sound the horns!" Temujincommanded, seizing on the fact that their enemy's moralewas at a low.

The Mongol army let out a collective howl as an officerclimbed onto a horse, stood up, and raised the whitefeathered banner up as high as he could. The horns fromall corners sounded. Immediately, the screaming of mendrowned out the horns as row after row of Mongoliansolders appeared from far away and approached withlightning speed.

The enemy outnumbered the Mongols, but they weregathered around the hill. As soon as the soldiers on theouter edge began to fall back, the middle of theirformation descended into chaos. The general in black,noticing that the tide was turning, immediately beganordering his troops around in hopes of rallying his troops.But the formation had already collapsed and the soldiershad no desire to fight anymore. Within an hour, the armyhad been smashed apart; those who weren't killed wererunning for their lives. The general in black, riding a blackhorse, turned and joined them.

"50 taels of gold to the man who catches that scoundrel!"Temujin shouted, which immediately sent several scores ofMongolian elites after him.

That general in black, not missing a shot, turned and shotdown about a dozen or so pursuers in a row. The rest ofthe pursuers did not dare to get too close and, in the end,let him get away. Seeing all this from inside the little bush,Guo Jing was in awe of that general's bravery and skill.

The battle was a complete victory for Temujin, destroyingmore than half of his nemesis', the Tatars, power.Surveying the battlefield, the memories of his past flashedbefore his eyes again: the poisoning of his father, beingcaptured by the Taijiuts, and all the tortured and shame

he went through at their hands. Although his wound wasstill not healed, his heart was filled with the joys of thesweet taste of revenge. Unable to hold it in anymore, heleaned back and laughed in triumph. Every soldier joinedin the cheer, which shook the earth as they began to fileinto formation and leave the battlefield.

Guo Jing waited until even the gravediggers had left due todarkness before he came crawling out of the bush. It wasmidnight when he got home and his mother, who was onthe verge of a nervous breakdown waiting for him to comeback, was overjoyed seeing him. Guo Jing described, asbest as he could, what had happened to his mom inbetween his stuttering. Li Ping, seeing his face alight withjoy and amazement without even a trace of fear, thoughtto herself that even though he was just a kid and a bitdumb, he was still very much like his father in this respect,which caused a bittersweet feeling to fill her.

The morning after the next day, Li Ping went off to themarketplace 15 kilometers away with 2 hand made woolblankets. Guo Jing was shepherding out in front of his ownhouse when his mind wandered back to what he had seen2 days ago. Figuring it would be fun, he raised hisshepherding whip and began waving it around. Riding onhis little horse, shouting at the top of his lungs, andmoving the herd around, he felt just like a generalcommanding his own troops into battle.Just as he was getting really into it, he suddenly heard thesound of horse hooves from the East. A solitary horseslowly approached with a person was lying on its back. Thehorse got close and stopped, causing the man on the backof the horse to lift his head and look up. The sight of theman made Guo Jing scream in fear.

The man's of face was covered in mud, dirt, and blood. Itwas that general in black that he had seen the day beforeyesterday. In his left hand was the bottom half of whathad been a sabre, which was stained purplish red withblood. The bow and arrow he had fought off so many foeswith where gone. It looked as if he had another encounterwith his enemies again after escaping 2 days ago. His leftcheek had been slashed open and was bleeding profusely.His horse was injured as well. His body shuddered as he,with his blood red eyes fell upon Guo Jing, muttered in ahoarse and exhausted voice: "Water, water... somewater?"Guo Jing immediately ran into the house and brought out abowl of water from the water tub. That man grabbed it outof Guo Jing's hand and drank it all in one gulp. "More!" Hedemanded.

Guo Jing retrieved another bowl for him. He drank halfbefore the blood dripping off of his face turned the waterred. The man let out a loud laugh, then suddenly, his facetwitched and he fell off his horse and fainted.

Guo Jing panicked, he didn't know what to do. Luckily, the

Guo Jing panicked, he didn't know what to do. Luckily, theman came to after a while. "Give my horse some drinktoo," he said, "and do you have anything to eat?"

Guo Jing brought out some roasted lamb for him and gotto whole bucket of water for the horse. After chompingdown the hearty meal, the man was thoroughly refreshedand jumped up off the ground.

"Thanks, brother." He said as he took off the gold bracelethe had around his wrist and held it out at Guo Jing. "Here,take it."

Guo Jing shook his head: "Mom said that we should takecare of guests and not ask for or take anything in return."

The man laughed at this and commented: "What a goodkid you are!"

He put the bracelet back on his wrist, tore off half of hissleeve, and began to attend to both his and his horse'swounds.

Suddenly, from the East came the faint rumblings ofhorses galloping. The man's face dropped: "Hmph, lookslike they are not going to let me go!"

The 2 of them ran out of the door and saw that the land inthe distance was covered by dust kicked up by countlesshorses heading this way.

"Kid, do you have any bows and arrows in the house?" Theman asked.

"Yes, sure." Guo Jing replied just before darting back intothe house.

Hearing that, the man looked somewhat relieved, but thatsoon changed when he saw that Guo Jing had just broughtout his own little toy bow and arrow. He let out a littlelaugh before frowning: "I need the fighting kind, the bigones."Guo Jing merely shook his head.

The pursuers were getting closer, theirs banners could befaintly seen waving in the distance. The man figured that,with his horse injured, he wouldn't be able to get away, sowhile hiding is always dangerous, he had no alternative.

"I can't beat them all by myself, so I have got to hide." Hesaid, turning to Guo Jing. He looked around and noticedthat there's nowhere to hide around the hut, so indesperation, he settled on the big pile of grass outside.

"I'm going to hide in there. Could you chase my horse asfar away as you can? Be sure to find a good place to hidefor yourself too and don't let them catch you." Heinstructed as he dug himself into the grass pile.

instructed as he dug himself into the grass pile.Traditionally, as soon as the scorching summer haspassed, Mongolians would immediately cut down all thetall grass and pile them up. During the harsh winters,Mongolians rely on these grass piles for all the feed for theanimals as well as fire for warmth. So often these grasspiles would be bigger than their huts. The man wasactually very well hidden inside the grass pile and probablywouldn't be discovered without a careful inspection.

Guo Jing turned and gave the black horse a couple of goodlashes, causing the horse to gallop off. Only until it wasalmost entirely out of sight did it finally stop and started tograze again. Guo Jing jumped onto his little horse and tookoff to the West.

The pursuers, noticing that someone was there, sent 2advanced scouts forward to give chase. Guo Jing's ponywasn't fast and the 2 scouts soon caught up. "Kid, did yousee a man riding a black horse around here?" One of themdemanded.Guo Jing didn't know how to tell a lie, so he couldn't findthe words to answer the question. The 2 scouts askedseveral more times, but there was still no answer. "Let'stake him to First Prince!", one of them finally suggested,seeing blank face on the kid. The 2 scouts took a hold ofGuo Jing's reins and let him back to the hut.

"I just won't say." Guo Jing made up his mind on the wayback.

A good number of Mongolian soldiers surrounded a tall andskinny young man. Guo Jing recognized the face, he hadseen him on the hill the day before. Noticing that thesoldiers were all obeying his command, Guo Jing decidedthat he was an enemy of that black robed general. "Whatdid the little kid say?" The First Prince shouted.

"This kid is scared stiff, he hasn't said a word."

The First Prince looked around and suddenly noticed thatblack horse off grazing in the distance. "Is that his horse?Go and bring it here." He quietly ordered.Ten Mongols split into 5 groups and quietly surrounded thehorse. By the time the horse noticed and tried to escape, ithad already ran out of places to run.

"Isn't this Jebeh's horse?" The First Prince askedrhetorically in an arrogant voice.

"Yes sir, it is!" The solders answered in unison.

The First Prince, using his whip, landed a lash on the sideof Guo Jing's head and shouted: "Where is he hiding? Spitit out. Think you can fool me?"

Hiding among the pile of dried grass, Jebeh held his sabretightly in his grasp. Seeing Guo Jing getting hit and a huge

tightly in his grasp. Seeing Guo Jing getting hit and a hugewelt immediately starting to develop on his head, his heartbegan to beat out of control. He knew that this wasTemujin's eldest son, Jorchi, whose cruelty and savagerywas famous throughout all of the Steppe. He figured thatthe kid would undoubtedly be frightened into telling wherehe was hiding, then all he could do was jump out and fightto the death.Guo Jing wanted to cry, but, with all his might, he keptback his tears and, holding his head up high, asked: "Whydid you hit me? I didn't do anything wrong!" For all heknew, kids only get beat when they did something wrong.

"Trying to be tough huh?" Jorchi shouted angrily before hewhipped Guo Jing again, making Guo Jing burst out crying.

By now the other soldiers had already given Guo Jing'shouse a thorough search. Two of the soldiers given pokedabout the grass pile with their spears. Luckily, the grasspile was huge and they didn't hit Jebeh. "The horse is stillhere, he couldn't have gone far. Kid, are you going to tellor not!" Jorchi continued as he lashed at Guo Jing's head 3more times. Guo Jing reached out and tried to grab thewhip, but how could he?

Suddenly, they heard some horns sounding from afar."The Khan is coming!" All of the soldiers shouted as Jorchistopped and turned to greet his father. "Father!" Heshouted as an army with Temujin at the head camegalloping in.

The wound that Jebeh inflicted on Temujin turned out tobe severe. During the battle Temujin was able to fightthrough it, but after the battle was over he actually faintedseveral times from the pain. His trusted general Jelmi andthird son Ogedei took turns sucking the bad blood clots outof his wound. The officers and his sons waited by hisbedside for an entire night until he was no longer in mortaldanger. The next morning, swearing to catch Jebeh andquarter him so as to avenge this wound to the Khan, theMongol soldiers spread out in all directions. By dusk on thesecond day, a small scout team finally ran into Jebeh, butwas decimated by him. However, Jebeh was injured aswell in the melee. Upon hearing the news, Temujinimmediately sent his eldest son Jorchi after him beforetaking his other sons with him as the rear guard.

"Father, we found that bastard's horse!" Jorchi reported,pointing at the black horse.

"I don't want the horse, I want him!" Temujin replied.

"Yes father, we will find him." Jorchi answered beforereturning to Guo Jing's side. Pulling out his sabre, heswung it in the air a couple of times and shouted: "Are yougoing to tell?"

His face covered in blood from the beating earlier, GuoJing actually got feistier and shouted back: "I'll never tell!

Jing actually got feistier and shouted back: "I'll never tell!I'll never tell!"

From that, Temujin noticed how innocent the kid was,replying with "I'll never tell" instead of "I don't know",giving away the fact that he knew where Jebeh was hiding.So he turned to Ogedei and whispered: "Go and trick it outof him."

Smiling, Ogedei walked up to Guo Jing, removed 2 goldstudded peacock feathers from his helmet and said: "Ifyou tell me, this is yours."

"I'll never tell!" Guo Jing still replied.

"Let loose the dogs!" Jagahati, Temujin's second eldestson ordered as the soldiers immediately brought forth 6huge hunting dogs.

Mongolians love to hunt and all of the aristocrats or peopleof wealth own hunting dogs and falcons. Jagahatiespecially loves dogs and this search for Jebeh presented aperfect use for his dogs. So he ordered the dogs be takenaround the black horse a couple of times before lettingthem loose and letting them find where Jebeh was hiding.The dogs barked wildly as they ran in and out of the hutrepeatedly.

Guo Jing never met Jebeh before, but 2 days ago he hadgreatly admired his bravery and skill on the battlefield. Ontop of that being whipped several times by Jorchi broughtthis natural stubbornness and feistiness out of him as hecalled his shepherd dog out. By now Jagahati's huntingdogs were getting very close to the grass pile, so, uponGuo Jing's command, the shepherd dog positioned itselfbetween the grass pile and the hunting dogs, not lettingany of them get closer. Jagahati gave a loud shout and all6 huge hunting dogs leapt forth and the air was quicklyfilled with the cacophony of dog barking as the 7 dogsfought. The shepherd dog, smaller to begin with andbattling 1 against 6, was quickly covered with bite marksbut still fought back ferociously, not backing down one bit.Guo Jing was cheering his shepherd on loudly betweensobs. Seeing this, Temujin, Ogedei, and everyone presentknew that Jebeh must be hiding in the grass pile, so theyjust smiled and enjoyed the show of the dog fight.

Furious, Jorchi began to hit Guo Jing with his horsewhipagain, causing him rolled around in pain. He rolled next toJochi's legs before suddenly jumping up and grabbing hisright leg. Jorchi tried to throw him off with a kick, but theboy's grip was surprisingly tight and he couldn't get himoff. The other sons, seeing their older brother is such anawkward and pathetic state, began to laugh out loud. EvenTemujin began to snicker a bit. His face flushed blood red,Jorchi unsheathed his sabre and brought it down towardGuo Jing's head. Just as it looked as if the kid was aboutto be hit, a broken sabre suddenly stuck out from inside

to be hit, a broken sabre suddenly stuck out from insidethe grass pile. "Bang!" The 2 sabres collided and Jorchi,feeling his hands go numb, almost dropped his sabre. Thesoldiers let out a collective gasp as Jebeh jumped out ofthe pile.

Pulling Guo Jing behind him with his left hand, hesnickered: "Bullying a little kid, have you no shame?"

The soldiers immediately their spears and surroundedJebeh. Seeing that he had nowhere to run, Jebeh tossedaside the broken sabre in his hand. Jorchi charged forthand landed a punch on his chest with Jebeh not eventrying to guard himself.

"Kill me now!" He shouted, but then he added with in aquiet and heavy voice: "Pity that I cannot die in the handsof a true hero!"

"What did you say?" Temujin cut in.

"To die on the battlefields, in hands of a hero that beatme, is dying with no regrets. But today the eagle hasfallen onto the ground and was bitten to death by ants!"Jebeh replied with his a fury in his eyes and let out atremendous howl. Jagahati's hunting dogs, who hadcollectively pinned Guo Jing's shepherd dog onto theground and was relentlessly biting it, jumped at the howland ran away whimpering behind their trainers.

"Khan, don't let this little bastard boast like that." A personstepped out from beside Temujin and shouted. "Let meduel with him!"

"Alright, go have a duel with him." Temujin replied,happily discovering that the man was Bogurchi. "We don'thave much of anything else, but we do have someheroes."

"I'm going to kill you by myself, so that you can die withno regrets." Bogurchi took a few steps forward andshouted at Jebeh.

"Who the hell are you?" Jebeh shouted back, noticing thatthe challenger was very well built and had a very deep andloud voice.

"I'm Bogurchi! Heard of me before?"

A coldness shot through Jebeh's heart: "So this is him,rumor say that Bogurchi was the hero of heroes amongthe Mongols." Not wanting to reply, he simply shot a looksideways and hmmphed.

"You boast about your skills at bow and arrow, and otherseven call you Jebeh. Then why don't you and this friend ofmine have a little shooting contest?" Temujin declared. InMongolian, "Jebeh" means both "arrow" and "divine

Mongolian, "Jebeh" means both "arrow" and "divinearcher." Jebeh had another name, but because of hisincredible skill with the bow and arrow, everyone calledhim Jebeh and his real name had long been forgotten.

{Note: According to Mongol records, when he first enteredTemujin's tribe, Jebeh gave his name as Jirgadei.}

"So you are a friend of him?" Jebeh shouted at Bogurchi."Then I guess I'll just kill you first."

This remark caused all of the Mongol soldiers to let out anaudible laugh, for everyone of them knew that Bogurchiwas unbeatable as a fighter and was famous through outall of the Steppe. Even though they saw how great Jebehwas with the bow, claiming to be able to kill Bogurchi wasjust a bit too much for them to stomach.

Back when Temujin was just still just a boy, he was oncecaptured by the Taijiuts, who placed him in a cangue. Themany tribes of the Taijiuts gathered at the Onon River tocelebrate by drinking and whipping him at the same time.After the gatherers were sufficiently drunk, Temujinknocked his guard unconscious with his cangue andescaped into the nearby woods.

{Note: Cangue is an ancient Chinese device for punishingcriminals. It consists of 2 wooden halves that's cut out sothat they fit perfect around a person's neck and hands,holding them in place and prevents the person fromretaliating or lying down.}

The Taijiuts conducted a massive search trying to find him.It was then that he met a young man named Tchila'unwho, despite of the enormous danger, took him into hishouse. It was Tchila'un who smashed the cangue off ofhim and threw it in the fire; and it was also Tchila'un whohid him in a cart of fleeces. When the Taijiut scouts camearound and searched Tchila'un's house, they came uponthe cart of fleeces and began to take the fleeces off layerby layer.

Just as Temujin's feet was going to be revealed, Tchila'un'sfather suddenly interrupted: "Such a hot day, how couldanyone hide in a pile of fleeces? If he did he's probablyroasted to death by now."

It was the dead of summer and everyone was sweatingprofusely. The scouts thought what he said made senseand didn't look any further. Temujin's life was filled withdangerous moments and close calls, but this was the mostdangerous and closest call of them all.

After he ran away, Temujin lived a squalid existence alongwith his mother and brother as they were forced to rely oncaptured prairie rats to survive.One day, the 8 white horses that Temujin had were stolenby a small group of robbers from the Taijiut tribe. AsTemujin rode after them all by himself, he ran into another

Temujin rode after them all by himself, he ran into anotheryoung man who was in milking his horse. When Temujinstopped to inquire about the thieves, he learned that theyoung man's name was Bogurchi.

"Our lives are full of the same hardship," Bogurchi said,"let's be friends."

The 2 of them rode off. It was 3 days before they finallycaught up to the thieving tribe. The 2 of them, bythemselves, took on a couple hundred foes and took backthose 8 horses. Temujin offered to split the horses withhim and asked him how many he wanted.

"I did this as a friend, so I don't want a single one." wasBogurchi's answer.From that day forth, the 2 of them worked together andTemujin continued to insist on calling him his good friend.Theirs was a true friendship forged in the times of trouble.

Bogurchi and Tchila'un, together with Muqali and Boroqulwere the 4 foremost founding generals of the MongolianEmpire.

Knowing how great Bogurchi was with the bow and arrow,Temujin handed his own bow to Bogurchi and hopped offhis white colt. "Ride my horse, use my bow and arrow,then it'll be as if I killed him."

"Yes sir!" Bogurchi hopped onto Temujin's treasured horsewith bow and arrow in hand. Turning to Ogedei, he said:"Let Jebeh use your horse."

"Well, lucky him." Ogedei commented before hopping offand ordering a guard to walk the horse over to Jebeh.

"I am already surrounded," Jebeh turned to Temujin aftersecuring himself into the saddle, "if you wanted to kill me,it would have been easier than killing a sheep. Since youhave already showed mercy by letting me duel with arrowswith him, I dare not ask for anymore. Therefore I ask onlyfor a bow and no arrows."

"No arrows?" Bogurchi shouted feeling insulted.

"That's right. I can kill you with just a bow!"

This time the laughter from the Mongolian soldiers waseven louder. "What a braggart!" One of them shouted asTemujin ordered him to hand over his best bow to Jebeh.

Bogurchi had seen Jebeh in action during battle and knowvery well what a great marksman he was and didn't dareto take him lightly. However, with no arrows, how couldJebeh apply his great skill? Borguchi, knowing that Jebehmust be planning to use the arrows that he himself shot,gave his horse a good squeeze with his legs, causing it tostart to gallop. Not only was this particular colt fast, it had

start to gallop. Not only was this particular colt fast, it hadbeen through many a battle and was especially perceptiveto the whims of its rider. Because of this, Temujin hadtaken quite a liking to it.

In response of the opponent's speed, Jebeh pulled on thereins, making his horse slowly back up. Borguchi fitted anarrow onto the bow and, aiming directly at Jebeh's face,let loose. Jebeh tilted his body and with incredible hand-eye coordination grabbed the arrow by the tail out of mid-air.

"Oh that's good." Bogurchi muttered under his breath andshot another arrow.

Hearing the arrow piercing through the air, Jebeh knewthat he would not be able to catch this one. So he leanedforward, laying his body flat against the back of the horse.The arrow flew over his head, barely missing grazing him.Immediately he made his horse gallop forward with a littlekick and sat back up. But what he didn't know was thatBogurchi was a master at shooting arrows one afteranother as 2 more arrows came baring down on him. Notexpecting such a skill from his foe, Jebeh was forced toimmediately slip off of his saddle and, hooking his rightfoot through the stirrup, almost hit the ground. The horsewas still galloping forth at full speed, making it look as ifthere was a dancing bird at its side. Jebeh twisted hiswaist around, he had already loaded that arrow he hadjust caught onto the bow when he was barely half around,and as let loose aiming at Bogurchi's belly. Then heimmediately flipped back onto the saddle."Excellent!" Bogurchi shouted as he aimed at the comingarrow and let loose. The 2 arrows met head on and shotoff in different directions before both arrows, still carryinga great force, stuck into the ground with their tails up. Theexchanged caused Temujin and all other spectators tocheer in amazement.

Bogurchi feigned shooting to the left, waited until Jebeh toreact to the right before suddenly letting off a shottowards the right. Jebeh flicked his bow with his left handand knocked the arrow down on the ground. Bogurchifollowed with anther 3 shots, all of which were dodged byJebeh. Jebeh, speeding his horse up, suddenly slipped offthe saddle, reached down, picked up 3 arrows off theground, sat back up, and shot one all in one motion.

Wanting to show off a bit of his own skills, Bogurchijumped on his saddle. Keeping his balance with his left leg,he kicked away the arrow with his right foot. Then, stillstanding, he used the height advantage and let loose aespecially fierce shot. Jebeh pulled his horse to the side tododge the shot and responded with another shot, which,with a "crack", split the arrow that Borguchi in half alongthe shaft.

"He doesn't even have any arrows and yet we are fighting

"He doesn't even have any arrows and yet we are fightingto a draw up to now. How can I get revenge for the Khan?"Bogurchi thought to himself.

Getting impatient, Bogurchi began to shoot arrows oneafter another nonstop, so much so that it all became a blurto the spectators. Not having enough time to grab thearrows, Jebeh was forced into just dodging them.However, the arrows just kept on flying in and they kepton getting faster and more numerous until finally, he washit on his left shoulder. At this everyone present cheeredin unison.Ecstatic, Bogurchi was just about to shoot several morearrows to end Jebeh's life when he reached down into hisarrow bag and came up empty. He had actually used up allhis arrows while he was showering Jebeh with them. Healways brought a tremendous amount of arrows with himwhen he enters battle, 2 quivers on his side and 6 more onthe horse for a total of 8 quivers filled with arrows.However, this time he was using the Khan's own supply ofarrows and, in the midst of battle, he had forgotten thatthere was a limit on arrows and resorted to his habitualway of using them. So now, shocked to discover that hehad used all of his arrows, he immediately turned hishorse around and reached down to pick up some arrows.

Clearly seeing all of this, Jebeh pounced on theopportunity. Before the sound of the arrow piercingthrough the air had faded from everyone's ears, the arrowhad already hit Bogurchi's back, right where his heart was.The spectators gasped in shock. But strangely, eventhough this arrow was shot with great force and caused awave of pain to shoot through Bogurchi's back, it didn'tpenetrate his clothing and fell off onto the ground.Bogurchi picked up the arrow, which was lying right bywhere he was reaching down and inspected it. It turnedout that Jebeh had actually taken off the arrowhead in ashow of mercy. He flipped himself back onto the saddleand shouted: "I am avenging for my Khan. I don't needyour mercy!"

"I, Jebeh, never show any mercy to my enemies! That lastarrow was to exchange a life for another!"

When he saw Borguchi hit, Temujin was devastated.However, now that he suddenly realized that Bogurchi wasnot dying, he was overjoyed. At this moment he wouldhave absolutely been willing to trade all of the sheep, ox,and horses in his tribe in exchange for Borguchi's lifewithout the least bit of hesitation. So, upon hearingJebeh's remark, he immediately answered: "Alright, noneed to go any further. You let him go so I'm letting yougo. His life for your life."

"I'm not asking to exchange my life for his life."

"What?" Temujin was puzzled.

"I'm asking for an exchange for his life!" Jebeh answered,

"I'm asking for an exchange for his life!" Jebeh answered,pointing at Guo Jing, who was standing by the door of thehut. "I ask that the Khan not to trouble this kid anyfurther.

"As for me?" He continued, raising one of his eyebrowshigher. "I wounded Khan and deserves whateverpunishment that comes to me. Bogurchi, come on!"As he finished, he pulled the arrow from his shoulder and,with blood still dripping off of it, fitted it onto his bow. Bynow, Bogurchi's underlings had already supplied him with6 more quivers of arrows. "Alright, let's try this again!"Borguchi replied as he showered Jebeh with arrows. Thearrows were coming so fast that they were almostconnected, creating a chain of arrows in the air.

Seeing the situation, Jebeh, holding himself up by hookinghis foot through the stirrup, flipped himself underneath hishorse's belly. Leaning sideways so as to not hit theground, he aimed and fired a shot at Bogurchi's belly. Thewhite colt, not waiting for his master to pull the reins,instinctively dodged to the left. But unfortunately, the shotfrom Jebeh was much faster than any normal shot and thecolt was not able to get out of the way in time. The a thud,the arrow hit the colt on the head and instantly brought itdown.

Lying on the ground, Bogurchi dared not to risk Jebehshooting a follow up, immediately twisting and firinganother shot, snapping the bow in Jebeh's hand in half.Losing his weapon, Jebeh cursed at the fact he wasn't ableto fight back anymore, as he had to resort to zigzagging inan effort to dodge Borguchi's shot. The Mongolian soldierspresent all began to shout and cheer for Bogurchi as heloaded another arrow onto the bow. "He really is quite ahero!" Borguchi thought as he aimed for Jebeh's back andlet loose.

The great marksmen never misses when it matters andthis arrow hit Jebeh smack on the back of his head.Jebeh's body shook and fell off the horse, the arrow fallingto his side. Turned out that Bogurchi, not able to bringhimself to kill such a hero, took the arrowhead off of thisarrow as well. Borguchi loaded another arrow onto his bowand aimed at Jebeh before turning towards Temujin:"Great Khan, I ask you to show mercy and let him go!"

By now, Temujin had long grown to admire Jebeh'scourage and skill, so he shouted: "Are you still not goingto surrender?"

Seeing Temujin sitting there in all his glory andmagnificence, Jebeh was suddenly won over. He ran overas fast as he could and, with his head down, knelt down infront of Temujin.

Temujin let out a hearty laugh: "Wonderful! Wonderful!From now on, you are with me!"

From now on, you are with me!"

Mongolians frequently sing to express their feelings andthoughts. So at this moment, still kneeling on the ground,Jebeh began to sing: "Oh Great Khan, you showed memercy and let me live, in the future, be it jumping intoboiling water or walking in fire, I would do. I would crossthe black seas and crush the mountains to protect theGreat Khan. Conquering foes, digging out their hearts! Justask of me and I will do. For the Khan I would lead chargesand run 1 million kilometers a day!"

{Note: It's a song! So give me a break would ya?}

Ecstatic at the turn of events, Temujin took out 2 goldingots and give one each to Bogurchi and Jebeh. Jebehthanked him and asked: "Great Khan, is it ok if I give thisingot to that kid?"

"My gold I can give to whoever I want," Temujin repliedwith a smile, "your gold you can give to whoever youwant!"

Jebeh walked over to Guo Jing and held out the ingot. ButGuo Jing just shook his head: "Mom said that helpingguests is the right thing to do and that it's wrong to takeanything from guests.

Temujin had grown to like Guo Jing because of theunyielding toughness the kid showed earlier. And now,hearing those words, he liked Guo Jing even more.

"Bring the kid into our tribe as well." He instructed Jebehbefore leading the soldiers back. Several of the soldiersstayed behind to put the white colt's corpse on the backsof 2 horses before leaving as well.

Able to save his own life and find a master at one time,Jebeh was overjoyed and tired. So he lay down on theground, rested until Li Ping had returned from the market,and explained to her what had happened.

"Now that's a good kid," Li Ping said to Guo Jing uponhearing of how courageous and loyal he was, even thoughshe was greatly distressed by all the wounds on his face."That's how a man should act and behave." She figuredthat joining the army and going through the vigorouswould be much better for Guo Jing than shepherding,especially if Guo Jing was to avenge his father. So themother and son followed Jebeh into Temujin's tribe.

Temujin assigned Jebeh as a Squad Leader under his thirdson, Ogedei. After meeting with the Third Prince, Jebehwent and met up with Bogurchi. Fueled by mutual respect,the 2 of them became fast friends. Feeling as if he owedGuo Jing a debt of gratitude, Jebeh took great care inlooking after the mother and son and decided that he willbegin teaching Guo Jing about bow and arrows as soon as

begin teaching Guo Jing about bow and arrows as soon asGuo Jing gets a little older.

On this particular day, Guo Jing was just tossing somerocks around with a couple of Mongolian kids for a gamewhen they saw 2 Mongolian riders flying into the camp,obviously carrying urgent news for the Khan. Not longafter the 2 riders entered Temujin's tent, the horns startedto sound, causing the soldiers to pour out of their tents.Temujin had an iron fist when it came to the training anddiscipline of his army. Ten soldiers were organized into asquad, which was led by a Squad Leader. The squads wereordered into platoons made up of ten squads that were ledby a Hundred-Men Commander, ten Hundred-Men groupswere led by a Thousand-Men Commander, which werethen organized under one of a few Ten-Thousand-MenCommander. When Temujin gave an order, it was as if hewas just moving his fingers, no order was disobeyed ormiscarried out.

As Guo Jing and the other children looked on, at finish ofthe first blow of the horns, all the soldiers had alreadypicked up their weapons and mounted their horses. Whenthe horns sounded for the second time, the world shookfrom the chaos of men and beasts moving. By the time thethird sounding of the horns came to a stop, the plain justoutside of the main gates of the encampment werecovered with some 50,000 men and soldiers in formation.Other than the breathing of horses, there wasn't anothersound, neither chattering noises of conversation nor anysounds of weapons colliding.

Temujin, escorted closely behind by his 3 eldest sons,walked out of the main gate. "We have beaten many afoes and our feats has reached the Great Jin Empire." Heshouted at the top of his lungs. "At this moment, the greatEmperor of the Jins has sent the Third Prince and SixthPrince here to officially anoint your Khan as an officer!"

The soldiers all, in unison, raised their sabres and shoutedin joy. At that time, the Jurchens controlled NorthernChina with a fierce and strong army. Their empire wasfamous and powerful. On the other hand, the Mongolswere just a small tribe among many in the middle of theSteppe. That was the reason why Temujin would feelhonored to be an official of the Jin Empire.

Temujin ordered the eldest son Jorchi to take 10,000 menwith him to welcome and escort the guests while the other40,000 men line up in formations in waiting.In reality, the Jurchen Emperor at the time, WanYan Jing,who took the title of Zhang Zong, was apprehensive ofgrowing power's of some tribes on the Steppe such asTemujin's tribe and Toghril, the Ong Khan's tribe, theKeraits. Fearing that his northern neighbors would grow tobe troublesome, he had sent Lord Rong, his third sonWanYan HongXi, and Lord Zhao, his sixth son WanYanHongLie to anoint the leaders as officers of Jin. But inaddition of tightening the ties of the tribes to Jin and

addition of tightening the ties of the tribes to Jin andincreasing tributes, the princes had another mission, toscout the tribes and make note of the weakness of each soas to be able to gain the upper hand in case of futureconflicts. That Lord Zhao, WanYan HongLie, was the sameone that had traveled to Lin'An, wounded by Qiu ChuJi atOx Village, and met the Seven Freaks at JiaXin.

Guo Jing and the kids all stood at a distance, trying tocatch a glimpse of this happening. After a long wait, acloud of dust appeared on the horizon as Jorchi had metup with WanYan HongXi and WanYan HongLie. TheWanYan brothers had with them 10,000 elite soldiers, eachwearing silk capes and iron armor and carrying a spear inthe left hand with a wolf-fanged club in the right handwhile riding on their horses. The clanging of the armorscould be heard for kilometers around. As the army gotcloser the silk shine and the armor glowed even moreunder the bright sun, creating a spectacular scene. Thetwo brothers approached shoulder to shoulder, Temujinand his sons and generals waited by the roadside towelcome them. Seeing Guo Jing and all the other kidsstanding there staring at him, WanYan HongXi burst outlaughing. He reached into his shirt and took out a handfulof gold coins and tossed it towards the crowd of kids. "As areward for you guys!" He shouted with a laugh, figuringthat the kids would undoubtedly cheer and scramblearound on the ground for the money which would show offof his own magnanimity and wealth.

However, host-guest etiquette and respect was of utmostimportance to the Mongolians. Not only were his actionsinappropriate for the occasion, it was very disrespectful.The Mongol generals and solders were all left aghast at hisactions. Every one of the kids were sons and daughters ofthe Mongolian soldiers and generals, so even though theywere little, each of them had a sense of self-respect. As aresult, none of them went and picked up the coins. His joydampened, WanYan HongXi tossed another handful of goldcoins and shouted: "Come on! Fight over them! Yourmother's little devils you are!"This caused an even bigger stir upon the Mongols. Eventhough the Mongolians had no written language at thetime and little culture, they placed a great deal ofimportance on politeness and respect, especially regardingguests. Mongolians, traditionally, never curse, even whenfacing lifelong nemesis or just joking around. Whensomeone enters their tents, no matter if the person was afriend or not, that person would be treated with greatrespect and honor. By the same token, the guest mustabsolutely not disrespect his hosts either for it wasconsidered the greatest of insults. Even though whatWanYan HongXi shouted was in Jurchen and none of theMongols understood it, everyone could tell that he wascursing at the kids from his body language and the tone ofhis voice.Constantly being told stories of how the Jurchens rape,pillage, and steal from the people of China, of how

pillage, and steal from the people of China, of howJurchens corrupt officials and killed Yue Fei, Guo Jing'syoung heart had long been filled with hatred for theJurchens. Now, upon seeing how rude this Jin Prince was,he picked up a couple of gold coins from the ground and,taking a little run up, threw it at WanYan HongXi with allhis might. "Who would want your money!" He shouted.WanYan HongXi tilted his head sideways to avoid thecoins; but nevertheless, one of them hit him squarely onthe cheekbone. Even though Guo Jing wasn't strong and itreally didn't hurt, he was still made to look bad in front oftens of thousands of people. Every Mongolian fromTemujin downwards cheered on the inside.

WanYan HongXi was furious, when he's in China, many atimes had he kills people at the slightest displeasure.Never had he been so humiliated like this. So, as histemper flared up, he grabbed a spear from the guard thatwas riding at his side and threw it at Guo Jing's chest withall his might and shouted: "You want to die you littledevil?"

"Third Brother, no!" WanYan HongLie shouted, knowingthis was bad. But he was too late; the spear had alreadytaken off. Just as it looked as if Guo Jing was about diefrom the spear, an arrow suddenly shot out of theMongolian army to the left. Like a meteor shooting aroundthe moon, the arrow hit the spear dead on the head with aloud "bang!" Packed with incredible strength, the arrowwas able to deflect the spear away despite being manytimes lighter. Guo Jing immediately scrambled away. TheMongolian soldiers all cheered in unison, shaking theSteppe. The person that shot the arrow was none otherthan Jebeh.

"Third Brother, don't bother with him anymore!" WanYanHongLie whispered to his brother.

Seeing and hearing the might of the Mongolian army,WanYan HongXi was a bit shaken, so he just shot a meanlook at Guo Jing and cursed under his breath: "Littlebastard!"

At this point, Temujin and his retainers had come forth forto formally welcome the 2 Jin Princes and took them intothe main tent. There they served up koumiss and vastquantities beef and lamb. There were translators on bothsides, translating between Jurchen and Mongolian. WanYanHongXi read the royal decree out loud, granting the title ofThe Northern Ambassador of The Empire of the Jin toTemujin. Temujin, who knelt on the ground during thereading, humbly accepted the official document and theGolden Belt, which signified his allegiance to the JinEmperor.{Note: Koumiss is a very strong Mongolian alcoholic drinkthat came from horse milk.}

That night the Mongolians celebrated with a huge feast to

That night the Mongolians celebrated with a huge feast toentertain the honored emissaries.

"Tomorrow, my brother and I are going to appoint a postfor Ong Khan." WanYan HongXi, somewhat under theinfluence of koumiss, said to Temujin. "Won't theAmbassador come to join us?"

Temujin was overjoyed at the news and immediatelyagreed to come along. Ong Khan, Toghril, was the leaderamong the tribes on the Steppe. His tribe was the richestand most powerful; furthermore, he was a good man,always treating others as equals. So it was no greatstretch to say that he was respected and liked by everytribe. Ong Khan had once been the sworn brother ofTemujin's father. After Temujin's father was poisoned todeath by his enemies, when Temujin had nowhere to go, itwas Ong Khan who took him as a step-father. Not longafter Temujin was married, his wife was taken away by theMerkits. It was only because of Ong Khan and Jamuka,Temujin's sworn brother, joining him did he manage todefeat the Merkits and save his wife.

That was the reason Temujin was elated upon hearing thatOng Khan would be granted a title as well. "Is the GreatJin Empire going to grant titles to anyone else?" He asked.

"No, that's it." WanYan HongXi replied.

"But that's entirely because up here in the North there isonly 2 great heroes:

Ong Khan and Great Khan yourself." WanYan HongLieimmediately added onto his brother's statement. "None ofthe others are worthy."

"There is another person around here that perhaps YourExcellencies haven't heard of." Temujin replied.

"Really? Who?" WanYan HongLie asked.

"He just happens to be your humble servant's swornbrother, Jamuka. He's a righteous man who is very adeptat commanding an army. I humbly request that ThirdPrince and Sixth Prince would consider to grant him a titleas well."

Temujin and Jamuka were childhood friends who grew uptogether, at the time they became sworn brothers,Temujin was merely 11. When Mongolians become swornbrothers, they call it swearing "anda", which wasMongolian for sworn brother. Mongolian tradition dictatesthat when swearing anda, the sides must exchange gifts.At the time, Jamuka gave Temujin a granite stone thatresembled a deer thighbone while Temujin gave Jamuka agranite stone that looked like it was made of brass.Mongolians used small granite rocks to hunt rabbits, butMongolian kids often played catch and competed to see

who threw the furthest with them. After the 2 of thembecame andas, they went and threw rocks on the frozenOnon River. The next Spring, while the 2 of them were outshooting arrows with their own little wooden bows, Jamukagave Temujin a noisy-arrowhead that he carved outhimself using 2 little ox horns, Temujin returned the giftwith a cypress tipped arrowhead and the two of themswore to become anda once more.{Note: noisy arrowheads are arrowheads that are carvedwith slits in them so that they would create a very loudscreeching noise once they are shot. These arrows areoften used to relay messages and orders in battle.}

After they grew up, both of them lived within Ong Khan'stribe and were still very close. Everyday they wouldcompete to see got up earlier, whichever one got upearlier would get to drink one cup of koumiss out of OngKhan's own jade cup. Later, after Temujin's wife waskidnapped and was rescued with the combined help ofJamuka and Ong Khan, Temujin and Jamuka exchangedgold and horses and sworn anda to each other for a thirdtime. The two of them drank out of the same cup in theday and slept under the same tent at night. However,eventually, having to migrate with the changing weatherand rain, they and their tribes parted. As Temujin's triberose in fame and power, Jamuka's tribe was growingnonstop as well. Their friendship was still as strong as everand was deeper than blood brothers. That's why Temujin,realizing that his brother was not being honored, wouldask for him to be honored as well.

"So many Mongolians, where can we go and find all thetitles if we give each one of them a title? How many titlesdo you think we have?" WanYan HongXi, half drunk,casually answered back without much thought. WanYanHongLie shot his brother numerous looks trying to get himto stop, but was ignored.

Feeling slighted because of the remark, Temujin offered:"Might Your Excellencies consider giving your humbleservant's title to him instead?"

"Are you belittling the titles of the Great Empire of theJins?" WanYan HongXi smacked his leg and shouted.

Temujin slammed his palm down on his table and stood upin anger. Finally and barely holding off his fury, he did notsay another word as he grabbed his cup and drank itscontent in one gulp. WanYan HongLie immediately told ajoke and changed the subject.

The next morning, Temujin and his 4 sons led 5000 troopsto escort WanYan HongXi and WanYan HongLie to OngKhan.

By the time the sun was barely peeking over the distanthorizon, Temujin had already mounted his horse and the5000 soldiers had already line up in perfect formation. The

5000 soldiers had already line up in perfect formation. TheJurchen soldiers and generals, however, were still fastasleep.At first, Temujin was impressed with the Jurchen army bytheir grandeur and organization. But now, after seeingwhat an undisciplined and fun seeking group they were, hehumphed and turned to Muqali: "What do you think of theJin army?"

"A thousand of us Mongolian troops can defeat 5000 oftheirs!" Muqali observed."I thought so too," Temujin replied with a smile. "But it'ssaid that the Jin Empire has an army of over 1 millionstrong. We only have 50,000 people."

"A million troops can't enter battle all at once," Muqaliresponded. "Divide and conquer, we can take down 10,000today and then sweep another 10,000 tomorrow."

"When it comes to military strategy, your opinions arealways the same as mine." Temujin smiled and patted himon the shoulder. "A 50 kilogram man can eat 10 cows thatweighed over 1000 kilograms. He just won't do it in oneday."The 2 men burst out in laughter.

Temujin settled back straight in his saddle and suddenlysaw that Tolui's horse was riderless. "Where's Tolui?" Heshouted in fury.

Tolui was just 9 years old, but Temujin had always been aharsh disciplinarian whether he was training troops orbringing up sons, never showing mercy for anyone whoviolated his rules. With him shouting so loudly in anger, allthe generals and troops immediately got a bad feeling intheir stomach. General Boroqul, Tolui's mentor, almostpanicked and offered: "This kid had never oversleptbefore, let me go check."

Just as he turned his horse to gallop off to search for Tolui,he saw 2 kids came running up hand in hand. One ofthem, with a silk bandana on his head, was Tolui while theother turned out to be Guo Jing. Tolui ran straight towardshis father and shouted: "Dad!"

"Where were you?" Temujin demanded in a harsh tone.

"Guo Jing and I just became andas down by the river.Look, this is what he gave me." Tolui replied, waving a redhandkerchief with a flower embroidered on it in the air. Itwas something that Li Ping made for Guo Jing.

Reminded of the time he and Jamuka became andas askids, Temujin's face immediately became serene. "Whatdid you give him?" He asked the 2 cute and innocent kidsstanding in front of him.

"This!" Guo Jing replied, pointing on top of his head, where

"This!" Guo Jing replied, pointing on top of his head, whereTemujin saw the golden necklace that his youngest sonoften wore.

"Now you two better help and look after each other in thefuture, you hear?" Temujin said with a smile.

Both of the kids nodded.

"Now get on your horses," Temujin ordered, "Guo Jing cancome with us too."

Ecstatic, Guo Jing and Tolui both mounted their horses.

After another period of waiting, the WanYan brothersfinally finished dressing and exited their tents. WanYanHongLie, seeing the Mongolian soldiers was already information, immediately ordered his soldiers to fall in.However, WanYan HongXi, determined to put theMongolians in their place, took his time to slowly drinkseveral cups of wine and ate a little breakfast before finallyclimbing onto his horse. After another hour of generalchaos, the 10,000 Jin troops were finally in formations.

The army marched northwards for 6 days before meetingup with Ong Khan's welcoming committee, comprised ofOng Khan's son Senggum and adopted son Jamuka. Uponhearing that Jamuka was here, Temujin immediately rodeforth to meet him. The 2 men hopped off their horses andbear hugged each other. Every one of Temujin's sonscame riding forth to greeting their adopted uncle as well.When WanYan HongLie first laid eyes upon Jamuka, hesaw a tall and skinny man with a few strands of gold in hismustache and a pair of eyes that were filled with energyand enthusiasm. He looked strong and spirited. Senggum,on the other hand, was fat and pale, probably from livingin luxury all his life, not at all like someone who grew upon the Steppe. Not only that, he had an arrogant look onhis face and seemingly ignored Temujin whenever he feltlike it, a stark contrast from the warmth of Jamuka.

After another day of marching, they were very close toOng Khan's encampment when 2 of Temujin's advancedscouts suddenly returned with news.

"There are Naimans blocking the way up ahead. About30,000 of them," they reported.

"What do they want?" WanYan HongXi asked, panicking abit after hearing the news through his translator.

"From the looks of it, they want to fight," the scoutsreported.

"They.... they have.... they really have 30,000 troops?"WanYan HongXi stuttered. "That... that's more than us...this... this...."

"Go and find out what's going on," Temujin orderedMuquli, not waiting for WanYan HongXi to finish hissentence.

Muqali headed off with 10 bodyguards while the rest ofthem stopped and waited. Not long after, Muqali returned.

"The Naimans said since the great Jin princes granted atitle to our Khan, they want to be granted a title too," Hereported. "If not, then they say they will take YourExcellencies the princes as hostages until they too aregranted titles from the Great Jin Empire. They also saidthat they want a title that's above our Khan Temujin's."

"Demanding titles by force? That... that's rebellion! Whatdo we do?" WanYan HongXi's face went pale upon hearingthe news. WanYan HongLie began organizing troops intopositions in case of any unexpected escalations.

"Brother, those Naimans frequently steal our livestock andcause trouble for us. Are we really going to let them getaway with this?" Jamuka said to Temujin. "Don't knowwhat the Jin princes would have us do?"

By now, Temujin had thoroughly surveyed the surroundinglandscape and was confident of victory. "Let's show thePrinces how the 2 of us do things around here!" He repliedto Jamuka before letting out a howl and cracking his whipin the air twice, causing the 5000 Monglian soldiers tosimultaneously howl in response and startling theunexpecting WanYan brothers.

A cloud of dust had appeared ahead as the enemy slowlyapproaches, forcing the advanced scouts to return.

"Brother, order our boys to charge now!" WanYan HongXisaid. "These Mongols are of no use now."

"Let them fight first," WanYan HongLie whispered back.

Immediately understanding his brother's intentions,WanYan HongXi simply nodded and sat back. TheMongolian soldiers let out another loud shout, but did notmove. "What on Earth are these Mongols doing shoutinglike rabid dogs?" WanYan HongXi frowned. "It's not likethey are going to scare the enemies away no matter howloud they are."

On the left side of the formation was Boroqul. "Follow meand don't fall behind. See how we defeat our foes," heinstructed Tolui, who, along with Guo Jing, were shoutingat the top of their lungs just like the others.

In a heartbeat, the approaching army emerged out of thecloud of dust only a few paces away. Yet the Mongoliansstill did nothing but shout.

This time it was WanYan HongLie who got nervous, seeing

This time it was WanYan HongLie who got nervous, seeinghow spirited the Naimans were. Fearing his formationwould be broken through if they continued unimpeded, heordered: "Fire arrows!"

The Jin army discharged several volleys, but because ofthe distance between the 2 armies, most of the arrows fellonto the ground before ever reaching the enemy.Frightened by the ferociousness on his enemies' faces asthey gritted their teeth and charged at full speed, WanYanHongXi began to panic. "Why don't we just give them whatthey want and give them some bullshit title and be donewith all this?" he turned around and suggested to WanYanHongLie. "So what if the title is a little big? Not like we aregoing to lose anything."

Suddenly, Temujin cracked his whip in the air severaltimes. The Mongolian army immediately stopped shoutingand split into 2 groups. Temujin and Jamuka each leadinga wing and immediately headed towards the high groundon either side. The 2 of them leaned down into theirhorses and galloped along with their troops, shouting outorders as they ran. The Mongolian troops split up intosmaller and smaller groups that, in a very short amount oftime, occupied every high ground in every direction. Withthe height advantage, the Mongols loaded their arrowsonto their bows and aimed at the opposing army, but notfiring.

The leader of the Naimans, sensing that he was at adisadvantageous position, ordered his troops to headstraight for the high grounds. The Mongolian troops set upsoft walls made of several layers of fleece to shieldthemselves from the arrows. The bowmen shot back frombehind the walls as the troops stationed on nearby highground fired arrows in support as well. With enemies oneither side of it, confusion descended upon the Naimans asthey tried to attack both sides."Jelmi, attack the rear!" Temujin shouted, seeing theopposing army had become disorganized from his positionon the left.

With a huge sabre in hand, Jelmi led a group of 1000soldiers down in a charge and cut off the enemy's retreat.Jebeh, determined to slay the enemy general in order toshow his gratitude to Temujin for sparing his life, was atthe front of the charge with his spear sticking out in frontof everyone. Being hit head on by a charge like this, theNaiman rear collapsed into chaos, and their forward unitswere shaken as well. The Naiman general was just at alost at what to do next when Jamuka and Senggum beganto charge down from their position as well. Attacked fromboth sides, the Naiman army completely collapsed beforelong. The leading general turned around and tried toescape, followed by several retainers as they headed backin the direction they came from.

