Chapter - 1 The Black Steel Symbol (xuan Tie Ling) (1/2)

The man of Zhao wore unadorned robes and a simple tassel,

his scimitar was bright as frost and snow.

The silver saddle illuminated the white horse,

its wild galloping was like a shooting star.

To kill one man within ten steps,

and not leave a trace within a thousand miles.

To leave with a flick of one's robes after the deed is done,

to deeply hide one's body and name.

To drink with the great Lord of Xinling,

to draw one's sword and raise it high.

To share one's roasted meat with Zhu Hai,

to hold the wine vessel urging Hou Ying to drink.

After three cups a vow will be taken,

and even if the Five Sacred Mountains will crumble it cannot be unmade.

When the eyes blur and the ears go warm,

the heroic spirit will appear like a rainbow.

To save the Zhao Kingdom wielding a golden warhammer,

and the city of Handan will first tremble.

The two brave warriors of a thousand epochs,

their might grace the City of Daliang.

Even in death their bones remain fragrant,

and do not shame the heroes of the realm.

Who can remain under the roof of one's study hall,

and read the Book of Great Mystery until one's hair grows white?”

This ancient poem of Li Bai, ”Ode to Gallantry”, tells the story of Hou Ying and Zhu Hai, two warriors who assisted Lord Xinling of the Wei Kingdom during the Warring States Period. After a thousand years, one can still feel the vigorous heroic spirit of the past when reading the poem. The city of Daliang which is mentioned, is situated near the Yellow River. Later renamed Bianliang, it is now known as Kaifeng City in Henan Province. Although this city has been the capital of numerous Chinese dynasties, the common social practice has remained plain and simple. The generosity and chivalry which were praised in the ancient tragedies has not ceased in later generations.

- by Laviathan

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There was once a small town called Hou Jian Ji, situated twelve li (about 6km) outside the eastern gate of Kaifeng. The town got its name from Hou Ying, who was once the head of the guards guarding the eastern gate of Da Liang.

It was almost dusk on this particular day, with the peasants going about their daily business, when suddenly there came the rumble of hoofbeats from the northeast. The sounds were getting closer and closer, and judging from the noise, there were probably around 200 horses in total coming this way. ”It's probably the army”, guessed some, while others kept saying ”get out of the way - when the army horses come, they'll run you over.”

The horses finally arrived, and the hoofbeats slowed down. The whinnying of the horses could be heard in the town centre, and later on the whinnying seemed to come from all over the place, as if the whole town was surrounded. Some people were understandably concerned that these were bandits. ”Oh no, it's those damned chaps” groaned one of the peasants. ”Not 'chaps'....” cautioned another. ”'masters'... but I've never seen this happen in broad daylight, though. How weird.”

He suddenly stopped as four of the horsemen slowly approached him. At the head of the riders was a man dressed in white, carrying a large sabre. ”Old peasant!” he called. ”Everybody stays where they are... if anybody moves don't blame my sabre for being blind.” He then galloped down the road in a western direction, and the noise of those hooves trotting over the ground made the hearts of the peasants jump.

As he was riding, another seven horses came galloping in from the west side, this time led by a man in black. He wore a hat low over his face, and he ordered ”Don't move and everything will be alright. If anybody wants to taste my ”sabre noodles” by all means feel free to step forward.”. A peasant chuckled and said ”I wonder how ”sabre noodles” taste like...” he was joking, but before he had finished his sentence one of the riders lashed out with his whip, caught hold of the peasant and dragged him out onto the road with a thump. He then dragged him across the road, and another rider came across and had his horse trample the peasant to death.

About five or six doors away from all the commotion there stood a vendor hawking fried cakes. The stall had a big wok filled with oil, and a few flour dumplings were simmering in the oil. Hunched over the stall was a white-haired man tending the oil. He rolled up a ball of flour and flattened it into a cake, all the while ignoring the events happening in front of him. Taking some sesame, he scattered it over the top of the cake, and using a pair of tongs, lowered the cake into the wok of boiling oil.

By this time, the horses had stopped galloping around town. The seven to eight hundred peasants all around the streets were petrified and didn't dare make a sound. Even crying children were hushed by their parents, and all that could be heard was the leather footsteps of a man walking in slowly from the western side.

