BANDITS: LEGEND OF FEI (Book 1, Chapter 17)

Book 1: Wanderings of Youth / Chapter 17 – Jiuniang

Baoshan was already nineteen. She was no longer bound by that promise made all those years ago.

Thankfully the chaos outside meant that a missing Zhu Baoshan hadn’t created too much of a stir yet – after Shen Tianshu departed, Chou Tianji had the brilliant idea to start searching each and every house, rounding up any unregistered residents in the county jail. All peasants who had come into contact with outsiders within the last three months had to have their names recorded, and their interactions reported. Not only would anyone who concealed information be punished, all his neighbours would be too – forcing people to tell on each other to the authorities.

Chou Tianji had thought that this search operation would be like shooting fish in a barrel, yet it had barely begun before one of his men mysteriously went missing during a night patrol. Even his corpse was nowhere to be found.

Chou Tianji didn’t believe the ‘old fox’ from the 48 Zhai that he was looking for would dare to make such a move at this crucial juncture. He decided to personally join that night’s patrol, hoping to set his falcons on this mystery man if he appeared again. To his surprise, while that person did indeed make an appearance, he was unexpectedly skilled, and managed to escape from right under his nose.

But one would expect Phecda’s eyesight to be nothing short of extraordinary – he could tell with one glance that that mysterious figure was Shen Tianshu, who should have been long gone already on official business.

Astonished, Chou Tianji immediately sent his men outside the city to investigate. As he had expected, they discovered that Dubhe had secretly stationed some of his men on the outskirts of Huarong City. Chou Tianji was hopping mad. Flipping over the table before him in a rage, he thundered: “I just knew that sickly devil would keep ruining my plans! He was supposed to go after the Huo Clan, but came here instead so that he could claim credit for my efforts. Since he was coming to help, I didn’t object. And he’s the boss anyway, so even if we split the credit fifty-fifty, I’ll let this slide! But after realising how formidable his opponents here really were, that old bastard dropped this like a hot potato. He’s hoping that I’ll do all the work, and then swoop in at the end to claim all the credit. Fat chance!”

Phecda’s falcons had fled from him in terror, and were now hiding their heads under their wings, pretending to be pigeons. His men weren’t any better, all cowering in a corner. Only after hearing Phecda insult Shen Tianshu and every single one of his ancestors, and he appeared thoroughly satisfied with the elaborate curses he had placed on all of them, did one of his men approach him tentatively and ask, “My Lord, what shall we do now?”

There was a gleam in Chou Tianji’s eye as he said: “That old weasel from the 48 Zhai is ruthless and cunning. He’s managed to remain hidden all this while. Now, we can’t have a formidable opponent on the outside, while our own backyard’s on fire, can we? Listen closely…”

The next morning, Jia Chen floated soundlessly into the front yard of their little house and greeted Mr Bai, who was busy divesting himself of his ‘Shen Tianshu’ disguise. Approaching Xie Yun’s door, he said: “Has Third Master woken up yet? Phecda has sent his men outside the city.”

One of the house’s windows was instantly pushed open from the inside, and Ming Chen called out: “Are you absolutely sure? Did he really take out Dubhe’s spies outside the city? It looks like those rumours of discord between Chou Tianji and Shen Tianshu are true after all!”

Xie Yun strolled out of his room. He was already dressed, and didn’t look at all like he had just woken up. Nodding, he said: “At least my worst fears weren’t realised.”

He had feared that his hidden ‘friend’ would try to intervene somehow after seeing Chou Tianji harass the poor peasants of Huarong City. But that person seemed to be far more level-headed than he had imagined.

Xie Yun started to feel a little perplexed, thinking to himself: Who exactly was this person?

At first, Xie Yun had suspected that this person in the shadows was Zhang Chenfei. But that didn’t seem likely now. Running through the names of all those 48 Zhai disciples in his head, he concluded that it couldn’t be any of them – if Zhang Chenfei and his party had had someone amongst them who was sufficiently mature, decisive and discreet, they probably wouldn’t have ended up in that stone prison alongside him for several months.

Then…perhaps everyone in the inn that day had indeed perished, and the person in the shadows was merely an enigmatic hero who wanted to stick it to the Big Dipper on their behalf?

When Xie Yun had first determined that this person was not Zhou Fei, his heart had already sunk. Now that it seemed like all the 48 Zhai disciples had perished, his heart sank even further. But he was a master at hiding his emotions. Even if his heart were to sink right down into his stomach, his face would not show it in the slightest.

Ming Chen smiled: “That’s great, they’ve fallen so easily into the trap we set for them – oh yes, I heard that Shen Tianshu went for the Huo Clan first because he was after their leg combat techniques. Is the Big Dipper intending to conquer all the martial arts sects for themselves at last? Why isn’t Cao Zhongkun keeping his dogs on a leash?”

Mr Bai said: “In the eyes of the imperial court, the martial arts world is just small fry. They are nothing more than a motley crowd even when combined, and incapable of posing any real threat. Eliminating these sects would even earn them the praise of ignorant peasants and common folk, who would think that peace has been restored to the land. Sects like the Huo Clan and Qimen, are merely a pile of rotten bones to Cao Zhongkun – and aren’t bones meant for feeding dogs?”

Xie Yun didn’t much like to hear them discuss such affairs, and had been rummaging around for a kettle to make some tea. But he looked up suddenly at this, and asked: “Qimen? What does the Qimen Sect have to do with this?”

Mr Bai’s attitude towards Xie Yun had grown increasingly respectful over the last few days, and he hastened to answer: “That’s a long story. I’m not sure if Third Master remembers, but I have a lackadaisical younger brother who spends his days sniffing out whatever little tidbits of information that he can find.”

Xie Yun replied: “Yes, Mr Xuan.[1]“

The smile on Mr Bai’s face deepened, and he continued: “The Qimen Sect specialises in tactical formations based on the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams,[2] and the Qimen Dunjia.[3] Third Master surely knows the implications of this.”

Xie Yun nodded his head slowly – no matter how hard one’s fists were, or how skilled in martial arts, one was ultimately still a human made of flesh and blood. Moreover, martial arts pugilists tended to be freewheeling spirits who preferred to go it alone. Even if they had the most amazing abilities, a few lone rangers did not amount to much in the eyes of the imperial court. But tactical formations were another matter altogether.

Tactical formations could be used in war.

Mr Bai said: “The Qimen Sect has always distanced itself from worldly affairs. And knowing that many people would be eyeing their tactical formations, they have practically disappeared from the face of the earth in the last few years, holed up in some unknown corner of the world. As far as I know, both our people and Cao Zhongkun’s men are trying to find them. Two years ago, my brother obtained a tip that many Taoist priests had been spotted in the region of the Zhuyin Valley out of the blue. Think about it – the four main Taoist sects tend to stay put in their temples, rarely venturing out. The sudden appearance of priests in the middle of some heavily forested mountains most likely meant that the Qimen Sect was there. Once word of this got out, many different parties went forth to investigate. My brother certainly wanted a piece of this too. While they managed to find the Qimen Sect’s old premises, the place was already empty when they arrived. So much still remains a mystery – why they suddenly re-emerged after staying safely hidden for so long, why the sect disintegrated, and the current whereabouts of its members. Unfounded rumours abound. Has Third Master suddenly taken an interest in the Qimen Sect?”

Xie Yun furrowed his brow. He didn’t want to mention that he had run into Chong Xiaozi. In present company, his tendency to spout nonsense had also been suppressed for far too many days. So he said casually: “I’m just trying to find the best place to become a monk.”

