The Traveling Blades

by

Imayne

CHAPTER EIGHT
The enchanting water ghost nabs the incredulous sheriff
And the consummate villain becomes the overnight hero.
 

"Got you there, didn't I?" the young woman smiled at Tang Hai, Tang Hai opened his eyes. It was a smiling, cheery young woman, with eyes that looked a little on the lazy side and could change from seductive to plain innocent with a mere gesture, a pert little nose that resembled a cherry waiting to be plucked and lips that were like a parted pomegranate and the teeth within the pips. Tang Hai did not quite remember who this young woman was, but he remembered seeing her, he thought, on a Wanted poster. Of course, she was who the martial realm called Golden Kitty, real name Ke Duan. And in the past her associations with Lady Wei had definitely been well-suspected, they were seen together and said to be close as sisters at one point. If Wind Rider's beauty and charm, as it was told, made people who had outgrown those old tales of fox spirits believe in them, this was another good candidate for the role.

And now here she was having just given an older man the kiss of life in a lake, just moments after she appeared to have tried to drown him.

"It's...you..." went Tang Hai as he saw her. He was speechless. "What do you want?"

"You." Golden Kitty Ke Duan smiled suggestively as she leaned her face close to Tang Hai in such a way that her nose and his touched.

"What for?" He asked.

"Well, you're Ku Li's deputy, right?"

"Yeah, that's it..."

"Enough reason to want to nail you already!"

Golden Kitty sank Tang Hai's head under the water again, he struggled for a while more before he surfaced.

"All right...what's this all about?"

"Well, let's just say that once you are here, you are going to have a lot of problems with everyone who was angry over the way you guys treated Wind Rider's friend, Lady Wei..."

"The pearl smuggling thing, huh?"

"There was no solid proof that she was directly linked to the pearl smuggling, it was just that Wind Rider appeared to have dumped the silks that were stolen from the warehouse into the Wei Mansion. The pearl smuggling association was entirely made up by your side to nail Lady Wei, that she masterminded the entire ring and ordered the theft, because of how Wind Rider freed Lei Pi Tie all those years ago. And you know it!"

"Well that was what Ku Li wanted." replied Tang Hai. "I thought that Lady Wei deserved less of a thrashing too, the pearl smuggling association proved unfounded in the end, she's clean."

"But what if your side had succeeded?" questioned Ke Duan.

"Well the truth came out, Judge Fu just ruled that Lady Wei should be put on curfew from associating with members of the martial realm and make financial restitution to the warehouse owner for the trouble her associate caused, that was all!"

Ke Duan was realizing that Tang Hai was to an extent in a state of denial about what Ku Li was capable of.

So she did the logical solution of dumping his head in the water again.

Tang Hai struggled underwater before being allowed to resurface, but this time he was ready and spitting a jet of water out of his mouth, not in a continuous stream but as individual droplets, each droplet hitting Ke Duan's face like a small pebble.

Ke Duan screamed as some of the water droplets entered her eyes, making them as red and sore as they would have after being rubbed for hours.

Tang Hai in the meantime had swam off as fast as he could.

Upon reaching the shores of the lake, Tang Hai reached for his clothes which were placed on the rocks to dry and put them on without even wiping himself, and reached for his sword as well. Ke Duan did not bother coming up onto the shore. Her face turned almost red in the presence of Tang Hai. She was a girl, and here she was in the water wearing but her silk-thin undergarments. While a full-grown man she just wanted to fool around with was looking at her as she waded in the shallows.

"Well well now," went Tang Hai as he realized his opponent was still very much a girl, and couldn't really bear to harm or arrest her as a result. "Aren't you coming up?"

"Well if you but turn around and stop looking at me!" she went.

That was what he did.

Ke Duan climbed onto the shores, found her dress, which she had hung in a tree, and began to clothe herself.

"I'll get dressed, and then we'll talk." she went.

"No problem."

Tang Hai waited.

"I'm ready now."

Tang Hai turned around and saw Ke Duan, now looking up at him in a manner both embarrassed and hateful.

"Do you think Lady Wei would have survived if imprisoned?"

"Oh no, she's too delicate for that, that's what I feel..." of course Lady Wei always gave the impression of delicacy and gentleness to people around her, and likewise Tang Hai.

"Good, that's what you feel, that's what is true." went Ke Duan. Of course Ke Duan herself at this point was also lying, since the fact that Wind Rider and Lady Wei were one and the same rarely occurred to those outside the martial realm. And Wind Rider of course, was not a person ordinary prison walls could hold.

"There was but the smallest reason that Ku Li treated Lady Wei the way he did..." continued Ke Duan.

"Lei Pi Tie..." the words came out of Tang Hai's mouth almost as though by a force of magic. At that moment he himself did not know why he mentioned the name of that strange hermit that he had kept out of mind all of this time.

"Exactly." went Ke Duan. "She did not think he was the killer during those murders of the Imperial guardsmen all those years ago."

"It does not matter if he was the killer or not, his suspicion was the greatest." Tang Hai finished Ke Duan off swiftly.

