The Legend of the Condor Heroes
( SHE DIAO YING XIONG ZHUAN )

Chapter 3: The Winds of the Steppe

Original novel written by Jin Yong (Louis Cha)

Fan translation by Moinllieon (send email)

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The monks were all crying because of Father Burnt-Wood's death but some of them were still able to take care of the wounded by bandaging up their wounds and carrying them into the guest rooms.

Suddenly there came an incessant banging from the vat underneath the huge bell. Not knowing what kind of monster was present, the monks looked at each other with blank faces and, not knowing what to do, started to chant "Sutra of the High King" {Gao Wang Jing}. But the banging continued through all the chants of "help the sufferers" and "Amida Buddha". Finally, a dozen or so of the more courageous monk pulled the huge bell back up again with a huge thick rope. As soon as they lifted the vat, a huge ball of meat came rolling out from underneath it. Scared beyond words, the monks scattered. That ball of meat suddenly stood up, turned out it was Han BaoJu. Being covered for the last half of the fight, he had no idea what had happened. Looking around, he noticed Father Burnt-Wood had died and all his sworn brothers were greatly injured and almost panicked. He walked over to Qiu ChuJi and was just about to strike down at his head with his Golden Dragon Whip.

"Third Brother, no!" Quan JinFa shouted.

"Why not?" Han BaoJu demanded out of anger.

"You... just can't," was all Quan JinFa could get out because of the pain in his abdomen.

Even though both of his legs were wounded, Ke ZhenE's mind was still working fine. So he took out the cure for his poison and instructed the monk to give the right amounts to both Qiu ChuJi and Han XiaoYin, all the while explaining what happened to Han BaoJu. Enraged, Han BaoJu was about to go chasing after Duan TianDe when Ke ZhenE shouted: "We'll find that bastard sooner or later. First help those of your brothers that suffered internal injuries."

Both Zhu Cong and Nan XiRen suffered severe internal injuries and that kick in Quan JinFa's gut was quite a shot too. Zhang AhSheng's arm was broken and his chest was hit as well, knocking him out temporarily, but once he woke up, it turned out he wasn't in any mortal danger. So he immediately began helping others in the temple.

Temple of Oriental Zen sent a couple of errand runners to go report the events to Father Whithered-Wood in Cloudy Pavilion Temple and also began to make funeral arrangements for Father Burnt-Wood.

After several days, the poison in Qiu ChuJi and Han XiaoYin's body were eradicated. Being the medical expert that he was, Qiu ChuJi immediately began making herbs and treating Zhu Cong and others as well as massaging and snapping every bone back into place. Luckily, everyone's kungfu base was strong enough so that the internal as well as the external injuries were not serious. After several more days, everyone was able to sit back up again. One day all 8 of them gathered in one of the monk's rooms and reflected how they were manipulated into fighting each other, resulting in the death of Father Burnt-Wood and injuries to all parties. All of them were silent, not knowing what to say.

After a while, Han XiaoYin finally broke the silence: "Everyone knows about Father Qiu's intelligence and wit, and the 7 of us didn't exactly begin wandering the world yesterday. Yet we were all manipulated into this by some little nobody. If this ever gets out, everyone in the martial world would laugh at us. Father, do you have any idea as to how to clean up this mess?"

Qiu ChuJi had been blaming himself for the last couple of days, thinking that if only he had sat down and calmly talked with Father Burnt-Wood then all of this could have been avoided. So, out of deference, he turned to Ke ZhenE: "Big Brother Ke, what do you say?"

Ke ZhenE's temper was bad to begin with, after his eyes were blinded it got even worse. The fact that Qiu ChuJi himself brought down all 7 of them combined was, in fact, what he considers to be one of the biggest embarrassment of his life. Coupled with the fact that the pain on his leg from the sword wound was still throbbing, he was barely able to hold back his indignation. So he sneered and replied: "Father Qiu uses his sword skills to take down anyone in his way and is never in need to respect anyone. Why consult us over this matter?"

Qiu ChuJi was taken aback for a moment, but immediately realized that he was still mad over the matter. So he stood up, cupped his fist, and bowed to the 7 Weirdos. "I was wrong in my actions, I was too rude and headstrong. This entire matter is entirely my fault and I ask for all of your forgiveness."

Zhu Cong and the rest of the Weirdos all returned the gesture. Ke ZhenE pretended not to notice and coldly replied: "I say the 7 of us have lost all of our rights to meddle in the affairs of the martial world. We should settle down here, fishing, chopping wood, whatever. As long as Father do not come around again, we would at least be able to spend the rest of our lives in peace."

Qiu ChuJi blushed a bit from that verbal thrashing. After a brief pause, he suddenly stood up and said: "Since I was at fault this time, I will never dare to step into this area again. As for retribution for Father Burnt-Wood's death, it will all fall on my shoulders and I will kill that bastard with my own hands and avenge him. Having said all that I need to say, now it's time for me to leave."

Qiu ChuJi bowed towards everyone again and began to walk out.

"Stop!" Ke ZhenE shouted.

"Does Big Brother Ke have something else to say?" Qiu ChuJi turned around and said.

"You have injured all of us," Ke ZhenE replied, "and you expect all of this to just disappear because you said a couple of words?"

"Then what does Big Brother Ke want? As long as it is within my abilities I will try my best to do it."

"We just can't let this slip right now," Ke ZhenE answered, "so it would be nice if Father give us something more."

Although the 7 Weirdos were all very righteous and moral individuals, they were also all very proud and act very strange, making them well deserving the title of "7 Weirdos". Each is a master of kungfu and always worked together, so they have never come out on the short end of the struggle when going up against others in the martial world. Several years ago they got into a fight with the HuaiYang Clan, the 7 of them killed over 100 or so of the HuaiYang Clan members on the shores of the Yangtze. Back then Han XiaoYin was still a kid, but she still managed to kill 2 foes and the name of the "7 Weirdos of the South" were famous throughout the martial world. So losing at the hands of Qiu ChuJi did not go down very well with any of them. Add that to the fact that Father Burnt-Wood, a good friend of the Weirdos, died because of, one could argue, Qiu ChuJi's rashness. But there was still the fact that a woman was hidden inside the temple and she was the widow of Guo XiaoTian, like Qiu ChuJi had claimed, which puts the Weirdos in the wrong. However, the Weirdos at this moment had forgotten about that.

"I was hit by your projectile," Qiu ChuJi replied. "And if it wasn't for Big Brother Ke's antidote, I would have been dead a long time ago. So for this fight, I wholeheartedly admit defeat."

"If that's the case," Ke ZhenE replied, "then leave that sword of yours that you carry around on your back and you can leave." He knew that if the 2 sides fought again at this moment only the Han siblings would be able to even put up a fight and that victory for his side was impossible. But all of the Weirdos would rather die than to let the matter pass like this.

This angered Qiu ChuJi greatly: "I have already given you guys a lot of face, that should be enough. Then I also admitted defeat, what else do you want?"

"This is for my protection," he continued, "just like that stick Big Brother Ke carries around."

"Are you poking fun at my blindness?" Ke ZhenE shouted back.

"I dare not!"

"We are all injured right now, so it's hard to actually fight at this moment." Ke ZhenE shouted angrily. "So I invite Father to come and duel it out with the 7 of us a year from today at the Pavilion of Drunken Goddess."

Qiu ChuJi frowned at that remark. He figured that because the 7 Weirdos weren't bad people, there's really no point in keeping this grudge going between them; that day after Father Burnt-Wood died, Han BaoJu could have killed me easily once he got out from underneath the bell; besides, this whole matter was caused more or less by his own rashness; and lastly, a real man knows what's right and wrong, if he's wrong then he should admit it. But to sort all of this out with the Weirdos won't be easy either. After thinking silently for a bit, an idea suddenly came to him.

"If you really want to determine who's better between us, then we could do that," he said. "But only according to the rules I lay down. Otherwise, I have already lost to Hero Zhu at Pavilion of Drunken Goddess, and I lost again fighting here in the temple. I have already lost twice and would inevitably lose the third time as well, no point in going any further."

Han BaoJu, Han XiaoYin, and Zhang AhSheng immediately stood up, the other 4 guys could not stand up but all sat up as much as they can. They answered in unison: "When the 7 Weirdos of the South duel with another, we always let our opponent to choose the time, place, and method."

Seeing how competitive they were, Qiu ChuJi smiled: "So I decide how we should fight no matter what?"

Figuring that no matter what dirty trick Qiu ChuJi would come up with wouldn't necessarily mean defeat for them, Zhu Cong and Quan JingFa answered simultaneously: "That's right!"

"A man's word..." Qiu ChuJi replied.

"... wild horses can't bring back!" Han XiaoYin finished, but Ke ZhenE remained silent.

{The saying "A man's word can't be brought back by wild horses" is a famous saying in China about keeping one's word. When a person says it, it means that he's not going back on his word.}

"If you gentlemen feel that my way is unfair in any way," Qiu ChuJi continued, "then I will admit defeat right then and there." Obviously planning to gain ground by giving up a little because he knew that the Weirdos would never let him admit defeat that easily because of their competitiveness.

Qiu ChuJi sat down and began to explain: "This way that I have on my mind might be a little bit dragged out, but what it really measures is real abilities and skills and susceptible to some temporary mishap or surge. Everyone that knows any martial arts can fight with blades and fists. We all have names in the martial world and absolutely cannot stoop down to those lowly underling's level."

"What's left to fight if we can't do it with blades or fist? Are we doing a drinking contest again?" All of the Weirdos wondered at that comment.

"This huge contest between us, you 7 against me 1, not only does it measure our kungfu skills, but also our will, determination, and wit. With this huge contest, we would see once and for all who is a real hero."

This entire talk had all of the 7 Weirdos shaking in anticipation and excitement. "Stop stalling, tell us!" Han XiaoYin demanded. "The harder the better!"

"If we are competing meditating, making medicine, fortunetelling, or ghost-busting; then we are no match for Father at all." Zhu Cong said with a smile.

"And I don't really want to compete with Second Brother Zhu in stealing chicken or taking sheep." Qiu ChuJi replied with a smile.

This caused a small bit of laughter from Han XiaoYin, who quickly went back to urging Qiu ChuJi on: "Come on, say it!"

"At the very bottom of all of this, our misunderstanding that led to our fight was for saving the descendants of a couple of good men. Then this matter would be best to end it that way as well." Qiu ChuJi went on to tell how he met up with Guo XiaoTian and Yang TieXin all the way to how he chased Duan TianDe to this temple. Throughout his entire explanation, the Weirdos could not stop cursing the Jins as well as the Song government for its corruption.

