they gathered later in the great hall to discuss thesituation.

chen said to wei: "ninth brother, send the vase tocommander li. we cannot betray our word." wei bowedand left.

master ma's son entered the hall and walked over tochen. "great helmsman, zhang zhaozhong has sent aletter to you," he said.

"zhang? that is strange. i wonder what he has to say?"he opened the letter and found it angrily accused himof deception and plotting, of behaviour unbefitting anhonourable man, and challenged him to a duel at a timeand place of his choice. "he wants to get revenge forlast night," chen told the others. "huh, a duel! doeshe think i'm scared?""we have to rescue fourth brother in the next twodays," said xu. "why don't you ask zhang to postponethe meeting for a few days? we should not allow thismatter to interfere with our real purpose.""that is true," said chen. "today is the twentieth, soi will set the meeting for noon on the twenty-third."he immediately wrote a letter inviting zhang to meethim alone on that day and ordered an attendant to takeit to the commander-in-chief's yamen.

an attendant entered and said to master ma: "master,the old man wang weiyang still refuses to eat and doesnothing but curse.""who does he curse?" ma asked.

"the imperial bodyguard for their lack of sense. hesays he doesn't understand why they have imprisonedhim.""the north china earth-shaker," priest wu chenchuckled. "as soon as he comes down to the south, hehas to put up with some hardship."xu's face suddenly brightened. "i have a plan thatshould make it easier for you to deal with zhang,great helmsman," he said. he told them the plan andthey all clapped and laughed in delight.

"excellent, very cunning," said priest wu chen. zhouqi smiled and shook her head.

"mistress zhou once again thinks that seventh brotheris not being straightforward enough," chen said with asmile. "but when dealing with dishonourable men, onedoes not have to be completely honourable. brothermeng, go and have a talk with the north chinaearth-shaker."in forty years, wang weiyang had never suffered asetback. now, on his first trip to the south, he wasin dire straights. he yelled and shouted, insistingthat he should be allowed to see the imperial guardcommander to settle the matter. as he ranted, the doorto his cell opened and meng walked in wearing theuniform of an imperial guard officer.

"so you are the north china earth-shaker?" he saidunceremoniously.

wang raged inwardly. "yes," he said. "it is a nicknamegiven to me by my friends. if commander fu finds itunpleasing, i will change it immediately.""commander fu is a confidante of the emperor," saidmeng coldly. "he has no interest in such things.""i am escorting a quantity of precious articles tohangzhou for the court. why are you detaining mehere?""do you really want to know?""of course!""i am just afraid that at you age, you may not be ableto stand the shock."wang hated references to his age more than anything.

in a rage, he struck the corner of the table with hisfist and splinters flew.

"i may be old, but my heart is still strong," heshouted. "what shock have i to be afraid of?"meng laughed. "your're truly remarkable, master wang.

there is a saying in the fighting community. 'meetingthe devil is preferable to meeting old wang, bumpinginto a spear is preferable to bumping into zhangzhaozhong', isn't that right?""that's the reputation i have amongst bandits.""why does 'old wang' come before 'zhang'? could it bethat old wang's kung fu is better than zhang's?"wang stood up. "aha!" he exclaimed. "so the fire handjudge wants to test me. i'm getting too slow in my oldage. i never thought of that.""master zhang is my superior, did you know that?""i knew that master zhang was in the imperial guard.""would you recognize him?" asked meng.

"we both live in beijing, but he is an official and iam an ordinary citizen. i have heard much about him,but have never had the good fortune to meet him.""master zhang has also heard much about you," saidmeng. "he says there are three matters he wants toraise with you. if you agree to them, you will beallowed to leave immediately.""well?""firstly, he wants you to abandon the nickname 'northchina earth-shaker.""huh! what's the second thing?""please close down the zhen yuan bodyguard agency.""my bodyguard agency has been operating for more thanthirty years," wang protested angrily. "never have isuffered a loss at the hands of our friends in thefighting community, yet master zhang wants me toretire! and the third thing?""the third thing is to ask you to issue a proclamationasking members of the fighting community to reversethe order of the saying about you and master zhang.

master zhang also says that as you are now getting onin age, your eight diagrams sword is probably nolonger of much use to you, and suggests that youdonate it to the imperial guard."wang's anger surged. "zhang zhaozhong and i havenothing against one another. he's carrying this toofar!" he shouted.

