IRON BLOODED HEART (Book 1 of Legend Of The Condor Heroes)

Decoy Deployment On The Cliff Part 1

Remaining in the ger, the Six quietly conferred with each other. "This man taught a superior neigong to our Jing'er," Han Xiaoying said. "He can't possible want to hurt him..."

"Then why doesn't he want us to know about it?" Quan Jinfa asked. "And why he doesn't tell to our Jing'er that it's neigong that he's teaching him.

"I fear that he's someone that we know," Zhu Cong said.

"Someone we know?" Han Xiaoying wondered. "If it's not a friend, it can only be an enemy!"

"Amongst our friends," Quan Jinfa confirmed, "no one has kung fu this exceptional."

"But if it is an enemy," Han Xiaoying pursued, "what reason would he have to teach our Jing'er?"

"Maybe there is a devilish plan behind it." Ke Zhen'E said with a cold voice. The others froze thinking about his words.

"Tonight," Zhu Cong said, "Sixth brother and I will follow Jing'er discreetly to see who the expert is." The five approved.

That night, Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfa hid themselves not far from Guo Jing and his mother's ger. After a half-hour wait, they heard the young man say in a high voice, "I'm going, mom!" He left the ger, discreetly followed by his two masters, who were surprised at the speed of his leaving. Fortunately, there weren't many obstacles on the arid plain and they could see him from afar. Arriving at the bottom of the cliff, he climbed it without slowing down.

By this time, Guo Jing had made huge progress in his lightness technique. Since he climbed the cliff every evening, he didn't need the help of the Taoist anymore and went to the top very quickly.

Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfa were more and more astonished and stood for a long time in silence until the other 'Freaks' arrived. Afraid of falling into the hands of enemies, they brought their weapons and their hidden projectiles. Zhu Cong explained that Guo Jing was already up the cliff. Han Xiaoying raised her head and saw the summit of the cliff lost in the clouds and shivered. "We'll have a difficult time getting up there," she said.

"Let's hide in the bushes," Ke Zhen'E said, "we'll wait for them to come down again." The other five agreed.

Han Xiaoying thought about the night ten years ago when they fought the 'Twin Killers of the Dark Winds'. She and her six brothers hid, waiting for enemies. It was as cold a night as this one and the wind cut to the bone. The lonely moon, the desolate hill, the swirling of sand, and the silence of the night only broken by some distant sounds... The only difference was that now she wouldn't see Zhang Ahsheng and his always smiling face. She felt sadness in her heart.

The hours passed and they didn't notice any movement on the cliff. Day broke and there was still no trace of Guo Jing or of his mysterious teacher. They tried looking up but couldn't see anything.

"Sixth brother," Zhu Cong said, "Let's see what's up there."

"Will we be able to climb it?" Han Baoju asked.

"I'm not sure; we'll only know after we try," Zhu Cong said. After running back to the ger, he returned bringing back two long ropes, two axes and several big nails. Quan Jinfa and Zhu Cong attached themselves to each other with the rope and began the climb. They dug some holes and planted the nails in them in order to provide sure hand and foot-holds. Sweating, they finally arrived on the summit. Hardly had they put their feet on the top of the cliff when they exclaimed loudly and became pale with fear.

Next to a big rock, they saw nine white skulls perfectly stacked – five at the base, three in the middle and one on the top. It was identical to the arrangement once made by the 'Twin Killers of the Dark Winds'. Examining the skulls, they saw that each also had the five holes in the forehead. The edges of the holes were very clean and without any breaks as if cut with a blade. Obviously, the power of the fingers of the 'Killer' had increased considerably when compared to the ones they had seen ten years ago. With their hearts thumping like drums they cautiously examined the surroundings, but saw nothing else unusual. Then they climbed down to tell the others what they had seen.