Chapter - 2 (2) (1/2)

Wei Xiaobao was scared out of his wits, he held on tightly to the horse's tail. He heard the wind rushing on his ears and felt his body was slipping down, he did not stop shouting and cursing, ”My good mama, hot piece mama! Mao Shiba, if you don't stop the horse, laozi ...”

Since the ancient time Yangzhou has always been known as a flourishing city with famous scenic spots. Tang dynasty's poet Du Mu wrote, ”I awake, after dreaming ten years in Yangzhou, Known as fickle, even in the Street of Blue Houses[20].” People of old said that among the pleasures of life, nothing can surpass 'having a string of a thousand taels wrapped around one's waist and ride a crane to Yangzhou[21]. Yangzhou was located within the canal built by Emperor Yang of Sui [569-618 AD, reigned 604-618 AD], consequently, the water traffic between Jiangsu and Zhejiang must pass through Yangzhou. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it had become the gathering place of major salt merchants, and thus it prospered to be one of the wealthiest place in China.

During Kangxi of Qing Dynasty's early years, Ming Yu Fang ['Fang' means a district, a subdivision of a city, 'Ming' - cry (of a bird), 'Yu' – jade] by the Shouxi [lit. 'slender/thin west'] Lake of Yangzhou, where the Street of Blue Houses was located, was known for its high concentration of famous courtesans.

It was a nice evening in the spring, the lanterns were just lit, from each courtyard in Ming Yu district came the sound of bamboo flutes and happy laughter, mixed with shouts of people playing drinking game and ordering more drink, plus songs and drunken brawl. Music and wine were everywhere; it was indeed a picture of gaiety in a peaceful time.

Suddenly, from both the south and the north side of the area came the sound of about five or six men shouting together, ”Friends of courtyard businesses, ladies, and guests who are here to have fun, everybody, listen up: We are looking for a man, we are not interested in everybody else, please do not shout or move needlessly. If you do not obey our instruction, please do not blame us for being rude!”

After a short burst of commotion, Ming Yu district immediately turned very quiet, but not for long, because noise was rising from all directions in the courtyards; the women were screaming and the men were shouting in great confusion.

A large banquet was being held at the Li Chun Yuan [lit. 'beautiful/lovely spring courtyard'], about a dozen or so prominent salt merchants were sitting around three tables, each one of them had a courtesan sitting next to him. As soon as they heard the commotion, their countenance was greatly changed. ”What is it?” ”Who is it?” ”Are they policemen investigating a case?” they all wondered.

Suddenly there was the beating-drum-like sound outside the main gate, or perhaps the main gate itself was being beaten. The servants [orig. 'turtle slave'] were so frightened that they did not know whether they should open the door. 'Bang!' the main gate was broken, about seventeen, eighteen big men burst in. These men were wearing short clothes, with plain white band tied around their heads and dark green belt around their waists. In their hands they held either a flickering saber, an iron club, or an iron stick. As soon as the salt merchants saw them, they recognized these men as salt smugglers.

At that time the salt duty was quite heavy. To avoid paying tax, these smugglers sold the salt in the black market and made quite a fortune. Yangzhou was the salt distribution center of the Huai River north of the Yangtze River. Generally outlaws would form gangs of smugglers. These salt traffickers were very fierce and tough, and would disperse instantly whenever they met a squad of government officers and soldiers, but if they came across a smaller number of soldiers, without saying anything they would simply take out their weapons and attack. Therefore, the local authorities would frequently close their eyes and did not intervene.

The salt merchants were aware that these salt smugglers' trade was usually limited to illegal salt; they neither rob travelling merchants nor commit other crimes, they only dealt with common people and usually were quite fair, seldom use force. Today, seeing those smugglers breaking into Ming Yu district carrying malicious air, the merchants panicked, but they were also surprised.

A man, about fifty years of age, among the smugglers said, ”Friends, we apologize for this disturbance.” While saying that, he raised his cupped fist from left to right, then again from right to left; and then he said loud and clear, ”I wonder if a friend of Tian Di Hui[22] by the surname of Jia, Jia Laoliu [lit. 'Ol' Six'], Jia Laoxiong [Old Fellow Jia], is here?” His gaze swept the faces of the salt merchants one by one.

Meeting his sharp gaze, the merchants were terrified; they repeatedly shook their heads, but inwardly they were quite relieved, thinking, ”It's only the clan and society in Jianghu carrying vendetta against each other in a bustling street, it may have nothing to do with outsiders.”

Raising his voice, the elderly smuggler called out, ”Jia Laoliu, this afternoon at a tavern by Lake Shouxi you were talking rubbish; you said Yangzhou's salt smugglers are cowards who do not dare to rebel by killing government officials, who can only smuggle salt, small-scale business which does not require any guts. You were drunk [orig. 'full of yellow soup'], shouting and mumbling big; you said that if Yangzhou's salt smugglers refuse to accept, we should go to Ming Yu district to look for you. Well, here we are! Jia Laoliu, you are a warrior of the Tian Di Hui, how come you are now shrinking back your head like a turtle?”

The rest of them, a dozen or so salt smugglers, echoed, ”Tian Di Hui warrior, how come you are shrinking back your head like a turtle? Hot piece mama, are you the Heaven and Earth Society, or Turtle Head Society?”

The elderly man said, ”It was Jia Laoliu alone who spoke rubbish, we must not drag the other good friends of Tian Di Hui into this. We are salt smugglers, we earn our food with sweat and blood, how can we be compared to the heroes of Tian Di Hui? But we are not turtles who pull back our heads either!”

After waiting for quite a while, that Jia Laoliu of Tian Di Hui had never answered. The old man shouted, ”Go and search every room, if you see that turtle head surnamed Jia, invite him to go out. This man has a big blade scar on his face, he is very easy to recognize.” The salt smugglers complied loudly and immediately went from room to room.

Suddenly from a room on the eastern wing came a rough yet heroic voice, ”Who's shouting and rambling in here, disturbing laozi seeking merriment?”

The salt smugglers called out one after another, ”Jia Laoliu is here!” ”Jia Laoliu, come out!” ”Damn it, this dog thief has guts!”

The man on the east wing laughed aloud and said, ”Laozi is not surnamed Jia, it's just that you guys recklessly scolding Tian Di Hui, it's not pleasing in laozi's ears. Laozi is not of Tian Di Hui, but I know each and every one of Tian Di Hui friends are heroes and warriors. You, salt smugglers, are not even fit to carry their shoes or wipe their butt.”

The salt smugglers shouting and yelling indistinctly; three men wielding sabers charged into the room, but a series of 'Aiyo!' was heard, the three men flew out of the room one by one and dropped to the floor. One man's saber knocked his own forehead, blood flowed and he passed out instantly. Six salt smugglers charged together into the room, but with repeated cry every single one of them was thrown back out. These people continued swearing and cursing, but no one dared to enter.

The old man took several steps forward toward the room, under the dim light he saw a big burly man with dragon-like [orig. '虬' - qiu, young dragon with horns] whisker was sitting on the bed, his head was wrapped in plain white cloth. There was no blade scar on his face, apparently he was not Jia Laoliu. In loud voice the old man asked, ”Sire has quite a talent, may I ask your honorable surname and your great given name?”

From among the crowd of courtesans standing on the side, a woman, approximately thirty years old, suddenly giggled. A salt smuggler rushed a step forward and 'slap! slap!' he struck the courtesan that tears flowing for her eyes and nose. ”Damn it!” the salt smuggler cursed, ”Stinky prostitute, what's so funny?” The courtesan was so scared that she did not dare to make any noise.