"you have enjoyed a great name for forty years.

perhaps you ought to retire. as the saying goes, onemountain cannot contain two tigers. surely youunderstand the sense of that?""so he wishes to humiliate me to promote his own name.

huh! and what if i don't agree. will he continue tohold me here?""master zhang is an honourable man. he would not dosuch a thing," said meng. "he invites you to duel withhim at noon today on lion peak. if you win, the threeconditions will not be mentioned again. if you lose,then he asks you to agree to all three. he says itwould be rather inconvenient if the emperor found outabout this, and asks you to go alone. that is, if youdare."wang spluttered with rage. "even if i was to diethere, i would still go alone.""then please write out a letter and i will take itback to master zhang," said meng. he pulled out somepaper and a writing brush.

wang, his hand shaking in anger, wrote out a shortnote:

"to his excellency master zhang zhaozhong. your wordsand behaviour have gone too far. i will meet you todayat noon on lion peak. if i lose, i will be at yourdisposal. wang weiyang."meng smiled, picked up the letter and walked out,closing the door of the cell behind him.

that morning, master han, the original owner of thewhite horse, was moved from one cell to another.

having fallen into the hands of red flower societyonce again, he was afraid he would not be able toescape so easily again. as he morosely considered hisdilemma, he heard someone shouting in the cell next tohis, and recognized the voice of wang weiyang. hecould hear he was cursing zhang zhaozhong. greatlycurious, he was just about to call out to wang whenthe door opened and two men walked in.

"please come with us to the great hall for a chat,master han," one of them said.

as they entered the hall, han saw three men sitting onthe left. in the middle was the red flower society'sgreat helmsman chen, while on either side of him sat adwarf and a man with a flowing white beard. han bowedsilently and sat down.

"brother han, i never thought that we would meet againhere," said chen. "our fates seem to be tied."han hesitated for a moment. "i know i agreed to giveup my sword and return home," he said finally. "butmaster wang insisted that i do this job. out offeelings of friendship and because i knew thevaluables belonged to your family, i...""brother han," xu interrupted harshly. "we of thefighting community are very particular about twothings: trust and honour. by your own word, you haveproved to be untrustworthy. how do you think youshould be dealt with?"han steeled himself. "what is there to say? if you'regoing to kill me then kill me.""there's no need to talk like that," chen said.

"master wang has been grossly insulted by zhangzhaozhong, and says that no matter what, he must fightit out with him. we of the fighting community are veryannoyed over this affair. what is your relationshipwith zhang zhaozhong?""i've met him a few times in beijing, but we are fromtwo different worlds. you couldn't say we had anyrelationship.""as i thought. have a look at this letter," said chen,and handed him the note wang had written.

han knew that wang always showed the greatest respectfor officialdom. but if zhang really had been thatinsulting, he would have been unable to swallow it.

having himself heard wang cursing and now seeing theletter, there was no room for doubt.

"i would like to see master wang and discuss thesituation with him," he said.

"there is not enough time," chen replied. "i wouldlike you to take this letter to zhang now and you cansee master wang when you return. twelfth brother,please come here," he called. 'melancholy ghost' shiemerged from an inner chamber and chen introduced himto han. "brother shi will accompany you to see zhangzhaozhong. you are unaware of how zhang has causedmaster wang to lose face, but there is no time to giveyou the details now. when you see zhang, you can saythat brother shi here is a lead escort with thebodyguard agency. do exactly as he says."han's suspicions rose again and he hesitated oncemore.

"do you have any doubts, brother han?""no, no," he answered hastily.

xu knew that han suspected. "please wait a moment," hesaid. he left the hall for a moment, returning with aflask of wine and a wine cup into which he poured somewine.

"i was too abrupt in what i said just now," he said,offering the cup to han. "please accept this as atoken of my apology. let there be no hard feelings.""well said!" han replied. he drained the cup, pickedup the letter and walked towards the door.

"oh no!" xu suddenly exclaimed. "brother han, i'vemade a mistake. that cup of wine had poison in it!"han went pale, and he turned back towards them.

