"Why…Why…Why?" he muttered, his voice so dry that the others could barely hear him.

"Alas, Escort Gao was an honest and diligent man, who"d expect that the demon would not spare him, either." Voices came from outside the Front Hall, and seconds later, five neighbors walked into the front hall, carrying a door plank. A dead body lay on top of it.

"When I opened my door this morning, I saw him, lying dead in the middle of the street," one of the neighbors explained. "I recognized him as Escort Gao from your Escort House. I figured he probably had some kind of plague, so I asked a couple of neighbors to help me carry him back to your Escort House."

"Many thanks! Many thanks!" Lin Zhennan cupped his hands[17] and bowed. Turning toward a henchman standing by the side, he instructed, "Give three taels of silver to each of these wonderful neighbors. You can go to the bookkeeper to get the money."

Frightened by all the dead bodies in the hall, the neighbors thanked Lin Zhennan and hurried away, and before long, the bodies of four more escorts were sent back. Lin Zhennan counted the bodies and came to a total of twenty-two. Escort Zhu"s was the only one not among them, but it might not be long, before his body would be found, somewhere.

Lin Zhennan walked back to the East Hall. Pouring a cup of hot tea for himself, he tried to calm down, but that didn"t help. Still feeling completely dumbfounded, he walked out of the gate and looked around. The stumps of the two broken flagpoles had been taken away, but he found himself even more disturbed. The foes had killed over twenty people in the Escort House, but had never actually shown themselves; they never formally announced their intentions, nor did they reveal their true ident.i.ties. He turned around and glared at the big sign bearing the golden words "Fortune Prestige Escort House," thinking, "The Fortune Prestige Escort House has been renowned for decades. Will it come to ruin in my hands?" Then he heard the sound of hoof beats approaching from the street. A horse slowly trotted toward the Escort House, and a man lay slumped back in the saddle. Lin Zhennan walked to the horse, and he wasn"t surprised to see, that it was Escort Zhu. The enemy must have killed him and just left the body on the horse. The horse remembered the way home and came back, all by itself.

Lin Zhennan let out a deep sigh, as tears poured down his face and fell on the body of Escort Zhu. "Brother Zhu," he carried the body into the hall, murmuring, "if I can"t avenge you, I"d rather die. Why…why did you leave so hurriedly without even telling us the name of your killer?"

Escort Zhu was just a regular escort in the Escort House, and not particularly close to Lin Zhennan. Lin Zhennan"s tears were shed more out of frustration than from the sadness at losing a friend.

Madam w.a.n.g stood in front of the hall holding her golden saber in her left hand. Pointing at the courtyard with her right hand, she shouted challengingly.

"You cursed murderers! Why are you hiding yourselves and sneaking around? If you are real men, I dare you to come to the Fortune Prestige Escort House and fight a real fight. Aren"t you afraid of being looked down by doing all of this sneaking around?"

"Did you see anything?" Lin Zhennan asked his wife in a whisper as he placed Escort Zhu"s body down on the ground.

"No, I didn"t see anything," Madam w.a.n.g growled. "These rotten lowlifes must be frightened of our Lin Family"s seventy-two moves of the Evil-Resisting Sword Art." She waved the saber in the air and continued, "They are frightened of the golden saber in my hand, too!"

Suddenly, sound of snickering rose from a corner of the roof, and then with a hiss of wind, an object zipped through the air and struck the spine of the golden saber. Madam w.a.n.g felt a shock run through her arm and had to let go of the weapon. The saber flew into the air and landed in the middle of the courtyard.

Wasting no time, Lin Zhennan unsheathed his sword and jumped up to the roof, and with a move called Cast Upon Demons, the tip of his sword danced like the scatter of falling petals and flew toward the origin of the attack. Having not been able to face his enemies, he found his anger growing for the past couple of days and now reaching a point of explosion. Sparing no strength, he attacked with full force. But the attack hit nothing. The corner of the roof was completely empty, with not even a shadow. He jumped onto the roof of the east room, but found no one there, either.

Madam w.a.n.g and Lin Pingzhi also jumped up to the roof with their weapons drawn. Filled with fury, Madam w.a.n.g snarled.

"d.a.m.n you! You son of a dog! Be a man, come out and fight. Are you scared? What kind of shameless cowards are you?"

"Where did that son of a dog go? Who was he?" she asked Lin Zhennan.

Lin Zhennan shook his head. "Keep your voice down," he whispered.

The three searched the entire roof and then jumped back down to the courtyard.

"What hit your saber?" Lin Zhennan asked in a low voice.

"d.a.m.n that son of a dog! I don"t know," Madam w.a.n.g snapped.

They searched the courtyard but could find neither darts nor other missiles. The only thing they were able to find were small grains of bricks spread over the floor under the osmanthus tree. Obviously the attacker had hit Madam w.a.n.g"s saber with just a small piece of brick, and it was quite frightening to imagine that such a small piece of brick could have carried such great power. Seeing the fragments of brick, Madam w.a.n.g stopped cursing. Her anger was quenched, and completely replaced with fear. She froze for a moment, and then walked into the room, silently.

After the husband and son entered, Madam w.a.n.g shut the door behind them. "The enemy is too skillful. We"re not in the same cla.s.s. What…what shall we…?" she whispered nervously.

"We can ask for help from friends. It"s perfectly normal for people to help each other in a time of need," Lin Zhennan replied.

"We have many true friends that we can trust, but how many of them can fight better than we can? The ones that are no better than us won"t be any help anyway," Madam w.a.n.g questioned.

"Yes, you are right," Lin Zhennan admitted, "but the more people, the more brain power. It might not be a bad idea to ask them for ideas."

"Fine! Who do you think we should ask?" Madam w.a.n.g asked.

"Let"s get friends who live close by, first," Lin Zhennan suggested. "I will transfer all the elite fighters from our Escort Houses in Hangzhou, Nanchang and Guangzhou, and also invite famous Kung-Fu masters in our province and the neighboring three provinces."

"Don"t you think that would hurt the reputation of the Fortune Prestige Escort House?" Madam w.a.n.g frowned.

"Wife, you are thirty-nine years old this year, right?" Lin Zhennan suddenly asked out of the blue.

