The rumbling river down below sounded very loud from up above the cliff, making them utterly terrified.
"Aaahhhh …!” With a roar the two of them jumped from the cliff down to Yangtze River, more than ten zhang [1 zhang is approx. 10ft or 3m] below.
The wind whooshed in their ears.
‘Splash! Splash!' One after another they both fell successfully into the raging river and immediately sank into the water.
In the strong current, they had to struggle hard to float to the surface. Xu Ziling started to see stars, while desperately trying to hold on to Kou Zhong's shoulders. Kou Zhong himself was not any better, sinking and rising, he drank a lot of river water, as the current brought them more than ten zhang downstream. Let's not talk about crossing the river, trying to keep their heads above the water proved to be almost impossible.
While they were thinking that this time their little lives would be gone, a fishing boat crossed the current toward them. A long rope flew out of the boat, accurately coiled itself around Kou Zhong's neck.
Actually, with Xi Ziling's arms holding tight to him, Kou Zhong had already found it difficult to breathe; plus the river water unceasingly pouring into his nose and mouth. Now with the rope wrapped around his neck, he thought that the soldiers had finally got him.
While he was crying inwardly, saying goodbye to the world, his ears heard the pleasant voice of the woman-in-white, "Idiot! Why haven't you held on to the rope?”
Kou Zhong was ecstatic. Freeing one hand, he desperately hung on to the rope. He felt a strong force transmitted via the rope. Miraculously the two of them were being pulled out of the water, and flew sideways toward the small boat.
The two boys rolled along the deck like a pair of gourds, with only half of their lives remained.
With one pull the woman-in-white raised the sail, and then she sat on the bow, staring at the two boys without looking happy at all.
Kou Zhong rolled up first, and then, seeing Xu Ziling also survived, he groaned, and then begged the woman, "My Guanyin Dashi, lady Bodhisattva, please be merciful to us, quickly set sail, evil people are after us.”
The woman-in-white already heard the sound of hoof beats and barking dogs. She said with a cold laugh, "What qualifications you have that you dare to offend Sui people's dog soldiers? They are actually after your Miss.”
Kou Zhong remembered something. "Heavens!” he screamed, "Our secret manual!” He reached out to grope around his back.
The woman-in-white only knew that he was anxious that the holy book was damaged by the water; she did not pay any attention to these two words, ‘secret manual'. Grapping the sail, she steered the boat upstream.
After throwing up two mouthfuls of water, Xu Ziling crawled up. "The book?” he asked in horror.
He saw Kou Zhong groping around his back several times, with a very strange expression on his face. He made all kinds of signals to Xu Ziling as he sat up. With his back toward the woman-in-white, he winked and said, "Completely soaked. This time Bai Lao Fuzi will definitely slap my hands black and blue.”
The woman-in-white said with a snort, "You still want to lie to me? Let's see if I don't throw you, these two little demons, back into the river.”
Kou Zhong was shocked; he thought she already saw through the secret of the book. Turning around, he said, "I did not lie to you. Honest. The book is finished.”
With displeased expression the woman-in-white said, "I am not talking about your book, I am talking about what kind of game are you, two little demons, playing? Didn't you say you must return to the city? Why do you want to go farther away now?”
While the two boys were at a loss of what to say, there were shouts coming from the riverbank. They raised their heads and saw a dozen or so riders galloping along the river. "Stop the boat!” they shouted.
The woman-in-white did not move; she turned a deaf ear. She did not even look at them, as if it was beneath her to do so.
Suddenly there was a long whistle from a distant, but coming closer at an astonishing speed.
The woman-in-white was amazed, "I did not expect there is such a martial art expert in the Central Plains.”
The two boys were stupefied. Could it be that this woman-in-white was of different tribe from foreign country?
The woman-in-white suddenly stood up, her hand grabbed the hilt of her sword, she said in heavy voice, "Two little demons, operate the sail for me.”
The two boys were taken aback. "We don't …”
The woman-in-white impatiently said, "Even if you don't know you have to do it. Come!”
Horrified, the two boys looked up, only to see a figure coming down on them. At first the figure looked small, but it grew big quickly, like a big bird coming down on the fishing boat. The power was extremely astonishing.
The two boys instinctively threw themselves at the rudder. The man was flying about a zhang away from the small boat, a very strong and violent qi was pressing down on them.