Suddenly from the main hall a boy, about twelve, thirteen years old, scrambled in and swore loudly, ”You dare to hit my Ma! You are a dead turtle, rotten bastard. I wish a thunder will strike you when you go out, I wish the back your hands will be infected by rotten boils, which will eat your hands and your tongue. I wish bloody pus will go into your belly, rotting your stomach and intestine!”

The salt smuggler was livid, reaching out, he was trying to grab the boy, but the boy dodged and hid behind another salt smuggler. With his left hand the first salt smuggler pushed the second salt smuggler, toppling him down in the process, then with his right fist he punched the boy's back as hard as he could.

”Daye[23], please spare his life!” the middle-aged courtesan called out in great alarm.

The boy was very slippery, he ducked and slipped under the salt smuggler's crotch, while reaching up to grab; he happened to grab his scrotum, which he squeezed with all his might. The salt smuggler was so much in pain that he let out a strange 'wah! wah!' cry. The boy quickly slipped away. To vent his anger, the salt smuggler punched the middle-aged courtesan. 'Bang!' the courtesan passed out instantly.

The boy threw himself on her body while calling out, ”Ma, Ma!” The salt smuggler grabbed the back of the boy's collar and lifted him up. He was about to punch the boy when the older salt smuggler shouted sternly, ”Don't create trouble! Put that little boy down!” The salt smuggler put the boy down and kicked his buttocks, sending him rolling down on the floor and 'bang!' he hit the wall.

The older man cast a glance to the salt smuggler, then he said toward the door, ”We are the brethrens from the Green Gang; just because a friend from Tian Di Hui by the surname of Jia insulted the Green Gang in public and said he would wait for us to settle the account here in Ming Yu district, we have come to look for him. Since Sire is not a friend from Tian Di Hui, we are like the well water does not mix with the river water; why did you injure us? Please leave your name, so that when our Bangzhu [Clan or Gang Leader] ask, we can explain to him.”

The man inside the room laughed and said, ”You are looking for a Tian Di Hui friend to settle an account, what does it have to do with me? I am here looking for pleasure. Since we are like the well water does not mix with the river water, then don't come here bothering laozi. I do have an advice for laoxiong, though: Tian Di Hui people, it would be better if laoxiong do not provoke them. If they curse you, just let it go, you'd better tuck your tail between your legs and continue smuggling salt quietly, making some money.”

The older man angrily said, ”I have never seen anybody in Jianghu more unreasonable than you.”

The man inside the room coldly said, ”Reasonable or not, what do I have to do with you? Could it be that you are looking for someone to marry into your family, and you want to call me your Jiefu [older sister's husband]?”

Right this moment, three men quietly sneaked in from outside, they were also dressed as salt smugglers. One of them was a skinny man wielding spear chain, in a low voice he asked, ”What is this all about?”

The older man shook his head and said, ”He doesn't want to talk, just keep on saying that we must swallow Tian Di Hui's insult. Perhaps that man surnamed Jia is hiding inside.”

The skinny man swung his spear chain and tossed his head. The older man pulled out a pair of about a foot long daggers from his waist. Suddenly the four of them charged together into the room, followed by the sound of weapons colliding.

Lovely Spring Courtyard was one of four biggest courtyards in Ming Yu district, each room was exquisitely furnished with pear wood tables and chairs, with mahogany beds and couches. An uninterrupted series of 'Bing! Bang! Crack!' was heard; obviously all the furniture inside the room was shattered. The madame proprietor's chubby face was trembling, her mouth mumbled prayers to Buddha, her heart was in constant pain.

The four salt smugglers did not stop shouting and yelling, but the man in the room did not make any noise. The people in the hall stood far away for fear that they might suffer disaster by accident. The noise of colliding weapons inside the room was getting faster and faster. Suddenly someone let out a miserable scream; presumably one of the salt smugglers was hit.

The burly man who kicked the boy, whose scrotum was still hurting really bad, saw that the boy was crawling up from the bottom of the wall. His anger flared again, and he swung his fist to punch the boy. The boy sidestepped, but the burly man flipped his hand and slapped him on the face, sending the boy spinning twice. The crowd of servants and salt merchants saw how vicious the salt smuggler was, if the beating continued, the boy would be killed, but nobody dared to intervene. The burly man raised his right fist to strike the crown of that boy's head. The boy darted forward to escape, he pushed the side-room door open and dashed in.

”Ah!” everybody in the hall gasped. The burly man was also startled, but he did not dare to pursue into the room.

As the boy dashed inside, for a moment he was unable to see clearly. Suddenly the weapons clashed again, 'Ding! Dang!' Under the sparks he saw a man was sitting on the bed, his head was wrapped in white cloth bandage; his appearance looked terrifying. ”Ah!” the boy screamed in terror.

When the sparks vanished, the room turned dark again. But the candles in the hall shone their light through the door, gradually his eyes adjusted to the dark and he was able to see clearly. The man with bandaged head was wielding a single-edged saber, which he brandished furiously. From the four salt smuggler leaders, only two remained, the other two were lying on the floor. The two that remained were the older man wielding a pair of daggers, and a tall and sturdy man. The boy thought, ”This man's head is heavily injured, and he is unable to fight standing up, he won't be these salt smugglers' match; I'd better flee immediately. But I wonder how Mama is?”

Remembering how his mother was beaten and humiliated, anger surged up in his breast; he swore through the door, ”Turtle thief, your granny, f*ck your eighteen generations ancestor's stinky salt skin … your salt smuggling home is full of salt. Your granny, your mother, your wife are all dead, and you pickle them with salt and you sell them as pork jerky on the street, three catties for a wen [coin of smallest denomination], as if people would want to buy your stinky salt-cured meat …” Hearing his malicious and sarcastic swearing, the salt smugglers in the hall were furious; they wanted to rush inside and beat him to death, but nobody dared to enter the room.

The man in the room suddenly swept his saber diagonally down, 'shua!' he chopped the tall and sturdy man's shoulder that even his shoulder bone was severed. The big man staggered back while screaming in loud voice, his body swayed and he almost fell down. The older man raised his pair of daggers and stabbed straight toward the pit of the man's stomach. The man lifted up his saber to parry. Right this moment there was a dull slap as the big man's whip struck his right shoulder. With a 'clang!' the saber fell down. The older man howled and struck with his pair of daggers. The man turned his left palm over and 'Crack! Crack!' several of the older man's ribs were broken as he was thrown outside the room, spurted fresh blood, and fainted on the floor.

Although the big man's left shoulder was heavily injured, he was still very bold. Grabbing a mace, he swung it down on the top of the man's head. The man was unable to dodge, as if his entire strength was already depleted and he was unable to move even a single muscle. Actually, the big man's strength was almost spent as well, the mace in his hand moved very slowly.

Seeing the critical situation, the boy's anger and hatred rose up again; throwing himself forward, he grabbed both of the big man's legs and pulled backward with all of his might. The big man weighed at least two hundred catties, while the boy was small and skinny; normally, the boy would not be able to move even half a hair of the big man's. However, this moment the man was heavily injured, while he used the last ounce of his strength to move the weapon. With a sudden pull from the boy, his legs gave up; he fell down and lay still on a pool of blood.

Gasping for breath, the man on the bed laughed and said, ”Come in and fight if you have guts!”

