Heaven-relying Sword And Dragon-slaying Sabre

Zhang Wuji was silent for half a day then grimly said, "Yifu is right." He had always known that the Mongolians were brutal and merciless toward their enemies, but surely they would cherish their own subordinates and people? At this moment, listening to Xie Xun, he felt as if his heart was torn in two: he wanted to return to the Central Earth, to hold command over the heroes and warriors in driving the Tartars away; but speaking about governing a country to maintain peace and security, he was convinced it was not in his power to do so.

"Yifu," Zhou Zhiruo said, "What shall we do?"

"What is in my daughter-in-law's mind?" Xie Xun asked.

"Can we not board the boat?" Zhou Zhiruo said, "Let's tell those Mongolian sailors that we enjoy living in this island and do not have any desire to return to the Central Plains."

Xie Xun smiled and said, "That is a naïve little girl's naïve idea. We do not want to go on board, do you think the enemy will let us go just like that? Let's say we kill everybody on this ship, officers and sailors alike, do you think they will not dispatch ten more, eight more ships to find us? Besides, there are a lot of important matters in the Central Plains, waiting for Wuji to attend to. How can we let him grow old and die on this deserted island?"

Zhou Zhiruo's pretty face blushed profusely. "Please give us instruction; we'll listen to Yifu's advice," she said in a low voice.

Xie Xun thought of a plan for a moment and then said, "Let's do it this way." Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo listened to his plan and agreed that it was a marvelous plan.

Zhang Wuji went to Yin Li's grave to pray and shed some farewell tears before embarking the ship. To fight boredom on the island, Zhou Zhiruo had carved many little wooden horses and wooden figurines. She wrapped everything in one big bundle and carried it on her back.

Zhang Wuji checked the cabin, inside and out, very carefully. Indeed Zhao Min was not onboard; he also made sure that there was nobody onboard who might do them harm. He noticed that the officers and sailors were not martial art practitioners.

After the ship had weighed the anchor, when they only set sail for dozens of 'zhang's, suddenly Zhang Wuji reached back and grabbed Pastai's right wrist, while his other hand snatched the saber hanging on Pastai's belt, and pressed the saber behind his neck. "Listen to my order," he shouted, "Tell the helmsman to turn eastward!"

Pastai was shocked, "Zhang Gong … Gongzi," he trembled, "Xiao … Xiao Ren does not dare to offend you."

"Listen to my orders," Zhang Wuji said, "If you disobey, I am going to chop your head."

"Yes, yes!" Pastai said, and shouted his order, "Helms … helmsman! Quick … turn the ship eastward!" The helmsman turned the rudder to follow his command. The ship circled around the island and sailed to the east.

Zhang Wuji shouted, "You Mongolians are setting a trap to harm us. I have seen through your scheme. Quickly admit it! If you lie to me, I'll take your life." Having said that he raised his right palm and slapped the ship's edge. Wood debris flew everywhere, as a big chunk of wood came off from the ship's edge. The officers and sailors onboard watched with amazement.

Pastai said, "Gongzi, please understand: Xiao Ren received my superior's order to take Gongzi home; we don't have any other intention. Xiao Ren … Xiao Ren only hoped to render a service and receive the rewards, we really do not have any ill-intention."

Zhang Wuji knew he was telling the truth; thereupon he released Pastai's wrist, walked to the bow, and lifted the iron anchor with his left hand, while his right hand also reached out and lifted another anchor. "Everybody, watch this!" he shouted, while throwing both anchors to the air. The Mongolians gasped and then cried out in alarm.

As the anchors fell back down, using the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi technique, one hand snatched, the other pushed, Zhang Wuji threw the anchors back up to the air. He did this three times, before he finally caught the anchors and gently put them down on the bow. The Mongolians have always admired brave warriors; seeing this astonishing demonstration of prowess, they bowed down in respect and did not dare to disobey.

Following Zhang Wuji's instructions, the helmsman drove the ship to the east. They sailed on the open sea for three days, until the only thing they could see was mighty waves whose heights reach the sky. Xie Xun anticipated that Zhao Min only dispatched battleships to search on the water around Fujian and Guangdong area; right now their ship had sailed deep into the ocean, so there was no way the battleships would find them.

After five days, they instructed the helmsman to turn northward. They continued heading north for more than twenty days, so that even if Zhao Min was ten times smarter, it would be difficult for her to guess the location of the ship correctly. Thereupon, they instructed the helmsman to turn the ship westward, towards the Central Earth. During their voyage of more than a month, Zhang Wuji and the others did not touch the food from the ship; they either ate the provisions brought from the island, or caught fish from the ocean.

Around the seventh hour one day [between 11am – 1pm], they saw land in the distance. The Mongolian officers and sailors had been on the sea too long; as they saw they were going home, everybody cheered in delight. By the nightfall, the ship had dropped its anchor by the shore.

The landscape of that area was mountainous and the seawater was really deep so the ship was able to moor right next to the stony shore.

"Wuji," Xie Xun said, "Go ashore and find out what kind of place is this?" Zhang Wuji complied and flew ashore.

He explored for a while and everywhere he went, he saw green thick forest; with the snow that started to melt on the ground, turning the soil into deep mud. After walking for a while, the forest got darker. All around him were gigantic ancient pine trees, the trunks were so big that each one needed several people join hands to encircle it. He flew up a tall tree to get a better view, and no matter which direction he looked he could not see the edge of the forest. Surprisingly, in this sea of trees, he did not see any sign of other human beings either. He thought even if he went further down the forest, he would see the same thing; therefore, he decided to return to the ship.

Before reaching the shore, he had already heard miserable shouts; and these extremely sad and shrill sounds were coming from the ship. He was shocked, rushed to the shore, and immediately flew to the bow.

He saw the deck was full of bodies scattered around; they were the Mongolian officers' and soldiers' corpses, from Pastai down to the last sailor. Xie Xun and Zhou Zhiruo were standing on the deck, but he did not see any trace of the enemy.

In shock he asked, "Yifu, Zhiruo, are you all right? Where is the enemy?"

"What enemy?" Xie Xun asked, "Did you see any trace of them?"

"No! But these Mongolians …" Zhang Wuji said.

"Zhiruo and I killed them," Xie Xun said.

Zhang Wuji was even more stunned, "I did not expect these Mongolians would dare to harm us as soon as we return to the Central Earth," he said.

"They did not dare to harm us," Xie Xun explained, "I killed them to close their mouths. As they are dead, Zhao Min will not know that we have returned to the Central Earth. From now on, she is in the bright place while we stay in the dark. It will be easier for us to exact our revenge."