At this, both Ming Chen and Mr Bai looked flabbergasted, and Ming Chen exclaimed: “But Third Brother, why?”

Mr Bai quickly chimed in: “Please, I beg you to reconsider!”

Xie Yun: “…”

Not deigning to reply, Xie Yun smiled enigmatically and returned to his room. These people’s heads were full of grand plans and schemes, and they housed a large set of scales in their chests: after weighing the literal meaning of one’s words, they would proceed to weigh its hidden meanings and subtext. They were no fun at all – a simple joke could send them into a blind panic. Feeling like they were on entirely different wavelengths, Xie Yun decided that he’d probably have much more fun roaming the streets with the Beggars’ Sect.

***

The streets of Huarong City were practically empty, its residents cowering at home in fear.

Far from the city, Shen Tianshu had finally managed to link up with Tong Kaiyang, followed by 8000 troops that they had pulled together in the shortest time possible. Barely stopping to rest along the way, they swept like a tornado towards Yueyang City, under the banner of rooting out the bandits there.

Many years ago, the 48 Zhai had also been encircled by thousands of troops fighting under the banner of rooting out banditry. However, these troops’ ‘banner’ had ultimately fallen, while the 48 Zhai‘s banner of banditry had flown high for more than twenty years, beyond the reach of both Northern and Southern Dynasties. Now, while Huo Liantao had thought of himself as a second Li Zheng, and also wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, he had ‘gone out in a blaze’ before even having a hint of ‘glory’, and was in fact far more spineless than Shen Tianshu had expected.

Shen Tianshu had thought that the Huo Clan would at least have been a force to be reckoned with, and would have put up a good fight for some two or three days. He had already planned out his attack – he would first surround the Huo Clan with heavily armed troops, and position skilled pugilists at key areas, preventing them from escaping. As long as they kept this up, it would only be a matter of time, perhaps a few days, before they could easily bring the Huo Clan to its knees. But when they were about twenty kilometres away from Yueyang City, Huo Liantao, who should’ve been steeling himself for their arrival, had actually set fire to the entire Huo Clan Fortress – the ‘second 48 Zhai‘ had collapsed just like that!

All those smaller sects which had pledged allegiance to the Huo Clan now fled helter skelter, like rats whose nest had been flooded.

It is impossible for hands to grasp at flowing sand, or for a rattan basket to hold water – with all these sects scattering everywhere, Shen Tianshu’s 8000 troops had been awkwardly stood up. He was livid. He ordered his men to put out the fire, rounded up those servants of the Huo Clan who hadn’t managed to run far, and searched the entire Huo Clan Fortress from top to bottom. But he didn’t find a single thing that could be of any use.

Huo Liantao had moved swiftly and decisively, and obviously planned this well in advance. He had taken every single thing with him, from valuables all the way down to sundry items, leaving behind only a crumbling house and this bunch of servants. These servants were evidently worth less to the Huo Clan than gold, silver or even household items. They barely needed to be interrogated, let alone tortured, instead tripping over each other to tell their captors what had happened.

“They had been preparing to leave very early on. A few days ago, a messenger came from Huarong City with a letter for Master Huo. After that, the Master left for Huarong City.”

“Yes, yes! None of us were any the wiser. We thought he was just out settling some business. But they didn’t come back, and after a few more days, he got people to start doing an inventory of the things here and packing them up. Some of us started to get suspicious, but after that the Master got that scoundrel foreman of his to dispel rumours. He claimed that these things were gifts for the Master’s friends, which the Master was personally delivering. He would return in a few days, and we should go about our work as per normal.”

“It was that scoundrel foreman who set the fire! He nearly burnt us to death!”

“My Lord, who would have thought that Master Huo would’ve deceived us so? Even Old Master Huo stayed behind! Oh yes, where is Old Master Huo?”

The servants exchanged uncertain looks. Then someone suddenly exclaimed: “The Old Master has been burnt to death! I had been watering the plants in his courtyard, and seeing the flames outside, tried to get him out of there. But he’d lost his mind, and refused to leave. He locked himself in his room from the inside…it’s so strange – he’s as mad as a hatter, and drools all the time, how did he know how to lock the door like that?”

At these words, those servants who had served Old Master Huo for many years plopped onto the ground and started wailing, mourning the Old Master’s demise.

Their cries grated on Shen Tianshu’s nerves. He hadn’t expected Huo Liantao to be quite so ruthless. Not only had he abandoned his disciples and servants who had worked for the family for decades, he had even left his own brother behind. While Dubhe had prided himself on being a monstrous figure whose name struck fear in all who heard it, he seemed to be far less ruthless compared to these ‘heroes’, and always one step behind. How could he not be incensed?

“My Lord,” a black-clad man approached him and said, “I’m afraid that Huo Liantao received word of our arrival only shortly after we left Huarong City.”

Shen Tianshu gritted out: “Zhao Ming Chen obviously knows that I am after him. Yet he still dares to play such little tricks on me, right under my nose? And Chou Tianji, that…that…! Have that Huo fellow and his men really headed to Huarong City?”

“Don’t worry, my Lord,” that black-clad man said. “Didn’t you station men outside Huarong City just in case something like this happened? If anything happens there, our comrades will certainly report it to us at once. We haven’t received any such messages, which means…”

Just as he said this, they heard a horse’s sharp whinny from outside. A black-clad man hurried into the room, and whispered something into Shen Tianshu’s ear. Shen Tianshu’s face instantly turned as black as a burnt kettle. Striding outside, he saw that his men had gathered round the horse and his rider. The horse had collapsed, frothing at the mouth, while his rider was unconscious on the ground. One of his sleeves hung limply by his side – he had lost an arm somehow.

“Look, my Lord!” One of the black-clad men picked up the rider’s identification badge, which had rolled onto the ground. A corner of that metal badge looked as if it had been melted down like wax. “This is Phecda’s poison!”

Shen Tianshu bent down and turned the rider’s face towards him. Having ridden at full speed to reach them, the man hadn’t even had a chance to say a single word before perishing. It was evident from the gash where his arm used to be that he had cut it off himself. The only way to survive Phecda’s poison was to sever the part of one’s body that had been exposed to it, whether it was one’s hands or feet – and if the poison had touched one’s head, one might as well cut it off, since decapitation would be a less painful death.

That idiot Chou Tianji had killed all the men which he had left behind to keep an eye on Zhao Ming Chen, out of the misguided notion that Shen Tianshu was trying to claim credit for his work.

Shen Tianshu wished he could mince that fellow down into meatballs and feed him to the dogs. Who the hell wanted to compete with him to claim credit for something as underhanded as slaughtering defenceless women and children?

Dubhe’s temple twitched furiously. Tong Kaiyang quickly said: “Calm down, big brother. Huo Liantao might not have the guts to head for Huarong City, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have said it out loud for these servants to hear. He might very well have been bluffing.”

Shen Tianshu snapped: “And you think I don’t know that?”

His good intentions having been soundly rebuffed, Tong Kaiyang wisely shut his mouth.

“Send some troops after those bandits from the Huo Clan. I’m going back to Huarong City to take a look.” With that, Shen Tianshu turned and left.

He had practically ground out the words ‘take a look’. Tong Kaiyang suspected that he wasn’t going there to ‘take a look’, but to gouge Chou Tianji’s eyeballs out.

***

In Huarong City, Mr Bai had already prepared the best horses and carriages in secret.

