hu Changling was not that man’s match. But when he spurted blood and fell forward, he took the man by surprise and struck his vital acupoint using the special family skill ‘Solitary Yang Finger’.

After sealing two other acupoints on that man’s waist, Zhu Changling could not hold himself any longer and passed out on the ground. Zhu Jiuzhen and Zhang Wuji rushed forward and quickly held him up.

A moment later, Zhu Changling regained his consciousness and asked Zhang Wuji, “He … he …”

Zhang Wuji said, “Zhu Bobo, I cannot hide the truth from you anymore; the one you call benefactor was my father. Jin Mao Shi Wang is my Yifu. How could I fail to recognize him?”

Zhu Changling shook his head with a bitter smile; his face showed that he was not convinced the least bit. Zhang Wuji continued, “My Yifu is blind, this man’s eyes can see well, that is the biggest flaw of his disguise. My Yifu became blind overseas, of course no outsider would know. This man came here in disguise, he would not know about my Yifu’s blindness.”

“Wuji Di,” Zhu Jiuzhen happily said, “Are you really our family’s great benefactor’s son? That’s very good, very good!”

Zhu Changling still was not convinced. Zhang Wuji had no choice but narrated briefly how he came to be in Kunlun region. Yao Qingquan implied his disbelief by asking him all kinds of questions about the Wudang Mountain; he also asked him the circumstances around Zhang Cuishan, husband and wife’s suicide. After Zhang Wuji gave all the correct answers, only then did he believe.

Zhu Changling still felt uncomfortable. “If this boy did not tell the truth and we offended Xie Da Xia, how can that be good?”

Yao Qingquan pulled out a dagger and placed it on that man’s right eye, saying, “Friend, both of Jin Mao Shi Wang’s eyes are damaged. If you want to pretend to be him, then you must copy him well. I am going to help you by taking out these things first. I, the one surnamed Yao, have been deceived really bad by you; if this little brother did not expose your lie, wouldn’t I deliver my Zhu Dage’s life for nothing?” While saying that, he thrust the dagger forward until the tip touched that man’s eyelid. He asked again, “Who are you, anyway? Why do you pretend to be Jin Mao Shi Wang?”

“If you have guts, just stab your dagger and kill me,” that man angrily said, “What kind of man do you think ‘Kai Bei Shou’ [hand splitting the stone] Hu Bao is? Do you think you can extort any confession from me?”

“Ah,” Zhu Changling exclaimed, “Kai Bei Shou Hu Bao! You are from Kongtong Pai.”

Hu Bao said loudly, “All schools and sects under the heavens know that Zhu Changling wants to avenge Zhang Cuishan. As the saying goes: strike first and gain the upper hand, strike later and suffer a calamity’.”

Yao Qingquan roared, “You are so malicious!” His dagger went down to stab that man’s heart. But Zhu Changling reached out with his left hand to grab his wrist, saying, “Er Di, wait. What if he really is Xie Daxia? Even if we have to die ten thousand times, we still cannot redeem our wrong.”

Yai Qingquan said, “Zhang Xiongdi has told us clearly. Dage, if you are half-hearted [orig. ‘san xin er yi’ – three hearts two intentions] and do not make a decision, it will be difficult to us to escape present disaster.”

Zhu Changling shook his head, “I would rather we receive a thousand blades than make a mistake by injuring even a strand of hair of our benefactor’s sworn brother.”

“Zhu Bobo,” Zhang Wuji said, “This man definitely is not my Yifu. My Yifu is widely known as ‘Golden Mane Lion King’, his hair is yellow. This man’s hair is black.”

Zhu Changling was deep in thought for half a day. Finally he nodded. Taking along Zhang Wuji’s hand, he said, “Xiao Xiongdi, come with me.”

The two of them went out from the stone chambers. They left the cave and walked toward a valley behind the hillside and then sat side-by-side on a piece of boulder.

