Chapter 11: The Vermillion Bird Lord

"Look closely, you only get the chance to see a devil like this once every thousand years. Just one look at him is enough to give you good luck for the next three years…as long as you manage to get out of here alive."

But it was actually because Zhou Fei was still inexperienced, and couldn't accurately judge the real strength of her blow.

Even though she had been practicing martial arts since a very young age, she was still young and didn't have much internal strength. It was therefore quite natural that she wouldn't be able to last long in a long-drawn out battle. If she had many opponents or her opponent was roughly as skilled as her, it would be quite a difficult fight for her. Moreover, the Snow-breaking Sabre had been developed when the previous Master Li was forty years old and at the height of his abilities, such that the technique was therefore extremely powerful and vicious – but Zhou Fei did not quite have the physique for it, and it would likely be quite difficult for her to execute many of the technique's nine moves. Nevertheless, it had to be said that this did not mean that her abilities were only average.

Even someone like Li Sheng was better than average – if those two masked men hadn't ambushed him, and he hadn't been distracted by his own emotions at the time, he wouldn't have been taken out so easily.

Practicing martial arts was more difficult and exclusive than studying books – and studying was already quite difficult, as one first needed enough money to hire a tutor, and purchase the necessary resources and writing implements. Even for those from poor backgrounds who were driven and resourceful enough to 'borrow light from a neighbouring house',[1] they still at least needed to have a proper house and a stable environment in which to study. Yet in these turbulent times, less than half of the populace enjoyed such a luxury. The requirements for practicing martial arts were even stricter: one could start only after one had been inducted into a sect by a shifu. While impoverished but bright students who could not afford tutors could ultimately still eavesdrop on school lessons from a distance, it was nearly impossible for practitioners of martial arts to do so, as they had to be intimately familiar with all eighteen types of weapons,[2] even if they weren't quite able to wield all of them proficiently. They also had to be personally instructed on identifying the human body's valves, acupoints and meridians, as even the slightest incorrect application of pressure or force through them could potentially be deadly. Most martial arts were imparted through a shifu's personal demonstration of the moves, with not a single word imparted on paper. Martial arts sects hardly ever recorded and compiled their techniques into manuals – if any such manuals ever existed, it was often only because a particular sect had produced a grandmaster who wanted to leave a legacy. But such grandmasters did not deign to dumb their instructions down to a level that young disciples would be able to understand, and therefore their manuals were quite cryptic. If there was no one to explain them in detail, even scholars would have difficulty making out the words written therein.

But in reality, all sects jealously guarded their treasured techniques, holding them close to their chest.

Most sects' 'disciples' actually learnt their skills from other only slightly more senior disciples – a bunch of rudimentary punches and kicks that were not much different from what you could see in a regular circus act, and were useless in a fight. It was therefore completely understandable why that stout chef had been so easily disposed of by one very focused slash of Zhou Fei's sabre.

Zhou Fei almost suspected that she had made a mistake by killing him. But she had no time to waste, and promptly bent over to drag that chef's corpse into the kitchen. She meticulously eliminated the trail of blood on the ground, using the techniques that she had observed from Deng Zhen and the other shixiongs. She then shut the kitchen door, washed her hands, and started looking all over for the antidote, all the while munching on the remaining bun that she had stolen.

At last, Zhou Fei found a pile of lunch boxes, and a cupboard next to it that came up to her chest.

The lunch boxes were of two different colours – red and black, with the names of the colours carved accordingly into their sides. This was probably to distinguish between the lunch boxes for the guards and the prisoners. In the cupboard, she found rows upon rows of glass bottles containing a variety of different substances, none of which Zhou Fei was able to identify. Not daring to touch or sniff any of these substances, Zhou Fei simply tore off a corner of a nearby tablecloth, formed a little makeshift rucksack, and swept all the bottles into it.

But she didn't leave immediately. She stood there in the kitchen for several minutes, pondering whether she had forgotten to do anything.

Just then, she heard a loud commotion from outside, and the sharp braying of many panicked horses. Startled, she peered out from a crack in the window, only to see that the nearby stables were ablaze. Someone had set the place on fire and set the horses free. Great minds thought alike – the person had perfectly executed her original plan!

Sounds of fighting then rang out, as numerous shadowy black-clad figures descended from all around. Like a drop of water in boiling oil, the entire valley suddenly erupted with shouts and the clanging of weapons. Zhou Fei was eager to find out who exactly her unknown 'assistants' were, but recalling Xie Yun's words – "something big will happen here soon" – as well as his warning to her to leave as soon as possible, she instinctively knew that these 'assistants' were not here to rescue these prisoners. She immediately slipped out of the kitchen, held the sack of medicine bottles close to her chest with one hand while brandishing her sabre with the other, and charged in the opposite direction of the commotion.

It was utter chaos out there, man biting man and dog biting dog, a complete mess of a fight between the black-clad intruders and the guards. Before long, Zhou Fei ran into several guards. Eyeing them warily, she tightened her hand around her weapon, preparing to strike. But those guards, seeing that she was not wearing black like the intruders, actually ran right past her!

Zhou Fei: "…"

Before she could even laugh at this turn of events, the guards realised something was not right, and one of them swiftly turned his head, staring at Zhou Fei for a moment. Then he bellowed: "Hey, who are…"

Before he could utter the word 'you', Zhou Fei had already made her move. Now that she had finally eaten, the sabre in her hand shot forward like a snake's tongue, swiftly disposing of three guards. She then headed straight for their leader, who with a loud roar, raised his bare hands to meet her blade. Zhou Fei leapt upwards, feinted with her blade, then flipped over his head to land onto the branch of a nearby tree. She then lightly propelled herself off the tree, landing several metres away. Just as the guard was about to call for others to chase after her, he suddenly heard the ringing of sharp blades from behind, where several black-clad men were now standing. He hadn't heard them coming.

Having spent years battling the stringed machine in the dark Ink-washing River, Zhou Fei's senses had been trained to become finely attuned to her surroundings, even while she was engaged in battle. Whilst exchanging blows with the guards, she had already seen the black-clad men approach, and had therefore decided to simply flee the scene.

At this moment, Xie Yun, who had been lying half asleep in his jail cell, finally opened his eyes amidst the increasingly vicious sounds of battle. While he could not see what was happening outside, he had a pretty good idea based on the sounds alone. Leaning on the cold stone wall to help himself up, he wobbled a bit on his legs, which had been left unused for too long. But his steps were calm and measured, as he made his way to the hole in the wall. Peering through it at the skeleton next door, he said softly: "Tattered clothes cannot hide a stunning beauty, just as abstaining from meat and praying to Buddha cannot hide one's wicked ambitions. How could he think that he would be able to conceal his plot forever? That Huo Liantao really is dumb as a brick, don't you think?"

The skeleton was silent.

Xie Yun shook his head and laughed. Then seeming to think of something, his expression clouded over with a rare hint of concern, and he said: "This happened earlier than I expected. That girl really has perfect timing. Do you think she'll be able to escape?"

Just as he was worrying about someone who was running free outside, when he himself was still trapped inside, he heard a commotion from the neighbouring cave. Rocks and sand rained down, some of the rocks bouncing off the ground to hit the unwitting skeleton squarely in the skull, knocking it off.

"Oh dear." Xie Yun looked with pity at the skull rolling around on the ground. "Forgive us, forgive us. Who is it that's being so clumsy and careless?"

The very next second, a figure suddenly jumped in from that narrow crevice above and appeared before Xie Yun in two big strides, as if the hounds of hell were after her. Her words came out in a rush: "I don't know what these are, which is the antidote?"