Xie Yun had grown quieter by the day, until he didn’t say anything unless absolutely necessary. In idle moments, he kept opening and closing his paper fan, deep in thought. Sensing that he wasn’t in the best of spirits, Zhao Ming Chen approached him hesitantly, asking: “Third Brother, do you think Huo Liantao will come here?”

Xie Yun didn’t even lift his head: “No.”

Ming Chen asked: “Why?”

Xie Yun: “He’s afraid of dying.”

Ming Chen asked urgently: “Then why do you think that Shen Tianshu will definitely come back?”

Perhaps annoyed by Ming Chen’s stream of questions, Xie Yun snapped his fan firmly shut, and said coldly: “Because he’s highly suspicious of everything, and lets no slight against him go unpunished – if you have nothing better to do, then go and rest. We have a fierce battle ahead of us.”

Looking warily at the brooding look on Xie Yun’s face, Zhao Ming Chen very much felt like asking ‘Third Brother, do you detest me?’, but he knew that this was yet another meaningless question, and promptly swallowed it.

Not too far from them, Zhou Fei was still immobile, and it didn’t seem like she would be roused any time soon. Wu Chuchu suspected that she had transformed into a rock. In contrast, Zhu Baoshan had already roused, and his groans could be heard coming from the little shed. The old servant couldn’t bear to see him suffer, having watched him grow up. She heated up some cold leftovers for him, even soaking them in hot water to soften them, then brought the food in to him.

Zhu Baoshan was on the verge of losing his mind from terror. Seeing her, he promptly started crying: “Granny Song, my head hurts, and my neck hurts too, am I about to die?”

Even when Duan Jiuniang had been at the height of her insanity, just the words “the young master is in the house’ were enough to get her to throw her tantrum elsewhere. She certainly wouldn’t be too hard on him, and had in fact only gently pinched the pressure points at the back of his neck, barely leaving a mark. The old servant knew this of course, and thought to herself: A slender little thing like that young lady hasn’t shed a single tear, even when she was in such pain that her clothes were soaked with sweat…tsk, I don’t know who on earth this little rascal takes after.

But she couldn’t very well say this in front of the young master, so she said gently: “Just bear with it a little while more, young master. Why don’t I massage your neck for you.”

Zhu Baoshan stretched out his neck towards her, while muttering: “Why do I have to bear with this? Granny, is there a stranger in this courtyard?”

The old servant’s eyes flashed, but she stayed silent.

Zhu Baoshan exclaimed: “I’ve got it! Father said that some bad guys came to our town. Most of them were killed by Lord Phecda at first, but some escaped and are hiding somewhere. They’re in this courtyard, are they not? Are they holding you and mother hostage?”

The old servant said to herself: It’s clearly your ‘mother’ who has held these ‘bad guys’ hostage instead.

Taking her silence as a yes, Zhu Baoshan quickly lowered his voice: “Granny Song, let me go now. I’ll find someone to come save you both.”

The old servant didn’t respond. She merely laid his head gently down onto the pillow, said several more words of comfort, then picked up the empty bowl and left.

Zhu Baoshan was fuming mad, thinking to himself: You traitorous old hag, just wait till I get my hands on you!

He pricked up his ears, straining to hear anything he could from outside. This shed was old and flimsy, and certainly not soundproof. Bits and pieces of what was said outside could be heard from here. Yet after an entire day had passed, Zhu Baoshan hadn’t heard a single peep from those ‘bad guys’, only muffled conversation between the servant and what seemed to be a very young girl.

That girl’s voice was soft, polite and even a little timid. She was clearly a soft-spoken and well-bred noble young lady.

Zhu Baoshan was perplexed: How is it a young girl? Is this really who Lord Phecda is looking for?

But contemplating this further, he thought that this seemed quite reasonable indeed – if the person they were after was highly skilled, he would probably have escaped a long time ago. He or she would only go into hiding here if unable to escape.

Zhu Baoshan sulked to himself: Oh, great. I’d thought that this courtyard had been seized by some savages. It’s only a frail little girl after all. Who could she possibly take hostage? That madwoman and this old hag really have some nerve to hide fugitives in my house! And they even knocked me out and tied me up here just to stop me from tattling – this old hag is really scary, I’d bet she’s the mastermind!

As these unpleasant thoughts were swirling around in his head, he suddenly heard a loud swoosh in the distance, as if there had been a big explosion. He could even see a red glow through the window panes of the little shed. After a few moments, there seemed to be a huge commotion outside, loud enough for even this secluded courtyard to hear. Zhu Baoshan was scared stiff.

It was Shen Tianshu, arriving like a murderous hellhound.

Seeing that it was him, Chou Tianji thought with grim satisfaction – as I expected, Dubhe wouldn’t be able to stand the fact that I killed his men.

Each side thought that they were in the right, and that the other was a scoundrel who had ruined their plans for their own selfish gain. There was no point arguing – they simply came to blows just outside the city. Soldiers and black-clad men were running all over the place. Taking advantage of the disorder, Xie Yun had their men shout along the streets: “Many people are fighting outside the city, run away now!”

Once one person said this, shouts of ‘run now’ were quickly echoed by many others. Peasants were not afraid of being trapped in their houses, or not having enough to eat – the only thing they really feared was war.

Terrified of what was happening outside, Zhu Baoshan started wailing: “Mother! Mother!”

But Duan Jiuniang had gone out to investigate the commotion, and wasn’t in the courtyard. And Wu Chuchu was waiting fretfully by the side of Zhou Fei, who wouldn’t have moved even if lightning struck her. Only the old servant responded to Young Master Zhu’s cries. She quickly rushed to the shed to check on him. Seeing that his face was covered in a mess of tears and snot, she couldn’t help but take pity on him: “Young Master, why are you…”

Zhu Baoshan begged her: “Granny Song, please just loosen my bonds, I promise you I won’t run. I’m begging you, you’ve always doted on me since young, I…I…”

He looked shamefacedly down, and the old servant’s gaze followed his – this great young master had peed his pants!

Zhu Baoshan moaned: “I wish I were dead, I wish I were dead!”

The old servant had also been alarmed by the commotion outside, and seeing how pathetic he looked, couldn’t help but feel sorry for the young man. She quickly loosened the ropes on his body, and said soothingly: “Don’t cry, dear. Just wait here patiently for a bit, granny will find a new pair of pants for you.”

She even gently massaged his wrists before turning to leave. But just as she turned her back to him, a sly look appeared on Zhu Baoshan’s face, every single trace of mournfulness gone from it. Stealthily picking up a wooden bench, he brought it heavily down onto that unsuspecting servant’s back!

Zhu Baoshan himself wasn’t sure how much strength he had put into that blow, but in any case, that old servant collapsed to the ground unconscious. Letting out a ragged breath, he cautiously bent over to check if the old servant was breathing, but his hands were shaking far too much for him to tell. He stood there for a while, unsure of what he should do next. Then clenching his jaw in determination, he ran out of the shed and circled behind it, intending to climb over the low wall there.

Even little children would have been able to scale such a wall. But as Zhu Baoshan’s limbs were trembling with fright, he pulled himself up laboriously, rolled over the top, and practically dropped right down the other side. With painfully skinned palms and a pair of sopping wet pants, he half-limped, half-ran away from there.

Not long after Zhu Baoshan had made his escape, Duan Jiuniang returned, and immediately saw the old servant lying unconscious by the door of the shed. Glancing at the ropes on the floor and the empty shed, she propped the old servant up and examined the pulse at her neck. The servant had only fainted, and she placed her gently aside. Then lifting a hand, she delivered a palm strike that flung open the door of Zhou Fei’s room, from several metres away.

