edibly sensitive. When he heard the name ‘Guo Jing’, his entire body shook violently; he immediately jerked his horse around and rode back to the kids.

“Boy, your surname is Guo? You are Han Chinese and not Mongolian, right?” He anxiously asked.

Guo Jing grunted an assertion, sending Ke Zhen’E’s mind into the clouds with joy. “Who is your mother?” He hurriedly asked.

“Mom is mom.” Guo Jing answered, making Ke Zhen’E scratch his head for a bit. “Can you take me to your mother?”

“My mom’s not here.”

“Sister, you ask him.” Ke Zhen’E suggested, realizing that there was some hostility in Guo Jing’s responses. Han Xiaoying hopped off of her horse and walked up to Guo Jing.

“Where’s your father?” She asked in a warm voice.

“My dad was killed by bad people; when I grow up, I’m going to kill them and avenge my father.”

“What was your father’s name?” Han Xiaoying was so excited that her voice was trembling. But Guo Jing just shook his head.

“Who killed your father?” Ke Zhen’E asked.

“His… his name is Duan Tiande!” Guo Jing could barely contain his anger as he said that name.

Because Li Ping knew that in such a desolate and remote place as the Steppe, any moment could bring with it many dangers. She knew that her chances of ever returning to China were nearly non existent. If something should happen to her suddenly, her son would never know the name of his mortal enemy, and that would not do. She had long ago told her son, over and over again, the name and appearance of Duan Tiande. She was an illiterate farm girl and had always called her husband ‘Xiao-Ge’. She had heard other people call him ‘Brother Guo’ but had never cared about what her husband’s real name was. This was why Guo Jing had only ever known his father to be his ‘dad’ and did not know that he had other names.

‘Duan Tiande’. That name did not come out of Guo Jing’s mouth very loudly, but when the Seven Freaks heard it, the shock rendered them speechless. Even if three bolts of lightning suddenly struck beside them on this clear and sunny day it would not have shocked them as much. In the blink of an eye, it felt as if the earth beneath them shook, as if the wind and air around them became colored. Only after a very prolonged silence did Han Xiaoying suddenly let out an ecstatic shout. At the same time, Zhang Ahsheng was beating his fists onto his chest like a mad man. Quan Jinfa had thrown his arm tightly around Nan Xiren’s neck and Han Baoju was doing back flips on his horse’s saddle. Ke Zhen’E reared his head back and laughed crazily, while Zhu Cong was spinning like a top. Seeing them act like this, Tolui and Guo Jing could not decide whether they were funny or just plain crazy. Only after a long time did the Seven Freaks finally, slowly, calm down, but their faces were filled with joy.

“Merciful Bodhisattva, thank you, thank you!” Zhang Ahsheng knelt down and prayed.

“Little brother, let’s sit down and talk.” Han Xiaoying said to Guo Jing. Anxious to get back and ask his brother Ogedai for help as well as having a bad feeling about these seven strangers with their strange accents and even stranger behavior, Tolui did not want to stay any longer. Even though these same strangers had just helped them in a fight, Tolui incessantly urged Guo Jing to start heading back.

“I need to go now.” Guo Jing finally relented and began to walk away hand in hand with Tolui.

“Hey…hey! You can’t go now. Let that little friend of yours go back by himself.” Han Baoju almost panicked and yelled at the top of his lungs.

The two little kids were scared of the man’s ugly complexion and immediately started to run as soon as he began to yell. Han Baoju chased them and was just about to grab the back of Guo Jing’s neck with his fat hands when Zhu Cong cut him off.

“Third Brother, don’t be so rude.” Zhu Cong lightly parried Han Baoju’s hand and stopped it in mid-move, much to Han Baoju’s surprise. Picking up a little speed, Zhu Cong quickly got in front of the two little kids.

\

“I’m going to do some magic, you guys just watch, ok?” He smiled at the kids as he picked up three stones. Guo Jing and Tolui’s curiosity was immediately piqued and both of them stopped and watched him.

Zhu Cong held his right hand out for all to see and placed the stones in the middle of his hand.

“Gone!” He shouted as he balled his hand into a fist. When he opened his hand again, the stones were gone, shocking the little kids.

“Get in there!” Zhu Cong pointed at the old hat that was on top of his head before taking it off. The stones were sitting right in the middle of the hat. Guo Jing and Tolui let out a loud cheer and applauded with joy.

At this moment, a flock of wild geese flew toward them in a spear formation. This gave Zhu Cong an idea.

