Ode to gallantry, p.68
Ode to Gallantry, page 68
Shi Potian relaxed a bit, pulled his arm closer to take a clear look and said in a loud voice: "If you yell again than I will wrench apart your arm!"
That person entreated: "I won’t yell, you ......just leave my arm."
Shi Potian said: "fine then, open the door quickly and let me out."
That person said: "Fine, you let me go, I will open the door."
Shi Potian said: "If I leave your arm then you will run away…I cannot do that."
That person said: "if you won’t leave me than how can I open the door?"
Shi Potian thought that his words are correct but if I leave his hand then he will anyway run away but if I won’t leave him then he can’t open the door, it is a great difficulty. He suddenly got another idea and said: "Throws my handcuff's key."
That person said: "Key? That.....that is not at my side, I am just a person who only cooks and delivers the food."
Shi Potian listened to his voice and felt that this person is not sincere so tightened his fingers and said: "Good, than let me first wrenched apart your hand."
That person called out in extreme pain: "Oh, oh……" This tactics finally worked as that person threw the key from the hole. This person was really sly, he threw the key but it landed far from his place. If Shi Potian has to get those keys then he had to leave this person’s hand.
Shi Potian was again struck in a difficult situation but he didn’t relinquish that person’s hand. He pulled that persons hand and extended his left leg to get hold of the key ring. Although he tried to extend himself fully and pulled that person’s hand from the hole with a lot of strength, still his foot fell short of by few feet from the key ring.
That person was in terrible pain and he called out: "If you will pull me again with such force than you will definitely take my arm with you.
Shi Potian extended his leg with every effort, but both his hand and feet were shackled so he was not able to stretch his body properly and didn’t manage to get the key ring. He looked at that feet which were extending, suddenly got another idea. He bent his left leg to take off the shoe and aimed at the wall. It hit the wall and came back and hit the key ring and moved it towards him. Shi Potian cheered and retrieved the key ring to free himself from the shackles.
He first opened the handcuffs from his left hand and then his right hand and also never left the hand of that person. Once Shi Potian had freed himself from the handcuff; that person that asked: "You ......What will you do now?"
Shi Potian said with a smile: "You may open the door." He put out the handcuffs from the hole. That person still hesitated; Shi Potian holds the handcuffs and pulled his arm to handcuff that person and asked him to open the door. That person tried to pull and applied a lot of strength but he immediately started bleeding from his nose. That person now knew for sure that he can’t resist so he towed along with the chains and opened the door but his shackle's another end was above the foot shackles of Shi Potian. Although the doors of the room were open but the shackle through the pinhole still tied these two people, Shi Potian has not still been able to come out.
Shi Potian pulled the shackles and said: "Give me the key for these leg shackles too."
That person looked really distressed and said: "I do not have one. I only sweep the floor and cook meal; I don’t have keys for them."
Shi Potian said: "Good, wait for me to ask you again." He pulls in that person’s arm from hole and unlocked the handcuff.
That person saw that he is free now so he tried to move away from the door and run away hurriedly. Shi Potian however quickly moved to intercept him and held again the wall. Once he came out then only he saw that this person was wearing a white gown, from his appearance he looked like a disciple of a Snow mountain sect, not someone who sweeps the floor and cooks. He held him by his collar and said in a loud voice: "If you do not open my shackles then I will hit your head on this stone wall again and again." As he said these words he gently hits his head on the stone wall. The martial art of that person was not weak but as soon as he fell in the hand of Shi Potian, he resembled like the prey in the claws of an eagle and unexpectedly he took out the keys and opened his shackles within half a minute.
Shi Potian asked that person: "Where Manor Master Shi Qing and his wife Min Rou are held? Lead me to that place quickly."
That person said: "Snow mountain sect and the Xuan Su manor have no resentment or enmity. We have already let them go and haven’t imprisoned them."
