Legend of Condor Heroes Book 4

by Jin Yong

  Wang Chuyi was angry, “Looks like the Jin dog colludes with Jiaxing’s corrupt government official; they are sending out troops to deal with us!”

  Qiu Chuji called out, “Let’s go down and completely route them.” “Not good, snake, snake!” Hao Datong shouted. They heard the noise of the arrows getting thicker, while the hissing noise of the snakes getting closer; they realized that Wanyan Honglie and Ouyang Feng had arranged this treacherous plan in advance; only this thick fog was beyond anybody’s anticipation, so whether a curse or a luck, it was difficult to say.

  Hong Qigong called out, “We can fight the arrows, but cannot fight the snakes; if we evade the snakes, it will be difficult to keep off the arrows! Everybody quickly withdraw!” They heard Zhou Botong, still shouting abusive words from the top of the roof; he had caught two arrows and used them to fend off the incoming arrows.

  Three sides of the Misty Rain Tavern faced the water. The soldiers rode on small boats surrounding the building and showered it with arrows. It was because of the thick fog that they did not dare to press closer to the banks. Hong Qigong called out, “We go to the west, we take the land route.” He was the chief of the world’s largest clan; each word he said carried a lot of authority and influence. In this chaotic situation everybody accepted his leadership without question; they groped their way back downstairs. They tried hard to open their eyes, but could not see farther than half a foot ahead; how did they know which direction was east, west, south or north? They struck down several arrows while walking in line, holding each other’s hand to avoid getting lost. Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi led the way with swords in their hands; their swords combined and complemented each other, forming a sword umbrella to keep off the arrow rain.

  Guo Jing’s right hand was pulling Hong Qigong, while his left hand grabbed someone’s hand behind him. He felt this hand was soft, warm and slightly sweaty; turned out it was Huang Rong’s small hand. His heart skipped a beat; hastily he let her hand go, only to listen to Huang Rong’s cold voice said, “Who needs your concern?” Suddenly he heard Qiu Chuji called out, “Turn around, quick! There are snakes ahead; we can’t go through!”

  Huang Yaoshi and Ma Yu were at the end of the line blocking the pursuing soldiers; hearing Qiu Chuji’s cry they turned their head anxiously. Huang Yaoshi picked a couple of bamboo sticks and swept them outward to strike the snakes. In the fog they heard the hissing sound of the snakes, and a foul stench attacked their nostrils. Huang Rong could not endure it any longer, with a ‘wah!’ sound she threw up. Huang Yaoshi sighed and said, “There is no way out, everyone fight for your own life!” Tossing his bamboo sticks aside he carried his daughter in his hands.

  Based on everyone’s martial art skill, actually the soldiers’ arrows would not be able to stop them; but the Western Poison’s snake formation was tens of thousands more lethal, as soon as one was bitten, one’s life immediately would be gone. Listening to these frightening snakes everybody could not help but feel terrified. Huang Yaoshi’s jade flute was broken, Hong Qigong’s steel needles were

  not easy to be launched; the most difficult part was the fog was too thick that nobody could see

  anything. Even if there were an escape route, nobody knew where to go.

  In this critical situation suddenly they heard someone with a cold voice say, “Little witch, give your bamboo stick to this blind man.” It was Ke Zhen’E’s voice.

  Hearing him saying the ‘blind man’, two characters, Huang Rong immediately understood his

  intention; she was very happy and without hesitation handed over the Dog Beating Stick to him. Ke

  Zhen'E maintained his composure; tapping the stick on the ground he said, “Everyone, follow this blind man to safety. There is always fog and mist around the Misty Rain Tavern; what’s so strange about it? Otherwise how can it be called the Misty Rain Tavern?” He was a native of Jiaxing; ever 1040 Eagle Shooting Hero since he was little all streets and alleys around the Misty Rain Tavern had been ingrained in his heart. Both of his eyes were blind, normally he would be inferior to ordinary man, but now the fog was really thick, black clouds covered the sky; to him it was not the least bit of obstacle.

  Listening to the snakes and the arrows he knew that there was an alley to the west with no enemies in that direction. Limping away he immediately led the way. Who would have thought that over the past several years this small alley had been covered with green bamboos, which render it impassable. Ke Zhen’E was very familiar with this road; yet he had not visited this place for decades, so he did not know that this alley had turned into a bamboo grove. He walked only for seven, eight steps and had to stop because the bamboo was on his way. Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi again brandished their swords and the bamboo flew out, opening up a passageway where everybody could pass through.

