by Jin Yong
“What if I don’t remember?” Huang Rong asked.
“It will be best if you remember, otherwise the beautiful face of a smart little girl would be bitten by my snakes, now that won’t be fun, will it?” Ouyang Feng threatened.
When Huang Rong jumped out from behind the idol she was ready to die; but seeing Yang Kang’s pitiful death she could not help but feeling frightened. She thought, “Even if I give him Reverend Yideng’s translation he still won’t let me go. Is it so difficult to escape from his grip?”
She paced back and forth for a while but still could not think of a good way to escape, so she decided to buy some time and think again later. “If I read the original text I might remember the interpretation. Why don’t you recite it to me, let me try explaining it to you,” she said.
“Who could memorize these mumbo jumbo sentences?” Ouyang Feng said, “You don’t have to confuse me.”
As she heard Ouyang Feng was not able to recite it from memory Huang Rong got a sudden inspiration. After contemplating it back and forth she came to a conclusion, “He can’t memorize it, so he must treat the manual as precious as his life.” She quickly said, “All right then, take out the manual and read it to me.”
Ouyang Feng was determined to hear the explanation; immediately he took an oil-cloth package from his pocket, after opening three layers of cloth he produced Guo Jing’s altered manual from it. Huang Rong was amused, “Jing Gege wrote a whole bunch of nonsense, yet the Old Poison treats it as the most precious object.”
Ouyang Feng lighted a fire and found a half-burned candle from the worship table, with which light he started to read the manual, “Hu bu er, ken xing duo de, si gen liu bu.”
“That means ‘differentiate it well then divide it into twelve air passages’,” Huang Rong said.
Ouyang Feng was delighted, “Ji er wen hua si, ha hu,” he read again.
“Capable of healing various illness, gradually entering divine perfection,” Huang Rong said.
Ouyang Feng read, “Qu da bie si tu, en ni qu.”
Huang Rong hesitated for a moment, shaking her head she said, “Not right, you did not read
correctly.”
“No, I read it correctly,” Ouyang Feng said, “That is what was written.”
“That’s strange,” Huang Rong said, “How come it’s so muddled?” Her left hand on her head, she
pretended to be thinking hard.
Ouyang Feng was anxious. He stared at her, hoping she would find the answer quickly. A moment later Huang Rong exclaimed, “Ah, I know! It must be that dumb kid Guo Jing writing it wrong. Let me see.”
Ouyang Feng was not afraid Huang Rong would steal it from him, he handed the manual over. Huang Rong held out her right hand to take the manual, while her left hand took the candlestick, pretending to examine the manual closely. Suddenly her feet kicked the ground; she leaped backward for more than a ‘zhang’ [10 feet/3 meter]. She held the manual within half a ‘chi’ [approximately half a foot] to the candle and shouted, “Uncle Ouyang, this manual is fake, I’d better burn it down.”
Ouyang Feng was shocked, hastily said, “Hey, hey, what are you doing? Quickly give that back to me.”
Huang Rong smiled, “Do you want the manual, or my life?”
“What do I want your life for? Quickly give that back to me,” Ouyang Feng said. His voice was urgent, unusually anxious. His body leaned forward as if ready to strike anytime.
Huang Rong held the manual two more inches closer to the candle. “Stop! I am going to burn this manual as soon as you move one more step, then you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
Ouyang Feng silently agreed with what she said. “Humph, you win,” he said, “Put that manual down and go before I change my mind!”
“You are a grand master of your school, you must not go back on your own words,” Huang Rong said.
Ouyang Feng calmly said, “I said just put the manual down and you can go.”
Huang Rong knew that he was a proud man; although he was evil and cruel he had never broken his promise to anybody, so she put the manual along with the candle on the ground and smiled, “Uncle Ouyang, please excuse me.” Carrying her dog-beating stick she turned around and walked away.
Contrary to what she was expecting, Ouyang Feng did not even look at her. He jumped back and with a loud ‘bang!’ he smashed the Wang Yanzhang idol with the back of his hand, the idol broke halfway down. “Blind man Ke, roll out!” he shouted.