This man took his time walking, and to each peasant, each confident pounding step taken felt as if it was taken on their heads. The sun was setting, and the long shadow cast by the man, walking slowly amidst the silence, was enough to make everybody tremble. Only the cake vendor continued with his business, and the man walked right up to the cake stall, stopped, and started looking at the vendor. He then chuckled coldly.

The vendor looked up, and saw a very tall man with a very fierce look on his face. ”Buy a fried cake, sir? Only one coin each.” he asked. Using his tongs, he gently selected a cake from the wok and placed it on the wooden tray. ”Hand it over!” ordered the tall man, sticking out his hand, and the vendor said ”Yes, sir”, took the cake from the tray and put it in the hand of the tall man.

The tall man's eyebrows raised up, and he said ”At this stage, you still try to deceive me?” He then threw the cake at the vendor, who dodged it calmly and the cake flew past him, landing on the street behind him. The tall man then produced two hooks from his waist and brandished them wickedly before the vendor. ””Even now you refuse to hand it over? You who are surnamed Wu, do you not know when to give up?” The vendor replied ”Sir, I think you made a mistake. My surname is Wang. Old man Wang the cake seller - everybody in Hou Jian Ji knows me.” ”Damn it” replied the tall man. ”We've checked this very carefully. You can change your appearance and hide for a year or two, but you cannot hide forever!”

The vendor narrowed his eyes, and calmly said ”I heard that Bandit Leader An from the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp was a man who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, and most people in the martial arts world when asked would rate him as a ”heroic bandit”. Why now must he send some underlings to come looking for a humble fried cake seller?” These words were said with confidence and authority, and were spoken slowly and clearly.

”Wu Daotong!” cried the tall man. ”So you're not going to hand it over, are you?” The vendor then changed expression, and his muscles started to tense up, exuding an aura of menace himself. ”Since you know my name, and yet you continue to address me without manners... don't you think you're being a bit too brave?” ”Only now you know how brave I am?!!” shouted the tall man as he raised his left hook, and using the stroke ”The hand arrives and grabs” (shou dao qin lai) hacked down towards Wu Daotong's left shoulder.

Wu Daotong moved to his right. The tall man's hook sliced through thin air, but with a pivot of his left wrist, brought the hook slicing across towards Wu Daotong's back. Wu Daotong ducked under the slice, and lashed out with his right foot. Kicking his stall, he sent the whole pile of burning coals flying towards the tall man, and at the same time a wok filled with boiling oil flipped in the air towards the tall man's head. The tall man got a big shock and retreated as fast as he could. He managed to avoid the hot coals, but not the splashing oil. With a horrific sound, the boiling oil splashed on his legs, leaving him screaming in agony.

Wu Daotong braced his legs, leapt into the air and landed on the roof opposite, his hands still holding the tongs which were his tools of trade. Suddenly a flash of green appeared and a single sabre was swinging towards his head. Raising his tongs, Wu Daotong parried the blow. Sparks flew as the blow connected, and Wu Daotong's tongs, although dark and nondescript, were obviously made of a very strong alloy. He fended off the single sabre, and suddenly to his left and right a spear and a pair of twin sabres attacked simultaneously. The enemy had already taken up position on the roof as well. Wu Daotong snorted and yelled out ”Shameless, you wish to win by sheer numbers?”. He stood up straight, seperated his tongs and parried the spear with his left hand, while the right hand fended off the twin sabres. His tongs had now become a pair of metal brushes - all this while he had concealed his two brushes by using them as tongs.

Using his brushes, Wu Daotong went on the offensive, aiming for his opponents' pressure points. Despite being outnumbered three to one, he was actually gaining the upper hand. With a cry of ”Look!”, he thrust his brush at the spear-wielding opponent. With a cry of pain, the man's left leg was struck, and he slowly retreated back down the roof.

On a roof on the northwest corner of town stood a short, thin old man, hands on his hips, coldly watching the three men fight. With a sudden flash, the man with the single sabre received a kick from Wu Daotong's right leg, and tumbled down the roof onto the streets below. The remaining man with the twin sabres, seeing that he had lost the advantage, held position with his twin sabres in a snow flower stance, ready to concentrate purely on defence.

