The column crossed Black Scabbard mountain, and that
night another thirty or forty soldiers deserted. Zhang
discussed the situation with Rui and the other
bodyguards.
"These fellows are not going to give up even though
this is the main road to Lanzhou, the provincial
capital," he said. "There's going to be a lot more
trouble ahead, so we had better make our way round by
the backroads, and cross the river at Crimson Bend."
Cao Neng had been looking forward to getting to
Lanzhou so that he could transfer his burden to other
shoulders, and was very unhappy with Zhang's plan. But
he did not dare to disagree.
"We have lost many soldiers on the road," Zhang said.
"When you get back, Master Cao, you can report that
they were killed during an attack on bandits, and died
courageously for their country. I will write out a
note to that effect in a moment."
Cao Neng's spirits rose again. According to the
military regulations, if a soldier was killed in
action, it was possible to obtain a pension, and the
money naturally fell into the pocket of the officer in
command.
They heard the roar of the Yellow River long before it
came into view, and travelled more than half a day
further before arriving at the Crimson Bend crossing.
At this bend on the Yellow River, the rocks along the
banks are blood-red, hence its name. Dusk was already
approaching, but through the evening mists, they could
see the fury with which the Yellow River surged
eastwards, its muddy waters bubbling and boiling
against the banks.
"We will cross the river tonight," Zhang said. "The
water is dangerous but if we delay, there may be
trouble."
With the river running so fast, the crossing could
only be made by sheepskin rafts. Soldiers were sent
out to search for rafts, but they could not found any.
Darkness fell. Zhang was just becoming anxious when he
spotted two sheepskin rafts shooting down the river
towards them. The soldiers shouted, and the two rafts
edged towards the bank.
"Hey, boatman!" Cao shouted. "Ferry us across and
we'll pay you well."
The big man on the raft stood up and waved his hand.
"You're a mute," said Cao.
"Damn your ancestors," replied the man in Cantonese.
"If you're coming then come, if you're not, then
don't. You bunch of bastards. It's a waste of time
dealing with you." Cao and the others understood not a
word of it. Cao ignored him and invited Zhang and the
bodyguards escorting Wen to get onto the rafts first.
Zhang weighed up the boatman. His wide-brimmed hat hid
half his face and it was impossible to distinguish his
features clearly. But the muscles on his arms were
bunched and bulging, revealing great strength, while
the oar in his hands was of a very dark colour and
appeared to be made of something other than wood. He
felt something was wrong, and not being able to swim,
he could not afford to fall victim to some trick.
"Master Cao," he said. "You go first with some of the
soldiers."
Cao ordered some of the soldiers onto the two rafts.
The current was rapid, but the two boatmen were highly
skilled and safely delivered the government troops to
the opposite bank, and then returned to take on
another batch.
Cao boarded a raft with another group of soldiers, but
just as they left the bank, a long whistle sounded
behind them which was answered by a host of other
whistles.
Zhang hastily ordered the troops to surround the
carriage and guard it closely. A crescent moon hung
low in the sky. Under its light, he saw about a dozen
horses coming towards them. He galloped forward.
"What's going on?" he shouted.
The riders formed a single rank as they approached,
then one in the middle spurred his horse on and rode
ahead of the others. In his hand he held a white
folding fan with which he fanned himself. "Is that the
'Fire Hand Judge' Zhang Zhaozhong?" he asked.
"It is," Zhang replied. "And who are you, sir?"
The other laughed. "We thank you for escorting our
Brother Wen this far, but we would not want to trouble
you further."
"Are you Red Flower Society people?"
"Everyone praises the 'Fire Hand Judge' for his
superlative mastery of the martial arts, but he
obviously has divine foresight as well," the man
replied, smiling. "You are correct. We are Red Flower
Society people." He gave a long whistle.
Zhang started slightly as he heard the two boatmen on
the rafts give answering whistles.
Cao, seated on one of the rafts, saw the enemy
approaching on the shore, and his face turned the
colour of mud. The boatman stopped the raft in
midstream with a stroke of his oar.
"Thirteenth Brother!" Cao heard a crisp voice call
from the other raft. "Ready when you are."
"Right!" the boatman replied. Cao raised his spear and
thrust it at him, but the boatman deflected it deftly
with his oar and then knocked Cao and all the other
soldiers on board into the river. Both boatmen then
rowed back close to the shore.
Zhang was thankful for his caution. "You have been
killing government troops the whole way," he shouted.
"You have committed many unpardonable acts. What is
your position in the Red Flower Society, sir?"
"There is no need for you to ask my name," Great
Helmsman Chen said. "Xin Yan, give me my weapons."
Xin Yan opened his bag and placed two weapons in
Chen's hands. Normally, the other heroes should have
fought first, but Chen was unable to resist the
opportunity to demonstrate his skills.
Zhang jumped off his horse and strode forward. But
just as he was preparing himself for the fight,
Imperial Bodyguard Zhu ran up behind him and said:
"Master Zhang, let me deal with him."
Zhang decided to let him test out the enemy first. "Be
careful, Brother Zhu," he said.
Zhu lunged forward, sword raised. He chopped out at
Chen's thigh. Chen jumped lightly off his horse and
lifted the shield in his left hand to parry the blow.
