Chen had been surprised to see 'Leopard' Wei, whom he

has sent along with 'Pagoda' Yang to Beijing to

discover what the Manchu court was up to. "What are

you doing here, Ninth Brother?" he asked. "And where

is Twelfth Brother?"

Wei jumped down from the edge of the hole to report to

the Great Helmsman.

"Twelfth Brother and I went Beijing as ordered, but

for a long time we discovered nothing," he began.

"Then one day, we happened to see that traitor Zhang

Zhaozhong and Master Ma Zhen in the street."

Chen nodded. "So they went to Beijing," he said. "I

was wondering how Zhang managed to escape. Master Ma

told us he would take him back to Wudang mountain."

"Have you seen Zhang recently?" asked Xu, who was

listening.

"Just a short while ago. He is very dangerous." Chen

told them what had happened at the Manchu camp.

"Master Ma and Zhang were walking alone talking

animatedly, and they didn't see us," Wei continued.

"We suspected they may have joined forces against us,

and carefully followed them to a house in an alleyway.

We waited until after dark, but they didn't come out

again, so we decided to go in to have a look. We two

are no match even for Zhang by himself, let alone he

and his martial brother together, so once over the

wall into the courtyard, we lay dead still, not daring

to even breath. After a long time, we heard talking in

a room nearby and went across to investigate. Through

a crack in the window, we saw Master Ma lying on a

kang while that traitor Zhang paced back and forth.

The two were arguing. We didn't dare to look for too

long and squatted down to listen. It seems Zhang had

insisted he had to go to Beijing to sort out a few

private financial matters before he could go to Wudang

Mountain, and Master Ma had agreed. A few days after

they got there, the Emperor returned to Beijing as

well. Zhang said that the Emperor had ordered him to

go to the Muslim regions on important business."

"What important business?" Chen asked quickly.

"He didn't say exactly, but he apparently had to go

and look for someone." Chen frowned. "Master Ma spoke

to him very sternly and told him he should immediately

resign from his official post, but Zhang said he could

not refuse an Imperial edict. If he did, he said, he

was afraid the whole of Wudang Mountain would be

stamped flat by the Emperor's troops. Master Ma told

him that the whole country was under the heel of the

Manchus, and that by comparison the destruction of

Wudang Mountain would be nothing to grieve about. The

more they argued, the more adamant they both became.

Eventually, Master Ma jumped off the kang, absolutely

furious, and shouted: 'I promised our friends of the

Red Flower Society!' to which Zhang replied: 'Those

rebellious bandits. Why take them seriously?' Then

there was a metallic sound as if Master Ma had drawn

his sword. I had a look through the window crack and

saw Master Ma with sword in hand, his face black with

rage, as he roared: 'Don't you remember our teacher's

last wishes? You ungrateful pupil! You are truly

shameless, becoming a running dog of the Manchu court.

I will fight you to the death.' Zhang appeared to

soften. He sighed and said: 'If that's the way you

feel, we'll leave for Wudang Mountain tomorrow.'

Master Ma then resheathed his sword and went to sleep

on the kang while Zhang sat on the chair nearby. He

appeared undecided about something. His body shook

slightly. Twelfth Brother and I were worried he would

discover us, and wanted to wait for him to sleep

before leaving. Almost an hour passed, but still he

didn't sleep. He got up several times and then sat

down again. Finally, he bit his teeth together and

said softly: 'Brother Ma.' Master Ma was by this time

sleeping very soundly and snoring slightly. Zhang

quietly walked over to the kang..."

Princess Fragrance suddenly let out a scream. She

didn't understand what Wei was saying, but she could

feel the dark, sinister tone of his voice, and was

terrified by it. She took hold of Chen's hand and

snuggled up to him. Zhou Qi glanced at her in hatred.

Wei continued. "Zhang went to the kang, then lunged

forward and sprang back again. Master Ma gave a wail

of agony and jumped up, blood pouring from both his

eye sockets. Both his eyes had been gouged out by the

dog-hearted traitor."

Absolutely enraged, Chen leapt up and slammed his fist

into the side of the pit sending sand flying in all

directions.

"I swear I will kill that traitor," he said through

clenched teeth. Princess Fragrance had never seen him

so angry, and she tugged on his sleeve in fear.

Wei's voice shook as he went on: "Master Ma went

silent. His face looked horrible. He walked slowly

towards Zhang, then suddenly kicked out with his leg.

Zhang leapt out of the way, and Master Ma's foot

slammed into the kang. Zhang looked a little shaken,

and tried to get out, but Master Ma made it to the

door first and stood straining his ears to hear

Zhang's movements. Zhang suddenly laughed, and Master

Ma kicked out with his left leg in the direction of

the sound. But Zhang stuck his sword out in front of

him and Ma's leg hit the blade and was cut clean off."

Zhou Qi ground her teeth and stabbed the walls of the

pit with her sword.

"By this time, Twelth Brother and I could stand it no

longer. We burst through the window into the room and

fought with Zhang for only a second before he escaped,

probably scared that we were not alone. We chased

after him, but Twelfth Brother was hit by his golden

needles, and I had to help him back into the house. I

tried to stop Master Ma's bleeding, but he died after

saying only a few words.

"What did he say?" asked Chen. A cold wind suddenly

blew down on them and they all shivered.

