The Legend of the Condor Heroes

"Fine," he said, "If that's the case, then you must do what I say."

Guo Jing was very happy. "Whatever Da Shifu says, disciple will not dare to disobey," he said.

"If you don't do what I say, I forbid you to see my face in the future and thus our master-disciple relationship is severed," Ke Zhen'e said.

Guo Jing said, "Disciple will do my best. If I can't do it, I'd rather die."

Ke Zhen'e struck his iron staff heavily on the ground and shouted, "Go and cut the Old Heretic Huang's and his daughter's heads; then you can comeback to see me."

To say Guo Jing was shocked was an understatement. "Da … Shi … Shifu …" he stammered with a trembling voice.

"What?" Ke Zhen'e asked.

"I wonder how did Huang Daozhu [Island Master Huang] offend you?" Guo Jing asked.

Ke Zhen'e heaved two heavy sighs. Suddenly he gritted his teeth and said, "I really wish the Heaven would restore my sight if only for a moment so I can see your face; you, an ungrateful little animal!" Lifting his iron staff high he hacked it down toward the top of Guo Jing's head.

As Ke Zhen'e asked Guo Jing to do something for him, Huang Rong had already had a vague guess. When Ke Zhen'e's iron staff suddenly struck and Guo Jing did not evade, she thought whatever happened, saving Guo Jing's life was more important; hence from the side her bamboo stick intercepted the iron staff before it reached Guo Jing's head with the 'e gou lan lu' [cutting off a vicious dog's path] stance. As it hit the iron staff, the bamboo stick shook and coiled around the staff, pushing it slanting sideways. This Dog Beating Stick Technique was truly marvelous; although her strength was inferior, by borrowing the staff's strength she managed to re-orient its path.

Ke Zhen'e staggered; without waiting for his feet to come to a complete stop he fiercely beat his own chest twice and then ran away to the north. Guo Jing ran after him while calling out, "Da Shifu, wait!"

Ke Zhen'e halted his steps and turned around; with a stern voice he said, "Guo Daye wants to take my old life?" His expression looked mean and ferocious. Guo Jing was taken aback; he did not dare to continue. Hanging his head down he heard the sound of the iron staff against the ground getting farther and farther away, before completely faded away. Remembering his Shifu's kindness he could not help but go down on his knees and wept bitterly.

Taking Huang Rong's hand Hong Qigong walked to his side. He said, "Ke Daxia and the Old Heretic Huang both have a very strange temperament; they are always in some kind of disagreement with each other. Don't worry, leave it to the Old Beggar to be the mediator between them."

Guo Jing wiped his tears and stood up. "Shifu," he said, "Do you know … do you know what it was about?"

Hong Qigong shook his head. "The Old Urchin fell into their trick and was betting against them in staying still. Those traitors wanted to harm me. Luckily we met your Da Shifu outside the Ox Village by accident, and he protected me by taking me hiding in this cave. Thanks to the fierceness of his 'du ling' secret projectiles those traitors did not dare to rush in, so we could hold our ground this long. Ay, your Da Shifu has a noble heart, he was very brave in battle defending justice. He accompanied me in that cave resisting the enemy. Undoubtedly he was determined to fight to the death."

Speaking to this point he took two mouthfuls of wine, and then took a bite on the chicken leg. Biting and chewing the chicken went into his belly; and then he wiped his greasy mouth with his sleeve. Only then did he continued speaking, "The battle was fierce; my martial art skill is gone. I could not offer any help in fighting the enemy. I only saw your Da Shifu's face, but did not have the luxury of talking to him about anything. Judging from how he was very angry, I don't think it was because of your slip of hand. He is a chivalrous hero, how can he have such a narrow mind? Luckily in just a few more days it will be the Mid-autumn Festival of the eight month. Wait till the martial art contest at the Misty Rain Tavern is over, the Old Beggar will speak on your behalf." Swallowing his tears Guo Jing uttered his gratitude.

Hong Qigong laughed and said, "Your two babies' martial art skills have advanced tremendously. Ke Daxia can be considered a prominent character in the Wulin world, yet as soon as you two babies made your moves he fell into awkward positions. What is the story behind it?"

In his heart Guo Jing was ashamed; he did not know what to say. Laughing and giggling Huang Rong told Hong Qigong everything they went through after they were separated.

Hong Qigong cheered loudly when he heard that Yang Kang killed Ouyang Ke; he shot curse words when he heard the Beggar Clan's Elders were swindled by Yang Kang, "Little Bastard! Four old muddle-headed! Lu Youjiao has feet does not have brain!" He was entranced when he listened to how Yideng Dashi [Reverend Yideng – great master Yideng] saved Huang Rong's life; and how Ying Gu came at midnight to seek vengeance. Finally his expression slightly changed when he heard Ying Gu suddenly went insane at the 'qing long tan' [green dragon shore]. "Ah!" he exclaimed.

"Shifu, what is it?" Huang Rong asked, "Do you also know Ying Gu?" While in her heart she mused, "All his life Shifu has never had a wife. Could it be that he was also mesmerized by Ying Gu? Hmm, what's so good about this Ying Gu anyway? Mystifying, acting like a mad woman, but can captivate the attention of so many experts of the Wulin world?" Luckily Hong Qigong's answer was pleasing to her ears.

"Nothing," Hong Qigong said, "I don't know Ying Gu, but when Emperor Duan left home [meaning: become a monk], I was there by his side. That day he sent a letter to the north, inviting me to go to the south. I knew he wouldn't send for the Old Beggar if he did not have a very important matter. I also remembered Yunnan's ham, the 'over the bridge' rice-flour noodle, and the chunk of cakes and delicacies; so I left at once. When I saw him, his face was haggard, like he was suffering from a serious illness; it was completely different from when I saw him during the Sword Meet of Mount Hua, where he looked alive with a dragon or a tiger's appearance. I felt very strange. After I have been there for a few days with the pretense of discussing martial art he wanted to teach me the 'xian tian gong' [inborn/innate strength/energy] and 'yi yang zhi' [solitary yang finger]. The Old Beggar thought: in the past his Solitary Yang Finger was in a level ground with my Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, the Old Poison's Toad Stance, the Old Heretic Huang's 'pi kong zhang' [splitting the air palm] and Divine Flicking Finger; nowadays he had mastered Wang Chongyang's 'xian tian gong'. In the second Sword Meet of Mount Hua the title of Number One Martial Artist in the World would certainly belong to him; why would he want to pass on these two special skills to the Old Beggar, without any reason whatsoever? If he wanted to exchange knowledge, why wasn't he willing to learn my Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms? There must be something behind this.

Later on the Old Beggar mulled over this matter, I talked to him and his four main disciples; finally I found a clue. It turned out that after he passed on these two skills to me he was going to commit suicide. Only why he was grieving so much, even his own disciples were unclear."