Finally identifying this figure to be Zhou Fei, Xie Yun's expression changed. She was holding her unsheathed sabre, the scabbard having been abandoned somewhere. Not only had she exchanged blows with someone, it looked like it had been a tough fight. Xie Yun retracted that ever-present smile of his, his expression growing several degrees harsher for once: "Didn't I tell you to leave? Why did you come back!"

Zhou Fei had been fiercely scolded by Li Jinrong since young, so this little bit of consternation was nothing to her. She said, "Don't waste time! It's a mess out there right now. Look at this."

Xie Yun deeply disapproved of her actions, but there was not much that he could do about it now. He could only examine the glass bottles that Zhou Fei handed to him one by one through the hole in the wall: "Pills for heatstroke, gut-curdling poison, miracle healing powder for external injuries, and oh, here's a bottle of arsenic. And what's this? Aphrodi…ahem, where did you find all this?"

Zhou Fei asked curiously: "Aphrodi-what?"

"Oh, that's just a kind of dipping sauce…don't bother asking." Xie Yun shot her a sheepish look, and then took the next bottle from her. Sniffing it first, he then gave an approving 'Mm', and poured out a little to try. That ointment had a slightly herbal taste at first, but after a few moments, it transformed into an overwhelming spiciness that filled his entire mouth, the uncomfortable heat gushing down his throat in an instant and rushing towards his limbs.

Caught by surprise, Xie Yun broke into a violent, eye-watering cough.

That heat was like a fiery wave, overpowering the drug that had lulled his joints and muscles into a sluggish haze, and jolting him awake like a good whipping. The strength that had deserted him for too long slowly returned to his body. Xie Yun struggled to lift his hand holding the bottle and said hoarsely to Zhou Fei: "This…this one."

Zhou Fei's eyes brightened: "Is this the antidote? How many spoonfuls of it do you have to eat?"

Xie Yun nearly choked all over again at her blithe ignorance, and quickly said: "No no no, just a little smear of it below one's nose or on the tongue will do, a spoonful of this would be fatal…what's it like out there now?"

Zhou Fei briefly described to him the unexpected intrusion of the black-clad men. The more she said, the deeper Xie Yun's brow furrowed, and he said: "That's not good. Go up the way you came, and follow me."

He then tried taking a deep breath, and climbed up the rope hanging from above that the guards used to lower food down to him. While his joints and muscles still felt a little stiff, at least he wasn't half-paralysed anymore. He removed a pin from his hair,[3] which looked quite different from the ones used by most men. It wasn't made of the customary gold, jade, wood, or bone, but the rarely-used black iron, and its tip was extremely sharp. He probably used it often when sneaking around – he picked the lock of his cell with it in a matter of seconds.

Seeing this, Zhou Fei didn't hesitate any further. Before she left, she made sure to respectfully return the skeleton's skull back to its decapitated body.

****

The entire valley was now a sea of flames.

Not wasting any time, Xie Yun broke open the bottle containing the antidote. Now wasn't the time to care about cleanliness – as he moved along the cells, he smeared the ointment on each of their bars and doorframes.

Zhou Fei quickly followed after him, hacking open the locks on each of the jail cells while averting her gaze from the heroes within who were straining to lick the bars of their cells in all kinds of unsightly positions…some of them probably weren't accustomed to the heat and yelped grievously after tasting the ointment, making for quite the commotion.

The entire mountain was filled with assassins out for blood – only the two of them were on a rescue mission.

Xie Yun's qinggong, of still-indeterminate origin, seemed almost devilish to Zhou Fei. She suspected that his bones were filled with helium, allowing him to float along without seeming to exert any effort at all, like a sheet of paper in the wind. Under normal circumstances, she was already barely able to keep up with him. As she now also had to exert additional force to hack open the locks of the jail cells, she started to feel like she was running out of breath. And worst of all, she still hadn't found Li Sheng in any of the cells.

Zhou Fei was starting to panic, especially as she recalled the stories she had been told of people getting their hearts ripped from their chests – if the Vermillion Bird Lord took a fancy to a handsome fellow like Li Sheng, would he slaughter him to make his skin into a carpet?

A hot-tempered bear had once come to the 48 Zhai, and almost hurt a few disciples that had gone hunting for chickens. One of the elders had eventually managed to hunt it down and kill it, and said that he would make its fur into a rug. Zhou Fei had been very young then. She clearly remembered the bear's head lolling to the side, with a murderous look on its face that seemed to say that it would take revenge on its killer in its next life – this was one of the few traumas that Zhou Fei had in her wild childhood.

Imagining Li Sheng's head on the body of that dead bear, she couldn't help but shiver.

Just as her mind began to conceive of all kinds of unpleasant scenarios, Xie Yun suddenly came to a halt.

Zhou Fei: "What…"

Xie Yun lifted a finger to his lips: "Shhh—"

His expression was so solemn that Zhou Fei subconsciously held her breath. Gradually, the sound of a lute could be heard from amidst the commotion in the valley. Only a little wisp of a melody at first, it became increasingly clear, as if it were being played just beside one's ear, eventually overpowering all the sounds of battle. It was not a rousing tune – on the contrary, it was sorrowful, meandering and subtle, even fading in and out.

"Tears Ruin." Xie Yun said softly.

Zhou Fei said curiously: "What's that?"

Xie Yun replied: "It's a song, about a beautiful woman who lost her lover in the prime of her youth. She weeps beneath the candlelight, tears streaking down her made-up face, mourning her loss…"

Zhou Fei's head was filled with grotesque images of carpets made of human skin, and she was in no mood to listen to such sentimental tales of love and romance. She interrupted him with great irritation: "What kind of nonsense are you going on about!"

Xie Yun stretched out his hand to block her way forward, and said solemnly: "Retreat. The person coming does not mean well."

Just then, a figure appeared atop the distant mountain peak. With her excellent night vision, Zhou Fei could discern that this was a man, who had broad shoulders and a slim waist. His long hair was untied and draped messily over his shoulders, and the hem of his robes fluttered in the wind, as if he would ride off on the night breeze at any moment. He held a lute in his hand. The mournful wail of his lute suddenly stopped, as he looked down upon the valley. In the blink of an eye, he had already descended the peak, drifting down the mountain ridge with unbelievable speed.

He had a very unusual gait – while his steps were dainty and inconceivably light, they were incredibly fast, like a rushing stream. Before she knew it, he had already reached the heart of the valley. Wherever he went, both the guards and the black-clad men quickly backed away from him in fear.

He bowed coyly, in the manner of a noblewoman paying her respects, then sighed – most people just sighed in one breath, but his sigh lasted for so long that it almost sounded like a tune, and hung in the air for a long time. Zhou Fei subconsciously sucked in her breath again, feeling like he was about to break into song.

But instead of humming, he said softly: "It is a great misfortune that all my best men were lost in the Mountain of the Living Dead, and the men here tonight are all useless. I didn't know that Gentleman Shen was going to grace us with your presence today, my apologies for not receiving you, as befits an esteemed guest from afar."

Zhou Fei rubbed her eyes in disbelief. The man before her holding a lute in his hand was clearly a tall man, but when he spoke, he sounded exactly like a woman.

Xie Yun's brow furrowed: "Gentleman Shen?"

The door of a jail cell located halfway up the mountain sprang open with a clang. Zhou Fei's eyes widened in surprise – didn't that cell belong to the elder who had tried to frighten her with all kinds of tales?

The sickly-looking middle-aged man slowly shuffled out. He looked a little frail, and with both hands folded behind him, appeared even more drawn and tired. Looking down at the man holding the lute, he coughed several times before saying: "I'm an uninvited guest. Apologies for the intrusion. Vermillion Bird Lord, how have you been?"

