The slopes of Lion Peak produce abundant quantities of
tea, one of the most exquisite varieties of the leaf
under heaven. The mountain itself is high and
precipitous, and few people go to the very top.
Wang Weiyang, his great sword slung across his back,
clambered up the steep slope and emerged through the
tea bushes onto an expanse of open ground on the
summit. He noticed walking towards him a tall, robust
man wearing a short jacket. The man stared at him for
a moment.
"Are you Wang Weiyang?" he asked.
"Yes. And you are the Fire Hand Judge, Zhang
Zhaozhong?"
"I am. Do you wish to fight bare-handed or with
weapons?" Zhang was a very thorough man. He had
searched about carefully during his climb up the peak,
but had found no sign of anyone lying in ambush.
Wang was startled to see Zhang's mouth and nose were
swollen and with his right eye ringed in black,
injuries caused by Chen the night before. "We have no
great grudges against each other," thought Wang. "Why
risk killing him with a sword-stroke? The consequences
of killing an official of his rank are unthinkable. It
will be enough to humiliate him with my Eight Diagram
Kung Fu. I'll show him I'm not egotistical."
"I would be honoured to pit myself against your famous
Limitless Occult Kung Fu, Master Zhang," he said out
loud.
"Fine," Zhang replied. He brought his fists together
in salute and waited for the other to attack.
"If I may..." Wang said, and as he spoke, his left
fist shot out and his right hand sliced across towards
Zhang's right shoulder. Then in a flash, his left fist
flipped over and aimed for the right shoulder while
the right hand went for the chest. Zhang retreated
three paces and fended off the blows. The two circled
around, surprised at the extent of the other's
ability.
"His moves are fast and powerful," Zhang thought.
"He's a strong adversary."
"He avoided those blows of mine with ease," Wang
thought. "Fire Hand Judge is no misnomer."
Suddenly, Zhang stepped forward and swept his left leg
across at Wang, who jumped clear off the ground to
avoid it and countered with a fist aimed at Zhang's
face.
They were evenly matched and fought close and fast.
The sun was riding high and their two shadows danced
on the ground, merging and separating in a flash. Wang
knew that at his age, a long battle would finish him.
So he quickly changed his style, and with one hand
protecting his body and the other facing outwards, he
raced round Zhang, his feet following the pattern of
the Eight Diagrams.
The style dictated that he keep moving, circling round
Zhang to the left and right, waiting for an
opportunity to strike. It would make even a kung fu
master dizzy after a few circuits.
Zhang knew how ferocious this style was, and lunged at
his opponent. But Wang had already circled round the
other way. Suddenly he struck at Zhang with both
fists, one of which slammed into his shoulder. Zhang
caught hold of Wang's wrist and struck out at his
elbow in retaliation. With his free hand, Wang swung
at Zhang's other shoulder and the two leapt apart.
Zhang had had the worst of the encounter. "Your kung
fu is excellent," he shouted. "Let us duel with
swords."
He drew his Frozen Emerald sword, Wang also drew his
sword and the two stood facing each other.
Zhang's mind was bent on recovering face, and he
struck out with a series of attacking sword strokes,
fast and vicious. Wang could tell from the way the
light glinted on the Frozen Emerald sword that it was
a superb weapon, and knew that if the two swords
clashed, his own blade would come off the worst. So he
did not dare to directly parry the strokes.
They fought round and round. Wang began to sweat and
he secretly worked a number of darts into his palm and
then swapped his sword over to his left hand. He
slashed out with a left-handed stoke, and
simultaneously flung the darts at Zhang. Zhang managed
to dodge both dangers, but he was becoming flustered
by the onslaught. He swept his sword across at Wang's
waist, and as the two swords clashed, Wang's blade
snapped cleanly in two.
Wang roared and hurled the remaining half at Zhang,
and followed it with his remaining three darts. With a
cry, Zhang fell over backwards and the Frozen Emerald
Sword dropped to the ground.
"Master Zhang, forgive me!" Wang cried out anxiously.
"I have some Golden Scar Ointment here."
Zhang was silent. Wang feared he was dead, and killing
a court official was no laughing matter so he rushed
across and bent down to examine Zhang.
As he did so, he saw flashes of gold before his eyes.
Cursing himself, he leant over backwards as fast as he
could, but too late. He felt stabs of pain in his left
chest and shoulder as the needles plunged home. He
gave another angry roar and jumped up ready to fight
Zhang to the death. But as he swung his sword, the
pain in his chest and shoulder was so extreme that he
fell back to the ground with a groan. Zhang laughed
out loud. He pulled one of Wang's darts from his
wrist, ripped a strip of cloth off his jacket, bound
the wound then stood up.
"How could you attack me when I was coming to see if
you were injured?" Wang demanded angrily. "What sort
of man are you to do such a despicable thing? We'll
see if you have the effrontery to face the rest of the
fighting community after today."
"There's only the two of us here. Who else knows about
it?" asked Zhang with a smile. "Having lived to such a
ripe old age, it's about time you went to meet your
forefathers."
