Return of Condor Heroes (242 page)

Guo Xiang was pouting, “Too many people bringing me birthday gifts; I have everything already. Please tell Big Brother not to bother me with any other gifts.”

The Big Head Ghost shook his head. “Among those three gifts, the first one is ready; while the second one has to be prepared by him personally, with some of our friends. It is very possible that it is ready as we speak.”

Guo Xiang sighed. “Actually, I prefer not to receive any gifts, as long as he comes quickly,” she said softly.

“About the third gift, the Eagle Hero said that Miss needs to go to the field where the election is being held. You need to receive the gift straight from his hand,” the Big Head Ghost continued. “Now that it’s almost that time, I think you’d better go.”

Guo Xiang sighed again, and then laughing she said, “I have told Big Sister I don’t want to see the Chief’s Election. But since Big Brother says to go, I have no choice. Very well, let’s go together.”

The Big Head Ghost nodded his big head and then he whistled. Suddenly a dark shadow jumped over the wall from outside, it was none other than the Divine Eagle itself. As soon as Guo Xiang saw it, she immediately went over and tried to hug its neck like they were a pair of long-lost friends. But the Eagle moved back two steps and stood straight arrogantly, turning its head and only looking at Guo Xiang with the corner of its eyes. The little Miss was amused, she laughed, “Brother Eagle is so proud. You are ignoring me, but I want to hug you.” She jumped forward and tried to hug it again. This time the Eagle did not avoid her and let its neck be hugged tightly; but its attitude was like a father’s resignation over a mischievous loveable daughter. “Brother Eagle,” Guo Xiang said, “Let us go together. I will give you some delicious food. Do you like to drink wine?”

The Big Head Ghost clapped his hands. “Good! The Divine Eagle loves to drink wine,” he said.

And so two people and one Eagle ran toward the field. Entering the area the gathered heroes expressed their admiration by clucking their tongues at seeing the eagle’s huge body and its strange appearance.

Guo Xiang invited the Big Head Ghost and the Eagle to sit on the ground not too far from the stage. The Beggar Clan disciples who acted as the hosts immediately came and asked the Big Head Ghost’s name.

“I don’t have a name and I know nothing! Miss Guo brought me here, I follow her!” he answered coldly.

Huang Rong followed not too far behind, she thought, “Yang Guo is going to appear on the field; that means he’s made a thorough plan; we might have a big fight later.”

At that time both Wu brothers, Dunru and Xiuwen, had been beaten. Zhu Ziliu’s martial nephew, as well as three of the Fisherman’s [Si Shui Yu Yin’s] disciples, four eighth grade and six seventh grade Beggar Clan’s disciples, had gone on stage, to defeat and be defeated by their opponents. Right now Yelu Qi was on the stage. He had defeated three opponents, using Zhou Botong’s 72-stance “Vacant Fist” technique, and now was fighting a forty something year old man.

This man’s name was Lan Tianhe, a Miao [an ethnic group] from Guizhou. When he was young, Tianhe went gathering herbs in the mountainous area of Sichuan province. There he slipped and fell down a ravine, and was rescued by a skilled martial artist. He then learned from his rescuer the external type of martial arts [wai-gong, as opposed to nei-gong]; as a result, his fists created a loud noise. Yelu Qi’s kungfu on the other hand did not create any noise at all; his hands and feet floating silently with fierce attacks interspersed in between. Their match was very impressive.

The opponents had exchanged stances for quite some time. The several hundred spectators who wanted to go on the stage were ashamed by their own inferiority and thought, “Luckily I wasn’t rash enough to go on stage; otherwise I am just going to make a scene with my inadequacy. Even if I trained hard for ten more years I won’t necessarily be able to defeat either of these two combatants.”

Lan Tianhe’s strong and forceful attacks required a lot of energy; he felt he was getting tired. Yelu Qi, on the other hand, kept his attacks steady, not getting too fierce, but also not slacking off. He knew there were more tough contenders out there. He wanted to conserve his energy.

After fighting for quite some time Lan Tianhe became impatient; he had roamed the southwest area for over twenty years and nobody was able to withstand more than thirty stances of his attacks. Unexpectedly that day, in front of thousands of heroes, he met his match. Gradually he increased his strength and very soon the two had exchanged twenty more stances.

