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 knives

embedded 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 escort

was 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 porter

that 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.
关键字:书剑恩仇录
生词表: