by Jin Yong
Guo Jing hurriedly pulled the birds away. Huang Rong sulked, “Your pet birds are bad!” But actually she was happy, she bent her head to take a closer look at them.
“Rong’er, watch out!” Guo Jing shouted suddenly. Two fast arrows flew toward Huang Rong’s chest. She ignored the arrows and nonchalantly reached towards the dead soldier’s pocket. The arrows were right on target, but they hit the soft hedgehog armor and simply fell down near her foot. Huang Rong continued groping in the pocket until she found some dried meat and fed it to the birds.
“Rong’er, play with the eagles, I am going to kill some Jin soldiers!” Guo Jing said. He jumped to strike an arrow flying towards him, stretched his left palm and with a cracking sound broke a nearby Jin soldier’s arm.
“Where did the dog that creates trouble come from?” a voice called out suddenly in the dark. Surprisingly, he was speaking Chinese. Guo Jing was startled, “That voice sounds familiar,” he thought. At that time a couple of metal weapons came flashing his way as two short hatchets came chopping down at him, one slashing at his chest, the other slashing towards his lower abdomen.
Guo Jing saw the incoming force was fierce and he knew the attacker was not an ordinary officer. He immediately shot out his palm using the ‘Divine Dragon Swings its Tail’. His palm hit the man on the shoulder shattering the shoulder blade into pieces and sent the man flying backwards a few feet. The man cried out pitifully. Suddenly Guo Jing remembered, “This is one of the ‘Four Demons of the Yellow River’ [Huang He si gui], the ‘Axe Buries Family’ [sang men fu] Qian Qingjian.”
Guo Jing knew that his martial arts skill had improved tremendously these past several months and of course he was in an entirely different league compared to when he fought the Four Demons of the Yellow River in Mongolia a while back. But to be able to knock the enemy back more than ten feet with only one palm? He was amazed. While he was still thinking about it, more metal objects came flashing toward him. This time it was a saber and a spear.
Guo Jing guessed they must be ‘Saber Breaks Down the Soul’ [duan hu dao] Shen Qinggang and ‘Lance Seizes Life’ [zhui ming qiang] Wu Qinglie. With his right hand forming a hook he caught the spear near its head and pulled it hard. Wu Qinglie tried to resist, but he was pulled along and fell face down in front of Guo Jing. Right at that moment as Guo Jing was stepping back to elude the chopping saber, Shen Qinggang’s blade was hacking toward his martial brother’s skull. Guo Jing’s leg flew up and kicked Shen Qinggang’s right wrist. A streak of blue light flashed in the dark night as his saber flew from his hand; Wu Qinglie’s life was saved. Guo Jing then picked up Wu Qinglie and whirled him at his martial brother. With a ‘bang’, two brothers collided and both passed out immediately.
Of the Four Demons of the Yellow River, only three were left, since ‘Whip Capture Spirit’ [duo po bian] Ma Qingxiong was killed by Lu Guanying when he was trying to infiltrate the pirate gang of Lake Tai. These three people were the elite fighters of the Jin soldiers who pursued Tolui and his companions. The rest of the Jin soldiers were not aware that their leaders had fallen due to the darkness. They were still engaging Tolui, Jebeh and Borchu in a shooting battle.
“You are not running away, do all of you want to die here?” Guo Jing roared. He rushed towards the enemy soldiers, hitting here and grabbing there, throwing bodies everywhere. Very soon the soldiers panicked and scattered in all directions. Shen Qinggang and Wu Qinglie slowly came to their senses, each with a splitting headache. Their vision was still fuzzy, but they realized that their company had scattered so they also ran away without hesitation. They accidentally stumbled upon Qian Qingjian and woke him up. He mumbled indistinctly, but seeing the rest of the soldiers had run away, he ignored his pain and they ran in different directions.
Jebeh and Borchu were skilled archers; they kept shooting arrows and managed to kill three more Jin soldiers. Tolui looked down and saw that his sworn brother had scattered the enemy. He was delighted and called out, “Anda [Mongolian term for sworn brother]! How are you?” He slid down the flagpole to the ground.
