Return of Condor Heroes (222 page)

“After several days, the corrupt official called for a retrial and that local tyrant was also kneeling next to me. I shouted, ‘You corrupted dog, you accepted bribes and distorted justice, you will not have a peaceful death!’ That corrupt official grinned, ‘Song Wu, you do not have to speak thus, I investigated closely and found that you were sentenced unjustly. That crook was not killed by you but by this tyrant!’ After saying that, he ordered the Yamen attendants to hit him hard, and used the bamboo torture method (something like squeezing the fingers between bamboo sticks) on him, forcing him to confess that he killed that crook and pushed the blame on me. I wasn’t able to figure this out; that crook was obviously killed by me, how could this charge be transferred to someone else?”

The young girl heard this and smiled, saying, “This magistrate must be really blind.”

Song Wu said, “He was definitely not blind; when I got home, my mother told me after I was sentenced to death, my mother bitterly wept daily on the street. One day she happened to meet the Eagle Hero passing through who asked her what was wrong. The Eagle Hero asked around and discovered the truth; he said he had a matter at hand and didn’t have the time to find this corrupt official to settle the score, so he gave my mother 2,000 taels of silver to buy my life. After three months, everyone in the town said the County Magistrate, late one night, was robbed of 4,000 taels of silver and got into a fit of anger. He was so mad he coughed up blood ever since. I knew this surely must be the Eagle Hero’s doing, so I didn’t dare continue living there and moved to Jiangnan. After more than a year, some people told me, a great master with a missing arm was by the seashore with a big queer bird and he was looking blankly into the sea, and had been doing so for the past few days. I hastily hurried up to him and kowtowed to him as an expression of gratitude.”

The young woman suddenly said, “Thank him for what? He paid 2,000 taels of silver but stole 4,000 taels of silver; so he made a profit of 2,000 taels of silver. How could this Yang scum do business in such an unscrupulous manner?” The young girl said, “Yang? The Eagle Hero is named Yang?” The young woman said, “I don’t know, I didn’t say his name is Yang.” The young girl said, “I clearly heard you say so.” The woman said, “Surely you heard wrongly.”

The young girl said, “OK. I won’t argue with you. Even if the Eagle Hero gained 2,000 taels of silver, it must also have been used for helping the poor and needy people. He is a generous and chivalrous hero, how would he use the money for his own personal gain?” Many people cheered with one voice, all saying, “The lady is right!”

The young girl asked, “Uncle Song, why did the Eagle Hero stare at the sea? Is he waiting for someone?” Song Wu shook his head, “I don’t know, I didn’t dare to ask about this.”

The young girl took up two pieces of firewood and threw them into the fire, looking at the dark flame turn bright red, gently saying, “Although Eagle Hero is ever eager to help the distressed; perhaps he actually has a problem of his own? Otherwise why does he always stare at the sea?”

A middle-aged woman sitting in a western corner suddenly said, “I have a younger female cousin who has seen the Eagle Hero before. She also once saw the Eagle Hero blankly looking at the sea with a strange expression, and so she personally asked him about it. The Eagle Hero replied, ‘My beloved wife is at the other end of the sea, so we can’t meet.” The people all said “Ohh” at the same time.

The refined young girl said, “So he has a wife, why did she end up at the other end of the sea? He has such excellent abilities, why doesn’t he cross the sea to look for her?”

The middle-aged woman said, “My younger female cousin also asked him that. He said, “The Sea is so vast, I don’t know how we can meet.”

The young girl gently sighed, “I expected that such a character would have such a personality, so it’s actually true.” She also asked, “Is your younger female cousin very pretty? In her heart she secretly likes the Eagle Hero, is it not so?”

The beautiful young woman shouted clearly, “Younger sister, are you fantasizing again?”

The middle-aged woman said, “My younger female cousin may be considered to be beautiful. The Eagle Hero killed her father in order to save her mother. Whether or not my younger female cousin secretly liked the Eagle Hero, nobody knows. She has since married an honest farmer. The Eagle Hero gave her a great sum of money and now her life is pretty good.”

The young girl said, “The Eagle Hero killed her father in order to save her mother? How strange!”

The beautiful woman said “This person has a very strange temperament, when he’s good he saves lives, when he’s wicked he murders people. Yes, he was like that since he was young.”

