Chapter - 518 Secret Manual And Military Treatise are Hidden Within (11) (2/2)

As the sky turned dark, Zhang Wuji leaped onto a tall tree to scout the enemy's movements at the bottom of the mountain. He noticed a cluster of encampments to the west, where smoke was rising up everywhere; it looked like they were cooking their dinner on the fire pits dug on the ground.

Zhang Wuji leaped down the tree and said to Wei Yixiao, ”Wei Xiong, as soon as it is dark enough, go down and spy around the enemy's camp. Find out whether they are going to attack tonight or not.” Wei Yixiao received the order and left.

”Jiaozhu,” Yang Xiao said, ”After being defeated at the front of the mountain today, I think the Tatars will not attack again tonight. What we must guard against is their sneak attack from the back of the mountain.”

”That's right,” Zhang Wuji said, ”I am asking Yang Zuo Shi and Fan You Shi to stay and take charge in here, while I am going to the other side of the mountain to look around.”

”I am coming with you,” Zhao Min said.

The two of them went to the peak where Xie Xun was held captive; they looked far toward the back of the mountain, but did not see anything astir. Zhang Wuji ran his fingers gently on the three broken pine trees, and then he looked at the dark mouth of the dungeon, while in his mind he replayed the fierce fight earlier that day. He shivered at the thought of extremely dangerous situation he was in. Suddenly he remembered something, ”Yifu told me to look at the rock wall of the dungeon. I almost forgot.”

”Min Mei,” he said, ”Stay up here and stand watch; I am going down to take a look.”

Jumping down into the hole, he took a torch [orig. 'huo zhe' (lit. fire folded document) – folded paper used as torch] and lit a fire. By this time, the water inside the dungeon had receded, but the wall and the ground were still wet. He saw on all sides, the wall was full of pictures. The pictures were apparently engraved on the rock wall using a sharp rock. The lines were simple, yet graceful and rather vivid.

On the eastern wall, the drawing depicted three women. One was lying on the ground; one was kneeling next to her as if she was tending to the woman on the ground. The third woman's right hand was at the kneeling woman's bosom. Next to the picture were two characters 'qu yao' [fetching the medicine].

On the south side, there was a picture of a big ship. One woman was throwing another woman into the ship. The caption said 'fang zhu' [banish].

Cold sweats broke out on Zhang Wuji's forehead. ”Turn out it really happened this way,” he thought, ”When Min Mei was attending to my Biaomei [younger female cousin], Zhiruo stole the 'shi xiang ruan jin san' from her pocket to be mixed in our food and drink. And then she threw Min Mei into the Persian ship and forced them to leave immediately. But why didn't she simply kill Min Mei? Hmm, perhaps if she left Min Mei's body behind, she would not be able to cover up her track, plus she could not shift the blame to her. That being the case, then Biaomei was also killed under her ruthless hands.”

Just below the picture, a bit to the left, was another picture of two men. One was sleeping, the other, with a head full of long hair, was inclining his head to listen. Zhang Wuji was startled, ”Turn out when Zhiruo was performing this bloody atrocities that cry out to Heaven, Yifu heard everything. The Senior's self-control was indeed very strong; he did not reveal anything on the island. Ah, right. At that time Yifu and I were already drugged by the 'shi xiang ruan jin san'; our internal strength were gone. Our lives were in Zhiruo's hands. No wonder at that time Yifu adamantly said that it must be Min mei's doing, and that he was very indignant toward her. He knew I was naive and muddle-headed; if he told me the secret, I would inadvertently divulge it through my speech or my demeanor.”