Wu Chuchu started violently. Before she could react, something whizzed past her in a blur – Duan Jiuniang had entered the room.

Wu Chuchu stammered: “You…”

Without a word, Duan Jiuniang picked Zhou Fei up and hoisted her on her shoulder. Zhou Fei barely took up any space – a woman’s shoulder was room enough for her to lean on, and carrying her was as little trouble as lifting a heavy quilt. The girl’s small face seemed even smaller when partially obscured by the colourful tattered cloths on Duan Jiuniang’s back. She looked extremely pale, and even fragile.

Looking at her, Duan Jiuniang felt her heart soften, and wondered: Is this my child?

But this thought only flashed across her mind for a second, before she remembered – oh yes, she didn’t have any children, because the man she loved refused to marry her.

Putting her emotions aside, she wrapped her other arm around Wu Chuchu, and with a “we’re off,” Wu Chuchu felt her body leave the ground so fast that she almost vomited. They were high up in the air in an instant. The Withered-Glory Hands had certainly been unparalleled masters of their time – where Duan Jiuniang’s feet landed, not a single blade of grass was disturbed, and she didn’t even seem to be taking any breaths. Even while looking stark raving mad in her unkempt robes, she commanded an undeniable reverence.

Across the city, several of Zhao Ming Chen’s men had just scaled the city walls. Catching the city guards unawares, they made quick work of them. Mr Bai shouted: “Everyone, let’s open the city gates, and leave the city!”

Heeding his words, the frightened peasants rushed for the city gates, jostling each other in their haste to escape, and poured out of the city. Once he was past the city gates, Zhao Ming Chen quickly mounted his horse, but soon realised that the people around him had been pushed away by the crowd. He quickly scanned the hordes of peasants for Xie Yun: “Third Brother!”

But Xie Yun was still taking his time to look around, as if searching for something. Zhao Ming Chen hollered: “Third Brother, stop looking, we need to leave now!”

Xie Yun seemed to hear this at last, and hurried to Zhao Ming Chen’s side together with Mr Bai and several of Ming Chen’s bodyguards. Xie Yun said: “We mustn’t stay here. The Big Dipper’s men will realise what’s happening before long. Let’s go now!”

He cracked a whip hard onto Ming Chen’s horse. With a loud bray, the horse charged forward.

Xie Yun shouted: “Follow him closely!”

Mr Bai and Ming Chen’s bodyguards certainly didn’t dare to let their master out of their sights, and had no choice but to chase after Ming Chen’s galloping steed without a word. But Xie Yun turned his horse around, leading it right into the oncoming hordes. He didn’t know why, but he had the strangest niggling deep in his heart that urged him to at least go back and take a look, else his heart would not be completely at ease – having sent Ming Chen to safety, half of his heart was at ease, and as for his own safety…well, his life wasn’t worth all that much anyway.

Just as Xie Yun had expected, Shen Tianshu came to his senses once he realised what was happening in Huarong City. With a powerful palm strike, he sent Chou Tianji stumbling backwards. This blow had torn a large hole in Chou Tianji’s robes. His bare chest was visible, making him look slightly obscene. He was panting heavily – he was evidently a few degrees less skilled than the head of the Big Dipper.

Shen Tianshu was livid: “You idiot! You’ve let him go!”

He was referring to Zhao Ming Chen, but Chou Tianji instantly thought: Drats, the Wu family!

While the two of them were thinking of two completely different things, they had the same goal in mind for now. Casting aside their discord for the moment, they both ordered their men to surround the city. The black-clad men who had been running around helter skelter quickly passed this command down. All of them started heading back to the city gates, followed closely by the city guards. They split themselves into two teams, one outside the city to prevent people from leaving, and the other entering the city to calm the manic crowds.

Tightening his grip on the reins, Xie Yun thought to himself: Had that senior left the city?

Just then, he heard a voice call out from somewhere behind him: “Third Master, my master sent me back to protect you. You need to leave now!”

Turning around, Xie Yun saw that Mr Bai had returned. Mr Bai was the most skilled of Zhao Ming Chen’s men, and shouldn’t be apart from the boy under these circumstances. Xie Yun’s brow furrowed. He feared for his reckless young cousin. He also didn’t want to owe Ming Chen anything. Contemplating this for a bit, he decided that the senior hiding in the city should be able to take care of himself, and turned his horse back around: “Let’s go after your master.”

But just as he said this, he heard cries of astonishment coming from the city. Those black-clad men whistled to each other in warning, as if bracing themselves for something. Xie Yun whipped his head around, only to see a colourful spotted ‘pheasant’ skim effortlessly over the heads of those black-clad men. Wherever she landed, horses reared and men crumpled to the ground, and she was already before him in a matter of seconds. Just when she was about to pass him by, he suddenly heard a voice call out: “It’s Hero Xie!”

Xie Yun didn’t realise that he was the ‘hero’ in question at first, only thinking that the voice sounded vaguely familiar. Before he could figure out why, a mass of black-clad men had already ascended the city walls, and started to load their crossbows.

The expression on Xie Yun’s face changed instantly – those crossbows were loaded with Phecda’s poison.

Before he could shout a warning, that ‘pheasant’ had flung one of her arms out at Xie Yun, sending an object hurtling towards him.

That ‘pheasant’ was Duan Jiuniang, of course. Hearing Wu Chuchu call out to Xie Yun, she assumed that he was an ally, and to free up one of her hands to fight, she had thrown Wu Chuchu to him.

Wu Chuchu was a slender maiden who couldn’t have weighed more than 50kg. However, she weighed much more than that when flung with deadly force by Duan Jiuniang. How could a weakling like Third Master Xie have caught her?

Xie Yun had been bludgeoned by this unidentified flying object before he even had the chance to figure out if it was friend or foe, and was almost knocked right off his horse. He couldn’t help but think ruefully that this title of ‘hero’ was undeserved, and a whole lot of trouble instead. Thankfully, Mr Bai had managed to bash through the crowd and rush to his side just then. He only had enough time to grab Xie Yun by the back of his collar, and tugged him gently off the horse. With a startled shriek, that ‘flying object’ tumbled off the horse together with Xie Yun, and right into the arms of Mr Bai.

While this was happening, that ‘large pheasant’ Duan Jiuniang had let out a piercing howl as she swept her hand out in midair. Not a single drop from the archers’ shower of poisonous water landed on her. Instead, quite a number of their crossbows shattered in their hands, spraying poisonous water all over the city walls. Tortured cries could be heard.

Astonished, Mr Bai knew at once that this woman was far more powerful than he, and thought to himself: Where on earth does this friend of Third Master hail from?
Wiping cold sweat from his brow, Xie Yun clasped his hands respectfully before a pale-faced Wu Chuchu, saying with a rueful smile: “I am immensely relieved to see that Miss Wu is doing fine. However, please refrain from calling me a ‘hero’ next time. You very nearly had me killed just now.”

Wu Chuchu’s shyness before Xie Yun had been completely abandoned under the current circumstances. Turning to look in Duan Jiuniang’s direction, she called out: “Fei!”

It was Xie Yun’s turn to be astonished. He exclaimed: “What did you say?”

Having dealt with those black-clad men skulking on the city walls, Duan Jiuniang now landed in front of Xie Yun. Only then did Xie Yun see Zhou Fei lying in her hands. The girl’s head lolled on her chest, and she was completely still. Xie Yun hastened to take Zhou Fei from Duan Jiuniang’s hands, saying: “Many thanks to this senior, Fei…what happened…”

But Duan Jiuniang slid to the side, avoiding his outstretched arms.