  Ma Yu called, “Zhou Shishu, come over here! Where are you?” Zhou Botong was still sitting on the roof; hearing the sound of snakes all around him, how could he dare to reply? He was most afraid that the snakes’ favorite food was the Old Urchin’s flesh, so if he opened his mouth and let the snakes heard his voice, wouldn’t he be finished then?

  Walking for dozens of ‘zhang’s they saw the bamboo grove was getting thin; ahead they could see an alley. The snakes sound was getting farther away, but the soldiers’ shouts were actually getting closer; it sounded like some of the soldiers came around to outflank them. This group of warriors was afraid of snakes, they did not even look at ordinary soldiers. Liu Chuxuan said, “Hao Shidi [martial (younger) brother Hao], let us kill some of the dog officers to vent our anger.”

  “Good!” Hao Datong replied. Two people brandished their swords to block the incoming arrows which came suddenly like locusts.

  Walking a little longer they arrived at a bigger road; above them lightning flashed and thunder struck, followed by heavy rain pouring down from the sky. But because of this downpour the fog cleared up. Although the sky was still covered with dark clouds, they started to be able to see each other’s shadow. “Good, good,” everybody said, “The thick fog is dispersing.”

  Ke Zhen'E said, “The danger has passed, everyone can do as they please.” Giving the bamboo stick back to Huang Rong he walked to the east without turning his head back.

  “Shifu!” Guo Jing called out.

  Ke Zhen'E said, “You go and send Hong Laoxia [Old Hero Hong] someplace peaceful and quiet where he can recover from his injury; then come to the Ke Jia Cun [Ke Family Village] to see me.”

  “Yes,” Guo Jing replied.

  Huang Yaoshi stretched out his hand to block one incoming arrow, then he went to Ke Zhen'E and said, “I was not willing to explain to you if not for the fact that you saved my life today ...”

  Ke Zhen'E did not wait for him to finish, he spat thick phlegm toward the bridge of Huang Yaoshi’s

  nose; he cursed, “Because of what I did today, I won’t have any face to see my six brothers and sister!”

  Angrily Huang Yaoshi raised his palm. Guo Jing watched this in shock, he flew in trying to rescue; he knew that as soon as this palm struck down, his Da Shifu’s life would be gone. But he was more than a dozen steps away from Ke and Huang two people, so he knew he would be too late. Under the dim light of the moon he saw Huang Yaoshi’s palm slowly went down. Huang Yaoshi laughed a big laugh and said, “What kind of a man is Huang Yaoshi? How can I lower myself to the same level with you?” With his sleeve he wiped the phlegm from his face; turning around to Huang Rong he said, “Rong’er, let’s go!”

  Hearing these words Guo Jing’s heart was shaken with doubt; only he was unclear of what had actually stirred his doubt. He only vaguely felt that something was not completely right. It was like something was flashing in his mind, then suddenly it disappeared into a thick fog.

  Suddenly he heard an outburst of shouting, a group of soldiers came charging in. The Quanzhen Six Masters with swords in their hands engaged the enemy. Huang Yaoshi felt it was beneath his dignity to fight soldiers, so he turned around to pull H
ong Qigong’s arm and said, “Qi Xiong, let us two brothers go on ahead and drink some wine; we’ll talk about it later.”

  It was precisely what Hong Qigong had been expecting; he said with a laugh, “Wonderful, just wonderful!” In a moment two people disappeared into the darkness.

  Guo Jing wanted to take Ke Zhen'E away, but another group of soldiers came attacking them. Guo

  Jing did not want to kill too many people, so he pushed his arms forward to open a way. In this confusion he heard Qiu Chuji and the others were fighting a fierce battle; it turned out Wanyan Honglie had dispatched several of his own personal bodyguards among the soldiers, also joining their ranks were a group of valiant Iron Palm Clan people, making them difficult to push back in a short period of time. Guo Jing was afraid his shifu would be injured in this chaotic battle, he shouted, “Da Shifu, Da Shifu, where are you?” By now the battle cry and the clashing of the weapons had merged into one chaotic noise; but all along he did not hear Ke Zhen’E’s reply.

  After taking the bamboo stick back from Ke Zhen’E’s hand Huang Rong had stayed near him all the time. She saw him spitting her father, her mind was tumultuous. She believed this matter had grown out of proportion; her long life’s beautiful dream was shattered into pieces. Hence when the soldiers came she just stood alone, leaning on a tree; when the soldiers galloped quickly past her, it was as if she did neither see nor hear them, she was totally lost in her thought.

