a piece of roast lamb jumped from the plate into his mouth. He finished the plate shortly. The four soldiers that were still in his hands were looking pitiful, they could not take back their spears but they didn’t dare to let go. The rules of the Mongolian army were strict; abandoning a weapon in battle was an offence that led to execution. There was that, and the fact that they were responsible for the safety of Khubilai; they could only use all their strength and try to struggle free.

The old man saw that they were at a loss and was becoming more and more pleased. He suddenly shouted, “Change, change, change, two of you kowtow, two of you face the sky! One…two…three!” On three, their arms shook and the spears snapped. The forces from his fingers were directed in two directions, on two of the spears he circulated energy to push away, on the other two he circulated energy to pull. An ‘ai yo’ sound was heard as two soldiers fell and kowtowed and the other two fell backwards facing the sky.

The old man clapped and sang, “Little precious, the harder you fall, the taller you grow!” This was a song that adults sing to console children after they’ve fallen.

Yin Kexi suddenly got up and asked, “Senior is named Zhou?”

The old man laughed, “Yep, ha-ha, do you know me?”

Yin Kexi folded his fists and said, “So it’s the Old Urchin Zhou Botong, Senior Zhou Lao.”

Xiaoxiang Zi had heard of him before but Jinlun Fawang and Nimoxing had not heard of Zhou Botong before. They saw his martial arts were profound but his actions were rather mischievous and childish; indeed, the title ‘Old Urchin’ is not in vain. Everyone’s wariness disappeared slightly as their faces showed a smile.

Jinlun Fawang said, “Forgive me for not knowing this Senior of Wulin. How about a seat? Our highness is eager to meet great people, he will be extremely happy at meeting such an eminent person today.”

Khubilai saluted with his hands and said, “That is correct; please have a seat Mr. Zhou.”

Zhou Botong shook his head and said, “I’m full, I don’t need to eat anymore. Where’s Guo Jing, is he around?”

Huang Yaoshi had told Yang Guo about how Zhou Botong and Guo Jing became sworn brothers, immediately he replied coldly, “Why are you looking for him?”

Zhou Botong had always been childlike and loved making acquaintances with young people; he was pleased when he saw that Yang Guo was young and he was even more pleased when he heard him say ‘you’ and not something like ‘Mr. Zhou’ or ‘old Senior’. He said, “Guo Jing is my sworn brother, do you know him? He loved being around Mongols ever since he was young; because of this, when I saw this camp I came over to see whether he’s here or not.”

Yang Guo frowned and said, “Why are you looking for Guo Jing?”

Zhou Botong had no worries, how would he know to conceal his thoughts, he just casually replied, “He sent a letter to me, telling me to attend the ‘Heroes Feast’. I had a few games on the road as I rushed from faraway; when I got there I was a couple of days late, the feast had finished, I was damn disappointed.”

Yang Guo said, “Didn’t he leave a letter for you?”

Zhou Botong eyes rolled over and said, “Why are you asking all the questions? Do you know Guo Jing or not?”

Yang Guo said, “How wouldn’t I know them? Mrs. Guo is called Huang Rong, isn’t she? Their daughter is called Guo Fu, isn’t that right?”

Zhou Botong clapped his hands and said, “Wrong, wrong! That Huang Rong is a little girl herself, what daughter?”

Yang Guo was startled but then immediately understood, he asked, “When was the last time you saw them?”

Zhou Botong counted with his fingers, each finger was counted twice, he said, “At least twenty years.”

Yang Guo laughed, “Is she still a little girl after twenty years? Wouldn’t she have a child in these twenty years?”

Zhou Botong laughed, his beard fluttering about, he said, “You’re right! You’re right! Is their daughter pretty?”

Yang Guo said, “Their daughter looks a lot like Mrs. Guo, a little like Guo Jing, just what you’d think.”

Zhou Botong laughed, “That’s great, if a girl has dense brows and big eyes with a dark oval face like my brother Guo, of course that girl won’t be pretty.”

Yang Guo knew that he wasn’t wary anymore and continued, “Huang Rong’s father is Island Master Huang Yaoshi, he and I are great friends, do you know him?”

Zhou Botong was shocked and said, “You little kid, how can you call old ‘Heretic’ Huang as brother? Who’s your Master?”

Yang Guo said, “My Master’s abilities are extraordinary, I’m afraid if I tell you that I’ll scare you silly.”