The boy shook his hand repeatedly, telling him not to provoke the people outside. But when the older man was thrown out of the room, his body bumped against the door, sending it swinging continuously. Illuminated by the candle light from the hall, the man's dragon whisker and his face full of blood looked very mean and ferocious.

The crowd of salt smugglers in the hall was unclear of the real situation inside; they looked at each other in shock, only to hear the man inside shouted again, ”Son of a b*tch, you don't dare to come in, the old man will come out and kill you one by one.”

The crowd of salt smugglers cried out and lifted their wounded comrades lying on the floor, they bolted out the door. The man laughed aloud, and then lowering his voice he said, ”Kid, go ... go bolt the door.”

The boy thought the door definitely must be bolted. ”Yes!” he hastily replied and bolted the door, then he slowly walked toward the bed. In the dark his nose caught the intermittent smell of blood.

The man said, ”You ... you ...” but before he could finish, he slumped down; apparently he fainted. His body swayed and was about to fall off the bed. The boy quickly rushed forward to prop him up. This man's body was very heavy. The boy struggled hard to straighten him up and put his head on a pillow.

The man was breathing laboriously; a moment later he said in a low voice, ”Those salt smugglers will come back in an instant, my strength has yet to return, I must get ... get damn away from here.”

Holding out his hand to stand up, he seemed to bump a sore spot for he groaned loudly. The boy quickly helped him up. The man said, ”Pick the saber, give it to me!” The boy picked the saber from the floor and stuffed it into the man's right hand. The man slowly got up from the bed, his body was constantly swaying. The boy stepped forward and set his right shoulder underneath the man's left armpit.

”I am leaving,” the man said, ”Don't help me, otherwise if those salt smugglers saw you, they would kill you as well.”

”Damn it,” the boy said, ”If they want to kill, just kill, I am not afraid. We, good friends, must uphold yi qi [loyalty, code of brotherhood], I cannot not help you.”

The man burst out in laughter, mixed with several coughs. He said with a laugh, ”You and I must uphold yi qi?”

”Why not?” the little boy replied, ”Good friends enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together.”

In the teahouses around Yangzhou, there were many storytellers; they told the story of the Three Kingdoms, the Water Margin, the Ming Dynasty's 'Legend of Heroic Deeds', and all kinds of heroic tales. Day in and day out this little boy went in and out of brothels, casinos, teahouses and restaurants, running errands and buying things for the customers; by scrapping here and there, he was able to earn some money. Whenever he had free time, he would squat by the tea table listening to people telling stories. He always sweet-talked the teahouses' proprietors by calling them uncle this and uncle that, and thus the proprietors had never chased him away.

He had heard quite a few stories, and was extremely fascinated by the sagas of heroes and warriors of old. Seeing this man that albeit his heavy injury was able to defeat not a few of salt smugglers, his heart was filled with admiration. Since the heroes in the story often said those words, he just blurted it out.

The man laughed aloud and said, ”Those words are well said. In Jianghu laozi has heard it mentioned a thousand times, the fellows who enjoying blessing together seem to be many, but I haven't seen too many of those who endure difficulties together. Let's go!”

With his right shoulder the boy supported the man's left arm; he opened the door and walked into the hall. When the people saw them, they were startled and scrambled away from them.

”Xiaobao, Xiaobao,” the boy's mother called out, ”Where are you going?”

”I am walking this friend out,” the boy replied, ”I will be back soon.”

”This friend! Ha ha … now I have become your friend!” the man said with a laugh.

”Don't go,” the boy's mother called out, ”You must quickly hide.” The boy laughed and walked away from the hall in big strides.

The two of them left Lovely Spring Courtyard and found the alley was surprisingly extremely quiet; presumably because they met a formidable opponent, the salt smugglers went back to call for reinforcement. As they left the alley and entered a small street ahead, the man looked up to the stars above and said, ”Let's go to the west.”

After walking for several zhang [unit of length, approximately 10 ft or 3 m], they came across a donkey cart. ”Let's rent a cart!” the man shouted. The driver halted. Seeing the two of them were covered in blood, his face showed astonishment and suspicion. The man took out a silver ingot from his pocket, about four or five taels [1 tael worth approximately 50 grams or 2 oz. of silver] worth. He said, ”Take the money first!”

Seeing a quite valuable silver ingot, the driver stopped the cart immediately and put down the footboard. The man slowly heaved his body up on the cart. From his pocket he fished another yuanbiao [gold or silver ingot, shaped like a boat], worth ten taels, and gave it to the boy. He said, ”Little friend, I am leaving. I give this yuanbiao to you.”

Seeing such a big yuanbiao, the boy could not help but mumbling indistinctly and swallowing his saliva, while thinking, ”What a good guy!” However, he remembered many chivalrous tales he had heard and recalled that heroes and warriors only make friends, they do not love money. Today, after so many difficulties, he finally had a chance to become a hero; whatever happened, he must continue to the end, he cannot be a useless person who was greedy for money. Thereupon, with a loud voice he said, ”We are speaking about yi qi, and not about money. If you give me the yuanbiao, you are considering me unworthy. You are injured, and I am going to send you off.”

The man was startled, but then he laughed to his heart's content with his face to the sky. ”Very good! Very good!” he said, ”You meant well.” And he put the yuanbiao back into the pocket. The boy crawled up the cart and sat by his side.

”Mister, where do you want to go?” the cart driver asked.

”To the west of town,” the man replied, ”The Victory Hill!”

”Victory Hill?” the cart driver was startled, ”Going to the west of town in the dead of the night?”

”Exactly!” the man said, while lightly knocking his saber against the side of the cart.

The cart driver was scared, ”Yes, yes!” he hastily said. Pulling down the cart's curtain, he drove the donkey out of town. The man closed his eyes to rest, his breathing was short and heavy, sometimes he would cough several times.

Victory Hill was a large rural area about thirty li [unit of length, about 0.5 km or 1/3 of a mile] northwest of Yangzhou. During the Shaoxing years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Han Shizhong scored a major victory against the Jin army on this hill, hence the name 'Victory'. The cart driver drove his donkey in great haste, in just over two hours they had reached the bottom of the hill. ”Mister, we have arrived!” he said.

The man saw the hill was only seven, eight zhang high, it was only a knoll actually. ”Pei!” he spat and asked, ”Is this the damned Victory Hill?”

”It is,” the cart driver said.

The boy also said, ”This is indeed the Victory Hill. When my Ma and the sisters went to burn incense in the Madame Ying Lie [lit. 'heroic deed'] Temple, I came along and played in here. The Madame Ying Lie Temple is a bit farther ahead.”

The Madame Ying Lie Temple was dedicated to Madame Han Shizhong, Liang Hongyu. Yangzhou residents called it 'Distinguished Prostitute Temple'. When she was young, Liang Hongyu[24] was a courtesan, and that was how she met Han Shizhong. Every year the courtesans of Yangzhou would visit the Madame Ying Lie Temple to burn incense and pray, asking the spirit of this mistress from Anguo, Hebei province, of the Song Dynasty, to look after the latter generation sisters of the same trade.

The man said, ”Since you know it, it must be right. Get down.”

The boy jumped down and then he helped the man stepped down the cart. It was pitch-black all around. The boy thought, ”That's right, this is a desolate place. If we are hiding here, those salt smugglers will never find us.”

The cart driver was afraid this man, whose body was covered in blood, would ask him to take him someplace else; pulling the reins, he whipped the donkey to leave. ”Hold it,” the man said, ”Take this little friend back to the city.”