"Why are you suddenly asking about my age? I was born in the year of the Tiger,[18] don"t you remember how old I am?" Madam w.a.n.g spat at him.

"I"ll be sending out invitations for your fortieth birthday party…," Lin Zhennan said when Madam w.a.n.g quickly cut him short grouchily.

"Why the h.e.l.l are you so interested in seeing me get a year older? You think I"m not old enough already?"

"You"re not old at all! You don"t even have a single gray hair." Lin Zhennan shook his head. "I am using your fortieth birthday as an excuse, so when we invite relatives and friends over, we won"t rouse any suspicion. When everybody arrives, we shall only tell our close friends the true story, then there will be no damage to our reputation," he explained.

Madam w.a.n.g thought about it for a while and finally agreed. "Very well! It is your decision. But what do I get for a birthday present?"

"A big one! Let"s have a cute, fat, baby boy next year!" Lin Zhennan whispered in her ear.

"Bah, you old goat! Still talking nonsense in such a crisis." Madam w.a.n.g"s face went scarlet, and she spat at her husband half in annoyance.

Lin Zhennan grinned, and then left for the bookkeeper"s office so he could arrange to have the invitations sent out. The joke was just to ease his wife"s fear; he, himself, was still deeply worried. "Water a mile away can not put out a fire at hand. Terrible things will most probably happen again in the Escort House this very night. When our friends arrive, there might not be a Fortune Prestige Escort House waiting for them," he thought to himself.

When Lin Zhennan arrived at the door of the bookkeeper"s office, he was greeted by two very frightened servants.

"Chief…Chief…Chief Master…something horrible…horrible has happened," one of them mumbled in a trembling voice,

"What"s the matter?" Lin Zhennan asked.

"Bookkeeper Mr. Dong just sent Lin Fu to go buy some coffins, and right…right after he turned the corner on East Street, he fell to the ground dead," said the servant fearfully.

"What? Where"s the body?"

"Still lying on the street."

"Go bring the body back here," Lin Zhennan directed. "Now, our enemies are becoming more reckless. They even dare to commit murder in broad daylight, and right in the middle of the street," he thought aloud.

"Yes, sir…yes, sir…!" the two servants answered, but neither of them moved an inch.

"Well?" Lin Zhennan roared.

"Chief Master, you"d better go have…have a look…at…."

Lin Zhennan knew something bizarre must have just happened again. He gave a snort and walked toward the gate. Three escorts and five henchmen were already there. They stared through the gate, all looking very frightened.

"What"s going on?" Lin Zhennan demanded, and then saw for himself before anybody had a chance to answer. At about ten paces from the gate, an inch wide line was drawn on the stone slab street in blood. Words also written in blood next to the line read, "Cross the Line and Die."

"When was this drawn? Did anyone see who did it?" asked Lin Zhennan immediately.

"Earlier, when Lin Fu died on East Street, everybody was crowded around him to see what was happening. There was no one here. I don"t know who would do such a thing," an escort answered.

Lin Zhennan raised his voice and said loudly, "I, Lin Zhennan, am tired of living; I"d like to see how I"m going to die, after I cross this line." He strode out of the gate.

"Chief Master!" Two of the escorts cried out.

Lin Zhennan waved them off and stepped over the line. The blood used to draw the line and the words was still wet. He scuffed the words out with the bottom of his shoes and then went back through the gate.

"This is just an attempt to scare us," he said to the three escorts. "There"s nothing to be afraid of. Brothers, would you please first go to the coffin shop, and then make a visit to the Heavenly-Peace Temple in the west end of town to have the monks come over for a ma.s.s to calm the souls, deliver them from the purgatory, and drive away the evil spirits?"

The three escorts watched the Chief Master stepping over the b.l.o.o.d.y line with their own eyes. Seeing that no harm had befallen him, they were quite relieved. After getting their weapons, they walked out the gate side by side. Lin Zhennan watched them stepping over the b.l.o.o.d.y line and rounding the corner of the street. He waited a little bit longer and then went back into the house.

Walking into the bookkeeper"s office, Lin Zhennan said to Bookkeeper Huang, "Mr. Huang, will you please write some invitations to some relatives and friends for a wine party in honor of my wife"s birthday?"

"Of course, sir! And which day would that be?" Bookkeeper Huang asked.

Suddenly, sounds of running steps came from outside. A man rushed in through the gate. Lin Zhennan stuck his head out and heard a loud thud. Someone had fallen. Hurrying toward the place from which the sound came, Lin Zhennan saw Escort Di, one of the three escorts he just sent to the coffin shop, laying on the ground. He was barely alive.

"Brother Di, are you alright?" Lin Zhennan held him in his arms and asked frantically.

"They"re all dead, I…I…I ran back," Escort Di gasped.

"Who did this to you?"

"Don"t…don"t know…don"t know…." Then after a couple of shudders, Escort Di lay still.

Within minutes, everyone in the Escort House heard the news. Madam w.a.n.g and Lin Pingzhi both came out and all they heard from the crowd was: "Cross the Line and Die."

"I"ll retrieve the bodies of the other two escorts," Lin Zhennan said with determination.

"Chief…Chief Master…you can"t go," Bookkeeper Huang muttered. "Great courage brings great rewards. Thirty taels of silver for the one that…that brings the bodies back." He made the announcement three times, but no one answered.

"Where is Pingzhi? Pingzhi? Pingzhi?" Madam w.a.n.g suddenly shrieked frantically, her voice filled with fear.

"Young Master! Young Master!" everyone started calling together with Madam w.a.n.g.

"I am here!" Lin Pingzhi"s voice floated in from outside the gate.

With a surge of relieved happiness, everyone rushed to the gate, and rounding the street corner was Lin Pingzhi, with a body over each shoulder – he had carried back the two dead escorts. With weapons in their hands, Lin Zhennan and Madam w.a.n.g both rushed over the bloodline to guard Lin Pingzhi"s back.

"What a brave young man the Young Master is! He has great courage!" all the escorts and henchmen cheered, while Lin Zhennan and Madam w.a.n.g were both filled with pride for their son.

"Child, that was too reckless. These two escorts were good friends, but they were dead, already. It wasn"t worth the risk," Madam w.a.n.g said reprovingly.

