by Jin Yong
Zhao Min rode the horse straight to the local government mansion. She ordered the magistrate to quickly prepare a strong ocean ship; complete with the helmsmen, the sailors, food and water, weapons and winter clothes. In addition, all ocean ships were to be moved immediately to the south; no other ships were to be moored within fifty ‘li’s [about 25 km] from that place. With Ruyang Prince’s gold medal, how could a lower ranking county magistrate dare not to obey? Zhao Min, Zhang Wuji and Xiao Zhao waited leisurely inside the mansion, eating and drinking wine. Less than a day later the magistrate came back to report that everything was ready.
When three people went to the seaside to inspect, Zhao Min could not help but stomping her feet repeatedly, "Wasted effort!” she bellowed. Turned out by the beach anchored a really big ship with two decks; the decks of the bow, the port and the starboard were loaded with heavy canons. It was a Mongolian navy’s battleship.
In those years the Mongolians were trying to send military expedition to Japan; hence they recruited a large number of boat makers. Unexpectedly a major hurricane had scattered the Mongolian navy, resulted in the expedition to the east was postponed indefinitely, but since then the extent of boat making had been declining.
Zhao Min was at her wit’s end; she did not expect in order to curry her favor the county magistrate
would prepare a battleship for her. By now the food, the water and the supplies had been prepared on board; the other boats had also obeyed the Ruyang Prince’s gold medal, they had sailed dozens of ‘li’s southwards. With a bitter smile Zhao Min ordered the sailors to cover the canons with fishnets, she also had the boat loaded with several hundred catties of fresh fish, to give the impression that it was an old battleship, which was converted to a fishing boat.
Zhao Min, Zhang Wuji and Xiao Zhao three people changed into sailor attire. Using greasepaint they made their faces darker, and then glued some fake moustache and beards; they were not taking any chances. Afterwards they sat quietly in the boat, waiting for Jin Hua Popo’s arrival.
This Zhao Min Junzhu’s prediction was very accurate; sure enough, that very same evening a large carriage arrived by the seaside. Jin Hua Popo, along with Zhu’Er and Zhou Zhiruo, came looking for a boat. The sailors had received Zhao Min’s instruction; they pretended to refuse by saying that the boat was a fishing boat converted from an old battleship, they only caught fish and not interested in taking passengers. It was not until Jin Hua Popo produced two ingots of gold did the captain reluctantly agree to take them aboard. Jin Hua Popo took Zhu’Er and Zhou Zhiruo on board and they set sail immediately, heading east.
On that vast boundless open sea the lone boat sailed to the southeast. During the two days of sailing, Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min looked out their cabin window in the bottom deck. They noticed that during the day, the sun, and in the night, the moon, were both rising from the port side. Obviously the boat was sailing to the south. It was the beginning of winter, the boat had the full advantage of the north wind blowing strong on its sail that they were traveling very fast.
Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min often had some discussions. "My ‘Yifu’ is on the ‘bing huo dao’ [ice and fire island] of the extreme north; if we want to find him, then we must sail to the north. Why are we going to the south instead?”
Each time Zhao Min always replied, "This Jin Hua Popo is certainly a strange woman. More over, right now the south wind has not arrived yet, there is no way we can sail to the north even if we want to.”
Toward noon on the third day, the captain came down to their cabin to give his report, he said Jin Hua Popo was very familiar of the sea condition around this place; she knew exactly where the sand bar, the reef, and the shallow waters were. She was even more knowledgeable than the captain was.
Zhang Wuji suddenly remembered, "Ah, right!” he exclaimed, "Could it be that she is returning to the ‘ling she dao’ [spirit snake island]?”
"What Ling She Island?” Zhao Min asked.
"The Ling She Island is Jin Hua Popo’s home,” Zhang Wuji said, "Her late husband was called the ‘yin ye xiansheng’ [Mister Silver Leaf]. Ling She, Jin Hua, Yin Ye [Spirit Snake, Golden Flower and Silver Leaf]; haven’t you heard?”
Zhao Min laughed mockingly and said, "You are only a few years older than I am, but seems like you are an expert in the Jianghu’s matters.”
Zhang Wuji smiled and said, "The heretical devilish Ming Cult certainly knows a lot more of Jianghu matters than Junzhu Niang-niang.”