Xie Yun: “…”

Mr Bai quickly said: “Third Master, this is not the time and place to talk, let’s leave first.”

Xie Yun immediately tried to pass Duan Jiuniang his horse, since he was fleet of foot anyway. But Duan Jiuniang was already in midair again, and had surged ahead of them. Left in the dust, Xie Yun and Mr Bai, who was carrying Wu Chuchu, could only urge their horses after her. But before they could go any further, a mass of black-clad men swarmed around them. While the one in front was sallow-faced and frighteningly thin, none of the men dared to go anywhere near him. Even Duan Jiuniang halted in her tracks – Shen Tianshu had arrived, ahead of the rest.

Fixing his cold gaze on Duan Jiuniang, he spoke: “My lowly self is advanced in years now, and there is much that I do not know. May I ask where this esteemed lady hails from? Please state your name.”

Ignoring him completely, Duan Jiuniang lowered her head to look at Zhou Fei. The girl’s long ponytail had nearly come undone. Duan Jiuniang unfastened a strip of maple-red cloth at her wrist and gently re-tied the girl’s hair, fixing the ponytail in a neat little bow. Then she patted her on the head, and placed her lightly on Xie Yun’s horse.

Xie Yun quickly reached for Zhou Fei. Shaking her gently, he asked: “Fei?”

Zhou Fei didn’t respond. Xie Yun quickly reached for her wrist to feel her pulse, and was shocked at what he found. Even though her body was cold as ice, the veins at her wrist felt burning hot, and were throbbing so hard it seemed like they might burst. He wasn’t sure what kind of strange condition this was. The past few days had been a real rollercoaster of emotions for him – at first, he had hoped that she was alive, but this hope had been snuffed out quickly, as he was certain that Zhou Fei had long since been reduced to a burnt corpse in a mass grave; now having been reunited in a completely unexpected fashion, he had barely enough time to feel overjoyed before he was filled with anxiety over the bizarre state of unconsciousness that she was in.

Xie Yun looked up at Duan Jiuniang questioningly, but that ‘large pheasant’ merely sighed and said: “That’s not my child.”

What on earth was she talking about!

As the head of the Big Dipper, whose very name made young children weep in terror, Shen Tianshu was livid at this madwoman’s dismissiveness. He bellowed: “Then I, Dubhe, will let my fists do the introductions!”

He thrust his palm forward. Without any hesitation, Duan Jiuniang leapt towards him to meet the blow. The two masters of their craft were engaged in a fierce battle in an instant, every single move life-threatening and nerve-wracking.

Zhou Fei was actually still conscious, and was acutely aware of the clamour of killing and fighting around her. She had been passed from person to person, and even vaguely heard Xie Yun’s voice – which filled her with joy – but above all, she felt anxious over her state of immobility. But anxiety didn’t help – she was simply incapable of stopping that strange unending flow of chi in her body. At first, she had observed that all the meditation techniques recorded in the second half of that Tao Te Ching seemed to be disrupted and incomplete. But after flipping through those pages, she found that the chi in her body started circulating inexplicably. Like a needle weaving its way through cloth, the chi that Duan Jiuniang had sealed in her core was being gradually drawn out. And this was completely beyond her control – even if the sky were to tumble down, or the ground cave in, that chi would continue meandering evenly out, in the exact same vein as that old Taoist priest’s mannerisms!

Seeing that Duan Jiuniang and Shen Tianshu appeared to be equally matched, Mr Bai was growing increasingly worried. They still had a Chou Tianji to deal with! They would be in grave danger if they couldn’t conclude this battle quickly. Placing Wu Chuchu atop the horse, he leapt into the air towards Duan Jiuniang, saying: “Madam, let me help you!”

However before he could reach her, Duan Jiuniang somehow managed to spare some attention from her close combat with Shen Tianshu, delivering a palm strike in Mr Bai’s direction while bellowing: “Get lost!”

Feeling the force of that strike surge towards him in an overpowering wave, Mr Bai quickly darted to the side.

Duan Jiuniang roared scornfully: “As if someone like me needs your help in beating up a dud like Dubhe! Stop meddling in things that don’t concern you, like a dog trying to catch a mouse!”

While Mr Bai had been punished for his good intentions, he was used to dealing with all kinds of people, and didn’t have much of a temper. Although he had been called a ‘dog’, Dubhe was a ‘dud’, who was about to be beaten up no less, and therefore far worse off than he. This made him feel much better about himself.

But before he could feel too pleased, a large group of Phecda’s men had arrived. Mr Bai leapt onto his horse behind Wu Chuchu, and said to Xie Yun: “I’ve never seen anything like this lady’s skills, she’ll be fine. Let me bring you away first.”

With an unconscious girl in his arms, and a defenceless one beside him, Xie Yun knew that this really wasn’t the time to play the hero. He nodded quickly and dug his heels into the sides of his horse, which charged forward. Mr Bai grabbed the halberd hanging from his horse, and said to Wu Chuchu: “Close your eyes, Miss.”

At that, he swept the long halberd forward, swiping two black-clad men into the air.

The city gates behind them were flung wide open, and the cries of numerous peasants fleeing the city could be heard. A large group of black-clad men wielding crossbows charged out of the city, and started firing at Xie Yun and Mr Bai. Besieged on all sides, Mr Bai’s hands were tied no matter how skilled he was, and before he knew it, the two horses had been forced apart by the black-clad men.

Mr Bai exclaimed: “Third…”

But he realised belatedly that he shouldn’t have said that, for fear of revealing Xie Yun’s identity. Unfortunately, his mistake didn’t escape Shen Tianshu’s sharp ears. His eyes flashed towards Xie Yun. Unable to break away from Duan Jiuniang, he shouted: “A thousand gold ingots for anyone who catches that fellow!”

At his command, the black-clad men swarmed towards Xie Yun. Xie Yun’s martial arts weren’t much to begin with, and as he was on a horse right now, he couldn’t very well make a run for it as he normally would. He decided to abandon the horse. But before he could do so, a black-clad man who likely saw gold ingots flashing before his eyes had pounced at him, bringing his sabre heavily down on Xie Yun’s head. He had no time to dodge. In that split second, he desperately swerved his horse to the right, shielding Zhou Fei with his back.

Mr Bai felt like he might implode there and then.

But suddenly, Xie Yun felt a powerful force surging towards his chest, pushing him backwards. A palm pressed down on his chest, and laid him flat on the horse’s back. Then he heard a clang at his waist, as his sword, which had been a mere accessory till now, was yanked from its sheath. The sword was thrust upwards to parry that black-clad man’s sabre, and then swept further up in a swift and vicious arc before cleaving downwards. A bloody gash instantly decorated the man’s throat, and his arm had been neatly hacked off at the elbow.

Zhou Fei returned the sword to Xie Yun’s sheath. Catching the black-clad man’s mutilated limb, she pried apart his fingers to retrieve his sabre, then flung what was left of his arm to the ground. Only then did she wipe away the blood at the corner of her mouth, which she had coughed up when forcibly breaking through the seal on her chi just now. She was white as a sheet, but her eyes were piercingly bright. Reaching behind her to pull Xie Yun back up by the collar, she smiled: “Why are you carrying a sword when you don’t even know how to use it? Just to scare others?”

Her tone was teasing, but in the few short days since bidding Xie Yun farewell at the inn, she had been through hell and back. To be so fortunate as to see each other again after such an ordeal, with their lives still intact, her eyes had welled up with tears before she realised it.

