Return of Condor Heroes (173 page)

Other Quanzhen disciples seeing how the masters were failing in a dangerous situation couldn’t help but cry out in fear. Li Zhichang called out: “Quickly deliver them a weapon!” At this point, the “Five Master’s Palm” wind whizzed through the air, leaving the disciples unable to get near them. They could only throw the swords one by one over to them. Xiao Longnu raced ahead and brandished her sword to push away the incoming weapons. Every sword arriving near them was knocked away. The advantage Xiao Longnu had of having a sword longer than their human arms meant the Five Masters were given no chance to grab a weapon. Suddenly the noise of ‘ding-dang’ was heard, Xiao Longnu’s left hand collected another sword thrown in the battle, and abruptly lobbed it backwards. Wang Chuyi couldn’t prepare himself in time; the corner of his left eye was slashed by an outsider’s sword. Out of the Five Quanzhen Descendants, four were injured; a conclusion as to who triumphed could be reached.

Jinlun Fawang laughed ecstatically, and called out: “My Taoist friends please step aside, let me take care of this Demon Girl!” Finishing those words he intervened. Xiaoxiang Zi, Nimoxing and Yin Kexi jointly attacked her as they wielded their weapons. It had escalated into a phase where nine experts are besieging a single Xiao Longnu.

As soon as Fawang got involved, Quanzhen Five Masters were instantly released from Xiao Longnu’s twin swords coercion. Five of them called out loudly, and stood shoulder to shoulder. Either it’s the right palm or the left palm, five streams of huge energies amalgamated into one that generated the “Seven Star Rally” attack. It maybe only “Five Star Rally” right now, but its’ power is out of the ordinary. She tilted her body to evade the attack; the noise of ‘peng’ was heard. The dust on the ground flew upwards, the attack left Nimoxing somersaulting in the air as he fell.

After both his legs were cut off, he had to rely on his crutches for support; his lower-body wasn’t stable enough to sustain the blow. At least when he was in imminent danger he managed to slip away from the direct force of the blow. He may have toppled over, but instantly got back up unscathed. With a few bawls of ‘wa-wa’, he raised his steel snake aimed down at Liu Chuxuan’s head. In front of the Cave of the Jade Void the sounds of calls reverberated in all directions adding to the confusion.

Xiao Longnu seeing Nimoxing turn on the Quanzhen Five Masters stroked her white sleeves, and wanted to pull out of the circle. Jinlun Fawang hurried over to hinder the attacks, and said: “Brother Nimo, it’s more important to deal with the Demon Girl.” Nimoxing who’s preoccupied with the fight did not pay attention to the calls of Fawang. Prodding outward with his steel snake, the assaults were laid upon the various Quanzhen Taoists. Xiao Longnu’s swords quickly thrust out at Fawang several times. Fawang felt the unbelievable speed from the oncoming force; giving him a hard time just to parry them, and had to withdraw a few steps.

Suddenly, Xiao Longnu gasped loudly, both cheeks lost color. With two sounds of ‘qiang-long’, both swords from her hands fell on the ground. Staring in blank amazement at the pine lined path’s rosebush, she called: “Guo’er is that really you?”

At this juncture, Fawang’s golden wheel had sliced her head-on; Quanzhen Five Master’s “Seven Star Rally” pummeled her in the back. The attack was supposed to keep Nimoxing at bay, but the Indian short man had already suffered the bitter taste of the pile driver. So he had no second thoughts of matching it and evaded to the left. The attack was alternatively expended upon Xiao Longnu’s garment.

She looked bewitched, and the reaction to evade wasn’t there. Her vest had endured a palm, her chest struck by the wheel. Even with such a fragile body weathering these two tremendous converging forces, her eyes were nevertheless still fixed upon the external influence of the rosebush. At that moment, her heart was agitated and she turned her thoughts to her beloved, it seemed as though those two forces had not harmed her a bit.

The spectators felt in awe of her gaze, and all involuntarily turned their heads to see what was so strange about that rosebush. They noticed a human shadow fly out round the side of the pine lined field and sneak into the no-man’s land between Fawang and the Quanzhen Five Masters. That person, darting past everyone, grabbed hold of Xiao Longnu with his left arm and had already leaped out of the ring. Without wasting a moment, sat beside the rosebush, and rested her against his chest. This person was of course Yang Guo!

Xiao Longnu’s face lighted up, tears flowing from her eyes: “Guo’er, it’s you. This isn’t a dream?”

Yang Guo nodded, kissing her cheek, his voice soft: “Not a dream. Am I not holding you right now?”