“Xiao Xiongdi,” Zhu Changling said, “If this man is not Xie Daxia, naturally we must kill him, but before we make our move, I must not have the least bit of doubt in my heart; don’t you think so?”

Zhang Wuji said, “You don’t want to make any mistake, that is only natural. But this man is definitely not my Yifu. Zhu Bobo, set your heart at ease.”

“Child,” Zhu Changling sighed, “When I was young, I fell into deceitful schemes of more than a few people. Today I did not want to fight back and I received a severe injuryas a result; hence I knew that I have misjudged that man. One mistake is enough, I cannot make another one. This is a significant responsibility. My death is not to be regretted, but whatever happens, I simply must protect Xie Daxia and your safety. Actually, I wanted to ask clearly Xie Daxia’s whereabouts, so that my heart can be truly at ease, but I feel that this is an inappropriate matter to ask.”

Zhang Wuji’s heart was deeply touched. “Zhu Bobo,” he said, “For the sake of my father and Yifu, you have destroyed a million of your family properties, you also went as far as receiving this serious injury personally, how can I not trust you? Even if you did not ask about my Yifu, I certainly must tell you everything.”

Thereupon he told Zhu Changling how his parents and Xie Xun were carried by the current to the Bing Huo Island, how they lived there for ten years, and how the three of them finally returned on a wooden raft; one by one he told him everything. He learned most of these events from his parents’ mouths, but he was able to narrate clearly. Zhu Changling repeatedly asked questions on things that were unclear, such as how Zhang Wuji learned martial art on the Bing Huo Island, how he brought Yang Buhui to the west, how he ran into a misfortune at the Kunlun San Sheng Ao [three-sage depression (of the earth)], until he understood everything clearly. Finding that Zhang Wuji’s story was without any flaw, only then did he believe him completely.

With a long sigh of relief he looked up to the sky and said, “En Gong, oh, En Gong, I am asking your spirit in Heaven to clearly be my witness: Zhu Changling will exhaust everything he has to raise Wuji Xiongdi until he grows up and becomes an adult. Only powerful enemies lie in wait on all sides, while my martial art skill is meager, in all honesty I cannot necessarily bear this heavy burden. Therefore, I pray that En Gong will bless and protect.” Finished speaking, he kneeled down on the ground and kowtowed toward the heavens. Zhang Wuji was grieved, but also full of gratitude; he also kneeled down.

Zhu Changling stood up and said, “Now I don’t have even half a part of doubt. Ay! Shaolin, Emei, Kunlun, Kongtong, which one of them does not have strength in number and superior martial art? Xiao Xiongdi, previously I was determined to risk my old life to fight the enemies one by one, to repay your honorable father’s great kindness. But today, comforting an orphan is an important matter, revenge comes second. Only, the earth is so vast, where can we go to escape this disaster? They managed to find even a secluded place in a remote area like mine, where can we find a more secluded place?”

After pausing for a while he continued, “Xie Daxia lives alone on the Bing Huo Island with nobody to help him. I am thinking that for these past several years, his life must be really miserable. Ay, this great hero has such an esteemed friendship with benefactor and sister-in-law; if only I can see him just once, I will die a happy man.”

Hearing him talk about how his Yifu had a harsh life, alone on the Bing Huo Island, Zhang Wuji was overwhelmed with sadness. Suddenly he had an idea and blurted, “Zhu Bobo, what do you say we go to the Bing Huo Island together? My days on that island were happy, but as soon as I arrived on the Central Earth, I saw and suffered, if not murder then shedding of blood, and thus I feel alarmed and anxious.”

“Xiao Xiongdi,” Zhu Changling said, “You really want to return to the Bing Huo Island, don’t you?”

Zhang Wuji hesitated and did not answer; quietly thinking that he would not live too much longer anyway. Besides, the voyage to the Bing Huo Island was difficult and dangerous, they might not necessarily reach their destination, and thus he should not endanger the lives of Zhu Changling and his family. The ocean was without mercy, just one slight mishap and their bodies would be buried underneath the giant billowing waves.

