Chapter - 200 Coming And Going of a Messenger Brings a Laugh (7)

By this time Zhang Wuji's legs were already healed. He could walk if he wanted to, but he maintained his guise as a cripple. Every now and then he would fake a groan so Miejue Shitai would not guard against him. He was waiting for a good opportunity to help Zhu'er to escape. However, the terrain they had been travelling so far was a vast plain, before they could run too far, the pursuers would certainly overtake them; therefore, he did not dare to act recklessly. He quietly mended Zhu'er's broken wrist; Miejue Shitai only gave him a cold look, but did not interfere. During their stops in the day, or in their bivouacs at night, Zhang Wuji was dying to get a glimpse of Zhou Zhiruo, but she had never come close to him anymore.

After travelling for two more days, they arrived at the great desert in the afternoon. The snow on the ground had melted; the sleds were now being pulled over sand. Suddenly they heard horse hooves coming from the west. Miejue Shitai signaled with her hand. The disciples immediately hid themselves behind sand dunes. Two disciples drew their daggers and placed the daggers on Zhang Wuji and Zhu'er's back. Their intention was clear: Emei Pai was ambushing of the enemy, as soon as Zhang Wuji or Zhu'er made any noise to warn the enemy, they would thrust the daggers forward and take their lives.

It seemed like the horses were galloping very fast, only they were still very far away that it took almost half a day before the horses came near. As soon as the riders saw footprints on the sand, they reined their horses at once. Emei Pai's senior disciple Jing Xuan Shitai waved her whisk; about a dozen disciples responded to her signal by leaping out from their ambush and surrounding the riders.

Zhang Wuji took a peek to see there were four riders altogether, all wearing white robes. The robes were embroidered with a red blazing flame. Realizing they were being ambushed, the four riders shouted, drew out their weapons, and charged toward the northeast trying to break the siege.

Jing Xuan shouted, "It's the Devil Cult's demons, don't let even one of them escape!"

Although Emei Pai had more people, they did not attack together. Two female disciples and two male disciples responded to Jing Xuan Shitai's order. They shouted their compliance and stepped forward to block the enemies. The four Devil Cult's people fought valiantly with curved sabers in their hands. But in the expedition to the western region this time, Emei Pai had sent their choice fighters; each one possessed strong martial art skill. After only about seven, eight stances, three of the Devil Cult people were killed by the swords and were thrown down from their horses. The remaining one was a lot stronger than his companions; he managed to chop and injure the Emei Pai male disciple's left shoulder and rushed through this opening to escape.

When he was several 'zhang' away, the third ranking Emei Pai disciple, Jing Xu Shitai called out, "Get down!" With a swift footwork she caught up with the man. Her whisk swept toward the man's left leg. The man brandished his saber to block. Jing Xu's whisk suddenly changed its course; 'Shua!' it struck the back of the man's head.

This move had hit the man's vital point, the whisk also carried a profound internal energy; the man immediately fell down from his horse. Surprisingly this man was extremely swift and fierce; even under such a severe injury, he still attempted to perish together with the enemy. Spreading out his arms, he threw himself on Jing Xu. Jing Xu leaned sideways to evade while her whisk lashed on the man's chest.

Right that moment, from the cage hanging on the neck of the last man's horse flew three white pigeons. "What devilish trick are you playing?" Jing Xuan called out. Her sleeve shook, three iron lotus seeds flew toward the three pigeons.

Two pigeons were shot down. The third iron lotus seed was shot down by a secret projectile launched by the white-robed man, who at this time was lying on the ground. The last white pigeon dashed toward the cloud. The numerous Emei Pai disciples immediately launched their secret projectiles, but none hit its target. They saw that the pigeon was flying toward northeast.

Jing Xuan waved her left hand. The male disciples immediately dragged the four white-robed men and stood them in front of her.

From the initial attack toward the enemy down to shooting the pigeons and capturing the men, Miejue Shitai only looked coldly with her hands behind her back. Zhang Wuji thought, "She dealt with Zhu'er personally, which showed that she held Zhu'er in considerably higher regard; perhaps it was because she shook Ding Minjun's wrists broken. If this old nun wanted to stop that white pigeon, all she needed to do was to lift her finger; what's the problem with that? But she seemed to intentionally ignore her numerous disciples' effort in dealing with the situation."

Zhang Wuji also recalled how Jing Xuan, along with Ji Xiaofu and the others, had come up the Mount Wudang to wish his Taishifu happy birthday. Clearly she was considered of the same rank as the various Sect Leaders of Kunlun, Kongtong, and other sects. By this time these Emei Pai's senior disciples had held quite a reputation within the Jianghu; any one of them was fully capable to assume sole responsibility in important matters. In dealing with several Devil Cult people, Miejue Shitai did not need to personally go into action. The fact that Jing Xuan and Jing Xu had personally put forth their hands showed that they had a high regard toward the enemy.

A female disciple picked up the two shot down pigeons. She took a roll of paper out from the small tube tied on the white pigeon's leg and presented it to Jing Xuan. Jing Xuan unrolled the paper and read.

"Shifu," she said, "The enemy has found out our plan to besiege the Brightness Peak. This letter is an emergency call for help to the Heavenly Eagle Cult." She looked at the other roll of paper and said, "Exactly the same. Too bad the other pigeon escape from the net."

"Why do you feel bad?" Miejue Shitai coldly said, "Let the devils gather together. We'll wipe them out in one swoop. Won't it be a happy occasion? It will save us running around to the east and to the west looking for them."

"Yes," Jing Xuan said.

Hearing the words 'emergency call for help to the Heavenly Eagle Cult Heavenly Eagle Cult', Zhang Wuji was startled. "Isn't the Heavenly Eagle Cult Leader my 'wai gong' [maternal grandfather]?" he mused, "I wonder if he, the Senior, would come. Humph, this old nun is so arrogant; you may not necessarily be my Grandfather's match."

Originally, he wanted to find an opportunity to help Zhu'er escape, but with this turn of events, he wanted to continue watching the drama unfold, thereupon he did not want to leave just yet.

Jing Xuan sternly asked the four white-robed men, "Who else did you invite? How did you find out about the Six Major Sects' plan to besiege the Devil Cult?"

The four white-robed men laughed bitterly with their eyes to the sky, then suddenly they fell down to the ground, motionless. Two male disciples stooped down to take a look; they saw the contorted smile on the four men's faces, it was obvious that they stopped breathing.

"Shijie [older martial sister]," they called out in fear, "They all dead!"

Jing Xuan indignantly said, "The witches took poison to kill themselves. The poison is very lethal, the reaction was this quick.

Jing Xu said, "Search them."

"Yes!" four male disciples complied. They were about to search the corpses' pockets when Zhou Zhiruo suddenly said, "Shixiong [martial brothers], be careful. There might be poisonous things hidden inside their pockets."