After he had finished the story, Qiu ChuJi went on further: "That woman that Duan TianDe dragged away was Guo XiaoTian's widow, Mrs. Li, other than Big Brother Ke and the Han siblings, I'm sure the other 4 of you saw them."

"I remember her voice," Ke ZhenE interrupted, "I will never forget that voice!"

"Great." Qiu ChuJi continued, "As for Yang TieXin's widow, Mrs. Bao, there is no clue on where she might be. I have seen her before, but you guys haven't. So what I propose we do is...."

"... that the 7 of us would go rescue Mrs. Li while you go save Mrs. Bao and that whoever succeeds wins. Right?" Han XiaoYin eagerly cut in.

Qiu ChuJi smiled and replied: "Saving people, while definitely not easy, can't really be used to determine who's a hero and who's not. What I have in mind is much harder and troublesome."

"So what are you suggesting?" Ke ZhenE demanded.

"Both of the women are pregnant," Qiu ChuJi explained. "After we save them, we must make sure they settle down nicely and allow them to give birth. After that I would teach the Yang kid while the 7 of you teach the Guo kid...."

The 7 Weirdos were getting more and more amazed with every word that he says. They were practically mesmerized when Han BaoJu cut in: "Then what?"

"Then after 18 years, when the kids would both be 18, all of us, as well as invited friends from all over the martial, shall gather at the Pavilion of Drunken Goddess once again for a huge feast. Then, when we are all sufficiently full and merry, we'll let the 2 kids duel it out to see whether it is my disciple better or is the disciple of the 7 Heroes really the man."

The 7 Weirdos stared at each other, completely speechless.

Qiu ChuJi continued: "If the 7 Heroes fight me once more and defeat me, then it could easily be because you outnumber me, not much glory there. But if I pass all my kungfu to another and you guys pass all of your kungfu to one person, then whichever one wins must mean that their master or masters were better."

Filled with pride, Ke ZhenE slammed his iron staff onto the ground: "Alright! That's what we'll do!"

"What if that bastard Duan TianDe had already killed Mrs. Li? Then what?" Quan JingFa asked.

"That's just the luck of the draw," Qiu ChuJi replied. "The heavens wanted me to win, what else more could be said?"

"Alright!" Han BaoJu pitched in his opinion. "Rescuing widows and orphans are the right things to do to begin with. Even if we weren't competing against you we would do it."

Qiu ChuJi gave him a thumbs-up and declared: "Third Brother Han is exactly right. If the 7 Heroes are willing to care for the Guo kid to adulthood, then I would like to thank everyone for my late Brother Guo." He bowed to each of them again.

"This idea of yours is rather cunning," Zhu Cong observed. "With those several sentences of yours, we brothers and sisters would have to waste 18 years of our lives?"

Qiu ChuJi's face changed colors a bit and he suddenly let out a loud laughter.

"What's so funny?" Han XiaoYin demanded.

"I have long heard and admired the name of the 7 Weirdos of the South," Qiu ChuJi replied. "Everyone says that the 7 Heroes are real, righteous heroes that are always there when you need them. But today, upon inspection... hehe... I see that the rumors were greatly exaggerated."

This made all of the Weirdos furious. Han BaoJu slammed his fist down onto the bench that he was sitting on and was about to say something when Qiu ChuJi cut him off: "Since ancient times, for the real heroes and men, making friends was for life in every way and giving one's life to a friend would be no big deal if loyalty and friendship called for it. Nobody has ever heard about Jing Ke and Nie Zheng haggling about some little thing. The Yang and Guo family are in need of help right now, how could anyone start haggling about anything?"

{In popular Chinese lore and most versions of Chinese history, Jing Ke and Nie Zheng were 2 great friends that had helped the Lord of Qi during the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period. Their friendship was legendary and, in view of most Chinese, including Confucius, the epitome of what friendship should be.)

After that little speech, Zhu Cong's face was pale with embarrassment. He flicked his fan and replied: "Father is right, I realize my mistake now. The 7 of us will take on this matter!"

Qiu ChuJi stood up and said: "Today is the 24th of March, 18 years from today at noon, we'll meet again upstairs in the Pavilion of Drunken Goddess and, there, in front of all of the martial world, we will find out who's the real hero!" And, with a flick of his sleeve, he walked out of the door.

Han BaoJu shouted: "I'm off to look for that Duan TianDe now, if he crawled into a tortoise hole and disappeared, then we are going to have to waste a lot of energy."

He was the only one among the 7 Weirdos that wasn't injured, so he charged out of the door, mounted Wind-Chaser, his yellow horse, and began to go chase after Duan TianDe and Li Ping.

"Third Brother! Third Brother!" Zhu Cong shouted. "You don't know what they look like!" But Han BaoJu wasn't the patient type and with Wind-Chaser well deserving of his name, he was long gone.

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Once he was out of the temple, Duan TianDe ran as fast as his legs would carry him, all the while dragging Li Ping. Only after he was sure that nobody was chasing after him did he finally stop and take a breath. Then he ran to the bank of the nearest river and jumped on the first boat that he saw. Taking out his sabre and putting it up against the neck of the fisherman, he ordered the man to start the boat. The rivers and canals south of Yangtze were dense like a spiderweb and boats were the everyday mode of transportation, as common as horses and carriages were up North. Hence the saying: "Northerners ride horses, Southerner rides boats." With Duan TianDe looking as vicious as he did, as well as being dressed like an official, how could the fisherman dare to not obey? So he immediately undocked and guided the boat out of the city.

"What a mess! If I go back to Lin-An, if nothing else, my uncle would kill me at first sight." Duan TianDe thought to himself. "The best thing is probably to head north to get away for a while. Hopefully that bastard of a Taoist and those 7 Weirdos all died of their injuries and then my uncle would get so angry that he just passes away. Then I can go back and get my position back."

Once he made up his mind, he instructed the fisherman to start heading north. Even though Han BaoJu's horse was faster, he was nevertheless searching on land, and thus let the 2 of them slip through.

Duan TianDe switched boats a couple of more times as well as change his clothes and forced Li Ping to change hers. After 10 days or so, he arrived in YangZhou and decided to check into an inn. He was hoping to be able to just settle down in the city for a while and wait through the storm. By an extraordinary coincidence, he just happened to overhear someone inquiring about his own whereabouts. Shocked, he peeped through the little crack in the door and saw an amazingly ugly, short, and fat guy with a beautiful young girl. Both of them had a JiaXin accent. Figuring that they were of the Seven Freaks, he immediately grabbed Li Ping and ran out of the back door. Luckily, the YangZhou native at the front desk did not quite understand their dialect and didn't realize what they were asking for, making it possible for Duan TianDe to get away and rent another boat.

Not daring to stop even for a second, he made his way north, up the Grand Canal, all the way to the shore of LiGuo Post on the shores of Mount Wei Lake inside the borders of ShangDong province.

Li Ping, who was extraordinarily homely and whose stomach was quite bulged out by now, was spending days on end cursing and crying. So even though Duan TianDe was by no means a gentleman, he never had any inclinations towards her. All the two ever did was fight and curse at each other, there wasn't a moment of peace between them.

After several more days, that ugly dwarf and pretty girl showed up again. Duan TianDe was hoping to hide in the back. But Li Ping, knowing that her rescuers were near, began to shout at the top of her lungs. Duan TianDe immediately stuffed a wad of cotton into her mouth and beat her. Li Ping struggled and shouted for her life. Even though she wasn't successful in her attempt to get their attention, it was too much of a close call for Duan TianDe.

At first, Duan TianDe had brought Li Ping along hoping to use her as a hostage, so as to help him get out of a jam should it ever come that. But the situation had changed. Figuring that it would be much easier if he was by himself and that this feisty woman was a disaster waiting to happen, he decided that it was best to kill her. So once the Han siblings had left, he took out his sabre.

Li Ping had been waiting the entire time for an opportunity to avenge her husband's death. However, she was tied up every night, making it impossible. Now, upon seeing the murderous look in his eyes, she prayed: "Xiao-Ge, please protect me and allow me to kill his monster. Then I will join you."

{Note: Xiao-Ge is an affectionate reference by Li Ping to Guo XiaoTian.}

So she reached into her shirt and placed her hands on that dagger that Qiu ChuJi gave her. She had hidden the dagger very well and was able to slip it by Duan TianDe's guard.

With a snicker, Duan TianDe raised his sabre and swung down at her. Prepared to die, Li Ping summoned all her strength, pointed the dagger at Duan TianDe, and charged. Feeling a shot of murderous cold air upon his face, Duan TianDe flicked his sword in an attempt to knock her dagger out of her hands. But unexpectedly, the dagger was so sharp that, with a loud bang, it sliced the sabre in half. The sabre fell onto the ground as the tip of the dagger was touching Duan TianDe's chest. Shocked, Duan TianDe instinctively jumped back. Nevertheless, the front of his shirt was slashed wide open. In complete shock and panic, he picked up the chair at his side and shouted: "Put that down this instant! Else I'll kill you!"

Li Ping was exhausted and the baby in her belly was kicking non-stop. Not able to fight anymore, she fell onto the ground and tried to catch her breath. But she was still clenching the dagger tightly.

Duan TianDe was afraid that Han BaoJu was come around again. But if he ran off by himself, he was afraid that Li Ping would reveal where he was going to those chasing him. So he immediately forced her onto another boat and went further up north the Grand Canal, passing LinQing, DeZhou, and arrived within HeBei province.

Every time he set up camp, no matter how remote the location, there would always be several men arriving to look for him before long. Eventually, the ugly gnome and the girl was joined by a staff wielding blind man. Luckily, none of them recognized him, so he was able to escape every time.

Soon another troublesome thing happened, Li Ping suddenly began acting crazy. Every time they stopped somewhere, she would periodically begin shouting and screaming nonsense; sometimes, she would even start to tear and rip at her clothes and make all kinds of weird faces and gestures. At first Duan TianDe thought that she really had gone crazy, but after a few days he suddenly realized. Turned out that she was afraid that her pursuers had lost her trails and was purposefully leaving a trail for them to follow. This was making it even harder for him to lose them. By now the dead of summer had passed and the cool breeze began to blow. In order to avoid capture, Duan TianDe was well up in the North country, and the money he had taken with him was about to run out, yet the Freaks were still close on his tail.

"Back in HangZhou, I was important, I was somebody. Meat, wine, money, woman, I had it all. But I had to get greedy and go to Ox Village and kill this bitch's hubby and get into all this mess." He cursed at himself.