Lin Pingzhi managed a smile, but deep inside, he was miserable. "The whole affair is my fault," he thought to himself. "It is all because I couldn"t contain myself and killed that guy; so many people have died because of me. If I only worry about my own life like a coward, how can I bear to ever look at myself again?"

"Unbelievable, Mr. Hua is dead too!" Suddenly shouts came from the back room.

"What happened?" Lin Zhennan shouted as the steward of the Escort House walked out in quick trots.

"Chief Master," the steward said fearfully, "Mr. Hua went out the back door to shop for some vegetables, and he just dropped dead about ten paces out the back door. There are the same…the same words in blood."

Mr. Hua was just a cook in the Escort House. His cooking skills were top notch; he was quite famous for his White-Gourd Pot, Buddha Over the Wall,[19] Pickled Fish, and Fish-wrap Wonton. He was Lin Zhennan"s secret weapon when he wanted to socialize with local officials and rich business owners.

Hua was only a cook, neither an escort, nor a henchman. It was an unwritten rule that wagon-pullers, sedan-carriers, grooms, and porters were to be left alone when bandits raided escort convoys. With enemies so ruthless, it would probably result in a ma.s.sacre of the entire Escort House. Lin Zhennan shivered at the thought.

"Don"t be afraid." He tried to calm everyone. "Humph, these d.a.m.n bandits only have the guts to attack when one is off guard. You"ve all seen the Young Master, Madam w.a.n.g, and I step across the line. What did those d.a.m.n thugs do? Nothing? They dared do nothing."

Everybody agreed obsequiously, yet no one dared to step out of the gate. Lin Zhennan and Madam w.a.n.g frowned at each other and neither had any idea of what to do.

That night Lin Zhennan scheduled the escorts to guard the Escort House, but when he checked upon them, he found no one on duty. All the escorts just huddled within the hall. When they saw the Chief Master, all stood up looking embarra.s.sed, yet no one wanted to move. Lin Zhennan knew that the enemy was just too vicious, and after the deaths of so many people, he still had not come up with a solution. No wonder everyone was so scared. So he uttered a few words of comfort, ordered servants to bring wine and dishes to the hall, and then drank together with the escorts. Greatly worried, each one just drank the wine silently, and no one talked much. Not long after, many became drunk and fell asleep.

The following noon, several horses suddenly thundered out of the Escort House. After a short investigation, Lin Zhennan found that five escorts simply could not bear the stress and had fled without notice. He shook his head and sighed.

"When trouble comes, each bird will fly in its own direction. I can no longer take care of each of you, brothers. If you feel like leaving, please go ahead," he declared.

Some escorts started berating the five for lack of loyalty, while some others kept their silence and only sighed. They were probably wishing that they had fled as well.

Near dusk, five horses came back with five bodies. The five escorts, who wanted to escape, only ended up losing their lives before everyone else.

Lin Pingzhi was enraged. Sword in hands, he dashed out of the gate and stood three paces beyond the line of blood, yelling, "A true man would take full responsibility for his own actions. I, Lin Pingzhi, killed Yu from Szechwan. It has nothing to do with anyone else. If you want your revenge, come to me. Stab me through the heart and slice me up! I won"t complain. But you keep killing innocent people; what kind of monster does something like that? Lin Pingzhi stands before you. Come and kill me if you dare! If you are too scared to come out, then you are just a pack of craven weaklings; you son of a dog." The sound of his voice escalated, becoming louder and louder. Tearing open his shirt and exposing his chest, he pounded his own chest, shouting, "Come out and put your knife right through here! I am a real man and I am not afraid of death! Why are you so scared to stand in front of me face to face? You d.a.m.n cowards! You filthy monsters!" His eyes turned red from his anger as he struck his own chest heavily.

Many bystanders watched him from far away, but no one wanted to come near the Escort House. Hearing their son shouting, Lin Zhennan and his wife both rushed out of the gate. Their anger and frustration had been steadily building over the last couple of days. The anger finally exploded, and they too began to pour streams of abuse at their unknown enemies.

The escorts looked at each other with admiration for the courage of the three. They felt no surprise that their Chief Master and his wife would shout defiance at their enemies, since the Chief Master was an outstanding man and Madame was a brave woman, but the Young Master looked as fragile as a girl, making him seem that much more heroic for his fearlessness.

The three shouted for a good long while, but were only rewarded with silence.

""Cross the Line and Die?" I just crossed the line, what are you going to do?" Lin Pingzhi yelled out loud. He walked over the line again and stood straight with pride, sword in hand.

"Yes, yes. These d.a.m.n thugs only bully the weak but fear the strong. They don"t even have the guts to come and face my son," Madam w.a.n.g said to Lin Pingzhi tenderly. She grabbed his hand and dragged him back into the gate.

Lin Pingzhi was still trembling with fiery anger. After going back to the bedroom, he could no longer hold his tears back. Bending over the bed, he started to cry.

"Son, you are very brave. You are a true man of the Lin family. There"s nothing we can do if the enemy doesn"t have the guts to face us openly. Why don"t you go take a rest?" Lin Zhennan patted him on the head, trying to comfort him, but Lin Pingzhi continued to cry until he finally dozed off.

After dinner, Lin Pingzhi overheard his parents talking. It was something about some escorts, who were talking about digging a tunnel out from the back garden. This way, they could escape without crossing the line of blood. If they were trapped in the Escort House, all of them would die, sooner or later.

"If they want to dig a tunnel out, let them," Madam w.a.n.g sniffed, "but I am afraid…afraid that…Humph!"

Lin Zhennan and Lin Pingzhi both understood what she meant. The escorts would most likely end up just like the five escorts who tried to ride away – losing their lives earlier, rather than later.

"Why don"t I go have a look? If it really works, then it might be a good way for all the escorts and henchmen to escape," Lin Zhennan said. He went out, but soon returned, saying, "They were just talking about it, but no one really dared to dig."

That night, the three went to bed very early. Everyone in the Escort House had resigned themselves to their fates, and no one cared to stand guard for the night.

Lin Pingzhi slept till about midnight, when he suddenly felt somebody patting his shoulder. He jumped up and instantly reached for the sword under his pillow. Then he heard his mother"s voice.

"Pingzhi, it"s me. Your father has been gone for a good while and still hasn"t returned. Let"s go look for him."

