IRON BLOODED HEART (Book 1 of Legend Of The Condor Heroes)

Two Killers In The Tempest Part 4

"Look at this!" Quan Jinfa picked up one particular skull and handed it over to Zhu Cong. When Zhu Cong inspected the skull closely, he noticed that on the dome of the skull there were five holes positioned as though they were made by fingers. He tried with his own hand and the five holes were positioned properly for his fingers. The hole for his thumb was a little bigger than the others, while the hole for his pinky was a little smaller. It seemed as if somebody had carefully carved the holes into the skull to match a particular hand. Obviously it was not a child's toy that the little kids had left here. Zhu Cong's expression changed dramatically. He bent over and picked up two more skulls and discovered that they also had these holes in them.

"Could somebody have made these holes with their fingers?" He wondered. But there had not been anybody in the world with martial arts skills so powerful as to be able to smash holes through bone just using fingers. With this realization, he was rendered silent and awestruck.

"Could it be some man eating beast or monster that lives around here?" Han Xiaoying said, almost yelling.

"That's right, it must be a monster." Han Baoju concurred.

"But if it is some beast, then why would it or could it put the skulls in such neat piles?" Quan Jinfa asked, deep in thought.

"How are they placed?" Ke Zhen'E said, after making his way over to them.

"In a three pyramid formation; every pile consists of nine skulls." Quan Jinfa answered.

"Are they stacked in three layers, with five skulls on the bottom layer, three in the middle layer, and one on the top?"

"Yes!" Quan Jinfa was shocked. "Big Brother, how did you know that?"

"Go one hundred steps northeast and northwest and tell me what you see!" Ke Zhen'E did not answer his question but instead, anxiously directed them.

His demeanor was one of extreme anxiety, almost bordering panic. This was so different from his normal calm steadiness that the other Freaks did not dare waste one second and in threes, they headed off in the two directions. Soon, Han Xiaoying, who went to the northeast, and Quan Jinfa, who went to the northwest, yelled out at the same instant.

"There are skull piles here too!"

"This is a matter of life and death!" Ke Zhen'E literally flew over to the pile of skulls at the northwest and forcefully, but quietly ordered. "Don't raise your voice, no matter what!"

The three Freaks were quite taken aback by his words and weren't quite sure what to make of them. Ke Zhen'E quickly made his way to Han Xiaoying's group to the northeast and told them the same thing.

"Is it monsters or mortal enemies?" Zhang Ahsheng asked, with a hushed voice.

"They are mortal enemies of mine. They are formidable experts and they killed my brother." By this time the Freaks in the other group had made their way over as well. Hearing his words, all of the Freaks were quite surprised.

The six knew that Ke Zhen'E's brother, Ke Pixie had higher skills than Ke Zhen'E and was also a very intelligent and cautious man. His killer must have been a lethal nemesis. The Seven Freaks talked about everything with each other and about two years ago they learned of the death of Ke Pixie. But Ke Zhen'E never revealed how his brother died or who was responsible.

Ke Zhen'E picked up a skull and ran his hands over it inspecting it. After finding the holes he took his right hand and tried out the holes with his fingers. "They did it. They did it. They actually mastered it." He mumbled to himself before turning to the other Freaks. "There are three piles here as well?"