Return of Condor Heroes (108 page)

After Yang Guo woke up the next morning, he left the stone house and went outside. Last night it was dark and he couldn’t see the surroundings clearly but now he could; he was surrounded by emerald green grass, the flowers like a brocade, the scenery of this place was already magnificent but the beauty of this place was even more rarely seen.

He followed where his feet took him and along the path he saw cranes, herds of white deer, squirrels and rabbits but none of them were alarmed by his presence.

He passed two bends and saw the girl in green plucking flowers off to one side. She saw him approaching and greeted, “You wake up really early, have some breakfast.” She plucked two flowers from the tree and offered them to him.

Yang Guo accepted them and thought, “Is it possible that flowers can be eaten?” But then he saw the girl tearing the flower petal by petal and placing them in her mouth, he did the same. When he placed the petals in his mouth, he noticed a sweet fragrance, a fragrance like that of honey and there was a subtle air of wine, he felt a feeling of comfort but after a few chews the taste became bitter and sour. He wanted to spit it out but felt that he couldn’t give it up; he wanted to swallow but had a little difficulty in getting it go down his throat.

He carefully looked at the plant and saw that the branches were covered in thorns but the flowers were extremely beautiful, and even more fragrant than lotuses, he asked, “What is this flower? I’ve never seen it before.”

The girl said, “This is the Passion Flower, I’ve heard that it is a very rare plant. Tell me, what do you think of the taste?”

Yang Guo said, “At first, it is extremely sweet but afterwards it is extremely bitter. This is called the Passion Flower? There’s a meaning behind this name.” He stretched out his hand to pluck a flower.

The girl said, “Careful! There’s thorns on the plant, don’t touch it!”

Yang Guo avoided the thorns and was very careful but he didn’t notice that behind the flower was hidden another and it pricked his hand.

The girl said, “This valley is called the ‘Passionless Valley’ yet there are so many Passion Flowers growing here.”

Yang Guo said, “Why is it called the Passionless Valley? This name really is… really is special.”

The girl shook her head and said, “I don’t know why. This is the name our ancestors gave it, maybe my father knows.”

The two then started to walk down the path, shoulder to shoulder. The scent of flowers filled Yang Guo’s nose, by the side of the path were rabbits and young deer were darting about, it was very adorable sight. He had a feeling of being carefree and joyous, and naturally he started to think about Xiao Longnu, “If the person walking with me was Gu Gu, I really would love to live in this place forever with her and not ever leave.” Just as he thought about this, the wound on his finger suddenly became painful, the wound was very small yet the pain was so great, it was like someone smashing a hammer across his chest, he couldn’t hold it in and gave an ‘ai’ call, placed the finger in his mouth and sucked it.

The girl blandly said, “You’re thinking about your lover, is that it?”

Yang Guo’s thoughts were guessed; his face went red and asked, “How do you know?”

The girl said, “If you’ve been pricked by the thorns of the Passion Flower, you cannot think about love for the next twenty four hours otherwise the suffering will be unbearable.”

Yang Guo was surprised and said, “There’s actually such a strange thing as this in the world?”

The girl said, “My father said: love is like this, when it enters the mouth it is sweet but afterwards it becomes bitter and sour, furthermore, it is covered by thorns, even if you are extremely careful, pain from it would be unavoidable. The flower was given its name most probably because it has this special characteristic.”

Yang Guo asked, “How come that within twenty four hours, one cannot… cannot… think about love?”

The girl said, “Father said: there’s poison on the thorns of the plant. When people think about love, not only does their blood flow quicker, some unknown thing is created in the blood. The poison of the thorns of the Passion Flower is not harmful normally, but once it meets this something in the blood, it will create unbearable pain in the person.”

When Yang Guo heard this, he felt that it was fairly reasonable and believed her with few doubts.

The two slowly walked to the unsheltered mountainside. The light of the sun lighted up this place, the ground and air were gentle and warm; the Passion Flowers have bloomed early here and there were fruits on the plant.

