by Jin Yong
"Zhang Gongzi,” Zhao Min called out, "If you want to save Yifu, you must save me first.”
Seeing he could not change his sister’s mind, Wang Baobao was very anxious. He reached out and grabbed her. Putting her in front of him on the saddle, his legs squeezed and the horse jumped forward and ran.
Zhao Min’s martial art skill was actually higher than her brother, but her strength was gone because of the heavy injury; all she could do was crying out, "Zhang Gongzi, save me! Zhang Gongzi, save me!”
‘Whoosh! Whoosh!’ Zhang Wuji sent out two palm attacks with all his power, forcing the Xuanming Elders to withdraw three steps backward. Utilizing his ‘qing gong’ [lightness skill], he ran after Wang Baobao’s horse.
The Xuanming Elders and the three warriors were shocked; they also ran after him. Each time these five people were closing in, Zhang Wuji would launch a backward palm strike, sending out the formidable power of his Jiu Yang Shen Gong [divine energy from Jiu Yang]. Each time his palm struck, the Xuanming Elders were forced to evade, since they did not dare to take his palm head on.
After three times of such strike, Zhang Wuji was able to take the speeding horse over. He leaped up and grabbed the back of Wang Baobao’s neck. His grab was coupled with an acupoint sealing technique that Wang Baobao’s upper body was immediately paralyzed and his embrace on Zhao Min loosened. Zhang Wuji lifted him up and threw him toward Lu Zhangke.
Lu Zhangke hastily opened up his arms to catch him. Meanwhile, Zhang Wuji had caught Zhao Min, leaped down from the horseback, and dashed toward the hillside on their left. He Biweng and the rest of the warriors ran after them shouting and yelling. But the hill was several hundred ‘zhang’s tall, climbing it would really test their ‘qing gong’. Although the Xuanming Elders possessed strong internal energy, their ‘qing gong’ was actually not top-ranking. Even four or five warriors were able to run ahead of He Biweng.
Zhang Wuji picked up some rocks and threw them down. Immediately some of the pursuers were hit and fell rolling down the hill. The rest of the pursuers were scared. Although they did not dare to stop because their young prince was watching, their steps were slowing down nonetheless. They saw Zhang Wuji carry Zhao Min higher up the hill and they did not dare to pursue farther.
Wang Baobao opened his mouth to curse, and then he called out, "Release the arrow, release the arrow!” While he also picked up his bow and shoot. ‘Swish!’ the arrow flew toward Zhang Wuji’s back.
His shooting power was actually quite strong, but the distance was simply too far. The tip of the arrow was still a few ‘zhang’s away from Zhang Wuji’s back when finally it fell down to the ground.
Zhao Min was holding tight on Zhang Wuji’s neck. Knowing that the pursuers had stopped pursuing, finally she put her heart at rest. She said with a sigh, "Luckily I have known it all along and did not tell you Xie Daxia’s whereabouts. Otherwise you, the heartless little devil head, will not be willing to save me with all your might.”
Zhang Wuji was running around a depression on the mountain, his steps were not slowing down the least bit. "You tell me,” he said, "Won’t you be satisfying both sides if you are going home to tend to your injury? Why did you even bother to offend your brother and come with me facing the hardship?”
"I have decided to face hardship with you,” Zhao Min said, "As for that brother of mine, I will offend him sooner or later anyway. My only fear is that you won’t let me be with you. I don’t care much of everything else.”
Although Zhang Wuji knew that she loved him, he had always thought that it was a young girl’s infatuation, which would pass in a moment. He had never thought that she loved him this much that she would consider riches and honor as dung and dirt, abandon royalty and honor like worn-out shoes. He looked down on her face, and saw the deep emotion on her thin and pale visage; her eyes were looking back at him with a passion similar to the flowing waves. He could not even describe the boundless charm she had on him. Unable to restrain himself, he lowered his head and kissed her slightly trembling cherry lips.
As soon as she was kissed, Zhao Min’s face turned completely red. The excitement was too much for her and she unexpectedly passed out.
Zhang Wuji possessed enough medical knowledge to know that she was all right; actually, the appreciation in his heart was growing. But suddenly he remembered, "Even Zhiruo has never treated me this good!”
Zhao Min only lost her conscience for a moment; as she woke up, she saw his pensive look and asked, "What are you thinking? Are you thinking about Miss Zhou?”
