The girl leant to one side, and the dart shot past her right shoulder. She waited until it was about ten feet beyond her, then flicked her whip, caught the dart by its tip and smoothly sent it flying back towards Yuanzhi, calling out: "Hey, little boy! Here"s your dart!" Yuanzhi caught it neatly.
The Muslims in the caravan applauded loudly at the superb skill with which the yellow-robed girl handled her whip. A tall, thick-set man with a heavy black beard went over and said a few words to her, to which she replied: "Oh, father!" But she took no further notice of Yuanzhi. The dozens of camels and horses moved on and gradually disappeared.
"That girl was impressive, wasn"t she?" said Lu.
"These Muslims ride day and night. They ought to be good with their whips. But it doesn"t mean she knows any real kung fu," Yuanzhi replied.
Lu laughed. "Really?" he asked.
Towards evening they arrived in the town of Bulongji. There was only one large inn in the town, outside of which was planted the flag of the Zhen Yuan Bodyguard Agency. With two large groups to look after, the inn"s servants were very busy.
Lu had a wash, and then strolled into the courtyard of the inn with a cup of tea in his hand. In the dining hall, he saw two tables full of agency men drinking and talking loudly. The lead escort with the Five Element Wheels had put the weapons down but kept the red knapsack on his back.
Taking a sip of tea, Lu gazed up at the sky.
One of the lead escorts laughed. "Brother Yan, once you"ve delivered this toy to Beijing, General Zhao will reward you with at least a thousand, won"t he? You can go and have a good time with that girlfriend of yours, Xibao."
So it really is one of the Yan brothers, Lu thought, and paid even closer attention to what was said.
"A reward?" said Yan. "Ha! Well, everyone will get something."
"Your Xibao has probably gone off with some other man willing to make an honest woman of her," added an effeminate voice. Lu looked over out of the corner of his eye, and saw a man with a sly face and a slight figure, also dressed as a lead escort.
Yan grunted, obviously not pleased.
"You bastard, Tong," added the first lead escort. "You never have anything good to say."
Tong laughed. "All right," he said. "But Brother Yan, fun is fun and serious is serious. Don"t think about Xibao too much or you might find someone has stolen that red knapsack off your back. It"s not important if lose your head or not, but the agency"s reputation has to be maintained."
"Don"t worry," Yan replied angrily. "If those Muslims try stealing it back, I"ll soon put an end to their nonsense. I am one of the Six Guandong Devils and I got where I am with real kung fu, not like some of the weaklings in the bodyguard agencies these days who can do nothing but eat and fart!"
Lu looked at the red knapsack on Yan"s back: it wasn"t big, and from the look of it, whatever was inside was very light.
"It"s true that the Six Devils of Guandong are famous," Tong said. "It"s a pity that Brother Jiao was done in. We don"t even know who the murderer was."
Yan banged the table. "Who says we don"t know? It has to be the Red Flower Society!"
That"s strange, Lu thought, I killed Jiao. What is this Red Flower Society? He walked slowly around the courtyard inspecting the flowers, moving closer to the group of lead escorts.
Tong would not let the matter drop. "It"s a pity," he said. "If I wasn"t such a weakling, I would have settled things with the Red Flower Society long ago."
Yan shook with anger. One of the other lead escorts broke in to mediate: "Anyway, the Red Flower Society"s leader died last month," he said. "They"ve lost their man in command, so who is there to settle with?