The Book and The Sword (48 page)

Lu Feiqing was shocked by Zhang's speed, even faster than their teacher in his prime. He drew his sword and watched the battle carefully, ready to help Chen if necessary.

To one side, Yu and Luo Bing were looking after Yuanzhi who had fainted from the shock and pain of her broken arm. Yuanzhi opened her eyes and pointed to the east with a gasp of surprise. Yu looked round but could see nothing but the afternoon sun shimmering on the hills about them.

"What's that?" Yuanzhi asked. "Are we back in Hangzhou?"

"It's just the sun," Yu said softly. "Close your eyes and rest."

"No, that's the Thunder Peak Pagoda in Hangzhou," she replied. "I've been there with my father. Where is my father? I want to see him."

Yu lightly patted the back of her hand. "We'll go there together after this, and I'll see your father with you."

A smile appeared on her face. "Who are you?" she asked. Yu saw her staring at him, her face completely devoid of colour and fear struck him.

"I'm your martial brother Yu. I promise I will look after you from now on."

"But in your heart, you don't like me, I know," she cried, tears beginning to course down her cheeks. "Take me back to see my father. I want to die."

On a sudden impulse, Yu embraced her. "I truly love you," he whispered. "You won't die." She sighed. "Tell me you won't die," he repeated. Another wave of pain from her arm struck her and she fainted away.

Meanwhile, Zhang and Chen continued to fight round and round. At first, Chen was able to contain his enemy with the 'Hundred Flowers' kung fu style. But as Zhang gradually came to grips with it, he became more daring and forced Chen onto the defensive. He swept his sword across at Chen forcing Chen to jump away, and with a quick double movement of his sword, struck out at 'Leopard' Wei and Zhang Jin, wounding them both. Wen roared with anger and was about to leap forward when Chen slipped past him and struck out at Zhang's face with his open hands. There appeared to be no force behind the blow, but they struck Zhang's ears with two sharp claps. Surprised and angry, Zhang retreated.

The heroes were perplexed by the effortless way in which Chen had managed to box Zhang's ears.

"Fourteenth Brother," Chen said to Yu. "Play me a tune on your flute."

"What do you want me to play?" he asked, putting the flute to his lips.

Chen hesitated for a moment. "The tune 'Ambush From All Sides'," he replied.

Yu did not understand what he was getting at, but having received an order from the Great Helmsman, he complied immediately and began to play with all the skill he could muster. The tune was a martial piece written originally for the bamboo flute. Played on the golden flute, it sounded even more stentorian, raising the image of armoured troops on the march.

Chen set himself in a pose facing Zhang. "Come on," he invited, then turned and kicked out into the thin air as if dancing. Seeing his back undefended, Zhang thrust his sword at him, and the heroes gasped in fright. But Chen suddenly turned again, grabbed Zhang's queue with his left hand and pulled it over the edge of the sword, slicing it in two. With his right hand, he gave Zhang's shoulder a sharp blow.

Zhang had now been struck three times, and although he had not yet been badly hurt, he was obviously baffled by Chen's kung fu style and had had to suffer the shame of having his queue cut off. But he was a master of self-control and he carefully retreated several steps, staring fixedly at his enemy.

Chen moved forward slowly, his feet following the rhythm of the tune Yu was playing.

"Look!" Huo Qingtong said to her sister excitedly. "It's the kung fu style he learned in the cave."

The two whirled round each other. Zhang kept his sword strictly on the defensive, striking out only when Chen got too close.

"Master Yuan, I have never had so much respect for you as I do today," Bald Vulture said. "Your pupil is doing you proud."

Master Yuan was greatly perplexed: he was probably the best martial arts fighter in the land and yet he had never seen anything remotely like the kung fu style Chen was using. "I didn't teach him this," he replied. "I wouldn't know how to."

Yu played his flute even more furiously. At first, Chen had felt unfamiliar with the new kung fu style, but by now he was using it smoothly, advancing and retreating with great precision until Zhang's clothes were covered in the sweat of fear. The melody hit a high note, then fell like a shooting star exploding, and Zhang gave a cry as Chen touched the Yuedao point on his right wrist, forcing him to drop the sword. Chen followed quickly with two blows to Zhang's back, then jumped away, laughing. Zhang stumbled forward a few steps, as if drunk, and collapsed on the ground. Jubilant, the heroes rushed forward to tied him up. Zhang, his face deathly white, made no attempt to resist.

"Master Yuan, Master Lu," Chen said. "What should we do with this traitor?"

"Feed him to the wolves," Yu interjected. "First he killed my teacher and now he, now he…" He looked down at Yuanzhi's broken arm.

"Good idea! We'll take him to feed the wolves," said Yuan. "We have to go and see how the pack is doing anyway."

Lu carefully set Yuanzhi's broken arm and bound it tightly with cloth. Master Yuan slipped a Snow Ginseng pill into her mouth and felt her pulse.

"Don't worry," he said to Yu. "She won't die."

"Put your arms round her, and she'll get better much quicker," Luo Bing whispered to him with a smile.

Huo Qingtong, meanwhile, was examining her map again, looking for a path from the Jade Pool out to the Secret City, when she heard shouts and turned to see Gu running crazily towards her screaming: "Kill me! Kill me!" Shocked and angry, she raised her sword and ran it through his chest. As she pulled the blade out again, a stream of blood spattered her yellow robe and Gu collapsed on the ground. Hahetai knelt over him and tried to stop the blood flow, but it was impossible. Gu gasped in pain.

"Do you have any affairs that need settling, Brother?" Hahetai asked him.

"I just want to touch her hand, then I can die happy," Gu whispered, looking up at Huo Qingtong.

"Mistress!" Hahetai pleaded. "He's about to die. Take pity…" Huo Qingtong turned without a word, and walked away, her face deathly pale. Gu gave a long sigh, and his head fell to one side, dead.

Holding back his tears, Hahetai jumped up and pointed his finger accusingly at Huo Qingtong.

"You're merciless!" he shouted. "I don't blame you for killing him, but you could at least have given him your hand to touch, so that he could die peacefully. What difference would it have made to you?"

"Nonsense! Shut your mouth!" Zhang Jin said angrily.

Hahetai made no reply. He picked up Gu's body and strode away. Yu led over a horse for him.

"Brother Hahetai," he said. "I respect you for being an upright man. Please take this horse."

Hahetai nodded and slung Gu's body over the horse's back. Yu filled a bowl with water and drank half of it, then presented it to the Mongol.

"This water can take the place of wine," he said. Hahetai threw back his head and drained the bowl at one draught, then rode away without looking back.

T
he heroes started out for the wolf stockade in high spirits, singing and laughing as they went. Master Yuan questioned Chen about the origin of the strange kung fu style he had used, and Chen gave him a detailed account of his discovery.

"What an extraordinary coincidence," Yuan said in delight. "One could never make such a find by purposely looking for it."

After several days travel, they arrived at the stockade and climbed up on to the parapet to look inside. The wolf pack had long since eaten the herd of animals and were now fighting over the carcases of their dead comrades, barking and snapping at each other. The scene was cruelly tragic and even the hardened heroes were shocked. Princess Fragrance could not bear the sight, and went back down to talk with the Muslim guards.

Yu pulled Zhang to the edge of the wall, and began to mumble a prayer: "Oh, spirit of my benevolent teacher, we have today avenged your death." He reached over and took the knife Xu was holding, cut the rope binding Zhang's hands and feet and kicked him off the edge.

Zhang had been seriously injured by Chen's last two blows, but his Inner Strength Kung Fu was profound, and he had basically recovered by the time they reached the stockade. As he fell towards the floor of the stockade, he knew he had no chance of survival, but he still had to fight one last time. The wolves threw themselves at him just before he hit the ground. He grabbed two of the beasts by their necks and whirled them round and round, forcing the others to back off and slowly made his way to the stockade wall.

They knew he would die. Despite their hatred for him, Chen, Luo Bing and the others with weaker stomachs could not bear to watch to the end and walked back down from the parapet.

T
hat evening, after they had set up camp, Chen told Master Yuan about his meetings with the Emperor Qian Long. Yuan was amazed by the twists and turns in the story, and when it was finished, he pulled a small, yellow cloth bundle from his bag.

"Last spring," he said, handing the bag to Chen, "your foster father, Great Helmsman Yu, sent the Twin Knights to see me and asked me to look after this, saying there were two important items inside. They didn't say what they were and I haven't opened the bag to see, but I imagine they must be the evidence the Emperor wants."

Chen opened the bag and and found a small parcel tightly wrapped in three layers of water-proof oil paper. Inside was a tiny box made of redwood. He opened the lid, revealing two plain envelopes yellowed with age. Inside the first envelope was a sheet of paper on which was written: "Master Chen, send someone over with your newborn son for me to see. Yong Di."

Master Yuan read it, but could not grasp it's significance. "What does it mean?" he asked. "Why would your foster father have considered this note to be so important?"

"It's written by the Emperor Yong Zheng," Chen replied.

"How do you know?"

"There were many examples of the Emperor's calligraphy around our home when I was young, so I recognise it easily. But this note was obviously written before he became Emperor. Yong Di was the name he used before he ascended the throne. Also, after he became Emperor, he would not have referred to my father as 'Master'." Yuan nodded.

Chen counted off the months and years on his fingers. "I was born after Yong Zheng became Emperor, and so was my brother. My sister was born at about that time, but this letter says: 'Your newborn son'. This is excellent evidence!"

He opened the second envelope and took out a letter. As soon as he saw the writing, tears sprang to his eyes.

"What is it?" Yuan asked.

"This is my mother's writing," he replied. He wiped away his tears and began to read the letter:

"Dear Brother Yu, our fate has run its course. What more is there to say of my ill-fated life? All I am concerned about now is the troubles I have brought upon you. You are a brave and upright man, but because of me, you have been rejected even by your own martial school. Of my three sons, one is in the depths of the Imperial Palace, one has gone off into the desert, and the one who is left to keep me company is both stupid and wicked. It makes me very sad. My youngest son is very intelligent and has been put under the care of an excellent teacher. I love and miss him, but I am not worried about him.

