The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Under the moonlight, Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin suddenly noticed tears on Qu San's face. When the two of them got home, they buried the two golden objects deep within their backyard, not even telling their wives about this. After that night the two of them acted as if nothing happened, living off their farm and whatever they catch, when there is spare time they practice their kungfu. Even when by themselves, neither one of them ever brought what happened that night up. The two of them still visit the little wineshop occasionally for a couple kettles of wine. Qu San still served the wine along with some peas, peanuts, and other snacks that helps the wine to go down. Afterwards he always goes and sits down by the door and goes into his own little world, lost in his thoughts. It was as if that night had never happened. The only difference is that when Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin look at Qu San, their eyes are filled with respect.

Autumn slowly gave way to Winter, the days just kept getting colder and colder. One night, with the cold north winds blowing, it started to snow. The day after that it continued to snow even more. The whole sky is filled with snow flakes and the ground looks like it's covered with precious jade, white as far as the eye can see. Yang Tiexin told his wife that tonight he is going to get some wine and food so that they can invite his brother and his wife over so all of them can have a nice dinner and enjoy the snow. After lunch, he grabbed two big bottle gourd and went off to the wineshop to get some wine. When he got there, he noticed that the door is shut tight, even the wineshop sign is taken down.

Yang Tiexin knocked on the door a couple of times and shouted, "Brother Qu San, I'm here to buy three kilos of wine." No response came. After waiting a bit, he called out again and still no response came. He walked over to a window and looked inside, everything in the room is covered in a thick layer of dust. He thought to himself, "Haven't came in several days, turns out that Qu San hasn't been here for several days as well. Hope nothing happened." So he had to brave the blizzard and walk to the wineshop two.5 kilometers away in Red Plum Village to get the wine as well as a chicken. When he got back he killed the chicken and gave it to his wife to take care of the rest.

His wife's surname is Bao, given name is XiRuo. She's the daughter of the teacher at the private school in Red Plum Village. They have been married for a little under two years now. She puts the chicken along with some cabbage, bean curd, and vermicelli made from bean starch (fen si) into a big pot. While the pot is boiling on top of a fire, she cutted a plate of cured meat and cured fish. At dusk, she went over and invited the Guo's over to for some wine and enjoy the snow.

Guo Xiaotian happily came over. His wife Li is not feeling very well in the last couple of days because of her pregnancy, throwing up anything she eats, so she decided not to come over. Li's given name is Ping. She and Bao Xiruo are like sisters and the two of them chatted for a long time. Only after making her a pot of tea did she finally return home. When she got back she saw that the two men have already moved the charcoal stove onto the table to keep the wine warm. The two of them has already started.

Guo Xiaotian said, "Sister, we weren't patient enough to wait for you. Please come and join us." The two men have always gotten along, both are also men of character, add that to the fact that in the country nobody really cares about all the rules regarding men and women meeting. So Bao Xiruo smiled and nodded, putting some more charcoal onto the stove, she picked up another cup for the wine and sat down beside her husband. She notices that there are hints of anger on both men's faces, she smiled and asked, "Something the matter again? What's gotten the two of you so angry?" Yang Tiexin answered, "We were just talking about the ##### that goes on in the Imperial Court in Lin'an."

Guo Xiaotian added, "I was at the Joyful Rain Pavilion, the tea house at the head of the Tranquility Bridge yesterday when I heard some people talking about the the bastard Chancellor Han Zhou. Didn't sound like he was making the stuff up either. He says that no matter which official is filing a report, if the report does not have the words, 'Also present whatever to Chancellor', this bastard Chancellor does not even give the report another glance!" Yang Tiexin sighed, "When you have this kind of emperor, you'll get this kind of chancellor. When you have this kind of chancellor, then you'll get this kind of official. Big Brother Huang that lives outside of Gushing Gold Gate of Lin'an told me this story. One day he was cutting trees for firewood at the side of the mountain, when he suddenly saw a whole bunch of soldiers protecting a crowd of officials coming his way. Turns out that Chancellor Han Zhou was taking a sight seeing trip with all his underlings. He kept on minding his own business and went on cutting his trees. Suddenly he heard that Han Zhou sigh and say, 'The bamboo fences and thatched cottage here really do make an extraordinary country scene. Pity it's missing the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking.' Pretty soon after he said this, there suddenly came barking from the bushes." Bao Xiruo laughed a little, "This little dog really do know how to please." Yang Tiexin answered, "It sure does, after barking for a bit, it jumped out of the bushes. What kind of dog do you suppose it was? Turns out it was our dignified and honorable Magistrate of the city of Lin'an, His Excellency Zhao!" Bao Xiruo doubled over with laughter. Guo Xiaotian observed, "This little dog act by His Excellency Zhao has probably insured that he would be promoted very quickly." Yang Tiexin answered, "Of course, it's only natural."

The three of them drank for a while. The snow outside is coming down even harder, but with some wine in their bellies, all three of them felt very warm and cozy. Suddenly, from the east, there came footsteps on the road. The footsteps were very rapid. The three of them looked over and saw a Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest is wearing a bamboo hat and a cape, but snow is all over his body. There is a sword on his back, the yellow thread hanging off the handle of the sword swung back and forth in the wind. Snow filled the sky, the lonely figure walking in the snow, such a grand and gallant scene. Guo Xiaotian spoke up, "This Taoist knows quite a bit of kungfu, looks like a real man of honor." Yang Tiexin replied, "That's right. Let's invite him in for a couple of drinks and make friends with him." Both of them always love to make new friends, so they both stood up and stepped outside. They noticed that the Taoist is already past them by more than two0 yards even though he is only walking. Such levels of Qing Gong is rarely heard of in the world.

The two of them looked at each other in astonishment. Yang Tiexin yelled out, "Father, please stop!" The Taoist turned around and nodded at Yang Tiexin. Yang Tiexin continued, "Such kind of weather outside, Father, why don't you come and drink a couple of cups to warm up."

The Taoist sneered and in an instant arrived in front of them. Face full of disdain, he asked coldly, "Want me to stop, what for? Be frank and tell me!"