Shi Potian was half believing and half doubting but he didn’t trust that person at all and thought: "This person has decided to lie again and again; it’s more likely that they have imprisoned Shi couple here only." He led that person towards the next room quickly and ordered: "Quick open the door."
That person’s complexion changed and she said: "I ......I do not have the key. Inside this room, there is no person but actually is a lion, don’t open this door, I am really serious."
Shi Potian heard this person talking about Lion and was greatly surprised. He put his ears to the door and heard so sound at all. That person said: "You, since you have come out, quickly run away, what you are waiting for…if you are detected then they will catch you again and put in prison..."
Shi Potian thought: "You are not my friend, why do you care for me? Initially when I wanted you to open the handcuff and door, you were not willing, at this moment you are actually urging me to run away quickly. I think the Shi couple are held in this room only."
He spoke to that person: "Can't open? I must take a look at lion."
That person was shocked and he said: "The lion locked here is very fierce and haven’t eaten for several days. If he sees a human then will immediately attack us......"
Shi Potian heard him for some time and was getting really impatient with his random stories so he lifted that person and inverted him in the air, caught his foot and started swinging him like a yo-yo. Suddenly two more keys fell from his body. Shi Potian felt really happy, he took the keys and inserted it in the lock and turned and the lock opened. That person turned and started to run away.
Shi Potian thought: "If he runs away then he might disclose his whereabouts and it will be inconvenient." So he snatched that person again and imprisoned him in his own stone chamber and threw his shackles in that room too.
He came back to that room and called out: "Master Shi, Madame Shi, are you here?"
He called out again but heard no sound. Shi Potian moved away from that room and thought I still have one more key, let me see where the other room is?
He looked for the other room and opened it with his keys and opened the door several inches, called one "Master Shi ......" He heard someone shouting abuse towards him: "Son of a Turtle, you bastard, the turtle bastard, I will shear in to thousand pieces, I will kill you like a dog ......"
Shi Potian heard the sound of shackles as that person moved closer to him. This person scolded with an impressive voice, his throat was hoarse and his accent was entirely different with Shi Potian and other people from central plains.
Shi Potian thought: "Although Master Shi Qing and his wife are not here but this person also looks like an enemy to the Snow mountain people, he might help me to save the Shi couple."
He said: "You did not need to scold; I am here to save you."
That person continues to scold: "What thing are you? You dare to talk nonsense and trying to deceive me? I ......I will wrench your neck ......"
Shi Potian showed a faint smile and thought in his heart: "This person has really a foul temper. He is imprisoned in this dark stone jail for a long time, no wonder he is angry." He moved sideways immediately and said: "Did you also have shackles on your foot?" Just as he asked these words, suddenly he heard a loud voice that person shot towards his head.
Shi Potian moved sideways toward left, avoided this move but his foothold was not steady and he slipped and that person grabbed his body, his hands clutching the pharynx and larynx and trying to squeeze them. This person was a man of extraordinary strength and immediately Shi Potian found it pretty difficult to breathe and he heard a faint buzzing sound in his ear "turtle son bastard" and other verbal abuses.
Shi Potian had good intentions and he wanted to save that person’s life but he never expected that opposite party will unexpectedly try to injure him. On top of that he has met a fierce master in this dark prison. He has already lost the initiative, he shouted: "This is not good!"
He had no other alternative as that person was applying more pressure on his throat. Although the throat muscles are soft and don’t match his arm's strength but his internal energy was immense and he directed that towards his throat vigorously. It hit the person unexpectedly in several points in his hand and he immediately left his throat. Shi Potian breathed heavily for a moment and got ready for his next attack. He called out: "I want to save you and you are playing rough with me?"
That person was really astonished and said: "You ......Who are you? Your internal energy is not weak." He stared at Shi Potian for some time and then again shouted loudly: "young fellow, who are you?"
Shi Potian said: "I ......I ......" he did not want to tell him that he is called Gouzazhong but also didn’t want to pretend as Shi Zhong Yu now.
