The Book and The Sword - Yong Jin - Страница 66

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"If you wish to borrow my sword, you will have to take it by force," he said. He turned and sprinted towards the southern path down the mountain slope. Suddenly, he saw in front of him the one-armed Taoist priest, and slung two Golden Needles at him. He knew there was no chance of hitting the priest, but he hoped that the needles would occupy him long enough to get past. Priest Wu Chen, however, deftly dodged out of the way then crouched down and thrust his sword at Zhang's right leg. Zhang brought his own blade down to parry the stroke and the two fought fiercely. Zhang found his strength beginning to wane. The priest gave a shout and the Frozen Emerald sword was jolted out of Zhang's hand. For a split second, Zhang stared at it in surprise, and the priest aimed a flying kick at his groin, knocking him to the ground. Zhang Jin and two of the other fighters then jumped on him while Luo Bing pulled out some rope and bound his hands. Remembering Zhang had led the capture of her husband at Iron Gall Manor, she punched him smartly on the nose.

Chen walked over.

"You have only won because of numerical superiority," Zhang shouted angrily. "If you bandits are going to kill me then get it over with."

"He ought to be buried in the hole that he dug," suggested 'Melancholy Ghost' Shi. The others shouted their agreement, and Zhang broke into a cold sweat.

"What do you say?" asked Chen. "If you admit defeat and swear never again to go against the Red Flower Society, we will spare you for the sake of your martial brother, Master Lu."

"Stop wasting words!" Zhang shouted stubbornly. "After all your crafty tricks, how can you expect anyone to concede defeat to you?"

"All right," said Chen. "I will kill you to relieve you of the horror of being buried alive." He pulled out his dagger and walked over to Zhang. "Are you not afraid of death?" he asked.

"Do your worst," Zhang replied, and laughed bitterly. He closed his eyes and waited for death.

Suddenly they heard shouts from the mountainside below, and turned to see two men running towards them, moving as fast as the wind with superb Lightness Kung Ku.

As they approached, the heroes saw that one was Lu Feiqing, and the other a kindly-looking old Taoist priest.

Just as Lu was about to introduce the old man, Zhang went up to him and bowed.

"Brother, we have not seen each other for many years," he said. "How are you?"

The heroes realized that it must be Ma Zhen, 'Scholar' Yu's teacher. They all bowed before him.

"We came as fast as we could when we heard about the duel," Lu said. He looked round and saw with relief that no-one had been injured.

Ma Zhen had long heard of Zhang's unsavoury record, but seeing his blood-stained clothes and swollen face, he now found himself feeling almost sorry for him. "Brother Zhang, how did you get into such a mess?" he asked.

"With one against so many, how could I look any different?" Zhang replied indignantly.

The heroes were furious at his insinuation. "So you're blameless are you?" shouted Zhou Qi. She brandished her sword and made as to charge at Zhang, but her father held her back.

"His two martial brothers are here now," Lord Zhou said. "Let us see what they have to say." His words put the onus of dealing with Zhang squarely on Ma Zhen.

Ma Zhen looked at Lu, and then at Zhang. Suddenly, his knees folded and he knelt down before the heroes. Greatly surprised, Chen helped him up again.

"My brothers," he said, his voice choked with sobs. "This useless martial brother of mine has committed truly heinous crimes. To the shame of our school, we have failed to discipline him and have lost face before all our brothers in the fighting community…I…I…" He was overcome with emotion. "Brother Lu," he added. "Tell them what I mean."

"Brother Ma is very angry about Zhang's behaviour. But in memory of our late teacher, he wishes to ask you to spare him."

The heroes looked at Chen and Lord Zhou, waiting for their decision.

"Master Zhou will be the arbiter," said Chen. "We will do whatever he says."

"Considering he had Iron Gall Manor burnt to the ground, I should not rest until revenge has been gained," Zhou said, then paused. "But having heard your words, Master Ma, I will hand him over to you with all past scores forgotten."

"Father!" Zhou Qi cried, horrified.

Zhou stroked her hair. "Forget about it, child," he said softly.

"Out of respect for your wishes, Master Ma, the Red Flower Society will also let bygones be bygones," added Chen.

Ma and Lu bowed to the heroes. "We will be eternally grateful," said Ma.

"Brother Ma, what do you intend to do if he does evil again?" Priest Wu Chen asked sternly.

"I will insist that he turn over a new leaf," Ma replied. "But if he does revert to his old ways, then I will be the first to strike, unless he kills me first! I will now take him back to Wudang Mountain so that he can reflect on his misdeeds in solitude. Brother Lu, once Master Wen is out of danger, please write and inform me so that my mind can rest easy. By the way, where is my pupil, Yu Yutong?"

"He was separated from us at the Yellow River," Chen replied. "We later heard that he had been rescued by a girl, but we have no further information. As soon as we have rescued Brother Wen, we will go and investigate. Please don't worry, sir."

"That pupil of mine is very clever but he is not steady enough. Please give him whatever direction is necessary, Master Chen."

"We treat our brothers as blood relations," Chen replied. "Brother Yu is a capable man. We place great faith in him."

"I am very grateful for what you have done today," said Ma. "My brothers! Next time any of you are in Hubei Province, please come to stay at Wudang Mountain." The heroes all thanked him.

"All right, let's go!" Ma told Zhang curtly. Zhang noticed that Luo Bing had slung his Frozen Emerald Sword across her back, and he knew that to try to retrieve it would only result in more punishment. So he bit his lip and followed after Ma Zhen, his head bowed.

When they had gone, the others asked Lu what had happened to him since they had parted. He told them that for a time he had searched unsuccessfully for Yuanzhi. Then, realising that Zhang was the key to the affair, he went south and asked Ma Zhen to help him. They hurried to Beijing only to discover that Zhang had gone to Hangzhou, so they travelled south once more.

The heroes walked slowly down from the peak, talking as they went. Chen turned to Wang and Han.

"You are both free to go," he said.

"Master Chen, I will never forget how you saved my life," Wang replied.

Chen laughed. "I must ask your forgiveness, Master Wang," he said and related how they had stolen the jade vases and provoked the duel between himself and Zhang. Having just escaped from the jaws of death, Wang did not seem to blame him for the deception.

"You are certainly a born leader," he said to Chen, and laughed. "So young and already a hero. I may be old, but I still have a thing or two to learn."

"When our affairs have been successfully concluded, we will drink a few cups of wine together," Chen replied.

They arrived at the lake and returned to Lonely Mountain by boat. Lu Feiqing extracted the Golden Needles from Wang's wounds with the use of a magnet, and then treated them with Golden Scar ointment.

By this time, evening was approaching.

"Most of the work on the tunnel has been completed," Master Ma, the Hangzhou Helmsman, reported. "We should be finished in another six hours."

Chen nodded. "Good, thank you Brother Ma. Thirteenth Brother, please go and supervise the work." 'Crocodile' Jiang bowed and left.

Chen turned once more to Wang and Han.

"We have been looking after a few members of your honourable bodyguard agency," he said. "Why don't you take them to the lake for some recreation?"

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