“Now we’ll let my Big Brother show you a trick.” He fished out a handkerchief, handed it to Tolui, and pointed at Ke Zhen’E. “Put this blindfold on him.”

“Is it hide and go seek?” Tolui hopefully wondered out loud as he put the blindfold on Ke Zhen’E.

“No. He will shoot a wild goose out of the sky while blindfolded.” Zhu Cong answered as he produced a bow and an arrow.

“How could he? I don’t believe you.” Tolui concluded.

While the conversation was going on, the wild geese flew straight over head. Zhu Cong flicked his arm and tossed the three stones in his hand up at the geese. Because of his powerful hands, the stones shot up and startled the geese, causing the lead goose to honk several times as he readied to lead the formation in a different direction. But Ke Zhen’E had already determined its location, drew his bow to the fullest, and let loose. He hit the goose squarely in the belly and the goose, with the arrow still in it, tumbled down onto the ground.

Tolui and Guo Jing exploded with another cheer. They ran off to retrieve the goose and brought it back to Ke Zhen’E, their young hearts filled with admiration.

“Remember how the eight boys ganged up on you two earlier? Well, if you know some martial arts, then you wouldn’t have to worry about there being more than one of them.” Zhu Cong told the kids.

“We will fight some more tomorrow and I’m going to get my older brother to help.” Tolui told him.

“Get help from your older brother! Hmph, that’s something that useless kids do. I’ll teach you a couple of moves that I guarantee will help you win tomorrow.” Zhu Cong replied.

“You mean the two of us beating the eight of them?” Tolui asked.

“Yes!”

“Yay! Come on, teach me!” Tolui was greatly excited at the prospect of beating Dukhsh.

“How about you, don’t you want to learn too?” Zhu Cong asked him. He’d noticed that Guo Jing was standing to the side, seemingly uninterested.

“Mom told me that I shouldn’t fight others; if I learn how to fight, then my mom will be unhappy.”

“Little chicken!” Han Baoju lightly berated him.

“If that’s true, why were you in a fight just now?” Zhu Cong asked again.

“Because they started it.”

“So what are you going to do when you see your enemy, Duan Tiande?” Ke Zhen’E asked in a heavy tone.

“I’ll kill him to avenge my father!” Just hearing that name made a fiery glare flash from Guo Jing’s young eyes.

“Your father was an expert in martial arts yet was still killed by him; how could you kill him if you don’t know any martial arts? How can you get your revenge then?” Ke Zhen’E rendered Guo Jing speechless with those questions.

“See? You have to learn some martial arts.” Han Xiaoying concluded for him.

“See that peak over there?” Zhu Cong pointed at a deserted mountain top to his left. “If you want to learn martial arts and get your revenge then come to the top of that mountain tonight at midnight. But you have to come by yourself. Besides this little friend of yours, you can’t let anybody else find out about it. Brave enough to do it; afraid of ghosts?”

Guo Jing was still stupidly standing there, but Tolui was getting impatient.

“Come on, teach me, please!”

Zhu Cong suddenly grabbed his wrist, hooked his left foot behind him, and gently tripped him, sending Tolui onto the ground.

“Why did you trip me?” Tolui angrily demanded once he got back up off the ground.

“That was martial arts, did you learn it?” Zhu Cong smiled as he answered. As it turned out, Tolui was quite smart and understood right away. He mimicked Zhu Cong and showed the move against an imaginary foe.

“Teach me something else.” He said to Zhu Cong. Zhu Cong faked a punch toward Tolui’s face. Tolui dodged to the left, but Zhu Cong’s right fist was waiting there for him. This punch had no force behind it and stopped the moment it touched Tolui’s nose.

“Yay! Teach me something else!” Tolui was ecstatic. Zhu Cong suddenly braced himself and gently bumped his shoulders squarely into the little kid’s stomach; sending him flying off. Quan Jinfa jumped up, caught him in mid air, and gently put him back onto the ground.

“Mister, teach me something else!”

“If you master those three moves, most adults won’t be able to beat you, enough is enough.” Zhu Cong smiled and told him before turning towards Guo Jing. “Did you get them?”

Guo Jing was still dumbstruck and not really thinking of anything as he absent mindedly shook his head. When compared to the smart and intelligent Tolui, Guo Jing seemed incredibly stupid and slow to the Seven Freaks, who were very disappointed at this turn of events. Han Xiaoying let out a long sigh and her eyes reddened.

“I say that we stop wasting energy and just take the mother and son back south and hand them over to Qiu Chuji. As for the competition, let’s just admit defeat.” Quan Jinfa observed.

