Legend of Condor Heroes Book 4

by Jin Yong

  The temple was quiet and everybody was waiting for Shagu to open her mouth. Ke Zhen’E could feel the tension, but he did not dare to make a slightest move. After waiting for half a day Shagu still did not say anything, only her light snore was heard; apparently she had fallen asleep.

  Yang Kang breathed out a sigh of relief; his palm was sweating cold, “This Shagu poses a great danger to me,” he thought, “I must think of a way to get rid of her.” He cast his glance toward Ouyang Feng who was sitting quietly with his eyes closed. The moon illuminated the side of his face. He looked indifferent, seemed like he was unconcerned of everything that was going on around him.

  Everybody else thought Huang Rong was just talking nonsense. Shagu was asleep; looked like the case was closed. They started to lie down or sat leaning against the wall, trying to get some sleep.

  Just when the moon was rising higher they heard Shagu’s startled voice. She jumped up and shouted, “Don’t hurt me! Ouch, it hurt!”

  With shrilling voice Huang Rong cried, “Ghost! Ghost! It’s a ghost without legs! Shagu, you killed that young mister without legs; he is coming to get you!”

  In the quietness of the night Huang Rong’s voice made the hair on everybody’s back rose up.

  “No!” Shagu cried, “It wasn’t me! It was this good brother ...” she had not finished when suddenly ‘Ah!’ ‘Bang!’ ‘Aiyo!’ were heard simultaneously. Yang Kang abruptly sprang up, his arms outstretched, his fingers forming a claw heading straight toward Shagu’s skull, but Huang Rong had used her dog-beating stick to entangle his legs.

  The temple was in chaos; Sha Tongtian and the others immediately surrounded Huang Rong. Huang Rong, however, seemed oblivious to all this, her left index finger pointed toward the temple’s door; she cried out, “Mister with no legs, come here, Shagu is here!”

  Shagu looked at the temple door. It was dark, so all she could see was blackness, but she was always scared of ghosts ever since she was little; quickly she pulled Huang Rong’s sleeve and cried in panic, “Don’t come to take my life, it was this good brother who killed you with an iron spearhead. I was in the kitchen watching through the door . ghost with no legs, don’t come looking for me!”

  Not in a million years would Ouyang Feng guess that his beloved nephew was killed by Yang Kang; yet he always thought that Yang Kang was unable to tell lies. Obviously Shagu could not lie.

  Sad and angry he laughed maniacally, casting a sharp glance toward Yang Kang. “Xiao Wangye, my nephew deserved to die. It’s good that you killed him, it’s good!” he said. His laughter sent a chill on everybody’s spine; his voice was very mournful, making ears buzzing like innumerable needles were piercing their eardrums at the same time. Everybody was trembling, their teeth chattered. There were thousands of white-head crows on the temple’s pagoda that night; Ouyang Feng’s laughter startled them. ‘Caw! Caw! Caw!’ they were crying noisily and then they flew away loudly flapping their wings.

  Yang Kang thought he would not live to see another day; both eyes looking left and right, trying to find a way to escape.

  Wanyan Honglie was also secretly frightened. After the crows noise subsided he said, “This girl is insane, Mister Ouyang, how can you believe what she said? Your honorable nephew came by Xiao Wangye’s invitation because Xiao Wang [lit. little king - he was referring to himself] is relying heavily on his assistance. How could Xiao Wangye harm him without any reason?”

  Seemingly without making any effort Ouyang Feng stood up, his body glided over and with a slight bend on his knees he landed on Shagu’s side. His left hand grabbed Shagu’s arm. “Why did he kill my nephew? Speak up!” he roared.

  Shagu was scared to death. “I didn’t kill him, don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me!” she cried. She struggled hard, but Ouyang Feng’s grip was like a pair of steel pliers, how could Shagu free herself? The more she struggled, the harder his grip became. Shagu was frightened and cried, “Mama!”

  Ouyang Feng repeated his question several times; Shagu became so scared from crying that she did not dare to cry anymore. She only stared at Ouyang Feng’s face with a blank expression.

  “Shagu,” Huang Rong soothingly said, “Don’t be afraid, this nice grandpa is going to give you a cake.”

  Her words reminded Ouyang Feng. He realized that if he used force, Shagu would not dare to talk; therefore, he groped inside his pocket and produced a dried and already cold steamed bun and held it out to Shagu’s hand. “That’s right! Here, you can eat this cake.”

  Shagu grabbed the bun, her fear was gone. “Yeye, you grabbed my arm, it hurt, you must not grab me anymore,” she said.

