Chapter 6 - Theft of the Canon of Wisdom

Book: Legend of the Longsword Master

Author: Huang Yi

Chapter 6 - Theft of the Canon of Wisdom

The emperor and the army generals passed through the city walls that afternoon, however it wasn’t until nightfall that they could navigate through the streets of cheering people and arrive at the palace.

Lining both sides of the street, spaced 10 paces apart, leading all the way to the palace were black helmet soldiers, each holding a torch high into the air.  The road looked like it has been lit by the fiery breath of two mighty dragons.

Hua Qian and I and more than three hundred other warriors were standing in a tight military formation in Lady Jun’s main palace hall while we waited for these earth shaking figures to arrive.

Everyone was a little nervous, earlier that day the news passed to everyone’s ear that the emperor could order someone’s death for the most unreasonable infraction.  

Hua Qian stood next to me, her eyes would flit to my face from time to time, but I pretended not to notice.

The sound of music came from the palace gate, so we knew that the emperor’s majestic entourage was almost here.

“DANG! DANG! DANG!” rang a bell.  The main hall doors opened and in walked Lady Jun escorting a group.  Finally the emperor appeared before our eyes.

Anyone who saw the emperor for the first time would just see a hulking shell of armor.  His whole body was encased in shiny, glittering, golden armor.  On his head was a helmet that only exposed a pair of eyes that flashed brightly like lightning.  His nose and mouth were barely visible through a series of horizontal and vertical slits for breathing.  A large red cape unfurled from his shoulders down to his knees.  He was an imposing figure towering over everyone else by at least half a head.  He looked like a demon straight out of the pit of hell.

My father told me that one time while he was serving the emperor he ferociously chopped at that suit of armor, but my father not only could not damage the armor but when he made that vicious strike the emperor unexpectedly only swayed his body a little bit which showed that his skill was far beyond an ordinary person.

His only weakness is his eyes, but to escape from his armor [但尽避他没有甲胄 ????] stabbing him in both eyes is easier said than done.  As I pondered these things I couldn’t help but wonder, with such an invincible devil why were they so cautious about invading Mo Nu, not daring to act rashly.  The emperor’s gaze swept towards us.  Hua Qian and I stood at the head of the welcoming troops who were all lined up.  My heart began to quiver, it seemed as if his eyes could bore right through me.

His eyes swept over me two times, and then slid over to Hua Qian’s face before he ran his eyes over her graceful body.  Hua Qian immediately lowered her head.  I looked at her out of the side of my eyes just as she began to clench her fists tightly and she faintly began to tremble. [我心中一动]  I suspected that the emperor made Hua Qian do some scandalous things, because he is well known as sadistic and wanton tryant.

The emperor walked past us into the great hall as he approach the large table.  Trailing behind him were 8 beautiful women wrapped in soft red gowns, that were his favorite imperial concubines.

Suddenly my body began to shake as I saw two beautiful women entering the palace hall.  The enchanting maiden on the left, with eyes full of emotion, was the princess of the empire.  The emperor’s only daughter was wearing a tight fitting warrior’s outfit, but her graceful movement was more noticeable which gave her a charm that was irresistible.  She used to be my fiancee, but life suddenly hated me right now.  With her I always felt like I was at a disadvantage.

Another pair of sharp eyes shot to my face.  It came from Black Widow whose lover, the Sorcerer, I killed more than a month ago.  I immediately collected my thoughts.  As long as I am careful not to expose any obvious flaws, nobody here will have the slightest suspicion.

Black Widow seriously scrutinized me.  What could she have possibly found?  I relaxed my body doing my best to forget any nervousness until she finally passed me by.  I already knew that  the Black Widow relied on a strange female sense of intuition.  She somehow felt that I could be someone that she was searching for, but wasn’t completely sure.  I was already walking on the sharp edge of danger.  Behind her was Ge Zhan striding forward purposefully with the emperor’s most elite warriors.  Adorning each of their black helmets was a blood red circle.  There were only thirty of them in the world, but each one of them was a one out of a million sword master.  I already had enough headaches.

