Ode to gallantry, p.67
Ode to Gallantry, page 67
Shi Qing said: "master Bai, the top of the city wall is covered with snow and ice so it will really difficult for an outsider to get inside the city wall using iron hooks. It’s really impossible for even an army."
Bai Wanjian said with a smile: "The founding fathers constructed this city to open the sect here about One hundred and seventy years ago. Actually no foreign enemy has attacked this place but in deep winter sometimes the common greedy person might make a sneak attack, then again he can’t enter the city." Here, to protect the city, there is an ice ditch and a hanging bridge is hoisted high and it’s not laid down.
They heard an angry voice shouting loudly: "Who is turning up today? Who wants to come in?"
Someone replied: "Master Bai Wanjian and numerous other brothers from the sect are coming back."
Bai Wanjian shouted: "Manor Master Shi Qing and Lady Min Rou are visiting too, lay down the hanging bridge quickly."
That person said: "Yes, yes!" But even after a long time, they did not see that the hanging bridge getting down.
Shi Qing saw that ice ditch and though that it is at least thirty feet wide and such a distance is obviously not that was easy to leap. Outside the common city wall has the moat, here climate is severely cold, in the moat the river water has formed the ice, but this ditch was dug really deep, nearby the ditch there were piece of ice in the wall, no matter a person or beast, if it falls then there is no way he can come out.
Geng Wanzhong, Wanjun and others shouted out repeatedly for the disciples who were defending the city to quickly open the door. Bai Wanjian saw that the situation is quite unusual and got worried that something might have happened in the city. He said in a low voice: "Numerous fellow-disciples are worried that those two have already arrived in the city." As soon as he said these words they heard a loud sound and people got startled and cannot help but put out a hand to their sword hilt.
This was actually the rolling sound of the bridge and they saw that the hanging bridge coming down slowly. They saw a person coming out from the city, wearing a long white gown, the right sleeve tied up in his waistband; obviously this person was missing his right arm.
That person called out: "Manor-master Shi Qing and Lady Min Rou have arrived, infrequent visitors, infrequent visitors!"
That person was "Wind and fire dragon" Feng Wanli. He came himself to greet the Shi couple personally. Shi Qing saw him without his arm and thought that he has lost his arm because of the deeds of his son and felt really bad in his heart. He moved ahead and said: "Brother Feng, we husband and wife are accompanied with my disobedient son who has committed crime against old master Bai and you."
As he said these words he kneeled down and prostrated in front of him. He was a famous master in the martial art realm and since becoming famous, except when seeing elders and superiors he might have prostrated but never to a person of the same generation but Feng Wanli has lost his arm because of his son so he was really ashamed. Feng Wanli was also a famous master and was studying martial arts for more than twenty years but he has lost his right arm for one mistake of his disciple.
Min Rou saw her husband kneeling in front of Feng Wanli but her son was still standing in front of his teacher and was busy on his front piece, she too knelt down to pay her respect.
Shi Qing said: "Yu’er, he is your master, kowtow immediately!" Shi Potian was afraid that they might see through his deception so he looked towards Feng Wanli and immediately knelt down with a thumping sound.
The snow mountain sect disciples paid no attention to him all the way, at this moment when he kowtowed in front of Feng Wanli then they thought: "This boy now knows that his life is short so now he is kowtowing to beg for mercy but redemption might not be so easy."
Feng Wanli actually said: "Master Shi, Madam Shi, Please don’t embarrass me." and he too knelt down hurriedly to give them face.
After the Shi couple and Feng Wanli stood up, Shi Potian was still kneeling in front of them. Feng Wanli looked at him and said to Shi Qing: "Brother Shi, Madam Shi, we met at Mount Hengshan in the past, we are meeting again after about twelve years but you two still look as elegant as in the past. Although little brother is living in this out-of-the-way place in border region, still I know that you virtuous husband and wife are upholding justice in the martial arts realm and your reputation is getting bigger and bigger, we should celebrate your success."