"i am truly sorry," said xu. "that flask was poisonedfor use whenever needed and one of the servants gaveit to me by mistake. i didn't realize it until i smeltit. you've already drunk a cupful. brother han, ohdear, oh dear. get the antidote quickly," he added toan attendant.

"the antidote is in the east city residence," theattendant replied.

"you fool. ride over there and get it!" xu shouted athim. the attendant bowed and left.

"i have been neglectful," xu said apologetically tohan. "please deliver the letter first. if you doexactly as brother shi says, you can take the antidotewhen you get back, and everything will be fine."han knew he either did as the red flower societyordered or he was a dead man. he gave xu a look ofhatred, then turned and walked out without a word. shifollowed him.

lord zhou frowned as the two left. "han doesn't appearto me to be all that evil," he said. "poisoning himlike that was not a very honourable thing to do.""but there was no poison in the wine," xu replied.

"no poison?""none." xu poured himself a cup and drank it down.

"i was afraid he might mess up our plan in front ofzhang, so i scared him a little. when he comes back,he can drink another cup and it will all be over."the others laughed.

zhang was sitting beside wen tailai keeping watch whenthe cell door opened and a guard came in with avisiting card inscribed with the words: 'north chinaearth-shaker wang weiyang.'

"go and tell him that i cannot see visitors," he said.

the guard left, but returned a moment later to say:

"the visitors won't leave. they have a letter foryou."zhang read the letter, and was both angered andperplexed by it. he had never had any disputes withwang and wondered why the old man should challenge himto a kung fu duel.

"tell commander li that i have to see a visitor andask him to send someone to stand watch in my place,"he said to the guard.

four bodyguards arrived to replace him, and zhang wentto the reception hall. he recognized lead escort hanand saluted him with his fists.

"isn't master wang here?" he asked.

"this is lead escort shi of our bodyguard agency," hanreplied, pointing to his companion. "there are anumber of things master wang wants him to say to you."zhang threw wang's letter onto the table. "i haverespected wang from afar for a long time, but i havenever had any dealings with him whatsoever," he said.

"how can he say that my words and behaviour have gonetoo far? there appears to be some misunderstandinghere.""master wang is a leading member of the fightingcommunity," said shi coldly. "when the communityproduces scum, he considers it to be his businessregardless of whether there is a direct connection."zhang stood up, absolutely furious. "so wang weiyangsays i am scum, does he?"shi said nothing in silent confirmation.

"please enlighten me as to just how i have dishonouredthe fighting community," demanded zhang.

"members of the fighting community abhor disrespectfor superiors above all else," shi replied. "you,master zhang, are a senior member of the wudangschool. it is said that you have not only turnedhostile towards your own martial brothers, but havealso attempted to arrest one of them for the manchucourt. is this true?""the affairs of my martial brothers and i are of noconcern to anyone else," zhang said angrily.

"secondly, there is no personal emnity betweenyourself and the red flower society and yet purely forthe purpose of your own career and enrichment, youseized master wen tailai, and caused the death of theyoung son of lord zhou of iron gall manor. is yourmind at ease over such things?""i am employed by the emperor and i am loyal to him.

what has that got to do with the zhen yuan bodyguardagency?""did you not work to implicate the zhen yuan bodyguardagency in your schemes, as a result of which many ofour men were killed and wounded?" said shi.

"you really did do wrong there, master zhang," hanadded. "you can't blame master wang for being angry.""we will ignore other examples for the moment," shicontinued coldly. "how do you think these threequestions should be handled?" he rolled up his eyesand struck an expression of dignified authority.

zhang was incensed at being treated like a criminal inthe dock. "all right, you," he shouted, stridingforward. "you're obviously looking for trouble!"shi retreated a pace. "what's this?" he asked. "youwant to take me on because you don't dare to acceptthe north china earth-shaker's challenge, is that it?""who says i don't dare?" zhang roared. "i will bethere on lion peak at noon today.""if you decide not to go, then never again consideryourself to be a member of the fighting community,"shi said. "master wang says that if you have any gutsat all, you will go alone. there will be no one elsefrom the bodyguard agency there.""why should i need help? do you think i am afraid ofthis egotistical, stupid old man?""master wang is not a great orator," shi continued,ignoring zhang's comment. "when you meet him, theissue will be decided by kung fu alone. if you want tocurse and swear, please feel free to do so now."zhang was speechless with rage.

shi laughed coldly, then turned on his heel and leftwith han following.

while the two had argued, han's mind had been on thepoison he had taken, and wished that shi would hurryup and finish so that he could get back and take theantidote.