Zhou Botong laughed, “I can’t be scared silly any more.” He waved out his right hand and sent the empty plate flying towards him with a tremendous force.

Yang Guo knew that Zhou Botong was the Martial Uncle of Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji and the others. He saw that his arm didn’t bend as he threw the plate, he was using his fingers alone; this was a technique of the Quanzhen. He had no fear of Quanzhen martial arts; he stretched out his left index finger and pushed against the bottom of the plate, the plate spun around on his finger.

This delighted Zhou Botong whereas Xiaoxiang Zi, Yin Kexi, Nimoxing and the others looked at each other startled.

When Xiaoxiang Zi first saw the young Yang Guo in his ragged clothes, he didn’t give him another look but right now he was thinking, “With the force that plate was coming in with, I wouldn’t dare to stretch out my hand to catch it never mind just relying on a single finger. If the force used to catch it were just slightly out of place, the plate would snap a wrist. Who exactly is this young man?”

Zhou Botong called out; “Great!” He could see that he was using a Quanzhen technique and asked, “Do you know Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji?”

Yang Guo said, “How wouldn’t I know those two old goats?”

Zhou Botong was delighted. Though he didn’t have any grudges with Qiu Chuji and the others, he felt that their rules were annoying, they were too prudent; there was some feeling of looking down on them. The person he respects most in his life, apart from his apprentice brother Wang Chongyang, is the carefree Nine Fingered Wondrous Beggar Hong Qigong. He didn’t think too much of Huang Yaoshi’s heretical nature and Huang Rong’s cleverness. When he heard Yang Guo calling Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji ‘old goats’, it was music to his ears, he asked, “How are Hao Datong and the others?”

Yang Guo’s anger erupted as soon as he heard the name ‘Hao Datong’, he insulted, “That old goat is a damn fool, and one day I’ll make him suffer.”

Zhou Botong was getting more and more happy as he listened, he asked, “How are you going to make him suffer?”

Yang Guo said, “I’ll catch him, tie him up and them let him lie in a cesspit for half a day.”

Zhou Botong was delighted and quietly said, “Once you’ve caught him, don’t throw him in the cesspit straight away, first let me know and allow me to take a peek from aside.”

He had no ill intent towards Hao Datong, it was just that he loved evil shows; when others are causing trouble and being mischievous; of course he had to join in.

Yang Guo laughed, “Fine, I’ll remember to tell you. But why peek? You’re afraid of the Quanzhen goats?”

Zhou Botong sighed and said, “I’m Hao Datong’s Martial Uncle! If he sees me, he’ll naturally call to me for help. It’ll be a bit embarrassing if I don’t save him but if I do, I won’t be able to watch a good show.”

Yang Guo thought to himself, “This person’s martial arts are excellent and his character is pretty interesting but he’s still from Quanzhen and he is the sworn brother of Guo Jing. A man must be ruthless; I need to think of a way to get rid of him.”

How would Zhou Botong know that Yang Guo was starting to have ill thoughts about him? He asked, “When are you going to catch Hao Datong?”

Yang Guo said, “I’m about to go. If you want to take in the atmosphere then come along.”

Zhou Botong was delighted, he clapped his hands and stood up but suddenly he became depressed and said, “I can’t, I need to go to Xiangyang.”

Yang Guo said, “What’s so much fun in Xiangyang? Just don’t go.”

Zhou Botong said, “Brother Guo left a letter for me at the Lu Manor; it said that the Mongolian army is invading south and will definitely attack Xiangyang. He’s leading the heroes of the central plains to Xiangyang to help, he told me to give a hand as well. I haven’t seen him on my travels so I better go to Xiangyang.”

Khubilai and Jinlun Fawang looked at each other and both thought, “So the warriors of the central plains have rushed to Xiangyang to protect the city.”

Just at this point, the tent opened and in came a monk. He was about forty years old and looked elegant; his expression looked like that of a scholar. He went to Khubilai and the two exchanged whispers. The monk was a Han, his given name Zicong, and was a counsel of Khubilai’s. His original name was Liu Kang and he was an official in Xianya and became a monk later on. He was very knowledgeable and did things very thoroughly; Khubilai had a great deal of trust in him. He had received some news from a guard that an important person has arrived in the camp and needs to be received immediately.

Zhou Botong stroked his stomach and said, “Hey monk, move over a little, I’m talking to that little brother. Hey, little brother, what’s your name?”

