Return of Condor Heroes (207 page)

Guo Fu said, “She’s my little sister.”

In a severe tone Ci’en said, “Humph, surprisingly Guo Jing and Huang Rong have two children.”

Hearing a strange tone in his voice, Huang Rong shouted, “Fu’er, get back here, quickly!”

Guo Fu saw that Ci’en was acting like a madman. After all this talking, he still hadn’t begun fighting. She thought he was afraid of her mother so she didn’t fear him. Instead, she moved a couple of steps forward. With a laugh she said, “If there’s revenge to extract, just get on with it. If not, don’t open your mouth!”

Ci’en shouted, “I will extract my revenge!”

His voice ripped through the air like a clap of thunder, and all the teacups were making ‘dang-dang’ rattling sounds. Guo Fu couldn’t move her hands and feet. She only saw his left and right hands coming at her with the force of a mountain being cast into the sea. She wanted to escape, but how could there be enough time?

As if by prior arrangement, Huang Rong, Wu Santong, and Yelu Qi jumped up into the air at the same time. The three people all noticed that even though Ci’en’s right hand was fierce, his left palm was far more lethal. So they all aimed at his left palm, and the four palms clashed with a ‘peng’ sound.

Ci’en let out a ‘hei’ sound and stood still but the three people fell back several steps. With the lowest skills, Yelu Qi was knocked back the furthest, and next to him was Huang Rong. Before she could steady herself, she saw that her daughter Guo Xiang had already been snatched by Ci’en. Guo Fu just stood there dumbly too frightened to escape.

Huang Rong was alarmed. She thought, “Was Fu’er hurt by that palm strike?” Immediately she jumped up and out, her left hand pulling Guo Fu back. She wielded the “Dog Beating Stick” with her right hand, using the ‘seal’ trick. Although Ci’en’s palms were fierce, he couldn’t hurt her this time. Guo Fu was actually not injured but she was confused. Now that she leaned against her mother’s body, she could let out an ‘ah’ cry.

As the battle began, the Wu brothers, Yelu Yan, and Wanyan Ping unsheathed their weapons. Qiu Qianchi signaled the many valley disciples to scatter, waiting for her order to besiege them. Only Reverend Yideng was still sitting cross-legged in the center of the hall as if he didn’t see all these things. He was reciting Buddhist sutras. His voice was not loud, but very clear.

Ci’en lifted Guo Xiang. He shouted, “This is Guo Jing and Huang Rong’s daughter. I’ll kill this girl first, and then I’ll kill Huang Rong!”

Qiu Qianchi said in delight, “Good second brother! You are really the world-famous “Iron Palms Floating on Water”, Chief Qiu!”

In this situation, Huang Rong and the others couldn’t defeat Ci’en in battle without anybody getting hurt; they didn’t even have a way to save the baby from this mad man.

In a loud voice Guo Fu suddenly shouted, “Yang Guo, big brother Yang, quickly come and save my little sister.”

When facing a disaster, Yang Guo had always come out of nowhere to save her. Seeing that nobody could do anything at this time, she naturally hoped that Yang Guo would come to her rescue again. But at the moment Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were enjoying their time together. The two people walked slowly hand in hand, watching the sunset. How could they know about this urgent situation in the hall?

Ci’en used his right hand to hold Guo Xiang high above his head and brought his left palm on guard.

He sneered, “Yang Guo? Who’s Yang Guo? Now even if East Heretic, West Venom, South Emperor, North Beggar, and Central Divinity all came at once, they could only kill me, Qiu Qianren, but they wouldn’t be able to save this baby.”

Yideng slowly lifted his head and saw blood lust and murderous intent in Ci’en’s eyes. He said, “You want to seek revenge on people, people will then come and take revenge on you. What good can come of it?”

Ci’en shouted, “If they dare, come!” Now dusk had begun to fall, and the evening light entered the hall. Despair showed in everyone’s eyes, while his face looked absolutely terrifying.

Suddenly Huang Rong let out a ‘ha-ha’ laugh, her voice alternating between high and low pitches, like a lunatic. The people couldn’t help being frightened.

Guo Fu cried out “Ma!”

Wu Santong and Yelu Qi called out in one voice “Madame Guo!”

Their hearts were thumping wildly, thinking that she’d gone insane because the enemy had her daughter. She tossed her “Dog Beating Stick” to the floor, moving a couple of steps forward. Her laugh sounded mournful and shrill.