Zhu Changling held his hands and looked at his face, saying, “Xiao Xiongdi, you and I are not strangers to each other, any concern should be discussed openly. Do you or do you not want to return to the Bing Huo Island?” His voice was full of sincerity.

In Zhang Wuji’s heart right this moment, he was tired and loathed the sinister hearts of the Jianghu people, his desire was that he would be able to see his Yifu’s face one more time before he died. If only he could die in his Yifu’s arms, he would ask nothing else in this life. He was unable to conceal his heart’s content in front of Zhu Changling, thereupon he slowly nodded.

Zhu Changling did not waste any time by more talking; holding Zhang Wuji’s hand, he took him back to the stone chamber, and said to Yao Qingquan, “That man is a traitor, no doubt about it.”

Yao Qingquan nodded. With the dagger in his hand, he entered the cell. They heard Splitting Stone Hand Hu Bao’s long and miserable cry, and then it stopped abruptly. Yao Qingquan walked out of the cell and closed the iron door, his dagger was dripping with fresh blood, which he casually wiped on the bottom of his boots.

Zhu Changling said, “That traitor could come here and be a mole among us, looks like our trail has been compromised; we can’t stay here anymore.” Immediately he led everybody out of the stone chamber, out of the cave, and walked for more than twenty ‘li’, around two mountain peaks, toward a valley, and arrived at a cluster of four, five little huts by a giant tree.

It was dawn. After everybody entered the huts, Zhang Wuji noticed the plow, sickle and other farming tools in the room, as well as pots, pans and furnace, and plenty of all kinds of provisions. It appeared that to guard against his powerful enemies, Zhu Changling had prepared not a few of these safe houses. Due to his severe injury, Zhu Changing immediately laid down on a bed. Mrs. Zhu took out some long gowns made of hand-woven cloth, along with straw sandals, head scarves, and distributed everything to everybody. All of a sudden the rich family madam and miss were transformed into peasant women. Although they did not act or talk like peasants, as long as they did not come too close to outsiders, nobody would know their disguise.

They stayed in the farm house for several days. Zhu Changling treated his injury with legacy medicine from Yunnan so he enjoyed a quick recovery. Fortunately, no enemy came to pursue. With nothing to do, Zhang Wuji quietly observed everything happening around him. He saw Yao Qingquan went out every day to seek out information. Mrs. Zhu led the disciples to pack their luggage, obviously for the long journey ahead of them. Zhang Wuji knew that to repay kindness and escape the enemy, Zhu Changling had decided to bring his whole family overseas to the Bing Huo Island, and Zhang Wuji was delighted.

That night Zhang Wuji was lying on the bed, imagining that if he was lucky enough not to die and manage to reach the Bing Huo Island, he would be able to live together on the island with this elder sister Zhu Jiuzhen, whose beauty was like an immortal’s. He blushed and felt his ears getting hot, his heart was thumping madly. He also envisioned that when (older) uncle Zhu, (younger) uncle Yao meet with his foster-father, the three of them would become good friends; they would live a carefree life on the island for the rest of their lives. They would not have to be afraid that the Mongolians would massacre or push them around; they also do not need to worry about the powerful enemies of the Wulin world sneakilyattacking them. If he could live that kind of life, he would not want anything else in the world. In his delight, he had forgotten about the cold poison in his body and that his own days were numbered. It was deep into the night, but he had not fallen asleep.

While he was half-asleep, suddenly he heard the door gently pushed open, someone entered his room. Zhang Wuji was slightly surprised because his nose smelled light and delicate fragrance, which was precisely the jasmine perfume Zhu Jiuzhen used daily on her clothes. Suddenly his face turned deep red, for some unknown reason he felt extremely shy.

Zhu Jiuzhen walked quietly to the bed and asked in a low voice, “Wuji Di, are you asleep?”