Jelmi didn't order a pursuit and let most of the opposing

Jelmi didn't order a pursuit and let most of the opposingarmy go by. Only when there were about 2000 enemiesleft did he order his army to charge out and block theirretreat. With nowhere to go, the brave Naiman soldiersthat were left fought to the death while the rest of themlaid down their weapons and surrendered.In this brief battle, the Mongols killed over 1000 foes andcaptured over 2000 while sustaining only a little over 100in casualties.

Temujin ordered all captives be stripped of their armor andsplit into 4 equal groups, one for the WanYan brothers,one for his adopted father Ong Khan, one for swornbrother Jamuka, and one for himself. All Mongolianfamilies that had a relative die in the battle received 5horses and 5 captives as slaves as compensation.

Only now did WanYan HongXi finally calm down from hisscare. "They want a title? Brother, why don't we give thema title of 'Ambassador of the Defeated Losers?' Haha!" Hecould not stop talking about the battle that just occurred.

The Mongolian victory despite being outnumbered madeWanYan HongLie even more nervous than he was beforethe battle. "At this moment, the reason that our northernborders are safe is because the northern tribes are battlingamongst themselves. But if Temujin or Jamuka everbrought all the tribes on the Steppe under their rule, ourGreat Jin Empire would no longer have any peace." Hethought to himself.

Other things troubled him as well. Even though his owntroops of 10,000 did not enter into battle, their formationbegan to waver when the Naimans initially charged andthere were fear on every one of their faces. The battle hadnot yet begun but the outcome had already beendetermined. Such courage and efficiency displayed by theMongolians represents a huge threat in the future.He was still pondering things over in his mind when acloud of dust appeared up ahead as another armyapproached.

Last edited by Mojo Jojo; 03-21-05 at 08:33 PM.

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03-14-05, 09:56 AM

(Moinllieon)

Chapter 4 Twin Killers of the Dark Winds

"Alright, let's fight again!" Wan Yan Hong Xi proclaimed

#5

Mojo Jojo

Senior Member

"Alright, let's fight again!" Wan Yan Hong Xi proclaimedout loud.

But unexpectedly, the forwards scouts came back with adifferent report. "The Ong Khan is here to personallywelcome the two Jin Princes!" Temujin, Jamuka, andSenggum immediately rode forward to greet him.

From the dust clouds an army emerged. With severalhundred personal guards with him, The Ong Khan rode up,rolled off of the back of his horse in one fell swoop, withhis adopted sons Temujin and Jamuka at his side,approached and kneeled before the two princes. He was arather chubby man with glittering silver hair. He wore arobe made of the finest black leopard furs that was held inplace by a golden belt around his waist. The way hecarried himself was one of great dignity and confidence.Wang Yan Hong Lie hurriedly got off his own horse andreturned the gesture, but Wan Yan Hong Xi remained onhis horse and merely replied by cupping his fists.

"You humble servant had just heard the news of theNaimans's rudeness and was worried that Your Majestiesmight have been disturbed, so your humble servantbrought a force here as soon as possible. But fortunately,due to Your Majesties' awe-inspiring presense, the threekids were able to defeat them already." The Ong Khanspoke.

Next, he took the lead and courteously led the Wan Yanbrothers all the back to his very own ger. The inside of hisger was covered with leopard and fox furs as well aslittered with the finest of furniture and wares. Even hispersonal guards are dressed in more luxurious than that ofTemujins, not to mention him and his son. The bellowingof horn continuously clamored for several kilometerssurrounding the ger, the men and horses bustled about,giving off an atmosphere of something great going on. Notsince the Wan Yan brothers been outside the Great Wallhave they seen anything approaching such grandeur.

After the ceremony of bestowing the title was finished,everyone settled down. That night, the Ong Khan held ahuge banquet in the big ger to celebrate the arrival of theWan Yan brothers. Scores of female slaves danced asentertainment as the banquet progressed late into thenight, it became quite lively, miles apart from the simpleand slightly backwatered reception that they received atTemujin's tribe. Wan Yan Hong Xi was having one hell of atime, two female slaves had caught his fancy and he waspondering ideas in his head, never did it occur to him toeven talk to the Ong Khan.

After about half of the koumiss had been consumed, WanYan Hong Lie turned to the Ong Khan.

"Your heroic deeds are known far and wide, even we whoresides within the Great Wall have long admired your

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resides within the Great Wall have long admired yourgreatness. But I really want to meet some of the heroes ofthe younger generation of Mongolians." He said.

"Well my two adopted sons over just happens to be thetwo greatest heroes of Mongolia." The Ong Khanresponded with a smile. Senggum, his own son who sat atthe side, did not react well to hearing this and begandowning one cup of koumiss after another.

"Your very son is another hero, why isn't hero mentioninghim?" Wan Yan Hong Lie asked, taking note of Senggum'sdispleasure.

"After I die, he would naturally take over my tribe." TheOng Khan smiled and replied. "But could he compare to histwo adopted brothers? Jamuka is smart and intelligent.Temujin is even more brave and courageous, he startedwith nothing and made himself into what he is today withhis own hands. What Mongol warrior wouldn't want to puthis life in their hands and serve them?"

"Does that mean that the generals under hero doesn'tcompare to Temujin Khan's generals?" Wan Yan Hong Liequeried. Noticing that there was a hint of instigatin in hiswords, Temujin shot a look towards Wan Yan Hong Lie andmentally prepared himself for what might come next.

The Ong Khan slowly stroked his beard and did not reply.Instead he took another gulp from his cup of koumiss.

"Last time, when the Naimans came and stole severalthousands of my livestock, it was only because of Temujinand his Four Aces were we able to get those livestockback. Even though he doesn't have many men under him,but each and every one of them are skilled and brav. YourHighnesses must have witnessed that first hand today."Senggum's face turned even angrier as he slammed thegold cup in his hand onto the table, causing a loud bang.

"What good am I really? I have today simply because ofthe attention and care that my adopted father hasshowered me with." Temujin hurried added.

"Four Aces? Who are they? I want to meet them." WanYan Hong Lie changed the subject as well.

"Why don't you summon them inside?" The Ong Khanasked Temujin. Temujin lightly clapped his hand and fourmen walked into the ger.

The first one look gentle and scholarly with a white andclean face, he was the master of strategy, Muquali. Thesecond man had a strong and sturdy built, his eyes piercedlike an eagles, he was none other than Temujin's goodfriend, Borgurchi. The third man was short but agile, hissteps light and swift, that was Tolui's master Boroqul. Thelast one's face and hands were covered with battle scars,

his face was blood red, this was the man who had savedTemujin's life so many years ago, Tchila'un. The four ofthem were each founding generals in rise of Mongolia,called the Four Aces by Temujin.

Upon seeing them, Wan Yan Hong Lie praised each one abit, awarded all of them with a big cup of koumiss.

"On the battle field today, there was a general with a blackcape that led the charge through enemy formations,nobody could stop him, do you know who he was?" WanYan Hong Lie inquired after the Four Aces had finishedtheir drinks.

"That's a Squad Leader that I just recruited," Temujinanswered. "Everyone calls him Jebeh."

"Then why don't we invite him in for a drink as well?" WanYan Hong Lie suggested. Temujin turned and sent out thecommanded.

Jebeh entered the ger and properly gave thanks for thereward of a drink. He was just about to drink when he wasinterrupted.

"How dare you, a measley Squad Leader, drink from mygold cup?" Senggum shouted. Jebeh was shocked andfurious, but stopped bringing the cup up to his lipsnevertheless. He looked over at Temujin for the propercourse of action. In Mongol culture, stopping someone elsefrom drinking is an enormous insult. Not to mention thatthis was done in front of all these people, how couldanyone bear such an insult?

"For my adopted father's sake, I'm going to let Senggumget away with this one." Temujin decided turned to Jebeh.

"Bring it over here, I'm thirsty, let me drink it!" He tookthe cup from Jebeh's hands and drank all of its contents inone gulp. Jebeh shot an angry look towards Senggum,turned and began to walk out of the ger.

"Come back here!" Senggum commanded fiercely, butJebeh just ignored him and walked out of the ger with hishead held high.

"Even though Brother Temujin has his Four Aces, I havesomething that could defeat all four of them as soon as Ilet it out." Unhappy that things did not work out to hisliking, Senggum changed the subject. He chuckled whenhe said that. Even though he called Temujin brother, hewas not an anda of Temujin, he only did it because hisfather was Temujin's adopted father.

"Really? What could that be? What could be thatpowerful?" Wan Yan Hong Xi's interest was piqued by thatstatement.

"Well, we can go outside and I can show you." Senggumsaid.

"We are having a good time drinking, what are you tryingto stir up now?" The Ong Khan objected.

"Just sitting here and drinking is getting boring, let's seesomething different." Wan Yan Hong Xi wanted very muchto see some troubles, so much so that he had alreadystood up by the time he finished his sentence and walkedout. The others had no choice but to follow him out.

The Mongolian troops had started several hundred campfires and were celebrating at their sides. Once the Khanshad exited their gers, there was a huge cacophony as ahuge section of troops to the West all stood upimmediately. They were lined up in perfect formation, notone of them was moving. They were none other thanTemujin's troops. To the East, the Ong Khan's troopsslowly and scatteredly picked themselves up from theground, there were even faint sounds of joking to be heardwithin their ranks.

"Even though the Ong Khan's troops are much morenumerous, it can't even compare with Temujin's troops!"Wan Yan Hong Lie concluded upon seeing this display.

"Wine!" Temujin had noticed that under the glow of thefire, Jebeh's face was covered with fury. So he orderedthat a big jug of wine be brought to him.

"Today's tremendous victory over the Naimans was aresult of everyone's hard work and dedication!" He loudlydeclared to everyone.

"It's because we were led by Ong Khan, Temujin Khan,and Jamuka!" All of the soldiers answered in one voice.

"Today, I saw someone who was especially brave,charging the enemy's rear no less than 3 times in a row.And shot down several dozens of enemies, who was he?"Temujin asked.

"Squad Leader Jebeh!" The soldiers answered again.

"No, not Squad Leader, Company Commander Jebeh!"Temujin corrected. Everyone was momentarily takenaback before realizing what he meant and began to cheer.

"Jebeh is a warrior, he's well deserving of being CompanyCommander!" They all shouted in approval.

"Bring my helmet to me!" Temujin turned and instructedJelmi, soon Jelmi returned with the helmet and presentedit to him.

"This is the helmet that I wear onto the battle field! This is

"This is the helmet that I wear onto the battle field! This isthe helmet that I wear as I kill my enemies!" Temujinraised the helmet high above his head for everyone to see."Now this will be as a cup for a warrior to drink out of!"

He popped open the jug of wine and poured all of itscontents into the helmet. Bring it up to his own lips, hetook a huge chug from the helmet and offered it to Jebeh.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Jebeh knelt down on oneknee to receive the helmet and finished the rest of thekoumiss inside of the helmet.

"Even the most precious and most diamond studded goldcup in the world cannot compare with my Khan's helmet."He said in a low voice. Temujin smiled as he took hishelmet back and put it back onto his head.

The Mongol troops had all caught word of how Jebeh hadbeen humiliated by Senggum and felt bad for him, eventhose troops under the Ong Khan had thought thatSenggum was wrong in what he did. Now, seeing howTemujin had treated him, they all burst out in a greatcheer.

"What a man among men this Temujin is! At this momentJebeh would gladly die one thousand times for him!" WanYan Hong Lie thought to himself. "Back in the ImperialCourt all those officials insist that the North was populatedby brainless barbarians, it's obvious that they have grosslyunderestimated these people."

But Wan Yan Hong Xi was only concerned about findingout what was that thing that Senggum claimed could eatall four of the "Aces."

"So what is it that you have that's so powerful that it couldeat all four of the Aces?" He said as he casually sat backdown onto the tiger-fur covered chair that his personalservants had carried out.

"I invite Your Highness to get ready to see somethingreally special. Four Aces my foot, they probably won't evenmeasure up to these 2 bastards of mine." Senggum quietlysaid with a smile before turning around to the troops andloudly ask. "Where are my Brother Temujin's Four Aces?"

The four men came walking up and saluted their superiors.Senggum turned and whispered something to his trustedservant at his side and he nodded before running off. Soonafter, a wave of beastial roar could be heard as a pair ofhuge golden leopards came strolling out from behind theger. In the darkness the leopard eyes were glowing like apair of lanterns, emitting an oily jade-like glow as theyslowly approached. This gave Wan Yan Hong Xi quite ascare as he immediately grabbed the handle of his sabretightly. Only when the leopards walked close to aparticular bonfire did he see that, in fact, there was a

particular bonfire did he see that, in fact, there was acollar around their necks and each leopard had a big fellowon the other end of the leash. The big fellows both had along stick in their other hand, turned out that they wereespecially in charge of raising and taking care of theleopards. Mongolians love raising leopards for huntingpurposes. Not only do leopards run faster than huntingdogs, but they are especially feisty, being caught by theleopard means instant death for whatever they are setupon. The only draw back was that the leopards consumeda great deal of food, so only royalty or top officials couldafford to keep leopards. Although the leopards wererestrained by men, they were still snarling and clawingevery which way, glaring viciously at everyone, andscuttling left and right randomly. The muscles on theirbodies looked as if they contained boundless energy withinthem, ready to explode at any moment. Wan Yan Hong Xifelt his heart get a little hairy as he felt exceedinglyuncomfortable, from the power and might that these twoleopards were showing, it looked as if they could easilybreak out of the grips of their masters on a whim.

"Brother, if those Four Aces of yours are truly greatwarriors and could subdue these two leopards of mine barehanded, then I'll be truly convinced." Senggum turnedtowards Temujin.

The Four Aces were furious as the same thought ranthrough their minds. "You humiliated Jebeh, now you aregoing to humiliate us? Are we just game? Are we wildwolves? Then why should we fight your leopards?"

Temujin was far from happy about this whole proposal aswell.

"I love my men like my own life, how could I let them fighta leopard?"

"Is that so?" Senggum burst out into a loud laugh. "Thenwhy claim to be Four Aces or whatever you want to call it.Not even brave enough to fight my leopards!"

Of the Four Aces, Tchila'un;s temper were the shortest andhe could not stand such insult any further as he took ahuge step forward.

"My great Khan, it doesn't matter if they laugh at us, butwe cannot allow you to be shamed in the slightest." Hesaid to Temujin. "I'll fight the leopards!"

Wan Yan Hong Xi was ecstatic to hear this. So much sothat he removed a bright red ruby-studded ring from hisfinger and tossed it on the ground, proclaiming: "If youcan beat the leopard, then that's yours."

Tchila'un did not even give the ring a look before lungingforward, only to be held back by Muqali. "Our name areknown throughout the Steppe because we have defeatedso many foes. Can a leopard command an army? Can a

so many foes. Can a leopard command an army? Can aleopard ambush or surround enemies?" Muqali reasonedloudly.

"Brother Senggum, you won." Temujin said as he bentdown, picked up the ring, and placed it in Senggum'shand. Senggum immediately put the ring on one of hisfingers and let out a triumphant laugh as he raised hishand to show off his newly won ring. The Ong Khan'stroops began to cheer in response. Jamuka stayed silentthroughout but was frowning heavily. Temujin kept a calmexpression about him. And the Four Aces bitteredretreated back to their ranks.

Disappointed and terribly unhappy about not seeing a manversus leopard fight, Wan Yan Hong Xi asked the OngKhan for two female slaves and retired to his own ger.

The next morning, Tolui and Guo Jing ran off to play. Handin hand, they made their way far from the main campwhen suddenly a white rabbit ran by right in front of them.Tolui took out his own little minature bow and arrows,aimed, shot, and hit the rabbit squarely in the belly. Butbecause he was so young the arrow lacked power, so eventhough it was a direct hit, it was not immediately fatal andthat rabbit scuttled off with the arrow. The two little kids,screaming at the top of their lungs, chased after therabbit.

After running for quite a while, the rabbit finally collapsed.The two kids let out a simultaneous cheer and was justabout to retrieve the rabbit when 7 or 8 kids suddenlycame pouring out from the woods at their side. Oneparticular kid who was about 12 years or so was quick torecognize the situation and grabbed the rabbit from off ofthe ground. He pulled the arrow from the rabbit's belly,threw it on the ground, and shot a fierce look in Tolui andGuo Jing's direction before stomping off with the rabbit.

"Hey, I shot that rabbit, why are you taking it?" Toluishouted. That kid whirled around and came back."Whosays that you shot it?" He laughed.

"Well this arrow is mine isn't it?"

That kid's eye brows suddenly flared up and his eyesbulged out.

"This rabbit was my pet, you are lucky I'm not asking youto pay for this!" He shouted back.

"You are lying, this is obviously a wild rabbit." Tolui shotback. That kid became even angrier as he walked up andshoved Tolui.

"Watch who you are accusing! My grandpa is the OngKhan, my dad is Senggum, did you know that? Even if youdid shoot this rabbit, I'm taking it anyways, so what?"

did shoot this rabbit, I'm taking it anyways, so what?"

"My dad is Temujin!" Tolui proudly answered.

"Pei! So what if he's Temujin? Your dad's a coward! He'sscared of my grandpa and scared of my dad!" This kid'sname was Dukhsh, he was Senggum's only son. Afterhaving a daughter, Senggum had to wait several yearsbefore finally having a son, and after him he had no otheroff spring. Therefore he had always spoiled his son, lettinghim bully as he pleased. Temujin, Ong Khan, andSenggum had not met for a long time, even though thattheir sons had met before, this was for all practicalpurposes their first meeting.

Hearing someone making fun of his father, Tolui was madwith anger and proudly shouted back: "Says who? Mydad's not scared of anybody!"

"When your mom was stolen, it was my grandpa and mydad who went and took her back for your dad. You think Ididn't know that? So what's the big deal if I just take thismeasely little rabbit of yours?"

Even back then, Senggum had been envious of Temujin'sfame. So when they helped out Temujin that one time,Senggum made sure to tell everyone that he knew aboutit, even his son had heard it many times.

Tolui was still a small kid back then, and also Temujin hadalways viewed that event as an incredible embarrasmentfor himself, so naturally he never told Tolui about it. So atthis moment, upon hearing this, Tolui was so mad that hisface turned white as sheet.

"You liar! I'm going to tell my dad!" He agrily threatenedbefore turning around and walking off.

"Your dad's scared of my dad, so what if you tell him?"Dukhsh laughed at Tolui. "Last night when my dad broughtout his two leopards, your dad's Four Asses were all soscared they couldn't even move!"

Of the Four Aces, there was Boroqul, Tolui's master.Hearing this only made Tolui even angrier. So angry hecould barely speak.

"My master isn't even scared of tigers, why would he bescared of leopards? He just didn't want to fight againstwild animals." He finally stuttered out.

Dukhsh took a step forward and suddenly slapped Toluisquarely on his face.

"How dare you talk back to me! Are you scared of me?" Heyelled. Tolui was startled as his cheeks instantly swelled toblood red. He wanted to cry, but could not let himself cry.

Guo Jing had been seething on the side all this time, butnow he could no longer hold back as he suddenly lungedforward and rammed his head squarely in the stomach.This caught Dukhsh by surprise and knocked him flat onhis back.

"Yay!" Tolui clapped in joy for a moment before grabbingGuo Jing's hand and tried to run away.

"Kill those two bastards!" Dukhsh screamed out, still onthe ground. Dukhsh's companions chased up to the twokids and a fierce fight quickly broke out. Dukhsh pickedhimself up from off the ground and angrily charged intothe fray. Dukhsh's gang was older to begin with and alsooutnumbered the opposition, so they were able to pindown Tolui and Guo Jing very quickly.

"Give up? Give up?" Dukhsh shouted as he continuallyflailed punches into Guo Jing's back. Guo Jing tried with allhis might to get back up, but was weighed down by hisfoe's weight. At his side, Tolui was also being ganged upon by two kids.

It was at this precarious moment that the sound of horsebells could be heard coming from just over the sand duneas a small group of riders appeared. The leading rider wasa short, fat fellow riding on a yellow horse. Upon seeingthe kids fighting at a distance, he let out a little laugh.

"Hah, fighting!" Only when he ride closer for a better lookdid he realize that it was 7 kids or so bullying two muchsmaller kids, pinning them down on the ground andbeating them. The two little kids' faces were already full ofbruises.

"Shame on you! Let them go!" He shouted.

"##### off!" Dukhsh shouted back. "Do you know who Iam? I'll beat up whoever I want to, and you can't doanything about it!"

His father was one of the most powerful men in the North,so he was used to bullying everyone as nobody dared tochallenge him.

"How dare you act like that? Let go of them!" The rider onthe yellow horse yelled back. By this time, the rest of hisgroup had joined him.

"Third Brother, stop meddling in affairs that doesn'tconcern us, let's go." There was a woman in that group.

"Look at this, what kind of fighting is this?" The rider onthe yellow horse replied.

These riders were the Seven Freaks of the South. Theyhad followed Duan Tian De all the way north into theSteppe before losing his trail. These 6 years, they had

Steppe before losing his trail. These 6 years, they hadroamed up and down the Steppe in search of Duan Tian Deand Li Ping. All 7 of them had actually learned Mongolianthrough it all, but they still could not find any clue as tothe whereabouts of Li Ping. The Seven Freaks were allstubborn characters, and very competitive as well, so evenif faced with ordeals 10 times more difficult and moredangerous than this, they would not concede this bet toQiu Chu Ji. Without ever conferring, the 7 of them all hadthe same plan, even if they never find Li Ping, they wouldstill search until the 18 years is up, at that time theywould go to Pavilion of Drunken Goddess in Jia Xin andadmit defeat to Qiu Chu Ji's face. Besides, Qiu Chu Jimight not find Yang Tie Xin's widow either. If neither sidecould find their widow, then a tie would result and thenmaybe another challenge would be issued.

"Two against one, we can't allowed that." Han Xiao Yinhopped off of her horse and picked the two kids that wereridding on Tolui's back off of him. Suddenly realizing thatall the weight was off of his back Tolui struggled to jumpup. Dukhsh paused for a moment and Guo Jing tookadvantage as he flipped his body violently and crawled outfrom in between Dukhsh's legs. The two of them, havingfinally freed themselves, immediately tried to run away.

"Go after them!" Dukhsh yelled as he led the rest of hisgang in hot pursuit.

Seeing these little Mongolian kids fight reminded theSeven Freaks of all the mis-adventures that they hadtogether when they were little, causing all of them to smilequite fondly over them.

"Time to go now, let's get to the market ahead before itdisperses, or else we would miss a chance to ask thepeople there!" Ke Zheng'E suggested. By this time,Dukhsh's little gang had caught up to Tolui and Guo Jingonce again and surrounded them.

"Do you give up?" Dukhsh demanded. Tolui, still lookingmight angry, did not reply but instead fiercely shook hishead.

"Well you ask for it!" The kids converged upon one anotheryet again.

Suddenly a cold flash covered the ground as a little daggersuddenly materialized in Guo Jing's hand.

"You want some of this?"

Turned out that Li Ping, out of love for her son, hadalready given him that dagger that her husband left herfor him to carry around. She felt that this object was goodfor warding off evil and had intended for this dagger toprotect her son from evil spirits. But because of the bullyGuo Jing was receiving, he pulled it out.

Guo Jing was receiving, he pulled it out.

Seeing that he had a weapon with him, none Dukhsh'sgang was brave enough to challenge him.

Magical Hand Scholar Zhu Cong was already on his waywhen a sudden flash caught his eyes. The way the daggerreflected the sunlight lit up his heart.

"This reflection is incredibly strong, gotta see whatprecious little toy this is." Having stole from governmenttreasuries and rich gentry vaults all his life, he was quitean expert at discerning precious objects. So heimmediately pulled his horse around and saw that one ofthe kids had a dagger in his hand. The dagger reflected ablue light that flickered endlessly, obviously an extremelyrare weapon. But how did it end up in the hands of a littlekid? Looking over the kids again, he noticed that otherthan Guo Jing, all the other kids were wearing expensiveshirts made of leopard furs. But Guo Jing made it up byhaving a golden crown-looking ring on top of his head.Obviously the kids were all members of wealthy andinfluential Mongol families.

"The kid probably stole his father's favorite knife out toplay with. Stealing from kings and aristocrats won't causetoo much harm." Once he made up his mind, he jumppedoff of his ride and smiled sweetly as he approached thekids.

"Come on everyone, stop fighting. Play nice." As he wastalking, he suddenly flashed into the circle of kids andgrabbed the knife. Having devoted an incredible amount oftraining on capturing weapons with bare hands, only thebest martial arts masters could hope to stop him fromtaking their weapons, never mind a small kid like Guo Jing.

As soon as the dagger was in his hand, Zhu Congimmediately scuttled out of the circle and hopped onto hishorse. With a jerk of the reins, he laughingly galloped offand caught up to the rest of his group.

"Well, today wasn't a total loss, ended up with a littlenumber." He laughed quite heartily about his success.

"Second Brother, you won't ever get rid of that stealinghabit of yours will you?" Smiling Dhuda Zhang Ah Shengjoined in on the laughter.

"What little number? Let me see it." Hidden Hero of theBustle Quan Jin Fa, being a merchant by trade, wascurious. With a flick of his arm, Zhu Cong tossed thedagger over.

A streak of blue shot across the sky, under the sunlight,the light from the dagger wavered, looking as if a smallrainbow had just materialized, causing everyone presentto shout in praise.

to shout in praise.

"Excellent!" Quan Jin Fa involuntarily yelled as the daggerflew towards his face, giving him a shiver up his spine. Hereached out and caught the dagger by the handle. He"tch"ed endlessly in admiration as he examined the daggerover. When his attention moved to the handle, he saw thecharacters "Yang Kang" carved onto it.

"This is a Han name! How did this dagger end up here inMongolia?" A question shot through his mind. "YangKang... Yang Kang? I have never heard of any hero namedYang Kang. But if he wasn't a martial arts hero, then whywould he have such a exceptional weapon?"

"Big Brother! Do you know who Yang Kang is?" He calledout.

"Yang Kang?" Ke Zheng'E searched through his memoryfor a while and shook his head. "I have never heard of himbefore."

"Yang Kang" was the name that Qiu Chu Ji had given tothe baby that was still inside of Bao Xi Ruo. The twofathers had exchanged their daggers and that was how LiPing ended up with the dagger that had "Yang Kang"carved on it. Of course, the Seven Freaks did not know ofthis entire matter. Of the 7 of them, Ke Zheng'E was theoldest as well as the most knowledeable. If even he didnot know, then there was no way that the other 6 did.

"Qiu Chu Ji is searching for Yang Tie Xin's widow, couldthis Yang Kang have something to do with that Yang TieXin?" Quan Jin Fa's attention to detail made him ask.

"Well, if we find Yang Tie Xin's widow, we would still haveone-upped that Bull Nose." Zhu Cong joked. But havingsearched endlessly and fruitlessly for the past 6 years, thisseemingly remote and completely unrelated lead wassomething that none of them were willing to let slip by.

"Let's go back and ask that kid." Han Xiao Yin concluded.

Han Bao Ju's horse was the fastest, so he arrived backwhere the kids were first, only to discover that the kidswere at it again. Tolui and Guo Jing were, once again,pinned down on the ground. Han Bao Ju ordered the kidsto break it up, but none of them heeded to his words.Getting impatient, he grabbed a couple of kids and threwthem off to the side.

"You two dogs, come back tomorrow and we'll fight again!"Dukhsh threatened Tolui, because he was too scared tocarry on fighting.

"Alright, tomorrow!" Tolui shouted back as Dukhsh led hisgang away. He already had plans on what to do, he wouldgo and ask his third oldest brother Chagatai for help assoon as he get back. Of his brothers, Chagatai was the

soon as he get back. Of his brothers, Chagatai was thenicest to him, and strong as well. He would surely help ifasked.

"Give it back!" Despite having his face covered in bloodfrom his nose, Guo Jing put his hand out at Zhu Cong.

"Sure, no problem," Zhu Cong waved the dagger back andforth in front of Guo Jing's face. "But you have to tell mewhere you got this dagger from."

"My mom gave it to me." Guo Jing answered, wiping bloodaway from his still bleeding nose with a sleeve.

"What's your dad's name?" Guo Jing never had a fatherand was caught speechless by the question. All he coulddo was shook his head.

"Is your surname Yang?" Quan Jin Fa asked. Once again,Guo Jing shook his head. Seeing that this kid was actingrather slow, the Seven Freaks were all quite disappointed.

"Who's Yang Kang?" Zhu Cong probed further. Guo Jingstill shook head.

The Seven Freaks had always valued their integrity aboveall else, so they had always kept their word, even to a kid.So Zhu Cong handed the dagger back to Guo Jing.

"You can go home now." Han Xiao Yin took out ahandkerchief and wiped off the blood from Guo Jing's faceas she tenderly told him. "Don't fight anymore. You arestill small, you can't beat them yet."

Afterwards, the 7 of them climbed back onto their horsesbegan to leave. Guo Jing just stood there, watching themride off to the East.

"Guo Jing, let's go back." Tolui suggested.

The Seven Freaks was already quite a distance away, butKe Zhen'E's hearing was incredibly sensitive. When heheard the name "Guo Jing", his entire body shook violentlyas he immediately jerked his horse around and ran back tothe kids.

"Kid, your surname is Guo? You are Han Chinese and notMongolian, right?" He anxiously asked.

Guo Jing nodded, setting Ke Zheng'E into the clouds withjoy.

{Note: I'm not sure how Ke Zheng'E knew that Guo Jingnodded. Maybe Jin Yong just forgot that Ke Zheng'E wasblind.}

"Who is your mother?" He hurriedly asked.

"Mom is mom." Guo Jing answered, making Ke Zheng'Escratch his head for a bit. "Can you take me to yourmother?"

"My mom is not here."

"Sister, you ask him." Ke Zheng'E suggested, realizing thatthere was some hostility in Guo Jing's responses. Han XiaoYin hopped off of her horse and walked up to Guo Jing.

"Where's your father?" She asked in a warm voice.

"My dad was killed by bad people, when I grow up, I'mgoing to kill them and avenge my father."

"What was your father's name?" Han Xiao Yin was soexcited that her voice was trembling. But Guo Jing justshook his head.

"Who killed your father?" Ke Zheng'E asked.

"His... his name is Duan Tian De!" Guo Jing could barelycontain his anger as he said that name.

As it turned out, Li Ping knew that at such a desolate andremote place like the Steppe, any moment could bringwith it many dangers and that her chances of everreturning to China was slim to none. If something shouldsuddenly happen to her, then her son would never come toknow the name of his mortal enemy, and that would notdo. So she had long ago told her son over and over againthe name and appearance of Duan Tian De. She was anilliterate farm girl and had always called her husband"Xiao-Ge," she had heard other people call him "BrotherGuo" but had never minded what her husband's real namewas. So Guo Jing had only ever known his father to be"dad" and did not know that he had other names.

"Duan Tian De". That name did not come out of Guo Jing'smouth very loudly at all, but when the 7 Freaks heardthem, it immediately rendered all of them speechless inshock. Even if three bolts of lightning suddenly struckdown beside them on this clear and sunny day would nothave shocked them as much. In a blink of an eye, it felt asif the Earth beneath them shook, as if the wind and airaround them became colored. Only after a very prolongedsilence did Han Xiao Yin suddenly let out an ecstatic shout,all the while Zhang Ah Sheng was beating his fists into hischest like a mad man, Quan Jin Fa had thrown his armtightly around Nan Xi Ren's neck, Han Bao Ju was doingback flips on the horse saddle, Ke Zheng'E reared his headback and laughed crazily, and Zhu Cong was spinning likea top. Seeing them act like this, Tolui and Guo Jing couldnot decide whether they were funny or just plain weird.Only after a long time did the Seven Freaks finally, slowly,calm down, but their faces were still covered with joy.

"Merciful Bodhisattva, thank you, thank you!" Zhang AhSheng knelt down and prayed.

"Little brother, let's sit down and talk." Han Xiao Yin saidto Guo Jing. Anxious to get back and ask his brotherChagatai for help as well as having a bad feeling aboutthese seven strangers over their strange accent and evenstranger behaviour, Tolui did not want to stay any longer,even though these same strangers had just helped them ina fight. So Tolui incessantly begged Guo Jing to startheading back.

"I need to go now." Guo Jing finally relented and andbegan to walk away hand in hand with Tolui.

"Hey, hey! You can't go now. Let that little friend of you goback by himself." Han Bao Ju almost panicked and yelledat the top of his lungs.

The two little kids was scared of the man's uglycomplexion and immediately started to run as soon as hestarted to yell. Han Bao Ju chased up and was just aboutto grab the back of Guo Jing's head with his fat handswhen Zhu Cong cut him off.

"Third Brother, don't be so rude." Zhu Cong lightly parriedHan Bao Ju's hand and stopped it in its track, much to HanBao Ju's surprise. Picking up a little speed, Zhu Congquickly got in front of the two little kids.

"I'm going to do some magic, you guys just watch, ok?"He smiled at the kids as he picked up three stones. GuoJing and Tolui's curiousity were immediately piqued asboth of them stopped and watched him.

Zhu Cong laid his right hand out for all to see and placedthe stones in the middle of his hand.

"Gone!" He shouted as he balled his hand together in afist. When he opened his palm again, the stones weregone, shocking the little kids.

"Get in there!" Zhu Cong pointed at the old hat that wason top of his head before taking it off. The stones weresitting right in the middle of the hat. Guo Jing and Tolui letout a loud cheer and applauded in joy.

At this moment, a flock of wild geese came flying towardthem in a spear formation. This gave Zhu Cong an idea.

"Now let our Big Brother show you a trick." He fished out ahandkerchief, handed it to Tolui, and pointed at KeZheng'E. "Put this blind fold on him."

"Is it hide and seek?" Tolui wondered hopefully as he putthe blind fold on Ke Zheng'E.

"No. He will shoot a wild geese out of the sky while blind

"No. He will shoot a wild geese out of the sky while blindfolded." Zhu Cong answered as he produced a bow and anarrow.

"How could he? I don't believe you." Tolui concluded.

While the conversation was going on, the wild geese flewstraight over head. Zhu Cong flicked his arm and tossedthe three stones in his hand up at the geese. Because ofhis powerful hands, the stones shot up and startled thegeese, causing the leading geese to honk several times ashe was getting ready to lead the formation to a differentdirection. But Ke Zheng'E had already determined hislocation, drew his bow to the fullest, and let loose. He hitthe goose squarely in the belly as the goose, with thearrow still in it, came tumbling down onto the ground.

Tolui and Guo Jing exploded into another cheer. They ranoff to retrieved the goose and brought it back to KeZheng'E, their young hearts filled with admiration.

"Remember how the 8 of them ganged up on you twoearlier? Well, if you know some martial arts, then youwouldn't have to worry about there being more of them."Zhu Cong told the kids."We will fight some moretomorrow, I'm going to get my older brother to help."Tolui told him.

"Getting help from your older brother? Hmph, that'ssomething that useless kids do. I'll teach you a couple ofmoves that I guarantee will help you win tomorrow." ZhuCong replied.

"You mean that two of us beating the eight of them?" Toluiasked.

"Yes!"

"Yay! Come on, teach me!" Tolui was greatly excited at theprospect of beating Dukhsh.

"How about you? Don't you want to learn?" Zhu Congnoticed that Guo Jing was standing to the side, seeminglyuninterested, and asked him.

"Mom told me that I shouldn't fight others, if I learn howto fight, then my mom would be unhappy."

"Scaredy-cat!" Han Bao Ju lightly berated him.

"Then why were you in a fight just then?" Zhu Cong askedagain.

"Because they started it."

"Well what are you going to do when you see your enemy,Duan Tian De?" Ke Zheng'E asked in a heavy tone.

"I'll kill him to avenge my father!" Just hearing the namemade fire shoot out from Guo Jing's young eyes.

"Your father was an expert in martial arts and was stillkilled by him, how could you kill him if you don't know anymartial arts? How can you get your revenge then?" KeZheng'E rendered Guo Jing speechless with thosequestions.

"See? You have to learn some martial arts." Han Xiao Yinconcluded for him.

"See that peak over there?" Zhu Cong pointed to adeserted mountain top to his left. "If you want to learnmartial arts and get your revenge, then come to the top ofthat mountain tonight at midnight. But you have to comeby yourself. And besides this little friend of yours, youcan't let anybody find out about this. Brave enough to doit? Scared of ghosts?"

Guo Jing was still stupidly standing there, but Tolui wasgetting impatient.

"Come on, teach me, please!"

Zhu Cong suddenly grabbed his wrist, hooked his left footaround the kid, and gently tripped him, sending Tolui ontothe ground.

"Why did you hit me?" Tolui angrily demanded once he gotback up off the ground.

"That was martial arts, did you learn it?" Zhu Cong smiledand answered. Turned out Tolui was quite smart andunderstood right away. He mimicked Zhu Cong andshowed the move against an imaginary foe once.

"Teach me something else." He said to Zhu Cong. ZhuCong faked a punch toward Tolui's face. Tolui dodged tothe left, but Zhu Cong's right fist was waiting there forhim. This punch had no force behind it and stopped themoment it touched Tolui's nose.

"Yay! Teach me something else!" Tolui was esctatic. ZhuCong suddenly braced himself and gently bumped hisshoulders squarely into the little kid's stomach, sendinghim flying off. Quan Jin Fa jumped up, caught him in midair, and steadly put him back onto the ground.

"Mister, teach me something else!"

"If you master those three moves, most adults won't beable to beat you, enough is enough." Zhu Cong smiled andtold him before turning towards Guo Jing. "Did you getthem?"

Guo Jing was still dumbstruck and not really thinking of

Guo Jing was still dumbstruck and not really thinking ofanything as he absent mindedly shook his head. Whencompared to the smart and intelligent Tolui, Guo Jinglooked incredibly stupid and slow to the Seven Freaks, whowere all very disappointed at this turn of events. Han XiaoYin let out a long sigh and her eyes reddened.

"I say that we stop wasting energy, just take the motherand son back South and hand them over to Qiu Chu Ji. Asfor the competition, let's just admit defeat." Quan Jin Faobserved.

"This kid's make up is just too bad, he's not the kungfupracticing type." Zhu Cong agreed.

"There isn't a bit of fight in him, I don't see how it's goingto work either." Han Bao Ju also agreed and the SevenFreaks began discussing the matter over amongthemselves in their Southern dialects.

"You two can go home now." Han Xiao Yin waved at thetwo little kids. Tolui grabbed a hold of Guo Jing hand andhappily skipped off.

Having searched for 6 long and hard years all over theboundless Steppe, the Seven Freaks were joyous beyonddescription when they finally found Guo Jing. But as itturned out the joy was only temporary as they discoveredthat the kid was so dumb that it would be incrediblydifficult for him to ever amount to much of a martial artist.They could not help but feel defeated. This set back couldonly be matched by the one they would experience if theyhad, in fact, never found Guo Jing. Han Bao Ju, whip inhand, was relentlessly beating the ground, trying to venthis frustration and nobody could get him to stop. All thistime, only the Woodsmen of the Southern Mountains, NanXi Ren, remained silent.

"Well, what do you think, Fourth Brother?" Ke Zheng'Easked.

"Very good." Nan Xi Ren replied.

"What's very good?" Zhu Cong inquired.

"The kid's very good."

"Fourth Brother is always like this. Acting as if speakingcosts him money." Han Xiao Yin was letting the frustrationget to her. "He would never say a word more than he hasto."

"I was also very dumb as a kid." Nan Xi Ren gently smiled.He was always very quiet and every word that he spokehad already been carefully thought over, meaning thateverything he said would always hit the nail on the head.

Hearing this, the other 6 Freaks immediately found a

glimmer of hope and instantly became more confident.

"Right! That's right! Since when have I been smart?"Zhang Ah Sheng agreed, looking in Han Xiao Yin'sdirection.

"Let's wait and see if he got the guts to come tonight."Zhu Cong suggested.

"I say most likely not." Quan Jin Fa replied. "Well, I'mgoing to go find where he lives first."

He jumped off of his horse and trailed far behind Tolui andGuo Jing all the way until he saw them walking into theirown gers.

That night, the 7 Freaks waited on the deserted mountaintop. It was 15 minutes until 10 and the Big Dipper wasnoticeably changed its position, but Guo Jing was nowhereto be seen.

Looking to the west, the dark clouds were gathering on topof each other off around the horizon. But above their headnary a cloud could be found in the dark blue sky. Thewinds were swirling around them from the northwest,sometimes it would gust, other times it would be still. Themiddle of the sky hung the bright moon, but a faint yellowring could be discerned around the moon.

"Looks like there's going to be a storm tonight." Han XiaoYin observed. "The kid is really not going to come then."

"Then let's go to him tomorrow morning." Zhang Ah Shengreplied.

"Being a little slow is not a big problem. But if this kid is socowardly as to be scared of the dark... Ay!" Ke Zheng'Esighed and shook his head.

The 7 of them were just plodding around when Han Bao Jusuddenly spotted something in a bush.

"Hey what's that?" He pointed at three piles of whiteobjects that looked awfully strange under the moon light.

Quan Jin Fa walked over to investigate only discover thatthey were human skulls placed neatly in 3 piles.

"Must be those little kids who did this, lining up skulls likethis." He laughed before suddenly noticed something else."What? Second brother, come quickly!"

The sudden change in tone in his voice was easilynoticeable and unsettling for everyone. Other than KeZheng'E, the other freaks all made their way over.

"Look at this!" Quan Jin Fa picked up one particular skulland handed it over to Zhu Cong. When Zhu Cong

and handed it over to Zhu Cong. When Zhu Conginspected the skulls closely, he noticed that on the domeof the skull was five holes positioned in such a way as tolook like they were made with fingers. He tried out with hisown hand and the five holes were positioned right onto hisfingers, even the hole that was positioned for his thumbwas a little bigger while the hole for his pinky was a littlesmaller. It seemed as if somebody had carefully carved theholes onto the skull to match with a particular hand.Obviously it was not a children's toy that little kids haveleft.

Zhu Cong's expression changed dramatically as well. Hebent over and picked up two more skulls only to discoverthat they also had these holes on them as well.

"Could somebody have made these holes with theirfingers?" His thoughts wondered. But there had not beenanybody in the world with martial arts skill so powerful asto be able to smash holes through bones using justfingers. He was rendered speechless in awe andrealization.

"could it be some man eating beast or monster that livearound here?" Han Xiao Yin almost yelled.

"That's right, it must be a moster." Han Bao Ju concurred.

"But if it was some beast, then why would it or even howcould it put the skulls in such neat piles?" Quan Jin Faasked in deep thought.

"How are they placed?" Ke Zheng'E had made his way overafter hearing what Quan Jin Fa had said.

"In three pyramid formations, every pile consists of 9skulls." Quan Jin Fa answered.

"Placed in three layers? With 5 skulls on the bottom layer,3 in the middle layer, and one on the top?"

"Yes!" Quan Jin Fa was shocked. "Big Brother, how did youknow that?"

"Quickily, go 100 steps northeast and northwest and tellme what you see!" Ke Zheng'E did not answer his questionand instead instructed them anxiously.

His demeanor was one of extreme anxiety, almostbordering panic. Which was so different from his normalcalm and steadiness that the other Freaks did not dare towaste one second as they headed off in the two directionsin groups of threes. Soon, Han Xiao Yin, who went towardsthe northeast, and Quan Jin Fa, who went to thenorthwest, both yelled out at the same instant.

"There is skull piles here too!"

"This is a matter of life and death!" Ke Zheng'E literallyflew over to the pile of skulls to the northwest andforcefully, but quietly ordered. "Don't raise your voice, nomatter what!"

The three Freaks were quite taken aback by his words andwas not quite sure what to make of them as Ke Zheng'Equickly made his way to where Han Xiao Yin's group wasto the northeast and told them the same thing.

"Is it monsters or mortal enemies?" Zhang Ah Shenghushed his voice and asked.

"They are the ones that gave me these blind eyes ofmine." By this time the Freaks in the other group hadalready made their way over as well. Hearing his words, allof the Freaks were quite surprised.

Even though the six of them had known Ke Zheng'E eversince they were little kids, they have never mentioned orasked about his disability because they knew how much hehated it. So they had always assumed that it was theresult of an accident when he was young, only now didthey know that he was blinded by powerful enemies. KeZheng'E's martial arts skills were top notch and hadalways carried himself in a steady and intelligent matter.For him to suffer such a complete and humiliating defeat,he must have went up against an unimaginable enemy.

Ke Zheng'E picked up a skull and ran his hands over it forinspection. After finding the holes he took his right handand tried out the holes with his fingers.

"They did it. They did it. They really mastered it." Hemumbled to himself before turning to the other Freaks."There's 3 piles here as well?"

"Yes!" Han Xiao Yin answered.

"Are there eight skulls in every pile?" Ke Zheng'E inquired.

"One pile has 9, the other 2 piles has 8." Han Xiao Yinanswered again.

"Go and count up the other group as well." Han Xiao Yinswiftly ran over to the other group and then returned justas quickly."There's 7 a pile over there, they are alldecapitated heads, but the meat has not decomposed yet."

"Then that means they will be here very soon." Ke Zheng'Econcluded quietly and handed the skull over to Quan JinFa. "Carefully return this to where it was, don't leave anytrace of our presense."

Quan Jin Fa quickly placed everything back to their originalpositions and returned to Ke Zheng'E. All of their eyeswere upon Ke Zheng'E as they quietly waited for his

were upon Ke Zheng'E as they quietly waited for hisexplanation.

"It's Copper Corpse and Iron Corpse!" Ke Zheng'E lookedas if he was looking up at the sky and his face twitchedendlessly.

"But aren't they dead? How are they still alive?" This newsshocked Zhu Cong tremendously.

"I thought they were dead as well. But it turns out thatthey had been hiding here training their Nine ShadesWhite Bone Claw," said Ke Zheng'E. "Brothers, quicklymount your horses and ride south as fast as you can anddon't come back! Wait for me after you have gone 5000kilometers. Wait for me for 10 days. If I don't show up onthe 10th day, then you need not wait for me anymore."

"What are you saying Big Brother?" Han Xiao Yin anxiouslyreplied. "We have all drank each other's blood when weswore to live and die together! Why are you telling us toleave now?"

"Go! Leave!" Ke Zheng'E repeatedly waved his hand. "Youdon't have any time to waste!"

"What do you take us for? A buncha heartless bastards?"Han Bao Ju angrily rebuked.

"If the 7 of us lose, then we'll just leave our lives there,what's the big deal? That's what we have always said."Zhang Ah Sheng also voiced his objection. "Since whenhave we ever ran away?"

"These two possess incredible martial arts skills, and nowthat they have mastered the Nine Shade White Bone Claw,the 7 of us are definitely no match for them. So why stayhere and give your life away in vain?" Ke Zheng'Eprotested.

The other Freaks knew how proud of a man that KeZheng'E was and how he would never admit defeat. Evenwhen faced with such a master like Qiu Chu Ji he wouldstill throw caution into the winds and fight withoutabandon. To see him talk about these two characters likethis, it could be inferred that their power was somethingbeyond comprehension.

"In that case let's leave together!" Quan Jin Fa proposed.

"They condemned me to a life of suffering. But that I candeal with." Ke Zheng'E coldly replied. "However, I have toavenge what they did to my Elder Martial Brother!"

"Share the blessings, share the hardships!" Nan Xi Rendeclared. He never says much, but he never needed to sayanything more.

Ke Zheng'E thought about it. He knew that his sworn

Ke Zheng'E thought about it. He knew that his swornbrothers were people who valued honor and would nevereven consider running to save their own lives. The wordshe just said was based off of his worry for their lives andhe now realized that they were bordering on the offensiveto his brethrens. At this thought, he sighed.

"Alright, if that's the case, then please be careful," he said."Copper Corpse is a man, Iron Corpse is a woman, theyare husband and wife. Back then, when they just startedtraining for Nine Shade White Bone Claw, they ran into mybrother and I. That was when my martial brother lost hislife and when I lost my eyes. The other details aren'timportant, what all of you need to watch out for is thoseclaws of theirs. Sixth brother, go 100 steps to the south, isthere a coffin there?"