The old man slowly approached, and thrust his right index finger at Wu Daotong's left eye. This stroke was lethal, and as Wu Daotong raised a brush to fend off the finger, the finger deftly avoided the brush and switched target to Wu Daotong's throat. Wu Daotong had already committed to his initial stroke and, having no way of changing his stroke to fend off the new attack, took a step back. The old man pressed forward, and thrust his right index finger out again, this time heading for Wu Daotong's stomach. Wu Daotong retaliated by thrusting his right brush at the old man's head. The old man continued forward, and in a flash was within the arms of Wu Daotong, having completely avoided the brush attack. He thrust out two palms, aimed for Wu Daotong's chest. Wu gasped in shock, and immediately stepped back. With a sudden rip the old man had tore off a part of Wu's robe at the chest area. Wu didn't even bother to check if he had actually sustained any injury, but braced himself, and utilising the stroke ”Wan Bao Liu He” brought both brushes across in an arc aimed at the old man's temples.

The old man didn't even bother to dodge, but continued to press forward. With a sickening crunch, both his palms had landed solid blows on Wu Daotong's chest. Several ribs were fractured with this blow.. and Wu Daotong fell from the roof.

The tall man was standing on the ground below, both legs burned badly by the boiling oil. He was furious with the embarrasment of the initial encounter, but as his legs were injured, he was unable to leap onto the roof to join in the fight. In addition, the old man who had just attacked was a very proud man, and once he was fighting would not have taken kindly to anybody offering assistance. All he could do was watch the fight from below, but seeing Wu Daotong fall from the roof, he got excited and rushed towards Wu, both hooks drawn and thrusting towards Wu's stomach.

The old man, Zhou Mu, yelled out ”Leave a live tongue!” but was too late, and both hooks had sunk deep into Wu's stomach. At the same time the tall man gasped, and staggered back. Embedded in his chest were two steel brushes which penetrated all the way and emerged out his back, blood spraying from all four wounds. With a shudder he fell to the ground - Wu Daotong, with his dying breath, had put everything into this last attack, and the tall man was caught completely unawares. Other members of the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp ran to his side and lifted him up but he was already dead.

Zhou Mu couldn't care less whether then tall man was alive or dead, and murmuring something, picked up Wu Daotong. Seeing that he was no longer breathing, he creased his eyebrows and yelled ”Take off his clothes! Search everything!” Four of his men replied ”Yes, sir!” and started searching the corpse. All they found was a small bundle concealed in his outer robe. They opened the bundle, only to find a smaller bundle within, all wrapped in oiled cloth. As each bundle was opened, the look of anticipation on Zhou Mu's face got stronger and stronger. In total over ten bundles of oil cloth were removed, and the bundle kept getting smaller and smaller. Eventually he started getting irritated, and the bundle was reduced to a 3-inch by 2-inch bundle. He weighed it with his hands, and screamed ”Damn it! What sort of trick is this? Forget this - go in and search the house!”

About ten of the men dressed in black rushed into the house. The cake shop was only about two rooms big, and the ten men went in searching. The sounds of items smashing and breaking rang about as cutlery, furniture and everything else were checked thoroughly. Zhou Mu shouted ”Check everything carefully - don't let anything pass you!”

After searching for half a day, it became too dark for them to see anything. They lit a fire, and tore down the entire cake shop, the flour within the building flying everywhere. Amidst the commotion, a little beggar boy darted across the street, and picked up the fried cake that was lying near the drain. This boy, about 12 to 13 years old, had not eaten anything for a few days, and was sitting limply on top of the wall corner. When the tall man threw the fried cake which Wu Daotong had given him, the cake landed near the drain, and the boy's eyes had not stopped staring at the fried cake since. He had wanted to climb down and pick up the cake, but there were too many fierce people around, and he didn't dare move out of fright. In addition, there were those two dead bodies of Wu Daotong and the tall man, and they lay not far from the fried cake.

