The column crossed Black Scabbard mountain, and thatnight another thirty or forty soldiers deserted. Zhangdiscussed the situation with Rui and the otherbodyguards.
"These fellows are not going to give up even thoughthis is the main road to Lanzhou, the provincialcapital," he said. "There's going to be a lot moretrouble ahead, so we had better make our way round bythe backroads, and cross the river at Crimson Bend."Cao Neng had been looking forward to getting toLanzhou so that he could transfer his burden to othershoulders, and was very unhappy with Zhang's plan. Buthe did not dare to disagree.
"We have lost many soldiers on the road," Zhang said.
"When you get back, Master Cao, you can report thatthey were killed during an attack on bandits, and diedcourageously for their country. I will write out anote to that effect in a moment."Cao Neng's spirits rose again. According to themilitary regulations, if a soldier was killed inaction, it was possible to obtain a pension, and themoney naturally fell into the pocket of the officer incommand.
They heard the roar of the Yellow River long before itcame into view, and travelled more than half a dayfurther before arriving at the Crimson Bend crossing.
At this bend on the Yellow River, the rocks along thebanks are blood-red, hence its name. Dusk was alreadyapproaching, but through the evening mists, they couldsee the fury with which the Yellow River surgedeastwards, its muddy waters bubbling and boilingagainst the banks.
"We will cross the river tonight," Zhang said. "Thewater is dangerous but if we delay, there may betrouble."With the river running so fast, the crossing couldonly be made by sheepskin rafts. Soldiers were sentout to search for rafts, but they could not found any.
Darkness fell. Zhang was just becoming anxious when hespotted two sheepskin rafts shooting down the rivertowards them. The soldiers shouted, and the two raftsedged towards the bank.
"Hey, boatman!" Cao shouted. "Ferry us across andwe'll pay you well."The big man on the raft stood up and waved his hand.
"You're a mute," said Cao.
"Damn your ancestors," replied the man in Cantonese.
"If you're coming then come, if you're not, thendon't. You bunch of bastards. It's a waste of timedealing with you." Cao and the others understood not aword of it. Cao ignored him and invited Zhang and thebodyguards escorting Wen to get onto the rafts first.
Zhang weighed up the boatman. His wide-brimmed hat hidhalf his face and it was impossible to distinguish hisfeatures clearly. But the muscles on his arms werebunched and bulging, revealing great strength, whilethe oar in his hands was of a very dark colour andappeared to be made of something other than wood. Hefelt something was wrong, and not being able to swim,he could not afford to fall victim to some trick.
"Master Cao," he said. "You go first with some of thesoldiers."Cao ordered some of the soldiers onto the two rafts.
The current was rapid, but the two boatmen were highlyskilled and safely delivered the government troops tothe opposite bank, and then returned to take onanother batch.
Cao boarded a raft with another group of soldiers, butjust as they left the bank, a long whistle soundedbehind them which was answered by a host of otherwhistles.
Zhang hastily ordered the troops to surround thecarriage and guard it closely. A crescent moon hunglow in the sky. Under its light, he saw about a dozenhorses coming towards them. He galloped forward.
"What's going on?" he shouted.
The riders formed a single rank as they approached,then one in the middle spurred his horse on and rodeahead of the others. In his hand he held a whitefolding fan with which he fanned himself. "Is that the'Fire Hand Judge' Zhang Zhaozhong?" he asked.
"It is," Zhang replied. "And who are you, sir?"The other laughed. "We thank you for escorting ourBrother Wen this far, but we would not want to troubleyou further.""Are you Red Flower Society people?""Everyone praises the 'Fire Hand Judge' for hissuperlative mastery of the martial arts, but heobviously has divine foresight as well," the manreplied, smiling. "You are correct. We are Red FlowerSociety people." He gave a long whistle.
Zhang started slightly as he heard the two boatmen onthe rafts give answering whistles.
Cao, seated on one of the rafts, saw the enemyapproaching on the shore, and his face turned thecolour of mud. The boatman stopped the raft inmidstream with a stroke of his oar.
"Thirteenth Brother!" Cao heard a crisp voice callfrom the other raft. "Ready when you are.""Right!" the boatman replied. Cao raised his spear andthrust it at him, but the boatman deflected it deftlywith his oar and then knocked Cao and all the othersoldiers on board into the river. Both boatmen thenrowed back close to the shore.
Zhang was thankful for his caution. "You have beenkilling government troops the whole way," he shouted.
"You have committed many unpardonable acts. What isyour position in the Red Flower Society, sir?""There is no need for you to ask my name," GreatHelmsman Chen said. "Xin Yan, give me my weapons."Xin Yan opened his bag and placed two weapons inChen's hands. Normally, the other heroes should havefought first, but Chen was unable to resist theopportunity to demonstrate his skills.
Zhang jumped off his horse and strode forward. Butjust as he was preparing himself for the fight,Imperial Bodyguard Zhu ran up behind him and said:
"Master Zhang, let me deal with him."Zhang decided to let him test out the enemy first. "Becareful, Brother Zhu," he said.
Zhu lunged forward, sword raised. He chopped out atChen's thigh. Chen jumped lightly off his horse andlifted the shield in his left hand to parry the blow.
In the moonlight, Zhu saw that nine glistening, sharphooks protruded from the face of the shield, and knewthat if his sword collided with them, it would becaught in their grasp. He started in fright andhastily withdrew his sword. Chen then flourished theweapon in his right hand: five cords, each one tippedwith a steel ball especially designed for hitting theYuedao points on the human body. Terrified by theferocious nature of this weapon, Zhu leapt backwards,but the cords circled round behind him, and he felt asudden numbness on his back. Then the cords entwinedhis legs and with a tug, Chen pulled Zhu off his feet,swung him round and round, and sent him flyingstraight towards a rocky outcrop nearby.
