The Deer and The Cauldron - Unabridged Thread

[foxs]

Chalju dragged three old lamas, they were all shackled and handcuffed. The three lamas did not know that Kangxi was the ruling Emperor, they maintained their obstinate behavior and mumbled and grunted incessantly. Kangxi suddenly also mumbled and grunted. The officers were stunned; nobody expected that the Emperor could speak Tibetan. Actually, these lamas were Mongolian lamas, they did not come from Tibet at all. Kangxi was talking with them in Mongolians.

After talking for a while, the three lamas bowed their heads without saying anything; apparently they have surrendered. Kangxi said, “Take them to the side room, Zhen will investigate them confidentially.”

“Yes,” Dolong replied, and have the three of them brought to the scripture room [library] next to the main hall.

Kangxi beckoned to Wei Xiaobao, the two of them also entered the scripture room. Wei Xiaobao closed the door. Pulling his dagger, he continuously waved it in front of the lamas’ eyes, throats, noses and ears. Kangxi spoke several sentences loudly in Mongolian. Respectfully and submissively the oldest lama answered his questions one by one. The two of them were exchanging questions and answers for quite a while. As soon as Wei Xiaobao noticed that Kangxi raised his voice and had an angry look on his face, he drew his dagger threateningly. When he saw Kangxi’s expression turned gentle, he giggled while standing by the lama’s side, nodding his head in encouragement.

Kangxi’s interrogation lasted for more than an hour. Finally he ordered the Imperial Bodyguards to take the lamas away, and told Wei Xiaobao to close the door. “This is strange,” he muttered to himself.

Wei Xiaobao did not dare to interrupt his train of thought, he simply stood on the side without saying anything. Kangxi pondered for a moment, and then asked, “Xiao Guizi, how many people are aware that Fu Huang has left home and become a monk in here?”

“Other than Your Majesty and your servant,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “Those who know this matter include the Old Emperor’s Shifu, Yulin Dashi, and his Shidi Xing Dian Dashi. There was also a eunuch, Hai Dafu, but he is dead. The former head monk of Qingliang Temple, Cheng Guang Dashi, did not seem to know the details, he only knew that the Old Emperor was a person of great background. Apart from these people, there is that old … old … that Empress Dowager.”

Kangxi nodded, “That’s right,” he said, “Those who know this matter, in this world, including Fu Huang himself, and the two of us, are not more than six people. But when I interrogated that Mongolian lama just now, he said that they received the order of the Living Buddha, Dalai Lama of Lhasa, Tibet, to go to Qingliang Temple to invite a monk and take him to Tibet. I interrogate him in details, which monk in Qingliang Temple, what kind of person he is, why did the Living Buddha of Lhasa want to invite him? I repeatedly asked the questions, he definitely does not know. Finally he said that it seems that this monk understands a lot of tantra’s religious chant and incantation, the Living Buddha wishes for him to teach these secret incantation, to help spreading the Dharma. Naturally it was all rubbish; but looking at his expression, I don’t think he was lying. Most likely other people are deceiving him, yet he believes it was the truth.”

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Whether that Tibetan Living Buddha knew the Old Emperor’s real identity, it is difficult to know at this moment, but the person who instigated the Living Buddha to come and offend the Old Emperor, I am afraid … I am afraid he knew the inside information.”

Kangxi nodded. Suddenly Wei Xiaobao was scared; he said, “Your Majesty, your servant will keep my mouth as tight as a … as something. I know this matter is of grave importance; even in my dream I won’t divulge half a word.”

“You won’t say anything,” Kangxi said, “I trust you completely. Naturally Yulin and Xing Dian also won’t say anything. Even if Shaolin Temple’s Abbot Hui Cong and Cheng Guang Dashi may have guessed something, they are virtuous eminent monks, they can’t possibly reveal it to anybody. After thinking it over, there is only that … that old … old s1ut.”

“Right! Right!” Wei Xiaobao said, “Must be that old … old …”

Kangxi muttered to himself, “She is concealing a man who dressed as a palace maid in the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful; indeed I have seen it with my own eyes. It’s only natural that she is afraid her secret would be revealed. She murdered Empress Duan Jing, Fu Huang hates her to the bones. Although Fu Huang has already left home, he still sent Hai Dafu back to the Palace to investigate this matter. You knew all the details, and you are always by my side. Humph, how could that old s1ut sleep well at night? She simply must do harm to Fu Huang. Only after conspiring to murder Fu Huang, conspiring to murder me, and killing you, will she feel safe.”

Wei Xiaobao thought, “The old wh0re has long had relationship with Shen Long Jiao [Divine Dragon Cult]. Since she knew the Old Emperor has not died yet, she must have reported it to Hong Jiaozhu. Apparently this lamas arrival on Mount Wutai is somehow related to Hong Jiaozhu.” However, he must not mention to Kangxi that he had become the White Dragon Envoy of Divine Dragon Cult.

Kangxi saw the change in his countenance. “What is it?” he asked.

Wei Xiaobao hastily said, “Your servant thought … thought … Your Majesty’s speculation is not the least bit wrong, it must be that old … the Empress Dowager who leak the secret. Other than she, there can’t be any other people.”

Kangxi stretched out his hand to slap the table heavily; gnashing his teeth, he said, “This s1ut murdered the Empress, my birth mother; she also caused Fu Huang to leave home, rendering me without a father or a mother. I … if I don’t make mincemeat of this s1ut, it will be difficult for me to purge the hatred in my heart; but … but Fu Huang clearly told me not to make things difficult for her. What should I do?”

Wei Xiaobao thought, “The Old Emperor does not allow you to kill the old wh0re, but he did not tell me not to. Even if he told me not to kill her, laozi is his Abbot, he is obligated to follow my order, I don’t have to listen to his order. However, if this matter is exposed, it may not be effective.”

“Your Majesty do not need to worry,” he said, “This Empress Dowager has committed all kinds of evil, she won’t have a good end. Your Majesty may open your dragon eyes wide, open your dragon ears, you’ll just wait and see.”

Kangxi was very keen; he had already understood his meaning, he fixed his eyes on him for half a day, finally he nodded and said, “That’s right, that s1ut has committed all kinds of evil, she won’t have a good end.”

He paced back and forth in the scripture room. “Right now we must find a way to prevent the lamas from offending Fu Huang again,” he said, “It would be best if we can send a trustworthy man to be the Tibetan Living Buddha. All the lamas throughout the world will be under his management, then there won’t be any future danger. It’s just that Tibetan Living Buddha is always the reincarnation of the previous one, I am afraid the one the Emperor sends won’t work. There must be a way …”

Listening to this, Wei Xiaobao was so scared that his soul flew away and scattered; he mused, “Today I dressed up as a young lama, I must not turn a fake into reality. As soon as the Emperor opens his golden mouth, it will be hard to take back, I must strike first.” Hastily he said, “Your Majesty, your servant absolutely do not want to be a Tibetan Living Buddha.”

Kangxi burst out laughing. He said, “You are quick. Actually, what’s not good about being a Tibetan Living Buddha? His jurisdiction is a lot wider than Wu Sangui’s Yunnan; being a Living Buddha means becoming the king of Tibet.”

Wei Xiaobao repeatedly shook his hand, he said, “I’d rather be an imperial bodyguard by your side. Once I become the Living Buddha, it will be hard for me to be with you. I don’t care if it is King of Xizang [Tibet, xi - west] or King of Dongzang [East Zang], even King of Dizang[1], I don’t want to be one.”

He was not lying. He had been with Kangxi for a long time, they were almost of the same age, they got along with each other well; although one was the young emperor, the other was a young imperial bodyguard, they were like best friends. Neither one was willing to be separated from each other.

Kangxi laughed and said, “How can you make such a irresponsible remark about the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's name?” Shoving the door open, he walked out, and said to Chalju and Dolong, “The two of you have handled this matter well, Zhen wants to reward you.”

Chalju and Dolong were greatly delighted; they kowtowed to express their gratitude. Kangxi said, “Zhen respect and believe the Dharma. Sure enough, these last several years by the will of the Heaven and the blessing of the Bodhisattva, the country is safe and sound, the common people have peace and happiness. Wei Xiaobao is here as Zhen’s proxy, becoming a monk on my behalf, and has rendered a great merit.” Wei Xiaobao also kowtowed to express his gratitude.

Kangxi continued, “Now Wei Xiaobao’s time to be my proxy has been fulfilled, he will follow me returning to Beijing. It is Chalju’s turn to leave home for two years, but you won’t be a monk, rather, you will be the Great Lama of Mount Wutai. You may select 1000 competent officers and sergeants of Valiant Cavalry to be lamas with you, to be stationed on the ten major lama monasteries on the mountain. During your time leaving your homes, everybody’s pay will be doubled, and all of you will be generously rewarded.”

Chalju was startled; although he was not actually willing, he had no choice but thanking the Emperor for the kindness shown. Kangxi said, “If you are doing a good deed but announce it to the world, it won’t be really a good deed. You must tell everybody to guard his mouth like a closed bottle in this matter, no one is to reveal the secret, otherwise he will be dealt with according to the martial law, there won’t be any excuse. Dolong is to bring all Mount Wutai’s lamas back to the Capital, and have them locked up in detention. Send people to inform the Dalai Lama Living Buddha that the Emperor is inviting these lamas to Beijing to promote the Dharma, to make clear the mystery of the Buddhist doctrines. After seventy, eighty years, when the Dharma is flourishing, they will be sent back to Tibet.” For each sentence he said, Chalju and Dolong responded one time.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted, “Laozi escapes the will of Heaven, henceforth I don’t have to be a monk anymore.” He also thought, “After seventy, eighty years, will these lamas still alive to return home? They brazenly offended the Old Emperor, His Majesty is being magnanimous by not chopping their heads. Imprisoned for life is a great convenience for them.”

Kangxi continued, “Wei Xiaobao, I promote you to be the Commander [du tong] of the Valiant Cavalry Regiment of the Yellow Banner, while concurrently holding your present Deputy Chief [fu zongguan] position of the Imperial Bodyguards. Chalju, if you are performing your duty as the Great Lama well, when you return to the Capital, I will send you to another province to be the provincial governor.” The two of them expressed their gratitude.

Wei Xiaobao did not care much; for him, being the commander or vice commander did not have any difference. On the other hand, Chalju was very happy; in Beijing, high-ranking officials were extremely numerous, it’s just that Valiant Cavalry Regiment Commanders were the Emperor’s trusted aide. He was only one Valiant Cavalry Regiment Commander; each one of the eight banners had one commander, a total of eight Valiant Cavalry Regiment Commanders. When they see the royal princes, the royal princes’ children, the dukes and marquis[2], he must bend his knees and pay respects. Other than his soldier’s pay, there was no extra income. If he was to be sent to other provinces and become the provincial governor, not only his prestige and authority would spread to eight directions, his financial resources would also increase tremendously.

In the meantime, it was daybreak. Kangxi give his order that he wanted to go to the Qingliang Temple to worship Buddha. When they reach the outside of the Temple, they saw sabers and spears scattered around, the grass and rocks were red with bloodstain. It was clear that the capture of lamas the previous night involved an intense battle; obviously they were fighting fiercely. Kangxi entered the Temple to worship the Tathagata and the Manjushri [orig. ‘ru lai’ and ‘wen shu pu sa’], before he went to the back of the mountain to visit the small vihara where Shunzhi sat in meditation. He saw charred wood and ruined bricks, the vihara had been burnt to the ground.

Kangxi was secretly scared, “If Fu Huang did not escape last night, he would be burned inside the temple. I … I …” He did not dare to continue his thought. He ordered Songgotu to donate two thousand taels of silver to reconstruct the vihara. He knew his father would not want to have this matter publicized; therefore, he did not dare to casually donate too much.

Returning to the Hall of Great Strength, the Shaolin monks came to see him. They saw this young benefactor had a lot of attendants, he carried an imposing aura around him; they thought he must be a person of great importance, perhaps he was one of the royal princes [qin wang bei lei]. Athough the monks did not curry favor with powerful people, they acknowledge the fact that this benefactor donated a large sum of money to reconstruct the small vihara, so they put their palms together to express their thanks. Cheng Tong and the others could also see that among those attendants disguised as pilgrims, there were quite a few who knew martial art.

Upon seeing the place where his father has left home, Kangxi was unwilling to leave so soon; he said, “I want to stay at your precious monastery for three, five days; I wonder if it is possible?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Da Shizhu [great benefactor] graces us with your presence, it is something that we seek but fail to get …”

Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound, dust and dirt fell down, a hole appeared on the ceiling of the Hall of Great Strength. A white shadow flashed, a white object dropped down from the roof; it was a monk wearing white robe, with a long sword in his hand, which was thrust swiftly toward Kangxi. “Today I am taking revenge for the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming!” the monk called out.

Kangxi hastily retreated. Because they were in the presence of the Emperor, Dolong, Chalju, Prince Kang, and the others did not carry any weapon. Greatly alarmed, they pounced on the monk. The monk swiftly flicked the left sleeve of his robe, a strong gust of wind swept Dolong and the others, seven, eight men, so that they could not hold their ground and were thrown down backward.

Cheng Xin, Cheng Guang and the others shouted together, “Must not harm people!” and moved to stop the monk.

The monk’s sleeve brushed away again. Each one of Shaolin Temple’s ‘Cheng’ generation monks used his own unique skill to parry, but these monks’ tiger claw, dragon claw, ‘picking flower qin na’ [grab and capture], ‘capturing dragon’ skill, and so on failed to seize the monk. The Shaolin monks were surprised, they all thought, “Unexpectedly there is such person in this world!”

The white-robed monk did not stop, his sword went straight toward Kangxi. Kangxi had his back against the sacrificial table in front of the image of Buddha, he could not retreat further.

Wei Xiaobao hastily leaped forward to block in front of Kangxi’s body. ‘Stab!’ the tip of the sword pierced his chest. The long sword bent, but unexpectedly it failed to enter Wei Xiaobao’s body. Wei Xiaobao felt severe pain on his chest. He had already had the dagger in his hand; by waving it randomly he managed cut the enemy’s sword into two pieces.

The monk in white was stunned. Cheng Guan called out, “Don’t hurt my Shishu!” His left palm flew toward the monk in white’s right shoulder. The monk in white threw his broken sword and turned around to meet Cheng Guan’s palm head on. Cheng Guan felt his blood bubbling up in his chest, while stars appeared in his eyes.

“Good skill!” the monk in white praised. Seeing that he was surrounded by martial art masters, while just a moment ago his sword failed to stab the little monk’s body, he was greatly shocked. No longer dare to prolong the fight, he stretched out his right hand to grab the back of Wei Xiaobao’s collar, and suddenly his body flew up, he escaped via the hole on the roof of the hall.

This turn of events happened so quickly that although there were thirty-six Shaolin masters in the hall, unexpectedly nobody had enough time to stop him. Cheng Xin, Cheng Guang, and the others hurriedly follow the monk through the hole on the roof. They saw the white shadow flashing at the back of the mountain, the monk was already more than a dozen of zhang away. This person’s qing gong [lightness skill] was amazing, it was indeed unbelievable.

The Shaolin monks realized they would not be able to catch up, but their Temple’s abbot was being kidnapped, although they could not catch up with him, they still had to run after him. Shouting loudly, the thirty-six monks ran to give chase. In the blink of an eye the white shadow disappeared behind a dip on the mountain path.

Book note: The title of this chapter came from a Buddhist saying, the word ‘jie’ [which I translated as ‘calamity’] is an extremely long period of time. The Buddhists believe that because human live is a sea of bitterness without boundary, which is difficult to break, even by relying on compassion and mercy.

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[1] Lit. earth ‘zang’, Kṣitigarbha, the Bodhisattva of the Great Vow (to save all souls before accepting Bodhi) / also translated Earth Treasury, Earth Womb, or Earth Store Bodhisattva. All three words: Xizang, Dongzang and Dizang have the same ‘zang’ character.

[2] Orig. ‘qin wang bei lei’ (see note 15 of Chapter 13), ‘bei zi’ (son of ‘bei’), ‘gong’ (duke, the highest of five orders of nobility) and ‘hou’ (marquis, second of the five orders of ancient Chinese nobility).

[foxs]

Chapter 25 - The crow flew over old exiled Emperor’s child, the horse stored the red powder of weeping palace beauty[1].
(Translated by Foxs)

LuDingJi-25.jpg

The nun in white was sitting steadily on the chair, the forefinger of her right hand pierced to the east and jabbed to the west, warding off the Empress Dowager’s swift and fierce attacks one by one. The Empress Dowager abruptly advanced and abruptly retreated, she abruptly leaped up and abruptly crouched down with extreme speed; the wind from her palms forced the flame of the four candles to go out.

[1] Palace beauty, orig. Chinese Gong’E (as in Tao Gong’E).

[foxs]

Wei Xiaobao was being carried while they were travelling swiftly; he felt as if they were soaring in the clouds or riding on the fog, the big trees swept pass his sides. He felt that they were climbing the mountain higher and higher, his heart was filled with unspeakable fear, “This bald thief failed to kill me with a stab of his sword, he must be quite upset. Now he wants to use different method, he want to see if by throwing me down from a ten thousand zhang high peak, I, this little bald thief, will die or not.” Sure enough, the monk in white suddenly released his grip and throw Wei Xiaobao down.

Wei Xiaobao screamed, but very soon his back touched the ground; it turned out that he was just being tossed to the ground. The monk in white looked at him coldly and said, “I heard Shaolin Pai has a divine skill to protect the body, so that saber and spear cannot penetrate. I did not expect a little monk like you have also mastered it.”

Wei Xiaobao heard that person’s voice to be clear and bright, carrying thirty percent gentleness and charms; he was rather astonished. When he looked up at the person’s face, he saw a snow-white melon-seed face, with curved eyebrows, and phoenix-like eyes filled with worry. Unexpectedly she was an extremely beautiful woman, roughly thirty years of age. Only her hair was shaved clean, with the incense-stick scar on her head; turned out she was a Buddhist nun. Wei Xiaobao was delighted, “Talking to nuns is always better than talking to monks,” he mused.

Hastily he wanted to sit up, but the pit of his stomach was very painful. Actually, when she stabbed him a moment ago, although the treasured clothes protected his body, so that the sword did not harm his skin and flesh, her internal power was too strong that he felt severe pain. “Aiyo!” he cried out and collapsed again.

The nun coldly said, “I thought there must be something amazing with Shaolin’s divine skill; turns out it is only like this.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Let me be honest to Shitai[1], from those thirty-six Shaolin monks in the Hall of Great Strength of Qingliang Temple, one was the Head of Damo Courtyard, one was the Head of Bo’re Hall … aiyo … aiyo … even the Shaolin Pai’s renowned Eighteen Luohan were there; each one was Shaolin Pai’s first class martial art master. Yet all thirty-six men were not your match, one Shitai, alone … aiyo …”

After a short pause, he continued, “If I had only known, I would not enter Shaolin Temple. Aiyo … I’d rather do obeisance to you and take Shitai as my master; it would be a hundred times more superior.”

There was a hint of smile appearing on the grave and stern face of the white-clothed nun. “What’s your name?” she asked, “How long have you been training Shaolin Temple’s unique skills?”

Wei Xiaobao pondered, “She tried to assassinate the Emperor, saying that she wanted to avenge the Great Ming’s Son of Heaven, obviously she belongs to the ‘overthrowing Qing restoring Ming’ group. I just don’t know if she is a friend or a foe of Tian Di Hui; I’d better not to tell her the truth.” Thereupon he said, “I am an orphan from a Yangzhou poor family, my father was killed by Tatar soldiers, from childhood I was sent to the Imperial Palace to become a little eunuch, and was called Xiao Guizi. Later on …”

The nun in white muttered to herself, “Little eunuch Xiao Guizi? I seem to have heard your name. There was a big treacherous official in the imperial court called Oboi; I heard he was killed by a little eunuch, who killed him?”

Hearing the name ‘Oboi’ plus the words ‘big treacherous official’, Wei Xiaobao hastily said, “It was … it was me.”

The nun in white was half believing, half doubting; she asked, “It was really you? That Oboi’s martial art skill was very high; he had the reputation as the Number One Warrior of Manchuria. How did you kill him?”

Wei Xiaobao slowly sat up and narrated how they captured Oboi, how the young emperor gave the order to attack, how Wei Xiaobao unexpectedly managed to stab Oboi with a knife, how he scattered the incense ashes into Oboi’s eyes, and how afterwards he stabbed Oboi’s back in the prison. By this time Wei Xiaobao had already told this story many times, each time he retold the story, he always added a little bit more oil, salt, soybean sauce, vinegar and other spices.

The nun in white listened quietly until he finished. Finally she sighed and muttered to herself, “If it happened like that, those widows of the Zhuang family must really thank you.”

Wei Xiaobao delightedly said, “Did you, Senior, talk about the Zhuang family’s Third Madame? She has already thanked me, and even gave me a servant girl by the name of Shuang’er. By this time she must have already died, she …”

The nun in white cut him off, “How did you know the people from Zhuang family?”

Wei Xiaobao told her the truth. Finally he said, “If you, Senior, do not believe me, you may ask Shuang’er.”

The nun in white said, “You know the Third Madame and Shuang’er; that’s enough. How did you become a monk?”

Wei Xiaobao thought that the matter of the Old Emperor left his home must be concealed; he said, “The Young Emperor sent me to be his proxy to become a monk at Shaolin Temple, and later on he sent me to Qingliang Temple. Shaolin Pai’s martial art that I learned was really very few. In fact, even if I trained for several decades, and have mastered those Wei Tuo Palm, Bo’re Palm, Picking Flower Qin Na, and so on, it won’t be of any use in front of you, Senior.”

Suddenly the nun in white’s countenance sank; she sternly said, “You are a Han, why acknowledge the bandit as your father, risking your life to protect the Emperor? You were indeed born with a slave mentality!”

Wei Xiaobao’s heart turned cold; this accusation was really not easy to respond. When the nun in white assassinated Kangxi, in a moment of desperation he thrust himself in front of Kangxi to shield him. In all honesty, he did not have any thought of flattering the Emperor; he was only thinking that Kangxi was the only person closest to him in this world, he was like a real brother to him, no matter what, he would never let anybody kill Kangxi.

The nun in white coldly said, “Manchurian Tatars came to take away our Great Ming’s world, that may not be considered bad; what’s really bad is Han people who ‘act as accomplice to the tiger’, those who for the sake of seeking their own glory, splendor, wealth and rank, they would do anything.” While saying that, her eyes shot a piercing gaze on Wei Xiaobao’s face. She said slowly, “I’ll throw you down from this mountain peak. I want to know if your ‘protecting body’ divine skill can still be used or not?”

“Of course it can’t be used,” Wei Xiaobao loudly said, “Actually, you don’t even have to throw me down the mountain, you only need to lightly strike the top of my head with your palm, my skull will immediately shatter into seventeen, eighteen pieces.”

The nun in white said, “Then you were fawning on the Tatar Emperor, what good will it do to you?”

“I was not fawning on him,” Wei Xiaobao loudly replied, “The Young Emperor is my friend. He … he said that he will never raise taxes, that he will cherish the common people. We, Jianghu people, attach most importance to yi qi, we must also cherish the common people.” Actually, toward Kangxi he indeed have yi qi, but ‘cherishing the common people’, even in his dream he had never thought about it. Right now facing the matter of life and death, he had no choice but to lift up high his hat to defend himself.

There was a flash of hesitation on the nun in white’s face; she asked, “He said never to raise taxes and cherish the common people?”

“That’s right, that’s right,” Wei Xiaobao busily said, “I don’t know how many hundred times he said that. He said that when the Tatar Emperor entered the pass, he massacred the common people, which he never should have done. Those ‘Yangzhou’s Ten Days’, ‘Jiading Three Gamblings’, were practically things that are done by beast. In his heart he is restless; therefore … therefore he came to Mount Wutai to burn incense and worship Buddha, he will also issue an imperial decree to exempt Yangzhou and Jiading three years of taxes.” The nun in white nodded.

Wei Xiaobao continued, “That treacherous court official Oboi killed so many loyal and good subjects, the Young Emperor ordered him to stop doing that, he refused flatly. The Young Emperor was enraged, he ordered me to kill him. Good Shitai, if you killed the Young Emperor, the affairs of the imperial court will be taken over by the Empress Dowager. This old wh0re is desperately worse, if she came into power, she would do another ‘Yangzhou’s Ten Days’ or ‘Jiading Three Gamblings’. If you want to kill the Tatars, it would be better if you go and kill that old wh0re the Empress Dowager.”

The nun in white shot a glaring look at him; she said, “In front of me, you must not speak any vulgar rude words.”

“Yes, yes!” Wei Xiaobao said, “In front of you, Senior, in the next seventy, eighty years I will not mention even half a word of vulgar talk.”

The nun in white looked up to the white clouds in the sky, ignoring him completely; after a while, she asked, “What’s not good about the Empress Dowager?”

Wei Xiaobao thought, “The bad things that the Empress Dowager did have nothing to do with this Shitai, I must fabricate some wild accusation and heap it on her head.” He said, “The Empress Dowager said that this is the Great Qing’s world, she wanted to dig the Great Ming’s seventeen, eighteen generations of emperors’ grave, to see if there is any treasures in those graves. She also said that all Han people in the world with the surname of Zhu are no good, they should be executed along with their families unto the third generation, so that they won’t snatch away the Great Qing’s rivers and mountains …”

The nun in white was enraged, with her right palm she slapped a rock, instantly the rock shattered, fragments of rocks flew everywhere. With a stern voice she said, “That woman is so malicious!”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Isn’t she? I advised the Young Emperor that those kind of things must never be done.”

“Humph,” the nun in white snorted and said, “What knowledge do you have? What argument can you give? Why would the Young Emperor listen to your advice?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “My argument was very reasonable. I said, ‘Your Majesty, human being will definitely die. While it is true that the world of the living belongs to you, Manchu people, do you know if Yanluo Wang [King of Hell] of the underworld is Han man or Manchu man? What about Pan Guan [mythological underworld judge], the little demon, the ox head, the horse face, the Black Wuchang [ghost taking away soul after death], White Wuchang? Are they Han people or Manchu people? Each one of them is a Han. In the world of the living you oppress Han people, even if you live to a hundred years, there will come a day you will have to face the calamity.’ The Young Emperor said, ‘Xiao Guizi, how fortunate that you reminded me.’ As a result, the Young Emperor did not want to listen to a word the Empress Dowager was saying. On the contrary, he said that he would grant some money to restore the graves of the Great Ming’s emperors, from Hongwu Yeye [grandfather] all the way to Emperor Chong Zhen. Ah right, there were some Fu Wang, Lu Wang, Tang Wang, Gui Wang [each ‘wang’ means ‘king’], which I am not clear how many emperors in total.”

Suddenly the nun in white’s eyes reddened, and tears started to fall down, drops of tears rolled down from her robe to the grass. After quite a while, she stretched out her sleeve to wipe the tears; she said, “If it is really so, not only you are not disloyal, you have rendered great merit. If my … if the grave of my Great Ming’s previous dynasty’s emperors were dug by this … this evil woman …” Speaking to here, her voice turned into sobs, she was unable to continue. She stood up and walked toward an overhanging cliff.

“Shitai,” Wei Xiaobao called out, “You … must not … must not be shortsighted.” While shouting that, he rushed to pull her left arm. In this short period of time, he had developed a favorable impression toward this beautiful Buddhist nun; he felt that she was simple yet beautiful, lofty and elegant, refined and amiable; from among the women he had met in his life, no one could surpass her. As soon as he pulled, he felt that the sleeve was empty; only now did he realize that she did not have a left arm.

The nun in white turned her head around and said, “You are fooling around! Why would I be shortsighted?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “I saw how grieved you were, I was afraid you were not able to take a lighter view.”

The nun in white said, “If I committed suicide, you would return to the Emperor, henceforth you will be very rich; won’t that be better?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “No, no! I am a little eunuch, I was compelled by circumstances, the Tatars killed my papa, how can I acknowledge bandit as … as my father?”

The nun in white nodded; she said, “You still have conscience.” From her pocket she took more than ten taels and gave it to him, saying, “Use it as your travel expense, go back to Yangzhou, to your native place.”

Wei Xiaobao thought, “When I give money to others, if not two hundred taels, I would give at least a hundred taels, how can I be happy with your little bit of money? This Shitai’s heart is soft, I might as well exploit her goodness.” Without accepting the money, he suddenly fell to his knees and embraced her legs, while crying loudly.

The nun in white knitted her brows and said, “What are you doing? Stand up, stand up.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “I … I don’t want money.”

The nun in white said, “Then why are you crying?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “I have no father no mother, I never have anybody loving me. Shitai, you … you are like my mother. I often think that … that how nice would it be to have a mother who loves me dearly.”

The nun in white blushed, “Pei!” she spat softly and said, “Rubbish! I have left home …”

“Yes, yes!” Wei Xiaobao said. He stood up with tearstains across his face. Crying at will was one of his consummate skills.

The nun in white hesitantly said, “I need to go to Beijing anyway, in that case I’ll take you along. But you are a little monk …”

Wei Xiaobao thought, “Returning to Beijing? Nothing can be better than that.” Thereupon he hastily said, “I am a fake little monk. As soon as we are down the mountain, I’ll change clothes, then I won’t be little monk anymore.”

The nun in white nodded. Still not saying anything, she simply walked down the mountain peak with Wei Xiaobao following behind her. When they came across steep path, which was hard to pass, the nun in white grabbed his collar and lightly and nimbly jumped down. Wei Xiaobao praised her endlessly, saying that although Shaolin Pai’s martial art was well known throughout the world, it was not even close to hers. The nun in white simply turned a deaf ear, until Wei Xiaobao spoke seven, eight times, she said, “Shaolin Pai’s martial art has its own origin, little child is like a frog at the bottom of a well, you must not talk an idle talk. Just your divine skill of protecting your body, so that saber and spear cannot penetrate, I don’t have that kind of skill.”

On an impulse Wei Xiaobao said, “The divine skill of protecting my body is fake.” Untying his outer garment, he revealed his vest and said, “This is the vest that cannot be penetrated by saber and spear.”

The nun in white reached out to pull, while sending her strength to the tip of her finger. This pull was very powerful that even steel wire would be pulled apart, but unexpectedly the vest did not move the slightest bit. She smiled and said, “So that’s how it is. I was feeling strange, even if Shaolin internal energy is indeed marvelous, based on your young age, you would not have trained it to this level of maturity.”

Now that one suspicion in her heart was resolved, she was very happy. She laughed and said, “Child, you are indeed an honest person.”

Wei Xiaobao was secretly amused; in all his life, it was the first time somebody ever praised him to be honest, it was indeed rare. He said, “I am not that honest to anybody else, but I don’t know why, I just want to be honest to Shitai. Most likely because I consider you to be my … my mama …”

The nun in white said, “Later on you must not say those things, it is very unpleasant to hear.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, while in his heart he said, “You stabbed me on my chest, it is still very painful. I called you ‘mama’ several times, now we are even.” When he called someone ‘mama’, he was actually cursing that person as a prostitute. While he was feeling smug, he cast a glance toward the nun in white, and saw her lofty and magnificent aura, which he could not help but to revere; he felt quite regretful that he had called her ‘mama’ several times.

---

[1] Shitai is a term of respect to address Buddhist nuns, the counterpart of Dashi [great master].

[foxs]

He stole a glance toward the nun in white again, and saw her eyes were brimming with tears, as if she was about to cry; he felt quite strange. Naturally he did not know that at the moment the nun in white was thinking, “I should have thought about that vest. Didn’t he … he also have something like that?”

