rwards, there were three other Western Xia warriors trying to be the first to climb up the ladder. Wang Yuyan shouted: ‘Do the same thing!’ Duan Yu held out his hand to grab the ‘Zhishi acupuncture point’ of another man then made a throw with all his strength, throwing that man into the stone mortar. This time he intentionally threw therefore the power he used was not as perfect as it had been the last time. When the stone pestle fell down, it hit the man’s waist. He let out a miserable bloodcurdling scream, but for the moment it was impossible for him to die. Every time the stone pestle fell down, he let out a miserable scream.

Duan Yu was dumbfounded. Seeing that two other Western Xia warriors had already been climbing up the ladder, he shouted in panic: ‘Don’t do that! Quickly come down.’ He poked chaotically with his left-hand fingers. Because he was frightened, his internal energy was in turmoil. Therefore the power of the Six Meridians Divine Swords was able to be shot out. Two ‘chi-chi’ sounds were heard. Two beams of internal energy hit the backs of those two men. They immediately fell down.

The remaining seven Western Xia warriors saw that Duan Yu could kill people from a distance by poking in the air. They had really never heard of this kind of technique before. They did not know that Duan Yu could not use this technique as he pleased, when he had really wanted to use it he had not necessarily been able to, but when he had used it randomly at urgent moments he had often been successful. The more those seven people thought about this the more frightened they became. All of them had already become rather timid but they were not willing to run away at this point too.

Wang Yuyan was looking down from a higher position therefore she had observed the fight in the big room clearly. She saw that even though there were seven enemies left, only three of them had rather good martial arts, and that Western Xia man who had shouted and given orders was perhaps the leader of this group. She shouted: ‘Mr. Duan, you go kill that man who is wearing yellow clothes and a leather hat first. You need to find a way to hit the ‘Yuzhen’ and ‘Tianzhu’ acupuncture points at the back of his head.’

Duan Yu said: ‘Yes, Miss.’ and rushed towards that man.

That Western Xia man was secretly frightened and thought: ‘The two acupuncture points Yuzhen and Tianzhu are exactly my weak points, how does this girl know that?’ Seeing Duan Yu charging at him, he immediately chopped horizontally with the saber to prevent him from approaching. Duan Yu charged at the man several times but he was still unable to go to his back and was almost injured by the saber. That man had heard Wang Yuyan shouting that his own back had had weak points therefore he was earnestly defending the weak points on the back of his head otherwise Duan Yu would have been in great danger. Duan Yu shouted: ‘Miss Wang, this man is very tough, I can’t go to his back.’

Wang Yuyan said: ‘That man who is robed in gray, his weakness is the ‘Lianquan acupuncture point’ on his neck. That yellow-bearded man, I don’t recognize his martial arts stances, you should try hitting him in the chest with some finger attacks.’ Duan Yu said: ‘Yes!’ He extended his finger and pushed it quickly towards the man’s chest. Even though these finger attacks of his were technically correct they did not carry any power, but how could that yellow-bearded man know that? He immediately lowered his body and dodged three finger attacks. When Duan Yu attacked the fourth time, he jumped up in the air then from midair delivered his attacks downwards. The power of his palm strikes was fierce and encompassed Duan Yu’s body.

Duan Yu felt that his breathing had become hurried and also felt dizzy. Very frightened, he closed his eyes and thrust the fingers of both hands chaotically. ‘Chi-chi-chi-chi’ sounds were heard continuously, the Six Meridian Divine Swords Shaoshang, Shangyang, Zhongchong, Guanchong, Shaochong and Shaoze were shot out at the same time and pierced six holes in the body of that yellow-bearded man. But the power of his palm strikes did not vanish, a pat was heard, a palm strike had hit Duan Yu’ shoulder. At that moment, Duan Yu’s internal energy surged through his body, even though this palm strike had a lot of force, thanks to the protection of his vigorous internal energy, it did not injure him a little bit, moreover, that yellow-bearded man was sent flying away for one zhang.