Zhou Fei couldn't help but lean forward slightly, to get a better look at this legendary 'monster' who could rip a person's heart from his chest with his bare hands. Did he have three heads, maybe seven legs?

Under the bright lights in the valley, she could see that this 'monster' did not have a grotesque face or bloody fangs. Instead, he was slender, with sharply-defined features that sat delicately on a pale face, and quite androgynous. His thin lips were coloured with several layers of bright red rouge, looking for all the world like a mountain wraith which poets might write sonnets about.

The Vermillion Bird Lord tucked a strand of errant hair behind his ear, then said elegantly: "I am but a nobody with a difficult life, who has made a hard living from wandering the martial arts world. I have had no grievances with Gentleman Shen in the past, nor any enmity in recent years. If there's anything that you want from me, you simply have to open your mouth and ask. There's no need for you to go to such lengths."

Hearing this, that 'Gentleman Shen' said solemnly: "I do indeed have something to request of you."

The Vermillion Bird Lord lightly fingered the strings on his lute: "I am all ears."

Gentleman Shen said: "Might the Vermillion Bird Lord consider kindly severing his own meridians, and cutting off his left hand?"

Zhou Fei: "…"

Was this sickly man asking for a beating?

Xie Yun whispered to her: "The name of the Vermillion Bird Lord of the Mountain of the Living Dead is Mu Xiaoqiao. His palm techniques are unparalleled, and are rumoured to be able to move mountains…and that's not a figure of speech, I mean literal mountains. He is left-handed, and with that hand he executes a move called the 'Spirit-Snatching Claw'. This move is renowned for being able to penetrate the hardest objects, cutting through rock as easily as slicing tofu. He carries poison in his nails, which is fatal once it enters the bloodstream. He's a real monster. Look closely, you only get the chance to see a devil like this once every thousand years. Just one look at him is enough to give you good luck for the next three years[4]…as long as you manage to get out of here alive."

Everyone – the prisoners in the jail cells, the guards running helter-skelter, as well as those black-clad men that the mysterious Gentleman Shen had brought – went completely silent. Those attempting to escape stopped running, those in the midst of battle stopped fighting, all holding their breath in anticipation of Mu Xiaoqiao's response.

"Ah, Gentleman Shen is really putting me in a spot." Mu Xiaoqiao finally spoke after a good long while. He seemed surprisingly unperturbed, saying politely: "If something's a blessing then it's not a catastrophe, but if it's a catastrophe then there's no way of running free – I guess I'll just have to learn a thing or two from you today."

Xie Yun suddenly said: "Cover your ears."

Perhaps it was because Xie Yun had a holy aura about him, but within the short span of a day and night, Zhou Fei had already developed an unfounded trust in him. At his words, she immediately covered her ears. But despite her best and fastest efforts, the softest little whine of the lute still weaselled its way into her ears.

Zhou Fei felt as if her entire chest was about to burst. Her organs shivered within her, her head spun violently, and she felt like she would vomit.

The others around her weren't as lucky – the Vermillion Bird Lord's tune did not discriminate between his subordinates and his enemies, and all those standing within several metres of him immediately collapsed to the ground. Those further away were also affected. Quite a few of them had only just been cured of 'Wen Rou San', their limbs still too stiff to cover their ears in time, and were swiftly struck down, many coughing out blood and suffering internal injuries on the spot.

But that 'Gentleman Shen' simply leapt down from the mountainside, towards the Vermillion Bird Lord. When standing, he looked like a gnarled shrub. But with this massive leap, he was like a falcon swooping down on a helpless rabbit. He aimed a palm strike squarely at the head of the Vermillion Bird Lord, with enough force to level the Tai Mountains. The Vermillion Bird Lord smiled, his five fingers forming a claw which latched onto Gentleman Shen's wrist. The rocks beneath these two martial arts experts couldn't take the force of their blows, shattering underfoot.

The Vermillion Bird Lord channelled force into his 'Soul-Snatching Claw'. But then his expression changed to one of slight incredulity, and he made a soft sound of surprise. Spinning around gracefully, he landed several metres away, an object in his hand – he had ripped off Gentleman Shen's palm and wrist in one move!

That palm stretched forward unnaturally, and there was not a single drop of blood at the spot where it had been torn off. The sickly middle-aged man stood there, his face as still as water. His sleeves fluttered in the breeze, covering his mutilated left wrist.

Zhou Fei had thought that she was pretty well-versed in the various types of martial arts, but she hadn't known that it was possible for one to use a fake limb to execute a palm strike of such force. She had never before witnessed such great masters exchange blows, and for a moment she forgot all about that throbbing pain in her chest, her eyes glued to the scene at hand. Those two men had probably exchanged more than a hundred blows in a matter of seconds. While the Vermillion Bird Lord had the air of a courtly gentleman, he was like a venomous snake when on the attack. Gentleman Shen's moves were not as flowery as his, and at first glance, appeared to be countering his opponent's dynamic movements with stillness, and artfulness with brute strength. At the same time, his footsteps seemed to follow a hidden pattern…but Zhou Fei couldn't tell what this was, and just strove to commit it to memory first.

Xie Yun's expression suddenly shifted: "Chess Steps – could it be Shen Tianshu?"

Zhou Fei's eyes remained glued to the fight, while asking: "Who's that?"

"This silly girl still wants to stay and watch!" Xie Yun playfully slapped the back of her head, saying: "Don't you know that Lord 'Dubhe' is one of the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper? His presence means that not a single person here today will be able to escape unscathed. He'll definitely want to eliminate all eyewitnesses. Leave now, while he's still distracted with Mu Xiaoqiao!"

Zhou Fei was still digesting all this information, when she saw that the person who had just asked her to leave immediately was instead continuing to run towards the jail cells with the antidote in hand. She immediately followed after him: "I'm coming too."

"Why! The only reason I haven't left yet, is that I cannot in good conscience run off while knowing that the antidote is with me. Are you mad?" Xie Yun said with annoyance, while continuing to surge forward. But realising that Zhou Fei intended to ignore his words completely, he tried to change tactics: "If you really want to follow me, then take this antidote and help all these burdens locked up here on your own – I'm off."

"Okay," Zhou Fei stretched her hand out, "Give it to me."

Xie Yun: "…"

Being mostly left to her own devices in the 48 Zhai, free to explore whatever she wished, Zhou Fei often had grand the-sky's-the-limit ideas that some might call foolhardy: "I still need to find Li Sheng anyway. If I just abandon him here and go home on my own, how will I answer to my mother?"

Xie Yun stared at her in disbelief: "Isn't she your mother? Is your life more important to her, or is accounting for your cousin more important?"

Zhou Fei said without hesitation: "Accounting for him."

Xie Yun looked at her strangely, a brow quirked. Just when Zhou Fei thought that he was about to beseech her to leave again, he said: "You're right, accounting for him is indeed more important. Our lives aren't worth much anyway, and not necessarily more valuable than others' – fine then, let's go and set all these poor souls free. Whether we live or die, that's up to the heavens – either way, at least our consciences will be clear."

Before Zhou Fei could feel a little bit of relief that Xie Yun was finally getting to the point for once, instead of talking nonsense, he added: "For a weird and wonderful guy like me, whose 2-metre long body is made up of legs mostly, it's my great fortune to be able to meet half a kindred soul like you!"

This description of himself made him seem like a long-legged mantis.

"…" Zhou Fei paused, then proceeded to ask this shameless 'human mantis': "Why am I half a kindred soul?"

The 'human mantis' was currently smearing the antidote on the bars of yet another jail cell, while telling its inhabitant to run. He turned around to face Zhou Fei and gestured to the top of her head, saying with utmost seriousness: "Because I'm afraid you're barely half my height."