Quan Jin Fa, as quickly as he dared, counted his steps.When he made it to 100, he did not spot a coffin. But uponcloser inspection, he suddenly noticed that there was acorner of a stone slab pertruding out of the ground. Pullingon it, the stone slab did not even budge. So he turnedaround and waved his arms, soon the other Freaks joinedhim. Zhang Ah Sheng and Han Bao Ju both got down and,together, barely lifted the stone slab up. Under themoonlight, they were able to see that there was a ditchhidden underneath the stone slab. In the ditch laid twobodies, both of them dressed in Mongolian attire.

"These two monsters will come soon and use thesecorpses for practice." Ke Zheng'E hopped into the ditch."I'll hide here and ambush them. You guys hide yourselvesaround here, make sure that they don't find you. Once youhear that I have began fighting with them, attack all atonce and try to catch them off guard. Please don't holdanything back. This type of ambush might not berighteous, but our foe is too powerful this time and this isthe only way or else none of us might make it out of thisalive."

The 6 other Freaks listened intently to his every word.

"They are also extremely attentative and bright. Theycould spot even the slightest trace of disturbance from faraway." Ke Zheng'E continued. "So put the stone slab backand just leave the a small slit for me."

The six Freaks nodded and gently placed the slab backwhere it was. Afterwards they immediately grabbed theirweapons and hid inside bushes and behind trees in thearea immediately surrounding the ditch.

Seeing Ke Zheng'E worry like she had never seen himbefore, Han Xiao Yin was worried as well as curious. Sowhen she looked for a hiding spot she made sure to findone close to Zhu Cong.

"Who are these Copper Corpse and Iron Corpse?" She

"Who are these Copper Corpse and Iron Corpse?" Sheasked him as quietly as she could.

"The two of them together are known as the Twin Killers ofthe Dark Winds. In the past they made a lot of trouble upin the north. They were methods were ruthless, their skillswere amazing, and their actions were incredibly smart.Sometimes it really did seem like they were ghosts,appearing and disappearing at random." Zhu Conganswered. "But for some unknown reason, they stoppedappearing altogether. A couple of years went by, andeveryone in the martial world had figured that they hadsimply done all the evil they could and died. But who couldhave figured that they were actually just hiding out in thedesolation of the Steppe."

"What are their real names?" Han Xiao Yin asked somemore.

"Copper Corpse is a man, his name is Chen Xuan Feng. Hehad a burnt yellow complexion like copper, and nevershowed a bit of emotion on his face, like a corpse. That'swhy everyone referred to him as Copper Corpse."

"So does that woman, Iron Corpse, have a blackcomplexion?"

"Yes, her surname is Mei, full name Mei Chao Feng."

"Big Brother said that they were training for some NineShade White Bone Claw. What kind of kungfu is that?"

"I haven't heard of it before either."

Han Xiao Yin looked over at a pile of skulls to her side andsaw that top skull was positioned in such a way that theholes where the eyes were faced directly at her, as if itwas staring at her. She shuddered involuntarily and turnedaway, not daring to take another look.

"So how come Big Brother never brought this up?" Sheasked. "Could it be...."

She was not finished when Zhu Cong suddenly covered hermouth with his left hand and pointed at the bottom of thehill with his right hand. Han Xiao Yin followed his fingerand looked out from behind the bush. Underneath themoonlight around the horizon, a faint black shadow couldbe seen quickly approaching at an incredible speed.

"I should be ashamed!" Han Xiao Yin reprimanded herself."I was too busy talking to Second Brother and did not payany attention to looking out for the enemy."

In a blink of an eye, the black shadow had made it to thefoot of the hill. By now they could finally discern that itwas actually made of two figures, hence why it looked sofat from afar.

fat from afar.

"This Twin Killers of the Dark Winds truly do have somebizarre kungfu." The 6 Freaks all thought to themselves."Running at that speed yet they were still able to sticktogether that close to each other, it really is as if they areinseparable!"

The 6 of them held their breaths and cowered even lower,quietly waiting for them to come up the hill. Zhu Congclutched tightly onto his pressure point hitting fan. HanXiao Yin quietly buried the blade of her sword into the dirtso as to avoid giving herself away because of the reflectionoff the blade; nevertheless, her right hand held a tight gripon the handle of the sword.

The sounds of sand and rocks being kicked could be heardas footsteps traveled up the hill. Each and everyone oftheir hearts pounded along with every step as thesemoments seemed to last an eternity to them. At thismoment, the northwest winds picked up as well. The darkclouds to the west looked like individual mountain tops asthey came rolling in relentlessly.

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03-14-05, 10:00 AM

(Strunf)

A few moments later, the noises of step ceased. On thefree space, to the top of the hill, two silhouettes wereheld: the first, immobile, with a leather hat on the head,looked like a Mongol; the second, with a long hair floatingwith the wind, was visibly a woman.

"Here is Copper Corpse and Iron Corpse therefore, thoughtHan Xiao Ying. Let's see how they are going to trainthemselves." They saw the woman slowly turn around theman, and heard her articulations crack gently. Then sheaccelerated her speed, and the crunches becameincreasingly strong, increasingly brought closer, as whenone knocked on several drums at the same time.

"Her neigong is this strong! wondered Han Xiao Ying again.It’s not astonishing that Older Brother appeared asprudent! "The woman moved back and forth her two handsand, every time, the joints of her arms crackled. Her longhair was stretched practically to the horizontal by thespeed, and gave her a terrifying aspect.

Han Xiao Ying felt an icy cold invade his heart and his hairsto bristle on his body. All of a sudden, the woman raisedthe right palm and knocked the left palm down on theman's chest.

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Mojo Jojo

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"As it is strange, thought the six, could it be that herhusband's body is capable to resist her palm strokes?" Theman fell backward, but she had already turned behind himand hit his back. Thus, going back and forth at high-speed,she had hit him with eight palm strokes, each time morequickly, each time more mightily. The man didn't make anoise. After the ninth stroke, she bounds suddenly veryhigh, coming down like an arrow, raised the man’s leatherhat, and planted the five fingers of the right hand in hisforehead!

Han Xiao Ying failed to utter a scream. The woman hadfallen again on her feet and had exploded to laugh. Theman, collapsed on the floor, didn't move. She stretchedher hand spotted of blood and brains, examining it underthe moon while laughing. She turned the head, and HanXiao Ying saw that her face, although a little blackish, wasrather pretty, and that she seemed to have like fortyyears.

The six had understood that the man was not herhusband, but only a living target that she had captured forthe purpose of her practice. This woman had therefore tobe and Iron Corpse, Mei Chao Feng.

She stopped laughing, stretched the hands and tore thedead’s clothes. In the North, where the weather wasextremely cold, one always carried thick leather coats.However, she tore these very resistant clothes as if it wasthe paper, without any effort. Then she plunged the handin the poor target’s wretched chest, withdrawing theinternal organs one by one, that she examined attentivelyunder the moonlight, throwing them afterwards on theground. From afar, the six could see that all these organs,heart, lungs, liver, spleen, was completely destroyed .Theythen understood the finality of this practice: she had hitthe body of this man with nine palm strokes and hadsucceeded in breaking the internal organs withoutbreaking the bones of the skeleton. By examining theinternal organs, she could see the progression of herstrength.

Very angry, Han Xiao Ying wanted to immediately attack.She pulled off her sword, and was about to attack whenZhu Cong retained her silently.

"For the moment, thought the Literate, Iron Corpse is allalone, she seems dangerous, but with the seven of us, weshould be able to end with her. If we get rid of her first, itwill be easier to take care of Copper Corpse after, whereaswe would be absolutely unable of facing the two of them atthe same time... But who knows if Cadaver of Bronze isnot hidden in a corner, ready to fall over us unexpectedly?Older Brother knows well the habits of these twomonsters, its better to follow his instructions and wait thathe launches the first attack..." After having inspected the internal organs, Mei Chao Feng

After having inspected the internal organs, Mei Chao Fengseemed satisfied. With a smile to the lips, she sat downwith her legs crossed, facing the moon, and began topractice the regulation of breath. She turned her back toHan Xiao Ying and Zhu Cong, that saw her shoulders risingand dropping as she inspired and expired.

"If I attack with the stroke "The lightning illuminates thebig sky", wondered Han Xiao Ying, I am nearly certain ofbeing able to transpierce her right through. But if I missmy stroke, it is our entire plan that will be compromised!"

She trembled of all her body, incapable of deciding what todo.

Zhu Cong didn't dare to move either, he felt an icy feelingin the back, because he was flooded in cold sweat. Whileraising the eyes, he noticed that the black clouds comingfrom the west had invaded half of the sky, like a rice papersheet that one would have sprinkled with ink. In themiddle of the dark clouds lightning strikes sparkled,increasing even more the anguishes and terror in the heartof the six Freaks. The thunder roared dully, as if it wassuppressed by the thickness of the clouds.

After having practiced the breath regulation during acertain time, Mei Chao Feng rose, moved, while draggingthe cadaver behind her, towards the hole where Ke Zhen'ehad been dissimulated, and bent down to raise the tile ofstone.

The six Freaks tightened their weapons, ready to bound onher as soon as the tile would have been open.

However, Mei Chao Feng, hearing a rustle of leaves thatdidn't seem her provoked by the wind, turned suddenlythe head and saw a human shade appear on the top of atree. Pushing a long scream, she bounds in that direction.

The man hidden on the tree, was Han Baoju. Takingadvantage of his small size, he had perfectly dissimulatedhimself in the foliage but, as he got ready to jump, a littlehimself overdraft, which had immediately alerted Mei ChaoFeng. This one leaps on him of an irresistible dash! TheHan, of a stroke "The black Dragon inhales water",knocked down his whip on the wrist of Mei. This one,contrary to all expectations, did not seek to avoid thestroke, but seizes the extremity of the whip. The dwarf,very strong, pulled her nimbly toward him, that benefitedfrom this to let herself bring nearer, and counterattackedof a lightning palm. Han Baoju felt that a stroke was toarrive and, knowing that he could not resist to it, releasedhis weapon, made a somersault to jump down from thetree. But Iron Corpse didn't let him escape, she jumpedright behind him, carrying her claws in the dwarf's back.

This one felt again like an icy breath on the nape of theneck and made an extraordinary effort to advance faster.

neck and made an extraordinary effort to advance faster.At the same time, Nan Xiren and Quan Jinfas, hidden closeto the bottom of the tree, threw their invisible projectileson the pursuer, an awl "transpierce-bone" for the first anda dart hidden in the sleeve for the second. She sweptthem of a flick of left hand, whereas her right hand tore offa piece of clothing on the back of Han Baoju. The dwarftouched ground of the left foot and rebounds immediately.However Mei, agile as wind, was already held in front ofhim: - Who are you? She shouted. What did you came to dohere?

At the same time, she planted ten fingers in his shoulders.Han felt like a lightning pain, as if ten iron awls hadsuddenly encrusted in his flesh. He gave a kick toward theIron Cadaver stomach, that avoided the stroke of the righthand while nearly breaking him the ankle. Without losingher figure for as much, the dwarf threw himself on theground and rolled to clear himself.

As Mei was going to trample him, a heavy black rod fell onher foot: it was Nan Xiren, the Lumberman of the southernMountain.

Abandoning Han, Mei Chao Feng quickly moved back toavoid the rod. In one instant, she found herself surroundedof enemies: a literate holding an Iron apron tried to hit thevital points on her meridians while a girl handling a swordattacked by the right.

A big paunchy strong man armed of a large knife and asmall skinny fellow so with a weird instrument on her left;a vigorous peasant making some trolls with his Iron rodwas held facing her; the noises of step that stoppedbehind her, had to come from the feet of the big dwarfwith a whip. All these people were perfectly unknown toher and, yet, they seemed to be some eminent experts inmartial arts.

"They are too numerous, thought Mei Chao Feng, it wouldbe necessary to resort to the strong manner to eliminatesome of them without lingering. No matter their names ortheir origins... Anyway, besides my beloved Shifu and mybastard of husband, I put myself to kill anyone in this lowworld! "She jumped, all claws stretched, on Han Xiao Ying.Seeing the power of this attack, Zhu Cong took fear: hebounds while pointing his iron apron on her vital point"Sinuous pond" situated in the hollow of her elbow.However, she that didn't seem to worry herself about it,stretched her right hand; Han Xiao Ying defended himselfof a stroke "White dew on the stream", with the intentionto hit her in the arm. But Iron Corpse turned her wrist,trying to catch the sword on naked hand, as if she didn'tfear the blade. Han Xiao Ying was afraid on her turn andmoved back. To this moment, the apron of the Literatehits with precision her "Sinuous pond" point. It was there avery important vital point of the human body, and the arm

very important vital point of the human body, and the armof Mei should be paralyzed immediately. Zhu Cong wasdelighted for having succeeded in his stroke, when hesuddenly saw her arm lie down, and her dangerous nailspractically on his head! He moved back at the last momentand escaped of by a hair to death!

"Doesn't she has any vital points? he wondered, surprisedand afraid”. Han Baoju had collected its whip by now, andthe Six, waving their weapons, surrounded Mei Chao Feng.However, this one didn't seem at all impressed: her nakedhands, of which she seized their weapons, appeared asefficient as of the fangs made out of steel. The Freakswere especially worried specially after noting that theiradversary's nickname was not usurped: Iron Corpseappeared to effectively have a body of iron! She had justreceived two strokes in the back, inflicted by the balanceof Quan Jinfa, apparently without causing her any injury.They understood that she had succeeded in pushing theresistance of her body to an extreme: a part thesharpened tips of the large knife of Zhang Asheng and thesword of Han Xiao Ying, she seemed to not fear any of theother weapons, that she didn't even try to avoid, onlyworrying to attack.

She increased in vigor and seizes by the arm Quan Jinfa,too slow escaping. The other five hurried, but it was toolate, and Mei, of a violent stroke, had pulled a piece offlesh of his sleeve.

"All those that practice this technique of the iron body,thought Zhu Cong, possess necessarily a nodal practicelocation, on which it is impossible to them to spread theirprotection using this technique. This point is particularlyvulnerable, a small touch is sufficient to wound them todeath... Where could this shrew's nodal location locatedbe? " He bounds on the right, on the left, playing the fan,trying successively to touch the meridian point "Meeting ofthe Hundred" on the top of the head, to the point "Screenof the Spring" on the throat, then to the point "Tomb ofthe mind" on the hollow of the umbilicus, to the point"Hollow of the Middle" on her back... He tried about tenpoints, while thinking that, if she puts a particular care todefend this or that other point, it would be there her nodallocation.

The significance of this back and forth movements didn'tescape Mei ChaoFeng: - Literate measly! she shouts. My technique is perfect tothe point that I don't have a nodal location!

And of a stroke, she seizes Zhu wrist. This one, amazed,fortunately had the quick mind and the agile hands. BeforeMei could plant her nails in his flesh, he had returned thewrist and slipped his fan in his adversary's hand, whilewhispering: - Attention, there’s poison on the fan!

- Attention, there’s poison on the fan!

First feeling suddenly a hard object in her hand, Mei ChaoFeng, speechless, was effectively afraid of the poison andthrew the fan on the ground.

Zhu Cong benefited from this to escape and to moveseveral steps back. He looked at his hand, whose backcarried five bloody grooves and felt floods of cold sweat:the fight had already lasted a certain time, not only theFreaks had not finish her over, but three of theirs werealready wounded. So if Copper Corpse arrived, they allwent there to loose their life. Zhang Asheng, Han Baojuand Quan Jinfas were already quite tired and sweat. OnlyNan Xirens, whose neigong was more powerful, and HanXiao Yings, lighter, didn't seem tired, whereas their enemybecame more and more valiant. He suddenly saw, to thepallid gleam of the moon, the three heaps of skulls on theleft. He shivered and had the idea to hurry towards thehole where Ke Zhen'e was hidden, while shouting: - Runfor your lives!

The other understood and moved back while fighting.

- Illegitimate children left of nowhere, sneered Mei ChaoFeng, you wanted to trap me here, it is too late to runaway now!

She rushed to their pursuit. Nan Xiren, Quan Jinfa and HanXiao Yings did their best to entertain her, while the threeothers united their strengths to raise the tile of stone. Itwas just in time, because Mei Chao Feng had seized theiron rod of Nan Xiren and already advanced her claws indirection of his eyes.

- Come down quickly to help us, shouted Zhu Cong.

He had pointed his finger upwards, all stingy skywards,and made gestures of the other hand, as to call the help ofa mate hidden on the heights. Surprised, Mei could notstop herself from raising the eyes, but she only saw thelow clouds veiling half of the moon... There wasn’t anyoneup there!

- To seven steps right! shuts Zhu Cong.

To these words, Ke Zhen'e had thrown six poisonedprojectiles to seven steps, two to the top, two to themiddle and two below, while bounding out of the hole. Theother Freaks attacked all the sides at the same time. MeiChao Feng pushed a scream of pain: two projectiles hadreached her eyes! Fortunately for her, her agility allowedto move her head back immediately, so that the invisibleprojectiles didn't penetrate into her brain, but she wasdefinitely blind!

Full of pain and rage, she knocked down her two palms,but Ke Zhen'e had already escaped to the side. One heard

but Ke Zhen'e had already escaped to the side. One heardtwo deaf strokes, because her strokes had hit a rock. Evenmore furious now, she gave a kick, that knocked the tileand made it fly off. The Seven, afraid by of the strength ofher attacks, remained carefully aside.

As she didn't see them anymore, she thrashed in allsenses, striking, scratching, knocking. She looked like afurious tiger, or a demon, breaking everything on her way,raising clouds of dusts, breaking the branches of the trees,without hurting her enemies, who were held sufficiently faraway, while keeping their breath. Shortly after, her eyesbecame completely insensible, she then understood thatthe poison had made its effect: - Who did this? she said ofa terrifying voice. Say it quickly, that I die while knowingwho killed me...

Zhu Cong made a gesture in direction of Ke Zhen'e to askhim to be quiet and to let Mei die in the ignorance. But hethen remembered that his Older Brother was blind, howcould he have seen his gestures?

- Mei Chao Feng, said Ke of an icy voice, you remember of"Dragon in full sky", Ke Bixie, and of "Bat in full sky", KeZhen'e?

Mei Chao Feng exploded on a thundering and terrifyinglaugh.

- Bastard, you are not dead yet! Do you come to revengeDragon in full sky?

- Precisely! Yourself you didn't die yet, that suits well!

Mei sighed and stayed silent.

The Seven Freaks remained on their guard. At thatmoment, the moon was nearly entirely hidden by the darkclouds, one felt an insidious and discerning cold weather.Mei Chao Feng stood immobile like a statue of stone, herhands along the body, the fingers slightly open showingher sparkling nails. The violent wind that blew from behindraised her long hair. Han Xiao Ying that was in front of hersaw blood sinking from her eyes.

All of a sudden, Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfas shouted at thesame time: - Attention! Old Brother!

Their voices resounded again when Ke Zhen'e felt like a hitwas to arrive on his chest. He bounds in air by giving a bigstroke on the floor with his cane, and landed on the top ofa tree that was behind him. Iron Corpse, that didn't findanybody . Iron Corpse, that didn't find anyone in front ofher, planted her ten fingers in the trunk of the tree. Thesix Freaks became pale of terror: if Ke Zhen'e had lingeredof only one second, the nails would be planted in his body,how would he have be able in to escape alive?

Having missed her stroke, Mei Chao Feng pushed sudden along and weird howling, on a very sharp tonality, but witha powerful breath that carried very far.

"Misfortune, thought Zhu Cong then, she calls her husbandCopper Corpse for help." - Quickly, he shouts, it isnecessary to finish her!

He mobilized all his energy in the arm and heavily hit theback of Mei Chao Feng, whereas Zhang Asheng raised abig stone that he knocked down on her head.

Iron Corpse, that had just lost the view, didn't know yethow to position herself by the hearing, like Ke Zhen'e. Thebig stone, while falling, made a noise that she could hearand she quickly avoided it. But she could not avoid thestroke of Zhu Cong. Even though she had turned her bodyextremely resistant, the Literate not only had quick handsbut also heavy ones, and she felt a lightning pain in theback.

Zhu Cong wanted took advantage of his position andcontinued to hit, but Mei Chao Feng counterattacked with astroke of claws, and he moved back.

The others Freaks got ready to bound in to, when theyheard a long howling coming from far away, on the sametonality that Mei used a while ago, that gave them thecreeps. Shortly after, a second howling sound was heardbut this time a lot nearer.

"As this personage moves quickly", thought the Seven,alarmed.

- Attention, there is Copper Corpse! shouts Ke Zhen'e.

Han Xiao Ying runed away and looked downwards the hill,she saw a shade that approached at a quick pacescreaming while running.

Mei Chao Feng had adopted a defense stance, notattacking anymore. She concentrated her internal energyto contain the progression of the poison, while waiting forher husband's arrival to wipe out the enemies.

Zhu Cong made a sign to Quan Jinfa, the two men hidedthemselves in the brushwood. Iron Corpse was alreadydangerous by herself. From the pace of Copper Corpse,Zhu Cong suspected that he could be even stronger thanhis wife. Obviously, it was impossible to defeat the twowhile facing both of them at the same time. On the otherhand, a chance subsisted if one took them by ruse.

All of a sudden, Han Xiao Ying uttered a scream ofsurprise: she saw, in front of the shade that ran at fullspeed, another smaller silhouette, that had alsoundertaken the climb of the hill. Only, like this silhouette

undertaken the climb of the hill. Only, like this silhouettewent more slowly, and that it was all small, no one hadseen it before. She watched more attentively and saw thatit was a child, Guo Jing certainly. Surprised and delighted,she hastened herself to his meeting.

She was not very distant of him, and the downward slopewas easier to descend, but Copper Corpse, remarkableexpert in lightness gong fu, was gaining terrain. Han XiaoYing hesitated: "I am not of size to face Copper Corpse...But the child is going to fall between his hands, how couldI not carry myself to his help? " She then accelerated andshouted: - Quickly, child, run more quickly!

While seeing it, Guo Jing uttered a scream of joy,unconscious of the imminent danger that threatened him.

During all these years, Zhang Asheng had been secretly inlove for Han Xiao Ying, but never dared to express hisfeelings towards her. Seeing that she ran a terrifyingdanger, he feared for her safety so he sprang to catch herup and protect her.

In top of the hill, the others Freaks didn't attack anymoreand observed what went by at the middle of the hill,keeping their invisible projectiles concealed in their hand,ready to intervene.

In the blink of an eye, Han Xiao Ying had arrived to theheight of Guo Jing, she took his small hand and turned theheels to run away with him. But hardly had they browsedsome heights, that she felt the hand of Guo Jing slip: thechild uttered a big scream, Chen Xuanfeng had justclutched it in the back!

Han Xiao Ying turned around with agility and, of a swordstroke "The Phoenix nods the head", feinted towards theenemy's left armpit, then, moving herself to the side,raised the tip of the sword of a quick and precise gesture,aimed the adversary's eyes. It was there the very essenceof the sophisticated technique of "The sword of the GirlYue."

Chen Xuanfeng took the child under his left arm, defendedthe stroke with his right while repulsing the blade to theright, and carried the palm’s stroke the "To push the skiffwhile following the current." The young woman turned herweapon and moved away, but the arm of Chen Xuanfengseemed sudden to lie down of half a foot: Han Xiao Ying,that had the impression to be outside of his range, wasreached therefore to the shoulder and fell on the ground.

This exchange took place in the blink of an eye. CopperCorpse, pitiless, carried a stroke of claws directly on thesummit of the Han Xiao Ying’s head. This white bone’sClaw of the Nine Darkness was a dangerous and crueltechnique, which destroyed the flesh and broke the bones.The stroke would not fail to break the skull of the young

woman. Zhang Asheng, that was some steps away,understood the danger and, without thinking about hisown safety, intervened by throwing himself to on her,protecting her with his body. The claw fell, and the fivefingers of Copper Corpse penetrated in the “laughing”Buddha back.

This one pushed a terrifying howling and tried to reach theenemy's chest with his large knife. But Chen Xuanfengdefended it, making the weapon to fall, and returned apalm against Zhang, that was projected on the ground.

The others Freaks shouted frightened and hurried to theirrescue.

- My shrew, shouts Chen Xuanfeng, what happened here?

- They destroyed my eyes! replies Mei Chao Feng in anger,holding herself against a tree. If you let escape one ofthem, my bastard, you will deal with me!

- No worry, my shrew, shouted Chen Xuanfeng, not evenone will escape alive. You... Are you have hurt? Don'tmove...

Copper Corpse knocked down its hand again on the headof Han Xiao Ying. This one, with "A lazy Dunce makes asomersault", escaped while rolling.

- Do you believe to be able to escape me? mocked Chenwhile raising his left hand.

Zhang Asheng, severely wounded, saw confusedly that hisbeloved was in danger of death. Mobilizing his laststrengths, he gave a kick toward the enemy's hand. Thisone planted its fingers in the leg of Zhang that, goaded bythe pain, straightened himself and passed his arms aroundhis aggressor's size. Chen caught it by the neck, wantingto throw it far away, but the laughing Buddha, fearing thathe would hurt Han Xiao Ying, stubbornly refused to releasehim. Copper Corpse carried him a deathblow to the headthat stunned it. The butcher fainted, and his armsslackened.

The intervention of Zhang had given the time to the youngwoman to bound on her feet to take the fight. She didn'tdare to approach him much, and contented to turn aroundthe enemy thanks to her lightness technique.

- Fifth brother, she shouts, how do you feel?

She had made two times the tour, when her mates joinedin. Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfas immediately threw theirinvisible projectiles.

Copper Corpse was surprised to see as many enemies ofthis strength. "We are in the middle of a desert, hethought, from where came these hard to cook that I don't

thought, from where came these hard to cook that I don'tknow?" - My shrew, he shouts, these strong men who arethem?

- It’s the members of Bat in full sky group, the brother ofDragon in full sky.

- Good, that bastard didn't die, he came to look for hispunishment here.

Fearing for his wife's injury, he shouted: - And you, myshrew, are you seriously wounded? Tell me at least that itdoesn’t threaten nevertheless your ***** life?

- Rush yourself to slaughter them, shouted Mei Chao Fengfurious. Me, I am not even dead yet...

Seeing that his wife remained supported to the tree,without coming to lend him assistance, Chen hadunderstood well that, in spite of her stubbornness, she wasseriously wounded. Worried, he only hoped to liquidate theenemies as soon as possible, in order to go take car ofher. At this moment, five Freaks were surrounding him,only Ke Zhen'e remained aside, ready to intervene at anytime.

Chen Xuanfeng threw Guo Jing on the ground and gave apunch in direction of Quan Jinfa. This one, worried for thechild, bent to avoid the stroke and benefited from this tocatch up Guo Jing then, and of a somersault, got out ofthe enemy’s range. This movement, named "Themischievous Cat catches the mouse", who permitted toavoid and save at the same time, had been executed withagility and precision. Even Chen Xuanfeng was in awe forhis author.

Copper Corpse was cruel by nature: the more theadversaries were strong, the more he wanted to makethem die in atrocious sufferings, especially since they hadwounded his beloved wife. The Two Mischievous of theBlack Wind trained for a long time the two dangeroustechniques: the white bone’s Claw of the Nine Darknessand the "Heart-breaker" palm, that he now mastered toeight or nine tenths of their power. Pushing a terrifyinghowling, he attacked his enemies without worrying for hisown safety, attacking every time with deadly strokes.

The five, that were conscious that their lives were playedat this precise moment as well, didn't take his attackslightly and mobilized all their strengths to defendthemselves. But they could not approach the enemy tomuch as this one appeared so dangerous.

Han Baoju decided to attack, using the technique "Whip atthe even soil", rolling on the floor, throwing strokes fromall sides towards the Copper Corpse’s legs. This one,troubled by this unexpected attack, received a stroke ofNan Xiren’s stick in the back, that made him utter screams

Nan Xiren’s stick in the back, that made him utter screamsof pain. He turned around and stretched his claws towardsthe Lumberman.

This one didn’t have the time to bring back his stick fordefense that he sensed the claws coming after him, andfelt backwards to escape. However, he heard a bangcoming from the joints of Copper Corpse, whose armstretched out suddenly of several inches, so that his handwas against the Lumberman's forehead. In a fight betweenexperts, the murderous strokes were often avoided by oneor two inches. Nan Xiren had saw that the tension of hisadversary's arm had arrived to its extreme, and yet, it hadstretched farther again! How could the Lumberman escapethis stroke? He soon felt the nails tip of Chen on hisforehead...

In panic, he raised his left arm and seizes the enemy'swrist with the technique of the qinna*, trying to block it.At that moment, Zhu Cong had bounded on the back ofCopper Corpse and had stuck his forearm on theadversary's throat in order to strangle him. By doing that,he fully exposed his own chest, but to save the life of hissoared brother, he didn't worry himself for breaking theelementary rules of precaution in a fight.

*qinna: ”catch and control”, technique of seizure of themuscles, keys and dislocations (to dislocate thearticulations), in a body to body fight.

At this moment, where the life of the fighters was hold bya fin line, a thunder sounds was heard and the cloudscovered the moon completely. It was a total obscurity, onecouldn’t even see the fingers of his own hands anymoreand rain started to fell heavily.

One heard the sound of two crunches and a plunk: ChenXuanfeng had just broken the left arm of Nan Xiren and, atthe same time, had given a stroke of hit elbow in ZhuCong’s chest. This one felt like such a horrible pain that hewas forced to loosen the pressure on the enemy's neckand fell backwards. Copper Corpse had felt like suffocatingand was holding himself on the side, out of breath.

-All, move back, shouted Han Baoju in the obscurity.Seventh sister, how do you feel?

- Silence! replies Han Xiao Ying while moving of severalsteps.

Astonished by the movement’s noises of his mates, KeZhen'easked: - Second brother, what happened?

- The obscurity is total at the moment, answered QuanJinfa, one doesn't see anything here!

It is the Sky that comes to help us, thought Ke Zhen'e,

It is the Sky that comes to help us, thought Ke Zhen'e,delighted.

The Seven Freaks, of which three were severely wounded,were thinking that they had lost the part, but the darkclouds had covered the sky and it was raining a lot. Eachof them kept its breathing, no one dared to move. Theextremely fine hearing of Ke Zhen'e allowed him torecognize that the breathless man that was standing sevenor eight steps away of him, on the left, was not one of hisbrothers. He immediately threw six poisoned water nuts inthat direction.

Chen Xuanfeng discerned the arrival of the invisibleprojectiles and jumped in air. He was indeed very strong,because he succeeded in avoiding, in extremis, the sixwater nuts and put, at the same time, distinguish theirsource. Without making a noise, he suddenly bounds, allclaws outside, towards Ke Zhen'e. This one heard him,briskly escaped to the side, and attacked of a stroke withhis stick. For him, there was no difference between theday and the night. As Chen Xuanfeng couldn’t seeanything, his power was greatly decreased. Thus, the twomen where on equal strength. After about ten exchanges,Copper Corpse had the impression that his enemy wasattacking from all parts, without knowing for sure that ifhis own strokes were carried in the good direction and feltlike living a nightmare.

While slowly probing, Han Baoju, Han Xiao Ying and QuanJinfas were going to help their injured brothers. The fate ofKe Zhen'e evidently preoccupied them, but they weren’table to help him at all in this dark night. In the middle ofrain’s noise, one heard the hisses provoked by the handsof Chen Xuanfeng and the cane of Ke Zhen'e. The twofighters had hardly exchanged about thirty strokes, but,for the others Freaks, it seemed to last for an eternity.Suddenly, one heard two deaf strokes, and Copper Corpsestarted screaming in pain: he had been touched by thecane. The Freaks were delighted, when a lightning stripedin the sky, illuminating the whole summit of the hill.

- Attention, Older Brother! shouts Quan Jinfa.

But Chen Xuanfeng had benefited from this clarity instantto markhimself: he advanced while concentrating his energy onthe left shoulder and supported without flinching thecane’s strokes, that he seized then with his left hand,whereas his right hand was already grabbing to the blind'schest. This one, surprised, released its cane and boundedbackwards. Copper Corpse evidently wasn’t going to letpass such a great opportunity: the claw that had alreadytorn the adversary's garment turned suddenly into a fist.Without a single movement of his body, the arm of Chenstretched and carried a strong stroke, loaded of internalenergy, in the blind's chest, that was projected violentlybackward. At the same time, he threw the blind’s cane likea javelin. All these gestures were executed in a clever

a javelin. All these gestures were executed in a clevercontinuity, Copper Corpse was very proud of it, andpushed a long howling of joy, that accompanied by thethunder growls.

On lightning’s sparks that illuminated the stage brieflyagain, Han Baoju saw the cane fly off toward his olderBrother, unconscious of the danger. He slappedimmediately his whip of the golden Dragon to roll itselfaround the projectile and made it fall.

- Now, exclaimed Chen while running toward him, I’mgoing to take your life of dog!

But, taken away by his impetus, he stumbled onsomething like a body, he bent and grabbed it: it waseffectively a small boy, Guo Jing.

- Release me, shouted the child.

At this moment, a new lightning illuminated the stage:Guo Jing saw the man's face that held him in air, a sallowface giving a menacing look. He was so frightened that,instinctively, he drew his dagger and plunged it in theenemy's body, right in the middle of the navel, till he couldno more.

Chen Xuanfeng pushed a terrifying howling and let himselffell backward. In the technique that he used to turn hisbody invincible to the strokes, the vulnerable nodallocation was precisely situated in the navel. The dagger ofGuo Jing was of an extremely sharp blade, but even asimple knife, if it touched this place, would have been fatalto him. It was the reason for which, during a fight, he tookall precautions to protect this part of his body. When hehad seized the child, he didn't feel that he was a dangerfor him, having already caught him on the flank of the hill,a little while ago, he knew that the youngster didn't knowanything in martial arts for sure. However, as says theproverb, "It is the good swimmer who drowns, and it is inflat land that the cart reverses itself": who would predictthat this dangerous expert was going to lose his life by thehand of a small weak and ignorant boy!

After having killed Copper Corpse, Guo Jing stayed on hisfoot, petrified, standing without knowing what to do. Heseemed to want to cry, but didn't dare to let himself go.

While hearing her husband's long scream, Mei Chao Fenghurried, stumbled, fell and crawled to reach him.

- My bastard, did she shouts, what happened to you?

- It is done, my shrew, he mumbled, rush to run awayyou...

- I am going to revenge you, she creaked.

- The Sûtra, he says of a mumbling voice, I have it... Iburned it... the essential, I have it on my chest...

And he returned his soul.

With her heart broken, Iron Corpse slipped her handtoward her husband's chest, in search of the essential ofthe Nine Darkness’s Real Sûtra.

Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chao Fengs were both disciples ofthe Master of the peach blossom island, Huang thealchemist. This one had created a particular style ofmartial arts, of which the power and the complexity didn'thave anything to envy to the well-known authorities thatwere the absolute Perfection Sect and the Duan royalfamily, that reigned in the South. Chen and Mei had fallenin love for each other even before finishing their formation.They knew that if their Shifu discovered their love, notonly they would not have their life safe, but they would diein atrocious sufferings. The more they thought of it, themore the terror won them. They ended up deciding to runaway. By one obscure night, they filthily embarked in asmall boat that led them to another small island on theEast, running away then to Ningbo, in the province of theZhejiang.

Before leaving, Chen Xuanfeng thought that the little theyhad learned would be sufficient to defend themselves inthe Streams and the Lakes, but wouldn’t be able enoughto assure them a true renown. Thus, he grabbed hiscourage on his hands, and penetrated in the secret roomof his Shifu, where he stole half of the "Nine Darkness’sReal Sûtra", that his master cherished as a pupil on hiseyes. Huang the alchemist evidently entered in a fury, butas he had made the vow to not leave the island as long asa promise he made would not have been achieved, hecould not rush to the pursuit of the runaways. However,his anger was such that it punished his other disciples: hecut to all of them their legs tendons and chassed them ofthe island, staying all by himself, reclusive, to ruminate hiswrath.

The two lovers were the reason of the misfortune of theirschoolmates. But they were able to, thanks to the Sûtra,to acquire an exceptional art of fight. This Nine Darkness’sReal Sûtra was in fact the compilation of the orthodoxmartial arts of the taoism. But, Chen had only succeededin stealing the second half of the document, whereas theformulas of neigong’s practice, of mastery of the internalenergy, were in the first half. The martial arts of the peachblossom island followed a particular way, that didn't lookin anything like the practice developed by the taoism.Cruel by nature, the two renegades tried to understandthe indications of the Sûtra while interpreting them in theirown way, choosing to practice the more corrupted andmost pitiless techniques .

One day, they were training, in the mountain, the whitebone’s Claw of the Nine Darkness, stacking skulls nine bynine, when the brothers Ke fell on them by luck. Seeingthat the two spouses killed some innocents, the brotherswanted to intervene. But Dragon in full sky, Ke Bixie, diedimmediately under a palm stroke of Chen Xuanfeng.Fortunately, the white bone’s Claw of the Nine Darknesswas not yet, at its point, therefore Ke Zhen'e managed toescape, but he couldn’t save his eyes.

When Chen and Mei felt ready, they voyaged through theStreams and the Lakes, without ever meeting anyadversaries of their strength. The ordinary masters of theplain evidently were not of their size, but even somefamous experts fell under their strokes. It was cause oftheir pitiless that they received the nickname of "TwoMischievous of the Black Wind." Seeing that their Shifudidn't leave the island, they became even more arrogantand harmful, until several valorous fighters had decided toform a group against them, and had made them fall in anambush. During the fight, the couple escaped severelywounded, and disappeared of the circulation. Duringnumerous years, no one hear speak anymore of them,believing that they had died. However, they were onlyhidden in the desert, training to perfect their arts of thedeath.

These two techniques, the White bone’s Claw of the NineDarkness and the heart-breaker Palm, were effectivelyregistered in the Nine Darkness’s Real Sûtra. ChenXuanfeng, that adored his wife, never wanted to show herthe original text of the Sûtra. He studied it alone and, onlyin a second time, transmitted her what he had understoodby himself. She could implore him or threaten him, but henever to this rule.

"He told her, this Sûtra has two parts, I didn't succeed instealing the second one. However, all fundamentaltechniques, to assure the bases, are in the first part. If Ilet you read the text, you will be too gluttonous and youwill try to assimilate everything in a row, this will lead youin an erroneous path that will lead you to your loss. Atbest, you will be severely wounded, at worse, you risk tolet your life in the path. There are a lot of techniques inthe Sûtra, but we can only practice those that arecompatible with our basic formation.

This reasoning convinced Mei Chao Feng, conscious of thereal love that her husband carried for her. Even though, inthe daily life, they bad mouth each other "bastard" and"shrew" all the time, they were bound by a deep love.Then she didn't insist.

Seeing her agonizing husband, she then thought about toasking him the question of the Sûtra, but he had expiredbefore having answered completely. She searched it in hischest without finding anything. Speechless, she wanted tolook for it again, but Han Baoju, Han Xiao Ying and Quan

look for it again, but Han Baoju, Han Xiao Ying and QuanJinfa, taking advantage of first gleams of the dawn, hadrushed to the attack.

Mei Chao Feng had not only lost her view, but she felt herhead turning, probably because of the poison that made itseffect. To train the White bone’s Claw of the NineDarkness, the two spouses, since about ten years ago,absorbed the arsenics acid regularly in small quantities,which they neutralized the toxic effect with their internalenergy. It was the only way that Chen Xuanfeng had foundto increase, while using a stupid method, their internal andexternal power. With the time, Mei had been immunized topoison, otherwise the poisoned water nuts of Ke Zhen'ewould have kill her long ago.

She defended herself so bitingly that the Freaks, didn'teven managed to reach her, and were put repeatedly indanger. Han Baoju was starting to get furious: "If we don'tmanage, thought himself, to take over her on a threeagainst one, even worst she’s a wounded woman andblind, what a shame for the Seven Freaks of theJiangnan!" He then attacked more furiously with his whip,especially trying to hit her in the back. Han Xiao Ying andQuan Jinfa, seeing that the enemy staggered, alsoincreased in vigor. As they seemed to be able to carryaway with her, a storm rose, and the dark clouds coveredthe sky again. Suddenly, they couldn’t see anythinganymore, the mixed violent gusts of wind and rain sweptall on their way. The three Freaks flattened to the soil toprotect themselves. A long time after, the storm calmedand the moon pierced behind the clouds. Han Baojubounds on its feet and uttered a scream of spite: Mei ChaoFeng had disappeared, as well as the cadaver of ChenXuanfeng. He only see on the ground his friends withextended injures. The small head of Guo Jing appearedslowly behind the rocks. All were soaked to the bone.

The three survivors raised up to take care of the injured:Nan Xiren had the broken arm, but no internal injury,fortunately. Ke Zhen'e and Zhu Cong, whose neigong waspowerful, were not too affected either, even though theyhad been hit by the strokes of Copper Corpse. Only ZhangAsheng, hit at two times, by the White bone’s Claw of theNine Darkness, had received a deadly stroke on the head.He had taken conscience but his life was on the line.

Seeing him close to die, the Six collapsed of sadness,especially Han Xiao Ying, that knew very well that the Fifthbrother was in love with her for a long time. But she was akind of tomboy, liking the martial arts above all, and littleto do with the heart matters. Zhang Asheng, for his part,laughed the whole time with a simple air, they had neveradmitted their real feelings. While wondering that he hadthrown himself under the enemy's claws to protect her,she hugged Zhang while sobbing.

On the always funny face of the Butcher floated a light

On the always funny face of the Butcher floated a lightsmile again. Of his big hand like a beater, he softlycaressed the hair of Xiao Ying:- Don’t cry, he said to her trying to comfort her. Don't cry,I am well.

- Fifth brother, she says while hiccupping, do you want tomarry me?

Zhang gave a dumb laugh, causing his injuries to makehim suffer awfully, and he began to lose conscience.

- Fifth brother, she pursued, reassure you, consider that Iam already your wife... I won't ever get married againand, after my death, we will remain together for theeternity.

- Seventh sister, mumbled Zhang, I have never takengood care of you... Me... I am not worthy of you...

- You took good care of me, she sobbed. Very, very well. Ialways knew it...

With his eyes full of tears, Zhu Cong asked Guo Jing: - Ifyou came here, is it to learn the martial arts with us?

- Yes, answered the child.

- Then you must obey us henceforth.

Guo Jing nodded the head.

- Us, the seven brothers and sister sums up all yourShifus, pursued Zhu Cong while wiping his tears. Now,your fifth Shifu is going to go up to the sky, prostrate andreturn him homage.

Guo Jing didn't know what meant precisely "to go up tothe sky", but he immediately obeys, prostrating and hittingthe soil with his forehead.

Zhang Asheng, white like a linen, forced itself to smile: - Itis sufficient like that... Brave boy, I wont be able totransmit you my knowledge... Ah, but anyway, even if youhad learned what I know, that would not serve you toanything. I am a natural obtuse, and rather lazy to thepractice... I took support on the little strength that I had...If back then I had worked more, maybe I would not havethis sad end today...

He almost fainted and became even more pale.

- Neither you, he says while panting, you are not naturallyvery gifted, it’s absolutely necessary for you to make someefforts. When you will be tempted to be lazy, think aboutyour Fifth Shifu and the state in which you see him...

He wanted to continue, but didn't have anymore strength.

He wanted to continue, but didn't have anymore strength.

Han Xiao Ying approached her ear of the Zhang’s mouth,and heard him hardly:- Form the child well... To not have the underside facingthe pretentious taoist...

- Be assured, says Han Xiao Ying, the Seven Freaks of theJiangnan never lose!

Zhang Asheng gave a small fool laugh, closed the eyesand returned the soul.

The Six Freaks exploded in sobs. Since they had becomesoared brothers, very strong ties united them. During thelast years, searching for Li Ping and of her son, they hadlived day and night together. And has that moment one ofthem had just tragically died in this foreign land. Howcould they not be flooded of pain? After having cried allthe tears of their body, they dug a tomb and buried ZhangAsheng. When they had finished to erect a big rock tomark the place of the tomb, the day had already rise.

Quan Jinfa and Han Baojus left in search of susceptibleindications that could lead them to Mei Chao Feng. Afterthe storm, the sand didn't carry any trace, and it wasimpossible to know where she had gone. They pulled theirinvestigating to several li to the round, but came back withnothing.

- In this desert, said Zhu Cong, I imagine that this blin...this woman can’t go very far away. The poisoned waternuts should have made their effect by now and she willprobably died somewhere. Lets bring back home the childfirst and take better care of our injured. After that, Thirdand Sixth brother, Seventh sister, and you will continuethe research.

All acquiesced and poured some tears while sayingfarewell to the tomb of their deceased brother.

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03-14-05, 10:02 AM

(foreva)

Chapter 5 - Crooked Bow, Shooting Condors

A row of people came down the mountain, after walkingfor awhile, they suddenly heard the cries of wild beastscoming from the front. Han Bao Ju picked up his reins,leapted on his yellow horse to see what is happening infront of them. After sprinting for awhile, the yellow horsesuddenly stopped moving, as if something was compelling

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Sep 2003Northern NJ501

Mojo Jojo

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suddenly stopped moving, as if something was compellingit to stop.

Knowing in his heart that there's something weirdhappening, he looked into the distance but can only see agroup of people with several leopards on the groundclawing a mess.

As the yellow horse is afraid of leopards, he jumped off hishorse and pulled out his Golden Dragon whip. Movingforward, he only saw that two leopards have have a deadcorpse in their claws. Running forth a few more steps, hesaw that the dead body was actually Copper Corpse ChenXuan Feng. However, the area from his collar bone to hislower abdomen have already been ripped into a mess, asthough the skin was sliced off. He wondered, "He waskilled by the boy yesterday night with a dagger through hisnavel, what is his corpse doing here? Furthermore, he isalready dead, why will one be so low as to do this to hiscorpse... I wonder will did this treachery and what is themeaning behind it... Unless.. the Twin Killers of the DarkWind have some other enemies in the desert with hatredso deep!

Not long after that, Zhu Cong and the others arrived. Noone could figure out the reasoning behind the mutilation.They looked at Chen Xuan Feng's corpse with still showinga fierce expression on his face, he has still died with theexpression of a warrior. Thinking back about yesterdaynight's terrifying fight in the barren hills, knowing that ifit's not for Guo Jing's lucky hit with the dagger, it wouldhave been difficult for even one of them to come out alive.Just thinking about that gave them shivers deep in theirhearts.

By this time, the two leopards have almost chewed thecorpse to the bone. At the side, there was a little boyriding on a horse loudly urging the leopard handlers tolead the leopards away.

Turning his head, he saw Guo Jing, and shouted to him"Ha! You are hiding here. You don't have the guts to helpTolui fight, what a useless thing!" This child is Senggum'sson Dukhsh.

"You all went to beat up Tolui again? Where is he?" GuoJing asked hurriedly.

"I'm going to lead the leopards to eat him up. You bettersurrender now, or else I will include you in as well",Dukhsh replied smugly. He had seen the 6 freaks of theSouth at the side, and if not for them, Dukhsh would havealready sent the leopards to eat Guo Jing up.

Guo jing persisted "Where is Tolui?"

Ignoring him, Dukhsh shouted loudly, "The leopards will

Ignoring him, Dukhsh shouted loudly, "The leopards willeat Tolui now!", as he lead the leopard handlers forward.One leopard handler advised him, "Little master, that boyis Temujin Khan's son." Dukhsh immediately hit theleopard handler with a slash of his whip, shouting "What isthere to be scared of? How dared he raised his hand to hitme today? Move aside!" The leopard handler did not dareto disobey his order, thus he can only lead the leopardsalong while following Dukhsh. Another leopard handler wasafraid that this may cause some unreversible troubles,thus he turned and ran, shouting "I'm going to informTemujin Khan." Before Dukhsh could stop him, the leopardhandler alread ran off as though he's flying. Dukhsh saidbitterly, "Fine, let's first eat Tolui, and see that when UncleTemujin comes, what solution can be come up with?" Onsaying that, he whipped his horse harder for them to movefaster.

Though Guo jing is also terribly afraid of leopards, but inthe end, he is still worried about his sowrn brother'ssafety. He then said to Han Xiao Ying, "Teacher, Dukhsh isgoing to get the leopards to eat up my sworn brother. Ineed to inform him so he can escape."

"But if you hurried there, what if the leopards eat you uptoo? Aren't you scared?" Han Xiao Ying asked.

"I'm scared."

"Then are you going?"

Hesitating for a millisecond, Guo Jing affirmed "I'mgoing!", before running rapidly away.

Because Zhu cong's wound was still painful, he was lyingon the horse's back. On seeing Guo Jing had such chivalryin his heart, he mused, "This child may be stupid, butnevertheless is still a person in our generation."

Han Xiaoying replied, "Fourth brother's perception isn'tbad! Let's go save people now."