The nun in white and Wei Xiaobao went down the mountain from the north side, heading eastwards. They arrived at a small town, Wei Xiaobao immediately went to buy some clothes, and turned himself into a young master of a rich family. Even when he was dressed up as a lama to protect Shunzhi leaving the Qingliang Temple, naturally the several hundred thousand taels of banknotes had never left his body. Along the way he ordered the restaurant owners and innkeepers to prepare fine vegetarian cuisine. He was very attentive in attending to the nun in white. The nun in white was very particular toward the quality of the vegetarian dishes, as if she was coming from a very rich family; she was completely different from those Shaolin monks. Although she was not intentionally picky, but when the vegetarian dishes were exquisite, she would eat several chopsticks more.

Wei Xiaobao had a lot of money, as long as certain thing was available in the market, whether it was ginseng, swallow’s nest, fu ling, white mushroom, ‘money’ mushroom, no matter how expensive, he would simply buy it. When he was in charge of the imperial kitchen, whenever the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were celebrating Buddha’s birthday or Guanyin’s birthday, they would want to abstain from meat dishes and would request vegetarian dishes; therefore, he was quite an expert in selecting vegetarian dishes. Sometimes the restaurant’s chef did not know how to prepare certain dishes, he would then go to the kitchen to give directions. As a result, the dishes were seventy, eighty percent similar to those of the imperial kitchen.

The nun in white was habitually quiet; often times she did not speak a single word all day. Wei Xiaobao showed her utmost respect, he did not dare to talk nonsense at all. One day they arrived in Beijing. Wei Xiaobao looked for a large inn. As soon as he entered, he gave a ten taels tip. Although the innkeeper thought that for a nun to stay in an inn was somewhat too lofty, but this rich young master was very liberal with money, hence he gave a very attentive reception. The nun in white seemed to regard everything as it should be, she never questioned anything.

After lunch, the nun in white said, “I want to go to the Coal Hill.”

“Coal Hill?” Wei Xiaobao asked, “That is the place where Emperor Chongzhen returned to Heaven. We must kowtow several times there.”

Coal Hill was located next to the Imperial Palace, they were able to reach it in a very short period of time. Arrived at the hill, Wei Xiaobao pointed his finger at a big tree and said, “Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on that tree.”

The nun in white reached out to caress the tree, her arm did not stop trembling, tears streamed down her face, suddenly she cried out and dropped on her knees.

Seeing her deep grief, Wei Xiaobao wondered, “Could it be that she knew Emperor Chongzhen?” His heart was moved, “Is it possible that she is just like Tao Gugu, a palace maid in Imperial Palace of the Great Ming? Perhaps she was Emperor Chongzhen’s imperial concubine. No, her age is not right, she looks younger than the old wh0re, she can’t be Emperor Chongzhen’s imperial concubine.”

He heard her cry was extremely sorrowful that she nearly could not breathe; he could not help but shedding some tears as well. He dropped on his knees and kowtowed to the tree several times.

The nun in white wept in sorrow for a long time. Finally she stood up to embrace the tree trunk. Suddenly her entire body trembled and she lost her consciousness, her body slowly slid down. Wei Xiaobao was shocked; hastily he held her up and called out, “Shitai, Shitai, wake up quickly!”

After quite a while, the nun in white slowly regained her consciousness. After calming herself down, she said, “Let’s go to the Imperial Palace to take a look.”

“Very well,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Let’s go back to the inn first. I’ll fix a eunuch uniform for me, Shitai also needs to change, I’ll take you into the Palace.”

The nun in white angrily said, “How can I wear Tatars’ eunuch uniform?”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “In that case … in that case … I got it, Shitai can be a lama. There are usually a lot of lamas going in and out of the Palace.”

“I don’t want to dress as a lama either,” the nun in white said, “I’ll just rush into the Palace like this, who can stop me?”

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Even those Imperial Bodyguards are not able to stop Shitai. It’s just that … by doing this inevitably you will have to abandon the Buddhist monastic disciple against taking life. Shitai will be preoccupied with killing people, you won’t be able to quietly look at other things.” He was really unwilling to follow the nun in white breaking into the Palace just like that.

The nun in white nodded. “You are right,” she said, “Tonight I will take advantage of the darkness to break into the Palace. You wait for me in the inn, so that you won’t meet any danger.”

“No, no,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I am coming with you. If you enter the Palace alone, I won’t feel at ease. I am very familiar with the Palace like my own home; I know the places, I know the people. Whichever place you want to go, I can take you there.” The nun in white did not answer; she only stared blankly.

By the second watch that night [around 9-11pm], the nun in white and Wei Xiaobao left the inn and went to the Palace’s wall. Wei Xiaobao said, “Let us circle to the northeast corner, the Palace wall on that side is rather low; that is where the sula and odd jobs workers live, no imperial bodyguards ever patrol there.”

Following his direction, the nun in white went to the thirteenth row on the north side; grabbing the back of Wei Xiaobao’s waist, she lightly leaped into the Palace. Wei Xiaobao said in a low voice, “This side is the Le Shou [lit. happy and long life] Hall and Yang Xing [mental/spiritual cultivation] Palace. Shitai, which place do you want to see?”

The nun in white muttered softly, “I want to see everything.”

Going west from Le Shou Hall and Yang Xing Palace, winding around a long corridor, passing the Xuan Qiong Bao Dian [black/mysterious dome throne hall], the Jing Yang Gong [bright yang/positive Palace], Zhong Cui Gong [pure bell palace], they finally arrived at the imperial garden. Although it was dark, the nun in white was still walking very fast; winding and turning around the pathways, she did not have the slightest degree of hesitation. Whenever they came across the Imperial Bodyguards or the night watchmen on patrol, she simply hid behind a building’s corner or behind the bushes.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly amazed, “How can she be this familiar with the Palace situation? She must have lived in the Palace before.” Following her going over the imperial garden, they continued westward, going out of Kun Ning Gate, and arrived outside the Kun Ning[1] Palace.

The nun in white hesitated. “Doesn’t the Empress live here?” she asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “The Emperor is not married yet, there is no Empress. Previously the Empress Dowager lived here, but now she moved to the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful [Ci Ning]. Presently the Kun Ning Palace is unoccupied.”

“Let’s take a look,” the nun in white said. Arriving just outside the Kun Ning Palace, she stretched out her hand to push the window frame. Exerting a little bit of strength, with a soft ‘chi, chi’ noise, the window latch broke easily. She pulled the window open and leaped inside. Wei Xiaobao crawled in to follow.

Kun Ning Palace was the Empress’ personal quarter, Wei Xiaobao had never been there before. The Palace had been unoccupied for a long time, the smell of dust and mold assaulted their nostrils. Under the soft glimmer of the moonlight through the paper on the window, Wei Xiaobao vaguely saw the nun in white was sitting on the edge of the bed, without moving at all. After a while, he heard the dripping noise as her tears flowed onto the front piece of her robe. Wei Xiaobao thought, “Right, she is just like Tao Gugu; she must be a maid in the Palace who was serving the previous dynasty’s empress.”

He saw she was looking up at the beam of the roof. “Empress Zhou had … had killed herself in here,” she said in a low voice.

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied. The doubt in his heart was gone; he asked in a low voice, “Shitai, would you like to see my Gugu?”

The nun in white was surprised. “Your Gugu?” she asked, “Who is she?”

“My Gugu is surnamed Tao,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “Her name is Tao Hongying …”

“Hongying?” the nun in white cried out in shock.

Wei Xiaobao said, “That’s right. Perhaps you know her. My Gugu was a former maid who served Princess Chang of Emperor Chongzhen.”

“Alright, alright,” the nun in white said, “Where is she? Quickly … quickly call her to see me.” All along she had been cool and collected, ever since that day when she tried to assassinate Kangxi at the Qingliang Temple, even though she moved very fast, she had never lost her calm. But this time her voice unexpectedly appeared to be very anxious.

“I can’t call her tonight,” Wei Xiaobao said.

“Why? Why?” the nun in white asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “My Gugu is very loyal to the Great Ming, one time she assassinated the Tatars’ Empress Dowager, unfortunately she did not die, hence she has to hide in the Palace. She will have to see my secret signal first, and then we can meet the next night.”

“Very good,” the nun in white said, “That girl Hongying has guts. What secret signal you have to make?”

“My Gugu and I have arranged it well,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I will have to make a pile of rock in the burning ground, and stick a piece of wood on it. She will know.”

The nun in white said, “Let us go make the secret signal then.” Leaping out the window, she pulled Wei Xiaobao’s hand, went out the Long Fu [grand happiness] Gate, passed Yong Shou [eternal long life] Palace, Ti Yuan [Primary Form] Court, Bao Hua [defending China] Court, and continued northward to the Burning Ground. Wei Xiaobao picked up a piece of wood charcoal and drew a sparrow on a piece of wood. He gathered some rocks and made a pile, and then stuck the piece of wood on the pile of rocks.

“Someone’s coming!” the nun in white suddenly said.

The Burning Ground was the place where the waste from the Palace was burned; it was very unusual that someone would come over here in the middle of the night. Wei Xiaobao pulled the nun in white’s hand and took her hiding behind a large earthen jar. They heard the intermittent sound of footsteps; somebody was hurrying over. The person stood still while scanning the area, and was slightly startled to see the wooden piece Wei Xiaobao stuck onto the pile of rocks. Immediately she came over and picked it up. As soon as the person turned around, the moonlight shone on her face. Recognizing her face, Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted to see that it was indeed Tao Hongying.

“Gugu,” he called out, “I am here,” and walked out from behind the earthen jar.

Tao Hongying rushed forward to meet him; holding her arms around him, she happily said, “Good child, finally you are here. Every night I come here to take a look, hoping that I may see your face earlier.

“Gugu,” Wei Xiaobao said, “There’s someone here who wants to see you.”

Tao Hongying was slightly taken aback; releasing her embrace, she asked, “Who is it?”

The nun in white stood up and said in a low voice, “Hongying, you … do you still recognize me?”

Tao Hongying did not expect there was someone else behind the earthen jar; she was startled and retreated three steps back, her right hand reached to her waist to draw a dagger. “Who … who are you?” she asked.

The nun in white sighed and said, “Turns out you don’t recognize me anymore.”

Tao Hongying said, “I … I can’t see your face; you … you are …”

The nun in white slightly turned her body sideways, so that the moonlight shone on half of her face. She said in low voice, “Your appearance has also changed a lot.”

With a trembling voice Tao Hongying said, “You are … you are …” Suddenly she threw her dagger away and called out, “Princess, is it you? I … I …” Throwing herself forward, she embraced the nun in white’s legs. Prostrating herself on the ground, she sobbed, “Princess, to be able to see you today, I … even if I have to die instantly, I … I will die happy.”

As soon as he heard the word ‘Princess’, to say that Wei Xiaobao was mildly surprised was a gross understatement. But immediately he recalled the story Tao Hongying had told him: she was a palace maid serving the previous dynasty, and all along had been attending Princess Chang. When the Roaming King Li Zicheng broke into Beijing, with a sword in his hand Chongzhen wanted to kill Princess Chang, but chopped her arm instead. In that confusion Tao Hongying passed out. By the time she regained her consciousness, the Emperor and the Princess had disappeared.

Wei Xiaobao cast a glance toward the nun in white, thinking, “She lost an arm, and she is very familiar with the situation of the Palace, plus she wept at the Kun Ning Palace; I should have guessed it early on. She appears this noble, how could she be a palace maid? I realized it only now; I am really stupid.”

He heard the nun in white asked, “Have you always lived in the Palace these days?”

Still sobbing, Tao Hongying replied, “Yes.”

The nun in white said, “This child says that you have assassinated the Tatars’ Empress Dowager; that’s very good. It’s just that … that you put yourself in trouble.” Speaking to this point, she could not stop the tears from streaming down her face.

Tao Hongying said, “Princess has a ‘ten-thousand gold body’, you must not stay in here. Let your servant escort you out of the Palace right away.”

The nun in white sighed and said, “I have not been a princess for a long time.”

“No, no,” Tao Hongying said, “In your servant’s heart, you are a princess forever, you are my Princess Chang.”

The nun in white let out a mournful laugh. Under the moonlight, the tears on her cheek glistened, making the laughter even more dismal. She said slowly, “Does anybody live in Ning Shou [peaceful long life] Palace nowadays? I want to take a look.”

Tao Hongying said, “Ning Shou Palace … nowadays is … is the residence of Tatars’ Princess Jianning. It’s just that these days, Tatars’ Emperor, Empress Dowager and the Princess are not in the Palace; I don’t know where they are. There are only several palace maids and court eunuchs remain in Ning Shou Palace; let your servant kill them all. Princess, please.” Ning Shou Palace was the princess’ personal quarter; it was precisely this Princess Changping of the Great Ming’s former residence.

The nun in white said, “You don’t need to kill anybody. We are only going to take a look.”

“Yes,” Tao Hongying said. She did not know that Princess Changping had mastered exceedingly good, arhat-like martial art; she thought that Wei Xiaobao brought her into the Palace in disguise. Having met her former master by accident, her heart was excited, she would not think twice about rushing onto a mountain of blades or going into a deep fryer for her, let alone only going to the Princess’ old residence.

Immediately the three of them went north, out of the Xi Tie [western iron] Gate, turned east passed the Shun Zhen [loyal] Gate, through Bei Wu Suo [northern five-building], the tea storehouse, arriving outside the Ning Shou Palace.

In a low voice Tao Hongying said, “Let your servant drive off the palace maids and the eunuchs.”

“No need,” the nun in white said. Stretching out her hand, she pushed the gate, the latch broke with only a light noise. The palace gate opened, the nun in white walked in.

Although the dynasty had changed, the Palace’s custom did not change at all. Since Ning Shou Palace was the nun in white’s old home, she knew very well where the palace maids and the court eunuchs were. Without waking up anybody, she sealed their acupoints one by one to make them lose their consciousness, before going to the princess’ bedroom.

---

[1] Kun – one of the Eight Trigram (Ba Gua), symbolizing earth/female principle. Ning – peaceful.

[foxs]

Tao Hongying was pleasantly surprised. “Princess,” she said, “I did not expect your martial art skill to be this superb!”

The nun in white sat on the bed, thinking back of what had happened here more than twenty years ago, where once she drew a portrait of someone, and had shared the same pillow with this someone. And now the world was occupied by the Tatars, her own bedroom was occupied by a Tatar princess, while that someone was far away, in a remote area tens of thousand li away; this life, this age, it would be hard for them to meet each other again.

[Author’s note: for the story of Princess Changping of the Great Ming, please read my unworthy manuscript ‘Sword Stained with Royal Blood’.]

Tao Hongying and Wei Xiaobao waited on her on the side without making any noise. After quite a long time, the nun in white sighed and gravely said, “Light the candle.”

“Yes,” Tao Hongying said, and lit the candle.

They saw the wall, the table and chair, were full of sabers, swords, whips and other weapons, just like a room of a warrior; it did not look like a ‘golden branch, jade leaves’ princess’ bedroom at all.

The nun in white said, “Turns out this princess is also good at martial arts.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “This Tatar princess has a very strange character; not only she loves to beat people, she also likes people beating her. But her martial art skill is sloppy and ordinary, she can’t even beat me.” He cast a glance toward the bed, recalling the day when he hid underneath the Princess’ quilt, and was seized by the Empress Dowager. If not for the Five-Dragon-Command fell down from his pocket, right now he would be a little eunuch in the underworld, serving Yanluo Wang’s princess.

The nun in white said in a soft voice, “My paintings, my books; did she throw everything away?”

“Yes,” Tao Hongying replied, “I am afraid that barbarian woman only knows several characters, what does she know about paintings and books?”

The nun in white raised her left arm, her sleeve waved lightly, the candle light was extinguished immediately. She said, “Come with me out of the Palace.”

“Yes,” Tao Hongying replied. And then she remembered something, “Princess,” she said, “Your skill is this superb, if you catch the Tatar Empress Dowager, you could compel her to hand over those several copies of sutra, then you could break the Tatars’ dragon vein.”

“What sutra? What Tatars’ dragon vein?” the nun in white asked.

Thereupon Tao Hongying briefly narrated the origin of the eight copies of the Forty-two-chapter Sutra. The nun in white silently listened to the end, and then after thinking deeply for half a day she said, “If those eight copies of sutra really hide such a great secret, with which we can break the Tatars’ dragon vein, then nothing can be better than that. When the Tatar Empress Dowager returns to the Palace, we will come again.”

The three of them left Ning Shou Palace, went out the Imperial Palace via the same wall bordering the northern thirteen-row, [Anybody familiar with the Forbidden City please feel free to jump in and help me out with these names] and returned to the inn to rest. Tao Hongying and the nun in white stayed in one room. After being separated for more than twenty years, tonight unexpectedly she could share the same room same bed with her former master, Tao Hongying was delighted beyond measure; how could she fall asleep again for the rest of the night?

Wei Xiaobao, on the other hand, was thinking, “I have five copies of sutra in my hands, one copy is in the Emperor’s hands, while the other two copies are unknown. This Princess Shitai wants to force the old wh0re to hand over the sutra; naturally she won’t be able to give her anything. I’d better in a few words urge Princess Shitai to kill her, and thus get rid of the nail in His Majesty’s and my eyes.”

For the next several days, the nun in white and Tao Hongying stayed in the inn without putting a foot outside. Every day Wei Xiaobao went out and asked around whether the Emperor had returned to the Palace. By the morning of the seventh day, he saw Prince Kang, Songgotu, Dolong, and the others leading a large group of Imperial Bodyguards, marching around several large sedan chairs, entering the Palace. Hence he knew the Emperor had returned. Sure enough, not too long afterwards, he saw parties of royal princes [qin wang bei lei] and ministers of various departments entering the Imperial Palace one after another, to pay their respects and wish the holy sage well.

Wei Xiaobao returned to the inn to report. “Very good,” the nun in white said, “I am going into the Palace tonight. Since the Tatar Emperor has returned, the security must be several times more strict than the last time. The two of you better stay in the inn and wait for me.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Princess Shitai, I am coming with you.”

Tao Hongying also said, “Your servant wishes to follow Princess. Your servant and this child is well-acquainted with the topography of the Palace, we won’t be in any danger.” Since she had been reunited with her former master, she was unwilling to part with her even for a single step, no matter what. The nun in white nodded, consenting to their request.

That night the three of them entered the Palace via the same route, and went straight to Ci Ning Palace [compassionate and peaceful] where the Empress Dowager resided. All around was extremely quiet, the nun in white led them circling around to the back of the palace. Grabbing Wei Xiaobao’s lower back, she leaped over the wall and landed without making any sound. When Tao Hongying leaped, the nun in white supported her waist with her left sleeve so that when she landed, she also did not make any noise.

Wei Xiaobao pointed to the side window of the Empress Dowager’s bedroom, indicating that that was where the Empress Dowager lived, and then he led them into the back garden. It was the dwelling place of Ci Ning Palace’s palace maids. They saw pale yellow light from all three windows of the building. The nun in white peeked inside from a crack on the window and saw a dozen or so palace maids were sitting side-by-side on a bench, each one lowered her head and knitted her eyebrows, unmoving as if they were in meditation. The nun in white quietly lifted up the curtain and entered the Empress Dowager’s bedroom. Wei Xiaobao and Tao Hongying followed her in.

Four red candles were shining on the table, but there was nobody inside. Tao Hongying said in a low voice, “Your servant has opened three suitcases and looked all-around the drawers, but did not even see the sutra’s shadow; that’s when the Tatar Empress Dowager and that fake palace maid walked in … Aiyo, somebody’s coming!”

Wei Xiaobao gave her sleeve a tug and hastily he ducked behind the bed. The nun in white nodded, with Tao Hongying she also hid behind the bed. They heard a female voice outside the room, “Ma, I have completed the task you asked me to do, what are you going to give me as a reward?” It was Princess Jianning’s voice.

And then they heard the Empress Dowager’s voice, “Ma sent you to do a small task, and you are asking for a reward. How unreasonable is that?” While talking, the two of them entered the bedroom.

Princess Jianning said, “Aiyo, so that was a small task? If Huangdi Gege found out, he would know that I took it; he would definitely be raging mad.”

The Empress Dowager sat down and said, “Just a Buddhist scripture, what’s the big deal? We went to Mount Wutai to offer sacrifice, it was for the purpose of asking the Bodhisattva to bless and protect. When we return to the Palace, we must continue chanting the sutras and praying to Buddha, only then will the Bodhisattva be happy.”

The Princess said, “If it’s not a big deal, then I can tell Huangdi Gege that you sent me to get his Forty-two-chapter Sutra, to be used for chanting the sutras and praying to Buddha, to ask the Bodhisattva to bless and protect his country so that it prospers and the people at peace, and Huangdi Gege will live a long, long live.”

Wei Xiaobao was delighted. “Wonderful,” he mused, “Turns out you sent the Princess to steal the sutra.” But then he realized that his luck was not good; if he did not come with the nun in white this time, most likely the sutra will fall into his hands, but now he had no hope.

The Empress Dowager said, “You have agreed. If the Emperor came to ask me, I will deny everything. Little child babbling nonsense, which one he will believe?”

Princess Jianning said, “Aiyo, Ma, you want to renege on your words? The sutra is obviously in here.”

The Empress Dowager sneered and said, “That’s easy. I will simply toss it into the stove and have it burned.”

The Princess laughed and said, “Alright, alright. I always say that I can’t win against you. Stingy mother, if you don’t want to reward me, then so be it; why did you bully your daughter?”

“You already have everything, what reward might you want from me?” Empress Dowager asked.

“I have everything, only one thing’s lacking,” the Princess replied.

“What’s lacking?” Empress Dowager asked.

“I lack a little eunuch to accompany me playing,” the Princess said.

The Empress Dowager laughed. “Little eunuch,” she said, “There are hundreds of them in the Palace; if you are lacking one who can accompany you playing, just send for one; and you are still dissatisfied?”

“No,” the princess said, “Those little eunuchs are extremely stupid, they are not fun at all. I want the little eunuch who’s serving Huangdi Gege, Xiao Guizi …”

Wei Xiaobao’s heart was shaken, “Unexpectedly this dead girl still remembers me,” he mused, “Accompanying her playing is not an easy task. Once I am not careful, laozi will deliver my old life.”

He heard the princess continued, “I asked Huangdi Gege, he said that he had sent Xiao Guizi out of the Capital on a mission. But it’s been so long and he is not back yet. Ma, go talk to the Emperor, tell him to give Xiao Guizi to me.”

Wei Xiaobao cursed her in his heart, “Demon girl, she wants to get me. If laozi fell into your hands, if in a day I don’t have seventeen, eighteen cuts and bruises, laozi will change my surname to yours. Aiyo, what’s the Princess’ surname? Princess has the same surname as the young emperor, what’s the Emperor’s real surname? Laozi is really muddle-headed, I don’t know these things.”

The Empress Dowager said, “The Emperor sent Xiao Guizi on a mission; how did you know? What mission?”

“I actually know this one,” Princess Jianning said, “I heard the Imperial Bodyguards said that Xiao Guizi is on Mount Wutai.”

“Ah!” the Empress Dowager cried out softly, “He … he is on Mount Wutai? How come we did not see him this time?”

The Princess said, “It was only after we were back at the Palace that I heard the Imperial Bodyguards mentioning about it, but I don’t know what mission Huangdi Gege was sending him for. I heard the Imperial Bodyguards were saying that Huangdi Gege has given him another promotion.”

“Hm,” the Empress Dowager was silent for half a day. “Very well,” she said, “As soon as he is back at the Palace, I will talk to the Emperor.” She sounded indifferent, apparently she did not really mean what she said. “It’s late,” she said, “Go back and sleep.”

“Ma,” the Princess said, “I am not coming back, I want to sleep with you.”

“You are not a baby,” the Empress Dowager said, “Why don’t you want to go back to your room?”

“My room is haunted,” the Princess said, “I am scared!”

“Nonsense!” the Empress Dowager said, “What do you mean haunted?”

“Ma, really,” the Princess said, “My palace’s palace maids and eunuchs all said that a few nights ago everybody was bewitched; when they went to sleep, they slept straight to midday of the second day before they finally woke up, and everybody had a nightmare.”

“How can there be such thing?” the Empress Dowager said, “Don’t listen to the servants’ nonsense. When we are not in the Palace, the servants are scared, hence they are terribly suspicious and fearful [orig. ‘suspect the gods and suspect the ghosts’]. Quickly go back.” The Princess did not dare to say anything else; she wished her well and then withdrew.

The Empress Dowager sat by the table with her cheek resting on her palm. She stared blankly at the candle flame, lost in thought. After a long time, she turned her head around and saw two shadows on the wall; the shadows were dancing following the flickering candle light. She thought it was due to her dimmed vision. But when she focused her attention, she still saw two shadows; one was her own, the other shadow was right next to her own. Her shock was not a small matter; thinking that she had killed many people, she could not stop the hair on her body to stand up. Although she knew martial art, unexpectedly she did not dare to turn her head around.

After quite a while, she thought, “Ghosts do not have shadow, if it has shadow, it is not ghost.” But when she held her breath to listen, to her surprise, she did not hear the second person breathing by her side. She was so scared that her hands and feet went weak, she was unable to move a single step. Staring at two shadows on the wall, she almost fainted.

Suddenly she heard a faint breathing behind the head; she was delighted, and instantly turned her head around. She saw a nun wearing white clothes was sitting on the table opposite to her, her pair of beautiful eyes was staring at her, her appearance was delicate and pretty, but her expression was wooden; momentarily she could not tell whether this nun was a person or a ghost.

With a trembling voice the Empress Dowager said, “You … who are you? Why … why are you here?”

The nun in white did not answer. A moment later, she coldly said, “Who are you? Why are you here?”

Hearing her speaking, the Empress Dowager’s fright diminished somewhat. “This is the inner courtyard of the Imperial Palace,” she said, “You … how dare you?”

The nun in white coldly said, “You’re right, this is the inner courtyard of the Imperial Palace. What ‘thing’ are you? How dare you come in here?”

The Empress Dowager angrily said, “I am the Empress Dowager; a witch from what place are you?”

The nun in white reached out and placed her right hand on the Forty-two-chapter Sutra in front of the Empress Dowager, and slowly took it. “Take off your hand!” the Empress Dowager shouted. ‘Whoosh!’ she sent a strike toward her face.

The nun in white flipped her right hand and met her palm head-on. The Empress Dowager staggered, she was forced to leave her chair and stand up. “Good,” she hissed, “Turns out you are a Wulin martial art master.” Since she now know that the opponent was a human and not a ghost, her fear was gone. ‘Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!’ she sent out four palm strikes in succession.

The nun in white was still sitting on the chair; without standing up, she calmly put the sutra in her pocket first before lifting up her palm to neutralize the Empress Dowager’s four attacks one by one. Seeing her taking the sutra, the Empress Dowager was alarmed and angered at the same time. Increasing the strength of her palm, successively she sent out seven, eight more moves rapidly. The nun in white parried the attacks one by one, but all along she did not counterattack. The Empress Dowager reached down along her right leg, a short blade, glittering like frost and snow suddenly appeared in her hand.

Wei Xiaobao was watching with rapt attention; he saw the blade in the Empress Dowager’s hand was the platinum steel alloy Emei Sting with which she killed Hai Dafu the other day. With the weapon in her hand, her courage soared, she repeatedly stabbed the nun in white. A series of whooshing noise was heard, the palm hacked, the sting stabbed, the bedroom was filled with flickering white lights. Wei Xiaobao said in a low voice, “Let me get out to warn her not to harm Shitai.”

Tao Hongying pulled him down and said in a low voice, “No need!”

They saw the nun in white was still sitting steadily on the chair, the forefinger of her right hand pierced to the east and jabbed to the west, warding off the Empress Dowager’s swift and fierce attacks one by one. The Empress Dowager abruptly advanced and abruptly retreated, she abruptly leaped up and abruptly crouched down with extreme speed; the wind from her palms forced the flame of the four candles to lean backward. Suddenly the room darkened, from four candles, two went out. A few more stances later, the other two also went out.

In the darkness, the sound of palms seemed louder, intermingled with the Empress Dowager’s heavy breathing. Suddenly they heard the nun in white’s cold voice, “You are the Empress Dowager, where did you learn martial art from?”

[foxs]

The Empress Dowager did not answer, but still doing her utmost to attack. Suddenly ‘slap, slap, slap, slap’, there were four ringing slapping noise, apparently the Empress Dowager was slapped on her face four times; followed by an ‘Ah!’ as she cried out with a voice brimming with fury mixed with panic. After this sudden burst of noise, the room went completely silent.

In the darkness, suddenly there was a spark, as the nun in white lighted the flint [orig. ‘fire booklet’] in her hand. The Empress Dowager kneeled stiffly in front of her, unmoving. Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted, “The old wh0re must be killed today,” he thought.

They saw the nun in white lightly tossed the flint upward, the flame flew several chi up, her left sleeve waved, the flint was carried by the wind generated by the sleeve, it flew slowly toward the candle, unexpectedly the four candles were lighted one by one, as if an invisible hand was holding the flint. The nun in white waved her sleeve inward, a burst of puling force sucked the flint back to her, which she received with her right hand. After gently blowing off the fire, she put the flint back into her bosom. Wei Xiaobao was dumbstruck in watching this; in his heart he was prostrating himself in admiration.

The Empress Dowager’s acupoints were sealed that she was kneeling on the floor, her face alternated between swollen-colored purple and deathly pale as she said in a low voice, “Just kill me quickly; torturing others like this is not the conduct of a martial art master.”

“That’s strange,” the nun in white said, “Your martial art skill is from the Snake Island. How can a person with such a noble rank deep inside the Palace have any relationship with the Shen Long Jiao [Divine Dragon Cult]?"

Wei Xiaobao was secretly amazed; he thought that this Shitai did not seem to know anything, but next time he lied to her, he must be extra careful.

The Empress Dowager said, “I don’t know anything about Shen Long Jiao. My negligible martial art skill was taught by a eunuch in the Palace.”

“Eunuch?” the nun in white said, “How can a eunuch in the Imperial Palace have any relation with Shen Long Jiao? What’s his name?”

“He is called Hai Dafu,” the Empress Dowager replied, “He has died a long time ago.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed heartily in his heart; he mused, “The old wh0re talks utter rubbish; if she knew that I am hiding in here, she would not dare to broadcast such a gargantuan lie.”

“Hai Dafu?” the nun in white muttered to herself, “I have never heard of such character. Just now you attacked me with seven palm strikes in succession, the power behind your palm was dark and sinister; what kind of palm technique was that?”

The Empress Dowager said, “According to my Shifu, it was Wudang Pai martial art; it is called … it is called the Soft Cloud Palm.”

The nun in white shook her head. “No, it’s not,” she said, “It was the ‘Transforming Bones Soft Palm’. Wudang Pai is a prestigious upright sect, how can they have such a sinister and ruthless skill like that?”

“Shitai is right,” the Empress Dowager said, “It was what Shifu told me. I … I did not know that.” Seeing the nun in white’s profound martial art skill and her extensive knowledge, the reverence in her heart grew; the way she talked was also more polite.

The nun in white asked, “Using this kind of palm technique, how many people have you harmed?”

The Empress Dowager replied, “I … junior has always been deep in the Palace; training martial art is only to strengthen my body, I have never injured a single person.”

“Shameless,” Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, “Blowing your horn loudly does not need any capital.”

He heard she continued, “Shitai, please understand, junior has always had others to protect me, in all my life I have never fought anybody. Fighting against Shitai tonight was the very first time. The martial art that junior learned has never been used the least bit.”

The nun in white smiled and said, “Your martial art skill can be considered not bad at all.”

The Empress Dowager said, “Junior is a frog at the bottom of a well; if I did not see Shitai’s exceptional divine skill, how would I know that the world is so big?”

“Oh,” the nun in white said, “That eunuch Hai Dafu, when did he die? Who killed him?”

The Empress Dowager said, “He … he passed away many years ago, he died of illness because of his age.”

The nun in white said, “Although you yourself have not done any evil, but you, Manchurian Tatars occupy our Great Ming’s rivers and mountains, you have caused the death of our Great Ming’s Son of Heaven. You are the first Tatar Emperor’s wife, the second Tatar Emperor’s mother; I can’t spare you.”

