The Three Devils looked at each other. "We would

welcome your suggestions, Master Chen," said Hahetai.

"If we face the wolves together, there is a chance we

will survive. If we fight amongst ourselves, they will

eat us all." Tang and Hahetai nodded slightly, but Gu

just glared at him angrily. "Therefore, I ask Brother

Gu to immediately release my friend, following which

we can together work out a plan to beat the wolves."

"And what if I won't let her go?" Gu shouted back.

"Master Gu, if we start fighting, it doesn't matter

who wins or loses, we will all die. Please

reconsider."

"You'd better let her go," Tang whispered to him." Gu

had gone to considerable trouble to capture Huo

Qingtong and he was extremely loath to give her up

again. "Brother, if you don't let her go, I won't be

able to help you," Tang added.

Hahetai walked over and cut the bonds binding Huo

Qingtong. As Chen walked over to her, Huo Qingtong

suddenly shouted: "Watch out behind!" and he ducked

down just as a wolf swept over him. It charged at

Princess Fragrance, but Chen grabbed its tail and

using all his strength pulled it to a halt. The wolf

whipped its head round, snapping and snarling, and

with a single blow, Chen broke its neck. Another wolf

leapt towards him, and he quickly drew his dagger and

thrust it at the beast, a huge, cunning animal which

dodged the blade with ease.

Three more wolves jumped into the ring. Hahetai

grabbed one by the neck and slung it back out, Zhang

cut the second in two with his sword, while Tang

fought fiercely with the third. Hahetai stoked up the

fire to stop other wolves from entering.

On the other side, Chen feinted with the dagger to the

left to throw his attacker off guard, then plunged the

blade down towards its head. Unable to avoid the

stroke, the wolf opened its huge mouth and bit hard

onto the dagger. Chen pushed the blade in with all

strength, but despite the pain, it hung on

desperately. Chen tried to pull the dagger back out

but the beast refused to yield. Increasingly anxious,

Chen mustered his strength once more and punched the

wolf right between its eyes, smashing its skull. The

wolf fell back dead and the dagger came free, the

blade glinting coldly as it reflected the flames.

But the dagger's blade was also still firmly lodged

between its teeth. They were all perplexed at this:

the dagger was obviously in Chen's hand and had not

snapped. Where had the blade in the wolf's mouth come

from?

Chen bent over and tried to pull the blade out of the

beast's mouth, but although the wolf was dead, its

teeth was still clamped tightly shut. He used the

dagger to slit open the wolf's jowls, and the muscles

and tendons on its face collapsed, freeing the blade.

Chen examined it closely and saw that it was hollow,

like a scabbard. He stuck the dagger blade inside, and

found it fitted perfectly. Huo Qingtong had said when

she presented the dagger to him that it was said to

contain a great secret. If it had not been for this

wolf and its strong teeth, who would have guessed that

there was a blade within the blade?

Princess Fragrance took the dagger from Chen and

examined it, marvelling at the design of the second

scabbard and the precision of the workmanship. She

turned the hollow outer blade upside down and a small

white pellet rolled out. Chen and Huo Qingtong bent

down to get a closer look and saw it was a small ball

of wax.

"Let's open it," Chen said. Huo Qingtong nodded. He

picked the ball up and lightly squeezed it, cracking

the wax open, revealing a small piece of paper inside,

which he spread out. On the paper was a map drawn as

densely as a spider's web.

Zhang had seen them discover the piece of paper, and

glanced at it stealthily. But he was disappointed to

find it was covered in Muslim writing, which he could

not understand.

Chen knew something of the Muslim written language,

but he could not grasp the meaning of the classical

characters on the piece of paper and handed it over to

Huo Qingtong. She examined it closely for a long time,

then folded it up and placed it in her pocket.

"What does it say?" Chen asked. Huo Qingtong did not

answer, her head hung low.

Princess Fragrance knew her sister well and smiled.

"She is trying to work out a difficult problem. Don't

disturb her," she said.

Huo Qingtong sat down on the ground and began to draw

lines in the sand with her finger. She drew a diagram

then rubbed it out and drew another. After a while,

she wrapped her arms around her knees, deep in

thought.

