or the western army. did you hearanything about that?"chen started in surprise and wondered how he couldhave known. they had hurried south after the lanfengincident without resting. "i understand there was suchan incident," he said. "the refugees had no clothesand no food and the local officials did nothing tohelp them. they were forced to break the law in orderto survive, an action which under the circumstances ispardonable."dongfang was silent for a while. "i understand it wasnot quite simple as that," he said nonchalantly. "iheard the red flower society incited the refugees.""what is the red flower society>" asked chen, feigningignorance.

"it is rebellious underworld society. have you neverheard of it?""i am afraid that between my lute and my chess board,i have little time for the affairs of the world.""there's no need to be ashamed. these people are inany case no great problem.""what basis do you have for saying that?""the emperor is on the throne and the administrationof the country is enlightened and orderly. once one ortwo men with talent are assigned to the job, the redflower society will be destroyed in no time at all.""i know nothing of administration, so please do notlaugh if i should say something stupid. but in myhumble opinion, most court officials are drunkards andguzzlers. i doubt if they would be able to accomplishsuch a mission."as he spoke, dongfang and his three attendants turnedpale.

"that is simply the view of a scholar," dongfangreplied. "these friends of mine here are of more thanmediocre ability. if you were a student of the martialarts, you would know that i was not exaggerating.""i lack even the stength to tie up a chicken, but ihave always had the greatest respect for heroicfighters," chen said. "are these your pupils? i wonderif you could ask them to perform a demonstration oftheir abilities?""show this master lu one of your tricks," dongfangsaid to the attendants.

"thank you," said chen.

one of the attendants stepped forward. "that magpie inthe tree is too noisy," he said. "i'll knock it downso we can have some peace."with a wave of his hand, a sleeve dart shot offtowards the magpie, but just as it neared the target,it suddenly veered off to one side and missed.

donggang looked surprised and the attendant's facewent red with embarrassment. he threw another dart.

this time everyone was watching closely and saw apiece of earth knock the dart off course.

the old man noticed xin yan's hand had moved slightlyand realised he was responsible. "this young brother'skung fu is excellent. we must get to know oneanother," he said and grasped for xin yan's hand withfingers of steel.

chen was surprised to see the old man was using greateagle's claw kung fu. "there are only a handful of menas good as that," he thought. "why would such a managree to be dongfang's servant?"he flicked open his fan in front of xin yan as the oldman lunged at the boy, and the old man quicklywithdrew. as his master was treating chen in afriendly manner, it would be extremely disrespectfulto damage one of his possessions. he glanced at chen,wondering if he knew kung fu. chen began fanninghimself lightly, completely relaxed as if the move asecond ago had been a pure coincidence.

"this boy's kung fu is very good despite his youth,"said dongfang. "where did you find him?""he doesn't know kung fu," replied chen. "but he hasbeen throwing things at insects and birds since he wassmall, and he's become quite good at it."dongfang could see this was untrue, but did not pursuethe matter. he looked at chen's fan.

"whose is the calligraphy on your fan? may i look?" heasked. chen handed the fan over to him.

"a man who was not of such noble character as yourselfwould be unworthy of this object. where did you getit?""i bought it in a bookstore for ten gold pieces.""if you had paid ten times as much, i would stillconsider it a bargain," dongfang replied. "possessionssuch as this are usually passed down from generationto generation in the great families. it is certainlyamazing that you were able to buy it so easily in abookstore."chen knew dongfang didn't believe him, but he didn'tcare. he smiled lightly.

"i like this fan very much," dongfang said. "i wonderif i could ask you to sell it to me?""if you like it, i would be pleased to give it toyou," chen replied.

dongfang accepted the fan and lifted up the ancientlute and presented it to chen. "just as an heroicfighter should be presented with a treasured sword, soshould this lute belong to you."chen knew the lute was extremely valuable, and hewondered why the man wanted to exchange gifts so soonafter they had met. but as the son of a high official,he had seen many treasures and was not dazzled bythem. he saluted dongfang with his fists in thanks andtold xin yan to pick the lute up.

"if there is anything i can ever do for you in thefuture, please come to beijing with that lute and justask for me," dongfang said. "why don't we walk backdown the hill together?""fine," said chen, and the two started off, holdinghands.

as they reached the hidden spirit monastery, severalpeople came towards them, led by a handsome-faced manwearing an embroidered gown. the man bore a strikingresemblance to chen and was even about the same age,but he lack chen's imposing air. chen and he startedin surprise as they looked at each other.

"isn't he like you, brother lu?" dongfang said. "kang,come and meet master lu."kang bowed towards him, and chen quickly returned thecourtesy.

all of a sudden, they heard a girl call out insurprise. chen turned and saw zhou qi with xu and herparents emerging from the monastery, and knew she musthave struck with surprise at the sight of two greathelsmen chen's. he saw xu hustling her away and turnedback.