Wang Yuyan did not know that he was not injured, she said in panic: ‘Mr. Duan, are you okay? Are you injured?’

Duan Yu opened the eyes and saw that yellow-bearded man was flat on his back, blood was spouting ceaselessly from the six small holes on his chest, his expression was ferocious, his eyes opened wide and were looking viciously at himself. He had still not died. Duan Yu was so scared that his heart started to pound in his chest, he shouted: ‘I don’t wanna kill you. You yourself… yourself were asking for it.’ He was still using the Wave Treading Exquisite Steps and scampering in the main room. During that time he continuously cupped his fist, bowed to the remaining six people and said: ‘Brave men, there was no enmity between me, Duan Yu, and you in former days. In the past few days there was no enmity between us either. Please open your net and allow me a way out. I… I… really don’t dare to kill anyone again. This… this… having killed this many people, how can I not feel terribly guilty? Really, I’ve been overly merciless. You run away quickly, okay? Let’s consider that I, Duan Yu, have lost, please… please… I beg your pardon.’

When he turned around he suddenly saw a Western Xia warrior standing beside the door. No one knew when he had entered the mill. That man was medium in stature. His clothes were the same as those of the other Western Xia warriors, but he had a sallow complexion and a wooden face, looking just like a corpse. Duan Yu felt a chill of fear: ‘Is this man a ghost? Could it be that… could it be that… because the souls of the Western Xia warriors killed by me couldn’t vanish, their unfairly-treated ghosts show up?’ He said in a tremulous voice: ‘You… Who are you? What… What do you wanna do?’

That Western Xia warrior stood with his back straightened, neither did he reply nor did he make a move. Duan Yu leaned to one side, made a grab backwards and caught hold of the ‘Zhishi acupuncture point’ on the back of the waist of a Western Xia warrior beside himself, then threw that warrior at the mysterious person. That person slightly moved sideways. A ‘peng’ sound was heard. The head of that Western Xia warrior had hit the wall. His skull was shattered into pieces and he died. Duan Yu let out a deep breath and said: ‘You’re a man, not a ghost.’

At this moment, besides the incoming mysterious person, there were only five Western Xia warriors left. Among them, one Western Xia man and one Han man were experts of ‘First-class Hall’. The other three had mediocre martial arts, seeing that the number of people on their own side had gotten smaller and smaller as the fight had gone on, they all wanted to retreat, one of them went to the door and pushed it. That Western Xia expert shouted: ‘What are you doing?’ Shua shua shua, using his saber he chopped three times towards Duan Yu.

Seeing a blue light flashing and the sharp saber of the opponent being brandished to and fro repeatedly before him, which could cut his own body at any time, Duan Yu was extremely frightened. He shouted: ‘You… you’re insolent like this, I can hit your Yuzhen and Tianzhu acupuncture points, you won’t be able to resist, you’d be well advised to… well advised to withdraw, we’d better disperse.’ The saber stances of that man became more and more urgent and every stance was close to vital parts of Duan Yu. Had he not accelerated his steps, any of those stances would have taken his life.

That Han expert had always stayed behind, seeing that Duan Yu was making every effort to implore and besides trying his best to dodge he could not strike back at all, an idea sprung up in his mind. He went to the stone mortar, grabbed two handfuls of rice flour, which had been pounded to a very fine state, and threw them at Duan Yu in the face. Duan Yu’s footwork was clever therefore those handfuls of rice flour did not hit him. That Han man kept throwing out two handfuls after two handfuls. In the main room rice flour and rice bran fluttered in all directions, in an instant looking like smoke and mist.