Everyone sat down at the table.  In the central hall at the first twenty-four places to sit, across from the main palace door sat the emperor and his eight concubines followed by the elite warriors on both sides who were also there as guards.

The next to sit on the left hand side was Lady Li Qing Jun, the Commander of the Rainbow Army, and several Moon City officials.  On the right hand side sat the beautiful princess, Black Widow, Ge Zhan, and more than a dozen major black helmet generals.  

The empire’s elite were all concentrated within these walls, it was definitely full of a great many brave warriors [猛将如云].  While I pondered I couldn’t help but celebrate how I killed the Sorcerer, one of the emperor’s most important aides.  Besides the emperor, he was the most vicious person and because of that I also knew that besides the country of Mo Nu, I had become the emperor’s greatest enemy.

I, Hua Qian, and twelve guards stood behind Li Qing Jun as her honor guard.  Like running water the beautiful palace maids ran about offering every kind of delicacy to the guests, before leaving the hall once again.  They were followed by cheerful music, and a group of more than a hundred dancing girls that floated in like butterflies wearing thin transparent costumes.  Every single one of them performed several alluring poses that caused all of the men to drool with desire.  I quickly looked at the emperor and saw that although he was enjoying the performance of the women, he still had a clear expression with no trace of the lecherous gaze of the other men.  Ge Zhan’s eyes frequently fell on the princess, revealing the object of his desire, which was the princess above all else.  Ge Zhan was extremely ambitious, if he could catch the princess then he would be next in line to inherit the empire.

When my eyes moved from the princess to Black Widow the immediately encountered her eyes.  I was so scared I almost turned around to flee.  I think she recognized who I am.  Even if I can change my physical appearance, I can’t change my eyes, my body type or my height.  Why doesn’t she expose me?  Could it be that she wants to toy with me like a cat playing with a mouse?

The dancing stopped and the girls withdrew to a chorus of applause.  The emperor raised his glass and with a deep, magnetic voice said, “Lady Li Qing Jun established Moon City and increased it to the power it enjoys today, claiming a great achievement.  Let us salute her with a toast.”

Everyone loudly responded and all drank a cup.  There was an air of excitement.  Li Qing Jun toasted next, “Li Qing would like to offer her best wishes for the empire’s crushing victory over Mo Nu.”

Everyone drank again.  Ge Zhan stood up and loudly proclaimed, “As long as the emperor gives Ge Zhan four divisions, Ge Zhan guarantees he can break through the walls of Mo Nu within ten days, and wipe them out.”  The emperor had a total of ten divisions, the division had a total of 100,000 soldiers, while the others had about 50,000 soldiers each.  The power of four divisions would already be greater than the entire military might of Mo Nu.  As usual the attacking military must be greater than the defending force, therefore Ge Zhan’s heroic speech was actually meaningless.  I really wanted to see how the emperor would answer him.

“Ge Zhan sit down.  I already have a detailed plan about to be put into action, otherwise I wouldn’t have brought you to Moon City.”

Something wasn’t right, in the past the emperor fought all across the country, so why was he so reluctant to attack Mo Nu.  There had to be a secret reason for this caution.

Ge Zhan expressed his loyalty confidently and sat back down.  He proudly looked around and his stare went straight to Li Qing Jun.

“Heng!” was Li Qing Jun’s cold response.  I was behind her so naturally I heard her.  I realized that Li Qing Jun and Ge Zhan were both struggling to inherit the empire.

Ge Zhan hoped to marry the princess which would put him on equal footing with Li Qing Jun.

In addition the Sorcerer was dead, and besides the emperor and Lady Li Qing Jun, he was the most powerful person in the empire.  When Ge Zhan said that he would wipe out Mo Nu, he was actually pointing out Li Qing Jun’s inability to adequately deal with them.  The commander of the rainbow army and the moon city dignitaries all had an unhappy look on their faces.  The emperor’s helmet made him more enigmatic and it was difficult to understand what he was thinking.  