Zhang Wuji did not try to lie; he simply nodded. "I am thinking that I have treated her badly,” he
Unedited Version said.
"Do you regret your decision?” Zhao Min asked.
"When I was about to bow to the Heaven and the Earth with her, I thought about you; and I could not help but feel sad,” Zhang Wuji said, "This time I am thinking about her, I actually feel sorry for her.”
Zhao Min smiled and said, "That means you love me a lot more, don’t you?”
Zhang Wuji replied, "Honestly speaking: you, I love and I hate; Zhiruo, I respect and I fear.”
"Ha ha!” Zhao Min laughed, "I would rather have you love and fear me, and respect and hate her.”
Zhang Wuji smiled. "Well, it’s different now. I hate you and I fear you. I hate you because you broke up my happy marriage, and I fear that you won’t pay me back for the damage.”
"How do I pay to you?” Zhao Min asked.
Zhang Wuji laughed and said, "I want you to pay it with your own self, so that I can continue the wedding festivities [orig. dong4 fang2 hua1 zhu2 - see similar occurrence above].”
"No! No!” Zhao Min blushed profusely, "You’ll have to speak with my father [orig. die1 die1] first ... and I need to make amends to my Gege. Only then . only then .”
"And if your Papa wouldn’t let you?” Zhang Wuji asked.
Zhao Min sighed. "Then marry the devil follow the devil. I have no choice but follow you, the little devil head, to become the little devil mother.”
With a straight face Zhang Wuji roared, "Audacious witch! You follow Zhang Wuji, the pervert thief who rebels and creates trouble. What punishment do you think you deserve?”
With the same straight face Zhao Min unflinchingly said, "As your punishment, the two of you are to be a happy couple, to live together to old age, and after you die, you are to be banished to the eighteenth level of the underworld, and will not be reincarnated for ten thousand years.”
Speaking to this point, they both broke out in laughter. Suddenly from ahead of them came a loud and clear voice, "Junzhu Niang-niang, Xiao Seng [lit. little/lowly or humble monk - referring to self] have been waiting here for a while.” About twenty something foreign monks appeared from behind the mountain. All of them were wearing red robes.
Zhang Wuji recognized these monks’ clothing and adornment; that night, on the ground below the Wan An Temple Pagoda, these monks had tried to stop him. Their martial art skill was very strong; luckily Wei Yixiao had set the Ruyang Palace on fire thus forcing them to retreat. Otherwise, it would not be easy for him to rescue the warriors from the Six Major Sects.
One of the foreign monks clasped his palms and bowed, while saying, "Xiao Seng receives the Prince’s order to accompany Junzhu return to the Palace.”
"What are you doing here?” Zhao Min asked.
"Junzhu is injured,” the foreign monk replied, "The Prince is very concerned, he ordered Xiao Seng
to take Junzhu home.” While speaking, he lifted up a white pigeon in his hand.
Zhao Min understood that her brother had sent a message to their father via a homing pigeon, and so their father must have dispatched these foreign monks to intercept them. "Where is my Father?” she asked.
The foreign monk replied, "The Prince is waiting at the foot of the mountain. He is anxious to see the condition of Junzhu’s injury.”
Zhang Wuji knew too much talking would not do them any good; he strode forw
ard straight toward them, while shouting loudly, "If you want to live, quickly move aside. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being merciless.”
Two foreign monks stepped forward side by side, they both stretched out their right palms pushing against Zhang Wuji’s chest. Zhang Wuji’s left hand made a turn in a pulling and pushing action, he sent the two monks’ palms strength back.
The two foreign monks cried out together, "Ami amihong, ami amihong!” It sounded like they were chanting an incantation, or it could be that they were cursing.
Zhao Min was not willing to be overdone; she also shouted, "Ami amihong yourself!”
‘Tap, tap, tap!’ the foreign monks took three steps back. Two other foreign monks behind them stretched out their right palms to stop the first two monks’ backs, and pushed them forward again. These two foreign monks kept using the same stance from the ‘pai shan zhang’ [‘row of mountains’ palm].
Zhang Wuji was not willing to fight them strength with strength and thus waste his energy; so he launched the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi to divert the monks’ force away. To his surprise, as his fingers were barely touching the edge of those two monks’ palms, he felt just like iron pulled by magnet, his fingers stuck firmly onto the monks’ palms.