“This kid’s make up is just too hopeless; he’s not the kungfu practicing type.” Zhu Cong agreed.

“There isn’t a bit of fight in him; I don’t see how it’s going to work either.” Han Baoju also agreed and the Seven Freaks began discussing the matter amongst themselves in their Southern dialects.

“You two can go home now.” Han Xiaoying waved at the two little kids. Tolui grabbed hold of Guo Jing’s hand and they happily skipped off.

Having searched for six long and hard years all over the boundless Steppe, the Seven Freaks were joyous beyond description when they finally found Guo Jing. As it turned out, the joy was only temporary; when they discovered that the kid was so dumb that it would be incredibly difficult for him to ever amount to much as a martial artist. They could not help feeling defeated. This set back could only be matched by the one they would experience had they, in fact, never found Guo Jing. Han Baoju, whip in hand, was relentlessly beating the ground, trying to vent his frustration and nobody could get him to stop. All this time, only the Wood Chopper of the Southern Mountains, Nan Xiren, remained silent.

“Well, what do you think, Fourth Brother?” Ke Zhen’E asked.

“Very good.” Nan Xiren replied.

“What’s very good?” Zhu Cong inquired.

“The kid’s very good,” he added.

“Fourth Brother always acts as if speaking costs him money.” Han Xiaoying said, letting the frustration get to her. “He will never say a word more than he has to.”

“I was also very dumb as a kid.” Nan Xiren gently smiled. He was always very quiet and every word that he spoke had already been carefully thought over, meaning that he was rarely wrong.

Hearing him, the other six Freaks found a glimmer of hope and instantly became more confident.

“Right…that’s right! Since when have I been smart?” Zhang Ahsheng agreed, looking in Han Xiaoying’s direction.

“Let’s wait and see if he’s got the guts to come tonight.” Zhu Cong suggested.

“I say most likely not.” Quan Jinfa replied. “I’m going to go find where he lives first.”

He jumped off of his horse and trailed far behind Tolui and Guo Jing until he saw them walking into their own gers.

That night, the Seven Freaks waited on the deserted mountain top. It was fifteen minutes to ten and the Big Dipper had noticeably changed its position, but Guo Jing was nowhere to be seen.

Han Baoju sighed, “The Seven Freaks of the South never lost to anyone in our lives. But in the end, we lose to that Taoist priest.”

Zhu Cong said, “The Quanzhen Sect is fighting the Jurchens in the north and helping the poor Chinese citizens there. Everything the sect does is chivalrous and admirable. The Seven Masters of Quanzhen are great martial arts experts and honorable individuals, Qiu Chuji is even said to be the most exceptional one of the Seven Masters. Losing to him won’t damage our good name. Furthermore, we are trying to save the lives of survivors of an honorable man, which is a good deed. When people in Wulin learn of this, they can only praise us and say: “Well done!”“

The other six Freaks agreed and felt better.

Looking to the west, dark clouds were gathering on top of each other off on the horizon. But above their heads not a cloud could be seen in the dark blue sky. The winds were swirling around them from the northwest; sometimes it would gust, other times it would be still. In the middle of the sky hung the bright moon, but a faint yellow ring could be discerned around it.

“Looks like there’s going to be a storm tonight.” Han Xiaoying observed. “The kid is not going to come.”

“Then let’s go to him tomorrow morning.” Zhang Ahsheng replied.

“Being a little slow is not a big problem. But if this kid is afraid of the dark… Ay!” Ke Zhen’E sighed and shook his head.

The seven of them were just wandering around when Han Baoju suddenly spotted something in a bush. “Hey what’s that?” He pointed at three piles of white objects that looked awfully strange in the moon light.

Quan Jinfa walked over to investigate only to discover that they were human skulls placed neatly in three piles.

“It must have been those little kids that piled up the skulls like that.” He laughed before suddenly noticing something else. “What…Second brother, come quickly!”

The sudden change in the tone of his voice was easily noticeable and unsettling for everyone. Other than Ke Zhen’E, the other Freaks made their way over to him.

“Look at this!” Quan Jinfa picked up one particular skull and handed it over to Zhu Cong. When Zhu Cong inspected the skull closely, he noticed that on the dome of the skull there were five holes positioned as though they were made by fingers. He tried with his own hand and the five holes were positioned properly for his fingers. The hole for his thumb was a little bigger than the others, while the hole for his pinky was a little smaller. It seemed as if somebody had carefully carved the holes into the skull to match a particular hand. Obviously it was not a child’s toy that the little kids had left here. Zhu Cong’s expression changed dramatically. He bent over and picked up two more skulls and discovered that they also had these holes in them.