Li Qing Jun was not easy to provoke as laughter like a silver bell rang out drawing everyone’s attention to her.  Li Qing Jun said derogatorily[轻描淡写], “I heard that Lan Ling’s son Lan Te escaped from Sun City, and that up until now Ge Zhan still hasn’t been able to capture him.  In fact I heard that even the Sorcerer tried to help him and died in the process.  How is that coming along?  Ge Zhan should lead, if necessary, and if it can’t be avoided Lady Jun will certainly give her full assistance.”

This time it was Ge Zhan and his trusted generals whose faces changed.  Although on the surface her words were polite and respectful she was actually criticizing Ge Zhan’s incompetence by saying that he couldn’t deal with one person let alone the entire country of Mo Nu.

When I heard my named mentioned I couldn’t help but concentrate on everyone else’s reactions.  The emperor was still unreadable, however I the gaze of two people fall on me.  The first came from Black Widow, and the other actually came from Hua Qian.  For a little while I couldn’t help but complain to myself about my bad luck.  Black Widow said nothing, and now Hua Qian also suspected my original identity.

Hua Qian already saw me once before I was disguised as the Divine Strength King.  She only had to see one of those reward posters to know that I was already in Moon City, so how come she never said anything?

When the princess heard my name a look of anger flashed across her face, after all I was once her fiance.

Being a slippery villain Ge Zhan knew he couldn’t win this debate so instead he laughed, “If it becomes necessary I will certainly rely on the support of Lady Jun.  Within Moon City Lady Jun has been training swordsmen, over the years there has had to have been several outstanding talents.  Can we have a demonstration?”

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From top to bottom the nobles of the empire were blood-thirsty people and they were accustomed to having a feast before martial competitions.  Ge Zhan’s request not only diverts everyone’s attention away, but he can also humiliate Li Qing Jun in the process.  By killing two birds with one stone he is as ruthless as ever.

Li Qing Jun definitely could not  retreat, “Ling Bai, I order you to seek advice from Commander Ge Zhan”  She challenged Ge Zhan to a fight in order to belittle his status, and if he was defeated he would also be shamed in the process.  Ling Bai answered from behind the Red Army Commander and stepped forward.  He had a valiant figure, and like a typical warrior he wasn’t afraid to die in combat.  If he could answer to Lady Li Qing Jun’s challenge, naturally he had to be one of the finest people Moon City had to offer.  I just didn’t know how he compared to Na Ming.

I thought to myself that if Li Qing Jun wanted the most powerful person to come out and fight she would have picked me since I defeated Na Ming to obtaint he title of number one swordsman in Moon City.  Could it be that she truly has some real affection and took pity on me?  Ge Zhan’s repulsive laughter erupted, “Only if Lady Jun is willing to personally compete, otherwise I will have to ask my soldier, Er Lang,  to play with your soldier.”

Suddenly the hall filled with absolute silence, it was nothing less than Ge Zhan issuing a personal challenge to Lady Li Qing Jun.  If she declined everyone would get the impression that she was weak and cowardly.  Ge Zhan was as crafty as a fox.

The only reason I could escape from Ge Zhan’s clutches was due to Qi Bei’s experience, but unfortunately he was dead.  There was also Xi Qi, who I would have already taken to be my wife by now.

Li Qing Jun had a cold expression on her face, both eyes were radiating a severe light as she stared at Ge Zhan.  Ge Zhan coldly returned her stare not yielding an inch.

Both of them shared deep enmity, and the hall was filled with their mutual hostility, just like the mountain rain which only comes with a raging wind.  The emperor gave a long laugh drawing the attention of both sides back to him.

The emperor turned toward Ling Bai saying, “Young man, what is your name?”

Trembling with fear Ling Bai conscientiously replied, “This small person is the Red Army Vice Commander Ling Bai.”  The emperor praised, “Good!  If you can win this one game I will give you a hundred gold coins!”