But then he saw her clothes stained with blood spots, alarmed. He worriedly asked: “Are you seriously injured?”

Xiao Longnu earlier received two vicious attacks. Upon seeing Yang Guo, she didn’t feel her injury. Only now she felt the searing pain. She placed her arm around Yang Guo’s neck, saying: “I… I…” Her body hurt so much she couldn’t get the words out.

Yang Guo couldn’t bear to see her in pain, his voice broke: “Gu Gu I’ve come too late!”

Xiao Longnu said: “No, it’s good that you’ve come. In this life, I thought I wouldn’t be able to see you again.”

Suddenly she felt cold as if her soul was leaving the body. She hung on to Yang Guo’s arms yet her hold was slowly dropping. She said: “Guo’er, hold me.”

Yang Guo’s left arm slightly tightened, pulling her to his chest. He was overwhelmed by hundreds of feelings, his tears slowly falling down to Xiao Longnu’s face.

Xiao Longnu said: “Hold me, use both…both hands!” Suddenly she saw his right sleeve empty. Strange, she cried out: “Your right arm?”

Yang Guo forced a smile, his voice cracked: “I’ve worried you. Don’t worry about me right now, close your eyes quickly, don’t use up your energy.”

Xiao Longnu said: “No! Your right arm? How come it’s gone…how come?” Even though her own life was hanging by thread, she didn’t care the slightest about herself; she was determined to find out why Yang Guo was missing an arm. This was because in her heart, Yang Guo’s well-being was 100 times, 1000 times more important than hers.

It had been like this since the time they were together at Gu Mu [the Ancient Tomb]. Only then she didn’t know it was love, nor did Yang Guo. They only thought that their mutual concern for each other’s well-being was right between the master and the disciple. Since there were only two of them living at Gu Mu, if one didn’t care for the other, who else would they care for? Actually this was a feeling between a young man and woman; before they even knew it, they were in love with each other. One day they learned that one could not regard the other’s life as important as one’s own, let alone 100 times, 1000 times more important without being in love. Every couple who was in love could think like this. However, only these two people with truly deep feelings and innate passions who found each other and fell in love could treasure the other party more than they did themselves.

As far as Xiao Longnu was concerned, Yang Guo’s one arm was much more important than her own life or death and thus she persisted on asking. She stretched her hand and gently stroked his sleeve, not daring to touch it too hard. But really, there was no arm under the sleeve.

Suddenly, she no longer felt the severe pain in her body. This was because her mind was occupied by Yang Guo’s pain, making her forget her own suffering. She softly said: “Poor Guo’er. Has it been very long? You aren’t in pain now?”

Yang Guo shook his head, replying: “It doesn’t hurt anymore. As long as I get to see your face and never part with you again, what’s so important about missing an arm? My left arm can still hold you, can’t it?”

Xiao Longnu let out a soft smile, deciding that Yang Guo was right. She lay down in his embrace. Even though he had only his left arm, she was content. She was facing death just before seeing him again. Right now it was very good, really very good.

Jinlun Fawang, Xiaoxiang Zi, Yin Kexi, Quanzhen Five Masters, their numerous disciples, the numerous Mongolian soldiers ... nobody made a sound but looked dumbfounded at the young lovers. At a time like this, they all were thinking about fighting with them, yet nobody dared to start it. The world waited. Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu no longer cared whether they lived or died. Having their love, what was so important about death?

Jinlun Fawang certainly was not afraid of the couple only astonished. He saw Xiao Longnu badly injured and Yang Guo having only one arm, and neither being able to withstand a fight again. However, the two people’s affection for each other had an awe-inspiring and fearless effect, and was not something to be taken lightly.

Eventually, Xiao Longnu couldn’t stay quiet, asking: “Your arm ... How did you lose your arm? Tell me quickly.”

Yang Guo forced a bitter smile and said: “The arm was lost; naturally it got cut off by other people.”

Xiao Longnu sadly looked at him. She hadn’t thought that he wouldn’t tell her who did it. That meant it didn’t matter who. She again felt the rising pain in her chest. She knew her life wouldn’t last much longer, lowering her voice: “Guo’er, I beg you one thing.”

Yang Guo said: “Gu Gu, you’ve forgotten. At Gu Mu, I promised you, whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.”

Xiao Longnu sighed quietly, saying: “That was a long, long time ago!”

“To me, forever is the same,” replied Yang Guo.

Xiao Longnu smiled sadly and said: “I don’t have long to live. You stay with me, until I die. Don’t go accompany Guo.. Guo Fu Guniang [Miss Guo Fu].”