The Empress Dowager was shocked; with a trembling voice she said, “Shi … Shitai, junior did not give birth to the current Emperor. His birth mother was Empress Xiao Kang, who had died a long time ago.”

The nun in white nodded. “So that’s how it is,” she said, “But as Shunzhi’s wife, when he massacred thousands upon thousands Han people, why didn’t you persuade him even for one sentence?”

The Empress Dowager said, “Shitai, please understand, the former Emperor only doted on that foxy charmer Imperial Concubine Dong’e [Donggo]; it was difficult for junior to even see the Emperor. It is truly beyond my ability to persuade him.”

The nun in white silently contemplated for a while; and then she said, “What you said is not without reason. I won’t kill you today …”

The Empress Dowager said, “Thank you very much Shitai, for your kindness in not killing me. From now on junior will surely chant the sutra and pray to Buddha daily. That … that Buddhist scripture, would Shitai return it to me?”

“What do you want that copy of Forty-two-chapter Sutra for?” the nun in white asked.

The Empress Dowager said, “Junior will reverently worship Buddha, from now on, for the rest of my years, I will chant the sutra day and night.”

The nun in white said, “Forty-two-chapter Sutra is a very common scripture, no matter which temple or monastery you go, you will find at least ten or eight copies; why do you insist on having this copy?”

The Empress Dowager said, “Shitai did not know it. This sutra was the one the late Emperor read aloud every day and evening in the past; junior do not forget old affection, I regard this sutra as the late Emperor.”

“That’s not right,” the nun in white said, “When you are chanting the sutra to worship Buddha, your heart and mind must be empty, you must not have the slightest degree of entanglement with predestined love. When you are chanting the sutra while remembering your deceased husband, what good will that bring?”

“Thank you Shitai, for giving directions,” the Empress Dowager said, “It’s just that … it’s just that junior is simple-minded, I cannot break away from old entanglement.”

A mysterious gleam suddenly appeared in the nun in white’s eyes; she asked, “What exactly is the strange thing about this sutra? Tell me truthfully.”

The Empress Dowager said, “Really … really it is junior’s infatuation. Although the Late Emperor did not treat junior well, but all along I cannot forget him. Seeing this sutra every day somewhat eases up the pain of missing him.”

The nun in white sighed and said, “Since you persist in your own wrong doings and unwilling to tell the truth, it is entirely up to you.” Her left sleeve flicked, the tip of the sleeve struck the Empress Dowager’s body, the sealed acupoints immediately opened.

The Empress Dowager said, “Thank you Shitai for showing mercy!” And she kowtowed before standing up.

The nun in white said, “I did not show any mercy. After your ‘Transforming Bones Soft Palm’ hit someone, then what happen?”

The Empress Dowager said, “That eunuch had never told me, he only said that this palm technique is very fierce, not too many people in the world can resist it.”

“Hm,” the nun in white said, “Just now you attacked me with seven palm strikes, I did not resist it at all; I only return the palm power of those seven ‘Transforming Bones Soft Palm’. Where it came from is where it would return. Since the palm power came from you, then it returned to you. This matter is your own doing, you are reaping what you have sown, you must not blame anybody else.”

The Empress Dowager could not stop her soul from flying out of her body. Naturally she knew very well the fierceness of this ‘Transforming Bones Soft Palm’; when one was hit with this palm power, all the bones in one’s body would turn soft, the bones would break into one cun segments [approx. 1 inch], until finally the entire body would be like silk floss, so that one could not even lift one finger. She had struck Imperial Concubine Dong’e, her sister, and Imperial Concubine Dong’e’s son, Prince Rong, with this palm power. She had witnessed with her own eyes the miserable condition of these three people at the point of their death. This nun in white’s martial art skill was this superb, plus the ability to return the enemy’s palm power to the enemy’s body was quite common in the martial art study, so her statement must not be false. This kind of person would indeed be able to return the seven palm strikes of ‘Transforming Bones Soft Palm’ onto her body.

When she attacked just now, for fear that her power was not fierce enough, she had exhausted her entire strength. Just one palm strike would be unendurable, much less seven palm strikes in a row? In that instant she was extremely frightened; dropping on her knees, she called out, “Shitai, please save my life.”

The nun in white sighed and said, “You have brought it upon yourself, you must resolve it yourself, other people are powerless.”

The Empress Dowager kowtowed and said, “I am still hoping for Shitai’s mercy, please give me direction to the bright road.”

The nun in white said, “You conceal everything, you are unwilling to tell the truth. The bright road is right in front of your eyes, yet you are unwilling to take; who are you going to blame? Even if I have mercy in my heart, it is only for my fellow Han people. You are a Tatar Manchu woman, there is a deep enmity between you and me; by not killing you with my own hand, I have already shown you extreme mercy.” Finished speaking, she stood up.

The Empress Dowager knew the opportunity was fleeting; as soon as this person left, the several days before her own death would be unspeakably unbearable. In that split second, the sight of Imperial Concubine Dong’e and her sister’s ten thousand anguish at the death’s door, where they were tossing about on the bed in excruciating pain, appeared in her eyes. She could not help but shivering all over. “Shi … Shitai,” she called out, “I am not a Tatar, I am … I am …”

“You are what?” the nun in white asked.

The Empress Dowager said, “I am … I am … a Han.”

“Up to this point you are still spouting nonsense,” the nun in white said, “How can a Han fill the post of Tatar Empress?”

“I am not talking nonsense,” the Empress Dowager replied, “The current Emperor’s birth mother came from Tong Jiashi, her father Tong Tulai was from Han army banner, he was a Han.”

The nun in white said, “She was a nobility because of giving birth to a son; I heard that she was originally an imperial concubine, not the Empress at all. She had never been an empress, it was after her son became the Emperor that she was granted the posthumous title as the Empress.”

With bowed head the Empress Dowager said, “Yes.” Seeing the nun in white took a step to leave, she anxiously said, “Shitai, I am really a Han; I … I hate the Tatars to the bones.”

“And why is that?” the nun in white asked.

The Empress Dowager said, “This is a very big secret, I … I shouldn’t say it, but … but …”

The nun in white said, “Since you shouldn’t say it, then don’t say it.”

At this very moment the Empress Dowager was like having the fire burned her eyebrows; if she blew this matter, the rest would not matter anymore. Clenching her teeth, she said, “I am a fake Empress Dowager, I … I am not the real Empress Dowager!”

As soon as she said that, no doubt the nun in white was shocked, but Wei Xiaobao who was hiding behind the bed was even more shocked. The nun in white slowly sank back down into the chair and asked, “What do you mean you are a fake?”

The Empress Dowager said, “My father and mother were harmed by the Tatars, I have mortal hatred toward the Tatars. I was forced to enter the Palace to be a palace maid, to serve the Empress. Afterwards … afterwards I impersonated the Empress.”

The more Wei Xiaobao listened, the more he was amazed, he thought, “This old wh0re courage in telling lies is indeed not small, she even dares to speak this kind of ridiculous talk. Blabbering nonsense like that, the old wh0re has not even entered my White Dragon Gate, yet she has completely mastered the Zhangmenshi [emissary to the sect leader, see Chapter 20] Little White Dragon’s consummate skill in blowing his horn. I entered the Palace posing as a little eunuch, could it be that she really entered the Palace posing as the Empress Dowager?”

He heard the Empress Dowager said, “The real Empress Dowager is a Manchu, her surname is Borjigit [bo’er ji ji te], the daughter of Horqin [ke’er qin] Beilei [royal prince]. Junior’s father is surnamed Mao, he was a Han from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, a Great General of the Great Ming, Mao Wenlong. Junior’s name is Mao Dongzhu [lit. eastern pearl].”

The nun in white was startled. “You are Mao Wenlong’s daughter?” she asked, “The Mao Wenlong who guarded the Pi [lit. leather/skin/fur] Island?”

“Exactly,” the Empress Dowager replied, “My father fought the Tatars for many years; later on he was killed by the Great Commander Yuan Chonghuan. Actually … actually it was due to the Tatars’ stratagem of sowing dissension.”

“Oh,” the nun in white said, “This is indeed a fantastic story. How can you impersonate the Empress Dowager for many years without anybody discovering it?”

The Empress Dowager said, “Junior has served the Empress for many years. I managed to learn her speech intonation, her expressions and mannerism rather well. This facial appearance of mine is also fake.” While saying that, she walked to the bedside desk and picked up an embroidered handkerchief, which she then soaked it with the water inside a golden case; and then she wiped her face rigorously. She also peeled off two pieces of human-skin-like substance from her cheeks. Her facial appearance immediately changed completely. Originally her face was round and rather plump, suddenly it turned into melon-seed shape and quite thin, her eye sockets were rather deep.

“Ah!” the nun in white exclaimed; she was very shocked. “Indeed your appearance is greatly different.” After hesitating for a moment, she asked, “But impersonating the Empress was not an easy matter after all. Are you saying that even the palace maids who were very close to the Empress did not recognize you? What about your husband?”

“My husband?” the Empress Dowager said, “The late Emperor only doted on that foxy charmer Imperial Concubine Dong’e, one person. In the last several years, he had never spent even one night in the Empress’ place here. He had never given the real Empress a look, naturally he did not give the fake empress any look at all.” Her voice was filled with bitterness and pain; she also said, “Let’s not mention that I impersonated her really well, even if my look was completely different, how could he know?”

The nun in white nodded slightly; she asked, “So those palace maids and court eunuchs who served the Empress also did not recognize you?”

The Empress Dowager said, “As soon as junior has the Empress under my control, I had her to change all the palace maids and court eunuchs of the Ci Ning Palace with the new ones. I very seldom went out, when I occasionally had to, according the Palace’s regulations, palace maids and court eunuchs would not dare to look at me directly. Even if they stole a look from a distance, how could they tell the fake from the real?”

The nun in white suddenly remembered something. “That’s not right,” she said, “You said the Old Emperor had never paid attention to you, but … but you gave birth to the Princess.”

“That girl is not the Emperor’s,” the Empress Dowager said, “Her father was a Han; sometimes he would sneak into the Palace to see me, dressed as a palace maid. This man … not too long ago he met a misfortune … unfortunately he died of illness.”

Tao Hongying pinched Wei Xiaobao’s palm; they both thought, “There was indeed a man who dressed as a palace maid, but he did not die of illness.”

[foxs]

Wei Xiaobao also thought, “No wonder the Princess is so barbarous in creating trouble, turns out she is a b@stard daughter of that fake palace maid. The Old Emperor is benevolent and gentle, his daughter cannot have that kind of manner.”

The nun in white thought, “You suddenly got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, if the Old Emperor did not have any sexual intercourse with you, how could he not grow suspicious?” It’s just that it was kind of private question, plus she left home to be a nun when she was still virgin, so she could not ask the question. She considered further, “Since this woman has been deliberately and methodically thinking it through to impersonate the Empress, as soon as she found out that she was pregnant, she would find a way to cover it up; I need not examine her in details.” Shaking her head, she said, “All along you have not been telling the truth.”

The Empress Dowager anxiously said, “Senior, even in a shameful matter like that I have told you the truth, what else do I dare to conceal from you?”

The nun in white said, “If that’s the case, then you must have killed the real Empress. Your hands must be reeking with quite a bit of blood.”

The Empress Dowager said, “Junior chants the sutras and worship Buddha; although I harbor deep hatred toward the Tatars, I do not dare to kill people carelessly. The real Empress Dowager is still alive and well.”

This statement was completely beyond the three people’s, in front and behind the bed, anticipation. “She is still alive?” the nun in white asked, “Aren’t you afraid she might reveal your secret?”

The Empress Dowager walked to the front of a big hanging rug. She pulled a woolen cord next to it, the hanging rug slowly rolled up, revealing two-leaved wardrobe door. From her bosom the Empress Dowager fished a golden key, and opened the lock of the wardrobe door. When she opened the wardrobe door, everybody could see a woman was reclining inside, her body was covered in embroidered quilt.

The nun in white softly exclaimed in shock. “She … she is the real Empress Dowager?” she asked.

The Empress Dowager said, “Senior, please look at her appearance,” while fetching a candle-holder and let the candlelight illuminating the woman’s face.

The nun in white saw that the woman’s countenance was extremely wan and sallow, there was not the least bit trace of blood on it, but her facial features were extremely similar to the fake Empress Dowager before she took off her disguise.

The woman slowly opened her eyes, but immediately closed them again. She said in a low voice, “I won’t tell you. You … you kill me quickly.”

The Empress Dowager said, “I have never killed anybody, how can I kill you?” While saying that, she closed the wardrobe door and let down the hanging rug.

“You have her locked up in here for many years?” the nun in white asked.

“Yes,” the Empress Dowager replied.

“What do you press her to tell you?” the nun in white asked, “It is because she firmly refused to tell you that you have kept her alive until today. As soon as she tells you, you will immediately kill her, will you not?”

“No, no,” the Empress Dowager replied, “Junior knew that Buddhist teaching admonishes against taking life. I often fast and eat vegetarian dishes, I can’t possibly harm her life.”

“Humph,” the nun in white snorted, “You think I am a three-year-old child that doesn’t understand your thought? This woman is locked up in here, she poses a danger to you at all times, you did not kill her, there must be an important scheme here. If she shouted from inside the wardrobe, won’t your plot fall through and stand exposed immediately?”

“She won’t dare to shout,” the Empress Dowager said, “I told her that if this secret was leaked, I would kill the Old Emperor first; and then when the Old Emperor died, I told her I would kill the young Emperor. This Tatar woman is really loyal and devoted to those two Emperors, she won’t let them receive any harm.”

“What is it exactly that you wanted her to tell you?” the nun in white asked, “She did not want to speak, why didn’t you use the Emperor’s life to threaten her?”

The Empress Dowager said, “She told me that if I harmed the Emperor, she would immediately go on a hunger strike to kill herself. She does not stop eating only because I promised her I won’t harm the Emperor.”

The nun in white considered this matter carefully: these two real and fake Empress Dowager, one threatens by killing herself by going on a hunger strike, the other threatens by harming the Emperor, both are afraid of the other, they are locked in a stalemate for many years; it is indeed a deadlock. It is reasonable to say that the real Empress Dowager is also a dangerous character, nothing of her should be allowed to remain, after she is killed, her corpse must be burned to ashes, so that she won’t leave even half a trace. Unexpectedly she is still allowed to live in the Palace, it must be because she is still holding on to a big secret, which all along she refuses to tell. It is obvious that this secret must be very important. She asked, “My original question to you, you keep talking about this and that, but never give me a straight answer. What exactly did you force her to tell you?”

“Yes, yes,” the Empress Dowager said, “This big secret concerns the rise and fall of the Tatars. The Tatars’ dragon flourished in Liaodong (Peninsula); they managed to occupy our Great Ming’s world because their ancestors’ feng shui was exceedingly good. Junior found out that on the Changbai Mountain of Liaodong Peninsula, there is a dragon vein of the Aisin Gioro[1] Clan. By digging and breaking this dragon vein, not only we can recover the Han family’s mountains and rivers, everything that the Tatars have inside the pass will be destroyed as well.”

The nun in white nodded; thinking that this story corresponds with what Tao Hongying had told her earlier. She asked, “Where is the location of this Dragon Vein?”

“That is exactly the big secret,” the Empress Dowager replied, “When the late Emperor died, the young Emperor was still little, he did not understand anything, while Imperial Concubine Dong’e, whom he most doted on, had already died before him; therefore, he told this big secret to the Empress, telling her to wait until the young Emperor grew up, and then she is supposed to inform him. At that time junior was the palace maid serving the Empress, I overheard the late Emperor and the Empress’ conversation, but I was unable to hear the whole thing. I only want to ascertain this matter, and then assemble a group of warriors with aspiration, to go to Changbai Mountain to break the dragon vein, and then my Great Ming’s world might recover.”

The nun in white said doubtfully, “The matter of feng shui and dragon vein is vague, with nothing to support it; it is very difficult to believe. Our Great Ming lost the world because the successive dynasties’ administration was bad, they treated the common people harshly, to such an extent that the government official drove the people to revolt. I understood this truth clearly only after I travelled to the four winds these past several years.”

“Yes,” the Empress Dowager said, “Shitai understands this affair thoroughly, although it is beyond junior’s reach. However, in order to recover our Great Ming’s world, I would rather believe the matter of feng shui and dragon vein than not believe it at all. If we can dig the dragon vein, the worst that can happen is that we don’t do the Tatars any damage. However, if this matter is effective for real, won’t we be able to save the thousands upon thousands common people throughout the world from the deep water and scorching fire?”

The nun in white appeared emotionally moved; she nodded and said, “What you said is true. Whether this matter is real or not, we cannot know it now. Even if it is useless, there won’t be any harm done. We only need to make this matter known all over the world, the Tatars ruler and his ministers firmly believe in this dragon vein, their hearts would be discouraged first, and if that time we conspire to recover the nation, everybody will have an additional layer of confidence. So the thing you press the real Empress Dowager is actually this big secret?”

“Precisely,” the Empress Dowager said, “But this s1ut understands that this matter correlate with her offspring’s foundation, she would rather die than disclosing it. No matter how junior tried to swindle her gently or threaten her with force, I have exhausted everything, yet all along she would rather die than talking.”

The nun in white took out the Forty-two-chapter Sutra from her bosom and said, “You must ask her, where are the other copies of this sutra?”

The Empress Dowager jumped in fright; she retreated two steps back, and said in a trembling voice, “You … you knew?”

The nun in white said, “The big secret is hidden in this sutra. How many copies do you have in your hands?”

The Empress Dowager said, “Shitai’s magical power is remarkable, nothing escape your knowledge, junior does not dare to conceal anything. Originally I had three; the first was given by the Late Emperor to Imperial Concubine Dong’e. After she died, junior had it in here. The other two were taken from the home of the treacherous court official Oboi. But one night there was an assassin in the Palace, my chest was stabbed, and those three copies were stolen. Shitai may see it for yourself.” While saying that, she untied her outer garment, undergarment and dudou[2], to reveal an enormous scar on the pit of her stomach.

Wei Xiaobao’s heart was pounding. “If this interrogation continues, I am afraid Shitai’s suspicion will fall on me,” he mused.

He heard the nun in white said, “I know who tried to assassinate you, but this person did not take those three copies of sutra at all.” She thought that if those three copies of sutra were taken by Tao Hongying, she could not possibly conceal it from her.

The Empress Dowager was startled. “The assassin did not steal the sutra?” she asked, “Then who stole those three copies of sutra? This … this is really strange.”

“You want to speak up or not, it’s entirely up to you,” the nun in white said.

The Empress Dowager replied, “Shitai hates the Tatars to the bones, you also have remarkable magical power, if this big secret can be handed over to you, the Senior can take charge of this situation and dig the Tatars’ dragon vein. It is something that I always seek but fail to achieve. How can junior hide it from you? Besides, all eight copies of the sutra must be obtained before the location of the dragon vein can be found. Right now there is one copy already in Shitai’s hand; even if junior have three copies, what good would that bring?”

The nun in white coldly said, “Whatever scheme you have in your heart, I don’t need to take the trouble to guess. Since you are the daughter of Mao Wenlong of Pi Island, you must have a deep relationship with Shen Long Jiao.”

With a trembling voice the Empress Dowager said, “No, I … I don’t. Junior … has never heard of Shen Long Jiao.”

The nun in white stared at her for a moment; and then she said, “I am going to teach you a formula to disperse the power in your body. Every day, morning, noon and night, three times you must strike a tree according to this method. Each time nine by nine, eighty-one strikes; perhaps the sinister palm power of the ‘Transforming Bones Soft Palm’ in your body will be dispersed.”

The Empress Dowager was greatly delighted; she kneeled down and kowtowed again to express her gratitude. Right away the nun in white passed on the theory; she said, “From now on, as soon as you use your internal strength trying to harm someone, the bones in your body will immediately break to pieces, then nobody can save you.”

“Yes,” the Empress Dowager replied in a low voice; she looked dejected.

Wei Xiaobao was bursting with joy; “When I see the old wh0re hereafter, even if I do not have the Five Dragon Command, I don’t need to be afraid of her.”

The nun in white brushed her sleeve to seal her consciousness acupoint; immediately the Empress Dowager’s eyeballs rolled back until only the white was visible, she fell backward and fainted. “Come out,” the nun in white said in a low voice. Wei Xiaobao and Tao Hongying came out from behind the bed.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Shitai, this woman speaks three parts the truth, seven parts lies. You must not believe her.”

The nun in white nodded and said, “The secret hidden in the sutra concerns not only the Tatars’ dragon vein, but money and treasures as well, which she intentionally did not mention.”

“Let me look around,” Wei Xiaobao said. He pretended to look to the east and search to the west, he uncovered the beddings, and saw the copper ring on the wooden board covering the secret compartment. “The sutra’s here!” he said in a low voice.

Pulling the wooden board up, he saw the secret compartment was hiding not a few of jewels and banknotes, but there was no sutra. He sighed and said, “No sutra! What good does these jewels for?”

“Take the jewels,” the nun in white said, “We will need the money for the future uprising.”

Tao Hongying took all the jewels and money and put them inside an embroidered bundle, which she then handed over to the nun in white. Wei Xiaobao thought, “This time the old wh0re is really bankrupt.” He thought further, “How come there was no jewels or banknotes in the secret compartment last time? Ah right, last time I only had my eyes on the sutra and did not see other stuffs. What a pity, what a pity!”

The nun in white said to Tao Hongying, “This woman impersonated the Empress Dowager, most likely she has other scheme. You hide in the Palace and make a thorough investigation. Luckily she has lost her martial art skill, there is nothing to fear.”

Tao Hongying complied. Actually, after meeting her former master only for a short time, and now they had to part, she was really reluctant to leave.

The nun in white took Wei Xiaobao leaping over the wall and returning to the inn. She took the sutra out to examine it. This copy of sutra had a yellow silk envelope, it was precisely the one Emperor Shunzhi ordered Wei Xiaobao to take to Kangxi. The nun in white opened the cover and saw on the first page four large characters ‘never raise taxes’ [yong bu jia fu]. She nodded and said to Wei Xiaobao, “You said that the Tatar Emperor will ‘never raise taxes’, those four characters are indeed written in here.”

She flipped the book page by page. The Forty-two-chapter Sutra was a very short scripture, each chapter only has several lines, but the characters were very big, so that each chapter filled one or sometimes two pages. She knew this scripture like the back of her hand; after reading every word from top to bottom one time through, she did not find anything different from the one she was already familiar with. Holding it near the candlelight, she did not see any writing between the lines. After pondering over it for a long time, she noticed that the inside was only several dozen pages, but the front and back covers were actually a lot thicker than the inside. Suddenly she remembered how Yuan Chengzhi obtained the ‘Golden Serpent Manual’ in the past. Immediately she use fresh water to moisten the outer skin of the cover, and gently peeled it off. She saw the inside was actually two layers of sheepskin, sewed together on all four sides with silk yarn. When she disassembled the silk thread, she saw more than a hundred cut pieces of extremely thin sheepskin.

Wei Xiaobao called out delightedly, “That’s it, that’s it! This is the big secret.”

The nun in white spread the pieces on the table. She saw some of the pieces were big some were small, some were square some were round, some were triangular in shape, some were diamond-shaped. On some of the pieces, a lot of red curvy lines were drawn; on some others, Manchurian characters were written in black ink. However, all the drawings and characters were cut, nothing was complete, the more than a hundred pieces did not match with each other, so that it was hard to put together.

Wei Xiaobao said, “It looks like each copy of the sutra hides pieces of leather, only when all eight copies are obtained will we be able to put together a complete map.”

“I think so,” the nun in white said. She put all the pieces together back into the original two layers of sheepskin envelope, wrapped it securely in embroidered cloth, and put it into her inner pocket.

The next day the nun in white took Wei Xiaobao leaving the Capital heading west. They arrived at the graveyard on Mount Jinping in Changping County. It was where the Emperor Chongzhen was buried. In front of the tomb, wild grass was growing very thick, making the grave looked very desolate. Along the way the nun in white did not utter a single word, but now she was unable to show restraint anymore; she threw herself in front of the grave and cried out loudly.

Wei Xiaobao also kneeled down and kowtowed. Suddenly he felt that the tall grass by side was moving. Turning his head around, he saw green skirt. It was the green skirt that Wei Xiaobao thought about millions of time during the day, the green skirt that he had dreamt about thousands of time during the night. As he suddenly saw the skirt this moment, his heart jumped. He was afraid it was just a dream, hence temporarily he did not dare to look.

He heard a tender and delicate voice calling out something, and then he heard, “Finally you are here; I … I have been waiting in here for three days.” And then she sighed and said, “But you must not grieve too much.”

---

[1] Orig. Aixin Jueluo, Manchu: Golden Clan, the surname of the Qing Emperors.

[2] Dudou is an undergarment covering chest and abdomen.

[foxs]

It was precisely the girl in green’s voice. As soon as this gentle, tender voice entered his ears, Wei Xiaobao immediately felt as if the sky spins, the earth goes round, he felt his entire body was about to burst into pieces just like the pieces of leather inside the Forty-two-chapter sutra; some were big some were small, some were square some were round, some were triangular in shape, some were diamond-shaped.

“Yes, yes,” he said, “You have been waiting for me for three days, thank you very much, thank you very much. I … as soon as I heard your voice, I am not grieving anymore.” While saying that, he stood up, and in a glance saw that it was indeed the lovely countenance of that green-clothed girl, whose gracefulness was beyond compare; only her gentle and soft expression suddenly turned into astonishment, and then turned into anger.

Wei Xiaobao said with a laugh, “I also miss you very much …” Before he could finish, there was a sharp pain on his lower abdomen, his body flew more than a zhang backward and he fell heavily on the ground; because he was kicked by the girl.

He saw the girl raised her willow-leaf saber and hacked it down on his head. Hastily Wei Xiaobao rolled away, ‘whack!’ the saber struck the ground. Before the girl could chop again, the nun in white shouted, “Stop!”

“Wah!” the girl broke in cry, she dropped her saber off and threw herself into the nun in white’s bosom, while crying, “This evil man, he … he always bullies me. Shifu, quickly kill him for me.”

Wei Xiaobao was startled, delighted, but also embarrassed; he mused, “Turns out she is Shitai’s disciple. Those two sentences she spoke a moment ago were not directed to me.” Sullenly he sat down slowly, thinking, “Things have come this far, I can only try my best to be a good person. It would be best if I could swindle Shitai, invoking her great mercy so that she would make the decision to join her with me as my wife.”

Thereupon he stepped forward, bowing deeply toward the girl with cupped fist and said, “Xiaoren has unintentionally offended Miss. I am asking for Miss to show magnanimity by not hold it against me. If Miss wants to hit me, please go ahead and do it; I only hope Miss would spare Xiaoren’s life.”

The girl was hugging the nun in white with both hands; without turning around, she kicked backward, her heel hit Wei Xiaobao’s lower jaw. “Ah!” Wei Xiaobao cried out and was thrown backward. Groaning and moaning, temporarily he was unable to get up.

The nun in white said, “Ah Ke, how can you disregarding propriety and kicking someone you just met two times?” The tone of her voice carried a reprimanding meaning.

As soon as Wei Xiaobao heard her, he was ecstatic. “Turns out your name is Ah Ke [jade-like stone]. Finally I know it,” he thought.

He had accompanied the nun in white for many days that he knew she like people being respectful, serious and modest. In her presence, the more he suffered some losses, the more beneficial it was for him. Hastily he said, “Shitai, Miss’ two kicks are well-deserved; it was I who was in the wrong, no wonder Miss is very angry. Even if she kicks me a thousand times, ten thousand times, it is really Xiaoren that deserves to die.” He crawled up with both hands cradling his lower jaw, the pain made his tears flowed down. This time he was not pretending, the kick was really not light.

Sobbing and sniffling, Ah Ke said, “Shifu, this little monk really deserve to die, he … he bullied me.”

“How did he bully you?” the nun in white asked.

Ah Ke blushed. “He … he has bullied me many … many, many times,” she said.

“Shitai,” Wei Xiaobao said, “In short, it was I who was muddle-headed, plus my martial art is lacking. That day Miss went to play at the Shaolin Temple …”

“You went to Shaolin Temple?” the nun in white asked, “How can a girl go to Shaolin Temple?”

Wei Xiaobao was delighted in his heart, “Turns out she went to Shaolin Temple not instructed by Shitai, that’s even better.” He said, “It was not she who wanted to go, it was her Shijie who wanted to go. Miss could not disobey her, hence she had no choice but to come with her.”

“How do you know?” the nun in white asked.

Wei Xiaobao replied, “At that time I was ordered by the Tatars’ Young Emperor to be his proxy to be a monk in Shaolin Temple. I saw another Miss came to Shaolin Temple, this Miss was following behind her, apparently she did not wish to come.”

The nun in white turned her head and asked, “Was it Ah Qi who take you there?”

“Yes,” Ah Ke replied.

“And then what happened?” the nun in white asked.

Ah Ke said, “Those Shaolin Temple monks were very vicious; they said that their Temple’s rule did not allow women to enter the Temple.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “That is an unacceptable rule; why can’t nu shizhu [female benefactor] enter the Temple? Bodhisattva Guanyin is a woman.”

“And then what happened?” the nun in white asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Miss said, since they were not allowed to enter the Temple, they would better go back. But those four Shaolin Tempe monks in charge of receiving the guests did not have any manners; they babbled nonsense and thus offended the two ladies, while their martial art skill is very disappointing.”

The nun in white asked Ah Ke, “Did you fight with them?”

Wei Xiaobao barged in, “It was entirely the welcoming monks’ fault, I saw it with my own eyes. They stretched out their hands to push the two ladies. Shitai, just think, the two ladies have ‘thousand gold’ bodies, how could they let the four monks’ filthy hands touching them? Naturally the two ladies moved sideways to evade; the four monks were careless, they bumped their own limbs on the mountain pavilion’s pillars, inevitably they were slightly hurt.”

“Humph,” the nun in white snorted, “Shaolin Temple’s martial art is the leader in Wulin world, how could it be that bad? Ah Ke, when you made your move, which stances did you use?”

Ah Ke did not dare to conceal anything; she lowered her head and told her in a low voice. The nun in white asked, “You two knocked down four Shaolin Temple monks?”

Ah Ke cast a glance toward Wei Xiaobao, and hatefully said, “Five, including him.”

“You have quite a nerve, going to Shaolin Temple and beat five Shaolin Temple monks that their hands and feet were dislocated.” With eyes like lightning she looked at her up and down. Ah Ke was so frightened that her face turned even paler.

The nun in white saw the red scar across her neck. “That blade wound, was it the Temple’s martial art master who injured you?”

“No, it was not,” Ah Ke replied, “He … he …” She looked up and shot Wei Xiaobao a glowering look; suddenly her cheeks blushed, while tears streamed down on her face. “He … he humiliated me so much, disciple … disciple slashed my own saber across my neck, but … but I did not die.”

When she first heard about her two disciples went up Shaolin Temple to create trouble, the nun in white was furious, but seeing the scar on her neck was really long, she felt sorry for her; she asked, “How did he humiliate you?”

“Wah!” Ah Ke cried.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Indeed, it was me who was being greatly inappropriate, I spoke without manners, I did not act with propriety. Miss was only grabbing me, scaring me to death, telling me that she was going to dig my eyeballs, but she did not really mean it. Indeed it was me who was a coward and useless; I was scared out of my wits that with both hands I randomly hit and grab backward, and in my carelessness had touched Miss’ body. Although it was unintentional, I wouldn’t wonder that Miss was so angry.”

Ah Ke was so embarrassed that her beautiful face turned completely red, but her eyes was filled with resentment, anger and pain.

