White Horse Neighing in the West Wind #20

Che Erku said in a voice full of hatred: “He murdered Luo Tuo and Sang Si’er, let’s go after him at once, catch him and put him to death.” Li Wenxiu had originally thought of who this person disguised as an evil demon was, but it turned out that her guess was completely wrong. She could not help but feel ashamed of herself for wronging a good person. Fortunately, her mouth had not spoken the thoughts in her heart. Then she thought, “How come this Kazak man also knows how to fire poisoned needles? And fire them in exactly the same way? Don’t tell me he also learnt it from my master?” Once Su Lu’ke and the others realized that the demon was Waerlaqi in disguise, they no longer had any fear in their hearts. Furthermore, his martial arts were ordinary. Once they met, he would be captured immediately. Che Erku was determined to avenge his slain disciples. Lifting his torch high, he went first.

Old man Ji tugged at Li Wenxiu’s sleeve. In a low voice he said, “This matter involves only members of their tribe, we don’t need to bother about them, let’s wait for them outside.” Li Wenxiu gave him a gentle smile and assured him, “This matter is about to come to an end, you don’t need to worry.” Old man Ji walked shoulder-to-shoulder with her and said, “This matter is about to come to an end, after it has ended, I want to return to the Central Plains. A’xiu, will you return with me?”

A pang of sadness crossed her heart. The situation in her homeland was long reduced to a vague shadow in her heart. She had lived on this great grassland for twelve years, and loved the strong winds, heavy snowfall, yellow sand, vast and boundless plains, cows and goats and the Tianling bird’s song in the night…… Old man Ji saw that she did not answer, and added, “We Hans living in the Central Plains lead a far better life than here. We dress well and eat well. Your Grandfather Ji has saved some money, so when we return, we can lead a comfortable life. The colourful world of the Central Plains is a hundred times more prosperous than it is here, that is really the life one should lead.” Li Wenxiu asked, “If the Central Plains are so great, why didn’t you go back all this time?” Old man Ji was taken aback for a moment. Taking a few steps, he slowly said, “I have an enemy in the Central Plains, and came to the Muslim Region just to avoid trouble. After so many years, that enemy must’ve died. A’xiu, let’s wait for them outside.” Li Wenxiu answered, “No, Grandfather Ji, let’s walk faster, or we’ll fall far behind them.” Old man Ji made a series of “mm, mm”, but his feet did not quicken a single pace. Seeing that he was aged, she did not have the heart to hurry him.

Old man Ji said, “Once we’ve returned to the Central Plains, we’ll go and live in Jiangnan. We’ll buy a house and plant willows and peach trees around it, tree next to tree. When spring comes, there will be red peach blossoms, green willows and black swallows flitting under the willow branches. A’xiu, we’ll also dig a big fishpond, and rear goldfish, gold ones, red ones, silver ones, white ones and yellow ones; you’ll be very happy…… it’ll be better than living here……” Li Wenxiu shook her head slowly and thought, “No matter how much better Jiangnan is, I still prefer living here, but…… This matter is about to come to an end, after that Su Pu will marry A’man, then they will have a grand barbecued goat gathering, wrestling competitions, singing and dancing around the fire……” She lifted her head and replied, “All right, Grandfather Ji, after we get home, we’ll start our journey back to the Central Plains the next day.” Immediately, Old man Ji’s eyes shone brightly with incredible happiness, and loudly said, “That’s great! After we get home, we’ll start our journey back to the Central Plains the next day.” Suddenly, Li Wenxiu began to pity that Waerlaqi. He was unable to win his beloved, was exiled from his own tribe and led a lonely existence in this labyrinth. A’man was eighteen, so he must have lived in the labyrinth for two decades, perhaps even more.

“Waerlaqi! Stop right there!” Suddenly Che Erku’s angry shouts were heard coming from in front. Li Wenxiu did not bother to wait for old man Ji anymore, and rushed hurriedly towards the sounds.

They walked to the entrance of a great hall, only to see someone jumping high and crouching low, duelling furiously with a sabre-wielding Che Erku. That person was empty-handed, wearing a long white robe, and on his head a white covering which revealed only his two eyes. The covering and long robe were stained with blood, and were exactly the clothes worn by the person disguising himself as the evil demon for the past two nights. It must be the person who abducted A’man, Waerlaqi. Only this time he did not walk on stilts, the ends of his robe folded upwards into his waist.

Su Lu’ke and Su Pu saw that Che Erku held a sabre but the other party was unarmed, and concluded that he would definitely win. So they did not go forward tohelp, but instead lifted their torches up high and kept yelling to intimidate.

Li Wenxiu noted the strokes, and upon realizing something was up, called out, “Be careful!” She was about to strike when there was a bang, and Che Erku received a blow to his right chest. He spat out blood and flew backwards. Su Lu’ke and his son were shocked. Throwing down their torches, they drew their sabres and went forward, attacking the enemy together. The two torches burnt out on the ground, and the hall plunged into darkness and things could be barely seen.

Li Wenxiu carried the meteor hammer and called out, “Su Pu, get back! Uncle Su Lu’ke, get back, let me fight him.” Su Lu’ke angrily said, “You get back, stop shouting and calling.” He wielded his sabre strongly, creating winds. His Kazak sabreplay was different but still extremely ruthless and powerful. Waerlaqi’s movements were totally agile. Suddenly, his leg flew out, and kicked away the sabre in Su Pu’s hand.

