Return of Condor Heroes (25 page)

Some time passed when he suddenly felt a cold and fragrant liquid in his mouth, slowly flowing into his throat and then into his stomach but felt that he couldn’t speak; he opened his eyes and suddenly saw just two inches in front of him an ugly face full of warts and pimples, the eyes were fixed on him. Yang Guo was startled, and fainted again. The ugly person stretched out the left hand and held his jaw, the right hand held a container, and then poured some more of the sweet liquid down his throat.

Yang Guo felt that the strange itching pain he had slowly diminish, and noticed that he was now sleeping on a bed, and knew that the ugly person had rescued him, he smiled, trying to say thank you. The ugly person also smiled, she finished feeding him the liquid and then put the container down on a table. Yang Guo saw that her smile was also extremely ugly, but within the ugliness was a soft and gentle look, he was touched and there was a warm feeling in his heart, he pleaded, “Grandma, don’t let my master catch me!”

The ugly old maid softly said, “Child, who is your master?”

Yang Guo had not heard such a soft and caring voice for such a long while, he became hot and started to cry. The old maid’s left hand held his hand, she didn’t say anything to console him, she just smiled and looked at him, her eyes were full of love and care; she waited for him to finish crying and then said, “Do you feel better?”

Yang Guo heard her tender voice; he couldn’t help it and cried again. She wiped away his tears and comforted him, “Good child, good child, don’t cry, don’t cry, the pain will go away in a little while.” The more caring she was, the harder Yang Guo cried.

Suddenly a soft voice from outside a hanging curtain said, “Grandma Sun, the child doesn’t stop crying, what is wrong?”

Yang Guo raised his head; he saw a white jade hand lift the hanging curtain, a girl entered. The girl wore an old fashioned delicate white dress, it was as if her body was covered with smoke and mist, she looked like she was about sixteen or seventeen years of age. Apart from her black hair, her body was as white as snow, her face was extremely beautiful, with just a hint of redness on her cheeks, and her face was pale and white. Yang Guo blushed, he immediately stopped crying; he lowered his head and felt slightly embarrassed. From the corner of his eyes he took a quick peek, and saw that she was looking at him; he quickly lowered his head.

Grandma Sun laughed and said, “I don’t have any ideas, you better take a look.” The young girl came by to the bedside, she looked at the wounds that were caused by the bee stings; she stretched out her hand and touched his forehead and felt that he wasn’t feverish. When her hand touched Yang Guo’s forehead, he felt that it was extremely cold; he couldn’t help but shiver a little. The young girl said, “It is nothing. You’ve already drunk the Jade Bee honey; you’ll recover in half a day. Why did you enter the forest?”

Yang Guo raised his head, and looked into her eyes, he thought that she was beautiful, without comparison, but she exuded an icy and emotionless aura. She was as hard and as cold as ice and it was difficult to tell whether she was pleased or angry, a friend or foe. He thought, “Is that girl made out of crystal or made out of snow? Is she a person, a ghost, or an angel?” Although he heard her voice was soft there was no warmth in it, he didn’t dare to reply.

Grandma Sun laughed and said, “Sister Long is the owner of this place, if she asks you something, you’d better reply!”

The beautiful girl in white was the owner of the Tomb of the Living Dead, Xiao Longnu. In reality her eighteenth birthday had passed, but because she had lived in the tomb since she was little and hadn’t seen the light of day, the internal energy skill she has practiced restricted her emotions. That is why she looked younger than she really was. Grandma Sun was her teacher’s maid, but since her teacher left the world, the two looked after each other. She heard the bees, and knew someone had entered the forest near the tomb, so Grandma Sun had come out to see who it was. She saw Yang Guo poisoned and unconscious on the ground; she rescued him and brought him back here. According to their sect’s rules, no outsiders can enter the tomb even one step; a man entering the tomb was even worse. But Yang Guo was young, and she saw that his whole body was covered with wounds, so Grandma Sun could not ignore him and broke the rules to save him.

Yang Guo got up from the stone bed and got onto the floor. He kowtowed to Grandma Sun and Xiao Longnu and said; “Disciple Yang Guo greets Grandma Sun, and greets Gu Gu (Auntie) Long.”

Grandma Sun laughed then quickly went over to pick him up and said, “Ah, your name is Yang Guo, there is no need for such formalities.” She has lived in the tomb for a few years, and had never interacted with outsiders, she saw that Yang Guo was handsome and polite; she was pleased. Xiao Longnu only nodded her head, and sat on a stone chair next to the bed.