"You are still weak. Don't overtax yourself," Chen

said to her. "You can work it out later. The important

thing now is to think of a plan for getting out of

here."

"I'm working on a way to escape these hungry wolves

and these human wolves as well," Huo Qingtong replied,

pouting angrily at Zhang as she spoke. She continued

her meditations for a moment, then said to Chen:

"Please stand on a horse and look westwards. Tell me

if you can see a mountain with a white peak."

Chen led the white horse over and did as she said. In

the distance, he spied a cluster of mountains, but

could see none with a white peak. He searched

carefully for a minute longer then looked down at Huo

Qingtong and shook his head.

"According to the map, the Secret City should not be

far from here, and we should be able to see the White

Jade Peak."

Chen jumped off the horse's back. "What secret city?"

he asked.

"When I was young, I heard people talk about an

ancient city that was buried in this desert," she

replied. "The city was once extremely prosperous, but

one day a great sand storm arose, and dunes as large

as mountains buried it. None of the city's residents

escaped." She turned to Princess Fragrance. "Sister,

you know the story better than I do. You tell it."

"There are many stories about the place, but no one

has ever seen the city with their own eyes. No," she

corrected herself. "Many people have been there, but

few have returned alive. It is said that there are

huge amounts of gold, silver and jewels there. Some

people who have lost their way in the desert have

found their way into the city by chance and have been

overwhelmed by the sight of such wealth. They

naturally began to load the gold and jewels onto their

camels to take away with them. But no matter which way

they went, they found it impossible to get out of the

city.

"Why?" Chen asked.

"It's said that all the people of the city turned into

ghosts when they were buried by the sand, and that

they bewitch visitors who try to take valuables away

with them. But if you put down the valuables, every

single piece, then it's easy to find your way out."

"I doubt if many people would be willing to do that,"

said Chen.

"Yes. Seeing such riches, who wouldn't want to take

some? It is said that if you don't take anything, but

even leave a few extra taels of silver in one of the

houses, then the wells will spurt clear, fresh water

for you to drink. The more silver you leave, the more

fresh water there is."

Chen laughed. "The ghosts of this secret city sound

very greedy."

"Some members of our tribe who were badly in debt have

gone to look for the city, but only those who didn't

find it have ever come back," Princess Fragrance

continued. "Once, a caravan crossing the desert came

across a man who was half dead. He said he had entered

the city, but had found himself going in circles when

he tried to get out again. Finally, his strength gave

out and he collapsed, and the next thing he knew was

the arrival of the caravan. The caravan leader asked

him to lead them to the city, but he refused. He said

he wouldn't take one step into that haunted place

again even if he received all the riches of the city

as a reward."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be that these people

were bewitched by ghosts," said Chen. "If someone

suddenly came upon a huge amount of gold and jewels,

it could affect their minds and make it difficult for

them to think clearly. But if they decided they did

not want the riches, it could clear their heads, and

make it easier to find the way out."

"The map hidden in the scabbard shows the way to the

Secret City," Huo Qingtong said quietly.

"Ah," exclaimed Chen, suddenly understanding.

"The map indicates that the city was built around a

high snow-capped mountain." she continued. "From the

look of it, the mountain should not be too far from

here. We should be able to see it. I cannot understand

why we can't."

"Sister, you're wasting your time," said Princess

Fragrance. "Even if we could find the mountain, what

use would it be?"

"We could escape into the city. There are houses and

fortresses in the city and our chance of escaping the

wolves would be much greater than here."

"That's right!" Chen said. He stood on the horse's

back once more looking west. But all he could see was

a hazy white sky stretching to the horizon.

Zhang and the Three Devils could not understand a word

of what they said, but they watched suspiciously as

Chen stood on the back of his horse twice, and

wondered what devilment he was up to.

Princess Fragrance took out some dry rations and

divided them up amongst all of them. As she sat

eating, she gazed out beyond the flames at the

horizon. Suddenly, she jumped up.

"Sister! Look!" Huo Qingtong followed the direction of

her hand and saw a black spot stationary in the sky.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's an eagle," Princess Fragrance replied. "I saw it

fly over from here. But how could it suddenly stop in

mid-air?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I clearly saw it fly across."
关键字:书剑恩仇录
生词表: