Chapter - 3 (3) (1/2)

A man pounced, Mao Shiba responded by a flying kick, hitting the man's lower abdomen, and sent him flying backward. The other five men cursed, and pounced together. Mao Shiba unleashed his qin na skill, his elbow struck his palm hacked, in a short time he managed to knock down four men.

One day they reached Beijing, by the time they entered the city, it was already afternoon. Mao Shiba warned Wei Xiaobao to be careful in everything he say or do, it was the capital, government's eyes and ears were numerous, they should not expose any mistake. ”What mistake?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”You are the one who should not expose any mistake. Aren't you here to challenge Oboi to a duel? Just go out and find him.”

Mao Shiba let out a forced laugh without answering. When he said he was going to find Oboi and challenge him the other day, it was on an impulse while his frame of mind was in rage. Although he was a hot-headed and crude warrior, after all, he had been wandering the Jianghu for more than twenty years, how could he not know that Oboi was an important official in command of tens of thousands of men? How could he have a martial art competition with an ordinary Jianghu man? His own martial art skill was only a second or third class, if Oboi was indeed the Manchu's number one warrior, most likely Mao Shiba was not Oboi's match. However, he had boasted in front of Wei Xiaobao, he simply must go to Beijing. He was thinking he would take this child strolling around Beijing for about ten days or half a month, enjoying the scenery of the capital, merrily drinking and eating, and then he would send the child back to Yangzhou. Undoubtedly Oboi was unwilling to have a martial art contest, so he did not have any choice, it was not because he did not dare, so Wei Xiaobao could not mock him as gutless. In a very slim chance that Oboi agreed to have a duel, Mao Shiba would definitely stake his old life to fight him.

The two of them reached a small wine shop in the western part of the city. Mao Shiba ordered some food and wine. While he was drinking, two men entered the wine shop, one old, the other young. The old one was roughly sixty years old, while the young one looked around twelve or thirteen. Both were wearing strange looking attire. Wei Xiaobao did not know what kind of people they were, but Mao Shiba was aware that those two were eunuchs from the Imperial Palace. The old one had a sickly complexion, his back was bent at the waist, and he did not stop coughing, as if he was suffering from a serious illness. The young one was helping him, slowly walking to sit at a table.

With a shrill and raspy voice the old eunuch said, ”Bring me some wine!” The wine shop attendant responded repeatedly and hastily took out some wine. The old eunuch took out a package wrapped in paper from his pocket and opened it. Very carefully he used the tip of his fingernail to scoop a little bit of its content and dissolved it into the wine. He put the medicine package inside his pocket before picking up the wine cup and slowly drank the wine. A short moment later he went into convulsion; his body shook continuously.

The wine shop attendant panicked. ”What is it? What happened?” he asked.

”Get out of the way!” the little eunuch shouted, ”It's none of your business!” The wine shop attendant bowed and forced a smile; he walked away, but did not stop looking at the two.

The old eunuch used both hands to prop himself on the table, his teeth chattered, his body shook more and more violently. A moment later, even the table was shaking that the chopsticks on the table fell down to the floor.

The little eunuch panicked, ”Gong-gong[36],” he said, ”How about another dose?” while reaching out to fetch the medicine package from his pocket. He was about to open the package when with a shrill voice the old eunuch said, ”No … no … I don't want …” His expression looked pressing. The little eunuch held the medicine package in his hand, he did not dare to open it.

Right that moment they heard footsteps outside the inn's door, seven big men walked in. They all naked on top, but wore leather pants on the bottom; their hair braided into pigtails on top of their heads. Their entire body was greasy, glistening under the light, very unsightly; it seemed like their bodies, from head to toes, were smeared with some kind of oil. All seven of them had sturdy muscle like young dragon, their chests were hairy, and their mouth were covered in black mustache; when they stretched out their arms, all their palms were huge with thick fingers. Seven men sat on two tables and shouted in their mumbling speech, ”Bring out the wine and some beef and fat chicken, the quicker the better!”

”Yes, yes!” the wine shop attendant replied, while busily setting up chopsticks. ”Master Guest,” he asked, ”What would you like to eat?”

”Are you deaf?” one of the men bellowed. Another man suddenly reached out and grabbed the wine shop attendant on his waist, raising his arm straight up, he brought the attendant up in the air. The wine shop attendant's hands and feet flailing randomly, he cried out 'Wah! Wah!' in fright. The men roared in laughter. The one holding the attendant flung him outside the shop, 'Bang!' the attendant hit the ground. ”Aiyo! Mommy!” the wine shop attendant cried out. The men laughed even louder.

In low voice Mao Shiba said, ”What they are doing is a wresting technique. The victim must be thrown far away; if he fell close by, he could spring up and counter-attack.”

”Do you know any wrestling?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

”I haven't learned it,” Mao Shiba replied, ”This kind of 'hard' skill is useless against a martial art expert.”

”Can you beat them, then?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Mao Shiba said with a laugh, ”What good is it for me to beat those boorish men?”

”But you are alone against the seven them, you will definitely lose,” Wei Xiaobao said.

”They are not my match,” Mao Shiba said.

Wei Xiaobao suddenly raised his voice, ”Hey, big men, my friend here says he alone can beat the seven of you.”

”Don't create trouble!” Mao Shiba sternly said. But Wei Xiaobao liked nothing better than creating trouble. Seeing without any reason those seven men tossed the wine shop attendant that he was half-dead half-alive, his heart was angered; hearing Mao Shiba said that he alone could beat the seven of them, he deliberately provoked them, with the hope that Mao Shiba would teach them a lesson.

The seven big men turned their gaze toward Mao and Wei, two people. ”Little baby,” one of them said, ”What did you say?”

Wei Xiaobao replied, ”My friend here says, you bullied the wine shop attendant, you cannot be considered hero or warrior. If you have guts, come and fight him.”

One of the men glowered and said to Mao Shiba, ”Son of a b*tch, did you say that?”

Mao Shiba knew those seven men were Manchurian wrestlers; at first he did not want to create any trouble, but first of all, he was angry just by looking at a Manchu, secondly, the Manchu was cursing him. Lifting up the wine pot, he threw it toward the man's face. The man reached out to catch the pot; to his surprise, however, in this throw Mao Shiba had used his internal strength. 'Crack!' the wine pot hit the man's arm. ”Aiyo!” the man cried out for he felt severe pain on his arm. Another man pounced on Mao Shiba, which he responded by a flying kick. Manchurian wrestlers very seldom used their legs, the man was unable to dodge this kick, his lower abdomen was squarely hit, he was sent flying backward.

The other five men cursed, ”Scoundrel bastard!” and pounced together. Mao Shiba was quick and agile, unleashing his qin na [grab and capture, grappling technique] skill, his elbow struck his palm hacked, in a short time he managed to knock down four men. The last one slanted his body sideways to take Mao Shiba's palm on his shoulder, while he reached out to grab Mao Shiba's lower back and lifted him up. He was about to turn Mao Shiba's body around to dash his head against the stone steps; Mao Shiba suddenly launched a chain kick, 'puff! puff!' twice his feet landed on the pit of that man's stomach. The man's mouth opened, blood spurted out wildly, his grab loosened instantly.

The man fell face up, Mao Shiba followed and kicked him hard with both feet on the pit of his stomach, then with both palms he launched the 'tornado brushing the willow', hacking diagonally down toward the back of the first man, the one hit by the wine pot. 'Crack!' several of the man's ribs were broken; he scrambled onto a table.

With one hand Mao Shiba pulled Wei Xiaobao and said, ”Little demon, you really know how to get into trouble, let's go quickly!'

The two of them dashed toward the door of the shop. But they only took two steps when they saw the stooped-down old eunuch was standing at the door. Mao Shiba reached out to lightly push his right arm, he only wanted him to push him aside. To his surprise, as his palm touched the old eunuch's shoulder, Mao Shiba felt a violent jolt; he could not help but stagger and fell several steps sideways, his right waist bumped into a table, immediately the table toppled over.

The momentum of the fall had brought Wei Xiaobao along. Wei Xiaobao yelled, ”Aiyo hey, Mommy, it hurts! I am dead!”

Mao Shiba quickly held on to the table and only then was he able to stand. He felt his entire body was boiling, as if he was roasted alive. Inwardly he was greatly shocked. Looking at the old eunuch; he saw the old eunuch was still bending down at the waist and did not stop coughing, seemingly oblivious of what had just happened. Mao Shiba knew that he had met an expert today, most likely the opponent was using sorcery; otherwise, even if one had a much higher level of martial art skill than himself, one could not possibly turn his light push into a tremendous force like that. Although there existed skill such as 'borrowing force to counter-attack' within the martial art study, this kind of 'with four tael pulling a thousand catty' technique needs opponent's large force to produce a large force reaction; there has never been any skill turning a light force into a large one.

Mao Shiba turned around; grabbing Wei Xiaobao, who was still screaming and yelling, he bolted toward the rear of the shop. Yet after taking only three steps, he heard a coughing and saw the old eunuch had already stood in front of him. Mao Shiba was startled, exerting all his strength into his feet, he leaned forward as if he wanted to pounce of the opponent, but just as quick he sprang backward. Before his feet even touch the ground, he felt a light force on his back. Hastily his left hand struck backhandedly, but it hit an empty air. His body was thrown forward and landed on the bodies of two men. It was a heavy fall, fortunately the men were fat and sturdy, with their thick flesh as cushion, they did not suffer any injury.

Those two men's legs were broken, they were unable to stand; however, their hands were unaffected. Immediately they used their wrestling skill to grab Mao Shiba firmly. Mao Shiba wanted to struggle free, but his limbs were devoid of any strength; turned out the acupoint on his back was sealed by the old eunuch.

Mao Shiba fell face down, he was unable to see what was happening behind his back, he only heard the old eunuch was coughing continuously, and blaming the young eunuch with weak voice, ”You want me to take another dose, aren't you deliberately trying to kill me? Just another half of a dose more, then my old life would be gone. (Cough ... cough ... cough ... cough.) You, little kid, really want to create trouble.”

The young eunuch said, ”Child really did not know; next time I will not dare.”

”Will there be next time?” the old eunuch said, ”Ay, I don't even know if I will live in a few days. (Cough ... cough ... cough ... cough.)”

”Gong-gong,” the little eunuch said, ”Where did this man come from? I am afraid he is a rebel thief.”

”Friends,” the old eunuch addressed the men, ”Which palace are you from?”

”Reporting to Gong-gong,” one of the men replied, ”We are from Zheng Wangye's Palace. If not for Gong-gong's help by catching this rebel thief, we might lose a lot of face today.”

”Humph,” the old eunuch said, ”Just ... just consider it a coincidence. (Cough ... cough ... cough.) You don't have to raise any alarm, just send this man and that child to the catering department of the Imperial Palace, tell them they are wanted by Hai Lao-gong [lit. 'Old eunuch'].”

The men responded with one voice. The old eunuch said, ”Why haven't you called a sedan chair? Looking at my condition, do you think I can still walk?” The little eunuch complied and dashed out the door. The old eunuch bent down on a table, while still coughing nonstop.

Seeing Mao Shiba was captured, Wei Xiaobao remembered a storyteller once said, ”Living on a green mountain, no need to fear there won't be any firewood to cook.” Must smear some grease on the soles of the feet, execute the thirty-sixth stratagem, if all else fails, retreat! Creeping quietly along the wall, he wanted to slip away from the back of the shop. Seeing that nobody was paying attention, he was feeling very happy inwardly when the old eunuch flicked his finger, sending a chopstick flying toward Wei Xiaobao. The chopstick stabbed the back of his right knee.

Wei Xiaobao's right leg went numb and he toppled down on the floor, unable to move another step. His mouth immediately went into assault mode, ”Tuberculosis sickly old turtle demon ...” But then he saw one of the big man was glowering at him fiercely, he was scared and the next ten malicious sentences went back into his belly.

Not too long afterwards, a sedan chair arrived outside the door. The little eunuch walked in and announced, ”Gong-gong's sedan chair is here!”

Still coughing incessantly, supported by the young eunuch, the old eunuch entered the sedan chair, which was lifted by two porters and carried away, with the little eunuch following behind. Among the seven men, four only suffered light injury. These four men tightly bound Mao Shiba and Wei Xiaobao with rope. While doing that, they did not stop punching and kicking Mao Shiba. Wei Xiaobao could not stop his mouth from hurling dirty words, but two hard slaps on his ear left him with no choice but quietly accept his fate without making any noise.

The men also called for two sedan chairs. They squeezed a piece of cloth on Mao Shiba and Wei Xiaobao's mouths, and used a piece of black cloth to cover their eyes before loading them onto the sedan chairs and took them away. When he was seven, Wei Xiaobao had ridden on a sedan chair with his mother on their way to burn incense. This time, without any better option, he consoled himself, ”Damn it, laozi had not ridden a sedan chair for a long time; today filial sons are taking a good care of laozi by letting laozi riding on a sedan chair. What a good son, what a good grandson!” But thinking about whether he was accompanying Mao Shiba to the execution ground, he could not help shuddering in fear.

Inside the sedan chair, Wei Xiaobao was completely blinded, he only felt the sedan chair was always moving. Sometimes they stopped and he heard someone would ask a question, and the man accompanying the sedan chair would always reply, ”Catering Department, on Hai Laogong-gong's order.” Wei Xiaobao did not know what kind of place the Catering Department was, but that Hai Laogong was definitely a person of authority. With the man escorting them, the sedan chair proceeded unhindered. Once the person asking question uncovered the curtain of the sedan chair; he peered inside and said, ”It's only a baby!” Wei Xiaobao wanted to say, ”It's your ancestor!” It was a pity that his mouth was stuffed with the cloth, so that he was unable to say anything.

The journey was long and uneventful that Wei Xiaobao almost fell asleep. Suddenly the sedan chair stopped, and someone said, ”The people wanted by Hai Gong-gong are here.”

A boy's voice replied, ”Right, Hai Gong-gong is resting, just leave them here.” Hearing the voice, Wei Xiaobao recognized the speaker as the boy he came across at the wine shop.

He heard the first voice said, ”We are going back to report to Zheng Wangye, I am sure Wangye will send someone to thank Hai Laogong.”

”Very well,” the boy replied, ”Please tell Wangye Hai Laogong sends his respect.”

”We don't deserve it,” the man replied.

And then Mao Shiba and Wei Xiaobao were dragged out of the sedan chairs, brought into the room, and laid down on the floor. They heard voices and footsteps were getting further away, but they could hear old eunuch Hai's coughing quite clearly.

Wei Xiaobao smelled an extremely strong medicinal smell, he thought, ”This old demon is so sick that he is about to die soon, too bad he did not die several days earlier. It seems that he wanted me and Mao Dage to be the herald announcing his arrival to the Yan Wang [Yama, King of Hell].”

It was very quiet all around them, other than old eunuch Hai occasional coughs, they did not hear anything else. Wei Xiaobao's limbs were bound, his fingers and toes grew numb; his discomfort was unbearable, it was as if old eunuch Hai had forgotten all about them and did not take any notice of them.

After a very long time, they finally heard old eunuch Hai's soft voice calling out, ”Xiao Guizi [lit. 'little cassia/cinnamon/laurel']!”

”Here!” the little boy replied. Wei Xiaobao mused, ”Turns out this stinky kid is called Xiao Guizi. Your name also has the same 'Xiao' character as your grandpa.”

He heard the old eunuch Hai said, ”Untie those two, I want to question them.”

”Yes!” Xiao Guizi replied.

Wei Xiaobao heard some scraping noise, presumably Xiao Guizi used a knife to cut the rope binding Mao Shiba's hands and feet. A moment later, the rope tying his own hands and feet was also cut, followed by the cloth covering his eyes were taken away. As he opened his eyes, Wei Xiaobao could see that they were in a large room, which was sparsely furnished. There was only a table and one chair, with a teapot and teacup on the table. The old eunuch Hai was sitting, half-reclining, on the chair; his cheeks were very deep, his eyes were half-open half-closed. By this time the sky had turned dark. There were two flaming candles on the wall, held by a couple of copper candle holders. The flame swayed, making old eunuch Hai's sallow face flicker between light and dark. Xiao Guizi took the cloth stuffed inside Mao Shiba's mouth out.

”This child's mouth is unclean, let him be gagged a while longer,” old eunuch Hai said.

Wei Xiaobao's hands were free, but he did not dare to take the cloth out himself. Perhaps the obscenities he hurled in his heart were ten times worse than the old eunuch Hai could ever imagined.

The old eunuch Hai said, ”Go get a chair, let him sit down.” Xiao Guizi went into the next room and brought back a chair, which he set next to Mao Shiba. Mao Shiba sat down immediately. Seeing he was not given any chair, without any care Wei Xiaobao sat down on the floor.

