The bodyguard agency group started out first early the
next day, the shouter shouting the agency's call. Lu
noticed that most of the lead
escorts were stationed
around Yan. It seemed the red knapsack on his back was
the real treasure being
escorted.
Once the agency men had left, Officer Deng led his own
column out onto the road. At noon, they rested briefly
at a place called Yellow Crag after which the road
sloped steadily upward into the mountains. They
planned to cross three ranges that day before stopping
in Sandaogou.
The mountain road became
increasinglyprecarious and
Yuanzhi and Officer Deng kept close by Madame Li's
mule-drawn carriage, afraid that if an animal lost its
footing, it could send the carriage crashing into the
gorge below. Around mid-afternoon, they arrived at the
mouth of Black Gold Gorge and saw the agency men
seated on the ground resting. Officer Deng directed
his men to follow suit. Black Gold Gorge was flanked
by high peaks with an extremely steep mountain track
leading up between them. Stopping on the track was
difficult, so the top of the gorge had to be reached
at one stretch. Lu hung back at the rear and turned
his back, not wishing to exchange glances with the
agency men.
Once rested, they entered the gorge, the bodyguard
agency men and the soldiers under Officer Deng's
command forming a long snaking column. Men and animals
alike panted up the mountain. The shouts of the
mulemen melded into a continuous drone. Suddenly, Lu
saw a figure darting across the crest of a peak, and
heard the jangling of camel bells from in front as a
group of Muslims mounted on camels and horses charged
down towards them from the top of the gorge. Their
hooves sounded like thunder, and the agency men began
shouting,
calling on them to slow down.
In an instant, the Muslim group was upon them and four
camels quickly encircled Lead Escort Yan who was
carrying the red knapsack. Each of the four Muslim
riders raised a large iron hammer with both hands and
smashed it down viciously on his head. The mountain
road was narrow, leaving little room for manoeuvring,
and the camel-men had the advantage of height. Even if
he had been a better
fighter, Yan would have been
unable to avoid the four hammers, each weighing more
than 100 pounds. Both he and his horse were beaten to
a bloody pulp.
The yellow-robed Muslim girl, Huo Qingtong, jumped
down from her horse and with a flash of her sword cut
one of the straps
holding the red knapsack to the
corpse that had been Yan. But before she had time for
a second stroke, she felt a gust of wind at her back
as a blade sliced towards her. She dodged to one side
and cut the other strap. Her
assailant aimed a cutting
stroke at her waist to stop her from picking up the
knapsack. Unable to avoid the stroke, she raised her
sword to block it, and the two blades clashed in a
shower of sparks. Looking up, she saw it was the
handsome young boy who had stared at her so
disrespectfully the day before. In a sudden fit of
anger, she lashed out with three attacking sword
strokes, and the two began a fierce duel.
Her
assailant was Yuanzhi, still dressed in boy's
clothes. Without stopping to consider the rights and
wrongs of the situation, she had
decided to get her
own back for the damage done to her horse's mane.
Huo Qingtong could see her chance of recovering the
Koran slipping away and wanted to finish the fight
quickly. She changed to the 'Three Part' sword style,
and in a few strokes had forced Yuanzhi into retreat.
The 'Three Part' sword style was the highest
achievement of the Tianshan school of kung fu. It was
called 'Three Part' because only a third of each
stroke was completed. As the
opponent moved to counter
each one, the stoke changed. Intricate and vicious,
the style included no
defensive strokes: attacking and
killing was all.
The two went through a dozen or more moves without
their blades ever
touching, Huo Qingtong completing
only a third of each stroke, and then changing it
without waiting for her
opponent to defend. She cut
and thrust at the air around Yuanzhi's body, and the
Chinese girl, knowing she could not match her
opponent's speed, leapt away. Huo Qingtong did not
pursue her but turned back to the knapsack, and found
it was already in the hands of a small, thin man
standing beside Yan's body. She lunged at him with her
sword.
"Oh dear," the man cried. "Uncle Tong had better get
back in place!" Lead Escort Tong jumped clear with
three quick steps and Huo Qingtong followed hard on
his heels. She raised her sword to cut him down, but
the stroke was blocked by a Five Element Wheel thrust
forward by the surviving Yan brother.