The nun in white asked further about the several stances Ah Ke was using when they fighting. After gaining a clear understanding, she said, “It was unintentional, you don’t need to take it seriously.” Gently patting Ah Ke’s shoulder, she said in a tender voice, “He is only a little child, and … and a eunuch too, it’s not a big deal. You have already used the ‘young swallow returning to the nest’ to break his arms; you have punished him enough.”

Ah Ke’s tears did not stop rolling down; in her heart she said, “He is not a little child at all, he went to the brothel to do bad things.” But she did not dare to say it out loud, for fear that Shifu would investigate, and then she would know that Ah Ke had followed her older martial sister to a brothel and beat people there. Her heart was dismayed, she cried even louder.

Wei Xiaobao kneeled down on the ground, kowtowed again and again, while saying, “Miss, you are upset, please kick me several more times to vent your anger.”

Ah Ke stomped her feet and cried, “I simply won’t!”

Wei Xiaobao raised his palm, ‘whack, whack, slap, slap!’ he slapped his own face several times. “I deserve to die, I deserve to die!” he said.

The nun in white knitted her eyebrows and said, “It can’t be considered your fault in this matter. Ah Ke, we can’t bully people too much.”

Sobbing and sniffling, Ah Ke said, “It was he who bullied me, he kidnapped me and locked me up in the Temple and did not let me go.”

The nun in white was startled. “Is that so?” she asked.

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I know I was wrong. Because I wanted to win Miss’ favor, I invited her to the Temple. I thought that since Miss has always wanted to tour the Shaolin Temple but the monks did not allow her to enter the Temple, no wonder Miss was angry. And thus … and thus gathering my courage, I invited Miss to go and play at the Bo’re Hall; I also asked an old monk to accompany Miss to chat and relieve her boredom.”

“Fooling around, fooling around,” the nun in white said, “Both children are fooling around. Which old monk?”

“It was the Head of Bo’re Hall, Cheng Guan Dashi,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “He was the one exchanging palm strikes with Shitai in Qingliang Temple.”

The nun in white nodded. “That Dashi’s martial art skill is superb,” she said. She patted Ah Ke’s shoulder again and said, “Alright, that’s enough. Not only this Dashi’s martial art skill is high, he is also an old man. Xiaobao asked him to accompany you, he cannot be considered ill-treating you. Let’s not talk about this matter further.”

Ah Ke said in her heart, “This little evildoer is really bad; only, there are many things that are not convenient to say, otherwise, if Shifu investigated, Shijie and I would ended up being blamed for many things.” She said, “Shifu, you don’t know, he … he …”

The nun in white no longer paid any attention to her; she was looking at Chongzhen’s grave as if she was entranced. Wei Xiaobao stuck out his tongue at Ah Ke and made a face. Ah Ke was furious, she shot him a vicious look. Wei Xiaobao felt that although she was extremely angry, she was still unspeakably beautiful; his heart was very happy. He sat on the side, unable to take his eyes off her, admiring her features. He saw that from her head to her toe, her hair, her eyebrows, even the tip of her little finger, everything on her was extremely beautiful.

Ah Ke cast him a sidelong glance, and saw that he was staring blankly at her, she blushed, pulled the nun in white’s sleeve and said, “Shifu, he … he is looking at me.”

“Mmm,” the nun in white simply grunted. She was recalling the scene from the past, when she was at the Palace. Ah Ke’s words did not enter her ears at all.

Sitting until the sun was leaning to the west, the nun in white was still unwilling to leave her father’s grave. Wei Xiaobao wished that she would sit like this for ten days or half a month, as long as he could look at Ah Ke, even if he did not eat, he would not mind. Ah Ke, on the other hand, was feeling quite uncomfortable being the object of his stare. Although she did not turn her head to look at him, she knew his eyes were fixed on her. She was feeling bashful, fretful, and also furious; she thought, “This little evil person is full of graceful words, flowery speech; I don’t know what lie he told Shifu so that she always protected him. As soon as Shifu is not around, I must kill him. Even if Shifu will punish me harshly for this, I simply can’t let him humiliate me like this.”

More than two hours later, the sky was gradually turning dark. The nun in white heaved a long sigh, stood up, and said, “Let’s go.”

That night the three of them lodged in a peasant family home. Wei Xiaobao knew that the nun in white love cleanliness, so before dinner he rubbed and washed the two women’s bowls and chopsticks in hot water, he also wiped the stools, the dinner table where those two women would be sitting, until there was not a speck of dust on it. He also wiped the bed and swept the floor, making sure that wherever the two women sit or sleep on would be immaculate. He had always been lazy; hence in all his life he had never strained himself working as hard as that.

The nun in white nodded in secret; she thought, “This child is hardworking. Having him during our travel will be much more convenient.” Before she turned fifteen, she had always lived deep in the Palace; since childhood she was accustomed to have palace maids and court eunuchs taking care of her. After having the misfortune of her country changed its master, she wandered destitute in Jianghu; the daily food and drink was completely different.

Wei Xiaobao was accustomed to be a eunuch, plus he did not spare any effort to get what his heart desired, he went as far as making her enjoying the happiness of the former days when she was still a princess in the Palace. The nun in white had left home and devoted herself to religious practice, she did not care about the luxury of the past, yet how one spends one’s childhood will be imprinted in one’s heart and mind, and will forever stay and can never be erased. She was not looking to be a princess, but Wei Xiaobao was treating her like a princess; she was touched and was delighted.

After dinner, the nun in white asked Ah Qi’s whereabouts. Ah Ke said, “I have not seen Shijie since that day when we were separated outside the Shaolin Temple; perhaps … perhaps she was killed by him.” While saying that she cast a sidelong glance toward Wei Xiaobao.

“How can there be such thing?” Wei Xiaobao busily replied, “I saw Miss Ah Qi was with Mongolian Prince Galdan, and several lamas, and an army commander under Wu Sangui’s command.”

As soon as the nun in white heard Wu Sangui’s name, her expression looked very angry. “Why did Ah Qi hang around with people we have no relation with?” she angrily asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “When those people arrived at the Shaolin Temple, probably they came across Miss Ah Qi by accident. Shitai, if you want to find her, let me come with you, I am sure she will be very easy to find.”

“Why is that?” the nun in white asked.

Wei Xiaobao replied, “I still remember the appearance of those Mongolians, Lamas, and military officers from Yunnan. We only need to find one, the rest will be easy to deal with.”

“Very well,” the nun in white said, “In that case you’ll come with me, we’ll look for her together.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted. “Thank you very much Shitai,” he said.

The nun in white was puzzled, “You are helping me to do this matter, I should be thanking you, why did you thank me instead?” she asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Nothing delights me more than to be with Shitai every day; it would be best if I could be by Shitai’s side forever. If I cannot, then being with Shitai one more day means happiness for one more day.”

“Is that right?” the nun in white asked. Although she had received Ah Qi and Ah Ke, two girls to be her disciples, usually she treated her disciples coldly. The two girls revered her very much, they had never dared to tell her what’s in their hearts; how could they act like Wei Xiaobao with his graceful words and flowery speech, sweet mouth and honeyed tongue? Although her personality was strict and cold, those words were really pleasing to her ears; she could not stop a smile from appearing on the corners of her mouth.

Ah Ke said, “Shifu, he … he does not …” She was fully aware that Wei Xiaobao’s enthusiasm to help them find her Shijie was just a ruse to be with her. Those ‘Nothing delights me more than to be with Shitai every day; it would be best if I could be by Shitai’s side forever’ and so on was actually the real desire of his innermost being, only the word ‘Shitai’ should be changed to ‘Ah Ke’.

The nun in white stared at her, “Why not?” she asked, “How do you know the content of other people’s heart? I have often told you before, in Jianghu, the people’s hearts are sinister and deceitful, their words cannot be trusted. But this child has followed me for many days, there was no pretense in him, I know he can be trusted. He is only a little child, how can you lump him together with those Jianghu men?”

Ah Ke did not dare to say anything anymore, she bowed her head and mumbled, “Yes.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted; he said in his heart, “Ah Ke, my good wife, naturally your husband stands out from the masses, how can you lump him together with those Jianghu men? Just listen to your Shifu, I guarantee you won’t suffer any losses. The worst that can happen to you is that you will be given in marriage to me. Do you think I will be willing to part with you and don’t want you anymore? Just set your hundred and twenty heart at ease.”

Book note: the Emperor’s child is a reference to the Emperor’s daughter, it usually refers to the Princess. In the ‘Nine Songs, Madame Xiang’ of the Songs of Chu [ancient book of poems, c. 500 BC]: ‘The Emperor’s child fell north of the islet’. The Emperor’s child here was the Emperor Yao’s daughter. In the poem ‘Escorting the Golden City Princess to the Western Foreign Land’, Ma Huaisu wrote: ‘Where is the Emperor’s child now? She is engaged to be married in a strange land.’

[foxs]

Chapter 26 - Grass and trees join Man and Heaven’s white bones, fortresses and mountains along the Pass fill the eyes with the red of the setting sun.
(Translated by Foxs)

LuDingJi-26.jpg

Wei Xiaobao took off his cap and said, "The more I train, the shorter will my hair be. By the time I train until not a single hair on my head remains, my chest won't be afraid of your saber chop as well." The lama saw his head, and believed several points.

[foxs]

The next day the three of them continued their journey southwards, while asking people along the way of Ah Qi’s whereabouts. During the trip Wei Xiaobao was very attentive in attending the two women’s needs. Although in his heart he was dying to seduce Ah Ke, yet he did not dare to show the least bit of frivolity. He thought that if the nun in white found out about his real intention, he would be in a really deep trouble. Ah Ke had never had a single nice word to say to him, often times she took advantage of when the nun in white was not looking to punch or kick him to vent her anger. To Wei Xiaobao, as long he could be with her, the joy in his heart would be unspeakable, occasionally he simply endured everything; when the punch came, he received it with his body, when the kick arrived, he received it with his buttocks. When he lay down in his bed at night, he would quietly reflect on her kick and her punch, and the delight in his heart was inexhaustible.

One day they arrived in Cangzhou [prefecture level city, Hebei]. The three of them lodged in a small family inn. Early in the morning the next day, Wei Xiaobao went out to the street to buy fresh vegetables, which he wanted to give to the innkeeper to be cooked for the nun in white’s breakfast. Excitedly he hurried back from the street carrying two catties of Chinese cabbage [bok choi], half a catty of ‘rotten skin’ [tofu skin, courtesy of CFT], two catties of kuomo [Saint George’s mushroom/Tricholoma mongplicum], and saw Ah Ke was standing at the inn’s door gazing idly outside. Immediately he came over to her with a smile, he took out a package of rose pine-nut candy from his pocket and said, “I bought a package of candy for you at the street. I did not expect a small town like this would have such a good candy.”

Ah Ke did not accept it, she shot him a malicious look and said, “The candy you buy is stinky, I don’t want to eat.”

“Just take one and try it,” Wei Xiaobao said, “The taste is really not bad.” He had noticed early on that Ah Ke loved to nibble snacks, it’s just that the nun in white did not have extra money to give to her as incidental expenses; occasionally she purchased a small packet of sugared beans, which she ate with delight; therefore, he bought a packet of candy to make her happy.

Ah Ke received it and said, “Shifu is meditating in her room, I feel so stifled. I wonder if there is any good scenery around here, a secluded place where no one is around. I want you to come with me.”

Wei Xiaobao could not believe his own ears; immediately the blood in his entire body was boiling, his face was flushed, “You … you are not going to wrong me?” he asked.

“What do I wrong you for?” Ah Ke replied, “If you don’t want to come with me, I’ll just go alone.” Finished speaking, she walked toward a small lane to the east.

“I am coming, I am coming,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Why would I not willing to come? Even if Miss wants me to go through water and tread on fire, I won’t knit my eyebrows.” And hastily he ran after her.

The two of them went out of the small town, Ah Ke pointed to a small hill several li to the east and said, “Playing over yonder won’t be too bad.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said. The two of them followed the mountain path to go to the top of the hill. The hill was densely packed with pine trees, indeed it was secluded and no one else was to be seen, but the scenery was nothing to look at. Yet at this moment, in Wei Xiaobao’s eyes even the ugliest scenery between the heaven and the earth would be extraordinarily amazing; much less that he did not have any taste in differentiating any good or bad scenery anyway. Immediately he raved, “The scenery is incomparably beautiful.”

Ah Ke said, “What’s so good about it? There are only rocks and trees crowded together. It’s so ugly.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “The scenery is not so good.”

“Why did you say that scenery here is incomparably beautiful?” Ah Ke asked.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “The scenery is originally not so good, but your beauty shines on it, it becomes incomparably beautiful. This hill does not have any flower, but your appearance in more beautiful than ten thousand fresh flowers. This hill does not have any bird singing, but your voice is a lot more pleasant to the ears than a thousand black-nape orioles singing together.”

“Humph,” Ah Ke snorted, “I want you to come here not to listen to you babbling nonsense, but to tell you to get away from me immediately, the farther the better. From now on, I don’t want you to see my face ever again. If you do, I will definitely dig your eyeballs out.”

Wei Xiaobao’s heart immediately sank, with a dejected expression he said, “Miss, I will never dare to offend you anymore, please forgive me.”

“I have already forgiven you,” Ah Ke said, “By not taking your life today, I am forgiving you.” While saying that, ‘shua!’ she pulled the willow-leaf saber from her waist, and continued, “When you are with me, your heart always harbor bad thoughts toward me, do you think I did not know it? You humiliate me like this, I … I’d rather have Shifu punish me by flogging me a thousand times, ten thousand times, but I simply must kill you.”

Seeing the flickering saber and her staunch personality, Wei Xiaobao knew she was not uttering empty words. “Shitai asked me to help her find Miss Ah Qi,” he said, “After she is found, I will not follow you anymore.”

Ah Ke shook her head and said, “No you won’t! We’ll find her without your help. Even if we can’t find her, my Shijie is not a three-year-old girl, do you think she cannot go home by herself?” Raising her saber high, she brandished it in the air, creating ‘whoosh, whoosh’ sound, and sternly said, “If you don’t leave, don’t blame me for being heartless!”

Wei Xiaobao said with a laugh, “You have always treated me heartlessly anyway, it’s not a big deal.”

Ah Ke was furious; she shouted, “Up to this moment you still dare to speak nonsense to me?” Jumping forward, she raised the saber to chop on the top of Wei Xiaobao’s head.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly shocked; hastily he leaped to evade. Ah Ke shouted, “Are you leaving or not?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Even if you cut me into ten thousand pieces, and turn me into a ghost, I will still follow you.”

Ah Ke was raging mad; she raised her saber and attacked ‘Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!’ three times. Luckily she had already used these moves at the Bo’re Hall of Shaolin Temple, Monk Cheng Guan had figured out the technique to neutralize them. Wei Xiaobao had received the instruction, and therefore, he was able to evade one by one.

Failing to chop Wei Xiaobao, Ah Ke was growing angrier and angrier, she brandished her willow-leaf saber more and more viciously. Several moves later, Wei Xiaobao found it to be more and more difficult to evade; he had no choice but to draw his dagger. ‘Dang!’ her willow-leaf saber was cut into two pieces. Ah Ke was angry and shocked at the same time; she brandished the lower half of her saber furiously, trying to hack down his head.

Seeing her saber suddenly turned short, Wei Xiaobao did not dare to use his dagger to defend himself; his martial art skill was mediocre, if he did not restrain himself and carelessly waving his dagger around, the sharp blade only had to scrape her body a little bit, her life would be gone just like that. Consequently, after evading several times, he did not have any choice but to run away down the hill.

Ah Ke chased him off, brandishing her broken saber and calling out, “Just go away as far as possible from me, I won’t kill you.” However, seeing that he was running toward the small town, she was greatly anxious, “If this little evil-doer is complaining to Shifu, I will be in trouble,” she thought. Therefore, hastily she urged herself to run after him, trying to intercept him. But the nun in white only taught her some martial art stances and styles; she had never passed on the internal energy cultivation technique. Therefore, her internal energy was not too different [orig. ‘half a catty eight taels’ or ‘half a pound eight ounces’] from Wei Xiaobao’s; from beginning to the end she was unable to catch up with him, and saw that he was rushing into the inn. She was so anxious that she almost broke into crying; thinking, “If Shifu blames me, I will tell her everything he said to me, how he harassed me and took liberties with me.” With a raised broken saber, she slowly entered the inn.

As soon as she set foot into the inn, she felt a burst of amazingly strong force like a gust of gale coming out from the door against her, instantly pulling her off her feet and throwing her three steps back, and she fell sitting down on the ground.

Ah Ke felt that she was landing on a soft object, actually she sat on someone’s body. Hurriedly she wanted to stand up, but when she reached back to prop herself, her right hand landed on the person’s face. In that difficult situation she did not have time to consider her option; she continued pressing down to push herself up. Only after standing up did she turn around to look, and realized that the person was none other than Wei Xiaobao.

She was shocked, and harshly shouted, “What are you d …” Before she could finish, however, her knees went weak, she was unable to stand and fell down toward Wei Xiaobao. This time, however, she fell face down. “No, No …” she cried out in fear, but it was too late; she landed on Wei Xiaobao’s bosom. Her eyes met with his, the distance between them was no more than a few cun.

Ah Ke panicked; she was afraid this little vile creature would take the opportunity to kiss her; she struggled as hard as she could to stand up quickly, but somehow her entire body was devoid of any strength. She had no choice but look away from him and anxiously said, “Quickly help me up.”

“I don’t have any strength either,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “What shall we do?” With this ‘thousand-time cute a hundred-time charming’ beautiful woman leaning against him, his heart was so delighted that he felt he was going to go crazy. He said in his heart, “Forget that I do not have any strength, if right now I have ten-thousand-catty strength within me, I won’t help you up for sure. You were the one who throw yourself on me, how can you blame me?”

Ah Ke anxiously said, “Shifu is being besieged by the enemy, quickly think of something to help her.” Turns out when she entered the door just now, she saw the nun in white was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her right hand was sending out palm strikes, her left sleeve was flicking away in her effort to resist the enemy. As for who the enemy was, she did not see it clearly; she only knew that the enemy was more than one person. She was about to look when the strong gust of wind from the internal energy battle inside the room threw her out.

Wei Xiaobao actually arrived several steps before she did, but he was met with the same fate as she did; he was just about to step across the threshold when the strong wind threw him backward and he fell to the ground. Ah Ke was also rushing in and happened to fall onto his body. Although Wei Xiaobao fell down quite hard that his buttocks were very painful, plus when Ah Ke fell from the air, she was crushing his chest and abdomen and hurt him very much, but in his heart he was exceedingly happy, he was wishing that this beautiful woman would lie down on his bosom forever, and would not stand up again. As for the nun in white was fighting with what kind of enemy, he did not give it the least bit of care; he expected her skill was so divine that even more formidable enemy would not be able to do anything to her.

Ah Ke used her right hand to prop herself against Wei Xiaobao’s chest; slowly she straightened her back, took a deep breath, and finally she was able to stand up. “Why are you lying in here?” she said in an annoyed voice, “You wanted to trip me?” She was fully aware that Wei Xiaobao met the same fate as she did, he had no control over himself, but she was simply too embarrassed just now, hence she could not help but lashing it out on him.

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I knew you were going to fall on the ground, so I should have crawled three chi away. No, three chi is not enough; if I only crawled three chi away, then I would lie side by side with you, it won’t look too good.”

Ah Ke spat, but she was more concerned over her Shifu, so she turned her gaze toward the room. She saw the nun in white was still sitting on the floor, striking with her palm and flicking her sleeve to repulse the enemy. In a glance she could see that altogether there were five enemies besieging her, they all wore red lama clothes, each one moved extremely fast, sending palm strikes and punches, but the nun in white’s palm power held them off, forcing them away so that their backs were pressed tightly against the wooden partition and were unable to get close to her.

Ah Ke took a step closer, she wanted to see if there was anybody else other than these five people, but as she took a step forward, she felt strong gust of wind pressing her body that she was unable to breathe easily. She had no choice but to withdraw two steps back, kicked Wei Xiaobao and said, “Hey, aren’t you going to stand up? Look at the enemy; do you know their background?”

Wei Xiaobao reached back to support himself against the wall. He stood up and looked into the room, he said, “Those six lamas are all bad people.” He was standing to Ah Ke’s side, hence he was able to see one more Lama.

“Rubbish!” Ah Ke said, “Naturally they are bad people; do I need you to tell me that?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “They are not necessarily bad people. Take me for example: I am clearly a good person, yet you keep saying that I am a bad person. These six lamas have the audacity to attack Shitai, they are a lot worse than I am.”

Ah Ke glanced sideways at him. “Humph,” she snorted, “I’ll say you are one of them; you brought these six lamas to harm Shifu.”

Wei Xiaobao replied, “I have a deep respect toward Shitai, I revere her just like I revere the Bodhisattva; I have deep respect toward Miss, just like I respect the deities, why would I want to harm you?”

Ah Ke looked inside with rapt attention; suddenly she cried out in alarm. Wei Xiaobao looked into the room, he saw all six lamas now had jiedao [Buddhist knife] in their hands, ready to pounce and make a kill, but the power of nun in white’s sleeve and the wind from her palm held them at bay so that they were unable to get closer. However, the top of the nun in white’s head emitted a thin streak of white steam; apparently she was using all her strength.

With only one arm she had to fight a life and death fight against six fully armed lamas; if this battle continued, perhaps it would be difficult for her to withstand the enemy. Wei Xiaobao wanted to go forward and help her, but he realized his own martial art skill was almost non-existent; he could not even step over the door, if he crawled in, inevitably he would distract the nun in white, and then instead of helping her, he would bring her harm. In his angst, he suddenly saw a broom leaning against the corner of the wall; immediately he picked it up and positioned himself by the door. Stretching out the broom, he poked it randomly at a lama’s face, hoping that he would distract his attention, so that his internal energy might not be pure anymore, then the nun in white’s palm power might be able to shake him dead.

The broom was barely stretched out, he heard a shout, the broom handle in his hand suddenly felt lighter because the head of the broom was truncated by the lama, followed by the strong wind as the head of the broom flew out of the room, brushing the side of his face, creating several thin lines of blood that felt hot and painful.

Ah Ke anxiously said, “You are just making trouble, that … that won’t work.”

Wei Xiaobao was leaning against the wooden partition, he felt continuous vibration, as if all around the inn, the wooden partitions were about to be knocked down by the wind of the sabers and the power of the palm. Suddenly he had an idea; after looking clearly the six lamas’ position, he walked toward the back of the lama who cut off his broom, pulled out his dagger, and thrust it through the wooden partition.

The dagger was incomparably sharp, the wooden partition was less than a cun thick, as the dagger went in, it penetrated the wood as if it was a piece of tofu [bean curd], and straight into the lama’s back. The lama cried out loudly, his body went limp, he slid slowly along the wooden partition, until finally he sat on the floor.

Hearing the cry, Wei Xiaobao knew he had succeeded. Walking toward the second lama’s back, he thrust his dagger again. In a flash he had killed four lamas in succession. The blade of the dagger was short, as it was thrust on the lamas’ bodies, it did not go through to the front of the torso. As each lama fell sitting down, nobody in that room knew how they actually died.

The other two lamas were greatly shocked, they scrambled toward the door, trying to escape. The nun in white leaped with her palm extended, striking the back of a lama, sending a jolt through his body that he spurted a mouthful of blood and died instantly. With a brush of her left sleeve the nun in white blocked the other lama, and then as swift as the wind the finger of her right hand sealed five acupoints on the lama’s body. The lama fell and lay paralyzed on the floor, unable to move a single step.

The nun in white kicked the bodies of the four lamas, and saw the blade wound on their backs, she also noticed the holes on the wooden partition, and immediately understood what had happened. She turned toward the immobilized lama and shouted, “You … who are you …?” Suddenly her body swayed and she fell sitting down, spurting blood from her mouth.

Those six lamas were martial art masters; by fighting one against six, she had exhausted her internal energy. By brushing her sleeve to block and striking the last lama down, she had used up the last ounce of her strength that she was unable to stand anymore.

[foxs]

Ah Ke and Wei Xiaobao were greatly alarmed; they rushed forward to support her. “Shifu, Shifu!” Ah Ke repeatedly called out.

The nun in white’s breathing was very weak, she closed her eyes and did not say anything. When Wei Xiaobao and Ah Ke, two people lifted her up onto the kang [heatable brick bed], she vomited another mouthful of blood. In her panic, Ah Ke’s limbs turned weak; she could only burst into tears.

As soon as they saw the fight, the innkeeper, the waiters, and the others went into hiding far away. Now that the sound of fighting had ceased, they came back and stuck their heads out and looked around. Seeing blood all over the floor and dead bodies scattered around, they all cried out in fear. Wei Xiaobao picked two jiedao with both hands and shouted, “What are you crying for? Quickly shut your beaks, otherwise I’ll give you each one chop and kill you all.”

Seeing the flickering jiedao, they were frightened and repeatedly said ‘yes, yes’. Wei Xiaobao took out three ingots of silver, worth five taels each, and gave them to a shop attendant and shouted, “Quickly hire two large carriages; the other five taels is for you.” The shop attendant was startled but happy; he dashed out and was back almost immediately with two hired carriages.

Wei Xiaobao took out forty more taels and handed it over to the innkeeper; he said in a loud voice, “These six wicked lamas fought with each other; you kill me, I kill you. All of you have seen it with your own eyes, haven’t you?” How could the innkeeper dare to say ‘no’? He could only nodded. Wei Xiaobao said, “This forty taels is for the room and board.”

Together with Ah Ke, they lifted the nun in white onto a large carriage. He also took the quilt from the kang to cover her. Furthermore, he ordered the shop attendants to lift the lama whose acupoints were sealed onto the other carriage. Wei Xiaobao said to Ah Ke, “You go with Shifu, I’ll go with him.”

They boarded the carriages. Wei Xiaobao ordered the driver to follow the main road going south. He thought, “Shitai is seriously injured, if those lamas attack again, it will be terrible. We must find a remote place for Shitai to recover from her injury.” For fear that the lama’s acupoints would be opened, while he was not his match, he fetch a roll of rope and tightly bound his hands and feet.

After traveling for about the li, Ah Ke suddenly shouted, “Stop!” She leaped down from her carriage and rushed toward Wei Xiaobao’s; with an extremely frightened expression she said, “Shifu’s breathing is getting weaker and weaker; I am afraid … I am afraid …”

Wei Xiaobao was startled; hastily he stepped down the carriage to take a look. The nun in white’s breathing was very weak and shallow. Ah Ke cried and said, “If only we had miracle drug. We’d better find a doctor quickly; it’s just that this place …”

Wei Xiaobao suddenly remembered that the Empress Dowager had given him thirty pills called ‘snow ginseng jade toad pill’ or something like that, which was part of the tribute from the King of Korea; she said that the pills would make one’s body strong and healthy, it would neutralize poison and heal injuries, its efficacy was out of the ordinary. Of those thirty pills, he was supposed to give twenty two to Cult Leader and Madame Hong. Immediately he took out the jade bottle from his pocket and said, “Actually, I have miracle drug to heal injuries here with me.”

Taking out two pills, he fed the pills into the nun in white’s mouth. Ah Ke took the water gourd and helped Shifu drink two mouthful. Wei Xiaobao seized that opportunity to sit in the nun in white’s carriage, sitting face to face with Ah Ke; he said, “I don’t know what will happen after Shitai take the drug; I must keep watch over her all the time.” He ordered both carriages to continue their journey.

After the time needed to drink a cup of tea later, the nun in white suddenly took a very deep breath, and slowly opened her eyes. Ah Ke was greatly delighted. “Shifu,” she called out, “Do you feel better?” The nun in white nodded her head.

Wei Xiaobao busily took out two more pills and said, “Shitai, these pills are effective, take two more.”

The nun in white slightly shook her head and said in a low voice, “Today … it’s enough … I must circulate my chi to convert the drug’s power … Stop … stop the carriage.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said; he ordered the carriages to stop. The nun in white instructed Ah Ke to help her get up. Sitting cross-legged, she closed her eyes and circulated her strength. While Ah Ke could not take her eyes off her master, Wei Xiaobao could not take his eyes off her. He saw that at first there was a worried expression on her face, but gradually her graceful eyebrows began to relax, her eyes started to shine.

Another moment passed, a smile began to form on the corners of her mouth. Wei Xiaobao did not need to look at the nun in white to know that her effort to circulate her strength to heal her body had given its desired effect. A few moments later, he saw Ah Ke’s expression was growing happier and happier. Wei Xiaobao thought, “If only there was no Shitai in this carriage, only me and this little beauty, two people, plus her expression always looks this happy, I can really die happy.”

Suddenly Ah Ke looked up and saw him staring blankly at her; immediately her cheeks blushed. She wanted to scold him, but was afraid she might agitate Shifu and disturb her internal energy cultivation; hence the word was already at the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it back, and only hatefully shot a malicious look at him. Wei Xiaobao smiled at her. Following her gaze, he looked at the nun in white, and notice that her breathing was even.

The nun in white blew out a mouthful of air, and opened her eyes. “We can continue,” she said in a low voice.

“Resting for a bit longer is not a big deal,” Wei Xiaobao said.

“No need,” the nun in white said.

Wei Xiaobao took out five taels and gave the money to the drivers, telling them to continue the journey. At that time, hiring a large carriage only cost a qian and a half a day. Seeing how generous he was with the money, the two carriage drivers were overjoyed; they expressed their thanks repeatedly.

The nun in white slowly said, “Xiaobao, what kind of medicine did you give me?”

“It’s called ‘snow ginseng jade toad pill’,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “It was the tribute of the King of Korea to the young emperor.”

A delighted expression flashed on the nun in white’s face; she said, “Snow ginseng and jade toad are two miracle drugs with great healing power; they can almost raise people from the dead. Who would have thought that unexpectedly I could come across it? My life is not meant to be cut short yet.” After suffering such a heavy injury, unexpectedly by this time her voice was very steady, there was no hint of her internal power was lacking.

Ah Ke happily asked, “Shifu, are you, Senior, completely healed?”

“I won’t die,” the nun in white replied.

“I still have twenty-eight more here,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Shitai may take and use them all.” While saying that, he handed over the jade bottle.

The nun in white did not accept, she said, “At most I only need two or three more pills, that will be enough. I have no use for that many.”

Wei Xiaobao was generous by nature, he thought, “What’s so big of a deal if you take all thirty pills? The old wh0re must have some more over there.” So he said, “Shitai, your body is important, since these pills are beneficial to you, next time I see the young emperor, I will just ask him some more.” And he pushed the jade bottle into her hand. The nun in white nodded, but she still gave the bottle back to him.

After traveling for some time, the nun in white said, “Find a secluded place and tell the drivers to stop; we need to question that lama.”

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao complied. He ordered the carriages to enter a valley, and told the drivers to get the lama to the ground. He also told them to have the mule grazing at the back of the mountain. “If you do not hear me call, don’t come over here,” he said. The drivers complied and pulled the mules away.

The nun in white said, “You question him.”

Wei Xiaobao pulled the dagger, ‘swish!’ he cut a strip of tree branch, and easily pared the small twigs that shortly thereafter the tree branch turned into a stick. “Laoxiong [old chap],” he said, would you like to be a human stick?”

The lama could see that the dagger was very sharp, hence he was already frightened. “May I ask Xiaoye [little master], what do you mean by a human stick?”

Wei Xiaobao replied, “I’ll have your arms cut off; your ears, your nose will also be scraped, anything that is sticking out of your body will be pared flat, that’s a human stick. It’s very fun, do you want to try?” While saying that, he waved his dagger several times in front of the lama’s nose.

“No, no,” the lama said, “Xiaoseng [little monk] does not want to be a human stick.”

“I am not lying to you,” Wei Xiaobao said, “It’s very fun, there is no harm in you being one this time.”

“I am afraid it’s not fun,” the lama said.

“You have not been one, how do you know it’s not fun?” Wei Xiaobao said, “Let’s try it first, then we’ll talk later.” While saying that, he ran the dagger back and forth on the lama’s shoulder.

