The Crane Startles Kunlun, Chapter 13, Part 2

The Crane Startles Kunlun, Chapter 13, Part 2.
from Wang Dulu's He Jing Kunlun.

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When they arrived at the Ba Bridge, the riders all stopped, each and every one nervous, and each drawing their weapons. Ji Guangjie felt his darts with his hand, but when he peered as far as he could in every direction, he saw only smoky willow trees and a dense rainy mist hovering above the surface of the river. Other than a couple people walking this way and that holding umbrellas and baskets, he saw no one else upon the Ba Bridge. Ge Zhiqiang said, "We've come too early!" Chen Zhijun said, "Could it be that Jiang Xiaohe's deceived us?" Ji Guangjie sat on his horse and looked around, carefully scrutinizing even amid the leaves of the willows, afraid that Jiang Xiaohe was hiding somewhere. Jin Zhiyong said, "Let's find a place to take a rest. There's a teahouse on the eastern side of the bridge." Thus, the horses crossed the bridge.

At the foot of the bridge were two teahouses, both of which had put up woven canopies. Under them had been laid platforms of brick at varying heights to be used as seats. It was the early morning and raining, but the two teahouses were both doing decent business. There were many melon pickers, market shoppers, and hurrying travelers with baggage, all eating and drinking tea under the canopy. Some were conversing and chatting. However, Ji Guangjie could tell that most of them were constables of the Xi'an government in disguise, especially here to arrest Jiang Xiaohe. Ge Zhiqiang was afraid of giving up their movements, so he said to Yang Zhijin and the others, "Let's go into town. There are too many people here." The men were about to head to the streets of the town to look for a teahouse when another person came from the east, carrying an umbrella in one hand and a laughingthrush cage in the other, as if he were a shopkeeper. It wasn't until he grew closer that Ge Zhiqiang recognized him as Second Deng the Divine Hold.

Second Deng greeted Ge Zhiqiang and the others as if he didn't know them, and then, after he was in front of Ge Zhiqiang's horse, he whispered, "The net has been cast, and we've already determined that Jiang Xiaohe is staying at the Fuyuan Inn on the eastern side. But he didn't return to the inn last night, so I think he'll surely turn up later. Right now, the village of five miles is entirely embedded with our men. Unless he can fly, there's no way for him to escape! You should rest up here. I'll be here as well. If Jiang Xiaohe comes, give me an eye signal and we'll strike!" Ji Guangjie heard everything from nearby and said, "If Jiang Xiaohe comes, everyone needs not to get into a frenzy. Tell a couple people to obstruct him, but not to fight him. Distract him with some nonsense, and then we'll surround him from all sides, so that he'll immediately—"

Just as he was speaking, he suddenly heard the tinkling of a little bell. He saw a black horse galloping their way from a road in the east. Atop the horse sat a tall, young man wearing blue clothes and a straw hat. It was Jiang Xiaohe. Chen Zhijun hadn't seen Jiang Xiaohe in ten years, but he still recognized him and immediately and tugged at Ge Zhiqiang, saying urgently, "Jiang Xiaohe has come! That's him!" Second Deng the Divine Hold hid to one side and many of the men turned to regard the man on the black horse attentively. They saw that Jiang Xiaohe was calm and smiling, and the golden bell and his sword were ringing out, their crisp sound startling the people even more. He swept past Ji Guangjie, Ge Zhiqiang and the other riders on his way west. He went on top of the bridge and then looked back. He pointed at Ji Guangjie and called out, smiling, "Come here!"

Ji Guangjie was touching his darts, but upon seeing Jiang Xiaohe's bearing so relaxed, he didn't dare take out his hidden weapons. He first instructed Ge Zhiqiang and the others, "You must be careful not to act without thinking, nor can we have the officers attack suddenly. Jiang Xiaohe is an expert in the water. If he jumps from his horse into the water, we'll have no way of capturing him!" After his instructions, he peeled his horse away to the foot of the bridge and said to Jiang Xiaohe, "Friend, victory or defeat, life or death, we must determine which it is for us this day. But tell me first, how are we to fight today, on horseback or on foot?" Jiang Xiaohe looked a little puzzled as he asked, "Who was it who summoned all of you here to battle with me?" Ji Guangjie spewed angrily, "It was you! Last night, you posted a notice in my room!" Jiang Xiaohe smiled and said, "I didn't ask for you. I came to Guanzhong to avenge an old wrong. Other than those surnamed Bao or Long, I am looking for no one."

Ji Guangjie's hand was pressed on the hilt of his sword as he barked, "Was that note last night written by you or not? You invited us to come here in the early morning to compare our martial arts with yours. Did you write that or did you not?" Jiang Xiaohe nodded unyieldingly and said, "That's right, I wrote that note and those words are mine, but I didn't invite all of you to come." Ji Guangjie glared and asked, "Who did you invite?" Jiang Xiaohe stretched his face out and said, "The one I invited was Bao Zhenfei's granddaughter, Bao Aluan. It's got nothing to do with you group of unworthy scum!" Before he finished speaking, he saw Ji Guangjie pulling his sword out with a shink and thrusting it angrily at Jiang Xiaohe's chest. Jiang Xiaohe pulled his horse away a little to dodge, and Ji Guangjie's second sword attempt came as another pressing thrust. Jiang Xiaohe drew his sword as well and blocked his opponent's sword. By now, with a steel whip in one hand and his Kunlun saber in the other, Ge Zhiqiang rushed toward the foot of the bridge, bringing behind him Zhao Zhilong, Yang Zhijin, and Yuan Zhijun, all of them charging at Jiang Xiaohe with weapons brandished. [Note: There is no one named Yuan Zhijun here, as the text I have suggests. It's likely an error where Yuan Zhixia and Chen Zhijun had been accidentally combined.]