Yang Guo was sad yet angry, saying: “Gu Gu, of course I’ll be with you. What does Guo Fu Guniang have to do with me? It was she who chopped off this arm of mine.”

Xiao Longnu was alarmed, crying out: “What? It was her? Why was she so heartless?”

Is that… Is that why you don’t like her?” Yang Guo said resentfully: “The two of us are very good together, why are you being suspicious? Except for one person, in my life I’ve never loved any girls. This Guo Fu Guniang, Hngg [expression of contempt]”

That day Yang Guo and Guo Fu’s quarrel escalated into a fight, Guo Fu’s burning anger was hard to restrain. She grabbed hold of the ‘Lady’ sword and struck down at the top of his head. Yang Guo was poisoned and he hadn’t fully recuperated yet, his four limbs had no energy to spare. Seeing the sword arrive, he was out of options and had to raise his right arm in front of his face. Guo Fu in furious vexation gave her all. The ‘Lady’ sword was as sharp as it gets and Yang Guo’s right arm was silently cut off in a flash.

With that sword chopping down, Yang Guo’s life changed. Yang Guo no doubt let out a fierce burst of anger; Guo Fu was quivering with fear and knew she’d made a huge mistake that could never be made up. But after witnessing the blood well up like a fountain, she hadn’t a clue as to what to do. A moment passed, suddenly the sound of ‘wa’ was released, she covered her face and wept whilst pushing open the door and rushing out. After a short period of nervous discomfort, Yang Guo promptly relaxed himself. And extended his left hand to seal his right shoulder’s “Loyal Shoulder Point”, he tore up a bed sheet and firmly tied up his shoulder to prevent the continuous flow of blood. Then he applied the Golden Wound Medicine to his wound, and thought: “I cannot stay here any longer, I must hurry and get out of the city.” Slowly holding the wall he walked a few steps. Because he’d bled excessively, he almost fainted several times as his vision became more and more blurred.

At this moment, he heard the loud calls of Guo Jing: “Come on, come on, how is he? Has he stopped bleeding yet?” The sound of his speech was filled with anxiety. Yang Guo’s mind at that time only encompassed these thoughts: “No way am I going to see Uncle Guo. I don’t want to see him.” So he took a deep breath, and sprinted out of the room.

He rushed outside the mansion’s gates, pulled in a horse, mounted it and galloped to the city gate. The officers and men that supervised the city had seen him rescue Guo Jing at the top of the city wall once before, they had a great deal of respect for him. So they immediately opened the city gate for him and he dashed past on the horse.

During this period the Mongolian armed forces had decamped a hundred-odd Chinese miles (li) away. Yang Guo did not take the route of the main road. The horse was ridden through the desolated areas. He thought: “The time is up for the Passion Flower that’s infected my body, but I’m still very much alive. Perhaps it’s just like what the Indian Divine Monk said; after I sucked the poison of the “Soul Freezing Silver Needles”, the poison managed to counteract the other poison, which prolonged my life. But the poison has only subsided; sooner or later it’s inevitable for it to break out again. With severe wounds, if I were to head off to Mount Zhongnan to look for GuGu, I definitely won’t last very long. Could this be what fate has destined for me, and condemned me to die in such a strange place? He began to reminisce about his wretched orphaned life, other than those fond memories he had of being together with Xiao Longnu in Ancient Tomb; he rarely found any other specific moments of bliss. At this moment, the only close person he had has abandoned him and gone. Just when he’s recovered – part of his body is disabled. Already half-dead, when his thoughts reached this point, he was hardly able to restrain his tears.

Yang Guo laid flat on the horse’s back. In his wooziness, he didn’t care where the horse would take him, as long as Guo Jing wouldn’t be able to find him and he didn’t bump into any of the Mongolian army. Soon, the horse came near the desolate valley where the Wu brothers had fought each other the night before.

It was dusk already. The long grasses in the valley were even taller than knee-highs. Silence swept the night. Yang Guo was quite sure that he was all alone now, so he lay down in the bushes and tried to get some sleep. By then he couldn’t care less about his own safety, and didn’t even bother to guard against poisonous snakes or wild animals. But the excruciating pain from his wound never stopped throughout the night. He could barely fall asleep.

The next morning when he opened his eyes and sat up, something suddenly caught his attention. Only inches from him lay two dead centipedes, bloodstains in their mouths, stiff as sticks, with red and black stripes all over their bodies, looking frightful even after they were dead. In shock, Yang Guo examined them more closely and found a big pool of blood next to the centipedes. After a short ponder, he had it figured out. It turned out that the bleeding from his wound had created the pool of blood, and because of the strong toxin contained in his blood, the two poisonous centipedes had died.