"The darts found were not even the same as those on him!" yelled Ke Duan.

It was like thunder had struck itself in Tang Hai's head. He had been somewhat aware of the fact that Ke Duan had pointed out, but like everything he did not like he kept it out of sight and out of mind and liked it best when it stayed there.

"Well yes," Tang Hai concluded. "But he was the greatest suspect, that is the sad truth." Tang Hai at this moment thought of the meeting with Lei Pi Tie, of the fight, and after, and how Lei Pi Tie had spared him even though of course killing him was something that Lei Pi Tie could well have done. His thoughts turned to one thing, the seal of Dragon's Gate. Maybe Lei Pi Tie was indeed innocent, and if anything, he deserved to have this said of him to a fellow member of the martial realm.

Tang Hai took out the seal and showed it to Ke Duan. "Don't worry, young girl." he went. "He's now at Dragon's Gate."

Ke Duan's eyes brightened. "Oh Lord...that's good. That's great. That means he's safe..."

"Safe? What's going on?"

"No, I can't tell you that right now, you're still a guard, remember that." went Ke Duan. "Now I must leave. It was nice to know each other, but we cannot do so again." Her voice started to tremble.

And with that she set off. And Tang Hai just shook his head. He knew something had to have happened in that a young girl like her would have to travel alone. One thing was clear.

She was running from something.

Something in the direction where he was headed.

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"Well well, if it isn't the well-known best sword for hire in China."

The man on the deck of the smuggler's jolly boat laughed as he saw Kang Er. He was a pearl smuggler, the very profession Wind Rider had gotten into and spoiled his reputation in the process.

And Kang Er was about to blow his top as he saw the gold rings on his hands, the gold tooth in his mouth and the ornate pipe he was smoking.

"This island is our trading post. Looks like we found the things that we were trading for, ha ha." the smuggler laughed.

Kang Er was itching to get his hands on the smuggler chief, but at the crucial moment Big Brother Kang stopped him.

"No, remember, we just need to endure this given what we have heard..."

"Come on board." grinned the smuggler as the jolly boat arrived. "We have been expecting."

=======================================================

The streets were crowded in Beijing as some grateful residents handled a huge plaque to that renowned residence in the middle of the city.

On the plaque was engraved these words in gold:

HERO OF OUR TIMES

The residents, blowing a loud fanfare on their horns and hitting their cymbals, gathered outside the renowned residence, so that its occupant might receive the gift from them.

The occupant of the mansion stepped out from the doorway, and his eyes opened wide when he saw the sight.

"We thank you for your service!" went the loud, thin man leading the crowd. He was pushing forty, and seemed to wear a perpetual smile across his face.

The others around him continued to blow their fanfare.

"Many many thanks." smiled Ku Li back at the man. "But this does seem too much from you, good sir. What could it be for?"

"Oh you don't know the half of it! The way you have proved so successful in capturing those insurgents within the Capital within the past month or so has given us immeasurable gratitude! I mean you and Judge Fu are becoming two of the Empire's most beloved men!" went the perpetually smiling man.

The smiling man was actually a pretty rich man within Beijing himself, Zhang San, and he of course, commissioned the "Heroes of Our Time" plaque to be made to get on Ku Li's favor. After all, he felt that there was no better time to do so than when Ku Li was riding high on a wave of popularity after somehow busting a ring of "insurgents" lately. After all, he thought being friends with Ku Li could help him get a lot of things done when he needed it. So as he and his entourage welcomed Ku Li, a crowd gathered around. And almost at once they started cheering in tune to the music as well.

Ku Li looked out at this entourage of Beijing's residents, and his eyes lit up as he saw in them the support that now lay for him. Smiling, he muttered under his breath, "Fools." he thought to himself, and following that, "Well, what do you know, you get a lot of consorting with the Devil himself!"

Indeed, he knew about the ring of "insurgents" for only one reason, they had been some of Ju Lu Man's collaborators themselves once, and Ju Lu Man had left them their names in exchange that Ku Li let him off.
The slime, thought Ku Li to himself, look at the way he'd betray those closest to him. Luckily I'm way smarter than he could ever be.

These thoughts coursed through Ku Li's head as he received the plaque gladly from Zhang San, who handed it to the two guards who accompanied Ku Li to the doorway.

The list had turned out pretty useful after all.

=======================================================

The crowd had dispersed, and Ku Li knew that the common folk were behind him every step of the way. As he sat in his study gloating and writing a letter to the higher authorities within the capital, announcing his great deeds, there came a report from one of his guards.

"Good sir," went the guard. "There's someone here to see you. It's Judge Fu."

"Judge Fu?" thought Ku Li. "Now what could he want? But any rate it's bound to be good." he concluded, and with a wave of his hand and a "Send him in." he dismissed the guard.

After a while, Judge Fu entered the study, he was alone, and with little company. Judge Fu was a much shorter man than Ku Li, his face was rounded and his features soft and hardly what one would call forceful. Not what one would expect of the legendary Judge known throughout China as Justice Bao incarnate.

"Good evening, sir." went Ku Li.

