by Jin Yong
Huang Yaoshi recounted how miserable and lonely his life had become since his wife passed away and how badly he missed her. Huang Rong listened to him pouring out his heart and her own heart was filled with sorrow. “Jing ge ge and I are mere youngsters and we love each other. I don’t think it will be impossible to see each other in the future; but I cannot leave my father,” she thought.
Once her mind was set, she continued listening to her father. “The Old Urchin destroyed the entire ‘Nine Yin Manual’ with the strength of his hands. I thought my hopes of sacrificing the manual to you were shattered. Who would have thought that, perhaps by divine intervention, he would insist on riding the boat I made for our future meeting?” he said.
“Every time I wanted to play aboard that boat Father always sternly prohibited me; how would he
use the boat to meet Mother?” Huang Rong wondered.
Huang Yaoshi loved his wife very much. Moreover, his wife died because she wanted to make him happy. Therefore, he wanted to commit suicide as a sacrifice to her. But he knew his martial arts were profound, so he could not die easily by hanging himself or simply drinking a poison. Besides, if he died on the island, he was sure his deaf and mute servants would mutilate his body. Therefore he went to the mainland and kidnapped a highly skilled boat builder to build him this fancy boat.
This boat’s keel was no different than a regular boat’s, except that the bottom of the boat was not nailed together with metal nails, but put together with ropes and glue. Moored at the marina it looked like an extremely magnificent and beautiful yacht; but as soon as it sailed onto the sea, the waves would destroy the ropes and glue, and the boat would certainly sink.
Originally he intended to put his wife’s coffin on the boat, take the boat onto the sea and while the
waves rocked the boat, he would play on his jade flute the ‘Jade-Colored Tidal Wave’ song. Together with his wife they would be buried thousands of feet beneath the sea. That way he would make a clean end to his life without disgracing his reputation as the martial arts master of his age. However, every time he wanted to go, he could not bear the idea of taking their daughter along, but who would raise her if he died? Finally he decided to build a tomb and placed his wife in it. He repainted the boat every year, so it always looked new. He was going to wait for their daughter to grow up before taking his last voyage.
Of course Huang Rong did not know of her father’s plan. But she kept listening anyway. “The Old Urchin was able to recite the ‘Nine Yin Manual’ completely and that Guo kid could also recite it from memory. If I sink those two into the sea, it would be the same as though I was burning the two manuals for you. If your spirit in heaven knows this, you can then rest in peace. My only regret was that the Old Beggar Hong will lose his life in vain; it is rather unfair to him. Within one day I have killed three martial arts masters for your sake. When we meet again, you can certainly say that your husband has fulfilled his promise to you. Ha ... ha ... !”
After listening to this last part, the hair on Huang Rong’s neck stood up and her heart turned very cold. She did not completely understand what was going on, but knowing her father’s abilities very well, she was sure that there must be something terribly wrong with that boat. She was anxious for the safety of Guo Jing and the other people on board. Her heart was filled with shock and sorrow at the same time. She wanted to stand up and beg her father to save them, but she was neither able to stand nor speak; her legs were weak and her throat dry from fear. She only heard her father’s long and mournful laughter - sounding like a song or a cry, as he walked out of the tomb.
Huang Rong tried to calm herself down and thought out loud, “I must go to rescue Jing ge ge. If I can’t make it, I will still die with him.” She knew her father’s strange temper well; he’d become crazy because of his excessive love for his deceased wife and it would be useless to ask him for help. She dashed out of the tomb towards the seashore where she jumped on a boat, woke up the deaf mute servants in charge of the boat and immediately set sail.
Suddenly she heard hoof beats coming her way and at the same time she could hear her father’s jade flute in the distance. Huang Rong looked back; it was Guo Jing’s little red horse, galloping in the moonlight. It had been wandering aimlessly on the island and that particular night it ran towards the seashore. Huang Rong thought, “Where can I find Jing ge ge on this boundless sea? The little red horse has divine abilities on dry land, but on the water it is completely useless.”
o0o
Hong Qigong, Zhou Botong and Guo Jing dashed out of the cabin only to find their feet submerged in water almost to their knees. They were extremely shocked. Immediately they jumped up onto the mast; Hong Qigong even remembered to snatch a couple of deaf and mute sailors. They looked down and saw the turbulent water rising fast. It all happened so fast that they were at loss as to what to do.