“Could somebody have made these holes with their fingers?” He wondered. But there had not been anybody in the world with martial arts skills so powerful as to be able to smash holes through bone just using fingers. With this realization, he was rendered silent and awestruck.

“Could it be some man eating beast or monster that lives around here?” Han Xiaoying said, almost yelling.

\

“That’s right, it must be a monster.” Han Baoju concurred.

“But if it is some beast, then why would it or could it put the skulls in such neat piles?” Quan Jinfa asked, deep in thought.

“How are they placed?” Ke Zhen’E said, after making his way over to them.

“In a three pyramid formation; every pile consists of nine skulls.” Quan Jinfa answered.

“Are they stacked in three layers, with five skulls on the bottom layer, three in the middle layer, and one on the top?”

“Yes!” Quan Jinfa was shocked. “Big Brother, how did you know that?”

“Go one hundred steps northeast and northwest and tell me what you see!” Ke Zhen’E did not answer his question but instead, anxiously directed them.

His demeanor was one of extreme anxiety, almost bordering panic. This was so different from his normal calm steadiness that the other Freaks did not dare waste one second and in threes, they headed off in the two directions. Soon, Han Xiaoying, who went to the northeast, and Quan Jinfa, who went to the northwest, yelled out at the same instant.

“There are skull piles here too!”

“This is a matter of life and death!” Ke Zhen’E literally flew over to the pile of skulls at the northwest and forcefully, but quietly ordered. “Don’t raise your voice, no matter what!”

The three Freaks were quite taken aback by his words and weren’t quite sure what to make of them. Ke Zhen’E quickly made his way to Han Xiaoying’s group to the northeast and told them the same thing.

“Is it monsters or mortal enemies?” Zhang Ahsheng asked, with a hushed voice.

“They are mortal enemies of mine. They are formidable experts and they killed my brother.” By this time the Freaks in the other group had made their way over as well. Hearing his words, all of the Freaks were quite surprised.

The six knew that Ke Zhen’E’s brother, Ke Pixie had higher skills than Ke Zhen’E and was also a very intelligent and cautious man. His killer must have been a lethal nemesis. The Seven Freaks talked about everything with each other and about two years ago they learned of the death of Ke Pixie. But Ke Zhen’E never revealed how his brother died or who was responsible.

Ke Zhen’E picked up a skull and ran his hands over it inspecting it. After finding the holes he took his right hand and tried out the holes with his fingers. “They did it. They did it. They actually mastered it.” He mumbled to himself before turning to the other Freaks. “There are three piles here as well?”

“Yes!” Han Xiaoying answered.

“Are there eight skulls in every pile?” Ke Zhen’E inquired.

“One pile has nine; the other two piles have eight.” Han Xiaoying again answered.

“Go and count the other groups as well.” Han Xiaoying swiftly ran over to the other group and then returned just as quickly. “There’s a pile of seven over there; they are all decapitated heads and the flesh has not decomposed yet.”

“Then that means they will be here very soon.” Ke Zhen’E concluded quietly and handed the skull over to Quan Jinfa. “Carefully return this to where it was, and don’t leave any trace of our presence.”

Quan Jinfa quickly placed everything back in their original positions and returned to Ke Zhen’E. All of their eyes were upon Ke Zhen’E as they quietly waited for his explanation.

“It’s Copper Corpse and Iron Corpse!” Ke Zhen’E looked as if he was looking up at the sky and his face twitched continuously.

“But aren’t they dead? Can they still be alive?” This news shocked Zhu Cong tremendously.

“I thought they were dead as well. But it turns out that they have been hiding here training their ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claws’,” Ke Zhen’E said. “Brothers, quickly mount your horses and ride south as fast as you can and don’t come back! Wait for me after you have gone five thousand li. Wait for ten days. If I don’t show up on the tenth day, then you need not wait any longer.”

“What are you saying Big Brother?” Han Xiaoying anxiously asked. “We have all tasted each other’s blood when we swore to live and die together! Why are you telling us to leave now?”

“Go! Leave!” Ke Zhen’E repeatedly waved his hand. “You don’t have any time to waste!”

“What do you take us for; a bunch of heartless bastards?” Han Baoju angrily rebuked.

“If the seven of us lose, then we’ll just end our lives together. That’s what we have always said.” Zhang Ahsheng said, voicing his objection. “Since when have we ever run away?”

