by Jin Yong
Guo Jing and Huang Rong made grateful gestures. They noticed that he wore a long robe and had similar facial features to the fisherman, except that he looked stronger and well built. Guo Jing said, “May we know brother Lu’s name?”
The youth said, “This humble one is named Guanying; please just call me by my name.”
Huang Rong answered politely, “No, how can we?”
The three began chatting while proceeding towards the main hall. Guo Jing and Huang Rong noticed that the interior of the hall was designed and decorated beautifully. As Huang Rong walked, she concentrated on the layout of the place and its pathways. She looked a little puzzled.
As the three of them crossed the front yard and entered the guest hall, they heard the fisherman call out from behind a screen, “Please come in.”
Lu Guanying said, “My father is unable to walk and thus has to receive you in his east study.”
The three of them went past the screen and saw that the door of the study was open; the fisherman was sitting on a couch, inside. However, he was no longer dressed as a fisherman but as an elderly scholar. He held a white goose feather fan in his hand and was fanning himself cheerfully. Guo Jing and Huang Rong entered and sat, but Lu Guanying didn’t dare sit and stood to one side. Huang Rong saw that the study was filled with shelves of literary classics and poetry collections. The tables were decorated with precious ornaments, such as jade antiques and a black ink painting hung on the wall. The painting depicted a middle-aged scholar who was posing with a sword stance in the backyard in the moonlight. But the scholar had a lonely expression on his face. On the upper left corner of the painting was a poem.
‘The night is silent without any chirping from the birds. It is already late in the night when I fall into deep sleep. I awake only to carry on alone, there is no one but the bright moon there. A hundred pieces gain recognition and success. The aging hills and withering branches block my path. There are so many things buried within me but no one is willing to listen, to whom can I confide in my problems?’
Huang Rong recognized this poem as one written by Yue Fei entitled ‘Little Strong Hill’. It had been taught to her by her father. She saw the signature at the bottom which read ‘The Crippled Person of Five Lake is seriously ill’ and realized that the ‘Crippled Person of Five Lake’ must be the pen name for the owner of this manor. The strokes of the words were written in a harsh and forceful manner and seemed like they were tearing through the paper.
Master Lu saw that Huang Rong was concentrating on the painting and asked, “Brother, how do you find my painting? Would you care to give me some pointers?” [Reminder: Huang Rong is dressed as a boy.]
Huang Rong answered, “I will express my thoughts then, but I hope Master Lu does not get offended.”
Master Lu said, “Please go on.”
Huang Rong said, “The poem in the painting is Yue Fei’s ‘Little Strong Hill’, which he wrote in his Wu Mu collections. The words depict a distressed and depressed mood. However there are specific meanings to them. General Yue was a courageous soul and fought hard for his country and people. The phrase, ‘A hundred pieces for recognition and success’ in the poem is probably to show his humble being. At that time, many court officials were corrupt and were on the side of the Jin. Yue Fei was a strong official but it was a pity no one was willing to listen to him. This was probably why he wrote the phrase, ‘There are so many things buried within me but no one is willing to listen, to whom can I confide my problems?’ The phrase depicts a despondent Yue Fei, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he wanted to oppose the court. However when master wrote this poem, you were in an agitated and aggressive mood and thus asserted much force in your brush strokes; it seems as if you wanted to fight it out with your sworn enemy and thus, your intentions and mood do not tie in at all with Yue Fei’s at the time when he worked on his Wu Mu collections. Forgive me for my ignorance but from what I know, if one strives to over achieve or over express in literary and art works, the true and pure intentions will be lost and the work will be unable to achieve its brilliance.”
When Master Lu heard what Huang Rong said, he gave a long sigh. He wore a miserable expression and was silent. Huang Rong saw his unusual response and thought, “I’m afraid I have been too direct in my words and offended him. But it’s exactly what father taught me when he explained this poem.”
She said, “This humble one has been too ignorant and spouted nonsense. Please forgive me Master Lu.”
Master Lu recovered a little and then wore a delighted expression on his face. He asked happily, “Brother Huang, please don’t say that. You are the first person who can actually read my feelings, what a great confidant you are. As for the over use of expression, it is one of my worst habits. I thank brother for your pointers.” He turned to his son and said, “Hurry and ask the servants to prepare the banquet.”
