k from the fall as he felt as if every bone in his body had just snapped.

Zhong WanChou grabbed the back of his neck with his left hand and lifted him up: “Who are you? What are you doing in my wife’s room?” Seeing Duan Yu’s handsome face, he immediately became suspicious. He turned to Madame Zhong and said: “Ah-Bao, you… you… again… again….”

Madame Zhong rebuked: “‘Again’ this, ‘again’ that, ‘again’ what? Put him down, he is here to report an emergency.” Zhong WanChou asked: “What kind of emergency?” He still had Duan Yu in midair and turned to him: “Stinking bastard, I can tell from your appearence that you are not a good person. What are you doing secretly hiding in my wife’s room? Tell me, tell me now! If you even tell half a lie, I’ll make sure your head end up like this table!” He brought his fist down hard onto a pear wood table, smashing half of it to bits.

After being painfully thrown on the floor, lifted up in the air, and hearing from Zhong WanChou’s tone of voice that he suspect that there maybe something indecent going on between him and Madame Zhong, Duan Yu got mad instead of scared. He shouted back: “My surname is Duan! If you want to kill me then hurry it up! I don’t know what kind of rubbish you are talking about!”

Zhong WanChou lifted his right fist up and shouted in rage: “Your name is Duan too? Another one named Duan, a… another one named Duan.” By now, the rage in him has turned to sadness and disappointment, and tears were filling those big, rounded eyes of his.

Suddenly, Duan Yu felt very sorry for this man; figuring that he knows that his appearance does not match his wife’s, and that is the reason why he gets jealous and mad for no reason whatsoever, actually a very pathetic situation for him. Unexpectedly, even though his life is in the other man’s hands, he started to console him: “My surname is Duan, but I have never seen Madame Zhong before in my life. You have no need to be suspicious or sad.”

Happiness returned to Zhong WanChou’s face as he asked in a crackled voice: “Really? You’ve never seen… never seen Ah-Bao before?” Duan Yu replied: “I only came here for the first time not an hour ago.” Zhong WanChou laughed sillily a couple of times and said: “Yes, of course! Ah-Bao hasn’t left the valley in 10 years. Ten years ago, your were only 8 or 9, of course you can’t… can’t… cant….” But he still had Duan Yu up in the air.

A shade of red appeared on Madame Zhong’s face as she spoke up: “Aren’t you going to put Mr. Duan down?” Zhong WanChou immediately replied: “Yes, of course.” He gently put Duan Yu down, but suddenly a look suspicion appeared on his face again: “Mr. Duan? Mr. Duan? Who… Who’s your father?”

Duan Yu figured: “If I lie about it this time, it would actually seem like I have something to hide or whatever.” So he said in an earnest tone: “Back then I did not tell Madame Zhong the truth when I shouldn’t have. My name is Duan Yu, styled HeYu. I’m from DaLi. My father’s given name is first-Zheng-then-Chun.”

Zhong WanChou hadn’t really figured out what “First-Zheng-then-Chun” meant when Madame Wang asked with her voice shaking: “Your father is… is Duan… Duan ZhengChun?” Duan Yu nodded: “Yes!”

Zhong WanChou screamed: “Duan ZhengChun!” His scream was so loud that it seemed like the whole world was trembling. His face was red with rage and his entire body was shaking as he yelled: “You… You are the son of that dog, Duan ZhengChun?”

Duan Yu was furious and shouted back: “How dare you insult my father?”

Zhong WanChou shouted back: “Why wouldn’t I dare? Duan ZhengChun, you are a dog, a bastard, a turtle egg!”

Suddenly, Duan Yu pieced it together: “That’s why he wrote outside: ‘Those who enter with the surname of Duan will die.’ Must be because he hates my dad so much that he hates everyone named Duan.” So he calmly and coldly replied: “Master Zhong, if you have a grudge or hatred for my father, then you should get it over with once and for all in the view of the world. If you got guts then go and insult my father to his face. Insulting him behind his back is not the way of a real man. My father is in DaLi, if you want to find him then you’ll find him easily. What’s the point in putting up a sign in front of your house saying ‘Those who enter with the surname of Duan will die’?”