Xie Yun had recovered from his state of utter astonishment. Beholding the sorrowful expression on Zhou Fei’s face, he almost felt like patting her head as Duan Jiuniang had done. But with her long hair now hanging across her chest, instead of being tied up in two neat buns atop her head as little girls would, she seemed even more like a young lady right now. The two of them were sharing a horse, and extremely close. Xie Yun suddenly felt a little ill-at-ease, and his half-raised hand aborted its action above her head.

Zhou Fei had no idea that this fellow had the presence of mind to think of such things even while they were surrounded. The meditation technique which she had inadvertently gleaned from her copy of the Tao Te Ching had tamed that violent current of Withered-Glory chi somehow. While the two conflicting currents of chi in her hadn’t merged entirely, they seemed to be able to co-exist peacefully. She hadn’t encountered much difficulty when forcibly breaking the seal on her chi just now, apart from coughing out a mouthful of blood. In fact, her chi felt more abundant than ever: the move that she had used to kill that black-clad man and slice off his arm was from the Snow-Breaking Sabre. It was called ‘Breaking’, and was of unrivalled sharpness. Zhou Fei had found it very difficult to execute this until now. She had probably lacked sufficient strength to do so in the past.

Having been cooped up for days on end, Zhou Fei was only just getting started. She leapt gracefully off the horse, leaving Xie Yun’s outstretched arm empty. To his amazement, she dove straight into the midst of those black-clad men.

When combined with the eight moves of the Mayfly Formation, the Snow-Breaking Sabre plowed through the black-clad men like a sickle harvesting wheat. At first, her footwork and the movements of her blade were a little awkward and uncoordinated, but as the opponents around her grew in number, her blade grew increasingly vicious, and her steps became surer and surer. She was practicing on these black-clad men!

Mr Bai, whose heart had nearly stopped beating just now, couldn’t help but sigh: “Each generation is better than the last..Ah!!”

Before he could finish waxing lyrical, Zhou Fei had hacked a path through the mass of black-clad men, and her blade was now hurtling towards Shen Tianshu’s back!

But Shen Tianshu seemed to have eyes at the back of his head, and shifted forward, while reaching behind him to grab the blunt side of Zhou Fei’s sabre. However, that had merely been a feint on Zhou Fei’s part. Her sabre darted backwards and out of his reach, as she spun around to land several metres behind him. Shen Tianshu’s brow furrowed as he said: “Why are you here?”

He was several degrees less skilled than Duan Jiuniang, and Zhou Fei’s distraction gave Duan Jiuniang the chance to lunge an emaciated hand towards his chest. With a roar, Shen Tianshu thrust his fake limb out in front of him. Seizing it, Duan Jiuniang ripped it from him with a loud crack.

Shen Tianshu retreated more than three steps away from her, sweat beading his brow. While the limb that Duan Jiuniang had broken wasn’t real, the force that she had used was very much so. It had reverberated through his body, rendering his entire arm numb from the shoulder down. Glaring at Duan Jiuniang, he spit out three words through gritted teeth: “Withered-Glory Hands?”

Duan Jiuniang smiled at this, and the strips of tattered cloths on her started falling to the ground one by one. She seemed to have returned to the girl she had been many years ago, when she had been neither mad nor foolish, and had not entirely devoted herself to one man. She had been arrogantly and recklessly above it all – all the gods of the elements were surnamed Duan, and she ranked right there among them.

Something flashed in Shen Tianshu’s eyes. He coughed twice, then said softly: “I’d thought that the Withered-Glory Hands had disappeared from the world of martial arts for good. It is my great fortune to have the privilege of encountering Duan Jiuniang in a rural backwater such as this.”

Duan Jiuniang stood with her hands behind her back: “Would you consider yourself fortunate to die at my hands?”

Shen Tianshu smiled darkly: “I would consider myself fortunate to encounter a towering mountain in my lifetime, even if I ended up ramming my head into the skies and perishing.”

Duan Jiuniang nodded in approval: “If you weren’t one of the Big Dipper, I think I’d get along quite well with you.”

Seeing that the expression on her face had relaxed somewhat, Shen Tianshu crossed his other arm over his chest, and bowed politely. He said: “Since that is the case, why don’t we clear everyone out of here, so that I can properly witness your Withered-Glory Hands? We’ll fight to the end, and see who comes out tops.”

Knowing that Duan Jiuniang wasn’t right in the head, Zhou Fei feared that she would fall into Shen Tianshu’s trap. She quickly exclaimed: “There’s nothing to witness! Duan Jiuniang, if you keep up this nonsense, those two Northern dogs will have you for lunch!”

Shen Tianshu narrowed his eyes at her: “You truly have no manners, little junior.”
 
Zhou Fei snapped: “Who’s junior am I? Neither one of you is fit to be my senior!”

But Duan Jiuniang didn’t look offended in the least, only saying: “Little girl, go away first. Wait for me, I’ll impart the Withered-Glory Hands to you later.”

Zhou Fei felt even more uneasy that Duan Jiuniang was sending her away. If Duan Jiuniang had had all her wits about her, Zhou Fei certainly wouldn’t have bothered getting entangled in this affair, and would have fled at the earliest opportunity. But she knew that Duan Jiuniang’s mind could drift away in the space of a few words. What would be the use of having the most powerful skills in the world then? Zhou Fei was well aware by now that there were many ways to kill a person.

Without thinking, Zhou Fei retorted: “What kind of worthless crap is the Withered-Glory Hands? I’d rather learn how to bray like a donkey than learn it!”

This young maiden had insulted two formidable martial arts experts at one go. Mr Bai’s eyes nearly bugged out of its sockets, and he said to Xie Yun: “This friend of Third Master is really quite something.”

While she could wield her blade capably, she had an even more uncanny – nay, unparalleled – ability at seeking out death.

Xie Yun shook his head, whispering: “Mr Bai, please help me to escort Miss Wu away first.”

Mr Bai wanted to yell at the young man for putting him in such a spot. Just as he was about to object, Xie Yun quickly bowed low to him, and said: “I beg of you, Mr Bai, please help me this once. You absolutely must send Miss Wu to a safe place first. I’ll be grateful to you till the day I die…”

If Mr Bai hadn’t been atop a horse, he would have knelt down before Xie Yun right there and then. He implored: “Don’t…don’t…Third Master, I’d rather you killed me…”

Xie Yun slyly deepened his bow even further, his forehead mere inches from the ground. Mr Bai felt like this young man had shaved a whole twenty years off his lifespan. Left with little choice in the matter, he could only guilt-trip him right back: “I do not dare disobey an order from you, Third Master. I’ll leave now, as you wish. But I beg of you to remember, that I have an eighty year old mother, and a ten year old daughter. If anything were to happen to Third Master, me and my family…would have to pay with our lives.”

With the heavy responsibility for all these lives thrust upon him all of a sudden, Xie Yun felt like the wind had nearly been knocked out of him. Giving him a meaningful look, Mr Bai slapped his horse on its side and brandished his halberd. The black-clad men had just stepped back in response to Shen Tianshu’s words about clearing everyone out of here. Mr Bai took advantage of this reprieve to clear a path through them, thrusting his weapon at anyone in his way. An excellent rider, he was gone in an instant.

Shen Tianshu said to Duan Jiuniang: “This way, please.”

Duan Jiuniang immediately stepped forward.

