Return of condor heroes, p.84
Return of Condor Heroes, page 84
Yang Guo returned to the blacksmiths and told them what he saw.
Feng Mofeng sighed, “The Mongolian army are indeed heading south. The Chinese citizens are going to suffer!”
Yang Guo said, “The Song army will not be able to defend against the archery techniques of the Mongolian army; this is going to be a great disaster.”
Feng Mofeng said, “This is just the time for a brave and heroic young man like Master Yang; why don’t you return south and join the army and help fight off the invaders?”
Yang Guo was taken aback, he said, “No, I have to go north to find my Gu Gu. The Mongolian army’s power is vast; I’m just one person, what use would I be?”
Feng Mofeng shook his head and said, “Though the force of one person is small, the force of many is strong. If everyone thought like you, who’d come out to defend the country against invaders?”
Yang Guo knew that his words were right, but now, there was nothing more important to him than finding his Gu Gu. He had wandered around Jianghu ever since he was small; he had suffered the abuse of officials. He saw that the Mongolians were indeed violent and ruthless, but the Song Emperor may not be a good person himself. There was no need for him to help the emperor. He just gave a wry smile and didn’t reply.
Feng Mofeng gathered his hammer, tongs and air bellows and hung them across his back; he turned to Cheng Ying and said, “Apprentice Sister, when you see Master please tell him that disciple Feng Mofeng will never forget his teachings. Today I’m going to join the Mongolian army and I’m going to kill one or two of these generals who are invading my land. Apprentice sister, take care. I’m extremely delighted at seeing a disciple of Master’s.” He supported himself on his crutch and left, not even turning his head again; he didn’t take another look at Yang Guo.
Yang Guo looked at Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang, he said, “It was unexpected that we would meet such a person like him here.”
Lu Wushuang favored Yang Guo in her heart and said, “Cousin, apart from you, the people under the tutelage of your Master are either mad or crazy.”
Cheng Ying smiled and said mildly, “Everyone has their own will, you can’t force them. You said he was mad and crazy; he in turn might be calling us heartless. Anyway, don’t I possess a touch of madness and craziness myself?”
Yang Guo’s heart jumped when he heard this, she looked different and he couldn’t tell whether her words were meant to be ambiguous.
Suddenly a thumping sound was heard as Sha Gu fell from her bench. The three of them were alarmed and quickly put her up on a bed; her face was red and her eyes stared ahead blankly, the poison from the “Divine Five Poison Palm” was flaring up again.
Cheng Ying fed her some medicine while Yang Guo helped her sooth her pressure points. Sha Gu looked at him startled, her face was full of fear as she called out, “Brother Yang, don’t look for me for revenge, it wasn’t me who killed you.”
Cheng Ying said softly, “Sister, don’t be scared, he isn’t…”
Yang Guo suddenly thought, “She’s not fully conscious at the moment, I can force her to reveal the truth.” He turned his hands and grabbed onto her wrists and said with a severe tone, “Who killed me? If you don’t tell me then I’ll take my revenge on you.”
Sha Gu begged, “Brother Yang, it’s not me.”
Yang Guo said angrily, “You’re not telling me! Fine, I’ll strangle you to death!” He stretched his hands around her throat. Sha Gu gave out a piercing scream.
How would Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang know what Yang Guo was doing, they both called out to stop him, one called out, “Brother Yang”, the other called out, “Sha Dan!” One said, “Don’t frighten her further”, the other said, “Why are you mucking around at a time like this?”
Yang Guo didn’t take any notice; he closed his hands slightly tighter, the expression of an evil spirit was on his face; he clenched his teeth and said, “I’m brother Yang’s evil ghost. I died a horrible death, do you know that?”
Sha Gu said, “I know, after you died, crows ate your flesh.”
Yang Guo’s heart felt as if a knife was plunged into his heart, he knew that his father had died under someone else’s hands but he didn’t know that after he died, his body was actually eaten by crows and wasn’t buried, he called out, “Who killed me? Tell me, tell me.”