Ling Bai loudly agreed, one gold coin was enough to buy three female slaves, it was a considerable amount of wealth.  I was secretly alarmed at how easily the emperor had dissolved the tense stalemate, by using this ambition person.

The dining hall suddenly returned to a festive atmosphere.  It was now Ge Zhan’s turn to choose someone to compete.  Ge Zhan’s fierce eyes swept over the clamoring troops, and then he clapped his hands several times.  A man appeared from the back who was tall and thin, but his back was perfectly straight.  He was a soldier about thirty years old.  He strode into the empty space in the middle of the hall, knelt towards the emperor and respectfully said, “Small person is from the Black Helmet Warriors, Captain of the third legion, Wu Yuan Shen.  I ask the emperor’s permission  to fight Ling Bai.”

The emperor mildly responded, “If you win you will also receive a hundred gold coins.”  Wu Yuan Shen agreed, stood up, and turned around to face Ling Bai.

“Ting! Ting!”  Two swords simultaneously left their scabbards.  I noticed that Wu Yuan Shen had no expression on his face, that wasn’t a good sign.  Ling Bai’s strength was his bravery, but it was also his weakness.  If he can’t win in the first round then his bravery will turn into exhaustion.  Wu Yuan Shen is cold and merciless, but full of resilience.  His strength will only grow as time passes.  In making that choice, Ge Zhan revealed what he was thinking.

“Clang!”  Both swords struck each other.  Suddenly Ling Bai magnificantly flourished his sword, it moved like a violent storm towards Wu Yuan Shen and swept him up.  It looked like he was already about to lose the battle, it was hard to deal with.  He continuously retreated, but I knew he was only defending and didn’t attack at all.  He retreated, but was not confused, which meant he was waiting for the brave Ling Bai to use up all of his strength.

The people from the rainbow army on Lady Jun’s side were wildly cheering to encourage Ling Bai even more.

However, Li Qing Jun and Hua Qian both had creased brows, which meant they weren’t pleased by what they saw.  As expected, after Wu Yuan Shen retreated twenty three paces Ling Bai’s sword faltered.  Wu Yuan Shen immediately shifted with a loud shout as his sword burst into motion with four quick strikes, forcing Ling Bai to retreat awkwardly to his right.  On Wu Yuan Shen’s seventeenth stance he thrust forward and Ling Bai screamed miserably.  His sword fell to the ground while he held his sword arm with his left hand, and staggered back in retreat.

Wu Yuan Shen didn’t pursue, but turned toward the emperor and saluted him with his sword.  Immediately someone came out to help Ling Bai leave the palace hall.  I angrily thought about how cruel Wu Yuan Shen was.  It looked like he had gentle swordsmanship, but he actually severed the tendon in Ling Bai’s right hand.  In the future that brave young man would never hold a sword in his right hand again.  It was obvious that Ge Zhan and Li Qing Jun didn’t hold back at all in their struggle against each other.  The people on Ge Zhan’s side burst out into deafening cheers.

As for Ling Qing Jun’s people they were all humiliated by this defeat.  Ge Zhan triumphantly said, “Lady Jun, it’s your call.  Is there anyone else interested in competing with Wu Yuan Shen?”

Li Qing Jun clenched her teeth and look through the high ranking warriors on her side.  Everyone that she looked at either intentionally or unconsciously avoided her gaze.  Obviously none of them wanted fight this battle and end up like Ling Bai.  They were also scared they would be ordered to.

If Li Qing Jun can’t save face she would never be able to face Ge Zhan again.  From within the helmet the emperor’s eyes darted around in cruel excitement, because the slightest thing could cause his subjects to massacre each other.

At that moment I shouted, “Let me try!”  Every eye in the hall was focused on me.  I dare not look at Black Widow or the princess as I moved from behind Li Qing Jun into the empty space within the hall.  I turned back around towards Lady Jun, saluted her and waited for her instructions.  She tenderly cried out, “Emperor please allow bodyguard Divine Strength King to compete.”