  “Good Shagu, you are an obedient child,” Ouyang Feng warmly said, “Yeye won’t grab your arm anymore.”

  Huang Rong said, “That day the mister without legs was hugging a lady. Tell me, was she pretty?”

  Shagu nodded. “Very pretty. I wonder where she is going.”

  Huang Rong asked again, “Do you know who she is? You don’t know, do you?”

  Shagu’s face lit, she was so proud of herself; she clapped her hands and said, “I know, I know! She is this good brother’s wife!”

  Hearing this, any doubt left in Ouyang Feng’s heart was gone. He knew his nephew’s lecherous character; it must be because of Mu Nianci that his nephew met his fate. But, Ouyang Ke’s martial art was higher than Yang Kang’s; even though his legs were injured, Yang Kang was still not his match; he could not figure out how Yang Kang was able to kill him? He turned his head toward Yang Kang and said, “My nephew was oblivious to what’s good and what’s not, he dared to offend the Xiao Wangye’s concubine; he deserved to die ten thousand times.”

  “No ... No ...” Yang Kang stammered. “It wasn’t me ...” “Then who?” Ouyang Feng sternly asked.

  Yang Kang was so scared that his knees turned into rubber, cold sweats pouring down his forehead; his usual shrewdness was gone, he was unable to utter a single word.

  Huang Rong sighed, “Uncle Ouyang, you can’t blame the Xiao Wangye of being heartless, you can’t blame your nephew flirtatious character either, you have only your superb martial art to blame.”

  “How so?” Ouyang Feng was puzzled.

  Huang Rong answered, “I don’t know why, but in that house at the Ox Village I heard a couple, a man and a woman, were talking. I do not understand what they were discussing.”

  Listening to this muddy talk with so many unknown Ouyang Feng was more confounded, “What did they say?” he asked.

  Huang Rong answered, “I will repeat what they said word for word, I won’t add or subtract a single word; please Uncle hear me out. I did not see their faces, I don’t know who the man was, I don’t know who the woman was either; what I heard was that man said, ‘If this fact that I killed Ouyang Ke ever leaks out, won’t that be a disaster?’ That woman replied, ‘A real man is not afraid to take responsibility of his action. If you are afraid, you shouldn’t have killed him yesterday. Even though his uncle is very fierce, we can run away to some far away place, he won’t be able to find us.’”

  Listening to Huang Rong, Ouyang Feng said, “That woman was right. What did the man say?”

  While these two were talking, one asked the questions and the other answered, Yang Kang was getting more and more afraid than ever. The moon cast its light through the temple’s door, throwing a slanting column of light illuminating the face of the temple’s idol. Yang Kang slowly moved away from the light, quietly walked toward Huang Rong’s back. He heard Huang Rong answered Ouyang Feng’s question.

  “That man said, ‘Meizi [sister/beloved], I have another thought: his uncle’s martial art is unparalleled, I wanted to take him as my master, I have had this thought for a while, but they followed a very strict rule: they only take one disciple per generation. Now that this man is dead, his uncle might take me as his disciple!”

  Huang Rong did not mention anybody’s name, but she had an uncanny ability to imitate Yang Kang’s accent. Yang Kang grew up in the northern area,
but Bai Xirou, his mother, was a native of Lin’an in the south; so Yang Kang’s accent was a mixture between northerners and southerners. As soon as Huang Rong said these things, everybody knew it was Yang Kang she was imitating.

  Ouyang Feng laughed coldly; he turned his head but did not see Yang Kang.

  Suddenly they heard ‘whack!’, then ‘Aiyo!’ Someone was crying in alarm. They saw Yang Kang standing under the moonlight with blood dripping from his right hand, his face was deathly pale.

  Turned out that when Yang Kang heard Huang Rong was revealing his secret he could not restrain himself much longer; he leaped ferociously, his claw was aimed toward Huang Rong’s head. As Huang Rong imitated Yang Kang’s accent, she was fully aware he would certainly attack her;

  therefore, she had guarded against this attack from the start. Her martial art level was higher than Yang Kang’s. As soon as she heard the gust of wind she leaned her head sideways to elude, so the claw fell on her shoulder.

  Yang Kang had launched the ‘Nine Yin White-bone Claw’ with all his might, his five fingers landed on the soft hedgehog armor Huang Rong was wearing. A shot of pain traveled from his fingers to his brain; he almost pass out.