Guo Jing and Huang Rong hurriedly conveyed their thanks and said, “Please don’t bother.” But Lu Guanying had already disappeared from the room.
Master Lu said, “Brother is wise and knowledgeable, you must have mastered a high level of literary classics and your father must be a brilliant teacher. I wonder what his honorable name is?”
Huang Rong answered, “This humble one knows nothing much and thus does not deserve all this praise. My father lives in isolation and does not have any students; thus his name is not well known.”
Master Lu sighed, “What a pity it is, not being able to meet such talent.”
After the banquet, they returned to the study for a chat. Master Lu said, “The scenery outside is some of the best, why don’t the two of you reside in one of the houses in the manor and enjoy the view? Furthermore, it’s getting late and it is time for you to rest.”
Guo Jing and Huang Rong stood up and bid their farewell. Huang Rong was about to leave the room when she suddenly looked up and saw that eight pieces of iron strips were fixed above the study’s lintel. The iron strips were arranged to form the ‘Eight trigrams’, but it was not as neat as the usual arrangement. The iron strips were arranged in a rather sloppy and messy way. Huang Rong’s heart skipped a beat but she remained silent and expressionless and followed Guo Jing to a guest room. The guest room was decorated in an elegant way; the two beds faced each other and the pillows and sheets were clean.
A servant served them some fragrant tea and said, “If sirs need anything, just ring the bell beside the bed and I will come. Please be reminded never to leave the room.” With that, he left the room and gently closed the door behind him.
Huang Rong asked in a low voice, “What do you find peculiar about this place? Why do they ask us not to leave the room?”
Guo Jing said, “The manor is huge and the pathways lead out in all directions. Maybe they’re afraid that we will get lost?”
Huang Rong gave a little laugh, “The manor has an unusual design. What kind of person do you think Master Lu is?”
Guo Jing said, “Maybe a retired official?”
Huang Rong shook her head, “This person is no doubt highly skilled in martial arts. Did you see the iron ‘Eight Trigrams’ just now?”
Guo Jing asked, “Iron ‘Eight Trigrams’? What’s that?”
Huang Rong answered, “That’s used to practice the ‘Thrusting Air Palms’. Father taught me this set of palm techniques but I was bored and stopped learning it after a month. I would never have expected to see it here.”
Guo Jing said, “Master Lu means us no harm. Since he did not mention anything about it, let’s just pretend that we are unaware of it.”
Huang Rong nodded and smiled. She gently thrust out her palm towards the candle and a ‘chi’ sound was heard just before the candle went out.
Guo Jing praised in a low voice, “Great palm technique!” He asked, “Is that the ‘Thrusting Air Palm’?”
Huang Rong smiled, “I only learned it to this level. It can be used for fun but it is totally useless when used in a real duel.”
There was a sudd
en distant humming in the middle of the night, which startled Guo Jing and Huang Rong, who had been sleeping before that. They strained to hear more and heard the sound again, which sounded like someone was blowing a tune on a seashell. After a while, the humming started again. There was definitely more than one person creating the noise as both hums were created at the same time. It seemed like there were two people standing apart and blowing the shells to communicate. Huang Rong whispered, “Let’s go and see what’s up.”
Guo Jing answered, “Let’s not go and find trouble.”
Huang Rong argued, “Who says we’re finding trouble? I only suggested that we check out what’s happening.”
They pushed open the window quietly and looked out. They saw many people running about with lanterns in their hands, but there was no clue as to why they were rushing about. Huang Rong looked up and saw three or four blurred figures crouching on a nearby rooftop. The light from the lanterns shone briefly onto the figures and Huang Rong saw the moving light reflecting from the weapons which those people carried. After a while, the crowd of servants ran out of the manor. Huang Rong was curious and pulled Guo Jing towards the side of the window. She made sure no one was about and gently leaped out such that the people on the roof weren’t aware of her movements.