”Laoxiong,” old eunuch Hai addressed Mao Shiba, ”May I know your honorable surname and your great name? Which family or school do you belong to? Your qin na technique is not bad, apparently not part of our northern style martial art.”

”My surname is Mao,” Mao Shiba replied, ”I am called Mao Shiba. I belong to the Five Tigers Breaking the Gates Saber School of Taizhou, Jiangbei.”

The old eunuch Hai nodded and said, ”Mao Shiba, Mao Laoxiong, I have heard about your reputation. I heard around the Yangzhou area Laoxiong has plundered and killed some officers to escape from prison. It was quite an accomplishment indeed.”

”That's right,” Mao Shiba said. He could not help but to admit defeat to this sickly, tuberculosis old eunuch's astonishing martial art skill, so he did not dare to openly contradicting him.

The old eunuch Hai said, ”What is the purpose of your visit to the capital, Sire? Do you care to share it with me?”

Mao Shiba said, ”Since I am already fallen into your hands, you want to kill, you want to hack, I am entirely at your disposal, the one surnamed Mao is a Jianghu man, I won't wrinkle my brows. If you want to extort a confession, you are misjudging me.”

The old eunuch Hai showed a faint smile as he said, ”Who does not know that Mao Shiba is a firm, real man? I would not dare to extort your confession. I heard that Sire is Pingxi[37] Wangye's trusted aide ...”

He had not finished speaking when Mao Shiba's anger rose, he shouted, ”Who has anything to do with this big traitor Wu Sangui? By saying such thing, you are smearing Mao Shiba's reputation as a patriot.”

The old eunuch Hai coughed several times, with a faint smile he said, ”Pingxi Wangye has rendered great merit to the Great Qing, His Majesty has a really high regard of him. If Sire is Pingxi Wangye's man, by looking at Pingxi Wangye's face, such a trivial offense need not be haggled over.”

”I am not, I am not!” Mao Shiba shouted loudly, ”Mao Shiba and that stinky thief Wu Sangui do not have any relation whatsoever, the one surnamed Mao is unwilling to receive any favor from this big traitor to China. If you want to kill just kill, if you say I was this Wu thief's trusted aide, surnamed Mao's ancestors were all rotten and moldy.”

Wu Sangui had led the Qing army entering the pass, to the extent that the Ming Dynasty was subjugated to the foreign power. At the marketplace, whenever the name Wu Sangui was mentioned, Wei Xiaobao always heard the phrases 'traitor to China', 'stinky thief', or 'his mother thief' added to his name; he thought, ”From this old turtle's tone, if only Mao Dage is willing to admit that he is Wu Sangui's trusted aide, the old turtle would let us go. Too bad that Mao Dage's bones are too stiff and he is unwilling to pretend to be one. But his bones are stiff, his skin and flesh will suffer. The common saying is right, 'A real man won't be at a disadvantage from the outset', naturally those who are disadvantaged are not hero or real men. There is no harm for us to speak nonsense, saying Wu Sangui regards the two of us with such care. When we escape alive, it won't be too late to curse Wu Sangui's eighteen generations ancestors.”

Gradually the blood in his hands and feet was able to flow again; quietly he brought his sleeve to cover his face as he take away the cloth gagging his mouth. The old eunuch Hai's gaze was focused on Mao Shiba's expression, he did not see Wei Xiaobao playing trick in secret.

Seeing Mao Shiba's stern expression, the old eunuch Hai smiled and said, ”I thought Sire was sent to the capital by Pingxi Wangye; turns out I was wrong.”

Mao Shiba thought, ”This time I am being captured in Beijing, the footstool of the Emperor himself, obviously I won't escape with my life. A dead leopard leaves behind its skin, a dead man leaves his name. Mao Shiba's death is nothing, but I must not be an obscure person.” He noticed Wei Xiaobao was looking at him helplessly, he loudly said, ”Let me be honest with you, in the south I heard a rumor in Jianghu that Oboi is Manchu's number one warrior, that he is able to kill a wild bull with his palm, that he is able to kick tigers and leopard; people always give an exaggerated account of things. The one surnamed Mao refuses to accept; therefore, I came to Beijing with the special purpose of challenging him to a duel.”