  Suddenly she heard a call, “Aiyo!” It was Ke Zhen’E’s voice. Following the source of the sound she went out to take a look, only to see Ke Zhen'E was laying by the roadside; an officer was holding a saber high above his head, ready to chop it down into Ke Zhen’E’s back. Ke Zhen'E rolled away to

  evade, he sat up and threw a backward fist, hitting the officer squarely that he fainted. Ke Zhen'E

  was about to stand up when he suddenly fell back down. Huang Rong rushed forward and saw that his leg was hit by an arrow; immediately she pulled his arm and helped him up.

  Ke Zhen'E made an effort to shed her hand away, but one of his legs was lame, the other was

  injured by the arrow; his legs lost their strength that his body staggered, he swayed forward and fell back down. Huang Rong held out her right hand to grab the collar on the back of his neck; she said with a cold laugh, “Still flaunting your heroism?” Her left hand lightly waved, she sealed the ‘jian shen xue’ [shoulder chaste acupoint] on his right shoulder with a move from ‘lan hua fu xue shou’ [brushing orchid acupoint technique]. Then she released his collar and grabbed his left arm.

  Ke Zhen'E wanted to struggle free, but half of his body was numb; he was unable to move. He had no choice but let her help him up, but his mouth did not stop muttering curses.

  Huang Rong let him away for a dozen of steps and took him hiding behind a big tree. They were just catching their breath when another group of soldiers spotted these two people. A dozen or so arrows came whizzing by. Huang Rong stepped forward and brandished her bamboo stick to protect her head and her face from the arrows; letting the arrows hitting her soft-hedgehog armor.

  Ke Zhen'E heard the arrows and knew she was risking her life to save his; his heart softened, he said in a low voice, “You don’t need to worry over me, just go save yourself!”

  “Hmm,” Huang Rong said, “I want to save you; I want you to receive my kindness. What are you going to do about it?”

  While they were talking, two people slowly withdrew behind a short wall. The arrows no longer came, but Ke Zhen'E was heavy, Huang Rong was exhausted, her breathing was short; she leaned

  against the wall to rest. Ke Zhen'E sighed, “It is finished, between you and me gratitude and grudges are over. Off you go, from now on just consider the blind man Ke has died.”

  With a cold voice Huang Rong said, “Obviously you are not dead, why do you consider yourself dead? You are not seeking revenge against me, I will come looking for you.” The bamboo stick in her hand swiftly stretched out and swiftly shrunk back, sealing the ‘wei zhong xue’ [I don’t know how to translate this] on the back of his knees.

  Ke Zhen'E was totally caught off guard, he fell sitting down on the ground. Silently he cursed and

  wondered what kind of malicious method this little demon would use to torture him. His heart was thumping in anger, but he heard her footsteps were getting father away, it sounded like she was leaving the short wall. By now the battle noise was farther and weaker; apparently the Quanzhen Masters had either killed or driven the soldiers away. Amidst this faraway noise he faintly heard Guo Jing’s voice calling out, “Da Shifu!” But the call was going farther and farther away, indicating Guo Jing was looking for him in the wrong direction. He wanted to call, but because of his injury he could not gather enough strength, he could not even hear his own voice.

  A moment later all he could hear was quietness, with roosters started crowing in the distant. Ke Zhen'E mused, “This is the last time I hear the rooster! Tomorrow all across the Jiaxing prefecture the roosters will crow again, but I will die under the little demon’s hands and won’t hear it anymore.” Thinking to this point he suddenly heard footsteps; three people came over. The first’s footsteps were light, he recognized it to be Huang Rong; the other two were heavy, sounded like they were dragging their feet.

  He heard Huang Rong say, “This is Daye [lit. big master], quickly lift him up.” While saying that she stretched out her hand to massage his body and unsealed his acupoints.

  Ke Zhen'E felt he was lifted up by two people and placed on a bamboo stretcher, and then he was

  taken away. Ke Zhen'E was flabbergasted; he wanted to ask, but suddenly remembered the last time he said something it backfired to him. While hesitating he heard a ‘swish!’ sound, the man carrying him on the front cried out in pain, “Aiyo!” It sounded like he ate Huang Rong’s stick. He also heard her scolding, “Walk faster! What are you mumbling about? You, the soldiers, are used to bully common people; no one is good!” Then another ‘swish!’ was heard; the man on the back also ate her stick, but this one did not dare to say anything.