Huang Rong was startled; she turned her head only to see Ke Zhen’E had jumped out from behind the idol, brandishing his iron spear in front of his body. Huang Rong immediately realized her misjudgment, “With the Old Poison’s ability how could he not know Master Ke was hiding behind the idol? He must’ve heard his breathing early on, only he waited patiently for a good opportunity to expose him.” She dashed forward quickly, standing in front of Ke Zhen’E with the bamboo stick in front of her body.
“Uncle Ouyang, I am not going, you let him go,” said Huang Rong.
“No, Rong’er, you go” Ke Zhen’E said, “Go find Jing’er, tell him to avenge our six lives.”
Huang Rong mournfully answered, “If he is ever going to believe what I say, he would have already believed what I said. Master Ke, if you don’t go, my father and I will have a hard time proving our innocence. Tell Guo Jing that I don’t blame him, tell him not to feel bad.” But how could Ke Zhen’E let her embrace danger to save his own life? Two people were bickering incessantly.
Ouyang Feng became impatient, “Little girl, I let you go, you don’t want to go. What are you waiting for?”
“I’d love to stay,” Huang Rong said, “Uncle Ouyang, get this blind man out of here, I will accompany you chit-chatting, just don’t hurt him.”
Ouyang Feng thought, “You want to stay, that was what I want. Whether this blind man lives or dies, what does it have anything to do with me?” With big strides he went forward, holding out his hand to grab Ke Zhen’E on his chest.
Ke Zhen’E moved his spear to attack the incoming hand. Ouyang Feng raised his arm a little bit and Ke Zhen’E’s arms were numb, he felt pressure on his chest. ‘Clank!’ his spear flew upward, made a hole on the ceiling and landed on the temple’s roof.
Ke Zhen’E hastily leaped backward, but before his feet landed on the floor he felt his collar was pulled, his body was hung in front of Ouyang Feng. His battle experience was vast; in this dangerous moment he did not get nervous. His left hand moved slightly and two ‘du ling’ [poisonous water chestnut] flew toward the enemy’s face.
Ouyang Feng did not anticipate that in the face of danger Ke Zhen’E was still able to attack. They were very close to each other, the incoming attack was strong, it was difficult to parry; Ouyang Feng bent his body backward but his hand did not let Ke Zhen’E go, Ke Zhen’E was thrown across the top of his head.
When he jumped out from behind the idol Ke Zhen’E was facing the temple’s door, so Ouyang Feng’s throw made him fly out of the door. Because Ouyang Feng’s force was so strong, Ke Zhen’E’s body was actually flying faster than his own ‘du ling’. The ‘du ling’ missed Ouyang Feng’s head and flew straight toward Ke Zhen’E’s body.
“Aiyo!” Huang Rong cried out. But she saw that while he was airborne Ke Zhen’E was able to turn his body slightly, stretched out his right hand and deftly caught his own two ‘du ling’s. His ability to hear and differentiate secret-projectiles wind had been trained to near perfection; his ears could hear as clearly as other people could see.
“You are good!” Ouyang Feng exclaimed, “Blind man Ke, I’ll let you go.”
Ke Zhen’E landed on his feet, he was reluctant to go. Huang Rong laughed, “Master Ke, Ouyang Feng wanted to be my disciple; he wants to learn the Nine Yin Manual from me. You still want to stay; do you also want to be my disciple?”
Ke Zhen’E knew that although Huang Rong talked jokingly, but her situation was extremely precarious. He stood on the temple courtyard, but was he
sitant to go.
Ouyang Feng looked up to the sky and said, “It’s daybreak. Let’s go!” Pulling Huang Rong’s hand they walked out the temple’s door.
“Master Ke, remember the letter I wrote on your palm,” Huang Rong called out. They moved really fast, Huang Rong’s last few words were heard from several ‘zhang’s away.
Ke Zhen’E stayed motionless for a long time. He heard flock upon flock of crows that came into the temple to feast on the corpse, so he leaped onto the roof to find his spear pole. Leaning against his pole on the roof again he stayed motionless for a while, thinking the heaven and earth are boundless, but what kind of place could a blind man like him call home? Then he heard the crows cried mournfully and they dropped to the ground one by one. Turned out those crows were feasting on Yang Kang’s corpse and they were poisoned one after another. Ke Zhen’E could not help but heaving a long sighed. He jumped back down to the ground, wielding his spear he walked to the north.