The next second, he floated forward as if carried forth by the wind, laughing loudly as he avoided an annoyed slash of Zhou Fei's blade.

Some people could grow old together and yet still feel like strangers; while others could feel like old friends even on their first meeting. Perhaps it was because Xie Yun acted so familiarly towards her, but Zhou Fei had started to get along with him in a very short span of time, even though she wasn't usually one for lively banter. It was as if they had been with each other over the last three years, when in fact this was but their second meeting.

Xie Yun had said that 'Wen Rou San' was strong enough to take down a horse, but maybe he had been exaggerating, because it didn't seem to have such a strong effect on humans. Most of the prisoners were able to get up quite easily after imbibing just a small smidgen of the antidote, even if they weren't quite at their full strength yet.

Martial arts pugilists tended to be quite hardy – as long as they were able to stand up, they could also run about. The majority of them were also extremely savvy, and had sensed the danger they were in quite early on. Once they were released from their cells, they immediately ran off after bowing to Zhou Fei and Xie Yun in thanks. But there were also some – who had perhaps lost a bit of their street smarts after being locked up for so long, or were looking for their friends and family who had also been imprisoned – that tried to help in the rescue effort, and these gradually formed a long stream of people that surged forward along the mountain path.

The guards in the valley had recovered from their initial shock by now, and started to attack the escaping prisoners. Shen Tianshu's black-clad men were hot on the guards' heels, and it was utter chaos as the three different parties fought tooth and nail with each other. Turning to look at the increasing numbers of well-intentioned but unhelpful prisoners that had joined him, Xie Yun opened his mouth in an exasperated attempt to chide them. Before he could speak, an old Taoist priest in a nearby jail cell quickly called out: "Watch out!"

A guard had suddenly sneaked up behind him. Xie Yun didn't have time to react, but just then, a handful of sand came flying out from somewhere beside him, landing squarely in the guard's eyes. Xie Yun took the opportunity to swiftly dodge the guard's incoming sword, exclaiming, "Do you really need to ambush a helpless fellow like me? Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

The guard wiped his face and prepared to strike again, but was foiled by a sabre that blocked his path, courtesy of Zhou Fei who had just managed to reach him. Xie Yun, who had just narrowly escaped death, crowed: "Wind, sand, and blade – well played!"

With a slight movement of her shoulder, Zhou Fei's sabre sprang to lightning-quick life. This guard was a proper disciple of the Mountain of the Living Dead, not easy pickings like the stout chef that she had skewered with one blow. Within a matter of seconds, the two had already exchanged multiple blows. Zhou Fei felt that fighting with this man was almost like battling a lump of sticky mud – it was impossible to shake him off, and it felt like her blade had been entangled in some viscous substance, making her blows feel laboured and sluggish.

Just then, the old priest who had helped Xie Yun spoke again: "Young lady, if you withdraw your blade and slice the water, the water will flow more smoothly. Don't get impatient."

With an 'Ah' of realisation, Xie Yun said: "Is he wielding the ambidextrous 'Sword of Falling Flowers and Flowing Water'?"

The old priest's robes were as dirty as a used dishcloth, and he cradled a whisk[5] that was so dusty it could be a feather duster. He would have fit in perfectly with the Beggars' Sect.[6] As if he hadn't seen Xie Yun's ungraceful escape from the guard's attack just now, the priest now complimented him: "Not bad, this young master is very knowledgeable – young lady, of the eighteen types of martial arts skills, the Taoist way is one of them. It is all about contemplation and control, rather than blindly releasing your strength. Or else even if you wield all your force, or all the tricks in your book, you will go astray, and your efforts will only be skin-deep."

Zhou Fei was surprised by the priest's words, as she realised that he had managed to identify the exact issue she had been facing for some time now. Having picked up some semblance of the Snow-Breaking Sabre from watching Elder Yu, Zhou Fei had incorporated this into other martial arts skills. While this was not the authentic Snow-Breaking Sabre, it was precisely this inventive adaptation that had unexpectedly prompted Li Jinrong to impart the full technique to her. Since then, she had repeatedly replayed in her mind Li Jinrong's demonstration of the nine Snow-Breaking Sabre moves, awed by their unparalleled viciousness and striving with all her might to copy them exactly. Yet such strenuous efforts at mimicry had only tied her up in knots, resulting in hamstrung moves that were a bit like trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a picture of a dog instead.

Hearing the priest's words, Zhou Fei instantly felt freer, and her sabre's movements shifted accordingly. Lowering her blade close to the ground, she then abruptly thrust it upwards, right between the guard's two hands. As the guard's technique required him to constantly alternate his sword between his hands, the sabre instantly disrupted his momentum, causing his moves to slow down. Panicking, he lost his balance and tipped forward, only to feel cold steel on his chest –

Shaking his head sagely, Xie Yun said: "Her technique isn't fully developed yet, but it's confident and decisive, and already looks somewhat like the real thing."

Zhou Fei wiped the fresh spatter of blood on her chin with her sleeve, feeling gleeful at having resolved the issue with her technique. Turning around, she saw that more and more people were continuing to move towards them. Poking Xie Yun with the hilt of her sabre, she said: "Since running is your only skill, stop spouting useless nonsense and move aside."

Shoving him aside, she hacked open the lock on the priest's cell, and said solemnly: "Many thanks for your guidance."

The old priest stroked his beard and smiled at her, looking the very picture of kindness. Zhou Fei wanted to speak more with him, but before she could do so, someone in a neighbouring cell exclaimed in surprise: "Is that Fei?"

Startled, Zhou Fei turned to look, only to see a 'wild man' plastered to the bars of the cell.

That 'wild man' swept his tangled hair to the side, revealing a scruffy face that even his mother might not be able to recognise, and shouted: "Eh, what kind of expression is that, don't you recognise your Shixiong Chenfei! What happened to you? Why are you here alone? Who are you here with? Does your mother know?"

This was Zhang Chenfei, Old Madam Wang's missing son! Zhou Fei had come here for Li Sheng, but instead of finding him, she had stumbled upon the disciples of the Xiaoxiang Sect first.

When Zhang Chenfei had first set foot in the martial arts world, Zhou Fei had still been practicing her Zhama Steps[7] in the 48 Zhai. Zhang Chenfei still saw her as a little kid, and in his surprise at seeing her here, had bombarded her with a barrage of questions. Zhou Fei didn't know which to answer first, and could only ask: "How did you come to be here?"

"Let's not get into that," Zhang Chenfei sighed. He had just licked off a smidgen of the antidote from the bars of his jail cell, and couldn't speak for a minute as it spread through his body. He gestured towards the cells further down. Zhou Fei hacked open the lock on his cell, then went in the direction that he had been pointing at, where she found all the disciples that the 48 Zhai had been searching for.

While passing through the Dongting Region, their party had heard that Old Master Huo was holding a birthday celebration. They knew that they should attend out of courtesy, but as they were on an important mission and feared that it would be indiscreet to participate in such a crowded event, Zhang Chenfei had simply sent one of the disciples to Huo Jia Bao to pay their respects. However, this disciple had been captured before even reaching Huo Jia Bao, and the rest of the party was ambushed not long after. They had been locked up here since then, with absolutely no clue as to why!

Moving further down, Zhou Fei saw that there were three people in one of the jail cells – a drawn and sickly-looking woman, a young child, and a girl of about the same age as Zhou Fei. They were probably General Wu's family members, who Zhang Chenfei et al had escorted from the Zhongnan Mountains for hundreds of miles. These gently bred people had been scared out of their wits by the roars of killing and fighting echoing across the valley. Seeing this group of men in tattered clothes suddenly charge towards them, who they couldn't be sure were friends or foes, the girl gasped in fright, and the frail older woman protectively pulled the girl behind herself.