  The others were clueless as whether it was Yang Kang who made the sneak attack, or was it Huang Rong or Ouyang Feng who attacked him. They were all scared of Ouyang Feng, so nobody dared to say anything.

  Wanyan Honglie rushed forward, trying to help. “Kang’er, what happened to you? Where does it hurt?” he asked. Casually he took out the dagger on his belt and placed it on Yang Kang’s hand. He realized Ouyang Feng would not have good intention. He was hoping that in a chaotic battle they, father and son, would be able to save their lives.

  Enduring his pain Yang Kang said, “I am all right.” He held out his hand to grab the dagger, but his hand was numb, ‘clank!’ the dagger fell on the floor. Hastily he stooped down to pick it up, but strangely his arm was stiff; it did not want to follow his command anymore. He was extremely shocked. He tried to pinch his right arm with his left fingers, but he did not feel anything. He looked up toward Huang Rong and cried out in horror, “Poison! Poison! You used poison to harm me!”

  Peng Lianhu and the others knew they were going to offend Ouyang Feng, but Wanyan Honglie was the Great Jin’s prominent Prince; surely this Ouyang Ke affair could be discussed peacefully later. Seeing Yang Kang’s frightened expression, they immediately rushed forward to offer words of sympathy and called out to Huang Rong, “Quickly give the antidote to Xiao Wangye!” but everybody stayed as far as possible from Ouyang Feng.

  Huang Rong was indifferent, “Don’t make a fuss; my soft hedgehog armor does not have any poison on it. There is somebody here who wants to kill him, I don’t have to lift a finger to harm him.”

  But suddenly Yang Kang shouted, “I ... I ... I can’t move!” His knees buckled, his body slowly slid down, his mouth was producing a growling noise much like a wild beast.

  Huang Rong felt strange and she turned toward Ouyang Feng, but saw that he was carrying a puzzled expression as well. She turned back toward Yang Kang, she saw Yang Kang was strangely happy, a crack of smile appeared on the corners of his mouth. Under the silvery moonlight he looked inhumanly ghastly. Suddenly a thought came into her mind, she said, “It was Uncle Ouyang who poisoned you.”

  Ouyang Feng was puzzled, “From the look of him, it was indeed my marvelous snake’s poison. I had wanted him to taste it, this little girl had done it on my behalf. Wonderful! Wonderful! But those snakes, I am the only one in this world who owns them, where did the little girl get it from?”

  “Where can I get that kind of snakes?” Huang Rong asked, “This is your own poison, you have unwittingly poison him yourself.”

  “You are talking weird,” Ouyang Feng said. Eagle Shooting Hero

  “Uncle Ouyang,” Huang Rong said, “I remember your bet against the Old Urchin. You took the poison from your snakes and feed it to a shark. As this shark died of the poison, the second shark ate its flesh and died of the same poison. This way the poison was spreading endlessly. Isn’t that

  so?”

  Ouyang Feng laughed, “If my poison is not extraordinary, won’t my title ‘Western Poison’ be in vain?”

  “That’s right,” Huang Rong said, “Nan Xiren was the first shark.”

  By that time Yang Kang was already rolling around on the ground like a madman. Liang Ziweng wanted to comfort him, but how could he stop him?

  Ouyang Feng ignored everything, he knitted his eyebrows trying to understand what Huang Rong was saying, but it was still dark to him. “Please elaborate,” he said.

  “Hmm, you used your viper to bite Nan Xiren. That day I came across him on the Peach Blossom Island and he hit me. His fist landed on my left shoulder. The sharp needles of my soft hedgehog armor punctured his hand, so his poisonous blood was transferred to my soft hedgehog armor, which became the second shark. When Xiao Wangye attacked me, heaven’s net tightened, his claw grabbed my shoulder. Nan Xiren’s poisoned blood was transferred once again to him. Hey, hey, he is the third shark.”

  Hearing Huang Rong’s explanation everybody realized how deathly Ouyang Feng’s poison was. They also remembered Yang Kang’s treacherous plan in killing the Five Freaks; in the end it was Nan Xiren’s blood which kill him. It was truly a revenge well-deserved. A chill crept into everybody’s back.

  Wanyan Honglie walked toward Ouyang Feng, knelt in front of him and asked, “Mr. Ouyang, please help save my son’s life; Xiao Wang will always remember your benevolence.”

  Ouyang Feng laughed sinisterly, “Your son’s life is a life indeed, my nephew’s life was not a life!” His gaze swept through Peng Lianhu and the others’ faces and coldly said, “Which hero does not agree with me, please speak up!” Everybody recoiled simultaneously. Who would dare to open his mouth?

