Return of Condor Heroes (122 page)

Gongsun Lu E cried, “When my mother was alive, father really did love me. But after mother died, he became cold towards me. However, I know that… I know that in his heart he doesn’t hate me.” She stopped for a while and thought of many strange and hard-to-explain things; she said, “Brother Yang, I’ve suddenly thought of something; my father has always been afraid of me.”

Yang Guo said surprised, “He’s afraid of you? That’s strange.”

Lu E said, “I just feel that whenever my father sees me he doesn’t seem to be at ease; it’s like he’s got something hidden in his heart and is afraid that I will find out about it. Over the past few years, he’s been avoiding me and doesn’t want to see me.”

She had noticed that her father’s expression had been strange; though she wondered about this, she reached the same conclusion every time; the reason he’s changed is because he was deeply hurt by her mother’s passing away. But this time, falling into the crocodile pit was definitely her father’s plan. He had moved the pill cauldrons in the pill room to activate the collapsing floor. If her father hated Yang Guo and wanted to kill him, all he had to do was keep the antidote for the Passion Flower poison away from him and he would have little chance of living. Now that Yang Guo had fallen into the crocodile pit, the chance of him escaping death was next to none; so why did her father push her into the crocodile pit as well? What fatherly love was there in that push? This wasn’t a slip due to anger, he had planned this. The more she thought about it, the sadder she became because it was becoming clearer and clearer to her. There were many words and actions of her father that she did not understand and just used the reason ‘eccentric behavior’ to explain it all. Right now, as she thought, it appeared that the word ‘fear’ was more apt. Her father fearing her was something that she could never have conceived.

The crocodile pool broke out in a thrashing roar as all the crocodiles fought over the dead crocodile; they’d stopped climbing up onto the rock face for the time being.

Yang Guo saw that she was deep in thought and asked, “Maybe your father has some kind of hidden secret and you’ve somehow stumbled upon it by accident?”

Lu E shook her head and said, “No. My father’s actions are honorable; he is very fair, and everyone in the valley had great respect for him. His treatment of you really is wrong; but he has never done such uncharacteristic things like this before.”

Yang Guo did not know about the past affairs of the Passionless Valley and so it was hard for him to help her guess what the reasons were behind all this.

The crocodile pool was deep underground and was cold like an ice cave; the two were wet and felt the effects even more. Yang Guo had trained on the Chilled Jade Bed and took no notice of such insignificant coldness; but Gongsun Lu E kept on shivering and searching for warmth in Yang Guo’s arms. Yang Guo knew that this girl would be feeling frightened and sad right now; as he watched the struggle in the crocodile pool he wanted to make her laugh. The crocodiles were opening their mouths and showing vicious teeth, looking extremely terrifying, so he laughed, “Miss Gongsun, we’re going to die together today; when you reincarnate in the next life, what do you want to reincarnate as? Whatever happens, I don’t want to change into one of these unsightly crocodiles.”

Gongsun Lu E smiled a little and said, “Then you should change into a narcissus flower; it’s beautiful and fragrant, and it’s something that everyone loves.”

Yang Guo laughed, “The only types of people who are worthy of changing into those kind of flowers are people like you. If it’s me, I’ll get changed into some ugly daisy or chrysanthemum.”

Lu E laughed, “If the Yan Luo Wang (ruler of hell) tells you to change into a Passion Flower, would you?”

Yang Guo was silent and did not reply. He was feeling great resentment and thought, “With Gu Gu’s and my “Pure Heart of the Jade Maiden Sword”, that scoundrel is not our match. At the time he was on his back foot he was about to lose. But things had to happen this way. Gu Gu had been pierced by the Passion Flower in the sword room. When we were about to use swordplay which requires the users to be as one and to be filled with love to make use of its power, the poison prevented it. This is fate; I can’t do anything about it. I wonder how Gu Gu is right now?” As soon as he thought about Xiao Longnu again, his body broke out in pain all over.

When Gongsun Lu E heard him stay silent, she knew that she shouldn’t have mentioned the Passion Flower; she quickly changed the subject and said, “Brother Yang, you’re able to see the crocodiles while all I see in front of me is darkness.”