On the third day suddenly he heard eagle cry high up in the sky. He thought that if the birds were close by, then Guo Jing must not be very far; therefore, he raised his voice and shouted in the middle of the wilderness, “Jing’er, Jing’er!”
Not too long afterwards he heard hoof beats; it was indeed Guo Jing riding the little red horse coming toward him. He was separated from Ke Zhen’E in the chaotic battle the other night; this time he saw his master was well his joy was unspeakable. He did not even wait for the horse to stop; he jumped from the horseback and rushed to embrace his master, calling loudly, “Da Shifu!”
Unexpectedly Ke Zhen’E slapped him left and right until his ears were red. Guo Jing was stunned, but did not dare to fend off. He let his master off his embrace. Ke Zhen’E continued to slap Guo Jing with his left hand, while his right hand slapped his own face until his own ears were red.
Guo Jing was confounded, “Da Shifu, what happened to you?”
Ke Zhen’E viciously scolded, “You are the little muddle-head; I am the old muddle-head.”
Dozens or so slaps later he calmed down and stopped. Both men’s faces were red and swollen. Ke Zhen’E kept cursing Guo Jing and himself for half a day before finally he narrated everything that had happened in the temple.
Guo Jing was surprised yet happy, sorrowful yet ashamed, “So that’s what actually happened. I had wrongly accused Rong’er,” he thought.
“Tell me, don’t we deserve to die?” Ke Zhen’E shouted. Guo Jing agreed, he also said, “Disciple deserves to die; Da Shifu’s eyes are not perfect, you cannot be blamed.”
Ke Zhen’E was angry, “Damn it! My eyes are blind, is my heart also blind?”
Guo Jing tried to divert his attention, “We must quickly think of something to rescue Rong’er.” “What about her father?” Ke Zhen’E asked.
“Huang Daozhu [Island Master Huang] had taken Hong Enshi [Benevolent Master Hong] to recuperate on the Peach Blossom Island,” Guo Jing answered, “Da Shifu, where do you think Ouyang Feng is taking Rong’er?”
Ke Zhen’E pondered for a moment, then said, “Rong’er is in his hands, even if she did not die, I don’t know what kind of tortures she would be subjected to. Jing’er, you quickly rescue her, I am going to kill myself to thank her.”
“No!” Guo Jing cried out in alarm, “Don’t even think of doing such thing.” However, he knew his first master’s stubbornness very well, he would not listen to other people; once he said he would die, he was not going to back off; therefore, Guo Jing quickly said, “Da Shifu, you’d better go to the Peach Blossom Island to ask Huang Daozhu to lend us a hand. In all honesty, I am not Ouyang Feng’s match.”
Ke Zhen’E thought it was not a bad idea, so he picked his spear and left. Guo Jing was reluctant to part with his first master, he followed him behind. Ke Zhen’E knew he was being followed, he swung his spear backward and scolded, “You are still not going? If you don’t rescue my beloved Rong’er, I am going to take your little life!”
Guo Jing had no choice but stopped, his gaze followed his master until he disappeared beyond the mulberry grove toward the east. He had no idea where to start looking for Huang Rong. After thinking hard for quite a while he took his horse and pair of eagles and walked back to the Temple of the Iron Spear.
Around the temple he saw countless dead crows; on the courtyard he saw a pile of human remains. Guo Jing hated Yang Kang for killing his masters, but thought that Yang Kang was already dead, so he was willing to write-off that debt; moreover, he was his sworn brother. Guo Jing picked the remains and buried Yang Kang on the temple’s courtyard. He bowed in respect in front of the grave and said, “Brother Yang, if you know how I buried your remains today, you have to bless me in finding Rong’er; that way you can make up for your crimes during your lifetime.” Afterward Guo Jing started to make inquiries everywhere, trying to track Huang Rong’s trail.
Half a year had passed, autumn turned into winter, then winter turned into spring. Guo Jing, accompanied by his red horse and a pair of eagles have looked everywhere; he asked the Beggar Clan, went to the Quanzhen Sect, and inquired all Wulin characters he knew, yet nobody heard even a little bit of news about Huang Rong. He was miserable. He imagined how much suffering Huang Rong had to endure this past half a year; it was like a knife was piercing his heart. He was determined to find her, even to the end of the earth.