Xie Yun's footsteps halted. Instead of smearing the antidote on the bars of their cell, he bowed in a most gentlemanly manner towards the older woman, who was trying hard not to tremble: "Madam, this is a dangerous place, and it's best that we leave as soon as possible. I'm afraid that this antidote doesn't taste very good, so please bear with it for a bit."

Madam Wu was white as a sheet, and bowed at Xie Yun with much difficulty: "Many thanks. Please go ahead."

Xie Yun deftly picked the lock of their cell, not giving Zhou Fei a chance to brutally hack it open. He turned to her and asked: "Do you have a clean handkerchief?"

Zhou Fei felt about her clothes, and found to her surprise that she actually did have one – it had been part of her attire when she was pretending to be Old Madam Wang's handmaiden. Xie Yun looked at the handkerchief in Zhou Fei's hand. The cloth was neatly folded, and sported an embroidery of a winter jasmine. It looked so clean and fresh that he almost thought he could smell a light fragrance emanating from it. It suddenly struck him that it was extremely improper to ask a lady for her handkerchief like this. But for a thick-skinned fellow like him, it would take much more than this for his face to redden.

Coughing discreetly, he didn't take the handkerchief from Zhou Fei, only handing her the bottle of antidote and saying: "Dab some on the handkerchief. It'll be more appropriate for you to give it to them."

Seeing that the girl was shaking so much that even her sleeves were quivering, and that the little child was too frightened to even cry, Zhou Fei slung her sabre behind her, and dabbing a little bit of the antidote on her clean handkerchief, handed it to them.

Just then, they heard a howl in the distance. It was a piercing wail, like that of a wild wolf on the wide open plains, filling those who heard it with wave after wave of discomfort. After three excruciatingly long howls, another figure appeared in the valley.

That person was dressed strikingly in red, like a blazing ball of fire against the dark night sky.

"Mizar." Zhou Fei heard Xie Yun say softly, "Mizar, of the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper – whose name is Tong Kaiyang – is here too."

At Mizar's arrival, Mu Xiaoqiao suddenly retreated. Two unlucky souls, who had the misfortune of blocking his path, promptly had their hearts ripped from their chests by each of his hands. Mu Xiaoqiao landed several metres away, the place where he had just been standing now split open with Mizar's blade. The entire valley seemed to tremble with the whine of that heavy sword.

These masters of their craft were obviously intent on taking their opponent's life, and clearly didn't care that two against one was not a fair fight. 'Mizar' Tong Kaiyang didn't even said a word when he arrived, exchanging blows immediately. Mu Xiaoqiao also lived up to his devilish reputation, his body twisting and turning every which way as he dodged blows and dealt them, not giving them the upper hand for an instant.

This Vermillion Bird Lord had evidently been a great scourge on humanity, and deserved all manner of punishment for his crimes. At the same time, while Zhou Fei wasn't too familiar with the 'Seven Stars of the Big Dipper', she knew that they were probably the worst of scoundrels as well, since her elders in the 48 Zhai always had hatred in their eyes whenever they spoke of them. So Zhou Fei wasn't sure which side she should be rooting for in this fight to the death, and thought: If I were powerful enough, I would make the three of them finish each other off right here.

But she instantly found this idea quite laughable – if she were as powerful as any one of these three masters, would she have to flee in such a sorry state like she was doing now?Zhou Fei tightened her grip on her sabre, feeling bitterly unwilling to accept the harsh reality of her incompetence. She had felt this many times before, but as she saw more of the world, it grew stronger each time. Suddenly, she felt a small, ice-cold hand seize her elbow. She was startled for a moment, before realising that the young Miss Wu had grasped her arm in fright. It was a gesture that sought protection. Upon meeting Zhou Fei's eyes, the young Miss Wu quickly let go of her arm, saying nervously: "My…my apologies."

Li Jinrong had told her that General Wu's family members were honoured guests of the 48 Zhai. This mother and her two children were utterly weak and defenseless, and weighed heavily upon Zhou Fei's blade. Seeing the blind panic on the girl's face, Zhou Fei's mixed feelings of incompetence, self-pity and unwillingness to accept defeat dissipated.

Zhou Fei thought: If even I feel afraid, who will protect them? That's it – I'm killing my way out of here.

"It's okay." Zhou Fei said to the young Miss Wu, "Don't be afraid."

Ever since General Wu had been framed and killed by traitors, the Wu clan had fallen apart. Nevertheless, the family name and breeding still counted for something, and young Miss Wu was still a proper young noblewoman. Unfortunately, in such a situation, a 'young noblewoman' that had fallen on hard times was not even half as useful as two able-bodied sons.

After General Wu died, the young Miss Wu had first followed her mother from hiding place to hiding place, after which they had spent quite some time on the road fleeing from their pursuers. Finally, they had ended up with this group of coarse men, and been imprisoned. Numerous guards here had deliberately loitered and peered into her cell on a daily basis, leering at her. Frightened and anxious, and feeling a great deal of despair and shame, she had wished many times to just ram her head into the wall and end it all. Yet she knew that her mother and young brother were suffering as much as or even more than her, and so she had to remain strong for them. The three of them had spent their days here looking bravely at each other, not daring to be the first one to show signs of weakness.

Staring blankly at the sabre in Zhou Fei's hand, the young Miss Wu suddenly said: "Aren't you afraid?"

Seeking to assuage her fears, Zhou Fei said with deliberate insouciance: "What's there to be afraid of? Just give me another ten years of practice – I'll be more than capable of levelling this entire mountain."

The young Miss Wu gave a strained smile. Looking down at her hands, she said softly: "The only thing I'm capable of is being a burden."

Zhou Fei opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say, because the girl was right. The young Miss Wu had no way of defending herself, nor any skills for survival. She was quite certain that those ruffians out there would not treat her any better just because she was excellent at embroidery, or could recite poetry most eloquently.

Since leaving the Shu Mountains, Zhou Fei had hardly seen another girl that was of the same age as her. She racked her brains, forcing herself to come up with something to say, and eventually blurted out: "Well don't say that…since I was young, my father had always told me that only the strongest survive, and so I practiced martial arts with all I had…your father…he probably didn't get the chance to tell you that."

She said all this casually, but the young Miss Wu felt an inexplicable wave of sorrow hit her, and her tears threatened to fall. Xie Yun, who had been standing by the door of the jail cell directing the stream of escapees, turned to look at Zhou Fei. His eyes, so often filled with mirth, clouded over slightly, and he seemed to be thinking of something.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking violently, and tortured screams could be heard in the distance.

'Mizar' Tong Kaiyang hadn't actually come here solo, but had merely been much faster than his subordinates. Only now did his men begin to surge into the valley in droves – and those prisoners that had fled helter skelter upon being released now ran right into this group of black-clad men. Still not fully recovered from the drug, these unlucky souls were barely able to defend themselves, falling like grass before the sickle. Just moments after tasting freedom, they could taste nothing at all anymore as their heads were severed from their bodies. One side – it was not clear which – had also started firing arrows into the valley. The prisoners were either hacked to death, shot to death, or trampled to death by the stampeding horses. The valley ran red with their blood, and corpses littered the ground.

Zhou Fei's hands and feet turned ice cold at this gory scene. She had thought that the plundered village along the way was already quite a sorry sight, but this was on a whole other level. All those around her were also stunned into silence. Madam Wu's legs wobbled, and she nearly collapsed to the ground in a dead faint. Only her son's feeble cry of 'Mother' pulled her back to consciousness.

Xie Yun bent down and picked up Madam Wu's young son, pressing the boy's head into his chest to shield him from the bloody scene. He shouted: "Stay together at all costs, and follow me!"