These two people were originally archenemies; the groups of warriors under their commands had been engaged in several tough battles. But after several days of living together in a ship’s cabin in the middle of the sea, they were unable to restrain from chatting with each other amiably. Also, with Jin Hua Popo as their common enemy, one more day they were together, one more day the estrangement between them was shed away.
In order not to raise Jin Hua Popo’s suspicions, the captain immediately went back to the upper deck right after giving out his report. Zhao Min laughed and said, "Da Jiaozhu [great cult leader], I wonder if it is bothersome for you to tell this friendless and unlearned young girl about the power and prestige of the Spirit Snake’s Golden Flower and Silver Leaf that shook the Jianghu.”
Zhang Wuji smiled and said, "To my shame, I don’t have the slightest idea Yin Ye Xiansheng is what kind of person; but Jin Hua Popo, I actually have had some encounters with her.” Thereupon he told her how he went to the Butterfly Valley and studied medicine under the ‘die gu yi xian’ [the Divine Doctor of the Butterfly Valley] Hu Qingniu, how some people from different sects were wounded by Jin Hua Popo until they were in between life and death, how they came to the Butterfly Valley for medical help, and how under Hu Qingniu’s direction he cured them all. How Jin Hua Popo contended with Miejue Shitai in martial arts and was defeated, how in the end Hu Qingniu and Wang Nan’gu husband and wife died under Jin Hua Popo’s hands. He told her all kinds of emotions surrounding the circumstances. He felt that although Hu Qingniu’s character was rather peculiar, his treatment toward Zhang Wuji was not bad. Thinking about how those husband and wife’s bodies hung high on the tree, he was unable to restrain his eyes from turning red. The only thing he did not tell was how Zhu’Er grabbed his hand because she wanted to take him as her playmate on the Ling She Island; and how he bit her arm really bad. Why he omitted this part of the story, Zhang Wuji could not explain; perhaps he felt what he did was rather unsophisticated.
Throughout Zhao Min listened attentively without saying anything. Finally with a serious look on her face she said, "At first I only thought this old granny as a powerful martial art master, turned out she is involved in many gratitude and grudges. Listening to your story, it seems that this old granny is truly a formidable opponent, we must not be careless at all.”
Zhang Wuji said with a smile, "Junzhu Niang-niang is well-versed in both pen and sword, under her command there are numerous warriors with marvelous and diverse ability. Dealing with a trivial Jin Hua Popo, she should be able to accomplish the task with ease.”
Zhao Min also smiled and said, "Too bad in this boundless ocean I have no way to summon numerous warriors and foreign monks under my command.”
Zhang Wuji said, "That chef who prepared our meals, the sailors who pull the sail, although they can’t be considered Jianghu’s top rank fighters, can’t they be counted as the second rank warriors?”
Zhao Min was startled, then broke into chuckle while saying, "My admiration! Da Jiaozhu truly has a good pair of eyes; nothing can be concealed from you.”
Turned out when she returned to the Palace to get the gold, silver and the horses, she also left a secret message via the guard, dispatching a group of warriors under her command to rush to the seaside. They also rode on fast horses, only they arrived half a day later than Zhang Wuji. She had carefully picked the warriors who had not participated in the battle at the Wan An Temple; those who had not met Zhang Wuji before, to come over and guised themselves as kitchen helpers, s
ailors, et cetera. However, for people who practiced martial art, naturally their facial expression and bodily movement differed from average people; therefore, although they tried to conceal it carefully, Zhang Wuji only needed to take a single look and he had already found out their true identities.
Hearing him say that, Zhao Min mused on the fact that since he could see through their disguise, then Jin Hua Popo must have had seen it also; since she had a lot more experience, plus she was a wily old fox. Luckily they had more people on their side; Zhang Wuji’s martial art was far superior. It would be fine whether Jin Hua Popo saw through the disguise or not. Either way, if they were to battle each other, Zhao Min did not have anything to fear from Jin Hua Popo plus Zhu’Er. And since Jin Hua Popo had most likely seen through their disguise then they did not have any reason to continue concealing their true identities.