Several times, he was on the verge of leaving Li Ping and just run off by himself. But every time, he could not summon up enough courage to just leave her. Every time he tried to kill her ended in failure as well. What was supposed to be protection had somehow turned into a curse that he just could not get rid off. Not only that, he had to be constantly on the look-out against her attempts to avenge her husband on top of everything else. He was frustrated, scared, and mad, yet there was nothing he could do.

Before he realized it, he had arrived at the capital of the Jin Empire, YanJing. Duan TianDe thought for a bit and decided to try and find an out of the way place and finish off Li Ping. In such a huge and bustling town, there was no way those who were chasing him could find him then.

Happy that things were finally going to work out, he made his way towards the city. Unexpectedly, just as he arrived at the front of the gate into the city, a team of Jin soldiers came walking out from inside. Not even bothering to ask any questions, they seized both him and Li Ping, handed them each a carrying stick, and commanded them to carry cargoes for them. Because Li Ping was short and a woman, her load was reasonably light. But Duan TianDe was given two 50 kilograms worth of load and they were practically smashing him into the ground.

This group of soldiers followed an official as they headed north. Turned out that particular official was an emissary who was sent out in order to give Royal Edicts of the Jin Emperor to the Mongolian subjects of the Jin Empire. The Jin soldiers that accompanied him were seizing random Han Chinese that they ran into to carry their heavy cargo and food so as to save themselves some work and labor. Duan TianDe argued back a couple of times and was immediately answered to by several stinging whips on his head. This situation he had seen many times before so it was all quite familiar to him; but before, he had been the one that was doing the whipping, not the other way around.

By now, Li Ping's belly was huge and doing all this heavy work was on the verge of killing her. However, so determined was she to get revenge that she tried her best not to let the Jin soldiers find out about her condition. Fortunately, she had been working on a farm ever since she was able to walk, which made her strong and used to this kind of tortuous work. Having basically resigned herself to death, she was barely able to grind out the dozen of days they spent walking through the freezing and miserable steppe.

Even though it was only October, being as far North as they were, a blizzard hit one day that not only brought snow, but also a sandstorm. Having nowhere to hide from the sand and the snow, the entire group, all 300 or so of them, lined up single-filed and continued to make their way through the endless grasslands of the steppe. Suddenly, faint shouting noises could be heard approaching from the north. Through the sand filled air, an army of countless horsemen came charging at them.

Before any of them realized what was going on, the army had already arrived. Turned out they were an army from some unknown tribe to the north that had just lost a battle. Chaos descended on the group as everyone tossed their weapons away and began running for their lives. Some of those who did not have horses were quickly trampled over by those who had horses.

The Jin soldiers, seeing that defeat was inevitable, immediately scattered as well. Li Ping was originally at Duan TianDe's side, but lost him during the chaos of the stampede. She threw off her share of the cargo and ran as fast as she could in the direction where there seemed to be the least amount of people. Luckily, everyone was so concerned with their own survival that nobody harmed her.

After some running, her belly was hurting like crazy. Not able to go any further because of the pain, she lied down behind a sand dune and fainted. After what seemed like forever, she began to slowly come around. In the back of her mind, there seemed to be the crying noises of a baby. Not completely coherent, she still wasn't quite sure whether or not she was dead or alive yet. But the crying gradually got louder. She twitched and suddenly realized that there seemed to be a warm object between her legs. By now it was after midnight, the snow had just stopped and the moon had finally appeared from behind the parting clouds. She snapped wide awake and began to cry. Under this impossible situation, the baby in her belly was born.

She immediately sat up and took the baby in her hands. It was a boy. Overjoyed and crying, she used her teeth to bite off the umbilical cord and hugged the baby as tightly as she could. Under the moonlight, she saw that the infant's eyes were huge and bright and looked very much like her deceased husband, not to mention his cry was incredibly loud. Under normal circumstances, there should have been no way that she was going to survive after giving birth in such harsh conditions. But upon seeing her child, she suddenly found strength that she didn't know existed before as she slowly got up and crawled into a small ditch close by to hide from the cold. Looking at the baby and thinking of her husband, bittersweet memories and emotions overwhelmed her.

The 2 of them spent the night in that ditch. The next morning, hearing nothing all around her, she summoned up enough courage to climb out of it. The ground, among the white snow and yellow sands, was covered with discarded weapons and the corpses. Nobody alive was to be seen.

She dug out some preserved food from one of the dead soldiers as well as some fire making stone and knives. After carving out some horse meat and cooking it, she searched around for some thicker clothing. She wrapped one around her baby and put one herself as well. Luckily, the weather is so cold around this time of the year that nothing rots, so the horse meat was able to last her for a good few days, during which she was able to recover her strength. After which she carried her baby and began walking confidently towards the East. Even though she has lost that hated Duan TianDe, all the hatred in her heart has turned into love and tenderness. All she wanted was to protect the baby's face from the harsh steppe winds.

After several more days, she noticed that the plant lives around her were getting denser. This particular dusk, she suddenly spotted 2 horses come galloping towards her. The riders noticed her and stopped to ask her what happened. Making wild gestures with her arms, she described her experience of meeting the defeated army and giving birth in the snow. Turned out these 2 riders were Mongolians. Even though they couldn't understand her at all, they, being the friendly and hospitable kind of people Mongolians are and feeling sorry for her, invited her to spent the night with them in their Mongolian gers. Mongolians are a nomadic group of people, migrating along with the herds and the weather. So they live in huge tents called gers that are easily put up. The next morning, this particular group of nomads left, but decided to leave her 4 small sheep to help her survive.

Through all the suffering and labor, Li Ping settled down in the steppe. She erected a little hut by the reeds using tree branches and obtained food through barter using the sweaters she knitted using the wool from the sheep.

Time flies, and the little kid was already 6 years old. Following the wishes of her former husband, Li Ping gave him the name of Guo Jing. The boy was rather slow and only began to speak at the age of 4. Luckily, he was a very strong boy and was able to herd the animals by himself. The 2 of them, mother and son, relied on each other, surviving on only the mere essentials and leading a very simple and happy life. Both of them had learned Mongolian, and only when they were alone with each other did they speak in the Lin-An dialect of Chinese. Seeing the manly face on her son and hearing him saying everything in the Lin-An dialect of her home frequently made her feel bittersweet: "You dad was a man among men in ShanDong, you should by all means speak in ShanDong dialect as well. But we weren't together for long enough of a time and I couldn't learn it from him, so I can't teach you."

It was October and the weather was slowly turning colder and colder. Guo Jing climbed onto his own little pony and set out, with a shepard dog, to herd the sheep. Around noon, a huge black eagle suddenly appeared in the sky and dove down towards the herd. A particular young sheep was frightened and began to run for his life towards the East. Guo Jing shouted several times at it to make the sheep stop, but it just kept on going.

Guo Jing immediately climbed onto his pony and went chasing after it. After 4 or 5 kilometers or so, he finally caught up to that little sheep. Just as he was about to head back, he suddenly heard a very loud and constant rumble. Startled, he could not figure what the rumble was, even though he suspected that it might be thunder. The rumble got louder and louder until, after a while, he was able to distinct the sounds of horses neighing and humans screaming within the rumbling.

Having never heard such things before, he was scared and hurriedly led his little pony and sheep into a little bush on top of a close-by hill top. Only then did he dare to stick his head out to see what was going on.

What he saw was dusts covering the sky as countless number of chariots were bustling about. Several leaders were shouting out commands as the armies were lining up. One was to the East while another one was to the West, both contained more people than Guo Jing thought there were in the world. Everyone was wearing a white-colored bandana on their head, some even stuck colorful feathers on their bandanas. By now Guo Jing wasn't scared anymore, he was too curious and excited.

After another pause, from the left there suddenly came trumpet sounds as several rows of soldiers came charging, they led by a tall and thin looking young man wearing a blood red cape. He was holding his sabre above his head, ready to strike at anyone he happened upon. The 2 armies clashed and gruesome fighting ensued. The attacking side was outnumbered and was slowly being overwhelmed and began to retreat. But reserves soon came to support and the fighting escalated to a deafening level once again.

It looked as if the attacking armies were about to collapse once again when those 10 horns that sounded the start of the battle suddenly came to life again, making the noise level even more deafening than it was. The attacking soldiers shouted: "Temujin is here! The great Khan Temujin is here!" Even though the 2 armies were still fighting relentlessly, everyone's head periodically turned towards the East, where the horns were located.

Following their gazes, Guo Jing looked towards the East as well. Through all the sand and dust that was filling up the sky, he saw a group of riders galloping forth. Within the group there was a huge pole, on which there were several white feathers. The cheering got louder as the the riders got closer as the attackers seemed to fight more and more fiercely and the formations of the defending army were torn apart instantly. The huge pole slowly moved towards this very little hill that Guo Jing was hiding on, who retreated even deeper into the bush, but was still peeking out with that huge, bright pair of eyes of his. He noticed a very tall and big middle-aged man in the midst of the riders who climbed onto the hill. He was wearing an iron helmet on his head and had a brown tuft of beard on his chin. His eyes were beaming with energy and force. What Guo Jing didn't know was that he was the leader of the Mongolian tribe, Temujin; but even if he did, he wouldn't have known what a "khan" was.

On his horse, Temujin calmly surveyed the battle that was occurring at the foot of the hill accompanied by several riders. After a while, that young man with a red cape came riding up the hill. "Father, there are too many of them, should we retreat a bit?" He shouted once he made it up the hill.

By now Temujin had already finished surveying the battlefield. In a low voice, he commanded: "Take your team and fall back to the East."

"Muqali, go with 2nd Prince and fall back to the West. Bogurchi, you and Tchila'un retreat to the North. Kublai, you and Subutai take your army and head South." Temujin continued, never taking his eyes off the battlefield. "When you see my banner raised up on high, that's my signal. Immediately sound the horns, turn around and counter-attack!"

All the officers rode off with their orders. Within seconds, the Mongol troops began retreating on all fronts.

The enemy soldiers let out a great collective howl and, upon seeing Temujin's White Feathered Banner being raised on high at the top of the hill, shouted in unison: "Capture Temujin! Capture Temujin!" Like ants, the opposing army began charging up the hill, completely ignoring the other, retreating Mongol troops. Horses and men were charged without abandon; a yellow fog surrounded the hill from the dust they kicked up.

Temujin stood at the top of the hill, not moving and resolute. A score of foot soldiers held up their shields and was protecting him from arrows flying in from all directions. Temujin's sworn brother Kutuku and standout general Jelmi, along with 3000 elite troops, were guarding the base of the hill with everything they can muster, determined to the last man.

Amid the flashes of blades and spears, the cries of battle were shaking the earth. Witnessing this, Guo Jing was at the same time excited and scared.