Grandma Sun said, “How did you get here? How come you are wounded? Who beat you like this?” After she asked her questions she didn’t wait for him to reply and went out to get some dim sum and cakes, and insisted on him having some.

Yang Guo ate a few delicacies, and told her his life story from start to finish. He was good with words, his story was already engaging, he added his emotions to it and it became even more touching. Grandma Sun kept on sighing, sometimes she would add her own comments, and her words all favored Yang Guo. She said that Huang Rong was a biased woman and unjust in her actions, and commented that Zhao Zhijing was narrow minded, bullying a child. Xiao Longnu didn’t make a sound and sat still on the chair, but when Yang Guo mentioned Li Mochou, she and Grandma Sun looked at each other. When Grandma Sun heard Yang Guo finish, she stretched out her arms and hugged him, and said, “My poor child.”

Xiao Longnu slowly got up, and said, “His wounds are not serious, Grandma, send him out!”

Both Grandma Sun and Yang Guo were startled. Yang Guo loudly said, “I won’t return, I’d rather die.”

Grandma Sun said, “Miss, if he returns to Chongyang Palace, his master will punish him.”

Xiao Longnu said, “You return with him, find his master and tell him there is no need to punish the child.”

Grandma Sun said, “Ah, it’s another sect’s business, we can’t do anything about it.”

Xiao Longnu said, “Take a bottle of Jade Bee honey with you, and then tell them, the old Taoist will listen.”

Her words seemed to be suggestions, but there was strictness within her tone, it was hard for a sect member to disobey. Grandma Sun sighed, she knew she always spoke her mind, and there was no use to try to argue. When she looked at Yang Guo; her eyes had a different intent.

Yang Guo got up and made a bow, and said, “Thank you Grandma and Gu Gu for tending to my wounds, I’ll leave now!”

Grandma Sun said, “Where are you going to go?”

Yang Guo stood still for a while and then said, “The world is a big place, and there are many places for me to go.” But he didn’t really know where he would go, his face revealed a mournful expression.

Grandma Sun said, “Child, it’s because Miss doesn’t dare to let you stay, it’s a rule of our sect not to allow outsiders, don’t be sad.”

Yang Guo raised his head and said, “Grandma why do you say this? We’ll meet again some day.”

He spoke like an adult, but his voice was young, when Grandma Sun heard him she thought it was funny, but also felt sorry for him. She saw that his eyes were watery, and he was holding back the tears. She said to Xiao Longnu, “Miss, it’s the middle of the night, why don’t we let him stay until morning and let him leave then?”

Xiao Longnu shook her head and said, “Grandma, have you forgotten the rules set by Master?”

Grandma Sun sighed and got up, she quietly said to Yang Guo, “Come, child, I’ll give you an object to play with.”

Yang Guo stretched out his hand and wiped his eyes, he lowered his head and rushed out of the door and said, “I don’t want it, I’d rather die than return to the Taoists.”

Grandma Sun shook her head and said, “You don’t know the way, I’ll lead you out.” She held his hand. Outside the room, all Yang Guo saw was darkness, he was led by Grandma Sun, he felt them going around one corner and then another, he didn’t know how Grandma Sun recognized her way in these dark and twisty paths.

Although the Tomb of the Living Dead was called a tomb, in actual fact it was a large spacious underground storeroom. Before Wang Chongyang had started to fight the Jin, he had used thousands of man-hours and many years to construct the tomb. He secretly stored some supplies there, and it became an important base in the area. From the outside it looked like a tomb, but this was to disguise the building from the ears and eyes of the Jin, and even if they did enter, the tomb had countless traps to repel the invaders.

If Wang Chongyang’s soldiers failed in battle, they would retreat into the tomb. There were many rooms within the tomb, there were complicated tunnels, if outsiders entered, in the dark or even with bright torches and candles they would get lost easily.

The two exited the tomb, and in the middle of the forest they suddenly heard someone from the outside clearly shouting out, “It’s Quanzhen’s disciple Zhen Zhibing, master has ordered me to greet Miss Long.” The voice was spaced out; it came from a distance.

Grandma Sun said, “There are people outside looking for you, don’t go out.”

Yang Guo was angry and alarmed, his body shivered and said, “Grandma, don’t worry about me. A person should be responsible for their actions, I accidentally killed someone, let them kill me.” When he finished he ran out.