"we agreed to meet at noon," shi reported on theirreturn to the mansion at solitary peak.

han collapsed on a chair with what appeared to bestomach cramps. xu poured out a cup of wine and handedit to him.

"this is the antidote. drink it up, brother han."han quickly stretched out his hand to take it, butlord zhou snatched the cup away first and drank itdown at one draught. han stared at him an amazement.

"we have joked with you enough, master han," zhou saidwith a smile. "you didn't take any poison at all. hewas just playing with you. master xu, come andapologise."xu walked over, grinning and bowed. "please forgiveme, brother han," he said.

meng went in once more to see wang weiyang. "masterzhang has agreed," he said. "you can go now. and bythe way, he does not like naggers, so if you haveanything to say, say it now. when you get to lionpeak, the matter will be decided with fists andblades. if you try talking to him even to beg formercy, i doubt if he will listen to you. if you areafraid, there is still time to pull out.""i am prepared to die today if need be," wang shouted,huffily stroking his beard. he stood up and strodeout. meng motioned with his hands to an attendant whohanded wang his sword and a bag of projectiles.

han was standing by the door. "please be carefulmaster wang," he said.

"you know about this too?"han nodded. "i have seen zhang.""what did he call me?""it was demeaning. you would not wish to hear it.""speak," ordered wang.

"he called you ... an egotistical, stupid old man."wang grunted. "we shall see whether or not i amegotistical.

they gathered later in the great hall to discuss thesituation.

chen said to wei: "ninth brother, send the vase tocommander li. we cannot betray our word." wei bowedand left.

master ma's son entered the hall and walked over tochen. "great helmsman, zhang zhaozhong has sent aletter to you," he said.

"zhang? that is strange. i wonder what he has to say?"he opened the letter and found it angrily accused himof deception and plotting, of behaviour unbefitting anhonourable man, and challenged him to a duel at a timeand place of his choice. "he wants to get revenge forlast night," chen told the others. "huh, a duel! doeshe think i'm scared?""we have to rescue fourth brother in the next twodays," said xu. "why don't you ask zhang to postponethe meeting for a few days? we should not allow thismatter to interfere with our real purpose.""that is true," said chen. "today is the twentieth, soi will set the meeting for noon on the twenty-third."he immediately wrote a letter inviting zhang to meethim alone on that day and ordered an attendant to takeit to the commander-in-chief's yamen.

an attendant entered and said to master ma: "master,the old man wang weiyang still refuses to eat and doesnothing but curse.""who does he curse?" ma asked.

"the imperial bodyguard for their lack of sense. hesays he doesn't understand why they have imprisonedhim.""the north china earth-shaker," priest wu chenchuckled. "as soon as he comes down to the south, hehas to put up with some hardship."xu's face suddenly brightened. "i have a plan thatshould make it easier for you to deal with zhang,great helmsman," he said. he told them the plan andthey all clapped and laughed in delight.

"excellent, very cunning," said priest wu chen. zhouqi smiled and shook her head.

"mistress zhou once again thinks that seventh brotheris not being straightforward enough," chen said with asmile. "but when dealing with dishonourable men, onedoes not have to be completely honourable. brothermeng, go and have a talk with the north chinaearth-shaker."in forty years, wang weiyang had never suffered asetback. now, on his first trip to the south, he wasin dire straights. he yelled and shouted, insistingthat he should be allowed to see the imperial guardcommander to settle the matter. as he ranted, the doorto his cell opened and meng walked in wearing theuniform of an imperial guard officer.