Yang Guo saw that the fruits were either red or green, but some were red and green and there were hair on the fruits, like a caterpillar.

Yang Guo said, “The Passion Flower is so beautiful yet its fruits are so ugly.”

The girl said, “The fruits of the flower can’t be eaten, some are sour, some are hot and some stink so much that it makes people want to vomit.”

Yang Guo gave a laugh and said, “Is it possible that there aren’t any that are sweet as honey?”

The girl glanced at him and said, “Sometimes there are but you cannot tell by its appearance. Some that are extremely ugly are sweet but an ugly fruit doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a sweet one. Only by tasting it directly will you know for sure. Out of ten fruits, nine are bitter; because of this we never eat them.”

Yang Guo thought, “Though she is talking about the Passion Flower, it is like an analogy for love. Could it be that although the love between lovers is at first sweet, it will eventually turn sour? Can it be that a pair of lovers who are deeply in love with each other will eventually experience more bitterness than sweetness? Could it be that the yearning love I have for Gu Gu will eventually…”

As soon as he thought about Xiao Longnu, his finger suddenly broke out with a piercing pain again and he swung his arm around a few times. He now knew that the words of the girl were indeed true.

When the girl saw him like this, her lip moved a little, as if she wanted to laugh but was refraining from doing so. Sunlight lit up her face and showed a pair of elegant eyes and brows, her skin was white with redness floating on top of it, she looked very beautiful.

Yang Guo laughed, “I once heard a story; there was once an emperor, he set up a fire display and burned all things, throwing away most of his kingdom as a result, and the only reason for this was that he was trying to get a legendary beauty to smile. To be able to see a smile is a fortunate thing, so, the same applies whether it’s in the past or in the present.”

After being teased by Yang Guo, the girl could no longer hold it in and eventually gave a giggle.

Yang Guo noticed that she had been cold as ice throughout this time and there were some feelings of anxiety in his heart, but after this smile, most of the divide between the two went away. Yang Guo continued, “Everyone knows that a beauty’s smile is rare to come by, they say something like a smile can overturn a city, another can overturn a country, actually there’s something of a beauty’s that is even rarer than a smile.”

The girl’s eyes opened wide and asked, “What?”

Yang Guo said, “A beautiful girl’s name. To have the opportunity to come across a beautiful woman is an extremely lucky event, to be able to see the smile of a beautiful girl would be because of the good deeds of their ancestors and one must go through three lifetimes…” Before he finished the girl giggled again.

Yang Guo continued looking serious and said, “To be able to hear a beautiful girl reveal her name that really requires eighteen generations of great deeds.”

The girl said, “I’m not some beautiful girl; no one in the valley has ever called me beautiful, why must you joke?”

Yang Guo sighed and said, “No wonder this place is called the Passionless Valley. But in my opinion, the name should be changed to something else.”

The girl said, “Change to what?”

Yang Guo said, “It should be called Blind Man’s Valley.”

The girl asked surprised, “Why?”

Yang Guo said, “Look at how beautiful you are but none of them praise you; aren’t the people who live in this valley blind?”

The girl laughed again. Her beauty could be classed as first class but compared to Xiao Longnu’s; there were still many li between them. Compared to the gentleness of Cheng Ying and the prettiness of Lu Wushuang, she appeared to be slightly inferior. But she was elegant, graceful and there was a wholesome air about her. No one had praised her beauty before, and this was because the martial arts her valley practiced revolved around abdication. When her fellow apprentices see each other they are always cold and remain unmoved. In the hearts of her fellow apprentices though, they did think that she was very beautiful but none of them dared to say it out loud.

Today she suddenly met Yang Guo. This person’s character was dynamic and spirited, the stricter and more restrained she acts, the greater the urge he has to make her get rid of this unfeeling appearance. The girl was pleased with these words and laughed, “I’m afraid that you’re the blind man, calling this ugly girl a beautiful girl.”

Yang Guo put on a serious face and said, “You never know, my eyes could be wrong. However if you want this valley to remain peaceful and quiet then you can’t smile.”