However, once the sky became dark enough, the light from the torches could not reach the area near the drain, and as such the boy summoned all his courage and grabbed the cake. He was so hungry that he didn't care about the cake being tainted with dirty smelly water, and put the cake in his mouth. He held the cake in his mouth, not even daring to bite or chew, in case the sound of the chewing attracted the attention of the sabre-wielding men around the area. With the cake between his teeth, his stomach felt so much better even though he hadn't swallowed anything.

By this time the men had already demolished the cake shop entirely, even to the extent of ripping up the floor tiles one by one to check. Zhou Mu saw that there was nothing left to search, and as such yelled ”Let's go!”. A horn sounded, and the sounds of horses galloping started. The Golden Sabre Bandit Camp prepared to leave, and two of the bandits carried the corpse of the tall man, placing his across on of the horse saddles, and were gone in an instant.

It wasn't until the sounds of the hoofbeats had completely faded away, that Hou Jian Ji started to hear the voices of men whispering again. The peasants were afraid that the bandits would return, however, and as such no one dared to raise his voice. The innkeeper and another peasant carried the corpse of the dead peasant into the shop, and immediately bolted the doors, not daring to come out again. The town resonated with the sounds of locks clicking, doors slamming - people were either locking their doors, or at least shutting them tight - and not long after, the streets were abandoned, and not a sound was to be heard.

The little beggar boy saw that Wu Daotong's corpse was still lying unattended on the streets, and he was scared. He took a small bite, and dared to swallow. He was just about to take another bite when he saw Wu Daotong's corpse move. The boy got a fright, and blinked his eyes only to see the corpse sit up. The boy was terrified, his heart beating uncontrollably, as he saw the corpse stand up on its two feet. The boy's teeth started chattering.

The corpse looked around, but luckily the boy was sitting behind the wall corner, and as such the corpse could not see him. Under the cold rays of the moon, however, the boy could see everything clearly. He could see the corpse bleeding profusely, and the two hooked blades were still impaled in the corpse's stomach. The boy kept biting his teeth together, not daring to make a sound.

The corpse then squatted down, and felt the ground. Upon finding a fried cake, the corpse weighed it in its hands, tore it apart and threw it away. It then found another fried cake, tore it open, and threw it again. The boy felt as if his heart was going to leap out of his mouth any moment now, as the corpse continued searching the ground. The corpse didn't bother with anything else it found, but everytime it found a fried cake, it tore it open then threw it away. As it continued feeling the ground, it edged closer and closer to the drain. When he got to the wooden tray lying on the floor with over 20 fried cakes on it, it took them one by one, tore them all open, but didn't eat any of them. All were torn in half, and then thrown away.

The lad saw the corpse approach the wall corner and could only think of fleeing. However, his whole body was numb with fright, and his legs had no way of moving. The corpse moved very slowly, and it took an entire incense burning time to tear open the 20 fried cakes it had found on the tray. It could not find any more fried cakes on the floor, and raised its head, looking around. The boy quickly darted back behind the wall, not daring to look at the corpse anymore, when suddenly he got a fright. Although his body was well hidden behind the wall, the moonlight was shining from behind the wall, and the clear shadow of his head and hair was projected on the ground just beside the legs of the corpse. The boy saw the corpse's legs suddenly move again, and with a shriek tried to flee.

The corpse moaned ”Fried cakes... fried cakes..” and chased after the boy.

The boy tumbled across the ground as the corpse reached out, trying to grab him. The boy rolled to the side and the corpse lost balance, using its palms to steady itself. The corpse was tall, and its legs were long, and although it stumbled along like a drunkard, it managed to catch up with the boy in just over ten steps. Grabbing the boys neck from behind, it lifted the boy high into the air.

The corpse mumbled ”Fried cake... you.... stole.. my... fried... cake?” In his current position, the boy could not even consider lying, and nodded his head. ”You.... you ate it?” asked the corpse. The boy nodded again. The corpse then raised its right hand, and with a rip tore open the boy's shirt, revealing his throat and stomach. ”I'll... tear.. open .. your.. stomach.. to get.. it.. back....” threatened the corpse. The boy was absolutely terrrified and squeaked ”I.. I only took one bite!!!!”