Yang Guo laughed, “The crocodiles are extremely ugly, it’s better not to see them.” He patted her on the back gently to console her; but as soon as he touched her, he felt something cold, smooth and soft. Then he remembered how she undressed herself in front of her father in the pill room. She only had on her underwear; her shoulders and neck were uncovered. Yang Guo was slightly alarmed and quickly pulled back his hand.

Lu E thought about how he could see things in the dark; her semi clothed self would be seen clearly by him and she couldn’t stop herself from calling out ‘Oh no!” She automatically moved away a little.

Yang Guo sat a little distance away from her and took off his gown to cover her with. As he took it off, not only did he think about Xiao Longnu, but he also thought about Cheng Ying who made a gown for him and Lu Wushuang who was willing to die for him. He blamed himself for letting down the kindness of all these beautiful girls, and he felt guilt for not being able to repay them. He couldn’t stop himself from letting out a long sigh.

Gongsun Lu E straightened the gown and tied the belt around herself. Suddenly she felt a small package in the gown’s pockets; she took it out and handed it over to Yang Guo, saying, “What’s this? Do you need it?”

Yang Guo took it in his hands and felt that it was fairly heavy; he said, “What is this?”

Lu E laughed, “I found it in your pockets, why are you asking me about it?”

Yang Guo looked at it and saw that it was a small package covered in rough cloth; he had never seen it before and immediately opened it. There was a sudden light in front of his eyes; four objects were within that package. One of them was a little dagger; on the handle was a pearl of the size of a long yan stone. It glimmered and sparkled, the light shining on Gongsun Lu E’s graceful face; he thought, “People say that pearls are lights of the night, it appears that this isn’t a lie.”

Lu E suddenly screamed, “Yi!” She stretched out her hand towards the package and picked up a small emerald colored jar; she called out, “This is the Passionless Pill.”

Yang Guo was shocked and delighted; he asked, “This is the medicine that cures the poison of the Passion Flowers?”

Lu E shook the jar a few times and felt that something was in the jar. She said with delight, “Yes, I was looking for this in the pill room for half a day; when did you take it? How did you take it? How come you haven’t taken it yet? You don’t know that this is the Passionless Pill, right?” In her delight, her questions were non-stop, not allowing Yang Guo any time to reply.

Yang Guo scratched his head and said, “I don’t know anything about this, this… this jar of medicine; how did it get into my pockets? This really is strange.”

In the light of the pearl on the dagger, Lu E could see clearly what other things were in the package. Besides the dagger and the emerald colored jar of the Passionless Pill, there was a square piece of sheep skin about seven or eight inches in length and half of a Spirit Fungus (Lingzhi). A thought went through her mind and she said, “This piece of Spirit Fungus was the piece that was broken off by the Old Urchin.”

Yang Guo said, “The Old Urchin?”

Lu E said, “Yes. I’m in charge of the fungi room and this is the fungus from the ‘Hundred Jade Plate’. The Old Urchin turned the sword, pill, fungi and library rooms upside down. He destroyed books and stole swords; he kicked over the cauldrons and ripped up the fungi; this is all the handiwork of the Old Urchin.”

Yang Guo suddenly understood and said, “Yes, yes.”

Lu E quickly asked, “What?”

Yang Guo said, “This package was placed on me by Senior Zhou Lao.” He now knew that Zhou Botong had the intention of aiding him; because of this, he changed his naming of ‘Old Urchin’ to ‘Senior Zhou Lao’.

It also became clear to Lu E, she said, “So he gave it to you.”

Yang Guo said, “I didn’t even know that he gave it to me. This Wulin Senior does as he pleases in the world; his movements are mysterious. When he took my mask and scissors I didn’t notice it; when he put this package on me I felt nothing. My abilities are not even half as good as his.”

Lu E nodded and said, “Yes, father said that he stole things from the valley and said that he must be captured but… but he took off all his clothes in front of so many people and showed that there was nothing on him.”

Yang Guo laughed, “He had hidden the package on me before that and actually managed to deceive the Valley Master by taking off his clothes.”

Lu E opened the emerald colored jar and covered it with her left hand, shaking the contents into the palm of her hand. A square looking pill came out of the jar onto her palm; the pill was extremely dark and its smell was overpowering. Most pills are round so one can easily swallow it; but if it was from a slab of medicine, it will be long and flat.