“Old Beggar,” Zhou Botong called, “Old Heretic Huang is so amazing! I just wonder how he built this boat?”
“I don’t know!” replied Hong Qigong, “Jing’er, hold the mast tightly, don’t let go ...”
Guo Jing was about to answer when a loud crack was suddenly heard; the boat broke in two and both halves slowly sank into the water. The two sailors were so shocked that they lost their hold on the mast and fell down into the raging water below. Zhou Botong flexed his muscles and jumped into the water.
“Old Urchin!” Hong Qigong called, “Do you know how to swim?”
Zhou Botong’s head came out of the water, “I guess I’ll just have to try ...” he laughed. These exchanges happened in the midst of howling winds and they could not hear each other clearly.
By this time the mast was leaning far enough that it would hit the water very soon. Hong Qigong called out, “Jing’er, the mast is joined to the hull; let’s break it free. Come on!” The two gathered their strength and struck the mast near its center. Although the mast was made from solid wood, how could it withstand the combined forces of Hong Qigong and Guo Jing? After several strikes, with a ‘Crack’, the mast gave way. The two held on to it and together they fell into the sea below.
They were already many li away from Peach Blossom Island and looking in all directions there were towering waves as high as a mountain; there was no land in sight. Hong Qigong was secretly very anxious. Drifting on the sea like this, without food or fresh water, should nobody rescue them, they would certainly die in less than ten days no matter how high their martial arts skills were. Hong Qigong tried looking for Ouyang Feng’s boat but it was nowhere to be seen. He heard someone laughing hard to the south of them, it was Zhou Botong.
“Jing’er,” Hong Qigong said, “Let’s try going to him.” With one hand holding the mast, the other hand paddled towards Zhou Botong. The waves were quite strong, so as they moved dozens of zhang they were pushed back dozens of zhang.
“Old Urchin, we are coming!” Hong Qigong laughed. Due to his strong internal energy, his voice could be heard amidst the sound of the roaring waves around them. They heard Zhou Botong calling out, “The Old Urchin has become a dog in the water; sort of like an old dog in salty soup!”
Guo Jing was amused that in a situation as dangerous as this, he still had the urge to goof around; truly he did not bear the title ‘the Old Urchin’ in vain.
The sea was raging wildly around them and no matter how hard they tried, they were still dozens of zhang apart from each other. Only after working hard for a long time did they finally manage to get together on the broken mast. As soon as Hong Qigong and Guo Jing saw Zhou Botong, they were unable to stifle their laughter; Zhou Botong had used sail rope to tie a piece of board to his feet and used his excellent lightness kungfu to tread on the waves. Unfortunately the waves were too strong. Even though his body was going up and down with the waves, free and unrestrained, it was actually very difficult to move forward. Zhou Botong played on the water enthusiastically, seemingly oblivious of the danger they were facing.
Guo Jing looked around to see their
boat was gone along with all the crew; they were buried under the sea. Suddenly he heard Zhou Botong call out in alarm, “Aiyo! This is serious! The Old Urchin might meet a cruel death.”
Hong Qigong and Guo Jing heard his frightened voice and asked, “What is it?”
Zhou Botong pointed his finger and said, “Sharks.. .a school of sharks!”
Guo Jing grew up on the steppes so he did not know how fierce a shark was. He turned around to see Hong Qigong’s face looking strange. He wondered what kind of monster a shark was that would make his master and big brother Zhou, who were used to facing danger with smiles on their faces, look so nervous.
Hong Qigong sent his strength to his palm and broke the end of the mast; then he divided the broken pieces further into two halves. Suddenly he saw a shark’s head appear amongst the white foam of the waves; its two rows of sharp white teeth glistening in the sunlight. It was only for a moment, and then it disappeared under the water. Hong Qigong threw a wooden stick to Guo Jing. “Aim for their heads!” he called out.
