Every single person here would dare, men and girls alike." The envoy looked stunned for a second, then threw back his head and roared with laughter. "If any of these girls didn"t die of fright on seeing General Zhao Wei, I would be amazed."
"Don"t underestimate us," replied Huo Qingtong angrily. "We will send someone back with you immediately. Pick someone yourself. Whoever you choose will go. You will see what spirit we followers of Mohammed have," The Muslims roared their approval and everyone began shouting "Choose me! Choose me!"
"All right," said the envoy coldly. He wanted to find the weakest, most useless girl who would immediately burst into tears so that the Muslims would lose face completely. His eyes roved over the crowd, searching back and forth, and suddenly lit up. He walked over to Princess Fragrance and pointed at her. "Let her go!" he said.
The Princess glanced at him and slowly stood up. "For my tribe, for my brothers and sisters, I would go anywhere without fear. Allah the true God will surely protect me," she said.
Her apparent weakness had given way to calm dignity. Faced with her stunning beauty, the envoy involuntarily lowered his eyes, and he felt a tinge of regret at his choice. Muzhuolun, Huo Qingtong and the other Muslims, although proud that she had not displayed weakness, were nonetheless anxious. Huo Qingtong was particularly worried. Her sister knew no kung fu, and could not be allowed to enter the Tiger"s Lair unprotected. "She is my sister," she said. "I will go in her place."
The envoy laughed. "I always knew the word of a girl could not be relied upon. If you don"t have the nerve, why bother sending anyone? War or surrender, I can take the message for you."
"If we meet on the battlefield and if you don"t run away, I"ll let you see whether us girls are useless or not," said Huo Qingtong, livid with anger.
"I would naturally be merciful with a beauty such as you," he replied, smiling. The Muslims gnashed their teeth at his insolence.
"Sister, I will go," the Princess said to Huo Qingtong. "Don"t be afraid." She pulled Chen up by the hand. "He will go with me."
In the light of the flames from the bonfire, Huo Qingtong suddenly recognised Chen and stared at him in shock. Chen surreptitiously motioned with his hand indicating that she should not reveal his identity yet, then turned to the envoy.
"We mean what we say," he said. "I will go alone with her to see General Zhao Wei. Unlike you, we do not require four giants to protect us. What use are these giants anyway?"
"A camel can carry a load of thousand catties, but a man can only carry one tenth as much," added the Princess. "Should the man ride the camel or the camel the man?" A great laugh went up from the crowd at this taunt.
"What are they laughing at?" one of the four giants asked the envoy.
"They say that you are useless even though you are large and strong."
Incensed, the giant beat his chest with his hands. "Who dares to match himself against me?" he roared.
"What use are you?" the envoy said to Chen. "You"ve just a little stripling. Even if you were ten times stouter, you would still not be as strong as he."
Chen decided this envoy needed to be cut down to size to save the face of the Muslims. He took three steps forward.
"I may be the most useless member of our tribe but I am still better than you Manchus," he said. "Tell those four hulks to come over here."
By this time, Muzhuolun had also recognized Chen. "Daughter, look who it is!"