Sha Gu strained out, “It was you who hit Auntie, Auntie had poison needles on her body, you died.”
Yang Guo yelled loudly, “Who is this Auntie?”
Sha Gu couldn’t breathe with Yang Guo holding her throat and wanted to faint, she said quietly, “Auntie is auntie.”
Yang Guo said, “What’s Auntie’s surname? What’s her name?”
Sha Gu said, “I… I… don’t know, let me go!”
Lu Wushuang saw that the situation was becoming urgent; she went over to pull away Yang Guo’s hands. Right now, Yang Guo was like a madman, he waved out with all his strength, how could Lu Wushuang defend herself? She was thrown away and crashed into a wall painfully.
Cheng Ying saw that the usually peaceful, warm and graceful Yang Guo was now like a mad tiger, she was so frightened that her limbs went limp.
Yang Guo thought, “If today I can’t get the name of the person who killed my father, I’ll immediately throw up blood and die.” He asked, “Is Auntie’s surname Qu? Is Auntie’s name Mei?” He thought that since Sha Gu’s surname was Qu, her auntie’s surname would most probably be Qu, or perhaps it could have been Mei Chaofeng.
Sha Gu struggled with all her strength, though she has practiced martial arts for a longer time than Yang Guo, her martial arts couldn’t compare to his. The pressure points on her wrist were being held and she couldn’t break free, she could only say urgently, “Go and find Auntie for revenge, don’t… don’t look for me!”
Yang Guo said, “Where’s your Auntie?”
Sha Gu said, “Me and Grandpa left! She’s with a man on the island.”
Yang Guo’s spine chilled when he heard these words, he quivered, “What does your Auntie call your Grandpa?”
Sha Gu said, “Father, what else?”
Yang Guo’s face went grey but he was afraid he was wrong and asked, “Your Auntie’s man is called Guo Jing, isn’t he?”
Sha Gu said, “I don’t know. Auntie just calls him ‘brother Jing, brother Jing (Jing ge ge)!” She copied the way Huang Rong called Guo Jing; suddenly her legs flailed about and squealed, “Help, help! Ghost… ghost…”
What doubts did Yang Guo have now? All the suffering and bitterness of the past rushed to the surface and he thought, “If father wasn’t killed, my mother wouldn’t have been in pain all the time and die so early like that. I wouldn’t have endured all the pain and suffering I’ve been through.” He continued, “When I was on Peach Blossom Island, the Guo couple were not at ease with me, they were a bit too polite, they seemed to be covering up something and didn’t treat me like the Wu brothers. Telling them how things are, shouting at them when needed. I felt something then but how would I know that it was because they carried the guilt of killing my father. It’s because of this that they didn’t want to teach me martial arts and sent me to the Quanzhen sect to suffer.”
His anger and fear stirred throughout him, his limbs became limp. Sha Gu called out loudly and leapt up from the bed.
Cheng Ying went over to Yang Guo and said softly, “Sister Sha has always been a bit crazy, you know about this. She’s even worse after suffering this injury, don’t believe her whatever you do.” But in her heart she believed that the words of Sha Gu were true, and she knew that consoling him like this would be no use. But her heart couldn’t endure seeing his face full of anger, despair, bitterness and sorrow.
Yang Guo did not take in any of these words; he stood there stunned for a while before calling out. He got on his horse, kicked with his legs and the horse galloped forward, in a flash it had gone over a hundred feet. Faint calls of ‘Sha Dan!’ and ‘Brother Yang!’ were heard behind him but he ignored them. The only thought in his mind was, “I need to take revenge, I need to take revenge!”