“Xiaoye, please spare my life,” the lama begged, “Xiaoseng was too brazen to offend Shitai; I should not have done that.”

“Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I ask you a question, you give me an answer; if you give me even half a sentence of lie, I will immediately make you a human stick. I will plant you here, put some manure on you, and water you some; perhaps after ten days or half a month, you will grow some arms, ears and nose.”

“No, no,” the lama said, “Xiaoseng will definitely give you honest answers.”

“What’s your name?” Wei Xiaobao started, “Why did you offend Shitai?”

The lama said, “Xiaoseng’s name is Hubayin, a Tibetan Lama. I received our Da Shixiong [first martial (older) brother] Sangjie’s order to … to capture this Shitai alive.”

Wei Xiaobao remembered that he had heard the name Sangjie on Mount Wutai. He asked, “This Shitai is perfectly all right, she has never offended your stinky Shixiong; why did you take such a brazenly rash action?”

“Da Shixiong says that our Living Buddha has eight copies of treasured sutra, which this Shitai stole … no, not steal, she borrowed,” Hubayin said, “We want to ask her to return it.”

“What treasured sutra?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

“It’s Cha Yan Gu Tu Wu Sutra,” Hubayin replied.

“Rubbish,” Wei Xiaobao said, “What Ji Li Gu Lu Wu sutra?”

“Yes, yes,” Hubayin said, “It’s in our Tibetan language. In Chinese tongue, it is called ‘Forty-two Chapter Sutra’.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “How did you stinky Shixiong know that Shitai has taken the ‘Forty-two Chapter Sutra’?”

“I really don’t know,” Hubayin replied.

“You don’t know?” Wei Xiaobao said, “What good is your tongue then? Stick it out.” While saying that, he raised his dagger.

How could Hubayin dare to stick his tongue out? He begged, “Xiaoseng really does not know.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Your stinky Shixiong is in Tibet, how could he send you out so quickly?”

Hubayin said, “Da Shixiong and some of us were originally in Beijing, so we pursued from Beijing to this place.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded, he understood what had happened, “Naturally it was the old wh0re who sent them the news.” He asked, “From your stinky lama companions this time, how many have higher, or almost the same, martial art skill?”

Hubayin said, “This time there are thirteen of us, martial brothers, Shitai has killed five, there are eight people left.”

Wei Xiaobao was secretly alarmed. “What do you mean ‘eight’?” he shouted, “Can you still be considered one of them? Sooner or later you’ll be a human stick.”

Hubayin said, “Xiaoye has promised not to make Xiaoseng a human stick.”

“Those remaining seven human sticks,” Wei Xiaobao asked, “Where are they now?”

Hubayin said, “Our Da Shixiong’s skill is very superior, he won’t change into a human stick.”

Wei Xiaobao kicked the small of his back heavily while cursing, “Stinky thief, death is at hand, you still dare to blow your horn really loud. Even if your stinky shixiong’s skill was higher, I will still make him into a human stick and show it to you.”

“Yes, yes,” Hubayin said; but it was obvious from his expression that he thought otherwise.

Wei Xiaobao continued the interrogation for quite a long time, but no longer gained any useful information, thereupon he returned to the large carriage, put the carriage screen down, and in a low voice passed on what Hubayin had said. He added, “Shitai, there are still seven lamas left. If all of them catch up with us at the same time, they won’t be easy to deal with. Normally Shitai won’t have any problem, but right now you are not feeling very well …”

The nun in white shook her head and said, “Even if I were well without any injury, I would have a hard time fighting one against six, much less they have their Da Shixiong, whose martial art skill far surpasses his fellow disciples of the same generation. I heard Sangjie is the number one martial art expert of the Tibetan Tantra; his ‘Big Hand Print Divine Skill’ has been trained to almost perfection.”

“I have an idea,” Wei Xiaobao said, “It’s just that … it’s just that Shitai’s prestige would be lowered too much.”

The nun in white sighed and said, “What prestige there is left to be said for those who have left home? What’s your idea?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “We go to a remote place, find a peasant family home to temporarily hide. I am asking Shitai to change into peasant woman’s attire, and sleep on the bed to heal your injury. Miss Ah Ke and I will change into peasant girl and boy’s clothing, we can pose as … as Shitai’s son and daughter.”

The nun in white shook her head. Ah Ke said, “You are bad, your idea is naturally bad. Shifu is a martial art master of the present age, how could she hide? Won’t that mean she is scared of others?”

The nun in white said, “We can follow your idea. The two of you can be my nephew and niece.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao happily said, while saying in his heart, “It would be best if we can be your nephew and nephew’s wife.”

Ah Ke shot him a malicious look; she was really unhappy Shifu had accepted his idea.

Wei Xiaobao said, “If we leave this lama’s mouth alive, I am afraid he might reveal our secret; we’d better bury him alive here, so we won’t leave any trace.”

The nun in white said, “When I fought them earlier, I was already acting against my will, it was hard for me to accept it in my heart. This lama is powerless to defend himself, to kill him would inevitably be too vicious. However … however, we can’t let him go either. We’ll have to take him for the time being, and think about another plan later.”

Wei Xiaobao complied. He called the drivers, told them to get Hubayin back onto the carriage, and ordered them to continue the journey.

Along the way, they actually did not see any peasant homes; afraid that Sangjie would catch up, they were thinking that as soon as they saw a small path, they would make a detour. However, all the side roads along the way were simply too narrow for a large carriage to pass.

While continuing along the main road, suddenly they heard sound of hooves from behind; several dozens of riders were galloping toward them. Wei Xiaobao groaned inwardly, “Doomed, we are doomed! Turns out there are dozens of stinky lamas.” He ordered the carriages to run faster. The two drivers urged their mules verbally and with their whips, but the pursuing riders were getting closer and closer; not too long afterwards, they were already behind the carriages.

[foxs]

Wei Xiaobao took a peek from a crack on the wooden partition of the carriage’s compartment, immediately he heaved a deep sigh of relief; turned out these several dozen riders were men wearing dark green clothes, they were not lamas at all. In no time at all the riders passed swiftly by the side of the carriages, and soon afterwards they were already ahead of the carriages.

Ah Ke suddenly called out, “Zheng … Zheng Gongzi!” [young master]

One of the riders immediately reined in his horse and waited on the side. When the carriage caught up, he rode alongside the carriage. “Is it Miss Chen?” he called out.

“That’s right,” Ah Ke replied, “It’s me.” She sounded very happy.

The rider raised his voice, “It’s a surprise to see you here. Are you with Miss Wang?”

“No, I am not,” Ah Ke replied, “My Shijie is not here.”

“Are you going to Hejian Prefecture?” the rider asked, “We can travel together.”

“No,” Ah Ke replied, “We are not going to Hejian Prefecture.”

The rider said, “Hejian Prefecture is very exciting, you should go.”

While they were talking, the carriages and the horses were still proceeding forward. Wei Xiaobao saw Ah Ke’s cheeks were blushing, her eyes were shining, she looked so happy, as if she was seeing the closest person to her in the world. In that instant, Wei Xiaobao felt as if his heart was heavily struck by a large hammer, again and again. He thought, “Could it be that her sweetheart has arrived?” He said in a low voice, “Finding shelter is more important, don’t talk to someone who has nothing to do with us.”

But Ah Ke did not seem to hear him; she asked, “What’s so exciting about Hejian Prefecture?”

“Don’t you know?” the man said. The carriage’s screen was lifted up, a face looked in.

The man had a handsome face, he was about twenty-three, twenty-four years of age, he looked delighted when he said, “There will be a ‘Turtle-slaying Assembly’ at Hejian Prefecture, all heroes and warriors under the heavens will participate; it’s going to be very exciting.”

“What is a ‘Turtle-slaying Assembly’?” Ah Ke asked, “Are you going to kill a big turtle? What’s so exciting about that?”

The man laughed and said, “We are going to kill a big turtle alright, but not a real turtle, it’s a big criminal. His name has a ‘turtle’ character [gui] in it.”

Ah Ke laughed, “How can someone use a ‘turtle’ character in his name?” she asked, “You must be joking.”

The man laughed. “It’s not the ‘gui’ character of ‘wu gui’ [turtle/tortoise],” he said, “The characters sound alike, it’s the ‘gui’ character of ‘gui hua’ [cassia/laurel flower]; why don’t you guess who’s that person?”

Wei Xiaobao jumped in fright; he mused, “Someone with the ‘gui’ character of ‘gui hua’ in his name; are they going to kill me, Xiao Guizi?”

But he heard Ah Ke clapped her hands and said with a laugh, “I know it! It’s the big traitor to China, Wu Sangui.”

The man laughed and said, “Exactly. You are so smart, just one guess and you got it.”

“Have you captured Wu Sangui?” Ah Ke asked.

“That, we have not,” the man replied, “But we are going to discuss how we are going to kill that big traitor to China.”

Wei Xiaobao let out a breath; he thought, “So that’s it. Come to think about it, I, Xiao Guizi, am a little child, they can’t possibly want to kill me. Even if they did, they won’t need any ‘Turtle-slaying assembly’. Damn it, even in posing as someone else, laozi can be considered as having a bad luck; why did I impersonate someone with a ‘gui’ character in his name?”

He saw that the man was looking at Ah Ke with a smile on his face, yet the sound of hoof and the carriage did not stop at all. The man was riding a horse, but he leaned over and looked into the carriage; indeed he had an extremely fine horsemanship.

Ah Ke turned toward the nun in white and said in a low voice, “Shifu, are we going or not?”

Although the nun in white’s martial art was very high, she lacked the ability to adapt to changes. She had frequently hoped to participate and had heard about Wulin heroes jointly discussing the plan to kill Wu Sangui. However, Sangjie and the other lamas might catch up with them very soon, the situation was very urgent. After hesitating for a short moment, she asked Wei Xiaobao, “What do you think?”

Seeing Ah Ke’s expression and mannerism toward the young man, Wei Xiaobao’s heart was filled with unspeakable hatred, he simply did not want to let Ah Ke be together with him; thereupon he hastily said, “When those wicked lamas arrived, we won’t be able to deal with them. We’d better get away from them as quickly as possible.”

“What wicked lamas?” the young man asked.

“Zheng Gongzi,” Ah Ke said, “This is my Shifu, we ran into a group of wicked lamas on our journey, they injured my Shifu. She, the Senior, received a serious injury. There are seven other lamas pursuing behind us.”

“Yes!” the young man said. Turning around, he let out several whistles; the group of riders halted, the two large carriages also stopped. The young man leaped down from the horseback, rolled up the carriage’s screen, bowed and said, “Junior Zheng Keshuang pays his respect to Senior.” The nun in white nodded.

Zheng Keshuang said, “Please don’t worry about seven or eight lamas, junior will take care of them, just leave it to us.”

Ah Ke was pleasantly surprised, but was also a bit worried; she said, “Those wicked lamas are very formidable.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “These companions I brought with me are all highly skilled in martial art, we can handle it. Not to mention we can fight them many against a few, even if we have to fight them one-on-one, we have nothing to be afraid of those seven, eight lamas.”

Ah Ke turned her head toward her Shifu with a questioning look; actually, it was more like hoping than asking.

“That won’t work,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Shitai whose martial art skill is this profound still received injury; what good are twenty-something people like you?”

Ah Ke angrily said, “I did not ask you, why do you talk too much?”

“I am concerned about Shitai’s wellbeing,” Wei Xiaobao said.

Ah Ke said, “You are scared of death, yet still say that you are concerned about Shifu. You are a little evil person, all you can do is evil thing, how can you possibly have any good intention?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “This man surnamed Zheng, is his skill great? Is he stronger than Shitai?”

Ah Ke said, “He brings more than twenty men, each one is exceptionally skillful in martial arts. Are you saying that these more than twenty men are afraid of seven lamas?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “How do you know each one of these men is exceptionally skillful in martial arts? I’ll say they all have low and weak martial art skill.”

“Of course I do,” Ah Ke said, “I have seen them in action; each one of them is equal to a hundred of you.”

The nun in white was deep in thought without saying anything; Wei Xiaobao wanted her to dress as a peasant woman to hide from the lamas. This matter had already been decided, but it was actually against her deepest wish. To have these two children know about it was not a big deal, but in front of these twenty, thirty Jianghu warriors, she would rather die than letting them know that she was going to assume a disguise to avoid disaster. She slowly said, “Those lama took me, one person, by surprise. Zheng Gongzi, thank you for your good intention. Please lead the way.”

“Why would Shitai say such thing?” Zheng Keshuang said, “When the road is rough, we must pull our blades to help each other. Much less … much less Shitai is Miss Chen’s Shifu, for junior to spend a tiny effort is not a burden at all.”

Ah Ke blushed and bowed her head, but she seemed to be very pleased.

The nun in white nodded and said, “Very well, in that case we will go to Hejian Prefecture together to take a look. But you don’t need to mention me to other people. My natural disposition is indolent, I don’t like meeting other people.”

“Yes, yes,” Zheng Keshuang happily said, “Junior will respectfully obey Senior’s instruction.”

The nun in white said, “Which school Zheng Gongzi belong to? Who is your revered master?” Asking about the school he learned his martial art from, was the same as examining his martial art skill.

Zheng Keshuang said, “Junior has received martial art instruction from three Shifu. The teacher who has awakened me from ignorance was surnamed Shi, a martial art expert from Wu Yi Pai[1]. The second Shifu was surnamed Liu, a martial art master, lay person disciple from Shaolin Temple, Putian Prefecture, Fujian.”

“Um, what is that Liu Shifu’s great name?” the nun in white asked.

Zheng Keshuang replied, “His name is Liu Guoxuan.”

Hearing him blurting his Shifu’s name without any respect, the nun in white felt a bit strange. Immediately she remembered someone, she said, “Isn’t that the same name of the Great General Liu of Taiwan?”

Zheng Keshuang said, “He is precisely the provincial governor Liu Guoxuan, Great General Liu under the Yanping Junwang[2] of Taiwan’s banner.”

“So Zheng Gongzi belongs to Yanping Junwang’s family?” the nun in white asked.

“Junior is Yanping Junwang’s second son,” Zheng Keshuang replied.

The nun in white nodded. “So you are the descendant of loyal subjects.”

Zheng Chenggong [Koxinga] seized Taiwan from the Dutch. King Gui bestowed the title ‘Yanping Jun Wang’, and allowed him to recruit great generals. Zheng Chenggong passed away in the fifth month of Yongli’s sixteenth year (i.e. Kangxi’s first year). In the meantime, his heir apparent Zheng Jing was guarding Jinmen and Xiamen, while Zheng Chenggong’s younger brother Zheng Xi was in command over Taiwan. Zheng Jing led Zhou Guanbin, Chen Jinnan, and other generals with their troops back to Taiwan to support Zheng Xi’s army and established the position Yanping Junwang.

Counting from Zheng Chenggong’s father Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Jing’s oldest son Kezang [? – can’t even find it in the dictionary], and second son Keshuang were the fourth generation of the Zheng family. For generations Yanping Junwang has unyieldingly been using their military power to resist the Manchurian Qing, alone across the sea, just like when they first received the order from the Great Ming; no man with vision under the heavens did not highly esteem them. When Zheng Keshuang revealed his status, he presumed that this nun would definitely feel deep veneration toward him; who would have thought that this nun in white was only nodding her head and said one sentence, ‘So you are the descendant of loyal subjects’, and said nothing else? He did not know that the nun in white was the Emperor Chongzhen’s Princess. His Shifu Liu Guoxuan was his father’s subordinate, hence he did not hold him in such a high regards. Yet in the nun in white’s eyes, Zheng Jing was no more than a ‘loyal subject’.

In his heart Wei Xiaobao did not stop cursing, “Damn it, what’s so special about it? What’s so amazing about Yanping Junwang anyway?” Actually, he knew very well that Yanping Junwang was a great man; his Shifu Chen Jinnan was Yanping Junwang’s subordinate. The more he thought about it, the more he knew that the turn of events was far from good. He saw Zheng Keshuang’s expression, which showed clear interest in Ah Ke; he was someone in command of powerful army, the magnificent son of a Junwang who really reigned over a region, even the Mu Palace people who wandered destitute in Jianghu could not be compared to them. Moreover, this man’s appearance was ten times more elegant than Wei Xiaobao, his style of conversation was a hundred times more sophisticated, his age was also a lot older. Granted that his martial art skill was still unknown, it seems that if it was not ten times superior than his own, it must be at least seven, eight times.

Ah Ke admired him whole-heartedly, even a blind person could see that. If her Shifu found out that Wei Xiaobao was vying over Ah Ke with this young master Zheng, even without the young master Zheng’s bidding, perhaps she would send a palm strike to kill him herself. Shitai had also praised him as a ‘descendant of loyal subjects’, whose descendant was Wei Xiaobao anyway? He was nothing more than a descendant of a prostitute.

The nun in white cast a glance toward Zheng Keshuang and slowly asked, “Then your first Shifu was Shi Lang, who surrendered to the Manchurian Qing?”

“Yes,” Zheng Keshuang replied, “This man is without any sense of shame and has forgotten righteousness, junior has long ago not regarded him as my Shifu. If we ever see each other in the battlefield, I will definitely kill him with my own hand.” His voice was vehement and full of righteous indignation.

Wei Xiaobao mused, “Turns out your Shifu has surrendered to the Tatars. I must pay attention when I see this Shi Lang next time.”

Zheng Keshuang continued, “For the last ten years or so, junior has been training under Feng Shifu. He is Kunlun Pai’s number one martial art master; he is known as the ‘One Sword Without Blood’. I presume Shitai has heard about him.”

The nun in white said, “Um, that must be Feng Xifan, Feng Shifu. Only I did not know the origin of his nickname.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “While it’s true that Feng Shifu’s swordsmanship is extremely high, his qigong[3] is especially superb. With the tip of his sword he sealed people’s death acupoint, the victim’s skin was not harmed, he died without shedding any blood.”

“Oh,” the nun in white said, “In the present age, the number of people who have trained their qigong to this state, able to use sharp object instead of blunt, is not too many. How old is Feng Shifu, approximately?”

Zheng Keshuang was very proud when he said, “Come winter this year, junior will arrange a fiftieth birthday banquet.”

The nun in white nodded. “He is not even fifty yet, his internal energy has already reached this ‘pure’ state, it is indeed very rare,” she said.

After a short pause, she asked, “Those attendants of yours, are their martial art skills acceptable?”

“Shitai, don’t worry,” Zheng Keshuang said, “They are martial art masters, handpicked among the guards in junior’s palace.”

Wei Xiaobao suddenly said, “Shitai, actually, how many martial art masters are there in the world? This Zheng Gongzi’s first Shifu was a foreign school’s martial art master, his second Shifu was Fujian Shaolin Pai’s martial art master, his third Shifu is Kunlun Pai’s martial art master, the attendants he brought along are all martial art masters, presumably he is also a martial art master.”

Hearing his sarcastic remark, Zheng Keshuang was angry; however, he did not know this kid’s background. He only saw that the kid was traveling in the same carriage with the nun in white and Ah Ke, presumably he was related to them somehow; thereupon he strived to repress his anger.

Ah Ke said, “As the saying goes, ‘Great Teacher will produce Brilliant Student’; since Zheng Gongzi has had three great teachers training him, naturally his martial art skill is superb.”

“What Miss has said is very true,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I have not seen Zheng Gongzi’s martial art; therefore, I have inquired thoughtlessly. If Miss is compared to Zheng Gongzi, I wonder whose martial art is a bit stronger?”

Ah Ke cast a quick glance toward Zheng Keshuang and said, “Naturally he is a lot stronger than me.”

Zheng Keshuang laughed and said, “Miss is too modest.”

“So that’s how it is,” Wei Xiaobao said, “You said that ‘Great Teacher will produce Brilliant Student’, so your martial art skill is not high because your Shifu is a ‘low hand’[4], an obscure master, a far inferior master compared to Zheng Gongzi’s three great martial art master teachers.” In term of debate, how could Ah Ke be his match? With just one sentence he was able to turn the table around.

---

[1] Wu – martial art, ‘yi’ refers to non-Han people, especially to the east of China. It could be simply ‘a foreign sect’.

[2] Jun – county/region, wang – king.

[3] Qigong (chi kung) – a system of deep breathing exercises.

[4] The term I translated as ‘(martial art) master’ literally means ‘high hand’ (gao shou).

[foxs]

Ah Ke’s entire little face turned beet red as she hastily said, “I … when did I say that Shifu was a ‘low hand’, an obscure master? You are the one who speak nonsense here.”

The nun in white smiled and said, “Ah Ke, you will never win a squabble against Xiaobao. Let us go.” The large carriage lowered its curtain, the vehicles and horses continued their journey westward. Zheng Keshuang rode his horse alongside the large carriage.

The nun in white asked Ah Ke in a low voice, “This Zheng Gongzi, how did you know him?”

Ah Ke blushed as she replied, “Shijie and I met him at Henan’s Kaifeng Prefecture. That time … that time we were dressed as men, he thought we were men, hence at the restaurant he invited us to come over and drink some wine.”

“You have quite a nerve, huh?” the nun in white said, “Two big girls going to the restaurant to drink wine.”

Ah Ke lowered her head. “We did not drink the wine for real,” she said, “We only pretending to; it was fun.”

“Miss Ah Ke,” Wei Xiaobao said, “You have such a beautiful appearance, even when you are wearing men’s clothes, anybody could see that you are a beautiful girl. I think that Zheng Gongzi was harboring a malicious intention.”

Ah Ke angrily said, “You are the one who harbors malicious intention! We dressed as men, he did not suspect us the least bit. Afterwards Shijie told him, and he apologized repeatedly. Other people are refined and courteous gentlemen, unlike you …”

Shortly before noon the party reached Feng’er Zhuang [‘zhuang’ means village], a large town in western Hebei. They all stopped for lunch in a restaurant. Wei Xiaobao stepped down the carriage, and noticed that Zheng Keshuang was a tall and handsome, straight and impressive looking man, at least half a head taller than Wei Xiaobao; he could not help but feeling inferior even more. He also noticed his luxurious clothes and ornaments, the sheathe of the sword hanging on his waist was inlaid with pearls, jades and precious stones, which sparkled brilliantly under the sun. From among the twenty-some men accompanying him, some were tall and sturdy, some looked energetic, heroic, tall and straight. They all carried sabers and swords, each one of them looked completely spirited.

As they entered the restaurant, Ah Ke wiped the table where the nun in white was going to sit before she took a seat next to her. Hence she and Zheng Keshuang were sitting on adjacent tables to keep each other company. Wei Xiaobao was about to sit down on a table opposite the nun in white, Ah Ke shot him a malicious look and said, “There are plenty of seats over there, can you not sit over here? When I see you, I can’t eat my meal.”

Wei Xiaobao was furious, instantly his entire face turned deep red; he thought, “With this Zheng Gongzi accompanying you, you will be able to eat several more bowls. Damn it, I hope you, this ‘little mother skin’ [小娘皮 - xiao niang pi] will die of bloating.”

“Ah Ke,” the nun in white said, “Why are you always that rude to Xiaobao?”

Ah Ke replied, “He is a bad person who won’t shrink from any crime. Shifu said I must not kill him, otherwise …” Speaking to this point, she shot another malicious look toward him.

In his heart Wei Xiaobao was bitterly angry, he walked away toward a table at the corner of the hall; he thought, “You are bent on marrying this damned stinky Zheng Gongzi and be his wife; how can I, Wei Xiaobao, be willing to give up easily? You want to kill me? It won’t be easy. Laozi will come up with a scheme: I will kill the husband in your mind first, so you won’t have anybody to marry, you will be a widow first, in the end you will have no choice but to marry laozi. Laozi will not consider you a widow to be remarried, you are but a ‘little mother skin’!”

The waiters delivered the meals, the attendants of the Zheng Family immediately wolfed down their food. Wei Xiaobao took seven, eight steamed buns to feed Hubayin, who was still tied on the carriage. He felt that this Hubayin was more amiable than those men from the Zheng family. Returning to his own table, he looked across several tables and saw Ah Ke’s face was glowing, as she was chatting and laughing with Zheng Keshuang, seemingly very intimate with him. Wei Xiaobao was so angry that he nearly choked, “Killing this Zheng Gongzi is not going to be easy,” he pondered, “I must not leave the least bit of trace; otherwise if Ah Ke knew it was me who killed him, she would definitely kill her own husband to avenge this ‘male adulterer’.”

Suddenly they heard hooves beat, several people on horses were rushing into the town. They dismounted and walked into the inn, they were precisely seven lamas. Wei Xiaobao’s heart was pounding, but there was a little bit of delight in his heart, thinking that other people would soon meet misfortune. He thought, “That Zheng Gongzi was tooting his horn really hard just now, saying that he had trained under three martial art masters. Let them have a big fight, laozi will watch with folded arms; it’s going to be wonderful!”

As soon as those seven lamas saw the nun in white, their countenance changed greatly, and they broke into some mumbling and grunting among themselves. One of them, a tall and thin lama spoke several sentences, he seemed to be issuing some order. The seven of them sat around a table nearby the door, and then they called for food. Each one was staring at the nun in white with angry expression. The nun in white acted as if she did not see anything, she kept on eating her meal slowly.

A moment later, a lama stood up and walked toward the nun in white. “Bald nun,” he said in a loud voice, “Did you kill several companions of ours?”

Zheng Keshuang stood up and in a clear voice said, “What do you think you are doing? Making a big fuss in here and acting very rude?”

The lama angrily said, “What kind of ‘thing’ are you? We are talking to this nun, it has nothing to do with you. Get lost!”

There were several ‘whoosh, whoosh’ noise as four of Zheng Keshuang’s subordinates leaped over, trying to arrest the lama. The lama raised his right hand to block two men; his leg flew out and kicked an attendant, sending him rolling out of the inn’s door, and then he sent a punch straight ahead toward the bridge of another attendant’s nose, hitting him so hard that the attendant fainted immediately.

The rest of the attendants shouted, “Let’s go together!” Taking out their weapons, they charged toward the lama.

The other five lamas also pulled their jiedao and rushed forward to meet the attack, only the thin and tall lama sat motionless on his chair. In an instant the dining hall was full of ‘bing, bing, bang, bang’ noise; the sound of fighting was very loud. At the start of the fight, the restaurant workers and the other diners ran out of the restaurant. Zheng Keshuang and Ah Ke pulled their swords and stood in front of the nun in white. In the dining hall the bowls and cups were flying everywhere, the tables and chairs were thrashed. Each lama fought four or five of Zheng Mansion’s guards.

Suddenly there was a ‘whoosh’ sound, a single-blade saber flew upward and landed on the beam. Wei Xiaobao looked up, white light flashed, two more sabers flew up and stuck to the beam. And then three, four more swords also flew up. The Zheng Mansion’s guards cried out in alarm one after another as they leaped sideways and back to evade, without any weapon in their hands. A series of whooshing noise was heard, one by one their weapons flew up; they all stuck onto the beam and the rafters, and did not fall back down. Only some steel whips, iron cudgels, and other heavy weapons flew through the roof and landed on the roof tiles outside.

In less than the time needed to burn half of an incense stick, more than twenty Zheng Mansion’s guards had lost their weapons. Wei Xiaobao was startled, but delighted as well; in fact, his delight was several degrees higher than his astonishment.

The lamas shouted, “Quickly kneel down and surrender; if you are one step late, all your melon heads will be chopped down.”

Although their weapons were gone, the Zheng Mansion’s guards did not lose their courage; either barehanded or lifted up benches as their weapons, they charged toward the six lamas again. The six lamas yelled, waved their sabers and tossed them away. ‘Pop!’ all six jiedao landed on the table in front of the tall and thin lama, neatly forming a circle. And then all six of them charged into the crowd. Cries of ‘Aiyo, aiyo’ were heard, mixed with unending ‘crack, crack!’ as just in a short time more than twenty men had their thighbones broken; they all fell down on the ground, scattered around the dining hall.

By this time the fear in Wei Xiaobao’s heart had surpassed his delight; he groaned in his heart, “Very soon they are going to give Shitai and us, pretty people, some trouble; what should we do?”

The six lamas put their palms together while mumbling and grunting; apparently they were chanting some sutra. They returned to their table, pulled their jiedao, and hang them on their waists. The tall and thin lama called out, “Wine! Bring the wine out!”

After he called several times, the restaurant workers looked from the distant, how could the dare to come over? A lama cursed, “Damn it, if you don’t bring food and wine, we’ll burn down your ‘black inn’.”

As soon as the innkeeper heard that they were going to burn the inn, he replied, “Yes, yes! Food and wine will be served immediately. Quickly get the food and wine for these Buddha masters.”

Wei Xiaobao looked at the nun in white, he wanted to know how she was going to deal with this situation. But he only saw her with a cup of tea in her right hand, slowly sipping the tea; her sleeve did not move at all, her face looked indifferent. Ah Ke, on the other hand, was deathly pale, with terror in her eyes. Zheng Keshuang’s face alternated between deep green and white, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his arm trembled continuously, not knowing what to do, whether he should go forward and attack or not.

The tall and thin lama let out a cold laugh, stood up and walked toward Zheng Keshuang. Zheng Keshuang jumped sideways to evade, while pointing his sword to the lama and shouted, “You … you … what do you want?” Not only his voice was hoarse, it was trembling too.

The lama said, “We have some business with this nun, it has nothing to do with other people. Are you her disciple?”

“I am not,” Zheng Keshuang replied.

“Very well!” the lama said, “Be sensible, get out quickly.”

“Sire … who are you, Sire?” Zheng Keshuang asked, “Please leave behind your ‘ten-thousand’ name, someday … someday I will …”

The lama tossed his head back and let out a long laugh. Wei Xiaobao’s ears were buzzing, immediately he felt dizzy and light-headed. Ah Ke was unable to stand, she sat down on the stool and bent her head over the table.

The lama laughed and said, “My name in religion is Sangjie, the Great Dharma Protector of the Tibetan Dalai Lama Living Buddha. Someday you will what? You want to find me for revenge, don’t you?”

The hair on Zheng Keshuang’s head stood up; he said with a trembling voice, “Ex … exactly!”

Sangjie laughed aloud. His left sleeve brushed toward Zheng Keshuang’s face. Zheng Keshuang raised his sword to block. Sangjie flicked the middle finger of his right hand, ‘Clang!’ the sword flew up and stuck on the beam. Sangjie’s left hand grabbed the back of Zheng Keshuang’s neck, lifted him up, and threw him heavily onto the wooden bench. He laughed and said, “Sit down!”

As the back of Zheng Keshuang’s neck was grabbed by Sangjie, his ‘da zhui’ [big spine] acupoint was sealed; it was the meeting point of the three yang passages of the hands and feet, consequently, his entire body was paralyzed. Sangjie let out a ‘hey, hey’ cold laugh before returning to his table and sat down.

“What are they waiting for?” Wei Xiaobao mused, “Why don’t they fight Shitai? Are they waiting for other helpers?” Looking around the dining hall, he noticed that all four walls were made of bricks, he could not use the same trick again, i.e. using his dagger to stab the enemies from behind wooden partition. Suddenly he remembered Hubayin, who was still on the large carriage outside. “Bad!” he thought, “As soon as they rescue Hubayin, they would immediately know that Shitai and I are of the same group; perhaps they will also find out that those four lamas were killed by me. If that happens, perhaps it would be difficult for Wei Xiaobao to go directly to the underworld to be together with the four lamas, I am most afraid they would trim me into a human stick first; after all, it was my idea.”

Thinking that they would seize his dagger and trim him into a human stick, he could not restrain the hair on his body from standing on its end. Turning his head to look at Sangjie, he noticed that there was a hint of anxiety, restless feeling on Sangjie’s serious expression. Suddenly it dawned on him, “Ah, right! He did not know Shitai is seriously injured; he is scared of Shitai’s superb martial art. Right now he is still not sure how to make his move.”