These past several days, Zhang Wuji was most concerned over whether the poison pill Zhou Zhiruo took had broken out or not. Zhao Min understood his concern; as soon as she saw he wrinkled his brows, she sent someone to the upper cabin with the pretense of serving tea, while spying around on their enemies. Each time he returned, he would report that Miss Zhou looked just fine, without any poisoning symptoms. This happened several times; finally Zhang Wuji felt embarrassed. He sat quietly on the corner of the cabin; thinking about the snowy area of the western region, where Zhu’Er kept him company for several days. How He Taichong, Wu Lie, Ding Minjun, and the others came and surrounded them, how in the presence of He Taichong and the others he was saying loudly, ‘Miss, with all my heart I sincerely desire to marry you. I only hope you will not regard me unworthy.’ How wholeheartedly he promised, ‘From now on, I will cherish you with all my might, I will look after you. No matter how many people come to make things difficult for you, no matter how many fierce people come to bully you, I don’t care if I’ll have to lose my life, I will protect you. I want you to be happy, I want you to forget your past sufferings.’ Thinking about these things he could not help but blush.
"Pei!” Zhao Min suddenly spat, "You are daydreaming about your Miss Zhou!”
"No, I am not!” Zhang Wuji denied.
"Humph,” Zhao Min snorted, "Daydreaming is daydreaming. You are a real man, why would you lie?”
"Did I lie?” Zhang Wuji countered, "I am telling you: I was not thinking about Miss Zhou.”
"If you were thinking about Ku Toutuo or Wei Yixiao, you won’t have that kind of expression,” Zhao Min said, "They are ugly and weird fellows; if you are thinking of them, would you have that kind of gentle and bashful expression on your face?”
Zhang Wuji smiled bashfully, "You are really good,” he said, "You can tell whether other people were thinking about some pretty people or some ugly ones. But I am being honest with you, the person I was thinking about is not the least bit pretty.”
Zhao Min could see the sincerity in his words; she showed a faint smile and did not pay him anymore attention. Although she was intelligent, she would never guess that the person he was thinking about was that ugly girl Zhu’Er who was inside the upper deck cabin of their boat.
Zhang Wuji recalled how in order to train the poisonous martial art, ‘qian zhu wan du shou’ [thousand spiders ten-thousand poisonous hands], Zhu’Er’s face had become contorted and bumpy. That night at the deserted garden he thought that she looked even worse than in the past. Thinking to this point he could not restrain from heaving a deep sigh; remembering that the deeper she practiced this poisonous skill, the more her whole body and mind would be harmed. He also remembered when Yin Liting told her that Zhang Wuji had died falling down from the cliff; Zhu’Er had shown her true feeling by crying bitterly. Zhang Wuji was very grateful over that matter.
Ever since he arrived at the Brightness Peak, day in and day out he was either busy training
martial arts or busy tending the Ming Cult affairs; when did he ever have time to sit down peacefully and think about his own concerns? Once in a while he would remember Zhu’Er, then he would ask Wei Yixiao to look for her, or ask Yang Xiao to dispatch some search and rescue team to look around the Peak; but all those times nobody found out her whereabouts. Now he rebuked himself deeply, "Zhu’Er has always been good to me, but why have I been so ignorant about her? Why haven’t I given any thought to her these past several days?” Actually, since he took the Cult Leader position of the Ming Cult, all his personal affairs were totally out of his mind.
"What are you regretting?” Zhao Min suddenly asked.
Before Zhang Wuji could reply, they heard shouts from the upper deck; followed by a sailor coming down to give his report, "We see land ahead. The Granny ordered us to pick up speed and come ashore.”
Zhao Min and Zhang Wuji looked out from their window and saw that there was a big island several ‘li’s ahead with trees and lush green vegetation on it. There was a strange looking peak on the island; it was tall and towering straight above a forest of pine trees. The boat was sailing fast because of the favorable wind; they had arrived on shore in just a time needed to eat a bowl of rice.
On the eastern end of the island there was a rocky hill protruding into the sea, with no sandy beach on it. Although the battle ship was deep into the water due to its weight, it would be able to anchor right next to the shore. But before the anchor was down, they heard a ferocious shout coming from the hill; the shout was full of rage, with an overwhelming power in it.
