Legend of Condor Heroes Book 3
Page 16
They walked several zhangs further and saw a streak of water appearing like a silver waterfall coming out from the side of a hill. The water ran down to a pond, and in turn, a stream of water came out of the pond so that it would not overflow. There were countless red lotuses strewn across the surface of the pond. Directly in front of the pond was a hall entrance dense with flowers. Just above the entrance were written the three characters ‘Jade-Green Cold Hall’ [cui han tang].
Huang Rong walked to the front of the hall. Below the porch she saw some stairs leading upwards, surrounded by many kinds of flowers: ‘jasmine’ [mo li], ‘fragrant vegetable’ [su xin], ‘musk deer fragrant rattan’ [she xiang teng], ‘vermillion hibiscus’ [shu jin], ‘jade cassia’ [yu gui], and ‘red banana’ [hong jiao]. Each was the kind of fragrant plants that bloom in summer. Towards the back of the hal, orchids and other scented plants hung. Sweet smelling incense burned, filling the hall and assailing their nostrils.
On a table inside the hall were several bowls of lotus root, sweet melon, loquat, and many kinds of wild fruits from the forest. Several round fans were strewn about on the chairs. It seemed that this was the hall where the emperor enjoyed the cool evening breeze before going to bed.
Guo Jing sighed. “The emperor really knows how to enjoy life,” he said.
Huang Rong laughed. “Now you can be one,” she said, pulling Guo Jing along to sit on a couch. She offered him the bowl of fruits and knelt down. “Long live master. Please enjoy some fresh fruits,” she said.
Guo Jing smiled and picked up a loquat. “Please rise,” he said.
Huang Rong laughed, “Emperors never says ‘please’. That is too polite,” she said.
As they talked and laughed in low voices they suddenly heard someone shout in the distance, “Who’s there?” They were startled. Leaping out of the hall they hid behind a fake hill. They heard heavy footsteps as two men came shouting loudly. Guo Jing and Huang Rong listened to these people and knew their martial arts skills were low. They was nothing to worry about. The guards brandished their sabers while rushing towards the front of the hall. They looked around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“You saw a ghost,” one guard said, laughing.
The other one was also laughing. “I am always seeing things these past few days,” he said. They walked away, still talking and laughing.
Huang Rong was inwardly amused. She tugged Guo Jing’s hand to leave, but suddenly heard those two guards grunt...‘hey...hey’. Although the noise was deep and muffled, they knew it was the sound of exhaling because their acupoints were being sealed. Guo Jing and Huang Rong both thought, “Did Big Brother Zhou get bored and came out to play?”
They heard someone speak in a low voice, “According to the Imperial Palace map, the building next to the waterfall is the ‘Jade-Green Cold Hall’. We are going there.” The voice belonged to Wanyan Honglie.
Guo Jing and Huang Rong were very shocked. They grabbed each other’s hands and hid even deeper behind the fake hill, not daring to make a sound. In the dim glimmering starlight they saw shadows moving in front of the hall. They vaguely recognized that, besides Wanyan Honglie, there was Ouyang Feng, Peng Lianhu, Sha Tongtian, the Venerable Lingzhi, Liang Ziweng and Hou Tonghai.
Guo Jing and Huang Rong were puzzled. “What are these people doing in the Imperial Palace?” they thought. “Could it be they also want to steal some food from the imperial kitchen?”
They heard Wanyan Honglie speak again, still in low voice. “The Little Prince has carefully examined the secret letter Yue Fei left behind and also the documents from the dynasties two emperors, Gaozong and Xiaozong. I concluded that the Wumu Legacy is hidden fifteen steps east of the ‘Jade-Green Cold Hall’.”
Everyone’s eyes automatically followed the direction of his hand. Fifteen steps east of the hall was the waterfall and nothing else. Wanyan Honglie said, “How the book could be hidden in the waterfall? The Little Prince found hard to understand, but according to the documents, this is the correct place.”
Sha Tongtian was known as the ‘Dragon King of the Demonic Group’ [gui men long wang] and his water skills were excellent. “I’ll go and take a look at the waterfall,” he said. Without waiting, he stepped forward and jumped into the water. Not long afterward he reemerged. Everybody rushed forward to meet him, only to hear him say, “The Prince reasoned correctly. Behind the waterfall there is a cave with a closed iron gate.”