In the meantime the waiter was delivering the food and wine. He poured half a bowl in front of each lama, and his pot was already empty. A lama slapped the table and cursed, “This little bit of wine is not enough for one Buddha master alone to drink.” The waiter was already shaking all over, right now he was even more terrified; he turned around to fetch some wine.

Wei Xiaobao had a sudden inspiration; he followed into the kitchen. He was a small kid, nobody paid him any attention. He saw the waiter took a ladle to fill the wine pot from a big earthen jar. His hand was shaking so bad that he splash wine on the ground, on the table and around the earthen jar. In fact, the area around the wine pot was wet with wine. Wei Xiaobao took out a small ingot of silver and handed it to him, saying, “Don’t be afraid. This is to pay for my food, you may keep the change. Let me help you pouring the wine.” While saying that, he took the ladle away from his hand.

The waiter was overjoyed at this unexpected good fortune; he had never expected that there was such a good person in the world. Wei Xiaobao said, “Those lamas are very vicious; go take a look: what are they doing now?” The waiter complied; he walked toward the kitchen door and peeked into the dining hall.

Wei Xiaobao took a package of knock-out drug from his bosom, opened the paper wrapper, and shook everything into the wine pot; and then he raised the pot several times while giving it a vigorous shaking. The waiter turned around and said, “They are drinking, they are not … not doing anything!”

Wei Xiaobao handed over the wine pot to him, saying, “Get it quick, they are hot-tempered, don’t let them burn this inn for real.”

The waiter did not stop thanking him; with both hands he received the pot and brought it out, while his mouth was still muttering, “Thank you very much, thank you very much, ay, such a good person, may Bodhisattva bless him.”

The lamas snatched the wine out and poured half a bowl each. “Not enough,” they shouted, “Get more wine!”

Wei Xiaobao saw the seven lamas did not suspect anything, they drank the drugged wine clean; he was greatly delighted and mused, “These stinky lamas are so proud of their superior martial art that they do not even guard against this little bit of shallow Jianghu trick; it is really laughable.”

He did not realize that Sangjie and the other had seen the violent death of their five companions with their own eyes, one of them died with all his ribs, front and back, broken from a palm strike. They knew that an enemy with such a very high level of martial art skill was really rare. Sangjie speculated that if he had to fight this person, most probably he would be defeated. In the inn he saw that the nun in white remained calm and composed throughout, which was indeed the manner of an expert. All seven of them had their attention focused at her every move; they were fully on-guard against a martial art expert, whose skill had reached the great heights of achievement, how could they still divide their attention to guard against such a lowly trick involving some knock-out drug? Although their mouths were drinking the wine, actually they were completely oblivious of its taste. Recalling the circumstances around the tragic death of their five martial brothers, their hearts were already trembling with fear. If there was no nun in white calmly sitting in front of them in the inn, with such a large quantity of knock-out drug in the wine, as soon as it entered their mouths, they would not necessarily not taste the difference.

One of the lamas, a plump one, was a lecher. As soon as he saw Ah Ke’s beauty, he had already indulged the idea of stepping forward and run his hands and feet all over her body. It’s just that he was scared of the nun in white that he did not dare to be rude. But as the first half a bowl of wine entered his belly, he lost all self-control; and then a moment later, the drugged wine also flared-up, his mind turned murky, he did not have any care anymore. Standing up, he giggled and said, “Little Miss, are you married?” Stretching out his big hand, he caressed Ah Ke’s cheek.

Ah Ke was so frightened that her body shook. “You … you …” she said, while brandishing her saber in a chopping movement.

The lama reached out and grabbed her wrist; with a simple twist the saber in Ah Ke’s hand fell to the ground. The lama laughed aloud and pulled her into his embrace. Ah Ke screamed and struggled with everything she had; but the lama’s bulky arms were like a pair of iron hoops, tightly encircled her body, how could she struggle to free herself?

The nun in white originally looked calm and composed, but this time her countenance also underwent a great change; she thought, “It’s not a big deal if this wicked lama killed me, but if he is being rude in public like this, even if I died, I won’t die with closed eyes.”

With both hand Zheng Keshuang propped himself against the table; he stood up and called out, “You … you …” The big fat lama sent a straight left punch. ‘Bang!’ he sent Zheng Keshuang rolling on the floor, twice.

Seeing his beloved was being humiliated, Wei Xiaobao was very anxious, “Why haven’t the drug showed its effect? Could it be that these stinky lamas have some kind of strange skill that they are impervious of knock-out drugs?”

[foxs]

Seeing the lama puckered his lips and randomly kissed and sniffed Ah Ke’s face, he could no longer care about the danger; concealing the dagger in his sleeve, he stepped forward with a giggle. “Big monk,” he said with a laugh, “What are you doing?” His right hand slapped the left side of the lama’s back, he flipped his wrist and thrust the dagger from within his sleeve into the lama’s heart. “Big monk,” he said with a laugh, “What kind of trick are you playing?” Hastily he stepped sideway to the left to guard against a counterattack.

The dagger was incomparably sharp, it entered the flesh without any noise; it cut through the lama’s body straight into his heart, which immediately stopped beating, and thus he stopped moving altogether, but his hands are still holding on to Ah Ke. Ah Ke did not know that he had already died; she was still screaming in fear.

Wei Xiaobao stepped forward and pried open the lama’s arms, he pushed the lama’s chest while saying in a low voice, “Ah Ke, quickly follow me.” With one hand pulling her hand, with the other hand he helped the nun in white, together they walked out of the restaurant.

As soon as the big fat lama left Ah Ke’s body, he slowly slid down. The rest of the lamas were shocked; they rushed forward together. Wei Xiaobao called out, “Halt! My Shifu’s divine skill is fantastic. This lama was impolite, she punished him with death. Whoever takes a step forward will be put to death immediately.”

The lamas were stunned. Suddenly ‘bang, bang!’ two lamas fell down to the floor. A moment later, two other lamas fell down. Sangjie’s internal energy was deep, temporarily the knock-out drug was not able to knock him out; but he also felt his head was dizzy, his body swayed, his feet felt light. He thought the nun in white possessed some kind of strange magic; his mind was confused, his conscience blurry, how could he guess that he had been hit by a knock-out drug?

Ah Ke called out, “Zheng Gongzi, quickly follow us!”

“Yes,” Zheng Keshuang said. He crawled up and scrambled out.

Wei Xiaobao helped the nun in white out. Sangjie rushed after them, but he only took two steps, his body swayed, he tumbled over a table. ‘Crash!’ the table collapsed. Wei Xiaobao saw the drivers were gone; without waiting for them, he helped the nun in white onto the carriage. He saw Hubayin was surprisingly still in the carriage. Afraid that Sangjie would catch up with them, as soon as Ah Ke and Zheng Keshuang boarded the carriage, he jumped onto the driver’s seat and cracked his whip to get the mule going.

In one breath they rushed for about ten li, and only after the mule was weary did he ease up and let the mule walk. Right this moment they heard faint sound of hooves, several horses were pursuing them.

Zheng Keshuang said, “Ay, too bad we are not riding horses; otherwise, our steeds can run fast, the wicked lamas won’t be able to catch up.”

“How could Shitai ride a horse?” Wei Xiaobao said, “I did not ask you to board the carriage.” Finished speaking, he yelled and cracked his whip to urge the mule to run.

Zheng Keshuang knew he had made an indiscreet remark, but he was a young master of a prince’s mansion, hence he was used to people fawning on him. With only one or two scolding from other people, immediately his face showed an angry look.

But he heard the hoof beats were getting closer and closer. Wei Xiaobao said, “Shitai, we must get down the carriage and hide.” Looking around, he did not see any house or building, there were only several barley haystacks on the field. “Alright,” he said, “We’ll hide in the barley haystacks.” While saying that, he pulled the reins to stop the mule.

Zheng Keshuang angrily said, “Hiding in the haystacks, if people find out, my Yanping Palace’s prestige will go down the drain.”

“Right!” Wei Xiaobao said, “The three of us will hide in the haystack, Gongzi may continue driving the carriage to lead the pursuing troop away.” Immediately he helped the nun in white to get down the carriage.

Ah Ke temporarily could not make up her mind. “Ah Ke,” the nun in white called, “You come with us!”

Ah Ke beckoned Zheng Keshuang and said, “You come and hide with us too.” Seeing the three of them crawled into a haystack, Zheng Keshuang hesitated for a moment, and then crawled into the haystack.

Wei Xiaobao suddenly remembered something; hastily he crawled out of the haystack, climbed onto the carriage, pulled his dagger and stabbed Hubayin to death. Suddenly he had a brainwave; he cut Hubayin’s right hand from the wrist, and jabbed the mule’s buttock with his dagger. The mule cried out in pain, and ran away wildly, pulling the large carriage with it. Hearing the pursuing riders getting closer, hurriedly he crawled back into the haystack.

He inserted the dagger into his boot, while holding the dead man’s hand with his right hand, thinking that he would scare Ah Ke with it. With his left hand he groped around, and happened to touch a braid, so he knew where Zheng Keshuang was. He continued groping around, this time he touched a slender soft waist, so he knew it was Ah Ke. He was greatly delighted. He pinched several times as hard as he could and called out, “Zheng Gongzi, why did you rub my buttocks?”

“I did not,” Zheng Keshuang said.

“Humph,” Wei Xiaobao said, “You thought I was Miss Ah Ke, didn’t you? Groping around like that, it’s very rude.”

“Nonsense!” Zheng Keshuang cursed.

Wei Xiaobao pinched Ah Ke’s chest hard with his left hand and immediately pulled his hand back, while calling out, “Hey, Zheng Gongzi, you are still groping around!” And then he placed Hubayin’s hand on Ah Ke’s face to caress her a little bit, before moving the hand to stroke her chest.

Previously, when he groped Ah Ke’s waist and chest while making a big fuss over it, Ah Ke thought it was really Zheng Keshuang who took the opportunity to be impolite to her; she could not help but feeling ashamed and anxious. This time she felt an ice-cold and big hand caressing her face, she knew Wei Xiaobao’s hand was not this big, she had no doubt that it was Zheng Keshuang’s hand. She was about to scream, but then felt that it would be kind of indecent if her Shifu and Wei Xiaobao hear about it; thereupon she turned her head around to evade. The big hand then went down to her chest; she thought, “This Zheng Gongzi is such a scoundrel.” She could not help but feeling enraged; she turned her body to the right to evade.

Wei Xiaobao used his left hand to slap Zheng Keshuang’s face heavily while shouting, “Miss Ah Ke, that was a good strike. This Zheng Gongzi is a lecher. Aiyo, Zheng Gongzi, you caressed me again; you got the wrong person.”

Zheng Keshuang thought it was Ah Ke who slapped him; he angrily said, “You are the one who caressed her, but you blame me … blame me …”

Ah Ke thought, “That hand was clearly a big one; it can’t be the little evil man.”

Holding Hubayin’s hand, Wei Xiaobao stroked the back of Ah Ke’s neck.

Right this moment, the sound of hooves beat was getting closer. What happened was that when Sangjie saw the nun in white and the others went out of the inn, he wanted to run after them, but his entire body was devoid of any strength. His internal energy was very profound, after drinking the drugged wine, he did not lose his conscience. After taking two deep breaths, he felt that his chi was not harmed, only he was dizzy and his vision blurred. Immediately he understood what was going on. “Fetch cold water,” he called, “Quickly fetch cold water!”

The waiter fetched a bowl of cold water. Sangjie called out, “Pour it on my head.” But how could the waiter dare to do that? He hesitated and stayed motionless.

Sangjie was still thinking that the knockout drug was administered by this restaurant. Since he was unable to lift his hands, he took a very deep breath and smashed his head against the bowl of cold water. As soon as the cold water splashed onto his head, his brain cleared up somewhat. “Cold water,” he cried, “The more the better. Quick, quick!”

The waiter fetched two more bowls of cold water. Sangjie dumped the water onto his own head, and ordered the waiter to bring a barrel of cold water over, to awaken the rest of the lamas. No matter what they did, however, the big fat lama did not wake up. Then they saw blood on his back from the blade wound, and realized that he had died. The six lamas did not have time to burn the inn down; they rushed onto their horses and with loud yelling and shouting they gave chase.

Ah Ke felt the big hand stroking her neck; she could not take it anymore. “Please don’t!” she called out. Wei Xiaobao turned his hand around.

Inside the haystack, Zheng Keshuang could not see anything, he was unable to dodge, and had to suffer another slap on his face. “It wasn’t me!” he shouted.

With these two shouts, their trace was discovered. Sangjie called out, “They are here!”

One lama jumped down the horse and rushed toward the haystack. He saw Zheng Keshuang’s one leg was sticking out of the stack. Grabbing his heel, he pulled Zheng Keshuang out of the stack. Afraid of Zheng Keshuang’s counterstrike, he flung him out, throwing him several zhang away.

The lama then reached into the stack, trying to catch the other. Wei Xiaobao curled his body as small as he could. By this time the lama had already pulled the stack open; suddenly he saw a large hand coming toward his face. In a moment of desperation, he grabbed Hubayin’s hand with both hands. Feeling that he had someone’s hand in his own, he pulled the hand out as hard as he could, thinking that he was pulling someone out of the stack and was going to fling that person away as well. Who would have thought that he was pulling an empty air?

He had exerted all his strength, but only pulled a severed hand; his own strength had thrown him back that he fell sitting down on the ground. By the time he saw clearly that what he had pulled was a dead man’s palm, he felt the chi and blood inside his chest welling up, making him feel an unspeakable discomfort.

The force he exerted was intended to pull a man and fling him out of the haystack. Zheng Keshuang weighed approximately a hundred and twenty or a hundred and thirty catties; the lama estimated that the second person would weigh approximately the same. Hence this pulling force was at least two hundred catties, not to mention that this time he was not pulling an ankle, but a hand. He was afraid that if his pulling force was insufficient, he would be pulled into the haystack instead; therefore, he put a lot more effort in this one pull. Who would have thought that the enormous effort he exerted was only pulling a severed hand weighed only several taels? The entire force came back to him; it was no different than if he received a heavy blow with a force of more than 200 catties.

Seeing the lama fell down, Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted; he threw a bunch of straw onto the lama’s face. The lama stretched out his hand to brush the straw off. Suddenly he felt a stabbing pain on the pit of his stomach; his body twitched several times, then he stayed still. Actually, Wei Xiaobao took the opportunity while the lama’s vision was obstructed by the straw to jump forward and thrust his dagger into the pit of the lama’s stomach.

He had just pulled the dagger out when he heard all around him people were shouting loudly in Tibetan; he could not help but groaning inwardly. Expecting the worst, he had no choice but to conceal the dagger inside his sleeve, while slowly stood up. He looked up and saw Sangjie and the other four lamas were already standing in the barley field, about three zhang away from the haystack.

The lama’s body was covered in pile of straw, Sangjie and the other did not know how he died, they assumed it was the nun in white who had displayed her divine skill by striking him dead. They stood far away and did not dare to come near the haystack. “Little Nun,” Sangjie called out, “You have successively killed my eight Shidi, the enmity between you and me is as deep as the ocean. You are hiding in a haystack and do not dare to come out; what kind of hero are you?”

Wei Xiaobao mused, “Why did he say she has killed eight of his Shidi?” But after a quick calculation, he realized that indeed they had killed eight lamas, although only one died in the nun in white’s hand. After hearing Sangjie said those words, he took two steps backward; obviously he was scared. He could not bear not to shout, “My Shifu’s martial art skill has reached perfection, there is no one in the world can be compared with her. But she, the Senior, has a merciful heart, and she is very virtuous. It was by accident that she has killed people. She, the Senior, has said that she is going to spare you, five lamas. Just leave us quickly.”

“How can it be that easy?” Sangjie said, “Little Nun, just hand over the ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra’ nicely, your Buddha master will let you go. Otherwise, even until the ends of the earth, your Buddha master will not give up.”

“So you want the ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra’?” Wei Xiaobao said, “This sutra is available in all temples and monasteries everywhere; what’s so strange about it?”

Sangjie said, “We want the one in the Little Nun’s possession.”

Wei Xiaobao pointed to Zheng Keshuang and said, “That copy of sutra has been given by my Shifu to him long ago. Why don’t you ask him?”

Zheng Keshuang was just crawling up from the ground, he had not stood firm yet. A lama pounced on him and grabbed his arms. Another lama pulled his clothes apart, ‘rip, rip!’ his outer garment, his undergarment, were torn to pieces; the gold, silver and jewels in his pocket were thrown to the ground, but how could there be any sutra?

“Zheng Gongzi,” Wei Xiaobao called out, “Where did you hide the sutra? Why don’t you tell them? It’s not such a precious object anyway.”

Zheng Keshuang was furious, “I don’t have it!” he loudly shout.

A lama slapped him hard that he almost passed out. “Will you speak or not?” the lama shouted, while giving him another slap.

Seeing Zheng Keshuang’s cheeks were immediately swollen, Wei Xiaobao’s joy was unspeakable. “Zheng Gongzi,” he called out again, “Why don’t you get that sutra for this Buddha masters? I saw you digging a hole in that inn; did you hide the sutra in there?”

Sangjie happily said, “Right, the little kid must be telling the truth; take him back to the inn.”

“Yes!” the lama complied. He slapped Zheng Keshuang’s face again.

Ah Ke could not bear it anymore, she scrambled out of the haystack and called out, “This little kid is an expert liar, don’t believe him. This Zheng Gongzi has never seen any sutra.”

Wei Xiaobao turned his head around and said in a low voice, “I am trying to save Shitai and you, let Zheng Gongzi lead them away.”

“I don’t want you to save me,” Ah Ke said, “You have wronged Zheng Gongzi, you will make him losing his life.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Shitai’s and your lives are ten thousand times more important than Zheng Gongzi’s.”

Sangjie said to the lama grabbing Zheng Keshuang, “Don’t kill him.” Turning his head around, he said, “Little Nun, come out. And these two babies, take them with us to find the sutra.”

Ah Ke angrily said, “You are the one who is afraid of death, yet you said you want to save Shifu. If you have guts, go fight these lamas.”

The hot blood in Wei Xiaobao’s heart welled up, he thought, “You despise me like this, so what if I’ll let myself be killed by these lamas?” He said, “You want me to fight? Fine. My death is not a big deal, it’s just that I won’t be able to save Shitai and you. But what if I win?”

“Humph,” Ah Ke snorted, “Even if you reincarnated you won’t win. If you defeat one lama, I will obey you forever.”

“What do you mean defeat one lama? Didn’t I kill seven lamas?” Wei Xiaobao said.

“You used trick to kill,” Ah Ke said, “It does not count.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “If I defeat one lama, you will marry me and be my wife.”

“Nonsense!” Ah Ke angrily said, “You are a little monk, you are also a little eunuch, how can … how can …”

“Little monk can return to normal life, little eunuch can quit being an eunuch,” Wei Xiaobao said, “In short, I must marry you and take you as my wife.”

“Shifu,” Ah Ke anxiously said, “Did you hear that? In situation like this he is still foul-mouthed and talks nonsense.”

The nun in white sighed; she thought that the situation was seriously critical. She might be forced to cut her own channel[1] and die, to avoid being humiliated by the lamas. “Xiaobao,” she called in a low voice, “Stretch your hand into the haystack.”

---

[1] Orig. Jing Mai – channel of traditional Chinese medicine, the passage through which vital energy (qi or chi) circulates.

[foxs]

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied. He stretched his left hand backhandedly into the haystack. He felt a small paper packet in his hand; he heard the nun in white said in a low voice, “This is the map hidden inside the sutra. You don’t need to care about me, you must escape alone. If you could obtain the other seven sutras in the future, perhaps our great Han people’s rivers and mountains will have a hope of recovering. It is much more important than my, one person’s life.”

Wei Xiaobao saw how high she regarded him; she did not entrust this matter to her own disciple, but gave it to him instead, immediately his spirit rose. Suddenly he had an idea. Right now he did not have time to think about it in details, but he loudly said, “My Shifu is a martial art expert of this age, she is unwilling to fight with you. Just appoint one person to have a match with me. Only if you can beat me will my Shijie go into action. Humph, humph! I’ll say you won’t dare. Just know your own limitation, you’d better run away quickly with your tails between your legs.” While saying that, he put the paper packet into his bosom.

The five lamas laughed aloud. Although they were quite afraid of the nun in white, why would they take this little kid seriously? One lama laughed and said, “I only need to send you one palm strike, I guarantee you will roll around seventeen, eighteen times, and have a match in farting!”

Wei Xiaobao took a step forward and said in a clear voice, “Alright, let you and I have a match then.” Turning his head toward Ah Ke, he said, “After I win, you will be my wife, you can’t deny.”

Ah Ke said, “You won’t win. No matter what you won’t win.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “A man stake out everything he has, ten thousand men can’t stop him. In order to win you to be my wife, I have no choice but to stake everything I have.”

The lama took several steps forward and said with a laugh, “You really want to have a match with me?”

“Why would I lie to you?” Wei Xiaobao replied, “The two of us will have a one-on-one match. Don’t worry, my Shifu will not personally go into action. Those four martial brothers of yours, are they going to help you?”

Sangjie burst into loud laughter. “Naturally we won’t help him,” he said.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Supposing that I kill him with a single blow, will you go together, relying on numbers to gain victory? Let us agree up front: if all of you swarm together, I won’t be your match, my Shifu will have to personally go into action.”

Sangjie was actually afraid that the nun in white would personally go into action. He thought about his several martial brothers who died without clear reason, he did not know what kind of martial art this nun possessed, he thought it would be greatly advantageous to him if he let his martial brother have one-on-one match with this little kid, so that he could see the nun in white’s martial art school and her background. Thereupon he said, “The two of you will have a one-on-one match, neither side is allowed to help you two.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Whoever helps is a turtle son of b1tch.”

“That’s right,” Sangjie said, “Whoever helps is a turtle daughter of b1tch.”

Not only Sangjie had a high martial art skill, he was also very smart. He saw that the nun in white and Ah Ke were women, thereupon he changed the ‘turtle son of b1tch’ into ‘turtle daughter of b1tch’, because since in any case the opponent would not be ‘turtle son of b1tch’, they might go forward and help anyway.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Very good. You, big lama, is exceptionally astute, Zaixia is full of admiration.”

“Move forward several steps more,” Sangjie said. He saw Wei Xiaobao was standing very close to the haystack, and was afraid the nun in white might put her hand onto his back and secretly transfer her internal energy to him, then his martial brother would not be able to withstand.

Wei Xiaobao said, “We, Han people, are frank and upright, if we win, we will win honorably, if we lose, we will lose gracefully; how can we practice fraud?”

The nun in white said in a low voice, “Xiaobao, you won’t win, just pretend you are having a martial art match, then grab a horse and escape.”

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied. He took three steps forward, so that the distance between him and the haystack was a bit more than a zhang.

Seeing that the nun in white would no longer able to help in secret, Sangjie nodded. The lama also took several steps forward until he stood face to face with Wei Xiaobao, and then he said with a laugh, “How do you want to compete?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “We could have either soft match, or hard match[1].”

The lama laughed and said, “How do we have a soft match? And how do we have a hard match?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “In soft match, I punch you once, you also punch me once. I will punch you again, and you also punch me again. We punch each other seventy, eighty times, until one of us fall down. When you punch me, I must neither dodge, nor lift my hand to block; I can only stand still, transporting my internal energy to receive your punch head on. When I hit you, you will do the same. In hard match, we can either fight with weapons or barehanded. Naturally we can dodge, block, run or leap.”

Sangjie thought, “This little urchin is nimble; supposing he jumps around, I am afraid Shidi won’t be able to hit him. He is so full of confidence, he must have some other trick up his sleeve. Most probably he will jump toward the haystack, enticing Shidi to chase him, and then that nun will suddenly launch a sneak attack from inside of the haystack. If they fight a soft match, his fist is so small, seventy, eighty of his punches landed on Shidi’s body would be no more than scratching an itch.” Thereupon he shouted in Tibetan, “Have a soft match with him, but don’t injure him. The longer you let him fight the better, so that we can see his martial art school and background.”

“Your Shixiong is scared,” Wei Xiaobao said, “He is afraid that you can’t beat me, and thus telling you to surrender, isn’t he?”

The lama laughed and said, “Little demon speaks nonsense. Shige feels sorry for you, he told me not to kill you in just one strike. Since you are so young, your weapon, as well as punching and kicking skills must be limited. I don’t want to take advantage over you either, so let’s have a soft match.”

“Good!” Wei Xiaobao said. Sticking out his chest, he put his hands behind his back and said, “You may hit me first. If I evade or block, just consider me not a hero or a warrior.”

The lama laughed. “You are a little kid,” he said, “Naturally you must go first.” While saying that, he copied Wei Xiaobao’s manner: he stuck out his chest and put his hands behind his back. Compared to Wei Xiaobao, he was a good one head taller. He was giggling incessantly, obviously he did not take this little urchin seriously.

Wei Xiaobao stretched out his left fist, it barely reached the lama’s lower abdomen. Seeing his small fist, the five lamas burst into laughter. “Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I am sending my first strike.”

The lama did not dare to be too careless; afraid that Wei Xiaobao might have some unusual skill, he gathered his internal energy and sent it all toward his lower abdomen. Wei Xiaobao suddenly flicked his right sleeve, with his fist inside it; noiselessly the punch landed on the left side of the pit of the lama’s stomach. Seeing such a powerless punch, Sangjie and the others burst out laughing again.

The sound of laughter had not ceased, they saw the lama’s body swayed. Wei Xiaobao said, “Now it’s your turn to hit me.” The lama suddenly dropped down, crouching on the ground, and then stopped moving altogether. Sangjie and the others were greatly shocked; they rushed forward at once.

Wei Xiaobao withdrew to the haystack and called out, “Halt! Whoever helps is a turtle lama son of a b1tch.”

The four lamas halted; they saw the lama was still unmoving, not because his breathing was constricted due to serious injury, but because he had died. The four lamas’ jaws dropped in endless surprise; they were all speechless. Wei Xiaobao raised his clenched fists high above his head and said, “My Shifu has taught me unique martial art called the ‘Splitting Mountain Striking the Ox Divine Fist’ that I am able to strike a big ox dead with one punch, much less just a little lama. Whoever refuses to accept may come forward to try it!” With a low voice he continued, “Ah Ke, my wife, will you renege on your promise?”

Ah Ke saw that the fist technique that she looked down was actually a superior martial art; a tall and sturdy lama being hit, unexpectedly he could not withstand it and had to lie prostate on the ground without able to stand up again, his life and death was unknown; she was also very surprised. Hearing Wei Xiaobao, unexpectedly she forgot to reprimand him.

“Ha, ha,” Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “You complied. My good wife.”

Ah Ke angrily said, “I am not.”

“You blatantly reneged on your own promise, you are not a hero or a warrior,” Wei Xiaobao said.

“So what if I am not?” Ah Ke said.

The nun in white actually saw that after Wei Xiaobao hit the lama’s heart, blood was seeping out of the lama’s chest before he swayed and fell face down on the ground. After thinking about it for a moment, she knew that Wei Xiaobao had hidden his dagger in his sleeve; actually, he did not send out a punch at all, rather, he thrust his dagger into the opponent’s heart. The dagger was sharp beyond compare, even steel would be penetrated by it, let alone human flesh. Wei Xiaobao used his left hand first to let everybody know that he was using a fist; after using the dagger, he hid it immediately, and then lifted his fists high above his head, hence other people did not suspect him even more.

Sangjie called the lama several times, but did not hear any response; he was bewildered and did not know what to do. A thin lama pulled his jiedao out and shouted, "Little demon, so what if your boxing skill is superior? Your Buddha master wants to try your blade technique." He thought that this little kid had received teaching from brilliant master, his internal energy cultivation and fist strength were indeed not a small matter, but if he fought him using weapons, his fist strength would be useless.

"You want to have a match with blades? Yes, you can. Come!" Wei Xiaobao said.

The lama did not dare to come near, he shouted, "If you have guts, you come!"

Wei Xiaobao echoed, "If you have guts, you come!"

The lama said, "One, two, three, we both take three steps forward."

"Alright!" Wei Xiaobao said, "One, two, three!" And he took three steps forward.

The lama also took three steps forward, while brandishing his jiedao into a circle of white ray to protect himself, afraid that Wei Xiaobao might suddenly launched his 'splitting mountain striking ox divine fist'."

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, "Don't be afraid, I won't use the divine fist against you."

How could the lama believe him? He still brandished the jiedao, creating 'whoosh, whoosh' noise. "Quickly pull your blade!" he shouted.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, "I have trained and mastered the divine skill to protect my head from 'Jin Ding School' ['golden crown of the head' - see Chapter 10]. You can try chopping my head with your saber, I guarantee that that big saber will bounce back and chop your own bald head. I am telling you this in advance, so that you won't be fooled.”

The lama was half believing and half doubting; but after seeing him killing his martial brother with one punch without extra trouble, his martial art skill must be deep and immeasurable. Momentarily he did not dare to go forward rashly; he did not dare to lift his saber to chop Wei Xiaobao’s head even more.

"Your martial art is too low," Wei Xiaobao said, "I won't hit you back. But you can only chop my head, you must not chop my chest. I am still young, the divine skill to protect my body has not been trained to perfection. If you chop at my chest, I will definitely die."

The lama looked at him with squinted eyes; he asked, "Your head really does not afraid of saber chop?"

Wei Xiaobao took off his cap and said, "Just look, my braid is already gone, the more I train, the shorter will my hair be; the divine skill of the top of my head and of my neck has been trained to perfection. By the time I train until not a single hair on my head remains, my chest won't be afraid of your saber chop as well."

Because he became a monk in Shaolin Temple and Qingliang Temple, the hair on his head was shaved clean. By this time his hair was only less than a cun long. At that time, other than Buddhist monks and people who were bald by nature, all males had to have their hair in braids. Someone with a cun long hair like him was indeed unheard of. As for the story that the more he trained the shorter his hair and so on, Wei Xiaobao recalled it from what he saw and heard in Prince Kang’s mansion, when he met Wu Yingxiong’s escorts from Jin Ding School.

The lama saw his head, and believed several points. He had also heard that there was indeed a school called Jin Ding in Wulin, whose hard head martial art skill was very formidable. “I don’t believe your head can withstand my saber chop,” he said.

“I suggest you’d better not try it,” Wei Xiaobao said, “When the saber bounces back, the eating apparatus of your body cannot be guaranteed.”

“I don’t believe you!” the lama said, “Stand still, I am going to chop your head.” While saying that, he raised his jiedao high.

Seeing the flickering blade, Wei Xiaobao’s fear was unspeakable; he thought that if the lama realy chop his head, not only his skull would be split in two, his body would also be split like split bamboo. It’s just that: one, he could not fight the lama for real anyway, other than resorting to trickery, he did not have any other way of escaping; two, gambling had become his second nature, he was betting that when the lama heard his threat, he would not dare to chop his head or neck. In a way, he was gambling with his own life as the stake.

By now his life and death lay in this lama’s mind, but winning or losing, it was no different than throwing dice; much less in this case he had no other alternative to gambling anyway. If he did not gamble, this lama would raise his saber and chop randomly, then in the end he, as well as the nun in white and Ah Ke would be hacked to death. Moreover, right now the eyes of the beautiful girl Ah Ke were steadily fixed on him. Thinking to this point, he could not help but cast a glance toward Zheng Keshuang, who was still lying on the ground; he said in his heart, “You are a young master of a prince’s mansion, compared to me, the son of a wh0re, who is more heroic? Damn it, do you dare to stand here and let others chop your head with a saber?”

Sangjie called out in Tibetan, “This little demon knows witchcraft, don’t chop his head or neck.”

“What did he say?” Wei Xiaobao asked, “He told you not to chop my head, didn’t he? You are all treacherous and crafty, you don’t keep your own words; that won’t be good.”