"Where did Dad go?" Lin Pingzhi asked in surprise.

"I don"t know!" Madam w.a.n.g replied.

The two grabbed their weapons and walked out of the room. They first peeked into the big hall, only to find that it was filled with candlelight and a dozen gambling escorts. Everyone had his heart in his throat for the last couple of days; finally realizing there was really nothing to do to improve the situation, they just stopped worrying about their safety. Madam w.a.n.g gestured Lin Pingzhi to follow her, and then left.

The mother and son looked everywhere, but still couldn"t find Lin Zhennan. They became more and more worried, but were afraid to alert the household. The news of the Chief Master"s disappearance at a time when everyone was scared to death would be disastrous. The situation would be completely out of control.

The two searched all the way to the rear of the Escort House, when Lin Pingzhi suddenly heard a faint noise come from the armory to the left. Fluttering candlelight shone from behind the window. Walking quietly by the window, he poked a hole in the paper[20] with his fingertip, and looked inside; then he called out happily.

"Dad, there you are!"

Lin Zhennan was hunched over something shielded by his body. When he heard the call, he turned his head back. Lin Pingzhi"s smile froze when he saw the terrified expression on his father"s face. His heart started thumping hard, and he just froze there, mouth wide open.

Madam w.a.n.g pushed the door open and went in. There was blood everywhere. Three benches were put together side by side and a body lay across them. The body was completely stripped, and the chest and belly were cut open. Madam w.a.n.g looked at the face and recognized it as Escort Huo, one of the five escorts who rode away and then was carried back dead. Lin Pingzhi walked in and closed the door behind him.

Removing the b.l.o.o.d.y heart from the chest cavity and holding it in his hand, Lin Zhennan exclaimed, "The heart was crushed to pieces. Just as I expected, it was…it was…."

Madam w.a.n.g completed the sentence for him, "It was the Heart Crushing Palm technique of the Qingcheng Sword School!"

Lin Zhennan nodded and then lowered his head in silence.

By then Lin Pingzhi finally understood that his father was performing an autopsy on the body, to try to determine the cause of the death.

Lin Zhennan put the heart back in its cavity, wrapped the body with oilskin, and then placed it in a corner. He wiped the blood off his hands with the oilskin and went back to the bedroom with his wife and son.

"The enemy is definitely an elite master hand from the Qingcheng Sword School. Wife, what do you think we should do?" he asked.

"The whole trouble started because of me, I"ll go challenge him to a fight. If I can"t win, then just let him kill me," Lin Pingzhi bellowed.

Lin Zhennan shook his head. "This person can crush someone"s heart into pieces with a single hit without leaving any sign of damage to the body. His Kung Fu skills are remarkable. He must be a first-cla.s.s master in the Qingcheng Sword School. If he had wanted to kill you, you"d be dead long ago. I think he is being deliberately cruel. He"s not just simply going to kill us."

"What does he want?" Lin Pingzhi asked.

"He wants to play with us, like a cat plays with mice. He wants to see us squirm, until we are all frightened to death, and that"s when he will be satisfied," Lin Zhennan answered.

"Humph, how dare this son of a dog show such disrespect to our Fortune Prestige Escort House," Lin Pingzhi barked.

"He is surely looking down upon the Fortune Prestige Escort House," Lin Zhennan stated.

"Perhaps, he is afraid of the seventy-two moves of Father"s Evil-Resisting Sword Art. Otherwise, why does he never dare to fight face to face with Father, and only sneaks around, stabbing people in the back?"

"Pingzhi," Lin Zhennan said as he shook his head slightly. "Your father"s Evil-Resisting Sword Art is well and fine for dealing with regular gangsters. But this man"s Heart Crushing Palm Kung Fu is much better than mine. I…I don"t normally give up so easily, but after seeing Escort Huo"s heart, I…I…well."

Seeing the dark expression that clouded his father"s face, Lin Pingzhi did not say another word.

"Since the enemy is so powerful, a real man should be ready to swallow his pride, so why don"t we just hide from him for a little while," Madam w.a.n.g suggested.

"That"s what I have in mind, too," Lin Zhennan nodded.

"Let"s head out to Luoyang tonight," Madam w.a.n.g said. "Fortunately, we know who the enemy is now. It is never too late for revenge, even if we have to wait for ten years."

"That"s right! Father-in-law has friends all over. He will be able to come up with a solution. Let"s pack now and we"ll leave right away," Lin Zhennan said.

"If we leave, who"s going to take care of the people in the Escort House?" Lin Pingzhi asked.

"The enemy has no score to settle with them. After we leave, all the others in the Escort House will actually be safer," Lin Zhennan explained.

Lin Pingzhi thought aloud, "That"s very true! The enemy had killed so many people in the Escort House, all because of me. After I leave, the enemy will just leave all the escorts and henchmen alone." So he went back to his room to pack. He looked at all his robes and toys; afraid that the foes might just burn the Escort House to the ground, he could not bear to part with any of them, so even though he already had packed two big bags, he still felt that there were too many things left behind. He picked up a jade horse statue on the table with his left hand, and then grabbed a leopard fur with his right hand, a fur that was skinned from a leopard he had killed, himself. Carrying all the bags, he strode to his parents" room.

When Madam w.a.n.g saw him, she couldn"t help grinning.

"We are escaping, not moving. What are you going to do with all this stuff?" she asked amusedly.

Lin Zhennan sighed and shook his head, thinking to himself, "Although we"ve been a Martial Arts family for generations, our son is so used to living in ease and comfort that except for the Kung Fu he has learned, he is no different from any rich, profligate son. Now, when a sudden misfortune has forced us to run away in a hurry, how can I blame him?" Love and tender affection welled up in his heart, and he could not help but try to comfort his son.

"Grandfather"s house has everything you need. Don"t bring so much stuff. All we need to bring is enough silver, gold, and valuable jewelry. On our way, we"ll be pa.s.sing by our Escort House branches in Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei. Do you think that we have to beg the whole way? The lighter the pack, the better. The less you carry, the easier it is to move about when you fight."

At those words, Lin Pingzhi had no choice but to put down the packages.

"Which way shall we take, dashing out the front gate or sneaking out from the back?" Madam w.a.n.g asked.