Zhang Wuji did not dare to answer, he closed his eyes tight, pretending to be asleep. A moment later, he felt warm fingers on his eyelids. Zhang Wuji was surprised but happy, shy but scared; he wished she would quickly get out of the room. In his heart, he held Zhu Jiuzhen with the highest respect; if he could only look into her eyes every day, he would be very satisfied. He did not have the slightest degree of dirty thoughts toward her at all; even the hope of taking her as his wife in the future had never entered his mind. This moment, to suddenly see her entering his room, how could he not lose his mind?

Suddenly a thought came into his mind, “Could Zhen Jie possibly have an important matter she needs to discuss with me in the middle of the night?” he mused. Right this moment, suddenly the ‘shan zhong xue’ [lit. sheep odor acupoint] in the pit of his stomach went numb, followed by ‘jian zhen’ [shoulder chaste(?)], ‘shen zang’ [divine storehouse], ‘qu chi’ [crooked reservoir], and ‘huan tiao’ [jump the hoop] acupoints were sealed one by one. He was totally taken by surprise, who would have thought that Zhu Jiuzhen came in the middle of the night to seal his acupoints?

In his disappointment he tried to reason, “Ah, perhaps Zhen Jie wanted to test my alertness although I was asleep? She’ll come back tomorrow to unseal my acupoints and make fun of me. If I knew it earlier, I would have jumped and scared her as soon as she entered the room, so that tomorrow she wouldn’t have anything to boast.”

He saw that she quietly pushed the door open and flew out. “I’d better unseal my acupoints quickly and follow her,” Zhang Wuji thought, “I will pretend to be a ghost to scare her. That should be fun.” Immediately he used the acupoint unsealing technique he learned from Xie Xun. However, Zhu Jiuzhen’s family legacy of ‘Solitary Yang Finger’ was not something to be trifled with; he had to spend the most part of an hour to release his sealed acupoints. It was because Zhu Jiuzhen did not have enough strength, and also because she did not want to awaken him, she had only used light force; otherwise, even if Zhang Wuji’s acupoint unsealing techniques were more amazing, he would never be able to free himself.

When he was able to stand up, he hurriedly put his outer garment on and jumped out of the window, but it was quiet everywhere he looked, not a trace of Zhu Jiuzhen to be seen. Standing in the darkness he was feeling rather dispirited, but suddenly he had another thought, “Zhen Jie is going to make fun of me for being useless; let her tease me if she want to, why should I fight over who wins who loses with her? I always try to win her favor daily, it is not easy; if I pursue her tonight, she may be angry with me instead.” Having this thought, his heart immediately calmed down.

It was the beginning of spring, the air was filled with the light fragrance of wild flowers all around the valley. Since sleep had left him, he wandered aimlessly along a small creek. The snow on the hillside was beginning to melt; it trickled down into the creek below. Occasionally he would step on or kick small pieces of ice, creating clinking noises along the way. After walking for a while, he heard giggles coming from the woods to his left, it was Zhu Jiuzhen’s voice.

Zhang Wuji was slightly startled, “Did Zhen Jie find me?” he mused. But then he heard that she was scolding in a low voice, “Biaoge, don’t make a scene, or I will slap your big ears,” followed by a male voice laughing gaily. Zhang Wuji did not need to hear more to know that it was of course Wei Bi.

Zhang Wuji’s heart was so shaken that he almost cried; the sweet dream he had for the last half a day was completely shattered, but his mind was suddenly as bright as the snow: “Why would I think that Zhen Jie sealed my acupoints because she wanted to play a joke on me? She is afraid I might find out that she is seeing her cousin in the middle of the night.” In that instant his hands went numb and his legs went weak. He also thought, “I am a homeless pauper; how can I be compared to Wei Xianggongin terms of literacy or martial art skill, manners or appearance? [‘xianggong’ is yet another way of saying ‘mister’ or ‘young master’]. Zhen Jie and he are related as cousins, they are a perfect match [orig. ‘lang cai nu mao’ – talented man, beautiful woman], truly a match made in heaven [orig. ‘tian zao di she’ – heaven built, the earth arranged].”

