Chen ordered.
With the Great Helmsman there watching them, the attendants worked like demons, and soon shifted the rock to the side of the iron plate. Another moment of furious digging and the iron plate was dislodged, and "Leopard" Wei, his pair of hooks at the ready, went through first with the rest of the heroes behind.
The attendants held the torches high to illuminate the way as Wei ran along a corridor towards Wen"s cell, but found the way blocked by a locked iron gate.
"Eighth Brother, Ninth Brother," said Xu suddenly. "Go and guard the exit to the dungeon just in case the Manchus have some secret scheme."
Yang and Wei assented and left. Several of the attendants worked to loosen the stones to the side of the gate, and then with the help of several of the heroes, lifted the gate out of position. Luo Bing ran through, and into Wen"s cell only to find it empty.
After so many disappointments, Luo Bing crumpled onto the floor and began to sob. Zhou Qi wanted to comfort her, but her father held her back.
"Let her be," he said. "A cry will do her good."
"Commander Li was afraid we would come to organise a jail break and has moved Fourth Brother somewhere else," Xu said.
"But now we are in the Yamen, we will find him no matter what," Chen replied.
They went to the door of the dungeon and saw Yang fighting fiercely with a group of Manchu soldiers. Priest Wu Chen gave a shout and charged out of the dungeon and finished off two Manchu soldiers on the spot. Further on, they found Wei battling six or seven officers.
"Considering my relationship with Commander Li, I had better not reveal myself," Lu Feiqing thought. He ripped a strip off his gown and covered his face so that only the eyes were showing. Just then, the Manchu soldiers broke and retreated up to the Yamen courtyard in confusion with Wei and the others in hot pursuit.
Xu leapt up onto a nearby wall and saw soldiers standing guard throughout the whole Yamen. A drum sounded, and Xu guessed the commanders were still positioning their soldiers. Then he spotted a lonely two-storey building in the southern part of the main courtyard surrounded by several hundred troops. There was nothing special about the building except for the tight defences, and he decided that was probably where Wen was being held. He jumped down from the wall and whirled his sword around his head.
"Brothers, follow me!" he shouted, and charged towards the building.
The further they went, the more soldiers appeared. But despite their numerical superiority, the Manchu troops were unable to contain the Red Flower Society fighters, each of them a master of the martial arts. In only a short while, the heroes had fought to within a few yards of the building.
"Third Brother, let"s go and have a look inside," Priest Wu Chen said to "Buddha" Zhao.
"Right," said Zhao, and they sprang over to the doorway with two long strides. A sword sliced towards them, but with one thrust from the priest"s blade, the swordsman screamed and his weapon clattered to the ground. They raced into the building with Luo Bing and the others close behind.
As the fighting continued, the heroes found the numbers of Manchu soldiers diminishing. Suddenly they heard Priest Wu Chen yell from upstairs: "Fourth Brother is here! We"ve got him!" The heroes shouted in joy.
Zhou Qi raced up the stairs and saw everyone gathered round an iron cage. Chen was sawing at the bars with the Frozen Emerald Sword. Zhou Qi went close and noticed that inside the iron cage was another smaller cage in which Wen sat with his legs and arms manacled like a captured wild animal. Chen sawed through two bars, and Zhang Jin used brute strength to twist them back. Luo Bing, thanks to her slim figure, managed to wriggle into the outer cage, then took the sword from Chen and began to saw away at the lock on the small cage. The heroes were all smiling jubilantly. Suddenly they heard a bugle sound, and the remaining Manchu troops retreated out about one hundred feet and formed themselves into ranks around the building.
"Master Chen!"