“No, no,” the lama said, “Da Shixiong told me not to believe your bragging; he told me to chop your head into two halves.” As the word ‘halves’ came out of his mouth, the saber chopped down from the air.

Wei Xiaobao was so scared that his soul flew to the outer sky, in a twinkling his heroic spirit disappeared without a trace. Hastily he pulled back his head while groaning in his heart, “My life stops here!”

Unexpectedly when the saber was still three chi away from his head, it suddenly changed direction; the jiedao made a half circle turn in a different move ‘embracing moon in the bosom’, the saber swung from outside to the inside, ‘stab’, it hacked on Wei Xiaobao’s back.

The saber carried a tremendous force, Wei Xiaobao felt severe pain on his back, he was unable to stand and tumbled down into the lama’s bosom. Immediately the dagger in his right hand stabbed the pit of the lama’s stomach three times, and then he ducked down and crawled underneath the lama’s crotch, while calling out, “Aiyo, aiyo, you did not keep your words!”

The lama made some ‘he, he, he’, gurgling noise, his jiedao turned back and hacked his own face. His body curled up, twisted several times, and then he lay down motionless.

Wei Xiaobao was hoping that the lama would hack his chest; since he was wearing the treasured vest to protect his body, he would not lose his life, hence the four lamas would be scared and run away. Who would have thought that the lama did not hack his chest but his back instead? By doing so, Wei Xiaobao was pushed toward the lama. Seizing this opportunity, Wei Xiaobao stabbed his chest several times. It’s just that by crawling under the opponent’s crotch he looked to be in a very desperate situation. His near escape this time did not differentiate him as a hero or a coward.

“Shifu,” he made such a big fuss, “The divine skill on my back has also been trained to perfection. Did you see that? Cough, cough … the saber bounced back and killed him. Wonderful, wonderful!”

Actually, the lama only suffered minor injury from the bouncing saber, it was the three stabs of the dagger that killed him; yet Sangjie and the other, three people, could not see that. They assumed it was indeed the bouncing saber that killed the lama. They were so scared that they withdrew several zhang away, while loudly calling the dead lama’s name.

---

[1] Orig. ‘wen’ and ‘wu’, literary and martial art.

[foxs]

The nun in white was already aware that Wei Xiaobao was wearing the treasured vest to protect his body. She knew that Ah Ke had chopped him twice without injuring him, hence this time she was not surprised. However, seeing that he dared to bet with his own head against the saber, she could not help but admiring his guts. Actually, Wei Xiaobao was so frightened a moment ago that he peed in his pants; his crotch was dripping wet, only no one else knew about it.

The lama’s saber carried such a tremendous force that as it hit Wei Xiaobao’s back, his ribs were almost broken. Leaning against the haystack, he could not bear not to groan. The nun in white said, “Quickly give him the ‘snow ginseng jade toad pill’.”

“Where is the pill?” Ah Ke asked Wei Xiaobao.

“In my pocket,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “I might not be able to live.”

Ah Ke took the jade bottle from his pocket, pulled the cork, and tipped one pill out of the bottle. Then she put the cork back, and returned the jade bottle into Wei Xiaobao’s pocket. “Quickly take it!” she said.

Wei Xiaobao reached out to take it, but he pretended that he could not lift his hand. Grudgingly Ah Ke brought the pill to his mouth. Seeing her snow white, tender and delicate little hand, as soon as the pill entered his mouth, Wei Xiaobao puckered his lips to kiss it. Ah Ke hastily pulled her hand, but his lips brushed the back of her hand. “Ah!” she cried out.

Wei Xiaobao said in loud voice, “Shifu, these lamas speak like releasing dog fart. They said they were going to chop my head, but they chopped my back instead. And now only three left, let disciple strike them dead with the ‘splitting mountain striking ox divine fist’!”

When Sangjie and the others heard this, they withdrew several steps back. The three of them talked among themselves for a moment, and then they took out some flints to light up several stalks of hay, and tossed the burning stalks onto the haystack. The first three stalks fell on empty space. Sangjie lighted another stalk and ran several zhang forward, and then threw the stalk as hard as he could, while clapping his palms in front of his body as a shield. Afraid that Wei Xiaobao would attack him with the ‘splitting mountain striking ox divine fist’, he immediately leaped back.

As soon as the haystack met the fire, it was burned instantly. Wei Xiaobao pulled the nun in white out of the haystack. Looking all around, he saw a cave on the rocky hill to the west. Having not enough time to check, he said, “Ah Ke, quickly help Shifu to that cave over there to hide, I am going to block these lamas.”

Taking two steps toward Sangjie, he called out, “You are too brazen; unexpectedly you are not afraid of Xiaoye’s [young master] ‘splitting mountain striking ox divine fist’ and ‘protecting head golden crown divine skill’. Sangjie, you are the leader, quickly come here and take two punches from Xiaoye.”

Sangjie was cautious; momentarily he really did not dare to pursue, but then he thought about the importance of the sutra, plus the ten of his martial brothers who had lost their lives. If he gave up just like that, what would remain of his illustrious name? He saw the nun in white was walking slowly with the help of that young lady; if she was not injured, then she must be sick. It was indeed a golden opportunity for him, could it be that he could not even beat the little kid in front of him? It’s just that his martial art was so strange that those who got hit died instantly. Hence he hesitated and momentarily did not know what to do.

When Wei Xiaobao turned his head, he saw the nun in white and Ah Ke had almost reached the cave. He turned back and shouted, “You don’t dare to have a martial art match with me, laozi is going to come forward to kill you; why haven’t you run away?”

These words actually revealed the ‘horse’s leg’. Sangjie thought, “If you really have the ability to kill me, why didn’t you simply charge forward? You told me to run away, that means you are scared of me in your heart.” Laughing maliciously, he stretched out both hands, the bones in his body were cracking as he took two steps forward.

Wei Xiaobao groaned inwardly, “Bad; what trick can I use this time to kill him?”

By this time the haystack behind him was roaring with fire, the tongues of the fire almost licked his body; he mused, “Laozi better hide in the cave first, and then think of some other way slowly.” Thinking about hiding in a cave, his heart was immediately happy. If the cave was so dark that they could not see anything, he might be able to grope around Ah Ke’s body. He stooped down to pick Hubayin’s hand from the dead lama’s grip and put it into his pocket.

Seeing Sangjie took several more steps forward, he called loudly, “It’s too hot in here, laozi’s divine skill cannot be used. If you have guts, go over there and have match with me.” Finished speaking he turned around and ran toward the cave. When he entered the cave, he saw the nun in white and Ah Ke had already sat on the ground. This cave was actually only a cavity on the mountain wall, there was not enough place to hide at all; the cave was not dark either, plus Ah Ke sat leaning on the nun in white, hence it was impossible for him to grope around. He could not help but feeling a bit disappointed.

Sangjie and the two lamas slowly walked toward the front of the cave, and stopped when they were about three zhang from the cave. Sangjie called out, “You have stepped onto a dead end, there is no way out. Get the torches!” The two lamas picked the stalks and handed them over to him.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Very good, quickly throw the torches over, and see if you can burn us to death. I am afraid the Forty-two-chapter sutra will also be burned very quickly.”

Sangjie held the burning stalk high, he was just about to hurl it toward the cave, but when he heard that, he felt that Wei Xiaobao was right; if he wanted to burn the three of them to death, he would also destroy the sutra. Thereupon he tossed the torch aside and called out, “Quickly hand over the sutra, your Buddha master is merciful, I will let you walk the path of life.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “You kowtow eighteen times in front of my Shifu, my Shifu is merciful, she will let you walk the path of life.”

Sangjie was furious; he picked up the torch and threw it to the front of the cave. A burst of thick smoke was blown into the cave, Wei Xiaobao and Ah Ke were assaulted by the smoke that their eyes watered and they coughed incessantly. The nun in white was breathing very slowly, she was unaffected by the smoke. The other two lamas threw more torches.

“Shitai,” Wei Xiaobao said, “That sutra has no use anymore, just give it to them, we will … we will slowly think of other ideas.”

“’Postpone the troops’ stratagem,” Ah Ke said.

“They are not troops,” Wei Xiaobao said. Ah Ke was coughing repeatedly, she was unable to argue with him.

“Fine,” the nun in white said, and handed over the sutra to him.

Wei Xiaobao raised his voice, “I have a copy of the sutra in here, I’ll throw it out. If it falls into the fire, it’s not my problem.”

Hearing that he agreed to hand over the sutra, Sangjie was delighted. Afraid that the sutra might fall into the fire and burn, he quickly picked several large rocks and threw them at the burning stalks. His strength was enormous, his aim was accurate, the burning stalks were crushed by the rocks and immediately extinguished.

Seeing his strength in throwing the big rocks, Wei Xiaobao could not help but was shocked; he mused, “If he threw the rocks to the cave, the three of us would be crushed to death, while the sutra won’t be harmed the least bit. I must not let him think about this idea.”

“Quickly throw the sutra out,” Sangjie called out.

“Alright, alright!” Wei Xiaobao replied, “My Shifu says that you want to study the sutra, you are good disciples of Buddha, she instructed me not to harm you …” While he talked, he pulled his dagger and made several cuts on Hubayin’s hand. He placed it on the sutra, and took the bottle of ‘transforming corpse powder’ from his pocket, and sprinkle some fine powder on the fresh cuts of the severed hand. His body was obstructing the nun in white and Ah Ke’s visions, he would not let them see what he was doing. And then with a loud voice he said, “My Shifu said that this copy of ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra’ was taken from the Imperial Palace in Beijing, it is very valuable. I heard there is a big secret hidden in it, after it is revealed, the teachings of Buddha will be flourishing, it will make everyone throughout the world believe in Bodhisattva. Men will become monks, women will become nuns, little children will become little monks, little nuns, the old men …” While he was talking, the severed hand gradually changed into yellow liquid permeating the sutra.

Hearing that the sutra was indeed from the Imperial Palace, and that it concealed a big secret, Sangjie was ecstatic. He knew that ‘flourishing the teachings of Buddha’ and so on was obviously not the truth. Afraid that Wei Xiaobao might not be willing to hand over the sutra, he quickly gave some careless, perfunctory promise; he said, “Flourishing the Dharma, spreading our teachings, those are all very good.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “My Shifu read it, but could not find the secret. Now she gives it to you, asking you to study it well. If you can reveal the secret, you must spread it to the monks’ monasteries and the nuns’ convents throughout the world; you must not be selfish by keeping the secret only for your lamaseries. Will you promise to do that?”

Sangjie laughed and said, “Naturally I promise. Tell your Shifu to set her heart at ease.”

“If you cannot figure out the secret,” Wei Xiaobao continued, “You must hand it over to Shaolin Temple. If Shaolin Temple’s monks cannot figure out the secret, ask them to bring it to Qingliang Temple on Mount Wutai. If Qingliang Temple’s monks cannot figure it out, they must bring it to Chanzhi [dhyana wisdom] Temple in Yangzhou. One hands over to another, until the secret within the sutra is revealed.”

“Alright, alright,” Sangjie said, “I will surely accomplish that.” While in his heart he said, “The nun only knew that the secret in the sutra is concerning the Dharma. Lucky for me she did not know the truth, otherwise, how could she easily hand it over to me? Humph, after obtaining the sutra, I will slowly think of a way to put them to death.”

Wei Xiaobao continued, “My Shifu says, after you finish studying this ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra’, if your heart admires the teachings of Buddha, and you want to read some more, you may come to look for her, the Senior; we still have the Jin Gang [vajra] Sutra, Fa Hua [lotus] Sutra, Xin [Heart] Sutra, Da Bo’re [great/major prajna/wisdom] Sutra, Xiao Bo’re [minor prajna] Sutra, Long Ah Han Sutra, Short Ah Han Sutra, Not-too-long-not-too-short Ah Han Sutra, Old Ah Han Sutra, Young Ah Han Sutra …” He mentioned more than a dozen Buddhist scriptures in succession, all of which he had heard when he was being a monk in Shaolin Temple and Qingliang Temple; naturally he misspoke quite a few of the scriptures’ names.

Sangjie was impatient, yet he did not dare to rashly seize the sutra, since he was still afraid of the nun in white’s divine fist; he was also afraid that they might destroy the sutra. Without any other choice he thoughtlessly gave his promise, “That’s right, after I finish studying this sutra, I will borrow some more from your Shifu.”

Seeing the severed hand had completely melt, and the yellow liquid had soaked the sutra, inside and outside, Wei Xiaobao removed his shoe to cover his hand, and picked and tossed the sutra out. “Here comes the ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra’!” he called out.

Sangjie was greatly delighted; he leaped forward with outstretched hand to catch the sutra, but suddenly thought, “This sutra is very valuable, how can I obtain it this easily? Could there be any trick in it? Perhaps he would take the opportunity while I am holding the sutra to shoot some secret projectiles to me.” While he was hesitating, the two lamas picked up the sutra and said, “Shixiong, is this the Sutra?”

Sangjie said, “Examine it carefully over there, don’t fall into their trick and get the fake sutra.”

“Yes,” the two lamas replied, “Shixiong has thought everything thoroughly; we must not let them deceive us.” The three of them withdrew several zhang; hastily they opened the book’s envelope and thumbed through it.

Sangjie said, “The sutra is wet, turn the pages slowly, don’t damage the paper. Examine the look, see if it is fake, if it really looks like the description that man gave to us.”

One lama called out, “This is it. Da Shixiong, this is the book.”

Wei Xiaobao heard them speaking loudly; although he did not understand Tibetan, listening to the tone, he could deduce that they were exceptionally delighted. He called out, “Hey, hey, how come you have centipedes on your faces?”

The two lamas were startled; they reached up to feel their faces and did not find any centipede or any other insect. “Little urchin loves to talk nonsense,” they cursed.

Sangjie’s cultivation in meditation power was really deep, hearing Wei Xiaobao’s shout, unconsciously he felt something like a bug crawling on his face, but he ignored it; he focused all his attention to thumbing through the sutra.

Wei Xiaobao shouted again, “Aiyo, aiyo! A dozen scorpions are creeping into their necks.”

This time the two lamas were not fooled. One of them said, “Seeing us obtaining the Sutra, this urchin is not happy, he is making preposterous remark to cheat us. This little thief has killed two of our Shidi, we can’t simply spare his life.”

The other lama, however, really felt his neck was rather itchy. He reached back to scratch it, but after scratching a few times, he felt his ten fingers were unbearably itchy; thereupon he wiped the fingers to his arms. By this time Sangjie and the other lama also started to feel their fingers were itchy, but they ignored it. After half a day, unexpectedly the itch was becoming unbearable. When they looked at their fingers, they saw all their fingertips were covered in yellow liquid. “Strange,” they three of them said to each other, “What is that?”

The two lamas also felt their faces were itchy; instantly they reached up and vigorously scratched their faces. The more they scratched, the worse they felt. After a while, their faces started to ooze yellow liquid. Sangjie suddenly realized what was going on. “Aiyo!” he cried out, “Not good, the Sutra is poisonous!” And he threw the Sutra as far as he could. He saw his own fingers were producing yellow liquid, like beads of perspiration coming out of his skin. In his great shock, he hastily rubbed his fingers to the dirt on the ground, but he saw his two martial brothers were clawing their faces vigorously; each scratch produced a strip of bloodstain.

This bottle of ‘corpse transforming powder’, which Wei Xiaobao obtained from Hai Dafu’s room, was very fierce; if it came into contact with intact skin, it was absolutely harmless, but if it came into contact with a drop of blood, the blood would turn into yellow liquid with great corrosive power, the rotten flesh would then turn into yellowish poisonous liquid. The poison would then melt more and more flesh, just like a single spark from the flint would burn a large stack of hay into flying ash.

This ‘transforming corpse powder’ became poison when it came in contact with blood, it could be considered the number one poison under the heavens. Initially it came from the west. It was reported that the poison entered the Wulin world of the Song Dynasty by the devil champion Western Poison Ouyang Feng, who created it from the venoms of more than a dozen different vipers and poisonous insects. After the ‘mother poison’ was created, re-processing was not needed, simply let the yellow poisonous liquid dry in the sun, and it will become the poisonous powder.

When the two lamas scratched their faces and the poison came into contact with blood, in an instant their faces were turning into yellow liquid. They screamed and howled while their faces were even more painful and itchy; they fell to the ground and rolling around continuously. Luckily Sangjie had not scratched his face, but the itch on his ten fingers had penetrated onto his bones. Immediately he took off his outer garment to wrap the sutra, and then holding it under his arm he flew away, urgently trying to find water to wash the poison from his fingers.

The itch the two lamas experienced was so terrible that they lost their minds; they raised their heads and crashed them randomly against the rocks. After several strikes, they both fainted.

Witnessing this kind of scene, the nun in white and Ah Ke were amazed endlessly. Wei Xiaobao only knew that the ‘transforming corpse powder’ could melt dead body, but he was not sure if it would be effective on living persons. In desperate situation, he had no choice but to try it. Unexpectedly it was a success at the first attempt, plus he was lucky to have Hubayin’s severed hand to initiate the poisoning. Supposing he sprinkled the ‘transforming corpse powder’ directly on the sutra, it would be quite useless. Originally he only wanted to use the severed hand to fondle Ah Ke, unexpectedly it had become a very effective weapon.

Seeing Sangjie had run far away and the two lamas had fainted, he rushed out of the cave and pulled his dagger, thinking that he would stabbed once or twice on these lamas’ bodies. But as he came near them, he saw the two lamas’ faces had already rotten until only their bones were visible. He did not need to do anything; shortly afterwards, the corpses would turn into two pools of yellow liquid.

He walked toward Zheng Keshuang and said with a laugh, “Zheng Gongzi, my demonic method is very effective. Would you like to try it?”

Zheng Keshuang saw the terrifying condition of the two lamas; hearing Wei Xiaobao’s words, he was shocked. Hastily he jumped backward with clenched fists in front of his body. “You … don’t come near me!” he shouted.

Ah Ke came out of the cave; she angrily shouted at Wei Xiaobao, “You … what are you doing?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “I am just scaring him a little bit, what does it have to do with you?”

“I don’t want you to scare anybody,” Ah Ke angrily said.

“You are afraid I might scare him to death?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

“Why would you want to scare anybody without any rhyme or reason?” Ah Ke said.

Wei Xiaobao beckoned to her, “Come and look,” he said.

“I don’t want to look,” Ah Ke said. Although her mouth said so, her curiosity was piqued; slowly she walked over and looked down. She could not help but jumping in fright, while screaming in high-pitched voice. She saw that the flesh on the two lamas’ faces, their noses, their lips, everything was gone; what remained was their skulls, with four holes on it. All hairs, ears and the muscle behind their necks were not yet rotten. Perhaps there has never been any person alive on this earth with such a frightening face like these two lamas.

Ah Ke was dizzy and fell backward. Wei Xiaobao hastily reached out to hold her. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid!” he called out.

Ah Ke screamed again and ran back to the cave. “Shifu, Shifu,” she panted, “He … he turned those two lamas into … into monsters.”

The nun in white slowly stood up. Ah Ke held her hand and took her to the two lamas, but she turned her head away, she did not dare to look again. Seeing those two skulls, the nun in white could not refrain from gasping. She looked up at the distant place and saw the bodies of three more lamas; she could not hell but heaving a deep sigh while casting her gaze to the distant mountain.

By now the sun was sinking on the west, painting half of the sky with blood red color. She was thinking about how this setting sun was also illuminating thousands of mountain passes and tens of thousands hills, as well as the barbarians of the distant land. If she wanted to restore the country, she wondered how many more lives would be killed, how many more bones would be piled up. When all is said and done, should she, or should she not?

[foxs]

Chapter 27 - Someone heard a ghost crying on Yunnan’s sea, thorny gate provided another source of amusement.
(Translated by Foxs)

LuDingJi-27.jpg

Feng Jizhong grabbed both of Zheng Keshuang’s hands, twisted him around, and threw him seven, eight zhang away. “Catch this!” he shouted. One after another Tian Di Hui warriors shouted and rushed to catch Zheng Keshuang and toss him over. Zheng Keshuang stayed in the air and had never fallen to the ground.

[foxs]

The nun in white was lost in thought for half a day. Seeing Wei Xiaobao approaching with a big grin on his face, she knew that he was the one who put poison on the Sutra. She sighed and said, “If not for your intelligence and quick-thinking, it would be difficult for me to escape losing my life in the enemy’s hand today. It would not be a big deal, I was more afraid I would be humiliated. Only, killing people is not something to be proud of, no need to be this happy.”

Wei Xiaobao quickly erased the smiling expression from his face. “Yes,” he replied.

The nun in white added, “This kind of sinister and ruthless method is not the way of prestigious house or upright sect’s disciples. In critical situation, you have no choice but to use it to deal with the villains, but from now on you must not use it recklessly.”

Wei Xiaobao complied again. He said, “Today was the first time I ever used that method. Frankly, my martial art skill is too lacking, I can’t fight a just and honorable fight with them; otherwise, a man must fight like a real man, victory must be achieved handsomely. How could I use such a fooling around method?”

The nun in white stared at him for half a day before asking, “You have been at Shaolin Temple, Qingliang Temple, for many days, could it be that the martial art master Shifu at the Temple did not teach you any martial art?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Martial art, I have learned some. It’s a pity that junior did not learn the proper way; I only learn some superficial styles, but did not cultivate internal strength.”

The nun in white cast a glance toward Ah Ke before she asked, “And why is that?”

“There was not enough time to train,” Wei Xiaobao replied.

“What do you mean not enough time?” the nun in white asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Because disciple has offended Miss Ah Ke, she wanted to kill me. The situation was urgent, I had no choice but to carelessly learn some moves to protect my life.”

The nun in white nodded. She said, “Just now when you talked to those lamas, you repeatedly said that I am your Shifu; why is that?”

Wei Xiaobao blushed. Ah Ke interjected, “Shifu, he is harboring a bad thought, he wanted to do obeisance to you and take you as his master.”

The nun in white smiled and said, “Wanted to do obeisance to me and take me as his master cannot be considered a bad thought.”

“It’s not,” Ah Ke anxiously said. She knew that Wei Xiaobao’s real intention in wanting to do obeisance and take the nun in white as his master was so that he could entangle her all day every day, but of course she could not say it.

The nun in white said to Wei Xiaobao, “You have called me Shifu, naturally I cannot let you call in vain.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted; immediately he kneeled down and respectfully kowtowed eight times while calling out loudly, “Shifu.”

The nun in white smiled and said, “Now that you have entered my school, you must abide by the rule: you must not fool around.”

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “Toward bad people disciple will fool around, but toward good people I will always follow the rule strictly.”

Ah Ke made faces to him and stuck out her tongue at him, while in her heart she was unspeakably angry. “This little vile creature has done obeisance to Shifu and be her disciple; from now on I can’t kill him anymore, and will always be entangled by him. I can’t push her away, I can’t kick him, it’s a serious headache.”

The nun in white had been besieged by the six lamas, were it not for Wei Xiaobao’s help, she would not have the good fortune. Afterwards Sangjie and the other, seven lamas pursued her, she could only helplessly let herself be captured; her situation was indeed very dangerous. Although her age had surpassed four decades, her appearance was very beautiful. If she fell into these evil lamas’ hands, she was bound to suffer enormous humiliation. By the will of heavens this little kid was completely crafty and cunning, and was able to eliminate the enemies one by one, and thus he had helped her preserving her purity; the gratitude in her heart was unspeakable. Seeing that Wei Xiaobao was cherishing the idea of having her as his master, she decided to agree; thinking that the little kid was naughty, loved to act willfully and make a scene, but that it should not make her worry. If he received her nurture and training, someday he might make a name for himself in Jianghu.

According to Wulin rule, since Wei Xiaobao had entered Chen Jinnan’s school, without Shifu’s permission he could not do obeisance and take somebody else as his master. However, he did not know all these rules; even if he did, right that moment he did not care. The nun in white had agreed to accept him into her school, now he could constantly see Ah Ke. Even if Kangxi abdicated his throne and gave it to him, he would not want it. He was very lazy in training martial art, he thought that most likely he would have to train hard under the nun in white, the headache would be inevitable. But as long as he could be with Ah Ke, more bitter matter would feel as sweet as syrup; therefore, he did the eight kowtows while bursting with joy, indeed he felt as if a treasured object has fallen from heaven just for him.

Seeing his delight, the nun in white thought he was happy to have found a brilliant master and henceforth would train hard to master the excellent martial art. If she knew his real intention, perhaps she would kick him until he rolled around eight times, and although she had just accepted him into her school, would expel him immediately.

Ah Ke’s little mouth flattened, she said, “Shifu, look at him this happy, he will really spoil our family.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “A martial art master whose skill is number one in the present age has accepted me as her disciple, naturally I am exceedingly happy.”

The nun in white smiled and said, “You must not talk nonsense about me as the number one martial art master of this age. Now that you have entered my school, you need to know your master’s Buddhist name. My Buddhist name is Jiu Nan [lit. nine difficulties/disaster]. Our school is called the Tie Jian Men [iron sword school]. Your Shizu [master ancestor] was a Taoist Priest, whose title was Mu [wood] at the top and Sang [mulberry] at the bottom; he has passed away. Although I am a Buddhist nun, my martial art skill actually belongs to Taoist branch.”

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Disciple will remember.”

The nun in white Jiu Nan added, “Ah Ke, you and him, who is a bit older?”

“Naturally I am,” Ah Ke replied.

“I am older,” Wei Xiaobao said.

“Alright,” Jiu Nan said, “The two of you need not argue, whoever entered the school first is older. From now on there is no more ‘Miss Ah Ke’ or ‘little vile creature’; one is ‘Chen Shijie’, the other is ‘Wei Shidi’.”

With a loud voice Wei Xiaobao called, “Chen Shijie.”

“Humph,” Ah Ke snorted; in front of her Shifu, she did not dare to curse, but she cast him a malicious look.

“Ah Ke,” Jiu Nan said, “The minor matter of the past should not be taken to heart forever. This time Xiaobao has rendered some meritorious deed by saving you and me, two people. Even though he has offended you, he has done more than enough to redeem it.” Speaking to this point, she gently sighed, thinking, “This child is intelligent and sharp, it’s a pity he has met misfortune since he was young by being a eunuch.”

She continued, “Previously Xiaobao was bullied and humiliated by others, he was forced to be a eunuch. As his martial older sister, you must pity his wretched fate and look after him a little bit. This is actually better, there won’t be male-female division between the two of you, when you are together later on you must not have any misgivings. It’s much more convenient. However, you must not tell anybody about this.”

Ah Ke complied. Thinking that this little vile creature was a eunuch, his rudeness to her in the past was not too big of a deal; her anger somewhat subsided. Turning to Zheng Keshuang, she called out, “Zheng Gongzi, are you injured?”

Limping, Zheng Keshuang walked over; he said, “Not too bad, only my leg is twisted.” Thinking that previously he boasted by saying that he had more than enough force to cope with the lamas, while when things came to a head he failed miserably, and they had to rely on this little kid to repel the enemy, his face blushed with shame.

“Shifu,” Ah Ke said, “What should we do? Shall we still go to Hejian Prefecture?”

Jiu Nan hesitatingly said, “Going to Hejian Prefecture to take a look is fine, but we must guard against that Lama Sangjie returning. Right now I am unable to move freely.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Shifu, you can stay here and take a rest, I’ll go find a large carriage.”

Wei Xiaobao could not find any carriage, but he bought an ox cart from a peasant family, and invited Jiu Nan and the others, three people, to ride on it, while he drove the cart slowly to continue their journey. Luckily Sangjie did not reappear.

When they reached another small town ahead, they abandoned the cart and hired two large carriages. Along the way Wei Xiaobao asked his Shifu to take several more ‘snow ginseng jade toad pills’. Jiu Nan’s internal energy was profound, with the efficacious medicine giving her a boost, her internal injury was healing really quickly.

After traveling for two days, they arrived at Hejian Prefecture at noon. After putting up at an inn, Zheng Keshuang went out to scout the area and hear the news. More than two hours later he came back dejectedly, saying that he inquired everywhere in the city, but unexpectedly no one knew anything about ‘Turtle-slaying Assembly’.

Jiu Nan asked, “Zheng Gongzi, from where did you hear about this ‘Turtle-slaying Assembly’?”

Zheng Keshuang replied, “The two River Heroes Feng Brothers, Feng Bupo and Feng Bucui asked Tian Di Hui to deliver a letter to Taiwan, inviting my Fu Wang [father king] to send an envoy to preside over the ‘Turtle-slaying General Assembly’. The letter says that the general assembly will be held on the fifteenth of this month at Hejian Prefecture. Today is the eleventh, so it is only four days away.”

Jiu Nan nodded. She slowly said, “The two brothers from the Feng Clan, aren’t they from Huashan Pai?” Lifting her head up, she looked outside the window, remembering the matter of many years ago.

Zheng Keshuang said, “Fu Wang sent me to preside over the general assembly; I presumed the Feng Clan brothers would definitely send people to wait for me respectfully in here, who would have thought … humph …” His expression showed that he was really angry.

Jiu Nan said, “Perhaps the Tatars have obtained the information and made some moves, hence the Feng Clan brothers changed the date and place.”

Zheng Keshuang resentfully said, “Even if that’s the case, they ought to notify me.”

While they were still talking, a waiter knocked the door and said, “Zheng Keguan [lit. ‘guest’ Zheng], there are people outside seeking an audience with you.” Zheng Keshuang was greatly delighted; hastily he went out.

A moment later, he hurriedly came back, saying, “The Feng Clan brothers have personally come here; they really apologized to me, saying that they knew that I brought more than twenty attendants, hence for the last several days they were waiting outside the city to welcome me, who would have thought that we have sneakily [orig. the gods unaware, the ghosts unconscious] entered the city? Right now they have prepared a big feast for us to wash the dust and welcome us. Would everybody please come with me?”

Jiu Nan shook her head and said, “Zheng Gongzi should go alone, and please do not mention anything about me being here.”

Zheng Keshuang was rather disappointed; he said, “Since Shitai is not willing to be disturbed, how about Miss Chen and Wei Xiongdi come with me?”

“They also do not need to go,” Jiu Nan replied, “On the day of the general assembly, we will all go together.” That night Zheng Keshuang returned to the inn completely drunk.

Around midnight, his more than twenty attendants also arrived at the inn, only everybody’s hands and feet were bandaged and tied with splints, making them did not look elegant at all.

Early morning the next day, Zheng Keshuang recounted what happened in the big banquet the previous night to Jiu Nan, Ah Ke and Wei Xiaobao. He said that the Feng Clan brothers were very respectful to him, they invited him to sit at the seat of honor, and did not stop praising the Zheng Clan for erecting the banner of righteousness, resisting the Manchurian Qing in Taiwan alone. Jiu Nan asked him who else had come to the feast.

Zheng Keshuang said, “There are already many people arrived here. In the past few days people are coming one after another. It was decided that we will have the general assembly at midnight of the fifteenth, at the Locust Tree Plain, eighteen li west of the city. The midnight assembly is to guard against the Qing Court’s ears and eyes. Actually the Feng Clan brothers are too cautious. With these many heroes and warriors assembled here, even if there is a large number of a Qing troop coming here, we will kill and have them completely routed.”

Jiu Nan asked in details the names of the heroes and warriors attending the meeting, but Zheng Keshuang was unable to come up with anything. He only said, “There were several hundred people eating and drinking together. Every one of the several dozen leaders came to propose a toast to me for Fu Wang’s sake. They all announced their school, sect, name and surname, but I am not able to recall that many names at once.”

Jiu Nan did not say anything; she mused, “This Zheng Gongzi has an attractive outward appearance in vain, he actually does not have any talent.”

After recuperating in the inn for several days, Jiu Nan’s injury was completely healed. She restrained Ah Ke and Wei Xiaobao from coming out and wandering aimlessly, to avoid meeting Wulin characters and creating some trouble. Zheng Keshuang, however, left the inn every day early in the morning, and did not return until very late at night. Every day there was Jianghu hero or warrior who invited him to a banquet.