Duan Yu shouted: ‘How terrible, how terrible! I can’t see anything!’ Wang Yuyan also knew the situation was extremely dangerous. She thought it was all because of that very clever Wave Treading Exquisite Steps that Duan Yu had been safe from those experts. All along, when attacking him, the enemies had seen him before themselves but suddenly somehow he would have already been at their backs, therefore their weapons, punches and kicks had always missed his body by a hair’s breadth. At the moment, rice flour and rice bran had spread all over the main room like smoke and everyone was executing his stances randomly. Fighting blindly and chaotically like this made it very possible to hit him. If the Western Xia warriors just ignored Duan Yu, rushed forwards and executed any set of martial arts on their own, Duan Yu would soon be cut into seventeen or eighteen pieces.

Because rice flour had got into his eyes, Duan Yu could not open them. He jumped up with all his strength and landed beside the hydraulic wheel. He grabbed hold of a plank of the wheel and was lifted up. There were two miserable ‘Ah’ ‘Ah’ cries. Two Western Xia warriors had accidentally been chopped at by that Western Xia expert with his saber and died. After that, two clanks were heard, someone shouted: ‘It’s me!’ Another shouted: ‘Be careful, it’s me!’ The Western Xia expert and the Han expert had just clashed their saber and sword and exchanged two stances. Then there was another miserable ‘Ah’ cry, another Western Xia warrior had been given a kick in his vital part by someone and was sent flying outwards. Hearing that dying cry, Duan Yu could not help but to feel a chill down his spine. His whole body trembled. He shouted in a quavering voice: ‘Hey hey, the number of you has gotten fewer and fewer, there’s no need to fight anymore. Don’t kill excessively. I beg you, okay?’

Hearing the voice, that Han man was able to detect Duan Yu’s direction. He made a wave with the right hand and a steel dart was thrown at him. This steel dart went with great accuracy and power, but because the hydraulic wheel was revolving unceasingly, when it arrived Duan Yu had already been moved down by the wheel. There was a ‘pai’ sound. The steel dart had nailed a corner of his sleeve to a plank of the wheel. Frightened, Duan Yu thought: ‘I don’t know how to dodge missiles, if the enemies focus on throwing steel darts and sleeve-hidden arrows I’ll suffer a disaster.’ He was so frightened that his hands flagged, his fingers could no longer hold on to the plank. A ‘teng’ sound was heard, he had already fallen down.

In the dense mist the Han expert vaguely saw that, he rushed forwards to grab Duan Yu. Duan Yu remembered Wang Yuyan had said that he needed to poke him in the ‘Lianquan acupuncture point’, but firstly, because he was in a state of panic, and secondly, even though he knew the acupuncture points, he had never practiced martial arts in normal times, therefore when he extended his finger to hit the ‘Lianquan acupuncture point’ of that man in a disordered manner the direction of his attack was inaccurate, both slanted leftwards and inclined downwards, unexpectedly hitting the ‘Qihu acupuncture point’ of that man. The ‘Qihu acupuncture point’ was the laughing acupuncture point. The internal energy of that man immediately ran in the opposite direction, he could not help laughing ha-ha loudly. Executing a thrust after a thrust, he attacked Duan Yu nonstop with his sword, but all the while he kept laughing loudly hee-hee, ha-ha, hei-hei, ah-ah…

The Western Xia expert asked: ‘Brother Rong, why are you laughing?’ The Han man was unable to answer and kept laughing loudly. The Western Xia man did not understand the cause of that, he said angrily: ‘We’re facing a tough enemy. What the hell are you doing?’ That Han man said: ‘Ha-ha, I… this… ha-ha, ah-ah…’ He raised his sword and thrusted at the back of Duan Yu. Duan Yu walked to the left at an angle. That Western Xia expert did not see clearly in the dense mist and he happened to also move to this side, therefore all of a sudden both of them had a heavy collision with each other.

As soon as this Western Xia man bumped into Duan Yu’s body, he quickly turned his left hand over and using a grasping hand technique he grabbed Duan Yu’s right arm. He noticed that his opponent’s strong point was the footwork therefore he thought this grasp was exactly a good chance to obtain advantage. He threw the saber away with his right hand, then withdrew the hand and grabbed Duan Yu’s left wrist. Duan Yu shouted: ‘How terrible, how terrible!’ and used all his strength to struggle. But the hands of that Western Xia man were like iron hoops, how could he struggle out of it?