He galloped in a single stretch for two hours and had gone tens of li. Suddenly he felt a pain on his lips; he lifted his hand and felt them. His hand was covered in blood; in his anger and pain, he had bitten down and actually pierced his lower lip. He thought, “Auntie Guo has always treated me badly, but recently she suddenly began to treat me well, but it was all fake. I don’t care about this but Uncle Guo… Uncle Guo…” He had always revered Guo Jing; he felt that his actions and martial arts were one of a kind, and he had always treated him exceedingly well. Now he knew that this was one big lie; he felt that this person was even more cunning than Huang Rong. Anger and resentment filled him, almost bursting out of his chest.
When he thought about the pain he was in; he got off the horse, covered his head and began to cry. This release of sorrow was extremely distressing; it was like all of the world’s pain and troubles had all amassed in him.
He had never seen his father and had never heard anyone talk about him; not even his own mother. But ever since he was little, he had the image of the perfect father in his mind; there wasn’t another who was as kind as him. Yet this hero was killed by a devious trick of Guo Jing and Huang Rong.
He cried for a while before hearing the sounds of horses; four horses galloped from the north, the riders all Mongolian warriors. The first rider was holding a long spear; on the spear was a child that was two or three years of age. He was laughing as he galloped along. The baby was still alive; it was giving out a weak cry. The four warriors were a little surprised when they saw Yang Guo in the middle of the road but a ragged clothed young Han like him could be found everywhere so they didn’t take any notice.
One of them called out, “Move out of the way, move out of the way.” As he said this, he thrust his spear forward.
Yang Guo was deep in the middle of his troubles right now; without thinking he pulled the spearhead forward and dragged the warrior down. He turned his hand and swept the spear; the warrior went flying over ten feet away, his skull was crushed and he died. When the remaining three warriors saw his valor, they called out, turned around and galloped away. A ‘pai’ sound was heard as the baby fell onto the ground.
Yang Guo ran up to it and saw that it was a Han child; it was healthy, chubby, and very cute. The pierce to its stomach wouldn’t kill it right away but it would be difficult for it to recover and live. It was calling out ‘a’ ‘a’ ‘a’, as if it was calling out for its mother. Yang Guo was overwhelmed with sorrow and grief and sympathy stirred in his heart. He picked up the barely alive baby and tears flowed again; he saw that its pain was unbearable so he lightly gave it a palm and stopped its pain. He used the Mongolian warrior’s spear to dig a hole so he could bury the baby.
He dug ten or so times before he heard the thunderous noise of horses and horns; a group of Mongolian soldiers were rushing towards him. Yang Guo’s left hand held the dead baby; his right extended the spear as he got on the horse. The skinny horse was actually an experienced battle horse; when it saw it was about to go into battle, its spirits soared; it neighed and charged towards the Mongolian soldiers.
Yang Guo’s hand raised, the spear descended, he turned over three or four soldiers in one go, but he saw that countless soldiers were coming; he turned the horse around, went onto the wild lands and rode away. Arrows rained down behind him like locusts; he swung the spear and deflected the arrows away. The skinny horse was extremely fast; in a short while it had left the Mongolian soldiers behind but it didn’t stop; it continued galloping away like the wind into the wild lands.
After another while, Yang Guo saw that the sky was beginning to get dark; he looked around and saw that long grass and strange rocks were everywhere. Dusk was covering the area; it was quiet without any sounds of people, and there wasn’t even a crow or sparrow about.
He got off the horse with the baby still held in his hands. The face still looked alive but covered in extreme suffering; pain filled his heart, he thought, “The parents of this child must have loved it very much; now that he’s dead, his parents must be feeling great pain. I don’t know how many people have died by the hands of these vicious and violent Mongolian soldiers as they head south.”
The more he thought about it, the more difficult he found to endure; he dug a hole by a large tree and buried the child. He then thought about the words of Sha Gu again, “When this child died, it had me to bury it, but my father’s body was eaten by crows. You killed him, what harm is there in burying him? You really are evil! If I don’t take revenge, Yang Guo isn’t a human!”
That night he slept in a tree. The next morning he rode the horse and let the horse go as it pleased; sometimes he thought about going back to the tomb to see Xiao Longnu, and at others he would think about how he must kill Guo Jing and Huang Rong first, no matter what, to avenge his father. When he felt hungry, he would pluck wild fruits to eat.