Li Wenxiu threw the meteor hammer on the ground and leapt forward, catching the sabre in midair. With two strokes, she sent her sabre towards Waerlaqi. Her master had only taught her the strokes for arms and legs and the meteor hammer, but not for the sabre. At this point, all four of them were engaged in close combat, and because her hammer skills had not yet reached the peak of perfection, using the meteor hammer to fight would probably hurt Su Lu’ke and his son. So she was reduced to enveloping her sabre strokes with kicks and punches, and concentrated on this. Su Lu’ke, having lost his weapon, struck out with his fists.

Waerlaqi was outnumbered three to one, but remained on the upper hand.

After duelling for over ten rounds, Waerlaqi gave a shout, and sent his left fist out, hitting Su Pu squarely in the nose; then sent a leg out, kicking Su Lu’ke in the stomach. Su Lu’ke and his son fell down one after the other, and were unable to get up after that. Waerlaqi’s kicks and punches contained deep internal energy, so whoever received his blows would find it hard to withstand them. Although Su Lu’ke was brave, and also well-built, he could not withstand them either.

With this turn of events, Li Wenxiu was the only one battling the strong enemy. She was weak and incompetent on both sides, and immediately fell into the losing end.

Waerlaqi cried, “Get out at once, and I’ll spare your puny little life.” Li Wenxiu saw that if she stepped back and escaped, she would probably be able to pull only old man Ji along with her. The three others would likely suffer a horrible fate. So she overcame her fear and battled with all her might. Waerlaqi swung his left hand and Li Wenxiu darted to the right. But who knew that this was a false move? His right palm then came flying downwards, and hit her right shoulder squarely with a loud bump. Li Wenxiu lost her balance, and nearly fell down. A thought suddenly struck her: “This stroke is ‘Sounding East, Striking West’; Master taught it to me, how could I have forgotten?” Waerlaqi called, “If you still don’t leave, I’m going to kill you!” Li Wenxiu suddenly considered giving up, and answered, “Kill me then, if you want!” She leapt forward, and in a matter of strokes, was punched in the waist. It was so painful that she dropped her sabre and crouched on the ground. In her heart she cried, “I’m going to die!” There was a sudden whoosh next to her, and someone pounced on Waerlaqi.

Li Wenxiu rolled over on the ground once. Turning back to look, she could not believe her eyes: old man Ji held a dagger in his right hand, and unleashing a few strokes, started to duel with Waerlaqi. Old man Ji’s movements were strong and agile, and he sent out his strokes like the wind, with not a single hint of age and frailty.

What was more amazing was that every time old man Ji lifted his hand or stretched his leg, his strokes were exactly the same as Waerlaqi, which were the martial arts that her master Hua Hui had imparted to her. Li Wenxiu quickly realized, “Ah, the martial arts of the Central Plains are all like that. Grandfather Ji and this Kazak baddie both learnt martial arts from the Central Plains before. I never knew that Grandfather Ji actually knew martial arts.” They started to duel more and more furiously, then Waerlaqi sharply called out, “Ma Jiajun, how are you!” Old man Ji trembled and took a step back. Waerlaqi swung his left hand out, displaying half of ‘Sounding East, Striking West’. But old man Ji did not fall into his trap, and sent his dagger towards the right. Who knew that Waerlaqi did not complete the next half of ‘Sounding East, Striking West’. Instead, his left hand came rushing down and grabbed old man Ji’s face, pulling the skin off his face roughly.

Li Wenxiu, Su Lu’ke and A’man all shrieked loudly, and Li Wenxiu nearly fainted.

Waerlaqi jumped up, sent his left leg out, followed by his right in a series of kicks to old man Ji’s body. At this point, there was a flash of white. Old man Ji released his dagger. It shot out and lodged itself in the enemy’s stomach.

Waerlaqi cried in pain. His two fists struck out ‘Five Thunders Crashing The Roof’ and crashed down on old man Ji’s head. Li Wenxiu knew that if these two fists hit their target, old man Ji would not be able to survive. So she mustered up all her strength, leapt over and blocked Waerlaqi with her arms. There was a loud crack and her arms were so shaken that they seemed to be broken. In that instant, both of them were caught in an impasse: Waerlaqi was unable to bring his fists down, and neither was Li Wenxiu able to fend off his attack.

At this point, Su Lu’ke was able to move again. Jumping to his feet, he mustered all his strength and punched Waerlaqi’s jaw. Waerlaqi fell backwards, hit the wall, and collapsed on the ground.

Li Wenxiu cried, “Grandfather Ji, Grandfather Ji.” She helped him up, eyes closed and not daring to look, as she expected his face to be raw, bloody and terrifying. When she opened her eyes, what she saw was the face of a man in his prime. Taken aback, her eyes opened wider. His face was cleanly shaven, and his features were handsome. Under the illumination of the flickering torches, his face looked deathly pale and bloodless. He was no more than thirty years old. Only his eyes were what she had been familiar with. But on this completely unfamiliar face, they looked indescribably spooky.