After an hour or so of intense fighting, and under the relentless charges of tens of thousands of enemy troops, Temujin's elite guard of 3000 had suffered about 400 casualties while cutting down more than 1000 enemies as well. Looking out, Temujin saw that even though the battlefield was covered with enemy bodies and riderless horses running aimlessly; the enemy arrows flying in was still strong. On the Northeastern end of the battle, the enemy attack was especially fierce as the defense looked closer and closer to collapse. "Father," Ogedei, Temujin's third son, anxiously suggested, "is it time to raise the banner?"

"Their troops aren't tired yet!" Temujin answered gravely, not moving his eyes away from the battle, even for a moment.

By now there was 3 black banners at the northeast end of the battle, meaning that the enemy had gathered 3 standout generals there to command the troops. The Mongol defenders were steadily dropping back. Up the hill came Jelmi, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Khan, we can't stop them anymore!"

"Can't stop them?" Temujin angrily shouted back. "What kind of man are you?"

Jelmi's expression changed and grabbed a sabre from one of the foot soldiers. With a shout, he charged into the enemy formation. Fighting with utter abandon, he carved a path of blood to the black banners. The enemy commanders, seeing his fierceness, immediately pulled hard on their reins and backed away. Jelmi, with 3 swings of his sabre, cut down the 3 men that were carrying the banners. Throwing down his sabre, he wrapped his arms around the 3 banners, took them back to the top of the hill, and stuck into the ground upside down. Seeing this incredible display, the enemy morale was rocked. The Mongol troops responded with a fury and the hole in the defense on the northeast end was quickly plugged.

After more fighting, an enemy general, with a black cape, suddenly appeared on the southwest corner. Not wasting a shot, he quickly took down a dozen or so Mongol soldiers with his bow and arrow. Two Mongol officers turned and charged at him with their spears. Using only 2 arrows, he easily shot the 2 officers off their horses.

"Such amazing skills!" Upon seeing that, even Temujin had to praise him.

By now, the general with the black cape had fought to near the foot of the hill. With a faint twang of a released bow, an arrow hit Temujin on his neck. Another arrow quickly followed, heading straight for Temujin's stomach. Just realizing that he had been shot and another arrow was coming, Temujin immediately pulled hard on his reins, making his horse stand up on his hind legs. The arrow buried into the horse's chest all the way to the feathers, knocking the horse to the ground. Seeing the leader hit and fall, the Mongol troops were shocked. Screaming at the top of their lungs, pouncing on the opportunity, the enemy charged forward like floodwater.

Ogedei had just finished helped his father pull out the arrow in his neck and was tearing off his shirt in order to bandage up the wound when Temujin shouted: "Forget about me, defend the hill!"

Nodding quickly, Ogedei turned and immediately shot down 2 enemy officers.

Kutuku was commanding his troops guarding the west end of the hill, but, due to the fact that they had ran out of arrows and spears, he had to retreat. Jelmi's eyes turned red as he saw him: "Kutuku, are you going to run like a scared rabbit?"

"Who's running?" Kutuku smiled back, "I ran out of arrows."

Temujin, still lying on the ground, took out a handful of arrows and tossed it over to him. Kutuku quickly put a put an arrow onto his bow and shot the closest black bannered general off his horse. Quickly charging downhill, Kutuku grabbed onto that general's horse and returned.

"Brother, you are really something!" Temujin praised.

Covered with blood from head to toe, Kutuku quietly asked: "Can we raise the banner and sound the horns?"

"The enemy still isn't tired yet, just a bit longer." Temujin said, blood streaming down his palm that's pressing hard on the wound in his neck, trying to stop the bleeding.

Upon hearing that, Kutuku dropped to one knee and begged: "We owe our lives to you and have no reservation for dying here. But Khan, please, you have to take care of yourself."

Temujin shakily stood up, took over the reins of the horse from Kutuku, and struggled mightily before finally mounting the horse. Waving his sabre and shouting, "Hold the hill!" at the top of his lungs, he cut down 3 enemy soldiers that had charged up the hill. Seeing Temujin reappear, the opposing army's morale was shaken once again and the momentum shifted as it began to fall back down the hill.

"Raise the banners! Sound the horns!" Temujin commanded, seizing on the fact that their enemy's morale was at a low.

The Mongol army let out a collective howl as an officer climbed onto a horse, stood up, and raised the white feathered banner up as high as he could. The horns from all corners sounded. Immediately, the screaming of men drowned out the horns as row after row of Mongolian solders appeared from far away and approached with lightning speed.

The enemy outnumbered the Mongols, but they were gathered around the hill. As soon as the soldiers on the outer edge began to fall back, the middle of their formation descended into chaos. The general in black, noticing that the tide was turning, immediately began ordering his troops around in hopes of rallying his troops. But the formation had already collapsed and the soldiers had no desire to fight anymore. Within an hour, the army had been smashed apart; those who weren't killed were running for their lives. The general in black, riding a black horse, turned and joined them.

"50 taels of gold to the man who catches that scoundrel!" Temujin shouted, which immediately sent several scores of Mongolian elites after him.

That general in black, not missing a shot, turned and shot down about a dozen or so pursuers in a row. The rest of the pursuers did not dare to get too close and, in the end, let him get away. Seeing all this from inside the little bush, Guo Jing was in awe of that general's bravery and skill.

The battle was a complete victory for Temujin, destroying more than half of his nemesis', the Tatars, power. Surveying the battlefield, the memories of his past flashed before his eyes again: the poisoning of his father, being captured by the Taijiuts, and all the tortured and shame he went through at their hands. Although his wound was still not healed, his heart was filled with the joys of the sweet taste of revenge. Unable to hold it in anymore, he leaned back and laughed in triumph. Every soldier joined in the cheer, which shook the earth as they began to file into formation and leave the battlefield.

Guo Jing waited until even the gravediggers had left due to darkness before he came crawling out of the bush. It was midnight when he got home and his mother, who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown waiting for him to come back, was overjoyed seeing him. Guo Jing described, as best as he could, what had happened to his mom in between his stuttering. Li Ping, seeing his face alight with joy and amazement without even a trace of fear, thought to herself that even though he was just a kid and a bit dumb, he was still very much like his father in this respect, which caused a bittersweet feeling to fill her.

The morning after the next day, Li Ping went off to the marketplace 15 kilometers away with 2 hand made wool blankets. Guo Jing was shepherding out in front of his own house when his mind wandered back to what he had seen 2 days ago. Figuring it would be fun, he raised his shepherding whip and began waving it around. Riding on his little horse, shouting at the top of his lungs, and moving the herd around, he felt just like a general commanding his own troops into battle.

Just as he was getting really into it, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves from the East. A solitary horse slowly approached with a person was lying on its back. The horse got close and stopped, causing the man on the back of the horse to lift his head and look up. The sight of the man made Guo Jing scream in fear.

The man's of face was covered in mud, dirt, and blood. It was that general in black that he had seen the day before yesterday. In his left hand was the bottom half of what had been a sabre, which was stained purplish red with blood. The bow and arrow he had fought off so many foes with where gone. It looked as if he had another encounter with his enemies again after escaping 2 days ago. His left cheek had been slashed open and was bleeding profusely. His horse was injured as well. His body shuddered as he, with his blood red eyes fell upon Guo Jing, muttered in a hoarse and exhausted voice: "Water, water... some water?"

Guo Jing immediately ran into the house and brought out a bowl of water from the water tub. That man grabbed it out of Guo Jing's hand and drank it all in one gulp. "More!" He demanded.

Guo Jing retrieved another bowl for him. He drank half before the blood dripping off of his face turned the water red. The man let out a loud laugh, then suddenly, his face twitched and he fell off his horse and fainted.

Guo Jing panicked, he didn't know what to do. Luckily, the man came to after a while. "Give my horse some drink too," he said, "and do you have anything to eat?"

Guo Jing brought out some roasted lamb for him and got to whole bucket of water for the horse. After chomping down the hearty meal, the man was thoroughly refreshed and jumped up off the ground.

"Thanks, brother." He said as he took off the gold bracelet he had around his wrist and held it out at Guo Jing. "Here, take it."

Guo Jing shook his head: "Mom said that we should take care of guests and not ask for or take anything in return."

The man laughed at this and commented: "What a good kid you are!"

He put the bracelet back on his wrist, tore off half of his sleeve, and began to attend to both his and his horse's wounds.

Suddenly, from the East came the faint rumblings of horses galloping. The man's face dropped: "Hmph, looks like they are not going to let me go!"

The 2 of them ran out of the door and saw that the land in the distance was covered by dust kicked up by countless horses heading this way.

"Kid, do you have any bows and arrows in the house?" The man asked.

"Yes, sure." Guo Jing replied just before darting back into the house.

Hearing that, the man looked somewhat relieved, but that soon changed when he saw that Guo Jing had just brought out his own little toy bow and arrow. He let out a little laugh before frowning: "I need the fighting kind, the big ones."

Guo Jing merely shook his head.

The pursuers were getting closer, theirs banners could be faintly seen waving in the distance. The man figured that, with his horse injured, he wouldn't be able to get away, so while hiding is always dangerous, he had no alternative.

"I can't beat them all by myself, so I have got to hide." He said, turning to Guo Jing. He looked around and noticed that there's nowhere to hide around the hut, so in desperation, he settled on the big pile of grass outside.

"I'm going to hide in there. Could you chase my horse as far away as you can? Be sure to find a good place to hide for yourself too and don't let them catch you." He instructed as he dug himself into the grass pile. Traditionally, as soon as the scorching summer has passed, Mongolians would immediately cut down all the tall grass and pile them up. During the harsh winters, Mongolians rely on these grass piles for all the feed for the animals as well as fire for warmth. So often these grass piles would be bigger than their huts. The man was actually very well hidden inside the grass pile and probably wouldn't be discovered without a careful inspection.

Guo Jing turned and gave the black horse a couple of good lashes, causing the horse to gallop off. Only until it was almost entirely out of sight did it finally stop and started to graze again. Guo Jing jumped onto his little horse and took off to the West.

The pursuers, noticing that someone was there, sent 2 advanced scouts forward to give chase. Guo Jing's pony wasn't fast and the 2 scouts soon caught up. "Kid, did you see a man riding a black horse around here?" One of them demanded.

Guo Jing didn't know how to tell a lie, so he couldn't find the words to answer the question. The 2 scouts asked several more times, but there was still no answer. "Let's take him to First Prince!", one of them finally suggested, seeing blank face on the kid. The 2 scouts took a hold of Guo Jing's reins and let him back to the hut.