Zhong WanChou’s face turned many different shades in a row, as if every single word of what Duan Yu just said went straight into his heart. Rage shot out from his eyes as he looked like he was about to kill. After staying motionless for a while, he suddenly threw out 2 punches and smashed 2 chairs to pieces. He followed by throwing a kick at the wall, instantly creating a huge hole in the wall. All the while he screamed: “I’m not afraid of not being able to beat your father, I… I’m scared… scared that your father would find out that Ah-Bao is here….” When he got to here, there were faint traces of sobs in his voice. He covered his face with his hands and screamed: “I’m a coward, I’m a coward!” Suddenly he ran out of the room, but smashing noises kept on coming from outside as he kept on running into fences, flower pots, chairs, and such.

Duan Yu was in shock for a long time, he thought: “So what if my dad knows that your wife lives here? Would he come here and kill her?” He thought that he was way too harsh with what he said, hurting Zhong WanChou like that. Regretting what he said and feeling bad about the whole situation, he turned around and saw that Madame Zhong was staring at him.

As soon as their eyes met, Madame Zhong immediated turned her eyes away. Her pale face suddenly turned a shade of pink. After a little silence, she asked in a faint voice: “Mr. Duan, how has you father been? Is he doing ok?”

Since she was inquiring about his father, Duan Yu stood up and answered very politely and formally: “Father has been very good and healthy, he is doing great.”

Madame Zhong replied: “That’s great. I……… I also….”

Once again, Duan Yu saw that there were little tear droplets on her long eye lashes. She didn’t even finish the sentence before having to turn away to wipe away the tears with her sleeve. Duan Yu felt sorry for her and tried to console: “Auntie, even though Master Zhong has quite a temper, he has nothing but love and respect for you. The 2 of you have a full and beautiful marriage, this is a little disagreement, no need for Auntie to be sad like this.”

Madame Zhong turned around and gave him a little smile: “At such a little age, what do you know about whether or not a marriage is full or beautiful?”

Seeing the faint traces of innocence and tenderness in her smile, Duan Yu’s heart shook a bit as he was immediately reminded of Zhong Ling. He turned his eyes toward Zhong Ling’s pair of flower shoes on the table and thought: “Miss Zhong with that Goat Beard, she’s probably suffering every moment of it. Got to get her out of there as soon as possible.” He spoke up: “I was just very rude to Master Zhong, could Auntie please go on my behalf and ask Master Zhong for forgiveness. And also ask him to leave and save his beloved daughter at once.”

Madame Zhong replied: “My husband is busy taking care of some friends that had just arrived from very far away. It is truly very hard for him to leave right now. I’m sure you just heard as well how peculiar these friends are, killing at the slightest provocation. If we aren’t polite enough too them, who knows what kind of troubles that would bring to us? Hm. The way things are now, let me go with you instead.” Excited, Duan Yu replied: “If Auntie herself can go, then there is nothing more that could be asked for.” Remembering something that Zhong Ling told him, he asked: “Can Auntie cure that marten, Lightning’s poison?” Madame Zhong shook her head: “No, I can’t.” Duan Yu hesitated: “Then… this….”

Madame Zhong walked back into her room, left a brief little note, hurriedly tied a belt around her waist, and hung a sword off of it. Returning to the hall, she said: “Let’s go!” And she immediately started to walk out.

Duan Yu casually and naturally picked up the flowery shoes and put it inside his shirt. Madame Zhong shook her head in silence, as if she wanted to say something. But she finally decided against it and kept on walking.

Once the 2 of them got outside of the hole in the tree, Madame Zhong picked up her speed. Even though she looked delicate and frail, she was walking much faster than Duan Yu.

Duan Yu still did’t feel assured: “Auntie, since you don’t know how to cure, I’m afraid that Divine Farmer Clan might not let your beloved daughter off so easily.”

Madame Zhong casually replied: “Who said we are asking them to let her go? Divine Farmer Clan dared to detain my daughter and threaten me, they must have grown tired of living. I don’t know how to save someone, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to kill someone.”

Duan Yu involuntarily shuddered as he felt that the disregard for human life in these last several casual sentences were as prevalent as the actions of that Yue Number 3.

Madame Zhong asked: “How many concubines does your father keep?” Duan Yu answered: “None, he doesn’t keep any. My mom won’t allow it.” Madame Zhong asked: “Is your father really scared of your mother?” Duan Yu laughed and replied: “Not really afraid. It is mostly love and respect, much like how Master Zhong is like to Auntie.” Madame Zhong replied: “Um, does your father practice kungfu everyday? In these years, has his kungfu gotten much better again?” Duan Yu replied: “Dad practices everyday. But as for how good he is, I haven’t the slightest clue.” Madame Zhong commented: “He hasn’t slacked off on his kungfu, then I… I can set my mind to rest. How come you don’t know any kungfu at all?”