The old eunuch Hai sighed. ”You want to have a duel with Oboi?” he said, ”Oboi has reached the highest rank of officialdom. In Beijing, he is inferior only to the Emperor and Empress Dowager. Even if laoxiong waits in Bejing for eight years, ten years, you might not necessarily be able to see him, how can you have a duel with him?”

At first Mao Shiba believed the old eunuch Hai was using some kind of sorcery, afterwards the acupoint on his back was sealed, and only now did it gradually become unsealed; he knew he was facing an expert in internal energy cultivation. Looking at the old eunuch's expression and the tone of his voice, Mao Shiba guessed the old eunuch was a Manchu. If he was not an old, sickly Manchu's match, what chance did he have against the Manchu's number one warrior? When he fought Shi Song and his troops at the Victory Hill of Yangzhou, although the situation was critical, he was not in the least bit desperate; but now, facing this ghost eunuch suffering for tuberculosis, unexpectedly his heroic spirit disappeared completely. In the end, he could only heaved a deep sigh.

The old eunuch Hai asked, ”Do you still want to have a duel with Oboi, Sire?”

”May I ask, how is that Oboi's martial art skill compared to Your Excellency?” Mao Shiba asked.

The old eunuch Hai smiled faintly as he said, ”Oboi is a great minister who has both military and civil talents, with matchless glory and splendor. I am but a cruel-fated, despicable person. While Oboi is high in the sky, I am low on the earth, how can we be compared?” He was speaking only about the difference in two people's status, unexpectedly not one sentence about martial art ability was even mentioned.

Mao Shiba said, ”If that Oboi has half of your martial art skill, I am definitely not his match.”

The old eunuch Hai said with a smile, ”Laoxiong is too modest. Tell me, with my shallow martial art skill, if I want to compare it to Chen Jinnan's, how do you think I will fare?”

Mao Shiba sprang up and said, ”You ... you ... what did you say?”

The old eunuch Hai said, ”I am talking about your respected society's Zongduozhu, Chen Jinnan. I heard Chen Zongduozhu practices 'Blood Clotting Divine Claw', his internal energy cultivation is unfathomably deep. It's a pity we are not destined to see each other; I am a despicable person, I do not have the fortune to pay Chen Zongduozhu a visit.”

”I don't belong to Tian Di Hui, and I don't have the fortune to pay Chen Zongduozhu a visit either,” Mao Shiba said, ”I only heard Chen Zongduozhu's martial art skill to be very high, how high or what his technique looks like, I can't possibly know.”

The old eunuch Hai sighed and said, ”Mao Xiong, I have known from the start that you are a good man. With this kind of good skill, why don't you serve the imperial household? You may be a provincial governor in the future, or even a general won't be out of question. If you follow Tian Di Hui starting a rebellion, ay …” He shook his head, and then continued, ”You won't have a good end. Let me give you an advice, you'd better rein the horse at the edge of the precipice, withdraw from Tian Di Hui.”

”I … I … I am not a Tian Di Hui's member,” Mao Shiba said. Suddenly he raised his voice and said, ”It's not that I am denying that I am one of them. The one surnamed Mao wishes to become a member of the Tian Di Hui, it's just that I do not have anybody to sponsor me. There is a saying in Jianghu: 'Whoever never knew Chen Jinnan, he calls himself a hero in vain'. Hai Laogong, I believe you have also heard this saying. The one surnamed Mao is definitely a Han, although I haven't joined the Tian Di Hui, I am determined to fight the Qing and restore the Ming; how can you advise me to serve the Qing and become a traitor to Han instead? Just kill me quickly; the one surnamed Mao has killed and burned, my crimes are too great, I should have died early on. It's just that I have never seen Chen Jinnan, so there's a part of me which does not want to die with closed eyes.”

The old eunuch Hai said, ”You, Han people, refuse to accept Manchu's rule over the land under the heaven, there's nothing wrong with that. I respect you as a real man, so I won't kill you today. I am going to let you see Chen Jinnan first, so that you can die with your eyes closed. The earlier you see him the better. When you see him, tell him that Hai Laogong wants to see him very much, I want to try his 'Blood Clotting Divine Claw', I want to see how formidable it really is. I wish for him to come to the capital as soon as he can. Ay, the old man don't have too many days left, if Chen Zongduozhu does not come to Beijing soon, I won't be able to see him at all. Hey, hey, 'Whoever never knew Chen Jinnan, he calls himself a hero in vain'! I want to see what kind of hero Chen Jinnan really is, why does he have such a big reputation in the Jianghu?”