Once he accepted the fact, he gradually calmed down and sighed lightly. Suddenly he heard footsteps approaching, someone was coming from behind. Right this moment, Zhu Jiuzhen was still talking and laughing in a low voice with Wei Bi, while walking hand-in-hand toward him. Zhang Wuji did not want to be seen by them, so he hastily stepped behind a large tree to hide.

He heard the two sets of footsteps were approaching each other. Suddenly Zhu Jiuzhen called out, “Father! You … you …” her voice trembled, apparently she was very scared. Turned out the person coming from the other side was none other than Zhu Changling.

Seeing his daughter having a tryst in the middle of the night with his sister’s son, Zhu Changling was really angry. “Humph,” he snorted, “What are you doing here?”

Zhu Jiuzhen forced herself to act like she did not care, she said with a laugh, “Father, Biaoge and I have not seen each other for such a long time, today he happened to come by, we are just chatting.”

“You, this little girl, are recklessly too bold,” Zhu Changling said, “What if Wuji finds out …”

“I lightly sealed five of his major acupoints,” Zhu Jiuzhen cut him off, “He is sleeping soundly right now. I am going to release him as soon as I am back, I am sure he will not know anything.”

Zhang Wuji said in his heart, “Zhu Bobo knew I like Zhen Jie. Because of my father’s kindness to him, he does not want me to be broken hearted and lose heart. Actually, although I like Zhen Jie, I do not have any other intentions. Zhu Bobo, you are very good to me.”

He heard Zhu Changling say, “Even so, you must be very careful, don’t let us fail at the last hurdle and raise his suspicions.”

Zhu Jiuzhen said with a smile, “Child understands.”

“Jiufu [(maternal) uncle], Zhen Mei [younger sister],” Wei Bi said, “I’d better return. I am afraid Shifu is waiting for me.”

Zhu Jiuzhen did not want to part with him too soon, she said, “Let me walk you off.”

“Alright,” Zhu Changling said, “Let me go with you, I need to talk to your Shifu a little bit. This time we are going to Bing Huo Island, everybody must be fully prepared, we can’t afford any mistakes.” And then the three of them walked toward the west.

Zhang Wuji felt rather strange; he knew Wei Bi’s master was called Wu Lie, which was Wu Qingying’s father. Listening to Zhu Changling, it seemed like the Wu family, father and daughter, along with Wei Bi, will be going to the Bing Huo Island too; why didn’t anybody tell him before? The more people knew about this matter, the greater the possibility that it would leak out; hopefully nothing would implicate his Yifu.

He pondered about this for half a day. Suddenly he recalled something: Zhu Changling had said, ‘don’t let us fail at the last hurdle and raise his suspicions’. Suspicion … suspicion … what suspicion? Thinking about this word ‘suspicion’, suddenly something else flashed through his mind as if someone had just lighted a light in the darkness of his mind; the people in the painting ‘Picture of Zhang Gong Cuishan’s Kindness’ all bore close resemblance to the real ones, but how come his father’s oval face was painted as square? He looked a lot like his father, true, because as father and son, they shared many similar facial features; however, his father face was oval with pointy chin, not at all like Zhang Wuji’s long face with square jaw. According to Zhu Changling, he drew the painting with his own hand more than ten years ago. Even if his painting technique was not good, he should not make such a blatant mistake that the face of his great benefactor was changed beyond recognition. The Zhang Cuishan in the painting was practically a grown up version of Zhang Wuji.

“Ah, there is one more thing,” he mused, “Father’s iron pen had a straight handle with sharp nib; it looked just like ordinary writing brush. That day, not long after we arrived on the main land, he bought a regular judge pen from a weapon maker. He said that in term of weight and length, the weapon was acceptable for him to use, even with an extra iron hand. It did not look too pleasing to the eye. Mama said that as soon as we were settled, he should go and have one cast to his specifications. Yet the weapon Father had in the painting was actually a regular judge pen with a cast iron in the shape of a hand. Zhu Bobo himself is an expert in using judge pen, how could he paint it incorrectly? How could he draw Father’s judge pen wrong?”