He picked up half of Wang's snapped sword and dug a
hole in the ground, then heaved Wang to the edge of
it.
"So you're the North China Earth-Shaker," he said.
"I'll give you some earth to shake." He kicked Wang
into the hole and began to bury him alive.
As he worked, he heard a long, cold laugh from
somewhere behind. He whirled round in fright and found
Lead Escort Han standing there with an Iron Pipa in
his hand.
"So that's it!" Zhang shouted angrily. "The Zhen Yuan
Bodyguard Agency arranges a one-to-one duel and
secretly sets up an ambush. Do you have no shame?"
"It is you that is shameless," Han replied pointing to
Wang.
"All right, you can demonstrate your Iron Pipa kung fu
for me," Zhang said. He flew at Han using Lightness
Kung Fu and thrust his sword at him. Han retreated two
steps and a sword struck out at Zhang from amongst the
bushes. Zhang parried the stroke, and saw the
swordsman was the other lead escort who had
accompanied Han to see him earlier.
"Come on, fight me together. It is of no consequence
to the Fire Hand Judge," he shouted.
Just as he was about to strike, he heard a noise
behind and turned to see eight or nine men walking
towards him led by the Red Flower Society's Great
Helmsman, Chen Jialuo. A shiver of panic passed
through him, and he glanced about, looking for some
avenue of escape.
"Brother Han, go and look after Master Wang," said
Chen. Han ran over to the hole and helped Wang out.
"Master Wang said he wished to have a private duel
with no observers or seconds," Zhang shouted.
"My brothers and I came to admire the scenery and
happened to come across the two of you," Chen replied.
"It was a very artistic display, but you did not win
very honourably, Master Zhang."
"We were matching our strength and our wits. What is
wrong with such a victory?"
"You are wise indeed, Master Zhang." Chen walked
slowly forward. "We want to rescue Master Wen."
"Well?"
"His manacles are made of the finest steel which no
file could get through. I therefore have no
alternative but to ask you to lend us your excellent
sword. As a member of the fighting community, I am
sure you will be happy to oblige."
Zhang looked at the number of his adversaries and knew
it would be difficult to get away.
"If you wish to borrow my sword, you will have to take
it by force," he said. He turned and sprinted towards
the southern path down the mountain slope. Suddenly,
he saw in front of him the one-armed Taoist priest,
and slung two Golden Needles at him. He knew there was
no chance of hitting the priest, but he hoped that the
needles would occupy him long enough to get past.
Priest Wu Chen, however, deftly dodged out of the way
then crouched down and thrust his sword at Zhang's
right leg. Zhang brought his own blade down to parry
the stroke and the two fought fiercely. Zhang found
his strength beginning to wane. The priest gave a
shout and the Frozen Emerald sword was jolted out of
Zhang's hand. For a split second, Zhang stared at it
in surprise, and the priest aimed a flying kick at his
groin, knocking him to the ground. Zhang Jin and two
of the other fighters then jumped on him while Luo
Bing pulled out some rope and bound his hands.
Remembering Zhang had led the capture of her husband
at Iron Gall Manor, she punched him smartly on the
nose.
Chen walked over.
"You have only won because of numerical superiority,"
Zhang shouted angrily. "If you bandits are going to
kill me then get it over with."
"He ought to be buried in the hole that he dug,"
suggested 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi. The others shouted
their agreement, and Zhang broke into a cold sweat.
"What do you say?" asked Chen. "If you admit defeat
and swear never again to go against the Red Flower
Society, we will spare you for the sake of your
martial brother, Master Lu."
"Stop wasting words!" Zhang shouted stubbornly. "After
all your crafty tricks, how can you expect anyone to
concede defeat to you?"
"All right," said Chen. "I will kill you to relieve
you of the horror of being buried alive." He pulled
out his dagger and walked over to Zhang. "Are you not
afraid of death?" he asked.
"Do your worst," Zhang replied, and laughed bitterly.
He closed his eyes and waited for death.
Suddenly they heard shouts from the mountainside
below, and turned to see two men running towards them,
moving as fast as the wind with superb Lightness Kung
Ku.
As they approached, the heroes saw that one was Lu
Feiqing, and the other a kindly-looking old Taoist
priest.
Just as Lu was about to introduce the old man, Zhang
went up to him and bowed.
"Brother, we have not seen each other for many years,"
he said. "How are you?"
The heroes realized that it must be Ma Zhen, 'Scholar'
Yu's teacher. They all bowed before him.
"We came as fast as we could when we heard about the
duel," Lu said. He looked round and saw with relief
that no-one had been injured.
Ma Zhen had long heard of Zhang's unsavoury record,
but seeing his blood-stained clothes and swollen face,
he now found himself feeling almost sorry for him.
"Brother Zhang, how did you get into such a mess?" he
asked.
"With one against so many, how could I look any
different?" Zhang replied indignantly.