Guo Jing and Tolui held each other’s hands; they were so happy that they were speechless for a while. A moment later Jebeh and Borchu joined them. “Those three Han holding shields blocked our arrows, preventing us from shooting them,” Jebeh said. “If Jing’er had not come to rescue us, we wouldn’t be able to drink the Onon River’s clear water anymore.”
Guo Jing pulled Huang Rong’s hand to let her meet Tolui and company. “This is my sworn sister,” he introduced her.
“Will you give me these two white eagles?” Huang Rong asked, smiling. Tolui did not understand Chinese and his translator had run away when they were being attacked by the Jin soldiers. He’d noticed that Huang Rong’s voice was clear and sounded pleasant to his ears, but he actually had no idea what she was saying.
Guo Jing ignored Huang Rong’s request. “Anda, why did you bring the eagles here?” he asked.
“Father sent me to see the Song Emperor; we want to make an agreement between the north and south, so that we can dispatch troops together and attack the Jin from both directions,” Tolui explained. “My sister thought I might meet you here, so she sent these eagles to you. She guessed right, I did meet you here.”
When Guo Jing heard him mentioning Hua Zheng, he was speechless. He knew he was in love with Huang Rong; when he sometimes thought of Hua Zheng he felt it wasn’t right. However, he did not know how to resolve the matter, and tried not to think too much about it. But now, hearing what Tolui said, he was at a loss. His only thought was, “Within a month I am going to Peach Blossom Island where Rong’er’s father might kill me. There’s no point thinking about it now.” Therefore, he turned toward Huang Rong and told her, “These two birds are mine. You can have them to play with.”
Huang Rong was delighted; she found more dried meat to feed the eagles.
Tolui proceeded by telling how his father, Genghis Khan, had gained victory over the Jin on several fronts; but the Jin army was strong in numbers. They’d consolidated themselves and for many years strengthened their forts so that, for a while, they’ve managed to defend their borders. Therefore Genghis Khan had sent Tolui to make contact with the south to form an alliance with the Song to attack the Jin. Unfortunately they ran into a brigade of the Jin army and could not avoid a battle. Their company perished and only the three of them managed to escape and run here.
Guo Jing remembered that day at Cloud Manor he heard Yang Kang asking Mu Nianci to go to Lin’an and see the Prime Minister Shi Miyuan, to ask him to kill the Mongolian messengers. At that time he did not know anything specific, but now he knew that the Jin had discovered the conspiracy and had sent Yang Kang to prevent the Song and Mongols from forming an alliance.
Tolui continued, “Looks like the Jin have determined to kill me to avoid Mongolia and the Song Dynasty from successfully forming an alliance; the Sixth Prince himself personally led the troops to capture me.”
“Wanyan Honglie?” Guo Jing asked in surprise.
“That’s right!” Tolui answered. “He was wearing a golden helmet; I saw him clearly and even shot three arrows at him. Too bad they were blocked by his bodyguards’ shields.”
Guo Jing was ecstatic, “Rong’er, Brother Kang! Wanyan Honglie is here. Let us quickly find him.” Huang Rong quickly agreed, but Yang Kang was nowhere to be seen. Guo Jing was impatient, he shouted, “Rong’er, you go to the east, I will search to the west.” The two people used their lightness kungfu and ran very fast in opposite directions.
After several li Guo Jing managed to catch up with several runaway Jin soldiers. He captured one of them and found out that it was indeed the Sixth Prince Wanyan Honglie who personally led the pursuers; but the soldier did not know his whereabouts.
“We have deserted the Prince without any regard for his safety; if we go back, we will be executed. Therefore we are throwing away our uniforms and trying to hide among the common people,” the soldier said.
Gu
o Jing turned and resumed his chase. It was almost dawn, but where was Wanyan Honglie? He knew the enemy who killed his father was near but seemed to be unreachable. He was anxious.
He rushed forward a little bit further and arrived at a small wooded area where he saw a white shadow flashing by. It was Huang Rong. The two met, looked at each other and knew they had not found him. Dejectedly they decided to go back to the temple.
“Wanyan Honglie led quite a number of troops pursuing us; he was riding a fast horse. I think by now he must be going back to fetch reinforcements to capture us,” Tolui reasoned. “Anda, I am bearing my father’s decree; I can’t stay for long. Let us part here. My little sister asked me to deliver this message to you: Please come back home to Mongolia as soon as possible.”
