by Jin Yong
Wanyan Honglie tossed and turned without being able to get any sleep. Around midnight he could hear the sounds of the rising tide in the river. He could also hear a dog barking at the other end of the village and the dog barked intermittently throughout the night, as if it was lamenting. In the quiet of the night it brought sorrow to the heart, adding to the anxiety he already felt inside.
After a long while footsteps were heard outside the door. someone was coming in. Wanyan Honglie quickly sat up and drew his sword. Yang Kang had quickly jumped behind the door to set an ambush. In the moonlight they saw a woman with disheveled hair, humming a children’s song, open the door and come in. It was none other than Sha Gu. She had just got back from playing in the woods all day. She thought little of seeing people sleeping in her room, so she kept walking towards the pile of firewood, and lay down next to it. Not too long afterwards, she was snoring.
When Yang Kang saw it was only a dumb country girl, he smiled and went back to sleep. Wanyan Honglie’s mind, however, was filled with thoughts of the past and present. He did not sleep for a long time. He got up, took a candle from his backpack and lit it. Then he took out a book and started flipping the pages.
Huang Rong saw the bright light through the small hole. She took a peek and saw a moth circle the candle, then fly suddenly into the flame. Its wings were immediately scorched and it fell onto the table. Wanyan Honglie picked the moth up. He could not help but feel distressed. He thought, “If my Madame Bao were here, she would certainly take care of you.” From his bosom he took out a small silver knife, a small medicine bottle and stroked them affectionately.
Huang Rong lightly tapped Guo Jing’s shoulder and moved aside so Guo Jing could take a look through the small hole. What Guo Jing saw with his own eyes enraged him. He vaguely recognized the silver knife and medicine bottle as belonging to Yang Kang’s mother, Bao Xiruo. He’d seen her using these items at the Zhao Palace when she was tending a little injured rabbit. He heard Wanyan Honglie softly murmur, “Nineteen years ago, in this very village, I met you for the first time ... Ay! I wonder what has happened to your former home?” After saying that he arose, took the candle, and went out of the door.
Guo Jing was startled. “Could it be that this is my parents’ hometown, Ox Village?” he wondered. He pressed his mouth to Huang Rong’s ear to inquire. Huang Rong nodded. Guo Jing’s blood surged and his body shook.
Huang Rong’s right palm was holding Guo Jing’s left palm so she realized his breathing was uneven because of his agitation, which was very dangerous. She immediately reached out her left palm to grab Guo Jing’s right and together they synchronized their energies while Guo Jing slowly controlled his breathing. After a long time they saw a moving light and heard Wanyan Honglie heave a long sigh as he came back to the room. By this time Guo Jing was able to control his emotions, but his left palm was still held in Huang Rong’s right. He looked through the small hole again and saw Wanyan Honglie holding several small pieces of broken brick and tile, sitting in daze in the candle light.
Guo Jing thought, “This traitor is less than ten steps away from me. All I need to do is throw the dagger at him and I will be able to take his life.”
His right hand drew the golden blade that Genghis Khan gave him and he whispered to Huang Rong, “Open the door.”
“Don’t!” Huang Rong hastily said. “Killing him will be easy, but our hiding place will be discovered.”
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With a trembling voice Guo Jing said, “In six more days, I won’t know where he’ll be.”
Huang Rong knew it would not be easy to persuade him, so she whispered in his ear, “Your mother and Rong’er want you alive.”
Guo Jing’s felt a cold shiver in his heart. He nodded while putting the golden blade back into its sheath and again looked out through the small hole. He saw Wanyan Honglie sprawled on the table, asleep. Suddenly he saw somebody get up from the straw. This person’s face was illuminated by the candle light, but in the mirror, it was not clear whose face it was. Guo Jing only saw him quietly stand up and walk over to Wanyan Honglie. He took the silver knife and the small medicine bottle from the table, looked at them for a while, then gently put them back down on the table. He then turned his head and Guo Jing saw that it was Yang Kang.
Guo Jing said in his heart, “That’s right, you must avenge your parents. This is a very good opportunity. With a stab of the dagger, the enemy, with whom you cannot live under the same sky, will certainly lose his life. You won’t get the same opportunity once the Old Poison and the others come back.”