Thinking to this point, a faint feeling of dread started to grow in his heart. In the deepest part of his heart, he knew the answer, but the answer was too frightening, so he did not dare to think it clearly, he only tried to console himself, “I must not let my imagination run wild; Zhu Bobo treats me this good, why should I suspect him blindly? I’d better go back and sleep, if they knew I wander around in the middle of the night, I might put my own life in jeopardy.” As soon as he thought about ‘his life in jeopardy’, he shivered involuntarily, although he did not know for sure why he should be afraid.

After standing on that place for half a day, he could not stop himself from walking toward the direction Zhu Changling, father and daughter, took. He saw a flicker of fire light like a star among the thick cluster of trees. Turned out there was another house in the middle of the woods. His heart was thumping wildly and immediately he stepped more lightly as he walked quietly toward the house. Arriving at the back of the house, he calmed himself down and peeked inside through a crack on the window. He saw Zhu Changling, father and daughter, and Wei Bi were sitting facing the window, talking with someone. There were two other people in the room, their backs were facing Zhang Wuji that he could not see their faces, but one of them was a woman, which obviously was one of the ‘Two Beauties of the Snowy Range’, Wu Qingying. The other was a big and tall man, listening to Zhu Changling talking about how they were going to disguise themselves as merchants and set sail from Shandong region. He did not say a single word, only nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Wuji thought, “Aren’t I afraid over imaginary fears? Most likely this gentleman is the master of Wu family village, Wu Lie. He is a good friend of Zhu Bobo, so he is invited to come to the Bing Huo Island together. That is only natural, why should I make such a fuss over nothing?”

“Father,” he heard Wu Qingying say, “What if we cannot find that small island in the boundless ocean, and then we cannot return home? What should we do, then?”

Zhang Wuji mused, “This gentleman is indeed the Village Master Wu.”

He heard Wu Lie reply, “If you are scared, then you should stay home. It is the matter of this world, if we do not go through hardship and suffering, how can we achieve peace and happiness?”

“I was only asking,” Wu Qingying sulkily said, “Of course I will follow the lesson I’ve learned from you.”

Wu Lie laughed and said, “Actually, in this matter we are staking everything on a single throw of a dice. If we are lucky, we will get to the Bing Huo Island. Even if that Xie Xun’s martial art skill is higher, he is still only one person, much less he is blind. He is certainly not our match …” Listening to this point, Zhang Wuji felt a cold air creeping up his back; he could not help but shiver. In the meantime, Wu Lie continued, “… how could we not take that Tulong Saber away from him? When that happens, the ‘ruling under the heavens, no one dares to disobey’, your Zhu Bobo and I together will become the ‘most revered in the Wulin world’. However, if our plan is not in accordance with the Heaven’s will [orig. ‘ren suan bu ru tian suan’ – man’s calculation is inferior to the Heaven’s calculation. I remember this saying has its origin from the Three Kingdoms, but I do not have the exact reference.], we will end up dead in the sea. Humph, who in the world would not eventuallydie?”

Wei Bi said, “I heard Jin Mao Shi Wang Xie Xun’s martial art skill is outstanding. On Wangpan Mountain Island, his roar had shaken dozens of Jianghu’s skilled people that they lost their minds. Disciple thinks that as we arrive on the island, we need not fight him openly; just put poison in his food and drink. Let’s not say that he is blind, even if his eyes are well and he can see clearly, he would never guess that the people his foster son brought along would harm him.”

Zhu Changling nodded. “Bi’er’s idea is marvelous,” he said, “Only we, Zhu and Wu, two families, from generation to generation have always been upright and chivalrous prestigious martial art school; we have never used poison, even on our secret projectiles we have never put poison. In short, I do not know anything about which poison we should put in his food and drink without raising his suspicions.”

