The Legend of the Condor Heroes – Chapter 33

Huang Rong said with a smile, “I did not expect the Old Urchin to be that smart, able to make those devil heads to follow his orders obediently. I wonder why they did not run away.”

Hong Qigong smiled and said, “The Old Urchin employed a mischievous trick. He rubbed some dirt from his body and made more than a dozen pills. He forced them to take three pills for each person, said that this poison would react in seven by seven, forty nine days. The poison was so lethal and nobody in the world other than himself would be able to neutralize it. If they were obedient, he would give them the antidote on the forty-eighth day. Although these wicked thieves half believed and half doubted, they certainly could not take a risk with their own lives; in the end they did not have any choice but to believe and they were compelled to listen to the Old Urchin’s yelling and screaming, without daring to defy.”

Initially Guo Jing was grieving, but hearing Hong Qigong’s story he could not help but smile. Hong Qigong continued, “When we arrived at the Ox Village we could not find you two. The Old Urchin again forced them to go out and search for you. Last night they all came back with their heads hung low. The Old Urchin scolded and cursed them. He was getting angrier and angrier until suddenly he said, ‘If by tomorrow you still cannot find those two babies Guo Jing and Huang Rong, I will make urine pulp pills and give them to you!’ Of course they began to get suspicious and repeatedly provoked him to talk. The Old Urchin was screaming and kicking, finally they found out that the pills they took earlier were not poison at all. I know the situation would turn dangerous; these traitors would certainly create not a small trouble. I told the Old Urchin to kill them all. Who would have thought that Peng Lianhu also saw the danger, immediately he hatched a deception; he told that fat Tibetan monk to compete against the Old Urchin in sitting still in meditation. I could not stop them, and was forced to run out of the Ox Village. I came across Ke Daxia outside the village. He protected me and we ran to this place. Peng Lianhu and the others chased us. Although the Old Urchin was muddle-headed, he knew better than leaving me alone, so he busily overtook us here. These traitors constantly provoked him, until finally the Old Urchin could not take it anymore and agreed to bet against the monk.”

Listening to this story Huang Rong was both angry and amused at the same time, she said, “If we did not meet them by accident, Shifu, your life would be delivered under the Old Urchin’s hand.”

Hong Qigong said, “My life is almost gone anyway, it doesn’t really matter whose hand will deliver it away.”

Huang Rong suddenly remembered something. “Shifu,” she said, “That day when we came back from Ming Xia Dao [bright red clouds island] …”

“It’s not Ming Xia Dao, it’s ‘ya gui dao’ [crushing ghost island],” Hong Qigong interrupted.

“Fine,” Huang Rong smiled slightly, “It’s Ya Gui Dao then. Now, that Ouyang Ke is not the least bit a fake ghost, he is a real ghost. That day when we rescued Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew, on the wooden raft the Old Poison said that there was one man in this whole wide world who can heal your injury. Only this person’s martial art is matchless; so we can’t use force against him, and you are not willing to harm others to benefit yourself by asking him to help you. At that time you were not willing to mention this person’s name. Later on Jing Gege and I went to Xiangxi. Naturally now we know that other than Emperor Duan then, or Reverend Yideng now, there is no one else.”

Hong Qigong sighed, “If he used Yiyang Zhi [Solitary Yang Finger] to attack my ‘qi jing ba mai’ [lit. marvelous/mysterious passage 8 pulses, Kwok & Huang Yushi from Wuxiapedia translated it as: Eight Extraordinary Channels], without a doubt he would heal my injury. But this kind of skill will injure his own internal strength for as long as five years or as few as three years, it’s hard to say. Let’s just say that he does not care about the second Sword Meet of Mount Hua, but he is already over sixty years of age; just how much longer is he going to live? How can the Old Beggar open his mouth and ask for his help?”

“Shifu,” Guo Jing said happily, “This is great! We don’t need anybody’s help, I can go through your ‘qi jing ba mai’.”

Hong Qigong was surprised, “What?” he asked.

Huang Rong said, “Jing Gege recited that babbling and mumbling part from the Manual and Reverend Yideng has translated it for us. He told us to tell you, Senior, to use this technique to open your own ‘qi jing ba mai’.” Straightaway she recited Yideng’s translation from memory.

After listening to this Hong Qigong pondered for a long time, and then he jumped in joy and exclaimed, “Wonderful! Wonderful! I believe I will need only about one and a half year to recover.”

Huang Rong said, “In the Misty Rain Tavern martial art contest our opponent will surely invite Ouyang Feng to help their side. The Old Urchin’s martial art might not be inferior to his, but he is a wild person. I am afraid he won’t show up during the competition time. We must go to the Peach Blossom Island to get my father’s help to ensure victory.”

“What you said is not wrong,” Hong Qigong said, “I will go to Jiaxing first, the two of you go to the Peach Blossom Island.”

Guo Jing was reluctant to leave his shifu, he insisted on escorting Hong Qigong to Jiaxing. Hong Qigong said, “I will ride your little red horse. If there is any problem along the way, the Old Beggar will just run away. Who can chase after me?” Immediately he mounted the horse. With a couple of ‘glug, glug’ he drank his wine, and then pressed the horse’s belly with his legs. The little red horse let out a long neigh toward Guo Jing and Huang Rong, as if it did not want to leave them, and then galloped like the wind to the north.

Guo Jing watched until he could not see Hong Qigong’s shadow anymore, he also recalled how Ke Zhen’e wanted to kill Huang Rong, his heart was heavy. Huang Rong did not try to comfort him. She went alone to find a boat for hire then they set sail toward the Peach Blossom Island.

When they arrived on the Island, they immediately sent the boat away. Huang Rong said, “Jing Gege, I am going to ask a favor from you. Will you promise to grant it?”

“What is it?” Guo Jing asked, “I don’t want to do something I won’t be able to do.”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “I am not going to ask you to cut off your six masters’ heads.”

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