Chapter 24 – Shocking and dreadful, Part 8
The Sergeant said, “Where did you get them from?”
Zhao Zhijing said, “They’re mine! What is it to you?”
By this time, all the land to the north of Xiangyang had fallen into Mongolian hands, all the Han were being oppressed by the Mongolians. Who would dare raise their voice to a Mongolian like this? The Mongolian saw that Zhao Zhijing looked a bit shifty and he had a sword at his waist, he was suspicious of him and said, “Did you buy them or steal them?”
Zhao Zhijing shouted, “What are you talking about? I reared these horses myself.”
The Sergeant signaled with his hand and ordered, “Get him!”
Seven or eight armed Mongolians encircled them.
Zhao Zhijing placed his hand on his sword handle and shouted, “What’s your problem?”
The Mongolian Sergeant laughed coldly and said, “Horse thief! You’ve really got guts, these horses belong to the Mongolian army, are you going to admit now?” He then went up to the horses and moved their tails to the side to reveal a Mongolian brand. All Mongolian horses had a brand on them to distinguish which camp they belong to. Zhao Zhijing stole these horses from some Mongolians, how would he know about this? When he saw the mark he became silent but continued to argue, “Who said they belong to the Mongolian army? I like to mark my horses, is that a crime?”
The Sergeant was furious; throughout his travels to the south he had never met such a brazen fellow. He took a step forward and reached out to grab Zhao Zhijing by his clothing. Zhao Zhijing bent his left arm and grabbed the Mongolian’s wrist. Then he sent out his right palm and grabbed the Mongolian from behind before lifting him up and swinging him around his head three times before throwing him. The Sergeant was tossed away and landed in a porcelain shop. Non-stop sounds of smashing were heard as shelves of porcelain plates and bowls came crashing down. The sharp debris sliced up the Mongolian Sergeant and he was bleeding all over. He was unable to get up amongst the debris. The other soldiers went to help him; some moved the shelves and debris away while others helped him up. They no longer cared about trying to capture the horse thief.
Zhao Zhijing laughed out loud and walked back inside the restaurant to continue his meal. However, all the towns shops had closed and were boarded up as a result of the clash and all the customers that were in the restaurant had long ago cleared out. Everyone thought that with the Mongolians’ malicious nature, surely they would be back to wash the town in blood. Zhao Zhijing had a few more bites of his food when the owner of the restaurant came up to him and suddenly dropped to the floor and started to bow to him. Zhao Zhijing knew that owner was afraid of the trouble that he would bring so he stood up and laughed, “Don’t worry, we’ve eaten enough, we’ll go immediately.”
The owner’s face became even greyer with fright and continued to bow to him.
Zhen Zhibing said, “He’s afraid that once we’ve left, the Mongolians will be back for us.” He had always been a thoughtful and a strong man; it was only because of his mad love for Xiao Longnu that led him to his actions. His method of approach to everyday problems surpassed Zhao Zhijing in everyway and it was because of this that Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji and the others wanted to pass on the sect’s leadership to him. He suddenly had a thought and said, “Bring me the best food and wine, we’ll take responsibility for what we’ve done, why are you afraid?” The owner picked himself up and agreed compliantly before giving out orders to bring them food and wine.
The Mongolian Sergeant was injured pretty badly and had to be carried to his horse.
Zhao Zhijing laughed, “Brother Zhen, after what we’ve been through today, we’ve really got to let off some steam once we’re back.”
Zhen Zhibing gave a grunt and looked on as the Mongolians left. After steadying their nerves, everyone in the restaurant brought food and wine to them and filled up a table.
The two of them ate for a while when suddenly Zhen Zhibing got up and raised his palm, sending the waiter who was serving him to the floor. The owner was alarmed and quickly walked forward and smiled, “This idiot doesn’t know what he’s doing, please don’t get mad sir…” Before he finished, Zhen Zhibing had kicked out with his left leg and lightly kicked him to the floor.
Zhao Zhijing thought he had lost it and called, “Brother Zhen… you…”
Zhen Zhibing flipped a table and sent bowls and plates smashing to the floor before immediately sending another two waiters to the floor. He then sealed everyone’s accupoints before bringing his hands together and said, “When the Mongolians come and see you in this state, they won’t vent their anger on you, do you understand? You should add a few injuries here and there as well.” He then unsealed everyone’s accupoints.
They suddenly understood and thought is was a great plan. They then started to beat each other up and tear each other’s clothes, eyes were blackened and noses were bruised. Not long after, the sounds of hoofs from many galloping horses could be heard on the street’s pavement. Everyone in the restaurant fell to the floor and cried out, “No, please stop!” “Mercy…have mercy!” “Please sir, I beg you!”
The horses did indeed stop outside the restaurant. Four Mongolian soldiers entered and were followed by a tall skinny Tibetan monk and a short dark man. This dark man had both his legs removed and was supporting himself with crutches.
When the soldiers saw the state of the restaurant they frowned and shouted, “Hurry up and bring us some food, we’re in a rush.”
The owner was taken aback by this and thought, “So these guys are from another group. What am I going to do when those other soldiers get back?” Just as he was hesitating, some of the soldiers struck at his head with their horse whips. The owner took the blows and complied but struggled to get up. One of the other waiters served and set places for them.
The Tibetan monk was Jinlun Fawang; the short dark man was Nimoxing. That day, after both of them had fallen victim to the ‘Soul Freezing Needles’, the two of them struggled outside the cave and fell off a cliff. Luckily, the sides of the cliff had a large tree growing from it and Fawang managed to grab onto it just in time. Nimoxing was in a dazed state by now but he still clutched onto Fawang. Fawang took a look at his surroundings before he gathered his strength in his left arm and pushed; the two of them fell down towards the bushes at the bottom of the cliff. They rolled down a steep hill for around a hundred feet, only stopping once they’d reached the bottom of the valley. The two of them were scratched all over by thorns.
Fawang flipped over and used his minor grappling techniques on Nimoxing’s arm and shouted, “Are you going to release me or not?”
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