When Wu Daotong was hit by Zhou Mu, and then subsequently stabbed by the tall man, he held his breath and feigned death. After a long while, he woke up. The stomach is a fatal area, but although the wound was very serious he managed to survive. He could only think of one thing, and when he woke up, seeing that the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp had departed, he ignored his injuries, and set out recovering the item which he had hidden in the fried cake.

He had pretended to be a humble cake seller, making his living in Hou Jian Ji. Although he managed to escape undetected for a while, he was unable to find the original owner of the item. When he heard the horns and saw over 200 horses bearing down upon the town, he knew that they were here for him. The situation was dire, and there was no place for him to hide the item, and as such he hid it in one of his fried cakes. When the tall man ordered him to ”Hand it over” he decided to take a risk. He placed the item in the hands of the tall man, and as he expected, the tall man lost his temper and threw it away.

When Wu Daotong woke up from his injuries, he had no way of knowing which fried cake was the one in which he had hidden the item. He tore each one open, but none of them had it. At last he saw and caught the little beggar boy, and thinking that since the boy was so hungry, he must have eaten the entire cake with the item within. Immediately he decided that he was going to cut open the boy and retrieve the item, but he could not find a blade nearby. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out one of the hooked blades in his stomach, and turning the blade around, swung it at the boy's stomach.

As soon as the hooked blade was removed from the body, he felt a sharp pain, and blood started pouring out of his wound like a stream. The blade had almost reached the boy's stomach, but all of a sudden his left hand lost all strength, his fingers loosened and he dropped the boy. The hooked blade swung across, slicing through air, and Wu Daotong looked around, wobbled a bit, then his legs gave way and finally he fell to the ground. This time he was really dead.

The boy scrambled away from the corpse in a complete panic. The events which just happened had frightened him so severely that he could only take a few steps, at which point he fainted, his hands still clutching onto that fried cake from which he only taken one bite.

The moonlight shone on Wu Daotong's body, and slowly moved towards the little beggar boy as the sound of hoofbeats came from the southeast. This time the horses were approaching really fast - barely after the first sound of hoofbeats were heard the horses were already nearby. The peasants of Hou Jian Ji were already extremely ruffled, and now hearing these new hoofbeats made them panic even more, fearing the worst. This time, however, there were only two horses, and no horns blaring.

These two horses were extremely peculiar. One was black from its head all the way to its tail, but its four hooves were white - this horse was known as ”Black Clouds Covering Snow”. The other had black hooves, but the whole body was as white as snow - this species was known as ”Black Hooved Jade Hare” - both horses were uncommon in the mainland.

The rider of the white horse was a woman dressed in white, apart from a red flower adorning her hair and a red belt around her waist. Hanging from the belt was a sword in a white scabbard. Riding the black horse was a middle-aged man, dressed completely in black. Hanging from his belt was a sword in a black scabbard.

Both riders saw Wu Daotong's dead body with the wreckage around him, and simultaneously let out a sigh. The man lashed out with his whip and caught hold of Wu Daotong's neck, and pulled it up a few feet, allowing the moonlight to shine on his face.

”It's Wu Daotong.” said the woman. ”It looks like the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp managed to get it.” The man retrieved his whip, pulling the body around. ”Wu Daotong hasn't been dead long - the blood hasn't even clotted. Let's give chase!” The woman nodded.

The two horses took off towards the west, eight hooves galloping across the ground, the sounds in perfect unison, as if there was only one horse. Both horses synchronised the movement of their front hooves and back hooves together, and looked a magnificent sight. Anybody seeing the horses will know that both were extremely well-trained and without blemish.

Both horses raced past Bianliang, and the road became narrow. The horses were unable to ride side by side, and the woman reined her horse, allowing the man to lead. The man smiled at her, and led on, the woman following close behind.

Both riders had deduced from Wu Daotong's wounds that he was slain by the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp, and that they should have caught up with them by now - but there was no trace of them. The two riders did not know that although Wu Daotong had died recently, the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp left a long time ago and had already gone very far away.

The horses ran non-stop for two hours, after which the riders dismounted for a rest, and carried on until almost dawn, before they saw campfires in the distance. The two riders exchanged smiles, and dismounted. The woman took the reins of the man's horse, and tied both horses to a tree nearby. The two riders then used their qinggong and approached the camp silently.

