Iron Ox lay face down on a bed and grimaced as Poison Adder sprinkled powder into a large slash on his lower back.
"Damn!" He rasped. "Is there no end to this? That stuff stings like fire."
Poison Adder shrugged and continued his work without pause. "It will prevent the cuts from taking ill. After your little dip in the harbour, every scratch is likely to putrefy. You're lucky I'm here to treat them. Hmmf. You're even luckier I arrived when I did - otherwise you wouldn't need this. You looked you were finally going to decorate a pike with your head."
Iron Ox's face was suffused with blood, but at this it grew even redder, if possible. He clenched his fists, and the muscles stood out like cables on his back. Then he sighed gustily and relaxed onto the bed. "Hah! I was just stunned a moment. It's true that they cut me up, but I've survived worse and I'll avenge myself on their bodies."
"Not for a few days, you won't." Poison Adder said in a mild voice. "If you start trying to fight in your condition now, it will open those wounds again and waste all my careful work. In truth, you are lucky to be alive."
Master Yu had sat quietly to one side, the yellow lamplight shining on his silk jacket. Though master of his own school, he was respectful (and a little nervous) of the two men who had commandeered his best bedroom. The reputation of their kung fu had preceded them. Now he spoke up. "Your friend offers good advice - I have never seen a man survive such serious wounds, let alone be as active as you are. You are welcome to the shelter of my house until they heal. But tell me - who were those men you fought?"
Iron Ox merely shrugged. The potions applied to his back and arms had dulled the pain, and all he felt now was a great weariness, and need to sleep.
Poison Adder, however, sat back, wiping his hands on a cloth. "We don't know. An agent of the Red Banner contacted us a month ago, with a fat purse and instructions to come to your house. Until we got a summons to the dock this morning, I knew nothing - and the description your student gave us was very sketchy. Having seen them now, it is obvious that they are barbarians from the Lands of the Eastern Sun - and they are skilled in swordplay. Still, it matters not why they are here, or why the Red Banner wants to prevent them going to the Middle Kingdom. We have accepted their cash - as have you - and I for one do not want to report that we have failed in our task."
Master Yu shuddered. Things had started badly, and he wished nothing further to do with these murderous foreigners. But still less did he wish to court the lingering death it was said the Red Banner's sorcerors could send. Their prowess was respected even by the heavenly throne. He nodded quietly.
Poison Adder smiled - or at least that was what Master Yu took his attempt to mean. "No matter - where my brawny friend failed, subtlety may yet prevail. Have your students located them yet?"
Master Yu shook his head. "Naeip'o is a large city, but I guess that they have sought lodging in the foreigner's quarter. With no friends here, they could hardly go somewhere else. We should have word of their lodging soon."
Poison Adder grinned and reached for a small wine bottle standing near his seat. "Good. When we find them, I will pay them a visit along with some of your students."
Master Yu sat bolt upright. "My students? But those men are killers!"
Poison Adder made a languid gesture in reply. "Look on it as part of their training. No man can succeed in the world of martial arts who is afraid to deal or receive death. Beside, it will be a good test of your school. After all, do you want to tell your friend that you failed to stop these foreigners because you were afraid to risk your students?"
Yu Lieh subsided again. It seemed he had no choice. "Of course. I will instruct them myself on my return and pick the best to send with you."