The Legend of the Condor Heroes

The fisherman, the woodcutter, the farmer and the scholar said, "We beg your explanation."

Huang Rong raised her pretty eyebrows and laid down her plan. As the four disciples listened to it, they looked at each other and did not say anything for half a day.

It was the tenth hour (5 – 7 pm), the sun slowly sank behind the mountain. The strong mountain breeze swayed the leaves of the palm trees planted in rows outside the meditation courtyard. The withered lotus leaves on the pond also made a rustling noise. The evening sun cast its light from behind the mountain peaks, the mountain ridges looked like a silhouette of a giant reclining on the ground. The fisherman, the woodcutter, the farmer and the scholar sat cross-legged on the ground by the stone bridge. They opened their eyes wide looking to the front. Each heart was heavy with restlessness.

They had waited for a long time. The sky had darkened, the dusk gradually turned into night. The crows crowed while they were flying in the valley below. A thin white mist rose up from the canyon below. But still no one appeared from the turn at the mountain cliff beyond the stone bridge. The fisherman thought, "If only Concubine Liu has a sudden change of heart and does not blame Shifu, maybe she reined her horse beyond the cliff and decided not to come over …"

The woodcutter thought, "This Concubine Liu is very crafty; she must have been preparing a really sinister plot."

The farmer was more anxious and impatient than the others, he thought, "The sooner she arrives, the sooner we can get it over with; whether it will be disaster or fortune, good or evil, we will find out sooner. She said she would come and she hasn't arrived yet, it really is exasperating."

The scholar thought, "The more delayed she is, the more dangerous the threat will be. This matter is really difficult to be solved nicely." It goes without saying that he was a good schemer and tactician; he had been the prime minister of Dali kingdom for more than a dozen of years. He had seen major battle and faced many difficult situations, yet this time he was nervous. He had given this matter a lot of thoughts, but could not put out the least bit of idea. His eyes scanned the darkened surrounding area; his ears heard the distant cry of an owl. Suddenly he remembered when he was a child he often heard people say, 'The owl [lit. night cat] hides in a secret place and stealthily counts human's eyebrows. Whoever got his eyebrows counted correctly, that person will not live to see the daylight.' It was obviously a myth to deceive little children, but in this situation suddenly hearing the cry of the owl, he involuntarily shuddered. "Could it be that Shifu won't be able to escape this disaster and die under this woman's hands?" He had just finished his thought when suddenly the woodcutter whispered urgently with a trembling voice, "She is here!"

The scholar lifted his head and saw a black shadow flew across the stone bridge and light as a feather jumped over the gap, as if floating without exerting any energy at all. The four people were astonished, "When she started training with Shifu, we have already been under his tutelage for a long time. How can her martial art exceed ours? In this last dozen of years or so, where did she go to learn such a marvelous skill?" they thought. As they saw that dark shadow come near, four people stood up and positioned themselves on either side of the way.

In a blink of an eye that dark shadow has arrived at the end of the stone bridge; she was wearing black clothes, and her facial features could be vaguely recognized as Concubine Liu whom the Emperor Duan loved very much in the years past.

Four people knelt down and kowtowed, "Xiao Ren [little/lowly people] greets Niang-niang [madam, or in this case can be translated as 'empress']."

"Humph," Ying Gu snorted. Her gaze swept the four people's faces and she said, "What Niang-niang? Concubine Liu had died long ago, I am Ying Gu. Hmm, the Prime Minister, the General, the Admiral, and the Commanding Officer of the 'yu lin jun' [lit. defending woods troops. I am not sure, but I think 'yu lin jun' is the personal bodyguards of the emperor] are all here. I thought the Emperor had forsaken worldliness and became a monk, who would have thought that he is hiding in this remote mountain and lives in peace and security as an emperor." Her voice carried so much hatred that their hearts trembled.

The scholar said, "The Emperor does not look like his former self. I am sure Niang-niang will not recognize him anymore."

Ying Gu laughed a cold laugh, "You keep saying Niang-niang this and Niang-niang that; are you mocking me? You are stiffly sitting on your knees down here, are you wishing me dead?"

The fisherman, the woodcutter, the farmer and the scholar looked at each other and then they stood up. "Your servants wish for your health," they said.

Ying Gu waved her hand, "The Emperor ordered you to stop me here, do you still have to perform this empty obeisance? If you want to fight, then just fight. You are lords and royalties, I don't know how many common people you have harmed; why would you still pretend in front of an ordinary woman like me?"

The scholar said, "Our Emperor loves the people like his children, full of generosity and benevolence, the common people of Dali country still praise him even until today. Our Emperor not only has never harmed the innocent all his life, even toward criminal with grave offense oftentimes he bestowed abundant favor. Doesn't Niang-niang know?"

Ying Gu's face turned red, with stern voice she said, "Do you dare to offend me?"

"Wei chen [lowly officer] doesn't dare," the scholar replied.

Ying Gu said, "With your mouth you acknowledge me as your superior, but in your heart how can you still think there is any royalty-officer relationship between us? I want to see Duan Zhixing; will you let me or will you not?"

'Duan Zhixing' was Reverend Yideng's given name. Although the fisherman, the woodcutter, the farmer and the scholar knew it, they never dared to mention it casually. Now that Ying Gu mentioned his name irreverently they could not help but feel offended. The farmer was formerly the Emperor Duan's personal bodyguards' captain; he could not endure patiently. With a loud voice he shouted, "One day became an emperor, he will be honored for the rest of his life. How can it be that you speak without propriety?"

Ying Gu let out a long laugh and without saying anything charged forward. Four people respectively shot out their arms to block; they thought, "Even though her martial art skill is high, with us combining our efforts we should be able to stop her. We are going to disobey our order, but the situation is dire, we'll talk later."

Who would have thought that Ying Gu did not use her palm or fist to attack, but utilizing her lightness kungfu she bumped them. The woodcutter saw her coming fast, he did not dare to touch her body, he moved aside swiftly, then stretched out his hand trying to grab her shoulder. His hand was quick and powerful, but as soon as he touched her shoulder he felt like he was trying to grab something exceptionally slick, so that his hand slipped away.

By this time with a loud shout the farmer and the fisherman attacked from left and right. Ying Gu ducked and just like a slithery snake she slipped underneath the fisherman's armpit. The fisherman's nostrils caught a faint whiff of fragrance, it smelled like an orchid but not quite like an orchid, like musk deer but not quite like musk deer. He was frantic and did not dare to catch her body in between his arms; he opened up his arms instead for fear of touching her body.