Wei Bi said, “Yao Ershu goes to the Central Plains a lot, he should know. Ask him to buy some prepared poison.”

Wu Lie turned around to pat Zhu Jiuzhen’s shoulder, he said with a smile, “Zhen’er …” As he turned his head around, Zhang Wuji was able to see his face and he was shocked! Turned out this man was the ‘Hand Splitting Rock’ Hu Bao who masqueraded as his Yifu, who struck Zhu Changling that he vomited some blood, who was killed by Yao Qingquan with a dagger. Zhang Wuji understood immediately, everything was a charade. In order to make the charade lifelike, the palm strike, the hit against the wall so that rock debris fall down, the smashing of the table, had to be performed by Wu Lie, whose martial art skill was very strong.

Wu Lie was saying to Zhu Jiuzhen with a laugh, “Speaking about which, you have an important role to play in this drama; you have to be affectionate toward that little rascal along the way until he has delivered Xie Xun’s life. You must not reveal anything that would give our scheme away.”

“Father,” Zhu Jiuzhen said, “You must promise me one thing.”

“What is it?” Zhu Changling asked.

“You want me to wait upon that little rascal,” Zhu Jiuzhen said, “You don’t know how much suffering I have to endure these last several days. From here until we get to the Bing Huo Island and kill Xie Xun, I don’t know how many more hardships I have to bear. As soon as you take the Tulong Saber, I want to use it to kill that little rascal!”

Listening to such hateful and malicious talk, Zhang Wuji vision blackened and he almost fainted. Indistinctly he heard Zhu Changling say, “We are using this kind of trick to deceive him only to find out Jin Mao Shi Wang’s whereabouts. Strictly speaking, we should not do this. This kid is not a bad kid. After we kill Xie Xun and get the Tulong Saber, pierce this kid’s eyes blind, and leave him on the Bing Huo Island; that should be enough.”

Wu Lie praised him, “Zhu Dage has a benevolent heart, he does not want to fail the family’s chivalrous values.”

Zhu Changling sighed, “This is like we are taking one step in chess, no feelings should be involved. Wu Erdi [second (younger) brother], when we are sailing, you must follow us from a distance. If you are too close, you might raise that kid’s suspicion, but if you are too far, we might lose contact. You may have to take the trouble of selecting skilled sailors to man your boat.”

“Yes,” Wu Lie replied, “Zhu Dage’s plan is truly thorough.”

Zhang Wuji was confused. “I have never revealed my true identity, how could they find out?” he mused, “Hmm, perhaps when I staked everything to fight Wei Bi and Zhu and Wu girls, I used Wudang Pai’s techniques. Zhu Bobo’s experience is vast; perhaps he could instantly see my origin. He knew that my father and mother would rather die than revealing Yifu’s whereabouts. Supposing he has used force, he could not make me reveal the truth; therefore, he forged the painting, burned down his own residence, using the ruse of inflicting self-injury to move my heart. Without uttering a single sentence of request, I asked him to take me to the Bing Huo Island instead. Zhu Changling, oh Zhu Changling, your sinister plot is truly ruthless.”

By this time Zhu Changling and Wu Lie were still discussing all kinds of preparations for their journey to the east. Zhang Wuji did not dare to listen further, he held his breath and quietly lifted his foot and quietly put it down. For every single step he had to listen and make sure there was nothing astir inside before he took the next step. He realized Zhu Changling and Wu Lie’s martial art skills were very strong, as soon as he made a careless step, stepping on a dry twig, for instance, he would alert them at once. Hence, for the first thirty steps or so, he walked very slowly. It was not until he was more than ten ‘zhang’ away from the little hut did he quicken his pace.

In his panic he did not see where he was heading, he only thought that he must have walked toward the deepest part of the forest on the hillside. He clim