“Ma!” Guo Fu called out and tried to grab her arm. Huang Rong brushed Guo Fu aside with her right hand and jumped towards Ci’en with a miserable cry.

Even Qiu Qianchi hadn’t expected this. She stared at Huang Rong in disbelief.

Huang Rong stretched out both hands and gave Ci’en an evil stare. She cried out, “Quickly kill this child. Hit her hard. You can’t spare her.”

Color left Ci’en’s face. He held Guo Xiang close to his chest and said, “You... you... who are you?”

Huang Rong laughed crazily, her arms flinging out. Although Ci’en’s left palm was on guard, he didn’t dare to strike. He sidestepped and asked again, “Who are you?”

Huang Rong sadly replied, “Have you completely forgotten? One evening in the Dali Imperial Palace, you held a small child like this in your hand. Right, it was... it was.. You injured him badly and he eventually died. I am this child’s mother. Kill this child quickly. Kill this child quickly. What are you waiting for?”

Ci’en listened to her, and his whole body trembled. Events of decades-ago flashed in his mind.

Years ago, he’d injured Dali Imperial Concubine Liu’s child, hoping that the South Emperor would use years of cultivated inner energy to treat the child’s injury. But Emperor Duan had been cruel enough to let the child meet a violent death. Afterwards Concubine Liu and Ci’en had run into each other twice and she fought like a mad tiger, willing to die together with him. Although Ci’en’s kungfu was superior, he actually didn’t dare to fight her; instead he fled into the wasteland. Huang Rong had twice met Yinggu, on the Black Dragon beach and at the top of Mount Hua and seen her insane smile. She’d known that this was Ci’en’s biggest worry. And so, seeing Ci’en holding Guo Xiang in his arms but unable to harm her, she’d told him to kill Guo Xiang. Wu Santong, Qiu Qianchi, Yelu Qi and the others all thought that she’d gone totally insane. Only Reverend Yideng secretly admired Huang Rong for her great wisdom and courage. He thought to himself that a strong man wouldn’t have the gall to come up with such a scheme and say “Kill the child quickly.” When Ci’en was frighteningly violent like this, if he hit Guo Xiang even lightly, how could she not die a sudden death?

Ci’en looked at Huang Rong and Yideng. Then his eyes turned to the child in his hand. A surge of pain and regret suddenly hit him, and he sobbed, “He was dead! He was dead! The child was alive and well, and I killed him.”

He stepped towards Huang Rong and handed Guo Xiang to her. He said, “I killed this small baby. Please beat me to death!”

Overjoyed, Huang Rong reached out to take Guo Xiang. But then Yideng shouted, “Revenge breeds revenge; when will it stop? Your hand holds a murderous blade. When will you throw it away?”

Ci’en was startled, and Guo Xiang fell from his hand.

Huang Rong didn’t wait for Guo Xiang to fall to the floor, her right foot flew out. She kicked the child, sending her out in the air. At the same time, she laughed crazily and said, “You killed the child. Good. Good. This is wonderful.”

Her kick looked as if it was fierce but when her foot touched Guo Xiang’s waist, it actually stopped her from falling and gently sent her out again into the air. She knew that this was an extremely critical moment. If she bent down to pick up her daughter, perhaps Ci’en would change his mind.

Guo Xiang flew through the air towards Yelu Qi. He caught her and saw that her black eyes were sparkling, and that her little mouth was about to let out a big cry. She was indeed unharmed. He was first startled and then understood that Huang Rong, knowing that Guo Fu was rash, sent him her daughter. So, he covered the child’s mouth with his palm and shouted, “Aiyo, the child was killed by the monk.”

Ci’en’s face was deathly pale. All of a sudden he was awakened. He put his hands together and bowed to Yideng. He said, “Great monk, many thanks for saving me!”

Yideng bowed back and said, “Congratulations, great monk. You’ve found the right path!”

The two monks exchanged a smile. Ci’en ran out.

Qiu Qianchi quickly called out, “Second Brother, Second Brother, you come back!”

Ci’en turned his head back and said, “You call me to come back; I’m now asking you to come back too.” Having said that his gown sleeves flared out, and he floated out of the hall.

With a joyful expression on his face Yideng said, “Good, good, good!”

Then he retreated to a corner of the hall. He lowered his head, his eyebrows drooping, and said no more.

Huang Rong fixed her hair and got Guo Xiang back from Yelu Qi. Seeing that her mother was normal and her little sister was all right, Guo Fu was pleasantly surprised. She threw herself into her mother’s arms and said, “Ma, I thought you really went insane!”