The two monks cried out again, ""Ami amihong, ami amihong!”
Twice Zhang Wuji tried to shake them off, but both times he failed. He had no choice but strike back with the Jiu Yang Shen Gong through his fingers. Surprisingly, he failed to push the two monks away. And then he saw that behind these two monks, the other twenty two monks arranged themselves in two rows, with each one’s right palm on the back of the monk in front of him. Twenty four foreign monks lined up neatly in two rows.
Zhang Wuji suddenly remembered, "I have heard Tai Shifu [great master - referring to Zhang Sanfeng] said that in the martial art world of India there is a technique to combine power. These twenty four foreign monks are combining their strength to fight my palms. Even if my internal strength were stronger, I still cannot defeat the combined power of these twenty four men.”
He was afraid the pursuing soldiers would soon arrive, so letting out a long whistle, he added 30% more power to his palms and then abruptly pushed diagonally down, while he dodged to the left.
He knew that these twenty four foreign monks could not possibly combine their strength in one straight line. The six foremost monks had already faltered from the direct impact of the push.
Zhang Wuji immediately sent both his palms out, ‘Slap, slap, slap, slap, slap, slap!’ six times, the six foreign monks tumbled down on the ground with blood spurting out from their mouths. But the seventh and the eighth foreign monks continued their attacks forward.
"You want to follow your comrades?” Zhang Wuji thought. His right palm struck out to block these two monks’ palms. Focusing his strength, he was about to push diagonally again when suddenly he heard light footsteps from behind; somebody was sending him a palm attack. He swung his left palm backhandedly to parry this incoming palm attack, but his Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi was relying on his Jiu Yang Shen Gong, while right at that moment he was using his entire strength to deal with the combined power of the eighteen foreign monks in front of him; therefore, his strike backward only carried not more than 20% of his normal strength. He felt a blast of cold energy penetrating his palm and went straight into his body. His whole body shivered, he staggered, his body bent down and he fell. It was Lu Zhangke who launched a sneak attack on him with the Xuanming Shen Zhang [black/mysteriously dark divine palm].
"Mr. Lu, stop!” Zhao Min cried out in fear, throwing her own body on top of Zhang Wuji’s. "Who dares to make a move?” she shouted.
Actually, Lu Zhangke wanted to follow up with another palm strike, and thus take the life of the number one formidable enemy he had ever faced in his entire life. But seeing how the princess was protecting him, he had no choice but to hold his hand up and step back. He let out a long and loud whistle to signal his companions that everything went well so that it was safe for them to come over.
"Junzhu Niang-niang,” he said, "The Prince only wishes Junzhu Niang-niang to come home; no more than that. This man is the leader of the rebels; why does Junzhu care about him this much?”
Zhao Min was bitterly angry with him, and was thinking of scolding him badly, but she changed her mind as she did not want to incite his anger that he would harm Zhang Wuji’s life. Therefore, keeping her peace, she sat down, embracing Zhang Wuji in her arms.
A short moment later, they heard jingling bells, as three riders came up the mountain. One of them was He Biweng, the other as Wang Baobao, and the last one was the Ruyang Prince himself. As they came near, they jumped down from their horses. The Ruyang Prince frowned and said, "Minmin, what’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you obey your brother but deliberately create trouble in here instead?”
With tears flooding down her cheeks, Zhao Min cried out, "Father, you sent people to bully your daughter like this.”
The Ruyang Prince took several steps forward, putting out a hand to pull her up. Zhao Min flipped her right hand over, a white ray flashed as she took a dagger from her bosom and pointed it toward her own abdomen. "Father,” she called out, "If you don’t let me go, your daughter will die in your presence today.”
The Ruyang Prince was frightened that he retreated two steps backward. In a trembling voice he said, "We can talk, don’t be like this! You ... what do you want?”
With her left hand Zhao Min pulled the clothes covering her right shoulder. She took off the bandage to reveal five finger holes. The poison had been taken away, but the wounds had not healed yet. Her flesh was vaguely exposed underneath traces of blood, making the wound looked even more ghastly.
Seeing her terrible wounds, Ruyang Prince’s heart melted; she was, after all, the beloved daughter he dearly loved. "What happened? How did the wound become this bad?” he repeatedly asked.
