Zhang had pursued glory and wealth with fervour and he

had risen in rank as fast as though swept upwards up

by a whirlwind. Wanting him to give up his position

was just the same as wanting his life. He released Wen

from his grip, pulled at the mule's reins, and the

carriage charged forward.

The heroes held back afraid of risking Wen's life, but

Luo Bing could not stand it. "Release him and we'll

let you go without having to swear to anything," she

called desperately.

Zhang took no notice and drove the carriage on towards

the ranks of Manchu troops, who had by now regrouped.

Bodyguard Rui saw Zhang approaching and ordered the

soldiers to fix arrows in their bows in readiness. The

roar of the approaching column was getting louder and

both Red Flower Society and the soldiers were afraid

that they were reinforcements for the other side.

"Brother Wei, take three others and scatter the

Eagle's Claws," Chen shouted.

Wei and the others raised their weapons and charged

into the Manchu ranks, slaughtering as they went.

A youngster darted out from behind Lu Feiqing saying:

"I'm going too!" Chen frowned: it was Li Yuanzhi, once

more dressed in boy's clothes.

When Lu met up with her again after the battle,

Yuanzhi had insisted that he take her with him to help

rescue Wen. Lu finally agreed, but made her promise

that she would do as she was told. Yuanzhi then wrote

a letter to her mother in which she said she had

decided to go on ahead alone to see her father in

Hangzhou.

Chen quickly issued his instructions, and 'Buddha'

Zhao raced after the carriage and sent two sleeve

arrows flying into the eyes of the mule pulling it

along. The mule gave a long scream and reared up on

its hind legs. The Twin Knights charged to either side

of the carriage and flung their Flying Claws at Zhang,

who fended them off with his sword. Simultaneously,

Priest Wu Chen and Xu attacked Zhang's back.

"Now!" Chen shouted to Xin Yan. The two soared through

the air and landed on top of the carriage.

Zhang heard Chen and Xin Yan land above and behind him

and threw a handful of Golden Needles at them.

Chen saw the movement, and pushed Xin Yan off the

carriage and placed the shield in front of his own

body. There was a patter of metallic noises as the

needles hit it, but despite the extraordinary speed of

his reflexes, he heard Xin Yan cry out. Knowing the

boy had been hit, Chen hastily leapt down to help him.

Zhang threw another handful of the needles at Priest

Wu Chen and Xu. The Priest flew out of the back of the

carriage like an arrow, moving faster and further than

the needles. Xu, however, only had time to lift a

cotton coverlet in the carriage to block the needles.

But his left shoulder was left exposed and with a

sudden feeling of numbness, he fell out of the

carriage.

Zhang Jin raced over to help him. "Brother Xu, are you

all right?" he shouted, bending over. Suddenly he felt

a great pain in his back as he was hit by an arrow,

and stumbled.

"Brothers! Everyone regroup!" Chen shouted. Arrows

were flying towards them like thick clouds of locusts.

Zhang Jin put his left hand on Priest Wu Chen's

shoulder and hit out at the arrows with his wolf's

tooth club.

"Tenth Brother, don't move!" the Priest said. "Control

yourself." He stopped the flow of blood from Zhang

Jin's wound with a touch to the artery and carefully

pulled the arrow out. Then he ripped a corner off his

robes and bound up the wound.

Then they saw a pitch-black mass of Manchu soldiers

surging towards them from the east.

Zhang was ecstatic at the sight of reinforcements

arriving, but his breathing was becoming difficult and

he knew that his injuries were serious. Chen and the

others attacked the carriage once more, and he lifted

up Wen's body, and swung it round and round as a

detachment of cavalry charged towards the Red Flower

Society fighters with sabres raised. Chen could see

that Wen would certainly be killed if they attempted

to recapture him by force, so he gave a loud whistle

and raced behind a nearby mound with the others

following.

Chen conducted a head-count, and found that Xu, Zhou

Qi, Yuanzhi, Lord Zhou and Meng were missing.

"Has anyone seen Brother Xu and Lord Zhou?" Chen

asked.

Zhang Jin, who was lying on the ground, raised his

head and said: "Seventh Brother was injured. Isn't he

here? I'll go and find him."