Zhang Wuji was pleasantly surprised, since he recognized the voice; the shout belonged to his Yifu, the ‘jin mao shi wang’ [golden-mane lion king] Xie Xun. It had been more than ten years, but his Yifu’s heroic air was still as he remembered it; how could he not feel extremely joyful? Without thinking how Xie Xun from the far north Bing Huo Island could be on that island, also without any regard if Jin Hua Popo would see through his disguise, he hurriedly stepped down the wooden plank and ran toward the hill from which the shout originated to take a look.
He saw four men with unsheathed weapons in their hands surrounding a tall and big man. That man was facing the enemies with an empty hand. He was none other than Jin Mao Shi Wang Xie Xun.
Zhang Wuji took a quick glance and saw that although his Yifu was blind, although he was surrounded by four men, although he faced four weapons barehanded, he did not by any chance lose his imposing air. Zhang Wuji had never seen his Yifu fight an enemy before; now that he had the opportunity to witness several stances, he was very happy. "Jin Mao Shi Wang’s prestige shook the world in the past; it certainly was not an empty reputation,” he said to himself, "Yifu’s martial art skill is above ‘Qing Yi Fu Wang’ [Green-Winged Bat King]; I’ll say he is on par with (maternal) grandfather.”
The four people’s martial arts were certainly not bad either. From where he was, near the boat, looking to the hill, Zhang Wuji was not able to see their faces clearly; but he could see that they were wearing raggedy clothes with cloth sacks on their backs. Obviously, they were from the Beggar Clan. Three other men stood on the side, ready to join the battle.
Zhang Wuji heard someone was saying, "Hand over the Tulong Saber ... we’ll spare your life ... precious saber in place of your life .” The strong wind from the hill transmitted the voice intermittently, making him difficult to understand clearly what they were saying; but Zhang Wuji knew that these people were here to snatch the precious Tulong Saber.
He heard Xie Xun laugh a big laugh and say, "The Tulong Saber is in my possession. The Beggar Clan’s stinky thieves; if you have the ability then get it from me.” His hands and feet did not slow down the least bit when his mouth was speaking.
In a flash Jin Hua Popo had run ashore; amidst the coughing she said, "Beggar Clan’s Heroes, welcome to the Ling She Island. You did not come and talk to Lao Po, but disturb the Ling She Island’s honorable guest. What do you want?”
"This is indeed the Ling She Island,” Zhang Wuji thought, "Listening to Jin Hua Popo, apparently Yifu is her invited guest. Yifu has said that in any event he won’t be willing to lea
ve Bing Huo Island and return to the Central Plains; how come on Jin Hua Popo’s invitation he was willing to come? How could Jin Hua Popo find out Yifu’s whereabouts?” Questions after questions grew in his heart.
Hearing the host had arrived, the four people on the hill wanted to subdue Xie Xun as quick as possible; they attacked more urgently. But in doing so, they had actually violated a major principle in the study of martial art. Xie Xun was blind, thus he depended on the wind generated by the weapons to distinguish the enemies’ positions. The faster these four people moved their hands, the stronger the wind generated by their weapons.
Xie Xun let out a long laugh. ‘Bang!’ he hit one enemy squarely on his chest. That man let out a long miserable scream and fell straight down from the hill into the rocks below. His skull broke and his brain splattered everywhere.
One of the three people standing on the side shouted, "Back off!” With a light movement he stepped forward, his fist floating in the air with strength that was sometimes there and sometimes not there, making it hard for Xie Xun to distinguish the sound. Sure enough, it was not until the fist was only a few inches from him that he finally realized it. He hastily tried to block the attack; his movement was awkward, he was truly in a very difficult situation.
The three men who fought previously moved back quickly; while an old man who was standing on the side took over their place. This old man incorporated the same technique as the first man; his palm was also light. Several stances later Xie Xun was forced to block to the east and evade to the west; he was in a really dangerous situation.
"Ji Zhanglao [Elder Ji], Zheng Zhanglao [Elder Zheng]!” Jin Hua Popo shouted, "Jin Mao Shi Wang is inconvenienced by his eyes; you are fighting him with this despicable method. You are enjoying a reputation as Jianghu’s heroes for nothing.” She was talking and walking to the hill at the same time, with the help of her walking stick.