Chapter 38 Jiang Er II

　　—This brutal revelry will ultimately end in a brutal fashion.

　　Hali stared at Chen Qing with a lecherous grin. He was rather astonished: every other woman who passed before him trembled with fear, yet Chen Qing was abnormally calm and expressionless; this aroused his curiosity and attention.

　　“Raise your head.” Hali ordered.

　　Chen Qing slowly raised her head and in an instant left Hali staring in a daze.

　　Chen Qing was about twentythree or twentyfour. Her yellow garments floated; her skin was whiter than snow; her figure was graceful and full, pure and refined. Especially her pair of large eyes—the clear, crystalline pupils were particularly pure and bright, brilliant as stars, so that one could scarcely look at them directly.

　　Hali turned to the subordinates around him: “This little girl is to be reserved for this general. None of you is to touch the other little girls; they are all to be left for Great General Shisen.”

　　Several Centaur soldiers rushed forward and were about to drag Chen Qing away.

　　Jiang Er cried and clung to his mother, refusing to let go. His mother crouched, wiped the tears from Jiang Er’s face with her hand, and fixed her eyes upon his: “Little Jiang Er, you are a man; you must learn to be strong. Rest assured—Mother will be all right.”

　　Strangely, after seeing his mother’s clear eyes, a strength seemed to kindle in Jiang Er’s heart; his tension subsided and the hands that held his mother loosened of their own accord.

　　Chen Qing received special attention and was bound upon a camelhorse. The remaining humans walked upon the ground; the Centaurs bound their hands and then linked them together with a single rope like a string of locusts, fastening one end of the rope to the rear of a wagon.

　　Centaur soldiers in front drove the wagons with whips. Some humans who could not keep pace with the wagons fell and were dragged along the ground until they died.

　　Toward dusk this Centaur force reached the grassland at the southern edge of the forest. They made camp upon the grass, preparing to set out for their tribe the next morning.

　　Between the territory of the Centaur tribes and the Nanyu Forest lay the Misty Mountains; from afar one could already see the dense fog rising above them.

　　The fastest way to return to the territory of the Shisen Tribe was to pass through the basin in the valley of the Misty Mountains. Another road was the winding mountain path that circled the mountains; only after following this tortuous path over the Misty Mountains could one enter Centaur territory. Traveling by this mountain road meant a longer journey and greater expenditure of time.

　　Legend among the Centaur tribes held that the basin in the valley of the Misty Mountains was gloomy and terrifying, inhabited by a group of monsters who practiced magic. Therefore whenever the Centaur tribes came to the Nanyu Forest to raid the harvests they always tried to circumvent the Misty Mountains by the mountain’s flanks.

　　By night the air grew still more oppressive; from time to time the rumble of thunder could be heard in the sky.

　　The Centaurs felled trees in the forest and made a wooden stockade, shutting the humans and camelhorses together inside the enclosure, guarded by four Centaur soldiers.

　　“Who goes there?” One of the guarding Centaur soldiers, hearing the sound of hoofbeats in the distance, shouted sternly.

　　“What are you shouting about? Are your horseeyes blind? Don’t you see it’s me?” A Centaur soldier came over, cursing.

　　“Ah—it is Your Lordship! Forgive me, forgive me!” Seeing that the newcomer was a trusted subordinate of General Hali, the guard hurriedly nodded and bowed.

　　“General Hali orders me to bring him the human little girl from daytime. Be quick about it—find her for me at once, or it will be on your head!”

　　“As ordered!” The guard hastily entered the stockade, found Chen Qing, shoved her out, and handed her over to this personal soldier of General Hali.

　　Chen Qing was led into Hali’s tent. An oil lamp burned inside; the light was dim.

　　Outside the tent the soldier pricked up his ears to listen while cursing under his breath: “Damn it—the officers are enjoying themselves inside while this grandfather stands guard outside. What a bitter fate!”

　　He listened carefully yet could hear no sound from within. “General Hali really has something—he’s got this human girl completely submissive.” Just as he was muttering, General Hali’s voice suddenly came from inside the tent: “Who is outside? Come in!”

　　Hearing the order the Centaur soldier hurriedly entered the tent.

　　He saw General Hali and the human little girl standing face to face; the ropes on the girl’s hands had already been untied and she was still fully clothed.

　　“So fast? Could General Hali have finished early?” he wondered.

　　Hali slowly turned his head and fixed his cloudy eyes upon the soldier, saying woodenly: “You—quickly follow her and release all the humans.”

　　“Ah—what? Release them?” The Centaur soldier could scarcely believe his ears and was about to ask why when the human little girl suddenly turned toward him. Through the dim lamplight the soldier saw a pair of large, gleaming, piercing eyes.

　　Those eyes were clear as water, their gaze like torches; the radiance they emitted was like a flash of lightning that passed through the Centaur soldier’s eyes, making his whole body give a violent start as though an electric current had run through him.

　　Immediately afterward, for reasons unknown, the Centaur soldier’s consciousness began to grow hazy; he said woodenly and slowly: “As ordered—I shall go and release all the humans.”

　　Chen Qing followed the soldier to the place where the humans were confined and, by the same method, controlled the minds of the four guards.