“These two possess incredible martial skills. Now that they’ve mastered the ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claws’, the seven of us are definitely no match for them. Why stay here and waste your life for no reason?” Ke Zhen’E protested.

The other Freaks knew how proud Ke Zhen’E was and that he would never admit defeat. Even when facing a master like Qiu Chuji he would still throw caution to the winds and fight with abandon. To hear him talk about these two people like this, it could be inferred that their power was something beyond comprehension.

“In that case, let’s leave together!” Quan Jinfa proposed.

“They condemned me to a life of suffering; but that I can deal with.” Ke Zhen’E coldly replied. “However, I have to avenge what they did to my brother!”

“Share the blessings, share the hardships!” Nan Xiren declared. He never says much, but he need say nothing more.

Ke Zhen’E thought about it. He knew that his sworn brothers and sister were people who valued honor and would never consider running to save their own lives. The words he just said were based on his worry for their lives and he now realized that they bordered on being offensive to them. With this thought, he sighed. “Alright, if that’s the case, then please be careful,” he said. “‘Copper Corpse’ is a man, ‘Iron Corpse’ is a woman and they are husband and wife. They are called the ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’. About two years ago, the two of them were just starting to train the ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claws’. They killed a lot of innocent people. My brother was invited to join an expedition against them, so he sent someone to inform and invite me to join the expedition. However, at that time the seven of us were in Shandong and Hebei provinces looking for Li Ping. We’d just found some clues about her whereabouts. It seems that some years back someone saw a military commander and a pregnant woman in man’s clothes shouting and screaming in the streets. That woman was seemingly mad and shouted that she wanted to kill that commander for killing her husband. They were on their way north, so it must have been Li Ping and Duan Tiande. I couldn’t just leave and join the expedition, especially since we’d finally found some clues about where Li Ping went. When we were up north, we lost track of Li Ping and Duan Tiande. It was years later before we found out that Li Ping was in Mongolia and had given birth to Guo Jing. Last year in the spring, a messenger came to tell me that my brother had been killed in the expedition against the ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’. It was also that messenger who informed who the ‘Twin Killers’ were and where they came from and what styles of martial arts they practised. I knew that I would be unable to avenge my brother then and decided not to tell you and we continued our search for Guo Jing.”

Ke Zhen’E looked very serious now and said, “What all of you need to watch out for is those claws of theirs. Sixth brother, go one hundred steps to the south and see if there’s a coffin there.”

Quan Jinfa, as quickly as he could, counted his steps. When he made it to one hundred, he did not spot a coffin. But upon closer inspection, he suddenly noticed that there was a corner of a stone slab protruding out of the ground. He pulled on it, but the stone slab did not budge. So he turned around and waved his arms; soon the other Freaks joined him. Zhang Ahsheng and Han Baoju both got down and, together, could barely lift the stone slab. In the moonlight, they were able to see that there was a grave hidden beneath the stone slab. In the grave lay two bodies, both of them dressed in Mongolian attire.

“Those two monsters will come soon and use these corpses for practice.” Ke Zhen’E hopped into the grave. “I’ll hide here and ambush them. You hide yourselves around here and make sure that they don’t find you. Once you hear that I have began fighting with them, attack at once and try to catch them off guard. Please don’t hold anything back. This type of ambush might not be righteous, but our foe is too powerful this time. Ambush is the only way; otherwise, none of us may make it out of this alive.”

The other six Freaks listened intently to his every word.

“They are also extremely attentive and intelligent. They will spot even the slightest trace of disturbance from far away.” Ke Zhen’E continued. “Put the stone slab back and just leave a small slit for me.”

The six Freaks nodded and gently placed the slab back where it had been. Afterwards, they grabbed their weapons and hid inside bushes and behind trees in the area immediately surrounding the grave.

Seeing Ke Zhen’E worry like she had never seen before, Han Xiaoying was worried as well as curious. When she looked for a hiding spot she made sure to find one close to Zhu Cong.

“Who are ‘Copper Corpse’ and ‘Iron Corpse’?” She asked him as quietly as she could.

Zhu Cong answered, “Two years ago, Master Ke Pixie sent a messenger to contact big brother. Big brother was afraid the news would leak out and asked me to go with him to talk to that messenger. He also wanted my opinion as to whether that messenger was real or was trying to deceive him. According to that messenger, ‘Copper Corpse’ and ‘Iron Corpse’ are disciples of the lord of the Peach Blossom Island in the Eastern Sea….”