"so you are the north china earth-shaker?" he saidunceremoniously.

wang raged inwardly. "yes," he said. "it is a nicknamegiven to me by my friends. if commander fu finds itunpleasing, i will change it immediately.""commander fu is a confidante of the emperor," saidmeng coldly. "he has no interest in such things.""i am escorting a quantity of precious articles tohangzhou for the court. why are you detaining mehere?""do you really want to know?""of course!""i am just afraid that at you age, you may not be ableto stand the shock."wang hated references to his age more than anything.

in a rage, he struck the corner of the table with hisfist and splinters flew.

"i may be old, but my heart is still strong," heshouted. "what shock have i to be afraid of?"meng laughed. "your're truly remarkable, master wang.

there is a saying in the fighting community. 'meetingthe devil is preferable to meeting old wang, bumpinginto a spear is preferable to bumping into zhangzhaozhong', isn't that right?""that's the reputation i have amongst bandits.""why does 'old wang' come before 'zhang'? could it bethat old wang's kung fu is better than zhang's?"wang stood up. "aha!" he exclaimed. "so the fire handjudge wants to test me. i'm getting too slow in my oldage. i never thought of that.""master zhang is my superior, did you know that?""i knew that master zhang was in the imperial guard.""would you recognize him?" asked meng.

"we both live in beijing, but he is an official and iam an ordinary citizen. i have heard much about him,but have never had the good fortune to meet him.""master zhang has also heard much about you," saidmeng. "he says there are three matters he wants toraise with you. if you agree to them, you will beallowed to leave immediately.""well?""firstly, he wants you to abandon the nickname 'northchina earth-shaker.""huh! what's the second thing?""please close down the zhen yuan bodyguard agency.""my bodyguard agency has been operating for more thanthirty years," wang protested angrily. "never have isuffered a loss at the hands of our friends in thefighting community, yet master zhang wants me toretire! and the third thing?""the third thing is to ask you to issue a proclamationasking members of the fighting community to reversethe order of the saying about you and master zhang.

master zhang also says that as you are now getting onin age, your eight diagrams sword is probably nolonger of much use to you, and suggests that youdonate it to the imperial guard."wang's anger surged. "zhang zhaozhong and i havenothing against one another. he's carrying this toofar!" he shouted.

"you have enjoyed a great name for forty years.

perhaps you ought to retire. as the saying goes, onemountain cannot contain two tigers. surely youunderstand the sense of that?""so he wishes to humiliate me to promote his own name.

huh! and what if i don't agree. will he continue tohold me here?""master zhang is an honourable man. he would not dosuch a thing," said meng. "he invites you to duel withhim at noon today on lion peak. if you win, the threeconditions will not be mentioned again. if you lose,then he asks you to agree to all three. he says itwould be rather inconvenient if the emperor found outabout this, and asks you to go alone. that is, if youdare."wang spluttered with rage. "even if i was to diethere, i would still go alone.""then please write out a letter and i will take itback to master zhang," said meng. he pulled out somepaper and a writing brush.

wang, his hand shaking in anger, wrote out a shortnote:

"to his excellency master zhang zhaozhong. your wordsand behaviour have gone too far. i will meet you todayat noon on lion peak. if i lose, i will be at yourdisposal. wang weiyang."meng smiled, picked up the letter and walked out,closing the door of the cell behind him.

that morning, master han, the original owner of thewhite horse, was moved from one cell to another.

having fallen into the hands of red flower societyonce again, he was afraid he would not be able toescape so easily again. as he morosely considered hisdilemma, he heard someone shouting in the cell next tohis, and recognized the voice of wang weiyang. hecould hear he was cursing zhang zhaozhong. greatlycurious, he was just about to call out to wang whenthe door opened and two men walked in.

"please come with us to the great hall for a chat,master han," one of them said.

as they entered the hall, han saw three men sitting onthe left. in the middle was the red flower society'sgreat helmsman chen, while on either side of him sat adwarf and a man with a flowing white beard. han bowedsilently and sat down.

"brother han, i never thought that we would meet againhere," said chen. "our fates seem to be tied."han hesitated for a moment. "i know i agreed to giveup my sword and return home," he said finally. "butmaster wang insisted that i do this job. out offeelings of friendship and because i knew thevaluables belonged to your family, i...""brother han," xu interrupted harshly. "we of thefighting community are very particular about twothings: trust and honour. by your own word, you haveproved to be untrustworthy. how do you think youshould be dealt with?"han steeled himself. "what is there to say? if you'regoing to kill me then kill me.""there's no need to talk like that," chen said.

