All eyes turned in the direction from which the hornblast had come. Two Muslim guards rode up and reportedto Muzhuolun: "The Manchu General Zhao Wei has sent anenvoy who requests an audience.""All right," replied Muzhuolun. "Bring him here." Thetwo riders galloped off, and returned with five otherriders who dismounted about a hundred feet from thecrowd.

　　The Manchu envoy was robust man and walked towardsthem with powerful strides. But his four attendentsmade the Muslims jump in surprise. All four weregiants, a good two heads higher than ordinary men, andtheir bodies were broad and thick.

　　The envoy strode up to Muzhuolun and nodded at him.

　　"Are you the head of the tribe?" he asked arrogantly.

　　The Muslims were outraged, and several of the youngerwarriors drew their sabres. The envoy ignored him.

　　"I am under orders from General Zhao Wei to give youan ultimatum," he announced loudly in the Muslimtongue. "If you know what's good for you, you willsurrender immediately, in which case your lives willbe spared. Otherwise, our two armies will meet atdaybreak the day after tomorrow and you will becompletely annihilated. It will be too late then forregrets."The crowd of Muslims sprang to their feet in rage, butMuzhuolun, with a wave of his hand, ordered them to beseated and turned to the envoy. "You come withoutreason or justification and kill our people, steal ourproperty. The True God on High will punish you foryour dishonourable behaviour. If you want to fight, wewill fight. Even if our army is reduced to only oneman, that man will still never surrender."The Muslims raised their sabres and repeated his wordsin unison: "If you want to fight, we shall fight!"they roared. "Even if our army is reduced to only oneman, he will never surrender!" The mood was sombre butdetermined. The Muslims knew the Manchu force waspowerful and that in a battle to the finish, thechances were they would lose. But they were loyalbelievers in Islam, they loved freedom and would be noman's slave.

　　The envoy looked about him and sneered. "All right,"he said. "The day after tomorrow, each and every oneof you will die." He spat savagely onto the ground ina calculated insult, and three young Muslims leapttowards him. "Today, you are an envoy, so you will beallowed to leave safely," one of them shouted. "Butwhen we meet on the battlefield, we will not be sopolite."The envoy's mouth twisted in anger, and his four giantattendants roughly pushed aside the three Muslim boysand took up positions around him.

　　"Ha!" The envoy cried in contempt. "You useless scum!

　　We'll give you a taste of our Manchu skills!" Heclapped his hands and one of the four giants glancedround and strode over to a poplar tree nearby to whichseveral camels were tethered. He grasped its trunk inhis arms and after a few rigorous shakes, pulled thetree bodily from the ground. Then he snapped the reinsof one of the camels and gave it a kick on its rump,sending it racing away in great pain. When the camelwas more than a hundred feet away, another of thegiants sprinted after it and in a moment caught upwith the animal. He swung the huge camel onto hisshoulders, ran back towards the bonfire and set itback on its feet, then stood proudly beside it. "Huh!"exclaimed the third giant in contempt, and drove afist at the camel's head. The animal swayed unsteadilyand crashed to the ground. The fourth giant grabbedhold of its two hind legs and swung it round and roundabove his head, then with a shout let it go. The camelfell to earth sixty or seventy feet away.

　　The giants, known as the Four Tigers, werequadruplets, and their mother had died giving birth tothem. Their father was a poor hunter in the forests ofManchuria, and with his wife dead, he had no milk tofeed the four babies, but soon after, he heard amournful cry outside in the forest and found a femaletiger caught in a trap. He and a companion were tyingthe animal up when he happened to notice three tigerpups lying close by. In a flash of inspiration, hekilled the pups and took the tiger back to his hutwhere he reared her, feeding her meat every day, andmilking her to feed his four sons. From the start,they were uncommonly big and strong, and became moreso as they grew. The only problem was that they were alittle stupid and impetuous.

　　The Muslims were startled by this amazing show ofstrength, but unwilling to appear weak before theenemy, they roared out their defiance.

　　"What are you doing, killing a good camel? Are youinhuman?" someone shouted. The envoy curled his lipsinto another sneer. The crowd became even moreincensed, and it looked as though he would be mobbed.

　　"So you're going to bully an envoy, are you?" heshouted.

　　Muzhuolun restrained the crowd with difficulty. "Youare an envoy, but you ordered your men to kill one ofour camels, which is a great insult," he said. "If youwere not guests here, I would not let you get awaywith it. Leave immediately.""Do you think we Manchus are afraid of you scum?" theenvoy shouted. "If you have a reply, give it to me topass on. I'm sure none of you would dare to go andhand it to General Zhao Wei personally." Another roarwent up from the Muslims.