Amidst the conversation, the 2 of them had walked another half a kilometer or so. Duan Yu was just about to answer when he heard a man screaming: “Ah-Bao! Where… Where are you going?” Duan Yu turned around and saw Zhong WanChou chasing up from behind with blinding speed.

Madame Zhong grabbed Duan Yu’s arm and shouted: “Hurry up!” She started to run forward with great speed. Duan Yu’s foot was off the ground as he was almost being carried by Madame Zhong. The 3 of them covered 50 meters or so in a flash. Athough Madame Zhong’s Qing Gong is not weaker than her husband, she was nevertheless dragging another person and Zhong WanChou gradually began to gain ground on her. After another 50 meters or so Duan Yu could have swore he can feel Zhong WanChou’s breath on the back of his neck. Suddenly there was a ripping sound and he felt cold air blowing on his back. Part of the back of his shirt was torn off by Zhong WanChou.

Madame Zhong directed some inner force into her left arm and threw Duan Yu up over ten meters ahead while shouting: “Get out of here!” Her right hand had already stabbed back with the the sword. Considering Zhong WanChou’s kungfu, this move naturally shouldn’t hit him. Besides, Madame Zhong had no intentions of injuring her husband, she just wanted to stop his pursuit. But when she struck out with her sword, she suddenly felt some slight resistance on the sword as it had stabbed her husband in the chest.

Turns out that Zhong WanChou did not dodge nor parry, but instead leaned forward and ran onto the sword.

Madame Zhong was shocked and immediately turned around. Her husband was staring at her with a furious face but with tears in his eyes. With blood gushing out where he had been stabbed, he said in a shaking voice: “Ah-Bao, you…… are finally going to leave me?”

Even though her sword missed her husband’s heart, it nevertheless was several inches deep in his chest and life-threatening. In panic, Madame Zhong immediately pulled the sword out and jumped forth to press hard on his wound. But blood was gushing out so much that they were shooting out through the little spaces between her fingers.

Madame Zhong angrily said: “I didn’t want to harm you, why didn’t you get out of the way!”

Zhong WanChou forced a wry smile and said: “You… You… are leaving me, I… might as well die.” He then broke into a coughing fit. Madame Zhong replied: “Who said I was leaving you? I’m just going out for a couple of days and then I’ll be back. I’m going to save our daughter. Didn’t I explain everything in that note that I left?” Master Zhong replied: “What note?” Madame Zhong scoffed: “Ay! You are just too careless for your own good.” So she briefly explained Zhong Ling’s capture by the Divine Farmer Clan.

Duan Yu had been scared out of his wit by what he saw. When he had recovered from the shock, he immediately tore off a piece of clothing and tried to bandage up the wound for Zhong WanChou. Suddenly, Zhong WanChou’s left foot came flying in and sent him rolling along the ground. Zhong WanChou shouted: “Little bastard! I don’t want to see you ever again!” He turned to Madame Zhong: “You are lying, I don’t believe you. He obviously came… came to get you. This little bastard is his son… he also insulted me….” He began coughing again, causing the blood to gush out of his chest even more. He pointed at Duan Yu and shouted: “Come on! Even though I’m wounded, I’m still not afraid of your 1 Yang Zhi! Come on!”

Duan Yu’s left cheek had hit a particularly sharp rock when he fell down. So when he pitifully got back up, half of his face was covered in blood. He replied: “I don’t know 1 Yang Zhi. And even if I could, I wouldn’t use it on you.” Zhong WanChou coughed some more before angrily replying: “Little bastard, what are you pretending to be? Go… Go get your old man here!” His coughing got even worse now that he is mad.

Madame Zhong spoke up: “You are always suspicious about everything. Since you can’t trust me, then I might as well die right in front of you and end it all.” She picked up the sword on the ground and brought it up to her throat.

Zhong WanChou grabbed the sword out of her hand, but happiness filled his face as he said in a shaking voice: “Ah-Bao, you really weren’t running off with this little bastard?”