”Yes,” the cart driver replied.

”Let me keep you company for a while,” the boy said, ”Early tomorrow morning I can buy some steamed buns for you to eat.”

”Do you really want to stay with me?” the man asked.

”No one is taking care of you,” the boy replied, ”It won't be right otherwise.”

The man roared in laughter again. ”In that case,” he said to the cart driver, ”You may go!” The cart driver hurriedly urged the donkey to walk.

The man sat on a big rock. When the cart driver was out of sight, no more noise was heard all around. The man suddenly shouted, ”Two bastard turtles behind the willow tree, roll out to laozi here!”

The boy jumped in fright. ”Someone is here?” he mused. But then he saw two men walking slowly from behind the willow tree. Those two wore plain white band around their heads and dark green belt around their waists; obviously they belong to the salt smuggler gang.

The two men had flickering sabers in their hands. After taking only two steps, they halted. The man shouted, ”Bastard son of turtles, you have been trailing your old man all the way from the pleasure house to this place; not coming out to deliver your life, what are you waiting for?”

The boy thought, ”That's right, they are here to ascertain where we are, then they are going to send reinforcement to kill him.”

The two men talked to each other in low voice, then suddenly they turned around and ran. The man quickly leaped to pursue. ”Ay!” he exclaimed, and fell sitting down. His injury was simply too heavy that he was incapable of running after those men.

The boy thought, ”The donkey cart has already left, the two of us cannot go too far. If those two managed to spread the news, it would be terribly bad if a large number of troops come here to kill us.” Suddenly he cried loudly, ”Aiyo, why did you die? You must not die! You cannot die!”

The two salt smugglers were running like crazy, suddenly hearing the boy's cry, they were startled and halted their steps immediately, only to hear the boy crying out, ”Why did you die?” They could not help but were pleasantly surprised. One of them wondered, ”The evil thief died?” The other man replied, ”His injury was very heavy, he could not bear it. The little demon is crying like that, I am sure he is really dead.”

Looking from the distant, they saw the man curled up on the ground. The first man said, ”Even if he is not dead yet, we need not be afraid of him. Let's chop his head and take it back; won't we render a great service that way?”

”Wonderful!” the other man agreed. With a saber in their hands, the two of them slowly came near.

The boy was wailing loudly while beating his chest and stomping his feet. ”Laoxiong,” he called out, ”Why did you die suddenly? If those salt smugglers came back, how am I supposed to deal with them?”

The two men were greatly delighted, they leaped toward them. One of them said, ”Evil thief, it is best that you die!” He grabbed the back of the boy's clothes, while the other man chopped his saber down on the man's neck.

Suddenly a saber flashed; one man's head flew up, while the other man who grabbed the boy had his chest and abdomen cut open from top to bottom. The man laughed aloud up stood up, propped by his saber.

The boy cried, ”Aiyo, salt smuggler friend, how come your head is missing? The two of you, Seniors, are going to see Yan Wang [Yama, King of Hell]; who will come back to tell your friends? Isn't it terrible?” Crying to this part, he could not refrain from breaking out in laughter.

The man said with a laugh, ”You, this little demon, are really smart, your crying is really convincing. If you did not cry like that, those two bastards would not come back.”

The boy replied with a laugh, ”What's so difficult about pretending to cry? When my Ma was about to beat me, before the whip even reach my body, I cried my heart out, that way the whip would not come down too heavily.”

”Why would your mother want to beat you?” the man asked.

”It depends,” the boy replied, ”Sometimes it was because I stole her money, sometimes it was because I created trouble for the aunties or uncles.”

The man sighed. ”If I did not kill these two scouts, we will have a serious problem,” he said. ”Hey, when you cried just now, why didn't you call me 'master' or 'uncle', but you called me 'laoxiong'?”

The boy said, ”But you are my friend, of course I would call you 'friend'. What damned 'Master' are you? You want me to call you 'Master', what in the devil are you to me?”

The man roared in laughter. ”Very good!' he said, ”Little friend, what is your name?”

”Are you asking my honorable surname and my great name?” the boy replied, ”I am called Xiaobao [lit. 'little treasure/precious'].”

The man laughed, ”Your great name is Xiaobao,” he said, ”What about your honorable surname?”

The boy knitted his eyebrows. ”I ... my honorable surname is Wei,” he said.

He was born in a brothel, his mother's name was Wei Chunhua [lit. 'spring flower']. As for his father, even his own mother did not know who. Everybody called him Xiaobao, nobody had ever asked his surname before. This time the man asked, he simply blurted out his mother's surname. This Wei Xiaobao was born in a brothel and grew up in a brothel; he had never been to school. When mentioning his 'honorable surname and great name', he was not joking; it's just that he often heard the storytellers mentioning the four words 'honorable surname' and 'great name', without realizing that it was a way of respectfully addressing other people, and thus it was inappropriate to be used to refer to oneself.

Following the example, he also asked, ”What is your honorable surname and your great name then?”

The man smiled and said, ”Since you are my friend, I should not hide my name from you. I am surnamed Mao, the 'mao' from 'maocao' [cogon grass], not the 'mao' from 'maochong' [caterpillar]. I am the eighteenth in rank, thus I am called Mao Shiba [eighteen].”

”Ah!” Wei Xiaobao exclaimed and jumped, ”I have heard that the government … the government wants to arrest you?” he said, ”They said you are a big robber[25] or something.”

Mao Shiba grunted and said, ”That's right, aren't you afraid of me?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”Afraid of what? So what if you are a big robber? Lin Chong, Wu Song, those heroes from the Water Margin were also big robbers.”

Mao Shiba was very happy. ”You are comparing me with Lin Chong, Wu Song, those heroes; that's wonderful!” he said, ”Who told you that the government wants to arrest me?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”There are official announcements posted all around Yangzhou; it says that the big robber Mao Shiba is wanted, dead or alive. Whoever can kill you will be rewarded two thousand taels. If anybody can give information leading to your arrest, the reward is somewhat less, only a thousand taels. Yesterday I heard some people talking about it at the teahouse; they said that you possess such a great skill that whoever is thinking to arrest you or kill you should forget it. It is best if anybody knows your whereabouts and informs the authority, thus collecting the thousand taels reward, which actually is an ill-gotten gain anyway.”

Mao Shiba leaned his head sideways to look at him and snorted contemptuously. A thought flashed through Wei Xiaobao's mind, ”If I can collect this thousand taels reward, Ma and I, two people, will have enough money to spend: eating chicken, duck, fish and beef, gambling and fooling around; this money won't be spent for several years.” Seeing Mao Shiba leaning his head looking at him with somewhat strange expression, Wei Xiaobao angrily said, ”What are you thinking? You think I am going to report you for the reward?”

”Yes,” Mao Shiba admitted, ”White and shiny silver, who does not love?”

”F*ck your granny,” Wei Xiaobao swore, ”What Jianghu's yi qi are you talking about?”

”It's up to you,” Mao Shiba replied.

”Since you do not trust me, why did you tell me your real name?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Your head and your face are wrapped in that much bandage, you look completely different from the picture on the official announcement. If you did not say that you are Mao Shiba, who would recognize you?”

Mao Shiba said, ”You said that we should enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together. If even my real name I conceal from you, what kind of damn bastard friend am I?”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted, he said, ”Absolutely correct! Even if there is a ten thousand taels, a hundred thousand taels reward, no way would laozi report you.” While in his heart he said, ”If there really is a ten thousand taels, a hundred thousand taels reward, will I or won't I betray a friend?” He was not so sure.