Huo Qingtong fought briefly with Yan, and recognised
him as a strong and capable
adversary. Then she heard
a loud whistle coming from the hilltops, the signal
for retreat, and knew that help for the agency men was
on the way. She saw Tong scampering away with the
knapsack and quickly changed to the Three Part sword
style, forcing Yan to retreat, and then raced after
him. The whistles became louder.
"Daughter! Retreat quickly!" Muzhuolun shouted. She
abandoned the chase and directed her comrades as they
lifted the Muslim dead and wounded onto camels and
horses. Then the Muslim column charged on down the
mountain path. But a little way further on, they found
several dozen Manchu soldiers blocking their path.
Officer Deng rode forward, his spear held crosswise.
"You
insolent Muslims!" he shouted. "What is this
insurrection?" Two of Huo Qingtong's steel darts hit
his hands and the spear clattered to the ground.
Muzhuolun raised his sabre high and charged forward
with some other Muslim warriors, and the Manchu troops
scattered. Boulders crashed down from the mountain
tops, pulverising more than a dozen Manchu troops, and
in the midst of the melee, the Muslims made good their
escape.
Throughout the battle, Lu had remained on the
sidelines, his hands folded inside his sleeves.
Yuanzhi had been of great assistance to the agency men
even though she had been beaten by Huo Qingtong, and
the Muslims had been unable to get what they wanted.
As the agency men tended the wounded and carried off
the dead, Lu gave her a severe lecture, criticising
her for interfering in the affairs of others, and
needlessly making even more enemies.
"There are very few good men
amongst the bodyguard
agencies, and many bad ones. Why bother helping people
to do evil?" he scolded her. She hung her head, not
daring to look up.
They crossed through the pass and arrived in
Sandaogou, a medium-sized market town, as dusk was
falling. The mulemen said there was only one inn,
called the Antong, and both the agency men and Officer
Deng's column headed for it. The inn was crude and
simple in the extreme with earthern walls and mud
floors. Seeing no servants coming out to greet them,
Tong shouted: "Is everyone dead in there? I damn
eighteen generations of your ancestors!" Yuanzhi
frowned. No-one had ever dared to use such language
within her
hearing before.
Just then, they heard the sound of clashing swords
from inside. Yuanzhi was
delighted. "Here's some more
fun to watch!" she cried and ran into the inn ahead of
the others.
The entrance hall was empty and silent, but passing
through to the
courtyard, she saw a young woman
fighting fiercely with four men. In her left hand was
a sword, and in her right, a knife. She was obviously
battling for her life. It seemed to Yuanzhi that the
four man were
trying to force their way into the room
outside which the woman was standing. The four were
all strong
fighters: one wielded a whip, one a staff,
one a sword and one a Devil's Head Knife.
Lu also entered the
courtyard. "How is it that we are
continually running into these secret society people?"
he thought.
The woman dodged and parried,
holding all four men at
bay until suddenly the one wielding the Devil's Head
Knife swung his weapon towards her as another of the
attackers thrust his sword at her heart. She fended
off the sword with the knife in her right hand, but
she could not dodge the Devil's Head Knife and it
struck her on the left shoulder. But she did not give
up, and as she continued to fight, drops of blood flew
in all directions.
"Don't kill her! We need her alive," shouted the man
with the whip.
Lu's
chivalrous heart was moved at the sight of four
man attacking one woman, and despite his own sensitive
situation he could see he might have to take a hand
himself. He watched as the swordsman attacked with a
slicing blow from the left. The woman parried it
obliquely, but she was already wounded and out of
breath. The two blades clashed, and the knife was
jolted from her hand and clattered to the ground. The
swordsman then thrust his blade at her again, and she
frantically dodged to the right, opening a way through
which the man with the Devil's Head Knife charged
towards the door.
Ignoring all dangers, the woman plunged her left hand
into her gown and drew out two throwing
knives which
she slung at her enemy's back. One of the
knivesembedded itself in the door post but the other plunged
into his back. Luckily for him, the woman's hand
lacked strength due to the wound in her left shoulder
and the knife did not kill him. He staggered back,
screaming with pain, and pulled the knife out.
Meanwhile, the woman was struck on her thigh by the
staff. She swayed unsteadily, but defiantly resumed
her position blocking the doorway.
"Go and help her," Lu said quietly to Yuanzhi. "If you
can't beat them, I'll come over as well."
