Piao Zhen is furious; how could he, considered one of the great Kung Fu masters of his age and being Sect Leader of Kunlun Sect, one of the largest Martial Arts Sects in China, be unable to capture a girl and a simple bandit? However, Hong Long's lightness skill was excellent, so how could he capture them?1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkvee6Aj8Q
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Piao Zhen's eyes emit the light of fire in them and his face is red. When Piao Zhen enters the Office of Magistrate Chao, the Magistrate sees how furious he is and cold sweat runs on his face.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRrUfEb6gi
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"Please Master Piao, come in.", the Magistrate says and leads Piao Zhen to a silk mat. Piao Zhen sits on the mat and Chao quickly brings a cup of tea.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBYMHF3bO6
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"Please, drink this tea. It is one of the best in all of China. It is called 'Green Dragon Tea'."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCP5OqbNjW
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Piao Zhen sips the tea and gets the pleasant feeling of warm liquid entering his stomach. He also feels that his throat is better and that he will be able to speak even more clearly than before. But, most of all, he absolute loves the taste of this tea. For Green Dragon Tea has a very sweet taste and is indeed one of the best Teas in all of China. This tea is very rare to be found and Piao Zhen had never tasted before. Being a great lover of tea, Piao Zhen feels his anger retreating and calms. It is not hard for him to calm. After all, he is the "Gentleman Swordsman", a swordsman who never gets angry and is always a gentleman.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOByMq6Mc2
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Magistrate Chao is relieved to see that the tea had the expected influence on his guest; Chao had given the tea to Piao Zhen in order to calm him down.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36UegWs9of
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"Master Piao, what can I do for you?"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjmZ4WOxi3
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"You know what I want you to do. You must find the whereabouts of the bandits!"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzG3e1WHcwh
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"Sir, it is not my wish to offend you, but I really cannot find the location of the bandits. My soldiers have searched all of the city and they have been unable to find anything suspicious."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡre7kt1yaf3
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"Maybe, instead of trying to find out their location, we could lure them to come here. Have you heard of a man called Hong Long?"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXIYmf5s8xD
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"Yes. He is the self-proclaimed leader of the bandits."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1x4dq0aEq
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"Announce to all of the city that he has been captured and shall be executed in public in two days."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQXReplmSO
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"But, this bandit must have returned to his stronghold by now. So, his comrades shall not be fooled."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WS1mVZzNU
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"It is impossible for all bandits to have returned to their stronghold and to know where their leader is. Some of them must have remained here, and one of them should be loyal enough to try and rescue his leader. So, we should be able to capture at least one bandit. Hong Long is a loyal and chivalrous person, so I am sure that he will try to rescue this fool who will fall in our hands, especially since he would have been captured while trying to 'save' him."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3l7gfBYpeq
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Meanwhile, in a bamboo forest outside Luchow, Hong Long and Wu Lan are walking. Hong Long had taken Wu Lan to the stronghold of the bandits and allowed her to rest there. Now, they are taking a walk a few miles away from the stronghold.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1jCuWeHGR
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"Miss Wu.", Hong Long says. "I saved you from this Piao Zhen. So, I want to ask you for a favor. "1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lJhit9szI
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"What favor? I will do my best to repay your help."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RW6Ea6uAo
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Hong Long gives Wu Lan the map with the locations of the Ming armies.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4B7kvwxhD
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"Please take this map and leave this place. This map should not fall to Piao Zhen's hands."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLGGFYMPsq
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"I will do my best to protect this map. I bid you farewell."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpPvijvJ4s
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Wu Lan walks away and Hong Long gazes at her, silently praying that the map will be safe with her. If that map were to fall in the wrong hands, it would be disastrous. For if that map was given to an enemy of China, the enemy would know the exact locations of all Ming armies and thus would be able to easily defeat the Ming Empire, by surprising and encircling all of it's armies in the frontier and would know the exact routes which the Ming armies would have to use in order to counter the invasion, thus giving the invader the chance to prepare ambushes. Although, to say the truth, even if the map did not fall in the wrong hands, the Ming Empire would still be very likely defeated by a foreign invasion, considering how corrupt and incompetent the Generals are, how the Imperial Court believes in slanders and executes the few competent patriotic Generals, like Yuan Chonghuan, and how untrained and undisciplined the Ming soldiers are.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wRywNd5pf
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At the same time Hong Long thinks about the desperate situation of Ming China, the soldiers of Magistrate Chao have set up a platform in the middle of Luchow. Two of them bring a hooded man onto the platform. They kick him and spit on him, shouting insults at him, like "You bastard Hong Long, you though that you could escape us? Now we shall drink wine using your skull! Hahaha!"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZSRcb0M7P
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Suddenly, a middle-aged man wearing a brown gown somersaults onto the platform. Three soldiers charge at him with their swords, but the man sends out his palms at them, creating a gust of wind which sends the soldiers flying miles away.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTqvCKXPND
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"Chief!!", the man shouts and charges at the two soldiers which hold the hooded man. The soldiers are scared out of their wits; they throw away their weapons and run away. The man bows before the hooded man and says: "Chief, are you alright?".1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdA9Mkf9vAs
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Instead of replying, the hooded man seals the Vital Points of the man with a swift move. He then takes off the hood, revealing that he is in fact Piao Zhen, not Hong Long! Piao Zhen laughs. "Soldiers, take this man to the Office of Magistrate Chao!"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdfpP4pUY0
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"Yes, sir!", fat Colonel Li says and two soldiers grab the middle-aged man.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjHKSvoq03
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A few hours later, Piao Zhen and Magistrate Chao talk once again about the bandits, sitting on the silk mats and drinking Green Dragon Tea.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3jNeurfny
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"Master Piao, I want to ask your permission to take the prisoner to an other place."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLlORPmjV2
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"Why?"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiozDm5XH3
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"You see, by searching for the bandits, we have already disrupted once the peace in the city. If we were to hold the bandit here in my Office, the bandits would surely try to rescue him. And since my Office is in the center of the city, there will be civilian casualties and businesses here would take a heavy blow. And this will be bad for the local economy. If the owners of the shops do not have any money, who can I blackmail for gold?"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWum75TWZK
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"And where do you want to take the bandit to?"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2CZ2uPZ1z
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"To a Buddhist Monastery a few miles away from the city. I will then have some of my soldiers to go to a tavern here, pretend to be drunk and reveal that we have moved to bandit to the Monastery. Thus, the bandits will try to save their comrade and shall fall into our trap. Also, hiding the bandit in the Monastery will make it more unlikely for the bandits to suspect that we are setting up a trap."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFnOycGwiN
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"You are right. Very well, do as you say. But if anything wrong happens, both you and your Colonel shall be beheaded!"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Tu2o95AIi
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"I will do my best to serve you, Master Piao!"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpDZGxEoAM
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Indeed, three days later, one the bandits that was staying in the city and was used as a spy by the bandits, comes to the stronghold of the bandits. He enters the Main Hall and bows before Hong Long, who is sitting on a wooden throne and is surrounded by his comrades.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpVCL9NPK2
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"Talk!", Hong Long orders.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZfEUKLDui
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"Sir, I have learned that the bastard soldiers have taken Comrade Peng to the Buddhist Monastery."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPo4dGalJil
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"How did you learn this?"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoycQKjWD0
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"I came to a tavern in the city to scout for news about Comrade Peng and heard two drunken soldiers bragging about how they will force him to reveal our whereabouts and how we shall never find out that they have hidden him in the Monastery."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVT6vPyOTM
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One of the comrades of Hong Long, a very fat man who wears only purple trousers, allowing everyone to see his naked huge belly, and who is nicknamed as the "Fat Zhuge Liang", whispers to Hong Long's right ear: "Chief, I believe that it is a trap. We should not go to the Monastery. Those soldiers may have been bragging in order to lure us to go there."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2zs4TKjZs
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Hong Long shouts: "How can I not go there?! I would go even if I knew that it was a trap! Comrade Peng put his life in danger in order to save me, how can I not do the same? Will I be a real man and hero if I hide here like a coward and let my comrade be tortured to death?"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFmxBllt0x
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"But, Chief, you should think carefully of how we can save Brother Peng."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ3fZcmfyP
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"You are the 'Zhuge Liang'. So, why do you not think of some idea?"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Ux60g2E7h
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"I have an idea! Monk Chaoxiang and Scholar Jue, come here!"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4keYDdBDw5
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A young handsome Buddhist monk in his mid twenties and a middle aged scholar covered with dirt and oil and holding an old and broken black oil paper fan in his hands bow before Hong Long. "Chief! We await you orders!"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCduYT0ePi
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Hong Long says: "Fat Zhuge, tell them your plan."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZtCyNZ4MD
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"I will, Chief! You two, listen well. You, Chaoxiang, will pretend to be a Monk in the Monastery.". Chaoxiang, before joining the bandits, was actually a Monk in that Monastery, so not only he knows the ways in the Monastery, but he is also friend with many of the Monks and so the chances of the soldiers discovering that he is not a Monk in that Monastery anymore will be minimal. "You, Jue, will pretend to be a poor scholar who wants to take shelter to the Monastery for a day. Of course, Piao Zhen will suspect you and the soldiers shall be spying on you. Your job will be to sneak out of the Monastery in the middle of the night. The soldiers that spy on you will follow you and will be lured away from the Monastery, allowing Chaoxiang to save Peng."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNERy4ynoWo
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"Excellent plan!", exclaims Hong Long, in awe of Zhuge Liang's brilliant plan.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmubfW41NF