"brother lu," dongfang said. "we seem to have becomegood friends on our first meeting. we will meet again.

goodbye." they bowed to each other and dongfang walkedoff guarded by several dozen of the blue-gowned men.

chen turned and nodded slightly in xu's direction. xuhurriedly made his apologies to lord zhou and to zhouqi and followed after dongfang and his companions.

towards evening, he returned to make his report. "thefellow spent a long time floating about on the lakeand then went to the provincial commander-in-chief'syamen," he said.

chen told him about his meeting with dongfang, and thetwo decided he must be a very senior official, eitheran imperial inspector-general or a member of theemperor's close family. from his appearance, he didnot look like a manchu, and so they concluded he wasprobably an inspector general.

"could his arrival have anything to do with fourthbrother, i wonder," chen mused. "i think i will goover to the commander-in-chief's yamen personally thisevening to investigate.""it would be best to take someone with you just incase," xu replied.

"ask brother zhao," said chen. "he's from zhejiangprovince so he should know something of hangzhou."in less than a day, the heroes arrived in xuzhou. thelocal red flower society chief was immediately rushedoff his feet making arrangements for them. after anight's rest, they continued on south. every placethey passed through now, big and small, had a redflower society branch, but the heroes maintained theiranonymity and sped onwards. they reached hangzhouseveral days later and took up residence in the homeof the hangzhou helmsman, ma shanjun. ma's residencelay at the foot of lonely mountain beside the westlake.

ma was a merchant who owned two large silk factories.

about fifty years old and portly, ma, in his floweredsilk robe and black woollen jacket, was the picture ofa wealthy man used to luxury. but the appearance wasdeceptive: he was also a brave fighter. that night ata welcoming banquet in the rear hall, the heroes toldhim of their plan to rescue wen tailai.

"i will immediately dispatch men to find out whichprison master wen is in, and then we can decide on aplan of action." he ordered his son ma dating to sendsomeone to investigate.

the next morning, the son reported that his men haddiscreetly asked about wen at all the prisons andmilitary headquarters in the area, but had failed tofind any trace of him.

chen called a meeting of the heroes to discuss thesituation.

"we have brothers in all the yamens and in themilitary headquarters," said ma. "if master wen was inan official prison, we would know about it. i amafraid the authorities are guarding him secretly.""our first step is to find out where brother wen is,"said chen. "please continue to dispatch capable menaround all the yamens, brother ma. this evening, iwill ask priest wu chen and the twin knights to go tothe commander-in-chief's yamen to see what they canfind out. it is important that we don't alert themanchus to what we are doing so whatever happens,there must be no fighting."priest wu chen and the twin knights set out atmidnight and returned four hours later to report thatthe yamen was tightly guarded with at least a thousandsoldiers with torches on guard duty. several of theofficers on patrol were second and third levelmandarins wearing red caps. the three had waited along time, but the troops did not drop their vigilancein the slightest and they had no option but to return.

"the patrols have been particularly strict aroundhangzhou over the past few days," ma said. "yamenofficers have visited every gambling den and everybrothel, and many people have been seized for noreason at all. could it have something to do withmaster wen?""i don't think so," replied xu. "the local people mustbe making an extra effort to impress some highofficials visiting from beijing.

"i haven't heard of any high officials coming here,"ma said.

the next day, zhou qi asked her parents to take her tosee the famous west lake. lord zhou agreed and askedxu to accompany them. xu had lost his parents when hewas very young and had been alone ever since. to besuddenly treated as a son by lord zhou and his wifeand to have such a lovely fiancee moved him greatly.

he was very happy, and the brothers were happy forhim.

great helsman chen also went to the lake for a strollwith xin yan. they walked for a while, then sat aloneon a bridge and gazed at the depths of the lake andthe mountains. the forests of bamboo and wood on thehillsides were dark and dense, a myriad leavesglistening brightly. the air was moist and hazy andthe beautiful mountain peaks were wreathed in clouds.

chen had been to the west lake several times in hisyouth, but had been unable, then, to appreciate itsbeauty.

as he gazed out at the scene, he spotted a carriageheading towards the hidden spirit temple on flyingpeak, five hundred feet above them.

"let's go up there," he said to xin yan. there was noroad straight up to the peak, but the lightness kungfu of both was excellent and they reached the topquickly. they gazed up at the sky, enjoying the peaceand seclusion of the forest.

suddenly, they saw two large men wearing blue gownswalking towards them. the two weighed up chen and xinyan as they passed, expressions of surprise on theirfaces.

"master, they're kung fu experts," xin yanwhispered.two more men appeared walking towards themdressed exactly the same. they were discussing thescenery, and from their accents, it appeared they weremanchus. all the way along the path, they kept passingthe blue-gowned fighters, perhaps thirty or forty inall, who all looked surprised when they saw chen.

xin yan was dizzy at the sight of so many obviouslytop-ranking fighters. chen was curious.