Lan Tianhe saw an opening in his opponent’s defense, “Got you!” he shouted. He used one of his trick stances, ‘Nine Demons Seize a Star’ [jiu gui zhai xing]. His fist went straight toward Yelu Qi’s chest.

Yelu Qi’s right palm made a sweeping motion, his hands intersecting, and parried the opponent’s fist. They stood motionless for a few seconds. The fight turned into an inner strength contest. Then Lan Tianhe’s expression changed; he staggered backward then cupped his fists to his opponent and said, “I concede!” He proceeded to the edge of the stage and loudly said, “Mr. Yelu has a benevolent heart; he didn’t want to take my life, for which I am very grateful!” He took a deep breath, shook his head and leaped down from the stage.

Yelu Qi also cupped his hands and said, “I have the same admiration for Lan Xiong [Brother Lan].”

When Lan Tianhe’s fist met with Yelu Qi’s palm, immediately he sent his inner strength out he felt like his force was hitting water; it felt empty yet not empty, it felt solid yet not solid; and he felt his energy being sucked in. Then he felt his opponent’s force entering his hand, flowing to his chest through his arm, and attacking his ‘dan tian’ like bowls of boiling water. Stunned and feeling like he was going to explode, he nervously tried to pull his fist back, but it was stuck as though glued to his opponent’s palm, even after he pulled it back about half a foot. He then remembered his master’s instructions that with his “Wind and Thunder” technique he could roam Jianghu, but he had to be very careful fighting against a nei-gong martial artist; as soon as the opponent’s energy entered his ‘dan tian’ he would die violently. As soon as this thought entered his mind he closed his eyes, ready to die. But suddenly his fist was free; the heat in his ‘dan tian’ was also slowly dispersed. He circulated his ‘qi’ and did not feel any injury within; then he knew his opponent had shown mercy and spared his life. He felt ashamed and willingly admitted defeat to the public.

When the two fought the long fight on stage everybody could see Lan Tianhe’s overwhelming palm strength; it was both swift and fierce. But Yelu Qi unexpectedly defeated him with an invisible force. Nobody knew what exactly happened, but after his victory nobody dared to challenge him on stage.

As Guo Jing and Huang Rong’s son-in-law, Yelu Qi had close ties with the Beggar Clan. The four elders and twelve eighth grade disciples all agreed to elect him as the Clan Chief. Yelu Qi was Zhou Botong’s disciple, hence all Quanzhen disciples present were his juniors. Because other people regarded Guo Jing, husband and wife, and the Quanzhen Sect with respect, nobody was really keen on challenging him. Several other people who did not realize their own lower skills had come onstage but he defeated them one by one.

Seeing her husband had gone this far, Guo Fu’s delight was unspeakable. But then she saw the Eagle and the dwarf with a big head she met at Fenglingdu were sitting next to Guo Xiang; she was startled. When Guo Xiang made her entrance to the field along with the Big Head Ghost and the eagle Yelu Qi’s fight with Lan Tianhe was very intense so that Guo Fu’s attention was focused on the stage. Although the eagle was impressive, she completely missed their entrance.

Now that a strong opponent had been defeated she wondered, when did her little sister tell her about coming to the field? She was secretly startled, “Not good! Yang Guo’s title is Divine Eagle Big Hero [shen diao da xia]; could it be that this big and ugly bird is his Divine Eagle [shen diao]? The bird is here, chances are that Yang Guo is close by. He is going to be the Clan Chief … He is going to be the Clan Chief …!”

From a mood of delight, this young mistress became upset. She recalled the incident when Yang Guo bent her sword just using his empty sleeve. She thought, “Brother Qi is good, but he is no match for this one-armed freak. It looks like he is my Black Star (opposing opposite) always appearing at critical moments like this …!” She looked around in all directions, but not even his shadow could be seen.

The sky was getting darker; Yelu Qi had defeated seven opponents. After waiting for quite some time and since no one appeared to challenge, Elder Liang went up and announced loud and clear, “Master Yelu is intelligent and chivalrous. We all admire him; the whole Beggar Clan supports his election to the Clan Chief position …”

Immediately the beggars around the stage applauded and cheered.

“I wonder if there is another valiant hero to challenge him?” Elder Liang continued. Three times he repeated himself, but got no takers.

Guo Fu was elated. She thought, “Yang Guo is not coming, he’s lost his chance. If he shows up, even by a moment after Brother Qi is inaugurated as the Clan Chief, he would be too late to mess things up.”

