Chapter - 326 Hundred-feet Tall Tower Prevents Passage (3)

As his hand was being touched by her soft and tender palm, Zhang Wuji's heart was thumping madly. Calming his heart down he said, "I can't stay here for too long. In a few days I am going to the south."

"What do you do in the south?" Zhao Min asked.

Zhang Wuji sighed and said, "Even if I don't tell you, you will be able to guess; if I do, I'll make you angry …"

Zhao Min averted her gaze toward the round moon outside the window; she suddenly said, "You have made a promise to do three things for me. Have you forgotten your promise?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten," Zhang Wuji said, "As soon as Miss tells me, I will do my utmost to fulfill it."

Zhao Min turned her head back, looking straight at his face. She said, "Only now do I have my first request. I want you to accompany me to get that Tulong [Slaughtering Dragon] Saber."

Zhang Wuji had already guessed that her three requests would not be easy to do; but never in his life would he guess that the first request was already a very difficult matter to do. Zhao Min saw his distress look and said, "What? You are not willing? This request certainly does not violate the way of the chivalry; it is also not something you are unable to accomplish."

Zhang Wuji thought, "The Tulong Saber is in the hand of my Yifu; this fact is well-known in Jianghu [river and lake – martial art world], I don't have to hide the truth from her." Thereupon he said, "The Tulong Saber belongs to my Yifu, 'Jin Mao Shi Wang' [Golden Mane Lion King], Xie Daxia [Great Hero Xie]. How can I betray my Yifu by taking his saber and give it to you?"

Zhao Min said, "I do not meant for you to steal or snatch or take it by deceit; I also do not want to own this saber. All I want is for you to tell me your Yifu's whereabouts, so I can borrow it and play with it for a couple of hours, and then I will return it to him right away. You are Yifu-yizi [foster-father, foster son]; don't tell me he won't allow you to borrow it even for a couple of hours? I want to take a look at it, not to swindle his possession; I won't use it to kill anybody, do you think I am violating the way of the chivalry?"

Zhang Wuji said, "Although this saber is talked-about in the martial world, but actually it doesn't have anything worth looking about it except it is very heavy and unexceptionally sharp."

"There is a saying," Zhao Min said, "'Wu lin zhi zun, bao dao tu long, hao ling tian xia, mo gan bu cong. Yi tian bu zhu, shei yu zheng feng?' [Martial world's most venerable, Prized saber dragon slaying, Controlling all under Heaven, None dares not to follow. Power of heaven not appear, who can possibly compete? – Meh's translation] The Yitian Sword is in my hand; I surely must see what this Tulong Saber looks like. If you are concerned, you can stay by my side while I am examining the Saber. With your current skill level, I should not be able swindle you in any way."

Zhang Wuji considered carefully, "My original plan was leaving immediately to fetch Yifu after rescuing the six major sects' masters, to ask him to hold the Jiaozhu position. Miss Zhao promises to take a look at the Saber only for a couple of hours. I know it's hard to say whether she has some crafty trick under her sleeves, but if I guard by her side, she won't be able to seize the Saber. Only Yifu once said that the Tulong Saber holds a big martial art secret. Yifu has taken possession of this treasured Saber before his eyes were blinded, yet by his intelligence and wisdom he still could not penetrate the details of this secret. Given only a short couple of hours, how could this Miss Zhao uncover the secret? Besides, Yifu and I have not seen each other for more than ten years; perhaps on that isolated island he has succeeded in understanding the Saber's secret."

Seeing he was hesitating and not answering, Zhao Min laughed and said, "It's up to you if you are not willing. I can think of something else for you to do, and it surely will be much more difficult."

Zhang Wuji realized this woman was extremely cunning; if she presented another difficult problem, he might not be able to do it. Thereupon he busily said, "Very well, I agree to borrow the Tulong Saber for you. But let me get it clear: you can only borrow it for a couple of hours. If you change your mind and want to steal it, I will not let you go."

"That's right," Zhao Min laughed, "I can't use a saber, especially a heavy one. What's good it is for me? You are respectfully presenting the Saber to me so I will not dare to offend you. When are you going to leave?"

"Within these next several days," Zhang Wuji replied.

"Nothing could be better," Zhao Min said, "I am going to pack now. When it's time to leave, come and get me."

Zhang Wuji was startled. "Are you going to come?" he asked.

"Of course," Zhao Min answered, "I heard your Yifu lives on an isolated island far away. If he is not willing to return to the mainland, will you take tens of thousands 'li's journey to bring the Saber to me, let me look at it for a couple of hours, then take another tens of thousands 'li's journey to return the Saber back to him, and then take tens of thousands 'li's journey again to go back home? There is no such logic in this world."

Zhang Wuji remembered the dangerous great billows of the 'Bei Hai' [Northern Sea]; whether they would be able to find the 'bing huo dao' [Ice and Fire Island] in the vast and boundless ocean was still a great uncertainty. There was no guarantee if they would not meet any accident during the three times voyage back and forth to the island, so what she said was right. Moreover, his Yifu had lived on 'bing huo dao' for more than twenty years; he might not be willing to return to the mainland in his sunset years. "The wind and the waves on the ocean are merciless," he said, "Are you sure you want to brave this danger?"

"If you can brave the danger, why can't I?" Zhao Min replied.

With uncertainty in his voice Zhang Wuji asked, "Will your father let you go?"

Zhao Min replied, "Father has given me the authority to command the Jianghu warriors. For the last several years I have wandered to the east and journeyed to the west; Father has never forbidden me."

Hearing the words 'Father has given me the authority to command the Jianghu warriors' Zhang Wuji's heart was moved, "My journey to the 'bing huo dao' to fetch Yifu might take years or at least months," he thought. "Supposing she is executing the luring-the-tiger-to-leave-the-mountain trick, then she might launch a large scale attack on my Cult while I am gone. But if she goes with me, her subordinates might lose command and spare me unnecessary worries over those I leave behind." Thereupon he nodded and said, "Very well, I'll come and get you when it's time for us to leave."

He had not finished speaking when suddenly they saw bright red light from beyond the window, followed by a faint clamoring noise of commotion coming from a distance.

Zhao Min went to the window to take a look. "Aiyo!" she cried out in alarm, "The Wan An Temple Pagoda is on fire! Ku Dashi, Ku Dashi, come here, quick!" She called out several times, but Ku Toutuo did not answer. She went to the outer hall but Ku Toutuo was nowhere to be seen. She asked the waiter and was told that that Toutuo went away as soon as they arrived; he did not even sit down, and he had left for a long time. Zhao Min as astonished; suddenly she recalled his strange smile earlier and could not help blushing. She lowered her head and stole a glance toward Zhang Wuji.