The camp didn't look that far, but in reality it was a few li away and the two figures raced across the open plains in silence like a wind. As they got closer they could see a large group of people seated around a few campfires, and judging from the sounds, they were having noodles. The two riders had originally intended to get closer to spy, but in the open plains there was nowhere to hide. They then slowed down about ten yards from the camp, and walked towards the group of people.

Somebody within the group cried out ”Who is it? What do you want?”

The man walked forward, his hand clasped together in greeting, and answered with a smile ”Is Camp Leader An around? Who am I speaking to?”

The short old man Zhou Mu focused his eyes, and by the light of the fire saw a man and a woman, one in black and one in white, both standing straight. Both were middle aged and the man looked dashing while the woman looked cultured, their clothing blowing in the wind and two swords hanging from their belts.

Zhou Mu thought of two people, and stood up and clasped his hands in greeting. ”Oh, it's Master and Mrs Shi of Jiangnan's Xuan Su Mansion!” then yelled out ”Hey, brothers, all come here and pay your respects! These two are Master and Mrs Shi, famous north and south of the great river!”. The whole camp stood up, and bowed. Zhou Mu thought to himself ”Shi Qing and Min Rou don't normally have any dealings with our Golden Sabre Bandit Camp. Here they are at this early hour.. I wonder what they want...... could they be here regarding the item?” He immediately glanced around the plains and saw nobody else, and thought ”Even though the swordsmanship ability of these two are good, they can't possibly take all of us on at once, so what's there to fear?”

Mrs Shi, whose name was Min Rou, turned to her husband and said ”Martial brother, this is Old Master Zhou, Zhou Mu of the Eagle Claw Clan”. Although she had lowered her voice, Zhou Mu heard her, and found it curious that she would know him, thinking ””Icy Snow Heaven Sword” knows my background?” and said ”You're too kind.. Zhou Mu of the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp greets Master Shi and Mrs Shi.” and bowed while addressing them.

Shi Qing looked at the people around him and smiled. ”Everybody seems to be having breakfast - I have intruded.. please be seated.” and turning to Zhou Mu, added ”Friend Zhou is too kind. We husband and wife had met ”Flying through the skies” Brother Zhuang, Zhuang Zhen Zhong, from your clan, several times before, and that means we're not really complete strangers.”

Zhou Mu replied ””Flying through the skies” is my martial uncle.” and secretly thought ”You're much younger than I am, and yet you refer to my martial uncle Zhuang as a 'brother' - it's obvious you're treating yourself as my senior.” Having thought of this, he guessed that the visitors were probably not as benign as they seemed, and readied himself. In the martial world, the concept of ”seniority” was a very important one. Juniors should always respect their seniors, and when seniors issue an order, the juniors will find it hard to disobey otherwise they risk being branded as ”disrespectful”.

Shi Qing saw the look on Zhou Mu's face, and guessed what he was thinking. He smiled and said ”Oh, I'm sorry! When I met Brother Zhuang on Song Shan, he told me about the martial arts of your clan, and both of us were very impressed. I have a small favour to ask, and I hope young brother Zhou will forgive me.” Having changed his address to ”young brother Zhou” it became even more obvious that he was treating himself as a senior.

Zhou Mu replied ”If it's something personal, I'll give face to the two of you, and as long as it's within my power whatever your orders are I'll do what I can. However, if it's something to do with the Bandit Camp, my rank is lowly, and I'm not in a position to make decisions.”

Shi Qing thought to himself ”This man is cunning - before even hearing what I had to say he has basically avoided all responsibility” and said ”Then I'll be frank. I wish to check something with young brother Zhou. We husband and wife are searching for a man, his surname is Wu, his name Daotong. He uses a pair of iron brushes as his weapons, and is fairly tall. We heard that over the past few years he has been disguised as an old man and gone into hiding. He should be living around this area - would young brother Zhou have heard of this person?”

The moment he mentioned Wu Daotong, the entire Golden Sabre Bandit Camp fell silent, and some people put down their bowls of noodles immediately.