Wanyan Honglie was ecstatic. “The Wumu Legacy must be inside the cave,” he said. “I am afraid I’ll have to inconvenience you gentlemen and have you to open the iron gate.”
Everybody unsheathed their prized sabers and sharp blades, ready to comply with his request and each wanting to render meritorious service. They raced to the waterfall. Ouyang Feng laughed coldly and stayed at Wanyan Honglie’s side. He felt his reputation was different, so he was not willing to fetch the book with the others.
Sha Tongtian was the first to duck under the flowing water. Suddenly a gust of wind assaulted his face. He’d just come in to take a look and saw nothing. How could he guess an enemy would suddenly attack him? He hurriedly avoided the attack, but his left wrist was suddenly grabbed by the enemy and he was pushed hard. Against his wish, his body flew out and hit Liang Ziweng hard. Luckily both men’s martial arts skills were quite high and they were not injured.
Everyone was taken by surprise. In the meantime, Sha Tongtian entered the waterfall again.but this time he was ready. He raised both palms in front of his face and, sure enough, from behind the waterfall a fist came flying out. He used his left hand to parry while launching a counterattack with his right. During all this, he had not seen clearly who the enemy was.
Liang Ziweng had also jumped into the waterfall. A stick suddenly came sweeping close to the ground. Liang Ziweng tried to evade it, but he was too late. The lower part of his leg was hit squarely and he could not maintain his balance and fell backwards. As his chest was being hit by the waterfall, his leg was again hit by the stick. Against his will, his body fell outside the waterfall.
By this time Sha Tongtian had also been pushed outside of the waterfall by a swift and fierce palm. The ‘Three-Headed Dragon’ Hou Tonghai did not think about the martial arts skills his martial brother had compared to his own skills. If his martial brother was so easily defeated, how could he hope to achieve success? Relying on his superb water skills and his ability to open his eyes and see underwater, he charged into the waterfall.
Looking at the adverse situation, Peng Lianhu rushed forward to join the battle. Suddenly a dark and rather shiny shadow flew above his head. With a ‘Bang!’ that shadow fell to the ground and then he heard Hou Tonghai cry loudly in pain. Peng Lianhu quickly went over and said in a low voice, “Brother Hou [Hou Xiong],. .be quiet! What happened?”
“Damn his granny!” Hou Tonghai cursed. “My butt is broken into four pieces from the fall.”
Peng Lianhu was confounded and amused at the same time. “Is there such a thing?” he whispered. He stretched his hand to check Hou Tonghai’s buttocks, seemingly checking to see if they were still in one piece. He found nothing injured. He knew something was amiss, but he did not want to face the danger rashly. “Who’s inside?” he asked.
Still in pain Hou Tonghai became angry. “How would I know?” he snapped. “As soon as I went in, I was thrown back out. That scoundrel of a bastard!”
In the starlight they saw the Venerable Lingzhi’s red robe fluttering as he entered the waterfall in big strides. Amidst the sound of the water gurgling, they could hear his loud shouts in Tibetan. It seemed like he was fighting an intense battle with the man inside.
Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Sha Tongtian and Liang Ziweng had been thrown out. But in the darkness they vaguely saw, behind the curtain of water, a man and a woman. The man was barehanded and the woman had a stick in her hand. At this time they heard the Venerable Lingzhi’s loud roar. It seemed he had suffered hardships as well.
He had just finished speaking when they saw the Venerable Lingzhi’s red kasaya [Tibetan Robe] fly out from the waterfall and land floating on the red lotus pond, followed by two clanking sounds as the two copper cymbals that he used as weapons also flew out. Peng Lianhu was afraid the cymbals would make a loud noise if they hit the ground and thus alert the palace guards. He stretched out his hands and caught the cymbals. They heard loud shouts of Tibetan curse words coming from the waterfall, which nobody could understand, followed by a huge body flying out.
Luckily the Venerable Lingzhi’s martial arts were different from Hou Tonghai’s. Although he fell backwards, he was able to land softly, so his buttocks were not injured at all. He cursed aloud, “It’s the boy and the girl we met on the boat.”