"He said 'Tell Brother Lu and Yu Yutong to avenge my

death!' Just then, some people outside who had heard

the fighting started shouting, so I helped Twelfth

Brother out and we returned to our lodgings. The next

day, I went back to have a look and saw Master Ma's

body had already been taken away. Twelfth Brother had

been hit by five golden needles, but I extracted them

for him and he's now convalescing in Twin Willows Lane

in Beijing.

"Zhang said the Emperor wanted him to come to the

Northwest to look for someone, and I thought perhaps

it could be your teacher, Great Helmsman. I remember

you said once that there were two important items

relating to the Emperor being kept by your teacher,

Master Yuan. So I came out with the others to warn

him."

"How is Twelfth Brother?" Chen asked.

"His wounds are serious, but luckily not fatal," Wei

replied.

By now, the cold wind was blowing hard, and thick,

leaden clouds were gathering above them.

"It's going to snow soon," Princess Fragrance said,

and moved even closer to Chen.

Zhou Qi could control herself no longer. "What did she

say?" she demanded.

Chen was surprised by her outraged tone. "She said

it's going to snow."

"Huh! How would she know?" She paused for a moment,

then suddenly added: "Great Helmsman, just who it is

that you love? Sister Huo Qingtong is a nice girl and

I won't allow her to be cheated."

"Mistress Huo Qingtong is indeed a nice person and we

all have a great deal of respect for her...." Chen

began.

"Then why did you cast her aside as soon as you met

her beautiful sister?" Zhou Qi interrupted.

Chen blushed, and Luo Bing came to his rescue. "The

Great Helmsman, like the rest of us, has only met

Sister Huo Qingtong once. She is just an ordinary

friend. You can't start talking about whether he loves

her or not."

"What are you supporting him for?" Zhou Qi demanded,

even more agitated. "She gave him an antique dagger,

and the way the Great Helmsman looked at her, it was

plainly a case of love at first sight....."

Princess Fragrance listened to them talking excitedly

and looked on with her big round eyes, full of

curiosity.

"Mistress Huo Qingtong already had a suitor before she

met me," Chen said. "Even if I had such an intention,

what would be the point of unnecessarily making things

difficult for myself?"

Zhou Qi stared at him in surprise. "Is that true?"

"Why would I deceive you?"

"Well, that's all right, then," she said, immediately

changing her tone. "You are a good man. I was wrong to

accuse you. I'm sorry." The others laughed at her

frankness. Zhou Qi took Princess Fragrance's hand and

squeezed it. Suddenly, they felt a wave of coldness on

their faces and looked up to see snow flakes as big as

goose feathers floating down towards them.

"You were right," she said. "It's snowing!"

"If we don't get reinforcements to rescue us, we are

going to die here," said Luo Bing.

"Master Muzhuolun will certainly send out scouts to

look for his daughter and the Great Helmsman when they

fail to return," Xu replied.

"I`m sure they have," Chen said. "But we have come so

far south, I'm afraid they may have difficulty finding

us."

"Well then, we will have to send someone out to get

help."

"I'll go!" volunteered Xin Yan.

Chen thought for a moment and then nodded. He asked

Princess Fragrance to write a note to her father, and

Xin Yan took a writing brush and some ink from his

knapsack and gave them to her.

"Take Sister Luo Bing's white horse," Chen said to Xin

Yan. "We will make a diversionary attack to the east,

and you can make a break for it to the west." He then

gave him directions to the Muslim camp. On the signal,

the heroes leapt out of the pit and charged eastwards

with shouts and battle cries leaving only Zhou Qi and

Princess Fragrance behind. Xin Yan led the white horse

out of the hole, jumped onto its back and galloped off

westwards. The Manchu troops loosed off a few arrows

but none came even close to hitting him. Once the

heroes were sure Xin Yan had escaped, they retreated

back to the pit.

By this time, the snow was falling heavily and the

ground about them had been transformed into a vast

white carpet. They settled down for the night, but all

slept badly except for Princess Fragrance was still

fast asleep when dawn broke. Her hair and shoulders

were covered with snow which shuddered slightly as she

breathed. Luo Bing laughed gently. "This child is not

the least bit concerned," she said.

Time dragged by and Xu frowned deeply. "Why is there

still no sign of a rescue attempt?" he asked slowly.

"Could Xin Yan have met some trouble on the road?"

said Wen.

"What I'm worried about is something else," replied

Xu.

"What is it?" Zhou Qi demanded. "Stop mumbling and get

on with it."

"Great Helmsman, who makes the decisions in the Muslim

camp?" Xu asked. "Master Muzhuolun or Mistress Huo

Qingtong?"

"Both, apparently. Master Muzhuolun discusses

everything with his daughter."

"If Huo Qingtong refused to send out soldiers, then...

things would be difficult," Xu continued. The others

saw what he was getting at.

"How could you say such a thing about Sister Huo

Qingtong?" Zhou Qi demanded, jumping up. "Doesn't she

already have a suitor? And even if she was jealous of

her sister, would she refuse to save the man she

loved?"

"When women become jealous, they are capable of

anything," answered Xu. Zhou Qi began shouting

angrily, and Princess Fragrance woke with a start. The

heroes had only met Huo Qingtong once and although she

seemed nice, they knew very little about her. Xu's

words seemed not unreasonable.
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