Huang Rong signaled to Guo Jing to walk backwards. The pathways in the manor turned and twisted such that the directions were very complicated. The most unusual thing was that the railings and pillars at every turn looked exactly the same. After a few whirls, one would not be able to distinguish between the different directions. Huang Rong, however, was not the least bothered about this obstacle and walked around without any hint of worry or suspicion. Several times, it looked as if it was no pathway but she always managed to identify a fake rock and spin past it; or she would just twirl round the flowers and they would be back on the main path. At times, it looked as if there was a dead end in front of them, but somehow or other, there would always be a way past a screen of a huge trees. At times, there would be a path through the opening of a grotto but Huang Rong would never walk through. Instead, she would miraculously be able to identify a hidden and unnoticeable entrance in the walls and push through. The more Guo Jing proceeded the more curious he became. He whispered, “Rong’er, the pathways of this manor are really bizarre, how is it that you are always able to identify the right way?”
Huang Rong signaled for him to be quiet and after seven or eight more turns, they arrived by the wall of the backyard. Huang Rong examined the wall and used her fingers to count before walking and counting her footsteps. Guo Jing heard her mumble, “Form a trigram first, thirdly prepare, fifthly supplement, repeat the seventh.. ,”and he did not understand a single word.
Huang Rong counted as she walked, and after a particular count, she stopped in her tracks and said, “We can only leave from here; the rest of the place is filled with traps.”
She leapt onto the top of the wall and Guo Jing followed suit. Huang Rong continued, “This manor is built according to sixty-four bearings (positions) which are concealed. My father is a master in this particular type of pattern, which requires one to design eight different types of routes. Master Lu can obstruct others, but he can’t trap me.” Her tone was filled with pride.
The two climbed up a small mound situated behind the manor and looked out towards the east. They saw a person walking towards the lake with a lantern raised high. Huang Rong tugged at Guo Jing’s sleeve and both of them flew forward using their lightness skill. Arriving closer, they hid behind a huge rock and noticed a row of fishing boats near the shore of the lake. A crowd of people slowly boarded the boats and after they did so, each put out their lanterns. Guo Jing and Huang Rong waited till the last batch of people boarded and it was pitch dark before leaping out and landing on the tail of a large boat. After they heard the fishing boats begin to move, they leaped on top of the sail of the boat and looked down. It was then they saw someone sitting inside the cabin of the boat and the person was none other than the junior of the manor, Lu Guanying.
As the row of boats started moving, the tune from the seashell could be heard again. A person on the boat walked to the front and also started blowing into a shell. After the boat moved some distance, one could see many little boats drifting on the lake. The myriad of little boats looked like tiny ants in the distance as though one had painted hundreds of black dots on a large sheet of paper. The person on the boat blew his shell three times and the large boat dropped its small boat into the middle of the lake. About ten little boats started moving in from all directions. Guo Jing and Huang Rong were mystified and they were not sure whether or not a battle was going to take place. They lowered their heads and peeped at Lu Guanying, who looked calm and normal; he did not show any hint of anxiousness as one would show in times of war.
Not long after, the boats sailed nearer. Every boat had either two or three people who boarded the boat. Every person, after boarding the huge boat, would bow to Lu Guanying and were respectful in their behavior. It seemed that seats had been arranged for the visitors from the little boats according to their status. Some people had arrived earlier but sat at the back, whereas some who arrived later got to sit in the front. A tea server ushered the visitors to their seats. The visitors had stern and rough expressions and their actions were swift and fierce. Although they dressed like fishermen, it seemed as if all of them were well versed in martial arts and were definitely not the usual type of fisherman.
Lu Guanying raised his arm and said, “Brother Zhang, what have you found out?” A skinny man sitting in the middle stood up and said, “To answer Junior Master, the Jin Ambassador has decided to sail across the lake tonight. Commander Duan should arrive in about one shichens. [one shichen = 2 hours] He is using the pretext of greeting the ambassador to engage in some plunder along the way. That is why he is late. ”
Lu Guanying asked, “How much has he ransacked?”
The man answered, “There have been harvests from every village and his soldiers are still robbing the villagers now. When I saw him board the boat, his soldiers were struggling with more than twenty heavy chests of treasure.”
Lu Guanying asked, “How many soldiers and horses does he have with him?”
The man answered, “About two thousand. Those who cross the lake do not have horses with them. Since there are not enough boats, there are about a thousand of them who stayed back on shore.”
Lu Guanying turned towards the audience and asked, “Bothers, what do you think?”