That person got angry: "You naturally are you, Are you not surnamed?"
Shi Potian said: "I have saved you, first tell me who are you?"
That person sneered and said: "Do you save me? Heh heh, how could it be…..and you are asking me, who am I? What thing are you? Depending on your little three legged cat's trick, you think that you can save me?"
By this time both the doors were half opened and sunlight filtered in. he saw that the person standing in front of him had a full gray beard on his face, he was tall and powerfully built, his back a little bent and it looked as if this stone chamber was not able to contain his big body, his eyes had a twinkling brilliance like a lightning and this person exudes an overwhelming aura around himself.
Shi Potian saw him looking at him and got scared in his heart, he thought: "That snow mountain disciple said just now that there was a lion imprisoned here, the appearance of this person is actually a bit like a beast."
He didn’t dare to say anything but still babbled: "I will look for the key and will free you from those shackle and handcuffs."
That person got angry, he said: "Who wants you to flatter me? I will remain here voluntarily otherwise how will the people close to me live? You young boy has not brought the key but said that you are freeing me… Heh, grandpa nowadays has mellowed down, if not for my good temperament, only after hearing these words; I would have cut you in to 17-18 pieces."
He moved his both hands, swung the shackles and said: "Grandpa has cooled down a lot…actually these shackles are nothing to me. These are just like ordinary pieces of thread in my eyes."
Shi Potian did not believe these words and thought: "This person of personality and voice is impressive but he is behaving like a lunatic. He does not want me to rescue, if I insist to him to open his handcuffs and shackles, then he might hit me. His martial art skills are high, I don’t want to fight him, saving the Shi couple is more important right now."
He said: "Since this is what you want so I am leaving."
That person got angry and started abusing again: "Get out of here, your smelly duck egg, grandpa has roamed the entire world up and down and has not met a worthy rival, who want this boy to save me?" And he said other abusing words towards Shi Potian.
Shi Potian thought: "Ohhh…No, it looks that I have again done something wrong." He moved outside of the door and walked along the path.
The path was really long; he made a turn and arrived at a place. Here there was a line of doors on both sides at about every ten feet. He pushed the door on the left side but couldn’t even budge it. He then pushed the one on the right and it smoothly opened. After passing through that door, he entered a small hall. He came in to the hall and saw a line of several steps and then heard the sound of several weapons and he judged by the sound that the fighting must be really intense.
Suddenly Shi Potian thought: "It might be the Shi Qing couple fighting with the Snow mountain people. He got scared and hurriedly started to look for door to get to that place.
He tried to look for a passage to reach that place but couldn’t find any way to reach that place. He was really concerned about the safety of Shi Qing and Min Rou and each passing second passed like hours for him. He saw that the wooden partitions on the left-hand side are not really thick and he hit it with his shoulder. The board rose steeply and broke. The sound of the weapon was now more abundant. He saw that in that small main hall, four white clothing men were fighting with swords and trying to besiege two females.
Shi Potian saw these two females and could not restrain himself and called out loudly: "Master, A’Xiu!"
That two people were Grandma Shi and A’Xiu.
Grandma Shi held a short-hilted broadsword, A’Xiu brandished a long sword but he saw that these two people were fighting chaotically, everyone was bearing several wounds, the blood had splashed on the clothing and the circumstance were very perilous. Both people heard Shi Potian cry but those four men were attacking really tightly; the swordsmanship was swift and fierce and had no time to turn their head and look towards him. Then he heard A’Xiu calling out in alarm as she was injured on her shoulder by a sword.
Shi Potian didn’t think anything and immediately moved towards that middle-aged person who has injured A’Xiu and was pressing her in to submission. Shi Potian suddenly attacked this person out of blue and got him in a single move. The old man on the left saw him suddenly entering in the fight and attacked him. Shi Potian sent his right hand attack to that old man.