That young girl curiously asked “He was like that since he was young? How do you know?”

The woman said, “I just know.”

The young girl persistently asked about the matter but the young woman refused to say. The young girl said, “Fine, since you won’t say, then I don’t want to hear. Even if you did say, I may not believe you.” She turned her head to the middle-aged woman and said, “Madam, please tell me about your younger female cousin’s story.”

The woman said, “Alright. My younger female cousin and I have an age gap of seventeen years, and her mother is my aunt...” The young girl said with a smile, “And her father is your uncle.” That woman replied with a smile, “Oh, I’m droning non-stop again, causing the lady to be impatient. My uncle is from Henan; in that year the Mongolians invaded our lands and captured my uncle to work as a slave. My aunt led my cousin, begging for food along the way, and went to Shandong from Henan. Then they went to Shanxi from Shandong, looking for my uncle’s whereabouts.”

Young General Wang sighed, “Traveling thousands of li to find her husband; that is really rare.”

The woman said, “But because my aunt and my cousin’s appearance is good, traveling on the road is doubly hard. The two of them spread their faces with black mud to prevent evil men from seeing colour and coming up with ideas...” (Meaning lusting after them...as if you didn’t know!)

The young girl said, “Seeing colour and coming up with ideas?” Half of the people sitting around the fire started laughing.

The beautiful young woman hurriedly said, “Younger sister, if you don’t understand then don’t talk nonsense, you’re a big lady, and people will laugh at you.”

The young girl muttered, “I don’t understand, that’s why I ask; if I understood, why would I ask?”

The middle-aged woman smiled and said, “These are awful words, if the lady doesn’t understand it’s better for her. Mmm, my aunt and cousin searched for four years and heaven helped them; they finally found my uncle in Hubei, serving as a Mongolian official’s slave. This official is very evil. When my aunt saw my uncle, he had just massaged the Mongolian official’s left leg. My aunt was extremely grieved and begged the Mongolian official to allow him to return home. The Mongolian official was not willing to agree, saying he bought this lackey for 100 taels of silver, so unless my aunt has 500 taels of silver to redeem his freedom, the official would rather kill him than set him free. My aunt didn’t even have 50 taels of silver, how could she find 500 taels of silver? She thought for a long time, finally deciding not to be concerned about face and so she and her daughter sold their flesh...”

Again the young lady did not understand, but her previous question caused much laughter, so now she did not dare to ask again, and continued to listen to the woman. The woman said, “After several years like this, the mother and daughter only had a little savings, but to raise 500 taels of silver, was easier said than done. Fortunately their clients knew about their plight, so they often paid more than necessary. The mother and daughter suffered great humiliation, and on this New Year’s Eve, they finally raised the 500 taels of silver. They went to the Mongolian official’s residence, thinking that the whole family can finally be reunited and have a happy new year.”

The young girl heard this and was happy for the mother and daughter. Then she heard the woman say, “That Mongolian official received the 500 taels of silver, and then called my uncle to come out, letting the family meet. My uncle’s family kowtowed (kneel and bow) to that Mongolian official and bade him farewell. Who knew that when the Mongolian official saw my cousin, he suddenly had evil intentions, saying, ‘Good, you are here to redeem this slave, nothing could be better, now hand over 500 taels of silver!” My aunt was shocked, she had already given the Mongolian official 500 taels of silver, and how could she hand over the money again? The Mongolian official’s face changed, shouting, ‘I am a high Mongolian official, would I cheat for my slave’s money?’ My aunt was afraid and sad, so she immediately cried loudly in the main hall, and then that Mongolian official said, “Fine. Today is New Year’s Eve, I shall show mercy and let your family be reunited, but I fear when this lackey is gone he will not return, so you must leave your girl behind. ‘My aunt knew he harbored evil intentions; how would she be willing to comply? That Mongolian official shouted for his attendants who then threw my uncle and aunt out of his office.”