Yang Guo said, “My surname is Yang, first name Guo.”

Zhou Botong said, “Who’s your Master?”

Yang Guo said, “My Master is a girl, her beauty is unparalleled and her martial arts are excellent, she doesn’t allow others to mention her name.”

Zhou Botong shivered and remembered his old lover Yinggu; he didn’t dare to ask anymore and stood up. He waved his sleeves around to get rid of the dust on his clothes; the tent was filled with dust and dirt as a result.

Zicong could hold on no longer and sneezed twice. Zhou Botong was joyous and waved out with even more strength; suddenly he laughed out loud and said, “I’m going now!” His left hand waved out and the four broken spearheads shot towards Xiaoxiang Zi, Nimoxing, Yin Kexi and Ma Guangzuo. As the spearheads flew through the air, ‘wu’ ‘wu’ sounds were made; they were moving extremely quickly and the targets were close; in a flash the spearheads were right before the very eyes of the four.

Xiaoxiang Zi and the others were shocked; they could not dodge out of the way in time and could only circulate their internal energy to catch them. However, when they stretched out their hands to catch them, they caught thin air; a ‘pu’ sound was heard as the four spearheads flew into the floor.

The spearheads were shot out extremely ingeniously, immediate dispatch and withdrawal, as soon as the spearheads were in front of their eyes, and they suddenly twisted around and shot into the floor.

Ma Guangzuo was a simple minded person and just felt that this was amusing, he laughed out loud and said, “You really have got lots of tricks old man.”

But Xiaoxiang Zi and the other two were extremely startled, their faces had changed colour. They all thought about how they missed the spearheads; if the spearhead hadn’t changed direction, they would have shot into their stomachs. With the amount of force behind the spearheads, what chance would they have of surviving?”

Zhou Botong was extremely proud of himself for making the four of them looking like a fools, he turned around and was about to leave.

Zicong said, “Mr. Zhou, your amazing abilities are rarely seen in this world; I give you a toast on behalf of his highness,” He handed a cup of wine to him. Zhou Botong drank it in one go. Zicong sent another cup to him and said, “This one is from me!” Again, Zhou Botong drank it down.

Zicong was about to give another cup to him when suddenly Zhou Botong called out, “Oh no, my stomach hurts, I need to crap.” Zhou Botong squatted down and undid his pants, and was about to crap in the tent.

Fawang and the others were amused and all called out for him to stop.

Zhou Botong was startled, he called out, “Something’s wrong with this stomach ache; I don’t need to crap!”

Yang Guo glanced over at Zicong and understood, there was poison in the wine. At the beginning he had some ill intent towards Zhou Botong, wanting to prevent Guo Jing from having a strong ally; but the ill intent he had disappeared immediately. He had no debts and dues with the Old Urchin; he saw that he was childlike and uncomplicated and felt good sentiments towards him. He couldn’t endure it when he saw him fall for the dirty trick. He was about to suggest to him to hold Khubilai as a hostage and force Zicong to hand over the antidote when he suddenly heard Zhou Botong call out, “Strange, strange, so its because I drank too little poisonous wine, that’s why my stomach ached. Monk, quickly pour me another three cups, the more poisonous the better!”

Everyone looked at each other startled. Zicong was afraid that he would lash out before he died, he didn’t dare to go over to him.

Zhou Botong took a large step forward towards the table. Jinlun Fawang stepped in front of Khubilai to protect him; but all he saw was Zhou Botong pulling up his pants with his left hand and reaching for the jug of poisoned wine with his right hand. He then tipped his head backwards and poured all the wine down his throat.

Everyone’s face lost its color.

But Zhou Botong laughed and said, “That’s better. Now my stomach has got too much poison, won’t the Old Urchin turn into the Old Poisonous Animal? I need to fight poison with poison.” Suddenly he opened his mouth and shot out a stream of wine towards Zicong. Jinlun Fawang saw that it was a dangerous situation and quickly picked up a table to block it; an arrow of wine splashed across the table.

Zhou Botong laughed non-stop; he ran to the exit of the tent and suddenly his mischievousness stirred; he grabbed the tent’s support pillar and shook a few times. A ‘kra ak’ sound was heard as the pillar snapped. The tent fell down and covered Khubilai, Jinlun Fawang, Yang Guo and the others inside. Zhou Botong was delighted and got on top of the tent, running back and forth, stepping on everyone inside the tent. Jinlun Fawang sent out a palm and struck the sole of his foot. Zhou Botong felt a great surge of internal energy through his foot and couldn’t suppress it, he did a somersault and landed back down, calling out loudly, “Interesting, interesting!” He then left.