Huang Rong walked over to Yideng and kowtowed. She said, “I (niece) had no other way but to mention that past affair. Reverend, please forgive me.”

With a faint smile Yideng replied, “Rong’er, Rong’er, you are really the female Zhuge!”

In the hall, Wu Santong was the only person who knew about the past events. Others were looking perplexed at one another.

After this unexpected turn of events, Qiu Qianchi saw her brother going out the screened door. She thought about how she wouldn’t see him again and couldn’t help becoming heavy-hearted. His words “You call me to come back, I’m now asking to you come back too” sounded like advice, urging her to control herself, repent and be salvaged. She secretly felt a pang of regret but her regret disappeared in a flash. All of a sudden, she proudly said, “Everybody, please wait here, I’m afraid this old woman can’t keep you company.”

Huang Rong said, “Hold on a minute! We’ve come here today to ask for the Passionless Pill...”

Qiu Qianchi nodded at her numerous disciples and they all responded with a war cry. Each entrance was blocked by four disciples in green, with an adorned fishnet in their hands. Four maids lifted Qiu Qianchi’s chair and retreated to the inner hall.

Seeing the power of the fishnets, Huang Rong, Wu Santong, Yelu Qi, and the others were secretly alarmed. They thought, “These fishnets are deadly, how can we break out of the trap?”

While they were hesitating, both the front door and the back door of the hall were being pulled shut, and the disciples in green all squeezed out. The Wu Brothers struck one of the doors with their swords. With a ‘peng’ sound, their double swords were caught in the crack of the door and immediately snapped. It seemed that these doors were cast from metal after all.

In a low voice Huang Rong said, “No need to be frightened! Even if we aren’t allowed to leave the hall, we can still think of a way to defeat those fishnets and get the antidote to help Yang Guo.”

Gongsun Lu’E followed her mother into the inner hall.

She asked, “Ma, what should we do?”

Seeing that her brother had abruptly departed and that skilled enemies were gathering, Qiu Qianchi knew she had a big problem. But the murderer of her brother had arrived; no matter who tried to persuade her, she would never yield. With a slight hesitation she said, “Go take a look. What are Yang Guo and those three girls doing?”

This was actually what Lu’E had wanted to do. She nodded in compliance and left for the kiln.

As she was halfway to the kiln, she heard voices ahead of her. It was Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu talking. It seemed that they said something about ‘Miss Gongsun.’ By this time, the sky had become totally dark, and Lu’E hid herself in a willow grove nearby. She thought, “What are they talking about?”

She gingerly stepped forward, approaching them without making a sound. She saw Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu standing side by side.

Yang Guo said, “You said these matters revolved around Miss Gongsun. That’s absolutely right. If the Divine Monk wakes up, all past animosity is buried, and all the poisons are expelled, won’t that be wonderful? Aiyo!”

Lu’E jumped as Yang Guo let out a sudden cry, not knowing what had just happened to him. She was worried and couldn’t help poking her head out to look around. In the darkness, she saw Yang Guo fall to the ground.

Xiao Longnu hoarsely said, “The Passion Flower poison is acting up again?”

“Mmm…aah…” Yang Guo could only let out a groan.

This pain was very difficult to endure. Lu’E pitied him and thought to herself, “He’s already taken half of the Passionless pill. He needs the other half to get rid of the poisons, and he can only get this other half from mother.”

After a while, Yang Guo got up and let out a long gasp.

Xiao Longnu said, “Your seizures are getting more and more frequent, and every time more severe than the last one. The Divine Monk still has to regain consciousness before he can find the antidote. Even then, there may not necessarily... there may not necessarily... You must be in a lot of pain.”

She’d wanted to say “there may not necessarily be enough time” but she changed her last sentence.

With a bitter smile Yang Guo said, “This old Madame Gongsun is extremely stubborn. She’s hidden the antidote. Unless she wants to give it to me herself, even if we kill everybody in the valley and hold a knife against her neck, she still won’t give it up.”

“But I actually have a method,” said Xiao Longnu.

Yang Guo could guess what she was thinking and so he said, “Long’er, don’t say it. We…husband and wife, sincerely love each other. If we can grow old together, naturally we’ll thank heaven and earth. If something bad happens, its fate. No third person may come between the two of us.”

Xiao Longnu sobbed, “That Gongsun girl... She looks like a very good person. She will listen to me.”

Lu’E’s heart shook, understanding that Xiao Longnu was urging Yang Guo to marry her to save his own life. But then she heard Yang Guo’s reply.