Guo Jing agreed to what he said, but feared that it would be difficult for them to meet again in the future. His heart was heavy. He hugged Tolui, Jebeh and Borchu and bade them farewell, saying very little. They mounted their horses and galloped away. The sound of hoof beats gradually vanished; men and horses hidden behind a cloud of yellow dust.
“Let us hide and wait for Wanyan Honglie to come back,” Huang Rong proposed. “If the troops are numerous, we will simply follow them and try to assassinate him in the evening. Don’t you think it’s a good idea?”
Guo Jing was delighted. He praised Huang Rong endlessly. Huang Rong was very happy too, she smiled and said, “It was nothing, I was just using the common tactic of ‘leaving the shore to move to a ship’ [yi an jiu chuan].”
“I’ll go to the woods to hide our horses,” Guo Jing said. He walked towards the backyard of the temple and suddenly saw something gleaming in the grass in the morning sun. He bent down to take a closer look and found that thing was a golden helmet, inlaid with three big jewels. Guo Jing picked it up and walked back to Huang Rong. “What do you think this is?” he quietly asked.
“Wanyan Honglie’s golden helmet?” Huang Rong guessed.
“Exactly!” whispered Guo Jing. “I believe he is still hiding somewhere close to this temple. Let’s spread out and find him.”
Huang Rong turned, her hands pressed down on the wall and she floated atop the wall in no time. “I’ll search from above, you from below,” she called out. Guo Jing entered the temple.
“Was my lightness kungfu good?” Huang Rong called.
Guo Jing was taken aback, he stopped in his tracks. “It was very good! Why?” he asked.
“Then why didn’t you praise me?” Huang Rong said with a laugh.
Guo Jing stomped his feet. “You’re a mischievous kid! You still want to joke at a time like this,” he said.
Huang Rong simply laughed; raising her hands, she flew to the rear courtyard.
When Guo Jing was fighting the Jin soldiers, Yang Kang had observed from one side. Despite the darkness he could recognize the Sixth Prince Wanyan Honglie. Although Yang Kang knew by now he was not his father, he nonetheless had raised Yang Kang for more than eighteen years. He had been a father figure to Yang Kang all this time. Yang Kang saw how Guo Jing dispersed the Jin soldiers; if Wanyan Honglie was seen by Guo Jing, he would surely lose his life. It was a critical moment and Yang Kang did not have too much time to think; so he jumped onto the battleground. At that time Guo Jing was hurling a Jin soldier’s body into the air. Wanyan Honglie’s horse got frightened, so he was busy holding the reins. Yang Kang grabbed him from behind and pulled him to safety.
“Fu Wang [Father King], it’s me, Kang’er. Don’t make a sound!” Yang Kang whispered urgently. Guo Jing was still fighting and Huang Rong’s attention was occupied by the eagles. The night was dark, so nobody saw him with Wanyan Honglie moving towards the rear courtyard of the temple.
Yang Kang quietly pushed open the door to the west wing and, equally quietly, the two hid themselves there. Their ears could still hear the battle cries outside, followed by the sounds of Jin soldiers scampering away; finally they heard the mumbled sounds of the three Mongolians talking to Guo Jing.
Wanyan Honglie thought he was dreaming, “Kang’er,” he whispered, “What brought you here?”
“It was a fortunate coincidence,” Yang Kang replied. “Ah ... but that man surnamed Guo means you harm.”
By then Wanyan Honglie heard Guo Jing and Huang Rong were going to go separate ways to look for him. He also saw how Guo Jing had defeated the ‘Three Ghosts of the Yellow River’ and how fiercely and swiftly he had beaten and killed numerous Jin soldiers. If he were discovered by those two, what would happen? He shuddered involuntarily.
“Fu Wang, if we go now, I am afraid we’ll run into them. Let’s just hide here; they will leave eventually. We’ll wait until they are far away, then we can carefully leave,” Yang Kang said.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Wanyan Honglie said. He paused, then said, “Kang’er, why did you call me Fu Wang and not dad [die]?”
Yang Kang was silent. He remembered his late mother’s fate and his heart was filled with turbulent emotions.
Wanyan Honglie said slowly, “You were thinking of your mother, were you not?” He stretched his arm to hold Yang Kang’s hand and that hand was icy cold with Yang Kang’s sweat.