Thinking that this was a good opportunity, the Han man raised his sword and thrusted at the back of Duan Yu. The Western Xia man thought: ‘This’s not good! This thrust of his only needs to pass into the body of the enemy several cun’s (t/n 3.333 cm) to kill him. But if he disregards comradeship and wanna take all the credit for himself, maybe he’ll go for a chi (t/n 33.33 cm), conveniently killing me as well.’ He immediately took a step backwards, pulling Duan Yu along.

Still laughing nonstop, that Han man took a step forwards wanting to raise his sword and thrust again. Suddenly there was a ‘peng’ sound. A plank of the hydraulic wheel had hit the back of his head making him pass out. Even though that Han man had lost consciousness, he was still breathing and kept laughing ha-ha-ha nonstop, but because he only had the air and not the strength, his laughs sounded very strange. The hydraulic wheel slowly revolved, another ‘peng’ sound was heard. The second plank had hit his chest. His laughs became a bit lower. After getting hit seven or eight times, the ‘ha-ha, ha-ha’ sounds he made sounded just like the snores of someone who was dreaming.

Seeing that Duan Yu was being gripped and unable to pull away, Wang Yuyan felt extremely anxious. She also thought that there was still a Western Xia warrior with a scary expression standing beside the door, if he conveniently gave Duan Yu a saber or sword stroke, Duan Yu would be killed instantly. She shouted in panic: ‘Don’t kill Mr. Duan. We… we should discuss this slowly.’

That Western Xia man was still gripping Duan Yu. He placed his right arm horizontally and pressed it against the chest of Duan Yu with full power, wanting to crush his ribs or make him unable to breathe and die. Duan Yu was extremely frightened. His left wrist and right arm were being gripped therefore the Beiming Divine Skill which absorbed internal energy could not be used. He had no choice but to extend his left fingers and pushed chaotically with them, but all of his finger attacks only hit the air. He felt the pressure on his chest getting heavier and heavier, and gradually he could no longer breathe.

At that critical moment, suddenly there were several ‘chi-chi’ sounds, that Western Xia expert uttered a soft ‘Ah’ cry and said: ‘Good skill, you’ve finally poked me… poked me in the Yuzhen…’ His hands gradually loosened and his head drooped. He leaned against the wall and died.

Very surprised, Duan Yu turned that man over to have a look. He really saw a small hole at the ‘Yuzhen acupuncture point’ on the back of his head. Blood was oozing from it. This wound had been inflicted on him by his Six Meridians Divine Swords. Duan Yu did not understand for the moment what had happened. He did not know that in that urgent situation his internal energy had condensed and the energy of one of his finger attacks had hit the wall, sprung back, and hit the back of the head of that Western Xia expert. Duan Yu had executed several tens of finger attacks altogether. One after another they had bounced off the wall and hit every place on the back of the enemy. Because that Western Xia man had had a strong internal energy and the power of the rebounded energy had been very weak, they had not been able to damage him at all. But by lucky coincidence the last beam of internal energy had bounced off the wall and hit his ‘Yuzhen acupuncture point’. The ‘Yuzhen acupuncture point’ had been his weakness and most fragile point therefore even though the rebounded internal energy had been weak he had nevertheless died instantly when it had hit him at that acupuncture point.

Duan Yu was both surprised and happy. He released the corpse of that Western Xia man and shouted: ‘Miss Wang, Miss Wang, all the enemies have been killed!’

