“We can’t go tonight,” Wanyan Honglie objected, “We made quite a disturbance last night, that I am sure they will strictly guard the palace tonight.”
“We can’t avoid the guards,” Ouyang Feng said, “But why worry over it? Wangye and Xiao Wangye [Young Prince] do not need to go. You and my nephew may stay here to take some rest.”
Wanyan Honglie cupped his fists in front of his chest. “Then I will bother Mister to work for me. Xiao Wang will wait for your good news with a peaceful heart.” Straightaway everybody spread some straw in the room and lay down to sleep.
After they slept for more than two hours Ouyang Feng woke everybody up and they went to the city once again.
Wanyan Honglie tossed and turned without being able to get some sleep. Around midnight he could hear the sound of the rising tide on the river. He could also hear a dog barking at the other end of the village; the dog kept barking intermittently throughout the night, as if it was weeping. In the quiet night it brought sorrow to the heart, adding to the anxiety he already felt inside.
After a long while suddenly there were footsteps outside the door, there was someone coming in. Wanyan Honglie quickly sat up and drew his sword. Yang Kang had early on jumped behind the door to set an ambush. Under the moonlight they saw a woman with disheveled hair, humming a children’s song, shoved the door and came in. She was none other than Shagu. She had just got back from playing in the woods all day. She thought little of seeing people sleeping in her room; she kept walking toward the pile of firewood, lied down next to it, and not too long afterwards she was snoring.
As Yang Kang saw it was only a stupid country girl, he smiled and went back to sleep. Wanyan Honglie’s mind, however, was filled with thoughts of past and present; he could not sleep for a long time. He got up, took a candle from his backpack and lit it; and then he took a book and started flipping the pages over.
Huang Rong saw the bright light through the small hole; she took a peek and saw a moth circling the candle, then suddenly it threw itself to the fire, its wings were immediately scorched and it fell on the table. Wanyan Honglie took the moth up. He could not help but feel distressed. He thought, “If my Madame Bao were here, she would certainly take care of you.” From his bosom he took out a small silver knife and a small medicine bottle; and he stroked those objects affectionately.
Huang Rong lightly tapped Guo Jing’s shoulder and moved aside so Guo Jing could take a look through the small hole. As Guo Jing saw with his own eyes, he was enraged. He vaguely recognized the silver knife and medicine bottle belonged to Yang Kang’s mother, Bao Xiruo. He saw her using these items at the Zhao Palace when she was tending a wounded little rabbit. He heard Wanyan Honglie softly murmur, “Nineteen years ago, in this very village, I met you for the first time … Ay! I wonder what happened to your former residence …” While saying that he rose up, took the candle along and went out the door.
Guo Jing was startled, “Could it be that this is my parents’ hometown, the Ox Village?” he wondered. He pressed his mouth to Huang Rong’s ear to inquire. Huang Rong nodded. Guo Jing’s blood surged up, his body shook.
Huang Rong’s right palm was holding Guo Jing’s left palm; she realized his breathing flow was excited because his mind was agitated, which was very dangerous. Immediately she stretched out her left palm to grab Guo Jing’s right palm and together they synchronized their energy so Guo Jing slowly focused his own breathing.
After a long time they saw a moving light and they heard Wanyan Honglie heaved a long sigh while he came back to the room. By this time Guo Jing had been able to control his emotions, but his left palm still held Huang Rong’s right palm. He looked through the small hole again and saw that Wanyan Honglie was holding several small pieces of broken bricks and tiles, sitting in daze by the candle light.
Guo Jing thought, “This traitor is less than ten steps away from me. All I need to do is throw the dagger to him and I will be able to take his life.”
His right hand drew the golden blade Genghis Khan gave him and he whispered to Huang Rong, “Turn the door open.”
“Don’t!” Huang Rong hastily said, “Killing him is easy, but then our hiding place will be discovered.”
With a trembling voice Guo Jing said, “Six more days and nights I don’t know where he will be.”
Huang Rong knew it would not be easy to persuade him, so she whispered in his ear, “Your mother and Rong’er want you alive.”
Guo Jing’s heart shivered with cold; he nodded. He put the golden blade back to its sheath on his waist and again looked out through the small hole. He saw Wanyan Honglie sprawled on the table, asleep. Suddenly he saw somebody got up from the straw. This person’s face was illuminated by the candle light, but in the mirror it was not clear whose face it was. Guo Jing only saw he quietly stood up and walked over to Wanyan Honglie. He took the silver knife and the small medicine bottle from the table, looked at them for a while then gently put them back down on the table. He then turned his head around and Guo Jing saw that it was Yang Kang.
Guo Jing said in his heart, “That’s right, you must avenge your parents. This is a very good opportunity. With a stab of the dagger the enemy, with whom you cannot live together under the same sky, will certainly lose his life. You won’t have the same opportunity once the Old Poison and the others come back.”
His heart was very anxious, he was hoping Yang Kang would immediately make his move. But after putting down the silver knife and the medicine bottle, Yang Kang blew the candle light then for a moment the room looked dark to him, and then he saw Yang Kang took out his long robe and gently draped it over Wanyan Honglie’s shoulders to protect him from the cold night.
Guo Jing was very angry, he turned his head around, not willing to look outside anymore. He did not understand how Yang Kang could treat the enemy who killed his parents with such a loving and tender care. Huang Rong comforted him by saying, “Do not be impatient. After your injury is healed, even if this traitor runs away into the horizon we will catch him. He is not the Old Poison, don’t you think killing him is easy?” Guo Jing nodded and went back into circulating his internal energy.
Soon the dawn arrived, from the village came the noise of roosters crowing and all kinds of morning clatters. Inside their bodies the ‘qi’ had been circulating seven times, they felt relieved and comfortable. Huang Rong raised her index finger up and said with a smile, “One day has passed!”