Zhao Min pointed toward Lu Zhangke and said, "This man was having an ill intention; he was going
to rape your daughter. Of course I resisted him to the death. He ... he ... then grabbed me like this. Please, Father . Father must help me.”
Lu Zhangke was so frightened that he felt as if his soul was fleeing out of his body. "Even to the death Xiao Ren will not dare. How can ... how can there be such thing?”
"Humph!” the Ruyang Prince stared at him angrily. "Such a nerve!” he said, "I was being lenient to you by not investigating the Han Ji affair, now you have the guts to offend my daughter. Seize him!”
By this time, one by one his personal bodyguards and warriors had caught up with them. Even though they knew the severity of Lu Zhangke’s martial arts, upon hearing their prince shouting his order to seize the man, four of them stepped in to surround him.
Lu Zhangke was shocked and angered; thinking that the princess was taking advantage of their father-daughter relationship. Just because she was angry he had injured her boyfriend, she had unexpectedly framed him. Like the saying goes, ‘blood is thicker than water’. The princess was exceptionally crafty. How could he retaliate to her? In the meantime, he swept away with his palm, forcing the four warriors to retreat. He sighed and said, "Shidi [martial (younger) brother], let’s go!”
He Biweng hesitated. Zhao Min called out, "Mr. He, you are a good man, not a lecher like your Shixiong [martial brother]. Quickly arrest your Shixiong, my Father will bestow a high-ranking official position to you, and will reward you handsomely.”
The Xuanming Elders’ martial art skills might be outstanding, but they were greedy of rank, fame and fortune. Ignoring the dignity of their master, they threw themselves into the Palace for worldly gain. He Biweng knew very well his martial brother’s excessive lascivious nature. Listening to what Zhao Min had said, he was 70, 80% convinced. The offer of promotion had made his heart racing. Only, Lu Zhangke and he were not only martial brothers, they were also best friends; how could he make his move against him? So for a moment he was unable to make a decision.
Lu Zhan
gke’s face showed his grief; with a trembling voice he said, "Shidi, if you want promotion, come and arrest me.”
He Biweng sighed. "Shige,” he said, "Let’s go!” Walking side-by-side, Lu Zhangke and He biweng left.
The Xuanming Elders’ prestige had shaken the capital [orig. Jing Shi - modern day Beijing]; the warriors of the Ruyang Palace respected them as immortals. Who would dare to step out and stop them?
The Ruyang Prince shouted his order over and over again, but the warriors only put on an act of shouting and moving around; they just looked on as the Xuanming Elders went down the mountain.
"Minmin,” the Ruyang Prince said, "You are injured. Quickly come home with me to recuperate.”
Zhao Min pointed toward Zhang Wuji and said, "This Zhang Gongzi saw me being bullied by Lu Zhangke. Seeing the injustice, he went out of his way to save me. But Gege did not know the real story, he accused him of being some leader of the rebels. Father, I have an important business I need to take care with Zhang Gongzi. As soon as we are done, I am going to take him to see you.”
From her words, the Ruyang Prince deduced that his daughter wanted to marry this man, but his son had told him that this man was the Cult Leader of the Ming Cult. Right that moment, his leaving
the capital heading south was to consolidate the troops, to deal with the Ming Cult rebels on the Huai Si and Henan-Hubei region. How could he let his daughter go with this man? He asked, "Your Gege said that this man is the Devil Cult’s Jiaozhu. Is that true?”
"Gege loves to joke,” Zhao Min said, "Father, take a look at him and tell me how old do you think he is? How can he be the brain behind the rebellion?”
The Ruyang Prince sized Zhang Wuji up; he saw a young man, not more than 21 or 22 years old, his face pale from the injury, hence it was devoid of the heroic and valiant air he used to have, he looked even less like someone who was in charge of hundreds of thousands strong rebel army.
But the Prince also knew that his daughter was very shrewd. In addition, the Ming Cult had caused the nation some major disasters. Perhaps this man was not the Cult Leader of the Ming Cult, but he must be one of the important characters within the Ming Cult. Certainly he could not let him go. "Take him inside the city,” he finally decided, "We’ll examine him carefully. If he is not one of the Devil Cult people, I will grant him rewards.” He said that to save his daughter’s face, so that in front of all these people she would not look like a spoiled brat.