As he had helped to set all of them free, everyone immediately heeded his instructions. The disciples of the 48 Zhai got into a tight formation, with Madam Wu and her daughter at the centre. This group of people following Xie Yun gradually diverged from the main scrum, like an errant fish swimming away from its school.

Seeing that Zhou Fei hadn't moved, and seemed to be looking in the distance for something, Zhang Chenfei hurriedly said: "Fei, leave now, there's no one else there!"

Zhou Fei took several steps towards him, and asked: "Has Shixiong seen Li Sheng?"

Hearing this, Zhang Chenfei couldn't help but curse silently: Which irresponsible elder had brought these two kids out without keeping an eye on them! Not only had one run away, now the other one had too!

Letting out a pained sigh, he said: "What, Sheng is here as well? I didn't see him! Are you absolutely sure?"

At his query, it finally hit Zhou Fei – she hadn't actually seen where Li Sheng had gone, only that those two masked men had stolen his horse, before she had recklessly followed them all the way here! That's right, those two men had taken the horse and travelled such a great distance, but where had they put Li Sheng? A large boy like Li Sheng certainly wouldn't have fit into a little travel sack. Maybe another one of them had gone ahead first with Li Sheng in tow…but that didn't seem quite right either. Why would a group of horse thieves need to split up?

Zhou Fei felt like knocking herself in the head. She should have realised this a long time ago, but since coming here she had been so caught up in the hair-raising series of events that ensued – having her location betrayed by that horse, fighting for her life evading detection by highly-skilled guards, and then launching this daring rescue mission – that she hadn't had time to really think things through!

Looking at her stunned expression, Zhang Chenfei felt a bittersweet pang in his empty gut: "Ah, kid….I don't know what to say!"

But Zhou Fei wasn't one to dwell on her mistakes – if she had made a mess of things this time, she'd simply do better the next. Instead of feeling annoyed at herself, she even felt a smidgen of relief, saying to Zhang Chenfei: "It's better that that big burden isn't here."

She then paused, sabre in hand, letting several people go ahead of her such that she brought up the rear.

Zhang Chenfei said angrily: "What are you doing now?"

Zhou Fei waved him away: "I'll deal with any trouble at the back."

While many in this group of people were more skilled and experienced than she, they were barely even able to run now, and were largely shorn of their weapons. Zhou Fei therefore felt that the responsibility of fending off any attackers from the back fell exclusively to her. The old priest who had advised her just now chuckled and stood alongside her, saying: "That's a good idea. Allow me to lend you a hand."

Xie Yun halted in his tracks and turned around, his gaze sweeping downwards across the entire valley. They were currently by the highest jail cell on the mountain, which was roughly halfway to the peak. The guards that had been pursuing them were now otherwise engaged. Instead, seven or eight of the Big Dipper's black-clad men had started trekking upwards in pursuit of them.

"Don't be in a hurry to run," Xie Yun said, "Those who took the antidote first and have recovered a little more of your strength, position yourselves in the outer circle of our party. For those who took the antidote later, move inwards. And put out those torches first!"

At his command, everyone quickly picked up whatever rocks and pebbles they could find on the ground, and using their various skills, flung these towards the surrounding torches. Darkness immediately descended. These people were smart enough to understand what Xie Yun was trying to do: There weren't a lot of them, and they weren't very conspicuous. As long as they managed to swiftly dispatch this wave of pursuers, the two camps in the thick of battle below wouldn't notice them, and they might actually be able to slip away quietly!

The problem was that only about seven or eight of them were fighting fit right now, and even that was a stretch. And amongst all of them, Zhou Fei was the lone fighter in possession of a proper weapon. But she was certainly incapable of fending off their black-clad pursuers alone – she had been on her feet for the last two days and nights and was extremely exhausted. Even if she had been well-fed and rested, she would still have been no match for seven or eight of the Big Dipper's highly-skilled experts.

Xie Yun's brow furrowed. But before he could think up another plan, Zhou Fei had already rushed towards the black-clad men.

Xie Yun gasped: "Wait…"

Unfortunately, neither their enemies nor his own 'comrade' had the patience to wait for him to finish his sentence.

Zhou Fei felt the immense pressure from her opponents the second she made her move. Even though some of her fellow escapees had joined her in rushing forward to fight them, these black-clad men were well-trained and had quickly determined that she posed the biggest threat and should therefore be dealt with first. Her sabre was more than a little overwhelmed, and she knew that it was reaching the end of its rope. She couldn't help but grumble to herself –ever since she had joined Li Sheng in crossing the Ink-washing River, it was as if she had been possessed by the god of poverty. Any weapon that had the misfortune of falling into her hands would give way after only one or two uses – she went through them quicker than she went through toilet paper. If she continued like this, the 48 Zhai would not be able to afford her anymore. She doubted that Zhou Yitang had earned enough money all these years outside to finance her hefty sabre budget.

Just then, the old priest said suddenly: "Young lady, take three behind the Kan position,[8] and hang its Xuanmen."

Zhou Fei: "Ah?"

After her father left the 48 Zhai, there had been no one else to nag at her to study. She had mostly forgotten the little bit that she had learnt previously, and only vague impressions remained. The old priest's cryptic words were basically Greek to her.

Xie Yun quickly interpreted for him: "Do you see that large rock beside you? Lean your back against it for cover!"

Now Zhou Fei could understand that. She immediately retreated to the vicinity of that rock. The black-clad men closed in on her, attempting to block her escape, when the old priest bellowed: "The first one on your left, get his leg!"

This time, the old man used laymen terms. Zhou Fei thrust her sabre to the left, forcing the black-clad man there to hurriedly leap aside, right above another black-clad man. Zhou Fei then leapt forward, spinning in midair to swipe the first black-clad man squarely in the chest with the back of her knife. He crashed to the ground, landing right on top of his comrade.

She wasn't quite sure where this old priest hailed from, but he seemed to be a master of tactical formations. Every single one of his directions was unerringly effective, and often involved using her opponents' force against them. Zhou Fei felt like she had instantly gained seven or eight more assistants, her lone sabre weaving around her opponents in a formation of blades.

Xie Yun's tense shoulders finally relaxed a little, and he said softly: "Ah, a senior from the 'Qimen' Sect."

This technique was called the 'Mayfly Formation'. Strictly speaking, it was a kind of qinggong that incorporated the Taoist bagua positions, to allow the user to form a tactical formation all on his own. It was therefore most suitable for when one was outnumbered – it was even said that the 'Qimen' Sect's founding master could singlehandedly defeat ten thousand opponents with it. Intimately familiar with the Ink-washing River's stringed machine, Zhou Fei was unafraid of being attacked on all sides. She was quick to pick up the Mayfly Formation. Springing lightly across and around the surrounding rocks, she somehow managed to keep all her opponents' hands full.

Xie Yun also helped in his own way, saying: "Do you see that man over there, the third one from the left…Senior, don't show him mercy, stab him in the back!"

At his words, the black-clad man in question immediately turned around to defend himself – only to discover that there was absolutely no one behind him. Before he could turn back around, Zhang Chenfei had already delivered a lethal palm strike to his head. While Zhang Chenfei's hands were still not at their full strength, this blow to the man's key pressure point was sufficient to ensure that he would never get up again. Xie Yun and the old priest complemented each other perfectly, one guiding Zhou Fei and the other confusing her opponents. With Zhou Fei's lone sabre, the bare fists of the others, as well as any loose rocks that they could find as ammunition, they actually managed to take down most of the black-clad men.

Realising that he was in danger, the last black-clad man standing tried to leap away in escape, but Xie Yun bellowed: "Take him down!"