”Very well,” Mao Shiba said, ”Let us sleep for a while, tomorrow at noon [orig. 'wu shi', between 11am-1pm] there will be two friends coming for me. We have an appointment to meet at the Victory Hill west of Yangzhou; even if I am dead, I won't leave before we meet.” Wei Xiaobao had been running around for the whole day, he was already tired early on. As soon as he heard him, he leaned against a tree trunk and fell asleep.

When he woke the next day, he saw Mao Shiba was pressing both his hands against his chest; he said with a laugh, ”You are awake. Drag these two dead men behind the tree, and sharpen these three sabers.”

Wei Xiaobao pulled the dead bodies as told. The morning sun had just appeared, it was only now that he was able to see clearly: Mao Shiba was roughly forty years of age, his hands and arms were bulging with muscle, his eyes were bright, his expression was bold and powerful. He took the three sabers to a mountain stream nearby, dipped the saber into the water, and then sharpened it on a rock. He thought, ”To deal with the salt smugglers, one saber is enough. Supposing this Mao Laoxiong is killed, why do I have to sharpen the other two? So that other people can use it to kill Wei Xiaobao?” He was always lazy, after putting an act of sharpening the blades for some time, he said, ”Let me go buy some deep-fried breadstick and steamed buns for us to eat.”

”Where would you buy some deep-fried breadstick and steamed buns?” Mao Shiba asked.

”There's a small town over there, not too far from here,” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”Mao Dage, may I borrow two taels of your money?”

Mao Shiba chuckled; taking out the big yuanbiao from his pocket, he said, ”We are brothers, what's yours is mine, what's mine is yours, you can just use mine, there is no need to say the word 'borrow'.”

Wei Xiaobao was delighted, he thought, ”This hero indeed considers me as a friend; even if there is a ten-thousand taels of reward, I simply cannot report him to the authority. But what about a hundred thousand? Now that is going to be a problem. Pei! Just look at him, will he worth that much money? I don't need to think too much.” Receiving the money, he asked, ”Do you want me to buy you some medicine?”

”No need,” Mao Shiba said, ”I have my own medicine.”

”Alright, I am leaving,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Mao Dage, don't worry, supposing I am caught by the authorities, even if they kill me, I will never tell them that you are Mao Shiba.” Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Mao Shiba nodded. Wei Xiaobao muttered to himself, ”You will have two friends coming over, I'd better buy a pot of wine, and several catties of cooked beef.”

Mao Shiba happily said, ”Nothing's better than wine and meat; go quickly and return quickly. I can kill better with a full stomach.”

Wei Xiaobao was startled, ”Do the salt smugglers know you are here?” he asked, ”Are they after you?”

”It's not that,” Mao Shiba said, ”I have an appointment to fight with someone on the Victory Hill. Otherwise, why would I rush to this place?”

Wei Xiaobao let out a breath. ”You are still injured,” he said, ”How can you fight? Why do you have to keep the appointment? It won't be too late to wait until you recover, it's just that ... it's just that I am afraid the other party won't agree to it.”

”Pei!” Mao Shiba spat, ”The other party is a famous hero and warrior, why won't he agree? It's me who is unwilling. Today is the twenty-ninth day of the third month, isn't it? Half a year ago, the appointment has been decided. Afterwards I was caught by the authorities and was put in jail. I was concerned over this appointment, I have to keep it; hence I had to break out from jail and in the process killed several Eagle Claw's[26] grandsons, only then was the city of Yangzhou thrown into a complete mess, and so they put up some damn posters to arrest laozi. His granny, just the day before yesterday I came across several Eagle Claw's kids, whose martial art skill was very strong. I killed three of them, but unexpectedly I also suffered a bit of injury in the process; just consider it my bad luck.”

”Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”I will hurry to buy something to eat. When you are full, you may fight.” He started to run immediately. Rounding the hillside, he rushed for six, seven li before reaching a small town. He made a plan in his heart, ”Mao Dage cannot even walk from his wound, how can he fight? He said the opposite party is a famous hero and warrior, his martial art skill must be good; what can I do to help him?”

With the money in his hand, his heart was itching unbearably; in all his life, he had never held that much money, he knew he would not be happy unless he spend it all. Going to a grocer, he bought two catties of cooked beef, a duck marinated in soy paste, and two bottles of yellow wine. He still had quite a bit of money left. With it he bought a dozen steamed buns, and eight strips of deep-fried breadstick, at most it was only twenty-some wen. Suddenly he had an idea, ”Why don't I buy a roll of rope? I can put some horse-tripping rope on the ground. When they fight, if the opponent is not careful, he may trip on the rope and fall down, then Mao Dage can chop him with his saber.”

He remembered a storyteller once told a story about a general who went to battle, his horse was tripped and he fell down, the enemy general raised his saber and chopped down the man into two pieces. In high spirit he went to buy the rope. When he reached the general store, however, he saw a row of four big vats in the store; one contained rice, the next one soy bean, the next one salt, and the last one contained small chunks of lime. Right away he recalled, ”Last year, when gangs of salt smugglers fought by the Fairy Bridge, someone threw lime at their eyes and turned defeat into victory at once; why didn't I think about it earlier?” Therefore, he did not buy rope, but a bag of lime instead, and returned to Mao Shiba.

Mao Shiba was lying by a tree, sleeping; hearing his footsteps, he woke up immediately. Opening a wine bottle, he took two mouthfuls and loudly praised it. ”Aren't you going to drink?” he asked.

Wei Xiaobao had never had wine before, but since he was acting as a hero or warrior, he took the bottle and took a mouthful. He felt a rush of heat bubbling up his stomach and he coughed immediately. Mao Shiba roared in laughter and said, ”Little hero has not learned drinking wine skill.”

Suddenly from a distant someone was calling out loud and clear, ”Shiba Xiong, are you well since we parted?”

”Wu Xiong, Wang Xiong,” Mao Shiba called back, ”You two also look very well!”

Wei Xiaobao's heart was pounding. He looked up to the direction of the voice, and saw two men were walking quickly along the main road, whom very soon had arrived in front of them. One was an old man, with long white beard hanging in front of chest, yet his countenance was ruddy and bright, without any wrinkle at all. The other one was a middle-aged man in his forties, short and stout. His head was bald, with a small braid hanging from the back of his head, his forehead looked like a hard-boiled egg without its shell.

Mao Shiba raised his cupped fist and said, ”Xiongdi [generic term for 'brother'; referring to self] is inconvenienced on the legs, cannot stand up to pay my respect.”

The bald man slightly frowned. The old man laughed and said, ”Why be polite?”

Wei Xiaobao thought, ”Mao Dage is too honest, why must he tell people his legs are injured?”

”We have wine and meat here,” Mao Shiba said, ”Would the two of you eat a little bit?”

”Thank you for your hospitality,” the old man replied. Sitting next to Mao Shiba, he took the wine bottle.

Wei Xiaobao was delighted. ”Turns out these two are Mao Dage's friends, they are here not to fight with him,” he thought, ”That's wonderful! When the enemy arrives, these two may help him fight.”

As the old man brought the bottle to his lips, the bald man said, ”Wu Dage, you must not drink this wine!”

The old man was startled, but he laughed immediately, he said, ”Shiba Xiong is a firm and frank good man, how can there be any poison in the wine?” 'Glug, glug' he drank two mouthfuls of wine, and then handed the bottle to the bald man and said, ”If you don't drink the wine, you are holding a good friend in contempt.”

