The Legend of the Condor Heroes – Chapter 24

Huang Rong heard his voice and was shocked; she knew their hiding place must not be seen by them. Not to mention the fact that they would not necessarily win if a fight broke, but if they moved even so slightly, Guo Jing’s life would be in danger; that must not happen. Inside the secret room she was frightened and did not know what to do. Outside the room Sha Tongtian heard his martial brother’s shout and reprimanded him not to make such a big thing over nothing.

Hou Tonghai was not angry, he said, “All right, then come and take this bowl out.” Sha Tongtian held out his hand to pick the bowl, but the bowl stayed. “Ah!” he exclaimed.

Peng Lianhu heard him and came over. “Sha Xiong [Brother Sha],” he said, “There must be a secret mechanism connected to it. Try turning it to the left or right.”

Huang Rong saw the situation was pressing, she knew they were forced to stake it all. She handed the dagger over to Guo Jing and held out her hand to take the bamboo stick given by Hong Qigong. Inwardly she was sorrowful to think their lives would end this way. In the last moment she turned her head and saw the skeletons at the corner of the room. Suddenly an idea came to her mind; hurriedly she took the skulls and made an effort to lift a big watermelon, then she placed the skulls on the watermelon.

With some creaking noise the iron door revolved, revealing a hole behind it. Huang Rong placed the watermelon on top of her head and spread out her long hair over her face. As Sha Tongtian opened the door, he saw inside the cabinet there was a monster with two heads, letting out a scary ‘Wah! Wah!’ sound. The monster’s two heads were skulls, side by side on top of a blue and green striped sphere, with a cluster of long black beard underneath it.

Everybody had suffered a lot the previous night, they were still shaken; and now they suddenly saw a ghost inside the cabinet, they were really scared. Hou Tonghai screamed and ran away. Without thinking everybody else followed. The only one left was Ouyang Ke. Since his legs were broken he was lying on a straw bed and was unable to run.

Huang Rong heaved a long sigh; busily she closed the cabinet door. She could not help but smile, considering they had barely escaped trouble for the moment; for she knew those traitors were Jianghu’s top veterans, surely they would come back. They were running away because they were frightened by the Old Urchin; otherwise, how could she fool them so easily? Once they calmed themselves down, they would come back and would not be scared away so easily.

Huang Rong’s dimples had not disappeared, she was still undecided on the next course of action to take, when she heard a noise from the door, someone was coming. Huang Rong grabbed a steel butterfly tightly in her hand, while the bamboo stick was close by her side. As soon as the door was opened, she would throw the projectile first and talk about it later. But after waiting for a moment she heard a beautiful voice calling out, “Innkeeper! Innkeeper!”

Huang Rong was really surprised to hear this call. Busily she looked out through the small hole and saw a lady wearing embroidered gown sitting in the inn. Her clothes and adornments were gorgeous; indicating she came from a wealthy family. She was sitting with her back facing the mirror, so Huang Rong could not see her face.

That lady waited for half a day, and then she called out again, “Innkeeper! Innkeeper!”

Huang Rong thought, “This voice sounds familiar, tender yet strong; she sounds like the Cheng Da Xiaojie [Eldest Miss Cheng] of Baoying.” At that moment the lady turned around and who was it but the Cheng Da Xiaojie, Cheng Yaojia? Huang Rong was pleasantly surprised, “Why does she come this place?”

Shagu was not awakened by the commotion made by Hou Tonghai and the others. But now she had enough sleep, so she crawled up from the straw bed.

“Innkeeper,” Cheng Yaojia said, “Would you please prepare some food for me? I would be much obliged.”

Shagu shook her head, meaning she did not have any food. But suddenly she sniffed around and smelled cooked rice. She rushed to open the lid and saw the pot was full of plain white rice, the one Peng Lianhu and the others had prepared. Shagu was delighted; without wondering where the food came from she took two bowls and gave one to Cheng Yaojia, while she gobbled the other.

Cheng Yaojia saw there was no dish, only plain rice, she ate a few bites, then put the bowl down. Shagu ate three full bowls quickly, then she patted her belly, looked satisfied.

“Miss,” Cheng Yaojia said, “May I ask you a question? Do you know how far the Ox Village is from this place?”

“Ox Village?” Shagu said, “This is Ox Village. How far it is from this place, I don’t know.”

Cheng Yaojia blushed. She lowered her head and played with the end of her belt. After half a day she said, “It turned out this is the Ox Village. Then I am wondering if you knew someone. I wonder if you knew … you knew … someone …”

Shagu did not wait for her to finish, she shook her head impatiently and then rushed out the door. Huang Rong wondered in her heart, “Who is she looking for at the Ox Village? Ah, that’s right! She is the disciple of Sun Bu’er. Most likely she received an order from her Master and Martial Uncles to find Qiu Chuji’s disciple, Yang Kang.”

Huang Rong saw Cheng Yaojia was sitting up straight, her clothes were proper; she was gently stroking the pearl head ornament by her temple, her face blushing, with a slight smile on the corner of her lips, did not know what she was thinking.

Huang Rong thought it was interesting. Suddenly she heard footsteps, someone was coming in from outside. This person was tall and handsome, his steps lively; as soon as he came in he also called out for the innkeeper. Huang Rong thought, “Coincidentally the people I know in this world have all gathered together in this Cow Village. The fengshui [lit. wind and water – geomancy, but since the term ‘fengshui’ is already well-known, I decided to keep it as is] of Jing Gege’s Ox Village must be very good; if not for the wealth then for the person.” Turned out the incoming person was the Young Master of the Cloud Village, Lu Guanying. As he saw Cheng Yaojia, he was startled then he called again, “Innkeeper!”

As Cheng Yaojia saw this young man, she felt shy and hurriedly turned her body around. Lu Guanying also felt strange, “How come there is a beautiful young girl sitting alone in this place?” he thought. He walked around the kitchen and did not see anybody else. He was very hungry, while there was rice in the pot, so he turned to Cheng Yaojia and said, “Xiao Ren [lit. little/lowly person – the term he used to refer himself] is very hungry, I wish Miss would give me a bowl to eat.”

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