"master wang has been grossly insulted by zhangzhaozhong, and says that no matter what, he must fightit out with him. we of the fighting community are veryannoyed over this affair. what is your relationshipwith zhang zhaozhong?""i've met him a few times in beijing, but we are fromtwo different worlds. you couldn't say we had anyrelationship.""as i thought. have a look at this letter," said chen,and handed him the note wang had written.

han knew that wang always showed the greatest respectfor officialdom. but if zhang really had been thatinsulting, he would have been unable to swallow it.

having himself heard wang cursing and now seeing theletter, there was no room for doubt.

"i would like to see master wang and discuss thesituation with him," he said.

"there is not enough time," chen replied. "i wouldlike you to take this letter to zhang now and you cansee master wang when you return. twelfth brother,please come here," he called. 'melancholy ghost' shiemerged from an inner chamber and chen introduced himto han. "brother shi will accompany you to see zhangzhaozhong. you are unaware of how zhang has causedmaster wang to lose face, but there is no time to giveyou the details now. when you see zhang, you can saythat brother shi here is a lead escort with thebodyguard agency. do exactly as he says."han's suspicions rose again and he hesitated oncemore.

"do you have any doubts, brother han?""no, no," he answered hastily.

xu knew that han suspected. "please wait a moment," hesaid. he left the hall for a moment, returning with aflask of wine and a wine cup into which he poured somewine.

"i was too abrupt in what i said just now," he said,offering the cup to han. "please accept this as atoken of my apology. let there be no hard feelings.""well said!" han replied. he drained the cup, pickedup the letter and walked towards the door.

"oh no!" xu suddenly exclaimed. "brother han, i'vemade a mistake. that cup of wine had poison in it!"han went pale, and he turned back towards them.

"i am truly sorry," said xu. "that flask was poisonedfor use whenever needed and one of the servants gaveit to me by mistake. i didn't realize it until i smeltit. you've already drunk a cupful. brother han, ohdear, oh dear. get the antidote quickly," he added toan attendant.

"the antidote is in the east city residence," theattendant replied.

"you fool. ride over there and get it!" xu shouted athim. the attendant bowed and left.

"i have been neglectful," xu said apologetically tohan. "please deliver the letter first. if you doexactly as brother shi says, you can take the antidotewhen you get back, and everything will be fine."han knew he either did as the red flower societyordered or he was a dead man. he gave xu a look ofhatred, then turned and walked out without a word. shifollowed him.

lord zhou frowned as the two left. "han doesn't appearto me to be all that evil," he said. "poisoning himlike that was not a very honourable thing to do.""but there was no poison in the wine," xu replied.

"no poison?""none." xu poured himself a cup and drank it down.

"i was afraid he might mess up our plan in front ofzhang, so i scared him a little. when he comes back,he can drink another cup and it will all be over."the others laughed.

zhang was sitting beside wen tailai keeping watch whenthe cell door opened and a guard came in with avisiting card inscribed with the words: 'north chinaearth-shaker wang weiyang.'

"go and tell him that i cannot see visitors," he said.

the guard left, but returned a moment later to say:

"the visitors won't leave. they have a letter foryou."zhang read the letter, and was both angered andperplexed by it. he had never had any disputes withwang and wondered why the old man should challenge himto a kung fu duel.

"tell commander li that i have to see a visitor andask him to send someone to stand watch in my place,"he said to the guard.

four bodyguards arrived to replace him, and zhang wentto the reception hall. he recognized lead escort hanand saluted him with his fists.

"isn't master wang here?" he asked.

"this is lead escort shi of our bodyguard agency," hanreplied, pointing to his companion. "there are anumber of things master wang wants him to say to you."zhang threw wang's letter onto the table. "i haverespected wang from afar for a long time, but i havenever had any dealings with him whatsoever," he said.

"how can he say that my words and behaviour have gonetoo far? there appears to be some misunderstandinghere.""master wang is a leading member of the fightingcommunity," said shi coldly. "when the communityproduces scum, he considers it to be his businessregardless of whether there is a direct connection."zhang stood up, absolutely furious. "so wang weiyangsays i am scum, does he?"shi said nothing in silent confirmation.

