Now, Zheng Xiong, the Iron-Faced Heavenly King, saw the robber level his sword and demand silver for the right of way. Zheng Xiong took a look at him: a big, tall man with the bearing of a hero. Zheng Xiong was pleased, and thought, “This man must have been driven to it by poverty. I can help him out a little and set him back on the straight path.” With that, Zheng Xiong hurried forward and said, “Friend, I can see you are an upstanding hero, a blazing, thundering man of valour. Poverty must have driven you to rob on this road. I’ll give you twenty taels of silver to set yourself up in a little business. Whatever you do, don’t turn thief and bandit. And if you are on your way to family or friends and short of money for the journey, just say so, and I can give you more.” The robber gave a great laugh. “Don’t try to fence with me with that tongue of yours. Twenty taels! Today your great lord has run into you, and you’re leaving every last thing on those donkey loads behind.” At this Zheng Xiong’s temper flared up. “You lout, you don’t know what’s good for you. Do you think I’m afraid of you? Today I’ll teach you a lesson.” With that, Zheng Xiong drew his bamboo-joint whip1 and swung it straight at the robber’s head. The robber dodged aside and chopped at Zheng Xiong with his sword. Zheng Xiong drew the whip back, quick of hand and eye, and met the blade with the move called Searching the Hundred Grasses for Snakes. Clang! He knocked the sword flying. Following through, he struck again and knocked the robber down, and Zheng Xiong told his servants to tie him up. Zheng Xiong meant to give the robber a few blows and then let him go, just to teach him a lesson; he had no wish to hand him over to the authorities for punishment. Who would have thought the robber would burst out cursing? “So you two have caught your great grandsire2 here. Do you dare tell me your names or not?” “You wretched thief,” said Ma Jun. “Why wouldn’t your great grandsire here dare tell you his name? I’m from Ma Family Lake. My surname is Ma and my given name Jun, and they call me the White-Faced Zhuanzhu. There, I’ve told you. What are you going to do about it? If you don’t like it, send someone to find me.” “Fine,” said the robber. “Ma, you just wait and see.”

A word of explanation: later in the story a band of robbers will break into Ma Family Lake by night and Ma Jun’s whole household will very nearly be killed, and that will be revenge for today. But that comes later. Now, they had caught the robber and were still talking when Zhou Rui, Little Marshal Xuantan, and Luo Biao, the Red-Faced Tiger, arrived with a party of constables. The two chief constables looked and recognized Ma Jun. “So it’s Lord Ma,” they said. “Good of you to catch the robber. A pawnshop outside the South Gate has just been robbed by men with torches and drawn weapons3, who carried off clothes and jewellery past counting, and it has been reported to the magistrate. Then there’s the highway robbery and murder outside the East Gate. His Honour wants both cases solved and he’s pressing us hard; that’s why he sent us out. Hand the robber over to us.” “All right,” said Ma Jun, “he’s yours.” Then he called over the man who had come running for help and asked what he had lost. “My name is Hu Deyuan,” the man said, “and I lost nothing. If it weren’t for you, sir, I’d be a dead man.” He thanked Ma Jun and the others and went on his way. Ma Jun and his party went theirs. Zhou Rui and Luo Biao had their men bring the robber back to the yamen and sent word inside. His Honour took his seat in court at once and ordered, “Bring up the robber.” The runners on either side shouted their assent and brought the robber before the bench at once. The robber glared, brows bristling, and stood there without kneeling.

His Honour asked from the bench, “You robber down there, what is your name?” “My surname is Yun and my given name Fang,” said the robber. “People call me the Tousle-Headed Ghost.” “Very well, Yun Fang,” said His Honour. “In the pawnshop robbery outside the South Gate, how many of you were there? Tell the truth now and spare your skin.” “I don’t know,” said the robber. “The highway robbery and murder outside the East Gate — how many of you did that?” “I don’t know that either,” said Yun Fang. “It wasn’t me.” “How many years have you been in the greenwood, and how many jobs have you pulled?” “I’ve never pulled a job,” said Yun Fang. “This is the first time.” At this His Honour flew into a rage. He slapped the sounding block and said, “You lout, you’re a thief for sure! Before this court you dare to hedge and dodge. I suppose questioning you with folded hands4 will never get an answer. Men, drag him down and give him eighty heavy strokes!” The court runners shouted their assent and gave the robber eighty heavy strokes. When it was done, the robber had not made a sound, and he was brought back up before the bench. “Yun Fang,” said His Honour, “tell the truth now and this court can deal with you leniently. If you don’t, this court will question you over and over, three times and six times, and in the end you’ll confess all the same.” “I really don’t know,” said Yun Fang. “What can you do to me?” At this His Honour’s temper flared. “Have the leg press5 ready!” he ordered. Three sticks, the ancestor of the Five Punishments, were thrown down on the floor of the court, and His Honour ordered, “Put him in the press and we’ll ask again.” The runners at once put the robber in the press. His Honour raised a hand, and five-tenths of the pressure went on; the robber said nothing. His Honour raised a hand again, and eight-tenths went on; the robber fell asleep. They put on the full pressure, and the bars slipped. Still the robber would not speak. His Honour could do nothing, and ordered the robber put in fetters and thrown into jail. Two more hearings went by, and still the robber gave no statement. Who would have thought that on the third night, at the third watch, a hundred or two great outlaws of river and sea, men who could fly over eaves and run along walls, would come and storm the Changshan County jail? They rescued Yun Fang, carried off seven batches of prisoners6, came to the East Gate, killed the gate guards, held blades to throats and demanded the keys to open the city gate and escape. The county yamen was thrown into chaos. The next day the magistrate called Zhou Rui and Luo Biao before him and issued a written order from the bench: “You have three days to crack this case. If you make the arrests, there is a reward of two hundred taels of silver. If you fail within three days, you will be severely punished.” The mounted constable Zhou Rui, Little Marshal Xuantan, talked it over with Luo Biao. This case was going to be very hard to crack.