In the moonlight, Zhu saw that nine glistening, sharp
hooks protruded from the face of the shield, and knew
that if his sword collided with them, it would be
caught in their grasp. He started in fright and
hastily withdrew his sword. Chen then flourished the
weapon in his right hand: five cords, each one tipped
with a steel ball especially designed for hitting the
Yuedao points on the human body. Terrified by the
ferocious nature of this weapon, Zhu leapt backwards,
but the cords circled round behind him, and he felt a
sudden numbness on his back. Then the cords entwined
his legs and with a tug, Chen pulled Zhu off his feet,
swung him round and round, and sent him flying
straight towards a rocky outcrop nearby.
If he had hit it, he would have been smashed to
pieces. But Zhang, seeing that Zhu was completely
out-classed, raced over, grabbed his queue and pulled
him down just in front of the rock face.
"Rest for a while, Brother Zhu," he said. Frozen with
fear, Zhu was unable to answer.
Zhang raised his precious 'Frozen Emerald' Sword and
leapt in front of Chen.
Zhang thrust his sword at Chen's right shoulder. Chen
flipped the chords towards the blade, while the shield
in his left hand struck out at Zhang.
As they battled, the two boatmen, 'Crocodile' Jiang
and Luo Bing, jumped ashore and ran towards the
carriages, guarded by the soldiers. Jiang charged
straight into the ranks, immediately killing two of
the closest soldiers. The others frantically gave way.
Luo Bing charged over to one of the carriages, and
lifted up the carriage curtain.
"Fourth Brother, are you in there?" she called. But it
was 'Scholar' Yu, still seriously wounded. Suddenly
hearing Luo Bing's voice through his stupor, he could
only think that it was a dream, or that he had died
and was meeting her in the other world.
"You've come!" he cried happily.
Luo Bing knew that the voice was not her husband's and
ran to the next carriage. But before she could pull
aside the curtain, a saw-toothed sword chopped at her
from the right. She parried with her sword, and
looking up at her attacker in the watery moonlight,
recognised him as one of the eight bodyguards who had
attacked Wen and herself in Suzhou. With a surge of
hatred, she redoubled her attack. Rui was aware of her
ability with throwing knives and speeded up his
strokes to avoid giving her an opportunity to use
them. Then two other bodyguards joined the battle
while the soldiers closed in from all sides.
Four more of the heroes led by 'Leopard' Wei galloped
towards her through a hail of arrows. One arrow
planted itself in the neck of Wei's horse, and the
pain made it gallop even more furiously. The animal's
hooves hit the chest of one of the soldiers, Wei flew
off the horse with his hooks raised, and amid a chorus
of screams, gouged them into the breasts of two other
soldiers. Wei then aimed the hooks at Bodyguard Rui
who was forced to abandon his attack on Luo Bing.
'Hunchback' Zhang Jin and the others also raced up and
the soldiers scattered.
Free once more, Luo Bing threw herself into the
carriage and hugged Wen's neck, then burst into tears.
After a while, Zhang Jin stuck his head in through the
carriage curtain. "Fourth Brother," he grinned. "We've
come to take you back."
He climbed onto the driver's seat and the carriage
moved off northwards away from the river, and stopped
by the side of a mound, from which they could get a
good view of the battle.
Suddenly, Zhang broke away from his duel with Chen and
ran for Wen's carriage.
Luo Bing saw him coming and brandished her sword at
him. But Zhang's sword was extraordinarily tough, and
as they clashed with a 'clang', it snapped her blade
in two. With the rest of his strength, Zhang leapt up
into the carriage and pulled Luo Bing in with him.
Greatly frightened, the other heroes raced up to save
her, and Zhang lifted her up and threw her at them.
The Twin Knights raced over and caught her.
Meanwhile, Zhang turned and grabbed Wen, and pulled
him to the carriage door. "Wen Tailai is here," he
shouted. "If anyone dares to come any closer, I'll
kill him!"
The cold gleam of Zhang's 'Frozen Emerald' sword was
poised at Wen's neck.
"Fourth Brother," Luo Bing wailed, and tried to throw
herself at the carriage, but Lu Feiqing held her back
and took a step forward himself.
"Zhang!" he called out. "Can you see who I am?" Zhang
and he had not seen each other for a long time and it
was difficult to see clearly in the moonlight, so Lu
drew his White Dragon sword, took hold of the tip of
the blade, and bent the handle back so that it formed
a circle. Then he let the tip go and the blade bounced
back upright and swayed slightly.
Zhang grunted. "Ah, so it's Brother Lu," he said. "Why
have you come looking for me?"
"You are wounded," Lu replied. "All the heroes of the
Red Flower Society are here as well as 'Iron Gall'
Zhou Zhongying. It is going to be hard for you to
escape today with your life. But in memory of our
benevolent teacher, I will give you a way out."
Zhang grunted again, but said nothing.
Suddenly they heard shouts and cries drifting over
from the east, as if a thousand armies were racing
towards them. The heroes were filled with
apprehension, but Zhang was even more worried.
"This Red Flower Society is truly resourceful," he
thought. "Even here in the northwest, they can still
call up huge reinforcements."
"Release Master Wen," Lu Feiqing continued, "and I
will ask the heroes, out of respect for me, to release
you. But there is one thing you must swear to."
Zhang eyed the strong enemies surrounding him. "What?"
he said.
"You must swear that you will immediately retire from
public life and no longer be a running dog of the
Manchus." |