Quan Jin Fa cautioned the rest, "This little lord keepsleopards at home, therefore he must be the son of animportant general. We better be careful now as not tocreate trouble, as three of us are wounded."

Han Bao Ju used his lightness kung fu to pick up Guo Jing,and placed him on his shoulder. Although Han Bao Ju isshort with short legs, but his legs can move very fast. GuoJing sitting on his fat and sturdy shoulders, is like sittingon a good race horse, fast and steady. Han Bao Ju rushedto Yellow Chasing Wind's (his yellow horse) side, and witha great leap, he took Guo Jing with him onto the horse'sback. And within moments, they have already caught upwith Dukhsh and the leopard handlers. After running forawhile, they saw more than ten kids surrounding Tolui. Allthose kids listen to Dukhsh's commands, they were nottrying to attack him, but just trying to keep Tolui from

trying to attack him, but just trying to keep Tolui fromleaving.

After learning three skillful moves from Zhu Cong, Toluihad practiced the moves that night until he was familiarwith them all. Upon morning he was not able to find GuoJing, and unable to get his third brother WoKuoTai to help,Tolui bravely went to fight Dukhsh by himself. Dukhshbrought along around 7-8 helpers, and on seeing himalone, was rather surprised. Therefore, when Toluirequested for that they can only fight one on on, and notattack him as a group, Dukhsh agreed immediately,thinking that there's no way Tolui can even beat them up.Who would have known that once they started fighting.Tolui kept using the three moves that Zhu Cong taughthim, and incredibly, he managed to beat Dukhsh and therest. You need to know that although the three moves thatZhu Cong taught him are simple, they are actually theessence of the Vacant Emptiness Fist. Furthermore, Toluiis very smart, and these three moves have no complicatedchanges, thus he picked it up immediately upon learning.Using this, these little mongolian kids are no match for it.The Mongolians place a great importance on keepingpromises. Since they have already agreed to only battleone on one, though these mongolian kids are fed up intheir hearts, they will not able to do anything else. Toluimade Dukhsh fall twice in a row, and even hit him in thenose, Dukhsh was furious. He then ran off to get hisfather's hunting leopards out.

After single handedly winning against so many kids, Toluiwas really proud of himself. Thus he stood in the center ofthe surrounding kids, not even thinking about runningaway from their grasps. Unknowing to him, great troublesare already coming.

From a distance, Tolui heard faint cries of Guo Jing'sshouts, "Tolui, Tolui, run away now as Dukhsh is bringinghis leopards over to eat you up!"

On hearing that, Tolui was shocked, and tried to rush outof the circle. But those kids around him kept blocking him,thus there was no way for him to escape. Not long after,the 6 freaks of the South, together with Dukhsh arrivedone after the other. Following them, the leopard handlershave also guided the leopards over. Though the 6 freaks ofthe South can prevent the oncoming casualty by catchingDukhsh, however they did not want to create more troubleand wanted to see how Tolui and Guo Jing face anydangers. Therefore, they did not lend a helping hand.

Suddenly they all heard noises rushing from their backs,numerous horses have arrived like the wind.instantaneously, someone shouted at the top of theirvoice, "Don't let go of the leopards, don't let go of theleopards!" It was actually Muquali, Boroqul and the otherfour aces that arrived. Upon receiving the leopardhandler's reports, they did not have enough time to inform

handler's reports, they did not have enough time to informTemujin, and hurriedly rushed over. Temujin, Ong Khan,Jamuka, Senggum etc. were at the Mongolian campchatting with Wan Yan Hong Lie and his brothers. Hearingthe leopard handler's reort, they were all shocked andeach ran out of the tent and leapt on their horses' backs.

"Quick! Inform them that I order Dukhsh not to gooverboard. It is important that Temujin Khan's son is notinjured," Ong Khan ordered his men, who spirited theirhorses to where the troubles where.

As Wan Yan Hong Xi was not able to see the excitingperformance of leopards fighting against men yesterday,he was feeling bored. But at this time, he was feeling theexcitement and stood up exclaiming, " Let's all go look!"

In his heart, Wan Yan Hong Lie was conspiring, "IfSenggum's leopards really bit Temujin's son to death, boththeir families will no longer be peaceful, and from then,they may start battling non stop. Who knows, maybe bothsides will be terribly wounded, and in the end, die fromkilling each other, and that will definitely be the fortune ofmy Jin country!"

The Wan Yan brothers, Ong Khan, Senggum, Jamuka etc.all arrived at the scene, only seeing that the two huntingleopards' leather chain has already been unfastened. Theleopards stood with four legs on the ground, producing lowgrowling noises from their throats. In front of the leopardsstood two kids, which were Tolui and his sworn youngerbrother Guo Jing. Temujin Khan and his four heroes raisedtheir bows, with the arrow heads pointing at the leopards,all ready for action with their eyes trained on the leopards.Although Temujin saw his youngest son in a dangeroussituation, he knows that those two hunting leopards arevery precious to Senggum. Senggum had caught theleopards when they were young, reared and trained themuntil they have grown strong and ferocious today. As thatcannot be achieved in a split second and took much time,Temujin feels that if the leopards do not start attacking, hedid not wish to harm the leopards by shooting.

Upon seeing the crowds arrived, Dukhsh, relying on hisgrandfather's and father's adoration for him, felt evenmore courageous. Thus he kept commanding the leopardsto leap forward to bite someone.

Ong Khan then shouted out, "Stop this now!"

Suddenly, hooves sounds were heard from the back, asone riding on a red horse arrived. On the horse was amiddle age woman, cladded in leopard fur, and in herarms, carrying a little girl. This is Temujin's wife, Tolui'smother.

She was chatting at the camp with Senggum's wife, when

She was chatting at the camp with Senggum's wife, whenshe received the news. On hearing that, she hurriedlyrushed over with her daughter Hua Zheng. On seeing thedanger right now, she was both shocked and worried,shouting, "Quick, let go of the arrow!" With all her energyfocused on her son, she offhandedly placed her daughteron the ground, and actually forgot to look after her. Beinga little girl of four years old, how was Hua Zheng supposedto know of the leopard's ferocious nature? She laughinglybounded over to her brother's side, and seeing theleopards with pretty patterns all over their fur, she wasreminded of her second elder brother Jamuka's huntingdogs. She stretched her hand out, trying to pat theleopard's head, as the crowd was startled, and tried yellingto stop her, but it was already too late. The two leopardswere already agitated and nervous, and on seeingsomeone come over suddenly, they both let out yowls atthe same time, as they leapt up fiercely. Everyone in thecrowd were alarmed as they all shouted out in distress allat once. Although Temujin has already aimed his arrowbefore, yet Hua Zheng's sudden appearance wassomething that no one had expected and within a blink ofthe eye, the leopards were already in the air. At this time,Hua Zheng was blocking Temujin's aim of the leopards.She was standing in front of the leopards and thereforeblocking the strategic spot on the leopard's head wherethey have to be hit to kill them instantaneously. At thispoint, Temujin can only injure the leopard's body with hisarrow, and this will only aggravate their moods. The fouraces threw down their bows and arrows, and pulled outtheir knifes, as they moved forward all at once. Only tosee Guo Jing rolling forward to pick up Hua Zheng, but atthe same time one leopard's front claws were already onGuo Jing's shoulders. The four aces raised their knifes andstepped forward, only to hear several light faint noises.Once the noises passed, they saw that the two leopardshad suddenly fell backwards and kept howling and rollingfrom side to side. After a short while, they were motionlesswith their belly facing the skies.

Boroqul went forward to find out what happened, only tosee blood gushing out from the leopard's forehead. It wasobvious that a Kung Fu master had used a hidden weaponto hit through the leopard's brain, which was the reason itlost it's life. He turned around, only to see six composedand calm Han people standing at the side and watchingthe on going scene, at the point, he knew that this hiddenweapon was shot by them. Temujin's wife hurriedly pickedup bawling Hua Zheng from Guo Jing's arms and pulledTolui in her bosom as she tried to comfort and pacify HuaZheng repeatedly.

Angrily, Senggum asked, "Who killed the leopards?"

However, the crowd remained silent as no one answered.Ke Zhen E had heard the leopard's howls, and fearing thatthe leopards will harm Guo Jing, had fired four missileswith poisonous tips. As that action only took a wave of the

hand, and since everyone had their eyes focused on theleopards, there was no one who saw who fired the hiddenweapon.

Temujin smiled, saying, "Brother Senggum, I'll repay youwith four best leopards when we get back, and I'll addeight pairs of black condors."

On hearing that, Senggum was still seeting with anger, buthe remained silent. By now, Ong Khan was angrily scoldingDukhsh. Humiliated at receiving this treatment in front ofthe crowd, he tried to push the blame off himself, and laiddown on the ground, rolling and hitting, crying andshouting. Ong Khan commanded him to stop loudly, but hedid not care.

As Temujin was still grateful for what Ong Khan did forhim in the past, he felt that it was a pity to break up thetwo families' friendship over such a small matter. Thus, hesmiled and bent over to pick up Dukhsh. Dukhsh was stillcrying and yellow, and tried his best to struggle, but whenpicked up by Temujin, how can he still struggle? Still smilsing, Temujin tried to salvage the sitution,"Godfather, the kids were only playing, there's no need toget worked up. I think this kid is very good and I'mthinking of letting my daughter get engaged to him. Whatdo you think?"

Ong Khan saw that Hua Zheng had eyes like glisteningdew, and skin like a baby lamb, fair and cute, and felthappy in his heart. Laughingly, he said, "What will bewrong with that? How about this, let's have a closerrelationship, I'll let my eldest granddaughter marry yourson Shu Chi?"

Temujin agreed, "Thanks Godfather!" as he turned aroundto say to Senggum, "Brother Senggum, we are now in-laws!"

Senggum had always felt that he was of a higherbackground than Temujin, thus was already jealous ofTemujin and looked down on him. Although he was nothappy about becoming in-laws with Temujin, but hecannot go against his father's wishes, thus he can onlysmile weakly.

At this point, Wan Yan Hong Lie saw the 6 freaks of theSouth, and he was shocked. "What are they doing here?I'm sure it's because they are trying to chase me. Iwonder if the bad taoist priest with the surname Qiu isaround here?", he asked himself. Since he was currentlyunder the protection of the numerous soldiers, he was notafraid of them. Yet if he gave out the command to capturethem, he was afraid that it may cause some trouble.Seeing that the 6 Freaks were listening to Temujin and theothers' conversations and had not even noticed him, hethen turned his head, and moved behind the crowds ofsoldiers, at the same time, keep thinking of ways to

soldiers, at the same time, keep thinking of ways tohandle the matter. As for Ong Khan and Temujin'sfamilies' engagement, he did not think much of it.

Temujin knew that it was the 6 freaks of the south thatsaved his daughter's life, and he waited for Ong Khan andthe others to leave, before commanding Boroqul to rewardthem richly with furs and gold. He then reach his hand outto stroke the top of Guo Jing's head and repeatedly praisehim for his courage and valour. Temujin said that riskinghis own life to save another, it is already something thatnot all adults will do, not to mention such a small child.When he asked Guo Jing why was he so brave as he daredto save Hua Zheng, Guo Jing just stood around dumbly ashe cannot find an answer, and after pondering for sometime, said, "The leopards will eat people."

On hearing that, Temujin laughed out aloud. Tolui thennarrated the story of why he started fighting with Dukhsh,and knowing that Dukhsh kept mentioning the shamefulhappenings of his past, Temujin was boiling deep down inhis heart. But he did not say anything about it, only tosay, "In the future, don't bother about him."

Temujin then turned to Quan Jin Fa and asked, "How muchgold do you all want to stay at my camp to teach my sonKung Fu?"

Quan Jin Fa thought "We are all thinking of finding a placeto teach Guo Jing Kungfu. If we can teach him here, therewill be no better place then this." Thus he replied saying,"The Great Khan's willingness to take in the six of us, issomething that we cannot even ask for. You can pay usanything you want, how will we even dare to discuss orfight about how much?" Temujin was pleased as hecommanded Boroqul to look after these six people, andupon that, he went off on his horse to send off the WanYan brothers.

At the back, the Six freaks of the South were riding slowlyas they discussed.

Han Bao Ju said, "The skin on the chest of Chen XuanFeng's corpse was cut off by someone, so I think that theperson must be his enemy."

Quan Jin Fa then replied, "The Twin Killers of the BlackWind are cruel and ruthless, so having enemies all overthe place isn't something to be surprised at. But I don'tknow why his enemy did not chop up his body, nor stabhim all over, but only sliced off a large piece of skin off hischest?"

"I have been thinking of that all this while, but I stillcannot think of the reasoning behind it", Ke Zhen Ereplied, "The most pressing task on hand is to find outwhere Iron Corpse is."

"Exactly. If this person is not killed, she will bring muchdangers to us in the future. I'm only scared that she willnot die after being poisoned," Zhu Cong agreed.

With tears in her eyes, Han Xiao Ying spoke up, "Fifthbrother's deep hatred, how can we all not revenge him?"

Thus the three of them, Han Bao Ju, Han Xiao Ying andQuan Jin Fa, all rode on their fast horses to find IronCorpse. However, even after numerous days of searching,they were not even able to find a trace of her. Han bao judecided, "This woman's eyes were hit by my eldestbrother's poison darts. By now, the poison must alreadyworked on her, and she probably fell dead in somemountain valley." The rest of them then agreed as well. Inhis heart, Ke Zhen E knew that the Twin Killers of the DarkWinds were very smart and vicious, and thus worried thatunless he could touch her corpse with his own hands, itwill always remain a heavy weight in his heart. But at thattime, he did not want to bother his younger brothers andsister with his worries, and thus did not inform them of hisfeelings.

From then on, the Six Freaks of the South were livingpermanently in the desert, teaching Guo Jing and ToluiKung Fu. Temujin knows that these kungfu are neededclose contact with the other side, and are only importantfor protecting oneself. Thus he only wanted Tolui and GuoJing to learn fists briefly, and to spend most of their timelearning riding, shooting with their bows and arrows, andlearning to handle other important tasks on the battlefield. As the Six Freaks of the South are not familiar withthese, Guo Jing and Tolui learnt these under Jebeh andBoroqul. (foreva)

During the nights, the Six freaks of the South then taughtGuo Jing alone, teaching him fists, swords, hiddenweapons, lightness Kung fu. Although Guo Jing was slow innature, he knew that he had to revenge his father withthese kungfu in the future, thus he could not complain andworked as hard as he could.

Although Zhu Cong, Quan Jin Fa and Han Xiaoying's kungfu may be too hard for him to comprehend, yet with HanBao Ju and Nan Xi Ren's basic Kung fu, he just followedtheir directions exactly, and could actually learn steadily.But with these basic Kung fu, one can only use tostrengthen their bodies and are not moves to beat upenemies and to win a fight.

Han Bao Ju often said, "The way you train is like a camel.Strong is strong, but can a camel be victorious over aleopard?"

ON hearing that, Guo Jing could only give a silly smile.When the 6 freaks teach Guo Jing, they will only supervisehis learning, instead of explaining to him. Yet on seeing

his learning, instead of explaining to him. Yet on seeingthat out of the ten moves they will teach him, and heusually can't even learn even a single move, they stillcould not help but to feel discouraged. Whenever they helddiscussions, they could only sigh and shake their heads.Though they know that the chance of being victorious overQiu Chu Ji's disciple, was almost naught, there was anagreement made, and they can't give up half way.However, Quan Jin Fa is a business man with his qualitieslying in the fields of intricate calculations. Therefore, heoften said, "For Qiu Chu Ji to find the Yang family's widow,he has about eighty percentage chance. With that, wehave won by twenty percent. Who knows whether theYang family's widow gave birth to a boy or girl. The chancefor her to give birth to a boy is only half, so with that, wegain another forty percent. If it's a son, maybe he can'tgrow to adulthood, we gain another ten percent. Even if hemanages to grow up, maybe he's as stupid as Jing-er.Therefore, I will say that we have already have an eightypercent chance of winning."

The other 5 freaks thought that what he said wasn'twrong, however, by saying that the Yang family's sonaptitude in learning the martial arts is as slow and stupidas Guo Jing, they can't help but know that Quan Jin Fa wasjust trying to console them.

Luckily, Guo Jing has a good heart, and he is exceedinglyobedient, so that six freaks like his character alot.

On the prairies of Outer Mongolia, with the green summergrass, brillant whites of winter snow, within the blink ofthe eye, ten years went by. By now, Guo jing is a sturdyyouth of sixteen. There was only two years between nowand the martial arts competition, so the six freaks steppedup the supervision. They commanded him to stoppracticing riding and shooting temporarily, and from duskto dawn, to concentrate on practicing fists and the sword.Within these ten years, Temujin had battles non stop, andhad swallowed innumerous tribes of Mongolia into his own.He commands his subordinates strictly, and all his soldiersare courageous and excel in fighting. He himself has bothcourageous and resourceful, therefore he knows when toattack by force or attack by strategy. Across all ofMongolia, no one can be compared to him. As the livestockbreed and reproduce, the population increase, the distancebetween Temujin and Ong Khan became greater.

The violent winds gradually stops, and the heavy snowstarts to lessen, but the outer prairies of Mongolia stillremain bitterly cold. On this day, it was the PureBrightness Festival. (Note: Qing Ming Festival. A day forpaying respect to the dead, so the chinese will pay theirrespects at their ancestor/family's graves, and probablysweep the grave and pull out the weeds etc.) The SixFreaks of the South had arisen early, and Guo Jing withthem, took cows and sheep as sacrifical items to Zhang AhSheng's grave to sweep the grave. As the Mongolians arenomads, and they move around with no fixed place to

nomads, and they move around with no fixed place tostay, at that point of them, the Mongolian camp they saidat was very far away from Zhang Ah Sheng's grave. Evenriding on fast horses, it took them more than half of theday to get there. The seven of them climbed on the barrenhill and swept away the piled up snow on the grave. Theythen lit up the candles and incense, and knelt in fron of thegraves praying.

Han Xiao Ying secretly prayed, "Fifth brother, for the pastten years we spent all our energy and our hearts teachingthis child. Only that his quality for learning isn't high, andcould not pick up our martial arts properly. However, Ihope that fifth elder brother's spirit in the heavens willlook over him, and at the Jia Xing martial arts competitionin two years time, do not let this child spoil our SevenFreaks of the South's prestige and name!"

The Six freaks were born and had lived their lives in theSouth, with it's warm hills and waters, at this time, theystayed at the Mongolian deserts with it's cold windsslashing like knifes, they had became weak and frail; andlooked grave and somber. The hair at their temples, hadalso started turning white. Although Han Xiao Ying'scharisma did not lessen, she was no longer the pink-cheeked young girl of yesteryears.

Zhu Cong surveyed the graveside piles of skeletons. Afterten years of enduring winds and snow, but the skeletonshave not started to decay. In his heart, there was a feelingthat he cannot speak. For these years, he had looked allover the surrounding hundred miles with Quan Jin Fa, andin every mountain valley, and in every cave, trying to findMei Chao Feng's whereabouts. If this person had died frompoisoning, there would be a skeleton left behind. If she didnot die, it is terribly hard for a blind girl to live in seclusionfor a long time, but not even leave a trail for a long time.However, she had vanished into thin air like a spirit. Andonly on this hill in the wilderness, this grave and thesepiles of white bones, are the only marks that the TwinKillers of the Dark Winds had left behind on the desert.The seven of them stayed at in front of the grave to havea meal and drink, and then returned to their dwellings.After a short rest, the Six freaks took Guo Jing to the hillsides to practice his martial arts.

Today his fourth master "South Hill Woodsman" (Nan ShanQiao Zi) Nan Xi Ren and him had a practice spar of the"Open Hills Palms Technique" (Kai Shan Zhang Fa). Nan XiRen had the intention for him to use as much martial artsas he could, so they sparred for around seventy to eightymoves continuously before suddenly pushing his left palmoutwards and flipping his body in a move of "The HawkHunting Rabbits" (Cang Ying Bu Tu), and aimed towardsGuo Jing's back. Guo Jing then bent over to avoid hismove, and moving his leg in a circular motion with"Autumn Winds Sweeping the Fallen Leaves" (Qiu FengSao Luo Ye), he swept his leg towards his teacher's lower

Sao Luo Ye), he swept his leg towards his teacher's lowerbody. Nan Xi Ren then used "Iron Bull Tilling the Land"(Tie Niu Tian Di), attacking with his palms. Guo Jing hadjust wanted to withdraw his leg to change his moves,when Nan Xi Ren shouted "Remember this move!" His lefthand swiftly moved out and tried to hit Guo jing's chestfrom the front. Guo Jing's right palm hurriedly went toblock, and this palm is considered rather fast. Nan Xi Ren'sleft palm flew out, and with a slap, both palm connected.Although Nan Xi Ren only used about thirty percent of hispower, Guo Jing could not help falling. His both palmsconnected with the ground, before immediately jumpingup, showing shame on his entire face.

Now, Nan Xi Ren wanted to instruct him about theimportance essence in this move, when suddenly from thetree groves, trailed out two sounds of laughter. With that,a youthful girl came out, clapping her hands and smiling,shouting, "Guo Jing, you are beaten by your teacheragain?"

Guo Jing's face went red, saying, "I'm practicing now,don't bother me!"

That young girl laugh, "I just like to see you gettingbeaten up!"

This girl is Temujin's young daughter Hua Zheng. She,Tolei and Guo Jing are around the same age, and fromyoung they played together. Because her parents dote onher, it is no surprise that she may be more arrogant andwilful. Since Guo Jing's birth, his character is more straightand simple, whenever she throws a tantrum withoutreason, they will always clash. However, after arguing,they will make up after awhile. It will always be Hua Zhengwho knows that she was wrong, and will beg him with softwords. Hua Zheng's mother still remembered Guo Jing hadrisked his life at the leopard's mouth to save her daughter,so she is especially fond of him and often give gifts ofclothing and livestock to his mother and him.

Guo Jing said, "I'm practicing with teacher now, go away!"

Hua Zheng laughed and said, "This is practicing? I'll call itgetting beaten up!"

When they are talking, several numbers of Mongoliansoldiers on horses had arrived suddenly. One Ten SoldiersLeader got off his horse, and bowed towards Hua Zheng,saying "Hua Zheng, Big Khan is calling for you." As theMongolians are simple in nature, and do not have thecustoms of Han people to use courtesy terms, althoughHua Zheng is the Khan's daughter, but everyone just callsher by her name. Hua Zheng said, "What for?" The TenSoldiers Leader replied, " It's because Ong Khan'smessengers have arrived."

At once, Hua zheng wrinkled her brow and said angrily

At once, Hua zheng wrinkled her brow and said angrily"I'm not going."

The ten man head continued, "But if you don't go, theKhan will be angry."

From young, Hua Zheng had been engaged to Ong Khan'sgrandson Dukshk by her father, but in these few years,she has a closer relationship with Guo Jing. Although all ofthem are still young and therefore, can't really say thatthere are feelings between them. Yet whenever she thinksabout having to part with Guo Jing to marry thatinfamously arrogant Dukskh, she can't help but feel sad.Now, she pursed her small mouth, and kept silent as shethought for awhile. In the end, she did not dare to disobeyher father's command, and followed the Ten SoldiersLeader back.

Ong Khan and Senggum thought that the son has grownup, and wanted to pick a date for them to get married. So,they sent people over with presents, and Temujin wantedher to meet the messengers.

During that night, Guo Jing was sleeping til the middle ofthe night, when he suddenly heard soft noises of someoneclapping three times outside the tent. He sat up only tohear someone speaking Han language, "Guo Jing, Youcome out."

Guo Jing was feeling curious and felt that the voice wasnot familiar. Therefore, he lifted up the flap of the tent bya corner and peered outside, only to see under themoonlight, a person standing near a large tree on the left.

Guo Jing went out of the tent and moved forward, only tosee that person is dressed in a wide robe with largesleeves, his hair combed into a bun, neither looked like aman nor a women, the face shielded by the shadows of thetree, so it can't be seen clearly. This person is actually aTaoist priest, but Guo Jing had never saw a taoist priestbefore, and asked, "Who are you? Why are you looking forme?"

That person said, "You are Guo Jing, aren't you?"

"Yes", replied Guo Jing.

That person demanded, "Where's your dagger that can cutiron as though it is mud? Take it out and show me!" Hisbody suddenly moved and leapt close by to him, and sentout a palm aimed right on his chest. Guo Jing saw that theperson attacked without reason, and his attacks arevicious, in his heart he was greatly surprised, and movedsideway immediately to evade, shouting, "What is thatfor?"

The person said with a smile, "Just testing your abilities",and with his left arm, sent out a fist, with a strength thatis fierce and swift.

is fierce and swift.

Guo Jing felt his anger rising, and slant his body to avoidthe move, raised his hand and fiercely grabbed theenemy's wrist, and his left hand to take his opponent'selbow. This move by his hand, is actually "Strong SoldierBreaks the Wrist" (Zhuang Shi Duan Wan) from "Spiltingthe muscles and Rearranging the Bones Technique" (FenJing Cuo Gu Shou). You only need to catch hold of theenemy's wrist, and next the elbow, push front a little, thena twist, and with a "kacha" noise, the right wrist bone willimmediately be twisted out of place. This "Spliting themuscles and Rearranging the Bones Technique" waspassed on to him by his second teacher Zhu Cong.Although Zhu Cong's spoken language and everydaybehaviour tends to be comical, his mind is actually verysharp. Ke Zhen E and him had secretly held severaldiscussions about Mei Chao Feng. Although both her eyeswere poisoned, her martial arts are queer and strange,perhaps she could even cure the posion. If she did not die,she will definitely seek revenge. The later she showsherself, the more thorough her plans are, and the morevicious and evil are her methods. Although in the past tenyears, Mei Chao Feng had never ever shown any trace ofher, the Six Freaks were never negligent, in fact, theywere even more cautious then ever. Whenever Zhu Conglooked at the fingernail scars left by Mei Chao Feng on theback of his hand, he can't help but feel fearful, thinkingabout her having such strong martial arts, it will be veryhard to harm her. Thus to resist "Nine Yin White BoneClaws", why not with "Splitting The Muscles andRearranging the Bones Technique". This set of kung fufocuses on disalocating the bones and breaking theirbones, using ultra fast methods, to attack the other party'slimbs, skull and neck bone.

Zhu Cong regretted that in the main country (Meaningchina) in the past, he had never asked for advice from anyMasters that are experts in this style of Kung Fu. Andwithin the six brothers (and sister), none of them knows it.

After some time, he thought, all the martial arts in theworld are created by people. Since there is no one here topass this on to me, will it be so hard for me to create myown? His nickname is "Clever Hands Bookworm" (MiaoShou Shu Sheng), his pair of hands are very fast.Furthermore, he is familiar with attacking the accupoints,thus knows the positions of accupoints on the human bodywell. With these unique talents, researching this "Splittingmuscles and Rearranging the Bones" method isn't hard.After numerous years, the essense of this technique isdeeply ingrained into him. Although this method may bedifferent from Shao Lin Kung fu, however, it is stillpowerful. He then analysed and worked on it with Quan JinFa, and passed on all his technique to Guo Jing.

At this time, Guo Jing is battling a strong opponent, andwhen he started attacking, the first move he used is

when he started attacking, the first move he used is"Splitting Muscles Rearranging Bones"'s strange moves.

As he practiced this kungfu alot, though he may not be anexpert in it, the way he used the moves are almost closeto perfect. That person's wrist and elbow was suddenlybeing grasped by Guo Jing, and being shocked, he sentout his left palm swiftly, aiming towards Guo Jing's face.Guo Jing's both hands had just wanted to twist theenemy's wrist out of place, but who knows that theenemy's palm will suddenly come, and since both hishands are holding onto the enemy, he had no way todefend. Thus he could only let go and leapt backwards tosense the force of the palm sweeping his face with anuncomfortable hot burning sensation.

When he turned around, he saw clearly, the enemy wasactually a handsome youth around 17 to 18 years, with arefined look and long lashes. Only to hear him say in a lowvoice, "Your kung fu is not bad. Did not waste the SixFreaks of the South's ten years of teachings."

Guo Jing was only using one palm to protect himself, so hebecame even more cautious and asked, "Who are you?Why are you looking for me?"

The youth shouted, "Let's spar again." Before he evenstopped speaking, he already raised his palms from hisside.

Guo Jing kept calm and did not move, and waited as hecould feel the movement of the air caused by the enemy'spalm nearing his chest. He moved his bother slightly withhis left hand grasping the enemy's arm, and raised hisright hand, and pinch the enemy's cheek, he only did tohold on the enemy's face and swiftly pull outwards, thejaw joint will then fall out of place.This move was given a funny name by Zhu Cong, called"Jokes will undo the jaws" (Xiao Yu Jie Yi), the meaning oflaughing until the chin drops. However, this time around,the youth was more alert, and used his right hand todefend while attacking horizontally with his left. Guo Jingstill used "Splitting Muscles and Rearranging BonesTechnique" to defend. Within a short while, they havealready matched more than 10 moves. That youth priestmovements are light and lively, his palms are swift anddashing. Before the palm even hits, his body wouldalready had moved, thus it is hard to tell how he ismoving.

The first time that Guo Jing fights an enemy after his timeof learning martial arts, is already one with such high kungfu. After battling for awhile, he can't help but despair. Theyouth's left foot flew over, and with a pat, he hit Guo jing'sright hip right on the target. Luckily, Guo Jing's basic kungfu is very strong, and the enemy did not use all hisstrength. Now, his body only shook a little, andimmediately both his palms were flying again and

immediately both his palms were flying again andprotecting all the weak spots on his body, trying his bestto protect and attack. The youth priest kept pressing onhard, and Guo Jing knew that he could almost not copeanymore, he suddenly heard a voice from behind himshouting, "Attack his lower body!" Guo Jing heard that itwas his third teacher Han Bao Ju's voice, and felt joy in hisheart, and angled his body to the right and turned around.He saw all his six teachers were already standing behindhis back for a long time. Only with all his concentrationfocused on battling with the enemy, he did not discoverthat they were there.

With this, his spirit rose greatlyy and followed his thirdteacher's advice, fiercely attacking the priest's lower body.That person's body form is light, and his lower body, as histhird teacher said, was definitely not very strong. As thespectators could usually see the flaws easily from thesidelines, the six freaks of the South had saw his flawsright from the beginning. Being attacked by Guo Jing for atime, the youth can't help but fall back. Guo Jing saw thatvictory was near, and on seeing that the enemy hadstumbled, he attacked with a series of "Yuan Yang"(Manderin Ducks) kicks, with both foot flying forth. Whoknew that this enemy was only trying to lure Guo Jing withthis trick, both Han Bao Ju and Han Xiao Ying called outtogether, "Watch out!"

As Guo Jing lacks experience, and did not even know whatto watch out for, when his right foot kicked out, it wasalready grasped by the enemy immediately.

That youth priest took advantage of the way he kicked outhis leg and sent his palms out to hit him. Guo Jing can'thelp it, but with a somersault, he fell onto the ground. Helanded on his back and it hurt terribly. With a move "Carpflipping upright" (Li Yu Da Ting", he immediately sprung upto attack again, only to see that his six teachers havealready surrounded the youth priest. The priest neitherresist or tried to attack, only raised his hands together in agreeting manner, and said in a clear voice, "Disciple YinPing Zhi, following the instructions of my honoured teacher"Chang Chun Zi" Qiu Chu Ji, asks if masters are well."While saying that, he respectfully kowtowed.

On hearing that this person is sent by Qiu Chu Ji, the SixFreaks of the South all felt curious, and feared that it maybe part of a scheme, so they did not raise their arms tohelp him up. Yin Zhi Ping stood up, and took out a letter.With both hands, he presented it to Zhu Cong.

Ke Zhen E heard the patrolling Mongolian soldiers comingnearer, so he said, "Let's talk inside."

Yin Zhi Ping followed the six freaks into the tent. Quan JinFa lit up a candle made of sheep's fat. This is the tent thatthe five male freaks live in, Han Xiao Ying lived in anothertent with other unmarried Mongolian women. Yin Zhi Pingsaw that the furnishings in the tent were simple and

saw that the furnishings in the tent were simple andcoarse, and felt that the six freak's everyday life must bequite tough, so he bowed and said, "Every elder here musthave suffered here for these years, my teacher is gratefulto you beyond words, and he specially commanded disciplehere to come and thank each of you."

Ke Zhen E let out a hmph, thinking, "If the reason you arehere is truly so, then why did you fight Jing-er till he fellover with a somersault? Unless you want to make us feellow before the competition?"

By now, Zhu Cong had opened the envelope and removedthe letter inside, in a clear and resonant voice, read out,"Quan Zhen disciple Qiu Chu Ji, greets respectfully the Sixheroes of the South, Master Ke, Master Zhu, Master Han,Master Nan, Master Quan and Heroine Han. When we partin the south previously, the years had passed quickly. TheSeven Heroes' promise is as heavy as a thousand taels ofgold (meaning trustworthy etc.), with righteousness as tallas the clouds and the skies ***(insert similar phrases herebut I'm not really sure how to translate)***. And it isreally the chivalry and benevolence seen in olden days,coming back to life."

When Ke Zhen E heard til this point, his wrinkled browsmoothed a little.

Zhu Cong continued reading, "Master Zhang passed awayin Northen Mongolia, it is really enough to make peoplesigh deeply grasping their wrists and always feeling sad,and can't even forget about it no matter how many daysgone by. Lowly priest had relied on the fortune of youheroes, and luckily did not waste that fortune, after nineyears of searching, I managed to find the Yang family'schild."

"Ah..." the other five freaks went simutaneously. They hadknown that Qiu Chu Ji is really capable and the disciplesunder the Quan Zhen sect is all over the world. It isexpected for him to find Yang Tie Xin's family andoffspring, because he must have always borne in mind thescheduled meeting for the martial arts competition in JiaXing; but being able to find the female whose whereaboutsare unknown, it is still regardlessly like searching for aneedle in a haystack. When whether the child borned is agirl or boy, it is all up to the heavens. If it is a girl, there isstill a limit to the power of her martial arts. Now hearingfrom the letter that the child has already be found, it gavethem a momentarily shock. The six of them, had nevertold the Guo mother and child about this matter. Zhu Congslide his eyes towards Guo Jing, and on seeing that hisexpression did not change, read on, "After two years,when the flowers are blooming and the grass long in JiangNan, will meet and drink with all you masters at theDrunken Goddess Pavillion. Life is gone like the dew, andthese eighteen years are as though a dream. Will thebrave heroes of the world laugh at my foolishness?" When

brave heroes of the world laugh at my foolishness?" Whenhe read to this point, he stopped.

Han Bao Ju asked, "What is below?"

"The letter ended there. It is definitely his handwriting,"Zhu Cong replied.

That day at the restaurent, Zhu Cong had once stole apiece of poetry from Qiu Chu Ji's pocket and couldrecognise his handwriting.

Ke Zhen asked in a somber voice, "The Yang family's childis a male? His name is Yang Kang?"

Yin Zhi Ping replied, "Yes."

Ke Zhen E continued, "So he is your junior brother?"

"Is my senior brother. Although disciple is older than himby a year, Yang senior brother had started learning fromQuan Zhen earlier by two years," Yin Zhi Ping replied.

The six freaks of the south had seen his kung fu, and GuoJing is definitely not his match. If the junior brother isalready so good, his senior brother must be even morepowerful. At this point, they felt their hearts sinking. Notto mention, Qiu Chu Ji knows of their actions like the backof his hand, he even knew of Zhang Ah Sheng's death.They all felt that they are already on the losing end.

Ke Zhen E said coldly, "When you sparred with him earlier,was it to test his abilities?"

Yin Zhi Ping heard his tone of voice was hostile and feltanxious in his heart, hurriedly saying, "Disciple would notdare to."

Ke Zhen E said, " Go back and tell your teacher althoughthe six freaks of the south may not be as good, but theywill definitely not miss the appointment at the DrunkenGoddess Pavillion. Tell your teacher not to worry. We arenot going to write a reply letter!"

After hearing these sentences, Yin Ping Zhi did not knowwhether to comply or not, and felt very awkward. Hefollowed his teacher's instructions to come up to the northto pass the letter, and Qiu Chu Ji had indeed told him tofind a way to test Guo Jing's character and kungfu. TheMan of Eternal Spring (Chang Chun Zi) cares about hisfriend's son, and it was actually out of a good intention.But Yin Ping Zhi as a youth is naturally more troublesome,and on reaching the Mongolian plains, he did not rush tosee the six freaks, but instead sparred with Guo Jing in themiddle of the night.

Now, on seeing the unfriendly expressions the six freakswere wearing, his heart started to fear and did not dare to

were wearing, his heart started to fear and did not dare todelay any longer, and first bowed to everyone, saying,"Disciple will go now."

Ke Zhen E suddenly said in a sharp tone, "You should turna somersault too!", and swiftly sweeping his left arm out,he caught hold of Yin Zhi Ping's collar. Yin Zhi Ping got abig fright, and with both his hands, tried with all his mightto push away Ke Zhen E's arms. However, how would heknow that if he did not attempt to get away, he would onlyhad been made to fall with a somersault. But by hittingback, he only made Ke Zhen E more angry. With his leftarm bent, he lifted up Yin Zhi Ping's entire body, and witha "hey" sound, threw this little priest heavily onto theground.

From this fall, Yin Zhi Ping's back was hurting so badly asthough it was cracked, and after awhile, slowly struggledto get up, and limped away.

Han Bao Ju said, "The little priest have no manners. It's agood thing that big brother taught him a lesson."

Ke Zhen E was silently thinking, and after quite a longwhile, took a deep sigh. As the five freaks felt the sameway and all were depressed.

Nan Xi Ren suddenly said, "No matter what, still have tofight, even if it could not be won!"

Han Xiao Ying said, "Fourth brother is right. After weseven people become sworn siblings, we had gone overthe world together. We had gone through so manydangers and the seven freaks of the south had neverretreated."

Ke Zhen E nodded and said to Guo Jing, "Go back to sleep.We will work harder starting from tomorrow."

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03-14-05, 10:05 AM

(Strunf)

Since then, the Six Freaks of the Jiangnan were even moresevere in their teaching. However, in studies or martialarts, like in music and in the checkers, when someonelooks for a fast success, he risks to get precisely theopposite effect and to stagnate. The Six hopped for somuch from their disciple that they exercised a big pressureon him. To make things eve harder, Guo Jing didn't have aquick and intelligent mind, on the contrary, he was evenslower than most young of his age. The more the wantedfrom him, the more he panicked and lose his means. Sincethe nocturnal visit of Yi Zhiping, he didn’t made much of a

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Sep 2003Northern NJ501

Mojo Jojo

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the nocturnal visit of Yi Zhiping, he didn’t made much of aprogress for three months, he even seemed to haveregressed! It was precisely what the popular believe says:"The one that hurries too much doesn't arrive safely", and"The one that swallows too much digests badly."

In fact, the Six Freaks were all remarkable masters in theirrespective arts, acquired at the cost of constant efforts ona long period. Wasn’t it a illusion to wish that Guo Jingacquires such a mastery of all those arts in just someyears? Even an extremely gifted person would have a lotof troubles to accomplish such a prodigy, then how couldsomeone hope the same thing from a young not verygifted? The Six had conscience of the problem, consideringthe character of Guo Jing, he could have practiced thetechniques of Han Baoju or Nan Xiren at most and, aftertwenty or thirty years of fierce efforts, maybe he couldhave half of their respective strength. If Zhang Ashenghad not died prematurely, his teaching would have beenthe most adapted to Guo Jing. But the Six wanted to beatQiu Chuji so much that, even knowing that it would bebetter to teach only one art rather than to touch to all,they could not resolve to remain crossed arms, withoutteaching everything they knew to this dumb disciple.During the last sixteen years, Zhu Cong had not stoppedthinking about the fights in the pavilion of the drunkImmortals and in the Temple of the beaming law. Hereviewed with precision every movement and every strokeof Qiu Chuji. But he had good turn and return them in hismind, he didn't succeed in finding any flaw. Sometimes, heeven thought that only Copper corpse and Iron corpsecould be able to beat the Taoist.

That morning, Han Xiaoying taught to Guo Jing twomovements of the sword of the Yue girl. To execute thefirst, "The Branch hits the white gorilla", it was necessaryto bound, make two turns with the sword beforestraightening it up to attack. Guo Jing had worked a lot thestability of the lower members, but missed of agility in thejumps. He could hardly make a half a turn in air that hewas already falling heavily. After seven or eight attempts,he didn't succeed in making it better. Han Xiaoying beganto get angry and forced herself to keep calm. Shecontinued her explanations, indicating him how to land ontiptoe, how to take his impulse, etc. But when he jumpedsufficiently high, he forgets of doing the rolls, or the otherway around.

Han Xiaoying thought that, the Seven had passed morethan ten years in the rigors of the Mongolian desert, thatthe Fifth brother had lost his life here, and after all thatthe result was so disappointing! She felt a pain in herheart and exploded in sobs. Throwing her sword on theground, and she left, the hands covering her face.

Guo Jing ran behind her, but didn't succeed to catch herup. He stayed there, stupidly immobile, with his heartbroken. He knew that he owed everything to his Shifus,

broken. He knew that he owed everything to his Shifus,and only hoped to succeed in the martial arts, in order toprove them of his recognition. But he had good make allthe efforts he could, he didn't managed to succeed and hedidn't knew what to do anymore.He was lost in his thoughts, when he suddenly heard thevoice of Huazheng call him :

- Guo Jing, come quickly! Come quickly!

He turned around and saw her in a horse, with a anxiousand excited face at same time.

- What happened? asks Guo Jing.

- Come to see, quickly, answered Huazheng. There’s afight with two big eagles.

- I’m training now.

- Did you train soo badly and your Shifu scold you, am Iwrong?

Guo Jing nodded with the head miserably.

- It is indeed a terrifying fight, come let’s see it...

Guo Jing was very tempted, but he remembered thedisappointment he was for his Seventh Shifu, and shookthe head sadly :

- I won't go.

- I came especially to warn you, said Huazheng excited . Ifyou don't come, don't expect to find me later!

- Go then alone quickly. You will tell me after how it went,it will be almost the same thing...

Huazheng jumped down from the horse, making astubborn face:

- If you don't go there, I won't go either. I wonder if itsthe black eagles who are going to win, or the white ones...

- Is it the couple of big white eagles, that live on cliff?

- Yes! But even the black eagles outnumber them thewhite ones are still very dangerous: they already killedthree or four blacks with their beak...

On the top of the cliff, nestled a couple of white eagles ofan exceptional size. The white feather was already rareamong the eagles, and these eagles were not onlycompletely white but also of a exceptional size. TheAncients used to say that never saw any equals to them,and considered those eagles as divine birds. Some womeneven vowed them a cult.

While hearing her, Guo Jing didn't hold it anymore. Hetook the hand of Huazheng, and the two bounded on theback of the horse and rushed to the cliff. When they gotthere, they saw the white eagles against seventeen oreighteen black ones, attacking them with their beaks andtheir fangs, making feathers fly in the air. The whiteeagles were bigger and stronger. A single stroke of theirpowerful beak on the head was enough to kill an enemy,who fell then on the ground. The others ran away, butcame back soon after to surrounding the couple.

The spectacle had attracted many spectators, more thansix hundred men and women, from many tribes, werereunited and commenting the fight. Even Temüjin,accompanied of Ögödei and Tolui, had come and watchedthe fight with interest.

Guo Jing, Tolui and Huazhengs often played at the bottomof the cliff, and saw the white eagles nearly every day flyaround their nest, or to leave it when going to hunt.Sometimes, the children threw them some cuts of sheepmeat, the eagles then dove and snatched while in the airwith precision. By doing this they created somme affectionties between the, and the eagles. As, the white eagleswere lower in number, the children encouraged them withmore vigor :

- Go, white eagles! Attack! Attention, enemy on the left!Quickly! Well!

Two black eagles fell again, but the white eagles were alsowounded, and their white feathers were covered withblood. Suddenly, a particularly big black eagle utteredseveral screams and ran away, followed by about ten of itsmates. They disappeared in the clouds. Four other blackeagles remained fighting. Seeing the victory of the whiteeagles, the spectators uttered screams of joy. Shortlyafter, three other black eagles ran also away to the east,pursued by one the white eagles. Soon, they were out ofview. Only a black eagle tried to escape the remainingwhite eagle, and was going to succumb, when one heardstrident noises coming from clouds, and about ten of theblack eagles that had previously ran away appeared out ofthe clouds and attacked the white eagle.

- Excellent strategy! exclaimed Temüjin, admiring.

The isolated white eagle was not able to, spite of itsbravery, resist the constant assault of its adversaries andfell on the cliff, overwhelmed by black eagles. The childrenwere very worried, and Huazheng exploded in sobs :

- Quickly, dad! she says crying. Kill the black eagles!

But Temüjin was thinking about the ruse implemented bythe winners.

- The black eagles won, he says to Ögödei and Tolui,thanks to a very clever strategy. Don’t forget it!

His two sons acquiesced.

After having finished the white eagle, the black eagleshurried towards a cavity, in the cliff: one could see thehead of two white eaglets, that would probably succumb tothe strokes of their aggressors.

- Guo Jing, watch! cries Huazheng. The eagles had someeaglets! How come we never notice them? Ah, dad! shotquickly to kill these black eagles!

Temüjin smiles, aimed his bow and pulled an arrow of ironthat, like the lightning, crossed the body of a black eaglefrom part to part. The crowd applauded. The Khan thengave his bow to Ögödei :

- It’s your turn!

Ögödei pulled, and also knocked his target down, as wellas Tolui. The black eagles started to panic.

Other officers and soldiers also started to help the whiteeaglets, but the fowls had taken the height, and it becamevery difficult to reach them.

- A reward for those that will make a hit! shouts Temüjin.

Jebe, skilled archer, wanted that Guo Jing, his pupil, hadits hour of glory, and stretched him his own bow of war :

- Knee on the ground, recommended him in a low voice,aim the neck.

Guo Jing complied, putting his right knee on the ground.His left hand firmly held the powerful bow, that hebandaged with the right hand. After ten years of trainingwith the Six Freaks of the Jiangnan, even if he had notassimilated the sophisticated martial arts, one of the lesshe had acquired the strength of the arms and aoutstanding precision when aiming. Seeing two eaglesflying in concert on the left, he turned, aimed the neck andreleased his projectile.

It was precisely, as the popular expression described it:"The bow bandaged as the full moon, the arrow spinninglike a meteorite". The first eagle didn't have the time toescape that the arrow had already pierced its neck, beforecontinuing its way as far as planting itself in the flank ofthe second fowl! Only one arrow for two eagles, who felllike stones! The crowd noisily applauds, the other eaglesdidn't waited anymore and rushed to disperse themselves.

- Offer the two eagles to my father, whispered Huazhengin the ear of Guo Jing.

in the ear of Guo Jing.

This one obeys: he collected the two eagles, ran toTemüjin and, kneeling, he offered the two eagles to himrespectfully.

Temüjin appreciated, above all, the valorous fighters. Hewas delighted to see Guo Jing suddenly bringing twoeagles down, specially since these eagles from the Northwere dangerous birds: the span of their wings passed themeter, their feather was as hard as iron, and they were sostrong that they could seize and carry away in the airsponies or big sheep! Even tigers and leopards were afraidof them! And to kill two eagles with a single arrowconstituted therefore a remarkable exploit.

- Brave boy, says Temüjin while accepting the offering.You manage the bow quite well!

- It is master Jebe that taught it to me.

- The master is Jebe, says Temüjin while laughing, thedisciple is also jebe.

In Mongol, jebe means "skilled archer."

- Dad, said Tolui that wanted to help his brother by pact,you promised a reward to the one that would bring aneagle down. My anda killed two of them of a stroke. Whatreward you will grant him?

- What he wants, answered Temüjin while smiling. GuoJing, what do you want?

- Is it true? insists Tolui, delighted. All what he wants?

- Do I have the habit to lie… even to children?

During all these years, Guo Jing had lived under theKhan's protection. Everyone, in the tribe, liked him for hissimplicity and his kindness, and no one rejected him evenif he was Chinese. Seeing the Khan in a good mood, allhad turned towards the young man, hoping that he wouldget a good reward.

- The Khan was so good for me, said Guo Jing, my motherhas everything that she needs, you don’t need to have thetrouble of giving me a reward...

- That a good example of filial piety, says Temüjin. Youalways think about your mother first... But for yourself,what you wish? Speak without fear.

Guo Jing thinks a instant, and then knelt before Temüjin:

- I don't want anything for me, but I have a wish toaddress to the Khan for someone else.

- What is it? asks Temüjin.