Soon, Jinlun Fawang and the others climbed out with Khubilai, and all the guards clamored around to fix the pillar and erect the tent again. Zhou Botong had long gone. Fawang, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others apologized to Khubilai for not protecting him properly and letting him experience this shock. Khubilai didn’t punish them one bit and instead praised the abilities of Zhou Botong, saying that it is a great pity that he couldn’t make him stay. Fawang and the others had an ashamed expression on their faces.

All the cups and plates were set up once again. Khubilai said, “The Mongolian army has attacked Xiangyang many times before but with no success. This time, the heroes of the central plains have gone there to protect the city; that Zhou Botong has also gone there to help. This is an extremely troublesome situation. I wonder, what great plans do you have?”

Yin Kexi said, “Zhou Botong may have great martial arts but we may not be weaker than him. When your highness attacks the city, it will be soldier against soldier, general against general; the central plains have their heroes but so does the west.”

Khubilai said, “Though your words aren’t wrong, there’s a saying, ‘Before a battle, one must plan for victory in the temple; greater planning will lead to victory whereas little planning will not.’ Before I attack, I must have a plan to gain victory.”

Zicong said, “Your highness’s foresight is magnificent…”

Before he finished, a shout could be heard from outside, someone was calling out, “I said that I don’t want to go and I mean it; it’s of no use if you beg me or anger me.” It was Zhou Botong.

What was he doing back here and who was he talking to? Everyone’s curiosity was roused and they wanted to go out to take a look.

Khubilai laughed and said, “Everyone, let’s take a look, I wonder who the Old Urchin is arguing with.”

Everyone took a step outside the tent and saw four people in an arc far away surrounding Zhou Botong. The four people were standing south, west, northwest and north of him, surrounding him but leaving a way out to the east. Zhou Botong stretched out his arm and threw a fist, he called out, “I’m not going, I’m not going.”

Yang Guo was surprised, “If he doesn’t want to go, who can force him? Why is there a need for arguing?” He saw that the four people were all wearing a green gown; the colors and clothing looked ancient and wasn’t the clothing of the present time. There were three middle-aged men wearing tall hats; standing in the north western position was a girl, her green belt could be seen fluttering in the wind.

The man standing in the northern position said, “We didn’t have any intentions in troubling you but you kicked over our pill furnace, ripped our spirit fungus, tore our books, and burned our sword room. You must come back with us and explain everything to our Master; otherwise, when our Master blames someone, none of us disciples will face the punishment.”

Zhou Botong put on a smile and said, “Just tell your Master that an old man passed by and accidentally caused all this trouble; won’t that be the end of it?”

The man said, “You insist on refusing to come with us?”

Zhou Botong nodded his head. The man pointed to the east and said, “Good, he’s here.”

Zhou Botong turned around to take a look but didn’t see anyone. The man made a sign with his hands and the four of them suddenly pulled opened a large net and covered Zhou Botong from his head downwards. The four’s hand movements were extremely drilled, and extremely strange; even with Zhou Botong’s great abilities he was trapped by the net and had no response, he just bellowed and hollered. The four people swerved around him and tied him up tightly. One of the men put him over his shoulders, the other three held onto their swords, protecting him as they flew to the east.

Yang Guo was worried about Zhou Botong’s safety and thought, “I must save him.” He then followed after them, calling out, “Hey, hey! Where are you taking him?”

How could Jinlun Fawang and the others not want to know what exactly this strange event is all about? They told Khubilai and followed. After a few li, they arrived at a stream. The four people lifted Zhou Botong onto a boat and two of them started to row. The rest of them followed along the shore; after a while they saw a boat in the stream and all immediately leapt in. Ma Guangzuo had great strength and he rowed the boat, soon they were just a few tens of feet behind. But the stream was windy and after a few turns, the boat disappeared. Nimoxing leapt from the boat onto a cliff side and climbed up over a hundred feet in a flash like an ape. He saw the boat in the west rowing along an extremely narrow brook. A thicket of trees covered the entrance to this brook, if one didn’t look from on high, they would not know that the deep valley would have such a passageway. He leapt back onto the boat and pointed out the directions to them. They quickly turned the boat around and rowed towards the thicket of trees. The entrance was a cave; the ceiling of the cave was only three feet away from the water, and everyone had to lie down before they could row on. After leaving the cave they saw the mountains on either side soared; the sky now looked like a string.