"Good evening to you too." replied Judge Fu. "Now I would like to share this evening together, because of you I am very proud indeed."

"Why thank you." replied Ku Li.

"Yes, you know what I would do if I were that judge that was trying that group of criminals you caught?" went Judge Fu.

"What?"

"I would already put them to death! Gather all possible outside information that might show them to be insurgents and nail them instantly even if they are not."

Ku Li was smiled, he rarely realized that he and Judge Fu could be so alike at times.

"The Empire is in need of order and peace at a time like this, and we cannot afford to threaten any of that order and peace! If the need should come to, set up imaginary crimes for them."

Good, good. Smiled Ku Li.

"Honestly, when I tried Lady Wei there were reasons that I let her off." A sly smile crossed Judge Fu's face. "There must be some leeway given, see, now you know that types like Lady Wei can be at their worst, recalcitrant. Their wealth blinds them and they think that can indeed, get away with it over and over again."

"But they're wrong," went Ku Li, as though he could finish off Judge Fu's thoughts.

"The most likely consequence is that Lady Wei would grow more brazen given the nature of her light sentence. Her association with the members of the martial realm is not likely to stop. The allure that they would provide to gullible young ladies, eager to be a part of their adventures, is too great."

"So in other words, they would only come to her house, and perhaps start taking advantage of her and using it as their refuge in this Capital..."

"Exactly!" concluded Judge Fu. "And when they become complacent we would be able to nab them in one fell swoop!"

The words were music to Ku Li's ears. Indeed Judge Fu and he thought much alike, but Judge Fu appeared way smarter. Deep inside him Ku Li realized that Judge Fu was probably dangerous in the long run, but given how much more powerful than he the Judge was, and the reputation he had in the hearts of the people as an administer of justice, there was not much Ku Li could do.

But right now Ku Li kept the smile across his face.

"Let me tell you, you are indeed a hero of our time, we well need men of action like you, Ku Li, to keep our peace in the Empire. Well done."

"Thank you." was all that Ku Li said.

"Well, I say that I've got to leave now, more cases to attend to tomorrow. Bye for now, we'll meet again."

"Oh we will." went Ku Li. "Ha ha, if it be destined, we shall indeed meet again."

And the two men parted.

=======================================================

The smuggler's ship had reached the deep cove, hidden by the rocky cliffs and promontories above it, and here they would unload their cargo of the gold pieces that the smuggled pearls had exchanged for.

Along with their cargo of the three Kang Brothers, who were now bound hand and foot with chains, their weapons confiscated.

"All right now," went the Head Smuggler as the three brothers were shoved off the deck of the ship and forced on a climb up steps that the smugglers had carefully carved into the sides of the cliffs in order to facilitate their movement. They are guarded by a band of smugglers themselves. "Let's get a move on, Wind Rider's personal instructions."

The brothers climbed up the steps without saying a word. Along the way more pushing, prodding and humiliation from the smuggler guards only seemed to come their way. The leader of the smugglers was himself surprised that on this job, Wind Rider, once the legendary heroine of the Empire, had requested that he handle not just one of the most feared hired swords in the Empire, but also his brothers as well. He was pretty pleased with what he had done, taken their weapons away and put them on board, and they were so acquiescent in doing so.

More thoughts coursed through the smuggler chief's head as he headed up the stone steps. All of this had been so, so hilarious, he almost wanted to laugh. And in fact, he did laugh.

At the top of the cliffs, where the landscape headed downhill through a forest, the smugglers sat down, keeping their eyes firmly on their captives.

The chief of the smugglers had in his eyes a twinkle of malicious delight as he saw the Kang Brothers. He had just thought up a little proposal for he and his men's amusement.

"Remember the terms that were given to you," he told Big Brother Kang. "From here you can go anywhere you please..."

"Right..." went Big Brother Kang, staring intently at the smuggler chief.

"Right, provided that I can also set my own conditions."

"That was not among the conditions that Wind Rider set you." replied Big Brother Kang, ostensibly calm, though he knew what was already going on.

"Do you think Wind Rider would CARE?" laughed the smuggler chief. "Here are our conditions."

"You are going to get your escape and your trip back to freedom, that is, if you start running now."

Around the smuggler chief the other smugglers began to draw their weapons.

"I do mean what I say." continued the smuggler chief as he took another puff of his pipe. "Turn around, your backs facing I..."

Big Brother Kang acquiesced as he turned to his other brothers, out of the corner of his eye the head smuggler could make out a sharp glint, or was it just his own mind playing tricks on him?

He gestured to his own men anyway. "Turn around too."

His men did as they were told.

"Three of you, start running!" the head smuggler yelled to the Kang Brothers.

The clankety-clank-clank of chains rang through the forest as the Kang Brothers began to run.

The head smuggler laughed as he got his men to turn around as well.

Clankety-clank, clankety clank, the sound of chains receded.

With a swift wave of his hand the head smuggler set his men on the chase. The chains would give their target away, that was what he intended. The men would catch them, of that he was certain. And that no one survived this so far...

That was what he knew.