Han Xiaoying softly interrupted, “Disciples of Peach Blossom Island? That makes them people from Zhejiang province, just like us.”

Zhu Cong nodded and said, “Yes, it is said that they were disowned by the Lord of the Peach Blossom Island. They are highly skilled and very vicious; they are also very secretive and cautious. After they killed Ke Pixie and some others of the expedition, they suddenly disappeared. Everyone thought that they’d paid for their crimes and were killed somehow. Little did we know that they were hiding here in Mongolia.”

“What are their real names?” Han Xiaoying asked.

“‘Copper Corpse’ is a man; his name is Chen Xuanfeng. He has a burnt yellow complexion like copper, and never showed a bit of emotion on his face, like a corpse. That’s why everyone referred to him as ‘Copper Corpse’.”

“So does that woman, ‘Iron Corpse’, have a dark complexion?”

“Yes, her surname is Mei, full name Mei Chaofeng.”

“Big Brother said that they were training something called the ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claws’. What kind of kungfu is that?”

“I haven’t heard of it either.”

Han Xiaoying looked over at a pile of skulls near her and saw that top skull was positioned in such a way that the holes where the eyes were faced directly at her, as if it was staring at her. She shuddered involuntarily and turned away, not daring to take another look.

“How come Big Brother never brought this up?” She asked. “Could it be….”

She had not finished when Zhu Cong suddenly covered her mouth with his left hand and pointed to the bottom of the hill with his right hand. Han Xiaoying followed his finger and looked out from behind the bush. In the moonlight near the horizon, a faint black shadow could be seen quickly approaching at incredible speed.

\

“I should be ashamed!” Han Xiaoying reprimanded herself. “I was too busy talking to Second Brother and did not watch for the enemy.”

In a blink of an eye, the black shadow had made it to the foot of the hill. By now they could discern that it was actually two figures, which was why it looked so broad from afar.

“The ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’ truly do have a bizarre kungfu.” The Six Freaks thought to themselves. “Running at that speed yet they were still able to stick together so closely to each other; it really is as if they are inseparable!”

The six of them held their breath and cowered even lower, quietly waiting for them to come up the hill. Zhu Cong clutched tightly to his pressure point hitting fan. Han Xiaoying quietly buried the blade of her sword in the dirt so as to avoid giving herself away because of reflections off the blade; nevertheless, her right hand held a tight grip on the handle.

The sounds of sand and rocks being kicked could be heard as feet traveled up the hill. Each and everyone’s hearts pounded with every step and each moment seemed to last an eternity. By this time, the northwest wind had picked up as well. The dark clouds to the west looked like individual mountain tops as they came rolling relentlessly in.

A few moments later, the sound of footsteps ceased. On the open space, on the top of the hill, two silhouettes could be seen. The first, immobile, with a leather hat on its head, looked like a Mongol; the second, with long hair floating with the wind, was visibly a woman.

“Here are ‘Copper Corpse’ and ‘Iron Corpse’,” thought Han Xiaoying. “Let’s see how they train themselves.” They saw the woman slowly move around the man, and heard her joints crack quietly. Then she accelerated and the crackling became drum-like; increasingly loud and closer together.

“Is her internal strength truly that strong?” Han Xiaoying wondered. “It’s not surprising that Older Brother acts so prudently!” The woman moved her hands back and forth and, each time, the joints in her arms crackled. Her long hair was streaming nearly horizontally from the speed, and it gave her a terrifying presence.

Han Xiaoying felt a chill in her heart and the hairs began to bristle on her body. Suddenly, the woman raised her right palm and struck the man’s chest with her left palm.

“This is strange”, the six thought, “could it be that her husband’s body is capable of resisting her palm strokes?” The man fell backwards, but she had already sped behind him and hit his back. Going back and forth at high-speed, she hit him with eight palm strokes, each time quicker, and each time more powerful. The man didn’t make a sound. After the ninth stroke, she suddenly leaped very high, then, coming down like an arrow, raised the man’s leather hat and planted the five fingers of her right hand in his head!

Han Xiaoying fought back a scream. The woman dropped to her feet and exploded with laughter. The man, who had collapsed on the ground, didn’t move. She stretched her hand, spotted with blood and brain matter, and examined it in the moonlight still laughing. She turned her head, and Han Xiaoying saw that her face, although a little dark skinned, was rather pretty and she seemed to be about forty years old.

The six now understood that the man was not her husband, but had been captured as a living target for the purpose of her practice. The wom