They travelled by day and slept by night, talking and laughing as they went. As the days passed, they became closer and closer, and Chen found himself secretly hoping that the journey would never end, that they could continue as they were forever.

One day, just as the sun was about to disappear beneath the grasslands, they heard a bugle note, and a small deer jumped out of a spinney of trees nearby. The girl clapped her hands and laughed in delight.

"A baby deer!" she cried. The deer had been born only a short time before and was very small and very unsteady on its feet. It gave two plaintive cries and then leapt back into the trees.

The girl watched it go, then suddenly reined in her horse. "There's someone over there," she whispered.

Chen looked over and saw four Manchu soldiers and an officer carving up a large deer while the fawn circled around them making pitiful cries. The dead deer was obviously its mother.

"Goddamn it, we'll eat you too!" cursed one of the soldiers, standing up. He fixed an arrow on his bow and prepared to shoot the fawn which, ignorant of the danger, moved closer and closer to him.

The girl gave a cry of alarm. She jumped off her horse, ran into the trees and placed herself in front of the fawn. "Don't shoot, don't shoot!" she cried. The soldier started in surprise and took a step backwards, dazzled by her beauty. She picked up the fawn and stroked its soft coat. "You poor thing," she crooned. She glanced hatefully at the soldier, then turned and walked out of the trees with the fawn.

The five soldiers whispered amongst themselves for a moment, then ran after her, shouting and brandishing their swords. The girl started running too and quickly reached Chen and the horses. The officer barked out an order and the five fanned out around them.

Chen squeezed the girl's hand. "Don't be afraid," he said. "I'll kill these villains to avenge the death of the fawn's mother." She stood beside him, the fawn cradled in her arms. Chen stretched out his hand and stroked the animal.

"What you doing?" the officer asked haltingly in the Muslim tongue. "Come here!"

The girl looked up at Chen, who smiled at her. She smiled back, confident that they would not be harmed.

"No weapons!" the officer shouted, and the other soldiers threw their swords to the ground and advanced. Strangely, despite the usual preference of soldiers for young maidens, they seemed cowed by her glowing beauty and made for Chen instead. The girl cried out in alarm, but before the cry was fully out, there was a whooshing sound and the four soldiers flew through the air, landing heavily on the ground some distance away. They grunted and groaned, unable to get up, for they had all been touched on Yuedao points. The officer, seeing the situation was unfavourable, turned and fled.

"Come back!" Chen ordered. He sent his Pearl Strings flying out and wrapped them around the officer's neck, then sharply pulled him back.

The girl clapped her hands and laughed in delight. She looked over at Chen, her eyes full of admiration.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the officer in the Muslim language. The officer clambered to his feet, still dazed. He looked around and saw his four comrades lying morionless on the ground and knew he was in trouble.

"We, General Zhao Wei, soldiers, orders, here, we here," he replied.

Well said, thought Chen. "Where are the five of you going? You'd better tell me the truth."

"Not cheat," the officer said, shaking with fear. "Orders, go, Stellar Canyon, meet people."

His stuttering Muslim speech was unclear and Chen switched to Chinese. "Who are you going to meet," he asked.

"A deputy commander of the Imperial Guard."

"What is his name? Give me the documents you are carrying."

The officer hesitated then pulled an official document from his pocket. Chen glanced at it and noted with surprise that it was addressed to "Deputy Commander Zhang Zhaozhong".

Master Ma Zhen took Zhang away to discipline him, he thought. How could he be on his way here?

He ripped the letter open and read: "I am delighted to hear you have received Imperial orders to come to the Muslim regions, and have sent this detachment to meet you." It was signed by General Zhao Wei.

If Zhang is coming at the Emperor's command, he must have been entrusted with passing on the order to retreat, Chen thought. I shouldn't interfere. He gave the letter back to the officer, released the paralysis of the four soldiers, then rode off with the girl without saying another word.

"You are very capable," the girl said. "Such a man as yourself would certainly be very well known in our tribe. How is it I have never heard of you before?"

Chen smiled. "The little fawn must be hungry," he said. "Why don't you give it something to eat?"

"Yes, yes!" she cried. She pured some horse's milk from the leather gourd into her palm and let the fawn lap it up. After a few mouthfuls, the fawn bleated mournfully. "She's calling for her mother," the girl said.

They travelled on for another six days. On the morning of the seventh day, they spotted dark clouds in the distance.

"Is that a storm brewing?" Chen asked.

The girl studied the horizon. "They're not rain clouds," she said. "It's dust from the ground."

"How could there be so much?"

"I don't know. Let's go and look!" They spurred their horses forward, and as the swirling dust cloud rose before them, they began to hear the sound of metal clashing with metal drifting over towards them. Chen reined in his horse.

"It's an army," he said. "We must get out of the way quickly." They turned and rode off east, but after a while, another dust cloud arose in front of them and a column of mounted troops appeared. Amidst the dust, Chen saw a huge flag inscribed with the name of General Zhao. Having already clashed once with Zhao's armoured troops at the Yellow River crossing, he knew them to be formidable fighters, and he motioned to the girl with his hand and galloped off southwards. Luckily, both their horses were swift, and after a moment's hard riding, the armoured column had dropped far behind.

The girl looked anxious. "I hope our army will be able to hold their own," she said. Chen was just about to say something comforting when horns sounded in front, and rank upon rank of soldiers appeared over a rise. To the left, there was a thundrous ground-shaking roar and a vast carpet of cavalry moved across the hills towards them. With one sweep of his left arm, Chen swung the girl onto his horse and took out his shield to protect her.

"Don't be afraid," he said. The girl, still hugging the little deer, looked round at him and nodded. "If you say there's no need to be afraid, then I won't be," she said. As she spoke, her soft, orchid-like fragrance, enveloped him, and feelings of tenderness rose within him despite the danger of their situation.

With enemy troops advancing from the east, north and south, Chen urged the white horse westwards as her chestnut horse followed along behind. After a while, they spotted Manchu troops ahead of them once more. Very worried, Chen spurred the horse up onto high ground to get a better idea of the Manchu positions and to look for a gap through which they could escape. But he could see at a glance that they were completely surrounded by the Manchu army. To the west, beyond the thousands of Manchu foot soldiers in close ranks protected on both flanks by cavalry, was the Muslim army, also an imposing force with a forest of spears and scimitars rising above the striped gowns of the warriors. The two sides had halted, obviously in preparation for battle, and Manchu officers rode back and forth making final prepartions. The huge army gradually became deathly quiet. Chen and the girl had by this time been noticed, and several soldiers approached to question them.