Hesitation flashed on the bald man's face, but it was inappropriate for him to defy the old man's words, thereupon he received the wine bottle. He was just about to bring the bottle to his mouth when Mao Shiba suddenly reached out and snatched the bottle away, saying, ”We don't have much wine! Since Wang Xiong does not like to drink wine, save several mouthfuls for me.” Raising the bottle, he poured two mouthfuls of wine into his mouth. The bald man's face turned red; he sat down and grabbed some beef and started to eat.

Mao Shiba said, ”Let me introduce you to a good friend of mine.” Pointing toward the old man, he said, ”This is Wu Laoyezi [Old Master Wu], his title is Dapeng [lit. 'the Great Roc'], in Jianghu he is known as 'Cloud Scraper Hand'. His punching and kicking skill is very famous.”

The old man laughed and said, ”Mao Xiong has painted gold on my face.” Looking all around, he did not see any other people, hence he was rather astonished.

Mao Shiba pointed to the bald man and said, ”This is Wang Shifu [respectful form of

address for older men], whose given name is a single character 'Tan'; his nickname is 'A Pair of Pens Cut Into a Mountain'. His skill in using a pair of judge-pens has truly reached perfection.”

”Mao Xiong is making fun of me,” the bald man said, ”I have been defeated under your hands, I am really ashamed.”

”You flatter me,” Mao Shiba said. Pointing toward Wei Xiaobao he said, ”This young friend is my newly found brother ...” Listening to this point, Wu and Wang, two people were startled. They looked at each other, and then turned their gaze toward Wei Xiaobao. In all honesty they could not figure out the background of this skinny twelve, thirteen years old boy. In the meantime, Mao Shiba continued, ”This young friend is surnamed Wei, given name Xiaobao. In Jianghu he is known as ... known as, um, his nickname is ... is ...” After pausing for a moment, he said, ”He is known as the Little White Dragon. His water skill is superb, he can stay in the water for three days and three nights, live on fish and shrimp, and his face will not change.”

He wanted to give this new friend some face, so that he would not appear discouraged in front of strangers, hence he had a mind to boast somewhat. However, Wei Xiaobao did not know any martial art, while Wu and Wang, two people were martial art experts, they would know from his voice or his movements, so it would be hard to deceive them. After thinking for a moment, Mao Shiba decided to say that Wei Xiaobao's water skill was truly formidable. Wu and Wang, two people, were northern warriors, they did not know their way around the water, hence they would not know the genuine from the fake. He then said, ”The three of you are good friends, you should know each other better.”

Wu and Wang, two people, raised their cupped fist and said, ”It's an honor to meet you at last!”

Wei Xiaobao simply copied what they were doing, he also raised his cupped fist and said, ”It's an honor to meet you at last!” While inwardly he was pleasantly surprised, ”Mao Dage brags on my behalf, what kind of Jianghu warrior am I? I am sure this trickery will be exposed later.”

With the four of them, the wine, meat and steamed buns were finished in no time. The bald Wang Tan's appetite was really good; at first he was rather shy, but later on he started to take big bites. The amount of beef, steamed buns and deep-fried breadsticks he alone ate was more than the other three people combined.

Mao Shiba used the sleeve of his clothes to wipe his mouth. ”Wu Laoyezi,” he said, ”This young friend's water skill is fabulous, but he has not learned his land's skill yet. Without any choice I will have to fight you one against two; it is not because I am looking down on the two of you.”

Wu Dapeng said, ”I'll say our appointment can be postponed another half a year.”

”And why is that?” Mao Shiba asked.

Wu Dapeng said, ”Mao Xiong is injured, obviously you cannot unleash you true skill. If the old man defeats you, there is no glory in that; if I am defeated, I won't have any face to see other people even more.”

Mao Shiba laughed aloud and said, ”Injured or not, there is not much difference. If I have to wait another half a year, won't I be anxious even more?” With left hand pressed against the tree trunk for support, he slowly stood up; his right hand already held his saber. ”Wu Laoyezi has always been bare-handed,” he said, ”Wang Xiong, pull your weapon!”

”Very well,” Wang Tan said. Both hands entered his pocket, 'clang!' he pulled out a pair of judge-pens.

Wu Dapeng said, ”In that case, Wang Xiandi ['worthy (younger) brother'], please give your humble brother an opportunity to have a try first. If I fail, it won't be too late for you to try.”

”Yes!” Wang Tan complied, and retreated three steps.

With left palm upturned and right hand moved in circle, light as a feather Wu Dapeng delivered a strike toward Mao Shiba. Mao Shiba's saber hacked down diagonally, lightly chopped Wu Dapeng's left arm. Wu Dapeng lowered his head, and quickly came in under the blade, with his left hand slapped under Mao Shiba's right elbow. Mao Shiba leaned sideways and dodged behind the tree. 'Slap!' Wu Dapeng's palm struck the tree trunk. The tree was about five, six zhang tall, the trunk was thick and solid, yet Wu Dapeng's palm strike had made the yellow leaves of the tree fall down like rain.

”Good palm strength!” Mao Shiba called out. His saber cut horizontally across Wu Dapeng's waist. Wu Dapeng suddenly leaped up and from the air pounced down, his white beard floating; it was a wonderful sight. Mao Shiba countered with 'Westerly Wind Rolling In', his saber swept up from below. Wu Dapeng made a somersault in the air and leaped away. Mao Shiba's saber was less than half a foot from his abdomen. The saber was no doubt swift and fierce, but the way Wu Dapeng evaded it was also swift and brilliant.

Wei Xiaobao had seen too many fights in his life, but it was all marketplace brawls where the rogues butting head with each other, kicking and pulling the opponent's braid, wrestling and beating each other randomly. Other than Mao Shiba's fierce battle with the salt smugglers at the Lovely Spring Courtyard the previous day, he had never seen martial art masters dueling each other in such a dangerous competition.

He saw Wu Dapeng advancing and retreating in quick successions, his palms danced, while Mao Shiba brandished his saber in front of his body like a silvery light shield. Several times did Wu Dapeng press in, but each time he was pushed back by the saber light.

In the midst of intense battle, suddenly they heard hoof beats as about a dozen riders came galloping by; they were all dressed in Manchurian Qing military attire. When they were near, those dozen or so soldiers spread out and surrounded these four men in the middle. The leader shouted sternly, ”Don't move! We have an order to arrest the Big Robber Mao Shiba. It has nothing to do with anybody else, please step away!”

Hearing this, Wu Dapeng held his palms. Mao Shiba said, ”Wu Laoyezi, the Eagle Claws have arrived! They are coming for me, you don't need to pay attention, let's continue our fight!”

Wu Dapeng turned toward the soldiers and said, ”This Xiongtai [brother, generic term] here is a law-abiding common person, how can he be the Big Robber? You mistook him as someone else.”

The leader laughed coldly and said, ”He is a law-abiding common person, too bad there are too many law-abiding common people in the world. Friend Mao, you have committed a horrendous crime in Yangzhou. A real man is always responsible for what he did. Come follow us nicely!”

”Just wait a moment,” Mao Shiba said, ”Wait until victory or defeat between me and these two friends is decided, then we'll talk.” Turning toward Wu Dapeng and Wang Tan he said, ”Wu Laoyezi, Wang Xiong, we must decide victory or defeat today, if you want to wait for another half a year, I don't know if I, the one surnamed Mao, will still alive. In short, why don't the two of you come together?”

