HEAVEN SWORD DRAGON SABRE Book 2 of 2

The Three Withered Pine Trees Sprouting Green Leaves Part 3

Zhang Wuji handed the black rope back to Du Nan, and then bending down, he used the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi again to push the giant rock another foot. He looked down into the exposed underground cave and called out, "Yifu, Child Wuji is late in rescuing you. Can you come out?"

"I am not going out," Xie Xun replied, "Good Child, get out of here, quick!"

Zhang Wuji was surprised. "Yifu," he said, "Is your acupoint sealed? Or are you bound in shackles?"

Without waiting for Xie Xun to reply, he jumped down the dungeon. 'Splash!' water splashed out. Turned out the several hours of heavy downpour had flooded the dungeon that the water reached his waist. Half of Xie Xun's body was submerged in water.

Zhang Wuji's heart ached. He reached out to carry Xie Xun up. His hands groped around Xie Xun's hands and feet, but did not feel any shackles. He then massaged Xie Xun's several main acupoints, but again, he did not find any signs of anybody sealed his acupoints. Hence, he wrapped his arms around Xie Xun's body, leaped up and out of the dungeon, and sat Xie Xun on top of the giant rock by the cave opening.

"This is the best time to escape," Zhang Wuji said, "Yifu, let us leave." As he said that, he pulled Xie Xun's arm, with the intention to leave immediately. But Xie Xun kept sitting on the rock, refusing to move. Hugging his own knees he said, "Child, the gravest sin I have ever committed in my life was killing Kong Jian Dashi. If your Yifu fall into other people's hands, I would certainly fight bravely to the end. But today I become a prisoner of the Shaolin Temple, I am willing to receive the harshest punishment to pay for Kong Jian Dashi's life."

Zhang Wuji anxiously said, "But you killed Kong Jian Dashi by mistake. It was Cheng Kun, that wicked thief, who engineered such a sinister plot. Besides, Yifu's entire family's blood debt has not been restituted, how can you die under Cheng Kun's hands?"

Xie Xun sighed and said, "Everyday for more than a month, in this dungeon, I heard the three eminent monks chant their prayers, I heard the morning bell and the evening drum from the temple at the bottom of this hill, which has made me think about my past. Your Yifu's hands reek with too much innocent blood that even a hundred deaths cannot redeem it. Ay, all sorts of wickedness caused too much sin. I am more sinful than Cheng Kun. Good Child, don't mind me, just quickly go down the hill."

The more Zhang Wuji listened to him, the more anxious he was. "Yifu," he shouted, "If you don't want to go, I will force you." As he said that, he turned around and grabbed both of Xie Xun's hands; he was going to carry him on his back.

They heard clamoring noise of people coming up the mountain path, there were several people shouting, "Who dare to cause trouble at Shaolin Temple?" A dozen or so people were coming up the hill, amidst the noise of feet splashing in the water.

Zhang Wuji was just about to grab Xie Xun's legs, ready to take him go; but suddenly the 'da zhui xue' [big spine acupoint] on his back went numb. It was Xie Xun. Zhang Wuji's hands lost their strength and he did not have any choice but to relax his grip. In his anxiety he almost cried. "Yifu," he called out, "You ... why are you being this difficult?"

"Good Child," Xie Xun replied, "The wrong I have received, you have already explained it clearly to the three eminent monks. The sins I have committed, I have to pay the retribution myself. If you are not leaving, who will avenge my grievances for me?"

Zhang Wuji's heart turned cold; but he saw the dozen or so Shaolin monks wielding Buddhist staff or saber had already attacked the eight people. 'Bing, bing, bang, bang!' the noise of the close combat can be heard.

The black-bearded old man with judge pens realized that if the battle was prolonged, not only they would fail their mission at the last minute; they may find it difficult to escape alive. He was enraged that a nameless young man had spoiled their important business. With a clear voice he shouted, "I beg to know the honorable surname and the great given name of the young man in the middle of the pine trees. Hao Mi and Bo Tai of Hejian [a city in Hebei province] want to know which expert has interfered with our business today."