Yuanzhi was bursting to test herself. She leapt
forward, her sword at the ready, shouting: "Four men
fighting one woman! You should be ashamed of
yourselves!" Seeing someone coming to the aid of the
woman, and one of their number already wounded, the
four men turned and ran from the inn.
The woman's face was deathly pale and she leaned
against the door, breathing heavily. Yuanzhi went over
to her.
"Why were they bullying you like that?" she asked, but
the woman was
temporarilyincapable of speech.
Officer Deng walked over to Yuanzhi. "Madame Li would
like to see you mistress," he said, and added in a
whisper: "She's heard that you were involved in a
fight on the road and is very upset. You'd better go
quickly."
The woman's expression changed as soon as she saw
Officer Deng's military uniform; she pulled her
throwing knife out of the doorpost, went back into her
room and banged the door shut without answering
Yuanzhi.
Rather unhappy at having been snubbed, Yuanzhi walked
over to Lu. "Teacher, what were they fighting about?"
she asked.
"It was probably a revenge attack," he said. "But it
isn't over yet. Those four will be back."
Yuanzhi was about to ask another question when she
heard someone inside the inn shouting and swearing.
"Damn your ancestors, what do you mean there are no
good rooms? Are you afraid we don't have the money to
pay?" It was the voice of Lead Escort Tong.
"Please don't be angry sir," an employee of the inn
answered. "We in the inn-keeping business would not
dare to offend such
eminent persons as yourselves. But
it is a fact that all of our few good rooms are
occupied."
"Who have you got in them? I think I'll go and have a
look," Tong said walking out into the
courtyard.
Just then a door opened, and the young woman leaned
out. "Please bring some hot water," she said to a
servant.
Tong saw the woman's smooth white skin and the beauty
of her face and eyes, and noticed on her left wrist, a
bracelet of pearls, all
perfectly formed. His mouth
watered. The woman spoke with a southern Chinese
accent and the exotic touch to her voice excited him
greatly.
"I, Lead Escort Tong have passed along this road on
business dozens of times, and I have never stayed in
anything but the best rooms," he shouted. "If there
are no good rooms vacant, why don't you make one
vacant for me?" The door to the woman's room was still
open and he walked straight inside.
"Ai-ya!" the woman exclaimed. She moved to obstruct
him, but felt a stab of pain in her thigh and sat
down.
As Tong entered the room, he saw there was a man lying
on the kang. The room was dimly-lit but he could see
that the man's head was wrapped in bandages, his right
arm was in a sling and that one of his legs was also
bandaged.
"Who is it?" the man asked in a deep, resonant voice.
"My name is Tong and I'm a lead
escort with the Zhen
Yuan Bodyguard Agency," he replied. "We are passing
through Sandaogou on business, but there are no rooms
available here. I was wondering if you could move. Who
is this woman? Is she your wife, or your girlfriend?"
"Get out," the man ordered. His wounds were clearly
serious; he was unable to talk loudly.
"One's a girl and the other's too badly wounded to
even move," thought Tong, who had not seen the woman
fight. "When am I going to get such a chance again?"
"If you don't want to give up your room, that's all
right too," he said with a grin on his face. "All
three of us can snuggle up together on this kang.
Don't worry, I won't push over onto your side."
The man on the kang shook with anger.
"Don't get involved with these ruffians," the woman
urged him quietly. "We can't afford to make any more
enemies at the moment." And then to Tong: "You stop
your
nonsense and get out."
Tong laughed. "Can't I stay here and keep you
company?"
"Come over here," the man on the kang said hoarsely.
Tong took a step towards him. "Why? Do you want to see
how handsome I am?"
"I can't see clearly," the man replied.
Tong laughed out loud and took another step towards
him. "Take a closer look. This is like a big brother
choosing a husband for his sister...."
Before he could finish, the man on the kang sat up,
and as fast as a lightning flash, touched a yuedao
point* (*Yuedao points are nerve centres on the body
which, when struck, can cause
paralysis or even death.
The same points are used for a different purpose in
acupuncture) on Tong's ribs and followed with a blow
to his back. Tong flew straight out of the door, and
landed heavily in the
courtyard. The agency shouter,
Xun, rushed over to help him up.