Shi Qing said: "My son has had been part of many improper conducts and have some unwarranted reputations. Today I see my worthy brother in this condition and I am seriously ashamed and feel have no face left in the martial art realm."
Feng Wanli laughed and said: "Our generation is in the junction of morality and justice; we are indebted to you that you have not abandoned the path of righteousness. I offend you and then you offend me, how can be this good but we will concern about this matter later. You two have completed a very long and arduous journey, please come in the city and rest quickly." Although Shi Potian knelt in front of them but Feng Wanli didn’t give any attention towards him.
Shi Qing and Feng Wanli entered the city immediately shoulder to shoulder. Min Rou looked towards Feng Wanli. She saw that even though he was speaking politely to them but from his face his hatred for their son was obvious and it was clear that he is not willing to forgive their son’s mistakes.
Bai Wanjian stood in the back and then asked a disciple who was standing at the city gate in a low voice: "Is old Master Bai fine? After we left the city, what happened in the city?"
That disciple said: "Old Master......is ......is recently more hot-tempered. After you people left from the city, there was no accident as such….only ...only...."
Bai Wanjian got worried and asked: "tell me what happened?"
That disciple got frightened and said: "Five days ago, the old master got really angry and killed the elder brothers from Lu and Su clan."
Bai Wanjian was startled, he asked quickly: "Why?"
That disciple said: "Disciple does not know the circumstances of the matter. Day before yesterday the old master also killed a elder brother from Yan clan and also cut the thigh of a fellow disciple from Du clan."
Bai Wanjian got really frightened and his heart started jumping madly. He thought in his heart: "Lu, Su, Yan and Du , these four clans were the founding members of the Snow mountain sect, father usually regarded them pretty high so why did he resorted to such violent methods?"
He quickly pulled that disciple to one side and waited for Min Rou and Shi Potian to walk afar and asked: "For what matter?"
That disciple said: "Disciple does not know the circumstances. Old master has killed the fellow disciples and everyone is flustered. Yesterday, younger brother Zhang and Ma did not keep the books and letters properly and old master was extremely angry and tried to kill him. It was only after elder brother Feng intervened that they managed to save their life. I hope that now you people have returned, you will urge the old gentleman to …."
Bai Wanjian also asked several questions and then walked towards the hall immediately, he saw Feng Wanli accompanying the Shi couple and having teas. He said: "You two please sit here at ease. Younger brother will accompany you in a moment, I will go and pay a visit to my family and ask them to come out to see the guest."
Feng Wanli knits his brows and said: "Old Master is suffering from some illness and is resting from yesterday only. We are afraid that it might be some time before he will be able to see the guest. Otherwise he would have come out himself to pay respect to the brother Shi."
Bai Wanjian was utterly confused and said: "Let me have a look."
He anxiously entered the hall, arrived at his father's bedroom and stood near door, coughs and said: "Father, the child has come back."
The curtain raises, a beautiful woman comes out. She was concubine of master Bai.
Bai Wanjian waits for his mother. She was looking really pale and thin, she said: "Thank God, eldest son has come back; we were having a really bad time but it looks now that things will improve. Old Master Bai got ill sometimes back. A lot of physicians and priests have some and looked at him but still there is no progress. I ......I seek help from gods and Buddha but ….eldest son, you ....you ......" She sobbed as she spoke and then started crying.
Bai Wanjian said: "What has happened to father actually?"
Her mother cried and said: "We don’t know. If disciples speak incorrect words, then old Master Bai is simply filled with rage and has already killed several disciples continually. The old master have went mad and is shaking all over; he is having cramps and salivating from his mouth. He is not saying any words as him a stroke have hit him. Some people said it is a stroke but I did not know...." she kept on sobbing as she told these words.
Bai Wanjian heard "stroke" these two characters and felt as if his whole body is just plunged in to ice water. He didn’t say anything to his mother and yelled: "Father!" He moved to the bedroom. Before seeing his father he saw his brocade hanging down, in the room there was an earthen jar of medicine and he was sitting in front of boiling medicines and braving the steam.