Yang Kang gently pulled his hand away. He changed the subject, “Guo Jing’s martial arts are high. He is seeking vengeance for his father; he is determined to find and kill you. He also has befriended many, many experts in martial arts; it will be impossible for you to guard against him. I think it will be to your benefit if you do not go back to Beijing for the next six months or so.”
Wanyan Honglie recalled what happened at Ox Village near Lin’an nineteen years ago; he was saddened. Yet there was a tinge of guilty feelings in him, so he was silent for quite a while. “Very well,” he finally said, “I’ll avoid Beijing for a while. Have you gone to Lin’an yet? What did Prime Minister Shi say?”
“I haven’t been there,” Yang Kang coldly replied.
Wanyan Honglie heard the tone of his voice and guessed that Yang Kang had probably found out about his own life story; but why did Yang Kang save him? Could he have another plan in mind?
Those two men had lived together for eighteen years as father and son; they loved each other dearly. But now that they were together in that small room, Yang Kang suddenly thought there was a deep hatred between them. There was a raging battle inside his heart: “With just a whack of my palm I will avenge my father and mother; but how can I do that? Yang Tiexin was my biological father, but what did he give me? Mama normally treated Fu Wang well and if I kill him now, would Mama like it? Besides, if I really forsake being a prince, will I end up wandering around in the wilderness, destitute like Guo Jing?”
He was still having these disquieting thoughts when Wanyan Honglie said, “Kang’er, we have had a father-son relationship. No matter what, you are my son and I love you. Within ten years our great Jin will conquer the Song. At that time I will have enormous power and authority in my hands, with unlimited riches and honor. This beautiful country, this mortal world, will eventually fall into your hands.”
Yang Kang understood the implications of his speech; Wanyan Honglie aimed to be the emperor. Thinking about ‘unlimited riches and honor’, his heart was thumping loudly and he secretly thought, “With the power of the Great Jin, it will not be difficult to crush the Song. Mongolia will pose another problem, but it will be temporary. They are just a bunch of barbarians with excellent riding and archery skills; nothing refined. Fu Wang’s management skill is superb. Which other Great Jin prince can be compared to him? When all’s said and done, I will definitely become the crown prince of this world.” Thinking thus, his blood boiled. He stretched his hand to grab Wanyan Honglie’s. “Dad, your child will certainly help you in this great undertaking.”
Wanyan Honglie noticed Yang Kang’s hand had become warm; he was delighted. “I am Li Yuan, you are Li Shi Min.” [Translator note: Li Yuan and Li Shi Min were the father and son founders of the Tang Dynasty]
Yang Kang was about to reply when they s
uddenly heard a noise behind them. The two men froze. Quickly they turned their heads. It was already morning and bright sunlight came through the window. They saw seven or eight coffins scattered throughout the room. It turns out that this west wing was the temporary place for the dead before burial. They listened carefully; the noise sounded like it came from one of the coffins.
“What was that?” Wanyan Honglie asked.
“Probably a mouse,” Yang Kang replied. At that moment they heard Guo Jing and Huang Rong talking outside about the golden helmet; then joking around as they looked for them.
“Confound it!” Yang Kang thought, “Father’s golden helmet was left outside! This could be bad.” With a low voice he said, “I am going to lead them away.” Quietly he opened the door and jumped outside, towards the roof.
Huang Rong was on the roof when she suddenly saw a shadow flash by on the roof’s peak. “Good! He is here!” She dashed toward that shadow, but the shadow quickly jumped down and disappeared around a corner.
Guo Jing heard her voice and came. “He can’t run far and must be hiding in the woods,” Huang Rong said.
The two were about to run into the woods when suddenly there was a noise from the bush and out came Yang Kang. Guo Jing was pleasantly surprised. “Xian di, where did you come from?” he asked. “Did you see Wanyan Honglie?”
“Wanyan Honglie is here?” Yang Kang feigned surprise.
“He was the commander of those troops. Look, his golden helmet is here,” Guo Jing said.
“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kang said.
Huang Rong noticed his expression was unusual; she also remembered he was speaking with Ouyang Ke earlier so she was suspicious. “We were looking for you everywhere just a moment ago. Where were you?” she asked.