"My eldest son is playing the role of Manchu Emperor and knows nothing of his origins. Brother Yu, can you enlighten him for me? To prove it, tell him he has a bright red birthmark on his left buttock, and he will have to believe you.

"My strength is gradually failing. Day and night, all I think and dream of is the times we had together when we were young. If Heaven has pity on us, we will meet after death and spend the rest of eternity together as man and wife. (signed) Sister Chaosheng."

Chen was deeply shocked as he read the letter.

"Teacher," he said, his voice quavering. "Is the… the 'Brother Yu' in the letter my foster father?"

"Who else?" Master Yuan replied sombrely. "He and your mother fell in love when they were young, but things did not go as they wished, and they were separated. As a result, he never married."

"Why did my mother want me to go and live with him and treat him as my real father? Could it be…?"

"I was Master Yu's closest friend, but I only know that he broke the regulations of the Shaolin School and was expelled. He would never raise such a humiliating matter himself and it was difficult for others to ask him about it. But he was a good man, and I'm certain he would not have done anything to be ashamed of." He slapped his thigh. "When he was expelled, I felt sure he had been falsely accused and I got together some fighters with the idea of going to Shaolin monastery and demanding an explanation. It nearly created a serious split in the fighting community. But your foster father disagreed strenuously, insisting that the expulsion was his own fault and all he deserved. In the end, I did nothing. But I still don't believe he would have done anything shameful. I don't know what it could have been." His lingering anger was still apparent. "After he was expelled from the Shaolin school, he went and lived as a hermit for several years. Later he founded the Red Flower Society."

"But why did my foster father and my mother want me to leave home? Do you know?"

"What face did I have left when he stopped me from forcing the Shaolin School to explain?" Yuan replied angrily. "I refused to have anything to do with him after that. He sent you to me, and I taught you the martial arts, so I don't owe him anything."

Chen knew there was no point in questioning him further. But the key to restoring the throne to the Chinese race lay with his elder brother's origins. Even the slightest error, and all their efforts could be rendered useless. So he decided to first go to the Shaolin Monastery. He told Yuan of his plan.

"Good idea," the old man replied. "But the monks there are a strange lot. I'm afraid they won't tell you anything."

"We'll see," said Chen.

Yuan looked at his pupil thoughtfully. "Both of those Muslim girls are very nice. Which one do you want?" he asked.

"The famous Han dynasty general Huo Qubing said: 'How can I think of marriage until the barbarians are defeated?' I feel the same way," Chen replied.

Yuan nodded. "That's very commendable. I will speak to the Twin Eagles so they won't accuse me again of being a bad teacher."

"Have they said something about me?"

"They accused you of fickleness, of shoving aside one sister for the other."

Chen remembered how he and Princess Fragrance had met the Twin Eagles in the desert, and how they had departed without saying farewell, leaving their message in the sand. With a shock, he realised what they had meant.

The next day, Chen informed the heroes of his decision to go to the Shaolin Monastery in Fujian Province and bade farewell to Master Yuan, the Twin Eagles, Huo Qingtong and her sister.

Princess Fragrance wanted to go with him, and Chen felt very bad about leaving her behind. He had no idea of when they would meet again, but with Heaven's help, the great task of driving the Manchus out of China would one day succeed and they would be re-united. If it did not succeed, he and his brothers would probably die and be buried far from the Muslim areas.

"You stay with your sister," Chen said, hardening his heart.

"You must come back!" Princess Fragrance cried, tears coursing down her face. He nodded. "If it takes ten years for you to come back, I'll wait ten years. If it takes a lifetime, I'll wait a lifetime."

Chen wanted to give her something. He felt around in his bag and his hand touched on something warm: the piece of Warm Jade the Emperor had given him in Haining. He took it out and placed it in her hand.

"When you look at this jade, pretend you are looking at me," he said softly.

"But I must see you," she replied tearfully.

"What's all this crying about?" he said. "When the Great Task is completed, I will take you to see the Great Wall outside Beijing. I promise."

Princess Fragrance stared at him for a moment, then the trace of a smile appeared on her face. "You're not allowed to say anything you don't mean," she said.

"When have I lied to you?"

Only then did she agree to stay behind.

They started out. As they rode away, Chen found himself constantly looking back at the two sisters as they faded and gradually disappeared on the horizon of the desert.

The heroes travelled slowly due to Yuanzhi's injuries. With his master's death avenged, Yu was in high spirits and looked after the girl with loving care and attention.

After several days, they arrived back at Afanti's home. Zhou Qi was delighted to hear Zhang was dead. Chen wanted Xu to stay with her in the Muslim areas until the child was born and she had recovered, but Zhou Qi would have none of it. Apart from the boredom, she did not want to miss a chance to travel to the Shaolin Monastery, where her father was staying. The heroes finally agreed, and Xu rented a carriage for his wife and Yuanzhi to ride in.

By the time they re-entered the Jade Gate to central China, the weather was growing warmer and the beginnings of spring were apparent.