Bai Wanjian went closer to curtain and called: "Father!" he put out a hand to open the curtain, he saw his father sitting motionless, unexpectedly he saw not movement and got worried. He put out his hand and with great surprise saw the heart beating and felt relived.
As he extended to his hand towards his mouth, in his bedding, he heard a clattering sound and saw a bunch of metallic pins unexpectedly. Bai Wanjian calls out in alarm: "Father, it is me; your son has come back." Suddenly two fingers struck his chest and belly simultaneously and he couldn’t move.
Shi Qing and Min Rou sat in the hall and drank tea, Feng Wanli accompanied them, and Shi Potian sat beside his father and was pretty relaxed as Feng Wanli and Shi Qing talked about the matters of central plan and didn’t mention anything about Shi Zhong Yu.
Shi Qing thought that everyone in the vicinity and in Ling Xiao city is looking quite tense and its looks as if they are trying to conceal their concerns. Actually he wasn’t too surprised. He thought: "They knew that the envoys of island of heroes will be arriving soon and it will be a big moment for the Snow mountain sect and it could be matter of life or death, honor or disgrace. Everybody was bound by a common cause so obviously everyone was so heavyhearted."
Even after a long time, they did not see Bai Wanjian coming out.
Feng Wanli said: "old master Bai is seriously ill. He is their eldest son and is coming after some time; it looks elder brother Bai Wanjian is serving old master with Chinese medicines. The internal energy of old master is really deep, he is always healthy, in last the several years, I can’t even remember that he has even caught cold but this illness is really sudden and unexpected. It is really fierce too. We hope that he convalesce quickly."
Shi Qing said: "The internal energy level of old master Bai is truly rare, even in his old age he will be able to recuperate easily. My worthy brother cannot be so worried." In his heart actually he cannot help but secretly rejoices and thought: "If Bai Zizai is really sick then he won’t handle the matter of my son immediately, if heaven pities me then Zhang San and Li Si will arrive and then we will see how to handle the matter."
After some time the weather gradually turned black, Feng Wanli assigns some people to arrange the banquet and also gave Shi Potian a seat. Except these four people they also some of the other Snow mountain sect disciples. Geng Wanzhong, Wanjun and others disciples who came with them didn’t make an appearance. The atmosphere was really light as they talked and argued about different matters. Lian Shibo poured wine and urged them to drink one after another.
Min Rou has already drunk three cups, she said: "This wine is really potent."
That disciple said: "Madame Shi does not know that the topography of this place. The climate is extremely cold, moreover there is always fogs and wind blowing around, the moisture is high too, although you two have really high internal strength and the cold air won’t be harmful to you but still drinking this Yang Yujiu wine will benefit the body greatly. In the Ling Xiao city, this wine is actually an indispensable thing." He said these words as he poured more wine.
Min Rou thought: "He said politely that our internal strength is deep and we do not fear the cold winds but if we don’t drink this wine then it might be difficult to survive in these conditions. It looks like some kind of a medicated wine." So she took two more cups and drank them immediately. Suddenly she saw that these people were not drinking any wine and she felt a severe pain in her lower abdomens and felt a burning sensation in her chest, she repressed the pain and said with a smile: "Feng my worthy brother, this ......This wine is quite fierce!"
Shi Qing actually suddenly stood up and shouted: "What wine is this?"
Feng Wanli said with a smile: "This Yang Yujiu wine is really fierce, I am afraid the famous masters of Xuan Su Manor are not able to handle it."
Shi Qing said fiercely: "You ......You ......" suddenly his body twitched and he fell on the table top. Min Rou tried to help him to hold but she too was feeling dizziness and unexpectedly both people simultaneously fell unconscious.
