back against the wall. So he moved along cautiously till he had arrived at the steps. He listened. Everything was quiet. He quickly ran up the steps, entered and stood with his back against the wall next to the door.
When his eyes had adapted themselves to the semiobscurity he saw that the large, high hall was empty but for an old altar table against the back wall. Four thick center pillars supported the roof, connected with each other near the ceiling by heavy crossbeams.
Ma Joong left his coign of vantage and made for the door opening next to the altar. When he was passing the pillars a faint sound above his head made him look up quickly and step aside. A large dark shape came hurtling down and hit his left shoulder.
The impact threw Ma Joong on the floor with a crash that jarred every bone in his body. The large man who had tried to break his back had also fallen on the floor but he was on his feet again before Ma Joong and jumped over to him, reaching for his throat.
Ma Joong put both his feet in the man's stomach and heaved him over his head. When Ma Joong was scrambling up the other came for him again. Ma Joong aimed a kick at his groin but he side- stepped quick as lightning, went straight on and locked Ma Joong's torso in a powerful hug.
Panting heavily, each tried to get the other in a stranglehold. The fellow was as tall and strong as Ma Joong, but he was not a trained wrestler. Slowly Ma Joong forced him back toward the high altar table, making it appear as if he was unable to free his arms from the other's hold. When he had him with the small of his back against the edge of the table, Ma Joong suddenly freed his arms, passed them under those of his opponent and locked them over his throat. Raising himself on his toes, he bent the other's torso backward with the throat lock, and as the man's hands let go of him he threw his entire body weight into a powerful push. There was a sickening snapping sound, and the man's body went limp.
Ma Joong loosened his grip and let his opponent down to the floor. Panting, he stood looking down at him. The man lay quite still, his eyes closed.
Suddenly he moved his arms in a queer, futile gesture. His eyes opened. Ma Joong squatted down by his side. He knew the man was done for.
The fallen man looked at Ma Joong with small, cruel eyes. His lean, swarthy face twitched. He muttered, 'I can't move my legs!'
'Don't blame me!' Ma Joong said. 'Well, judging by your condition we shan't enjoy a long acquaintance, but I may as well tell you that I am an officer of the tribunal. You are Ah Kwang, aren't you?'
'You can rot in hell!' the man said. Then he started groaning. Ma Joong went to the door, whistled on his fingers and resumed his position by Ah Kwang's side.
As Chiao Tai came running inside, Ah Kwang started to curse. Then he muttered, 'That stone-throwing trick is one of the oldest in the trade.'
'Your trying to jump on my neck from the roof beam isn't so new either,' Ma Joong replied dryly. To Chiao Tai he added, 'He won't last long.'
'At least I killed that bitch Soo-niang!' the man grunted. 'Sleeping with a new fellow, and that in the master's bed! For me the hay in the loft was good enough!'
'You made a slight mistake in the dark,' Ma Joong said, 'but I won't bother you with that now. The Black judge in the nether world will doubtless explain everything nicely to you.'
Ah Kwang closed his eyes and groaned; his breath came in gasps when he said, 'I am strong. I won't die! And there was no mistake. Brother, that sickle cleft her throat till it struck the bone.'
'You are a handy fellow with a sickle,' Chiao Tai remarked. 'Who was the fellow she was sleeping with?'
'I don't know and I don't care,' Ah Kwang muttered through his clenched teeth. 'But he got his too. The blood spouted from his throat, all over her too. Served the bitch right!' He began to grin but suddenly a long tremor shook his broad torso and his face went livid.
'Who was the other fellow who hung around there?' Ma Joong asked casually.
'There was nobody there but me, you stupid bastard,' Ah Kwang muttered. Suddenly he looked up at Ma Joong, panic in his small eyes. 'I don't want to die! I am afraid!' he said.
The two friends looked at him in respectful silence.
His face contorted in a lopsided smile. His arms twitched; then he lay still.
'The fellow is gone,' Ma Joong said hoarsely. Rising, he went on. 'He nearly got me, though. He was lying in wait for me, stretched out fiat on one of those beams between the pillars, high up near the ceiling there. But before letting himself drop down he made a sound, and I could twist aside a bit. Just in time too. If he had landed on my neck the way he planned, he would have broken my back!'
'And now you have broken his, so that score is even,' Chiao Tai said. 'Let's search this temple; those are the magistrate's orders.' They went through the central and the back courtyard, and also searched the empty cells of the monks, and the wooded patch behind the temple compound. But except for some frightened field mice, they found nothing.
Back in the front hall Chiao Tai looked thoughtfully at the altar table.
'Don't you remember,' he asked, 'that there is often a cavity behind those things where the monks hide their silver candles and incense burners in times of trouble?'
Ma Joong nodded. 'We might as well have a look,' he said. They pushed the heavy table aside. In the brick wall behind it there was indeed a low, deep niche. Ma Joong stooped and looked inside. He cursed.
'The whole place is chock-full of old, broken monks' staffs,' he said disgustedly.
The two friends walked out by the main gate and strolled back to the guardhouse. After they had given the corporal in charge there the necessary instructions for conveying Ah Kwang's body to the tribunal, they mounted their horses and rode back. When they passed through the west city gate, it was already dark.
They met Sergeant Hoong in front of the tribunal. He told them that he had just come back from the shipyard, where the judge was having his evening meal with Koo Meng-pin.
'I was lucky today,' Ma Joong remarked. 'Therefore I'll treat the two of you to a good meal in the Nine Flowers Orchard.' When they entered the restaurant they saw Po Kai and Kim Sang sitting together at a corner table. Two large wine jugs were standing in front of them. Po Kai's cap was tilted far back; he seemed in an affable mood.
'Welcome, my friends!' he shouted jovially. 'Come and join us! Kim Sang has only just arrived; you can help him try to catch up with me!'
Ma Joong walked up to him and said sternly, 'Last night you were drunk as an ape. You gravely insulted me and my friend, and you disturbed the peace by squealing obscene songs. I sentence you to paying for the wine! The food is on me!'
All laughed. The owner brought a simple but tasty meal, and the five men drank several rounds of wine. When Po Kai ordered a new jug, Sergeant Hoong rose and said, 'We had better return to the tribunal; our judge will be back by now.'
'August heaven!' Ma Joong shouted. 'Of course! I must report about that temple!'
'Have you two at last seen the light?' Po Kai inquired incredulously. 'Tell me, what temple has the advantage of your prayers?'
'We caught Ah Kwang in the deserted temple,' Ma Joong said. 'That temple is certainly deserted now; there's nothing left but a heap of broken staffs!'
'A very, very important clue!' Kim Sang said, laughing. 'Your boss will like that!'
Po Kai wanted to see the three men off to the tribunal, but Kim Sang went on. 'Let's stay awhile in this hospitable place, Po Kai, and drink a few more rounds.'
Po Kai hesitated. Then he sat down again, saying, 'All right, one tiny little last nip then. Remember that I disapprove of insobriety.'
