The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Guo Jing was startled, "Ah! I didn't even know he was there."

"He was hiding behind a huge ice block," Huang Rong said, "The Old Poison is extremely crafty, but this time he forgot that the ice is transparent, it could not conceal anything. It was not until the moonlight shone on it did I see a blurry shadow behind it."

"So you talked about the Nine Yin Manual was actually for his benefit," Guo Jing said.

"Hmm, I want to lure him to the peak, then we remove the 'sheep ladder'; let's see if he can meditate to become an immortal on that mountain peak, maybe he'll become a deity," Huang Rong said.

Guo Jing was very happy; he clapped his hands and cheered.

The next day Genghis Khan attacked the city again. Another thousand or so Mongolian soldiers died. The Khoresm soldiers on the city wall threw some insults and cursed their enemy. Genghis Khan flew into rage; but sweeping the battlefield with his eyes he saw the dead body of Mongolian soldiers and horses; he was upset.

That very evening Guo Jing, Huang Rong and the three Beggar Clan Elders readied themselves, they only had to wait for Ouyang Feng to climb the peak, then they would destroy the sheep ladder immediately. Who would have thought that Ouyang Feng was so cunning and had anticipated this; as long as Guo Jing and Huang Rong did not climb up, he also stayed down, hiding.

Huang Rong was forced to think of something else. She took some ropes and soaked them in oil. Khoresm was rich in petroleum; more than a thousand years ago the people dug a well to find water, but they found oil instead. Since then the people had used oil to cook their meals. The Mongolian army had seized several barrels of this oil and used them as fuel.

Jing and Rong, two people climbed to the peak with ropes soaked in oil on their back. Then they hid the ropes behind a big ice block. Two people sat inside the crystal palace talking to each other. Not too long afterwards they saw Ouyang Feng's indistinct shadow appeared behind a big ice block. His lightness kungfu had been trained to perfection; he was extremely quiet, he never expected those two people to be aware that he was there.

Right away Huang Rong started talking about the manual, which they discussed earnestly. Of course they were discussing the real Manual. Ouyang Feng listened attentively, he found the manual was really marvelous; could not help but feeling ecstatic. He thought even if he compelled this little girl to explain, she might not tell him the whole thing, but right now he was eavesdropping he felt very fortunate.

Huang Rong slowly explained, and Guo Jing pretended to ask a lot of questions. Ouyang Feng thought, "He did not get such a simple truth, he is really stupid."

Suddenly the horn was sounded urgently on the ground. Guo Jing jumped up immediately, "The Great Khan summons the generals, I have to go," he called out. Actually it was a false alarm; he had made this arrangement in advance.

"We'll go down together," Huang Rong said.

"We are going up and down this peak, so much hassle," Guo Jing said, "Can't we do it inside my tent?"

"No, that Old Ouyang Feng has been looking for me everywhere, he is so cunning; it is extremely difficult to find a place to hide from him," Huang Rong said, "But even if he were ten times more cunning, definitely he won't guess that we are able to come up to this peak."

Ouyang Feng was really smug, he thought, "Hey, this tiny, tiny peak is nothing; even if you run to the end of the earth I will still chase you."

"Then you'd better wait here," Guo Jing said, "I should be finished within an hour or so; I'll hurry back up here."

Huang Rong nodded her approval.

Without saying anything else Guo Jing climbed down the peak. He was a little bit apprehensive about leaving Huang Rong alone on the top with Ouyang Feng, but he thought Ouyang Feng must be dying to listen to the Manual's secret; certainly he would not harm Huang Rong yet.

About the time needed to eat a bowl of rice later Huang Rong stood up and thought aloud, "Why is Jing Gege not back yet? I wonder if there are ghosts on this peak. Maybe Yang Kang or Ouyang Ke's ghosts are here. I think I'd better go down, I'll comeback with Jing Gege later on."

Ouyang Feng was afraid she might see him, he curled up behind the ice block, did not dare to move even so slightly. He saw Huang Rong was climbing down the peak.

Guo Jing and the three elders were waiting on the ground. As soon as Huang Rong was down, they lighted a fire and burned the rope. Turned out when Guo Jing went down, he wrapped the oil-soaked rope on each of the sheep legs. As the rope was burned, the heat melted the ice that held the legs frozen to the wall, so that the legs dropped one by one to the ground.

The fire slowly crept upward along the winding rope. The dark night made the fire's reflection on the snow and ice looked frighteningly beautiful. Huang Rong clapped her hands in delight and asked, "Jing Gege, would you say we should spare his life this time?"

"This is the third time," Guo Jing said, "We can't break our agreement."

Huang Rong smiled, "I have an idea," she said, "You don't have to break your agreement, but you can kill him to avenge your masters."

Guo Jing was delighted, "Rong'er, you are always full of ideas," he said, "Tell me your marvelous idea."

Huang Rong smiled, "It's not difficult," she said, "We let the Old Poison eats the northwest wind for ten whole days and nights; let him freeze and starve, he will be dead tired. Then we rebuild the 'sheep ladder', help him get back down. That will be the third time we spare his life, won't it?"

"That's correct," Guo Jing said.

"You have spared his life three times by then, you don't have to show leniency anymore," Huang Rong said. "We wait here on the ground. As soon as he is down, we can start fighting him. We will have the three elders' help; so with five people against a half-dead man, you say can we kill him?"

"We certainly can," Guo Jing said, "But this way we are not acting too gentlemanly, don't you think?"

"Hey," Huang Rong scolded, "Do we need to talk gentlemanly toward this kind of evil and cruel man? Did he act gentlemanly when he killed your five masters?"

Thinking about his benevolent masters' cruel death, Guo Jing was enraged. He also thought that Ouyang Feng's skill was so high that if he let him off this time, he might not find another opportunity to seek revenge. Therefore, he gritted his teeth and said, "Very well, let's do it."

Two people went inside the tent. This time they discussed the Nine Yin Manual for real. They found out that the other party's martial art was progressing tremendously, they were really grateful.

After the discussion Guo Jing said, "That traitor Wanyan Honglie is inside the city wall. We know he is there, but there is nothing we can do. Can you think of some marvelous way to break the city's defense?"

Huang Rong was doubtful. "These past several days I have been racking my brain," she said, "I can think of at least a dozen ways to do it, but none of these guarantees victory."

Guo Jing replied, "Within the Beggar Clan there are some brothers, perhaps a dozen of them, whose lightness kungfu is superb. What if they plus we, two people, try to climb the city wall?"