Madame Zhong angrily replied: “He is Mr. Duan, would you stop with the little bastard, big bastard talk? I was going with Mr. Duan to get rid of Divine Farmer Clan and save our daughter.” Hearing that she wasn’t leaving him, Zhong WanChou was happy beyond belief, add that on top the slightly angry expression on her face, and immediately his love and affection returned: “If that’s the case, then it’s all my fault. But… But since I have already chased all this way, why didn’t you just stop and tell me all this?” Madame Zhong’s face turned just a little redder as she replied: “I didn’t want you to see Mr. Duan again.” Zhong WanChou’s suspicion was suddenly aroused again: “This little…. This Mr. Duan isn’t your son is he?”

Angry and embarrased, Madame Zhong replied: “Pei! Why are you just talking nonsense? First he’s my lover, now he’s my son. To tell you the truth, he’s my old man, your father-in-law.” After saying that, she laughed despite of herself.

Zhong WanChou was taken aback for a moment before he realized that his wife was joking. That sent him into a wild laughter, which caused the blood to flow out even faster out of his wound.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, Madame Zhong said: “What… What should I do?” This made Zhong WanChou even happier as he put his arm around her waist and said: “Ah-Bao, with you worrying so much about me. Even if I die right now I would not feel wronged.” Madame Zhong’s cheeks were burning red as she lightly pushed him away: “Mr. Duan is here, how can you still act like that?” Zhong WanChou heartily laughed. After several laughs, he coughed several times.

Seeing the pale and exhausted expression on her husband’s face, Madame Zhong was deeply worried and said: “I can’t go save Ling-Er now, she caused the trouble herself, she’ll just have to see what fate she is dealt.” She helped her husband up and then turned to Duan Yu: “Mr. Duan, go tell SiKong Xuan: my husband is that ‘Divine Horse King’ Zhong WanChou who shocked the martial world years a go. I’m Chan BaoBao and have a rather unpleasant nickname: ‘Pretty Medicine Fork’. If he dares to even touch a single strand of hair on our daughter, remind him that the 2 of us are tough and merciless.” For every sentence she said, Zhong WanChou would add after it an “Yes, that’s right!”

Duan Yu had figured that Zhong WanChou could not go himself and that Madame Zhong cannot leave her husband to save her daughter after witnessing what he saw. Just using Divine Horse King Zhong WanChou and Pretty Medicine Fork Chan BaoBao’s name probably could not scare SiKong Xuan into submission. So it seems that the “Intestine Fragmenter” in his belly would not be cured. He figured: “Since things are like this, then there is no point and nothing good will come in saying anymore.” So he replied: “Alright, I will go and tell them immediately.”

Seeing how he just naturally and suavely got up to leave as soon as he said he would, Madame Zhong was once again reminded of someone in her mind, she cried out: “Mr. Duan, I have one more sentence to say to you.” She gently put her husband down and run up to Duan Yu. She took an object out of her shirt, stuffed it in Duan Yu’s hand, and whispered: “Take this to your father and ask him to please save our daughter.”

Duan Yu replied: “If my dad would come out, then of course Miss Zhong would be saved. But the journey to DaLi is not a short one, I’m afraid that I might not make it in time.” Madame Zhong said: “Then I’ll lend you a good horse, please wait here for a bit. Please don’t forget to tell your dad exactly: “‘Please save our daughter’.” She did not wait for Duan Yu to reply before running to her husband’s side, helping him up, and starting to walk back the way they came.

Duan Yu held his hand up and saw that what Madame Zhong stuffed in his hand was a delicately made golden box. He opened it and saw that there was a piece of paper inside. The paper was faintly yellow, obviously very old, with several faint traces of spilled blood on it. On it was written: “Girl born between 1 and 3am, February 5th, year of Geng-Shen”. The calligraphy was soft and weak, obviously written by a female, and the style was rather lacking, other than that there was nothing in the box. Duan Yu wondered: “Who’s birth certificate is this? Madame Zhong wants me to give this to my dad, what for? The year of Geng-Shen, Geng-Shen….” He did a bit of counting backwards with his fingers, that was exactly 16 years ago, “…. Could it be Miss Zhong’s? Madame Zhong wants to marry her daughter off to me so that my dad would go save his daughter-in-law?”

Deep in his thoughts, he was suddenly interrupted by a man’s voice: “Mr. Duan!”