Chen was extremely concerned at the news that theThree Devils of Guandong were out to get Huo Qingtong.
The image of her gradually disappearing into the dustof the Great Desert forced its way into his mind oncemore, but remembering how familiar she had been withMaster Lu's pupil, he decided that he was foolinghimself about her feelings for him. But he was unableto forget her image.
The white horse was extraordinarily fast, and in lessthan two days he arrived at Jiayu Fortress, thewestern end of the Great Wall. He climbed up onto thebattlements and looked out at the Wall snaking awayinto the distance, holding at bay the greatwilderness. He felt a sense of excitement at thethought of once more entering the border regions, andfollowed custom by throwing a stone at the wall. Thesandstorms outside the Wall were perilous, the waywould be hard, and according to tradition, if atraveller threw a stone at the wall as he passedthrough the Jiayu Gate, he would be able to returnalive.
He travelled by day, rested by night. After he hadpassed the Jade Gate and Anxi, the desert changedcolour gradually from pale to dark yellow, and thenslowly turned to grey as he skirted the Gobi. Theregion was uninhabited, containing nothing but endlessexpanses of broad desert.
He passed through the Stellar Gorge, the main linkbetween Gansu Province and the Muslim regions. It wasalready winter and the first accumulations of snowcoud be seen along the gorge, providing a thrillingcontrast of black and white.
"What a perfect place for an ambush," Chen thought.
That night, he lodged in a small hut and the next dayfound himself at the edge of the Gobi desert. The Gobiwas as flat as a mirror, completely different from asandy desert with its rolling dunes. Gazing into thedistance, it seemed to him as if the sky and earthtouched one another. All was silent, and it seemed asif he and his horse were the only beings in theuniverse.
The As he rode, day after day, he considered theproblem of how to find Huo Qingtong. As a Chinese, theMuslims could suspect him of being a spy, so to gaintheir confidence he would have to resort to deception.
He decided to disguise himself as a Muslim, and at thenext settlement, bought a small embroidered cap, apair of leather boots and a striped gown. Riding on,he found a deserted place and changed into his newclothes, burying the old ones in the sand. He lookedat his reflection in a nearby stream and was sopleased with his appearance as a young Muslim boy thathe let out a laugh.
But he met no Muslims on the road. The Muslim villagesand dwellings he came upon were all burnt to theground, obviously the good work of General Zhao Wei'sarmy. He decided he was unlikely to meet any Muslimson the main highway, so he cut off south, and headedinto the mountains. In such desolate wilderness, therewas little chance of finding any settlement, and afterthree days, his dry rations were finished. Butluckily, he managed to catch and kill a goat.
Two days further on, he met a number of Kazakhherdsmen. They knew that the Muslim army had retreatedwestwards in the face of the Manchu force, but had noidea where it had gone.
There was nothing for it but to continue west. Chengave the horse its head and made no attempt to divertit. For four days he covered more than a hundred milesa day with nothing but sand and sky before his eyes.
On the fourth day, the weather turned hot. The burningsun scorched down on both man and horse. He wanted tofind somewhere shady where they could rest, butwherever he looked there was nothing but sand dunes.
He opened his water flask, drank three mouthfuls, andlet the white horse drink the same amount. Despite aterrible thirst, he did not dare to drink more.
They rested for two hours, then started out once more.
Suddenly, the white horse raised its head and sniffedat the wind, whinnied loudly, then turned and gallopedoff south. Chen gave it its head. Soon, sparse grassesbegan to appear on the sand dunes around them, thengreen grass. Chen knew there must be an oasis ahead,and his heart leapt. The white horse too was in highspirits and its hooves flew.
After a while, they heard the sound of running waterand a small steam appeared before them. Chendismounted and scooped up a mouthful of water. As hedrank, he felt a coolness penetrate to his lungs andnoticed a slight fragrance to the water. The streamwas full of little pieces of ice which jostled eachother, emitting a crisp jingling noise, like the musicof fairies. After drinking a few mouthfuls, the whitehorse gave a whinny and gambolled about happily for amoment.
Having drunk his fill, Chen felt relaxed and content.
He filled his two leather water flasks. In the midstof the sparkling ice fragments, he spotted flowerpetals floating past, and realized it must be flowerbeds further upstream which made the waters sofragrant.
"If I follow the stream up," he thought, "I may comeacross someone who can tell me where Huo Qingtongmight be." He remounted and started along the bank.
