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Chapter 24 – Shocking and dreadful, Part 14
Chapter 24 – Shocking and dreadful, Part 14
Chapter 24 – Shocking and dreadful, Part 14
Zhao Zhijing was delighted to hear this, but he knew that it would be difficult to achieve this and still had some doubts.
Fawang said, “You don’t believe me?”
Zhao Zhijing said, “I do, I do. The good Reverend is full of wisdom, he must have a plan.”
Fawang said, “I have no ties with your sect; whoever becomes the sect leader is of no importance. But for some reason, when I saw you it was like seeing an old friend, I had to intervene.”
Zhao Zhijing was excited and did not know what the best way was to express his thanks.
Fawang said, “The first step is that we must gain a strong supporter for you within the sect. Whose position is the highest within the sect?”
Zhao Zhijing said, “That is of course Grand Martial Uncle Zhou who we met today.”
Fawang said, “Correct. If he agrees to support you, brother Zhen would most likely have no chance.”
Zhao Zhijing said with joy, “Yes, Martial Uncle Ma, Martial Uncle Qiu and my Master all have to call him Martial Uncle. Whatever he says must be respected. But what ingenious plan would you use to persuade Great Martial Uncle Zhou to support me.”
Fawang said, “I made a bet with Zhou Botong today about stealing the royal flag. Do you think he’s going to come?”
Zhao Zhijing said, “Of course he’ll come.”
Fawang said, “The flag will not be hoisted on the flag pole tonight, and we’ll hide it in a secret place. The camp has thousands of tents, even if Zhou Botong has the ability to move heaven and earth, there is no way he’ll be able to find the flag in one night.”
Zhao Zhijing said, “Yes!” But he was thinking, “This isn’t the most honorable thing to do.”
Fawang said, “You must be thinking, this isn’t an honorable thing to do. But I’m just thinking of you.” Zhao Zhijing looked at him and didn’t understand what he meant.
Fawang patted his shoulder lightly and said, “I’ll tell you where I hid the flag and then you’ll go and tell Zhou Botong where the flag is and let him find it, how wonderful would that be?”
Zhao Zhijing said, “Yes, yes, that will definitely please Great Martial Uncle Zhou.” But then he said, “But won’t that mean you’ve lost the bet?”
Fawang said, “For friends, men like us can ignore a defeat here or there, what’s so important about that?”
Zhao Zhijing was extremely touched by this and said, “I do not know how to express my thanks.”
Fawang smiled, “Once you’ve got the support of Zhou Botong, with my help you’ll be able to elect yourself as sect leader.” He then pointed to the left and said, “Let’s take a look over there.”
About a li away from the camp were some small hills, in a short while they reached one of the hills. Fawang said, “We’ll find a cave and hide the flag there.” The first two hills they came across were open and bare without any caves there. On the third hill they found that it was covered with woodlands and there was cave after cave.
Fawang said, “This looks like the best place.”
Between two large trees he saw a cave with a well-hidden entrance that was not easy to spot at a glance, he said, “Remember this place, I’ll place the flag in there. Later on tonight, bring Zhou Botong here.”
Zhao Zhijing kept on saying yes, he was filled with delight. He looked hard and long at the two trees thinking with these two trees as a marker, he will definitely remember the right cave. The two returned to the camp and did not mention this again.
After supper, Zhao Zhijing kept talking to Zhen Zhibing. Zhen Zhibing just stared and sometimes said a word here or there, not really replying. The sky was getting dark and the gong for the first hour sounded. Zhao Zhijing slipped away from the camp and sat beside a sandy hill. He saw the patrols and how heavily guarded the camp was and thought, “It really would be difficult to take just one step into this camp. Yet Great Martial Uncle Zhou came and went as he pleased when he took the flag; his abilities are unimaginable.”
The sky above him was now dark blue, like a Mongolian tent that covered the plains. The stars were twinkling in the sky and the stars of the dipper were especially bright. He thought, “If Fawang’s words are true, three months from now I’ll be the leader of the Quanzhen sect; its three thousand branches and eighty thousand disciples will be under my command, ha-ha. Then it would be so easy to take the life of that punk Yang Guo.” The more he thought about it, the more arrogant he became. He stood up and looked into the distance and made out that Xiao Longnu was still sitting underneath that same tree. He thought, “That Miss Long’s beauty really is unmatched, even I feel something, no wonder apprentice brother Zhen is so crazy about her. But how can those who want to achieve greatness let things like women get in the way?”
Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, he suddenly saw a black shadow coming from the west. The shadow was darting about within the camp and soon reached the flagpole. The person had a broad gown and large sleeves, his white beard was fluttering in the wind; Zhou Botong had arrived.