But Lin Zhennan didn"t answer. He sat down in the armchair, closed his eyes and began smoking his pipe. A while later, he opened his eyes.

"Pingzhi, go tell everyone in the Escort House to pack their belongings and get ready to leave by dawn tomorrow morning. Ask the bookkeepers to distribute money to them. After the plague is over, then we"ll all come back."

"Yes, Father!" Lin Pingzhi answered, feeling a bit surprised that his father had changed his mind all of a sudden.

"Are you asking everybody to just break up in chaos? Who"s going to watch the Escort House then?" Madam w.a.n.g was also confused.

"There"s no need to watch the house anymore. This is a condemned house, haunted by demons. Who would dare to come in? After we leave, who do you think would remain?" Lin Zhennan explained.

Lin Pingzhi went out to spread the message. Not long after, the whole Escort House was filled with commotion. Lin Zhennan waited until Lin Pingzhi left, and then spoke again.

"Wife, tomorrow Pingzhi and I will change into henchman"s clothes, and you can disguise yourself as a maid. At dawn, over a hundred people will rush out and disperse at the same time; no matter how fierce the enemies are, they only have two or three people at most, and won"t know whom to pursue."

"Great idea!" Madam w.a.n.g applauded. She went out, and soon came back with two sets of dirty henchman garments, so when Lin Pingzhi came back, he and his father could put them on. She, herself, had changed into a set of dark blue clothes, with a piece of handkerchief decorated with blue flowers covering her hair. Now, except for her extremely white skin color, she looked just like an ordinary maid. Lin Pingzhi also changed into the henchman clothes. They stank terribly, but he had no other choice.

At dawn, Lin Zhennan had the gate opened and addressed all who had gathered in the court, "This year has not been a good year for us. We"ve suffered plagues and have been haunted by demons in the Escort House. I guess we"ll just have to stay away for a while. All brothers, who still want to remain in the escorting business, please go to Hangzhou and Nancang to join our Zhejiang and Jiangxi branch Escort Houses. Escort Liu and Escort Yi there will treat you well. Now let us go!"

After these words, all of the over one hundred people mounted their horses and rushed out of the gate. Lin Zhennan locked the gate and, with a howl, ten riders dashed over the bloodline. Everyone was greatly encouraged, and by now, neither was as afraid as before, all thinking the same thought – the earlier they left the Escort House, the safer. So, with the thunder of hoof beats, several rode toward the north gate of the city. Most people did not have any specific plan, so they all followed and headed toward the north gate.

Lin Zhennan signaled his wife and son to stop by the corner of the street. "Let them go north, we shall go south instead," he whispered.

"Isn"t Luoyang north from here? Why are we going south?" Madam w.a.n.g could not understand.

"The enemy probably had guessed where we are heading to, and have set up an ambush outside the north gate. But, if we go south instead, and then make a turn later, to go back north, the ambush will not work," Lin Zhennan explained.

"Father!" Lin Pingzhi suddenly called out.

"What is it, son?" Lin Zhennan asked, but Lin Pingzhi did not say anything more. After a little while he called again, "Father!"

"What do you want to say, just speak out," Madam w.a.n.g encouraged him.

"I still want to go out from the north gate," Lin Pingzhi declared. "These d.a.m.n monsters have killed so many of our people, if we don"t fight them to the death, how can we vent our anger?"

"Of course we will get our revenge. But with your skill level, can you defeat his Heart Crushing Palm?" asked Madam w.a.n.g rhetorically.

"So what! At most I"ll just get killed like Escort Huo with my heart crushed in pieces!" Lin Pingzhi rebuffed her.

Lin Zhennan"s face turned livid with anger. "If all the three generations of our Lin family had acted as recklessly as you, the Fortune Prestige Escort House would have collapsed by itself, saving our enemies the trouble," he bellowed.

Lin Pingzhi did not dare say another word, and just followed his parents quietly. They kept heading south, until they were well out of town, and then turned southwest. After crossing the Min River, they arrived at a small town, Nanyu. They continued the trip for half a day without stopping anywhere. When they finally needed a respite, it was already past noon.

Seeing a small restaurant by the road, they decided to stop and have something to eat. Lin Zhennan told the waiter to bring whatever was available and that the food should be prepared as fast as possible. The waiter took the order and left, but after a long while, there was no food forthcoming.

"Waiter, hurry up!" wanting to resume their trip as fast as possible, Lin Zhennan yelled. He yelled one more time, but there was still no response.

Madam w.a.n.g started calling out as well, "Waiter, waiter…." Still no response.

Jumping up from her seat, Madam w.a.n.g drew the golden saber out from her pack. Gripping it tightly in her hand, she ran to the back room, only to find the waiter lying p.r.o.ne on the ground. There was also a woman lying draped over the threshold. Madam w.a.n.g put her finger near the waiter"s nostrils and found that he was not breathing. She felt the lips of the body. They were still warm.

By then, Lin Zhennan and Lin Pingzhi had already drawn their swords and started checking around the small restaurant. The small restaurant stood next to a hill all by itself, adjacent to a small forest, with no other shop or neighbor nearby. The trio stood in front of the restaurant and gazed into the distance in all directions, but there was nothing unusual at all.

Lin Zhennan held his sword in front of him and started shouting in a loud voice.

"Friends of the Qingcheng Sword School, Lin Zhennan is right here awaiting his destiny. Please show yourselves."

He called out several times, but was only answered by his own echoes, "Show yourself…show yourself…!" The trio knew that their enemies were watching close by. This was, obviously, the spot where they had decided to make their attack. All three of them gasped nervously, but knowing that everything would be soon over, one way or the other, they also felt a sense of relief and were able to regain some sense of calm.

"Lin Pingzhi stands before you! Come and get me! You filthy scoundrels! I know you"re too scared to show yourselves. All you can do is to sneak around, like thieving pickpockets!" Lin Pingzhi yelled.

Suddenly, laughter shot toward them from the woods. Lin Pingzhi only had enough time to take in the glimpse of a blurry shadow, before finding a man standing right in front of him. He did not even bother to take a good look at the man before thrusting his sword toward the man"s chest, using the move called Attack Straight To The Heart. The man turned to one side and dodged the attack. Lin Pingzhi changed the thrust to a slash to the side. The man sneered and stepped around to Lin Pingzhi"s left. Lin Pingzhi struck with his left hand and then thrust the sword back.