"I just won't say." Guo Jing made up his mind on the way back.

A good number of Mongolian soldiers surrounded a tall and skinny young man. Guo Jing recognized the face, he had seen him on the hill the day before. Noticing that the soldiers were all obeying his command, Guo Jing decided that he was an enemy of that black robed general. "What did the little kid say?" The First Prince shouted.

"This kid is scared stiff, he hasn't said a word."

The First Prince looked around and suddenly noticed that black horse off grazing in the distance. "Is that his horse? Go and bring it here." He quietly ordered.

Ten Mongols split into 5 groups and quietly surrounded the horse. By the time the horse noticed and tried to escape, it had already ran out of places to run.

"Isn't this Jebeh's horse?" The First Prince asked rhetorically in an arrogant voice.

"Yes sir, it is!" The solders answered in unison.

The First Prince, using his whip, landed a lash on the side of Guo Jing's head and shouted: "Where is he hiding? Spit it out. Think you can fool me?"

Hiding among the pile of dried grass, Jebeh held his sabre tightly in his grasp. Seeing Guo Jing getting hit and a huge welt immediately starting to develop on his head, his heart began to beat out of control. He knew that this was Temujin's eldest son, Jorchi, whose cruelty and savagery was famous throughout all of the Steppe. He figured that the kid would undoubtedly be frightened into telling where he was hiding, then all he could do was jump out and fight to the death.

Guo Jing wanted to cry, but, with all his might, he kept back his tears and, holding his head up high, asked: "Why did you hit me? I didn't do anything wrong!" For all he knew, kids only get beat when they did something wrong.

"Trying to be tough huh?" Jorchi shouted angrily before he whipped Guo Jing again, making Guo Jing burst out crying.

By now the other soldiers had already given Guo Jing's house a thorough search. Two of the soldiers given poked about the grass pile with their spears. Luckily, the grass pile was huge and they didn't hit Jebeh. "The horse is still here, he couldn't have gone far. Kid, are you going to tell or not!" Jorchi continued as he lashed at Guo Jing's head 3 more times. Guo Jing reached out and tried to grab the whip, but how could he?

Suddenly, they heard some horns sounding from afar. "The Khan is coming!" All of the soldiers shouted as Jorchi stopped and turned to greet his father. "Father!" He shouted as an army with Temujin at the head came galloping in.

The wound that Jebeh inflicted on Temujin turned out to be severe. During the battle Temujin was able to fight through it, but after the battle was over he actually fainted several times from the pain. His trusted general Jelmi and third son Ogedei took turns sucking the bad blood clots out of his wound. The officers and his sons waited by his bedside for an entire night until he was no longer in mortal danger. The next morning, swearing to catch Jebeh and quarter him so as to avenge this wound to the Khan, the Mongol soldiers spread out in all directions. By dusk on the second day, a small scout team finally ran into Jebeh, but was decimated by him. However, Jebeh was injured as well in the melee. Upon hearing the news, Temujin immediately sent his eldest son Jorchi after him before taking his other sons with him as the rear guard.

"Father, we found that bastard's horse!" Jorchi reported, pointing at the black horse.

"I don't want the horse, I want him!" Temujin replied.

"Yes father, we will find him." Jorchi answered before returning to Guo Jing's side. Pulling out his sabre, he swung it in the air a couple of times and shouted: "Are you going to tell?"

His face covered in blood from the beating earlier, Guo Jing actually got feistier and shouted back: "I'll never tell! I'll never tell!"

From that, Temujin noticed how innocent the kid was, replying with "I'll never tell" instead of "I don't know", giving away the fact that he knew where Jebeh was hiding. So he turned to Ogedei and whispered: "Go and trick it out of him."

Smiling, Ogedei walked up to Guo Jing, removed 2 gold studded peacock feathers from his helmet and said: "If you tell me, this is yours."

"I'll never tell!" Guo Jing still replied.

"Let loose the dogs!" Jagahati, Temujin's second eldest son ordered as the soldiers immediately brought forth 6 huge hunting dogs.

Mongolians love to hunt and all of the aristocrats or people of wealth own hunting dogs and falcons. Jagahati especially loves dogs and this search for Jebeh presented a perfect use for his dogs. So he ordered the dogs be taken around the black horse a couple of times before letting them loose and letting them find where Jebeh was hiding. The dogs barked wildly as they ran in and out of the hut repeatedly.

Guo Jing never met Jebeh before, but 2 days ago he had greatly admired his bravery and skill on the battlefield. On top of that being whipped several times by Jorchi brought this natural stubbornness and feistiness out of him as he called his shepherd dog out. By now Jagahati's hunting dogs were getting very close to the grass pile, so, upon Guo Jing's command, the shepherd dog positioned itself between the grass pile and the hunting dogs, not letting any of them get closer. Jagahati gave a loud shout and all 6 huge hunting dogs leapt forth and the air was quickly filled with the cacophony of dog barking as the 7 dogs fought. The shepherd dog, smaller to begin with and battling 1 against 6, was quickly covered with bite marks but still fought back ferociously, not backing down one bit. Guo Jing was cheering his shepherd on loudly between sobs. Seeing this, Temujin, Ogedei, and everyone present knew that Jebeh must be hiding in the grass pile, so they just smiled and enjoyed the show of the dog fight.

Furious, Jorchi began to hit Guo Jing with his horsewhip again, causing him rolled around in pain. He rolled next to Jochi's legs before suddenly jumping up and grabbing his right leg. Jorchi tried to throw him off with a kick, but the boy's grip was surprisingly tight and he couldn't get him off. The other sons, seeing their older brother is such an awkward and pathetic state, began to laugh out loud. Even Temujin began to snicker a bit. His face flushed blood red, Jorchi unsheathed his sabre and brought it down toward Guo Jing's head. Just as it looked as if the kid was about to be hit, a broken sabre suddenly stuck out from inside the grass pile. "Bang!" The 2 sabres collided and Jorchi, feeling his hands go numb, almost dropped his sabre. The soldiers let out a collective gasp as Jebeh jumped out of the pile.

Pulling Guo Jing behind him with his left hand, he snickered: "Bullying a little kid, have you no shame?"

The soldiers immediately their spears and surrounded Jebeh. Seeing that he had nowhere to run, Jebeh tossed aside the broken sabre in his hand. Jorchi charged forth and landed a punch on his chest with Jebeh not even trying to guard himself.

"Kill me now!" He shouted, but then he added with in a quiet and heavy voice: "Pity that I cannot die in the hands of a true hero!"

"What did you say?" Temujin cut in.

"To die on the battlefields, in hands of a hero that beat me, is dying with no regrets. But today the eagle has fallen onto the ground and was bitten to death by ants!" Jebeh replied with his a fury in his eyes and let out a tremendous howl. Jagahati's hunting dogs, who had collectively pinned Guo Jing's shepherd dog onto the ground and was relentlessly biting it, jumped at the howl and ran away whimpering behind their trainers.

"Khan, don't let this little bastard boast like that." A person stepped out from beside Temujin and shouted. "Let me duel with him!"

"Alright, go have a duel with him." Temujin replied, happily discovering that the man was Bogurchi. "We don't have much of anything else, but we do have some heroes."

"I'm going to kill you by myself, so that you can die with no regrets." Bogurchi took a few steps forward and shouted at Jebeh.

"Who the hell are you?" Jebeh shouted back, noticing that the challenger was very well built and had a very deep and loud voice.

"I'm Bogurchi! Heard of me before?"

A coldness shot through Jebeh's heart: "So this is him, rumor say that Bogurchi was the hero of heroes among the Mongols." Not wanting to reply, he simply shot a look sideways and hmmphed.

"You boast about your skills at bow and arrow, and others even call you Jebeh. Then why don't you and this friend of mine have a little shooting contest?" Temujin declared. In Mongolian, "Jebeh" means both "arrow" and "divine archer." Jebeh had another name, but because of his incredible skill with the bow and arrow, everyone called him Jebeh and his real name had long been forgotten. {Note: According to Mongol records, when he first entered Temujin's tribe, Jebeh gave his name as Jirgadei.}

"So you are a friend of him?" Jebeh shouted at Bogurchi. "Then I guess I'll just kill you first."

This remark caused all of the Mongol soldiers to let out an audible laugh, for everyone of them knew that Bogurchi was unbeatable as a fighter and was famous through out all of the Steppe. Even though they saw how great Jebeh was with the bow, claiming to be able to kill Bogurchi was just a bit too much for them to stomach.

Back when Temujin was just still just a boy, he was once captured by the Taijiuts, who placed him in a cangue. The many tribes of the Taijiuts gathered at the Onon River to celebrate by drinking and whipping him at the same time. After the gatherers were sufficiently drunk, Temujin knocked his guard unconscious with his cangue and escaped into the nearby woods.

{Note: Cangue is an ancient Chinese device for punishing criminals. It consists of 2 wooden halves that's cut out so that they fit perfect around a person's neck and hands, holding them in place and prevents the person from retaliating or lying down.}

The Taijiuts conducted a massive search trying to find him. It was then that he met a young man named Tchila'un who, despite of the enormous danger, took him into his house. It was Tchila'un who smashed the cangue off of him and threw it in the fire; and it was also Tchila'un who hid him in a cart of fleeces. When the Taijiut scouts came around and searched Tchila'un's house, they came upon the cart of fleeces and began to take the fleeces off layer by layer.

Just as Temujin's feet was going to be revealed, Tchila'un's father suddenly interrupted: "Such a hot day, how could anyone hide in a pile of fleeces? If he did he's probably roasted to death by now."

It was the dead of summer and everyone was sweating profusely. The scouts thought what he said made sense and didn't look any further. Temujin's life was filled with dangerous moments and close calls, but this was the most dangerous and closest call of them all.

After he ran away, Temujin lived a squalid existence along with his mother and brother as they were forced to rely on captured prairie rats to survive.

One day, the 8 white horses that Temujin had were stolen by a small group of robbers from the Taijiut tribe. As Temujin rode after them all by himself, he ran into another young man who was in milking his horse. When Temujin stopped to inquire about the thieves, he learned that the young man's name was Bogurchi.

"Our lives are full of the same hardship," Bogurchi said, "let's be friends."

The 2 of them rode off. It was 3 days before they finally caught up to the thieving tribe. The 2 of them, by themselves, took on a couple hundred foes and took back those 8 horses. Temujin offered to split the horses with him and asked him how many he wanted.

"I did this as a friend, so I don't want a single one." was Bogurchi's answer.

From that day forth, the 2 of them worked together and Temujin continued to insist on calling him his good friend. Theirs was a true friendship forged in the times of trouble.