When Guo Jing and Huang Rong were hiding behind the fake hill, they heard Wanyan Honglie order the people to go into the cave and steal the book. They thought that if the Wumu Legacy was obtained by him, the Jin army could follow Yue Wumu’s military strategies to invade the south, which would be disastrous. They realized that Ouyang Feng was around and that they were not his match, but if they did not step forward bravely, how would they bear it if, in the future, the common people of the world suffered such a disaster?
At first Huang Rong wanted to find a way to scare these people away, but Guo Jing knew that the situation was critical and they had no time to hesitate. He immediately grabbed Huang Rong’s hand and slipped behind the waterfall. They were hoping to set up an ambush and attack Ouyang Feng by surprise. Luckily the waterfall’s rumbling was so loud that nobody heard their movements.
The two did all they could to repel Sha Tongtian and the others. They were pleasantly surprised with the results and did not expect the Manual’s ‘Changing Muscles Forging Bones’ to be that marvelous. Huang Rong’s ‘Dog-Beating Stick’ had infinite variations. So amazing were they that even men of Sha Tongtian and the Venerable Lingzhi’s caliber were thrown into confused helplessness. Guo Jing took advantage of the situation to send out his palms and as a result they managed to throw everyone out of the waterfall.
Guo Jing and Huang Rong knew that as Sha Tongtian and the others were defeated, Ouyang Feng would go into action and that they absolutely could not fight against him. “Let’s get out of here quickly!” Huang Rong said, “We have to raise the alarm and let the palace guards come and prevent these people from acting further.”
“That’s right!” Guo Jing said, “You go out and raise the alarm. I am staying here on guard.”
“You must not fight the Old Poison,” Huang Rong said.
“Yes. Now go! Go!” Guo Jing said.
Huang Rong was about to go out through the hole behind the waterfall when they suddenly heard a loud grunt and a great burst of energy came through the waterfall from the outside. The two did not dare to block it and leaped sideways to evade that energy. With a loud roar, Ouyang Feng’s ‘Toad Stance’ energy penetrated the waterfall and hit the iron gate. Water splashed everywhere and the force was astonishing.
Although Huang Rong managed to leap sideways, her back was still hit by the ‘Toad Stance’s’ lateral force. She felt her blood rushing and her vision blurred. She tried to focus her mind and then dashed outside shouting at the top of her lungs, “Seize the assassin! Seize the assassin!” She ran away while continuing to shout.
As she shouted, the palace guards all around the ‘Jade-Green Cold Hall’ were startled awake. Shouting began immediately from everywhere, raising the alarm. Huang Rong jumped up on the roof of the hall, picked up some roof tiles, and ‘Bing...bing...bang...bang!” randomly threw them to the ground.
“Kill that little girl first, then we’ll talk,” Peng Lianhu cursed. Launching his lightness kungfu, he gave chase. Liang Ziweng jumped to the left, trying to block her.
Wanyan Honglie was still calm. He said to Yang Kang, “Kang’er, go with Mr. Ouyang and get the book.”
By this time Ouyang Feng was already squatting on the ground in front of the waterfall. With another grunt he sent another burst of energy and the double iron gate at the cave’s mouth flew in. He was about to enter the cave, when from one side, a shadow suddenly attacked. Before the person even arrived, his palm had already come, launching the dangerous stance of the ‘Flying Dragon Soaring Through the Heavens’ [fei long zai tian]. Although he could not clearly see that person’s appearance in the dark cave, as soon as he saw the stance he knew it must be Guo Jing. He was delighted, “The ‘Nine Yin Manual’ is exceptionally difficult to comprehend and I only understand two out of ten sentences. If I can capture this kid, I can force him to explain it.” He leaned sideways to evade the attack then swiftly stretched out his hand, trying to grab Guo Jing’s back.
Guo Jing was determined that no matter what he had to do to guard the entrance, he would not let the enemy enter. As long as he could hold it for a while, the palace guards would come. Although this group of traitors’ martial arts was high, they would have to run away eventually. He was slightly puzzled to see Ouyang Feng not trying to kill him but merely trying to capture him. His left hand swept the attacking hand away and his right hand counterattacked with the ‘Vacant Fist’ technique. Even though, in terms of strength, this technique was inferior to the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’, by using the ‘Vacant Fist’, his palms floated with tricky movements.
“Good!” Ouyang Feng exclaimed. He dropped his shoulder and pulled back his hand while trying to catch Guo Jing’s right arm. His hand did not carry the gust of wind that came with his usual swift and ferocious force.