Guo Jing groped in his pocket and produced a dagger. “Disciple has a dagger!” he called back and threw the wooden stick toward Zhou Botong.
By now there were four or five sharks circling around Zhou Botong; it looked like they were assessing the situation, but no shark had attacked yet. Zhou Botong leaned over and struck; a shark’s head split open. As soon as the other sharks smelled blood they all attacked their dead comrade.
Guo Jing saw the water’s surface bubbling like boiling water; he wondered how many thousands of sharks were there. He saw white teeth flashing and in a very short moment, nothing was left of that dead shark. He was horrified. Suddenly he felt something bump his feet. Nervously he kicked around and a big shark shot up from the water towards him. With his left hand holding the mast he sent all his might to his right hand and with unmatched accuracy his extremely sharp dagger made a hole in the shark’s head. Again the water boiled as a group of sharks feasted on their dead companion. Thousands of sharks were moving and biting randomly in the water.
The three men’s martial arts were superb; surrounded by thousands of sharks they moved to the west and dodged to the east. Every time their hands struck, a shark was either dead or heavily injured while their own bodies were not even scratched. As soon as a shark bled, it became the other sharks’ food and in a flash it became a pile of cartilage sinking in the sea. Although the three’s martial arts were profound and they had great courage, when they saw this sight, they could not help feeling frightened. The sharks were uncountable and seemed like they were killing them endlessly. They did not have time to think of anything else; they needed all their energy and concentration to fight and fight and fight .
After hours of fighting they’d killed more than two hundred sharks, then fog began rising from the water as the sun slowly fell to the western horizon. Zhou Botong called out, “Old Beggar, Brother Guo, once the sky is dark all three of us will go into the sharks’ tummies. Shall we make a bet? Who will be first to be eaten?”
“Is the first to be eaten the winner or the loser?” Hong Qigong asked.
“The winner, certainly,” Zhou Botong replied.
“Aiyo, in that case I’d rather be the loser,” Hong Qigong said. With the back of his hand he launched the ‘Divine Dragon Swings its Tail’ and hit a big shark on its side. That big shark weighed approximately 200 jins [100kg / 220 lbs], but because of Hong Qigong’s strength, it flew into the air, rolled twice, before it fell back into the water, creating a big splash. That shark turned belly up; it had been killed instantly.
“Excellent palm technique!” Zhou Botong praised, “I’ll bow to you and take you as my master so you can teach me the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’. It’s too bad I won’t have time to learn it. Old Beggar, do you want to compete with me?”
“I am sorry I can’t accommodate you right now,” Hong Qigong said.
Zhou Botong laughed heartily, “Brother, are you scared?” he asked Guo Jing.
In his heart Guo Jing was really scared; but seeing these two people were still able to chat and make jokes in a life and death situation his spirits were lifted. “I was scared, but not anymore,” he replied. Suddenly he saw a monstrous shark charging his way. He leaned sideways then lifted his left hand high in the air as bait. That big shark turned around and leaped out of the water to bite his hand. The dagger in Guo Jing’s right hand moved upward and stabbed beneath the shark’s mouth. Because the 586 Eagle Shooting Hero
shark was moving forward, the dagger made a long cut along the shark’s body. Blood gushed and the contents of its stomach spilled out.
By that time Zhou Botong and Hong Qigong had each killed another shark. Zhou Botong had not yet recovered from Huang Yaoshi’s blow earlier; after fighting for such a long time he began to feel a severe pain in his chest. He laughed loudly and said, “Old Beggar, Brother Guo, I am so sorry I can’t continue much longer, I’ll have to be the first one going into a shark’s belly. Ay! Too bad you two didn’t want to bet. I would’ve won!”
Even though he was laughing, Guo Jing could hear the desperation in his voice. “All right!” he shouted, “I’ll bet with you!”
“At least now I can die an interesting death!” Zhou Botong laughed. As he turned around to avoid the converging attacks of two sharks charging in together he suddenly saw a high white sail far away. In the dim light of dusk a big private boat was cutting through the waves and coming their way.