- Dushi, the son of Senggüm, is bad and mean. So ifHuazheng marries him, she will be very unhappy for sure.I implore the Khan to not give her in marriage to thisignoble men.

Temüjin was disconcerted at first but exploded in laughafter.

- These are indeed wishes of a child! How could this bepossible? Alright, I am going to give you a very preciousobject.

He detached from his belt a dagger that he handed to GuoJing. All officers showed their admiration and their desirenoisily: it was the preferred weapon of Temüjin, withwhich he had killed innumerable enemies. If he had notmade a solemn promise a while ago, he would neverdetached himself from it.

Guo Jing thanked and took the dagger. He had often seenit on the Khan's belt, but it was the first time that heexamined it closely: the girdle was of pure gold, and theextremity of the handful was decorated with a grinninghead of a tiger in gold also.

- Take my golden dagger, said Temüjin, and kill someenemies for me.

- Yes, answered Guo Jing.

Huazheng exploded in sobs, bounded on her horse and leftat full speed. Temüjin had a hardened heart, but he couldnot stop from sighing while thinking of his daughter's pain.He then took the path of the camp, followed by his officersand soldiers.

After the crowd had dispersed itself, Guo Jing drew thedagger and felt the coldness of the blade, on which onehad the impression of seeing traces of blood. This weaponwas short, but massive, and it impressed him because ithad killed so many people! He manipulated it during onemoment and then put it back in its sheath, that heattached to his belt. Then he drew his sword and startedpracticing “the sword of the Yue girl”. But, in spite of allhis efforts, he didn't succeed in executing the movement"branch that hits the white gorilla" correctly : either hedidn't jump sufficiently high or he didn't have the time tomake the trolls. The more he got excited, the less hemastered his breath, the result was catastrophic and hewas sweating heavily. Sudden, he heard a gallop: it wasHuazheng caming back.

Arrived not far from him, she got off the horse and laydown on the grass of the prairie, the chin put on a hand,to watch Guo train. Seeing that het seemed to sufferawfully, she shouted to him :

awfully, she shouted to him :

- Stop, rest for a while.

- Don't come to disturb me, retorted Guo Jing, I don't havethe time to chat with you.

Huazheng didn't say anything else, observing him whilesmiling. Then, she took a handkerchief from her fob, madetwo knots, and threw it to him :

- Wipe your sweat with it!

Guo Jing grumbled, but didn't look to catch it up,continuing to train.

- In a little while, she asked, you implored dad to notmarry me with Dushi. Why?

- Dushi is very mean; once, he had released the leopardsso that they devour your brother Tolui. If you marry him,maybe he will beat you...

- If he beats me, you will come to defend me!

- But, says Guo Jing, speechless, how would this bepossible...

- Then, said Huazheng while looking at him withtenderness, if I don't marry him, who will marry me?

- I don't know, says Guo Jing while shaking the head.

- Peuh! gets Huazheng, of which the face that blushed in alittle while became suddenly furious. You never knowanything!

Some instants later, she softens. One heard the eaglets, tothe summit of the cliff, to squeal. Then some atrociousscreams resounded in the sky: it was the second whiteeagle that came back, after having been, attracted veryfar by the black eagles. From afar, he saw its belovedcompanion dead on the cliff, and flew like a white cloud inconcentric circles.

Guo Jing stopped and raised the head. The white eagledidn't stop whirling, while uttering screams of pain.

- Watch, says Huazheng, as the eagle is unhappy!

- Yes, acquiesced Guo Jing, it must be so sad.

The eagle uttered a long scream and flew off suddenlytowards the most elevated clouds.

- Why does it go up so high? wondered Huazheng.

Then the eagle come down again like an arrow and to dive

Then the eagle come down again like an arrow and to diveon the cliff, where it smashed itself. Terrified, Guo Jing andHuazhengs uttered a scream of surprise, and didn't knowwhat to say.

Suddenly, they heard a loud voice behind them :

- Admirable! Admirable!

They turned around and saw a taoist white-haired and witha red-face. His clothing was weird: his hair was coveredwith three high chignons, and he wore a immaculate dressof taoist, what was rather surprising in this windy anddusty plain. As he had spoken in Chinese, Huazheng didn'tunderstand him, and she lost interest about him.

- The two eaglets lose their father and mother, she sayswhile looking up to the top of the cliff, how will theysurvive now?

The extremely steep cliff went up until the sky, it waspractically impossible to climb it. Obviously, the twoeaglets, who had not yet learned to fly, were going to dieof hunger in their nest.

- Except, says Guo Jing, if someone has some wings andgo there flying! It is the only way to save them...

He collected his sword and start to practice. In spite of allhis efforts, he still didn't manage to execute hismovement, and began to despair, when he heard behindhim a voice say coldly :

- That way, you will have good drag your sword hundredyears, you won't progress of a hair!

Guo Jing turned around: it was the taoist with the threechignons.

- What did you say? he wondered.

The man smiles, didn't answer, but suddenly advanced.Guo Jing felt like his arm was paralyzed and, withoutknowing how, saw his sword, that he held firmly, in thehand of the taoist! Zhu Cong had already taught him thetechnique “to seize a blade on bare hands”; even thoughhe didn't masteries it entirely, he had assimilated theprinciples of it. However, this time, he didn't have thesmallest idea of the way of which the taoist had seized hisweapon. Scared, he moved back three steps, standingbefore Huazheng to protect her, and drew the knife ofTemüjin.

- Watch closely! shouts the taoist.

He bounds and, as if of nothing was, made six or seventrolls with the sword, before falling again softly on his feet.Guo Jing stayed in awe.

Guo Jing stayed in awe.

The man threw the sword on the ground and says whilelaughing :

- The white eagle was admirable, it is necessary to save itsoffspring!

He sprang towards the cliff, that he began climbing at fullspeed, while using his feet and hands, as agile as amonkey, as light as a bird. The slope, rose very high andwas in part as stiff as a wall. But the slightest bump wassufficient to him to climb up higher. Even when the rockappeared smooth like a mirror, he succeeded in climbinglike a lizard.

Guo Jing and Huazhengs had were very anxious, if heslipped, the fall would definitely kill him. The silhouettebecame smaller and smaller, and gave the impression toenter into the clouds. The girl closed the eyes, in fear ofseeing what could happen:

- Where is he now?

- He arrived nearly to the summit, answered Guo Jing.There, he made it!

Opening the eyes, she saw the taoist fly off as if he wasgoing to fall and pushed a scream of fright. In fact, helanded on the summit, the large sleeves of his dressfloated on the violent wind that blew, and one had theimpression, seen from below, that he was a huge bird.

The man slipped the hand in the nest, caught the twoeaglets and sized them against his chest. Then, back tothe slope, he let himself slip, clinging of the hand on abump or giving a kick from time to time, to slow down hisfall, and reached the ground in next to no time at all.

Guo Jing and Huazhengs ran towards him. He took theeaglets and said to the girl, in Mongol, :

- Will you take good care of them?

- Yes, yes, yes, hastened to answer Huazheng, surpriseand delighted, while stretching the hands.

- Attention to their beak, warned the taoist, they aresmall, but their bite is dangerous...

Huazheng undid its belt and attached the fledglings by thepaw, and took them against her, delighted, :

- I am going to look for meat to feed them.

- Wait, says the taoist. It is necessary that you promiseme one thing, if you want the eaglets.

- What?

- What?

- You must not tell anyone that I climbed the cliff to catchthe birds.

- Okay, says Huazheng joyously. That, it is easy. I won'tsay it to anyone.

- While growing, warned the taoist while smiling, thesetwo white eagles will become terrifying. Attention whilefeeding them!

All happy, she tells Guo Jing :

- Each one of us will have one, its me who will keep themfor the meantime, okay?

Guo Jing nodded the head, Huazheng rode on her horseand left.

The young man stayed immobile, as petrified, reviewing inhis head the ease of the movements of the taoistexecuting "The Branch hits the white gorilla." The mangrabbed the sword and offered it to him with kindlinessand turned the heels. Seeing that he was leaving, Guo Jingsays, in panic:

- You... please... Don't leave...

- What for?

Guo Jing scraped his head, not knowing what to say.Suddenly, he prostrated, knocking the soil of his forehead,without stopping.

- Why do you prostrate before me? asks for the taoist.

He had a face full of kindness. Guo Jing, the big heart, hadthe impression that he met a parent, to whom he was ableall to confide himself. Suddenly, two big tears flowed on itscheeks, and he says while hiccupping :

- Me... Me... I am very dumb, I don't manage to learn themartial arts, and I am a disappointment to my six Shifus,to whom I owe everything...

- What are you going to do?

- I have good to give all of me day and night, still I don'tmanage to do it properly... I really don’t manage to learnit...

- Do you want that I indicate you a way?

- Yes, please! replies Guo Jing, while prostrating again.

The taoist smiles :

- It seems to me that you are full of sincerity. Very well,let's meet each other again in three days, we will be infifteenth day of the month. When the moon will be full, Iwill wait for you at the summit of the cliff. But you mustnot say it to anyone!

Then he left.

- But I won't be able to climb there, protested Guo Jing ina rush.

The taoist didn't answer, one had the impression that hisfeet didn't touch the earth at all, and he was already faraway.

"He made it on purpose to embarrass me, visibly, hedoesn't want to teach me. "Then he says himself: "I amnot yet without a Shifu, my six Shifus give themselvessuch a pain to teach me, its me that is stupid, whatchoices I have ? This Ancient is probably very strong, but Iwon't be able to learn from him anyway what he knows,then why should I even try"?

He contemplated the top of the cliff, and then he tried tonot think more about it. He took his sword, and repeatedagain and again "The branch hits the white gorilla", untilthe sunset, when the hunger pushed him to go back home.

Three days has passed in the blink of an eye. Thisafternoon, Han Baoju taught him the “Whip of the goldDragon”. This kind of flexible weapons required aparticular attention: if one didn't master all therefinements of it, not only one didn't reach the enemy, butone risked to get injured by himself. Guo Jing, precisely,made a false movement, and "splash", the whip turnedagainst him, striking on the head and causing a big bump.Han Baoju, who has a legendary harsh character,immediately returned him a slap. Guo Jing didn't dare toshy away and continued to practice. Seeing him make a lotof efforts, Han Baoju regretted to have lost the temper.Even though the pupil made mistakes several times again,the master didn't scold him anymore. He showed him fivemore movements, encouraged him, and recommended totrain all by himself and left on his horse.

To practice the “Whip of the gold Dragon” wasn’t a easytask: after having executed about ten times the set of thesequences, Guo Jing had the forehead, the arms, and thethighs covered with blues. Tired and aching of all parts, hefell asleep on the grass. When he woke up, the moonappeared behind the mountains. He felt burning pains onthe whole body and notably on the cheek, where HanBaoju had slapped him.

Contemplating the top of the cliff, he had suddenly a burstof self-esteem: "If the taoist can climb up there, why notme"? he thought while tightening the teeth. He ran to the

me"? he thought while tightening the teeth. He ran to thecliff and began to climb it, clinging on the plants that grewthere, going up slowly. At the end of six or seven zhang*,the cliff became completely smooth, without anyvegetation nor bump. How to advance in these conditions?

He tightened his teeth, tried on two occasions, but his footslipped every time, and he almost displaced it.Understanding that all new attempt would be in vain, hewanted to come down again. But while glancing behindhim, he was terrorized: he had forced the path in hisascension, and now, his feet were unable to use the samesteady points in the way down. If he jumped, it wascertain to smash himself below!

In this desperate situation, it came to his mind the wordsof his Fourth Shifu: "In this world, there’s nothingimpossible to the men of good will." Since the deathwatched him of all parts, rather than remain in anuntenable position, it was better to continue. He drew hisdagger and dug two small holes, in which he placed onefoot slowly and steady, and then the other, after havingfelt the solidity of his support. He rose thus of a few moreinches. Then he continued to dig the wall, to hold with hisfeet, rising thus laboriously of a zhang*, cause of the hardtask his head started to turn and his members wereexhausted.

He the stopped to take clear his mind, he hold stickyagainst the wall and controlled his breathing. Then hewondered how many holes it would be necessary to digagain before arriving at the summit, because as strong ashis dagger was, this one provably wouldn’t be able to digabout ten more holes, and it would break then. But, sincehe had arrived at this point, he could not go backanymore. After a brief rest, he got ready to dig again whenhe heard a burst of laugh coming from the summit of thecliff.

Not daring to bend backward to look, he remained thenose against the smooth wall of the cliff and onlywondered from where came this laugh without having thepower to watch upwards. He then saw a big rope slip downand stop next to him. Then he heard the voice of the taoistto say :

- Attach the rope around your size, I am going to pull youup.

Delighted, Guo Jing enclosed his dagger, assured a hold ofhis left hand, took the rope with the right hand and rolledit up around his size two times and made two knots.

- Did you attach it firmly? shouts the taoist.

- Its done, said Guo Jing.

The taoist seemed to not have heard.

- Did you attach it? he asks again.

- Its done, repeated Guo Jing, with out any result.

Some instants later, the taoist laughs again and says :

- Ah, I forgot: your breath is not yet sufficiently powerful,your voice cannot carry as far as mine. If you tied it well,pull three times the rope!

Guo Jing obeys and pulled three times. Suddenly, the ropestretched itself, his body flew off toward the summit of thecliff, as on a cloud. He knew that the taoist was going topull it, but not at such speed. In the blink of an eye, he fellagain on his feet, just in face of the old man.

He knelt and got ready to prostrate, but the taoist holdhim by the arm.

- Three days ago, you already prostrated more than anhundred times, it is amply enough! Well, you are a childwith a good character!

On the summit of the cliff spread a flat ground covered bysnow. The taoist showed two big round rocks that lookedvaguely like stools :

- Sit there.

- I will remain standing to serve you, Shifu, said Guo Jing.

- You don't belong to my school, says the taoist whilesmiling. I am not your Shifu, and you are not my disciple.Sit then.

Guo Jing, perplexed, obeyed and sat down.

- Your six Shifus, continued the old man, are eminentpersonalities of the martial arts world, I don't know thempersonally, but I always felt a lot of admiration for them. Itwould be more than enough for you to acquire thetechnique of one of them to make yourself a name in theStreams and the Lakes region. It is not due to a lack ofefforts from your part, and yet, during the last ten years,you didn't progress that much. Do you know why?

- It is because I am too dumb, my Shifus have good toteach me the best they can, it won't serve to anything.

- It’s not really cause of you, moderated the taoist. Itwould be rather, as the popular byword says, if "those thatteach don't know how to teach, those that learn wont learnanything!"

- Shif... Euh, I don't understand what you want to say.

- If we look only to the plain martial arts, the level to

- If we look only to the plain martial arts, the level towhich you arrived today is already not negligible. Only, atthe time of your first real fight since the beginning of yourformation, when you have been beaten by the taoist kid,you questioned yourself, and thought it was impossible toyou to beat him. However, on this point, you arecompletely mistaken!

"How does he know of this matter? wondered Guo Jing."

- This taoist kid made you do a somersault, but he arrivedthere by ruse. In the fundamental techniques, it’s not atall certain that he surpasses you. Besides, your six Shifusare probably as strong as I am, that’s why I cannot teachyou the martial arts.

- Yes, says Guo Jing.

"He’s right, thought Guo. My six Shifus are very strong, it’sme that is too dumb."

- Your seven Shifus made a bet, pursued the taoist. If Iteach you some martial art, your masters will be sad whilelearning it. They are brave, who grant a lot of importanceto loyalty and to honor, and that would refuse to takeadvantage of some unfair advantage in a bet.

- What bet? wondered Guo Jing.

- You don’t know about it then? Well, if your masters didn'ttold you anything about it yet, it’s cause you don't have toknow about it at the present. During the next two years,they will certainly explain you in detail. Let's make as this:you are full of sincerity, and it seems that our meeting waswritten in the destiny. Then, I am going to teach you somemethods to breathe, to sit down, to walk and to sleep.

The astonishment of Guo Jing didn't know any boundary-marks anymore. To "breathe, to sit down, to walk, tosleep, thought for himself, I know how to do that already,why would I have to learn it again"? he thought about a lotof questions, but didn't let anything of it to appear.

- Remove the snow on this big rock, ordered the taoist,you will be able to sleep there.

Guo Jing found it strange, but obeyed. He swept the layerof snow and laid down on the rock.

- Not like that, says the taoist. If it is to sleep like that, Idon't have need to teach it to you. Here are four formulas,remember them well: "When the thought sets, the feelingswill be forgotten"; "When the body empties, the breath willcirculate"; "When the heart dies, the mind will live";"When the sun abounds, the darkness will vanish."

Guo Jing repeated the formulas several times to learnthem by heart, but he didn't understand the sense of

them by heart, but he didn't understand the sense ofthem.

- Before sleeping, pursued the taoist, it’s necessary toclarify the mind, to let no thought nor no preoccupationthere. Then, it is necessary to consolidate the body, whilelying down on the side, and breathe in a continuous wayby the nose, so that the soul doesn't wander inside andthat the mind doesn't go outside.

Thus, he taught Guo the breathing and the mastery of thebreath, the technique to meditate and to eliminate theworries.

Guo Jing made what the taoist indicated to him: in thebeginning, his thoughts stayed chaotic, difficult to control.But after having applied the method of breathing, toexhale and to inspire deeply, slowly at the end of a certaintime, he felt his heart to calm down, a tepid breath thrustto go up slowly in his dan tian (hypogastrium). An icy windblew on the summit of the cliff, but he didn't feel anydifficulty to resist it. He remained immobile, stretched outon the side, during close to an hour, before feeling some“ants” in the members. The taoist, that was sitting crosslegged in front of him, practicing the meditation, openedthe eyes :

- Now, said the taoist, you can fall asleep.

Guo Jing obeys and fell asleep. When he woke up, the raysof the sun began to point at the East. The taoist let him godown attached by to the rope, telling him to come back inthe same evening, while recommending him to not speakof it to anyone.

Guo Jing returned the same evening there, the taoistbrought him up by the same rope. Taken by his practicewith the six Shifus, it often happened to him to not goback home from the night, and his mother didn't worryabout him.

Thus, he went in the evening and left at dawn, practicingall night the meditation and the mastery of the breath onthe summit of the cliff. It was weird: the taoist didn't teachhim any movement at all, not the least sequence, and yet,in his daily practices, he became lighter and faster. Sixmonths later, the movements that he didn't manage to doat all once were executed perfectly. The sequences that hecould had never executed before some months ago, wereexecuted with speed and precision. The Six Freaks of theJiangnan believed that, with the age and the regularpractice, he was finally himself open to the martial arts,didn't feel anymore the frustration they had at thebeginning of his training.

Every evening, when he arrived to the cliff, the taoistclimbed with him, showing how to use his breath and hisstrength. They went up together until he was incapable ofcontinuing, the taoist then rushed itself to the summit and

continuing, the taoist then rushed itself to the summit andraised him with the rope. With the passing of the months,the young man climbed more and more quickly, andhigher and higher. The steps once so difficult were clearedof only one jump! Only some particularly difficult placesrequired the help of the rope.

Another year passed, it remained only some monthsbefore the competition, the Six Freaks of the Jiangnancould only speak of this event, that was going to probablychange the world of the martial arts and to attract theattention of all the brave of the country. Seeing thelightning progress of Guo Jing, the Six were sure to win,and the idea to review their native country of the Jiangnanfilled them of joy. However, they still didn’t explain to GuoJing the reasons of the this competition.

That morning, Nan Xiren says to Guo Jing :

- My small Jing, these last months, you privileged theweapons. Maybe you lack to practice the fight on barehands. Today, we are going to work the palms more.

Guo Jing nodded the head.

They arrived to the land where they usually trained. NanXiren got ready to begin the lesson when they suddenlysaw a clouds of dust to rise not far, accompanied byscreams and neighs. A herd of horses approached at biggallop, the beasts were agitated, the Mongol who keptthem had problems to retain their ardors with the whip.

Hardly they were a little calmed that one could seesuddenly, coming from the west, a small red horse withthe fur of fire to speed along in the herd, he harassed itwith paws and bites, before disappearing northwards atthe speed of wind. Then, the red tornado came back in theblink of an eye, like a lightning, provoking a considerabletumult again. Furious, the guards of herd tried to capturethis spoilsport, but this one was so fast that it wasimpossible to catch it. In one instant, he had moved awayand had held to several zhangs away, neighing gladly, as ifhe was very proud of the shambles that he had sowed.The Mongol didn't really know if should laugh or be angry.When the small horse charged down for the third time,several guards pulled some arrows in its direction, but hewas so astute and fast that he departed as the projectileswere going to reach it. An expert in martial arts couldn’thave made it any better!

The Six Freaks and Guo Jings were fascinated. Even HanBaoju, that liked the horses above all, had never seen anas magnificent and fast animal. His own setting, Pursuit ofwind, was already of a rare speed, unequaled even inMongolia. However, the small red horse surpassed themall. Han asked the guards from where came this marvel.

- This wild horse, answered a guard, it come from some

- This wild horse, answered a guard, it come from somemountain. A few days ago, we saw it and found it sobeautiful that we wanted to capture it, without succeeding.But this attempt put it of mean mood and, these last days,it doesn't stop coming to bother us.

- It is not a horse, said an old shepherd, very serious.

- What is it then? wondered Han Baoju.

- It is a transformed celestial dragon, we shouldn’t botherhim!

- A dragon transformed in horse! mocked anothershepherd. What a nonsense!

- What do you know of it, kid? Me that kept horses duringseveral years, I never saw an animal as fabulous as thisone, ever!

He had not finished to speak that the small red horse spedalong again in the herd.

The equestrian art of Han Baoju, nicknamed divine King ofthe horses, was evidently remarkable. Even the Mongol,who constantly lived in saddle, recognized his superiority.Seeing that the small horse came back, and knowing wellwhich way he was going to leave, he stood to a strategicposition, and waited the passage of the animal. When thisone approached, he suddenly bounds, of a so verycalculated jump that he was persuaded to straddle thebeast. He had tamed so many stubborn horses in his lifethat he had the conviction that once on its back, hewouldn’t fall. However, in a split of a second, the small redhorse accelerated, thus making Han Baoju miss his stroke.Furious, this one run after him furious, but how could hehave caught up with such a beast?

Suddenly, someone bounds and seizes, of the left hand,the mane of the horse that, surprised, galloped evenfaster. Always clutched, the man let himself drag, with hisbody floating in air.

All spectators noisily applauded.

Astonished and delighted, the Six Freaks noted that it wasGuo Jing that was being cheered!

- But where, asks Zhu Cong, did he learn a lightnesstechnique as this sophisticated?

- Our Jing made immense progresses lately, said HanXiaoying. Could it be his defunct father that protects him,from the top of the sky? Or would it be Fifth brother?...

How could they have known that, during the two drainingyears, the taoist of the three chignons have taught himevery evening, on the summit of the cliff, the art of the

every evening, on the summit of the cliff, the art of themastery of the breath? Even if he didn’t taught him theleast movement of fight, he had initiated him to thesuperior art of the neigong.

Every evening, when he climbed and descended of thecliff, Guo Jing practiced in fact, without the knowledge, avery subtle lightness technique, called "Flight of the goldeneagle". Of a natural simple and confident mind, he wascompletely unconscious of what he had learn from thetaoist. The progress that he accomplished in the masteryof his internal energy, or in this technique of the "Flight ofthe golden eagle”, only appeared when he practiced thelightness technique with Zhu Cong, Quan Jinfa or HanXiaoying. Himself didn't realize it, and the Six Freaks wereonly pleasantly surprised of his performances, withoutsuspecting of the truth.

Now seeing the lightness of their disciple and hissuppleness, that didn’t corresponded at all to what theyhad taught to him, they looked at themselves withastonishment, suspecting that the young man had anothermaster.

Suddenly, Guo Jing made a somersault in air and fell againastride on the back of the horse. This one reared, gavestrokes of backward paw, bounding of all sides, aspossessed! But the boy tightened the thighs and didn't lethimself fall.

Han Baoju shouted him some instructions and gave himsome tricks to master his setting, that ran with a vigorrenewed during more of one hour, apparently untiring.

The public was in awe: the old shepherd knelt andwhispered some prayers, imploring the sky not to punishthe men for having offended the dragon-horse, beforeshouting to Guo Jing to let him go. But this one didn't hearanything, glued to the horse as if he was attached by arope, reacting to all of his movements smoothly.- Come down of that horse, shouted Han Xiaoying. Letyour Third Shifu replace you...

- Absolutely not! protests Han Baoju. Changing the trainernow would risk all to work he has done till now!

He knew very well that such a stallion had to have astrong character: if someone manage to tame it, it wouldfear its master and would stay forever faithful to him. Butif more than one tried to overcome it, it would rather diethan to submit!

Guo Jing also had an obstinate character. He started tobecome tired when he slipped his arms around the neck ofthe horse, and began to tighten it, making use of hisinternal energy. The animal bounds, jumps, shook itself inall directions, without getting rid of this pressure that wassuffocating it. It then knew that it had met its master, and

stopped itself.

- Bravo! exclaimed Han Baoju, delighted. That’s it! Youhave succeeded!

Fearing that the horse would run away, Guo Jing didn'tdare to come down from it.

- You can come down, reassured him Han Baoju. Now, itwill follow you all your life. Even if you would like to get ridof it you wouldn’t be able to do it...

The young man jumped on the ground. The horse lickedhis the hand, showing a big affection, that made laugheveryone there. A guard approached it a little too near andthe animal gave him a “horse kick” that made him makethe somersault. Guo Jing took it then close to the water, toclean it and calm it down.

As this session of horse raising had tired him a lot, the Sixdispensed him from the practice for now, but the doubttapped them.

After the lunch, Guo Jing came in the yourte of hismasters.

- My little Jing, said Quan Jinfa, I would like to see how isyour practice of the Crunching-Mountains palm strokes.

- Here, in the yourte?

- Yes. One can meet enemies in any place, it’s necessaryto train to fight even in the closed spaces.

He tricked with the left, and carried a stroke of the rightfist.

Guo Jing, respecting the rule of courtesy due to theeldests, defended three movements before retorting. QuanJinfa then attacked with a fulgurating violence: suddenlyhis fists hit the chest of the young man, with a movementname "Penetrating deeply in the lair of the tiger." It wasn’ta stroke to practice anymore, but a deadly, violent andheavy stroke, used to kill! In panic, Guo Jing wanted tomove back, but he was already with his back against thewall of the yourte. Try to protect himself when one wasconfronted to a danger was a natural reaction, especiallysince he had a rather slow mind: without even think aboutit, he turned his left arm, and blocked the attack of Quanby repulsing his two arms. But the fists had alreadytouched the chest, Quan realized then with surprise, that itwas as soft as the cotton, without making any resistance.Then he was repulsed with strength, and his arms werecrossed by a lightning pain, he moved back three stepsbefore recovering his balance.

Guo Jing speechless knelt :

- I probably made a something that I shouldn’t, heexclaimed, I accept the punishment of the Sixth Shifu!

Afraid and surprised at a time, he wondered what crime hecould have done, that was worthy of his master's anger, tothe point of wanting to kill him!

Ke Zhen'es and his mates had get up, all with a stern face.

- You train with someone besides us, said Zhu Cong. Whydid you hide it from us? If Sixth Shifu had a test like that,you would have continued to lie to us, am I wrong?

- There is only master Jebe, justified Guo Jing, thatteaches me the bow and the spear!

- Do you dare to lie us again? says angry Zhu Cong, with asevere face.

- I would not dare to lie to my Shifus ever! says Guo Jing,the eyes full of tears.

- Then where did you learn this mastery of the neigong?insists Zhu Cong. Now that you have the support of apowerful master, you don’t have any respect for us!

- Neigong? wondered Guo Jing. But I don't have aneigong!

"Peuh! " expels Zhu Cong, doubtful, while advancing theindex toward a location situated two inches belowsternum, named "Tail of turtledove"

A stroke on this essential point of the body provokes theimmediate unconsciousness. Guo Jing didn't dare to avoidor to defend it and remained immobile. However, he hadpracticed close to two years with the taoist of the threechignons and, even though he didn't know it himself, all ofhis body was filled of internal energy. On the contact ofthe Zhu Cong finger, his flesh retracted naturally and theninflated itself, repulsing the finger away. The stroke still hitthe point effectively, but provoked only a certain pain,without succeeding in affecting that point on the meridian.Zhu Cong had not used all his strength, but the internalenergy of Guo Jing had succeeded in neutralizing him. Hewas astonished and in anger after realizing it:

- And that, he shouts, it’s not the neigong?

Could "the taoist master then have taught me theneigong"? wondered Guo Jing that understood it just now,and says :

- During these last two years, someone came, everyevening, to teach me how to breathe, to sit me, to sleep.As I found it funny, I followed his indications. But he didn'tteach me any technique, while telling me to not talk of it

teach me any technique, while telling me to not talk of itto no one. As I thought that there wasn’t anything wrongwith it and that it didn't affect in anything my practice, Ididn't speak of it to any of you. I recognize my mistake, Iwon't go to have more fun with him anymore.

He prostrated. The Six looked at themselves: the youngman seemed sincere, he didn't seem to lie.

- Don't you know what the neigong is? asks Han Xiaoying.

- I don't really know what the neigong is! says Guo Jing.He told me to sit me and to breathe slowly, withoutthinking in anything, concentrating only in the way thebreath circulates inside the body. At the beginning I didn'tmanage to do it, but lately I had like the impression that inme there was like a small mouse all hot that rune throughall my body, it was very funny.

The Six were surprised and delighted at the same time, tosee that this simple-minded kid had succeeded in reachingsuch a level, that was not really easy specially for him.

In fact, Guo Jing was a simple mind. Contrary to the so-called intelligent people, he didn't have the head clutteredof difficult and various thoughts to hunt, this type of mindencouraged the progress in the acquirement of theneigong. Thus, in hardly two years, he had succeeded inreaching a consequent level.

- Who taught you it? asks Zhu Cong.

- He doesn't want to say me his name, answered Guo Jing.He affirms that the gongfu of my Shifus is not lower thanhis own, that’s why he cannot teach me the martial artsand cannot be my Shifu. And he made me swear to notdescribe his appearance ever to anyone.

The Six Freaks were more and more astonished. In thebeginning, they said to themselves that Guo Jing had byluck met an expert, and were delighted for him. But theindividual appeared so mysterious that they were nowsuspicious. Of a gesture, Zhu Cong asked Guo Jing toleave.

- I won't have the audacity to go and amuse myself withhim anymore, said the young man.

- You can go there, reassured Zhu Cong. We are not angryat you, but you don’t need to tell him that we know.

Guo Jing acquiesced and, seeing that his masters weren’tannoyed anymore, left all happy. Outside of the yourte, hesaw Huazheng with the two white eagles, who had growna lot: standing next to her, they nearly passed her in size.

- Come quickly, says Huazheng, it has been a long timethat I’ve been waiting for you here.

that I’ve been waiting for you here.

One of the eagles bounds and came to perch on theshoulder of Guo Jing.

- A while ago, he says, I tamed a small red horse, whoruns at an incredible speed! I don't know if it will let youmount it...

- If it doesn't let me, said Huazheng, I’ll slaughter it!

- No you wont!

The two young people, hand in hand, ran in the plain tohave fun with their horses and their eagles.

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03-14-05, 10:07 AM

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Chapter 6 : Mysterious happenings on the summit of theCliff Remained in the yourte, the Six quietly conferred witheach other.- This man taught a superior neigong to our Jing, says HanXiaoying. He cant possible want to hurt him...- Then why doesn't he want us to know about it? asksQuan Jinfa. And why he doesn't tell clearly to our Jing thatit’s the neigong that he’s teaching him.- I fear that he’s someone that we know, says Zhu Cong.- Someone that we know? wondered Han Xiaoying. Then ifit’s not a friend, it can only be an enemy!- Among our friends, confirmed Quan Jinfa, no one has agongfu as this exceptional.- But if that is an enemy, pursues Han Xiaoying, whatreason could he have to teach our Jing?- Who knows if there isn’t a mischievous plan behind it?says Ke Zhen'e of an cold voice.All froze thinking in he’s words.- Tonight, says Zhu Cong, Sixth brother and me willdiscreetly follow Jing, to see who the expert is.The five approved.By the night fall, Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfas hid themselvesno far from the yourte of Guo Jing and his mother. Afterhalf-hour of waiting, they heard the young man say at ahigh voice: - I’m going, mom!He then left the yourte, discreetly followed by his twomasters, who were surprised by the speed of his pace.Fortunately, there wasn’t many obstacles to the view inthe arid plain, and they could see him from afar. Arrived tothe bottom of the cliff, he climbed it without slowing down.At this moment, Guo Jing had already made a hugeprogress in his lightness technique, and he had the habit

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Sep 2003Northern NJ501

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progress in his lightness technique, and he had the habitof climbing the cliff every evening, so he didn't need thehelp of the taoist anymore and went to the top veryquickly.Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfas were more and more astonishedstaying a long time in silence, until the arrival of theothers freaks. Fearing of falling in the hands of enemies,they had taken their weapons and their invisibleprojectiles. Zhu Cong explained that Guo Jing was alreadyup there. Han Xiaoying raised the head, saw the summit ofthe cliff lost in the clouds and shivered: - We’ll have a difficulty time going up there, she shouts.- Let's hide in the bushes, says Ke Zhen'e, we’ll wait thatthey come down again.The other five agreed.Han Xiaoying thought about the night ten years ago, thenight of the fight against the Two Mischievous of the BlackWind. The Seven brothers and her were also hided waitingfor the enemies. It was then a cold night as this one, thecold wind rushed through the bones, the lone moon, thedesolate hill, the wind of sand, the silence of the night onlybroken by some sounds coming from afar ... The onlydifference, was that she wouldn’t see anymore ZhangAsheng and his always smiling face. She the felt a cold inher heart.The hours passed, and they didn’t notice any movementon the summit of the cliff. The day rose, and still no traceof Guo Jing nor of his mysterious pedagogue. They tried tolook up there but couldn’t see nothing.-Sixth brother, says Zhu Cong, let's give a glance of whatis up there.- Will you succeed in climbing there? asks Han Baoju.- Not sure, but we can only know after we try, says ZhuCong.He returned running to the yourte and brought back twolong ropes, two axes and several big nails. Quan Jinfa andZhu Cong attached each other with the rope andundertook the ascension, by digging some holes andplanting the nails in order to make sure support points.They were in sweat, but finally arrived at the summit.Hardly they put the feet on the top that they threw ascream and became pale of fear.Next to a big rock, they saw, perfectly stacked, nine whiteskulls, five below, three to the middle and one in the top,identically to the disposition done once by the TwoMischievous of the Black Wind. Examining the skulls, theynoticed that each also carried five holes on the forehead.The borders of the holes were very clean, as cut with ablade, without any break. Obviously, the power of thefingers of the Mischievous had increased considerablywhen compared to the one they had ten years ago.With their heart bumping like drums, they cautiouslyexamined the surroundings, but didn’t saw anything elseunusual. Then they came down to tell to the others whatthey saw.Seeing their awful look, Han Baoju worried.- It’s Mei Chaofeng! says Zhu Cong. The other four froze.- And our Jing? asks for Han Xiaoying.

- And our Jing? asks for Han Xiaoying.- They came down by the other side, answered Quan Jinfa.And he told them what they had seen.- Who could have predicted, sighed Ke Zhen'e, that all ourefforts, during eighteen years, only served to feed a snakeamong us!- Jing is a honest and straightforward boy as gold,disagreed Han Xiaoying, he cant ever betray us.- Honest and straightforward? sneers Ke Zhen'e. Then howcould he learn the martial arts with this witch during twoyears and didn’t tell us anything?Han Xiaoying stayed silent, uneasy with out knowing whatto say.- Unless, says Han Baoju, Mei Chaofeng, now blind,wanted to use Jing to harm us?- It’s probably what she’s doing, confirmed Zhu Cong.- Even if Jing had bad intentions, protested Han Xiaoying,he could never play the a comedy like that!- Maybe, suggests Quan Jinfa, this witch didn’t estimatethat the moment to inform him of the plot, is not yet tocome.- Ok, let's admit, says Han Baoju, the lightness techniqueof Jing is good, he has a good basis in neigong, but forwhat is of martial arts, he stills far behind us.Why the witch she doesn't teach him any technique?- This witch only uses him, explained Ke Zhen'e, shedoesn't want to make him good! Didn't her husband die bythe hand of Jing?- It is that! It is that! exclaimed Zhu Cong. She wants thatwe all die by the hand of Jing, then she will kill him, likethat her vengeance will be fulfilled!All shivered, struck by the good possibility of thisreasoning. Ke Zhen'e hit of a big stroke the floor with hiscane and quietly says;- Now lets go back, while making as if we didn’t knownothing. When Jing will arrive, we will eliminate him. After,when the witch arrives to train him, we will take care ofher. Even though she may have became stronger thanbefore, she doesn't see anything, with the six of ustogether, we should be able to get ride of her once and forall.- Eliminate Jing? exclaimed Han Xiaoying, frightened. Andthe challenge we made with Qiu Chuji?- What’s more important? replies Ke Zhen'e coldly. Tohave our life safe or to go to that challenge?All stayed silent.- No, says sudden Nan Xiren. We cant do it.- What we cant do? asks for Han Baoju.- Eliminate him.- Eliminate Jing?Nan Xiren approved with the head.- I am of the opinion of Fourth brother, said Han Xiaoying.It’s necessary to interrogate him in depth in order to makesure we don’t do a irreparable mistake.- The problem is too serious, says Quan Jinfa. If, byweakness, we show the slightest hesitation, and that hebenefits from this to betray us in secret, what will happento us?- If we don’t take the right decision, says Zhu Cong, the

- If we don’t take the right decision, says Zhu Cong, theconsequences from it may be terrifying. Do not forget thatour adversary is that mischievous woman, Mei Chaofeng!- What do you think about it, Third brother? asks KeZhen'e.Han Baoju didn't know what to decide, but he saw thetears in the eyes of Han Xiaoying, that seemed so sad :- I’ll take the Fourth brother side, he says then. To killJing, I won't ever be able to.Thus, three Freaks were of the opinion to use violence onGuo Jing, the other three wished for a more measureddecision.- If Fifth brother was still among us, sighed Zhu Cong, itwould be possible to him to uneven us...While hearing him evoke Zhang Asheng, Han Xiaoying hadheart shake of saadness. Holding her tears, she then says:- How could we not want to revenge our Fifth brother?Let's obey to our older Brother wish!- Well then, says Ke Zhen'e. Let's go back to the camp.Back in their yourte, they all stayed silent, the death in thesoul.That night, when Guo Jing had arrived to the summit ofthe cliff, the taoist was there already. While seeing theyoung man, he tells him in a low voice, while showing himsomething next to the big rock where they usually trained:- Watch!Guo Jing approached, and saw, to the moonlight, the heapformed by the nine skulls and jumped :- The Two Mischievous of the Black Wind! he says of atrembling voice. Here they come again!- Do you know also the Two Mischievous of the BlackWind? asked the taoist.The young man told him the terrifying fights of that night,in the course of which his Fifth Shifu had lost his life andwhere he had himself, without wanting it, killed ChenXuanfeng. The pictures were again so present in his mindthat he could not stop himself from shivering. When hehad stabbed Copper Corpse, he was very young, but theterrifying images had been engraved deeply in hismemory.- This Copper Corpse caused so much suffering, sighed thetaoist, and he died of your hand!- My Shifus often speak of the Two Mischievous of theBlack Wind. For Third Shifu and Seventh Shifu, IronCorpse should be dead... But Older Shifu always says:"Not sure! Not sure! ." These nine skulls are arranged here, in fact, Iron Corpsecant therefore be dead... He shivered.- Did you see Mei Chaofeng? he asks.- I arrived here not long ago, answered the taoist. And Iimmediately notice this heap of skulls. Did Iron Corpsecame thus, to take herself against your Shifus and you?- Older Shifu turned her blind, says Guo Jing, we are notafraid of her.The taoist grabbed a skull by the hand and attentively

The taoist grabbed a skull by the hand and attentivelyexamined it.- This person has a gongfu of a terrifying power, he sayswhile nodding the head. I fear that your six Shifus are notof size to face her. And even if I lend them someassistance, we may not defeat her!Seeing him so assured of what he was saying, Guo Jingwas stunned :- Ten years ago, he says, she was not blind and yet shehad not succeeded in beating my seven Shifus. Today, weare eight... You... will you help us, in this or not?- I thought about it since for a little while, answered thetaoist after one instant of silence, but I don't understandhow her fingers can be this powerful... As says theproverb: " Those that wish you good don't come to findyou, those that come to find you don't wish you good" !Since she dares to come to take her vengeance, it is thatshe is very sure of her.- But for what reason did she arrange the skulls here?Won't we be on our guards after seeing it?- I imagine that it must be a part of the ritual to practicethe “Nine Yin White Bone claw ”... She must think that noone comes to the summit of this cliff so difficult to climb.Lack of luck, we fell over!Fearing that Mei Chaofeng had was already going to fighthis masters, Guo Jing says :- I am going to warn my Shifus.- Well, approved the taoist. Tell them that you transmit amessage on behalf of a good friend: that they are to heldaside during some time, the time to find the bestsolution... There’s no need to face her at all price.Guo Jing acquiesced, but to the very moment where hewas going to let itself slip along the cliff, the taoistgrabbed him and, of a light jump, jumped behind a bigrock where they themselves. Guo Jing was going to askhim what’s going on when the taoist put the hand over hismouth. He hold himself then against the rock, withoutdaring to make a noise, only risking to watch from an eye.Shortly after, a shade bounds on the other side of the cliff.Under the moon, its long hair floated to wind: it was MeiChaofeng. The other side of the hill was even steeper thanthe cliff: as she was blind, she probably couldn’t havemade the difference. That was a luck, because the SixFreaks were hidden of the side of the cliff. If she had goneup by there, she would not have failed to meet them, andthey would be already fighting!Mei Chaofeng turned suddenly around, Guo Jing afraidlowered the head quickly. Then he remembered that shewas blind, and he stood up slowly. He saw that she wassitting with her legs crossed on the big rock where hetrained himself every day, and began to inspire andexpire. He understood then that this was the way tobreathe and to master the breath constituted in fact thepractice of the neigong, and he felt a big recognition forthe taoist.A little later, he heard sudden crunches coming from thewhole body of Mei Chaofeng, first occasional, then fasterand faster, in a set of crackles, as when one grilled some

and faster, in a set of crackles, as when one grilled somepeanuts in a wok and that they exploded. The noise reallycame from the inside of her body, that stayed apparentlyimmobile. Guo Jing didn't know that it was a weird andsuperior form of the neigong, but he was still veryimpressed.The crackle lasted strong for a long time, then the rhythmslowed down, till it completely stopped. Guo Jing saw herrise then slowly, her left hand seized something in herwaist, that she made spring like a long silver snake. Firstsurprised, he saw then that it was a very big whip.