Suddenly he heard an icy voice from behind himself: ‘All haven’t necessarily died!’ Duan Yu was frightened. He turned around and saw that it was the Western Xia warrior with a wooden expression. He thought: ‘I overlooked you, but your martial arts aren’t good. I can kill you with just a grip on your ‘Zhishi acupuncture point.’ He then laughed and said: ‘Old chap, you run away quickly, okay? I definitely won’t kill you.’ That man said: ‘Do you have the ability to kill me?’ His tone was extremely arrogant. Duan Yu was really unwilling to kill again therefore he cupped his fist and said: ‘I’m really not a match for you, please show your mercy and forgive me.’

That Western Xia warrior said: ‘These sentences of yours are merely a jest. They have absolutely no sincere intention of begging for mercy. The Solitary Yang Finger (t/n: Yiyangzhi) and the Six Meridians Divine Swords of the Duan clan are well-known all over the world, in addition to that, this girl has told you important secrets, they’re really no small matter. Let me experience your masterful stances.’ Every word of these few sentences was said monotonously with no high or low sound, no rise or fall of the voice and no pause therefore they sounded very unusual. Perhaps he was a foreigner, because even though he knew the Han language and his use of words and grammar were correct, his tone was obviously very awkward.

Duan Yu innately disliked martial arts. Today he had killed so many people like this only because the situation had forced him to do so and he had had no alternative. Speaking of fighting, if it was possible to avoid fighting he would try his best to. He immediately gave a deep bow and sincerely said: ‘You are very correct to be critical of me. I must confess my intention of begging for mercy was not respectful and sincere. I have never learned martial arts. Just now, it was sheer luck that I killed people. Being able to preserve my life, I’m already perfectly content, how dare I flaunt my skills and vie for superiority?’

That Western Xia warrior laughed grimly and said: ‘You haven’t learned martial arts yet with a raise of your hand you annihilated four experts of First-class Hall and killed eleven warriors. If you learn martial arts, would there still be survivors in wulin?’

Duan Yu took a glance from the east to the west. Seeing that in the mill corpses were lying in disorder and each of them was covered in blood, he could not help feeling extremely sorry. He covered his face and said: ‘How… how did I kill this many people? I… I really don’t wanna kill anyone. What should I do now? What should I do?’ That man let out some grim laughs and glanced at Duan Yu to see if these few sentences arose out of his true feelings. Duan Yu shed tears and said: ‘These people all have parents, wives and children. Not long ago every one of them was still full of vim and vigor, now they were all killed by me, I… I… how can I apologize to them?’ Saying to here he could not help but beat his chest and cry loudly. His tears fell down like rain drops. He sobbed: ‘They might not necessarily want to kill me. It’s just that they were acting under orders and were assigned to capture people. That’s all. I and they didn’t know each other before, why I could lay my murderous hands on them so quick?’ His heart was inherently benevolent. Since childhood he had chanted Buddhist scriptures and learned Buddhism, and had not dared to harm even ants and mole crickets, how could he have known that today this kind of catastrophe would suddenly happen?

That Western Xia warrior sneered: ‘You’re play-acting like a cat crying over a mouse’s death. You think you’ll be exempted from punishments by it?’

Duan Yu held back his tears and said: ‘That’s right, I already killed people and committed sins. What’s the point of crying? I’d better bury these corpses carefully.’

Wang Yuyan thought: ‘There’re more than ten corpses like this, how long will it take to bury them one by one?’ She shouted: ‘Mr. Duan, I’m afraid there’re more enemies coming in large quantities. We should run away as soon as possible.’ Duan Yu said: ‘Yes, yes!’ He turned around, wanting to climb up the ladder.

That Western Xia warrior said: ‘You haven’t killed me, how can you go?’ Duan Yu shook his head and said: ‘I can’t kill you. Besides, I’m not a match for you either.’ That man said: ‘We haven’t fought, how can you know that you’re not a match for me? Miss Wang taught you the Wave Treading Exquisite Steps, ha-ha, you’re sure extraordinary.’ Duan Yu at first had wanted to say that the Wave Treading Exquisite Steps technique had not been taught to him by Wang Yuyan, but he thought that there was no need to tell a stranger about this matter therefore he only said: ‘Yes, moreover I haven’t learned any martial arts. I’ve escaped from disasters totally thanks to being given directions by Miss Wang.’ That man said: ‘Very good, I’m waiting here. You go ask her to tell you a way to kill me.’ Duan Yu said: ‘I don’t wanna kill you.’