The leader shouted, ”If the two of you are not Mao Shiba's accomplices, leave this place at once, do not get involved in this matter.”

”Your granny,” Mao Shiba said, ”What are these shouting and screaming for?”

”Mao Shiba,” the leader said, ”You broke out of jail and killed people, that was the local authority's business, we need not take notice of it. But I heard that in a brothel you were yelling and boasting that the traitors of Tian Di Hui, who started a rebellion, are heroes and warriors; did you or did you not say such thing?”

Mao Shiba loudly said, ”Of course the friends of Tian Di Hui are heroes and warriors; are you saying that people like you, traitors of the Hans who lick the imperial court's eggs, are heroes and warriors?”

Wu Dapeng said, ”May I know your honorable surname and great name?”

The leader proudly patted the shiny black flexible whip wound around his waist and said, ”I am the Black Dragon Whip Shi Song, on assignment from Ao Shaobao to capture Tian Di Hui rebels.”

Wu Dapeng nodded; he turned to Mao Shiba and said, ”Mao Xiong, by Heaven my father and Earth my mother!”

With eyes wide open Mao Shiba asked, ”What did you say?”

”Nothing,” Wu Dapeng smiled and said, ”Mao Xiong, you probably are not a Tian Di Hui brother, but why did you speak well of Tian Di Hui?”

Wu Dapeng asked, ”Mao Xiong, have you met Chen Zongduozhu?”

”What?” Mao Shiba angrily said, ”Are you saying I am not a hero and warrior?” Since he was that angry, apparently he had never met Chen Jinnan.

Wu Dapeng smiled, ”I do not dare to presume,” he said.

Mao Shiba said, ”Are you saying you have met Chen Zongduozhu?” Wu Dapeng shook his head.

Shi Song asked Wu and Wang, two people, ”Do you know any Tian Di Hui people? If you have any information that will lead to the arrest of Tian Di Hui leader, that Chen Jinnan or whatever his name is, Oboi will certainly heap you with rewards.”

Wu Dapeng and Wang Tan had not replied, Mao Shiba laughed aloud with his face to the sky; he said, ”You mother's dreaming a big dream in a clear autumn day; a lump of brick like you wants to arrest Tian Di Hui's Chen Zongduozhu? You keep saying Ao Shaobao this and Ao Shaobao that; this Oboi calls himself the number one warrior or Manchuria, how is his martial art skill anyway?”

Shi Song said, ”Ao Shaobao is supernaturally brave, his martial art skill matchless. Once on a Beijing street he killed a mad bull with his fist; do you, a traitor, also know about it?”

”His granny,” Mao Shiba swore, ”I don't believe Oboi is that formidable, I am just about to go to Beijing to challenge him.”

With a cold laugh Shi Song said, ”Are you worthy to fight with Ao Shaobao? The Senior only needs to extend one finger and you will be a dead man. The one surnamed Mao, we have talked enough nonsense, come follow us!”

”You think it's that easy?” Mao Shiba replied, ”You have thirteen men; laozi will fight one against thirteen. Even though I know I am not your match, I will still fight you.”

Wu Dapeng laughed and said, ”Why does Mao Xiong consider us as outsiders? We have here three against thirteen; one man takes four, we may not necessarily lose.”

Both Shi Song and Mao Shiba were stunned. Shi Song said, ”The two of you must not have a change of mind and make a mistake; committing treason by helping a rebel is not a fun thing to do.”

Wu Dapeng laughed and said, ”If you say we are helping a rebel, so be it; but to commit treason, that we do not dare.”

Shi Song said, ”Helping a rebel is committing treason! You two think carefully, are you determined to help this traitor?”

Wu Dapeng said, ”Half a year ago, Mao Xiong and this Wang Xiongdi here made an appointment for a friendly duel in this place, it has nothing to do with me. Unexpectedly the government authority was not sensible enough by locking this Mao Xiong in jail. He is a good man of his words; if he did not keep this appointment today, how would he conduct himself in Jianghu in the future? So it was because he was forced by the government authority that he broke out of jail and killed people. It is called the government official drives the people to revolt, he has no choice but to rebel. Shi Daren, if you would give laohan ['the old man', referring to self] a face, please take your squad back, let laohan and Mao Xiong have a competition to measure their martial art skills. Whether you are going to arrest him tomorrow, laohan and Wang Xiongdi will not care!”

”No, can't do,” Shi Song said.

One of the soldiers suddenly shouted, ”Old fellow, you speak too much already!” While saying that, he pulled out his saber and squeezed his legs to spur the horse; raising his saber, he chopped it down on the top of Wu Dapeng's head. Wu Dapeng tilted his body to evade the saber, his right arm reached out while leaping up at the same time to grab the soldier's back. With one smooth motion he threw the soldier to the ground.

The rest of the soldiers cried out, ”Revolt! Revolt!” and jumped down their mounts to surround Wu Dapeng, three people. Mao Shiba's legs were injured, he was still leaning on the tree, but he lifted his saber and hacked down a soldier to his death. The saber pared across and cut another soldier's waist, sending him to his death. Seeing his ferocity, the rest of the soldiers did not dare to close in. With hands on his waist, Shi Song sat on the horseback, watching.

At first Wei Xiaobao was also at the center of the encirclement, but when Shi Shong was still talking to Mao Shiba and Wu Dapeng, step by step he walked away. The soldiers did not know what this skinny and shriveled kid was doing in that place, so they did not pay him any attention. When the fight broke, he hid behind a tree several zhang away. ”Shall I go now, or shall I stay and watch?” he asked himself, ”Mao Dage only has three on their side, they will be killed by this soldiers for sure. After that, will these soldiers come and kill me as well?” But then he had a second thought, ”Mao Dage considers me as his good friend, we should enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together. If I sneak out quietly, I am not holding up yi qi.”

With a sweep of his palm, Wu Dapeng struck down a soldier. Wielding his pair of judge pens, Wang Tan fought three soldiers. By this time Mao Shiba had chopped down another soldier's right leg. The soldier fell down on his own pool of blood, cursing and swearing loudly, his voice was sad and shrill.

Shi Shong let out a loud and long cry; with the Black Dragon Whip in his hand, he also jumped down his mount. Before his feet landed on the ground, the tip of his whip had already coiled toward Mao Shiba. Mao Shiba unleashed the saber technique 'Five Tigers Breaking the Gates' to counter move for move. Shi Song lashed out his flexible whip seven, eight times in succession with formidable stances, but Mao Shiba countered each and every one with his saber.

Suddenly Wu Dapeng shouted loudly, one soldier flew up and 'Bang!' he fell to the ground. The number of soldiers was reduced by one. On the other front, Wang Tan was fighting one against three, he gradually fell under a disadvantageous position, his left leg had been gashed by a sawtooth saber; blood gushed out of his wound, yet while limping and soaked in blood, he was still fighting hard.

The three soldiers who fought with Wu Dapeng were not weak either; two sabers and one sword were weaving in and out around his body, Wu Dapeng's Cloud Scraper Hand failed to land on their bodies.

Shi Song's flexible whip moved faster and faster, yet all along he was unable to subdue Mao Shiba. Suddenly he launched the stance 'White Snake Spitting At Will', the tip of his whip went straight toward Mao Shiba's right shoulder. Mao Shiba raised his saber to block; to his surprise, however, Shi Song's attack was an empty move, with a flick of his wrist, the former move, 'Make a Sound in the East and Strike in the West' changed into 'Jade Belt Wrapped Around the Waist', where the Black Dragon Whip was lashing to the left, but then immediately coiled back to the right to wrap itself around Mao Shiba's waist.