Shi Potian slowly came back to consciousness… still he didn’t understood where he was for a moment. He puts out a hand to support the body and sit up, suddenly realized that both his hands are tied with some ice-cold hard thing. He was startled in his heart and sobered immediately. He actually felt frightened to find his hands and legs both shackled and waking up in damp dark place. He did not know where he was. He stood up immediately and tried to explore but only after two steps his head struck something and he fell to the ground.
He calm down a bit and put out his hands to touch slowly all around, he detected that he is kept in some kind of a stone chamber about ten feet wide, its floor was uneven and looked like it was underground and really old. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he observed that there was a small glimmer of light at the left corner, as he looked closely, he found that it was a small hole about a foot wide and rats or other small animals might be using them for passage but they are not able to make it any wider.
He raised his arms and struck that part of the cliff, a loud sound exudes all around but still the cliff was firm and thick and he understood that it’s pretty hard to break.
He sat along the wall and thought: "How did I come here? These people only served us that Yang Yujiu wine, it really was a strange drink after drinking that I remember Manor Master Shi Qing and Lady Min Rou fainting and then falling down in the banquet.
It seems that the snow mountain people wants to kill Shi Zhong Yu in any case but they feared that the Shi couple might resist so they have given us this toxic drink However they haven’t kill me yet, why? Is it because the Old hero Bai is really sick and they have imprisoned me first so they can decide my fate once he has recovered and will personally deal with me?"
He also thought: "When old Hero Bai will ask, I only have to explain that I am Gouzazhong and not Shi Zhong Yu. We might have some resentment but after all we don’t have any enmity so after verifying the truth they will leave me but they might not actually leave the Shi couple. They might keep them in jail and wait until Shi Zhong Yu voluntarily surrenders to them. Madam Shi is such a refined person, how can she survive in such a stone chamber with no daylight. She might go mad after some time. I have to think of a way to rescue her and Manor master Shi Qing.
He thought about saving them but immediately thought about his own situation and thought: "I am myself handcuffed and shackled, I need someone else to save me now, how can I save others? In this Ling Xiao city, each person is from the Snow mountain sect, who will save me?"
Both of his arms were kind of joined and shackled, he tried to separate both his arm and exerted a lot of energy but he was shackled with iron chains and he was not able to even move them by a jot.
After some time he saw a light shooting up from that pinhole as suddenly some people came outside with lamps. They moved across and then moved a tile and put an earthen bowl of food. It had enough quantity of rice, on rice there were several brined vegetables and bamboo chopsticks were inserted in the rice. Shi Potian did not pretended to be mute again and called out: "Hello, hello, I had the words to say to the old Master Bai!"
Outside that person sneered at him and then closed the tile and the light gradually receded and unexpectedly that person walked away without saying a single word.
Shi Potian smelled the food and found its fragrance really inviting, he thought:"I feel really hungry however I have had so much food in the banquet, how can I be that hungry? It looks I was unconscious for a long period of time." He held the earthen bowl and started eating the rice and the brined vegetable.
After finishing eating the food, he kept the earthen bowl to its original position and again made an effort to free himself of the chains but after struggling for several times, he detected that the shackles on his hand and foot are made of really fine quality of iron and although he used his internal energy he wasn’t able to twist it instead his ankle got rashes by continual abrasion the skin; He tried to find out the gateway again, he tried to push the door by his shoulder but didn’t manage to budge it. After some time he got disappointed and thought: "If only I could have managed to escape then I might found the Shi couple and rescue them."
He didn’t manage to think of anyway so simply laid against the cliff, closed his eyes and slept. In the stone jail, he did not know the time and waited for almost entire day, some person come to deliver the food, he only saw a hand extended from the hole, to take the bowl and replace it with another one.
Suddenly an idea flashed in his mind and Shi Potian waited for that person put his hand to take the earthen bowl and as soon as that person put his hand in, he grabbed his hand. His shackles made a lot of sound but still Shi Potian get hold of that person’s right wrist. He applied his internal energy to control that person; obviously that person couldn’t withstand his internal energy and started to squeal like a pig as he felt immense pain in his hand.
