Huo Qingtong left the camp feeling lonely and

confused. "I'll go to my teachers' home at Precious

Mountain and lose myself in the desert with them," she

thought. She was unwell, and even though her kung fu

training enabled her to keep going, after ten days

travelling across the desert, she was absolutely

exhausted and still four or five days from the home of

the Tianshan Eagles. Finally, she stopped beside a

small sand dune and let her horse graze on the sparse,

dry grasses nearby.

She set up her tent and slept for several hours. In

the middle of the night she was awakened by the sound

of three horses approaching from the east. As they

neared the sand dune, they slowed and headed for the

same patch of dry grass that had attracted her mount.

The horses were unwilling to continue, so the three

riders dismounted to rest. They did not see Huo

Qingtong's tent, which was on the other side of the

dune. She heard them talking Chinese, but she was

still sleepy and did not bother to listen closely.

Suddenly, however, she heard one of the men say: "That

damned bitch! If I don't skin her alive and rip out

all her tendons, then my name isn't Gu."

"Brother Yan's kungfu was excellent," said another. "I

don't believe that a girl could kill him without using

some sort of trickery."

"Well, of course," added a third. "As I said, we have

to be very careful. There are a lot of Muslims

around."

Huo Qingtong realised in astonishment that they were

the Guandong Devils and that they were talking about

her.

"There's not much water left in the satchel and we

don't know how many more days we have to go before we

find water again," one of them said. "From tomorrow,

we'll have to drink even less." Soon afterwards, they

went to sleep.

Huo Qingtong was uncertain of what to do. The desert

was flat and empty for miles in every direction, so

there was no way she could escape if they found her,

especially as she was still sick. After some thought,

she decided the safest course would be to reveal

herself, and find some way to lead the three to her

teacher's home.

Early next morning, the Guandong Devils woke to find

Huo Qingtong standing in front of them. She examined

them carefully. One was a tall man who looked like a

member of the gentry. The second had a thick black

beard, while the third was wearing Mongol clothes.

"Mistress, do you have any water to spare?" the first

man, Tang, asked her, pulling out a silver ingot as he

spoke. Huo Qingtong shook her head to indicate she did

not understand Chinese. The Mongol, who was named

Hahetai, repeated the request in Mongolian and she

replied in the same tongue: "I cannot give you any of

my water. The Yellow-Robed Lady, Mistress Huo

Qingtong, sent me on an important errand and I am now

returning to report." She quickly dismantled her tent

and mounted her horse. Hahetai ran forward and grabbed

hold of her horse's reins.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

"We are her friends. There is urgent news we have to

pass on to her."

Huo Qingtong pouted. "That's an outright lie! She is

at Precious Mountain, but you are heading west. Don't

try to cheat me!"

Hahetai turned to the other two and said: "She's on

her way to see the damned bitch now."

With her unhealthy appearance and the way she wheezed

as she spoke, she did not look at all like someone who

knew kung fu. So not suspecting her in the slightest,

the Devils took advantage of what they took to be her

ignorance of Chinese and loudly discussed how they

would kill her when they reached Precious Mountain,

and then go to find Huo Qingtong. The bearded man, Gu,

could see that she was very beautiful despite her

haggard look, and his lust began to stir.

Huo Qingtong noticed him constantly staring at her

covetously, and knew that even though they had not

recognised her, travelling alone for four or five days

with these three Devils was too dangerous. She ripped

a strip of material off her jacket and tied it round

the leg of one of her two eagles then threw the bird

up into the air. It spread its wings and flew off

towards the horizon.

"What are you doing?" Tang demanded suspiciously. Huo

Qingtong shook her head, and Hahetai translated what

he had said into Mongolian.

"There are no more water springs for another seven or

eight days. You've got so little water, how could it

be enough? I'm letting the eagles go so they can go

and find water themselves." As she spoke, she released

the second eagle.

"Two eagles wouldn't drink very much water," Tang

replied.

"When you're dying of thirst, even a drop may be

enough to save your life." Afraid they would try to

harm her, she had exaggerated the distance to the next

water.

Hahetai mumbled oaths. "Even in the deserts of

Mongolia, you would never have to travel for seven or

eight days without water. This is a cursed region!"

They camped that night in the middle of the desert.

Huo Qingtong could see Gu's gaze constantly sweeping

over her and became very worried. She went into her

tent, drew her sword, and sat down beside the tent

entrance, not daring to sleep. Towards midnight, she

heard someone tiptoeing over. Suddenly, the tent flap

opened and Gu crept inside. He began feeling about in

the darkness for her, and an instant later, felt an

icy coldness on his neck as a sharp blade gently

touched it.

"If you so much as twitch, I will run it through you,"

Huo Qingtong whispered. "Lie on the ground!" He

immediately complied. She placed the tip of the sword

on his back, then sat down and wondered what she

should do.

"If I kill him, the other two won't let me get away

with it," she thought. "It's probably best to wait for

my teacher to get here."

A couple of hours later, Tang woke and noticed Gu was

missing. He jumped up and began shouting "Brother Gu!