The Golden Dragon Whip of his Shifu Han Baoju didn'tpass six feet long, this one had to be more than fourZhangs long!She turned around slowly, the rays of the moonilluminated her face, that still was very pretty. But sheheld her closed eyes and, with her long hair, seemedsinister and frightening.In the silence, one heard her sigh and whisper :- My bastard of husband, could it be that, in the Hell whereyou are, you also think of me every day?Holding her whip by the middle, she quietly laughs andbegan to train.This whip danced in a curious way: the movements wereslow, and didn't make any noise. A stroke enveloping atthe East, an astounding other to the west, every attackwas more surprising than the other. All of a sudden, herhand slipped and caught up to its extremity the whip that,of all its length, reached a big rock that it enveloped andraised, as if it was a hand. Guo Jing was again quitestunned of this agility when the whip, after havingprojected the rock far away, moved back towards the headof the young man. To the moonlight, one saw distinctly, atthe end of the whip, about ten ends of very sharp hooks.Guo Jing was already holding his knife. Seeing the whipcoming in his way, he was going to avoid the stroke,without even think about it, when he felt his arm go numband a hand came to plate him on the ground. Like a silverylightning, the extremity of the whip passed above hishead. "If the Taoist friend had not stopped me in time, hethought covered of cold sweat, and if my dagger hadtouched its goal, the whip would certainly smash my skull!" Fortunately, the Taoist did it efficiently and quietly, andMei Chaofeng didn't notice anything.She trained during a certain time, then replaced the whipto her waist, and took from her fob a piece of cloth orleather, that she unfolded and spread on the floor. Shegroped, thought, stood up to sketch some movements,lowered herself again to feel the thing and to think again.Finally, she ranged it and went away by the other side ofthe hill.Guo Jing sighed and stood up.- Let's follow her, said the Taoist in a low voice. Let's seewhat mischievous plan she’s preparing us!He caught the young man by the belt and the two slowlyslipped downwards of the hill.When they touched earth, they saw the Mei Chaofengalready far away up the north. The Taoist took Guo Jing

already far away up the north. The Taoist took Guo Jingunder his arm, this one felt a lot lighter and the two ofthem went at a great speed, through the desert, after IronCorpose. When the dawn pointed out, they saw a campformed of several score of big tents far away. The shadowof Mei Chaofeng soon disappeared between the tents.They accelerated the pace, avoiding the sentries and thepatrols, till they arrived at a big yellow tent. Guo Jingplated itself to soil, raised a flap of the tent slightly to givea look of the inside. He then saw a man draw his largeknife and hit a huge man, that collapsed on the ground.In its fall, his face was precisely in the field of vision of theTaoist and Guo Jing. However this one recognized him: hewas a personal guard of Temüjin! He was stunned: "Howcould it be that he came to be killed here?" he wondered,while raising a little more the flap of the tent. At thismoment, the murderer turned around and Guo Jingrecognized Senggüm, the son of To'oril.Senggüm wiped the blade on his sole and says :- Now you don’t have any more doubts, don’t you?- My brother Temüjin is intelligent and courageous,answered a man, this plan seems to me difficult toachieve.Guo Jing recognized the sworn brother of Temüjin,Jamuqa.- Since you like your sworn brother this much, sneeredSenggüm, hey…well, you only have to go and warn him!- You, says Jamuqa, you are also my sworn brother. Yourfather filled me with kindness, I wont betray you. BesidesTemüjin has the ambition of absorbing my troops into his,I know it very well.It is only because of our oath of fraternity that I didn'tbreak our relations yet."Could they be plotting against the Khan Temüjin?wondered Guo Jing. How is this possible? "- The one that takes the initiative always has theadvantage, said another man. If you wait that he comes toattack you, you are lost! After the victory, all goods ofTemüjm, his herds, his wives, his treasures, will comeback to Senggüm. His men, on the other hand, will beincorporated in Jamuqa’s army, that will receive the title of"General conqueror of the North" from the Jin empire.Guo Jing could only see his back, then he crawled farther alittle, in order to see him better. Clothed of a sumptuousyellow brocade tunic, covered of sable, the man was notunknown to him, but he took a certain time to rememberhis identity. "Yes, he’s the Sixth Prince of the Jin empire”.Jamuqa seemed convinced by this speech.- So To'oril, if my adoptive father gives me the order, hesays, I will evidently obey.- Since you put it like this, says Senggüm, very happy, ifmy father doesn't give the order to do it, he will offend theJin empire. In a little while, I will be going to ask him, hewon't be able to refuse it to the Sixth Prince.- Soon, continued Wanyan Honglie, the troops of theempire are going to descend in the South to destroy theSong. At that moment, each among you, to the head oftwenty thousand men, will be able to participate in the

twenty thousand men, will be able to participate in theinvasion. After the victory, others rewards will wait you!- I always heard, exclaimed Senggüm full of joy, that theSouth was a marvelous world, paved of gold, where allwomen look like flowers. If the Sixth Lord could take us alltwo to amuse us, it would be perfect!- Nothing easier, says Wanyan Honglie while smiling, Ionly fear that there could be too many beautiful women inthe South that you cant face all of them!All exploded laughing.- Now, pursued the prince, tell me how you intend to takecare of Temüjin... In fact, I had already asked him to helpus to destroy the Song, but he always refused.He’s a clever man, we cant give him any reasons to doubtof us. This is why we need to redouble of precautions.At that moment, Guo Jing felt that the taoist pulled him bythe sleeve. He turned around, and saw Mei Chaofeng alittle farther away, that had caught someone and seemedto question him. "Whatever is this witch's intentions, hethought, my Shifus aren’t threatened for now, I am goingto try first to know more about the plot against the Khanand then take a decision about what to do”. He thenturned again inwards of the tent.- He promised his daughter to my son, said Senggüm,while showing the body on the floor, and sent an emissaryto agree of the date of the marriage. I’ll immediately go toask him to come here to confer with my father. He willsurely come, without an important escort. I will placesome men in ambush on the whole path, and even if hehad three heads and six arms, he won't escape to mealive!He exploded in laugh.- Well, says Jamuqa, as soon as one has eliminatedTemüjin, our two armies will invest his camp.Guo Jing was full of anger and concern: "How, could theman's heart be so cruel, to the point of plotting against hissworn brother! "He stretched the ear again, but the taoistpulled him out by the waist. He moved back, and waslightly touched by Mei Chaofeng, that was leaving veryquickly, holding someone by the neck.The taoist took Guo Jing by the hand and the two movedaway from the tents.- She’s trying to know where your Shifus are, said thetaoist in a low voice. We must go there immediately,otherwise it will be too lateThe two started their lightless technique and ran briskly.When they arrived before the yourte of the Six Freaks, itwas already close to noon.- In the beginning, says the taoist, I didn't want to appear,this is why I recommended to you to not say anythingabout me to your Shifus. But now, there is emergency,and one cannot worry anymore of details. Go and say thatMa Yu, of the absolute Perfection Sect, demand to see theSix Valiant knights of the Jiangnan.Since two years, Guo Jing saw him every evening, but itwas only to this instant that he learned his name. Withoutknowing what character precisely was this "Ma Yu, of theabsolute Perfection Sect", he acquiesced and ran in the

absolute Perfection Sect", he acquiesced and ran in theyourte while shouting :- Older Shifu!As soon as he entered, his two wrists were clutchedbrutally, and he felt a sharp pain to the knees, that madehim fall on the ground. He then saw his Older Shifu, KeZhen'e, knock him down with his heavy cane of iron.Completely terrified , he didn't even tryed to struggle or todefend himself, closed the eyes and waited the death. Heheard the shock of two weapons then, and felt someone tothrow himself over him.He opened the eyes, and saw the Seventh Shifu, HanXiaoying, that protected him with her body, while shouting:- Older Brother, one instant please!Her sword, with which she had avoided the stroke, hadflown far away. Ke Zhen'e sighed, knocked his caneheavily on the floor down :- Seventh Sister always has a too tender heart!Guo Jing realized then that Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfas hadseized his wrists! He didn't understand anything anymore.- Where is the person who teach you the neigong? asks forKe Zhen'e with severity.- Him... Him... stammers Guo Jing. He is... There…outside... He asks toto see you...Surprised to see Mei Chaofeng coming to find them atdaylight, the Six Fanciful hurried outside, the weapons tothe hand. But they only saw a taoist white haired, thehands joined in a salute. No sign of Mei Chaofeng!- Where is this witch of Mei Chaofeng? shouts Zhu Cong,without releasing the wrist of Guo Jing.- I saw her last night, answered this one, I fear that shemay come in soon!The Six looked at Ma Yu with puzzlement. This oneadvanced briskly and greeted :- For a long time I admire the Six Valiant knights of theJiangnan. Today, I finally meet them, it is a huge honor forme.Zhu Cong, still holding Guo Jing, nodded the head toanswer the salute and said:- We don't dare to ask for the respectable name of thetaoist master.Guo Jing remembered that he had not announced thevisitor and hastened to say :- He’s Ma Yu, of the absolute Perfection Sect.The surprise of the Six Freaks was huge. They knew thatMa Yu, that had for nickname " Sun of cinnabar", was thefirst disciple of the founder of the absolute Perfection Sect,Wang Chongyang. After the death of the last, Ma Yubecame therefore the Older Master of the Sect. Qiu Chuji,perpetual Spring, was even his younger brother. Only, ashe always lived reclusive in the temple, especiallydedicating himself to the meditation, and since he hardlyever put the feet in the “Streams and the Lakes” region,his reputation in the world of the martial arts didn't equalthe one of Qiu. As for the power of his gongfu, no one hadever seen it in action and could not judge how strong hewas.

was.- Here is the Older Master of the absolute Perfection Sect,said Ke Zhen'e. We are very honored. What comes tomake the taoist Master up in the desert of the North? Doesit have a relation with the competition in Jiaxing, challengeof your brothers-in-arms that we raised?- My miserable younger brother, when he should dedicatehimself to the practice of the Way, likes to tackle with theother, often trying to win and to impose his viewpoint,what is quite contrary to our principles. I reprimanded himtime and time again on this topic. I don't have theintention to mingle me of his bet with you, the Six Valiantknights, and it doesn't have anything to do with me. Twoyears ago, I met this child by chance. Finding him a pureand good heart, I took the liberty to teach him some ritualformulas to fortify the body and to feed the character, thatespecially have a virtue for longevity. It is true that I tookthis initiative without having asked beforehand for theauthorization of the Six Valiant knights, I hope they wonthold any anger cause of it.But, I didn't teach him any martial technique, and we don'thave at all a master to disciple relation. We could say thatI merely made myself a young friend, and that we neverbroke any rules of our world.Saying it, he smiled warmly.The Six were very surprised, but could only agree with hisexplanations. Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfas then released thewrists of Guo Jing.- My child, said all happy Han Xiaoying, it was then theSenior Taoist who gave you some lessons? Why didn't youtell us about him earlier? We were mistaken judging you!She caressed him the shoulder, founding of tenderness.- He... stammers Guo Jing, it was him who told me to notsay anything...- How that, "he", "him" ? reprimanded Han Xiaoying. It isvery disrespectful, little kid, you need to say “SeniorTaoist”...She scolded him, but her happy face showed the truefeelings.- Yes, acquiesced submissively Guo Jing. The "SeniorTaoist." Since two years ago, he always treated My Yu on equalterms, without having ever thought to speak to him at thethird person, in sign of respect, while calling him " SeniorTaoist" for example, and My Yu had never taken offense.- I travel like a cloud, says My Yu, without itinerary norfinal destination, and I don't like to bother the others. Thisis why, even being neighbor of the Six Valiant knights, Ididn't come to greet you. I ask you again to forgive me.He greeted them again. In fact, after acknowledge the circumstances of the arrivalof the Six Freaks, he had felt for them a big admiration.He interrogated Yi Zhiping, that confirmed to him that GuoJing didn't have any basis in neigong. As Senior of theabsolute Perfection Sect, he knew perfectly the principlesof the Taoism, that prone the constriction of oneself to goin the sense of the other. He didn't wish that Qiu Chuji wasable to, in this matter, to impose itself against the Six

able to, in this matter, to impose itself against the SixFreaks. But he had good to try to convince he’s brother inarms repeatedly, Qiu didn't want to hear anything about it.As last resort, he came in the desert, trying to help GuoJingm with out telling to anyone. Otherwise how would hehave met the child, by accident , in the immensity of theNorth plain? And what other reason would he have,otherwise, for dedicating two whole years of his life to giveGuo a precious teaching? If Mei Chaofeng had notreemerged unexpectedly, he would have discreetly left toSouth, once assured that the neigong foundations of GuoJing were well establishedl. Nor the Six Freaks nor QiuChuji would have suspected of anything.Owing so much nobility and humility, that contrasted withthe bravery and deprived arrogance of his brothers-in-arms, the Six tilted and greeted. They were going toinquire him about Mei Chaofeng when they heard thenoises of horses to the gallop, and they saw several ridersheading towards the big tent of Temüjin.Guo Jing understood that it was the emissaries ofSenggüm, who had come to attract him into a trap, andstarted to panic.- Senior Shifu, he says to Ke Zhen'e, it is necessary that Ileave one moment.Ke Zhen'e had almost seriously wound him a while agoand regretted it. He felt even more compassion for thisdisciple and feared to see him meet Mei Chaofeng if hemoved away. Thus, he said :- No, you remain close to us, don't move away at anycase!Guo Jing was going to explain to him why he had to leave,but Ke Zhen'e had begun to discuss, with Ma Yu, of thetitanic fight against the Two Mischievous of the BlackWind. In spite of his anguish, the young man didn't dare tointerrupt his Senior Shifu, who got in anger for a merenothing. He hoped to be able to benefit from a pause inthe conversation to explain the emergency of the situation.Suddenly, a horse arrived at quick pace, the rider wore ashort jacket in black fox: it was Huazheng. She stoppedten feet away, making signals. Fearing to be punished byhis Shifus, Guo Jing didn't dare to move away, but madeher a signal so that she approached. The girl had red andswollen eyes, as if she had cried.- Dad, she says while sobbing, wants me to go marry thisDushi...- Quickly, says Guo Jing, go warn the Khan that Senggümand Jamuqas prepared a trap and want to kill him...- Is it true? asked Huazheng, stunned.- Absolutely true, answered Guo Jing, I heard it of my ownears. Go warn your father quickly.- Okay! assents Huazheng.The face full of joy, she went back up on her horse and leftat great speed."One wants to murder the Khan and you seem all happy? "wondered internally Guo Jing. Then he understood that,she would not have to marry Dushi. He liked the girl as hissister and always protected her. Wondering if she wasgoing to be able to avoid this disgraced marriage, he was

going to be able to avoid this disgraced marriage, he wasdelighted for her and came back the smile to the lips.- I don't have the intention to glorify the enemy nor tobelittle us, said Ma Yu, but Mei Chaofeng visibly knows theessence of the Senior of the Peach blossom islandteachings, Huang the alchemist. Her Nine Yin White Boneclaw is practically invincible, and the strokes of her Silverwhip of four Zhangs nearly unstoppable. If we unite ourstrengths, we may not lose, but we won't certainly defeather without suffering some damages.- This woman is effectively dangerous, says Han Xiaoying,but us the Seven Freaks of the Jiangnan, we vow her animplacable hate.- One told me, says Ma Yu, that your Fifth brother, Zhangthe Valiant knight, as well as Dragon in full sky, the valiantKe, have been both killed by Chen Xuanfeng. But as youkilled Copper Corpse, one could consider that the debt hasbeen paid. As say the Ancients: is better to unknot a hatethat to tie it. Mei Chaofeng is henceforth an single woman,affected in addition to a serious handicap, she alsoappears to pity...The Six stayed silent during some instants.- She finalized this perverse and dangerous technique,said Han Baoju, that is going to cause the death ofinnumerable innocents! Senior Taoist, even though you aremoved by compassion, you cant let her go in allimpunity... - This time, said Zhu Cong, it is her that cameto look for us, and no the opposite...- And even though we avoid it this time, says Quan Jinfa,if she indeed wants to take a vengeance on us, we willnever be in security.- I imagined a small stratagem, said Ma Yu, but it isnecessary that the Six Valiant knights appearmagnanimous and, taking mercy of this poor wretch, lether the possibility of redemption.Zhu Cong didn't want to speak, letting to Ke Zhen'e thecare to decide.- Us other the Seven Freaks of the Jiangnan, said this one,have a coarse and brutal temperament. We only know howto fight to the barbaric. If the Senior Taoist wants toindicate us a path, we would be very thankful for it. Youonly have to speak.While listening to Ma Yu, he had understood that, duringthese ten years, Mei Chaofeng had made considerableprogress. In appearance, the Taoist was trying to grantthe safe life to Iron Corpse, but in reality he tried to savethe face of the Six Freaks, his real intention being toindicate them a way to escape the terrifying claws of Mei.The other Freaks believed that their Senior Brother hadbecome merciful and were astonished.- As showing this merciful, Senior Brother Ke, said Ma Yu,thus you will receive the blessing of the Sky. There is asomething else very important. According to me, duringthese ten years, Mei Chaofeng certainly received theteaching of Huang the alchemist.- But one says, wondered Zhu Cong, that the TwoMischievous of the Black Wind were renegade disciples ofthe Peach blossom island Senior. How would Huang the

alchemist be able to teach her again?- It is what I also believed, said Ma Yu. But according tothe description that you made of the fight you had, hergongfu of then is by far lower than the one of today. If shedidn't receive the indications of an illuminated Senior, itwould be impossible to her, while training all alone, toarrive to her present level. Then if we kill today IronCorpse, the alchemist risks to be angry at us...Ke Zhen'e and Zhu Congs had already heard to speak ofthe gongfu of Huang the alchemist, often in soexaggerated terms that they had difficulty believing in thisman's power. But the absolute Perfection Sect representedthe orthodox origin of all martial arts. So if the Senior feltsuch a fear with regard to the alchemist, it was evidentlysomething to take into account.- The Senior Taoist thinks of everything, said Zhu Cong,we can only be in admiration. Please make us part of youridea that will be necessarily astute.- This miserable stratagem, said Ma Yu, may appear a littlesnobbish, I’m afraid, and I ask the Six Valiant knights tonot laugh of it.- The Senior Taoist is too modest, says Zhu Cong, thereputation of the Seven Perfect, disciples of WangChongyang, is so very established that she causes thegeneral admiration!Zhu Cong felt a real respect with regards to Ma Yu.Indeed, he would not held such a respect to Qiu Chuji, thatwas also part, of the Seven Perfect of the absolutePerfection.- Thanks to the virtues of our defunct Shifu, said Ma Yu, usothers seven brothers-in-arms benefit from a smallauthority in the world of the martial arts, and I think thatthis Mei Chaofeng would not dare to come herself againstus. This is why I imagined a ruse, in order to make herleave on the only faith of our vain reputation. Thisstratagem lacks nobility and exemption, but as ourintention is to make the good, the end justifies the means,and it won't harm to the honorable reputation of the SixValiant knights.He then explained the artifice. The Six Freaks found itrather depreciating: they thought to themselves that eventhough Mei Chaofeng had made important progress, oreven though Huang the alchemist came in person, whatthey risked? At most they would lose life, as Zhang Ashengten years before! Ma Yu undertook to convince them.Finally, the Six Freaks, out of respect for him and byrecognition for everything that he had made for Guo Jing,accepted.After having taken some refreshments, they movedtowards the cliff. Ma Yu and Guo Jing undertook theascension ahead. The Six noticed that the taoist didn't tryto show of his skills and he slowly climbed behind GuoJing, but his steps were firm and his movements of a greatstability, what showed the power of his gongfu. "He iscertainly not weaker than Qiu Chuji, how comes thereputation of this last is so big, whereas one doesn't knowpractically anything about Ma Yu? The explanation comesfrom their difference of character..." Arrived at the top, Ma

from their difference of character..." Arrived at the top, MaYu and Guo Jing pushed then the Six to the summit withlong ropes.They could then examine, on the rocks, the traces let bythe whip of Mei Chaofeng. They were stunned, and finallybelieved on the words of Ma Yu.The eight sat down and waited. The night had fallprogressively, and it was already late. Han Baoju began tolose patience :- How comes that she is this late?- Quiet! says Ke Zhen'e, there she is!They all opened their ear, without hearing anything. OnlyKe Zhen'e, with his particularly developed hearing, haddiscerned the steps of the Iron Corpse, that was several liaway.But she was coming: they saw, on the moonlight, like ablack smoke that approached at a very quick pace and inthe blink of an eye to the foot of the cliff, that she climbedwith agility. Zhu Cong exchanged a look with Quan Jinfaand Han Xiaoying: he saw that they had face all pale,anguished, and thought that himself should present suchan aspect.Very quickly, Mei Chaofeng bounds on the esplanade. Onher back, she carried someone that wasn’t moving, theydidn't know if he was either alive or already dead. GuoJing had the impression that this person wore a dress thatwas familiar to him. He watched more attentively andrecognized in fact the short jacket in black fox ofHuazheng. Of surprise, he was going to cry when ZhuCong, that had a quick eye and the a fast gesture, put hishand on his mouth, while saying at a high voice :- This harmful witch of Mei Chaofeng, if she falls betweenmy hands, me, Qiu Chuji, I won't let her escape!Surprised by the noise on the esplanade, Iron Corpse waseven more astonished to hear the name of Qiu Chuji andher own name. She hid behind a rock to listen theconversation. Ma Yu and the Six Freaks clearly saw herintentions and, in spite of their tension, wanted to laugh.Only Guo Jing, worried by the security of Huazheng,trembled of anguish.- Mei Chaofeng arranged this skulls here, said Han Baoju,she is certainly going to come , we only have to wait forher.Not knowing how many powerful enemies were gatheredtogether in this place, she remained immobile behind therock.- She certainly caused us a lot of pain, but the absolutePerfection Sect as always prone compassion and mercy forthe other. Let's give her the possibility to repent herself.- The Lady of the Purity and the tranquility has always atender heart, says Zhu Cong while laughing. Notastonishing that Shifu always said that you would reachthe Way easily!Wang Chongyang, the founder of the absolute PerfectionSect, had seven disciples, whose reputation was wellestablished in the world of the martial arts: on the firstrank was Ma Yu, called Sun of cinnabar, on the second TanChuduan, called " Eternal truth" ; then followed each other

Chuduan, called " Eternal truth" ; then followed each otherby Liu Chuxuan, called "Eternal life", Qiu Chuji, calledperpetual Spring, Wang Chuyi, called "Sun of jade", HeyDatong, called "Infinite peace", and finally the last disciplewas called Sun Bu'er, called "Lady of the Purity and thetranquillity", who had been the wife of Ma Yu before thisone enter into the religion.- Brother Tan, did ask for Han Xiaoying, what you thinkabout it?- Her crimes deserve an exemplary punishment! repliesNan Xiren.- Brother Tan, says Zhu Cong, lately you made a bigprogress in your technique of the "Finger calligrapher."Later, when this devil one arrives, will you make us ademonstration?- Is better to let Brother Wang show us his technique of"Foot of iron", said Nan Xiren. Of a kick, he will send herdown the cliff, where she will lose the body and soul.Among the Seven Perfect of the absolute Perfection Sect,Qiu Chuji was the most known, then came Wang Chuyi,Sun of jade. Once, for a bet, he had held close to an abysson only one foot, swinging forth and backwards in a violentwind that raised his large sleeves. Several braves of theShandong and the Hebei attended to the stage, astoundedand amazed. This exploit worth him the immortal'snickname of “Foot of iron”. He had lived reclusive in anunderground cave during nine years, dedicating himself tothe practice of the martial arts. Even Qiu Chuji appearedvery admired of his gongfu. He had dedicated him a poem,in which of the formulas as "Nine standing summers in thesun, three winters lain down in snow" celebrated thepower of his neigong.All these retorts between them had been studied inadvance. Only Ke Zhen'e, that had already spoken to theTwo Mischievous of the Black Wind, stayed silent, so thatMei Chaofeng didn't recognize him by his voice.Iron Corpse was more and more astonished: "Apparently,the Seven Perfect of the absolute Perfection Sect are here!I am not already certain to be able to beat a single Taoist,how would I with the seven united! If they discover me, Iam dead! "At that moment, the moon illuminated the esplanadeperfectly. But Zhu Cong says :- This night, the black clouds invaded the sky, one can'teven see the five fingers of the hand! That everybody beon is guards, so that this witch doesn't take advantage ofthe obscurity to escape!"It's a good thing that it is a black night, reassured herselfMei Chaofeng, otherwise they would already havediscovered me. I return to thanks the Sky and the Earth!So long as the moon doesn't appear!"Guo Jing had not stopped looking to Huazheng. Hesuddenly saw that she opened the eyes mildly. Delightedto see her regain conscience, he made her signals with thehands so that she remained calm. However, the girl, whohad also seen him, exclaimed :- Help! Help!- Don’t say nothing! shouts Guo Jing.

- Don’t say nothing! shouts Guo Jing.These screams surprised Mei Chaofeng. She immediatelypushed the finger on one particular point of Huazheng’sbody, that turned the girl mute: the suspicion hadawakened in her mind.- Zhiping, said Zhu Cong, is that you that has just spoken?Indeed, Guo Jing was supposed to play the role of theyoungster Taoist Yi Zhiping.- Yes... Yes, me...- I believed, says Zhu Cong, to hear a woman's voice,again.- Precisely, confirmed Guo Jing."And if, thought Mei Chaofeng, this was a trap? The SevenPerfect of the absolute Perfection Sect are united preciselyin the desert, to the summit of this cliff far away fromeverything, what a coincidence! Unless someone is tryingto take advantage of my blindness to deceive me? "Ma Yu saw her slowly standing up behind her rock andunderstood that she began to have some suspicions.However, if she discovered the scheme and immediatelypass to the attack, himself we wouldn’t probably riskmuch, but Huazheng would certainly succumb, and the SixFreaks would undergo some injuries without a doubt. Hewas therefore very anguished, but he had never had a fastmind and he didn't know what to do.Seeing that Mei Chaofeng, a big whip silvered to the hand,seemed about to attack, Zhu Cong hastened to say :- Senior Brother, during all these last years, you practicedthe most sophisticated techniques transmitted by our Shifuassiduously, you should have gotten consequent results.What would you say to make us a demonstration of it?Ma Yu understood that Zhu Cong suggested him to showthe power of his gongfu, in order to impress Mei Chaofeng.- I am certainly the eldest of our schoolmates, he saysthen, but my stupid nature makes me less capable thanyou all. The formulas transmitted by our Shifu, I amashamed to say it, I hardly understood a sentence of it...He pronounced each of his words very slowly, whilefeeding them his breath fully. The tone was quiet andhumble, but the voice carried and resounded very far. Hehad not finished to pronounce his last speech that the echoof the first came back with winds, as growls of tiger andthe screams of dragon.Witness of this demonstration of an extraordinarilypowerful neigong, Mei Chaofeng, impressed, loweredherself slowly behind her rock.

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03-14-05, 10:09 AM

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"I have heard " said Ma Yu " that this woman has lost hermind, and that she is, rather, worthy of pity. If she herselfrepents of her past sins, if she promises to no longer harm

#10

Mojo Jojo

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repents of her past sins, if she promises to no longer harmthe innocent, and that furthermore she will not trouble theJiangnan Odd Six, well, we could let her continue livingbecause our departed master formerly had respectfulrelations with the master of Peach Blossom Island. BrotherQiu, you are the friend of the Odd Six; you should go tospeak to them, to ask them to no more try and seek areckoning with her. If both parties make an effort, thevendetta can extinguish itself."

This time, he spoke without using his internal energy, inorder that there did not appear to be such a great powerdifference between the others and himself.

" That is easy," replied Zhu Cong. " The problem isknowing if Mei Chaofeng will agree to correct herself, ornot."

Suddenly, an icy voice was heard:

" Many thanks to the Quanzhen Seven for theirbenevolence! I am here, Mei Chaofeng, in person!"

Suddenly and surprisingly, she appeared. Ma Yu hadhoped to frighten her and to make her leave, that shewould regret her deeds and would amend her ways. Butconfident in her new power, she had the audacity to comeand confront her opponents directly.

" Being a woman," said Mei Chaofeng, " I would not dareto contest myself against the Taoist masters. But for along time I have admired the gongfu of the Lady of Purityand Stillness, I ask the honour to measure myself to her."

Armed with her whip, she stood on guard, waiting for HanXiaoying's response.

At that moment, Guo Jing was acutely aware thatHuazheng had fallen to the ground, motionless. Havinggrown up with her, he held for the girl the affection of anelder brother. Without a moment's reflection, without evenworrying about the terrifying presence of Mei Chaofeng, heleaped out and freed Huazheng. With a left hook, the 'IronCorpse' seized his left wrist. Now, with Ma Yu, Guo Jinghad practiced orthodox Taiost inner energy for two years,and his healthy body was strengthened by a natural force.With his right hand, he propelled Huazheng towards HanXiaoying, while he pivoted his left hand with force andreleased himself from Mei's control. She, who possessedextremely swift skills, felt Guo Jing escape and advancedher hand immediately to recapture him. This time, sheheld him firmly, compressing the joint of the principalartery of his arm, so well that he could no longer move.

" Who are you? she demanded in a terrible voice.

" Zhiping," cried Zhu Cong, "listen!"

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Guo Jing, who was already panicked because he could notfree himself, was going to reply instinctively "I am GuoJing!" when he heard the warning of Zhu Cong.

" I am..." he stammered, " I am Yin Zhiping... Disciple...disciple of the Quanzhen .. ... Spring"

Although he had repeated those words thirty or fortytimes, in his panic he was not able to say it withoutstammering.

" He is only a simple apprentice," Mei Chaofeng said toherself, " and his neigong already is capable: not only didhe succeed in saving someone under my nose, but he haseven been able to release himself from my first stroke! Ithink it's better that I retreat this time."

She dropped his hand. Guo Jing itself hastily returned tohis masters: five marks were deeply inlaid into the flesh ofhis left arm! He knew well that she had not used all herpower, otherwise his wrist already would have beenbroken.

Mei Chaofeng did not dare anymore to challenge the falseSun Bu'er, that was played by Han Xiaoying. She suddenlyasked:

" Taoist Master Ma, what is the meaning of 'Lead andmercury preserve well'?"" Lead is heavy," responded Ma Yu automatically, " itresembles the kidneys; the mercury is liquid, it is ametaphor for internal warming. « Lead and mercurypreserve well» means that it is good to stabilize thekidneys and to extinguish the internal fire, in order toobtain results from meditation."

" And what is the meaning of "Babe of the girl Cha"?"pursued Mei Chaofeng.

Ma Yu suddenly became aware that she asked for him toexplain secret formulas of neigong!

" Heretical witch," he cried, " Do not try to to extract thesecrets of my sect from me! Leave quickly!"

Mei Chaofeng laughed:

" Thank you for your pointers, Taoist Master!"

She suddenly leapt, armed with her silvery whip, and sheglided to the bottom of the cliff at an unbelievable speed.Those remaining looked on, themselves relieved, glad tohave escaped. Far away, in the desert, a shadow wentspinning away like a phantom.

Ma Yu unsealed Huazheng's acupoints, thus returning herability to move. The girl laid herself on a boulder to rest.

" In ten years," said Zhu Cong, "that woman made suchprogress that if the Taoist Master had not lent us a stronghand today, our account would have been settled!

Ma Yu responded modestly, but his eyebrows weregathered, as if an inner worry tormented him.

" If there is some task to finish," said Zhu Cong, " we arenot capable of great things, but we can at least do yourbidding. Do not hesitate therefore to ask it of us."

" By my oversight," said Ma Yu, " I was trapped by thatcrafty woman!"

" Were you injured by a secret weapon?" demanded theSix.

" No," replied Ma Yu, " it is nothing like that. That time sheasked me a question, I replied without thinking, and I fearthat it might result in further evil."

His friends were perplexed and seemed not to understand.The Taoist explained:

" The external technique of Iron Corpse has alreadyreached a level that we cannot even imagine. Even if mybrothers Qiu and Wang really had been present here, wemight not have been able to overcome her. That theMaster of Peach Blossom Island succeeded in producing adisciple of such strength...that indicates his own power.Only the neigong of Mei Chaofeng is not at all advanced. Ido not know where she succeeded finding secret formulasto practice the Taiost neigong, but without pointers from amaster, she was not able to understand them. That time,she asked me to explain a formula, of which lack ofunderstanding had to have arrested her progression. Irealized something was wrong and did not reply to hersecond question, but my first explanation would alreadyallow her to make great progress in her neigong."

" Let us only hope," said Han Xiaoying, " that she willregret her past crimes and no more do evil."

" May it be thus! says Ma Yu. " Otherwise, if her neigongbecomes stronger, it will be yet more difficult to contain...Ah, this is my fault, I was too naïve, for not distrustingher..."

After a moment's thought, he continued:

" One thing intrigues me. The skills of the Peach BlossomIsland are completely different to those of Taoism. Yet,nonetheless, these two formulas that she quotedcorrespond precisely to our Taoist neigong. How that is itpossible?"

At this point in time, Huazheng suddenly leapt off her

At this point in time, Huazheng suddenly leapt off herboulder:

" Ah!" she cried, "Guo Jing! Father did not believe me, heleft to go to To'oril!"

" Why?" Guo Jing asked.

" I explained to him," said Huazheng, " that UncleSenggüm and Uncle Jamuqa plotted against him. He thenburst out laughing, saying that not wanting to marryDushi, I invented lies! I said to him that you had heard itwith your own ears, but he did not want to believe it,saying even that he would punish you on his return. I sawhim leave with my three elder brothers and a small escort,then I hurried to come to find you. But on the way, thatblind woman caught me. She wanted to bring me to seeyou, isn't that right?"

" If we had not been here," said the Six ominously," youalready would have had five holes in your skull!"

" When did the Khan leave?" demanded Guo Jinganxiously.

" A long time ago", responded Huazheng. " Father saidthat he wanted to arrive as soon as possible. He did noteven wait for sunrise to leave. Their horses are very quick,they must be far away now. Is it really true that UncleSenggüm wants to harm Father? What will we do?"

She herself began to weep. As this was the first time of hislife that he found himself confronted with a matter sograve, Guo Jing was himself all distraught.

"Jing-er," said Zhu Cong, " Quickly descend the cliff: youtake your small red horse and rescue the Khan. Even if itis not true, let us first send someone to ascertainSenggüm's. Huazheng, will you ask your brother Tolui tomuster troops and to carry itself to rescue your father."

Guo Jing agreed with recognition and quickly descendedthe cliff. Ma Yu went next descending with Huazheng whilehanging on to a long rope.

The young man dashed to his yurt, mounted his horse andthey set off in a frantic gallop.

At that moment, the sun started to rise. Guo Jing, veryworried, said: "I fear that the Khan might already havefallen into Senggüm's trap, then it will be impossible torescue him!"

The small red horse loved to run off its bridle, and its heartdanced in joy. It galloped more and more quickly on theplain. Fearing that it would fall, Guo Jing tried to rein it ina little, but the animal wanted nothing to do with it, andrushed on while whinnying in joy. Besides, even at great

rushed on while whinnying in joy. Besides, even at greatspeed, it did not seem to show no signs of fatigue.

After more than two hours' galloping, Guo Jing slowed hismount to rest a little. Then they continued upon their way.One hour later, they saw far away three cohorts of riders,three squadrons, it seemed.

While approaching, he recognized the standards of To'oril:the riders advanced themselves, arrows on string andsabres drawn, ready for battle.

" The Khan is further on," lamented Guo Jing, " but his lineof retreat already is cut!" He pressed his thighs and hishorse raced on like an arrow, passing To'oril's troops. Theycried for him to stop, but he was already far gone.

Guo Jing do not dare to linger. He discerned again threesquadrons lying in wait, before he saw, raised far away,the high plume of white feathers that signaled thepresence of Temüjin. Escorted by several hundred riders,they rode tranquilly heading for the north.

Guo Jing rose to his full height and cried:

" Great Khan! Stop, you mustn't go on!"

Temüjin halted, taken aback:

"Why is this?"

Guo Jing him recounted what he had heard in the camp ofSenggüm, and explained that his line of retreat had beencut. Temüjin glanced at him skeptically, not knowingwhether he should believe it: " I never got along well withthat fool Senggüm," he said to himself, " but my adoptedfather To'oril needs me now. And Jamuqa is my swornbrother! How could they plot against me? Unless this is theSixth Jin Prince trying to sow dissension?"

He hesitated, and Guo Jing said suddenly:

" Great Khan, you have only to send someone back theway that you have just travelled and you will see..."

Since childhood, Temüjin had lived in the middle of plotsand treacheries, he had survived hundreds of battlesthanks to his bravery and his caution. Even though he hadsaid that it was absolutely impossible that To'oril andJamuqa could have allied themselves against him, he said:" To be careful ten thousand times is not serious; but todie by carelessness one time is."

He then ordered his second son, Jagataï, to leave withTchila'un. The two men went back over the way they hadcome.

Temüjin observed the lay of the land and ordered:

" Let us ascend the hill and make ready!"His escort was made up of from some hundreds of men,but they were all elite soldiers and officers. Withoutneeding other orders, they dug trenches, raisedbarricades, and got ready to withstand a siege.

Shortly after, one saw dust clouds rising in the south,raised by several thousands of riders that galloped inpursuit of Jagataï and Tchila'un. Jebe had particularly goodeyesight and distinguished the banners of the pursuers.

" They are the soldiers of To'oril" he shouted.

These had divided themselves in several detachments andtried to surround Jagataï and Tchila'un. The two menleaned on their saddles, and desperately whipped theirmounts.

" Guo Jing!" cried Jebe. " To their aid!"

Both of them descended the hill. The small red horse, gladto meet its herdmates, arrived quickly to the front ofTchila'un. Guo Jing loosed three arrows with a rush ofwind, cutting down the three closest soldiers, beforeinterposing himself between pursuers and pursued,continuing to fire his arrows in all directions. Jebe hadarrived also and his arrows flew again, swift and deadly.Nevertheless, the men of To'oril, too numerous, rushedforward like an irresistible tide.

Jagataï, Tchila'un, Jebe and Guo Jing at last reached thehill, while their companions dropped a rain of arrows ontheir pursuers. They did not dare to launch a frontalattack, and for the moment, waited out of range.

Standing on the hill, Temüjin observed the surroundings.Soon, the To'oril regiments came rushing from alldirections. Under a yellow flag, a man climbed onto a greathorse: it was Senggüm, son of To'oril. The Khan well knewthat it was impossible to break the encirclement, and thatit was better to stall.

" Why is Brother Senggüm afraid to approach and parley?"he cried.

Under the protection of his guards, that covered him withtheir shields, Senggüm approached, confident andarrogant:

" Temüjin, Hurry up your retreat!"

" How," demanded Temüjin, " did I offend To'oril, myadopted father, so that you attack me?"

" For generations and generations, said Senggüm, " theMongolians lived in separated tribes, at the heart of whichthe flocks were spread and divided in common. Why do

the flocks were spread and divided in common. Why doyou want to run counter to the traditions of our ancestors,while mixing the tribes? My father says often that you arewrong to want to do that."

" Us Mongols," replied Temüjin, " are under the oppressionof the Jin Empire, that demands of us, each year, a tributeof tens of thousands of head of cattle. Is this just? If thatcontinues, we all will starve to death! If we do not battlebetween ourselves, why should we be afraid of the JinEmpire? I have always maintained good relations with myadopted father, there is no hatred between our twofamilies. All that is the fault of the Jin, who want to sowdisunity between us!"

The soldiers of Senggüm, hearing this debate, found thathis words had reason.

" Us Mongolians are valiant warriors," pursued Temüjin, "why should we not go and take the treasures of the Jin?Why should we furnish tributes every year? Among theMongolians, there are some that work a lot to husband theherds, and there are lazy ones. Why should those that tirethemselves at work nourish those that do not do nothing?Why should those that sweat not have more head ofcattle, and of sheep? Why do they not leave the lazy onesto die of hunger?"

At that time, the Mongolians lived according to a kind oftribal socialism: their principal wealth, the cattle, belongedto all. Now, during the last years, the flocks had increasedthemselves. The tribes had equally learned from theChinese to work iron, for the manufacture of tools andweapons. Most of the shepherds wished to keep the wealththat they produced for themselves, just like the warriorsthat, at the risk of their lives, won battles, and did notwant to divide prisoners and loot with those that did notgo to war. Thus, these matters spoken of by Temüjin wentright to the heart of all the soldiers.

Seeing Temüjin begin to influence his men, Senggümcried:

" Cast down your weapons at once and give yourself up!Otherwise, it will take but a signal of my whip to rain downten thousand arrows! You have no chance of escape!"

Guo Jing saw that the situation had became critical, butdid not know what to do. He suddenly beheld, at the footof the hill, a young officer, his armor covered by a coat ofgrey fur, a sabre in his hand, who proudly paraded on hiswar steed. He recognized Dushi, the son of Senggüm,whom he had fought in childhood. He was a villanousrascal, that had wanted to unleash the leopards on Tolui.Guo Jing did not understand why this had happened, andespecially not why To'oril, Senggüm and Jamuqa wantedto plot against Temüjin. "The Khan and To'oril always livedin harmony," he said to himself, " then this means that

in harmony," he said to himself, " then this means thatDushi, at the instigation of the Sixth Jin Prince, haspeddled misleading and malicious lies upon the others. If Icapture him and force him to accept his lies, theneveryone will be able to reconcile themselves!"

Spurring his small red horse, he descended the hill andtaking advantage of the surprise of the soldiers, forced hisway to Dushi.

Attacking with his blade, Guo Jing leaned himself out of hissaddle, the blade held above his head, with his right handhe trapped the principal artery on the wrist of Dushi. Itwas a movement of the famed technique "Disconnect thesinews and undo the bones" perfected by Zhu Cong, howcould Dushi have withstood it? With a pull, Guo Jingsnatched him out of his saddle. He heard the hissing ofheavy projectiles to his left, about to fall upon him. Hepressed lightly with his knees, the small red horse obeyedimmediately and flew like an arrow towards the hill.

The soldiers of Senggüm cried: " Fire arrows!" Guo Jingplaced Dushi behind his back, using his body as a shield,so well that the enemies did not dare to fire.

Arriving at the summit of the hill, Guo Jing threw Dushi tothe ground while laughing: " Great Khan, this rascal issurely the person responsible for this treachery! Let usmake him acknowledge it!

Temüjin, very happy, pointed his lance on the chest ofDushi and shouted in the direction of Senggüm:

" Move back your men two hundred yards!!"

Senggüm, upset and worried to see his well armed sonfallen to the hands of the enemy, not put that to do toback up his army. He ordered to encircle the hill byordered ranks of wagons, so that the horsemen of Temüjinwere unable to sally out.

On the hill, Temüjin praised Guo Jing warmly, and orderedhim to tie the prisoner's hands behind his back.

On threee occasions, Senggüm sent a messenger tonegotiate: if Temüjin released Dushi and went, his lifewould be spared. Each time, the Khan cut the ears of themessenger before he returned to his master.

The sun descended to the horizon. Fearing that Senggümwould use the dusk to attack, Temüjin ordered that allshould redouble their vigilance.

Towards midnight, a man clothed in white went on foot tothe bottom of the hill:

" I am Jamuqa," he cried. " I wish to see my sworn brotherTemüjin."

" In that case, climb up!" said the Khan.

Jamuqa ascended slowly and beheld Temüjin standing atthe top of the slope. He advanced and made to embracehim, but the Khan did not let his guard down and saidroughly:

" You consider me again to be a brother?"

Jamuqa sighed and seated himself cross-legged.

" Brother," he said, " you already are the chief of a tribe,why do you have this excessive ambition to wish to unifyall the Mongols?

" What do you believe?" replied Temüjin.

" The chieftains of the tribes say: our ancestors lived thusfor hundreds of years, why does Temüjin want to changethe traditions? Heaven will not allow it!"

" Do you yourself remember the history of our ancestorLady Alan-Qo?" Temüjin said. " She had five sons thatwere in discord. She asked all of them to come eat withher. Then she gave an arrow to each, asking them tobreak it. This they did very easily. Next, she tied fivearrows together, and demanded again that they breakthem. Each tried in turn, but none were able to break thefive arrows. Do you recall what she said to them then?

" If you are disunited," said Jamuqa in a low voice, youcan be broken by those of no importance, as a singlearrow. If you unite yourself, you will be as solid as the fivearrows together and no person will break you."

" Well," said Temüjin, " you yourself remember that. Whatthen happened next?"

" Next the five sons united their efforts and conquered animmense territory. They are the ancestors of our Mongoltribes."

" Exactly! Both of us are brave and heroic, why not uniteall the Mongolians? If we do not quarrel amongstourselves, we will be sufficiently strong to destroy the JinEmpire!"

" How?" asked Jamuqa, " The Jin Empire is so powerful- itsarmies and wealth are innumerable! How could usMongolians attack them?"

" Then you prefer to undergo the oppression of the Jin?"

" The Jin Empire does not oppress us," protested Jamuqa." The emperor has even made you a "conqueringgeneral"!"

" At first," Temüjin said vigorously, " I believed also thatthey had good intentions. But the greed of the Jin has nolimits, and each time they demand more of us: first theywant cattle, next horses, and now they ask that we sendsoldiers to help them make war. But the country of theSong is far removed from our lands! Even if the Songdynasty falls, all the lands conquered will belong to Jinalone. We will lose warriors, to win what? Since whenwould our cattle stop eating the green grass of our plainsto go eat the sand on the other side of the mountains? Ifwe must battle, it should be only against the Jin Empire!"

" To'oril and Senggüm do not want to betray the Jin."

" To betray?" mocked Temüjin. " Betray? And you?"

" I beseech you, brother, not to let your anger get thebetter of you: release Dushi, and Senggüm, I myself willguarantee, will leave you to set off again in security."

" I have no confidence in Senggüm, and I have noconfidence in you!"

" Hear the words of Senggüm," said Jamuqa. " If a sondies, other sons again can be born. If Temüjin dies, therewill be no longer be another Temüjin in the world! If youdo not release Dushi, you will never see another sunrise!"

Temüjin knew well the character of Senggüm and ofJamuqa. If it fell between their hands, he knew well thathe would have no chance of survival, while, if To'oril wasthere, he might possibly live. He brandished his sabre andwhirled around.

" I would rather die in battle," he cried, " than ever tosurrender! Under heaven, there is only a Temüjin who willdie on the field of honour, and no Temüjin that flees!"

Jamuqa said:

" You give the whole of the loot to the warriors, sayingthat it belongs for them, and not to the entire tribe. Thechieftains of the tribes consider that you do wrong, thatyou run counter to our traditions."

" But the young warriors are delighted!" said Temüjinharshly. " The chieftains pretend that the treasures of warcannot be distributed equitably to each, so then they keepall for themselves. Such practices insult the warriors thatrisked their life to support them. When we are at war, dowe need stupid and greedy chieftains, or do we needyoung courageous warriors?"

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#11

03-14-05, 10:11 AM

(Strunf)

- Brother, said Jamuqa, you always acted on your own,without listening the leaders of the other tribes. Don't callme ungrateful or traitor: these last days, you didn't stopsending people to try to convince my soldiers to join yourarmy, while saying that, once at home, the resourcesgained in the battle belong to the ones that fought forthem, and that they won't be distributed between all thetribe's members. Did you believe that I didn't knew of it?"If you are aware of it, thought Temüjin, then we won'tever live in peace with each other". He then took a smallsachet out of his fob and threw it to the feet of Jamuqa :- Here are the gifts that you offered me when wepromised, by three times, fidelity. Take them. Later, whenyou cut my head with your saber, you will only kill anenemy, and not a sworn brother... I am a hero, you arealso a hero. The plain of Mongolia is vast, but it cannotcontain two heroes.Jamuqa collected the sachet, took a small sachet of leatherof his own fob, deposited it in silence to the feet ofTemüjin, and moved away down the hill.Temüjin looked at him while he move away and stayed along time in silence. He then slowly opened the sachet,withdrew the stones and the tips of arrow of it, and heremembered the games that they played when they werechildren. He sighed, dug a hole with a dagger and buriedthe gifts of his ex-brother there.Guo Jing was next to him, also with his heart broken: whatTemüjin buried, he knew well, it was an infinitely preciouschildhood friendship.The Khan stood up and watched far away: as far as hecould see, fires lit by the soldiers of the armies ofSenggüm and Jamuqa illuminated the plain, as themyriads of stars in the sky.He remained dived in his thoughts, turned around and sawGuo Jing close to him.- Are you afraid? he asked.- I was thinking about my mother, answered the youngman.- Indeed, you are a brave, said Temüjin, a true brave!He showed the thousands fires that illuminated the plain :- They also, he continued, these are also brave! We, theMongols, have so many braves, but everybody spends itstime making themselves wars. If we could united ourbraves, we would take over the world and make it a hugefield for our herds!Guo Jing, while hearing these so ambitious words, only feltmore of admiration for Temüjin. He stuck out the chestand said :- Big Khan, we are going to win for sure, because wecannot be beaten by this coward of Senggüm!- Precisely, answered Temüjin, the radiant face. Let's recallourselves what we said tonight. If we manage to get away

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Mojo Jojo

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ourselves what we said tonight. If we manage to get awayalive this time, I will consider you henceforth as my ownson.He then hugged the young man.While they spoke, the day had risen. The horn soundedrepeatedly in the ranks of the besiegers.- The help won't come, said Temüjin. Let's prepareourselves to die on this hill.One heard in the adverse army the jangle of the weaponsand the neighs of the horses: the attack was imminent.- Big Khan, said Guo Jing suddenly, my red horse isextremely fast. Take it and bring back some help. Duringthis time, we will remain here to face the enemies.Temüjin smiles and stretched the hand to caress the hairof the young man :- If Temüjin, he said, was capable of abandon his friendsand his men to run away, fearing for his life, he wouldn’tbe worthy of being your Khan anymore!- It is true, Big Khan, recognized Guo Jing, I was wrong...They protected themselves behind the some mounds ofearth, ready to fire some arrows on the attackers.Shortly after, preceded by a yellow standard, three menleft the enemy's ranks and moved forward: on the left,Senggüm; on the right, Jamuqa; to the center, it was, ohsurprise, the Sixth Prince of the Jin empire, WanyanHonglie! Covered of an armor and a golden helmet, ashield of gold to the arm, and he shouted :- Temüjin, do you dare to betray the big Empire Jin?Jöchi, the eldest son of Temüjin, shot an arrow on him, aman of his escort seizes it in the air, with an astoundingspeed.- Capture Temüjin! shouts Wanyan Honglie.To these words, four men hurried upwards the hill.Their movements caused a big surprise to Guo Jing: henoted, indeed, that the newcomers, who used a lightnesstechnique, were experts in martial arts, and they weren’twarriors of the plains. Arrived to mid-hill, they avoidedwith agility the rain of arrows that Jebes, Bo'orchus andthe others shoot. "We have officers and brave of greatstrength here, worried Guo Jing, but they wont ever be amatch to experts in martial arts! What to do? "One among them, clothed of black, bounds until thesummit of the hill. Ögödei tried to stop him, but thenewcomer hit his nape with a dart and stroke down withhis saber the injured. However, in a lightning, a swordcome down to hit his wrist, with a great speed andprecision, a movement so well done that he was forced tomove back three steps. Surprised, he saw a young manwith a virile posture be held before Ögödei. Not expectingto find, among the soldiers of Temüjin, an expertswordsman, he exclaimed, in Chinese :- Who are you? What is your name?- I am called Guo Jing!- Never heard to speak of you! Now surrender yourself!Guo Jing threw look around, and saw that the three otherattackers were at the summit of the hill and already in aunarmed fight with Chila'un, Bo'orchus and the other. Hethen stroke the man of the saber. This one defended and

then stroke the man of the saber. This one defended andretaliated.The soldiers of Senggüm got ready to rush on the assaultof the hill, when Muqali put his saber on the nape of Dushi:- If you go up, he shouted, my blade will be withoutmercy! Senggüm, very worried, turned towards WanyanHonglie :- Lord, tell your men to come back, we will find anotherway! There’s no reason to wound my child!- Don’t worry, says Wanyan Honglie while smiling, it won'thappen anything to him!He wanted to make Temüjin kill Dushi, in order to make alasting hate between the two tribes.The men of Senggüm didn't dare to move, while those ofthe Prince were in a violent fight.Guo Jing used the technique of the sword of the Yue girl,that Han Xiaoying had taught him. After severalexchanges, he was, to his big surprise, in a situation ofinferiority: his strokes, full of lightness and agility, provedto be of little efficient against his adversary's heavy andpowerful saber. The man was indeed clever, and seemedto have a consequent neigong. The Six Freaks, with theirmultiple gongfu and their vast experience, had shown totheir disciple the essential of the martial arts of thedifferent schools that they knew of. But the technique ofthis man's saber was particular and strange: a strokecarried on the right fell, by a weird movement, on the left!Guo Jing, powerless, didn't stop moving back. All of asudden, he wondered: "Big Shifu often says that, in thefight, it is very important to take the initiative and not onlysuffer. For now I keep defending, do I therefore only suffer?" Seeing a stroke of the saber arriving, he decided to notworry himself of it, and to concentrate on the attack,pushing his sword towards the enemy. This one seeing himso daring and a little preoccupied of his own security, wasafraid and moved back, Guo Jing thus took the initiativeand increased in ardor. Defending this avalanche ofstrokes, the man began to lose his advantage.His three mates, who had already defeated several Mongolofficers, saw him in difficulty. One among them, armed ofa big spear, approached of a jump :- Big Brother, I come to give you a helping hand!But the man to the saber had a very high idea of himself:hired at the price of gold by Wanyan Honglie, it was thefirst time that he made a demonstration of what he wascapable of. How could he have accepted, with all the armyknowing, the help of his brothers-in-arms, and thus admitto being incapable of defeating a young rookie?- Don't move, he shouted, admire the dexterity of yourOlder Brother!Taking advantage of his distraction, Guo Jing, of a stroke"The Phoenix flies off and the snake bounds", he pointedthe tip of the saber the lower part of the his body. Theman moved back, but the blade had already split his leftsleeve.- Hey, hey, sneered the man of the spear. Come to admirethe dexterity of the Older Brother!The mockery was obvious: he seemed to be delighted with

The mockery was obvious: he seemed to be delighted withthe misfortune of his brother!Jebes and all officers had gathered together aroundTemüjin to protect him. Seeing this martial attitude ofthese elite warriors, armed with long spears, the two otherattackers, of which one used a whip of iron and the other apair of short axes, didn't dare to make a frontal attack.They heard their brothers-in-arms call them. Theythought, these Mongols cannot escape anyway, why notattend to the spectacle first? The three were held side byside, the crossed arms, to look at the fight of their OlderBrother with Guo Jing.The man to the saber moved back and shouted :- Who is your master? Why do you come to look for yourdeath here? Guo Jing remained in a defending posture butused the language of the Streams and Lakes taught by hismasters :- I am disciple of the Seven Freaks of the Jiangnan. Whatare your honorable names and surnames?He had repeated these formulas during a long time, but itwas the first time that he used them for real.- Our names, says the man to the saber while throwing alook toward his brothers-in-arms, even if I told them toyou, you would not know them, rookie! In guard!After these first clashing of weapons, Guo Jing had well feltthat his adversary was stronger than he. But the techniquetaught by his Seventh Shifu was extremely sophisticatedand provoked a big apprehension at the enemy, so that hecould take the initiative and attack without moving back.They exchanged about thirty strokes again. The tensionwas extreme: the thousands of soldiers at the bottom ofthe hill, the men and the officers of Temüjin, the threeother attackers, all watched with attention this astonishingfight. The man to the saber wanted to win it, in order tocause a good impression of himself to the Sixth Prince but,the time was passing, he began to get nervous, and hisstrokes started to be more and more violent. Suddenly, hefeinted and attacked the waist of Guo Jing. This onerevolved and retorted of a stroke "Turn around to pick thefruit" towards the arm that held the saber. The adversary,seeing that he didn't seem to worry to defend, believedthat his hour was going to come: "When your sword willtouch its goal, he thought, my saber will have cut you intwo already!" However, Guo Jing, sure of his strongneigong, moved his waist to the side, without even movethe rest of the body, avoided the saber and planted hissword in his chest.The man screamed, released his saber and gave a strokeof the hand on the blade of the sword that made it fall onthe ground, but the tip of this one had already penetrateda half inch in his chest! He had the his life safe, but hispalm was cut and bled abundantly.Guo Jing would have been able to kill him but, due to thelack of experience, he had let escape the opportunity."What a pity!" he thought while lowering himself to collectthe enemy's saber. He then discerned the hiss of a weaponbehind him and heard Jebe to shout :- Attention, behind!

- Attention, behind!

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03-14-05, 10:12 AM

(Patudo and Taihan)

Without even looking back, Guo Jing executed abackwards kick and blocked the stroke that came towardshim. At the same time, he executed a sabre cut downupon the hand of the enemy: it was precisely the stroke"The Swallow Returns to its nest", that was part of the"Southern Mount Sabre" technique taught by Nan Xiren.This kick, delivered without even a glance, demandedabsolute precision, otherwise, the enemy's spear wouldstrike him squarely in his heart! Guo Jing had spentmonths of training to succeed in mastering it.

" Well!" cried the spearman.

He wheeled around and thrust towards Guo Jing's chest.He responded with a "The Drunkard Removes His Boot",that consisted of disarming the spear with a sabre cut,while delivering a kick upon the wrist of the enemy.

This man believed that Guo Jing had trained himselfspecially to wield a sword and wanted to take advantage ofthe fact that he had lost his weapon, in order to obtain aneasy victory. Now, he had not predicted that the martialarts foundation of this young man would have been soprofound, not limited to one weapon, or that he wouldshow himself so skillful with the sabre. He had himselfsweated blood and water on the lance for nearly twentyyears, his Shifu was one of the better ones in thisspecialism, so he applied more pressure to Guo Jing.

The young man saw clearly that his enemy's heavy spearsought constantly to strike the sabre in his hand, by veryquick blows, this meant that the man looked for a swiftand certain victory to assure his fame in front of thearmies. But to the end of several tens of exchanges, GuoJing saw that his opponent grew tired, that his lanceslowed down. He therefore deployed the whole power ofthe "Southern Mount Sabre" , charging, fending, slashing,sweeping... Even the Big Brother of the four assailants, anexpert wielder of the sabre, was somewhat impressed.

He delivered a stroke "Advancing a pace to seize thebasket", separating the lance of the left hand. Normally,he then should have advanced a step and slashed with thesabre directly down upon the enemy. But upon contactingthe lance, his palm felt immediately the slowness of hisopponent. Since the two years that he practiced neigong,the reactions of his body had become quicker than histhought. As soon as he sensed the weakness of his enemy,

#12

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Mojo Jojo

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thought. As soon as he sensed the weakness of his enemy,without even a moment's reflection, he turned his leftpalm and seized his opponent's hand by a movement of"Disconnect the sinews and undo the bones"; his sabre,instead of attacking his enemy's body, glided alongside hishand, in such a way that if he did not immediately loosenhis grip, he was going to lose his ten fingers. The manpulled with all his strength, but did not succeed in pullingout his lance, when he saw the sabre's blade cutting downto the thumbs of his hands, he feared that he might losethem all and jumped back!

The Six Odd ones had thought that, Yang Tiexin being thedirect descendant of the great general Yang Zaixing, hehad to be expert in the Yang Family's lance art. Qiu Chuji,for his part, had to pay special attention to this weapon inthe training of Yang's son, in order not to fail to thereputation of his ancestors. Thus, while teaching sabre toGuo Jing, Nan Xiren particularly had insisted on thetechnique "Lone Sabre undoing the Spear", that he hadmade him learn by heart. And before even to serve toJiaxing, this technique allowed Guo Jing to realize abrightness blow in the desert!

After this victory, the young man felt stronger again: witha flourish, he threw the sabre down to the foot of the hill,and picked up the lance. The fourth man jumped on himwhile shouting, attacking with his two short axes. But howcould he close with Guo Jing? As to this matter, thespecialists always granted on the fact that the longer theweapon, the more it allowed its wielder to dominate thebattle: those that used short weapons effectively had toarrive close to their opponent to attain it. Aware that YangKang would without a doubt be well trained inspearmanship, the Six Fantastic ones had equally given anexhaustive foundation to their disciple. The chosen weaponof Quan Jinfa, the balance, had a similar technique of theone of the lance. Thus, this was him that took in hand thisteaching. Under the Song Dynasty, the army had attachedgreat importance to the lance. Without even mentioningthe "Yue Family Lance", there were a number of greatgenerals, such Yang Ye or Huyan Zhan, that were expertsof the lance.The technique deployed here by Guo Jing was, precisely,the Huyan Lance, contemporary to this era. His opponentwielded his axes well, but he could not approach to strike.Nevertheless, his blows were sufficiently powerful to worrythe young man. He then adopted one of the cunningstrategems of his Sixth Shifu and pretended to stumble.The opponent did not fail to take advantage of thisoccasion: he jumped, shouted out and hacked down withhis axes on Guo Jing. This one para while getting up hislance, that was broken in three pieces. But that gave himthe time to land a kick in the stomach of the enemy, thatpropelled him far back. He recovered himself, infuriated,and returned to the attack. Guo Jing, who had no moreweapons, do not n'eut fear for as much and fought withbare hands.

bare hands.

The martial brother of the axeman went to the rescue withhis whip; they were therefore two against one. Thisprovoked the indignation of all the soldiers. The Mongols,simple and frank as they were, respected above all men ofcourage. They already were scandalized to see these fourmen to take it in turns to fight Guo Jing, now. here theywere pitting themselves two against one unarmed man!They felt that this was dishonourable, and shouted out forthem to stop: Guo Jing was a worthy opponent, theyacclaimed him to encourage him.

Bo'orchu and Jebe drew their sabres and joined the battle,so well that the two others assailing themselves joignirentequally in battle. The two Mongolians were invincible onthe battlefield, but they did not pull their weight, in singlecombat, against experts in martial arts. They fought outonly a couple of exchanges with great difficulty before theywere disarmed and had to retreat. Guo Jing dut very toprovide assistance for them, in order to release them.

The four assailants had only one obsession: to kill GuoJing. "Verily," they did say, " if we lose today facing thisnovice, how could we show our faces again in the martialarts world [jianghu]? How will we be able to hold our placewith the Sixth Prince?"

Then they quietly freed the two Mongol officers tosurround the young man. The soldiers upon the summitand at the foot of the hill redoubled their boos and insults,but the four turned a deaf ear to them. The spearman hadcollected on the ground a javelin, Guo Jing saw strikingdown at him, at the same time, sabre, javelin, whip andaxe! As he was disarmed, he could not parry or riposte, sohis only option was to avoid the blows, while deploying hislightness art [Qinggong]. He was hit nevertheless byseveral blows, and tumbled to earth.

Bo'orchu raises the saber within his hand and yell, “Catch.”He threw it to Guo Jing. Guo Jing pushes himself up tocatch it, but the person with the steel whip knock thesaber away. The expert using the two axes was stillangered from the opponent(Guo Jing)’s last kick; nomatter what, he keeps circulating his axes to cut down onGuo Jing. Guo Jing jumps to the side to dodge it, but thesaber has already come above his head. Guo Jing bendsdown to dodge it. His left foot just reaches the ground andhad stamped on the head of the person using the axes (Inot sure if this is by accident or intention); at the sametime, Guo Jing’s left calf was strike by the whip. That onestrike sent pain down to the heart and lungs; lucky thatstrike wasn’t planned out which only carry half the amountof force. There weren’t any bones broken, but his leg isstaggered, almost falling down. The man with the axesthrew away his axes, and with his two hands held ontightly to Guo Jing’s legs and wouldn’t let go.

Guo Jing couldn’t stand steady, fell down to the ground;his eyes looking at the sunlight. The saber and whip havealready come above his head; Guo Jing thinking that hecouldn’t survive today. The images of his mom, sevenmasters, Taoist Master Ma Yu, sworn brother Tolui, andsworn sister Hua Zheng appear in his head, he then grabon tightly to axes person’s chest. With all his strength, helifts up the axes person and places it on his body for cover.The other three afraid of hurting the axes person withdrawtheir weapons. Guo Jing’s left hand held onto theopponent’s pressure point, disability his movements. GuoJing’s right hand held on the opponent’s neck which GuoJing is hiding under his body.

The three raise their feet and begin kicking onto Guo Jing’sshoulder and feet. Guo Jing just ignore those attacks andthinking, “Even if I die, I would strangle this guy to death.”Guo Jing then gathers his strength, his fingers squeezingharder. At the time, the battle didn’t use any martial arttechniques; it’s all relying on brute strength now. Thethree for the time couldn’t do any to Guo Jing.

Jebe and his men seeing Guo Jing being compress underthere; all of them holding weapons rush over to rescuehim. The oldest martial art of brothers, the one using thesingle saber, said to two of his little martial art brothers,“You all go and hold them off, and I will kill this bastardhere.” He bended his body down and thrust the tip of thesaber toward Guo Jing’s shoulder that was sticking out.The opponent’s right hand is gathering strengths andpushing down. Guo Jing suddenly felt a sharp pain in hisshoulder; he then gathers his strength into his back andthighs. Using a stance [the lazy interest on interest](translated by WorldLingo, not sure it is correct) he rollsout two zhangs. At the time, the person who was holdingonto Guo Jing’s legs was strangled and couldn’t breath, sohe fainted already. Guo Jing pushes his body and jumpsup. Seeing the person with the saber rushing over, GuoJing wanted to counter, but the pain from injuries on hisright foot begin to become unbearable. He couldn’t standsteady, so he fall again and roll over.

The other person changes the direction of the saber andnow cutting down. Guo Jing suddenly figured somethingout, with his hand, he reaches out to the back of his waistarea and pull out […….](can’t translate the name but Ithink it is a soft whip) that was used for protection. Layingflat on his back on the ground, he uses the move [GoldenDragon(Jin Long) whip technique(I think it is fa like jianfa)] which cover all of the weak points on his body. Theking and god of horse(MaWangShen) Han Bao Ju is a shortperson; he mainly study method on how to attack lowerpart of the body. At the times, Guo Jing is fighting on theground; the strokes of the whip techniques have beenprecise, being able to control it at will. The other personwas screaming and scolding, but he was unable to harmGuo Jing.

Fighting over 20 stances, the fainted one is now awake,and the other two had pushed back the two Mongoliangenerals and is returning to fight Guo Jing.

The position had become critical for him when criesthemselves were heard at the foot of the hill: a tumultagitated the ranks of the army of Senggüm, one saw sixindividuals nimbly brushing themselves through thesoldiers and ascending the hill. The Mongolians thoughtthat they were more lackeys of Wanyan Honglie coming tolend assistance to their comrades, and forcefullymanifested their disapproval.

The men of Temüjin prepared themselves to fire arrows toprevent them from approaching when Jebe, whose visionwas particularly acute, perceived that it was the JiangnanOdd Six.

" Jing!" he cried, " here are your teachers!"

Guo Jing, that not some could more, was cheered up.

Arrived the first, Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfa realized rightaway the perilous position their disciple was in. Quanjumped and struck, with a blow of his balance, the fourweapons:

" Have you no shame!" he cried.

Feeling a great pain in their hands, the four men realizedthat a more powerful opponent had just arrived and drewback. Zhu Cong rescued Guo Jing. Meanwhile, the otherOdd Ones arrived.

- Louts without vergogne! scolded Quan Jinfa. Ouste! Puton file me the camp!

The man with the sabre was well aware that they had lostthe advantage, and that, if they continued the fight, theywould be defeated. But if themselves backed down, theywould lose face and would no more dare to serve the SixthPrince!

" Are you the Jiangnan Odd Six?" he demanded to giveitself a breathing space.

" Indeed," replied Zhu Cong while laughing. "Who areyou?"

" We are the disciples of the "King Dragon of the demonicHarbors"."

The Odd Six were very surprised, for, given that theseindividuals had openly abused their numerical superiority,they had believed that they were vagabonds without amaster. Now, the King Dragon of the demonic Harbors,Sha Tongtian, was a weighty personality in the martial arts

Sha Tongtian, was a weighty personality in the martial artsworld.

" Are you usurping that name, or what?" demanda KeZhen'E in an icy voice. " The King Dragon of the demonicHarbors is a renowned personage, how could he havedisciples as miserable as you?"

" Usurping a name?" said the axeman. " Here is our BigBrother Shen Qinggang, nicknamed "Sabre Breaks DownThe Soul"; here is our Second brother, Wu Qinglie,nicknamed "Lance Seizes Life"; here our Third brother MaQingxiong, nicknamed "Whip Captures Spirit"; and I QianQingjian, nicknamed "Axe Buries Family"."

" So," said Ke Zhen'e, " that seems to be true. You reallyare the "Four Demons of the Yellow River". You occupynevertheless a certain position, in the Jianghu; how couldyou lower yourself to attack to four against one, while mydisciple is all alone?"

Wu Qinglie said cunningly:

" What, four against one?" he argued. " Isn't your disciplehelped by all these Mongols? Indeed, we are four againstseveral hundreds!"

" Third brother," demanded Qian Qingjian to MaQingxiong, " this blind person shows himself to be wellboastful. Who is this?"

He had asked the question in a low voice, but Ke zhen'eheard him. Very upset, he leapt and struck a cane blow atQian, the prit by the collar and threw him to the bottom ofthe hill. The three other Demons did not even have thetime to react: Ke zhen'e already was upon them, graspingthem one after each other and pitching them similarly faraway. All the Mongol soldiers cried out joyfully. The FourDemons of the Yellow River, covered with sand, rosepainfully to their feet, the limbs aching and shame upontheir faces.

At that moment, one saw immense dust clouds rising inthe distance, as if tens of thousands of horsemen werecharging. A flutter of agitation immediately arose withinthe army of Senggüm.

Temüjin, delighted to see reinforcements arriving, knewthat an iron discipline reigned in the army of Jamuqa, thatits officers and soldiers were all hardened, while Senggüm,protected by the reputation of his father, was a lessformidable commander in chief. He indicated then the leftwing of Senggüm and cried:

" Attack in this direction!"

Jebe, Bo'orchu, Jöchi and Jagataï foncèrent the first ones.One heard the faraway cries of the warriors of the relief

One heard the faraway cries of the warriors of the reliefcolumn. Muqali swept his sabre down on the nape of theneck of Dushi and shouted

" Open up the pass! Open up the pass!"

Senggüm, who was going to order to his men to block thepass, hesitated upon seeing that his son was menaced. Ina wink, the small troop of Temüjin was located to the footof the hill. Jebe aimed carefully and loosed an arrowheading for the head of Senggüm. He shielded himselfquickly, but the projectile struck the atteignit to theupright cheek and he tumbled down from his mount.Seeing their chieftain fall, its men made their escape inpitiful disarray.

Temüjin and its companions broke out of the siege, firingarrows upon those that they pursued. Several li furtheraway, a cloud of dust was apparent: Tolui and his troops.The pursuers had always feared the bravery of Temüjin.Now that they no longer had the advantage of numbers,they turned tail.

In fact, Tolui, being young, had not been able to makehimself obey the chieftains and generals, so much as it didnot dispose personal seal of his father. He had nottherefore been able to make fun that some thousands ofyoung warriors that had well wanted to follow him. Notbeing stupid, he knew well that the enemy, superior innumber, would gobble up these reinforcements. He hadthen conceived the idea to attach branches to the tails ofthe horses, so that quantity of dust this raised concealedthe weakness of his troops. The ploy was a success.Temüjin reentered his camp in safety.

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03-14-05, 10:13 AM

(Du Gu seeking a win)

That evening, Temüjin gave a large banquet to reward histroops, but he placed Dushi at the place of honor, whichcaused general indignation. The Khan carried three toaststo pay homage to Dushi and said:- To'oril, my adoptive father, and my brother Senggümhave treated me always well. There is no reason for hatredbetween the two families.

Please present my excuses to them, which will beaccompanied with gifts of great value. I won't hold agrudge against you because of what you have done. Afteryou return, you will prepare your marriage with mydaughter. We will give a great feast, where we will invitethe chiefs of all the tribes. It will be a great rejoicing. Youare my son-in-law, you are thus my son. From now on the

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are my son-in-law, you are thus my son. From now on thetwo families must be united like one and not letthemselves be divided by gossip.

Dushi, relieved not to be killed, accepted all what wasasked. Having noticed that Temüjin, when he spoke, kepthis right hand on his chest under the tunic, and wascoughing nonstop, he wondered: "Could it be that he'swounded? "- This day, said the Khan, I got shot by an arrow. It willtake three months to recuperate before I'm healthy again,if it isn't so, I could accompany you back myself. Hewithdrew his hand from under his tunic: it was full withblood!- It will even be necessary, he began again, to marry you(with my daughter) before I am fully restored. If not,perhaps it will be necessary to wait for too long a time.

All the present officers were amazed, they were outragedto see their Khan afraid and apprehensive with regard toTo'oril, and always so eager to marry Huazheng withDushi. The son of the division commander was part ofTemüjin's reuniting force and had been killed defendingthe hill. This commander, insane with anger, unsheathedhis sabre and wanted to kill Dushi. The Khan let him seizedand beaten in front of the son of Senggüm until he faintedand was covered with blood.

- He will stay imprisoned, ordered Temüjin, and he will bebeheaded with all his family in three days! The followingday, Dushi returned home, taking along two carriagesfilled with gold and fur, thousand fat sheep, hundred warhorses, the whole escorted by fifty soldiers. Temüjin hadalso sent an emissary known for his eloquence, to pleadhis cause to To'oril and Senggüm. At the time of thedeparture, Temüjin, who seemed to have no morestrength to ride a horse, arrived on a stretcher and badehim farewell while still coughing.

Eight days later, Temüjin brought his officers together:- Gather your troops, he ordered, we will attack To'oril! Allwere looking aghast.- To'oril has a very large army, whereas we are very few.If one cannot win a frontal battle, a ruse is needed. I havelet Dushi go, heaping him with gifts, then I pretend to bewounded by an arrow and lay dying, all that to make himoff guard!

All expressed their admiration. This moment, Temüjinfreed the commander he had let beaten and gave him abig reward. Learning that the army was going to attackTo'oril, the commander felt joyous. He knelt down toexpress his thanks and asked for the honor ofcommanding the attacking front force, which Temüjingranted him. The army of the Khan was divided into threecolumns, which marched in the night, bivouacking duringthe day, using deserted paths. When they met shepherds,they made them captive and took them along, to avoid

they made them captive and took them along, to avoidany indiscretion.

At the beginning, To'oril and Senggüm, fearing thatTemüjin would come to avenge, kept their guard. But thetriumphal return of Dushi, the gifts he brought back, theservile remarks of the emissary and the news of theserious wounds of the Khan reassure them completely.They withdrew even the sentinels and spent their timefeasting with Wanyan Honglie and Jamuqa. However, onenight, the three columns of Temüjin fell on them likelightning! The troops of To'oril and Jamuqa that are many,in panic lost any of their combativeness: it was a generalstampede. To'oril and Senggüm fled towards the west,they were killed thereafter by Naïmans and Liaos. In themob, Dushi was trampled by the horses.

Wanyan Honglie, for his part, escaped in the middle of thenight, under the protection of the Four Demons of theYellow River and turned back to the Jin capital. Given upby his troops, Jamuqa took refuge at the Tangnu mountainwith his five guards. Those took possession of him andbrought him to Temüjin. Temüjin got furious:- Guards who betray their master! he cried. What good isit to let such people live? He ordered their headsdecapitated in front of Jamuqa.

Then he turned to Jamuqa:- Shall we become friends again?- Even if you spare my life, answered Jamuqa with tears inhis eyes, I haven't any honor left to live in this world. Ibeg you only to let me die without bloodshed, so that mysoul did not go out of my body *.

* According to the beliefs of the shamans, the soul residedin the blood. The princes that one wants to kill but towhich one wish to pay homage were put to death bystrangulation.

Temüjin remained a long time silent and sad.- Well, he said finally. I agree to such a death, and I willbury you at the place where we played as children.Jamuqa knelt down and left the tent. A few days later,Temüjin united the tribes on the river banks Onon in akuriltai (general assembly). Its fame stretched beyond thelarge desert: the tribes, warriors and all the shepherds,feared and revere it. The men of To'oril and Jamuqa hadbeen built-in. During the kuriltai, Temüjin was acclaimedGrand Khan of all Mongolia, he carried from that time onthe title of "Gengis Khan", which meant "Supreme Chief".

Gengis Khan rewarded the most deserving soldiers:Muqali, Bo'orchu, Boro'ul, Chila'un, the Four Intrepid ones,and the officers, Jebe, Jelme and Süboteï were madegenerals. During the battle, Guo Jing had renderedexceptional services and he was made general too! Ayoung man who did not yet reached twenty years of ageregarded as an equal to officers of great reputation!

regarded as an equal to officers of great reputation!During the banquet, Gengis Khan accepted homage fromhis faithful ones and drank without bounds. Slightly drunk,he said to Guo Jing: - My good boy, I will still give yousomething which is invaluable. Guo Jing knelt down tothank.

- I give Huazheng to you, said Gengis Khan. Fromtomorrow, you will be my son-in-law, wearing the largegolden knife! All the warriors gave cries of joy andcongratulated the young man:- Son-in-law, wearing the large golden knife! Well, hurrah!Most content with all this was without any doubt Tolui,who embraced his sworn brother. But the person ofprincipal interest remained dazzled. He had alwaysregarded Huazheng as his sister and he did not feel anyother kind of love. He had devoted all his time to martialarts, when would he had time to think of other things? Thewords of Gengis Khan threw him in distress and he didn'tknow what to do anymore. Seeing him speechless, allburst out laughing.

After the banquet, Guo Jing went to inform his mother. LiPing remained thoughtful for a long time, then asked himto invite the Six Freaks from Jiangnan. They weredelighted to see their beloved disciple covered with honorand they congratulated his mother. But she did not say aword, then fell suddenly to her knees, in front of the Six.

- Please raise!, they protested. If you have something tosay to us, do it, why such a ceremony?Han Xiaoying helped her raise.- Thanks to the education of the six Shifus, said Li Ping,my child finally became a man. Never could I express mygratitude to all of you. But now, I face a difficulty and Ineed your enlightened counsel. She then told about themarriage which had been arranged by her late husbandand his sworn brother, Yang Tiexin.- That the Khan wants my son to be his son-in-law, shebegan again, is of course a great honor. But if Uncle Yangleft a girl and I do not keep my husband's promise, howcould I later, in the underworld, face my husband andUncle Yang?- You don't have to worry, said Zhu Cong laughing. Thehonorable Yang actually left a descendant, but it is not agirl: it's a boy!Li Ping was astonished and charmed at the same time.- How do you know, Shifu Zhu?- A friend who remained in the Central Plains wrote to usto inform. By the way, he wishes that we take Jing alongto Jiangnan to meet the son of Yang, and to compare theirrespective gongfu.In fact, the Six Freaks never made anything known to LiPing and her son of the challenge launched by Qiu Chuji.When Guo Jing raised questions about the small taoist YiZhiping, they merely murmured something without reallyanswering. Knowing the kindness of their disciple, theythought that, had he suddenly know the story of YangKang, he would not show all his potential at the time of

Kang, he would not show all his potential at the time ofthe combat: it would distort the competition irremediably.The words of Zhu Cong charmed Li Ping. She askedwhether the Yang spouse was still in this world, raisedquestions about the character of Yang Kang, the Six wereunable to answer her. They were sure taking Guo Jingalong to Jiangnan to meet the Yang son, while seekingDuan Tiande to be avenged. Guo Jing would not return tomarry Huazheng.Guo Jing went to report this arrangement to Gengis Khan.- Well, said Temüjin. You go to the South, you will bringback for me the head of Sixth Prince Jin, Wanyan Honglie.My sworn brother Jamuqa betrayed me and lost his life,it's the fault of that scum. How many men do you need toachieve this mission?

After unifying the Mongolian tribes, Gengis Khan posed aserious threat for the Jin Empire. Confrontation would takeplace earlier or later, it is inevitable. Having met WanyanHonglie on several occasions, Temüjin knew hisintelligence and his competence, so it was important thathe be gotten rid of as soon as possible. As for his breakwith Jamuqa, the true reasons were elsewhere: he hadupturned the traditions, had kept the spoils of war for hisown warriors, and had sought to attract three soldiers ofJamuqa to his own army. Only, their oath of fidelity wasbad, they did not want to recognize its responsibility andwere charmed to put them on the account of WanyanHonglie.

Since his childhood, Guo Jing wanted his mother to tell hisexact relationship with the Jin. He had conceived a greathatred in that connection. This time, it had failed to perishunder the blows of the Four Demons of the Yellow River.Answering the question of Gengis Khan, he said to himself:"If my six Shifus would lend me a hand, certainly mymission will be a success. To take along brave men who donot know martial arts, is likely to obstruct me"- If my six Shifus accompany me, then he answered, Idon't need anybody else.- Very well, said Gengis Khan. We are still weak at themoment and we cannot face the Jin Empire directly.It is necessary for you to be careful and not to let themguess our intentions.

Guo Jing agreed. The Khan gave him ten pounds of goldfor his voyage, and offered the Six Freaks a part of thespoils plundered from To'oril. Learning that he will leaveon a mission to the South, all the friends of Guo Jing alsooffered gifts to him.- Anda, Tolui reminded, people of the South don't keeptheir word, you must be careful, and not get duped ...

Three days later, Guo Jing and his Shifus left at dawn forthe tomb of Zhang Asheng to pay homage. Then theyreturned to bid farewell to Li Ping, before taking the roadto the South. Li Ping accompanied with a glance the highsilhouette of her son riding the small red horse which

silhouette of her son riding the small red horse whichdisappeared in the desert. She thought of the childbirthduring the desolate battlefield, and felt her hearttightening.After riding about ten Li, Guo Jing saw two white eaglesswerving in the sky:Tolui and Huazheng had come to bid farewell to him. Toluistill offered him a valuable coat of black sable without anyflaws, which he had taken from To'oril.Huazheng, with feverish cheeks, looked at her futurehusband without saying anything.- Oh well, little sister, said Tolui, speak to him! I will notlisten to what you'll say!He burst out laughing and went forth.Huazheng bowed her head, she did not find anything tosay ...- Return quickly! she finally murmured. Guo Jing shook hishead.- What else do you want to say to me? he asked. Sheshook her head.- Then, I'll go ...She lowered her head without saying a word.Guo Jing leaned, slightly pressing her to him, rode towardsTolui, also hugged him, then put his horse in a gallop inorder to catch up with his six Shifus who were far already.Seeing him so formal, without showing any tenderness,though they were already promised in marriage and hewould travel faraway, Huazheng felt an upsurgingannoyance, she violently whipped her horse although thepoor animal couldn't help it ...

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03-14-05, 10:14 AM

(Strunf)

Chapter 7 Joust to find a spouse

The Six Freaks of the Jiangnan and Guo Jing took thesoutheastern direction. The journey promised to be long:many days passed before they even left the steppe.That day, they were not very far from Kalgan anymore. Itwas the first time that Guo Jing landed his feet on theChinese soil, all was new for him, and he was full ofenthusiasm. He loosened the bridle of his horse, that ranso quickly that the wind whistled to the ears of the youngman and the landscape changed so quickly before hisamazed eyes. The little red horse galloped withoutinterruption till the Black River, then Guo Jing stopped in ahostel by the road, in order to wait for his masters.Seeing that, after this long race, the horse had sweated alot, Guo Jing had mercy of him and took a handkerchief towipe it. He was stunned then to see, on the handkerchieftraces of blood! Passing the hand on the neck, hewithdrew it covered of blood. He almost burst into tears,

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withdrew it covered of blood. He almost burst into tears,blaming himself for not stopping his horse and take care ofit. He was therefore the responsible of its loss! Heembraced the horse, making him one thousand caresses,however the animal seemed to be very healthy, withoutappearing to suffer from anything.Impatient to see his Third Shifu, so he may give some careto the horse, he didn't stop stretching the neck toward theroad to see him as soon as possible. Suddenly, he heard awarbling tolling of bells: four camels of a snow white colorarrived at full speed on the road, each brought by anindividual clothed in white. Guo Jing had grown in thedesert, but he had never seen any as beautiful camels andcould not stop himself from looking fixedly at them. Agedof about twenty years, the “cameleers” had all one face offine lines and attractive, of a beauty that one rarely couldsee in Mongolia. They got down with agility of theirsettings to enter in the hostel. Guo Jing could not leavethem of the eyes.One of the cameleers, embarrassed by the fixity of thislook, blushed and lowered the head. Another, on the otherhand, got in anger :- Little stun! What do you have to look like that?Guo Jing, taken on the fact, diverted the head withembarrassment. The newcomers whispered in a low voiceand one heard them to laugh.- Congratulations! seemed to say one among them. Youreally hit that little stun!Guo Jing understood that one ridiculed him and felt allashamed. The red to the cheeks, he wondered if he had toremain or leave, when Han Baoju arrived on his stallion“Pursuit of wind”. The young man hastened to tell to hisShifu of his misadventure.- How is this possible? wondered Han Baoju.He approached the horse, caressed it, examined its handattentively, and exploded to laugh :- It is not blood, he says, it is sweat!- Sweat? stammers Guo Jing, speechless. Red sweat?- My small Jing, it is a horse to the sweat of blood, a rarebeast and of an inestimable value!Guo Jing was in heaven to learn that his setting was notwounded :- Third Shifu, did he asked, how sweat can it look likeblood?- I heard about it from my deceased Shifu, that it existedin the kingdom of Ferghana (central Asia Valley, sharedtoday between Uzbekistan, the Kirghizstan andTaczhikistan.), in the Territories of the west, celestialhorses, whose sweat was red as blood. Its gallop lookedlike he was going to fly, and it could browse more onethousand li per day. But it was a legend, no one ever sawone, and I didn't believe myself in it too much. However,here is that this legendary animal let himself be tamed byyou!In the meantime, the other Freaks had also arrived. Alltook place in the hostel and ordered to eat. Zhu Cong,whose learning was incomparable, said while nodding thehead :

head :- It is effectively an anecdote consigned in the HistoricMemorials and in the dynastic history of the Hans, thatThe emperor Han Wudi, having heard to speak of thehorse to the sweat of blood, had sent an emissary inkingdom of Ferghana with a full size statue of the animal,all gold, and had asked to have one of it. However, theking of Ferghana refused.- How did the emperor react? asked for Han Xiaoying. Didhe give up on the horse?Installed on another table, the cameleers in blank, alsostretched the ear to listen the history. At that moment,one heard to ring some bells and four other individuals,also clothed of white, entered and sat down with theirmates.- Of course no, says Zhu Cong. He entered in a terrifyinganger and invaded Ferghana. To the term of a long andterrifying war, during which the kingdom was annihilated,he finally captured one of the famous horses, but at whatprice!All exclaimed on the madness of the men and continued toeat the meal that they had ordered.The eight cameleers had listened to history attentively,throwing looks of desire on the attached outside red horse,and didn't quit to whisper in a low voice. Ke Zhen'e, whosehearing was especially fine, heard them distinctly,although the tables were relatively distant from eachother.- If one wants to go for it, said one of them, we need to doit right away. If he rides his horse again, we wont be ableto catch him up!- There is too many people here, retorted another. And hehas some mates...- If they dare to interfere, said a third, we only have to killthem all!"How can these eight individuals appear as cruel?"wondered Ke Zhen'e, but he didn't let anything of it toappear and continued to swallow his dough’s greedily.- We are going to offer this precious horse to the youngMaster, said one of them. Mounted on such beast, hisarrival in the Yanjing will be a lot more spectacular! Noone will be talked as much as him, not even conceitedpersons like “the immortal of the Ginseng”, or the“Virtuous Supreme Lingzhi”!Ke Zhen'e had heard to speak already of the "VirtuousSupreme Lingzhi", that was an eminent personality of theesoteric school of Tibet, known in the whole Southwest forhis so-called technique "Stamp of a big hand." On theother hand, he didn't know anything about the "Immortalof the Ginseng."- These last days, said another, we met on the road a lotof outlaws, these are all of the men of Peng Lianhu, called"Butcher of the one thousand Hands." They are probablygoing to the appointment in Yanjing. If they fall on thisprecious horse, do you believe that we will get anotherchance to get it?Ke Zhen'e froze: he knew that Peng Lianhu was adangerous strip chief who raged in the region of the Hubei

dangerous strip chief who raged in the region of the Hubeiand Shanxi. He had many henchmen under his orders andacted with cruelty. He had killed so many people that hehad received the nickname of "Butcher of the onethousand Hands." Why, did he wonder, all this sinisteroutlaws are to meet in the capital? And from where didthese eight women came? "These women, continued to plot to low voice, deciding tolie a ambush on the road, outside of the township, in orderto seize the horse of Guo Jing. Then they chattered,talking of cloths and other business, of the kind : "It is youthat the young Master prefers", or "The young Mastermust be thinking about you now", etc. Ke Zhen'e raisedthe eyebrows, angry, but he could not close his ears andhe heard all in spite of him.- If we offer the horse to the sweat of blood to the youngMaster, did ask for one among them, what reward do youbelieve that he is going to give us?- He is surely going to spend more nights with you,answered another while laughing.The first protested, sulky. They bickered while laughing.- Be quiet, says one among them. Don’t unveil ourintentions, they don't seem to be that easy...- The woman over there, says another in a low voice,carries a sword, she practices the martial arts for sure.And she is rather good looking!If she had ten years less, the young Master would certainlyfall for her!Ke Zhen'e understood well that they were speaking of HanXiaoying and felt even agrier: this "young Master" of whichthey spoke cant be someone that advisable!The eight women finished their meal, took their camelsand left the hostel.After their departure, Ke Zhen'e asked Guo Jing :- Jing, what do you think if the gongfu of these eightwomen?- What women? wondered Guo Jing.- They are disguised in men, explained Zhu Cong, but youdidn't realize it, dint you?- Who knows the Mount of the white Camel? asked KeZhen'e.No one had heard to speak of it. Ke informed them aboutthe conversation that he had heard, the other Freaksfound that these shameless women didn't lack of boldness,but their audacity to want to tackle someone stronger thanthem was something to laugh of.- Two among them, said Han Xiaoying, have a big noseand green eyes: they probably aren’t Chinese...- Effectively, confirmed Han Baoju. And these entirelywhite camels only exist in the Territories of the west.- That they want to steal the horse, said Ke Zhen'e, that isnot too serious, but they said that numerous dangerouspersonalities were going to a meeting in Yanjing: it mustprobably hide an important plot to harm the Song dynasty.It could even have disastrous consequences for ourpeople! Since we fell on such a business, we cannot washour hands of it.- Certainly not, said Quan Jinfa, but the appointment ofJiaxing is near, we cant waste any time.

Jiaxing is near, we cant waste any time.They hesitated, because it appeared impossible toreconcile the two missions.- That Jing goes there first, says suddenly Nan Xiren.- Fourth brother wants to say, did decipher Han Xiaoying,that Jing must go alone in Jiaxing, and that we will join itonce we will have solved this business in Yanjing?Nan Xiren nodded the head.- It is true, says Zhu Cong, it is time that Jing travels alittle alone to acquire some experience all by himself...The young man appeared very saddened to part awayfrom his Shifus.- You are now big, reprimanded Ke Zhen'e. Don't behavelike a child!- You go and wait for us there, comforted Han Xiaoying. Inless than one month, we will join you.- The appointment of Jiaxing, said Zhu Cong, we didn'texplain it in detail to you until now. Whatever it arrives, atthe twenty-fourth day of the third lunar month, at noon,you must imperatively be to the Pavilion of the drunkImmortals, even if the sky was to fall on your head!Guo Jing acquiesced.- These eight women want to steal your horse, continuedKe Zhen'e. Don't look for the fight: your horse is fast andthey wont be able to catch you up. You have importantthings to attend to, avoid to embark in useless histories.- If these women dare to cause any trouble, said HanBaoju, the Seven Freaks of the Jiangnan will stop them!Zhang Asheng had died more than ten years ago, but thesix always called themselves "Seven Freaks", neverforgetting to associate their dead brother to all theiractions.

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03-14-05, 10:15 AM

(Patudo)

Guo Jing therefore bid farewell to his teachers. They hadwitnessed his battle against the Four Demons of the YellowRiver, and were not too greatly worried: the young manhad proved that he knew to use the skills that had beentaught to him. Therefore they let him leave alone. On onehand, the meeting of the outlaws in Yanjing worried themgreatly, so that they could not make themselves loseinterest in it; and on the other hand, a youngster alwayshad to travel the jianghu alone, in order to learn lessonsthat no teacher could pass on.

At the moment of parting, each made his lastrecommendations. As usual when the Six spoke after oneanother, Nan Xiren was the last one to express himself:

" If you cannot defeat the enemy," he said. "Flee!"

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" If you cannot defeat the enemy," he said. "Flee!"

Knowing the dogged character of Guo Jing, he knew thathe would prefer to die rather than to surrender: if he meta master, he would certainly fight to the bitter end, evenat the risk of death. That was the reason Nan Xiren gavehim this common-sense warning.

" The martial arts have no limits," added Zhu Cong. " Asthe proverb says: 'For every peak there is one yet higher',so for every man there is one stronger. Whatever yourpower, you will always one day meet a foe stronger thanyou. A true man knows to retreat when necessary: whenfacing grave danger, it is necessary to contain one'simpatience and anger. This what is meant by the adage: «If one preserves the earth and its forests, one does notfear to lack firewood ». It is not therefore not cowardly totake good advice! When the enemy is too numerous andthat you cannot face them there, it is especially necessaryto avoid being too reckless. Keep in mind Fourth Shifu'sadvice!"

Guo Jing agreed and kowtowed to his teachers, beforemounting his horse to head for the South. He felt greatsadness at parting from his masters, with whom had livedevery day for the ten last years, so that the tears floweddown his face. He thought also of his mother, whom hehad left alone in the desert. Of course, she did not lack foranything, since Genghis Khan and Tolui had promised tolook after her, but his loneliness weighed upon himnonetheless, and he grieved for her.

After travelling about ten li, he arrived in a mountainousregion: the road wound in the bottom of a valleydominated by craggy slopes sprinkled by strange boulders.As it was the first time that he had confronted the outsideworld, he could not help but feel a little apprehensive atthe sight of this threatening landscape. One hand on thehilt of his sword, he paused then while smiling: « If ThirdShifu saw me thus, trembling and terrified, he wouldcertainly make fun of me! ».

The path climbed the mountain flank, becoming more andmore narrow and serpentine. After a turn, he suddenlybecame aware of a mass of white shapes in front of him:four women clothed in white, mounted on white camels,blocked the road.

Guo Jing halted and pulled up the reins of his horse. Froma distance, he shouted:

" Excuse me! Please, may I pass!"

The four women laughed.

" Little guy," replied one of them. " What do you fear? Whydon't you come over! We won't eat you!"

Red-faced, Guo Jing did not know what to do: could heamicably negotiate passage, or was it necessary to rushand force the pass by arms?

" Your horse seems not a bad animal," said anotherwoman. "Come, let me have a look at him!"

She spoke to him as to a little child. Guo Jing felt angerrise within him. But the layout of the terrain worried him.To his right rose a craggy cliff, to the left there was a mist-drowned precipice, whose bottom could not be seen.

" Eldest Shifu," he said to himself, " has given me goodadvice not to seek trouble. If I ride swiftly at them, thosegirls will be well obliged to let me pass!"

He lashed his reins, pressed with his thighs, and the redhorse sped forward like an arrow. Sword in hand, Guo Jingcried:

" Listen, you people! Let me pass! If someone is jostledand falls in the precipice, it won't be my fault!"

In an eyeblink, he arrived in front of the four women. Theyhad leapt down from their camels and attempted to seizethe bridle of the horse. But, with a whinny, the horse leaptover the camels! Guo Jing had the impression that he wasflying in the clouds as he landed behind his opponents,who were just as surprised as him!

Hearing them scream out their anger, he turned and sawthe flash of two projectiles flying towards him. This beinghis first travels in the jianghu, he had taken heed of theprudent recommendations of his masters: worried that themissiles were poisoned, he did not wish to seize them withhis bare hand. He waved his leather cap, and gatheredthem, intercepting their flight.

" Well done!" cried two of the women. " Pretty gongfu!"

Guo Jing dipped his head and saw, inside his cap, twosilver darts tipped with extremely sharp fishbones, deadlyweapons! He felt disturbed and upset: " There is no ill-willbetween us," he said to himself. " You covet only my horseand here you are ready to injure me mortally! ».

He placed the missiles in his pouch, and fearing to meetthe four other women, he loosened his horse's reins. Itgalloped like the wind and in less than an hour, hadcovered 80 li. The assailants had to be ambushed more faron the road, but it was passed so quickly than they did nothave to have the time to stop it. After a brief rest, hecontinued on. Before night fell again, he had arrived toKalgan, sure that he had left behind those following.

Kalgan, the crossroads of commerce between the Southand the North, was a small but very lively city, where thetrade of the region was centered, especially the fur trade.

trade of the region was centered, especially the fur trade.

Holding his red horse by the reins, Guo Jing glanced rightand left with great curiosity. Never had he seen a town ofsuch importance, so that everything appeared strange andnovel to him.

Arriving in front of a large restaurant, he felt the pangs ofhunger. He tied up his horse in front of the door and wentin. Once seated at a table, he ordered a dish of beef, withtwo pancakes, and being of good appetite, he ate in theMongol manner, winding the meat in the pancake andtaking bites out of it.

While he treated himself, he suddenly heard a tumult atthe door of the inn. Fearing for his mount, he rushed tothe doorway. The little red horse was quietly eating hisfodder, but two inn boys were scolding a young, slenderboy, clothed in rags.Aged about fifteen or sixteen years, on his head he worean old leather hat with many holes, his face and handswere all dirty, so much so that one could not distinguishhis features clearly. He held a big bun in his hand andlaughed stupidly, revealing two rows of beautiful whiteteeth, that seemed out-of-place in comparison with hisgeneral appearance. His black, very lively eyes, shone withintensity.

" Hey!" screamed one of the boys. " Get lost!"

" Sure," said the young man, " since you want me to go,I'll go.. "

He turned on his heel, but the other inn boy interrupted:

" Leave the bun!"

He did so, passed back the bun, but it was spattered withthe tracks of dirty fingers and could no longer be sold. Theinn boy, furious, launched a blow with his fist, that theother ducked.

Guo Jing felt pity for him, thinking that he had to behungry, and interposed himself:

" There's no need for violence," he said. " Put that on myaccount!"

He obtained the bun and gave it to the young man, whotook it, but said:

" This bun is no good! Poor thing, wait; here, for you!"

He threw the bun to a small skinny dog that started todevour it.

"What a waste!" swore the inn boy, " giving a dog such agood bun!"

good bun!"

Guo Jing was taken aback, for he had believed that theboy had suffered from hunger... He returned to his table tocontinue his meal. Now, the young man followed himinside the establishment and stayed there, looking at himfixedly. Guo Jing felt a little bothered, then he asked:

" Do you want to eat here, too?"

" Gladly so," replied the young man with a laugh. "Exactly, I was bored all alone and I've been looking for abuddy..."

He had a Jiangnan accent, and its familiarity delighted GuoJing. In fact, his mother was from Lin'an, in Zhejiangprovince , and the Odd Six all came from Jiaxing: he hadtherefore, since childhood, been immersed in the accent ofthe Jiangnan. The young boy seated himself at the table.Guo Jing ordered a cover of more to the waiter. He sawthe rags and dirtiness of the new guest, his appearancewas not very nice. It was necessary to to call him severaltimes before he brought over a bowl and plate, dragginghis feet.

" You take me for a pauper," said the young boy, "unworthy to eat here?"Peuh! Even if you serve your finest dishes, who knowswhether they might be to my taste!"

" Ah yes?" said the waiter coldly. " We will assuredly followyour orders, sir. The problem is that we don't know ifanyone will pay!"

" Whatever the dishes that I order," the boy demanded ofGuo Jing, " will you treat me?"

" Of course, of course!" réplied Guo Jing, who then orderedthe waiter: " quickly, will you cut up a plate of roast beefand a half plate of mutton liver!"

For him, roast beef and mutton liver constituted theultimate in delicacies...

" Do you drink wine?" he asked the boy.

" Wait," the other replied. " Don't rush into the meat. Letus begin first with fruit. Eh, waiter! Bring us first four dryfruit, four fresh fruit, two salted sweetened ones, fourpreserved fruit in honey."

The waiter was shocked, not expecting such orders:

" Which fruit and sweets would you wish, sir?" heenquired.

" In this little establishment, in this pathetic little town,"says the boy, " I imagine it's impossible for you to do

says the boy, " I imagine it's impossible for you to doanything great. Then, one will content oneself with little:the four dry fruit are lichis, longans, jujubes to thesteamed and gingkos. For the expenses, you will chooseseasonal fruits. For the salted sweetened, perfumedcherries and plums to the filaments of ginger, but I don'tknow if one can find some here. As for the preserved fruitin honey, you will bring perfumed orangettes to the rose,preserved grapes, fishing lamelles to sugar freezes, andpear slices."

This knowledge of culinary matters impressed the waiter,who no longer dared to act superior.

" There is no fresh fish or fresh shrimp here, to accompanythe wine," continued the boy, " so I will be content witheight average... dishes."

" What would you desire, sir?" asked the waiter;

" Of course," said the boy with a sigh. " If one does notexplain all the tiniest details, you would be incapable ofdoing anything! Here are the eight dishes: steamedpheasant, fried ducks feet, a soup of chicken tongues, deerstomach to rice wine, beef ribs with chives, rabbit infilament to the chrysanthemum, thigh of wild boar stir-fried, pork feet in ginger vinegar... I'm choosing simpledishes only, it's not worth speaking of more sophisticateddishes."

The waiter's mouth gaped.

" These eight dishes," he said, " are rather expensive! Forthe duck feet and the chicken tongue soup, we will requirea lot of poultry!"

" This gentleman is paying," résponded the boy whilepointing at Guo Jing, " do you believe that he does nothave the means?"

The waiter saw that Guo Jing carried a sable coat of greatvalue. « Even if you have no means of payment," he saidto himself, " this coat will suffice to cover theexpenditures! ».

Then he demanded:

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03-14-05, 10:17 AM

(Du Gu seeking a win)

- Are those all? - You will also bring, the boy said, twelve more dishes toaccompany the rice and eight different desserts. And it will

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accompany the rice and eight different desserts. And it willgo on like that ...

The waiter didn't dare to ask details concerning the dishes,fearing the boy would order dishes he could not provide,he went to the kitchen telling to prepare the best. - Which wine does the gentlemen wish to drink? hereturned to ask. We have white wine ten years of age.What would you say of two horns to start? - Why not? said the boy. One continued with ...