　　She took a sword from one of the guards, entered the stockade, cut the ropes binding the hands of all the humans, opened the gate of the stockade, and urged them to mount the camelhorses inside the enclosure at once and flee toward the entrance of the Misty Mountains ahead.

　　After the previous ordeal fewer than fifty humans remained, all young women and children; there were only about twenty camelhorses, so that two people had to share each mount.

　　His mother lifted Jiang Er onto a camelhorse and rode with him, leading the humans in flight toward the Misty Mountains.

　　Just as the humans were escaping, a flash of lightning split the sky and was seen by several Centaur soldiers patrolling in the distance.

　　These soldiers shouted; some hurried back to report to Hali while two Centaur soldiers gave chase from behind.

　　Every Centaur is a divine archer. The two pursuers nocked arrows and drew; several whistling sounds were heard and several human women at the rear were struck and fell from their mounts, dead.

　　Chen Qing cried “Whoa!” and pulled the reins of the camelhorse, drew her long sword, wheeled the mount, and charged toward the two Centaur soldiers.

　　The foremost Centaur soldier hastily drew his bow and shot at Chen Qing.

　　Chen Qing’s eyes flashed like lightning; she ducked sharply, avoided the arrow, raised her sword and struck, severing the Centaur’s head.

　　By then the second Centaur soldier had already reached her. He discarded his bow, drew the sword at his waist, and chopped down at Chen Qing’s head.

　　Chen Qing ducked, swung her sword horizontally, and slashed across the soldier’s belly. With a ripping sound a great gash opened in the abdomen; the intestines spilled upon the ground and the corpse toppled.

　　Chen Qing flicked the sword, shaking off the foul blood, sheathed it again at her waist, then wheeled the mount and pursued the direction in which the humans were fleeing.

　　In an instant a light rain began to fall from the sky. Jiang Er sat in front of his mother, raised his head, and looked at her as though looking at a stranger.

　　For as long as he could remember his mother had always been gentle and kind in his impression; he had never seen her handle weapons. Today, however, he had watched her dispose of two fierce Centaur soldiers with a few swift strokes.

　　He was stunned by his mother’s valor; only after a long while did he recover and say: “Mother, you are so powerful!”

　　“Jiang Er, remember every word. If anything should befall Mother, go to the Misty Mountains, find Great Masters Tianyouzi and Xuanjizi of the Tianyou Clan, and tell them that Jiang Sheng and Chen Qing have completed the mission entrusted to them. Beg them to take you as a disciple. Have you remembered? Find Great Masters Tianyouzi and Xuanjizi.”

　　“Mother, I will not listen, I will not listen—I do not want you to die; you must not die.” Jiang Er’s tears fell again.

　　“Child, do not cry! You must learn to be strong. What is the motto of the hunter people?”

　　“Live toward death; die and be reborn.” Little Jiang Er, born in the Wolf Tribe, knew the clan motto perfectly well.

　　“Correct. Every person must die. Better to die standing than to live kneeling. Your father died heroically upon the battlefield and never bowed his head to the enemy. A person must have backbone while alive; only with backbone can one be brave. Do you understand?”

　　“Mother, I understand.”

　　Chen Qing’s hearing was also extraordinary. The sound of the pursuers’ hoofbeats behind grew nearer. She looked back and saw, a hundred meters away, a cluster of bright points of light moving rapidly toward them.

　　Those points of light were the NightBright Flowers held by the Centaur pursuers. The lights drew nearer and nearer, while the fleeing humans were still some distance from the mountain pass of the Misty Mountains.

　　Chen Qing desperately lashed the camelhorse beneath her with the whip, hoping it would run still faster; yet the footpower of the Centaurs far exceeded that of camelhorses, and most of the humans rode two to a mount. The distance between the two sides grew steadily shorter.

　　When the distance was only an arrow’s flight the Centaur pursuers behind began to shoot.

　　“Whizwhizwhizwhiz… whizwhizwhizwhiz…” A rain of arrows whistled past their ears.

　　“Thudthudthud…” Jiang Er glanced sideways—a narrow escape! Several arrows were planted slantwise in the grass beside him.

　　Chen Qing handed the reins of the camelhorse to Jiang Er, taught him how to control them, then turned upon the mount so that her back was toward Jiang Er and she faced the pursuers behind.

　　“Whizwhizwhizwhiz… whizwhizwhizwhiz…” Arrows flew in a dense volley; the whistling of the shafts filled the air and another rain of arrows fell from the sky.

　　Chen Qing closed her eyes tightly, concentrated her spirit, and cried “Open!” With a fierce sweep of both hands to the right the arrows seemed to obey her command, turning sharply and planting themselves slantwise in the grass on the right.

　　A narrow escape! Without Chen Qing, how many human souls would have left the world under that rain of arrows.

　　“At my command—nock arrows, steady—one… two… three… release!” In the distance the Centaur commander issued another order; the voice sounded like that of General Hali.

　　A great twanging of bowstrings rose, followed at once by the whistling of shafts; dense arrows fell like a woven rain, still more fierce this time as the distance between the two sides had closed further.

　　Chen Qing again exerted her full strength, sweeping both hands sideways; once more the rain of arrows turned and planted itself slantwise in the grass on the right.

　　After two successive exertions of power Chen Qing was already at the end of her strength. Sweat poured from her brow; she gasped heavily; sweat and raindrops had already blurred her eyes…