While he was on the deserted island, Ouyang Feng studied the Manual Guo Jing wrote out. The more he practiced it the more he felt something was wrong. It never crossed his mind that the Manual in his hands was altered to the point of being somewhat unintelligible. He thought that the Manual carried a very deep and profound meaning which could not be deciphered in a short period of time. Later on he heard Hong Qigong mumbling some gibberish on the raft which he thought was the key to understanding the Manual. Also, every time he met Guo Jing, he noticed that his martial arts were continuously progressing. He was startled yet delighted at the same time. Startled: because this kid’s skills were improving so rapidly. Therefore, the power contained in the Manual must be truly something to be feared. Delighted: because the Manual was in his hands. By strengthening his own background, his advancement in the future would be limitless.
On the raft he fought a life and death battle against two enemies. This time he felt that he had gained the upper hand and wanted to fight at a leisurely pace. He thought he would be able to dissect the manual by watching Guo Jing’s every single move. He did not care whether the Wumu Legacy would be stolen or not. In his heart the only important matter right was the martial arts in the Manual.
By now the light from the many lanterns carried all around the area had made the ‘Jade-Green Cold Hall’ bright as daylight, as more and more palace guards arrived. Wanyan Honglie noted that Ouyang Feng and Yang Kang had been behind the water’s curtain for a very long time without coming back out. Meanwhile the palace guards gathered around them. He was getting increasingly anxious. Fortunately the guards’ attention was concentrated by Peng Lianhu and Liang Ziweng on the roof chasing after Huang Rong, oblivious that there was a bigger fight going on inside the waterfall. He realized, however, that sooner or later the guards’ would detect their presence there. He stomped his feet and waved his hands continuously, while urgently calling out, “Quick.. .quick!”
“Don’t worry Prince, little monk will go in again,” the Venerable Lingzhi said. Shaking his left palm in front of his body he entered the waterfall. By now the light from outside had penetrated the water curtain. He was able to see Ouyang Feng exchanging stances with Guo Jing in front of the cave entrance, while Yang Kang, at one side, was trying
to get into the cave. But how could he pass through the two people’s ferocious gusts of wind created by their palms?
The Venerable Lingzhi watched for several stances until he could not endure it any longer. He knew the present situation was very urgent. But Ouyang Feng was sparring leisurely with this kid. Truly he was a bastard. “Mr. Ouyang, let me help you!” he shouted.
“Don’t come near me!” Ouyang Feng replied.
The Venerable Lingzhi thought, “In a situation like this you still flaunt yourself as a hero and display your reputation as a grandmaster of a martial arts school?” He bent his knees and attacked Guo Jing’s left side. His ‘Big Hand Imprint’ [da shou yin] slapped Guo Jing’s ‘Sun’ [tai yang] acupoint.
Ouyang Feng was angry. His right hand stretched out to grab the back of Lingzhi’s neck and fling him out. As soon as his neck was grabbed, the Venerable Lingzhi became very angry and he shouted a series of the most obscene cuss words he could think of. Unfortunately he was speaking Tibetan, so Ouyang Feng naturally did not understand a word he was saying. All he heard was “Ba ni mi hong”. half a sentence because water started to get into his mouth and his curses were drowned. As he fell backwards with his face facing the sky, he landed in the pond and water began filling his mouth.
Wanyan Honglie saw the Venerable Lingzhi come flying out and fall like he was mounting the clouds and riding the mist. Then he heard a loud clanking noise as the big flower pot in front of the ‘Jade-Green Cold Hall’ was crushed. He groaned inwardly. He also saw many palace guards coming in succession, so he hastily tucked in his robe and went inside the waterfall.
Although he had learned some martial arts, his skill was only so-so. As soon as he was inside the waterfall he stepped on the slippery surface and fell down. Yang Kang rushed forward to help him up. It took a while for Wanyan Honglie to scan the cave and see what was going on. “Mr. Ouyang, can you expel this youngster?” he called out. He knew that no matter how he begged or entreated, Ouyang Feng might not necessarily pay any attention to him. Therefore he resorted to subtlety by asking if Ouyang Feng was capable of expelling Guo Jing. This was called ‘dispatching a general is not as good as inciting a general’.