Bogurchi and Tchila'un, together with Muqali and Boroqul were the 4 foremost founding generals of the Mongolian Empire.

Knowing how great Bogurchi was with the bow and arrow, Temujin handed his own bow to Bogurchi and hopped off his white colt. "Ride my horse, use my bow and arrow, then it'll be as if I killed him."

"Yes sir!" Bogurchi hopped onto Temujin's treasured horse with bow and arrow in hand. Turning to Ogedei, he said: "Let Jebeh use your horse."

"Well, lucky him." Ogedei commented before hopping off and ordering a guard to walk the horse over to Jebeh.

"I am already surrounded," Jebeh turned to Temujin after securing himself into the saddle, "if you wanted to kill me, it would have been easier than killing a sheep. Since you have already showed mercy by letting me duel with arrows with him, I dare not ask for anymore. Therefore I ask only for a bow and no arrows."

"No arrows?" Bogurchi shouted feeling insulted.

"That's right. I can kill you with just a bow!"

This time the laughter from the Mongolian soldiers was even louder. "What a braggart!" One of them shouted as Temujin ordered him to hand over his best bow to Jebeh.

Bogurchi had seen Jebeh in action during battle and know very well what a great marksman he was and didn't dare to take him lightly. However, with no arrows, how could Jebeh apply his great skill? Borguchi, knowing that Jebeh must be planning to use the arrows that he himself shot, gave his horse a good squeeze with his legs, causing it to start to gallop. Not only was this particular colt fast, it had been through many a battle and was especially perceptive to the whims of its rider. Because of this, Temujin had taken quite a liking to it.

In response of the opponent's speed, Jebeh pulled on the reins, making his horse slowly back up. Borguchi fitted an arrow onto the bow and, aiming directly at Jebeh's face, let loose. Jebeh tilted his body and with incredible hand-eye coordination grabbed the arrow by the tail out of mid-air.

"Oh that's good." Bogurchi muttered under his breath and shot another arrow.

Hearing the arrow piercing through the air, Jebeh knew that he would not be able to catch this one. So he leaned forward, laying his body flat against the back of the horse. The arrow flew over his head, barely missing grazing him. Immediately he made his horse gallop forward with a little kick and sat back up. But what he didn't know was that Bogurchi was a master at shooting arrows one after another as 2 more arrows came baring down on him. Not expecting such a skill from his foe, Jebeh was forced to immediately slip off of his saddle and, hooking his right foot through the stirrup, almost hit the ground. The horse was still galloping forth at full speed, making it look as if there was a dancing bird at its side. Jebeh twisted his waist around, he had already loaded that arrow he had just caught onto the bow when he was barely half around, and as let loose aiming at Bogurchi's belly. Then he immediately flipped back onto the saddle.

"Excellent!" Bogurchi shouted as he aimed at the coming arrow and let loose. The 2 arrows met head on and shot off in different directions before both arrows, still carrying a great force, stuck into the ground with their tails up. The exchanged caused Temujin and all other spectators to cheer in amazement.

Bogurchi feigned shooting to the left, waited until Jebeh to react to the right before suddenly letting off a shot towards the right. Jebeh flicked his bow with his left hand and knocked the arrow down on the ground. Bogurchi followed with anther 3 shots, all of which were dodged by Jebeh. Jebeh, speeding his horse up, suddenly slipped off the saddle, reached down, picked up 3 arrows off the ground, sat back up, and shot one all in one motion.

Wanting to show off a bit of his own skills, Bogurchi jumped on his saddle. Keeping his balance with his left leg, he kicked away the arrow with his right foot. Then, still standing, he used the height advantage and let loose a especially fierce shot. Jebeh pulled his horse to the side to dodge the shot and responded with another shot, which, with a "crack", split the arrow that Borguchi in half along the shaft.

"He doesn't even have any arrows and yet we are fighting to a draw up to now. How can I get revenge for the Khan?" Bogurchi thought to himself.

Getting impatient, Bogurchi began to shoot arrows one after another nonstop, so much so that it all became a blur to the spectators. Not having enough time to grab the arrows, Jebeh was forced into just dodging them. However, the arrows just kept on flying in and they kept on getting faster and more numerous until finally, he was hit on his left shoulder. At this everyone present cheered in unison.

Ecstatic, Bogurchi was just about to shoot several more arrows to end Jebeh's life when he reached down into his arrow bag and came up empty. He had actually used up all his arrows while he was showering Jebeh with them. He always brought a tremendous amount of arrows with him when he enters battle, 2 quivers on his side and 6 more on the horse for a total of 8 quivers filled with arrows. However, this time he was using the Khan's own supply of arrows and, in the midst of battle, he had forgotten that there was a limit on arrows and resorted to his habitual way of using them. So now, shocked to discover that he had used all of his arrows, he immediately turned his horse around and reached down to pick up some arrows.

Clearly seeing all of this, Jebeh pounced on the opportunity. Before the sound of the arrow piercing through the air had faded from everyone's ears, the arrow had already hit Bogurchi's back, right where his heart was. The spectators gasped in shock. But strangely, even though this arrow was shot with great force and caused a wave of pain to shoot through Bogurchi's back, it didn't penetrate his clothing and fell off onto the ground. Bogurchi picked up the arrow, which was lying right by where he was reaching down and inspected it. It turned out that Jebeh had actually taken off the arrowhead in a show of mercy. He flipped himself back onto the saddle and shouted: "I am avenging for my Khan. I don't need your mercy!"

"I, Jebeh, never show any mercy to my enemies! That last arrow was to exchange a life for another!"

When he saw Borguchi hit, Temujin was devastated. However, now that he suddenly realized that Bogurchi was not dying, he was overjoyed. At this moment he would have absolutely been willing to trade all of the sheep, ox, and horses in his tribe in exchange for Borguchi's life without the least bit of hesitation. So, upon hearing Jebeh's remark, he immediately answered: "Alright, no need to go any further. You let him go so I'm letting you go. His life for your life."

"I'm not asking to exchange my life for his life."

"What?" Temujin was puzzled.

"I'm asking for an exchange for his life!" Jebeh answered, pointing at Guo Jing, who was standing by the door of the hut. "I ask that the Khan not to trouble this kid any further.

"As for me?" He continued, raising one of his eyebrows higher. "I wounded Khan and deserves whatever punishment that comes to me. Bogurchi, come on!"

As he finished, he pulled the arrow from his shoulder and, with blood still dripping off of it, fitted it onto his bow. By now, Bogurchi's underlings had already supplied him with 6 more quivers of arrows. "Alright, let's try this again!" Borguchi replied as he showered Jebeh with arrows. The arrows were coming so fast that they were almost connected, creating a chain of arrows in the air.

Seeing the situation, Jebeh, holding himself up by hooking his foot through the stirrup, flipped himself underneath his horse's belly. Leaning sideways so as to not hit the ground, he aimed and fired a shot at Bogurchi's belly. The white colt, not waiting for his master to pull the reins, instinctively dodged to the left. But unfortunately, the shot from Jebeh was much faster than any normal shot and the colt was not able to get out of the way in time. The a thud, the arrow hit the colt on the head and instantly brought it down.

Lying on the ground, Bogurchi dared not to risk Jebeh shooting a follow up, immediately twisting and firing another shot, snapping the bow in Jebeh's hand in half. Losing his weapon, Jebeh cursed at the fact he wasn't able to fight back anymore, as he had to resort to zigzagging in an effort to dodge Borguchi's shot. The Mongolian soldiers present all began to shout and cheer for Bogurchi as he loaded another arrow onto the bow. "He really is quite a hero!" Borguchi thought as he aimed for Jebeh's back and let loose.

The great marksmen never misses when it matters and this arrow hit Jebeh smack on the back of his head. Jebeh's body shook and fell off the horse, the arrow falling to his side. Turned out that Bogurchi, not able to bring himself to kill such a hero, took the arrowhead off of this arrow as well. Borguchi loaded another arrow onto his bow and aimed at Jebeh before turning towards Temujin: "Great Khan, I ask you to show mercy and let him go!"

By now, Temujin had long grown to admire Jebeh's courage and skill, so he shouted: "Are you still not going to surrender?"

Seeing Temujin sitting there in all his glory and magnificence, Jebeh was suddenly won over. He ran over as fast as he could and, with his head down, knelt down in front of Temujin.

Temujin let out a hearty laugh: "Wonderful! Wonderful! From now on, you are with me!"

Mongolians frequently sing to express their feelings and thoughts. So at this moment, still kneeling on the ground, Jebeh began to sing: "Oh Great Khan, you showed me mercy and let me live, in the future, be it jumping into boiling water or walking in fire, I would do. I would cross the black seas and crush the mountains to protect the Great Khan. Conquering foes, digging out their hearts! Just ask of me and I will do. For the Khan I would lead charges and run 1 million kilometers a day!"

{Note: It's a song! So give me a break would ya?}

Ecstatic at the turn of events, Temujin took out 2 gold ingots and give one each to Bogurchi and Jebeh. Jebeh thanked him and asked: "Great Khan, is it ok if I give this ingot to that kid?"

"My gold I can give to whoever I want," Temujin replied with a smile, "your gold you can give to whoever you want!"

Jebeh walked over to Guo Jing and held out the ingot. But Guo Jing just shook his head: "Mom said that helping guests is the right thing to do and that it's wrong to take anything from guests.

Temujin had grown to like Guo Jing because of the unyielding toughness the kid showed earlier. And now, hearing those words, he liked Guo Jing even more.

"Bring the kid into our tribe as well." He instructed Jebeh before leading the soldiers back. Several of the soldiers stayed behind to put the white colt's corpse on the backs of 2 horses before leaving as well.

Able to save his own life and find a master at one time, Jebeh was overjoyed and tired. So he lay down on the ground, rested until Li Ping had returned from the market, and explained to her what had happened.

"Now that's a good kid," Li Ping said to Guo Jing upon hearing of how courageous and loyal he was, even though she was greatly distressed by all the wounds on his face. "That's how a man should act and behave." She figured that joining the army and going through the vigorous would be much better for Guo Jing than shepherding, especially if Guo Jing was to avenge his father. So the mother and son followed Jebeh into Temujin's tribe.

Temujin assigned Jebeh as a Squad Leader under his third son, Ogedei. After meeting with the Third Prince, Jebeh went and met up with Bogurchi. Fueled by mutual respect, the 2 of them became fast friends. Feeling as if he owed Guo Jing a debt of gratitude, Jebeh took great care in looking after the mother and son and decided that he will begin teaching Guo Jing about bow and arrows as soon as Guo Jing gets a little older.