Hong Qigong also saw the boat; it was Ouyang Feng’s. They were exuberant knowing that help was on the way. Guo Jing immediately came near Zhou Botong to help him fight the sharks. A moment later the boat arrived and lowered two small boats to rescue the three people. Zhou Botong vomited some more blood, but he would not stop talking and laughing. He was waving his finger at the sharks and cursing them incessantly.
Ouyang Feng and Ouyang Ke stood on the bow of the big boat to welcome them. As far as their eyes could see, the water was full of shark fins; they were inwardly alarmed.
Zhou Botong was unwilling to admit indebtedness, he said, “Old Poison, it was you who came and rescued us; I did not call you for help so I don’t owe you anything.”
“Naturally you don’t owe me anything,” Ouyang Feng replied, “Today I come across the three of you engaged in a shark killing spree; Little Brother was fascinated.”
Zhou Botong laughed, “You came across us and prevented us from playing inside the sharks’ bellies, so I will still call it even; we don’t owe anybody anything.”
Ouyang Ke and a snake herder put some big chunks of beef on an iron hook as bait and in a short period of time had hooked seven or eight big sharks.
Hong Qigong pointed at the sharks and laughed, “Good, you didn’t eat us, but it looks like we are going to eat you.”
Ouyang Ke laughed, “Little Nephew has a way to avenge Uncle Hong.” He quickly cut some short sticks, sharpened both ends, then pried open a shark’s mouth with a spear and stuck the wooden stick in the shark’s mouth. Then he kicked the shark back into the water.
Zhou Botong laughed, “That way the shark won’t be able to eat anything ever; I bet it will die within eight to ten days.”
Guo Jing thought, “Only he would think of such an evil plan. This gluttonous shark will starve to death in the sea. That is so cruel.”
Zhou Botong saw Guo Jing’s face showing a disgusted look, he laughed, “Brother, such a malicious trick is not pleasing to the eye, is it? Well, this is called ‘a poisonous uncle results in a poisonous nephew’.”
Hearing others cursing him as evil did not bother Western Poison Ouyang Feng at all; on the contrary, he was pleased. Listening to Zhou Botong he showed a faint smile and said, “Old Urchin, this small trick is nothing compared to what the Western Poison can do. You three are out of breath from fighting this bunch of baby sharks. Even though they are many, to me they are nothing.” After saying that he faced the sea, stretched out his right hand, moved it in a sweeping motion from left
to right and said, “Even if there were ten times more sharks than these, I can annihilate them all without breaking a sweat.”
“Ah!” Zhou Botong exclaimed, “The Western Poison blows his horn really loud! If you can prove your great prowess and really kill the sharks, the Old Urchin will kowtow to you and will call you ‘Grandfather’ three hundred times.”
“I do not dare to accept that,” Ouyang Feng said, “If you don’t believe me, why don’t we make a bet?”
“All right,” Zhou Botong almost shouted, “I’ll bet you my head!”
Hong Qigong, on the other hand, was suspicious, “Even if his skills are as high as the sky, it is impossible to kill millions of sharks at once,” he thought, “I am afraid he has another evil scheme up in his sleeve.”
“I don’t need your head,” Ouyang Feng said with a smile, “If I win, I want you to do something for me and you must comply with it. If I lose, I won’t decline whatever difficult matter you want me to do. What do you think?”
“I don’t care, whatever you say!” Zhou Botong shouted.
Ouyang Feng turned to Hong Qigong, “I am asking Brother Qi to be our witness,” he said.
Hong Qigong nodded, “Very well,” he said, “But what if the winner assigns the loser something and he is not able to do it?”
“Then the loser must jump into the sea to be eaten by the sharks,” Zhou Botong said.
Again Ouyang Feng showed a faint smile but he did not say anything. He signaled a servant to bring a small wine cup. Two of his right fingers pinched the neck of the strange looking snake on his staff, forced it to open its mouth and venom gushed from its teeth. Ouyang Feng held out the wine cup and caught the venom in it, black and thick like China ink, almost filling half the cup. As soon as this snake ran out of venom, he pinched the other one and did the same, filling the whole cup with snake’s venom. When he was finished the two snakes wrapped around the staff quietly, no longer slithering up and down, like they were very tired.