"could it be that some secret society or martial artsschool is holding a meeting here?" he thought. "buthangzhou is red flower society territory. if there wassomething of that sort, we would surely have beeninformed. i wonder why they all look so surprised whenthey see me?"they rounded a bend and the sound of a luteaccompanied by a chanting voice and the soft tinkle ofa waterfall drifted across towards them. the voicerecited:

"all is peace throughout heaven and earth,politics unsullied.

fortunes and good fortune mount over four reigns.

the people wait to greet the emperorthe banners of prosperity and wine fly in everyvillage.

as the imperial attendants appear."they strolled across in the direction of the music,and saw a man dressed in the manner of a noble seatedon a rock playing the lute. he was aged about forty.

two strong fighters and one stooped old man, allwearing blue gowns, stood beside him.

chen suddenly shivered. he was struck with a vaguefeeling of recognition as he looked at the luteplayer. the man had an aristocratic bearing, and themore chen looked at him, the more he seemed familiar.

the group eyed chen and xin yan warily. thelute-player's fingers performed a final swirl over thestrings and the lute was silent.

chen saluted with his fists. "i could not helpoverhearing the song you just played, sir," he said.

"i have never heard it before. did you write ityourself?"the man smiled. "yes. it is a recent composition ofmine. since you are a music lover, i would be gratefulof your opinion.""excellent, excellent," said chen. "i especially likedthe phrase 'the banners of prosperity and wine fly inevery village.'"an expression of delight appeared on the man's face.

"so you remember the words. please come over here andsit down, sir."chen refrained from adding that he disapproved of theway the song flattered the emperor. he walked over,bowed and sat down.

the man studied chen carefully and with curiosity.

"while coming up to the peak, we met a large number ofother strollers all of whom looked surprised when theysaw me," said chen. "you now look at me in the sameway. is there something strange about my face?"the man laughed. "you wouldn't know," he said. "i havea friend who bears a remarkable resemblance to you.

the people you met on the path are also my friends, sothey were naturally puzzled.""so that's it," chen smiled. "i also find your facevery familiar, as if we had met before, but i can'tremember when. i wonder if you can?"the man laughed again. "well that really is strange,"he said. "what is your honourable name, sir?""lu jiachen. and you, sir?"the man thought for a moment. "my name is dongfeng. iam from hebei province. from your accent, i wouldguess you are from around here.""that is correct," said chen.

"i had long heard that the scenic beauty of the southwas incomparable," continued the man who calledhimself master dongfang. "i can see today that it istrue. not only is the scenery superb, but the area isalso obviously blessed with much talent."chen could tell from his speech that this was noordinary man. he watched the reverential way in whichthe old man and the other two attendants treated him,and wondered just who he was.

"someone with such outstanding knowledge of music asyourself must certainly be a virtuoso," dongfang said.

"why not play a song for us?" he pushed theseven-stringed lute in front of chen.

chen stretched out his hand and lightly strummed thestrings and found the lute's tone to be matchlesslycrisp and clear. it looked liked an antique of greatage.

"i am not worthy of playing such an instrument," hesaid. he checked the tuning, then struck up a tune,named 'the goose lands on the flat sands'.

dongfang listened, engrossed. "have you ever been tothe border regions?" he asked when the tune finished.

"i have just returned from there," chen replied. "howdid you know?""your playing conjures up the vast emptiness of thegreat desert. i have heard that tune many times in mylife, but never have i heard it played with suchfeeling." chen saw he indeed had a great knowledge ofmusic and was very pleased.

"there is something i would like to ask you," dongfangcontinued.

"please feel free to ask.""i would guess that you are from the family of anofficial," he said. "what post does your respectedfather hold? and what is your rank?""my father has unfortunately passed away. i myself ama man of mediocre abilities with no official rank,"chen replied.

"but you are obviously greatly talented. could it bethat the examiners failed to appreciate yourabilities?""no, it is not that.""the commander-in-chief of zhejing province is afriend of mine. if you went to see him tomorrow, youcould have an opportunity.""thank you for you kind thought, but i have no wish tobe an official," chen replied.

"but do you intend to hide yourself away like thisforever?""i would prefer to live in seclusion than oppress thecommon people."dongfang's expression suddenly changed and the twoblue-gowned attendants both took a step forward. hewas silent for a second, then laughed out loud. "youare indeed a man of noble character," he said. "simplefolk such as myself cannot be compared with you."the two weighed each other up, aware that there wassomething special about the other.

"you must have heard much news on your long journeyfrom the moslem regions," dongfang said.

"when i arrived at the yellow river, i found greatflooding and many homeless people. i had no heart forappreciating the scenery after that.""i am told that the refugees in lanfeng looted grainstores meant f