On the fourth day, he saw someone faraway, leaping up to a tree to pick some wild fruits. Yang Guo rode closer and saw that it was the disciple of Jinlun Fawang, Da’erba. Every time he jumped, he could only pick one fruit; eventually he became impatient and attacked the tree a few times. The tree gave a ‘craack’ as it broke; he then plucked the wild fruits from the tree and placed them in his pockets.
Yang Guo thought, “Could it be that Jinlun Fawang is nearby?”
He and Jinlun Fawang originally didn’t have any ties; but now he had recognized Guo Jing and Huang Rong as his father’s killers. He regretted helping Guo Jing and Huang Rong in opposing Fawang; he quietly followed Da’erba to see where he was going. He saw him moving like he was flying, straight towards the mountains. Yang Guo got off the horse and followed from a distance behind. Da’erba headed into a forest; the further he went, the higher he got. Yang Guo followed him up to the peak of a mountain.
At the top of the mountain was a small exposed hut. Jinlun Fawang was sitting in the middle of the hut, meditating with his eyes closed and eyebrows drooping down. Da’erba put the wild fruits down on the floor and turned around; his face changed as he suddenly saw Yang Guo approaching. He called out, “Senior apprentice brother, you’ve come to cause further harm to Master?” He dashed forward to Yang Guo and stretched out his arm to twist the front of his garment. His martial arts are better than Yang Guo’s, but he was affected by the perilous situation that his Master was in and in his fear he lost control of his state of mind. This stance was a mess and broke one of the rules of martial arts; Yang Guo grabbed his arm in return and tossed him away.
Da’erba had always thought that Yang Guo was the reincarnation of his senior apprentice brother and now he was thrown on the ground by him; he rolled over a few times, picked himself up and then leapt in front of Yang Guo.
Yang Guo thought that he was going to raise his hands again so he took a step backwards, he didn’t know that Da’erba would suddenly fall down to his knees and kowtow, “Senior apprentice brother, please remember your relationship with Master in your previous life. Master has a serious injury and is now trying to recuperate, if you disturb him, then… then…” His voice croaked as he reached this point and tears flowed.
Though Yang Guo did not understand his Tibetan, from his emotional state and Jinlun Fawang’s distressed look, he more or less understood. He quickly helped him up and said, “Relax, I’m not going to harm your Master.”
Da’erba saw that his face was gentle and peaceful; he was pleased. Although he didn’t understand his words, his wariness started to go away.
Right at this time, Jinlun Fawang opened his eyes; he was shocked when he saw Yang Guo. He was concentrating on circulating his chi and didn’t hear the words of Da’erba and Yang Guo. Suddenly he saw the enemy in front of him; he gave a sigh and said slowly, “I have practiced martial arts for many years but I still have yet to find a way to break through the echelon barrier, I didn’t know that today I would die in the central plains.” When he suffered that blow from the rock, he had suffered serious internal injuries; in the past few days he had built a hut on the top of the mountain so he could recuperate. It was unexpected that Yang Guo would actually find his way here. He wasn’t able to use even one ounce of strength at the moment; he immediately ordered Da’erba to force Yang Guo away. But in the middle of their battle his state of mind would be disturbed and it would be difficult to recover from this serious injury.
How would he know that Yang Guo would bow; then say, “I have not come here to do any harm to the Reverend, please don’t be wary.”
Jinlun Fawang shook his head and was about to say something when he felt a severe pain in his chest; he quickly closed his eyes and circulated his chi. Yang Guo went inside the hut and stretched out his right hand, placing it on the ‘To Yang’ pressure point. This pressure point is just below the seventh vertebrae and is one of the major pressure point that regulates the veins and arteries.
Da’erba was shocked when he saw this; he sent out a fist towards Yang Guo. Yang Guo shook his left hand and made a signal with his eyes.
