Chen had been surprised to see 'Leopard' Wei, whom hehas sent along with 'Pagoda' Yang to Beijing todiscover what the Manchu court was up to. "What areyou doing here, Ninth Brother?" he asked. "And whereis Twelfth Brother?"Wei jumped down from the edge of the hole to report tothe Great Helmsman.

　　"Twelfth Brother and I went Beijing as ordered, butfor a long time we discovered nothing," he began.

　　"Then one day, we happened to see that traitor ZhangZhaozhong and Master Ma Zhen in the street."Chen nodded. "So they went to Beijing," he said. "Iwas wondering how Zhang managed to escape. Master Matold us he would take him back to Wudang mountain.""Have you seen Zhang recently?" asked Xu, who waslistening.

　　"Just a short while ago. He is very dangerous." Chentold them what had happened at the Manchu camp.

　　"Master Ma and Zhang were walking alone talkinganimatedly, and they didn't see us," Wei continued.

　　"We suspected they may have joined forces against us,and carefully followed them to a house in an alleyway.

　　We waited until after dark, but they didn't come outagain, so we decided to go in to have a look. We twoare no match even for Zhang by himself, let alone heand his martial brother together, so once over thewall into the courtyard, we lay dead still, not daringto even breath. After a long time, we heard talking ina room nearby and went across to investigate. Througha crack in the window, we saw Master Ma lying on akang while that traitor Zhang paced back and forth.

　　The two were arguing. We didn't dare to look for toolong and squatted down to listen. It seems Zhang hadinsisted he had to go to Beijing to sort out a fewprivate financial matters before he could go to WudangMountain, and Master Ma had agreed. A few days afterthey got there, the Emperor returned to Beijing aswell. Zhang said that the Emperor had ordered him togo to the Muslim regions on important business.""What important business?" Chen asked quickly.

　　"He didn't say exactly, but he apparently had to goand look for someone." Chen frowned. "Master Ma spoketo him very sternly and told him he should immediatelyresign from his official post, but Zhang said he couldnot refuse an Imperial edict. If he did, he said, hewas afraid the whole of Wudang Mountain would bestamped flat by the Emperor's troops. Master Ma toldhim that the whole country was under the heel of theManchus, and that by comparison the destruction ofWudang Mountain would be nothing to grieve about. Themore they argued, the more adamant they both became.

　　Eventually, Master Ma jumped off the kang, absolutelyfurious, and shouted: 'I promised our friends of theRed Flower Society!' to which Zhang replied: 'Thoserebellious bandits. Why take them seriously?' Thenthere was a metallic sound as if Master Ma had drawnhis sword. I had a look through the window crack andsaw Master Ma with sword in hand, his face black withrage, as he roared: 'Don't you remember our teacher'slast wishes? You ungrateful pupil! You are trulyshameless, becoming a running dog of the Manchu court.

　　I will fight you to the death.' Zhang appeared tosoften. He sighed and said: 'If that's the way youfeel, we'll leave for Wudang Mountain tomorrow.'

　　Master Ma then resheathed his sword and went to sleepon the kang while Zhang sat on the chair nearby. Heappeared undecided about something. His body shookslightly. Twelfth Brother and I were worried he woulddiscover us, and wanted to wait for him to sleepbefore leaving. Almost an hour passed, but still hedidn't sleep. He got up several times and then satdown again. Finally, he bit his teeth together andsaid softly: 'Brother Ma.' Master Ma was by this timesleeping very soundly and snoring slightly. Zhangquietly walked over to the kang..."Princess Fragrance suddenly let out a scream. Shedidn't understand what Wei was saying, but she couldfeel the dark, sinister tone of his voice, and wasterrified by it. She took hold of Chen's hand andsnuggled up to him. Zhou Qi glanced at her in hatred.

　　Wei continued. "Zhang went to the kang, then lungedforward and sprang back again. Master Ma gave a wailof agony and jumped up, blood pouring from both hiseye sockets. Both his eyes had been gouged out by thedog-hearted traitor."Absolutely enraged, Chen leapt up and slammed his fistinto the side of the pit sending sand flying in alldirections.

　　"I swear I will kill that traitor," he said throughclenched teeth. Princess Fragrance had never seen himso angry, and she tugged on his sleeve in fear.

　　Wei's voice shook as he went on: "Master Ma wentsilent. His face looked horrible. He walked slowlytowards Zhang, then suddenly kicked out with his leg.

　　Zhang leapt out of the way, and Master Ma's footslammed into the kang. Zhang looked a little shaken,and tried to get out, but Master Ma made it to thedoor first and stood straining his ears to hearZhang's movements. Zhang suddenly laughed, and MasterMa kicked out with his left leg in the direction ofthe sound. But Zhang stuck his sword out in front ofhim and Ma's leg hit the blade and was cut clean off."Zhou Qi ground her teeth and stabbed the walls of thepit with her sword.

　　"By this time, Twelth Brother and I could stand it nolonger. We burst through the window into the room andfought with Zhang for only a second before he escaped,probably scared that we were not alone. We chasedafter him, but Twelfth Brother was hit by his goldenneedles, and I had to help him back into the house. Itried to stop Master Ma's bleeding, but he died aftersaying only a few words.

　　"What did he say?" asked Chen. A cold wind suddenlyblew d............