Chapter - 407 Being Driven Mad By Unredressed Mongol Injustice (7)

Taking a deep breath, he stepped over the edge with his face against the cliff wall, and then slid down. After sliding about three, four 'zhang's, he slipped even faster. Immediately he exerted his strength on his ten fingers, trying to grab the snowy cliff wall, and thus he manages to slow down before coasting down again.

By doing this five, six times, finally he reached the bottom of the ravine. He felt his feet were landing on a soft object. Hastily he leaped sideways. Turned out he was stepping on the horse's belly. He saw Zhao Min was still seated on the saddle, with her hands tightly grabbed the horse's neck. Zhang Wuji reached out to feel her breath, and to his relief he felt a slight breathing, but she was unconscious.

The bottom of the ravine was dark, the winter snow had not yet melted, and the accumulation of snow actually reached his waist. He presumed since Zhao Min was seated on the saddle, the horse took the full brunt of the falling momentum and died from the impact, but Zhao Min's live was saved, she only fainted. Zhang Wuji checked her pulse and found out that although she was heavily injured, her life was not in danger. Thereupon he embraced her in his bosom with their four palms holding each other, and he transmitted his internal energy to treat her internal injury.

Since the injury Zhao Min received was from his own Wudang Sect, treating it was not too difficult. In less than an hour she slowly squirmed and regained her consciousness. Zhang Wuji kept sending out the Jiu Yang energy steadily into her system.

In more than an hour later, the sky gradually brightened. 'Wah!' Zhao Min vomited a mouthful of blood. "Are they gone?" she said in a weak voice, "Did they see you?"

Zhang Wuji was very appreciative and grateful that her main concern was whether he could escape the undeserved accusation. "They did not see me," he said, "You … you have suffered a lot." His mouth was speaking, but the stream of energy flowing out did not stop.

Zhao Min closed her eyes. Although her limbs were void of any strength, her chest and abdomen felt very warm and comfortable. After the Jiu Yang energy circled her system several times, she turned her head and smiled. "Take a rest, I feel much better," she said.

Zhang Wuji'a arms encircled her waist and pressed his right cheek to her left cheek. "You have saved my reputation," he said, "That is more important than saving my life ten times."

Zhao Min giggled and said, "I am a treacherous, evil little witch. To me, reputation is nothing; life is more important."

Right at that moment, they suddenly heard an angry voice from above the cliff, loud and clear, "Damn witch! So you have not died yet. How did you kill Mo Qixia [seventh hero Mo]? Quickly admit it!" It was Yu Lianzhou's voice.

Zhang Wuji was very shocked; he did not expect his four martial uncles would return. Zhao Min said, "Turn your head around, don't let them see your face."

"Thief witch!" Zhang Songxi shouted, "If you don't answer, we'll smash you with big rocks!"

Zhao Min looked up and saw Song Yuanqiao and the others, four people, were all holding a big rock in their hands. They only need ready to throw the rocks down, and Zhang Wuji's and her own lives would be difficult to protect. She whispered into Zhang Wuji's ear, "Tear off your leather coat, cover your face, and carry me out of here."

Following her instruction, Zhang Wuji tore off a piece of his leather coat and covered his face by tying a knot behind his head; he also pushed down his fur hat on his forehead, until only his pair of eyes was exposed.

The Four Heroes of Wudang had been successful in chasing Zhao Min and forcing her to fall into the ravine, but these four men were veterans of the Jianghu; they were vastly experienced and well-informed. They knew with her honorable position as a princess, she would not wander alone without any bodyguard. Four people pretended they went far away on horsebacks, but after several 'li's, they tied the horses on a tree by the roadside, and then quietly came back. They returned to the cave first and lighted some torches to explore the inside. They saw the carcasses of two 'fragrant deer' [香獐, xiang1 zhang1 – I don't know what kind of animal this is], which were covered with blood after being bitten by some wild beast, the fragrance from their bodies was still lingering in the air. Four people continued exploring around the cave, and finally found Zhang Wuji's tracks. They followed the tracks and found Mo Shenggu's body, but saw his hands and feet were badly bitten by some wild animals. The Four Heroes' grief and indignation was indescribable; Yin Liting broke out in crying.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Yu Lianzhou said, "This witch Zhao Min's martial art is not weak, but she could not possibly kill Qidi based on her skill alone. Liu Di [sixth (younger) brother), don't be too sad. We will look for all the murderers, and kill them one by one to avenge Qidi's life."

Zhang Songxi said, "Let us wait in hiding around the cave. Come daybreak, that witch's subordinates might come here looking for her." His thought was usually full of wisdom and strategy, Song Yuanqiao and the others had always listened to his counsel; therefore, suppressing their sadness, they looked for large rocks on either side of the cave and went hiding.

When dawn came and they still did not see anybody looking for Zhao Min, the Four Heroes returned to the cliff where Zhao Min fell to take a look. They faintly heard voices from down below, and when they looked down, they saw a man in brocade clothes was holding Zhao Min in his arms; turned out this witch had not died yet. The Four Heroes wanted to find out the cause of Mo Shenggu's death, hence they did not want to kill these two with the rocks.

This snow covered ravine was shaped like a deep well, with steep cliff all around it. The only way out was a narrow crevice on the northwest corner. Zhang Songxi shouted, "Yuan dogs! Hurry up and climb from that crevice. If you tarry, we'll throw the rocks down."

Zhang Wuji realized his Si Shibo [fourth martial (older) uncle] did not recognize him and thought he was a Mongolian, which was not surprising, considering he was wearing a fancy-looking clothes, also because he was with Zhao Min. But looking around, he did not see any place he could hide; if the Four Heroes threw the rocks down, he might be able to jump and escape, but Zhao Min's life would be difficult to protect. Therefore, his only choice right now was go up and take whatever comes one step at a time. Consequently, he carried Zhao Min and slowly crawled up via the narrow crevice.

He made deliberately made his martial art skill look weak, he would walk several steps, then slipped back down again. It turned out that this narrow crevice was really difficult to climb, he pretended to be even weaker by loudly gasping for breath and looked to be in a very difficult situation. Within an hour he had fallen down seventeen, eighteen times, before he finally reached the level ground.

Initially he was thinking of running away with Zhao Min as soon as they were out of the snowy valley. He thought relying on his qing gong, although he carried one person, the Four Heroes might still not able to catch up with him. But Zhang Songxi was very smart, he had already noticed that the way this man climb up the mountain in a distressed manner was somewhat artificial; he then informed his three martial brothers to spread out on four corners; as soon as Zhang Wuji set his foot on the ground, the tip of four unsheathed swords were less than half a foot from his body.