Jiang Xiaohe was about to engage these men in close combat when he suddenly spotted another horse coming from the west, racing its way to the foot of the bridge. Jiang Xiaohe saw that it was Bao Aluan and held his sword crosswise to protect his body, saying, "Halt your attack! She was the one I invited here, and now she's come. Let's us exchange some words first, and then we'll fight after!" He pulled his horse close to the bridge railing with his sword held out in one hand, gazing towards Aluan with both eyes. He saw that Aluan had grown into pretty young woman. She had not remade herself up as a married woman, but the two little braids she wore in youth had turned into a single long one. She looked even prettier than she had as a child, but she was now less innocent. She hadn't put on any makeup and was wearing light blue silk garments and embroidered shoes the color of apricots. She was riding a red horse with a saber next to its saddle, and the saber was no longer the short, light one struck for her at the Ma Smithy, but a Kunlun saber.

Jiang Xiaohe's two eyes looked Aluan's body over and couldn't help laughing bitterly, saying, "Miss Bao! I haven't seen you in ten years. Do you still recognize me?" Aluan was deathly pale now, glaring with both eyes which were welled up with tears, but none of the tears could fall, nor could she say anything, as her entire body appeared to be shaking. By now the rain seemed to be heavier, soaking her head and soaking her body. Her light blue clothes had been drenched by the rain, and raindrops hung off her hair and rolled onto her face. Her tears appeared to drip from her face along with the rain.

By now, Ge Zhiqiang and the others had already surrounded Jiang Xiaohe, but seeing this situation between Jiang Xiaohe and Bao Aluan seemed to have them all stunned. Ji Guangjie took advantage of Jiang Xiaohe's lack of readiness to thrust ferociously at him, but he was blocked again by Jiang Xiaohe's sword immediately with a clang. Ji Guangjie was about to return with another stab, but Aluan obstructed his sword, at the same time drawing her own saber, saying to Ji Guangjie and the others, "None of you are allowed to attack. I'll be the one to kill him! I have things to ask him!" Jiang Xiaohe said as well, "Right! This is between our two families, Jiang and Bao. It has nothing to do with anyone else!" Ji Guangjie sneered angrily, "You must know that she is already my wife. We've already kneeled in the wedding hall and gotten married. If you insult her, your life is immediately forfeit to my sword!"

Jiang Xiaohe laughed bitterly again, and then looked over at Aluan, saying, "The two of us must find a place to talk. The words of the past ten years are too many, and we need to speak them fully. After we talk, if I can take revenge, I will take revenge. If I can't, then I'll have no regrets in being killed by you all!" Aluan wept and nodded, "I wanted to have a careful discussion with you as well! We must make everything clear. Let's go, to the east side of the bridge!" Jiang Xiaohe nodded too and said, "All right, let's go to the east side." Then he clasped his fist at Ge Zhiqiang and the others, saying, "I ask everyone to wait a short while. I am going to the eastern side with Miss Aluan to discuss a few things." Yang Zhijin said, "Miss Aluan, don't go with him. He holds no good intentions!" Ge Zhiqiang wanted to follow her with the group of men, lest Aluan suffer disadvantage alone. Ji Guangjie stood in the way of the group, however, and said, "Don't go after them. Let them go and talk!" At the same time, he winked at them.

Aluan turned her horse to the east and rode, as Ge Zhiqiang and the others made way for her. Jiang Xiaohe headed east as well behind Bao Aluan. Just as he was about a dozen paces from the bridge, he heard the whoosh of wind behind him. He quickly ducked down on his horse and felt a dart fly above his head. Ji Guangjie was at the foot of the bridge and flicked his hand up, sending a second dart over. Jiang Xiaohe reached out with two of the fingers on his left hand and pinched a hold of the flying dart. Ji Guangjie urged his horse closer a few steps, and the third dart zoomed over again on its mark. Jiang Xiaohe used the just-caught dart in his hand and knocked the flying dart onto the ground with a tink. He waited attentively for another flying dart, as he smiled at Ji Guangjie and asked, "Are there any more?" At that time, he noticed a dozen or so polehooks coming at him. Three were on the horse's legs, while another had hooked onto Jiang Xiaohe's right arm. Jiang Xiaohe hurriedly reached out with his left hand and grabbed it away. Whoosh, whoosh, again two darts came flying his way, but he dodged both of them. The horse had now been pulled down, as Ge Zhiqiang and the others charged over, spurring their horses and swinging their sabers.

Jiang Xiaohe was now caught in an extremely desperate situation, but his hands and feet were nimble, so though his horse fell, he did not himself tumble. It was only when he escaped the polehook that two strips of flesh were torn from his right arm. He endured the pain and, swinging his sword boldly, he engaged in battle with Ge Zhiqiang, Ji Guangjie, Zhao Zhilong, Jin Zhiyong, Yuan Zhixia, Yang Zhijin, and the throng of officers led by Second Deng the Divine Hold. In a split second, on the eastern side of the bridge over the Ba River, men and horses roiled and surged into a large flurry of disorder.