Mao Shiba's legs could walk only with difficulty, all along he was standing against a big tree for support. As Shi Song's attack, the 'Jade Belt Wrapped Around the Waist' arrived, he should have either dash forward or leap backward, since it was the only way to evade. But now he had no choice but to take the attack head-on; 'Crack!' he struck the tip of the whip with his saber that it fell down. Shi Song shook his whip loose. As the whip handle was loose, the whip dropped slightly, but suddenly it coiled up again, with an unimaginable speed it wrapped itself around Mao Shiba and the tree trunk; altogether it circled three times around. 'Stab!' the tip of the whip hit Mao Shiba's right chest.

Shi Song wanted to capture Mao Shiba alive so he could interrogate him on the Tian Di Hui. Seeing Wu Dapeng and Wang Tan had not surrendered, he was eager to retrieve the Black Dragon Whip, thereupon he stooped down to pick up a discarded saber on the ground with the intention of chopping Mao Shiba's right arm. With the saber in his hand, he was just about to straighten up his body when a white cloud swayed in front of his eyes, countless fine powder assaulted his eyes, his nose, and his mouth. Instantly he choked up, followed by burning pain on his eyes, as if they were pricked by ten thousand steel needles at once. He wanted to open up his mouth to shout, but it was filled with the powder, even his throat seized up that no sound came out of his mouth. This mishap happened so suddenly that although he was a veteran of Jiang Hu, he was panic-stricken. Dropping the saber in his hand, he raised both hands to rub his eyes. After rubbing for a while, he suddenly realized, ”Aiyo! The enemy scattered lime on my eyes!” Raw lime would boil in contact with water, immediately his eyes were burning. Right this moment, he felt an ice-cold sensation on his abdomen; a saber had penetrated his belly.

When the whip wrapped his body, Mao Shiba had lost all hope. Suddenly he saw white dust fly upward, Shi Song's saber dropped down, both hands were rubbing his eyes. While still in shock, he saw Wei Xiaobao pick up the saber and with both hands thrust it into Shi Song's abdomen, and immediately dashed away to hide behind a tree.

Shi Song's hands were shaky, he staggered and swayed several turns, then tumbled face down on the ground. Several soldiers were greatly shocked, they called out together, ”Shi Dage! Shi Dage!”

Wu Dapeng moved his left palm in 'Iron Tree Blooming', concentrating his power in the palm, sending a soldier flying several zhang away, spurting blood from his mouth. The remaining five soldiers knew they were lost, and were not in the mood to prolong the battle. They turned around and fled, forgetting even their own horses.

Wu Dapeng turned around and said, ”Mao Xiong's skill is indeed superb, this Black Dragon Whip Shi Song's martial art skill is superior, yet today he lost his life in your hand!” He saw that Shi Song died with a saber in his abdomen, so he assumed it came from Mao Shiba's hand.

Mao Shiba shook his head and said, ”I am ashamed! It was Wei Xiaoxiongdi [little/younger brother (generic term)] who killed him.”

Wu and Wang, two people were greatly amazed, ”The little kid killed him?” they asked. Just now they were busy fighting the enemy, so they did not see Wei Xiaobao throw the lime. The ground was covered with blood, since before his death Shi Song was rolling around on the ground, his body was covered with mud; although there were traces of lime on the ground, they had not paid attention.

With his left hand Mao Shiba grabbed the tip of the Black Dragon Whip and shook it off. 'Whoosh!' he lashed the whip on Shi Song's head. Although his abdomen was penetrated by the saber, Shi Song did not die immediately; as his crown was struck with the whip, his life was gone instantly. ”Wei Xiongdi,” Mao Shiba called out, ”What a good skill!”

Wei Xiaobao came out from behind the tree. Realizing that he had killed a famous government official, 10% of his heart was proud of himself, but the other 90% was afraid. Half believing half doubting, Wu and Wang, two people looked at him from top to bottom, sizing him up. They noticed his countenance was pale, his body trembled, his eyes brimming with tears, his legs shaky as if he was about to fall. He also looked like he was about to cry, or perhaps he was going to call, 'I want my mommy!'. In any case, they could not believe he killed the Black Dragon Whip Shi Song.

”Xiaoxiongdi,” Wu Dapeng said, ”With what style did you kill this man?”

With a trembling voice Wei Xiaobao said, ”I ... I ... killed this of ... officer? No, it wasn't me. No ... not me ...” He knew that killing a government official was a capital offense; panic-stricken, the only thing he could think of was to deny.

Mao Shiba frowned; he shook his head and said, ”Wu Laoyezi, Wang Xiong, I owe you for helping me in critical time and saving my life. Shall we continue fighting?”

”What saving your life? It is not worth mentioning,” Wu Dapeng replied, ”Wang Xiongdi, I think we do not need to continue fighting.”

”No, we don't!” Wang Tan said, ”Mao Xiongdi and I did not have either deep enmity or grudges to begin with. Why don't we all become friends? Mao Xiongdi's martial art skill is superior, he has guts, and has knowledge and experience; I admire him wholeheartedly.”

Wu Dapeng said, ”Mao Xiong, we say goodbye now. The mountain is long, the river is far, we will meet again someday. Mao Xiongdi admires Tian Di Hui's Chen Zongduozhu very much, I will do my best to convey your words to Chen Zongduozhu.”

Mao Shiba was elated, he took a step forward and said, ”You ... you ... you know Chen Zongduozhu?”

Wu Dapeng laughed and said, ”Actually, Wang Xiongdi and I are humble members of the Great Transformation Hall of the Tian Di Hui. Since Mao Dage has such a high esteem to our humble society, even if we have had serious enmity between us, we will definitely write it off, much less we did not have any grudges to begin with.”

Mao Shiba was pleasantly surprised, ”Turns out ... turns out you really knew Chen Jinnan.”

”Our society brethrens are numerous, Chen Zongduozhu's whereabouts is uncertain,” Wu Dapeng said, ”My position in the society is low, I really have not seen Chen Zongduozhu personally. I was not trying to deceive you a moment ago.”

”So that's how it is,” Mao Shiba said.

Wu Dapeng raised his cupped fist and turned around to leave. His palms did not stop striking here and there. A continuous 'Slap! Slap!' was heard, he struck the soldiers lying on the ground one by one; regardless of whether the soldier was dead or alive, after being hit by his Cloud Scraping Palm, the dead soldiers' tendon would be broken tendon and their bones crushes, those who were still alive would take his last breath instantly. In a low voice Mao Shiba mumbled, ”What a palm strength!”

When the two of them had left far, he muttered to himself, ”Turns out they are Tian Di Hui people.” A few moments later, he turned to Wei Xiaobao and said, ”Go get me a horse!”

Wei Xiaobao had never been near a horse before; seeing the horse was big and tall, he was scared, so he slowly approached the horse from its back.

”Stay in front of the horse,” Mao Shiba bellowed, ”If you approach a horse from its butt, it will kick you!”

Wei Xiaobao circled to the horse's head and put out his hand to pull the reins. Fortunately the horse was docile, it followed him obediently. Mao Shiba tore a piece of his own clothes to bind the wound on his right arm. Pressing the saddle with his left hand, he jumped onto the horseback. ”Go home!” he said.