omeone stepped out, it was none other than Zhao Min. Because he was guilty, Lu Zhangke was really shocked. He thought Zhao Min was personally leading her warriors to arrest him. He had no alternative but summon his courage and he stepped forward to pay his respect along with Ku Toutuo and Wuwang Apu.

The previous night Zhang Wuji made such a disturbance and Zhao Min did not know only three people from the Ming Cult came over. She feared they were dispatching a large scale raid; therefore, she personally came to the pagoda on an inspection tour. Seeing Fan Yao, she smiled slightly and said, “Ku Dashi, I was looking for you.” Fan Yao nodded, maintaining his composure. Zhao Min continued, “I want you to accompany me going to a certain place.”

Fan Yao was inwardly groaning, “With great difficulty I lured Lu Zhangke into the pagoda; all I have to do is snatching the antidote and then this great endeavor will be brought into its successful completion. Who would have thought that this little girl pick this exact same time to look for me?” Frantically he tried to find an excuse, but could not come up with any good explanation; besides, he was a mute, so he was not supposed to say anything. Suddenly he had an idea, “I’ll let Lu Zhangke think of something.” Immediately he pointed toward the bundle on his back and shoved it toward Lu Zhangke. Lu Zhangke was taken aback; he inwardly scolded Ku Toutuo as being very malicious.

“Mister Lu,” Zhao Min asked, “What is inside Ku Dashi’s bundle?”

“Uh … uh … It’s Ku Dashi’s bedding,” Lu Zhangke stammered.

“Bedding?” Zhao Min was surprised, “Why is Ku Dashi bringing his bedding along?” she asked. She chuckled and said, “Ku Dashi thinks I am too dumb that he is not willing to take me as his disciple; and now he has to carry his own bedding?”

Fan Yao shook his head; his right hand moved around as if he was making some hand signals, while in his heart he was thinking, “Let Lu Zhangke fabricates all kind of lies. I am a mute, I might as well take advantage of it.”

Zhao Min could not understand his hand signals, so she turned her gaze toward Lu Zhangke, waiting for him to explain. Lu Zhangke’s quick mind got a sudden inspiration, he said, “It’s like this: last night some sorcerers [Translator’s note: the literal translation is ‘devil head’] from the Devil Cult came and made some disturbance. Subordinate is afraid they might not give up easily. This … this … this is not confirmed yet, but they might come to the pagoda to rescue these people. For this reason Subordinate two martial brothers, along with Ku Dashi, decided to personally guard the pagoda so Junzhu’s major plan will not be disturbed. This bedding is Ku Dashi’s cotton quilt.”

Zhao Min was very pleased; she smiled and said, “Actually I was going to ask Mr. Lu and Mr. He to personally guard the prisoners, but I was afraid I might be condescending toward people of your position, so I was uncomfortable in asking you. Now that the three of you are concerned about me, I couldn’t ask any better. With Mr. Lu and Mr. He guarding in here, I am sure those ‘devil head’ won’t be able to do anything; so I don’t need to go up the pagoda to take a look. Ku Dashi, please come with me.” While saying that she held out her hand to pull Fan Yao’s hand.

Fan Yao had no choice; he thought that even if he exposed Lu Zhangke right now, first, it would not do him any good, second, Concubine Han was obviously on his own back. He might not necessarily able to convince Zhao Min. Hence he handed over the big bundle to Lu Zhangke.

Lu Zhangke held out his hands to receive the bundle and said, “Ku Dashi, I will be waiting for you on this pagoda.”

“Shifu,” Wuwang Apu said, “Let disciple carry the bedding.”

“No need,” Lu Zhangke laughed, “This is Ku Dashi’s belonging, I want to win his heart, so I must carry this bedding myself.”

Fan Yao grinned widely, he stretched out his hand to slap the bundle, right on Concubine Han’s buttocks. Luckily her mute acupoint was sealed; otherwise she would cry out in shock. But Lu Zhangke was scared out of his wits; his countenance paled. Without delay he bowed toward Zhao Min and carrying Concubine Han on his back he hurriedly entered the pagoda. His mind had already cooked up a plan; as soon as he entered the pagoda, he would wrap a cotton quilt inside the blanket. If Ku Toutuo told Zhao Min about him, he would deny any knowledge of Concubine Han.