The Book and The Sword - Yong Jin (лучшие книги .txt) 📗

Not long after, the wolf pack raced up. Afraid of the flames, the wolves milled around outside the circle howling, not daring to get too close.

"We'll wait for the horse to recover its strength and then break out," said Chen.

"Do you think we'll be able to?"

"Of course," he replied. But he had no idea how.

Princess Fragrance saw how thin and emaciated the hungry wolves were. "The poor things," she said. "I wonder how long it's been since they last ate?"

Chen laughed shortly. The long, sharp fangs of the wolves gleamed through the flames, the saliva dripping, drop by drop from their mouths onto the sand. They howled angrily, waiting from a slight opening in the flames through which they could leap.

Princess Fragrance knew the chance of them getting out alive was very slight. She moved closer to Chem and took his hands.

"When I'm with you, I'm not afraid of anything," she said. "After we die, we will live happily together in heaven forever."

Chen pulled her towards him and embraced her. She sighed, and was just about to close her eyes, when she noticed the flames were dying down in one section of the circle. She screamed and jumped over to add more branches, but three wolves had already slipped inside. Chen pulled her behind him. The white horse kicked its hind legs up and sent one wolf flying back out of the fiery circle. Chen grabbed another wolf by the scruff of its neck and slung it bodily at the third, a huge grey beast which dodged out of the way, then opened its mouth and reared up on its hind legs to go for Chen's throat. Chen picked up a burning branch and rammed it down the wolf's throat, and the animal leapt back out of the circle and rolled about on the ground in great pain.

Chen added more branches to the gap.

After a while, their reserves were getting low, and Chen decided he would have to risk going to get more from some bushes about one hundred feet away.

"I'm going to get some more wood," he told Princess Fragrance, taking out his shield and Pearl Strings. "Build up the fire a bit more until I get back."

She nodded. "Be careful," she said, but did not add any more wood to the fire. She knew that the branches kept the two of them alive, and that when the flames were extinguished, they would be too.

Chen leapt out of the burning circle and raced off using Lightness Kung Fu, fending off the wolves as he went. The wolves surged at him, but in three leaps he was already beside the bushes. He quickly collected firewood with one hand while protecting himself with the shield in the other. Several dozen wolves surrounded him, snarling fiercely, but the flashing hooks on his shield kept them at bay. He collected a large pile of wood and was leaning over to tie the branches up when a large wolf lunged forward. He swirled the shield, and the animal died instantly. But its carcass was caught on the hooks, and the other wolves barked even more frantically as it swung lifelessly before them. He dislodged the body and flung it to one side, and the wolves charged forward to rip it apart. He took advantage of this diversion to pick up the firewood and return into the ring of fire.

Princess Fragrance ran forward and threw herself into his arms. Chen smiled and embraced her, then threw the firewood on the ground. As he looked up, he started involuntarily: there was a third person in the circle, a large man whose clothes had been ripped to shreds by the wolves. In his hand was a sword. His whole body was covered in blood, but his face was calm. It was his enemy, Zhang Zhaozhong.

The two gazed at each other silently.

"He must have seen the fire and run over this way," said Princess Fragrance. "See how exhausted he looks." She poured a bowl of water from the water bag and handed it to Zhang, who grabbed it and slurped it down in one draught. He wiped the blood and sweat from his face with his sleeve, and Princess Fragrance gasped as she suddenly recognised him as the Manchu official Chen had fought with.

Chen rapped his shield with the Pearl Strings. "Come on!" he shouted.

Zhang's eyes glazed over and he fell forward onto his face.

He had been tracking Chen and Princess Fragrance with Prince Herda when he had met the wolf pack. Herda had been devoured, but with his superb kung fu, Zhang had managed to escape after killing several dozen of the ferocious creatures. He had fled across the desert for a day and a night, but finally his horse had dropped dead under him. He had no alternative but to continue on foot and kept going for another day without food or water. Finally, he had spotted the flames in the far distance and had fought his way over.

Princess Fragrance moved to help Zhang up, but Chen stopped her.

"This man is extremely dangerous. Don't fall for his tricks," he warned. He waited for a while to make sure Zhang really was unconscious before going closer.

Princess Fragrance wiped some cold water onto Zhang's forehead, then poured lamb's milk into his mouth. Zhang slowly revived, drank half a bowl of the milk, then fell back onto the ground, sound asleep.

Chen wondered what sort of devil's emissary had delivered this traitor into his hands. Killing Zhang now would be as easy as blowing away a speck of ash, but taking advantage of another's hardship was not a manly thing to do. What was more, Princess Fragrance would certainly be unhappy to see him kill a defenceless man. He decided to spare Zhang once more. In any case, he thought, Zhang would be a great help in killing wolves. Perhaps the two of them together could save Princess Fragrance. He knew he would never be able to do it alone. He drank a few mouthfuls of lamb's milk, then closed his eyes to rest.

After a while, Zhang woke again. Princess Fragrance passed a piece of dried mutton to him, and helped him to bandage several wolf bite wounds on his legs.

"Brother Zhang, all three of us are in great danger," Chen said. "Let us temporarily put aside our differences and cooperate."

Zhang nodded. "Yes, if we fight now, we will all end up inside a wolf's stomach." Having rested for more than two hours, his strength had partially returned, and he began to consider how he could kill Chen and escape with the girl.

Chen wracked his brain for a way out of their present predicament. He saw the many piles of wolf droppings outside the circle of fire, and remembered how Huo Qingtong had used them to fuel signal fires. Using his Pearl Strings, he dragged some of the piles over, formed them into one heap and lit it. A thick pall of smoke rose straight up into the heavens.

Zhang shook his head. "Even if someone saw it, they wouldn't dare to come to help us," he said. "It would take an army to chase away so many wolves."

Chen also knew it would probably do no good, but it was better than doing nothing.

The daylight faded, and the three gradually added more branches to the ring of fire and took turns to sleep.

"He is a very bad man," Chen whispered to Princess Fragrance. "When I'm asleep, you must watch him with especial care." She nodded.

Towards midnight, the moon rose and the wolves began to howl mournfully, a sound which made their skin crawl. Early next morning, they saw the wolves were still pacing around outside the ring with obviously no intention of leaving.

"The only thing that would draw these devils away would be a herd of wild camels passing nearby," said Chen. Suddenly they heard more wolf howls from the distance.

"It looks like more of the devils are coming," Zhang said.

A cloud of dust arose, and three riders galloped towards them with several hundred wolves on their heels. The wolves on that side of the ring of fire spotted them too, and surged forward, encircling the three riders, who fought them off frantically.

"Help them!" Princess Fragrance shouted.

"Let's go," Chen said to Zhang. They charged out of the ring, carving a path of blood through the wolf pack and led the three back into the circle. They noticed one of the horses was carrying a second person, apparently a Muslim girl, lying limply across the saddle with her hands were tied behind her back. The three riders jumped off their horses, and one of them pulled the girl down after him.