That man said: ‘You don’t wanna kill me then I’ll kill you.’ As he finished saying he picked up a saber on the ground, suddenly in the main room a white light flashed, within a more than one zhang (t/n: 3.333 m) radius of him there were full of saber images. When Duan Yu had still not taken a step he had already been hit heavily on his shoulder with the back of the saber. He let out an ‘Ah’ shout and staggered. As soon as his footsteps became disordered that Western Xia warrior took advantage of the situation and rushed forwards. The edge of the saber was already put on the back of his neck. Duan Yu was so frightened that his whole body broke into a cold sweat. He only stood motionlessly, stunned.

That man said: ‘You quickly go consult your master to see if she has any way to kill me.’ As he finished saying he withdrew the saber and swiftly extended his left leg cleverly. A ‘peng’ sound was heard. He had kicked Duan Yu sending him rolling on the ground.

Wang Yuyan shouted: ‘Mr. Duan, quickly go up here.’ Duan Yu said: ‘Yes!’ then climbed up the ladder. He turned his head around and saw that man sitting and holding the saber. There was still a wooden expression which was similar to that of a corpse on his face. Obviously he thought absolutely nothing of Duan Yu and would definitely not take advantage of the time he was climbing up the ladder to sneakily attack from his back. After having climbed up the garret, Duan Yu said in a low voice: ‘Miss Wang, I can’t beat him. We should find a way to run away quickly.’

Wang Yuyan said: ‘He’s guarding downstairs, we can’t run away. Please take that gown for me.’ Duan Yu said: ‘Yes!’ then held out his hand and took a set of worn-out clothes left by that peasant girl. Wang Yuyan said: ‘Close your eyes then come here. Okay! Stop. Put it on for me, you mustn’t open your eyes.’ Duan Yu complied with everything she said. He was a sincere gentleman and esteemed Wang Yuyan as if she was a heavenly god therefore he did not dare to disobey her words at all, but when he thought that at the moment her clothes were not enough to cover her body, his heart unavoidably pounded in his chest.

Wang Yuyan waited until he finished dressing her then said: ‘Okay. Help me stand up.’ Duan Yu had not yet heard the order that he could open his eyes therefore they were still closed tightly. When he heard her say ‘Help me stand up’ he immediately put out his right hand and unexpectedly touched her cheek. Feeling that there was something smooth and soft in his palm, he could not refrain from starting with fright. He hastily withdrew his hand and said continuously: ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’

When Wang Yuyan had been having him dressing herself she had already felt so ashamed that her cheeks had become very red. Now seeing him with his eyes closed extending his palm and touching her face in a disorderly manner she blushed even more. She said: ‘Hey, I told you to help me stand up!’ Duan Yu said: ‘Yes! Yes!’ His eyes were still closed tightly therefore he did not know where he should move his hands to, fearing that if he touched her body his misdemeanor would become serious. He could not help feeling at a loss and totally troubled. Wang Yuyan’s mind was also in turmoil. Only after a good while did she remember that she needed to tell him to open his eyes. She said in a displeased-sounding tone: ‘Why don’t you open your eyes?’

That Western Xia warrior sneered ha-ha downstairs and said: ‘I told you to go learn martial arts to kill me, and didn’t tell you two to flirt with and cuddle each other.’

Duan Yu opened his eyes. Seeing that Wang Yuyan’s beautiful cheeks had turned red like fire, looking extremely charming and shamefaced, he was entranced and gazed fixedly at her therefore he totally did not hear those sentences of the Western Xia warrior. Wang Yuyan said: ‘You help me stand up and sit down here.’ Duan Yu hastily said: ‘Yes, yes!’ With reverence and awe he supported her body with his hands and helped her sit down on a wooden bench.