He was very anxious, hoping Yang Kang would make his move immediately. But after putting down the silver knife and the medicine bottle, Yang Kang blew out the candle. For a moment the room looked dark to him. Then he saw Yang Kang take off his long robe and gently drape it over Wanyan Honglie’s shoulders to protect him from the cold night.
Guo Jing was very angry and turned his head, not willing to look outside any longer. He did not understand how Yang Kang could treat the enemy who killed his parents with such tender and loving care. Huang Rong comforted him by saying, “Do not be impatient. After your injury is
healed, even should the traitor run away over the horizon, we will catch him. He is not the Old
Poison.don’t you think killing him will be easy?” Guo Jing nodded and went back to circulating his internal energy.
Dawn soon arrived and from the village came the sounds of roosters crowing and all kinds of morning clatter. The ‘qi’ had circulated inside their bodies seven times and they felt relaxed and comfortable. Huang Rong raised her index finger and said with a smile, “One day has passed!”
“And it was very dangerous!” Guo Jing replied in low voice. “If not for you, I would not have been able to keep my mind peaceful and calm. I nearly made things worse.”
“There are six more days and nights to go,” Huang Rong said. “You promised to listen to what I say.”
Guo Jing laughed. “When did I ever not listen to what you say?” he said.
Huang Rong leaned her head to one side and said, “Hmm, let me think.”
At this moment a single ray of sunlight came slanting through the ventilation window. Her white skin and beautiful rosy cheeks looked like the red clouds at dawn. Guo Jing suddenly noticed her palm was exceptionally warm and soft. Something stirred in his chest and he hastily chased that thought away, but his face was already blushing. For as long as they had been together, Guo Jing had never had this kind of feeling towards her before. He could not help feeling shocked and he silently rebuked himself.
Huang Rong saw him blushing and felt strange. “Jing ge ge,” she asked, “What just happened?” With a low voice Guo Jing replied, “I have been bad. I suddenly thought of ... thought of ...”
“What is it?” Huang Rong asked.
“I am not thinking about it anymore,” Guo Jing answered.
“Then what did you think of?” Huang Rong pressed.
Unable to dodge the question Guo Jing confessed. “I was thinking of hugging you.. .kissing you.”
Huang Rong felt warm and sweet all of a sudden and she also blushed. She looked shy and even lovelier.
Seeing her lower her head without saying anything Guo Jing asked, “Rong’er, are you angry? I was as bad as Ouyang Ke for having such a bad thought.”
Huang Rong gave him one of her captivating smiles. “I am not angry,” she said with a tender voice, “I was thinking that in the future you will hug and kiss me, for I will certainly be your wife.” Guo Jing was very happy. He stammered but could not say anything.
“You wanted to hug and kiss me.. .is that bad?” Huang Rong asked.
Guo Jing was about to reply when there suddenly came the sounds of rushing footsteps outside as two men burst into the inn. He heard Hou Tonghai’s voice say, “His granny [he’s cussing], I told you earlier that there are ghosts in the world, but older Martial Brother did not believe me.” He was so agitated that he could no
t say clearly what was in his raging mind. Then Sha Tongtian replied, “What ghost? I told you.. .we met a martial arts master.”
Huang Rong looked out through the hole and saw that Hou Tonghai’s face was covered in blood, while Sha Tongtian’s clothes were torn to pieces. It seemed as though these two martial brothers had been through an extremely difficult situation.
Wanyan Honglie and Yang Kang were confounded to see their condition and they hastily asked about it. Hou Tonghai replied, “We were very unfortunate.. .we met a ghost at the Imperial Palace last night. Damn it! Old Hou’s ears were cut off by that ghost.”
Wanyan Honglie did indeed see that both sides of his face were covered with blood and looked somewhat unusual. As it turned out, his ears were missing. Wanyan Honglie was astonished.
Sha Tongtian scolded, “Still talking about a strange ghost story! Haven’t you disgraced us enough?”
Hou Tonghai was afraid of his older Martial Brother, but he still tried to argue. “I saw it clearly. His eyes were blue.he was the red bearded ‘Judge of Hell’ pouncing at me with a scary ‘Wah! Wah!’ voice! All I did was turn my head, then he grabbed my neck and my ears were gone. This ‘Judge of Hell’ looked exactly like the one in the temple.. .how could it not be him?”