On this particular day, Guo Jing was just tossing some rocks around with a couple of Mongolian kids for a game when they saw 2 Mongolian riders flying into the camp, obviously carrying urgent news for the Khan. Not long after the 2 riders entered Temujin's tent, the horns started to sound, causing the soldiers to pour out of their tents. Temujin had an iron fist when it came to the training and discipline of his army. Ten soldiers were organized into a squad, which was led by a Squad Leader. The squads were ordered into platoons made up of ten squads that were led by a Hundred-Men Commander, ten Hundred-Men groups were led by a Thousand-Men Commander, which were then organized under one of a few Ten-Thousand-Men Commander. When Temujin gave an order, it was as if he was just moving his fingers, no order was disobeyed or miscarried out.

As Guo Jing and the other children looked on, at finish of the first blow of the horns, all the soldiers had already picked up their weapons and mounted their horses. When the horns sounded for the second time, the world shook from the chaos of men and beasts moving. By the time the third sounding of the horns came to a stop, the plain just outside of the main gates of the encampment were covered with some 50,000 men and soldiers in formation. Other than the breathing of horses, there wasn't another sound, neither chattering noises of conversation nor any sounds of weapons colliding.

Temujin, escorted closely behind by his 3 eldest sons, walked out of the main gate. "We have beaten many a foes and our feats has reached the Great Jin Empire." He shouted at the top of his lungs. "At this moment, the great Emperor of the Jins has sent the Third Prince and Sixth Prince here to officially anoint your Khan as an officer!"

The soldiers all, in unison, raised their sabres and shouted in joy. At that time, the Jurchens controlled Northern China with a fierce and strong army. Their empire was famous and powerful. On the other hand, the Mongols were just a small tribe among many in the middle of the Steppe. That was the reason why Temujin would feel honored to be an official of the Jin Empire.

Temujin ordered the eldest son Jorchi to take 10,000 men with him to welcome and escort the guests while the other 40,000 men line up in formations in waiting.

In reality, the Jurchen Emperor at the time, WanYan Jing, who took the title of Zhang Zong, was apprehensive of growing power's of some tribes on the Steppe such as Temujin's tribe and Toghril, the Ong Khan's tribe, the Keraits. Fearing that his northern neighbors would grow to be troublesome, he had sent Lord Rong, his third son WanYan HongXi, and Lord Zhao, his sixth son WanYan HongLie to anoint the leaders as officers of Jin. But in addition of tightening the ties of the tribes to Jin and increasing tributes, the princes had another mission, to scout the tribes and make note of the weakness of each so as to be able to gain the upper hand in case of future conflicts. That Lord Zhao, WanYan HongLie, was the same one that had traveled to Lin'An, wounded by Qiu ChuJi at Ox Village, and met the Seven Freaks at JiaXin.

Guo Jing and the kids all stood at a distance, trying to catch a glimpse of this happening. After a long wait, a cloud of dust appeared on the horizon as Jorchi had met up with WanYan HongXi and WanYan HongLie. The WanYan brothers had with them 10,000 elite soldiers, each wearing silk capes and iron armor and carrying a spear in the left hand with a wolf-fanged club in the right hand while riding on their horses. The clanging of the armors could be heard for kilometers around. As the army got closer the silk shine and the armor glowed even more under the bright sun, creating a spectacular scene. The two brothers approached shoulder to shoulder, Temujin and his sons and generals waited by the roadside to welcome them. Seeing Guo Jing and all the other kids standing there staring at him, WanYan HongXi burst out laughing. He reached into his shirt and took out a handful of gold coins and tossed it towards the crowd of kids. "As a reward for you guys!" He shouted with a laugh, figuring that the kids would undoubtedly cheer and scramble around on the ground for the money which would show off of his own magnanimity and wealth.

However, host-guest etiquette and respect was of utmost importance to the Mongolians. Not only were his actions inappropriate for the occasion, it was very disrespectful. The Mongol generals and solders were all left aghast at his actions. Every one of the kids were sons and daughters of the Mongolian soldiers and generals, so even though they were little, each of them had a sense of self-respect. As a result, none of them went and picked up the coins. His joy dampened, WanYan HongXi tossed another handful of gold coins and shouted: "Come on! Fight over them! Your mother's little devils you are!"

This caused an even bigger stir upon the Mongols. Even though the Mongolians had no written language at the time and little culture, they placed a great deal of importance on politeness and respect, especially regarding guests. Mongolians, traditionally, never curse, even when facing lifelong nemesis or just joking around. When someone enters their tents, no matter if the person was a friend or not, that person would be treated with great respect and honor. By the same token, the guest must absolutely not disrespect his hosts either for it was considered the greatest of insults. Even though what WanYan HongXi shouted was in Jurchen and none of the Mongols understood it, everyone could tell that he was cursing at the kids from his body language and the tone of his voice.

Constantly being told stories of how the Jurchens rape, pillage, and steal from the people of China, of how Jurchens corrupt officials and killed Yue Fei, Guo Jing's young heart had long been filled with hatred for the Jurchens. Now, upon seeing how rude this Jin Prince was, he picked up a couple of gold coins from the ground and, taking a little run up, threw it at WanYan HongXi with all his might. "Who would want your money!" He shouted. WanYan HongXi tilted his head sideways to avoid the coins; but nevertheless, one of them hit him squarely on the cheekbone. Even though Guo Jing wasn't strong and it really didn't hurt, he was still made to look bad in front of tens of thousands of people. Every Mongolian from Temujin downwards cheered on the inside.

WanYan HongXi was furious, when he's in China, many a times had he kills people at the slightest displeasure. Never had he been so humiliated like this. So, as his temper flared up, he grabbed a spear from the guard that was riding at his side and threw it at Guo Jing's chest with all his might and shouted: "You want to die you little devil?"

"Third Brother, no!" WanYan HongLie shouted, knowing this was bad. But he was too late; the spear had already taken off. Just as it looked as if Guo Jing was about die from the spear, an arrow suddenly shot out of the Mongolian army to the left. Like a meteor shooting around the moon, the arrow hit the spear dead on the head with a loud "bang!" Packed with incredible strength, the arrow was able to deflect the spear away despite being many times lighter. Guo Jing immediately scrambled away. The Mongolian soldiers all cheered in unison, shaking the Steppe. The person that shot the arrow was none other than Jebeh.

"Third Brother, don't bother with him anymore!" WanYan HongLie whispered to his brother.

Seeing and hearing the might of the Mongolian army, WanYan HongXi was a bit shaken, so he just shot a mean look at Guo Jing and cursed under his breath: "Little bastard!"

At this point, Temujin and his retainers had come forth for to formally welcome the 2 Jin Princes and took them into the main tent. There they served up koumiss and vast quantities beef and lamb. There were translators on both sides, translating between Jurchen and Mongolian. WanYan HongXi read the royal decree out loud, granting the title of The Northern Ambassador of The Empire of the Jin to Temujin. Temujin, who knelt on the ground during the reading, humbly accepted the official document and the Golden Belt, which signified his allegiance to the Jin Emperor.

{Note: Koumiss is a very strong Mongolian alcoholic drink that came from horse milk.}

That night the Mongolians celebrated with a huge feast to entertain the honored emissaries.

"Tomorrow, my brother and I are going to appoint a post for Ong Khan." WanYan HongXi, somewhat under the influence of koumiss, said to Temujin. "Won't the Ambassador come to join us?"

Temujin was overjoyed at the news and immediately agreed to come along. Ong Khan, Toghril, was the leader among the tribes on the Steppe. His tribe was the richest and most powerful; furthermore, he was a good man, always treating others as equals. So it was no great stretch to say that he was respected and liked by every tribe. Ong Khan had once been the sworn brother of Temujin's father. After Temujin's father was poisoned to death by his enemies, when Temujin had nowhere to go, it was Ong Khan who took him as a step-father. Not long after Temujin was married, his wife was taken away by the Merkits. It was only because of Ong Khan and Jamuka, Temujin's sworn brother, joining him did he manage to defeat the Merkits and save his wife.

That was the reason Temujin was elated upon hearing that Ong Khan would be granted a title as well. "Is the Great Jin Empire going to grant titles to anyone else?" He asked.

"No, that's it." WanYan HongXi replied.

"But that's entirely because up here in the North there is only 2 great heroes: Ong Khan and Great Khan yourself." WanYan HongLie immediately added onto his brother's statement. "None of the others are worthy."

"There is another person around here that perhaps Your Excellencies haven't heard of." Temujin replied.

"Really? Who?" WanYan HongLie asked.

"He just happens to be your humble servant's sworn brother, Jamuka. He's a righteous man who is very adept at commanding an army. I humbly request that Third Prince and Sixth Prince would consider to grant him a title as well."

Temujin and Jamuka were childhood friends who grew up together, at the time they became sworn brothers, Temujin was merely 11. When Mongolians become sworn brothers, they call it swearing "anda", which was Mongolian for sworn brother. Mongolian tradition dictates that when swearing anda, the sides must exchange gifts. At the time, Jamuka gave Temujin a granite stone that resembled a deer thighbone while Temujin gave Jamuka a granite stone that looked like it was made of brass. Mongolians used small granite rocks to hunt rabbits, but Mongolian kids often played catch and competed to see who threw the furthest with them. After the 2 of them became andas, they went and threw rocks on the frozen Onon River. The next Spring, while the 2 of them were out shooting arrows with their own little wooden bows, Jamuka gave Temujin a noisy-arrowhead that he carved out himself using 2 little ox horns, Temujin returned the gift with a cypress tipped arrowhead and the two of them swore to become anda once more.

{Note: noisy arrowheads are arrowheads that are carved with slits in them so that they would create a very loud screeching noise once they are shot. These arrows are often used to relay messages and orders in battle.}

After they grew up, both of them lived within Ong Khan's tribe and were still very close. Everyday they would compete to see got up earlier, whichever one got up earlier would get to drink one cup of koumiss out of Ong Khan's own jade cup. Later, after Temujin's wife was kidnapped and was rescued with the combined help of Jamuka and Ong Khan, Temujin and Jamuka exchanged gold and horses and sworn anda to each other for a third time. The two of them drank out of the same cup in the day and slept under the same tent at night. However, eventually, having to migrate with the changing weather and rain, they and their tribes parted. As Temujin's tribe rose in fame and power, Jamuka's tribe was growing nonstop as well. Their friendship was still as strong as ever and was deeper than blood brothers. That's why Temujin, realizing that his brother was not being honored, would ask for him to be honored as well.