The thought had not even left her mind when suddenly they heard two horses galloping fast approaching the field. It seemed like it was a very urgent matter.

“Ah! He is coming after all!” Guo Fu was shocked.

Two horses dashed onto the field and their riders were two gray-robed spies Guo Jing had sent to scout the enemy’s movements. Even though Guo Jing was watching the election contest, his heart was never far from thinking about military matters. As soon as he saw these riders he thought, “Ah! They are coming after all!”

Guo Jing and Guo Fu, father and daughter thought the same ‘coming after all’ but the daughter meant Yang Guo, while her father meant the Mongolian troops, their enemy.

The two riders stopped their horses several ‘zhangs’ [several meters] from the stage, and immediately paid respects to Guo Jing.

Without waiting for them to open their mouths, Guo Jing and Huang Rong looked at their faces, trying to guess what the news would be; but they didn’t see worried faces. They looked so calm, more on the happy side, like they were bearing unexpectedly good news.

“Please be informed Hero Guo,” said one of them, “the Mongolian troops’ left wing has arrived at Xinye. They are one thousand men strong.”

Guo Jing was shocked, secretly thought, “They are that quick!”.

“Also the right wing has arrived at Dengzhou, another one thousand men strong,” the second spy reported.

Guo Jing uttered a ‘Hmm’ and silently thought, “The enemy from the north divided their troops into two flanks, and they moved very fast. Truly a sharp strategy.” Both Xinye and Dengzhou were only 100 li (50km / 31 miles) or so from Xiangyang. From those cities to Xiangyang, the terrain was flat, with no rivers or mountains on the way. They could reach Xiangyang in just one day.

“Something has happened there. Something strange but pleasant to us,” continued the second spy. “The troops at Dengzhou, all one thousand of them, have been killed, including all the officers …”

“Is that so?” Guo Jing was more amazed.

“That was what I witnessed,” the first spy confirmed. “The one thousand strong troops at Xinye have become ghosts, everybody died. The most peculiar thing was they all lost their left ears!”

“The same thing happened at Dengzhou,” added the second spy, “they also lost their left ears.”

Guo Jing exchanged a look with his wife. They were both surprised and pleased. The enemy was tens of thousands strong, two thousand dead would not make a dent. But the way they died could crush their spirit. Only which troops or who had destroyed the enemy’s two flanking troops?

“What about the defense troops at Xinye and Dengzhou?” Guo Jing asked.

“They were still inside their cities,” came the answer, “We don’t think they were even aware that the enemy’s troops were decimated outside their cities.”

“Now go and give the report to General Lu,” commanded Huang Rong, “I am sure he will be pleased and will give you some reward.”

The two spies nodded and happily retreated.

Huang Rong immediately went on stage and made the announcement, which was received with loud cheering and applause by their entire army.

“The Beggar Clan has just elected a new chief, this is a very pleasing news,” said Huang Rong, “but this news is even more pleasing! Elder Liang, please prepare a feast, we will make a celebration!”

A feast had indeed been prepared; therefore, they were able to move swiftly. Everybody was high in spirits, even Dunru and the others who were defeated during their matches. The Beggar Clan party did not allow tables and chairs, so they just sat on bamboo mats laid out scattered across the field. Although humble, the food and wine were sumptuous.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong were repeatedly congratulated. People thought it was their doing. No matter how they denied it, nobody believed them.

“Brother Jing, this is so strange,” said Huang Rong to her husband, “we’ll just ignore them and see what happens.”

Madam Guo then sent eight smart beggars to run to Xinye and Dengzhou to investigate further.

In the meantime, Guo Xiang was still sitting with the Big Head Ghost and the eagle. Nobody dared to come close to them.

“I wonder why Big Brother has not come yet?” Guo Xiang asked.

“He said he will come, he’ll come,” answered the Big Head Ghost. He was just finishing speaking when he suddenly said, “There! Did you hear that? What’s that noise?”

Guo Xiang strained her ears. From a distance she could hear animal noises, loud roars of lions and tigers, loud cries of big monkeys, and the heavy footsteps of elephants.

“The Shi Brothers are here!” Guo Xiang was delighted.

Not too long afterwards everybody could see the beasts. They were shocked and unsheathed their weapons. Panicked voices were heard everywhere, “Where did they come from? Ah! Lions! Tigers! Watch out! Wolfs! Leopards…!”