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The two bandits follow Zhuge Liang's plan; Chaoxiang sneaks into the Monastery and pretends to be a Monk while Jue asks the Monks for shelter for a day in the Monastery. The same night, Jue sneaks out of his room and with slow steps he moves towards the Monastery's outer stone wall. He then uses his Qinggong to somersault and jump above the wall, landing outside of the Monastery. He looks around for a few moments and then runs away. As expected, ten soldiers follow Jue, but Jue pretends not to have seen them.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxtSUsqXCs
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Chaoxiang, being a 'Monk' in the Monastery, is able to move more freely and so he heads quickly towards Jue's room. Seeing that Jue has left his room, he understands that he must act fast and heads towards the Back Hall of the Ten Buddhas, called so because that Hall has ten golden statues of Buddha in it.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSI6NfGGmfn
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Chaoxiang sneaks into the room and, hiding behind one of the ten statues of Buddha, sees twelve soldiers guarding Peng, who is tied with a rope. Chaoxiang work a number of darts into his right palm and flings them at the soldiers, silently killing all of them. He then unties his comrade.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuxvQsSYbN
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"Brother Peng.", he whispers. "Are you alright?"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQaUqlrxJz
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"I think so.", Peng replies.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPv7jlTd6KA
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But before the two of them can walk away, Piao Zhen, along with twenty archers and ten spearmen, enters the Hall. The soldier surround the two bandits, making it impossible for them to escape.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyp4KfcEk3
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Piao Zhen laughs. "When my spies reported that the scholar was sneaking out of the Monastery, I immediately understood that you wanted to lure my soldiers away. And so, I prepared this trap for you."1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DWewIIqCU
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Chaoxiang and Peng know that any further resistance is futile, so they allow themselves to be arrested. Jue kills six of the ten soldiers that follow him and, after waiting for the whole night Chaoxiang, goes back to the bandit's stronghold the next morning. He bows before his Chief and with tears in his eyes, he informs him of the situation: "Chief, our plan failed!"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡni7osw9Bcb
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"Dammit!", Hong Long shouts. "I will undertake myself the task of saving them. All men, prepare for battle!"1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXW4WhI6PB0
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The bandits are quite powerful in that area. Hong Long is able to muster up to 100 men, all well trained fighters. The soldiers march in battle formation towards the Monastery. Jue had confirmed that the Magistrate had send only 65 soldiers to the Monastery. But the real strength of the soldiers is lower, since Jue had killed six of the ten men that followed him the previous night and Chaoxiang had killed twelve soldiers in his failed attempt to save Peng. Surely, Piao Zhen would not expect that Hong Long would be rash enough to attack openly with all of his men the Monastery.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcb2jbd8k6i
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Hong Long leads the men on horseback, riding a black horse. Soon, they reach the outskirts of the Monastery. Hong Long sends Zhuge Liang, who is on foot, along with two horsemen to scout the enemy forces. The horsemen ride froward and Zhuge Liang uses his excellent lightness Kung Fu to follow them. Zhuge Liang, being so fat, cannot ride a horse, for it will not withstand his huge weight. A few minutes later, Zhuge Liang and the two other scouts return and report that the Monastery is guarded on the outside by twenty-eight archers and thirteen spearmen.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBSzKNxT3C
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"Attack!", Hong Long shouts and more than 100 bandits charge with their swords at the few Ming soldiers. The soldiers expected the enemy and were on high alert, but they also expected only a few pugilists, not an entire mini army of bandits. The archers quickly take positions and form three straight lines. The archers of the first line are on their knees and are almost almost bowing, in order to allow the other two lines of archers behind them to fire their arrows. The archers of the second line stand up, but because those archers are shorter than the ones of the third line, the archers of the third line are able to fire their arrows.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvggsv1qZYz
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The archers shoot their arrows, killing tens of bandits, but soon more bandits come and the formation is broken. The thirteen spearmen try to repulse the bandits, and to their honor, they fight quite bravely, unlike most Ming soldiers, who are usually untrained and lazy.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyI5VoE7KZ
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Soldiers fight on top of tens of dismembered bodies. Heads, hands, chests, even eyes and ears are lying on the ground, all covered in blood. The soldiers on both sides fight their enemies with every weapon they can find. They use rocks to break the head of their enemies. They even fight with their bare hands. But, the Ming soldiers are heavily outnumbered and so they are defeated.1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9Dns4XIWu
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The bandits charge into the Monastery, only to see that aside from the corpses of the Monks, who seem to have been massacred, there is no one in the Monastery. Zhuge Liang immediately understands that something is wrong, but before he can inform Hong Long, the Monastery becomes engulfed in fire. It seems that Piao Zhen had moved away Chaoxiang and Peng the previous night and was expecting the attack, so he sacrificed the soldiers guarding the Monastery in order to lure the bandits into it and burn them alive. And he had also massacred the Monks in order to make sure that no one would inform the bandits or help them find a way out of the flaming hell that the Monastery has become. What a brilliant plan!1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsjbb6Ar8G
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Will the bandits be able to escape the flames alive? Or shall they be burned to death? Will Piao Zhen manage to reclaim the map? What is Lung Chang doing all the while? Find out in the next chapter! 1456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerdx4fA4CJ
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