The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Thinking about his wife's pregnancy, Yang Tiexin could not stop smiling. He thought, "Father here knows poetry, then that means he excels in all facets." So he suggested, "Brother Guo's wife is pregnant as well. Could we vex Father to think of two names?" Qiu Chuji thought for a bit and said, "Brother Guo's child will be called Guo Jing, and Brother Yang's child will be called Yang Kang. It doesn't matter if they are boys or girls, they can still use these names." Guo Xiaotian replied, "Great! Father's reminding the two of them to remember the Disgrace of the Year of Jing Kang, the humiliation of the capture of the two emperors."

Qiu Chuji replied, "That's right." He reached into his shirt, took out two daggers and placed them on the table. This pair of daggers is completely the same in every way with green leather sheaths, gold hand guard, and ebony handles. He picked up one of the daggers and carved the words "Guo Jing" on the other dagger's handle. Then he carved "Yang Kang" on the handle of the first dagger. He carved with great speed and quickness, faster than most people can write. Before Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin can figure out what he was doing, he had already finished carving the words. Smiling, he said, "I do not have anything worthy with me, only this pair of daggers. Why not leave them for the two kids?" The two men thanked him and took their respective daggers. When the daggers were unsheathed, a sinister coldness came from them. Their blades were obviously very sharp.

Qiu Chuji explained, "This pair of daggers came into my possession by coincidence. Although they are sharp, their small design does not fit me at all. But the kids can use them to protect themselves. Ten years from now, if I am lucky to be still in this world, I would come to this place again and teach the kids some kungfu. How about it?" The two men could not be any happier and thanked him repeatedly. Qiu Chuji concluded, "The Jins are occupying the north and torturing the people there. This situation cannot last long. Gentlemen, please take care of yourselves." He picked up his cup of wine and downed it in one gulp. Then he got up and walked out of the door. Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin jumped up and tried to invite him to stay. But his steps were fast and steady as he was already very far away.

Guo Xiaotian sighed, "Masters like him are always coming and going like the wind. We were lucky to meet him today, I was thinking of talking to him and asking for his views a bit more, but alas, it was not to be." Yang Tiexin smiled and replied, "Big Brother, at least Father was able to kill so many Jins today and vented out some of our angers for us as well." He held up the dagger and unsheathed it again. Gently stroking the blade, he suddenly spoke up, "Big Brother, I have a stupid idea, tell me what you think of it?"

Guo Xiaotian asked, "What is it?" Yang Tiexin explained, "If both our kids are boys, then they will be sworn brothers. If they are girls, then they'll be sworn sisters…." Guo Xiaotian cuts in, "And if it is a boy and a girl, then they'll be husband and wife." The two of them grabbed each other's hand and laughed heartily.

Bao Xiruo came back out from inside, smiled and asked, "What has made you two so happy?" Yang Tiexin repeated what they just said to her. Bao Xiruo blushed, but she was happy in her heart as well. Yang Tiexin suggested, "Let's trade our dagger right now as a pledge to the engagement. If they turn out to be sworn brothers or sisters, we can still switch back. If they are a little couple…." Guo Xiaotian joked, "Then I'm really very sorry, for both daggers would belong to my family then." Bao Xiruo laughed and replied, "You never know, maybe they would both belong to our family instead." So the two men switched daggers right there. Actually, arranging marriages before a child is born happens very often, there was nothing unusual about it.

Guo Xiaotian took the dagger and happily ran back home to inform his wife. When Li Ping heard it she was quite happy as well.

Playing with the dagger and drinking by himself, Yang Tiexin was drunk before he knew it. Bao Xiruo helped her husband onto the bed and collected the dishes and cups. Noticing that it is quite late, she went out to the backyard and collected the chicken cages. As she was closing the back door, she suddenly saw some drops of blood in the snow just in front of the door. Startled, she thought, "So not all of the blood was taken care of. If some official sees this, then we would all be in trouble." So she hurriedly grabbed a broom and started sweeping.

The drops of blood lead all the way to the woods behind the house. There were also traces of someone crawling along in the snow. Bao Xiruo's suspicion rose as she followed the blood into the pine trees. She arrived behind an old grave and saw something black curled up on the ground.

Bao Xiruo walked closer for a better look. It turned out it was a corpse. The man was covered in black, obviously one of the men that came for Qiu Chuji earlier. He probably didn't die right away after being wounded and crawled here. She was just about to go wake her husband to take care of this corpse when she suddenly thought, "What if someone came and saw him right at this moment?" So she summoned up her strength and went over to the corpse. She wanted to pull it into a bush close by and then go get her husband. But just as she gave a pull, the corpse suddenly twitched and groaned.

This scared all the wits out of her, thinking it was a zombie, she wanted to turn around and run for her life. Yet it was as if her feet were nailed to the ground, she could not move at all. After a long wait, seeing that the corpse did not move again, she gently nudged it with her broom. The corpse groaned again, but this time much weaker. Only now did she realize that the person is still alive. She looked closer and saw that the back of his shoulder was hit by a wolf-fanged arrow. The arrow is embedded deep and the arrow shaft is covered in blood. Snow is still falling and there is already a thin layer of snow on his face. It would only be a little while longer before he is frozen to death.

She has always been kindhearted ever since she was little. If she saw an injured sparrow, frog, or even a bug, she would just have to take it home and take care of it until it has fully recovered. Only then would she release it back. If for some reason she can't nourish it back to health, she would be unhappy for an entire day. This little quirk of hers never changed with her age and led to her house just crawling with small critters of each kind. Her father, being the time-tested country scholar that he is, gave her a name that goes along with this personality of hers, XiRuo, meaning weak-pitying. The Bao family in Red Plum Village had an unusually high amount of old roosters and hens. This is because once Bao Xiruo has taken care of a chick, she would never allow even one to be killed. If her parents wanted to eat one, they would have to go and buy one at the market. So the chickens that the family raised all lived to a very old age before dying. Because Yang Tiexin loved this flower-like beauty that is his wife, he always went along with whatever she wanted. So naturally, the yard of the Yang house has become the chickens and other little critter's world as well. The little chicks have slowly grown to be adult chickens and ducks. There aren't any old chickens or ducks because she hasn't been in this house-hold for very long. But if things continue as they are, it will only be a matter of time.