Everyone answered, “We will follow Junior Master’s orders.”
Lu Guanying placed both hands into his sleeves and said, “These corrupt officials go around confiscating money through immoral means. We, the people of the lake, would not be delivering justice if we do not get that money back. We will do our best to take as much as we can. Half of it will go to the poor villagers by the lake and the other half will be split between us.”
The audience all roared in agreement. It was then that Guo Jing and Huang Rong realize that these people were the pirates of the lake and Lu Guanying was probably their leader.
Lu Guanying said, “Without further delay, let’s get going. Brother Zhang, take five small boats and continue to keep watch.”
The skinny man took the order and immediately sailed away. Lu Guanying went on to assign everyone their tasks, such as who would lead, who would be the back ups, who would lead the ‘water ghosts’ to swim and create damage to the enemy’s boat, who would grab the treasure, who would capture the official and so on. He carefully assigned the various tasks in a very organized way.
Guo Jing and Huang Rong were puzzled. They had just dined and chatted with Lu Guanying earlier in the day and found him to be a polite, proper and decent chap, not forgetting that he was from a wealthy and cultivated family. Who would have guessed that he was a pirate leader? Just as Lu Guanying finished assigning the various tasks and everyone was setting out, someone from the middle of the group stood up and said col
dly, “We people have no assets and it is alright to rob some wealthy businessmen. But if we attack such an official, won’t we have trouble living on the lake in the future? We should not offend the Jin Ambassador.”
Guo Jing and Huang Rong thought the voice sounded familiar. When they squinted to have a better look, they realized that is was Sha Tongtian’s disciple, one of the ‘Four Demons of the Yellow River’, ‘Spirit Capturing Whip’ Ma Qingxiong; they had no idea how he ended up in this group. Lu Guanying’s expression changed; he had yet to answer when a few pirates in the crowd starting hooting.
Lu Guanying said, “Brother Ma is a first timer and doesn’t know the rules here. Since everyone is determined to carry out the task, we’ll give our all and make sure the soldiers have no chance to retaliate, only then can we die without regrets.”
Ma Qingxiong answered, “Alright, you people go ahead; I would rather not get involved and get myself into trouble.” With that, he turned and started to walk off the boat. Two men blocked him and called out, “Brother Ma, you swore that you will go through thick and thin with us!”
Ma Qingxiong pushed out with both palms and retorted, “Move away!” The two men were hit and fell to the side. As Ma Qingxiong was about to leave the boat he suddenly felt a gust of wind fly towards his back, when the wind passed him he used his left hand to take a dagger from his boot, twist his arm and thrust the dagger behind him. Lu Guanying stretched out his left arm and positioned it on the entrance door; at the same time, he leaped and thrust his palm forward. Ma Qingxiong used his right arm to block the attack while using his left arm to thrust the dagger forward. The two men exchanged attacks in the narrow passage-way of the boat. Guo Jing once fought with Ma Qingxiong back in Mongolia. When he first saw Lu Guanying’s moves, he thought that it would not be easy for him to win. But after more moves, Lu Guanying gained the upper hand and was clearly going to win. Guo Jing was suspicious and thought, “Why is Ma suddenly not strong anymore? Ah, yes, that day when he fought with me he had the support of his martial brothers; but now, he’s alone surrounded by many enemies, of course he’ll be afraid.” But Guo Jing did not know that the real reason lay in Hong Qigong’s training of the past two months. Guo Jing had mastered fifteen stances of the world renowned ‘Eighteen Dragon- Subduing Palms’, accompanied by pointers and advice provided by Hong Qigong himself. Because of this, although he did not understand the full essence of the skill, his martial arts had improved tremendously and were at a very much higher level than the skills he learned from the ‘Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’. At this point in time, Guo Jing was still unaware that his skills had already exceeded his six teachers, and thus, he still thought that he was inferior to Ma Qingxiong. He saw the two men exchange further stances when Lu Guanying shot out his left fist and a ‘pa’ sound was heard; the blow hit Ma Qingxiong on the chest and he stumbled and fell back. Two pirates behind him pierced him with their daggers and Ma Qingxiong lay dead. The two pirates then lifted the corpse and threw it into the lake.