If he had hit it, he would have been smashed topieces. But Zhang, seeing that Zhu was completelyout-classed, raced over, grabbed his queue and pulledhim down just in front of the rock face.
"Rest for a while, Brother Zhu," he said. Frozen withfear, Zhu was unable to answer.
Zhang raised his precious 'Frozen Emerald' Sword andleapt in front of Chen.
Zhang thrust his sword at Chen's right shoulder. Chenflipped the chords towards the blade, while the shieldin his left hand struck out at Zhang.
As they battled, the two boatmen, 'Crocodile' Jiangand Luo Bing, jumped ashore and ran towards thecarriages, guarded by the soldiers. Jiang chargedstraight into the ranks, immediately killing two ofthe closest soldiers. The others frantically gave way.
Luo Bing charged over to one of the carriages, andlifted up the carriage curtain.
"Fourth Brother, are you in there?" she called. But itwas 'Scholar' Yu, still seriously wounded. Suddenlyhearing Luo Bing's voice through his stupor, he couldonly think that it was a dream, or that he had diedand was meeting her in the other world.
"You've come!" he cried happily.
Luo Bing knew that the voice was not her husband's andran to the next carriage. But before she could pullaside the curtain, a saw-toothed sword chopped at herfrom the right. She parried with her sword, andlooking up at her attacker in the watery moonlight,recognised him as one of the eight bodyguards who hadattacked Wen and herself in Suzhou. With a surge ofhatred, she redoubled her attack. Rui was aware of herability with throwing knives and speeded up hisstrokes to avoid giving her an opportunity to usethem. Then two other bodyguards joined the battlewhile the soldiers closed in from all sides.
Four more of the heroes led by 'Leopard' Wei gallopedtowards her through a hail of arrows. One arrowplanted itself in the neck of Wei's horse, and thepain made it gallop even more furiously. The animal'shooves hit the chest of one of the soldiers, Wei flewoff the horse with his hooks raised, and amid a chorusof screams, gouged them into the breasts of two othersoldiers. Wei then aimed the hooks at Bodyguard Ruiwho was forced to abandon his attack on Luo Bing.
'Hunchback' Zhang Jin and the others also raced up andthe soldiers scattered.
Free once more, Luo Bing threw herself into thecarriage and hugged Wen's neck, then burst into tears.
After a while, Zhang Jin stuck his head in through thecarriage curtain. "Fourth Brother," he grinned. "We'vecome to take you back."He climbed onto the driver's seat and the carriagemoved off northwards away from the river, and stoppedby the side of a mound, from which they could get agood view of the battle.
Suddenly, Zhang broke away from his duel with Chen andran for Wen's carriage.
Luo Bing saw him coming and brandished her sword athim. But Zhang's sword was extraordinarily tough, andas they clashed with a 'clang', it snapped her bladein two. With the rest of his strength, Zhang leapt upinto the carriage and pulled Luo Bing in with him.
Greatly frightened, the other heroes raced up to saveher, and Zhang lifted her up and threw her at them.
The Twin Knights raced over and caught her.
Meanwhile, Zhang turned and grabbed Wen, and pulledhim to the carriage door. "Wen Tailai is here," heshouted. "If anyone dares to come any closer, I'llkill him!"The cold gleam of Zhang's 'Frozen Emerald' sword waspoised at Wen's neck.
"Fourth Brother," Luo Bing wailed, and tried to throwherself at the carriage, but Lu Feiqing held her backand took a step forward himself.
"Zhang!" he called out. "Can you see who I am?" Zhangand he had not seen each other for a long time and itwas difficult to see clearly in the moonlight, so Ludrew his White Dragon sword, took hold of the tip ofthe blade, and bent the handle back so that it formeda circle. Then he let the tip go and the blade bouncedback upright and swayed slightly.
Zhang grunted. "Ah, so it's Brother Lu," he said. "Whyhave you come looking for me?""You are wounded," Lu replied. "All the heroes of theRed Flower Society are here as well as 'Iron Gall'
Zhou Zhongying. It is going to be hard for you toescape today with your life. But in memory of ourbenevolent teacher, I will give you a way out."Zhang grunted again, but said nothing.
Suddenly they heard shouts and cries drifting overfrom the east, as if a thousand armies were racingtowards them. The heroes were filled withapprehension, but Zhang was even more worried.
"This Red Flower Society is truly resourceful," hethought. "Even here in the northwest, they can stillcall up huge reinforcements.""Release Master Wen," Lu Feiqing continued, "and Iwill ask the heroes, out of respect for me, to releaseyou. But there is one thing you must swear to."Zhang eyed the strong enemies surrounding him. "What?"he said.
"You must swear that you will immediately retire frompublic life and no longer be a running dog of theManchus."Zhang had pursued glory and wealth with fervour and hehad risen in rank as fast as though swept upwards upby a whirlwind. Wanting him to give up his positionwas just the same as wanting his life. He released Wenfrom his grip, pulled at the mule's reins, and thecarriage charged forward.
The heroes held back afraid of risking Wen's life, butLuo Bing could not stand it. "Release him and we'lllet you go without having to swear to anything," shecalled desperately.
Zhang took no notice and drove the carriage on towardsthe ranks of Manchu troops, who had by now regrouped.
Bodyguard Rui saw Zhang approaching and ordered thesoldiers to fix arrows in their bows in readiness. Theroar of the approaching column was getting louder and............