The sabre in Zhou Fei's hand shot forward at Xie Yun's words, its blade piercing right through that man's back and emerging from his chest…where it stayed stuck. In her panic to pull it back out, she exerted too much force, causing the blade to catch on the man's rib cage and break off from its hilt, buried right inside him.

Zhou Fei: "…"

She hadn't managed to escape her fate of breaking every sabre that she used.

"I'll give you another." Xie Yun said hurriedly, "Let's go now!"

He charged into the darkness, the group of escapees following close behind him. They flew past the long row of jail cells, running towards the little path that led up the mountain – this was the original escape route that he had planned for Zhou Fei. He had in fact been extremely strategic about this entire route – which started from the very first cell of prisoners that they had freed. While this route went downwards at first, it eventually wound upwards again, in a smooth and sure road towards freedom.

As they were now on higher ground, even with a large group of weak and disabled in tow, they would have the upper hand. It would take more effort for people below to run upwards to them, and while they had no weapons, they could still fling rocks downwards.

But just then, they heard rumblings in the valley below.

As Mu Xiaoqiao and Shen Tianshu were more or less evenly matched, 'Mizar' Tong Kaiyang's arrival had tipped the scales in the 'Big Dipper's' favour. Mu Xiaoqiao swept his lute before him. It collided with Tong Kaiyang's heavy sword, breaking into smithereens in an instant and sending fragments of wood flying every which way. The Vermillion Bird Lord tilted his head back slightly and stretched his arms wide, the sleeves of his robe hanging from them like a butterfly's wings. Seemingly without any effort at all, he floated upwards, and his voice rang out: "The one who leaves – "

That was a woman's voice, as bright and clear as a rushing mountain stream. It echoed lazily around the valley, worming its way into one's ears and burrowing into one's organs, until one felt it deep in the bones – sending uncontrollable shivers up and down one's spine.

Shaken, Zhou Fei couldn't help but look over, and Mu Xiaoqiao's face caught her eye. His lipstick had become smudged, making it look like blood had trickled from his lips and dried across his chin. He lowered his cold eyes. Just then, she felt something brush past her face, jolting her back to her surroundings. It was the old priest's feather-duster-like whisk, which he had tapped lightly on her shoulder. Zhou Fei felt her heart racing unnaturally. Looking around her, she saw that she was not the only victim of that devil's eerie voice, and even Shen Tianshu had frozen for a moment. Then, she heard thunderous rumblings from the valley below, as if a monster was struggling to break free from beneath the ground. A pungent odor began to permeate the valley.

"What did that madman put underground?"

"So he buried kerosene!"

Two voices rang out simultaneously beside Zhou Fei, one belonging to the old priest, and the other to Xie Yun. These two seemed to be able to read each other's minds – without another word, they each seized one of Zhou Fei's arms, and pulled her backwards, away from the valley.

Zhou Fei still hadn't quite figured out what was happening, and let herself be dragged along. Their little group was like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins, charging towards the mountain's peak so that they could quickly escape down its other side.

Mu Xiaoqiao's gleeful laughter rang out behind them.

And then it was drowned out by a deafening explosion, which shook the very foundations of the mountain. In the valley below, towering flames shot to the sky.

Zhou Fei felt like the explosion had jolted her heart out of her mouth, and her ears were ringing. For a few moments, she couldn't hear a thing. Some of the weaker escapees had even collapsed to the ground. Xie Yun tried shouting several times, but realising that even he couldn't hear what he was saying, gave up and gestured to them that they had to keep going and leave this place as soon as possible.

Having narrowly escaped the jaws of death, this group of people knew that they had to press on at all costs – as he had enemies everywhere, Mu Xiaoqiao would certainly have prepared a back-up plan precisely for situations like these. And as for Shen Tianshu and Tong Kaiyang, whose infamy would 'last a thousand years', and who even the powerful Liang Shao had been unable to get rid of all those years ago, it was unlikely that they would be so easily burnt to a crisp in this fire. If this group stayed here any longer, they might have the misfortune of running into any one of these three indiscriminate killing machines.

It had taken a near-miracle for them to escape that valley. There was no way they were going to let their guard down just yet.

The escapees here were those good-hearted souls who had stayed with Xie Yun to help free others, instead of running off immediately, and so they didn't need any prompting to help up and even carry the weak and disabled among them. Under cover of night, they ran like their lives depended on it. Only after they were about 10 kilometres away from the mountain did Xie Yun agree to stop and rest. At this point, everyone was beyond caring about how they looked – this motley crew of heroes from all parts of the country collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, wishing they could just sink right into that cool earth, grow roots and lie there forever.

At this hour, the night sky was still undisturbed by the dawn, and numerous stars twinkled overhead.

The group of escapees looked around at each other with bleary eyes, thinking about how of all the people in that valley – good and bad, villains and heroes, even some whom they had become quite good friends with – only they had managed to escape by some stroke of luck. Someone chuckled. And then, as if it were infectious, the laughter began to spread. In a few moments, everyone had given in to their emotions, some laughing heartily, some weeping, and some still lost in their thoughts.

Zhou Fei sat down below a large tree, her back against it. Her mind was still a confused mess of thoughts and questions and images, her ears still ringing with the sounds of weapons clanging and explosions. She was looking straight ahead at the surrounding trees and rocks, but all she could see was a black mass of the Big Dipper's men one moment, the valley filled with blood and fire the next, and then the Mayfly Formation playing over and over again in her mind's eye. Her mind was everywhere at once, and her heart was still racing. It felt like the short few months since leaving home had been longer than her entire life put together.

Seeing that everyone was on the verge of losing it, Xie Yun quickly collected himself again and started issuing instructions: "I hear water in that direction, so we can probably catch some fish to eat from there. Everyone must be extremely tired, having first been drugged and then running all this way. Why don't we rest here for one night and set off tomorrow morning. We should be able to reach Huarong City in a day, where you can contact your friends and family."

The escapees, who had barely managed to hold on to their lives, would have been grateful even to eat grass. A few men who had rested for a bit stood up and went to the river to catch everyone's dinner. Others got several fires going, and within minutes everyone was seated around the open flames. After being locked up in a stone cell for ages, the freedom of the endless night sky and the grass beneath their feet felt like pure joy itself.

The old priest jovially introduced himself: "My humble self is from the 'Qimen' Sect, and my Taoist name is Chong Xiaozi. It has been my greatest privilege to have been to hell and back with all of you today."

Other than Xie Yun, who had recognised who he was at once, everyone else was stunned – 'Qimen' was one of the four major Taoist sects, along side 'Quanzhen', 'Wudang', and 'Qingyun'. Amongst them, Qimen disciples were reclusive and seldom seen wandering the martial arts world. They were also adept at tactical formations and traps, which kept them hidden. They were therefore extremely difficult to get ahold of, and other than its sect leader whose Taoist name was somewhat well-known, the others were basically a complete mystery. Many people had never before seen a living, breathing Qimen disciple in their lives, and certainly not a powerful senior disciple like this one – someone with 'Chong' in his name would be of the same seniority as the current Qimen sect leader.

Someone asked: "How did your holiness land in the clutches of that devil?"

Chong Xiaozi bowed apologetically: "I'm ashamed to say that it was due to my ineptitude. I fell into his trap in a moment of carelessness."

Not long after leaving the Mountain of the Living Dead, the Vermillion Bird Lord had found this stronghold in the mountains and re-established a lair for himself. This group of people had been captured at different times, and each had their own grievances against him. Mu Xiaoqiao appeared to have a penchant for keeping people captive. But he was certainly not doing it for free, and perhaps even extorting a ransom from his captives' sects and families. Compared to this, the 48 Zhai was really not living up to its name as a member of the 'underworld' – seeing as it made an honest living from ploughing the fields and doing business with the villagers living at the foot of the mountains.