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Lin Zhennan and Madam w.a.n.g both had their weapons in hand and were about to jump in to help, but after seeing the well-arranged series of moves Lin Pingzhi had put together, they both stepped back. Lin Pingzhi appeared to be very calm and well organized while fighting such a tough enemy. The man wore a purple robe and had a sword hanging at his waist. He seemed to be about twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, and disdain was written all over his long face.

Lin Pingzhi could no longer keep his anger under control. He chopped and stabbed and slashed and diced using the Evil-Resisting Sword Art recklessly, not worrying about his own safety. The man just moved around, dodging attacks without bothering to draw his own sword or fight back. After Lin Pingzhi had used about twenty different moves or so, the man finally sneered.

"Is this the vaunted Evil-Resisting Sword Art? How mediocre!"

He flicked the sword with his finger, and there was a reverberating ring. Lin Pingzhi felt a sharp pain between his thumb and index finger, and could no longer hold on to his sword. The sword fell to the ground. And before he knew it, the man threw a sidekick at him, which knocked him down and sent him rolling across the ground. Immediately, Lin Zhennan and Madam w.a.n.g rushed over and stood side by side to shield their son behind them.

"What"s your name? Are you from the Qingcheng Sword School?" Lin Zhennan demanded.

"With the paltry skills of your Fortune Prestige Escort House, you aren"t worthy to know my name. But, since I am here for revenge today, I"ll make an exception. You"re right, I am from the Qingcheng Sword School," the man said haughtily.

Lin Zhennan pointed his sword to the ground and then cupped his hands in a formal greeting. "I have always held Master Yu of the Pine-Wind Temple in the highest regard," he said. "Every year I"ve sent escorts to the Qingcheng Sword School with gifts and have never deigned to be impolite in any way. This year, Master Yu has even sent four apprentices to Fuzhou. I wonder how we have offended you?"

The man rolled his eyes and sneered. After a long while he finally replied, "You are correct! My Master did send four apprentices to Fuzhou, and I am one of them."

"Excellent! What is your honorable name then?" Lin Zhennan asked again.

The young man seemed disinclined to answer the question, but with a sniff, he stated, "My surname is Yu, I am Yu Renhao."

""Ying Xiong Hao Jie, The Four Aces of Qingcheng. "[21] You are one of the four great apprentices of the Pine-Wind Temple," Lin Zhennan said with a nod, "no wonder your Heart Crushing Palm technique is so powerful, capable of killing without drawing blood. Impressive!! Very impressive!! Mr. Yu has come such a long way to visit, and Lin Zhennan did not greet him properly; our lack of manners is unforgivable."

"The Heart Crushing Palm technique…humph…you did not greet us, but that Kung Fu master son of yours sure did. He even killed my Master"s beloved son. Yes, quite a show of manners," Yu Renhao spoke with dead seriousness.

A cold shiver ran up Lin Zhennan"s spine. He knew that if his son had only killed a normal apprentice of the Qingcheng Sword School, then he could ask a well-respected member of the Martial World to intervene and arrange for a formal apology to the Qingcheng Sword School, which might have solved the problem. But if the victim were really the son of the Pine-Wind Temple Master Yu Canghai, there would no longer be any alternative, except to fight, until one side or the other was completely annihilated. He waved his sword and let out a couple of laughs.

"Funny, very funny! Young Hero Yu, you have told a good joke!"

"Who"s joking?" Yu Renhao replied coldly with raised eyebrow.

"I have long admired Master Yu for his amazing Kung Fu skills and his strict discipline with his students," Lin Zhennan said. "In fact, everyone in the Martial World feels the same way. However, the person my son killed was just a punk who was hara.s.sing an innocent girl in a wine shop. Since my son was able to kill him, one can easily tell that his Kung Fu skills must have been very limited. How could such a person possibly be Master Yu"s son? Thus, I conclude that the Young Hero Yu must be joking?"

Presented with this line of logic, Yu Renhao was at a loss for words.

Suddenly another voice came from the woods, "There is an old saying: "Two fists can not parry four hands." In that tiny wine shop, your Young Master Lin and twenty-four escorts ambushed my junior apprentice brother Yu…!" The speaker walked out as he spoke. He had a small head and waved a folding fan casually. He continued, "If it was a fair fight, then there"s not much to talk about. To be frank, even if the Fortune Prestige Escort House had a lot more people, it wouldn"t have made any difference. But your Young Master Lin not only poisoned junior apprentice brother Yu"s wine, but also shot seventeen different kinds of toxic projectiles at him. Humph, this son of a turtle is so treacherous. We came to visit in good will, and never expected to be greeted with an ambush."

"What is your honorable name?" Lin Zhennan asked coldly.

"No honorable name at all. I am Fang Renzhi," the man answered.

By then, Lin Pingzhi had picked up his sword and had been standing angrily by the side, waiting for his father to finish the conversation, before jumping in to fight once again. But when he heard all of the nonsense from Fang Renzhi, he couldn"t help but shout angrily, "That is completely false! I had no grievance with him; I"ve never even met him before; I didn"t know that he was from the Qingcheng Sword School; why would I want to harm him?"

"Bull, bull! Stinking lies!" Fang Renzhi shook his head. "If you did not have ill feelings toward my junior apprentice brother Yu, why did you hide some thirty escorts and henchmen outside the little shop then? My junior apprentice brother Yu saw you hara.s.sing that innocent girl, so he knocked you down to teach you a lesson. He spared your life, but not only were you ungrateful, but you instructed all those d.a.m.n escorts to attack my junior apprentice brother Yu at once."

Lin Pingzhi felt that his lungs were going to explode with rage. "Is everyone from the Qingcheng Sword School a rascal who lies through his teeth?" he snarled.

"The son of a turtle says we"re liars!" Fang Renzhi said with a big grin.

"I said that. So what?" Lin Pingzhi retorted angrily.

"Continue to do so, it doesn"t matter to me." Fang Renzhi nodded.