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I thought I better support Lady Li Qing Jun if I wanted to prove myself worthy to be called a heroic man among all these women [remember that all bodyguards are female except for Lan Te].  Because I suddenly went out to ask for a fight, I already generated some momentum.  If I had waited for Lady Jun to act and then went to ask for the emperor’s approval, I would have had no momentum at all.  This time Lady Jun acted on my behalf to ask the emperor for permission.  As long as the emperor agrees I will immediately attack while Wu Yuan Shen is still feeling high and mighty.

The emperor chuckled and then shouted, “As you wish!”  Swish!  My sword left it’s scabbard.

I saluted the emperor while I looked at Wu Yuan Shen out of the corner of my eyes.  Slowly his sword tip pointed towards me as a murderous aura filled the hall.

Li Qing Jun’s humiliated side erupted into a deafening roar of cheers.

Wu Yuan Shen assumed a stance.  I already restrained his spirit and harmony, he had been caught completely off guard which he found very troubling.  He knew nothing about what I could do, which was the number one taboo for swordsmen.

Everyone was shouting themselves hoarse.  I concentrated on Wu Yuan Shen until he seemed to be the only person left between heaven and earth.

“Pu Pu Pu! “  I straightened my body and slowly took three heavy steps away from Wu Yuan Shen.  We were now ten feet apart as I slowly raised my hanging sword from the ground up to my chest.

Wu Yuan Shen violently shouted, reversing the tactics he used to deal with Ling Bai, rushing to attack first.  The point of his sword vibrated and made a buzzing sound.  Like a poisonous dragon it rushed swiftly towards my throat.  I secretly praised him, he was worthy to be called a master.  I already saw it coming and also knew that it wouldn’t work because I am better, therefore I would turn defense into offense.  It’s a pity that his opponent is none other than the number one swordsman of the empire Lan Ling’s son, who escaped from Sunrise City where Qi Bei added to Lan Ling’s training and made me an even more cunning and formidable swordsman.  Otherwise the Sorcerer would not have died by my hands, Ge Zhan wouldn’t have suffered such heavy losses, and I wouldn’t have been able to infiltrate here.  Before I killed anyone I wanted to publicly show off my skills.  My sword didn’t speed up, nor did it slow down, long ago I already predicted he would use the same kind of attack.  

The sword made a “Ding!” sound as it’s tip pierced through Wu Yuan Shen’s heavy sword influence.  His body jerked and he immediately began to retreat.  The whole hall was suddenly silent.

My body didn’t tremble in the slightest.  As if nothing had happened I continued to force Wu Yuan Shen to retreat.  My mouth was softly humming as my sword kept an even pace before I made a slice towards Wu Yuan Shen.

If he was smart enough he would realize that the best thing he could do was admit his defeat, then I couldn’t kill him or even hurt him.  Unfortunately the most important thing to a swordsman is their reputation, life is only secondary.  Wu Yuan Shen let out a harsh grunt as his sword tip suddenly turned into a hundred tips sprinkling towards me.

I accurately calculated his false strikes from his killing strikes based on the angle and velocity of his sword.  Slightly tilting my body to the side I quickly accelerated my sword changing a chop into a slice and then changed the slice into a thrusting attack.

The sword energy rushed forth as the atmosphere in the main hall became cold again.  “Ching! Ching!”

I quickly moved backwards, and in a flash Wu Yuan Shen and I were already more than twenty feet apart.  I had moved in such a relaxed way that it instantly revealed a huge difference between us.

