The Legend of the Condor Heroes

"Guo Jing, let's go back." Tolui suggested.

The Seven Freaks were already quite a distance away, but Ke Zhen'E's hearing was incredibly sensitive. When he heard the name 'Guo Jing', his entire body shook violently; he immediately jerked his horse around and rode back to the kids.

"Boy, your surname is Guo? You are Han Chinese and not Mongolian, right?" He anxiously asked.

Guo Jing grunted an assertion, sending Ke Zhen'E's mind into the clouds with joy. "Who is your mother?" He hurriedly asked.

"Mom is mom." Guo Jing answered, making Ke Zhen'E scratch his head for a bit. "Can you take me to your mother?"

"My mom's not here."

"Sister, you ask him." Ke Zhen'E suggested, realizing that there was some hostility in Guo Jing's responses. Han Xiaoying hopped off of her horse and walked up to Guo Jing.

"Where's your father?" She asked in a warm voice.

"My dad was killed by bad people; when I grow up, I'm going to kill them and avenge my father."

"What was your father's name?" Han Xiaoying was so excited that her voice was trembling. But Guo Jing just shook his head.

"Who killed your father?" Ke Zhen'E asked.

"His… his name is Duan Tiande!" Guo Jing could barely contain his anger as he said that name.

Because Li Ping knew that in such a desolate and remote place as the Steppe, any moment could bring with it many dangers. She knew that her chances of ever returning to China were nearly non existent. If something should happen to her suddenly, her son would never know the name of his mortal enemy, and that would not do. She had long ago told her son, over and over again, the name and appearance of Duan Tiande. She was an illiterate farm girl and had always called her husband 'Xiao-Ge'. She had heard other people call him 'Brother Guo' but had never cared about what her husband's real name was. This was why Guo Jing had only ever known his father to be his 'dad' and did not know that he had other names.

'Duan Tiande'. That name did not come out of Guo Jing's mouth very loudly, but when the Seven Freaks heard it, the shock rendered them speechless. Even if three bolts of lightning suddenly struck beside them on this clear and sunny day it would not have shocked them as much. In the blink of an eye, it felt as if the earth beneath them shook, as if the wind and air around them became colored. Only after a very prolonged silence did Han Xiaoying suddenly let out an ecstatic shout. At the same time, Zhang Ahsheng was beating his fists onto his chest like a mad man. Quan Jinfa had thrown his arm tightly around Nan Xiren's neck and Han Baoju was doing back flips on his horse's saddle. Ke Zhen'E reared his head back and laughed crazily, while Zhu Cong was spinning like a top. Seeing them act like this, Tolui and Guo Jing could not decide whether they were funny or just plain crazy. Only after a long time did the Seven Freaks finally, slowly, calm down, but their faces were filled with joy.

"Merciful Bodhisattva, thank you, thank you!" Zhang Ahsheng knelt down and prayed.

"Little brother, let's sit down and talk." Han Xiaoying said to Guo Jing. Anxious to get back and ask his brother Ogedai for help as well as having a bad feeling about these seven strangers with their strange accents and even stranger behavior, Tolui did not want to stay any longer. Even though these same strangers had just helped them in a fight, Tolui incessantly urged Guo Jing to start heading back.

"I need to go now." Guo Jing finally relented and began to walk away hand in hand with Tolui.

"Hey…hey! You can't go now. Let that little friend of yours go back by himself." Han Baoju almost panicked and yelled at the top of his lungs.

The two little kids were scared of the man's ugly complexion and immediately started to run as soon as he began to yell. Han Baoju chased them and was just about to grab the back of Guo Jing's neck with his fat hands when Zhu Cong cut him off.

"Third Brother, don't be so rude." Zhu Cong lightly parried Han Baoju's hand and stopped it in mid-move, much to Han Baoju's surprise. Picking up a little speed, Zhu Cong quickly got in front of the two little kids.

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"I'm going to do some magic, you guys just watch, ok?" He smiled at the kids as he picked up three stones. Guo Jing and Tolui's curiosity was immediately piqued and both of them stopped and watched him.

Zhu Cong held his right hand out for all to see and placed the stones in the middle of his hand.

"Gone!" He shouted as he balled his hand into a fist. When he opened his hand again, the stones were gone, shocking the little kids.

"Get in there!" Zhu Cong pointed at the old hat that was on top of his head before taking it off. The stones were sitting right in the middle of the hat. Guo Jing and Tolui let out a loud cheer and applauded with joy.

At this moment, a flock of wild geese flew toward them in a spear formation. This gave Zhu Cong an idea.

"Now we'll let my Big Brother show you a trick." He fished out a handkerchief, handed it to Tolui, and pointed at Ke Zhen'E. "Put this blindfold on him."

"Is it hide and go seek?" Tolui hopefully wondered out loud as he put the blindfold on Ke Zhen'E.

"No. He will shoot a wild goose out of the sky while blindfolded." Zhu Cong answered as he produced a bow and an arrow.

"How could he? I don't believe you." Tolui concluded.

While the conversation was going on, the wild geese flew straight over head. Zhu Cong flicked his arm and tossed the three stones in his hand up at the geese. Because of his powerful hands, the stones shot up and startled the geese, causing the lead goose to honk several times as he readied to lead the formation in a different direction. But Ke Zhen'E had already determined its location, drew his bow to the fullest, and let loose. He hit the goose squarely in the belly and the goose, with the arrow still in it, tumbled down onto the ground.

Tolui and Guo Jing exploded with another cheer. They ran off to retrieve the goose and brought it back to Ke Zhen'E, their young hearts filled with admiration.

"Remember how the eight boys ganged up on you two earlier? Well, if you know some martial arts, then you wouldn't have to worry about there being more than one of them." Zhu Cong told the kids.

"We will fight some more tomorrow and I'm going to get my older brother to help." Tolui told him.

"Get help from your older brother! Hmph, that's something that useless kids do. I'll teach you a couple of moves that I guarantee will help you win tomorrow." Zhu Cong replied.

"You mean the two of us beating the eight of them?" Tolui asked.

"Yes!"

"Yay! Come on, teach me!" Tolui was greatly excited at the prospect of beating Dukhsh.

"How about you, don't you want to learn too?" Zhu Cong asked him. He'd noticed that Guo Jing was standing to the side, seemingly uninterested.

"Mom told me that I shouldn't fight others; if I learn how to fight, then my mom will be unhappy."

"Little chicken!" Han Baoju lightly berated him.