That old man moved his sword point towards his lower abdomen, the sword moved really fast like a flash. Shi Potian has once learnt the sword skills of the Snow Mountain sect from Grandma Shi. The moment that old man executed this move he understood that this move is "in range double plum". This move had actually two steps, the first step was that sword attacks the lower abdomen and then the second step was to attack the legs in a continuous motion.
Shi Potian immediately shrank his lower abdomen and avoided the first attack and at the same time employed the counter move suggested by Grandma Shi. He moved his left hand immediately, extended the middle finger to grab. That old man's second sword came exactly as Shi Potian expected. He extended his fingers to grab the sword and with a zheng sound, the sword broke in to two parts. That old man shook his half-numbed hand and couldn’t restrain himself from getting ashamed. He moved back immediately and withdrew from the fight and his complexion changed immediately.
Shi Potian moved to his left hand and found out that one person was still attacking A’Xiu. He attacked that person. That person was already shocked, he withdrew his sword hurriedly, and Shi Potian took advantage of a favorable situation to take control and attacked his chest. That person moved back continually to avoid him but after three steps, he too got hit and sat on the ground.
Shi Potian now moved towards the fourth person. That person was already struggling against Grandma Shi and was somehow fending her and was already got hit several times. Shi Potian hit that person and that person fell on the ground, blood spurting from the mouth and fainted immediately.
All the four men collapse against Shi Potian in a moment and only that old man was not injured. He saw with own eyes that Shi Potian had invincible internal energy and was startled and terror-stricken, he said: "You ......You ......" he tried to jump and run away suddenly and rushed towards the door.
Grandma Shi called out: "Do not let him go!"
Shi Potian swept his left leg and connected with that person and that person fell to ground. Both knees of that old man were now shaking with fear as he failed to escape.
Grandma Shi said with a smile: "Good boy, so the senior disciple of my Golden Phoenix sect is back!"
The face of A’Xiu whitened as she was badly wounded on her shoulder wound but her eyes really lit up as she stared at Shi Potian and couldn’t shield the unlimited joy she experienced.
Shi Potian said: "Master, A’Xiu, I never thought that I will see you here."
Grandma Shi wrapped the wound on the shoulder of A’Xiu hurriedly; she tore a piece of cloth from the skirt and first tied it around her wound. The injuries of both people were basically superficial sword cuts and were not any serious.
Shi Potian asked: "I could not find you in the Azure mist island; I thought of you every day and night, now after so many days we have met that’s really good…but it should have been better if we were not separated."
Grandma Shi smiled and said: "You, if you can accomplish a great merit then I can permit it. Will it be good enough if your Grandma promises verbally?" A’Xiu hung her head low and her ear turned red.
Shi Potian didn’t understand that Grandma Shi is actually accepting his marriage proposal with A’Xiu, he asked: "What will master permit?"
Grandma Shi said with a smile: "I will give my granddaughter to you as a wife, will you like that?"
Shi Potian was pleasantly surprised and happily said: "I ......I ......I obviously want, I would like this; actually I will like it very much......"
Grandma Shi said: "But you have to complete this big merit first. The snow mountain sect are vicious bunch, we have to first find a person."
Shi Potian said: "Yes, I too have to find the master of Xuan Su Manor Shi and his wife. We should look quickly." As he thought about the Shi Qing couple, his heart again burnt with impatience.
Grandma Shi said: "Are Shi Qing and his wife also in the Liao Xing city? If they are also captured then it means they are really sloppy. A’Xiu, quickly kill all these four people first?"
A’Xiu took her sword and moved towards that old man. That old person was relying on the wall and as soon as A’Xiu moved towards him, his face lost all the color and she saw her with begging eyes. A’Xiu felt compassion towards her, Grandma Shi has just she accepted marriage proposal and she was extremely joyful in her heart and didn’t have the heart to kill anyone at that moment.