"Brother Tong," he whispered. "Don't
provoke them. It
looks like they're members of the Red Flower Society."
"Ahh, ahhh, I can't move my leg," Tong cried. "The Red
Flower Society?" he added suddenly. "How do you know?"
He broke into a cold sweat of fear.
"One of the
porters told me four Yamen officers were
here a while ago to arrest those two, and there was
quite a fight before they left," Xun said.
Lead Escort Yan came over. "What's going on?" he
asked.
"Brother Yan," Tong shouted. "One of those bastards
from the Red Flower Society used Yuedao kung fu on
me!"
Yan frowned and pulled Tong up by his arm. "We'll go
back to the room and talk about it," he said. His
first thought was for the agency's
reputation. It
created a bad impression when an agency's lead
escortwas floored and couldn't even get up. Lead Escort Qian
came over. "Are you sure it was the Red Flower
Society?" he asked Xun.
"When those four officers left, they told the
porterthat the couple in there were fugitives," he
whispered. "They told the
porter to inform them if
they left. I overhead them talking."
Qian glanced at Yan and pulled Tong up.
"Who are they?" Yan asked quietly.
"Red Flower Society. I think we ought to let it pass,"
Qian said. "When Tong is better we can reconsider. Did
you see what happened when those men tried to arrest
them just now?" he asked Xun.
"It was some fight," said Xun, gesticulating wildly.
"There was a woman with a sword in her left hand and a
dagger in her right hand. Four men couldn't beat her."
"She must be one of 'Divine Knife' Luo's people,"
replied Qian, surprised. "She used throwing
knives, I
suppose?"
"Yes, yes, she's really accurate. It was incredible!"
Xun exclaimed.
Qian turned to Yan. "Master Wen of the Red Flower
Society is here," he said. They carried Tong back to
their room in silence.
Lu had observed the whole incident, but the lead
escorts had talked in such low tones, that he only
managed to catch Qian's last two utterances. Yuanzhi
walked over and asked: "Teacher, when are you going to
teach me Yuedao kung fu? Did you see how fantastic
that move was?"
Lu took no notice of her, but said to himself: "If it
is one of 'Divine Knife' Luo's people, I can't just
stand by and do nothing."
"Who is 'Divine Knife' Luo?" Yuanzhi asked.
"He was a good friend of mine. I hear he's passed away
now. All the moves used by the woman we saw fighting a
minute ago were of his school."
Just then, the two lead
escorts Qian and Tai helped
Tong over to the woman's room. Xun coughed loudly
outside the door and announced in a low voice:
"Lead Escorts Qian, Tai and Tong of the Zhen Yuan
Bodyguard Agency have come to pay their respects to
Master Wen of the Red Flower Society."
The door creaked open and the woman stood in the
doorway staring at them. "What do you want?" she
asked.
"We did not know that you and Master Wen were here,"
Qian said. "We have insulted you and we have come to
apologise. Please be forgiving and don't be offended
by what happened." He bowed low and Tai and Xun
followed suit.
"Mistress," Qian continued. "We have never met before,
but I have heard a great deal about you and your
husband. Master Wang, the head of our agency, was
always on very good terms with the leader of your
honourable society, Master Yu, and also with your
father 'Divine Knife' Luo. Our brother here is very
bad-tempered, and is always talking
nonsense..."
The woman cut him off. "Our master has been wounded,
and he just went to sleep. When he wakes, I will pass
on your message. We are ignorant of
etiquette, but his
wounds are not light, and he hasn't slept well for two
days." There was an expression of
apprehension on her
face.
"What sort of wounds does Master Wen have?" Qian
asked. "We have some Golden Wound
ointment with us."
He wanted to put them in their debt so that they would
be obliged to help cure Tong.
"Thank you, but we have medicine," the woman replied,
understanding his meaning. "Your
colleague was not
touched on a major Yuedao point. When our master
wakes, I will send one of the inn's servants round."
Seeing that she had agreed to cure Tong, Qian and the
others started to retire.
"By the way," said the woman. "How did you know our
names?"
"With your swords and throwing
knives, who wouldn't be
able to guess?" Qian replied. "What's more, who apart
from Master Wen uses Yuedao kung fu like that? It had
to be 'Rolling Thunder Hand' Wen Tailai and his wife
Luo Bing."
The woman smiled, flattered at having been recognised.
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