He stood up, but the arrow wound on his back was too

serious, and he swayed unsteadily.

"Don't you move, Tenth Brother," said 'Melancholy

Ghost' Shi. "I'll go."

"I'll go too," added 'Crocodile' Jiang, but Chen held

him back. "You and Fourth Sister make your way to the

river bank and prepare the rafts," he said. Jiang and

Luo Bing, her hopes dashed again, left.

Shi leapt onto a horse and galloped off around the

mound with sword in hand. By this time, the Manchu

troops were everywhere. Shi rode up onto higher ground

and looked around, but could see no sign of Xu and the

others, so he rode into the enemy's ranks to search

for them.

Not long after, Lord Zhou and Meng appeared.

"Have you seen your daughter?" Chen asked. Zhou shook

his head, full of anxiety.

"My young pupil has disappeared too," Lu Feiqing said.

"I'll go and look for them."

As he rode out, the ranks of the Manchu troops

suddenly parted and several horses charged towards

him. In the lead was Priest Wu Chen dragging Wei along

with his hand. Lu started in surprise when he saw Wei,

his whole body covered in blood and dirt, and

immediately moved forward to obstruct any pursuers.

But the Manchu troops did not dare to obsttruct these

ferocious-looking men and let them retreat behind the

mound.

Chen quickly went to see Wei, who was delirious,

shouting: "Kill the bastards!"

"Ninth Brother has worn himself out with all this

killing," Priest Wu Chen said. "His mind is a little

confused. Nothing serious."

"Have you seen Brother Xu and Brother Shi?" Chen

asked.

"I'll go and look for them" the Priest said.

"There's also Mistress Zhou and the Master Lu's

pupil," Chen said.

Priest Wu Chen mounted up, sword at the ready, and

charged back into the Manchu ranks. A Manchu officer

spurred his horse forward and charged at him with

spear raised, but the priest dodged the spear thrust

and drove his sword into the officer's heart. The

officer slumped off his horse and the soldiers under

his command howled and scattered in all directions.

Priest Wu Chen continued his onslaught and soldiers

fell wherever his sword went. As he galloped along a

stretch of the road, he saw a crowd of soldiers with

'Melancholy Ghost' Shi in the middle fighting fiercely

with three officers.

"Get away, I'll cover you!" Priest Wu Chen shouted.

The two raced back to the mound, but there was still

no indication of what had happened to Xu and the

others. A Manchu company commander led his soldiers in

an attack on the mound occupied by the Red Flower

Society, but the heroes immediately killed more than a

dozen of them, and the rest retreated.

Chen led his horse up onto the mound. "Brother Meng,"

he said, handing him the reins. "Hold it steady and

made sure it doesn't get hit by a stray arrow." He

leapt up onto the horse's back and stood on the

saddle. Looking around, he saw the huge Manchu column

surging towards them from the east. A bugle sounded

and the column turned into a fiery dragon as each

soldier raised a torch. Amidst the glow, he saw a

large banner flowing in the wind on which he could

just made out the words "Border Pacification General

Zhao" written in large characters. Each soldier in the

column was riding a tall, sturdy horse, and there was

a clanking noise as they marched, indicating they were

probably wearing armour.

Chen jumped down from the horse. "Armoured troops on

the way," he shouted. "Everyone head for the river."

Lord Zhou was very worried about his daughter, but

finding her among such a huge body of troops was

impossible. The heroes helped up Wei, Zhang Jin and

the other wounded, and galloped towards the banks of

the Yellow River with the Manchu cavalry in hot

pursuit. Luo Bing and Jiang punted the sheepskin rafts

up to the shore and took the wounded on board first.

"Everyone get on the rafts quickly!" Chen yelled.

"Priest Wu Chen, Third Brother, Lord Zhou, we four

will hold..."

Before he could finish, a wave of crossbow arrows flew

towards them.

"Charge!" roared Priest Wu Chen, and the four threw

themselves at the first ranks of cavalry. Lord Zhou's

huge sword rose and fell, cutting Manchu soldiers down

from their horses, while 'Buddha' Zhao slung copper

coins at the eye-slits in their armour. Although it

was impossible to see clearly in the dark, he still

managed to blind five or six men. By this time,

everyone except Chen and the other three had boarded

the rafts.