　　Huo Qingtong jumped to her feet. "You say none of uswould dare to go to see General Zhao Wei. Huh! Everysingle person here would dare, men and girls alike."The envoy looked stunned for a second, then threw backhis head and roared with laughter. "If any of thesegirls didn't die of fright on seeing General Zhao Wei,I would be amazed.""Don't underestimate us," replied Huo Qingtongangrily. "We will send someone back with youimmediately. Pick someone yourself. Whoever you choosewill go. You will see what spirit we followers ofMohammed have," The Muslims roared their approval andeveryone began shouting "Choose me! Choose me!""All right," said the envoy coldly. He wanted to findthe weakest, most useless girl who would immediatelyburst into tears so that the Muslims would lose facecompletely. His eyes roved over the crowd, searchingback and forth, and suddenly lit up. He walked over toPrincess Fragrance and pointed at her. "Let her go!"he said.

　　The Princess glanced at him and slowly stood up. "Formy tribe, for my brothers and sisters, I would goanywhere without fear. Allah the true God will surelyprotect me," she said.

　　Her apparent weakness had given way to calm dignity.

　　Faced with her stunning beauty, the envoyinvoluntarily lowered his eyes, and he felt a tinge ofregret at his choice. Muzhuolun, Huo Qingtong and theother Muslims, although proud that she had notdisplayed weakness, were nonetheless anxious. HuoQingtong was particularly worried. Her sister knew nokung fu, and could not be allowed to enter the Tiger'sLair unprotected. "She is my sister," she said. "Iwill go in her place."The envoy laughed. "I always knew the word of a girlcould not be relied upon. If you don't have the nerve,why bother sending anyone? War or surrender, I cantake the message for you.""If we meet on the battlefield and if you don't runaway, I'll let you see whether us girls are useless ornot," said Huo Qingtong, livid with anger.

　　"I would naturally be merciful with a beauty such asyou," he replied, smiling. The Muslims gnashed theirteeth at his insolence.

　　"Sister, I will go," the Princess said to HuoQingtong. "Don't be afraid." She pulled Chen up by thehand. "He will go with me."In the light of the flames from the bonfire, HuoQingtong suddenly recognised Chen and stared at him inshock. Chen surreptitiously motioned with his handindicating that she should not reveal his identityyet, then turned to the envoy.

　　"We mean what we say," he said. "I will go alone withher to see General Zhao Wei. Unlike you, we do notrequire four giants to protect us. What use are thesegiants anyway?""A camel can carry a load of thousand catties, but aman can only carry one tenth as much," added thePrincess. "Should the man ride the camel or the camelthe man?" A great laugh went up from the crowd at thistaunt.

　　"What are they laughing at?" one of the four giantsasked the envoy.

　　"They say that you are useless even though you arelarge and strong."Incensed, the giant beat his chest with his hands.

　　"Who dares to match himself against me?" he roared.

　　"What use are you?" the envoy said to Chen. "You'vejust a little stripling. Even if you were ten timesstouter, you would still not be as strong as he."Chen decided this envoy needed to be cut down to sizeto save the face of the Muslims. He took three stepsforward.

　　"I may be the most useless member of our tribe but Iam still better than you Manchus," he said. "Tellthose four hulks to come over here."By this time, Muzhuolun had also recognized Chen.

　　"Daughter, look who it is!" he cried to Huo Qingtongin surprise and joy. The girl did not answer.

　　Muzhuolun looked over and saw her eyes brimming withtears, and realised both his daughters were in lovewith the same man. He wondered how Chen had met hisyounger daughter.

　　Next to the giants, Chen looked like a small child. Hehad come forward, the Muslims decided, for the honourof the Princess and the tribe, but was obviously nomatch for the giants. Chen raised his hands to thecrowd.

　　"Brothers," he said. "These Manchurians are useless.

　　Let me deal with them by myself."The envoy translated his words to the four giants, whoangrily sprang forward to grab Chen. Chen stood solid,smiling faintly, and the envoy hurriedly restrainedthe four.

　　"Since this gentleman wants a contest, there will beno blame if anyone gets hurt," the envoy said toMuzhuolun. "It must be one against one, no-one else isallowed to interfere."Muzhuolun grunted once.

　　"What fun is there in one to one?" said Chen. "Tellthe four of them to come at once.""How many will there be on your side?" the envoyasked.

　　"How many? Why, just myself of course." A murmur ranthrough the crowd: he had gone too far this time.

　　The ............