The mountains were green, the water blue, the scenery extremely serene; but it was silent everywhere, exuding a feeling of danger. After another three or four li, the brook suddenly had nine large slabs of stone arising from it, like a shield, blocking the way of the boat.

Ma Guangzuo was the first one to call out, “Damn, there’s no way to row past.”

Xiaoxiang Zi said in a creepy way, “You’ve got the strength of a bull, just throw the boat over.”

Ma Guangzuo angrily said, “I don’t have that kind of strength unless you zombies perform some kind of witchcraft.”

Before the two started arguing, Jinlun Fawang was thinking about the situation, “How did the small boat pass this stone shield?” When he heard the words of the two, he said, “No one can pick up the boat on their own but the six of us together can. Brother Yang, brother Yin and I will be on one side, brother Ni, brother Xiao Xiang and brother Ma will be on the other side, the six of us working together, how about it?”

Everyone agreed and followed his instructions; the six of them stood on two sides and each one found a steady place to stand on the rocks. Luckily the brook was extremely narrow; the boat’s width was at arm’s length.

Fawang called out, “Lift!” Everyone lifted. Yang Guo’s and Yin Kexi’s strength was the weakest out of the six but the other four had the strength of many, especially Ma Guangzuo who had divine strength. The boat left the water and passed over the rocks.

Everyone leapt back into the boat; they wiped their palms and laughed. The six of them originally were wary of each other but after working together, naturally they became a bit friendlier.

Xiaoxiang Zi said, “Although the martial arts among us aren’t anything spectacular, we could be classed as first rate fighters of Wulin. The six of us lifting a boat isn’t really a difficult task but…”

Nimoxing followed on, “The four green people’s martial arts are all over the place, could they lift the boat over the rocks?”

Out of the six, five of them were already secretly surprised. Ma Guangzuo was still thinking about what the words ‘their martial arts are all over the place’ meant.

Nimoxing said, “Their boat is smaller… their numbers are smaller also… The four of them being able to do this… their strength must be… must be incredible.”

Yin Kexi said, “There’s no need to talk about the three men, that girl was a fragile seventeen or eighteen year old teenager, there is no way she could have such skill, there must be something about those rocks. It’s just that we can’t see through just yet.”

Fawang gave a wry laugh and said, “People cannot be judged on appearances alone. Take a look at our brother Yang, he is of a young age but possesses great martial arts, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, who would have believed it?”

Yang Guo said modestly, “The skills I’ve learned aren’t much, what’s good about my martial arts? But the four people in green were able to catch Zhou Botong; they must have some aspect that they excel at.” His words were modest but he was now talking to these first rate fighters as brother this and brother that.

Everyone had seen with their own eyes Yang Guo catching a plate thrown by Zhou Botong with a single finger; they did not look lightly on him. They all felt his words were reasonable and all started to make their own guesses about this matter.

Out of the six, Yang Guo was the youngest, Jinlun Fawang, Ma Guangzuo and Nimoxing spent most of their lives in the west; Xiaoxiang Zi spent his time along in the mountains and didn’t make acquaintances with anyone. Yin Kexi was the only one who was familiar with the sects, personalities and affairs of the central plains yet he had no clue about who these four people in green were. As they talked, they eventually rowed to the end of the brook. The six of them went ashore and followed the path deep into the valley.

There was only one mountain path so there was no way to go wrong; however the path got steeper and steeper as it went on and became more and more treacherous. The sky darkened and there wasn’t a trace of the people in green.

Just as they were getting anxious, there was firelight from faraway; everyone was pleased and thought, “In a wild valley like this, firelight must mean people; apart from those people in green; no one would live in a place with such dangerous terrain as this.”

They then increased their speed. They all knew that they were in a dangerous place and each one heightened their defenses. Each one of them had roamed the world of Jianghu by themselves before and had experienced many dangers; now six great fighters were entering the mountain, who on earth could stop them? Though they were wary, they had no fear.

After a while, they reached a wide level open space at the peak of the mountain. They saw an extremely large flaming bonfire. They walked closer a few hundred feet and by the firelight, they saw a large stone building.

Nimoxing called out loudly, “Hey, hey, some guests have arrived! Come out quickly.”