Lin Pingzhi was surprised. These words were completely unexpected. Suddenly he heard a "swoosh" and realized that somebody was jumping toward him. He hurriedly struck out with his left palm but was still one step too slow. With the sound of flesh against flesh, he was slapped hard across the right cheek. Sparkles began to swirl in front of his eyes; he almost pa.s.sed out.

Fang Renzhi retreated back to where he was standing after his lightning quick attack. Putting his hand on his own right cheek, he yelled angrily, "Punk, what did you hit me for? Ouch, it hurts! Hha."

Seeing her son being humiliated, Madam w.a.n.g jumped forth and swung her saber toward the man. This was a move called Wild Fire Burning The Sky. Her attack was steady and vicious. The man jumped out of the way and the blade missed his right arm by a mere four inches.

"d.a.m.n b.i.t.c.h!" completely shocked, the man cursed. Not daring to take his opponent lightly, he drew his sword and deflected another of Madam w.a.n.g"s strikes.

"If the Qingcheng Sword School wants to get rid of the Fortune Prestige Escort House, that"s easy; but as to who is right and who is wrong, the Martial World will definitely be the judge of that. Young Sir Yu, if you please!" Lin Zhennan saluted Yu with his sword.

Yu Renhao pressed on his sheath, and the sword jumped out of the sheath with a ring of steel. "Chief Master Lin, after you!"

Lin Zhennan thought to himself, "I"ve long heard that the Pine-Wind Sword Art of the Qingcheng Sword School is both st.u.r.dy and light. They say that it is as st.u.r.dy as the pine and as light as the wind. I must try to control the initiative for a chance to win." At that thought, he started his attack immediately. After thrusting the sword toward the enemy as a feint, he swiped his sword sideways. This was one move of the Evil-Resisting Sword Art called Keep Away Evil. Seeing the ferocity of the blow, Yu Renhao dodged out of the way. Lin Zhennan did not wait to complete the move; he immediately followed up with another move – Eye-Picking Zhong Kui,[22] the point of his sword shot straight toward his opponent"s eyes, and as soon as Yu Renhao jumped back from the tip of the sword, his third attack immediately followed. Yu Renhao raised his sword and blocked the thrust with a clash of metal. Both felt the impact in their arms.

"I thought the Kung Fu of the Qingcheng Sword School was really something," Lin Zhennan thought, "but it seems to be only average. With this level of skill, how could he possibly perform the powerful Heart Crushing Palm? He must have another powerful helper around." With this realization, his heart pumped faster.

Yu Renhao rounded his sword and stabbed at Lin Zhennan, directing his attack at seven different parts of Lin Zhennan"s body almost simultaneously. The thrusts were so fast that it seemed as though the air between them have been suddenly filled with the flicker of silver stars. Lin Zhennan"s counter attack was just as fast, working hard to control the initiative. The two fought back and forth, and after over twenty moves, they were still at a standstill.

At the other end, the fight between Madam w.a.n.g and Fang Renzhi turned out to be a totally different story. Madam w.a.n.g"s golden saber was simply no match for the incredible speed of her opponent"s attacks; it was already a miracle how she managed the several narrow escapes. Seeing his mother on the verge of losing, Lin Pingzhi hurriedly joined in. He swung his sword downward at Fang Renzhi"s head. Fang Renzhi moved aside and dodged the attack. Lin Pingzhi lunged forth again like a madman. Suddenly, he tripped on something. Losing his balance completely, he fell flat on his face. "Stay down!" he heard somebody yell, and then he felt a foot pressing down, heavily, on his back in addition to the sharp p.r.i.c.k of a blade. All he could see was the dirt on the ground. He heard his mother screaming, "Don"t kill him! Don"t kill him!" Then he heard Fang Renzhi yelling, "You lie down, too."

What actually happened was that when Lin Pingzhi and his mother were fighting Fang Renzhi, a third man had sneaked in from behind and swept Lin Pingzhi with his leg, causing him to stumble. He then pulled out a dagger and placed it right at Lin Pingzhi"s heart. Madam w.a.n.g was already having a hard time defending herself. With this distraction, she started panicking, and her moves became careless. It became easy for Fang Renzhi to elbow her in the ribs and knock her off her feet.

Fang Renzhi quickly sealed their pressure points. [23] The man who tripped Lin Pingzhi was none other than Jia, who had fought against the two escorts in the small wine shop outside of Fuzhou.

Seeing both his wife and son captured by the enemy, Lin Zhennan also panicked and attacked more desperately. Yu Renhao let out a long laugh and suddenly attacked with several moves and gained all the initiatives in the fight.

"How did this man learn the moves of my Evil-Resisting Sword Art?" Lin Zhennan was astonished.

"How"s my Evil-Resisting Sword Art?" Yu Renhao let out a broad grin.

"How…how…did you learn the Evil-Resisting…?" Lin Zhennan could only stutter.

"What"s so great about your Evil-Resisting Sword Art? I learned it too," Fang Renzhi started laughing hard. He held his sword and started performing the forms – Keep Away The Evils, Eye-Picking Zhong Kui, and Swallow Flying Through the Willow Tree – all were moves of Evil-Resisting Sword Art. In that instant, Lin Zhennan was utterly filled with horror. He could have never imagined that his family"s very own secret technique, the Evil-Resisting Sword Art, being performed by his enemies. He was so confused that he completely lost the will to continue the fight.

"Gotcha!" Yu Renhao blurted out as he hit Lin Zhennan"s knee. The knee went numb and gave out on Lin Zhennan, forcing him to kneel down. Though he jumped back up immediately, Yu Renhao had already pressed the tip of his sword at Lin"s chest.

"Junior apprentice brother Yu, what an excellent display of Shooting Star Chasing The Moon!" Jia Renda cheered loudly. Like the others, Shooting Star Chasing The Moon turned out to be yet another move of the Evil-Resisting Sword Art.

"You…you know the Evil-Resisting Sword Art…Ok, just make it quick!" Lin Zhennan heaved a long sigh and dropped his sword. Numbness spread from his back as Fang Renzhi sealed his pressure point with a blow from the pommel of the sword. Then, he heard Fang Renzhi speak again.

"It"s not going to end that easy, you swine! You son of a turtle, wife of a turtle, and grandson of a turtle, the three of you are going to have the exquisite privilege of meeting my Master!"