  Yang Kang suddenly leaped up, ‘bang!’ he hit Liang Ziweng, sending him somersaulted in the air and passed out. Wanyan Honglie stood up, calling, “Quick! Take Xiao Wangye back to Lin’an; we’ll find a good doctor to cure his injury.”

  Ouyang Feng laughed, “Who in this world can neutralize The Old Poison’s venom? Which doctor won’t want to live and dare to mess up my handiwork?”

  Wanyan Honglie ignored him, he shouted toward his martial artists, “What are you waiting for? Quickly take Xiao Wangye away.”

  Suddenly Yang Kang jumped high until his head almost hit the beam. He pointed his finger at Wanyan Honglie and he shouted, “You are not my father! You killed my mother, now you kill me!”

  Wanyan Honglie stepped back and stumbled down. Sha Tongtian said, “Xiao Wangye, please calm down.” He stepped forward to grab Yang Kang’s arms. Unexpectedly Yang Kang flipped his hand to push away Sha Tongtian’s hand and quickly seized his arm. Yang Kang’s left hand formed a claw scratching Sha Tongtian’s arm.

  Sha Tongtian cried in pain, hastily he rolled backward to escape, but a moment later he felt itchiness on his arm. He was terror-stricken!

  “This is the fourth shark,” Huang Rong coldly said.

  Peng Lianhu and Sha Tongtian were good friends, moreover, Peng Lianhu was also an expert poison user, he knew Sha Tongtian was poisoned and his life was in grave danger. In this critical moment almost without thinking he took the saber from his waist and swiftly chopped Sha Tongtian’s arm halfway down.

  Hou Tonghai did not understand Peng Lianhu’s good intention, “Peng Lianhu, you dare to hurt my ‘Shige’? [Elder martial brother]” He charged Peng Lianhu disregarding his own safety.

  Sha Tongtian endured the pain and shouted, “Idiot, back-off! Brother Peng was saving my life!”

  By this time Yang Kang’s mind was cloudy, he was charging to the east and striking to the west, kicking and biting randomly. Everybody saw what happened to Sha Tongtian, nobody dared to come close to him; shouting and yelling they darted out of the temple.

  It was a very chaotic situation; the crows on the pagoda were startled, they flew around in confusion under t
he moonlight around the temple’s courtyard. Their noisy cries intermingled with Yang Kang’s neighing voice.

  As Wanyan Honglie was heading toward the temple door he turned his head one more time and called out, “Kang’er! Kang’er!”

  Yang Kang’s eyes were brimming with tears; he also called out, “Fu Wang! Fu Wang! [Father King]” He walked toward Wanyan Honglie.

  Wanyan Honglie was delighted, he spread out his arms and hugged Yang Kang tightly, “Child, are you feeling better?”

  Under the moonlight Yang Kang’s face suddenly changed; he opened his mouth, revealing two rows of white teeth, ready to bite. Wanyan Honglie was shocked. His left hand pushed out, breaking the hug. Yang Kang’s strength was completely gone; he fell backwards. He struggled hard to crawl back up to no avail.

  Wanyan Honglie did not dare to linger much longer, without looking back he hurriedly went out the temple, mounted his horse and ran as fast as he could. The others were close on his heels, and in a short moment the temple was quiet again.

  Ouyang Feng and Huang Rong saw Yang Kang was rolling around on the ground, each with his/her own thought, nobody said anything. A moment later Yang Kang’s body curled up and then ceased to move altogether.

  “Enough commotion for half a night,” Ouyang Feng coldly said, “It’s almost daybreak; let us go looking for your father.”

  “Right now my father is on the Peach Blossom Island,” Huang Rong said, “Why do you want to look for him?”

  Ouyang Feng was taken aback, “So the little girl was lying all along,” he sneered.

  “The first few sentences were indeed to swindle you,” Huang Rong admitted, “What kind of man do you think my father is? How could he let himself surrounded by a bunch of stinky Quanzhen priests? If I did not mention the Nine Yin Manual you wouldn’t let me interrogate Shagu.”

  By this time Ke Zhen’E had totally admired Huang Rong, but he was sad and full of regret at the same time. He only hoped she would find a clever trick to escape soon. He heard Ouyang Feng said, “There were three parts truth in your lies, otherwise, the Old Poison wouldn’t be so easily deceived. All right then, recite your father’s translation to me from the beginning to the end, don’t skip even half a word.”