The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Guo Jing stared with a dull expression; suddenly he shouted, "Other than Huang Yaoshi, who can open the gate? Who can lure my 'en shi' [benevolent/kind master] to enter this crafty grave? If it is not he then who is? Who is it?" He threw his head back and shouted, then ran into the grave.

Guo Jing's blood on the broken stone flowed down to cover his hand print. Seeing his deep hatred toward her mother's grave Huang Rong was determined, "If he destroys my mother's jade coffin to vent his anger, I am going to die over it first." She was about to enter the grave when Guo Jing walked back out carrying Quan Jinfa's body. He put the body down on the ground, then went back in and respectfully carried Zhu Cong, Han Baoju and Han Xiaoying one by one and laid them down on the ground.

Huang Rong stole a glance toward him and saw the love and admiration on his face; her heart turned icy cold, "He loves his shifus a lot more than he loves me. I must look for my Father, I must look for my Father!"

Guo Jing carried his four shifus' bodies into the forest, several hundreds steps away from the grave, before he finally stooped down to dig a hole. At first he dug using Han Xiaoying's long sword, he dug faster and faster and finally the sword snapped; even the handle was broken. Suddenly a burst of heat bubbled up from his chest and he spat out two mouthfuls of blood. He did not stop; he bent down his waist and used his hands to continue digging; scooping the earth and throwing it aside like crazy.

Huang Rong went to the quarter of the mute servants in charge of planting the tree and took two shovels. She tossed one shovel to Guo Jing and used the other to help digging the hole. Without saying anything Guo Jing snatched the shovel from her hand, broke it into two and tossed it to the ground; while he continued to dig alone with the other shovel. Huang Rong did not cry at all; she simply sat on the ground to watch.

Guo Jing exerted all his strength and he managed to dig two holes, one big and the other small, within the time needed to cook rice. He put Han Xiaoying's body into the small hole. He knelt down and knocked his head on the ground several times; and then stared blankly at Han Xiaoying's face for half a day before he finally covered it with earth. Next, he picked Zhu Cong's body and was about to put it into the big hole when suddenly his heart was stirred, "How can Huang Yaoshi's filthy jewels accompany my Er Shifu in his grave?" Thereupon he put forth his hand into Zhu Cong's pocket and took the pearls, jade, and gemstones one by one and without looking at them he tossed everything to the ground. At last he reached the bottom of the pocket and took a sheet of paper out. He unfolded the paper and read these words:

'From Jiangnan, the humble Ke Zhen'e, Zhu Cong, Han Baoju, Nan Xiren, Quan Jinfa and Han Xiaoying are paying a visit to the Senior, Master of the Peach Blossom Island. A short while ago we heard a rumor that disregarding their own lack of ability the Quanzhen Six Masters are about to settle their matter with the Peach Blossom Island. Juniors here realize this matter involves some miscommunication, only we regret that we are not able to act as the mediator between the two parties involved. Senior is an expert of the present age, a peer of the late Wang Chongyang, Wang Zhenren [lit. true/real man, a term of respect to a Taoist priest]; how can Senior let your honor and prestige fall by arguing with younger generations about right and wrong? In the past Lin Xiangru yielded to Lian Po, and it was regarded as a grand occasion in history. A heroic gentleman's heart is as broad as the sea, and would certainly not be bothered by bickering chicken and worms. The day will come when the Quanzhen disciples will humble themselves in front of the Island Master, and the warriors of the world will admire Senior's honorable chivalry; wouldn't that be great?'

Guo Jing recognized his Er Shifu's handwriting, he held the paper with trembling hands; he said in his heart, "When the Quanzhen Seven Masters were fighting Huang Yaoshi at the Ox Village, Ouyang Feng launched a sneak attack and killed Changzhen Zi [Eternal Truth] Tan Chuduan. At that time Ouyang Feng shifted the blame to Huang Yaoshi. This Old Heretic Huang is a haughty man, he did not bother to argue, so naturally the Quanzhen Sect hates him to the bone. When my six Shifus learned the Quanzhen Sect was coming in full power to seek revenge, they were afraid both sides would suffer injury, so they wrote this letter urging Huang Yaoshi to temporarily avoid confrontation and think of ways to reveal the truth in the future. My Shifus had a kind intention, how could this old thief Huang Yaoshi made his move and brought this calamity upon them?" But then he thought, "Er Shifu had already written this letter, why didn't he deliver it, but kept it in his pocket? Ah, right, the situation must be pressing, the Quanzhen Six Masters were coming quickly, so they did not have enough time to deliver this letter; therefore, my Six Shifus came in a hurry to prevent the battle." Following which he thought, "Old Heretic Huang, oh, Old Heretic Huang, you must think my Six Shifus came to help the Quanzhen Sect; and thus without separating the green from the red or black or white you just attacked with your poisonous hand."

He was busy with his own thought for a while, and then he folded the paper to put it back into his pocket, suddenly he saw several characters were scribbled on the back of the letter. He quickly turned it over and his heart was thumping hard and jumping madly since he saw some crooked writing, "This business has turned for the worse, everybody guard against …" the last character was only written three strokes; looked like the disaster had already stricken, so it was unfinished.

Guo Jing called out, "This is obviously the character 'east'; Er Shifu warned everybody to guard against the Eastern Heretic; what a pity he did not have enough time." He crushed the paper into a ball; clenching his jaws he said, "Er Shifu, Er Shifu, the Old Heretic Huang has viewed your good intention as an evil one." His grip loosened and the paper ball fell to the ground. Stooping down he picked Zhu Cong's body.

Huang Rong had always kept her eyes on Guo Jing as he was reading the paper; she saw his expression change several times, she knew the letter must be very important. As the paper fell, she slowly walked over and picked it up, she read both sides and said in her heart, "His Six Shifus came to the Peach Blossom Island with a good intention. Too bad this Magic Hand Scholar had a crooked heart; he was accustomed to stealing his entire life, so that when he saw my mother's many rare treasures he could not help but violating my Father's biggest taboo …"

In her grief and remorse she saw that Guo Jing was laying down Zhu Cong's body. Zhu Cong's left hand was tightly curled into a fist. Guo Jing pried it open and took something out and held it in his hand. Huang Rong looked closer and saw it was a women's shoe carved from a green jade, approximately an inch long. Although it was a toy, it looked just like a real shoe; the carving was fine and exquisite, truly it was an expensive work of art. Only she had never seen this shoe in her mother's grave before; she wondered where Zhu Cong got it from.