Hearing that the old eunuch Hai unexpectedly agreed to let him go, Mao Shiba was taken aback. He stood motionless and did not walk out immediately. ”What are you waiting for?” the old eunuch Hai said, ”Why haven't you left?”

”Right!” Mao Shiba said. He turned around and pulled Wei Xiaobao's hand along. He wanted to say something nice, but did not know what to say.

The old eunuch Hai sighed. ”In vain you have been wandering around the Jianghu for a long time, even a little bit of custom you do not understand. You just want to walk away without leaving anything?”

Mao Shiba clenched his teeth. ”You're right, the one surnamed Mao is negligent. Little brother, lend me your knife, I'll cut my left hand for you,” he said, while pointing to the dagger by the little eunuch, Xiao Guizi. The dagger was approximately eight cun [cun is a unit of length, approximately an inch or a thumb], it was the dagger Xiao Guizi used to cut the rope binding their hands and feet.

”Just a left hand is not enough,” old eunuch Hai said.

Mao Shiba's face turned ashen. ”Do you want me to cut my right hand as well?” he asked.

The old eunuch Hai nodded. ”That's right,” he said, ”Both hands. Actually, I also want your pair of eyes, (cough … cough …) but I figure you want to see Chen Jinnan. If you don't have any eyes, you won't be able to see him. Let's do this: gouge your left eye, you may keep the right eye!”

Mao Shiba took two steps back and let Wei Xiaobao's hand go. His left palm raised, his right hand slanting with palm down, in the 'Rhinoceros Gazing at the Moon' stance, thinking, ”You want to gouge my left eye, and break my both hands, why would I want to live as a cripple? I'd rather stake everything to fight you, if I die in your palm, that will be the end of it.”

The old eunuch Hai did not even look at him; he coughed repeatedly, his coughing was getting more violent, until at last he could not breathe at all. His originally sallow face had turned red and swollen.

”Gong-gong,” Xiao Guizi said, ”How about another dose?”

The old eunuch Hai shook his head repeatedly, but his coughing did not stop. A moment later he could not take it anymore, he stood up and grabbed his own neck with his left hand, his expression showed extreme pain.

”If I don't leave now, what am I waiting for?” Mao Shiba mused. With a leap he pulled Wei Xiaobao's hand and bolted toward the door. The old eunuch Hai pinched the table with his right hand's thumb and index finger, immediately a piece of wood broke off. 'Swish!' he flicked it out. Mao Shiba was a large stride away from the door, the piece of wood struck the futu [crouching rabbit] acupoint on his right leg. Immediately his right leg went numb and he fell kneeling down on the floor. Another 'Swish!' was heard as another piece of wood flew and struck the acupoint on Mao Shiba's left leg. Amidst the old eunuch Hai's coughing, taking Wei Xiaobao along, Mao Shiba rolled down on the ground.

”Take half a dose,” Xiao Guizi said, ”It won't do you any harm.”

”Alright, alright,” the old eunuch Hai said, ”Just … just a little bit. Too much … it's too dangerous.”

”Yes!” Xiao Guizi replied, while reaching out to get the medicine pouch from his pocket. He turned around toward the other room, and went back out with a cup of wine. Opening up the pouch, he took a little bit of powder with the nail of his little finger. ”Too … too much,” old eunuch Hai said.

”Yes!” Xiao Guizi said, returning some of the powder on his nail back into the pouch, his eyes were at the old eunuch Hai. The old eunuch Hai nodded. He bent down again and started coughing; suddenly he threw his body forward, he crawled on the floor and did not stop twisting and turning.

Xiao Guizi was greatly alarmed, he rushed forward and cried out, ”Gong-gong, Gong-gong, what happens?”

Gasping for breath, the old eunuch Hai said, ”Hot … it's hot … help … help me … to water … water tub to soak … soak …”

”Yes!” Xiao Guizi replied, as he struggled to help him up. The two of them staggered together into the inner room, followed by splashing noise of the water.