Yang Guo had never seen a square pill before; he took the pill from Lu E and examined it closely.

Lu E shook the jar a few times again and patted the jar into her palm a few times before saying, “That’s it, there’s only one pill; take it now, it’ll be terrible if it falls into the pool.”

Yang Guo was about to put the pill in his mouth when he heard her say ‘there’s only one pill’, he was stunned and asked, “Only one? Has your father got any more?”

Lu E said, “That’s why it is so precious; because there is only one pill. Otherwise why would my father get so angry?”

Yang Guo was shocked and quivered, “My Gu Gu has this poison as well; how will your father save her?”

Lu E sighed, “I once heard from my senior apprentice brother that there were originally many Passionless Pills in the pill room; but for some reason, there was only one left. This pill is extremely hard to produce; there was no way to gather all the precious herbs and medicine to make any more. Because of this, my senior apprentice brother warned us that we must be extremely careful of the Passion Flower; if it’s a little pierce from it, one will recover from it after a few days; if that happens it’s not too serious. But if the poison is deep, it will be difficult for the Valley Master to act because one pill can only save one person.”

Yang Guo kept on saying ‘Oh no’ and then said, “How come your father hasn’t come to save you yet?”

Lu E immediately knew what he was thinking and saw him placing the pill back into the jar; she let out a light sigh and said, “Brother Yang, how can my father feel no shame in light of your love for Miss Long? You’re hoping that I’ll be able to take the pill back up and save Miss Long’s life.”

Yang Guo showed a little smile as his thoughts were revealed, he said, “Of course I hoped that such a kind girl as you will leave this dangerous place safely; but I also hope that my Gu Gu’s life can be saved. Even if I cure my Passion Flower poison, I won’t last long if I stay down here in this crocodile pit. Of course saving my Gu Gu is more important.” He thought, “Gu Gu’s beauty is unparalleled; it’s normal that someone like the Valley Master would want to marry her. But when Gu Gu refused to marry him, he lured her to the sword room to harm her. He really is evil; now he knows that the only Passionless Pill has been taken away, there is no way to cure the Passion Flower poison in Gu Gu. She just has thirty six days to live and all he’s concerned about is making her submit to him; even the crocodiles in this pit have more heart than him.”

Lu E knew that no matter how hard she tries to persuade him to take the pill it will be of no use; she regretted telling him that there was only one pill so she said, “This Spirit Fungus can’t cure poisons but it can strengthen one’s body, eat it quickly.”

Yang Guo said, “Yes.” He broke the piece of Spirit Fungus into two; he put one piece into his mouth and put the other piece in front of Lu E’s mouth, he said, “We don’t know when your father will let you go, so eat this piece to help protect yourself against this cold.”

Lu E saw that he was concerned for her and couldn’t bear to refuse, so she opened her mouth.

This Spirit Fungus had been grown for hundreds of years; not long after the two ate it, they felt an extremely comfortable warmth throughout their bodies, a boost in their energy and they felt sharper.

Lu E suddenly said, “Father must have known that Zhou Botong had stolen the Passionless Pill. He was lying to Miss Long when he said he was going to cure you; and when he was forcing me to hand over the Passionless Pill, he was acting then as well.”

Yang Guo had thought about this awhile ago but he didn’t want to make her sadder so he kept quiet about it. When he heard her realizing this on her own he said, “When your father let’s you out, you need to be extremely careful; the best thing for you to do is leave the valley as quickly as possible.”

Lu E sighed, “You don’t know my father; since he’s pushed me down here into this crocodile pit he will never change his mind and rescue me. He was already worried about me; after this event, how can he allow me to live? Brother Yang, will you let me die with you?”

Yang Guo was about to say a few words to comfort her when he suddenly heard another crocodile climbing onto the rock face, its front foot stepping onto sheepskin from the package. Yang Guo had a thought, “That sheepskin looked kind of strange.” He picked up the dagger and stabbed it between the eyes of the crocodile; a ‘pu’ sound was heard as it went straight through. The dagger that he was holding was actually extremely sharp and was capable of chopping gold and cutting jade. The crocodile struggled a little bit before falling back into the pool on its back, dead. Yang Guo said with delight, “Now that we’ve got this dagger, those crocodiles in the pool have run out of luck.”