The slopes of Lion Peak produce abundant quantities oftea, one of the most exquisite varieties of the leafunder heaven. The mountain itself is high andprecipitous, and few people go to the very top.

　　Wang Weiyang, his great sword slung across his back,clambered up the steep slope and emerged through thetea bushes onto an expanse of open ground on thesummit. He noticed walking towards him a tall, robustman wearing a short jacket. The man stared at him fora moment.

　　"Are you Wang Weiyang?" he asked.

　　"Yes. And you are the Fire Hand Judge, ZhangZhaozhong?""I am. Do you wish to fight bare-handed or withweapons?" Zhang was a very thorough man. He hadsearched about carefully during his climb up the peak,but had found no sign of anyone lying in ambush.

　　Wang was startled to see Zhang's mouth and nose wereswollen and with his right eye ringed in black,injuries caused by Chen the night before. "We have nogreat grudges against each other," thought Wang. "Whyrisk killing him with a sword-stroke? The consequencesof killing an official of his rank are unthinkable. Itwill be enough to humiliate him with my Eight DiagramKung Fu. I'll show him I'm not egotistical.""I would be honoured to pit myself against your famousLimitless Occult Kung Fu, Master Zhang," he said outloud.

　　"Fine," Zhang replied. He brought his fists togetherin salute and waited for the other to attack.

　　"If I may..." Wang said, and as he spoke, his leftfist shot out and his right hand sliced across towardsZhang's right shoulder. Then in a flash, his left fistflipped over and aimed for the right shoulder whilethe right hand went for the chest. Zhang retreatedthree paces and fended off the blows. The two circledaround, surprised at the extent of the other'sability.

　　"His moves are fast and powerful," Zhang thought.

　　"He's a strong adversary.""He avoided those blows of mine with ease," Wangthought. "Fire Hand Judge is no misnomer."Suddenly, Zhang stepped forward and swept his left legacross at Wang, who jumped clear off the ground toavoid it and countered with a fist aimed at Zhang'sface.

　　They were evenly matched and fought close and fast.

　　The sun was riding high and their two shadows dancedon the ground, merging and separating in a flash. Wangknew that at his age, a long battle would finish him.

　　So he quickly changed his style, and with one handprotecting his body and the other facing outwards, heraced round Zhang, his feet following the pattern ofthe Eight Diagrams.

　　The style dictated that he keep moving, circling roundZhang to the left and right, waiting for anopportunity to strike. It would make even a kung fumaster dizzy after a few circuits.

　　Zhang knew how ferocious this style was, and lunged athis opponent. But Wang had already circled round theother way. Suddenly he struck at Zhang with bothfists, one of which slammed into his shoulder. Zhangcaught hold of Wang's wrist and struck out at hiselbow in retaliation. With his free hand, Wang swungat Zhang's other shoulder and the two leapt apart.

　　Zhang had had the worst of the encounter. "Your kungfu is excellent," he shouted. "Let us duel withswords."He drew his Frozen Emerald sword, Wang also drew hissword and the two stood facing each other.

　　Zhang's mind was bent on recovering face, and hestruck out with a series of attacking sword strokes,fast and vicious. Wang could tell from the way thelight glinted on the Frozen Emerald sword that it wasa superb weapon, and knew that if the two swordsclashed, his own blade would come off the worst. So hedid not dare to directly parry the strokes.

　　They fought round and round. Wang began to sweat andhe secretly worked a number of darts into his palm andthen swapped his sword over to his left hand. Heslashed out with a left-handed stoke, andsimultaneously flung the darts at Zhang. Zhang managedto dodge both dangers, but he was becoming flusteredby the onslaught. He swept his sword across at Wang'swaist, and as the two swords clashed, Wang's bladesnapped cleanly in two.

　　Wang roared and hurled the remaining half at Zhang,and followed it with his remaining three darts. With acry, Zhang fell over backwards and the Frozen EmeraldSword dropped to the ground.

　　"Master Zhang, forgive me!" Wang cried out anxiously.

　　"I have some Golden Scar Ointment here."Zhang was silent. Wang feared he was dead, and killinga court official was no laughing matter so he rushedacross and bent down to examine Zhang.

　　As he did so, he saw flashes of gold before his eyes.

　　Cursing himself, he leant over backwards as fast as hecould, but too late. He felt stabs of pain in his leftchest and shoulder as the needles plunged home. Hegave another angry roar and jumped up ready to fightZhang to the death. But as he swung his sword, thepain in his chest and shoulder was so extreme that hefell back to the ground with a groan. Zhang laughedout loud. He pulled one of Wang's darts from hiswrist, ripped a strip of cloth off his jacket, boundthe wound then stood up.

　　"How could you attack me when I was coming to see ifyou were injured?" Wang demanded angrily. "What sortof man are you to do such a despicable thing? We'llsee if you have the effrontery to face the rest of thefighting community after today.""There's only the two of us here. Who else knows aboutit?" asked Zhang with a smile. "Having lived to such aripe old age, it's about time you went to meet yourforefathers."He picked up half of Wang's snapped sword and dug ahole in the ground, then heaved Wang to the edge ofit.

　　"So you're the North China Earth-Shaker," he said.

　　"I'll give you some earth to shake." He kicked Wanginto the hole and began to bury him alive.

　　As he worked, he heard a long, cold laugh fromsomewhere behind. He whirled round in fright and foundLead Escort Han standing there with an Iron Pipa inhis hand.

　　"So that's it!" Zhang shouted angrily. "The Zhen YuanBodyguard Agency arranges a one-to-one duel andsecretly sets up an ambush. Do you have no shame?""It is you that is shameless," Han replied pointing toWang.

　　"All right, you can demonstrate your Iron Pipa kung fufor me," Zhang said. He flew at Han using LightnessKung Fu and thrust his sword at him. Han retreated twosteps and a sword struck out at Zhang from amongst thebushes. Zhang parried the stroke, and saw theswordsman was the other lead escort who hadaccompanied Han to see him earlier.

　　"Come on, fight me together. It is of no consequenceto the Fire Hand Judge," he shouted.

　　Just as he was about to strike, he heard a noisebehind and turned to see eight or nine men walkingtowards him led by the Red Flower Society's GreatHelmsman, Chen Jialuo. A shiver of panic passedthrough him, and he glanced about, looking for someavenue of escape.

　　"Brother Han, go and look after Master Wang," saidChen. Han ran over to the hole and helped Wang out.

　　"Master Wang said he wished to have a private duelwith no observers or seconds," Zhang shouted.

　　"My brothers and I came to admire the scenery andhappened to come across the two of you," Chen replied.

　　"It was a very artistic display, but you did not winvery honourably, Master Zhang.""We were matching our strength and our wits. What iswrong with such a victory?""You are wise indeed, Master Zhang." Chen walkedslowly forward. "We want to rescue Master Wen.""Well?""His manacles are made of the finest steel which nofile could get through. I therefore have noalternative but to ask you to lend us your excellentsword. As a member of the fighting community, I amsure you will be happy to oblige."Zhang looked at the number of his adversaries and knewit would be difficult to get away.

　　"If you wish to borrow my sword, you will have to takeit by force," he said. He turned and sprinted towardsthe southern path down the mountain slope. Suddenly,he saw in front of him the one-armed Taoist priest,and slung two Golden Needles at him. He knew there wasno chance of hitting the priest, but he hoped that theneedles would occupy............