Mournful dirges played as the Muslims dug deeptrenches and buried the bodies of the fallen warriorsupright and facing west. Puzzled, Chen asked one ofthe nearby soldiers why the dead were buried in thisway.

　　"Because we believe in Islam," the soldier replied.

　　"If the body is buried upright, then the spirit willascend to the heavenly kingdom. They face west becausethat is the direction of sacred Mecca."When the burials were finished, Muzhuolun led theentire army in prayer to thank Allah for helping themachieve such a great victory. Then a great cheer wentup from the ranks and the commanders of all the unitswent before Huo Qingtong and presented their sabres toher in respect.

　　"Inflicting such a crushing defeat on the Manchus alsodoes us a great service," 'Leopard' Wei remarked toXu, but Xu was deep in thought.

　　"The Emperor made a pact with us, yet he didn'twithdraw his forces," he said. "Could it be that heintentionally sent his troops into the desert to bedestroyed?""I have no faith in this Emperor," said Wen. "Howcould he know Mistress Huo Qingtong would win sodecisively? What's more, I doubt if he sent ZhangZhaozhong out here for any good purpose."As the heroes talked, they noticed Chen gazing at HuoQingtong in concern. She was seated to one side, herface as white as a sheet, with a wild look in hereyes. Luo Bing went over to talk to her and as HuoQingtong stood up to greet her, she swayed unsteadily.

　　Luo Bing caught hold of her.

　　"Sister, what's wrong?" she asked. Huo Qingtong saidnothing, but fought to control her breathing. PrincessFragrance, Muzhuolun, Chen and the others ran over.

　　Princess Fragrance led her into a tent and laid herdown on a carpet.

　　Muzhuolun knew his daughter was exhausted after thebattle which she had both directed and taken part inalongside the other warriors. She had also had to bearthe suspicions of her own commanders. But he wasafraid that the thing affecting her most was therelationship between Chen and her sister. Unable tothink of anything to say to comfort her, he sighed andleft the tent. He went for a walk round the camp, andfrom all sides heard nothing but praise for HuoQingtong's brilliant strategy.

　　That night, he slept badly, worrying about hisdaughter. Early the next day before the sky was light,he went over to her tent to see how she was, but foundher tent was empty. He hurriedly asked the guardoutside what had happened to her.

　　"Mistress Huo Qingtong left about two hours ago," theguard replied.

　　"Where did she go?""I don't know, Lord. She told me to give you thisletter." Muzhuolun grabbed it and tore it open.

　　Inside, in Huo Qingtong's delicate hand, was written:

　　"Father, the war is now over. All that is necessary isto tighten the encirclement and the remaining Manchusoldiers will be annhilated in a few days, (signed)your daughter.""Which direction did she go?" he asked. The guardpointed east.

　　Muzhuolun found a horse and galloped off immediatelyin pursuit. He rode for an hour into the depths of theflat desert where it was possible to see several milesin all directions, but found no sign of any livingbeing. Afraid that she may have changed direction, hedecided the only thing to do was to return to thecamp. Half way back, he met Princess Fragrance, Chenand the other heroes who were all anxious about hersafety. Once back in camp, Muzhuolun sent units out tothe north, south, east and west to search. By evening,three units had returned without finding anything,while the fourth brought back a young Chinese youthdressed in black clothes.

　　'Scholar' Yu stared at the youth in shock: it was LiYuanzhi dressed as usual in boy's clothes.

　　"What are you doing here?" he asked, hurrying up tomeet her.

　　"I came to find you, and happened to run into them,"she replied, very happy to see him again.

　　Princess Fragrance was frantic with worry about herlost sister. "What can have happened to her?" sheasked Chen. "What can we do?""I will go and find her," he replied. "Come what may,I`ll convince her to come back.""I............