The stream gradually widened. In the desert, mostrivers and streams are larger close to their source asthe water is soaked up by the desert sands andeventually disappears. Having lived many years in theMuslim areas, Chen did not consider it strange. Thetrees along the banks of the stream also increased innumber and he spurred his horse into a gallop. As theyturned a bend in the stream round a hill, a silverwaterfall came into view.
Chen felt invigorated by the discovery of such agorgeous place in the midst of the barren desert, andwas curious to know what vistas would presentthemselves above the waterfall. He led the horse roundand up, and as they emerged from a line of tall firtrees, he stopped in amazement.
Before him was a wide lake fed by another largewaterfall at its southern end. The spray from thecascade spread out in all directions, combining withthe sunlight to create a glorious rainbow, while aprofusion of trees and flowers of many colourssurrounded the lake and reflected in itsturquoise-green waters. Beyond was a huge expanse ofverdant grass stretching off to the horizon on whichhe could see several hundred white sheep. A highmountain rose into the clouds from the western bank ofthe lake, the lower slopes covered in green foliageand the upper slopes in brilliant white snow.
He stood staring at the scene for a moment. The soundof small birds singing in the trees and ice slabs inthe lake jostling against each other combined with theroar of the waterfall into a work of music. Looking atthe surface of the lake, he suddenly noticed a circleof small ripples, and a jade-white hand emerged fromthe water followed by a dripping-wet head. It turnedand saw him, and with a shriek disappeared back intothe water.
In that moment, Chen had been able to see that thehead belonged to an extremely beautiful young girl.
"Could there really be such things as water spiritsand monsters?" he wondered. He pulled out three chesspieces and lodged them in his palm just in case.
A string of ripples stretched across the surface ofthe lake northwards, then with a splash, the girl'shead re-emerged amidst an outgrowth of flowers andbushes. Through a gap in the leaves, he could see hersnow-white skin, her raven hair splayed out over thesurface of the water and her eyes, as bright as stars,gazing across at him.
"Who are you?" a clear voice asked. "Why have you comehere?"She spoke in the Muslim language, and although Chenunderstood, he was unable to answer. He felt dazed, asif drunk or in a dream.
"Go away and let me put my clothes on," the girl said.
Chen's face flushed and he quickly went back into thetrees.
He was extremely embarrassed and wanted to escape, buthe thought he should at least ask the girl for news ofHuo Qingtong. For a while he was undecided. Then thesound of singing, soft but clear, floated over fromthe opposite side of the lake:
"Brother, brother, passing by,Please come backWhy have you run off so fastWithout a word?"He walked slowly back to the lake and, looking across,saw a young girl dressed in a brilliantly white gownsitting bare-foot on a bed of red flowers by thewater's edge. She was slowly combing her long hair,still covered in beads of water, as flower petalsdrifted slowly down onto her head. He marvelled thatsuch a beautiful girl could exist.
The girl smiled radiantly and motioned with her handfor him to come over.
"I was passing this way and felt thirsty," Chen saidin the Muslim language. "I chanced upon a stream andfollowed it here. I did not expect to run into you,miss. It was an unintentional error. Please forgiveme." He bowed as he spoke.
"What is your name?" she asked.
"I am called Ahmed."This was the most common name among Muslim men, andthe girl smiled again.
"All right," she said. "Then my name Ayesha." This wasthe most common name among Muslim women. "Who are youlooking for?""I have to find Master Muzhuolun."The girl looked startled. "Do you know him?""Yes, I do," said Chen. "I also know his son, Huo Ayi,and his daughter, Huo Qingtong.""Where did you meet them?""They travelled to the central plains to recover thesacred Koran and I happened to come across themthere.""Why are you looking for Master Muzhuolun?"Chen recognised the note of respect in her voice. "Ishe of the same tribe as you, miss?" The girl nodded.
"They killed a number of bodyguard agency escortswhile recovering the sacred Koran, and friends of theescorts are now seeking revenge. I want to warn them."The girl had had a smile constantly playing around herlips, but now it disappeared. "Are the men that arecoming to take revenge very terrible?" she asked. "Arethere many of them?""No, not many. They are good fighters, but as long aswe are prepared, there is nothing to fear."The girl relaxed and smiled again. "I will take you tosee Master Muzhuolun," she said. "We will have totravel for several days." She began to plait her hair.
"The great Manchu army came and attacked us for noreason and all the men have gone away to fight. Mysisters and I have remained here to watch over thelivestock."As she talked, Chen gazed at her in wonder. He couldnever have imagined such jade-like beauty, even in hiswildest dreams. Such a scene, such a situation wassimply not of this ............