The heroes were furious at his insinuation. "So you're
blameless are you?" shouted Zhou Qi. She brandished
her sword and made as to charge at Zhang, but her
father held her back.
"His two martial brothers are here now," Lord Zhou
said. "Let us see what they have to say." His words
put the onus of dealing with Zhang squarely on Ma
Zhen.
Ma Zhen looked at Lu, and then at Zhang. Suddenly, his
knees folded and he knelt down before the heroes.
Greatly surprised, Chen helped him up again.
"My brothers," he said, his voice choked with sobs.
"This useless martial brother of mine has committed
truly heinous crimes. To the shame of our school, we
have failed to discipline him and have lost face
before all our brothers in the fighting
community...I...I..." He was overcome with emotion.
"Brother Lu," he added. "Tell them what I mean."
"Brother Ma is very angry about Zhang's behaviour. But
in memory of our late teacher, he wishes to ask you to
spare him."
The heroes looked at Chen and Lord Zhou, waiting for
their decision.
"Master Zhou will be the arbiter," said Chen. "We will
do whatever he says."
"Considering he had Iron Gall Manor burnt to the
ground, I should not rest until revenge has been
gained," Zhou said, then paused. "But having heard
your words, Master Ma, I will hand him over to you
with all past scores forgotten."
"Father!" Zhou Qi cried, horrified.
Zhou stroked her hair. "Forget about it, child," he
said softly.
"Out of respect for your wishes, Master Ma, the Red
Flower Society will also let bygones be bygones,"
added Chen.
Ma and Lu bowed to the heroes. "We will be eternally
grateful," said Ma.
"Brother Ma, what do you intend to do if he does evil
again?" Priest Wu Chen asked sternly.
"I will insist that he turn over a new leaf," Ma
replied. "But if he does revert to his old ways, then
I will be the first to strike, unless he kills me
first! I will now take him back to Wudang Mountain so
that he can reflect on his misdeeds in solitude.
Brother Lu, once Master Wen is out of danger, please
write and inform me so that my mind can rest easy. By
the way, where is my pupil, Yu Yutong?"
"He was separated from us at the Yellow River," Chen
replied. "We later heard that he had been rescued by a
girl, but we have no further information. As soon as
we have rescued Brother Wen, we will go and
investigate. Please don't worry, sir."
"That pupil of mine is very clever but he is not
steady enough. Please give him whatever direction is
necessary, Master Chen."
"We treat our brothers as blood relations," Chen
replied. "Brother Yu is a capable man. We place great
faith in him."
"I am very grateful for what you have done today,"
said Ma. "My brothers! Next time any of you are in
Hubei Province, please come to stay at Wudang
Mountain." The heroes all thanked him.
"All right, let's go!" Ma told Zhang curtly. Zhang
noticed that Luo Bing had slung his Frozen Emerald
Sword across her back, and he knew that to try to
retrieve it would only result in more punishment. So
he bit his lip and followed after Ma Zhen, his head
bowed.
When they had gone, the others asked Lu what had
happened to him since they had parted. He told them
that for a time he had searched unsuccessfully for
Yuanzhi. Then, realising that Zhang was the key to the
affair, he went south and asked Ma Zhen to help him.
They hurried to Beijing only to discover that Zhang
had gone to Hangzhou, so they travelled south once
more.
The heroes walked slowly down from the peak, talking
as they went. Chen turned to Wang and Han.
"You are both free to go," he said.
"Master Chen, I will never forget how you saved my
life," Wang replied.
Chen laughed. "I must ask your forgiveness, Master
Wang," he said and related how they had stolen the
jade vases and provoked the duel between himself and
Zhang. Having just escaped from the jaws of death,
Wang did not seem to blame him for the deception.
"You are certainly a born leader," he said to Chen,
and laughed. "So young and already a hero. I may be
old, but I still have a thing or two to learn."
"When our affairs have been successfully concluded, we
will drink a few cups of wine together," Chen replied.
They arrived at the lake and returned to Lonely
Mountain by boat. Lu Feiqing extracted the Golden
Needles from Wang's wounds with the use of a magnet,
and then treated them with Golden Scar ointment.
By this time, evening was approaching.
"Most of the work on the tunnel has been completed,"
Master Ma, the Hangzhou Helmsman, reported. "We should
be finished in another six hours."
Chen nodded. "Good, thank you Brother Ma. Thirteenth
Brother, please go and supervise the work."
'Crocodile' Jiang bowed and left.
Chen turned once more to Wang and Han.
"We have been looking after a few members of your
honourable bodyguard agency," he said. "Why don't you
take them to the lake for some recreation?"
Wang watched the Red Flower Society fighters hurrying
to and fro and guessed they were preparing to rescue
Wen Tailai. He decided that if he were to go out by
himself now and the plan should go wrong, they could
easily suspect that he had informed the authorities.
"I am getting old, and what with these Golden Needle
wounds, I am not feeling at all well," he replied. "I
would like to rest here for a day."
"As you wish," said Chen. |