Sha Tongtian only fought the ‘Judge’ for three stances and his clothes were ripped to pieces. That ‘Judge’ was definitely a highly skilled martial artist, not some strange ghost, but Sha Tongtian did not have a clue as to why he had the appearance of the ‘Judge of Hell’.
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The four people offered their guesses and they even asked Ouyang Ke who was lying down because of his injuries, but nobody came up with a plausible answer.
While they were still talking, Lingzhi Shangren [Shangren is a respectful term for addressing a Buddhist monk], Peng Lianhu and Liang Ziweng also arrived, one after another. Venerable Lingzhi’s hands were bound behind his back with an iron chain, Peng Lianhu’s cheeks were a swollen red and blue, and Liang Ziweng’s condition was the funniest.the white hair on his head had been pulled out so cleanly that he looked like a Buddhist monk. As he stood near and talked to Sha Tongtian, they looked alike with their bald heads reflecting the light.
As it turned, out those three had entered the Imperial Palace and spread out in order to find the Wumu Legacy. All of them had met ghosts, but each met a different ghost. One met with a ‘wu chang gui’ [the ghost supposed to take soul after death], the other ‘huang ling guan’ [yellow spirit officer], and the last was ‘tu di pu sa’ [earth god].
Liang Ziweng stroked his own bald head and opened his mouth to curse using all the dirty words he knew, including some like ‘mother-in-law of the earth grew some fungi’. Peng Lianhu endured it all silently and did not say a single word as he worked hard trying to take the iron chain from Venerable Lingzhi’s wrists. The chain, with hooks on either end, connected tightly to each other and cut deep into the flesh. Peng Lianhu had to exert a lot of strength and his hands were bruised and bloody before he could unhook the chain. Everyone looked at each other with blank dismay and nobody made a sound. They knew in their hearts that last night they had met a highly skilled martial artist and were greatly insulted. They all felt ashamed. Hou Tonghai still believed it was a ghost and nobody bothered to argue with him.
After a long time Wanyan Honglie opened his mouth. “I wonder why Mr. Ouyang has not come back yet. Perhaps he also met a ghost.”
“Mr. Ouyang’s martial arts skill is unmatched,” Yang Kang said. “Even if he met a ghost he wouldn’t suffer a defeat.” Peng Lianhu and the others were indifferent.
Huang Rong heard everything about how these people met extremely difficult situations and talked about ghosts. She was very pleased and thought, “The masks I bought for Zhou Dage [Big Brother] have unexpectedly boosted his power and prestige .that is truly beyond my expectations. I wonder if he’s met and fought the Old Poison yet.” At that moment she felt Guo Jing’s internal energy starting to flow into her palm, so she immediately turned back to join him.
Peng Lianhu and the others had been busy all night and were starving. Working together they chopped firewood, bought rice and vegetables, and prepared the food. When the food was ready, Hou Tonghai went to the cupboard to get some bowls. He noticed the iron bowl and tried to take it.naturally it would not budge. He was startled and shouted, “A ghost!” He pulled the bowl with all his strength, but of course the bowl did not move. Huang Rong heard his voice and was shocked, for she knew that their hiding place must not be found by them. Not only that, if a fight broke out they would not necessarily win and besides, if they moved ever so slightly, Guo Jing’s life would be in danger. That must not happen. Inside the secret room she was frightened and did not know what to do. Outside of the room, Sha Tongtian heard his martial brother’s shout and reprimanded him for making such a big fuss over nothing.
Hou Tonghai was not angry and said, “All right then, come and take this bowl.” Sha Tongtian reached out his hand to pick up the bowl, but the bowl stayed put. “Ah!” he exclaimed.
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Peng Lianhu heard him and came over. “Brother Sha [Sha Xiong],” he said, “There must be a secret mechanism connected to it. Try turning it to the left or right.”
Huang Rong knew the situation was pressing and knew that they were being forced to risk it all. She handed the dagger to Guo Jing and reached out her hand to take the bamboo stick given to her by Hong Qigong. Inwardly she felt sad to think their lives would end this way. At the last moment she turned her head and noted the skeletons at the corner of the room. Suddenly an idea came to mind. She hurriedly grabbed the skulls, lifted a big watermelon, and placed the skulls on the watermelon.
