The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Yet another moment later Shagu suddenly said, "Good Brother, there is some noise in that pagoda, what is that?"

"If not bird, then it must be a mouse," Yang Kang answered.

"I am scared," Shagu said.

Yang Kang laughed, "Sha Guniang [dumb miss], what are you afraid of?" he asked.

"I am scared of ghosts," Shagu replied.

Yang Kang laughed, "We have many people here, ghosts won't dare to come."

"I am scared of that short and fat man's ghost," Shagu said.

Forcing a laugh Yang Kang said, "Don't talk nonsense, what short and fat man?"

"Hmm," Shagu said, "I know, that short and fat man died inside 'popo's [maternal grandmother] grave; popo's ghost will chase that short and fat man's ghost away, she won't let that him stay in the grave. He will come over here to ask retribution from you."

"You talk too much," Yang Kang shouted, "I am going to call your grandfather and he'll come and get you, he'll take you back to the Peach Blossom Island."

Shagu did not dare to say anything anymore. Suddenly Sha Tongtian shouted, "Hey, don't step on my foot! Just sit nicely and don't move!" It seemed that because of her fear of ghosts Shagu had randomly squeezed herself into the crowd.

As Ke Zhen'E heard this exchange, his doubt arose: the short and fat man Shagu mentioned must be his San Shidi [third martial (younger) brother], Han Baoju. He died on the Peach Blossom Island, obviously was killed by Huang Yaoshi; how could his ghost come looking for Yang Kang for retribution? Although Shagu was dumb, there must be a reason behind what she had said earlier. Too bad there were too many powerful enemies in their presence that he could not go out and ask her clearly. He further thought, "In front of the Misty Rain Tavern Huang Yaoshi said to me, 'What kind of a man is Huang Yaoshi? How can I lower myself to the same level with you?' If he did not want to kill me, why did he kill my five brothers and sister? But if it was not Huang Yaoshi, why did Si Di [fourth (younger) brother] said he saw with his own eyes that Huang Yaoshi killed Er Di [second (younger) brother] and Qi Mei [seventh (younger) sister]?"

He was mulling around these thoughts in his mind when suddenly he felt Huang Rong pull his left hand. With her finger she wrote on his palm one character, 'qiu' [ask/request], followed by character after character, '…you a favor.'

Ke Zhen'E wrote back on her palm, "What is it?"

Huang Rong wrote, "Tell my father who killed me."

Ke Zhen'E was startled, he did not understand her intention; he was about to pull her hand to ask further when he felt a breeze right next to him. Huang Rong had leaped out. He heard her said with a smile, "Uncle Ouyang, how are you?"

Nobody had ever expected that someone was hiding behind the idol. 'Ca, ca, zheng, zheng' were heard as the people unsheathed their weapons and surrounded her, while shouting, "Who is it?" "Assassin!" "Who are you?"

Huang Rong smiled and said, "My Father told me to wait for Uncle Ouyang here; what are you making such a fuss for?"

"How did your father know I will be here?" Ouyang Feng asked.

Nine out of ten Ouyang Feng did not believe her, but he knew even if he asked, she would not tell the truth anyway, so he just smiled and did not say anything. Sha Tongtian and the others went outside the temple to take a look and did not find anybody else, so they went back in and stood around Wanyan Honglie.

Huang Rong sat on a meditation mat, smiling and chuckling she said, "Uncle Ouyang, you have given my father a hard time!"

Ouyang Feng smiled without answering. He knew that although Huang Rong was young, she was full of tricks. If he gave her one wrong answer, she would grab the opportunity to ridicule him; and in front of all these people he simply could not lose face. Therefore, he waited for her to explain her purpose in coming here before he would decide on the appropriate countermeasure. He heard her said, "Uncle Ouyang, my father is surrounded by the Taoist priests of Quanzhen Sect at the Xincheng town of Xiaopenglai; if you don't rescue him, I am afraid it would be difficult for him to escape."

Ouyang Feng showed a faint smile; "Is that so?" he asked.

Huang Rong anxiously said, "You say it as it is nothing! A real man will take responsibility of his own action; clearly it was you who killed Tan Chuduan from the Quanzhen Sect, but I don't know how it started, those stinky priests are always pestering my father. On top of that, Zhou Botong stirred up the muddy waters; while my father refused to argue with them. What do we do?"

Inwardly Ouyang Feng was delighted; he said, "Your father is a martial art expert; how can those several mixed-up hairs from Quanzhen Sect defeat him?"

"The Quanzhen Sect's ox-nosed plus the Old Urchin, my father is not their match," Huang Rong said, "My father told me to come to you and say that after painstakingly pondering for seven days and seven nights, finally he understood the meaning of some sentences."

"What sentences?" Ouyang Feng asked.

Huang Rong said, "Si li xing, ang yi na de. Si re que xu, ha hu wen bo ying."

To Ke Zhen'E, Wanyan Honglie and the others, these mumbling sentences did not mean anything, but Ouyang Feng was surprised; it was the strange sentence from the last part of the Nine Yin Manual. Could it be that Huang Yaoshi really understood its meaning? His heart was thumping fast, but his face did not show any changes; he indifferently said, "Little girl loves to swindle people. Who can understand those mumbling sentences?"

Huang Rong replied, "Father has translated these strange characters; from top to bottom, clearly. I saw it with my own eyes; how can I swindle you?"

Ouyang Feng knew Huang Yaoshi's ability very well. Originally he thought that if nobody was able to solve these strange characters, then so be it; but if there was anybody who could find the solution, it must be Huang Yaoshi, for nobody else in this world had the same intelligence. Still, with an unenthusiastic voice he said, "Let me congratulate your father, then."

Huang Rong caught the real meaning behind his words, she knew he was still half believing and half doubting; she continued, "I think I still remember some of what I saw. I don't mind if you want to listen to it." Immediately she recited, "Either when the body moves, or feels heavy as if pressed by something, or feels light like it is ready to fly, or feels constricted, or feels extraordinarily cold or hot, or feels delightful or restless, or feels like touching something nasty and the hair stood on its end, or feels happy while drunk; all these things must be channeled through divine passages according to the following method."

This explanation of the Manual made Ouyang Feng's heart unbearably itch. Turned out Huang Rong recited the section Reverend Yideng translated from the Nine Yin Manual. All these strange conditions were actually the actual situations anybody who cultivated internal energy would experience; each one of these conditions was enough to intimidate the state of mind that may cause the practitioner to suffer a fire-deviation. If there was a method to channel these conditions through the divine passages; then the method could truly be considered as highly valuable. So what Huang Rong said was indeed from the Manual and not from her own random fabrication. Ouyang Feng's internal energy was exquisite, naturally he knew whether what he heard was real or fake. His suspicion was gone. "What comes next?" he asked.