Both hands of Wang Yuyan quivered, trying to pull the clothes on her body together. She bowed her head and considered. After a long time she said: ‘He didn’t reveal his martial arts, I… I don’t know how to beat him.’ Duan Yu said: ‘Is he very tough?’ Wang Yuyan said: ‘Just now when he fought you, he used seventeen types of martial arts of different schools altogether.’ Duan Yu asked in surprise: ‘What? He used seventeen different types of martial arts in such a short while?’

Wang Yuyan said: ‘Yes! Just a moment ago, when he used the saber to confine you he slashed one time in the east, it was the Demon Subduing Saber technique of Shaolin Monastery; he chopped one time in the west, it was the Eighteen Ways of Firewood Chopping Saber of the old man surnamed Li in Lishan cave in Guangxi; when he turned the saber and cut one time, it was changed again to the ‘Revolving Wind Brushing Willow Saber’ of the Shi clan in Jiangnan. After that he executed eleven saber strokes continuously using eleven different types of saber techniques of different schools. Afterward he turned the saber over and hit your shoulder with its back one time, it was the ‘Mercy Saber’ created by monk Xinguan of Tiantong Monastery in Ningbo which only controls the enemy but doesn’t kill them. When he put the saber on your neck, it was a stance of the Golden Saber technique that His Excellency Grandpa Yang of our imperial court used to capture enemies in battle. It was one of the ‘Three Unique Stances behind the Mountain’ which originally was a stance for long-handled large chopping sabers but he changed it to using normal saber. Lastly, when he kicked and sent you rolling, it was a Springing Leg stance of the Hui people in Western Xia.’ She talked about one stance after another as if she was counting the valuable items in her family, explaining clearly the origin of each and every stance and the school it belonged to. Duan Yu heard what she said but he knew nothing therefore he could only gaze at her, not knowing how to get a word in.

Wang Yuyan leaned her head and thought for a long time then said: ‘You can’t beat him. Just admit defeat.’

Duan Yu said: ‘I’ve already admitted defeat.’ Then he raised his voice and said: ‘Hey, I can’t beat you in any case, are you willing to give up at this point?’

The Western Xia warrior sneered: ‘You want me to spare your life, that’s not hard, you just need to follow my words in one matter.’ Duan Yu hastily asked: ‘What’s the matter?’ That man said: ‘From now on, every time you see me you must crawl on the the ground, kowtow to me three times and shout: ‘Great master, please spare this little dog’s life!’’

Once hearing that, Duan Yu boiled with anger and said: ‘One can kill a gentleman but cannot insult him. If you want me to kowtow to and beg you, don’t imagine that’s possible. If you wanna kill me, then just kill me now.’ That man said: ‘You’re really unafraid of death?’ Duan Yu said: ‘Naturally I’m afraid of death. But if every time seeing you I must kneel down and kowtow to you, what the heck will that become?’ That man sneered and said: ‘There’s nothing wrong with you kowtowing to me when seeing me. If one day I become the Emperor of the Central Plains, you’ll have to kneel down and kowtow to me when seeing me, won’t you?’

Hearing him say ‘If one day I become the Emperor of the Central Plains’, Wang Yuyan felt scared: ‘Why does he also say this kind of words?’

Duan Yu said: ‘Kowtowing when seeing the Emperor, that’s another matter. It’s a salute, and certainly not begging for mercy.’

That Western Xia warrior said: ‘So that means you don’t accept this condition of mine?’ Duan Yu shook his head and said: ‘I’m very sorry but I can’t obey your order. Old chap, I deeply beg you to be magnanimous a little.’ That man said: ‘Okay, you go down here, I’ll kill you in one saber stance.’ Duan Yu cast a look at Wang Yuyan, he felt grieved and said: ‘