Chen spotted a mounted officer directing the troops,

and sprang over to him. He pulled the fficer from his

horse and ran for the river bank with him under his

arm. The Manchu troops rushed forward to try to save

their commanding officer, but they didn't dare to fire

any arrows. Chen leapt onto one of the rafts and Jiang

and Luo Bing began to move them out towards the centre

of the river.

The Yellow River was in full flood and with the

current powerful and turbulant, the two large

sheepskin rafts flew off downstream. The hubbub of the

great armed column slowly faded as the river roared

around them.

The heroes set about tending to the wounded. 'Leopard'

Wei's mind gradually cleared and his body was found to

be free from wounds. 'Buddha' Zhao was an expert at

medical treatment as well as with darts and he bound

up 'Iron Pagoda' Yang's and Zhang Jin's wounds. Zhang

Jin was more seriously injured, but was in no danger.

Xin Yan had been hit by several Golden Needles, and

was in such pain that he cried out continually. The

needles had penetrated right through the flesh into

the bones, and Zhao took a magnet from his medicine

bag and drew them out one by one. Luo Bing rowed on

silently. Not only had they failed to rescue Wen, but

'Mastermind' Xu, Zhou Qi, Lu Feiqing and his pupil had

been lost as well, and no-one knew where 'Scholar' Yu

had got to.

Chen roused the captured Manchu officer. "What the

hell was your column doing travelling through the

night like that?" he asked.

The officer said nothing. Yang slapped him on the

face. "Are you going to talk?" he shouted.

"I'll talk...I'll talk," the officer said quickly,

holding his cheek. "What do you want me to say?"

"What was your column doing travelling at night?"

"General Zhao Wei received an Imperial command

ordering us to attack the Muslim areas and take them

over before a certain date. He was afraid we wouldn't

make it in the time limit, and also that the Muslims

would hear of our approach and make preparations. So

we've been marching day and night."

"The Muslims are very well-behaved," said Chen. "Why

are you going to attack them?"

"That...that, I don't know." the officer said.

"If you are heading for the Muslim areas, why did you

come to interfere in our business?"

"General Zhao heard of some bandits making trouble in

this area and ordered me to lead a detail to deal with

them, but the main army didn't stop..."

Before he could finish, Yang gave him another slap.

"Damn your mother!" he shouted. "It's you who are the

bandits!"

"Yes, yes! I made a mistake!" the officer cried.

Chen was silent for a while, then questioned the

officer closely regarding the army's troop strength,

route and rations. Some of it the officer didn't know,

but he did not dare to hide what he did know.

"Head...For...The...Shore" Chen shouted at the top of

his voice. Luo Bing and Jiang steered the rafts

towards the bank and everyone stepped ashore.

Chen called the Twin Knights over.

"Travel back as fast as you can and find out what

happened to the others," he said. "If they have fallen

into the hands of the Manchus, they will certainly be

taken back to Beijing along the Great Road. We can

intercept them further east and work out some way of

rescuing them."

The Twin Knights nodded and started out.

"Twelfth Brother," Chen continued, turning to

'Melancholy Ghost' Shi. "I want you to do something

for me."

"Whatever you say, Great Helmsman."

Chen wrote out a letter under the light of the moon.

"Please take this letter to Master Muzhuolun in the

Muslim regions," he said. "We have only met him and

his people once, but they showed the greatest

friendship towards us, so we cannot stand idly by.

Fourth Sister, please lend your white horse to Twelfth

Brother for the trip." Luo Bing had kept the animal

aboard the raft throughout the battle.

Shi mounted up and disappeared in a cloud of dust.

With the horse's phenomenal speed, he estimated he

could overtake the army in a day and be in time to

warn Muzhuolun.

Chen then directed Jiang to tie the officer's hands

behind his back. They placed him on one of the rafts

and pushed it out into the stream and left it for Fate

to decide whether he should live or die.
关键字:书剑恩仇录
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