The hundreds of people in the hall didn’t make the smallest sound.  Wu Yuan Shen stood there motionless, his eyes radiating a fierce expression as he stared into the distance.  When his eyes came back to me he lifted his sword back up as if to advance when his sword began to tremble.  Suddenly blood began to stream from his right armpit as a blood red stain spread across the chest and right arm of his uniform.  Wu Yuan Shen’s face turned pale, his sword clattered to the floor, before he crumbled down after.  Cheers erupted from Li Qing Jun’s group, while the faces in Ge Zhan’s group all went ashen.  Now the other side had no chance to reclaim victory, unless Ge Zhan decided to personally engage.   I saluted the emperor and Li Qing Jun.  A joyful expression danced within Lady Jun’s eyes as she happily said, “You were also wounded.”  I examined the cut on my left elbow,  there was a little blood seeping out, “It’s just a flesh wound, nothing major.”  If I didn’t let myself get injured on purpose, Wu Yuan Shen’s sword would have never stained my skin in the slightest.  

By now Wu Yuan Shen had people treating his injury.  The wound he received was appropriate, since his arm was now similar Ling Bai’s.  He could never hope to hold a sword with it again.

The emperor loudly laughed, “A complete victory!  My empire has no lack of talented people.  The sun can delay the conquest of Mo Nu for only so long.”

Having gained the upper hand Li Qing Jun raised her cup to toast the emperor, “Many blessings to the emperor to achieve the great accomplishment of conquering all lands beneath the sky.”

Everyone loudly drank.  I moved to stand behind Li Qing Jun again.  With genuine pity she said, “Why don’t you leave the banquet and get bandaged up before you come back.”  I was looking forward to hearing those words.  I deliberately let myself get injured so that I would have an excuse to leave the banquet and execute my plan.  Since both Black Widow and Hua Qian have probably seen through my disguise, even though I don’t know why they haven’t exposed me yet, the longer I wait the more obstacles appear, so while all the important people are concentrated in here I decided to take advantage of a golden opportunity to steal the canon of wisdom, secretly leave Lady Jun’s palace, and escape to Mo Nu.  I accepted her order and left, walking straight out of the main hall.  The rainbow army commander gave me a respectful nod.  From a single fight I turned into an extremely popular person.  As I left I valiantly strode through several rows of Black Helmet soldiers.

After I left Lady Jun’s palace I immediately went to Wisdom Palace, the guards along the way were all extremely respectful.  Wisdom Palace was West of Lady Jun’s main palace, Southeast of the palace gates.  Even if I could steal the canon of wisdom, escaping from the palace was going to be quite troublesome.

As I passed by the front of the palace, it was heavily guarded as I easily avoided the two patrols while moving to the back of the palace.  The first time I met Li Qing Jun I was impressed when I saw her bodyguards leave through the back of the palace.  If I can find that secret entrance, then I can dodge the soldiers guarding the front door and sneak into the palace.

In Lady Jun’s palace every building had it’s own garden, the Wisdom Palace was no exception.  Tonight the moon was big and round, the moonlight sprinkled down as the soft grass sparkled, the trees cast shadows upon the ground, and the garden was unified in one single color.

I quickly, but carefully calculated the place where they would have come out, when I was attracted to a clearing within the trees, because that barren spot within the dense trees was out of harmony with the layout of the rest of the garden.  Not until I noticed the grass trampled by their feet did I discover the entrance hidden in a four foot area.  Inside I felt empty.

At last I found the secret entrance to Wisdom Palace.  I carefully examined the clearing only to see that within the grass there were two rings, which I grabbed with my hands, and just as I was about to lift I had a disconcerting thought!  Wasn’t this a little too easy?  I was already so close to success, I couldn’t afford to fall short.

With the help of the moonlight I noticed that the color on the bottom of the rings was different from the rest.  That should be caused by friction, which would only be caused when the ring rotated against the iron panel underneath, leaving traces of iron on the rings.  There were also scratches in the iron, the right ring should be turned left, and the left ring should be turned to the right.  Without wasting any time, I acted according to my observations and turned the rings.  I heard a rumbling noise that ended with a click.  The secret door was open.  I don’t know what the consequences of opening the door wrong were, but in short it can’t be good.  Most likely if I had pulled on the rings, the iron panels would have rotated open revealing a group of secret guards.  A faint light came from the tunnel and I cheered to myself.  This proved clearly that the tunnel connected all the way through, otherwise the light wouldn’t have reached so far.

