that he really was concerned about her. Captain Mai motioned with his hands and then led the hundred or so Shan warriors in scarlet who had hastily assembled to the riverbank in the midst of the Serpent people. But Miss Qi didn't pay attention to what the captain had told her; instead, she followed the Shan at a distance. Captain Mai led the Shan warriors to the heart of the Serpent people's position and there directed his men to array themselves in a Diamond Formation. Standing at the crown of the formation, Captain Mai shouted to the Serpent people around him, "Men of the SPRA, the time for the decisive battle with the Huhui people has not yet arrived. Please remain calm, and do not get excited."

Captain Maihave been opened."

"But didn't we see a man-eating Bronze Statue? Then isn't it part of the evil spirit? When the statue was eating people, and just before it was covered by the mist, you could see that it wasn't the Evil Spirit of time and space. Then where did the statue go?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that the Bronze Statue doesn't eat people?" said Ah   (chu), upset. "Didn't Yu Fang and Yu Kui tell you that the Bronze Statue was an illusion created by the cult leader? How can an illusion eat people?"

"But I clearly saw it."

"That perhaps was the Evil Spirit of time and space causing trouble; or perhaps it was a trick of the cult leader's. Since he can create