  Ke Zhen'E understood, “It turned out she captured two soldiers to carry me up; she is so smart to

  come up with this idea.” By this time the arrow wound on his leg was getting more painful, but he was afraid Huang Rong might mock him, so he bit his lips to prevent any moan from escaping his mouth. He felt his body was jolted up and down, he knew he was being carried along a rugged pathway. A moment later he felt tree branches and leaves brushing his head and face, so he knew they were walking in the woods. The two soldiers staggered along, they were gasping for breath, but Huang Rong’s bamboo stick kept whipping them mercilessly.

  About thirty ‘li’s later Ke Zhen'E estimated that it was already the end of sixth hour [9 - 11am],

  early seventh hour [11am - 1pm]; the early morning rain had long gone, the sun had dried out half of his wet clothes. He heard the cicadas calling and the dogs barking, a distant sound of men and women singing in the field; it was a perfect picture of peace and tranquility, a totally different world from the vicious battle at the South Lake this morning.

  They stopped by a peasant home to take a rest. Huang Rong bought two big pumpkins from the peasant family, she cooked them with rice, and placed a bowl in front of Ke Zhen’E.

  “I am not hungry,” Ke Zhen'E said.

  “Your leg hurts, do you think I don’t know?” Huang Rong said, “What hungry or not hungry? I want you to be in so much pain that you will listen to me.”

  Ke Zhen'E was very angry; using both hands he lifted up the bowl full of hot steaming pumpkin and threw it to her face. Huang Rong laughed coldly, but one of the soldiers called out in pain. Ke Zhen'E knew she must have moved sideways to evade and the bowl of hot pumpkin must have splashed on the soldier’s body.

  “What?” Huang Rong scolded, “Ke Daye [Big Master Ke] is giving you the pumpkin to eat, you are not happy? Quickly eat them up.” That soldier was afraid Huang Rong might beat him again, but a
lso his stomach was very hungry; so enduring the burning ache on his face he picked the pumpkin up and ate it piece by piece.

  This time Ke Zhen'E could not decide whether he should be angry or whether he should laugh; half standing and half sitting he leaned against the bench. He felt very awkward; he wanted to pull out the arrow, but was afraid his blood would spurt out like crazy. She certainly would see someone in danger and not willing to help; most probably she would even mock him.

  While he was still hesitating he heard Huang Rong said, “Go get some fresh water, quick!” Her speech was followed by a ‘Slap!’ apparently she had just slapped one of the soldiers on the ear.

  In his heart Ke Zhen'E mused, “This little demon, she is all right as long as she does not say anything; but as soon as she opens her mouth, she makes others suffer.”

  Huang Rong continued, “Take this knife and cut the clothes around Ke Daye’s arrow wound.” One of the soldiers complied and did as she said. Huang Rong said, “You, the one with surname Ke, you’d better not cry out in pain; otherwise, your Miss may not pay you any more attention if she is annoyed.”

  “Who wants your attention anyway?” Ke Zhen'E angrily replied, “Just scram as far as possible.” He

  had not finished his words when suddenly he felt a severe pain on his wound. It seemed to him that Huang Rong had grabbed the shaft of the arrow, and instead of pulling it out, she thrust it into his

  flesh. Ke Zhen'E was shocked and angry; he was about to throw a punch out when he felt another

  stab of severe pain and suddenly his palm was holding a shaft of arrow. Turned out Huang Rong had pulled the arrow out and squeezed it into his hand.

  Ke Zhen'E heard Huang Rong say, “You move one more time, I am going to slap your ear really good.”

  Ke Zhen'E knew she was capable of doing what she said she would do. Currently he was not the little demon’s match; if she killed him with a blade, then it would be a clean end to his life, but if she ever slapped his face, he would suffer disgrace for the rest of his life, so with a pale face he stayed silent. Hearing some ripping sounds he knew she was tearing several strips of clothes. She wrapped the cloth around his thigh, above and below the wound, tightly to stop the bleeding; and then he felt icy cold water on his wound, apparently she was washing his wound with cold water. He was stupefied, thinking, “If she had evil intention, why did she save me? But if she said she doesn’t harbor evil intention, humph, humph, can anything good come out of the Peach Blossom Island’s sorcerers, father and daughter? She must have some evil plan for me later on. Ay, these people are so full of craftiness; it is really difficult to guess her real thoughts.”