Zhou Mu thought to himself ”You came from the east, so obviously you have seen Wu Daotong's corpse. If I deny anything, it will make me look like I have something to hide.” He laughed and said ”That's great! Master Shi, Mrs Shi, what a coincidence. Although my kungfu is lowly, I have managed to do you two a service! This Wu Daotong must have offended Master and Mrs Shi - our Golden Sabre Bandit Camp has already killed him.” While speaking these words, his eyes were fixed on Shi Qing's face, gauging his reaction and trying to detect any traces of joy or anger.

Shi Qing smiled calmly. ”We don't know this Wu Daotong, and actually, he hasn't really offended us in any way. This sounds funny, but the reason we're chasing this man is because of a certain item he has in his possession.”

Zhou Mu's face twitched slightly, before he managed to control himself again. ”You have done your research well. We have also heard this news. To be honest, I led the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp today mainly for this item as well.” he then sighed and continued. ”However, I don't know which bastard came up with this rumour. Iron Brush Wu Daotong died for nothing, and our entire journey seems to have been in vain. Even worse, big brother An might be upset with us for not doing a good job. Rumours have always travelled fast in the martial arts world. If everybody assumed that the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp had gotten possession of that item, and all turned their attentions to us, then it would be quite unfair. Brother Zhang, please give Master Shi and Mrs Shi the details of how we killed Wu and searched his entire fried cake shophouse.”

A short man said to the couple ”That Wu fellow's martial arts was pretty good, and our squad leader Li, Li Da Yuan, perished at his hands. Squad leader Zhou then attacked, and with two palms struck that Wu fellow from the roof. That strike shattered his bones, ruptured his internal organs...” This man was very eloquent, and dramatised and exaggerated certain details. He talked at length about how they searched the shop, tore down the walls, and dragged the tale on, leaving out only the bit about Zhou Mu getting hold of that small bundle.

Shi Qing nodded and thought to himself ”From the moment Zhou Mu saw us, he has been uneasy. Xuan Su Mansion and the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp have never had any friction between each other - if he did not have the item in his possession, he would not need to be so defensive.” He knew that whether the Camp had gotten the item notwithstanding, if it was with them then it would most definitely be in the hands of Zhou Mu. Looking around, he saw over 200 members of the Golden Sabre Bandit Camp, most of whom were decent fighters, and realised that it was going to be difficult to win this fight. Although Zhou Mu had spoken to them politely, his words contained various concealed motives, and were definitely not words of sincere friendship. Obviously Zhou Mu was secure in the knowledge that he had the advantage of numbers. He smiled and pointed at a small forest a small distance away to the left. ”I have something private I wish to discuss with young brother Zhou. Could we adjourn to the forest to speak?”

Zhou Mu obviously wasn't going to, and said ”All of us here are brothers and mates, there's nothing that..” the last three words ”cannot be said” were not even spoken when his left wrist was suddenly grabbed by Shi Qing, and he could feel his whole body going numb while his right hand had no strength at all. Zhou Mu was furious, but also shocked. From the moment Shi Qing and Min Rou had appeared, he was completely on his guard, and on the lookout for any signs of aggression. He didn't expect Shi Qing to make his move so suddenly, though, and grab his hand just like that. The ”Grabbing hand” technique was always the forte of the Eagle Claw Clan, but this time without even a single exchange of strokes he had already fallen prey to it. He tried to resist the effects with his internal energy, but all his strength had disappeared away. He realised that his important nerve points were being held and he could only sweat.

Shi Qing said ”Since young brother Zhou is willing to go, that'd be great!” then turned to Min Rou and said ”Martial sister, young brother Zhou and I are heading over there for a short chat, and will be back in a moment. Please wait here for us.” He then turned towards the forest, and Min Rou said very politely ”Martial brother, please go ahead.” Although they were husband and wife, they still addressed each other as martial brother and sister.

The Golden Sabre Bandit Camp saw Shi Qing holding Zhou Mu's hand, laughing and talking along the way. His wife was staying behind amidst them, and no suspected anything. No one thought that a man of Zhou Mu's ability could have been captured without so much as a struggle.

Clinging onto Zhou Mu's wrist, Shi Qing kept walking faster and faster, and Zhou Mu was forced to keep up or risk being pulled to the ground. The distance between the campfires and the forest was about a li, and before they knew it they were in the forest.