The surrounding air suddenly turned cold, as if it was condensing to be ice. Cold air permeated everywhere. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's teeth were chattering, as they swayed from side to side.
Heavy gauze covered the woman-in-white's face, so that nobody could see her expression. But just like when she was dealing with Jiao Xie and his men, she maintained her carefree attitude, the clothes on her body fluttered everywhere, but she still did not look at Yuwen Huaji, who came down to them like descending devil or immortal.
The out-of-control sail, the attack of the river water, plus the stronger vortex due to Yuwen Huaji's fantastic Mysterious Ice Energy, made the boat tilt and spin, ready to capsize anytime.
‘Ring!' the woman-in-white's sword left its sheathe, as she leaped upward.
The sword turned into millions strong tips, meeting Yuwen Huaji's attack head on. Right away the cold air was cut more than half. By the time Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling recovered from their earlier stupor, the battle between the two martial art experts had already begun.
Yuwen Huaji knew that if with one strike he could not hit his target, the boat would sail farther away; therefore, he put everything he had in this one strike to generate maximum impact.
He was the most accomplished expert under Yuwen Shang, the Yuwen Clan Leader of one of the four most powerful clans. Even Shi Long, whose fame shook Yangzhou, lost his life under his hands. Therefore, his best shot was not a small matter at all.
‘Boom!' Palm and sword's energy collided.
Like flash of lightning or sparks of fire the woman-in-white's sword stabbed twelve times. He also countered with twelve palm strikes.
The two combatants were sometimes engaged in close battle, another time they suddenly separated. Yuwen Huaji let out a fierce hiss. Borrowing the momentum he flitted across and flew toward a mud pier on the riverbank. The woman-in-white fell back onto the boat, she held her sword with the tip pointing at Yuwen Huaji.
When these two people fought, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling felt that the small fishing boat was sinking down, only when they stopped that the boat floated again. From this one could see clearly how powerful Yuwen Huaji's palm was.
By this time one after another the other soldiers have arrived at the shore. It was only then did Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling realized that their small fishing boat has been brought by the current to the shore downstream. Crying out in panic, they scrambled toward the rudder and desperately tried to control the boat.
The woman-in-white acted as if she was completely oblivious of everything else, her attention was focused solely on Yuwen Huaji, who, by this time, had landed on a large rock on the riverbank.
The fishing boat suddenly regained its balance. Coupled with favorable strong wind, the boat traversed diagonally toward the shore of the opposite bank. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling cheered in their shrill voice.
While they were feeling very proud of themselves, Yuwen Huaji's voice came across the water, "Such swordsmanship is rarely seen indeed. Miss, what relationship do you have with Gaoli's[2] Yi Jian Dashi [great master of peaceful sword] Fu Cailin?
With Kou Zhong on the helm and the full wind behind, the boat sailed upstream like an arrow.
The woman-in-white did not utter a single word in response to Yuwen Huaji's question, giving the impression that she was unfathomable.
Yuwen Huaji's voice was heard again, "Miss is protecting these two kids, it is really unwise. Yuwen Huaji will definitely ask to have the benefit of your expertise again.”
The fishing boat was moving faster and faster away that over time they have left the enemy far behind. The woman-in-white was still standing on the bow, her clothes were fluttering in the wind. She did indeed look like a goddess from the world of the immortals.
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling had already regarded her as an immortal; they felt like they wanted to prostrate themselves in front of her and worship her.
Right this moment, the woman-in-white's bamboo rain hat suddenly shattered, the pieces rained down on the deck, revealing the woman-in-white's matchless elegance, but also the unrivalled paleness of her jade countenance. She let out a tender moan, threw up a mouthful of blood, and sat down dejectedly on the deck.
Shocked, the two boys rushed toward her. Kou Zhong barked, "You steer the boat! Let me help her!”
‘Bang!' The woman-in-white suddenly sat up cross-legged; with one palm she pushed Kou Zhong back to the rudder.
"Don't you dare touching me!” she hissed hoarsely. And then she closed her eyes.
The two boys stared blankly at the woman-in-white; they realized that although she managed to force Yuwen Huaji back, she had suffered a heavy injury.
Momentarily they were at a loss of what to do. The fishing boat sailed farther and farther away from Yangzhou city walls.
[2] Specifically, Gaoli refers to Korean Goryeo dynasty [918-1392], but generally, it refers to Korea, especially in context of art and culture.