He had been to Yanjing, twice he had tried to find Wanyan Honglie at Bianliang, yet Wanyan Honglie also disappeared without a trace. The Beggar Clan members all over the country had tried to find their Bangzhu [Clan Leader], but still there were no words about Huang Rong. Guo Jing also stopped by the Cloud Village, but the village was burned to the ground. He did not know what kind of disaster Lu Chengfeng and Lu Guanying had encountered.
1074 Eagle Shooting Hero
One day he arrived within the Shandong border. Nine out of ten houses he saw along the way were deserted; he barely saw other people walking around. He heard that the Mongolians and the Jins were fighting each other in that area. The Jins were defeated and while retreating they stopped at nothing; raping and plundering the people along their way.
Guo Jing walked for three more days heading north. The further he went, the more devastation he witnessed. His heart was embittered looking at the suffering of the common people as the result of war.
That day he arrived at a small village by a river bank in a valley; he was going to stop by for food and water for him as well as his horse, when suddenly he heard a commotion just ahead of him. People were screaming and horses were neighing in panic; dozens of Jin soldiers had entered the village. They set the village on fire, forcing the people to go out of their houses. If there was a young girl in the house, the soldiers would seize her and bind her with ropes. The rest of the people, young and old alike, were killed right there and then.
Guo Jing was seething with anger; he charged his horse toward the leader of this pack, snatching his spear; the back of Guo Jing’s left hand smacked his ‘tai yang’ [sun] acupoint. By that time Guo Jing had already reached high level in term of martial art skill; his strength was profound. With just one
hit that officer’s eyes came out of their sockets and he died instantly.
The rest of the soldiers were shouting and yelling; sabers and spears attacked simultaneously. The little red horse was not afraid of battle; it dashed forward carrying Guo Jing on its back. Guo Jing snatched a saber with his left hand, and using the mutual hands combat technique he thrust the spear in his right hand and hacked the saber in his left, attacking the soldiers left and right.
As soon as the Jin soldiers saw this person’s fierceness, they lost their will to fight; they turned around and fled from the village. But suddenly a big banner appeared amidst the smoke; a squad of Mongolian soldiers had arrived. The Jin soldiers who had been defeated earlier did not dare to fight the Mongolian troops head-on so they turned back to the village, hoping they would be able to slip by Guo Jing relying on sheer numbers.
Guo Jing hated the Jin s
oldiers for cruelly abusing the people; he charged his horse toward the village entrance and single-handedly defending it against the intruders. About a dozen or so soldiers courageously attacked him; Guo Jing killed them all. The rest of the soldiers did not dare to attack but they could not go back either; they ran around in confusion, screaming in fear.
The Mongolian soldiers saw ahead of them somebody was helping them; they charged the rest of
the Jin soldiers and killed them all. The ‘bai fu zhang’ [leader of a 100 men unit] was about to
inquire Guo Jing’s background when suddenly one the Mongolian solider recognized him. That soldier shouted, “Jin dao fu ma! [the golden-blade consort]” and immediately kneeled on the ground.
The ‘bai fu zhang’ heard Guo Jing was their Great Khan’s son-in-law, he did not dare to be impolite; hastily he dismounted his horse and also kneeled on the ground while dispatching a courier to quickly inform their commander-in-chief.
The villagers, young and old, were coming out of their hiding places to thank Guo Jing when suddenly from outside the village came a loud thundering noise of cavalry’s hoof beats. The people were frightened; they looked at each other in blank dismay.
A bay horse with a black mane came fast, a young general shouted, “Where is Guo Jing Anda [Mongolian term for sworn brother]?”
Guo Jing saw it was Tuolei, he was delighted. “Tuolei Anda,” he answered. They rushed forward and hugged each other. The pair of eagles recognized Tuolei, they flew down and lovingly rubbed their necks to him.
Tuolei ordered a ‘qian fu zhang’ [leader of a 1000-men unit] to pursue the Jin soldiers, while the rest of his troops pitched their tents right there on the hillside; then he told Guo Jing everything that had happened since the last time they parted.