“My aunt wasn’t willing to give up her daughter and shouted in front of the Mongolian official’s office. The common people knew perfectly well that she has been wronged, but Hubei was not part of the great Song territory. Mongolian soldiers killed the Han people like trampling on ants, so who dared to say a word about fairness? But my uncle said, ‘Since the Mongolian official has taken a liking for our girl, that is a fortune others cannot have, so why do you cry?’ He actually behaved like a slave since he has been a lackey for a long time. He then asked where that 500 taels of silver came from. In the beginning my aunt was not willing to say, but was questioned persistently and she finally said it. My uncle got angry, saying my aunt had ruined his reputation by not following the traditional woman’s ethics. He became depressed, then did such a despicable act as to write a divorce paper immediately and has since divorced my aunt.” The people sighed with one voice; all saying her aunt really has had such an unfortunate life.

The middle-aged woman said, “My aunt toiled through untold hardships for seven or eight years but reached such a wretched state that she did not want to live. Then she went to the woods and loosened her belt to hang herself. But heaven is just and fair; just then the Eagle Hero passed by and rescued her. He found out the whole story and his face flushed with anger. That very evening he entered into the Mongolian official’s office and saw the Mongolian official trying to coerce my cousin and my uncle unexpectedly urging my cousin to submit. He was saying that since she has been in that kind of job all these years, she isn’t a decent girl anymore and didn’t have to respect her chastity. The Eagle Hero killed my uncle with one punch and gripped that Mongolian official and threw him into the Huaihe River, thus saving my cousin. He said my aunt sold her flesh to save her husband so she deserved much more respect than the common chaste ladies. He also said the people he hates most are ungrateful people, so he would never spare people like my uncle.”

The young girl heard this and started to day-dream, casually lifting the wine bowl and drank a big mouthful then gently said, “So many of you were able to meet the Eagle Hero, but I do not have such luck. If I can just see him once and listen to him to say a few words, I...I would be overjoyed.”

The young woman loudly said, “This person’s martial arts are good, but compared with Father, he is way behind. A young girl like you doesn’t know anything. When others exaggerate such matters; you immediately proclaim how great this person is. Actually you have seen this person, and he also carried you before.”

The young girl blushed and said, “You are my elder sister, yet you speak so frivolously, who would believe you?”

The woman said “If you don’t believe it that’s up to you. That, whatever, Eagle Hero is named Yang Guo, and lived on our Peach Blossom Island (Tao Hua Dao) in his childhood. His arm was ... Eh...Mmm... he carried you the day you were born.”

This beautiful young woman is Guo Fu, the young girl is her younger sister Guo Xiang and the youth is Guo Xiang’s twin brother Guo Polu. More than ten years ago, Guo Fu had married Yelu Qi and now Guo Xiang and Guo Polu have also grown up. The three of them were carrying out an assignment for their parents which was: to proceed to Jinyang and invite Quanzhen’s senior priest Qiu Chuji, styled Chang Chunji (Everlasting Spring), to preside over the heroes’ congress in Xiangyang. On this day the three siblings were on their way to Jinyang, but they were held up here as the cold had frozen Fenglingdu’ s part of the Yellow River mouth, so they listened to the many people talk throughout the night.

Guo Xiang’s face had a happy expression and she mumbled to herself, “He carried me the day I was born…” She turned her head to Guo Fu and said, “Elder sister, the Eagle Hero really lived in our Peach Blossom Island (Tao Hua Dao) in his childhood? How is it I’ve never heard our parents mention this before?”

Guo Fu said “What do you know? Our parents have never mentioned many things to you before.”

Actually Yang Guo losing his arm and Xiao Longnu getting poisoned were all caused by Guo Fu acting rashly. Whenever this matter was mentioned, Guo Jing would get very angry. Although his daughter had gotten married, he would still scold her fiercely, not giving any face to his daughter or son-in-law. Therefore everyone in the Guo family stopped talking about this matter, so Guo Xiang and Guo Polu never heard of Yang Guo’s affairs.

Guo Xiang said “Since he and our family have such deep ties, why hasn’t he visited us? Hey, he must surely be attending the “Heroes Congress” on the fifteenth of March in Xiangyang.”

Guo Fu said, “This person does things strangely and has such an arrogant character, most probably he won’t come.”

Guo Xiang said, “Elder sister, it would be good if we think of how to deliver an invitation to him.” Turning her head to Song Wu, she said, “Uncle Song Wu, can you think of a way to forward a letter to the Eagle Hero?”