Chong Xiaozi sighed and said: "The Vermillion Bird Lord is an infamous villain with no morals to speak of. But while he is indeed despicable, at least he wasn't intent on slaughtering us, instead keeping us alive for so long. In contrast, those two lords from the Big Dipper were truly and ruthlessly vicious."

The devout old priest spoke with the utmost politeness, even when referring to his enemies who had dealt him grievous harm. But the people around him certainly weren't as kind, and grumbled: "Your holiness, there is no need to be so polite – those two aren't 'lords' by any measure, they are clearly lapdogs of that old bastard in the North!"

Chong Xiaozi smiled at that, but still refrained from responding. He bowed to Xie Yun and Zhou Fei, saying: "Much thanks is owed to these two young and noble comrades. May I know which sect you hail from?"

He had asked what everyone was eager to know. They drew closer to the two youths at his question, each bearing their own compliments, comments and questions.

Zhou Fei hadn't had a wink of sleep in three days, and was just about to yawn. She was jolted awake by this sudden wall of noise that encircled her, and she found that someone had shoved a freshly grilled fish into her hand.

One person excitedly boasted on her behalf: "Despite her young age, this young maiden is exceedingly skilled with her sabre. I saw it with my own eyes – with a mere few sweeps of her blade, she forced those two Big Dipper scoundrels to retreat!"

Zhou Fei: "…"

She hadn't even had the chance to touch a single hair on the head of those 'scoundrels', and had in fact fed one of them a steamed bun.

Zhang Chenfei stepped forward to save her from the boisterous onslaught, first introducing himself, and then patting Zhou Fei on the head as he said: "This is my shimei in the 48 Zhai. While she is usually a ball of mischief, I'm glad that she's shown herself to be capable of doing some good."

The '48 Zhai' was widely known and respected. So Zhang Chenfei only seemed to have made matters worse, as everyone immediately started showering her with all kinds of compliments, bowing and paying their respects.

Someone even said, trembling with excitement: "Was that the Snow-Breaking Sabre?"

While Zhou Fei had indeed used a little of the Snow-Breaking Sabre, she felt that her meagre skills were far from being up to par. She also feared that this group of excitable rumour-mongers, whose abilities of exaggeration she had just personally witnessed, would begin spreading things like 'The Snow-Breaking Sabre took down Dubhe with one strike and Mizar with another! I saw it with my own two eyes!'. She quickly said: "No no no, given my paltry talents, Mistress Li refused to impart the Snow-Breaking Sabre to me."

To Zhou Fei's immense relief, it wasn't too long before the group of men let up, realising at last that it wasn't quite proper for them to keep showering a young girl with incessant questions and comments. She quietly ensconced herself within the group of familiar 48 Zhai disciples, and told them the entire story of her journey thus far – why she had accompanied Old Madam Wang down the mountain, how Li Sheng had been captured, and how she had pursued him. Now that she had found Zhang Chenfei, he would know where to go, what to do, who to contact, and how to reunite with Old Madam Wang – all she needed to do was follow him. Finally at ease, she sat down in a quiet corner, listening idly to the various men trumpeting her exploits.

As she listened, her mind began to drift. All this while, it had been her fervent wish to be able to exceed Li Jinrong one day. But now, another goal began to take shape – twenty years ago, her grandfather's renowned name had been synonymous with the 48 Zhai, and now, it was 'Mistress Li''s Snow-Breaking Sabre…would it ever be possible for 'Zhou Fei' to be mentioned in the same breath?

But that crazy idea flashed across her mind only for an instant. Upon further self-reflection, she felt that not only was this pie in the sky, the desire for the words 'Zhou Fei' to be universally known was more than a little shameless. She cast the thought aside.

The young Miss Wu had been washing herself by a nearby pond, meticulously scrubbing the dirt off her hands and face. She then washed the handkerchief that Zhou Fei had passed her just now, and hung it carefully on a tree branch overhead. Surrounded by a group of louts that stank to high heaven, she had no choice but to sit by Zhou Fei.

Glancing at the girl, Zhou Fei passed her half of the grilled fish she had been given and said casually: "What's your name?"

It wasn't proper for a young lady to reveal her birth name to outsiders, but a coarse ruffian like Zhou Fei who thought nothing of bullying her tutors certainly didn't know that. If she hadn't been a girl, she would probably have been thought a lecher.

The young Miss Wu looked at the crowd of unfamiliar men around her. The disciples of the 48 Zhai quickly turned their backs to them and pretended that they hadn't heard Zhou Fei's question. Her face reddening, when she finally responded to Zhou Fei her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz: "You can call me Chu Chu."

Zhou Fei nodded, saying: "My mother told me that your father is a great hero. Once you come home with me, you won't have to fear any of those evil men anymore."

She paused, thinking wistfully of the bustling 48 Zhai, and couldn't help but start describing it in detail to the young Miss Wu. Zhou Fei was a complete and utter country bumpkin – she had never before seen Jinling in all its splendour, nor the majestic old capital of the Northern Dynasty – to her, the 48 Zhai was the best and grandest place on earth. But Wu Chuchu didn't snicker at her earnestness, feeling strangely melancholic instead. No matter how magnificent this world was, she had no attachment to any of it. Thousands of miles from home, and forever at the mercy of others from now on, she envied whoever had a home, a place that they could long to return to. She asked Zhou Fei softly: "At the 48 Zhai, will I…will I also be able to learn martial arts?"

Zhou Fei paused, trying to figure out what to say.

Wu Chuchu's expression immediately darkened again, and she said: "I guess it's not possible then. I've heard that martial arts pugilists all need to start from a young age, so I probably…"

"Why can't you! While you might not be as good as those who have been practicing since young, you'll at least be more powerful than you are right now. When we get back, I'll ask…" Zhou Fei was going to say 'my mother', but thought better of it, as Mistress Li had a million things on her plate and might not have the time to do so. She continued: "…Granny Wang to teach you. She's very good-tempered and kind, and will definitely agree to it."

Zhang Chenfei laughed: "Look at you, giving my mother work to do."

Joy streaked across Wu Chuchu's face, and she opened her mouth to say something. But then her expression suddenly grew restrained, and she moved quietly to the side.

Zhou Fei looked up to see that Xie Yun had walked over, after finally managing to fend off the curious crowd, but had refrained from interrupting her conversation with the young Miss Wu. He stood a few steps away from them, smiling brightly and with his arms folded across his chest.

[1] This comes from a story in the West Han Dynasty, in which a diligent but poor student named Kuang Heng could not afford candles at home to study at night, so he dug a hole in the wall to let in the light from his richer neighbour's house.

[2] 十八般兵器/十八般武艺 – 18 types of weapons/martial arts were first recorded in a military manual of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the term has been used as a general reference to the most representative 18 weapons/martial arts in China, even though the actual figure far exceeds this.

[3] This was mentioned in Chapter 1, but here's a picture again anyway. It's the little stick holding the man's hair up in the first picture.

[4] The Chinese believe that seeing unclean/evil things will result in you having good luck – it's a karmic balance.

[5] Taoist priests carried whisks which symbolised the majesty and solemnity of spiritual teachings.

[6]A renowned sect in the martial arts world formed by beggars from all across the country, which are often referred to in wuxia novels.

[7][7] 扎马步 – Zhama Steps are the most basic foundation of many martial arts. It involves planting your feet on the ground facing 15 degrees outwards, the same width as your shoulders, then squatting slightly.

[8] A position in the Taoist Bagua – eight symbols used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality. Picture here. I'm not entirely sure what it is in real life/the context of this fight though.