The girl asked surprised, “Why?”

Yang Guo said, “There’s an old saying: ‘a smile can overturn a city, another can overturn a country’, that saying really ought to be changed. It shouldn’t be country; it should be changed to valley.”

The girl bowed subtlety and laughed, “Thank you, can you stop teasing me please?”

Yang Guo saw her fine, elegant waist and trembled slightly, his heart was moved. Although it wasn’t an intense feeling, his finger suddenly broke out in a severe pain again.

When the girl saw him waving his finger about, she felt slightly displeased and said angrily, “I’m talking to you right now yet you’re thinking about your lover.”

Yang Guo said, “I’m innocent, I’m innocent, it’s because of you that my finger hurts and here you are blaming me.”

The girl blushed and suddenly ran away.

Yang Guo immediately regretted his words as soon as he said them, thinking, “My heart belongs to Gu Gu yet why haven’t I changed this type of behavior? Yang Guo ah Yang Guo you little bastard, don’t talk such rubbish again.” He inherited some of his father’s scoundrel’s attitude and ungentlemanly behavior. Every time he met a girl he would tease and flirt with them, causing them to fall for him as a result. Although he didn’t have any ill intentions, it was something that made him feel joy in his heart.

The girl ran for a few tens of feet and suddenly stopped below a Passion Flower tree and hung her head deep in thought, after a little while she turned to him and said, “If an ugly girl tells you her name, it must be because your ancestors have done bad deeds for eighteen generations and the bad karma has passed down onto you.”

Yang Guo went over to her and laughed, “Of all the things to be born with, you were born with the love of saying negative things. My ancestors for the last eighteen generations have done many good deeds; some of the good karma should be reaped by me.” His words were again praising her beauty.

Her face went slightly red and quietly said, “I’ll tell you but you cannot tell another and I forbid you to call my name in front of others.”

Yang Guo stuck out his tongue and said, “Oh sweet beauty, aren’t I afraid of not having any descendants?”

The girl showed another smile and said, “My father’s surname is Gongsun…” She still did not want to reveal her name and wanted to go around in circles.

Yang Guo interrupted, “But what is Miss’s name?”

The girl smiled and said, “My father gave his only daughter the name Lu’ E.”

Yang Guo praised her, “The name is as beautiful as the owner.”

After Gongsun Lu’E told Yang Guo her name, she felt closer to him and said, “When father invites you to see him, you mustn’t smile at me.”

Yang Guo said, “What happens if I smile.”

The girl sighed and said, “If father knows that I smiled at you and told you my name, I really don’t know how father would punish me.”

Yang Guo said, “I’ve never heard of such a strict father, not even allowing his daughter to smile at someone. He has a beautiful daughter, could it be that he doesn’t love you?”

When Gongsun Lu’E heard these words her eyes went red and said, “My father used to love me very much but after my mother died when I was six, he treated me stricter and stricter. After he marries again, I wonder how he will treat me?” Two drops of tears rolled down her cheeks as she said this.

Yang Guo comforted her, “After your father marries he will be happy, he’ll definitely treat you better then.”

Gongsun Lu’E shook her head and said, “I rather he treats me even stricter than marry another wife again.”

Yang Guo’s parents died when he was young so he didn’t know much about these types of feelings; he wanted to make her happy and said, “Your new mother’s definitely not as half as beautiful as you.”

Gongsun Lu’E quickly said, “You’re wrong, my new mother is a true beauty. Because of her my father… my father… Yesterday we caught that old man named Zhou but my father was busy with organizing the wedding, otherwise he would never have allowed that Old Urchin to escape again.”

Yang Guo was shocked and pleased, he asked, “That Old Urchin escaped again?”

Lu’E frowned slightly and said, “Didn’t you hear me?”

The two spoke for a while and the sun gradually rose up in the sky. Lu’E suddenly realized something and said, “Quickly go back, don’t let my fellow apprentices see us together talking, they’ll tell my father.”