A little later the waiter brought fruits and cookies, Guo Jingtasted each plate and marvelled at all those deliciousthings he had never know. The boy spoke much, tellingabout the local customs and habits, describing famouscharacters and famous anecdotes about the country of theSouth. Guo Jing was fascinated by his refined eloquenceand his immense knowledge. Guo Jing's Second Shifu wasa well-read man and a great scholar, but Guo Jing, whohad devoted all his time and energy to martial arts, hadonly learned from Zhu Cong, during their rare free time,some basic characters. It seemed to him now that this young boy was ascultivated as Second Shifu and he was filled with wonder:"I believe, he thought, what seems just a poor beggar wasin reality a well-read man of immense culture. The men inChina are definitely quite different from those inMongolia." Half an hour later, the dishes were ready: it was necessaryto join two large tables together to be able to serve themall. The young boy drank very little and ate in the sameway, being satisfied with pickings of the less spiced dishes.Suddenly, he called the waiter and thundered:- This rice wine is five years old! How do you dare to serveit with the food? - Your palate is really very refined! the manager came tobeg for pardon. Please excuse us. In fact, our humbleestablishment did not have it, it was necessary to borrowsome from the nearest larger restaurant, The House ofEternal Celebration. In general, one does not find freshwine in Kalgan. The young boy made a gesture to return it and resumedhis conversation with Guo Jing again, asking him thousandquestions about the desert and Mongolia. As his Shifus hadreminded him to be discreet, in order not to reveal hisidentity, he was content to tell anecdotes on hunting forhares and wolves, the shootings of eagles, horse races etc.The boy listened with fascination, applauding the sharpestaccounts and often bursting into fresh and childishlaughter.

Guo Jing had lived all his life in the desert. He hadcertainly tied a sincere friendship with Tolui and Huazheng.But Temujin, who loved his youngest son very much, oftenkept his son near him, so that Tolui didn't have much timeto play around. As for Huazheng, she had a strongcharacter and often quarrelled with Guo Jing, who feltreluctant to do everything she wanted. Although they

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reluctant to do everything she wanted. Although theyalways ended reconciled, the relation wasn't easy.However, everything was different with this young boy:they were conversing during eating and Guo Jing, withoutknowing why, felt a joy he never experienced before.

Usually he spoke little and expressed himself withdifficulty. One really needed to pose him with questionsforcing him to answer painfully. Han Xiaoying nicely madefun of him by saying that he was the preferred disciple ofFourth Shifu, because he had adopted Nan Xiren's motto:"silence is golden". This time, he surprisingly could speak nonstop, not hidinganything of his life, except his martial arts training andwhat was related to Temujin, telling even all silly thingsand his stupidities. He spoke glibly and at a certainmoment, he forgot himself and seized the left hand of hisinterlocutor. He was surprised because this hand was softand smooth, it was flexible and seemed boneless. The boysmiled slightly and bowed his head. Guo Jing realizedwhereas the boy's face was dark with filth, the skin of hisnape had the whiteness of jade. Guo Jing found this a bitstrange, but he did not pay further attention. - Well we've chat for a long time, the boy said,withdrawing his hand, all are cold now, the dishes and alsothe rice ... - Yes, Guo Jing said, but it is not spoilt, it is still goodnevertheless ... The boy shook his head. - Then we'll let it warmed up ... - No, the boy said, what is warmed up isn't good anymore... He called the waiter, ordered him to throw all away andprepare new dishes with fresh ingredients. The manager,cooks and waiters found this attitude quite strange, butthey did it readily. The Mongols had a habit of showingextreme hospitability to their guests, and besides, it's thefirst time of his life Guo Jing handled money, he didn'tknew its value at all. But even if he did know, he got alongso well with the boy, he felt such a pleasure in the boy'scompany, he would have spent ten times as much withoutbatting an eye.

The new dishes were served, the boy ate some mouthfuland had enough. "You are really an idiot", the waiterinwardly said to Guo Jing, "This little urchin has takenadvantage of you".He brought the check, which amounted to nineteen taels,seventy-four conderins. Guo Jing took a gold ingot,ordered the waiter to change against taels at the moneychanger, and paid. When they left the restaurant, the northwind blewviolently. The young boy seemed to feel cold. He shiveredand said: - I've disturbed you ... Now, goodbye. Seeing the boy dressed not warm enough, Guo Jing felt hisheart tightening. He removed his black sable coat andcovered the shoulders of the boy: - Brother, he said, I got the impression we've known eachother forever. Please accept this coat.

other forever. Please accept this coat. He had four gold ingots left, he took two ingots, slippedthem into the coat's pocket. Without even thanking, theboy, wearing the sable coat, stepped along heavily. After walking about ten steps, he turned and saw GuoJing, holding his horse by its bridle, fixedly looking at him.He understood Guo Jing did not want to separate like that,then he made a gesture with his hand. Guo Jingapproached him eagerly and required: - Does worthy brother still need something? - I haven't yet asked for the name of my big brother, saidthe boy smiling. - Indeed, Guo Jing said laughing, we forgot about that. Myname is Guo and Jing is my first name. And you, brother? - My name is Huang and my first name is Rong. - Where are you bound for? asked Guo Jing. If you want togo towards the South, we could travel together, what doyou think? - I do not go towards the South, Huang Rong said, shakinghis head. Then he said suddenly: - Big brother, I'm still hungry ... - Very well, Guo Jing ardently said. Let us eat somethingtogether. This time, Huang Rong brought him to the House ofEternal Celebration, the principal restaurant of Kalgan,which decoration accurately imitated the greatestablishments of the ancient capital of Song, Bianliang.He did not order a feast anymore, but asked only fourplates of fine pastry, a pot of longjin tea (famous greentea of the province Zhejiang), and both continued theirrambling conversation.Having learned that Guo Jing had tamed two white eagles,Huang Rong expressed a certain desire. - Very well, he said, I did not know exactly where to go.Indeed, tomorrow I'll leave for Mongolia, to catch twowhite eagles for my amusement. - They are not easy to find, Guo Jing remarked. - Then how did you find them? Guo Jing didn't answer andonly smiled. The climate is severe in Mongolia, he said, thenorthwind blew icy and hard, how would this young boywith such a weak constitution could withstand it? - Where do you live? he asked. Why don't you returnhome? Huang Rong had tears in his eyes: - Dad doesn't want me anymore! - And why? - He locked up somebody, answered Huang Rong, and didnot want to set that person free. I took pity on theprisoner; as he is displeased all alone, I brought goodthings for him to eat, and I try to converse with him. Dadgot angry and cursed at me, I ran away in the middle ofthe night. - Your dad surely thinks of you at this moment, Guo Jingsaid. And your mom? - Died for a long time! I didn't have a mom since very little... - If you have had your fun, it would be better to returnhome.

home. - Dad does not want me anymore, Huang Rong saidcrying. - That's impossible. - Then why doesn't he look for me? - Perhaps he is still seeking, but haven't found you ... - You are probably right, Huang Rong said, who changedfrom crying to laughing. Then when I have my fun, I'llreturn. But first of all, it is necessary to tame two whiteeagles. They chatted again about what they have seen orexperienced. Guo Jing told the incident of the eight womenin white disguised as men who wanted to take possessionof his horse. Huang Rong raised questions about the smallred horse, its capabilities, its character, and was full ofenvy. He drank a mouthful of tea and said smilingly: - Big brother, I want to ask for something of great value toyou. Would you approve of that? - Of course, why wouldn't I? - What I would like, is precisely your horse with the sweatof blood! - Allright, Guo Jing said without hesitating, I'll give itgladly to you. In fact, Huang Rong was joking: he sawvery well that Guo Jing adored his invaluable horse, andthey have met just recently and by chance. He just wantedto see how this good chap was going to refuse hisimproper request. However, Guo Jing answered with suchan amount of generosity and simplicity that he was takenby surprise. Moved beyond words, he could not preventhimself breaking into sobs and hide his face with his arms.Guo Jing was even more surprised: - Well, brother, he asked with concern. What hasoccurred? Don't you feel well? Huang Rong raised his head. He had cried, but now a bigsmile lit his face. The running tears had wiped away thefilth, revealing a white skin like pure jade. - Big brother, he said, let us go! Guo Jing paid and they left the restaurant. Guo Jing tookhis horse by its bridle, caressed it gently and gave it thefollowing advice: - I've given you to my great friend here. You will showyourself obeying and especially not show your foul temper!Then he adressed Huang Rong: - Brother, mount the horse!

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03-14-05, 10:19 AM

(Patudo)

Usually, the small red horse did not allow anyone else tomount it, but, during the last few days, it had quietened alot. And, since its master had ordered it to do so, it didn'tmake a fuss. Huang Rong leapt on the horse, Guo Jing letgo the bridle, and clapped him lightly on the rump. Rider

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Mojo Jojo

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go the bridle, and clapped him lightly on the rump. Riderand horse disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Guo Jing waited till he could see them no more before hereturned. It was very late when he obtained a room in ahostelry. The moment he was going to extinguish hiscandle and to go to bed, he heard a scratch at the door.He thought that it was Huang Rong who had returned, andfelt great joy:

" Is that you, brother?" he demanded. " That's great!"

" It's your old man!" replied a hoarse voice. " What 's sowonderful?"

Surprised, the young man opens the door and saw, by theglimmer of the candle, five men. While looking at themmore closely, he felt a shiver go down his spine: four ofthem, armed with sabre, lance, whip and twin axes, werenone other than the Yellow River's Four Demons, whom hehad fought earlier at the hill. The fifth one was a lean manof about forty years, with a dark and long face, with threebig bumps on the forehead, that gave him an extremelyugly appearance.

The lean man sneered and swept grandly into the room.He seated himself arrogantly on the bed of bricks (innorthern China, sleeping arrangements generally wereinstalled on top of a kind of brick "oven", that allowed forheating underneath), then turned his head to regard GuoJing.

The senior brother of the Yellow River's Four Demons,Shen Qinggang, nicknamed "Sabre Breaks the Soul",declared coldly:

" Here is our martial uncle, the renowned Hou Tonghai,known as "Three-Headed Dragon"! Kowtow before LordHou right now!"

Guo Jing realized that he was cornered. He already couldnot defeat the Four Demons of the Yellow River bythemselves, to say nothing of their martial uncle, who hadto be fearsome.

" What do you want?" he demanded, while joining his fistsin greeting.

" Where are your teachers?" questioned Hou Tonghai.

" My six Shifu are not here."

" Huh," sneered Hou Tonghai. " Then I will leave you arespite of a half-day. If I killed you now, one could saythat the Three-Headed Dragon was taking advantage of anopponent weaker than him. Tomorrow noon, I will awaityour six Shifus in the Black Pine Wood, ten li to the west ofhere."

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here."

He left without even waiting for Guo Jing's reply. WuQinglie, nicknamed "Whip Pulls out Life", closed the doorand locked it from the outside.

Guo Jing put out the candle, lay down on the bed, andsaw, on the paper of the window, a shadow came andwent with no small swiftness: the enemy, clearly, weremounting a watch over him. Shortly after, he heard anoise on the roof, someone hitting the tiles with a weapon,while saying: " Little chap, don't even think about runningaway, your old man is watching you." Understanding thatescape was impossible, Guo Jing lay still, glancing at theceiling, wondering how he was going to leave tomorrow,but he fell sleep before he found the beginnings to asolution.

The next day morning, the inn boy brought hot water forhis bath and noodles for breakfast, closely followed byQian Qingjian, armed with his two short axes.

Guo Jing reflected that his Shifu were faraway andprobably could not arrive on time to save him. Since hecould not flee, it was necessary to fight and die as a man!His Fourth Shifu had for him well says "If you can't beatthe enemy, flee!", But to flee without even being beaten,this would not be following the advice... In fact, it wouldnot have been difficult for him to escape from QianQingjian alone, but his spirit was not very lively or veryresourceful. If only Nan Xiren had said to him: "Flee fromdanger!", he probably would have taken to his heels, andQian Qingjian certainly would not have been in a positionto catch him. The Three-Headed Dragon, Hou Tonghai,believed that the Jiangnan Odd Six were located in thisarea, and that, given their fame, they never would havefailed to keep an appointment, so would never haveimagined that Guo Jing would flee on his own.

Seated on the bed, he praticed the meditations andcontrolled his breath according to the pointers given by MaYu. Next to him, Qian Qingjian whirled his axes whileshouting and while criticizing his methods. Guo Jing gavehim not the least attention. Towards noon, he rose.

" Let's go," he said to his jailer.

He paid his expenditures to the innkeeper and bothheaded for the west. Ten li further on, they indeed cameacross a wood of thickly foliaged pines. Qian Qingjian leftGuo Jing and entered the wood.

The young man pulled out the supple whip that he alwayscarried by his side and cautiously entered theundergrowth. Progressing slowly, all the direction to theaguets, he followed the small path for a little more thanone li, without seeing anyone. All was silent, with anoccasional bird cry now and then. As he advanced, his

occasional bird cry now and then. As he advanced, hisapprehension grew.

" No one is watching me," he said suddenly to himself, "the wood is so thick, why not hide myself? To hide myself,that's not to flee!"

He prepared himself to slip into a bush when he heardswearing above his head:

" Little bastard! Idiot! Moron!"

Guo Jing jumped back, his whip held on guard. He lookedup and burst out laughing: all at the top of four big trees,the Yellow River Demons, hands tied behind their backs,were hanging at the end of a rope and wriggled in the air.They struggled hopelessly but could not escape. SeeingGuo Jing, they redoubled their cursing.

" You playing at swings?" asked Guo Jing while laughing. "This is very funny, isn't it? Then good-bye, I'll take myleave-"

He took a few steps back, then returned.

" How did you end up like that?"

" Damn you!" growled Qian Qingjian. " We were trappedby surprise, this is not worthy of a real man!"

" Little guy," cried Shen Qinggang, " if you're braveenough, let us down, we will fight one on one to decidebetween us. For if we attacked you en masse, we would becowards!"

Guo Jing wasn't very intelligent, but neither was hecompletely stupid. He burst out laughing again and said:

" I'll accept that you're brave, without needing to matchblows!" Afraid that Hou Tonghai, the Three-HeadedDragon, might arrive, he had no desire to linger; he hastilydeparted and returned to the city. He bought a horse andresumed without delay his journey south.

" Who was it that helped me secretly?" he asked himself. "These Four Demons of the Yellow River have excellentgongfu, who succeeded in tying them up, and suspendthem in the trees? And this Three-Headed Dragon that hadseemed so frightening, why was it that I didn't see himanymore? My Shifu always said: when an appointment istaken, it is necessary to keep it, even if the sky falls onyour head. I've kept his appointment, if he didn't arrivehimself, that's not my fault."

The journey went on without incident. That day, he finallyarrived at Yanjing. It was the capital of the Jin Empire, themost prosperous city in the country. Even the formercapital of the Song, Bianliang, or the new, Lin-An, couldnot compete with it. Guo Jing, who had grown up in the

not compete with it. Guo Jing, who had grown up in thedesert, never had seen similar organization. Red buildingsof cunning architecture, decorated panels, majestic doors,splendid attachments in front of the sumptuousresidences, fiery standards disputing the passage in thestreets. Merchandises of all sorts were exposed in ofimmense stores, a colorful crowd to the luxurious clothespressed themselves in the tea parlors and the debits ofdrinks. Brilliant signs, multicolored standards, in the airresounded a thousand musics, a hundred perfumes filledwith fragrance. Guo Jing did not know anymore where toturn his head. There were so many things before his eyesthat he did not recognize one object out of ten!

Not daring to enter a restaurant that was too richlyfurnished, he chose a small stall where he ate quickly,then continued to walk about at random. Suddenly, heheard a continuous cheering, and saw a crowd in thedistance, massed around something.

Pressed on by his curiosity, he approached and slippedamong the onlookers. They pressed themselves around awide open area, in the middle of which was planted anornamented standard with the phrase "Challenge to find aspouse" embroidered upon it. Beneath the standard, twopersons faced each other in unrelenting combat: one wasa girl dressed in red, the other a big fat fellow. Guo Jingsaw right away that the girl, whose every movement wasmeasured and checked, had good gongfu, while the fatfellow was clearly not up to the mark. After someexchanges, the girl feigned to lower her guard, the fatfellow advanced to attack with a blow "Twin DragonsLeaving their Lairs", projecting both fists towards the chestof the opponent. But the girl stepped back lightly, her leftarm pivoted and struck the back of the fat fellow, whotumbled to the ground. He got up, covered in dust, anembarrassed look on his face, and disappeared into thecrowd. The spectators applauded and acclaimed the girl.

She rearranged a strand of hair and returned to thestandard. Guo Jing regarded her more attentively: agedabout eighteen years, she was very graceful and her faceextremely pretty, lightly marked by life. Gusts of cold windfluttered the standard, to either side of which had beenplanted an iron lance and two short halberds.

The girl exchanged some words in a low voice with amiddle-aged man. He nodded, and stepped forward,clasped his hands and saluted the onlookers:

" Your servant is named Mu Yi. I am from Shandong. Invisiting your honourable city, I seek neither fame orfortune. It is just that, my girl is of the age to put a combin her hair (HAS to leave fifteen years, the girls,considered as adults, can groom and squeeze their hairwith a comb) and she has no fiance. She has formerlymade a vow: she does not desire a prosperous husband ora noble one, but a valiant expert in martial arts. This is the

a noble one, but a valiant expert in martial arts. This is thereason we have the audacity to propose a contest for herto find a husband: all young men, aged less than thirtyyears and who are unmarried, can match themselvesagainst my girl. If he can vanquish her in a single move, Iwill give her to him in marriage. We traversed the countryof the South to the North, but all the renowned expertsalready are married, and the young brave ones doubtlessdid not deign to try...this is the reason we have not beenable to find a good husband... Yanjing is a place where'tigers and dragons hide in the shadows'. Here therecertainly are many heroes and valiant men. If my actionsseem presumptous, I beg your kind pardon!"

This Mu Yi looked sturdy and strong to Guo Jing, but hisback was slightly hunched, he was white-haired and hisentire face wrinkled. His air was melancholic and sad; hewas clad in coarse fabric, patched in several places, whilethe girl was clothed in lively colours.

After making his speech, Mu Yi listened for some time. Heheard louts making vulgar comments, but they did notdare to descend in the arena.

He raised his eyes to the sky, saw leaden cloudsaccumulating and the wind grew stronger.

" One would say that a blizzard threatens," he said in alow voice. Ah, it was so dark, that day..."

He turned back, took down the banner from the standardand prepared to stow away the banner when twosimultaneous cries were heard from the east and west:"One moment!", and two men leaped in the open space.

Upon seeing them, the crowd burst out laughing. The onewho had come from the east was obese and elderly. Hehad a big beard and had to be at least fifty years old. Theone come from the west was even more comical: he was ashaven-headed monk.

" What are you laughing at?" the fat one shouted to thecrowd. " Isn't this a contest to find a spouse! I am notmarried, why can't I try my luck?"

" Venerable ancestor," said the monk while giggling, "even if you win, you wouldn't want this girl, as beautiful asa flower, to become a widow right away!"

" And you," said the fat one angrily, " What are you herefor?"

" If I can have such a pretty girl," replied the monk, " I'llreturn to the secular world!"

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03-14-05, 10:22 AM

(Du Gu seeking a win)

The crowd was roaring again. The girl frowned her eyebrows, apparently annoyed. Sheremoved the cape which she used to cover herself andwanted to continue the fight. Mu Yi held her arm, sayingnot to be irritated, and replanted the banner in theground. The monk and the obese person continued theirbickering, each wanted to fight the girl first.

- Why don't you start fighting against each other first? thehilarious spectators suggested. The winner will have thehonor to fight the girl! - Allright, the monk said. Old chap, let's have a little fun!He threw a blow with his fist, the obese one avoided it bylowering his head, before returning the blow. Guo Jing recognized the style of the monk, the Arhat stylefrom the ShaoLinTemple. The obese one practised thestyle of the Five Movements. Both were thus practitionersof external gongfu. The monk showed himself of greatagility, whereas the obese one, in spite of his age,privileged heaviness and power. Suddenly, the monkstealthily struck three blows at the stomach of hisadversary, who fought stoically, in order to be able tobatter down his right fist on the head of the monk. Whofell to the ground, dazzled, then found his spirits again,took a knife out of his robe and run to attack. The crowdshed a cry of surprise. The obese one leapt back beforewielding an iron whip which was rolled up around hiswaist: thus, both had become armed! The fight beganagain, still desperate, but more dangerous. The spectatorsapplauded while moving back, fearing to be injured bystraying blows.

Mu Yi approached the two men and said with a loud voice: - Stop! We are here in the imperial capital, it is forbiddento exhibit weapons! The two adversaries, carried away bytheir fight did not give any attention to him. Mu Yi leaptsuddenly, jumping he kicked the knife of the monk whileseizing the end of the whip. He drew with force, the obeseone could not resist and released the whip. Mu Yi threwthe whip onto the ground. The two adversaries, not daringto fight anymore, collected their weapons shamefully anddisappeared under the gibes from the crowd.

Then tinkling of small bells which were attached to theharnesses of horses was heard and one saw a flamboyantcompany appearing: several tens of vigorous servantsaccompanying a young nobleman. He looked at thebrocade banner and examined the girl from head to toes.Then he smiled, got down from his horse and cameforward.

- Is this the girl who seeks a husband through a contest?

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- Is this the girl who seeks a husband through a contest?he asked. The girl blushed and turned her head withoutanswering. Mu Yi advanced, joining his fists and greeted: - My name is Mu. What does the young Lord wish? - What are the rules of this contest?

Mu Yi explained it to him. - Then I want to try my chance as well... He was a youngand handsome nobleman about eighteen or nineteen yearsold, dressed in a lavish brocade coat. "At last a boy, thought Guo Jing, who would make abeautiful couple with this girl! Unfortunately the monk andthe old obese one a while ago were not up to par, if not...if not... ". - Your Lordship is joking, said Mu Yi mortified. - What do you mean? - We are only wanderers without abode, how would wedare to measure ourselves against you? And it is not anordinary contest, it decides the marriage of my daughter... Please forgive us. - Since when have you held this contest? - It has been more than six months that we traverse theroads. - And still nobody could overcome your daughter? theyoung nobleman said unbelievingly. - It is undoubtedly, Mu Yi answered smiling, because theexperts in martial arts are all already married, or theycondescend to be measured with her. - OK, OK! the young dandy exclaimed. I will test ...

"This is a young man with a refined and distinguishedbearing, Mu Yi thought. If he came from an ordinaryfamily, he would have made a husband of choice for mychild. But obviously, he belongs to the nobility. We arehere in the capital of Jin, his family is perhaps well-knownat the Court, or in any case, he is certainly rich andpowerful. If my daughter wins, that could be worth ourtroubles; if she loses, would it be bad for us to be unitedto such a family?"- We are just wanderers in the realm of Rivers and Lakes,he said, we cannot measure ourselves with you. Pleaseforgive us! We will leave!

- This is an honorable contest, the young nobleman saidlaughing. I assure you, I will not harm your daughter. Hethen turned to the girl and said amiably: - It will be enough that the young lady touches me to win,allright? - In a contest, it is necessary to comply strictly to therules, the girl protested. - Hurry up with the fight, a cry was heard from the crowd.The speedier you will fight, the more quickly you will bemarried, and the more quickly you will have babies! Thespectators burst out into laughter. The girl wrinkled hereyebrows and removed her cape sulkily. She greeted theyoung nobleman, who bowed in return:- Please, young lady.

"This young dandy grew in affluence, Mu Yi thought, doeshe know martial arts? It is better to defeat him quickly andto leave the city as soon as possible, in order to avoidtrouble." - Allright, then he said, perhaps Your Lord wants to get ridof his coat. - That is not necessary, the young dandy said smiling. The spectators, who knew the ability of the girl, thoughtthat to show oneself that careless, one was going tosuffer!

- But, some of them thought, the Mus have experience inthe realm of Rivers and Lakes. They will certainly notinjure a son of a noble family. They probably will arrangethat he does not lose face. - Do you believe, whispered the others, that they reallyperform a "contest to find a spouse"? Probably, old Muonly wants to benefit from the beauty and gongfu of hisdaughter to cheat money from fools! This young dandyshould watch his wallet! - Please! the girl also said. The young nobleman swivelledtowards the right, whereas his left sleeve flew withflashing speed towards the shoulder of the girl. She,surprised by the speed and skill of the attack, leaned andplunged, thus escaping the blow. But the action of heradversary was stunning, the right sleeve already arrivednear the head of the girl, clamping both sides. She had toleap back with the quickness of an arrow.

- Good! the young nobleman shouted, he advancedwithout letting her the time to fall down on her feet. Thegirl, still in the air, swivelled and attacked to defendherself, kicking with her left foot in the direction of thenose of the young man. He had to move back hastily, andboth fell down simultaneously on their feet. The youngman had attacked with three stances, the girl haddefended herself with agility, they both began to feelrespect and watched each other. The girl blushed, andtook the initiative to attack. The battle started anew, moredesperate: it was performed so quickly that the youngman looked like a shadow of shining brocade, whereas thegirl resembled a red cloud.

At the side, Guo Jing was increasingly stunned: "These twoyoung people are of my age, he said to himself, and theypossess such a high level of martial arts, it is reallyextraordinary! They would make a perfect pair: if theymarry, they could then, during their leisure hours, replaysome "contest to find a spouse", it would be funny!" With his mouth agape, he followed the spectacle withparticipation, when suddenly, the girl clutched the sleeveof her adversary and tore it off with force. She jumpedback immediately, holding her trophy up.

- Young Lord, shouted Mu Yi, We are sorry! Then heturned to his daughter: - Well, let us go now.

- Well, let us go now. - Not so quickly, the young man shouted with a grim lookon his face. Nothing is really decided yet! He caught the two sides of his coat and pulled, causing thejade buttons to pop out. One of his servants helped him toremove his coat, while another collected the buttons.Underneath, the young man wore a water green satintunic, tightly held to his waist by a delicate green scarf,which gave him an even more captivating air. He raisedhis left palm and sent a blow, showing his true gongfu thistime. An extremely violent gust of air passed very close tothe girl.

Guo Jing, Mu Yi and his daughter were dumbfounded: "How could, they wondered, a person of such distinctionhas such a cruel and brutal gongfu?" The young nobleman did not look for fun anymore, hisblows were so powerful that his adversary could notapproach him anymore. "We have a formidable expert here, Guo Jing thought, thegirl is no match for him: apparently, marriage is in sight.And I am quite content for them ... My six Shifus alwayssaid that exceptional men are legion in the Central Plains.Indeed, this young nobleman has an original palm stylewith sophisticated variations. Should we fight, I wouldprobably not win against him!"

For his part, Mu Yi could also foretell the outcome of theduel: - My daughter, he shouted, it is useless to continue. Theyoung Lord is much stronger than you!

"This young man has excellent gongfu, he said to himself,thus he is not one of these idle, gambling and whoringsons of certain families. Presently, I will requestinformation about his family. If he is not related to the Jingovernment authorities, I will approve of a marriage. Thenmy daughter's future will be secured ..."He shouted to both to stop their fight. But the battle wasfull blown and couldn't cease.

"If I wanted to injure you now, the young man thought,nothing would be easier, but I do not have the heart to doit." Suddenly, his left palm changed into a claw, and heclutched the wrist of the girl. She, surprised, sought tobreak loose. The young man pushed slightly forward andthe girl lost balance. At the time she was going to fall, theright arm of her adversary pulled her gently, and she fellinto his arms. The spectators applauded and hollered withenthusiasm causing a great tumult. Shamefully blushing, the girl begged with a low voice: - Release me, quickly! - Say "my dear" to me, he answered laughing, and I'llrelease you!

Outraged by such an impudence, she struggled, but heheld her firmly and she could not break loose. Mu Yiadvanced and said: - You've won, please release my daughter!

- You've won, please release my daughter! The young nobleman burst into laughter but did not doanything. Losing her patience, the girl gave a kick in the direction ofthe plexus of her adversary, in order to make him releaseher. He indeed freed his right arm, parried the blow andcaught the foot immediately: his qin-na technique wasperfectly timed and he could seize anything he wanted.The girl panicked, sought to release her foot by pullingwith force. At last she succeeded, but by doing so she losther small shoe which was embroidered with red flowers.

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03-14-05, 10:24 AM

(Patudo)

She sat down on the ground, head lowered and red withshame, holding her foot covered by a sock of white fabric.The young aristocrat smiled unsteadily, wore the lacedboot to his nose and sniffed it. In the situation, thehooligans were obviously not going to let pass thisoccasion:

" That smells good!" they shouted in chorus.

" What is your name?" asked Mu Yi.

" It's not worth speaking of," answered the youngaristocrat while laughing.

He took again his brocaded coat, cast a glance in directionof the girl, and placed the small embroidered laced boot inhis pocket. At that moment, the wind redoubled instrength and large snowflakes started to fall.

" We live at the Inn of Prosperity," said Mu Yi, " in thewestern part of the city. Let us go there thus together, inorder to make plans."

" To plan what?" the young aristocrat retorted. " It'ssnowing now, it is necessary that I hurry home."

Mu Yi turned pale.

" You won this challenge, I made a promise, that I giveyou my daughter in marriage. It is a serious business, onecannot treat it with lightly!"

The young aristocrat burst out laughing:

" We had a little fun with martial arts," he said, " it wasrather interesting... But, as for the marriage, ha, I amobliged to decline this honour!"

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obliged to decline this honour!"

Anger choked Mu Yi and prevented him from speaking:

" You... You..."

" What do you take our Young Prince for?" shouted aservant while laughing. " Do you believe that he wouldwed with vulgar travelling performers from the jianghu? Inyour dreams, old man!"

Mu Yi was so angered that, with a blow, he struck himsenseless. The young aristocrat did not seek anyexplanation: he got his servant to be carried and was onthe point of mounting his horse.

" You really make fun of us!" Mu Yi shouted, clutching himby the left arm. " Well, in any event, my daughter cannotmarry such an insolent person as you. But return to us thelaced boot!"

" It's she who gave it to me!" said the young aristocratwhile laughing, "why do you interfere yourself? I won thetournament, I've declined your marriage, but I'll keep theconsolation prize!"

He pivoted his arm, exerted some inner force and pulledclear.

" It won't happen like that!" Mu Yi exclaimed, tremblingwith anger.

He leaps and struck with both fists, in a blow called "Belland drum sounds together", towards the temples of hisadversary. He turned and returned to the arena.

" And if I beat you, old man," he said while laughing, "youwon't force me more to become your son-in-law?"

The crowd, indignant at the impudent and arrogantattitude of the young man, remained quiet. Only somehooligans and good-for-nothings burst out laughingroughly.

Without saying a word, Mu Yi tightened his belt, and leaptwith a "Sea Swallow Skimming the Flood" on the youngaristocrat. He knew that he was extremely angry and didnot take the attack lightly. He dodged, replied with a blowto the belly, "The poisonous snake seeks its den". Mu Yidodged, struck with his left palm at the shoulder, theyoung man turned, advanced his right palm under the leftarm. It was an extremely vicious blow, called "Benefit fromthe cloud to change the sun", executed without theknowledge of the adversary. However, Mu Yi parriedeffectively and closed again his two hands on the cheeks ofthe young aristocrat.

At that moment, whatever move he made, he could notavoid the blow! He wrinkled his eyebrows, bit his lips, and

avoid the blow! He wrinkled his eyebrows, bit his lips, anddecided to employ another technique: his two hands flewlike flashes and his ten fingers were planted in the back ofthe hands of Mu Yi. When he withdrew them, the ends ofhis fingers were smeared with red!

All the spectators shouted in surprise. The girl, thrown intoa panic, supported her father: she tore a strip of her tunicto wrap his hands, which bled profusely.

Mu Yi pushed back his daughter:

" Move aside," he said. " Today, it's either him or me!"

The girl, pale, looked at the young aristocrat fixedly, drewa dagger suddenly and wanted to plunge it full into herheart. Surprised, Mu Yi sought to stop her hand, and thegirl did not have time to draw aside the blade, which wasplanted in the hand of her father.

The spectators sighed and deplored to see a beautifulscene finishing in such a bloody way! Even the hooligansseemed indigant at such a outcome. The commentsstarted to focus on the improper attitude of this youngaristocrat.

Facing such unrighteousness, Guo Jing could not remainstanding by. He gently drew aside the people in front ofhim and advanced into the open space:

" Ha!" he shouted, " to act like that, that's not good!"

The young aristocrat, disconcerted for a moment, retortedwhile laughing;

" Ah yes? How is it necessary to act well?"

His servants, seeing that Guo Jing was clad like a peasantand that he spoke with a marked southern accent, madefun of him. Guo Jing did not understand the mockery, andsaid seriously:

" You should marry this young lady!"

" And if I don't marry her?"

" If you don't want to marry her, why did you come downto fight? It was well marked, on the banner, "Challenge tofind a husband"!"

" What are you interfering for, kid?" retorted the youngaristocrat, in a threatening voice.

" This young lady is not only very beautiful, but she hasexcellent gongfu. Why don't you want her? Didn't you seethat she felt so offended that she wanted to commitsuicide?"

" You're such a moron that it isn't worthwhile to explain itto you..."

The young aristocrat turned on his heel. Guo Jingrestained him:

" Huh! How can you leave like that?"

" What do you want?"

" Didn't I tell you to marry this young lady?"

The aristocrat laughed and was about to leave.

Mu Yi, seeing the intervention of Guo Jing, understood thathe was generous, but naive and little acquainted with theway of the world. He approached and says to him:

" Little brother, don't worry about him. So long as I have abreath of life, I will find to be avenged for this insult."

Then he shouted towards the young aristocrat:

" At least leave your name!"

" I told you I couldn't call you "father-in-law"," he retortedinsolently, " why do you want to still know my name?"

Very annoyed by this, Guo Jing leaped forward whileshouting:

" Then return that embroidered laced boot to the younglady!"

" Is that any of your damn business!" the nobleman saidfuriously. " You've taken a fancy to this young missyourself, have you?"

Guo Jing shook his head and said: " No! Look, are yougoing to return it, or not?"

The young aristocrat tightened the hand suddenly andslapped Guo Jing heavily. He moved sharply, andemployed a qinna technique, seizing, by crossing thehands, the wrists of his adversary. He sought to escape, invain.

" Do you want to die?" he shouted then, surprised andannoyed, giving a kick towards Guo Jing's lower belly.

He flexed his muscles and pushed back the youngaristocrat towards the open space. Obviously, this personhad a good lightness technique (Qinggong), for, instead offalling on his back, he corrected himself and landed on hisfeet. He nimbly removed his brocaded coat and exclaimed:

" You don't want to continue living, little idiot? If you've

" You don't want to continue living, little idiot? If you'vegot guts, come and test yourself against me!"

" Why would I fight with you?" said Guo Jing shaking thehead. " Since you do not want to marry with the younglady, return her laced boot!"

The spectators, seeing the intervention of Guo Jing,wanted to see what he was capable of and didn't think thathe would retreat. Some hooligans even hooted:

" Talk without action, it's unworthy of a hero!"

For his part, the young aristocrat, having been caught byGuo Jing, had realized that his gongfu wasn't insignificant,and especially that he had powerful internal energy. So hewas happy not to fight. But, of course, he couldn't returnthe laced boot without losing face! He therefore gatheredhis coat and turned on his heel while laughing. Guo Jingcaught him by the side of the coat and repeated:

" How can you leave like that?"

The young aristocrat had a sudden idea: he cast his coatover the head of his opponent and struck two fists into hischest. Wrapped up in the coat, Guo Jing could not avoidthe impacts. Fortunately, he had practised two years oforthodox neigong with Ma Yu, so that these blows,although extremely painful, could not truly wound him.Pressed by danger, he launched successively, by changingalternate stances, nine fast kicks: it was a skilledtechnique developed by Han Baoju, which had alreadyenabled him to beat many enemies. Even if the disciple didnot have yet the skill of the master, and even if thesekicks were made while he was blinded, they disturbed theyoung aristocrat, who could avoid the first seven, but wascaught by the two last fully in his chest.

The two young men simultaneously leapt back. Guo Jing,still amazed, got rid of the coat that hampered him. Hecould not believe such treachery on behalf of hisadversary: "He knew well," he thought, " that he entered a"Challenge to find a husband", he had won, and yetrefused to marry the young lady! Moreover, when I triedto reason with him, not only was it he who struck first, buthe used a shameful trick! If I hadn't practiced neigongwell, he would have broken my ribs and crushed myinternal organs!" Being of a simple and frank nature, hehad always lived with decent people, so that he did notknow anything about the perfidy of the human nature.Even though, during the last years, his Masters had notfailed to warn him against tricks and treacheries which onemight meet in the jianghu, he listened to them like onelistens to stories, which could not remain engraved inone's consciousness as long as they had not been livedoneself. At that moment, he was at the same time furiousand perplexed, unable to believe in the existence of suchfrauds.

The young aristocrat, angrered by the two kicks he hadreceived, advanced, his fist raised, on Guo Jing. Heparried, but could not face the rain of blows which fell onhim, and fell down. The servants were filled with laughter.Their Master puffed out his chest and said while laughing:

" Then, you think you can play a deliverer of justice withyour three-legged cat technique? Go back home and tellyour Shimu to give you lessons for twenty more years!"

Guo Jing got up, breathed in deeply, and circulated hisbreath in his whole body, so that the pain diminished.

" My Shifu doesn't have a wife," he retorted.

" Then tell him to marry one quickly!"

Guo Jing was going to answer: "I have six Shifu, whosewife..." but did not have time. He saw that the other wasgoing to leave, then advanced on him, his fist raised, whileshouting:

" On guard!"

The young aristocrat dodged, Guo Jing struck a left hookright at his face, the other blocked. They stood, their armssupported upon their adversary's, each one trying to useinternal energy to overcome the other. Guo Jing was alittle stronger, his opponent had a better technique, it wasdifficult to immediately decide between them.

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03-14-05, 10:25 AM

(Strunf)

Guo Jing inspired deeply to concentrate its internal energy,while the other loosened its pressure making Guo Jing fallforward. He tried to re-establish his balance when he felt astroke coming from his back. He hastened to avoid it but,not having a strong basis, he stumbled. While falling, hetook support on his elbow and rebounded, while spinningin the air he threw a stroke of his left foot.

Watching this fast and spectacular recovery, the crowdapplauds.

The young aristocrat moved away and attacked with twopalms, one was a feint to disturb the adversary, while theother was the real stroke. Guo Jing used then thetechnique "To dissociate the tendons and to dislocate thebones": his hands fluttered in all senses, aiming thetendons and the joints on the whole body. Seeing the

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Mojo Jojo

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tendons and the joints on the whole body. Seeing thevirulence of this attack, the aristocrat changed suddenly oftactic: he also started to use the same technique!

Only, the one learned by Guo Jing had been invented byZhu Cong, the “Literate to the quick hands”, and divergedfrom the orthodox technique transmitted by the masters ofthe central Plains considerably. The two looked alike intheir principles, but had some differences in the execution.One threatened with the index and the thumb the point "Food of the old man" behind the wrist, the other tried topick the joints of the fingers. But the two felt mutualapprehensions and didn't dare to go all the way, hardlysketching a movement before passing to another. Thus,after forty or so exchanges, they still couldn’t see who hadthe upper hand.

Snow continued to fall, and a fine white layer covered thehead and the shoulders of the spectators that surroundedthem.

Suddenly, the young aristocrat seemed to have an openingon his chest.Guo Jing saw it immediately and tried to benefit from it bypointing his index on the point "Tail of turtledove" of hisadversary. But he had some scruples when passing to theaction: "There is no hate between us, he said to himself, I cantuse such a deadly stroke on him!" He then deviated hisfinger and touched another point, what had no effect onhis adversary. This one had the whole leisure to catch hiswrist and pull him, while making a hook-foot. Guo Jing lostthe balance and fell once again.Mu Yi, whose hands had just been bandaged by hisdaughter, also watched the two. He saw Guo Jing fall forthe third time and understood that he was not of size toface the insolent youngster and he hastened to raise himfrom the ground:- Little brother, he said, let it go. There’s no point to stayany longer among scoundrels of this kind!Guo Jing, that had seen the stars and was hurt already,felt the rage mount on his head.

He moved away from Mu Yi and rushed on his adversary,while increasing in strokes.The young aristocrat, surprised to see him to insist on it ofthe sort, in spite of the beating that he had just received,moved back three steps :

- Don't you recognize your defeat?Guo Jing didn't answer and continued to attack.- If you don't stop, threatened the young aristocrat, I amgoing to be obliged to kill you!- If you don't return the handkerchief, retorted Guo Jing, Iwill never finish with you!- But this girl is not even your sister, why do you persist towant to be my brother-in-law ?"To be the brother-in-law of someone" constituted aninjury on the capital, the scoundrels exploded to laugh

injury on the capital, the scoundrels exploded to laughwhile hearing it, but Guo Jing didn't understand a drop ofit.- I don't even know her, he said, she isn’t my sister!The young aristocrat didn't know anymore if he had tolaugh or to be angry :- Then in guard, he end up saying. Stupid!

The two young people restarted to fight. This time, GuoJing appeared more prudent, and didn't fall anymore in therepeated traps that the adversary prepared him. In fact,from a strictly technical viewpoint, the gongfu of the youngaristocrat was superior, but Guo Jing never gave up andfought like a barbarian: he had good receive some strokes,he always restarted to the attack with persistence, withoutrenouncing. He had already fought like this when he wassmall, during the fights with the kids of the Dushi’s gang.Now, he had acquired more agility while learning themartial arts, but his way of fighting didn’t fundamentallychange since it was in his nature to fight with savagery,not taking note of the recommendation of his Fourth Shifu:"Unbeatable enemy, flee!" In his mind, the more importantformula had always been "Unbeatable enemy, insist!",except that he didn't realize it!

The spectacle attracted more and more world, the placewas completely cluttered. Wind and snow increased inintensity, but no one left.

Mu Yi, because of his big experience of the Streams andLakes, knew well that, if the fight continued, the crowdswere going to attract the attention of the authorities andmaybe provoke their intervention. He knew that it wasbetter to not eternalize themselves there! Only, this youngman had come generously to help them, he could notleave him alone here. But he felt very anxious. He raisedthe eyes and vaguely browsed the assembly, when henoticed, in the crowd, several individuals who seemed tobelong to the world of the martial arts. He had been soconcentrated on the fight that he had not even realizedtheir arrival.

He moved then slowly, approaching of the servants of theyoung aristocrat who were held in a corner. Watchingthem of the corner of his eye, he saw, among them, threecharacters to the martial look: the first wore a big scarletbonze dress and a golden cap, it was a very tall Tibetanllama. The second, medium-sized, had silvery white hairbut a rubicund and beaming face, to the smooth skin asthe one of a baby, without only one wrinkle. He wasclothed of a long dress, one didn't know if it was a Taoistor a bonze. The third was very small, but his bloodinjected eyes had a piercing look, and he carried a proudsmall mustache.

The presence of these original faces astonished Mu Yi. Hethen heard one of the servants to say :- Supreme Virtuous, have the goodness to rid us of this

- Supreme Virtuous, have the goodness to rid us of thisstupid, please! If that continues and that it arriveswhatever to the Young Prince's, us other servants wouldbe good for the gallows!

Mu Yi shaked hearing it: "Thus, he thought, this scoundrelis a young prince! Effectively, if the fight continues, itcould happen a misfortune to him. Apparently, all thesepeople are experts belonging to the royal house, that theservants summoned here to lend assistance to the prince."

The Tibetan llama smiles without saying a word. The oldman shouted while laughing :- The Supreme Virtuous Lingzhi is an eminent member ofthe esoteric school of Tibet, he cannot fall as low as tocome to the hands with a rookie of this kind, it would be todisrespectful ... And then, if it was to arrive something, thePrince would at most break your legs, he wouldn’t go asfar as wiping you out, wouldn’t he?- Anyway, did intervene the small man of the eyes injectedof blood, the Young Prince is stronger than this kid, whatdo you have to fear ?He was small, but had a piercing voice. The spectatorsaround them jumped while hearing it and turned around tolook at him but, nervous by his menacing look, all loweredthe eyes immediately.- Our Young Prince had such a hard work to learn all thisgongfu, said the silvery old man, if he cant even make thea demonstration publicly of it, he would be reallyfrustrated if all these years of efforts were just wasted! Ifsomeone takes the liberty to go help him, he will be surelyvery vexed...- Venerable Liang, says the small man, according to you towhat school the technique of palm of the Young Princedoes belong?- Brother Peng, did answer the old man, while laughing, doyou want to put me to the test? The Young Prince has atechnique of palm allying agility and complexity, that areindeed difficult to acquire. If I am not mistaken, he shouldhave learned his gongfu with the taoist of the absolutePerfection Sect!Mu Yi jumped again: "Would this inconsiderate youngsterbe a disciple of the absolute Perfection Sect? "- The Venerable Liang has a remarkable eye, says thesmall man. You spend your life to the foot of the Mountainof the eternal Whiteness and you dedicate yourselves tothe meditation and to the alchemical practices. One saysthat you rarely come in the central Plains, and yet youseem to know by heart the styles of the Chinese schools.I’m very admired of you.- Brother Peng is too laudatory, says the old man whilesketching a smile.- Only, pursued the small man, the Taoists of the absolutePerfection Sect are all of the bizarre and unforeseeablecharacters. How could they accepted to take the YoungPrince for disciple? It is rather astonishing.- When the Prince wants to insure the collaboration ofsomeone, did retort the old man, do you believe that he

someone, did retort the old man, do you believe that hedoesn't have the arguments to what he wishes? Asyourself, for example, Brother Peng, who dominates theShandong and the Shanxi, don't you now make part of thePrince's house?The small man agreed. Their attention was againconcentrated on the fight: they noticed that Guo Jing hadchanged style again, his technique of palm adopted aslower rhythm, but permitted an extremely tight defense.The Young Prince had, repeatedly, searched to attack buthad been repulsed by very heavy strokes.- In your opinion, asked the old man to the small man,from where comes the gongfu of this small boy?- His gongfu is very mixed, he answered after one momentof hesitation. One would say that he had several Shifus...- Chief Peng is right, intervened someone nearby. This kidis the disciple of the Seven Fanciful of the Jiangnan.Mu Yi examined the person who had just taken the word:it was a skinny man with a dark face, with three bumps onthe forehead. "He called him of Chief Peng, would thissmall man therefore be the bandit Peng Lianhu, theButcher to the one thousand hands, who slaughterswithout frowning? As for the Seven Fanciful of theJiangnan, it has been since a long time that I didn't heartheir name anymore, would they still be part of this world?." During this time, the skinny man with the dark face roarssuddenly :- Little brat, I finally found you.He drew a steel trident with short-sleeved and bounded inthe arena. Hearing the noise behind him, Guo Jing turnedaround and fell nose to nose with the three bumps on theforehead: it was the Dragon with three heads, BooTonghai, the uncle in arms of the Four Demons of theyellow Stream. Surprised and worried, he hesitated, notknowing what to do. The Young Prince took benefit out ofthis hesitation to hit him on the shoulder, thus making GuoJing come back to the fight.Seeing Boo Tonghai to bound in the arena arms to thehand, the spectators believed that he was going to helpone of the fighters and, finding this unworthy attitude,began to hoot it.

Mu Yi, that had understood that he was part of the royalhouse, moved forward, ready to fight him if he intendedsomething against Guo Jing, while being conscious that theenemy was superior in number. However, Boo Tonghai was not angry at the young man.He sped along directly into the crowd, to the other side,where a young boy, puny, in rags, jumped while seeinghim and turned the heels. The Dragon with three headsrushed after him, himself follow-up by four men.

Of the corner of eye, Guo Jing had well seen that it wasHuang Rong, the new friend that he had gotten used tosince Kalgan, and that Boo Tonghai pursued the weaponsto the hand, with the help of the Four Demons of theyellow Stream. Very worried, he throwed a kick and

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jumped backward :

- A moment! he exclaimed. I need to stop for onemoment, we will continue our fight later.The Young Prince, tired of this fight, had lost all desire tocontinue and had not asked better to stop :- If you recognize your defeat, he sneered, you can go...Preoccupied by his friend's security, Guo Jing got ready tobe going to lend him assistance when he heard noises ofstep: it was Huang Rong that came back while dragging aworn-out old shoe while laughing, pursued by BooTonghai, that called him names and tried to hit him withits trident on the back. But Huang Rong was of anextraordinary agility, and the trident always missed itstarget of little. The young boy adroitly slipped through thecrowd and had already come out again on the other side.

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