The Legend of the Condor Heroes

"That's right," Huang Rong said, "What kind of poison is that?"

Ouyang Feng did not answer, he asked again, "His body was twisted, he was rolling around on the ground, he suddenly possessed unusually great strength, is that right?"

"That's right," Huang Rong said, "This violent poison, I thought other than the Iron Palm Clan, nobody in the world can possibly have it."

It was obvious that Huang Rong said that to provoke Ouyang Feng, and he knew it very well, but he still could not restrain from being agitated and angry, "Do you think people call me the Old Poison for nothing?" He stomped his snake staff heavily on the ground and shouted, "The snake on this staff bit him on his tongue, that's why there was no wound on his body, but he could not speak."

Hearing this Ke Zhen'E felt warm blood bubbling up straight to his brain, he almost fainted several times. Huang Rong heard movement from behind the idol, she let out some coughs, trying to cover up the noise, and then slowly said, "The Five Freaks of Jiangnan died under your hands, Ke Zhen'E who escaped does not have eyes to see, in the end nobody knew the real killer."

Listening to her Ke Zhen'E's heart was stirred, "She is saying that to remind me, telling me not to act rashly so that the two of us will not lose our lives and die without explanation." He heard Ouyang Feng laugh dryly, "How can that stinky blind man escape my palm? I deliberately let him go."

"Ah, right," Huang Rong said, "You killed five people, and let him believe it was my father who killed them. He would go and publicize this matter, then rally the heroes of the world to attack my father."

Ouyang Feng said with a smile, "It was actually not my idea, but Kang'er's; isn't that right?" Yang Kang mumbled his reply.

Huang Rong said, "It is truly a divine and marvelous strategy. My utmost admiration!"

Ouyang Feng said, "You changed the topic; what made you think of me?"

Huang Rong replied, "I thought Qiu Qianren and I fought at the southern road between Hunan and Hubei; even though it is possible for him to overtake us and arrive at the Peach Blossom Island ahead of us, it was actually very difficult with us riding the little red horse. I thought again about what Zhu Cong wrote at the back of the letter, he called everybody to stay on their guard. The last character was not finished, he only made three strokes: one horizontal line, one vertical, and another horizontal like a hook. It could be the start of 'east' ( 東 ) character, or it could be 'west' (西 ) character, couldn't it? If not 'Eastern Heretic' then it must be 'Western Poison'. I have thought about this on the Peach Blossom Island; but there are some details I do not understand yet."

Ouyang Feng sighed, "I thought I have done everything flawlessly, who would have thought there are so many trails I left behind. That dirty scholar was so quick, I did not even see him moving his pen to write anything."

"He was known as the Magic Hand Scholar," Huang Rong said, "Naturally he would not let you see whatever he was doing. I pondered deeply over the character 'ten' (十 ) Nan Xiren wrote; I wonder what could it be? It was because I thought this Xiao Wangye's [young prince, lit. young master king] martial art skill is so low that definitely he did not have the ability to kill the Five Freaks of Jiangnan in one stroke, therefore, I have never suspected him."

"Humph," Yang Kang snorted.

Huang Rong continued, "That day I was all alone on the Peach Blossom Island, tossing and turning between being asleep and awake; I could not find the right conclusion. I was dreaming of many, many people, I dreamt about Mu Jiejie [elder sister Mu], I dreamt she was in Beijing, during the joust to find a spouse. I suddenly was awakened from the dream, sprang up, and only then did I know the killer was actually this Xiao Wangye!"

Hearing Huang Rong saying these words with sharp voice Yang Kang was drenched in cold sweats; forcing a laugh he said, "Did Mu Nianci tell you in a dream?"

"That's right," Huang Rong said, "If not for this dream, how could I guess it was you? Where is that little emerald shoe of yours?"

Yang Kang was startled, with a stern voice he asked, "How did you know? Did Mu Nianci also tell you in a dream?"

With a cold smile Huang Rong said, "Do you think I need it? After you two killed Zhu Cong, you stuffed the treasures inside my mother's grave in his pocket; so that when other people see it, they would think he robbed the treasures and was found out by my father; thus he lost his life. Framing someone like this is actually a clever idea; only you forgot one thing: Zhu Cong was known as the Magic Hand Scholar."

Ouyang Feng's curiosity arose, "What about the Magic Hand Scholar?" he asked.

"Humph," Huang Rong sneered, "He only knows putting treasures on other, he actually did not know that other took a treasure from his body."

Ouyang Feng did not understand, "What treasure?" he asked.

Huang Rong said, "Although Zhu Cong's martial art skill was inferior to you, at the point of his death again he displayed his magic hand skill; he took something from this Xiao Wangye and grasped it in his hand, of course you did not know. If not because of this thing, not in a million years would I expect this Xiao Wangye to pay a visit on the Peach Blossom Island."

Ouyang Feng said with a smile, "This matter becomes more and more interesting; this Magic Hand Scholar was actually highly skilled, his life had already gone yet he was still able to leave you a clue. The thing he took must be that little emerald shoe you were talking about."

"That's right," Huang Rong said, "I have seen all the treasures inside Mother's grave since I was little; and I have never seen this little emerald shoe before. Even in his death Zhu Cong still grasped this shoe tightly; there must be a reason behind it. The front of this shoe has a 'bi' [contest, compete] character on it, while on the opposite side there was a 'zhao' [to recruit] character. I painstakingly thought about this, but all along could not penetrate the mystery. That night I had a dream, I saw Mu Jiejie on a street corner in Beijing showing off her martial art skill. There was an embroidered banner stood on the side, with the word 'bi wu zhao qin' [Joust to find a spouse – lit. martial art contest to recruit a relative/person with intimate relation] on it. Suddenly it dawned on me and everything clicked together."

Ouyang Feng laughed and said, "Turned out these two characters on the shoe have this romantic history! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" He laughed happily, but actually Ke Zhen'E was listening in indignation, since he did not understand what it was that dawned on Huang Rong's mind.

Huang Rong knew Ke Zhen'E did not understand, so with the pretense of talking to Ouyang Feng, she explained clearly, "That day in Beijing Mu Jiejie was jousting for a spouse, Xiao Wangye happened to display his full capability. Lucky for me I was there in the crowd to witness this lively occasion. After contesting for a while, Xiao Wangye snatched Mu Jiejie's embroidered shoe. He won the martial art contest, so he should marry her, but actually there were many complicated affairs involved."

This joust to find a spouse did indeed have too many repercussions later on. At that time Liang Ziweng, Sha Tongtian and the others were also present to be the witnesses: Wanyan Honglie mourned his wife, Yang Kang met his biological father, and all kinds of circumstances surrounding it. Listening to this point everybody's heart was filled with sadness and regret.