Princess Fragrance became even more upset. Chen was uneasy about the situation: an envoy should not cry in such a fashion, and he leaned forward to comfort her.

Zhao Wei was a man of great cruelty and brutality, but even his heart softened at the sight of her tears. "Bury these two properly," he said to his attendants. He opened the letter and read it with a grunt.

"Right," he said. "We fight tomorrow. You may leave."

"General," the officer sitting next to him suddenly interrupted. "I think this girl may be the one the Emperor wants."

Chen's attention had been directed entirely at Princess Fragrance, but hearing the officer speak, he looked up and saw it was Zhang Zhaozhong. At the same instant Zhang also recognised Chen, despite his Muslim disguise.

They stared at each other, amazed at finding the other in such a place.

"Well, Great Helmsman," Zhang said, and laughed coldly. "Fancy meeting you here."

Chen grabbed Princess Fragrance's hand and turned to leave, but as he did so, Zhang bounded over and struck out at him with all his might. Chen picked the Princess up in his left hand, deflected Zhang's blow with his right and charged out of the tent with Zhang close on his heels. None of the other officers or soldiers intervened to stop Chen. All were dazzled by the Princess, and considered this Imperial Guardsman was interfering in matters that should not concern him.

Chen ran for their horses, and as Zhang closed in, he threw six chess pieces at him. "I'll keep him busy," he shouted to Princess Fragrance. "You escape on the horse!"

"No, I'll wait for you to beat him."

Chen had no time to explain, and dumped her on the saddle of the chestnut horse as Zhang dodged the projectiles and attacked again. Not daring to face him head on, Chen crouched down underneath the white horse and punched it in the belly. The horse kicked out with its back legs in fright, straight at Zhang, who just managed to jump clear.

"Go!" shouted Chen as Zhang grabbed for Princess Fragrance, and her horse leapt forward just in time. Chen knew he was no match for Zhang on equal terms, so he drew his dagger and thrust out with it. Zhang caught his wrist and the two fell to the ground, rolling together, neither daring to let go of the other.

The officers crowded out of the tent to watch, and the Four Tigers, who had great respect for Chen and were annoyed at the way he was being treated, ran over to help him.

Chen's strength was fading as he grappled with Zhang, and when he saw the four giants running over he thought: "Oh no, this is it." But instead of attacking him, the four grabbed Zhang and pinned him to the ground, shouting: "Get away!" All Zhang's skill was not enough to counter the immense strength of the Four Tigers, and Chen leapt to his feet, mounted the white horse and galloped off after Princess Fragrance. Zhang stared after them helplessly as they disappeared into the distance.

The two horses raced like the wind and were soon beyond the army's furthest guard posts. Chen's fight with Zhang had been short but extremely intense, and after riding on for a while, he gradually felt his control slipping. Princess Fragrance saw he was in difficulty, and noticed his wrist was covered in black and purple stripes.

"They won't be able to catch us now," she said. "Let's dismount and rest for a while." Chen fell off his horse, and lay on the ground, shuddering and gasping. The Princess pulled a container of sheep's milk from her leather satchel and rubbed some onto his wrist. Chen gradually recovered, but just as they were getting ready to start out again, they heard the sound of galloping hooves and saw several dozen soldiers riding after them. They leapt onto their horses without bothering to pick up their belongings and sprang forward. A moment later, Chen noticed a dust cloud rising in front, and cursing their bad luck, galloped on ahead of the Princess. As they rode closer, he saw that there were only seven or eight riders in the group ahead, and his anxiety eased. He reined in his horse and took out his Pearl Strings to prepare for the riders as they closed in.

Suddenly, one of the riders shouted: "Great Helmsman, how are you?" Chen looked through the dust and saw it was a hunchback.

"Tenth Brother!" he yelled, overjoyed. "Come here, quick!" As he spoke, the first arrow from the pursuing Manchu troops flew towards them.

"Enemy soldiers are chasing us," Chen shouted. "Hold them off for a while!"

"Excellent!" Zhang Jin exclaimed. 'Leopard' Wei galloped up as well and the two charged at the Manchu horsemen. As Chen watched in surprise, Wen, Luo Bing, Xu, Zhou Qi, and Yu Yutong galloped passed him with cries of greeting on their way to engage the Manchu troops. Xin Yan raced up behind, leapt off his horse and kowtowed before Chen.

"I have arrived, master," he announced, standing up.

Wen and the others quickly killed or dispersed the Manchu troops, but in the distance they could see a much larger force heading towards them. They rode back to Chen.

"Which way shall we go?" Wen asked.

Chen looked at the size of the pursuing enemy force and decided it would be best to try and lead them away from the main Muslim army to the west.

"South," he said, pointing with his hand. The others complied automatically. They were all riding good horses, and slowly drew away from their pursuers as they galloped across the featureless desert stretching out about them. Chen wondered why General Zhao Wei would send such a huge force after the two of them, and suddenly recalled Zhang Zhaozhong's remark: "I think this girl is the one the Emperor wants." As he considered the significance of this, he noticed another column of soldiers riding round to head them off from the south. The heroes reined in their horses, uncertain of what to do.

"We must make some sort of cover quickly, and wait until dark to escape," said Xu.

"Yes," Chen agreed. "Travelling across the desert in daylight is impossible." They dismounted and used their weapons and bare hands to dig a large hole in the sand.

"You go in first, sister," Luo Bing said to Princess Fragrance. But not understanding Chinese, she simply smiled back and made no move.

The Manchu troops gradually closed in upon them, and Luo Bing grabbed Princess Fragrance and jumped into the hole with the rest close behind. Wen and the other heroes had brought bows and arrows with them and they quickly fired off a volley of arrows, downing a dozen or so soldiers. As one column of Manchu troops galloped up to the mouth of the hole, Wen shot an arrow at the commander which hit him in the chest, passed right through him and flew on for several dozen yards further before falling to the ground. The other soldiers were so frightened by this demonstration of power that they turned and fled.

The first attack had been beaten back, but looking round them, the heroes saw they were completely surrounded.

"This hole is deep enough, but we should start making it bigger," Xu said. Seven or eight feet below the loose sand was firm earth, and Chen and the others dug away at the sides, piling the sand up on top as a defensive wall.

Zhang Jin pointed to the dead Manchu soldiers lying just beyond the hole. "Let's go and collect their weapons," he suggested to Xin Yan. The two leapt out of the hole and collected seven or eight bows and a large batch of arrows from around the corpses.

Only now did Chen have a chance to introduce Princess Fragrance to the heroes. When they heard that she was Huo Qingtong's sister, they all welcomed her, but the language barrier made it impossible for them to talk to her. Chen rested for a while, and gradually his strength returned. He ordered the other heroes to keep a close watch on the Manchu forces and told them they would try to break out after nightfall.