"So many Mongolians, where can we go and find all the titles if we give each one of them a title? How many titles do you think we have?" WanYan HongXi, half drunk, casually answered back without much thought. WanYan HongLie shot his brother numerous looks trying to get him to stop, but was ignored.

Feeling slighted because of the remark, Temujin offered: "Might Your Excellencies consider giving your humble servant's title to him instead?"

"Are you belittling the titles of the Great Empire of the Jins?" WanYan HongXi smacked his leg and shouted.

Temujin slammed his palm down on his table and stood up in anger. Finally and barely holding off his fury, he did not say another word as he grabbed his cup and drank its content in one gulp. WanYan HongLie immediately told a joke and changed the subject.

The next morning, Temujin and his 4 sons led 5000 troops to escort WanYan HongXi and WanYan HongLie to Ong Khan.

By the time the sun was barely peeking over the distant horizon, Temujin had already mounted his horse and the 5000 soldiers had already line up in perfect formation. The Jurchen soldiers and generals, however, were still fast asleep.

At first, Temujin was impressed with the Jurchen army by their grandeur and organization. But now, after seeing what an undisciplined and fun seeking group they were, he humphed and turned to Muqali: "What do you think of the Jin army?"

"A thousand of us Mongolian troops can defeat 5000 of theirs!" Muqali observed.

"I thought so too," Temujin replied with a smile. "But it's said that the Jin Empire has an army of over 1 million strong. We only have 50,000 people."

"A million troops can't enter battle all at once," Muqali responded. "Divide and conquer, we can take down 10,000 today and then sweep another 10,000 tomorrow."

"When it comes to military strategy, your opinions are always the same as mine." Temujin smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "A 50 kilogram man can eat 10 cows that weighed over 1000 kilograms. He just won't do it in one day."

The 2 men burst out in laughter.

Temujin settled back straight in his saddle and suddenly saw that Tolui's horse was riderless. "Where's Tolui?" He shouted in fury.

Tolui was just 9 years old, but Temujin had always been a harsh disciplinarian whether he was training troops or bringing up sons, never showing mercy for anyone who violated his rules. With him shouting so loudly in anger, all the generals and troops immediately got a bad feeling in their stomach. General Boroqul, Tolui's mentor, almost panicked and offered: "This kid had never overslept before, let me go check."

Just as he turned his horse to gallop off to search for Tolui, he saw 2 kids came running up hand in hand. One of them, with a silk bandana on his head, was Tolui while the other turned out to be Guo Jing. Tolui ran straight towards his father and shouted: "Dad!"

"Where were you?" Temujin demanded in a harsh tone.

"Guo Jing and I just became andas down by the river. Look, this is what he gave me." Tolui replied, waving a red handkerchief with a flower embroidered on it in the air. It was something that Li Ping made for Guo Jing.

Reminded of the time he and Jamuka became andas as kids, Temujin's face immediately became serene. "What did you give him?" He asked the 2 cute and innocent kids standing in front of him.

"This!" Guo Jing replied, pointing on top of his head, where Temujin saw the golden necklace that his youngest son often wore.

"Now you two better help and look after each other in the future, you hear?" Temujin said with a smile.

Both of the kids nodded.

"Now get on your horses," Temujin ordered, "Guo Jing can come with us too."

Ecstatic, Guo Jing and Tolui both mounted their horses.

After another period of waiting, the WanYan brothers finally finished dressing and exited their tents. WanYan HongLie, seeing the Mongolian soldiers was already in formation, immediately ordered his soldiers to fall in. However, WanYan HongXi, determined to put the Mongolians in their place, took his time to slowly drink several cups of wine and ate a little breakfast before finally climbing onto his horse. After another hour of general chaos, the 10,000 Jin troops were finally in formations.

The army marched northwards for 6 days before meeting up with Ong Khan's welcoming committee, comprised of Ong Khan's son Senggum and adopted son Jamuka. Upon hearing that Jamuka was here, Temujin immediately rode forth to meet him. The 2 men hopped off their horses and bear hugged each other. Every one of Temujin's sons came riding forth to greeting their adopted uncle as well.

When WanYan HongLie first laid eyes upon Jamuka, he saw a tall and skinny man with a few strands of gold in his mustache and a pair of eyes that were filled with energy and enthusiasm. He looked strong and spirited. Senggum, on the other hand, was fat and pale, probably from living in luxury all his life, not at all like someone who grew up on the Steppe. Not only that, he had an arrogant look on his face and seemingly ignored Temujin whenever he felt like it, a stark contrast from the warmth of Jamuka.

After another day of marching, they were very close to Ong Khan's encampment when 2 of Temujin's advanced scouts suddenly returned with news.

"There are Naimans blocking the way up ahead. About 30,000 of them," they reported.

"What do they want?" WanYan HongXi asked, panicking a bit after hearing the news through his translator.

"From the looks of it, they want to fight," the scouts reported.

"They.... they have.... they really have 30,000 troops?" WanYan HongXi stuttered. "That... that's more than us... this... this...."

"Go and find out what's going on," Temujin ordered Muquli, not waiting for WanYan HongXi to finish his sentence.

Muqali headed off with 10 bodyguards while the rest of them stopped and waited. Not long after, Muqali returned.

"The Naimans said since the great Jin princes granted a title to our Khan, they want to be granted a title too," He reported. "If not, then they say they will take Your Excellencies the princes as hostages until they too are granted titles from the Great Jin Empire. They also said that they want a title that's above our Khan Temujin's."

"Demanding titles by force? That... that's rebellion! What do we do?" WanYan HongXi's face went pale upon hearing the news. WanYan HongLie began organizing troops into positions in case of any unexpected escalations.

"Brother, those Naimans frequently steal our livestock and cause trouble for us. Are we really going to let them get away with this?" Jamuka said to Temujin. "Don't know what the Jin princes would have us do?"

By now, Temujin had thoroughly surveyed the surrounding landscape and was confident of victory. "Let's show the Princes how the 2 of us do things around here!" He replied to Jamuka before letting out a howl and cracking his whip in the air twice, causing the 5000 Monglian soldiers to simultaneously howl in response and startling the unexpecting WanYan brothers.

A cloud of dust had appeared ahead as the enemy slowly approaches, forcing the advanced scouts to return.

"Brother, order our boys to charge now!" WanYan HongXi said. "These Mongols are of no use now."

"Let them fight first," WanYan HongLie whispered back.

Immediately understanding his brother's intentions, WanYan HongXi simply nodded and sat back. The Mongolian soldiers let out another loud shout, but did not move. "What on Earth are these Mongols doing shouting like rabid dogs?" WanYan HongXi frowned. "It's not like they are going to scare the enemies away no matter how loud they are."

On the left side of the formation was Boroqul. "Follow me and don't fall behind. See how we defeat our foes," he instructed Tolui, who, along with Guo Jing, were shouting at the top of their lungs just like the others.

In a heartbeat, the approaching army emerged out of the cloud of dust only a few paces away. Yet the Mongolians still did nothing but shout.

This time it was WanYan HongLie who got nervous, seeing how spirited the Naimans were. Fearing his formation would be broken through if they continued unimpeded, he ordered: "Fire arrows!"

The Jin army discharged several volleys, but because of the distance between the 2 armies, most of the arrows fell onto the ground before ever reaching the enemy.

Frightened by the ferociousness on his enemies' faces as they gritted their teeth and charged at full speed, WanYan HongXi began to panic. "Why don't we just give them what they want and give them some bullshit title and be done with all this?" he turned around and suggested to WanYan HongLie. "So what if the title is a little big? Not like we are going to lose anything."

Suddenly, Temujin cracked his whip in the air several times. The Mongolian army immediately stopped shouting and split into 2 groups. Temujin and Jamuka each leading a wing and immediately headed towards the high ground on either side. The 2 of them leaned down into their horses and galloped along with their troops, shouting out orders as they ran. The Mongolian troops split up into smaller and smaller groups that, in a very short amount of time, occupied every high ground in every direction. With the height advantage, the Mongols loaded their arrows onto their bows and aimed at the opposing army, but not firing.

The leader of the Naimans, sensing that he was at a disadvantageous position, ordered his troops to head straight for the high grounds. The Mongolian troops set up soft walls made of several layers of fleece to shield themselves from the arrows. The bowmen shot back from behind the walls as the troops stationed on nearby high ground fired arrows in support as well. With enemies on either side of it, confusion descended upon the Naimans as they tried to attack both sides.

"Jelmi, attack the rear!" Temujin shouted, seeing the opposing army had become disorganized from his position on the left.

With a huge sabre in hand, Jelmi led a group of 1000 soldiers down in a charge and cut off the enemy's retreat. Jebeh, determined to slay the enemy general in order to show his gratitude to Temujin for sparing his life, was at the front of the charge with his spear sticking out in front of everyone. Being hit head on by a charge like this, the Naiman rear collapsed into chaos, and their forward units were shaken as well. The Naiman general was just at a lost at what to do next when Jamuka and Senggum began to charge down from their position as well. Attacked from both sides, the Naiman army completely collapsed before long. The leading general turned around and tried to escape, followed by several retainers as they headed back in the direction they came from.

Jelmi didn't order a pursuit and let most of the opposing army go by. Only when there were about 2000 enemies left did he order his army to charge out and block their retreat. With nowhere to go, the brave Naiman soldiers that were left fought to the death while the rest of them laid down their weapons and surrendered.

In this brief battle, the Mongols killed over 1000 foes and captured over 2000 while sustaining only a little over 100 in casualties.

Temujin ordered all captives be stripped of their armor and split into 4 equal groups, one for the WanYan brothers, one for his adopted father Ong Khan, one for sworn brother Jamuka, and one for himself. All Mongolian families that had a relative die in the battle received 5 horses and 5 captives as slaves as compensation.

Only now did WanYan HongXi finally calm down from his scare. "They want a title? Brother, why don't we give them a title of 'Ambassador of the Defeated Losers?' Haha!" He could not stop talking about the battle that just occurred.

The Mongolian victory despite being outnumbered made WanYan HongLie even more nervous than he was before the battle. "At this moment, the reason that our northern borders are safe is because the northern tribes are battling amongst themselves. But if Temujin or Jamuka ever brought all the tribes on the Steppe under their rule, our Great Jin Empire would no longer have any peace." He thought to himself.

Other things troubled him as well. Even though his own troops of 10,000 did not enter into battle, their formation began to waver when the Naimans initially charged and there were fear on every one of their faces. The battle had not yet begun but the outcome had already been determined. Such courage and efficiency displayed by the Mongolians represents a huge threat in the future.

He was still pondering things over in his mind when a cloud of dust appeared up ahead as another army approached.

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chapter 4

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