The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Lu Guanying continued, " Brothers, let's embrace our mission bravely."

The crowd began to cheer loudly and each separated, went back to their respective boats and began to head east. Lu Guanying's huge boat sailed right at the back of the others. After awhile, they spotted about ten huge and brightly lit boats from afar, heading west towards them.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong thought to themselves, " These big boats must belong to those officials."

The two secretly climbed up the pole of the ship and sat on top at the beam/roof but hid themselves behind the sail. They heard the seashell tune from the little boats and as both opposing sides came closer, there were sounds of yelling, scolding, clashing of weapons and the sounds of splashing as bodies dropped into the water. After awhile, the officials' boats were on fire which lit up the dark sky and cast a fiery red shadow over the lake.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong knew that the pirates had succeeded in their mission and saw a few little boats sailing forward furiously with shouts of , " The soldiers have been defeated and the commander has been caught."

Lu Guanying was delighted, he walked to the head of the ship and shouted, " Inform the various chiefs of each boat to put in a little more effort so that we can capture the Jin ambassador!"

The pirate who delivered the news obeyed and flew off to pass the message.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong nudged each other at the same time and had the same thoughts: " That Jin ambassador must be Wanyan Kang, I wonder how will he deal with this."

They heard the seashell tune coming from various boats again and saw that the group of boats had turned back towards their direction and the pirates were tugging at their sails. The east wind was suddenly blowing furiously, causing the boats to sail like arrows shooting towards the east.

Lu Guanying's ship was actually right at the back of the fleet but now, his ship had become the lead. Guo Jing and Huang Rong were sitting on the roof with the wind blowing on their backs. They were sailing fast across the misty lake and the myriad of stars in the sky came into view such that they had the urge to sing out loud. Suddenly, the little boats sailed past one by one and ended up in front of the ship Guo Jing and Huang Rong were on.

The boats sailed for about an hour and the sky turned brighter before two boats sailed quickly towards the ship. One of the men in the boat raised a green flag and waved it, shouting, " We have spotted the Jin ship! The commanding boat has already taken to lead to capture it."

Lu Guanying was standing in the front of his ship and called out, " Good!"

After a short while, another small boat sailed back and reported, " That bastard Jin ambassador has deadly claws, our commander is injured but leader Peng and Dong are currently trying to subdue him."

After a while, two pirates carried an injured and unconscious commander onto Lu Guan Ying's ship. Lu Guanying was inspecting the wounds when two small boats rowed up and the pirates helped their two injured commanders of the boats up onto the ship. The pirates also reported that Piao Miao Peak's Leader Guo suffered a deadly blow from the Jin Ambassador and fell into the lake.

Lu Guanying was furious and shouted, "I am going to personally kill that vicious Jin dog."

Guo Jing and Huang Rong felt strongly against Wanyan Kang's actions but could not bear to let him fend off the group of pirates alone as this would also make Mu Nianci hate them forever.

Huang Rong whispered into Guo Jing's ear, "Are we going to help him?"

Guo Jing replied with a slight sigh, " Save him but make him repent." Huang Rong nodded.

At the same time, Lu Guanying leaped onto a small boat and yelled, "Let's go!"

Huang Rong and Guo Jing said, "Lets go and stop the small boat."

Both of them leaped onto the side of the small boat and heard some shouting from the group of pirates in front. They looked out and saw the boats under the Jin Ambassador slowly sinking one by one. They thought that it must have been the doings of the "water ghosts" who were in charge of wrecking the bases of the boats under water.

As the pirates waved the green flag, two small boats hurriedly rowed over and reported, " The Jin dog has fell into the water and has already been captured by us!"

Lu Guanying was delighted and leaped back onto his ship. After awhile, the seashell tune was blown again and the various little boats assembled together, one by one bringing along with them the Jin Ambassador and his guards onto the ship. Guo Jing and Huang Rong saw that Wanyan Kang had his hands and feet bounded by ropes and his eyes were tightly shut. They thought that he must have swallowed too much water but his chest had not contracted and he was still breathing. At this time, the sky was already bright as the sunlight shone brightly from the east revealing a line of boats floating gracefully on the lake.

Lu Guanying commanded, " The various leaders may return to the manor and hold a banquet to celebrate. Please lead your teams back and await your rewards."

The pirates cheered clamorously and the boats slowly parted ways and slowly disappeared into the cloud of mist, and the lake became peaceful and quiet once more. Guo Jing and Huang Rong waited for the ship to sail back to the Lu Manor and after Lu Guanying and his group of pirates left did they fly back to the shore. The pirates were overjoyed with their rewards and did not notice that there were people secretly hiding on their ship. Huang Rong thought out the directions and led Guo Jing into the manor via the backyard and back into their room.

At this time, the servant who took care of their orders had checked a few times to see if they had woken up but seeing that the room door was still locked, he thought that the two young men must have had a long day yesterday and thus slept longer. After they got back into their room, Guo Jing opened the door and two servants who had stood outside waiting came forward to greet him before bringing up some breakfast and said, " Master Lu is waiting in his study. Please go and join him after your breakfast."

The two ate some snacks and buns before following the servant to the study.

Master Lu smiled and said, "The winds by the lake are strong and when they blow against the shore, the noise might be disturbing so did you two sleep well?"

Guo Jing wasn't used to lying so when he heard the question, he froze for a moment. Huang Rong answered, " We only heard sounds of seashell humming during the night, I think it must have been the monks and Taoists priests chanting and practicing their rituals."

Master Lu laughed and did not ask anymore. Instead, he said, " I have collected some artistic works and would like two brothers here to have a look."

Huang Rong answered, "Of course. Anything which Master Lu collects must be priceless."

Master Lu ordered the study keeper to bring out some artistic pieces and Huang Rong observed each of the pieces curiously. Suddenly there were noises which sounded like they came from outside. They could hear footsteps and it sounded like a group of people chasing a person. A voice said, " Since you've stepped into the manor, it would be impossible for you to escape now!"

Master Lu acted as if nothing had happened and as if he didn't hear anything and asked, " The art of calligraphy in our dynasty is dominated by the four families of Su, Huang, Mi and Cai. I wonder which family does brother Huang like best?"