The door of the stone house slowly opened and out came three men and a girl. It was the people in green who had captured Zhou Botong earlier on. The four of them bowed and the leading person asked, “What are our guests’ names?”

The one thing that Yin Kexi excels most at is speaking; he laughed and then told them who the other five were. He then said, “My name is Yin Kexi, I am a Hu merchant. Apart from eating, the only thing I know are treasures, I am not like the others who are all highly skilled with martial arts.”

The person in green said, “Our residence is in an extremely secluded place, we’ve never had visitors before, it is our luck that some guests have arrived. But what brought our guests here?”

Yin Kexi laughed, “We saw the four of you catch the Old Urchin Zhou Botong, we were curious so we came along to take a look. Your residence is an extremely elegant and beautiful place, it has opened our eyes; this really wasn’t a trip in vain.”

The first person in green said, “That old man who messed up our place is named Zhou? He certainly lives up to the name Old Urchin.”

The second person in green said, “Are you with him?”

Fawang replied, “We’ve just met him today, one cannot say that we are friends of his.”

The first person in green said, “That Old Urchin charged into our valley and ran riot.”

Fawang asked, “What did he do? Did he really rip up your books and set the place on fire?”

The person in green replied, “Only that? I was ordered by my Master to guard the pill furnace; I don’t know how the Old Urchin broke into the pill room. He started to talk rubbish with me, saying he was going to tell a story and then telling me to follow him in doing somersaults; he was mad and crazy. The furnace was burning at a critical stage; I couldn’t leave and kick him out so I pretended that I didn’t hear him. He suddenly kicked out and knocked the furnace and the herbs in it over. I don’t know how long it will take to collect all these herbs and medicines again.” He looked angry as he said this.

Yang Guo laughed, “He must have blamed you for ignoring him and that it was your fault, right?”

The girl in green said, “Correct. I was in the fungi room when I heard the clamor in the pill room. I knew something was wrong and was about to leave the room to take a look when the old man dashed in. As soon as he stretched out his hand, he snapped the four hundred year old spirit fungus in two.”

Yang Guo saw that the young girl was about seventeen or eighteen years of age, her skin was extremely white, very soft and delicate, her eyes bright and clear and there was a very small mole by her mouth. She said, “That Old Urchin is an extremely bothersome troublemaker; that spirit fungus had been grown for over four hundred years, it is an extremely valuable object.”

The girl sighed, “My father was going to share it on his wedding day with my step mother but who could have known that it would be ruined by the Old Urchin. My father will of course fly into a rage. After the Old Urchin broke the spirit fungus, he placed it in his pockets and said something about not giving it back to me and laughed. I haven’t done anything to offend him. Why on earth did he come here and cause trouble for me?” As she said this, her eyes became red, feeling that she has been wronged.

Yang Guo thought, “The Old Urchin had no reason to bully this girl, this is wrong.”

Yin Kexi said, “Please can I have your father’s name. We inadvertently came here without permission and don’t even know the owner’s name; our manners are lacking.”

The young girl delayed and didn’t reply.

One of the men in green said, “Without our Master’s permission, we can not reveal it, please forgive us.”

Yang Guo thought, “These people are very secretive; they live here in this secluded place and aren’t willing to reveal their identity to others.” He then asked, “What happened after the Old Urchin stole the spirit fungus?”

The third person in green said, “The one named Zhou wasn’t finished; after wrecking the pill and fungi room, he burst into the library, took a book and started to read. I was assigned to the library and so of course I had to stop him. But he said, ‘these are just lies that they tell to children, what’s so great about this?’ and ripped three books in one go. At that time, senior and second apprentice brother came along with apprentice sister. The four of us together were still unable to stop him.”

Fawang gave a wry laugh and said, “That Old Urchin has an eccentric character but his martial arts are really spectacular; of course it would not be easy to stop him.”

The second man in green said, “After causing trouble in the pill room, fungi room and library, he went for the sword room. He burst into the room and broke out in a temper, saying that there were… there were too many weapons. They’re all over the place and almost cut him. He then set the room alight and burnt all the paintings on the wall. While we urgently tried to put out the fire, he escaped. We all thought that this was a serious matter so we chased after him, caught him and bought him back so our Master can deal with him.”

Yang Guo said, “I don’t know what punishment the Master of this valley will have for him but I hope that he won’t kill him.”

The third man in green said, “My Master’s wed