Zhou Fei could see a large group of soldiers moving towards them in her peripheral vision. It was obvious this fight that Shen Tianshu had proposed was merely a delaying tactic. Even though she wasn’t sure what exactly that Shen fellow was waiting for, she knew it couldn’t be good. Swallowing her pride, Zhou Fei quickly shouted at Duan Jiuniang: “Wait a minute! Think about this carefully: do you want to stay here and spar with this man, or go back home with me to see Old Master Li?”

Duan Jiuniang froze.

Zhou Fei took a deep breath and closed her eyes, forcing herself to swallow her temper, and softening her voice, said: “My family doesn’t let just anyone in. If you don’t come with me now, there’ll be no one else to bring you in next time…”

While Shen Tianshu still wasn’t sure who Zhou Fei was exactly, he now knew that everything she had told him about her family that night was a load of rubbish. Recalling how he had even instructed his men to spare her life, he felt like he had paid too high a price for that steamed bun from her. He grumbled to himself – given all the meddling she was doing right now, she should at least have given me two more crullers!

He roared: “You wicked little girl!”

Shen Tianshu’s feet began to move in his renowned ‘Chess Steps’. In the flash of an eye, he was before Zhou Fei, his sleeves billowing in the wind. Zhou Fei had of course expected that he would come at her. Instead of meeting him head-on, she circled around him according to the Mayfly Formation that she had recently picked up, while wielding her blade with the assassin’s technique used by the Mingfeng Sect of the 48 Zhai. She alternately parried and retreated, all her movements from her footsteps to her blade akin to tightrope-walking over a gaping chasm. She had exchanged seven or eight blows with Shen Tianshu in a matter of seconds.

Shen Tianshu hadn’t expected this little girl to have transformed into such a tricky opponent in just a few days. With a roar, he delivered a palm strike with full force. But Duan Jiuniang had already sailed through the air towards Zhou Fei to neatly block Shen Tianshu’s blow just in time. As her palm collided with his, Shen Tianshu was forced to take five or six steps back, while Duan Jiuniang merely leaned back slightly, grabbing Zhou Fei’s arm and pushing her away.

When elephants fight, the grass suffers – the force from the collision of these two titans’ palms had reverberated onto Zhou Fei’s blade, breaking it in two. Zhou Fei nonchalantly cast it aside. She suspected that she had been a steel-chomping furnace in her previous life.

Duan Jiuniang’s dark eyes were flashing – all of a sudden, she seemed no longer mad, or foolish. With a sweep of her long sleeve, the black-clad men around her fell to the ground like leaves bending to the wind.

Seeing that Duan Jiuniang seemed to have cleared an escape route, Zhou Fei heaved a sigh of relief. She had discovered the best way to deal with this madwoman – and it wasn’t reasoning with her. Bringing up her esteemed grandfather was the only way to tame this lunatic.

But she barely had time to feel relieved before the screech of a falcon rang out overhead.

Chou Tianji had arrived later for some reason. Looking over at him, Zhou Fei saw that the hook-nosed fellow hadn’t come by himself, but was followed by several middle-aged men dressed in the garb of government officials. Two black-clad men beside them were carrying an unidentifiable object. Only as they grew closer did that ‘object’ see Duan Jiuniang and shout: “Mother!”

Duan Jiuniang’s entire body shook at that sound. She reached behind her and grabbed Zhou Fei again, flinging her onto Xie Yun’s horse. Zhou Fei didn’t have a good feeling about this. She thought of grabbing Duan Jiuniang’s clothes, but fearing that this would be ineffectual, she grabbed Duan Jiuniang’s long hair and yanked roughly, yelling at her: “Get up here!”

There were three age-old arts of combat in this world – the pulling of hair, the scratching of faces, and the stripping of clothes.

Xie Yun had the privilege of seeing one of these up close. Zhou Fei had yanked Duan Jiuniang’s hair so hard that he felt like even his own scalp was smarting. But the woman wasn’t fazed at all, and merely flicked a finger on Zhou Fei’s wrist. Zhou Fei instantly felt half her body go numb, and if Xie Yun hadn’t reached out in time to catch her, she might have fallen right off the horse.

Duan Jiuniang smiled at Zhou Fei, and said: “You’re exactly like that grandfather of yours.”

She had practically whispered those words, but strangely enough, they hadn’t been lost in the clamour around them, but travelled right into Zhou Fei’s ears. Zhou Fei looked at her in surprise – Duan Jiuniang had actually gotten the relationship between Li Zheng and Zhou Fei right for once. That madwoman’s eyes were clear and sharp, as if she had regained her sanity.

Duan Jiuniang continued: “All you so-called orthodox sects like to trick others. You lied to me again – Li Zheng’s been dead for twenty years.”

Rendered immobile by Duan Jiuniang’s finger flick, which had sealed her pressure points, Zhou Fei could only shout at her: “Since you could bloody well tell that I was trying to trick you, why couldn’t you tell that this sickly Big Dipper devil was trying to trick you too? Duan Jiuniang! I’ll wait for you for three days. If you still don’t come and find me after that, you can forget about ever entering the Li Clan!”

But Duan Jiuniang only smiled at this. She struck the horse’s backside hard, causing it to charge forward with a pained whinny, shooting like a rocket through the masses of black-clad men encircling them.  

When had she regained her sanity?

Zhou Fei didn’t know, and neither did Duan Jiuniang. Perhaps it was when her old servant had said that Baoshan was ‘almost nineteen’.

The howling wind carried Zhou Fei’s words away. The black-clad men around them made a move to go after her, but with Duan Jiuniang in the way, none of them could pass. Seeing that horse disappear into the distance, Shen Tianshu and Chou Tianji now headed straight for her. Duan Jiuniang cackled: “Come, come! You scum of the earth should have come for me a long time ago!”

When Duan Jiuniang had been exchanging blows with Shen Tianshu just now, she had seemed only slightly more powerful than he, and he had even managed to delay her for a while. But now, Duan Jiuniang seemed to have consumed some kind of magic pill. All of a sudden, her powers had heightened immensely, and she appeared more than capable of handling both Dubhe and Phecda together.

Having lived in a daze for nearly twenty years, she seemed to have awakened from a dream now, and been suddenly enlightened. The Withered-Glory Hands of yore had been reputed to turn the tables on death and defeat, absorbing the very power of creation for itself – how formidable was that? Shen Tianshu had already exerted himself in his fight with Duan Jiuniang just now. As he felt the immense pressure bearing down on him from those Withered-Glory Hands, it seemed like his very chi was about to be forced out of his meridians. That woman’s bare emaciated hands were enough to send chills down his spine.

It was a pity that Zhou Fei didn’t have the opportunity to witness the real ‘Withered-Glory Hands’, in all its resplendence. She certainly wouldn’t have called it ‘worthless crap’ if she had.

Duan Jiuniang pressed a hand down on Shen Tianshu’s shoulder, nearly causing his legs to give way. Without even looking at Phecda, she simultaneously delivered a kick to his chest, sending him flying. Fear started to creep into Shen Tianshu’s heart. He was used to dominating everywhere he went, fiercely repelling the most formidable opponents. Even the Vermillion Bird Lord Mu Xiaoqiao had been left with no choice but to blow up his entire hideout to escape him. When had he ever encountered such a dangerous situation as this? Clenching his fist, he thought: We absolutely cannot let her leave.

Retrieving a long hook from within his robes, he attached it to his false limb, and thrust the hook towards Duan Jiuniang’s waist. The handle of that hook was extremely short, and impossible for a human hand to hold. The hook itself was incredibly sharp on all sides, and had been smeared with a blueish-green substance that gleamed dimly. The hook was so sharp that it sliced off a good part of Shen Tianshu’s sleeve when he moved it about.