With a creaking sound the iron door opened, revealing the hole behind it. Huang Rong placed the watermelon on top of her head and spread her long hair over her face. As Sha Tongtian opened the door, he saw a monster with two heads inside the cabinet, making scary ‘Wah! Wah!’ sounds. The monster’s two heads were skulls, side by side on top of a blue and green striped sphere, with a clump of long black beard beneath it.
Everyone had suffered a lot the previous night and they were still shaken. Now they suddenly saw a ghost inside the cabinet and they were really frightened. Hou Tonghai screamed and ran away. Without thinking, everyone else followed. The only one left was Ouyang Ke. He was lying on a straw bed with broken legs, unable to run.
Huang Rong heaved a long sigh and quickly closed the cabinet door. She could not help but smile considering that, for the moment, they had barely escaped serious trouble. She also knew those traitors were some of Jianghu’s top veterans, so surely they would come back. They were running away because they had been frightened by the Old Urchin. If not for that, how could she have fooled them so easily? Once they calmed down they would come back and not be frightened away so easily. She was still undecided on the next course of action.
Huang Rong’s grin had not disappeared before she heard a noise at the inn’s door.. .someone was coming. Huang Rong grabbed a steel Emei Sting tightly in her hand and kept the bamboo stick was close by her side. As soon as the cabinet door was opened, she would throw the projectile first and think about her actions later. After waiting for a moment she heard a beautiful voice calling out, “Innkeeper.. .Innkeeper!”
Huang Rong was really surprised to hear this call. She quickly looked out through the small hole and saw a lady wearing an embroidered gown sitting down. Her clothes and adornments were gorgeous, indicating that she came from a wealthy family. She sat with her back facing the mirror, so Huang Rong could not see her face.
The lady waited for quite a while and then she called out again, “Innkeeper.. .Innkeeper!”
Huang Rong thought, “That voice sounds familiar.. .tender yet strong. In fact she sounds like the Eldest Miss Cheng [Cheng Da Xiaojie] from Baoying.” At that moment the lady turned around and it was Miss Cheng. Huang Rong was pleasantly surprised. “Why would she come this plac
e?”
Sha Gu had not been awakened by the commotion made by Hou Tonghai and the others, but by now she’d had enough sleep, so she crawled up from her straw bed.
“Innkeeper,” Miss Cheng said. “Would you please prepare some food for me? I would be much obliged.”
Sha Gu shook her head, indicating she did not have any food. Suddenly she sniffed and smelled cooked rice. She rushed over to lift the pot’s lid and saw it was full of plain white rice that Peng Lianhu and the others had prepared. Sha Gu was delighted and, without wondering where the food came from, she filled two bowls, gave one to Miss Cheng while she gobbled the other. Miss Cheng noted there was no other food, only plain rice. She ate a few bites, and then put the bowl down. Sha Gu quickly ate three full bowls, then she patted her belly, looking very satisfied.
“Miss,” Miss Cheng said. “May I ask you a question? Do you know how far Ox Village is from this place?”
“Ox Village?” Sha Gu said. “This is Ox Village. How far it is from this place, I don’t know.”
Miss Cheng blushed. She lowered her head and played with the end of her belt. After some time she said, “So it turns out that this is Ox Village. Then I wonder if you know someone. I wonder if you know. know.someone ...”
Sha Gu did not wait for her to finish. She just shook her head impatiently and then rushed out of the door. Huang Rong wondered, “Who is she looking for in Ox Village? Ah, that’s right! She is the disciple of Sun Bu’Er. Most likely she received an order from her Master and Martial Uncles to find Qiu Chuji’s disciple, Yang Kang.”
Huang Rong saw Miss Cheng sitting up straight, her clothes properly arranged and she gently stroked the pearl head ornament at her temple. Her face was flushed and she had a slight smile at the corner of her lips. Huang Rong did not know what she was thinking and found this interesting. She suddenly heard footsteps as someone came in from outside. This person was tall, handsome and his steps were brisk. As soon as he came in, he also called out for the innkeeper. Huang Rong thought, “By what coincidence would people I know gather together in this ‘Cow’ Village? The feng shui [harmonious balance - lit. wind and water] of Jing ge ge’s Ox Village must be very good.if not for wealth, then for the individual.” As it turned out, the incoming person was the Young Master of Cloud Manor, Lu Guanying. When he saw Miss Cheng he was startled. Then he called again, “Innkeeper!”