Grandma Sun said, “I’ll follow you.”

Grandma Sun held Yang Guo’s hand and exited the forest, arriving in the open land in front of the forest. Under moonlight they saw six or seven Taoists standing together, another four of them were holding torches, and they carried the heavily wounded Zhao Zhijing and Lu Qingdu. The Taoists saw Yang Guo, they said a few quiet words amongst themselves and all took a few steps forward.

Yang Guo escaped from Grandma Sun’s grasp and ran forward and said, “I’m here, if you want to kill or torture me, it’s up to you.”

The Taoists could not believe that such a small child was so bold; it was completely unexpected. A Taoist came forward and grabbed Yang Guo’s neck and dragged him. Yang Guo chuckled and said, “I’m not going to escape, what’s the hurry?” That Taoist was Zhao Zhijing’s eldest student; he knew that his teacher suffered the pain of the Jade Bee’s sting because of Yang Guo. He was in extreme pain and didn’t know whether his life could be saved. He had always respected his teacher, and felt that the worst offence anyone can do is to rebel against their teacher. When he saw Yang Guo coming, he threw a punch at Yang Guo’s head.

Grandma Sun and the Taoists had always been on relatively good terms, but when she saw Yang Guo being dragged; she wasn’t pleased at all. Now he is being beaten, how could she control her temper? She immediately took a large step forward; she swept her sleeve and brushed away the Taoist’s hand. The Taoist felt a severe pain in his wrist, and automatically loosened his hand. He was about to shout when Grandma Sun picked up Yang Guo, turned around, and walked away.

When they first saw her, they thought that she was just an old and feeble maid, but she was rapid in her movements in taking Yang Guo. The Taoists stood still for a while; she had already taken Yang Guo about ten feet away. Three Taoists angrily shouted, “Let him go!” and rushed forward.

Grandma Sun stopped and turned around; she chuckled and said, “You men want to stop us?”

Zhen Zhibing knew that the people of the Tomb of the Living Dead and his sect had a deep affiliation, and didn’t dare to offend them, he quickly stopped everyone and said, “Everyone spread out, and show manners in front of Senior.”

He then walked up, and greeted Grandma Sun and said, “Disciple Zhen Zhibing greets Senior.”

Grandma Sun said, “What do you want?”

Zhen Zhibing said, “That child is a disciple of the Quanzhen, can Senior please return him.”

Grandma Sun’s brows rose, she yelled, “You beat him when you were still in front of me. When you take him back to your palace, you are going to find ways to torture him. You want me to release him; not in a million years!”

Zhen Zhibing kept his temper and said, “That child is extremely disobedient and mischievous, he showed no respect for his seniors, and broke the rules of our sect. In the Wulin world, one of the most important rules is to respect your master and seniors, it is right to blame him for his troubles.”

Grandma Sun shouted, “Not respecting seniors; its just words.” She pointed to the Taoist lying on the stretcher, Lu Qingdu, and said, “The child dueled with that fat Taoist, it was your Quanzhen sect’s rules. To start with, he didn’t want to compete, but you lot forced him into the arena. If you are going to fight, of course there is going to be a winner and a loser, if that fat Taoist is useless, who else can you blame?” She was already ugly, but now she was angry and swelled up, she was even more frightening.

In the middle of her words, another ten Taoists came and stood behind Zhen Zhibing, discussing the situation; they didn’t know who the loud ugly old woman was.

Zhen Zhibing thought to himself, hurting Lu Qingdu wasn’t Yang Guo’s fault, but he couldn’t admit they were wrong in front of outsiders and said, “This matter is complicated, we will inform our leader, and let him be the judge of this. Can senior please return the child?”

Grandma Sun chuckled, “How could your leader be a fair judge? The Quanzhen sect from Wang Chongyang to now, there hasn’t been one good person. Otherwise, how could you live so close and yet you don’t associate with us?”

Zhen Zhibing thought, “It’s your sect who don’t associate with us, how can you blame our Quanzhen sect? You’ve insulted our sect leader with your words and that may be a bit too disrespectful.” But he didn’t want to say anything to harm the relationship between the two sects, and said, “Senior please forgive us, if our sect has offended you, then our sect leader will apologize to you publicly.”

Yang Guo held Grandma Sun’s neck and whispered into her ear, “That Taoist is sly, grandma don’t fall into his trap.”