"please enlighten me as to just how i have dishonouredthe fighting community," demanded zhang.

"members of the fighting community abhor disrespectfor superiors above all else," shi replied. "you,master zhang, are a senior member of the wudangschool. it is said that you have not only turnedhostile towards your own martial brothers, but havealso attempted to arrest one of them for the manchucourt. is this true?""the affairs of my martial brothers and i are of noconcern to anyone else," zhang said angrily.

"secondly, there is no personal emnity betweenyourself and the red flower society and yet purely forthe purpose of your own career and enrichment, youseized master wen tailai, and caused the death of theyoung son of lord zhou of iron gall manor. is yourmind at ease over such things?""i am employed by the emperor and i am loyal to him.

what has that got to do with the zhen yuan bodyguardagency?""did you not work to implicate the zhen yuan bodyguardagency in your schemes, as a result of which many ofour men were killed and wounded?" said shi.

"you really did do wrong there, master zhang," hanadded. "you can't blame master wang for being angry.""we will ignore other examples for the moment," shicontinued coldly. "how do you think these threequestions should be handled?" he rolled up his eyesand struck an expression of dignified authority.

zhang was incensed at being treated like a criminal inthe dock. "all right, you," he shouted, stridingforward. "you're obviously looking for trouble!"shi retreated a pace. "what's this?" he asked. "youwant to take me on because you don't dare to acceptthe north china earth-shaker's challenge, is that it?""who says i don't dare?" zhang roared. "i will bethere on lion peak at noon today.""if you decide not to go, then never again consideryourself to be a member of the fighting community,"shi said. "master wang says that if you have any gutsat all, you will go alone. there will be no one elsefrom the bodyguard agency there.""why should i need help? do you think i am afraid ofthis egotistical, stupid old man?""master wang is not a great orator," shi continued,ignoring zhang's comment. "when you meet him, theissue will be decided by kung fu alone. if you want tocurse and swear, please feel free to do so now."zhang was speechless with rage.

shi laughed coldly, then turned on his heel and leftwith han following.

while the two had argued, han's mind had been on thepoison he had taken, and wished that shi would hurryup and finish so that he could get back and take theantidote.

"we agreed to meet at noon," shi reported on theirreturn to the mansion at solitary peak.

han collapsed on a chair with what appeared to bestomach cramps. xu poured out a cup of wine and handedit to him.

"this is the antidote. drink it up, brother han."han quickly stretched out his hand to take it, butlord zhou snatched the cup away first and drank itdown at one draught. han stared at him an amazement.

"we have joked with you enough, master han," zhou saidwith a smile. "you didn't take any poison at all. hewas just playing with you. master xu, come andapologise."xu walked over, grinning and bowed. "please forgiveme, brother han," he said.

meng went in once more to see wang weiyang. "masterzhang has agreed," he said. "you can go now. and bythe way, he does not like naggers, so if you haveanything to say, say it now. when you get to lionpeak, the matter will be decided with fists andblades. if you try talking to him even to beg formercy, i doubt if he will listen to you. if you areafraid, there is still time to pull out.""i am prepared to die today if need be," wang shouted,huffily stroking his beard. he stood up and strodeout. meng motioned with his hands to an attendant whohanded wang his sword and a bag of projectiles.

han was standing by the door. "please be carefulmaster wang," he said.

"you know about this too?"han nodded. "i have seen zhang.""what did he call me?""it was demeaning. you would not wish to hear it.""speak," ordered wang.

"he called you ... an egotistical, stupid old man."wang grunted. "we shall see whether or not i amegotistical. brother han, if anything should happen tome, please look after the agency and the affairs of myfamily for me." he hesitated. "and tell my two sonsnot to rush into taking revenge. their kung fu isstill not good enough, and they would lose their livesto no good purpose."he then started out for lion peak and the duel.

brother han, if anything should happen tome, please look after the agency and the affairs of myfamily for me." he hesitated. "and tell my two sonsnot to rush into taking revenge. their kung fu isstill not good enough, and they would lose their livesto no good purpose."he then started out for lion peak and the duel.