All of these did not escape Wei Xiaobao's eyes. He got up quietly and tiptoed to the table. Stretching out his little finger, he took three fingernails full of medicinal powder and dumped it into the wine. Afraid it was not enough, he took two more fingernails, and then folded the medicine pouch and re-opened it, and thus erasing the fingernail mark from the powder.

He heard Xiao Guizi in the inner room said, ”Gong-gong, is it enough? Please don't soak too long.” ”Hot … I'm hot …” the old eunuch Hai said, ”It feels like I am being roasted.” Seeing the dagger lying on the table, Wei Xiaobao took it in his hand, and went back toward Mao Shiba and lay down on the floor.

Not too long afterwards, the splashing noise diminished. Dripping wet, the old eunuch Hai came out of the inner room, supported by Xiao Guizi. He had not stopped coughing. Xiao Guizi took the wine cup from the table and brought it to his mouth. The old eunuch Hai was still coughing and did not drink immediately. Wei Xiaobao felt his heart was about to jump out his throat.

The old eunuch Hai said, ”If I can not take … it's best if I not … not take the medicine.”

”Yes!” Xiao Guizi said, putting the wine cup back on the table. He wrapped the medicine pouch securely and put it back into the old eunuch Hai's pocket. But the old eunuch Hai's coughing was getting worse. He pointed to the wine cup. Xiao Guizi picked up the wine cup and brought it to his mouth. The old eunuch Hai drank it in one gulp.

Mao Shiba was unable to remain calm and let out a cry, ”Ah!”

The old eunuch Hai said, ”You … if you think … you can escape alive …” Suddenly with a crash the chair collapsed. The old eunuch Hai crouched on the table, but he was leaning with such a tremendous force that, with two loud crashes, the table and the person collapsed together.

In great alarm Xiao Guizi screamed, ”Gong-gong, Gong-gong!” as he rushed forward to help the old eunuch Hai up, his back was facing Mao Shiba and Wei Xiaobao. Wei Xiaobao lightly sprang up, raising his dagger he drove it ferociously on Xiao Guizi's back. Xiao Guizi let out a low groan and died instantly. The old eunuch Hai was still twisting and turning on the floor. Wei Xiaobao raised his dagger and aimed it at the old eunuch Hai's back, ready to drive it down again. Right this moment, the old eunuch Hai lifted up his head and said, ”Xiao … Xiao Guizi, something's wrong with the medicine.”

Wei Xiaobao was scared out of his wits, how could he dare to drive his dagger down? The old eunuch Hai turned around and reached out, he grabbed Wei Xiaobao's left wrist as he said, ”Xiao Guizi, the medicine just now, haven't you made a mistake?”

”No … no mistake,” Wei Xiaobao mumbled his response. He felt as if his left wrist was clamped with an iron hoop, the pain penetrated his bone. In his fright, he withdrew the dagger in his right hand about a cun.

With a trembling voice the old eunuch Hai said, ”Quick … quickly light the candle, it's so dark in here, I can't … can't see anything.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly puzzled, the candles were burning bright, why did he say it was so dark? ”Could it be that he is blinded?” Thereupon he said, ”The candle is still burning, Gong-gong, you … can't you see?”

Both he and Xiao Guizi still had their children's voice, but Xiao Guizi spoke with Manchurian Bannerman[38] official's accent, which Wei Xiaobao could not learn in such a short time, and thus he was mumbling with the hope that the old eunuch Hai would not discover it.

The old eunuch Hai said, ”I … I can't see a thing, who says the candle is burning? Quickly light it up!” While saying that, he let Wei Xiaobao's wrist go.

”Yes! Yes!” Wei Xiaobao said. He walked away hurriedly toward the candle-holder hanging on the wall. Reaching up, he fiddled the copper ring of the candle-holder, creating some clinking noise, and said, ”It's lighted!”

”What?” the old eunuch Hai said, ”Nonsense! Why haven't you lighted the candle …?” He had not finished speaking when his body twisting and he fell face up on the floor.

Wei Xiaobao gestured anxiously to Mao Shiba, telling him to run away quickly. Mao Shiba waved back at him, wanting him to escape together. Wei Xiaobao turned toward the door, but he heard the old eunuch Hai whispering and groaning, ”Xiao … Xiao Guizi, Xiao … Xiao Guizi, you …”