Brother Gu!"

"Answer him quickly," Huo Qingtong whispered fiercely.

"Tell him you're here."

"It's all right, Brother, I'm here!" he shouted back,

well aware that he had no choice.

Tang laughed. "You horny old thief! You'll never

change."

The next morning, Huo Qingtong waited until the other

two were up before letting Gu out.

"Brother Gu," Hahetai berated him as he emerged. "We

have come to seek revenge not to make trouble." Gu's

teeth were almost chattering with hate but he didn't

tell them what had happened. If he did, the shame of

it would follow him for the rest of his life. But he

decided that he would have the girl the following

night and then kill her.

At about midnight, Gu advanced on Huo Qingtong's tent

again, a spear in one hand and a torch in the other.

As he entered, he saw her crouching in the far corner

and lunged at her triumphantly. But suddenly he felt

something cut into his legs as a rope noose hidden on

the ground caught him. Huo Qingting gave it a tug and

he overbalanced and fell heavily.

"Don't move!" she hissed, and placed the tip of her

sword against his stomach. She didn't think she could

not stand another night like the previous one, but

killing Gu was not enough. She had to finish off all

three.

"Tell your elder brother to come over here," she

whispered. Gu guessed what she was planning and

remained silent. She increased the pressure so that

the sword cut through his clothes and the top layer of

skin. Gu knew a sword in the stomach was the most

painful way to die. "He won't come," he whispered

back.

"All right, then I'll kill you first," she replied,

and the sword moved again.

"Elder Brother! Come here! Come quickly!" Gu called

frantically.

"Laugh," Huo Qingtong ordered. Gu frowned and uttered

several dry laughs.

"Laugh more happily!"

He silently cursed her, but with the sword already

inside his flesh, he forced out a loud hysterical

laugh. Tang and Hahetai had already been awakened by

the racket.

"Stop playing around, Brother, and conserve some of

your strength," Tang yelled.

Huo Qingtong could see he wouldn't come. "Call the

other one," she hissed, and Gu shouted out again.

Although he was a bandit, Hahetai did not take

advantage of women, and he was very unhappy with Gu's

behaviour. But he was his sworn brother, so he just

pretended not to hear.

"If I don't kill these three, it is going to be

difficult to free myself of today's shame," she

thought. Holding the sword in her right hand, she

wound the rope round and round Gu until he could not

move. Only then did she relax. She leant against the

side of the tent, but did not dare to fall asleep.

The next morning, as it grew light, she saw that Gu

was fast asleep and angrily whipped him awake with her

horse's whip. She placed the tip of her sword on his

heart and said: "If you so much as grunt, I will

skewer you!" She wondered again whether she should

kill him, but decided that it would immediately bring

disaster down on her head. She estimated her teacher

should reach them by that afternoon anyway, so after

untying the rope, she pushed Gu out of the tent.

Tang looked at the bloody welts on his face

suspiciously. "Who is this girl?" he asked in a low

voice. "What's she up to?"

Gu glanced meaningfully at him. "Let's grab her," he

said. The two men started to walk slowly towards her,

but she saw them coming and ran over to the horses.

She pulled out her sword and punctured Gu's and

Hahetai's water bags, then grabbed the largest of

Tang's water bags and jumped onto her own horse. The

Three Devils stood watching dumbly for a second as the

precious water drained out of the two water bags and

was instantly swallowed by the sand, then charged at

her angrily.

She lay along the horse's back breathing heavily. "If

you come a step closer, I'll slash this bag too," she

wheezed. The Three Devils stopped.

"I agreed to take you to see Mistress Huo Qingtong and

in return you bully me," she added when she had

recovered slightly. "From here to the next water is

six days travelling. If you don't leave me alone, I'll

slash this bag too and we will all die of thirst."

"We won't harm you," protested Tang.

"Let's go," she ordered. "You three first." So they

rode on across the desert, the three men in front, the

girl behind.

By noon, the burning sun was riding high in the sky,

and their lips and tongues were parched dry. Huo

Qingtong began to see stars before her eyes and

moments of faintness swept over her. She wondered if

she was going to die.

"Hey! Give us some water!" she heard Hahetai shout.

She shook herself awake.

"Take out a bowl and put it on the ground," she

replied. Hahetai did as she said. "Now retreat one

hundred paces." Gu hesitated suspiciously. "If you

don't, you won't get any water," she added. They

cursed her, but retreated. Huo Qingtong rode forward,

undid the cap of the water bag and filled the bowl,

then rode away again. The three men ran over to the

bowl and took turns at gulping down the liquid.

They continued on their way, and about four hours

later green grass began to appear beside the road.

Tang's eyes lit up. "There must be water ahead!" he

shouted. Huo Qingtong was worried. She tried to think

of some course of action, but her head was splitting

with pain. Suddenly, there was a long eagle's cry from

above and she looked up to see a black shape swooping

downwards. Overjoyed, she raised her arm and the eagle

landed on her shoulder. She saw a piece of black

material fastened to one of its legs and knew her

teacher would arrive soon.
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