I carefully jumped in, there was barely enough room for one person to pass through.  It wasn’t long before I found the exit and entered into the Wisdom Palace hall, the light emitted by the lamp was unspeakably lonely and desolate.  The first time I came to this building I carefully observed the layout of the hall for the most likely place to hide the Canon of Wisdom, which should be around Lady Jun’s bed.  The bed was situation on top of many animal skins that radiated out several feet in all directions.  Lifting the skins I couldn’t help cheering loudly as I saw a stone staircase leading downwards.  I went down and entered a wide room.

In the center of the room was a small table that had an iron chest on top of it.  My heart began to beat wildly as I walked up to it and opened the box.  “The Canon of Wisdom Codex Manuscript” six characters appeared.

Six booklets of the Canon of Wisdom were quietly lying in the box.  I felt a thrill run through my heart, those six booklets of the Canon of Wisdom caused my father and Qi Bei to become enemies, they also were the reason the empire and Mo Nu continued to prosper by teaching them the lost knowledge of the people who came before including construction, casting iron, making paper, mathematics, languages, and countless other things.  It was the source of the entire civilized world.

I took the six booklets, placed them in a bag I had prepared beforehand and strapped it to my back.  I swear as long as I have breath nobody will be able to take them away from me.

I climbed the stone steps to the Wisdom hall again and crawled out from beneath the skins when I felt that something was not right.

A pair of severe eyes were staring at me.  Hua Qian was standing ten feet away from me, her eyes were riveted on me.  An ice-cold chill spread through my heart.

Hua Qian said, “Whats that on your back noble child, Lan Te?”  I strongly pushed down the surprise I felt in my heart and in no time dealt with it.  Calmly I looked at Hua Qian, her sword was still sheathed and it looked like she was alone.  Of course all she had to do was scream and a hoard of guards would flood in here.

I stood in front of her looking into her bright eyes and softly said, “When did you see through my disguise?”

Hua Qian said, “The moment you beat Na Ming I recognized you.  Your eyes were filled with so much anger and resentment, as long you have seen it once, you would never forget.”  Her voice was surprisingly calm, which made her even more unfathomable.

I sighed and abruptly rushed forward thrusting my sword forward, striking at her throat.  She didn’t move, not even batting an eye, as my sword stopped barely an inch away from her throat, but didn’t actually pierce it.

I coldly asked, “Why didn’t you call out or try to fight?”  Hua Qian watched me attentively, a torrent of emotion flowed through her eyes as she sadly said, “You still don’t realize the feelings I have for you?”

Startled, I withdrew my sword.  Outwardly Hua Qian appeared to be strong and indifferent, yet her heart was overflowing with passion.  

I said, “What do you plan to do?  Lady Li Qing Jun has never treated you bad.”  Hua Qian lowered her head, “That could never compensate for the damage the emperor did to me.  I have been waiting for this day for more than three years.”

It was just as I thought, “What did the emperor do?”  Hua Qian avoided my eyes and said, “Qick!  We must leave immediately.”  I replied, “You know where I want to go?”

Lifting up her head Hua Qian fixed me with a firm expression, “No matter where you go I only ask that you let me follow at your side.”

I was touched, with Hua Qian my chances of escaping Lady Jun’s palace had just increased to one hundred percent.

I followed after Hua Qian swaggering out the palace door as the guards respectfully saluted us.

Upon leaving the palace we grabbed two spirited horses and rushed to the north.  We encountered several patrols of black helmet soldiers, but when they saw Lady Jun’s right hand advisor Hua Qian, who would dare stop her?  Reaching the northern edge of the city Hua Qian called to open the gate.  In the same way we passed through the garrison of soldiers stationed outside of the city and quickly entered into the wilderness.