When the night fell on the fifteenth, Jiu Nan put on the clothing that Wei Xiaobao bought for her. She dressed as a middle-aged woman, her head was covered in black head wrap; she put yellow powder on her face, and drew her eyebrows slanted downward. No one would recognize her true identity. Wei Xiaobao and Ah Ke dressed as ordinary young man, young woman. Zheng Keshuang, however, was wearing brocade gown. He removed his fake braid and put on the attire of Ming Dynasty nobility; he looked beaming and buoyant.

Jiu Nan had not seen her former country’s attire for a long time; seeing his clothing and adornment, she was both delighted and rueful. Seeing his godly charm, jade-like appearance, Ah Ke felt like her soul was even more intoxicated. Only Wei Xiaobao, who felt ashamed of his inferiority, cursed in his heart ‘embroidered pillow son of a b1tch’ seventeen, eighteen times.

About the first watch of the night [between 7-9 pm], the Yanpin Mansion’s attendants drove a large carriage to take the four of them to the Locust Tree Plain for the assembly. The Locust Tree Plain was a large piece of flat land surrounded by hills all around it. It was the place where the locals held market days, or religious festivals, or having theatrical performances. In the darkness one could see that the plain was packed with people.

As soon as Zheng Keshuang arrived, a joyous sound thundered all around them. Several dozen people surged forward to greet him and flock around him. Jiu Nan took Ah Ke and Wei Xiaobao to sit far away underneath a large locust tree. By this time there was a continuous flow of people from east, west, south and north. More and more people assembled on the grassy field.

Wei Xiaobao thought, “That treacherous bandit Wu Sangui tied enmity with really a lot of people. Our Tian Di Hui and the Mu Palace have made a bet to see who can kill him first. This b@stard’s personal enemies number in millions, if somebody made their move first, unavoidably Tian Di Hui and Mu Palace lose.”

[foxs]

The round bright moon slowly rose to the top of their heads. On the grassy field, an old man, tall and well-built, with long white beard fluttered in the wind, stood up, cupped his fist, and said, “Gentlemen, heroes and warriors, zaixia Feng Nandi salutes you.”

The crowd of heroes stood up to return his salute and said together, “Old Hero Feng, how are you?”

In a low voice Jiu Nan said, “He is the father of the Feng Clan brothers.” She remembered how she had had a casual acquaintance with him on the summit of Mount Hua. At that time, when she, under the name ‘Ah Jiu’ [lit. ‘nine’], met with Jianghu heroes and warriors, she was only a young teenage girl, Feng Nandi was at the prime of his life; yet today he was already on the brink of old age. Presumably his Shizu [ancestor master] Mu Renqing, and his Shifu, the ‘Copper Pen and Abacus’ Huang Zhen, had both passed away; but what about his Shishu [martial uncle] Yuan Chengzhi? Her feelings toward this man were carved into her bones. But for more than twenty years she had not heard any news about him. For the last several years her heart was like an old well without any ripple [i.e. widow who does not remarry]. Suddenly seeing an old friend tonight, she could not restrain myriads of thoughts from invading her heart; all of a sudden her feelings welled-up in her breast.

Wei Xiaobao saw the glistening tears on her eyes. “Why does Shifu suddenly want to cry as soon as she saw this old man Feng?” he mused, “Could this old man be her old sweetheart? There is no harm in me playing a matchmaker, let she and her old sweetheart mend whatever broken heart she might have. It’s just that Shifu is still very young, she can’t possibly fall in love with this old man.”

He heard Feng Nandi with loud, clear and ringing voice said, “Friends, we gather together in here today, everybody is already aware what important matter we are facing. Our Great Ming’s rivers and mountains is occupied by the Tatars. The main culprit is that unpardonably wicked, the one deserving ten thousand deaths …”

From all around the crowd of heroes shouted together, “Wu Sangui!” With everybody shouted together, it really sounded like a thunder reverberating throughout the range of hills. Someone then shouted, “Big traitor!” Another one shouted, “Son of a turtle.” Yet another one shouted, “Son of a b1tch.” And, “F*ck his eighteen generation ancestors.” Everyone cursed and swore for a while before the voices gradually calmed down.

Suddenly there was a high-pitched childish voice shouted, “F*ck his nineteen generation ancestors’ granny.” The crowd of heroes was actually full of hatred, but suddenly heard this cussing, they could not help but bursting out in loud laughter.

The voice indeed belonged to Wei Xiaobao. Ah Ke angrily said, “Why did you say such an unpleasant words?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Everybody was cursing, why can’t I?”

“But nobody said such an unpleasant words,” Ah Ke replied.

Wei Xiaobao smiled without saying anything. “People were saying words ten times more unpleasant,” he mused.

Feng Nandi said, “The big traitor’s crime is great, his evil extreme, everyone gnashed his teeth in hatred. Although that little brother is young, he knew that we all wish to feed on his raw flesh and spread his dead skin in our bedroom. Tonight everybody gathers here, it is precisely to discuss a brilliant plan on how to put this traitor to death.”

Immediately the crowd of warriors offered their suggestions one after another. Someone said that they all should go to Yunnan, force their way into Ping Xi Wang Mansion, and massacre Wu Sangui’s entire family, without leaving anything; not even their chicken or their dogs. Someone else responded that the Thief Wu had numerous troops and horses under his command, open attack would be difficult to succeed, hence it was not a good way to assassinate him. Someone said that killing him with one stab was too easy for him; it would be better to have his eyes gouged, his hands broken, and made him suffer unbearable pain. Someone said that they had better used violent poison, so that his whole body would rot slowly.

A middle-aged woman dressed in black said that it would be best to have Wu Sangui’s entire family, old and young, massacred; leaving him, one man, alone, so that he would feel the suffering of being lonely and desolate. Another middle-aged man said that Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing because of his love toward Concubine Chen Yuanyuan, whom Li Chuang[1] forcibly took away; it would be better to capture Chen Yuanyuan, so that Wu Sangui would die of broken-heart. Someone else responded that although Wu Sangui was a lecher, the love of his life was after all power and position, riches and honor; hence it would be best to let him achieve fame, riches and honor, but let his wife, sons and daughters to be impoverished, to reduce them to be beggars on the earth, but don’t let them die.

Several hundred heroes cheered loudly; they all said, “With a punishment like that, it can be considered a punishment for his entire family.”

A man said, “Manchurian Qing Tatars favor him considerably, they set the evil thief as the Ping Xi Wang[2], his power and influence reach the heavens. Killing his wife and children is already not easy, taking away his power, riches and honor would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens.”

A Yunnan native stood up and recounted how Wu Sangui bully common people in Yunnan, how he kill people like mowing grass, and how he create all kinds of disaster. The listening warriors were filled with righteous indignation, their blood was boiling. Several people said if they let Wu Sangui wield power for one more day, several more innocent common people would die under his hands. But on how to get rid of this dangerous traitor, nobody had a really good idea.

By this time Feng Nandi, father and sons’ subordinates arrived with the delivery of beef, flat bread, wine and water. The crowd of heroes cheered and ate and drank to their hearts’ content. As soon as wine entered these warriors’ belly, their speech became even more unrestrained and their ideas became even wilder.

Someone said that after they capture Chen Yuanyuan, they must open a brothel, and let Wu Sangui become the big turtle.

As soon as Wei Xiaobao heard this idea, he agreed with all his heart. “This brothel must be opened in Yangzhou,” he called out.

A warrior laughed and said, “Xiao Xiongdi’s [little brother] idea is fine. When that time comes, will you or will you not go to have a visit?”

Wei Xiaobao was about to reply, “Naturally I will go,” but in a glance he saw Ah Ke’s angry look; thereupon he did not dare to say it out loud.

“Xiaobao,” Jiu Nan said, “Do not talk like these obscene people of the marketplace.”

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao complied, but in his heart he mused, “In the business of opening a brothel, perhaps among several thousand people in here, no one has expertise like laozi’s.”

After the people ate and drank for some time, Feng Nandi stood up and said, “We all are rough martial people who, risking death, are used to use saber and spear to kill our enemies, who are bound by righteousness, but we are shallow and crude in facing important matters of the world. Right now I am asking Mr. Gu Tinglin to give us advice. Mr. Gu is a profound scholar of the present age. After our country was broken, he, the Senior, rushed around all parts of our country, contacting virtuous warriors, concentrating his thoughts and efforts to plan and prepare the restoration of our country. Everybody admires him very much.”

There were not a few among the crowd who had heard Gu Tinglin’s name, perhaps from ten people, eight or nine had heard about his reputation; immediately thunderous applause erupted from all directions.

A thin, old man stood up from among the crowd, he was none other than Gu Tinglin. Cupping his hand across his chest, he said, “Feng Daxia [great hero] praised me like this, Xiongdi is really ashamed and dare not accept the honor. Just now I have heard everybody’s opinion, each one harbors loyal and patriotic heart, each one is determined to put this big traitor to death, Xiongdi is indeed full of admiration. The men of old said, ‘Unity of will is an impregnable stronghold’; someone else has said, ‘sincerity splits open metal and stone’. If everybody is working as one, determined to deal with this criminal ringleader, even of he has a gargantuan ability, we can still succeed.”

The crowd of heroes erupted in cheers, “Right, right! We can certainly succeed.”

Gu Tinglin said, “The schemes all of you have raised, every one of them is a brilliant idea, it’s just that to deal with this treacherous bandit, we must change according to the situation. It’s hard to decide in advance which plan would work best. In Xiongdi’s humble opinion, we all must advance separately at the same time, we will act as circumstances dictate: first, naturally we must never leak the secret, otherwise this traitor will step up his guard. Second, we must not be reckless, everything must be planned well before we go into action, so that we will not deliver our lives in vain. Third, we all are good Xiongdi; we must not fight with each other and harm the yi qi in striving to set the meritorious deed first.”

The crowd of heroes replied, “Yes, yes, Mr. Gu is absolutely right.”

Gu Tinglin continued, “Heroes and warriors of every school, sect, clan and society gather here today. If from now on we return to our separate ways, our strength will be scattered too much. If we form one large clan, the number of people is indeed too large; it will be too easy for the Tatars and that Thief Wu to detect our presence. I wonder if you have a good idea.”

The crowd of heroes fell silent. After quite a while, someone said, “I wonder if Mr. Gu has a wise opinion.”

Gu Tinglin said, “From what Xiongdi saw, all heroes from eighteen provinces are represented here. We form one union per one province, altogether we will have eighteen ‘turtle-slaying alliances’. Oh, by the way, ‘turtle-slaying alliance’ does not sound too elegant, it would be better to call it ‘weeding-out traitor alliance’; what do you think?”

One after another the crowd of warriors clapped and cheered. They said, “The words of a scholar is definitely different from crude people like us.”

Before his participation in the ‘turtle-slaying assembly’ at Hejian Prefecture, Gu Tinglin had had careful deliberations; he felt that if the crowd of heroes had one mind to kill Wu Sangui, everybody made one vigorous effort and advance bravely, killing him might not be too difficult. But the real important matter was not to kill this traitor to China, rather, it was to drive the Manchurians away and recover Han people’s rivers and mountains. If in order to put to death one person the number of casualties is significant, and their vitality harmed, it would be damaging to their great undertaking of recovering the country instead.

Martial art practitioners put great emphasis on school and sect, to put these several thousand warriors under one person’s command would be very difficult to accomplish. In order to vie over the ‘meng zhu’ [alliance master, I am aware that other translators have used ‘chancellor’] position, they would inevitably struggle in the light and fight in the dark, there would be a lot of hostility. If the defeated party was narrow-minded, they might switch side and inform the Qing court or even Wu Sangui. But if they were split into eighteen provinces’ alliance, with each alliance elect their own alliance leader, not only they all would not be lumped together in confusion, they would not be under one command either. Moreover, it would be a lot easier than electing one ‘meng zhu’. In the future, this eighteen provinces’ ‘weeding-out traitor alliance’ may be gradually expanded to be the backbone of the uprising against the Qing. Hearing that his proposal was met with approval of this crowd of heroes, he was very pleased.

Feng Nandi said, “Mr. Gu’s idea is extremely brilliant. Since nobody has any objection, we are going to form ‘weeding-out traitor alliance’ for eighteen provinces. Each province will elect their own alliance leader. The way we determine which province we will belong to is not according to our native place, but according to which province our school or sect is located. For example, Shaolin Temple’s lay disciples may be from Liao Dong or Yunnan, but they will all belong to Henan province. Huashan Pai disciples will all belong to Shanxi province. What do you think?”

The crowd of heroes responded, “It should be so. Otherwise, people from the same school, the same sect, the same clan or the same society from different provinces will belong to various alliances; it would be a complete mess.”

Someone stood up and said, “What about our Tian Di Hui? We have quite a number of halls in different provinces, while our zongduo [lit. head/chief helm – headquarters] location is not fixed either. May I ask how should we decide which province we will belong to?”

Wei Xiaobao noticed that the speaker was actually Qian Laoben. “Turns out he is also here,” he thought, “I wonder how many of my Green Wood Hall’s brothers are here.”

In a loud and clear voice Feng Nandi replied, “Mr. Gu said that the numerous heroes of the halls of Tian Di Hui in Guangdong should belong to Guangdong province, the different halls of Zhili [see Note 3 Chapter 9] should belong to Zhili. We are forming alliances just for the common goal to accomplish the important matter, not to break up school, sect, clan and society. The duty of the ‘meng zhu’ of ‘weeding-out traitor alliance’ is simply to communicate with the heroes of his province, to pool together the heroes’ brains and brawns. As for the internal matter of each school, each sect, each clan and each society, naturally the ‘meng zhu’ has no right to intervene. The ‘meng zhu’ of each province is not higher than the ‘zhang men’ [sect leader/head/chief] of each school or sect, or higher than the ‘bang zhu’ [clan leader] of each clan or society.”

At first some people among the crowd were apprehensive, they were afraid that the elected ‘meng zhu’ of each province would inevitable lower their own position. Listening to Feng Nandi’s explanation, they understood and all doubts in their heart gone. Immediately they split up into their respective province to elect their leader.

“Shifu,” Wei Xiaobao asked, “Which province should we join?”

“I won’t join anything,” Jiu Nan said, “I am coming and going alone, I don’t need to join any alliance.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Based on your, Senior’s status and martial art, you should be the ‘meng zhu’ of the entire world’s alliance.”

“Hey,” Jiu Nan said, “You must not say those words again, so that nobody would hear it and we won’t provoke any ridicule.”

In her heart, among the heroes attending the assembly, there was no one whose status was more respected than hers. This Great Ming’s rivers and lakes originally belonged to her Zhu family anyway. As for the martial art cultivation, other than learning the Iron Sword School martial art under Taoist Priest Mu Sang’s tutelage, more than ten years ago she had a fortuitous meeting that her ‘hundred-chi bamboo pole’ was advancing one step forward, so that compared to Priest Mu Sang of the past, she had far surpassed him like the ‘green is born of blue, but the green beats the blue’. Looking at the present age, perhaps other than Yuan Chengzhi, whose whereabouts was unknown, no one could be considered her match.

The crowd of heroes on the grassy field was divided into eighteen groups, with about seventy, eighty people standing up, scattered around the field. These were people with outstanding talent, who, like Jiu Nan, were not willing to be the ‘meng zhu’, but were not willing to accept orders from other people either. Understanding clearly that these were martial art masters of Wulin world with eccentric characters, Gu Tinglin and Feng Nandi did not force them, thinking that since they had attended the assembly, when there is any problem in the future, they might lend a hand in secret.

Before long, several provinces had already had their ‘meng zhu’ elected. Henan province elected the Abbot of Shaolin Temple, Hui Cong Chanshi [Dhyana Master]. Hubei province elected the Zhangmenren [sect leader] of Wudang Pai, Priest Yun Yan. Shanxi province was Zhangmenren of Huashan Pai, ‘Awe-inspiring on Eight Sides’ Feng Nandi. Yunnan province was Mu Jiansheng, Mu Gongzi of the Mu Palace. Fujian province was Yan Ping Jun Wang’s second son, Zheng Keshuang. All these people were in favor with the public, in a short while nobody raised any objection.

As for other provinces, there were minor disagreements, some people refused to concede, hence they could not make decision. In the end they asked Gu Tinglin to impartially mediate; eventually all provinces had elected their leaders, including three Tian Di Hui’s ‘xiang zhu’ [fragrant hall masters] elected to be the ‘meng zhu’ in three provinces. It could be considered that Tian Di Hui had gained considerable face that day.

Presently the elected alliance leaders of all provinces met together, but it turned out that only thirteen were present, Dhyana Master Hui Cong, Priest Yun Yan, and the others did not attend the assembly, only their disciples participated on behalf of their masters.

In a loud and clear voice Feng Nandi said, “Now that the eighteen provinces’ ‘meng zhu’ have been elected, Xiongdi is not going to announce their revered surname and great names in public to avoid the secret from leaking out.”

---

[1] Reference to Li Zicheng, the Chuang Wang – roaming king, a Chinese rebel leader who overthrew the Ming Dynasty and ruled over China briefly as emperor of the short-lived Shun Dynasty.

[2] Reminder: Ping Xi Wang means ‘King who pacifies the west’.

[foxs]

The alliance leaders met for a while. Feng Nandi also said, “We are respectfully asking Mr. Gu Tinglin and Chen Zongduozhu of Tian Di Hui to be chief military strategist [orig. ‘zong jun shi’ – chief army master] of the eighteen provinces’ ‘weeding-out the traitor alliances’.” The crowd of heroes broke off in thunderous applause. Hearing his Shifu was highly revered by this crowd of heroes by being appointed as the chief military strategist of this ‘weeding-out the traitor alliances’, Wei Xiaobao was very proud.

Immediately the crowd of heroes split into several groups to discuss how they were going to kill Wu Sangui. A pile on the east, a bunch on the west, the discussions were very enthusiastic.

Jiu Nan took Wei Xiaobao and Ah Ke back to the inn. Early in the morning the next day they hired a carriage and continued their journey eastward. Jiu Nan knew that as the crowd returned to their native places, they might came across some acquaintances along the way, hence she did not remove her disguise.

Seeing Zheng Keshuang was no longer following them, Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted; he did not stop talking about the ‘turtle-slaying assembly’ the previous night. After listening to him for a while, Ah Ke shot him malicious look and said, “I know why you are this happy.”

“You are very smart,” Wei Xiaobao said, “You have guessed it right. With these many people want to kill Wu Sangui, how could we be unsuccessful? Naturally I am very happy.”

“Humph,” Ah Ke said, “Definitely you are happy not because of that. How can there be any goodness in your heart?”

“That’s strange,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Why am I happy then?”

Ah Ke said, “It’s because Zheng Gongzi … Zheng Gongzi …”

Seeing her upset expression, Wei Xiaobao deliberately provoked her, he said, “Ah, I forgot. Zheng Gongzi is really a good man. When I went out to hire the carriage just now, I saw him with four good-looking women, he was talking and laughing with them. When he saw me, he told me to send his regards to Shifu and you.”

Ah Ke’s heart skipped a beat. “Why … why didn’t you say so earlier?” she said, “What else did he say?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “He said that those heroines wanted to visit Taiwan to have fun, he is taking them along, saying that he must fulfill his land … land something.”

“Friendship of the land-owner,” Ah Ke said with clenched teeth.

“That’s right, that’s right,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Turns out Shijie was behind me just now, you have heard everything.”

Ah Ke angrily said, “I did not hear it until now.” Speaking to this point, her voice broke.

After traveling for more than ten li, they heard sound of hooves behind them, several dozen riders were coming fast at them. A delighted expression appeared on Ah Ke’s face. But those dozens of riders swept past the large carriage, galloping to the east without stopping at all. Ah Ke’s countenance sank.

“What a pity, what a pity,” Wei Xiaobao said, “It is not.”

“What a pity what?” Ah Ke said.

“What a pity it was not Zheng Gongzi catching up with us,” Wei Xiaobao said.

“He … Why would he want to catch up with us?” Ah Ke asked.

“Perhaps he wanted to invite you to Taiwan to have fun with them,” Wei Xiaobao replied.

“Wah!” Ah Ke broke up crying.

Jiu Nan understood the content of her female disciple’s heart. “Xiaobao,” she scolded him, “Stop playing dirty trick to provoke your Shijie.”

Wei Xiaobao was very delighted in his heart, but his mouth said, “Yes, yes.” Yet he continued, “The prince’s descendants and young masters of nobility all over the world have three wives four concubines, they are people with the least conscience. When those four good-looking heroines reach Taiwan, I’ll say it will be difficult for them to come back. When this Zheng Gongzi reaches Zhejiang, Fujian, perhaps he will take several more beautiful women.”

“Xiaobao,” Jiu Nan spoke harshly.

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said.

The three of them travelled until noon, and stopped by a small family noodle shop by the road. Suddenly they heard hoof beats, several dozen more riders coming from the west. When the riders arrived outside the noodle shop, they dismounted and entered the restaurant. Someone called out, “Kill the chicken, cut the beef, make some noodles, quick, quick!” And then they all sat down.

As soon as Wei Xiaobao saw them, he recognized these people as Xu Tianchuan, Qian Laoben, Guan Anji, Li Lishi, Feng Jizhong, Gao Yanchao, Priest Xuanzhen, Fan Gang, and the other martial art experts from the Green Wood Hall of Tian Di Hui. He thought, “Although at the assembly last night I said several words, cursed several people, but there were so many people around, the atmosphere was chaotic, they were far away from where I was. It must be that they did not recognize me in the dark, otherwise, why didn’t they come to greet me? If I make myself known to them right now, we will talk about all kinds of matters endlessly. Plus if they saw me having another Shifu, they might not like it. I might as well pretend that I did not see them.” Thereupon he turned his body sideways and did not look directly at them.

A moment later, the food and wine Xu Tianchuan and the others ordered were being delivered one after another. They picked the chopsticks and were about to eat when suddenly there were more hoof beats, another group of people arrived at the restaurant. Someone called out, “Kill the chicken, cut the beef, make some noodles, quick, quick!”

Ah Ke was very delighted that she called out, “Zheng … Zheng Gongzi has arrived.” Turned out this group of people was Zheng Keshuang and his attendants.

Hearing Ah Ke’s call, he turned his head and saw her. Greatly delighted, he walked over and said, “Miss Chen, Shitai, you are here. I looked for you everywhere but could not find you.”

The noodle shop was actually very small and narrow, the Tian Di Hui warriors occupied six tables, plus Ah Ke and the others occupied another table, there was no other table. A Zheng Mansion’s attendant said to Xu Tianchuan, “Hey, old man, why don’t you crowd together some more? Let us have several tables.”

During the ‘turtle-slaying assembly’ the previous night, Zheng Keshuang was wearing Ming Dynasty’s nobility attire, catching everybody’s attention. Xu Tianchuan and the others were aware that Tian Di Hui was, in fact, an organization under Yan Ping Jun Wang. They originally wanted to offer up their seats; however, this attendant was really rude that as soon as they heard it, they were all angry. “Damn it,” Priest Xuanzhen cursed, “Who do they think they are?”

Li Lishi signaled him with his eyes, he said in a low voice, “We are on the same side, don’t lower ourselves to their level. There is no harm in giving them some seats.” Immediately Xu Tianchuan, Guan Anji, Gao Yanchao, and Fan Gang, four people stood up and moved to Feng Jizhong’s table, and thus freed up one table.

By this time Zheng Keshuang had already sat down by Jiu Nan. Ah Ke glowered at Wei Xiaobao and said, “You lied on my face; you said Zheng Gongzi is taking four whatever heroines with him …”

Wei Xiaobao said, “As soon as Zheng Gongzi arrived, you don’t want to sit next to me anymore, if you see me, you won’t be able to eat your noodle; it has nothing to do with what I said.” He walked over to Xu Tianchuan’s table and sat down; he said in a low voice, “Just pretend you don’t know me.”

As soon as Xu Tianchuan and the others saw him, they were pleasantly surprised. But every one of these people was Jianghu veteran and was very astute. When they heard him, they understood immediately, they all remained calm and collected.

“We’ll pretend that we have never met each other,” Wei Xiaobao continued in a low voice, “Xu San Ge, please pass it on to everybody.”

Xu Tianchuan stood up and walked over to Li Lishi’s table; he said in a low voice, “Our Hall’s Wei Xiangzhu is here; he wants everybody to pretend we don’t know each other.” Li Lishi and the others did not even turn their heads, they continued eating and drinking, but their hearts were delighted. In a short moment the information had been passed to other tables.

On the other table, Zheng Keshuang was in high spirit; he said in a loud voice, “Shitai, during the meeting last night, the numerous heroes elected me as the Fujian province’s ‘meng zhu’. We were discussing important matters until daybreak. When I returned to the inn, I looked for you, but you have already left. We pursued along the way, luckily we can meet you here.”

Jiu Nan said, “Congratulations Zheng Gongzi. However, this is a secret important matter, we must not mention it in public with numerous people around.”

“Yes,” Zheng Keshuang said, “Fortunately there are no other people in here. These crude peasants won’t understand even if they heard it.”

Actually, the Tian Di Hui warriors were dressed as peasants, they were all bare-footed, some even carried a hoe or toothed rake. There were too many people in the meeting last night that Zheng Keshuang did not recognize them.

Wei Xiaobao lowered his head and ate the noodle, he said in a low voice, “This fellow is very arrogant; in Hejian Prefecture these past few days he boasted everywhere, saying that our Tian Di Hui is his Taiwan Yan Ping Mansion’s subordinate, he said that when Zongduozhu sees him, he is very respectful that he does not even dare to breath out loud. He also said that our certain hall’s Xiangzhu Cai Laoge [old brother] was formerly his yeye’s [paternal grandfather] stable hand, that certain hall’s Xiangzhu Li Laoge also fetched chamber pot for his yeye …”

Guan Anji angrily said, “How can there be such thing? Although Cai Xiangzhu, Li Xiangzhu were Koxinga’s [orig. Guo Xing Ye – master of Guoxing] subordinates, they were military officers who went to fight battles …”

Xu Tianchuan said in a low voice, “Guan Fuzi, lower your voice.” Guan Anji nodded.

Wei Xiaobao continued, “He also made many negative remarks and malicious words about our Green Wood Hall’s Yin Xiangzhu. Others commented that Yin Xiangzhu has died early on. This fellow responded, ‘That’s right. This fellow surnamed Yin’s martial art skill was low, his leadership skill was also second rate, I knew early on that he would be a short-lived ghost' …”

Guan Anji was extremely angry; he raised his palm to strike the table heavily. Xu Tianchuan deftly reached up and caught his wrist.

Wei Xiaobao knew that this group of warriors would not want to offend Yan Ping Mansion’s people, much less this fellow was their Wangye’s [master king] son. If he did not instigate wantonly, it would be hard for him to provoke them into action. Seeing these people getting angry, he was secretly delighted, but he maintained grim expression on his face. He said, “This fellow talked nonsense; which is not a big deal, actually. But along the way he kept bragging, he mentioned many secret and important matters of our Society. Even to people he has just met he said something like ‘high mountain ridge arose from the earth, a group of mountain creeks is elegant for all eternity’. He claimed to have sat on the Red Flower Pavilion on the mountain peak, Zongduozhu burned six incense sticks, he himself burned seven incense sticks. Other people did not understand what he was saying, he then explained in details …”

The crowd of warriors shook their heads. He revealed a secret of their society just like that, if this information ever reached the imperial court’s eagle claws’ ears, the lives of Tian Di Hui’s brothers would be in danger. But with their own eyes they had seen Zheng Keshuang’s frivolous expression, even the attendants he brought were bossy and domineering; why would they think Wei Xiaobao was telling lies? Moreover, just now they heard him bragging to a woman about the ‘turtle-slaying assembly’ the previous night, immensely proud of himself he proclaimed to be the Fujian province’s alliance leader.

Wei Xiaobao said, “I’ll say we must kill his loftiness, otherwise he might harm our important matter.” The crowd of heroes slowly nodded their heads. Wei Xiaobao continued, “I am asking Feng Dage to beat him up, but don’t hit him too hard, just teach him a lesson. And then I will come out to avenge his grievance. I am asking Feng Dage to pretend that you lost to me.” Feng Jizhong nodded slightly. Wei Xiaobao added, “Qian Laoben, you spoke in the meeting last night, I am afraid this fellow would recognize you.”

“Yes,” Qian Laoben said in a low voice, “I am going to make myself scarce first.”

There were still quite a number of Zheng Mansion attendants who did not have any seat. Seeing a few empty seats among the Tian Di Hui warriors’ tables, one of them nudged Xu Tianchuan’s back lightly and said, “Hey, there are still empty seats over there, why don’t you move and let us have this table?”

Xu Tianchuan sprang up and cursed, “We let you have one table and that’s still not enough? Laozi hates to see young masters of rich family relying on force to bully others the most.” Coughing out, ‘whoosh!’ thick phlegm shot out toward Zheng Keshuang.

Zheng Keshuang was talking to Ah Ke, he was caught totally off-guard; by the time he heard the wind, the phlegm was already too close to his cheek. Hastily he dodged, but the phlegm still landed on his neck. It was slimy and sticky; really disgusting. Hurriedly he pulled his handkerchief and busily wiped it, while cursing loudly and angrily, “Disregarding the law and natural morality these several mud-footed peasants are attacking me!”

An attendant immediately sent a punch toward Xu Tianchuan. “Aiyo!” Xu Tianchuan cried out. Without waiting for the punch to reach his face, Xu Tianchuan threw his body backward; he was pretending to be in a very difficult situation, while bellowing, “Help! Murder! Murder!” Zheng Keshuang and Ah Ke laughed aloud.

Feng Jizhong stood up, pointed at Zheng Keshuang and shouted, “What’s so funny?”

Zheng Keshuang angrily replied, “I want to laugh, what does it have to do with you?”

Feng Jizhong stretched out his hand. ‘Slap!’ A heavy slap landed on Zheng Keshuang’s face. Zheng Keshuang was both startled and angered; he threw his body forward and repeatedly punched with both fists. Feng Jizhong dodged to the left and evaded to the right, and then he turned around and ran out of the door. Zheng Keshuang ran after him, while sending a punch straight to Feng Jizhong’s face. Feng Jizhong leaned sideways to evade.

Feng Jizhong understood Wei Xiaobao’s intention; he must let this young master Zheng to suffer as much humiliation as possible to pull down his arrogance. Hence he only sent a punch to the east and a kick to the west, going around and around fighting with him.

Xu Tianchuan called out, “As heroes of Henan’s Mount Funiu, we must not let our prestige to fall under this fellow’s hands.”

The rest of the warriors also cheered and yelled; they all knew that although there was no harm in fooling around with this young man, they must not let him know their real background. Therefore, although they were cursing and shouting, they did not utter even half an inappropriate word, or anything that would disgrace his family or school.

Li Lishi shouted, “This time we go out from Funiu Mountain to do business, before even reaching the marketplace we are lucky to come across this richly bedecked fellow. We might as well capture him, have his old man to pay us one million taels as the ransom.”

Seeing their young master was unable to defeat this crude peasant in a short time, plus hearing from their shouts that these people were actually bandits and robbers from Mount Funiu, the Zheng Mansion attendants pulled out their weapons and charged forward. Xu Tianchuan, Fan Gang, Priest Xuanzhen, Gao Yanchao, Guan Anji, Li Lishi, and the others immediately made their moves. ‘Bing, bing, bang, bang!’ The fight was very noisy.

Although those Zheng Mansion attendants were hand-picked warriors, how could they match the Tian Di Hui warriors? Much less just a few days ago they were injured by the lamas, every one of them suffered either broken arm or broken leg. In just a short period of time, they were all subdued by Tian Di Hui heroes. Only Tian Di Hui heroes were being lenient to them; they only snatched away their weapons and surrounded them, but when snatching their sabers or swords, they did not harm them at all.