Her robes fluttering in the wind, Duan Jiuniang executed the same move that she had used against Zhou Fei’s Snow-Breaking Sabre. With one hand, she undulated the cloth belt at her waist around that hook, trapping it into a cocoon in an instant. The two of them were now battling each other with one arm only, and at close quarters, had seamlessly exchanged seven or eight blows. Suddenly, a cry like a pig being slaughtered came from behind Duan Jiuniang. Chou Tianji had managed to get on his feet again, and had Zhu Baoshan in his clutches.

The hands of the formidable Phecda, Chou Tianji, could easily tear flesh from bone. When he pinned Zhu Baoshan’s hands behind his back, the boy’s bones creaked frighteningly. His screams of pain could practically be heard all throughout Huarong City!

Governor Zhu was merely an administrative official, and seeing his oldest son in this state, immediately knelt to the ground in terror. The soldiers around him tried to help him up in vain.

Seeing that Duan Jiuniang had remain hardheartedly indifferent to Zhu Baoshan’s screams, Chou Tianji laughed loudly, raising his voice: “After her lover died, the legendary Withered-Glory Hands is now hiding in this little county, as a concubine to a county chief! What a joke! Southern Blade Li Zheng would turn in his grave if he knew!”

Only then did Duan Jiuniang’s expression turn ugly: “Go to hell!”

She turned to seize Chou Tianji, but the cloth belt at her waist was still fastened to Shen Tianshu’s hook. Through the cloth, Duan Jiuniang pressed her hand down hard on the hook, bellowing: “Get off!”

Duan Jiuniang ripped the hook off Shen Tianshu’s fake arm with a sharp crack. But instead of moving in on her, Shen Tianshu leapt backwards, landing a few metres away. By the time Duan Jiuniang realised something was amiss, it was too late. The hook exploded in her hand with a loud bang – some kind of explosive had been embedded in the intersection of that hook and the fake limb. Shen Tianshu had deliberately baited her into ripping it off, detonating the explosive.

Duan Jiuniang was not made of steel, no matter how skilled she was. Her waist and abdomen were instantly reduced to a bloody mess. The cloth belt in her hand, which that hook was still affixed to, was torn from her together with half of her palm. At a long whistle from Chou Tianji, all the black-clad men swarmed towards her, loading their numerous crossbows with poisonous water. A downpour of poison rained on Duan Jiuniang.

Zhu Baoshan had been carelessly flung aside. Drifting in and out of consciousness, bits and pieces of the past began to flash across his mind.

He had a memory of once playing in a garden somewhere, where one of his father’s childless concubines had found him. In a fit of jealousy, she had set her dog on him. While the dog had been fairly small, it was still a roaring beast in the eyes of a young child. Zhu Baoshan had run crying from the dog, terrified that it would tear him to pieces. But then he ran right into someone’s leg, and heard a mournful yelp as the dog chasing him was sent flying. The person before him had then placed a hand on his head. That hand was very slender, and even frail, but it radiated heat…although try as he might, he could not recall who it belonged to.

In a daze, Duan Jiuniang looked across at him through the mass of black-clad men encircling her. Zhu Baoshan trembled violently, and a soft cry escaped his lips: “Mother…”

But amidst the clang of swords and whistling arrows, no one heard his cry.

Every single inch of Duan Jiuniang’s skin seemed to have been mutilated. Like a majestic dragon trapped in the shallows, she tried valiantly but unsuccessfully to break free, and it seemed like she was losing even the strength to struggle.

Shen Tianshu stumbled away from the fight, panting so heavily he looked like he was about to pass out. Seeing the state that he was in, Chou Tianji gave him a look of disdain, and snickered: “Brother Dubhe, what’s wrong with you? Can you still fight?”

The veins at Shen Tianshu’s temple throbbed violently, but he could barely speak. Feeling even more gleeful, Chou Tianji stepped towards Duan Jiuniang and said: “Then allow me to avenge you, and get a taste of these Withered-Glory Hands!”

Chou Tianji had only come forward to play the hero when those Withered-Glory Hands had been reduced to a ‘Single-Withered-Hand’. Shen Tianshu felt like he might drop dead with rage right there and then.

Bellowing “Move aside!”, Chou Tianji cleared a path between his men, heading straight for Duan Jiuniang. He struck his palm at her bloodied back.

But this ensnared dragon suddenly swerved to the side with lightning-quick speed, dodging his palm strike. Reaching her palm around her at an unnatural angle, she grabbed Chou Tianji by the throat with vicious accuracy. She turned her head around towards him. Blood had congealed all over her face, but the corners of her lips were curved up in a faint smile.

Chou Tianji hadn’t expected her to have this much strength in her current state. Terror starting to fill him, he struck his palm at her in desperation. Without even flinching, Duan Jiuniang took the blow straight to her chest, which caved inwards from the impact. Yet her hold on his throat didn’t loosen in the slightest. She was like a vengeful ghost, obsessed and unfeeling. She said menacingly: “You seven dogs of the Big Dipper! I’d do well to take one of you down with me. And don’t you worry, I won’t let a single one of your brothers go. I’ll haunt you all as a malicious spirit when I die, and rip all of you to pie…”

She was cut off in midsentence. Chou Tianji too widened his eyes in disbelief – a steel sabre had pierced right through his back and into Duan Jiuniang’s chest, skewering the two of them alive.

It was Shen Tianshu.

In death, this thorn in Shen Tianshu’s side had finally made himself useful for once – by being bait for Duan Jiuniang.

Shen Tianshu forcefully withdrew the sabre. Her strength finally giving out, Duan Jiuniang collapsed to the ground in spasms. Her mutilated hand dragged around in the dirt, leaving a bloody trail on the ground. Yet she was still able to smile, somehow.

She looked up at Shen Tianshu, as if to say ‘I’ll find you in the end, and do as I promised’, which sent shivers running down his spine. Averting his head, he hacked hers off in one blow.

The eyes on that head were obscured with dirt and dried blood, but still carried traces of a smile –

Baoshan was already nineteen. She was no longer bound by that promise made all those years ago. She was free.

But so many years had passed – Li Zheng’s reincarnation was probably all grown-up by now. If she met him in her next life, he’d most likely be married with children already, or say some nonsense like ‘a young lady such as yourself deserves better than an old man like me’.

How many lifetimes would she have to pursue him for, to finally be in the right time and space, after all the years lost between them?

It was a pity that she hadn’t imparted the Withered-Glory Hands to anyone. She supposed it would vanish from this earth along with her.

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[1] The literal translation of Mr Bai’s Chinese name is ‘Mr White’; the literal translation of Mr Bai’s brother’s Chinese name is, you guessed it – ‘Mr Black’.

[2] 五行八卦 – The five elements is a fivefold conceptual scheme that was employed in many fields of early Chinese thought, from traditional Chinese medicine to military strategy to martial arts. They are Fire, Water, Wood, Metal or Gold, and Earth or Soil. The eight trigrams (otherwise known as the bagua which I have also used and footnoted elsewhere in the text) are eight symbols used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts.

[3] 奇门遁甲- Qimen Dunjia is an ancient form of divination from China. It is based on astronomical observations, and consists of various aspects of Chinese metaphysics, including the doctrines of yin and yang, five elements, the eight trigrams/bagua, etc. It was originally devised to form military strategy and tactics, and is believed to have helped generals and emperors in ancient China win battles.