Jia Renda grabbed Lin Pingzhi and lifted him up by the collar, slapping him hard on both cheeks.

"You little rascal," he snarled, "starting this day, I am going to slap you eighteen times a day, from here all the way to Mount Qingcheng. I am going to slap you till your puny little face is changed beyond recognition!"

Filled with hatred, Lin Pingzhi spat at Jia Renda. Because the two were only a foot from each other, Jia Renda had no chance of dodging, and the wad of saliva hit him right on the nose with a wet smack. Jia Renda was furious. He hurled Lin Pingzhi to the ground and began to kick him on his back.

"Enough, enough!" Fang Renzhi restrained Jia with a big grin. "If you kick him to death, how are we going to explain this to the Master? This sc.u.m is as fragile as a girl; he can"t handle your punches and kicks."

Jia Renda"s Kung Fu was just average, but his character was even worse. His Master was never fond of him, and even his fellow apprentices looked down on him. When he heard Fang Renzhi"s words, he didn"t dare kick Lin Pingzhi again. So instead, he spat at Lin Pingzhi to vent his anger.

Fang and Yu carried the three members of the Lin family into the small restaurant and threw them onto the floor.

"Let"s eat something first before we start our trip. Junior apprentice Jia, go cook us something, will you?" Fang Renzhi commanded.

"Sure," Jia Renda answered in compliance.

"Apprentice brother Fang, we have to be careful, not to let these three escape. The old one"s Kung Fu isn"t half bad; we"ll have to figure something out," Yu Renhao mused.

"That"s easy!" Fang Renzhi said with a nasty grin. "After we eat, we"ll just cut the nerves and tendons in their wrists and ankles. We can thread these three sons of turtles" collarbones with a rope and tie them together, just like a string of crabs. I"ll bet you n.o.body can run away, then!"

Lin Pingzhi let loose a torrent of abuse. "If you"ve got guts, kill the three of us right now. Only dirty lowlife sc.u.m would do what you are going to do."

"One more word out of your little rascal"s mouth, and I"ll find some cow dung or dog c.r.a.p to stuff your mouth with." Fang Renzhi threatened him with a wolfish grin. These words silenced him, although it made Lin Pingzhi almost pa.s.s out with rage. He shut his mouth immediately and did not dare say another word.

"Junior apprentice brother Yu," Fang Renzhi said. "Our Master taught us the seventy-two moves of the Evil-Resisting Sword Art, and we actually did a good job performing them. As soon as the Chief Master Lin saw those moves, he was scared out of his wits, and his body just gave out on him. Chief Master Lin, I guess you must be wondering at this very moment: How the h.e.l.l did the Qingcheng Sword School learn the Lin family"s Evil-Resisting Sword Art? Am I right?"

At the moment, that was exactly the question Lin Zhennan was pondering in his head: "How the h.e.l.l did the Qingcheng Sword School learn the Lin family"s Evil-Resisting Sword Art?"

....

[1] Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian province, which is in the southeast part of China, just across the strait from Taiwan.

[2] Note here that Pingzhi is actually the first name. In China, one"s family name is always placed before one"s first name to show respect to the family heritage. The same applies to all names mentioned in the story.

[3] Bamboo Green is the name of a very famous Chinese wine. It got its name because the color of the wine is like the leaves of bamboo.

[4] Tael is a unit of weight (anciently it was 32. 5 grams). It was popular as the unit for silver currency in ancient China.

[5] Szechwan (Sichuan) is a province south from the center of China. It is far away from the province of Fujian and is famous for its very spicy food.

[6] In ancient China, it was considered low cla.s.s for people to not wear anything on their legs.

[7] It is an old tradition in China that when a relative or an official in great power dies, people tie white cloth to their foreheads to show respect.

[8] Marquis Zhuge Liang was a very famous and well-respected military counselor in Szechwan of ancient China. (See his story in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong.)

[9] To kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in expression of deep respect, worship, or submission, as formerly done in ancient China.

[10] Hunan is a neighbor province northwest of Fujian Province.

[11] See the story "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong.

[12] Qingcheng and Emei are two famous mountains in Szechwan Province. Martial arts groups tend to either use the style of their martial arts or the name of the place they live in, as names for their groups.

[13] In Taoism and Buddhism, the high-level monks or Taoists will shut themselves in a cave or somewhere similar to meditate for a couple of weeks, without seeing anyone. They believe this meditation is helpful in their studies.

[14] Luoyang is a large city in Henan province, which is far northwest from Fujian province.

[15] Shaolin is a Buddhism temple in Henan province. Its monks are very famous for the Shaolin style martial arts form. Wutang is a Taoist temple in Hubei province. It is the second most famous martial arts group. (Tai-Chi was created by Wutang.)

[16] In Chinese, "Shan" stands for mountain. These are five large mountains in central, eastern, southern, western and northern China. People call them the Five Mountains. Two of these have the same p.r.o.nunciation, so we will be distinguishing them by using Hengshan and Heng-Shan.

Central: Songshan (Henan Province);

Eastern: Taishan (Shandong Province);

Southern: Hengshan (Hunan Province);

Western: Huashan (Shanxi Province);

Northern: Heng-Shan (Hebei Province).

[17] This is a Chinese way of greeting, by cupping one fist with the palm of another hand and bowing slightly.

[18] In the Chinese zodiac, an animal represents each year. There are a total of twelve animals, and the cycle starts over after every twelve years.

[19] This is a very famous dish in China. It got its name from a story: The smell of the dish was so good that the monk next door climbed over the wall to steal it.

[20] In ancient China, people did not have gla.s.s to seal their windows. Instead, they used paper to seal the frames.

[21] "Ying Xiong Hao Jie" is a Chinese phrase meaning heroes. The four great apprentices of Qingcheng each use one character in their names. Yu Renhao is using the character "Hao."

[22] When Chinese martial artists name their moves, they always like to use names from legendary stories. Zhong Kui was half-G.o.d half-human in Chinese mythology and he has the special power to drive evil spirits away.

[23] According to Chinese martial art and medical procedures, there are many "pressure points" on a human body. By pinning or hitting them, you can disable the movements of muscles, blood flow or information flow from the nerves. Fang Renzhi hit their pressure points so that they could not move and had to stay still.