A river border separated Mo Nu and the empire from each other.  In the empire it was known as Moon River, but the people of Mo Nu have always called it Mo Nu River.  In front of us we heard the rumbling of drums, and to the right, upstream, we could vaguely see a huge fleet of imperial ships with flags fluttering, it was a magnificent sight.  Hua Qian and I quickly turned and went downstream.

As we galloped, there was still a wide expanse to reach the river.  Hua Qian suddenly exclaimed, “They are chasing us.”  I strained to hear and sure enough I heard the horns blowing from the walls of Moon City, mixed together with the sound of galloping hoofs giving chase.  I was horrified, and in amazement I wondered how could they have discovered the theft so quickly and even stranger was how they could respond so quickly.   It showed just how efficient their communication methods were.  My mind flashed back to the day Bai He Hua and I discussed the Canon of Wisdom heist, and the escape route we devised.  I shouted, “Follow me!”  I urged my horse to run even faster.

The plain rapidly retreated behind us as we entered a forest of bushes and trees mixed with wilderness.  Here we could go full speed.

The horses were foaming at the mouth, they were close to their physical limits and would fall dead to the ground at any moment, which would also be our approaching doom.

We finally reached Mo Nu river.  The water flowed unceasingly with a strong current, the opposite bank looked like distant pitch black sheet.

Bai He Hua didn’t exactly say where the rescue boat would appear.  We urged our horses to run quickly downstream along this natural military barrier, when my horse suddenly fell forward while I kept going forward as I was thrown into the air.  I was still tumbling through the air when I realized that my horse was unable to continue and dropped dead.

Hua Qian’s horse came quickly from behind, and held her hand out for me.  I grabbed her hand and with a small tug I leaped up behind her.  Her horse was extremely tenacious and kept charging on, but looking at the foam around it’s mouth was enough to know it didn’t have much longer.

I looked back towards Moon City and saw a tiny bit of movement.  I was afraid that they might send more than a thousand people to chase, which would obviously be difficult to overcome.

The downstream bank was dark, where did Bai He Hua say her ship would be?  “Crack!”  The horse finally gave out, falling to it’s knees and throwing us forward.

With some difficulty we crawled back to our feet.  We could already hear the hoof-beats of the pursuing soldiers, it sounded like a sudden clap of thunder in a rainstorm as it unceasingly drummed into the frightened recesses of our hearts.

Hua Qian said, “Look!”  We could see several points of light shining a few hundred feet downstream.  I ran ahead, but Hua Qian was relatively weaker as she gasped behind me, “Ouch!”

I looked back and saw Hua Qian had fallen to the ground.  I flew to her side while she gasped, “Go quickly!  I can’t make it!”  Her beautiful eyes were leaking drops of tears and I found myself remembering the deat Xi Qi.  They were both compeltely in love with me.

I quickly reached down, lifted her from the waist and began to stumble toward the lights.  Hua Qian tightly embraced my neck with her face buried into my shoulder.  In the world dominated by selfish desires, the act of disregarding life or death for her sake really touched her.

Our pursuers were getting closer and closer.  I cried out in my heart, we were only a hundred feet away, so I had to raise my spirits even higher.  I saw a large sailing ship that was already untying to depart.

Flashing through my mind was my cruelly tortured father, the murdered Qi Bei, the one who was robbed of an ordinary youth Xi Qi.  I don’t know where where the power flowed into my already exhausted body, but with a wild shout I quickly accelerated and in the blink of an eye ran several hundred more feet.  The boat was now just offshore.  

Using my momentum, like a horse treading the sky, across the gap from the shore, I jumped up on to the deck of the ship.

As soon as my feet reached the deck, two people fell to the ground and rolled together.  Ma Yuan’s voice shouted, “Set sail at full speed!”  The sound of hooves exploded from the shore.  

I vaguely felt a pair of powerful hands dragging me off the deck followed by the sound of piercing arrows.

The ship continued to accelerate but I couldn’t endure any more and passed out.