EASTERN HERETIC, WESTERN POISON (Book 2 of Legend Of The Condor Heroes)

Healing In The Secret Room Part 4

Since taking apprenticeship under her master, Cheng Yaojia had never left her house, so among the Quanzhen Seven Masters, she had never met six of them. However, her master had taught her about all of her martial uncles, and that Changchun Zi, Qiu Shibo was the most heroic and possessed the highest martial art skill. Learning that Yin Zhiping was Qiu Chuji's disciple she regarded him with respect; lowering her head she said, "Yin Shixiong is my older martial brother. I am surnamed Cheng. Just call me Shimei [younger martial sister]."

Yin Zhiping had been under his master tutelage for quite a long time, he had also inherited his master's broad-minded and heroic disposition. He saw this martial sister as girlish and shy, she did not look like a heroic person at all; he was secretly amused. He chatted with her about their school for a while then he turned toward Lu Guanying to introduce himself. Lu Guanying introduced himself, but did not mention his father's name or his title.

Yin Zhiping turned his attention to Hou Tonghai. "This lunatic's martial art is actually very good; I wonder where he came from. We must not release him," he said.

Lu Guanying said, "Let little brother hack my saber and finish him off." He was the leader of a band of robbers at the Lake Tai, so killing was not a big deal to him. Cheng Yaojia, on the other hand, was tender-hearted. "Ah! Don't kill him!" she said.

Yin Zhiping smiled, "It's all right not to kill him," he said, "Cheng Shimei, have you been here long?"

Cheng Yaojia blushed. "Little sister has just arrived," she said.

Yin Zhiping looked at the couple and thought, "Looks like these two are in love with one another; I must not interfere. I'll just talk for a while and then I'll go." He said, "I received an order from Shifu to go to the Ox Village to find someone and convey a message to him. Little brother must take my leave; we'll meet again later." He cupped his hands and turned around to leave.

Cheng Yaojia's blush had not faded, but hearing him, it seemed like a layer of redness crept back onto her face. Hanging her head low she asked timidly, "Yin Shixiong, whom are you seeking?"

Yin Zhiping hesitated slightly, he thought, "Cheng Shimei is my school's disciple, this surnamed Lu fellow is her travel companion, so he is not an outsider. I think there is no harm in telling them." Thereupon he said, "I am looking for a friend by the surname of Guo."

At his words, four people at either sides of the wall were stunned. Lu Guanying asked, "Could it be that friend has a single character 'Jing' as his name?"

"That's right," Yin Zhiping said, "Brother Lu also know this Guo friend?" he asked.

Lu Guanying replied, "The one Little brother is looking for is exactly this Guo Shishu [martial uncle]."

Yin Zhiping and Cheng Yaojia were both surprised, "You call him Shishu?"

"My father is of the same generation as he is," Lu Guanying said, "That's why Little Brother calls him Shishu." Lu Chengfeng and Huang Rong were of the same generation; Guo Jing and Huang Rong were engaged to each other. Therefore, Lu Guanying referred to Guo Jing as martial uncle.

Cheng Yaojia did not say anything, but her heart was troubled. Yin Zhiping busily asked, "Have you seen him? Where is he?"

"Little Brother had just arrived. I was about to inquire when this lunatic attacked without any reason," Lu Guanying replied.

"Good!" Yin Zhiping said, "Then let us look for him together." Three people went out the door together.

Huang Rong and Guo Jing looked at each other with bitter smiles on their faces. "They will come back," Guo Jing said, "Rong'er, open the door and call them."

Huang Rong sighed and said, "How can I do that? These people are looking for you, must be over some important matters. You are still trying to heal your injury, how can your attention be diverted?"

"That's right," Guo Jing agreed, "Must be a very important matter. Can you think of something?"

Huang Rong said, "I will not open the door even if the sky is falling"

Sure enough, not too long afterwards, Yin Zhiping three people came back to the inn. Lu Guanying said, "Even in his hometown nobody can shed a light on his whereabouts. This is not good."

Yin Zhiping said, "I wonder over what important matter do Brother Lu try to find him; may we know?"

Initially Lu Guanying was unwilling to say, but after seeing Cheng Yaojia's hopeful look, for some unknown reason he found it hard to resist. He said, "It is a long story. Let Little Brother sweep the filth from the floor first, then I will relate the story to you two." There was no broom or dustpan in this inn, so Yin and Lu two people had to use tree branches to clean up the filth, only then did they sat down to talk.

Lu Guanying was about to speak when Cheng Yaojia suddenly said, "Wait a minute!" She went to Hou Tonghai, cut two pieces of her clothes and stopped his ears. "We can't let him listen," she said with a low voice.

Lu Guanying praised her, "Miss is very careful. We don't know where this lunatic came from, we must not let him listen to what we are discussing."

On the other side of the wall Huang Rong laughed in her heart, "We are eavesdropping in here, so it is difficult for you to find out; but inside there is Ouyang Ke lying down and listening, and nobody notices. Yet you are still talking about carefulness?"

Cheng Da Xiaojie had never roamed Jianghu before, Yin Zhiping took after his master's broadmindedness, plus he was still young and inexperienced; Lu Guanying was the leader of Lake Tai's robbers, he used to give orders and was not used to pay attention to the details. Thereupon three people talked about important matters without carefully investigating their surroundings.

Cheng Yaojia stooped down and saw that Hou Tonghai's ears were cut off; she was only startled for moment before stuffing the pieces of cloth into his ears. She smiled slightly and to Lu Guanying said, "Now you can talk."

Lu Guanying reluctantly said, "Ay! I don't know where to start. I am looking for Guo Shishu. Reasonably speaking I should not look for him, but I cannot but look for him."

"This is so strange," Yin Zhiping commented.

"That's true," Lu Guanying continued, "I am looking for Guo Shishu not because of him, but because of his six masters."

Yin Zhiping slapped the table and shouted, "The Six Freaks of Jiangnan?"

"Exactly," Lu Guanying replied.

"Aha!" Yin Zhiping exclaimed, "I think Lu Xiong came to this place over the same matter as Little Brother did. Why don't we write down a name and let Cheng Shimei decide whether we are thinking of the same thing or not."

Before Lu Guanying could answer, Cheng Yaojia had already smiled and said, "That's good. You two turn your backs and write."

Yin Zhiping and Lu Guanying both picked a twig and wrote down something on the ground. Yin Zhiping said with a smile, "Cheng Shimei, see if what we wrote down are the same or not?"

Cheng Yaojia looked at their writing and in a low voice said, "Yin Shixiong, your guess was wrong. The two of you did not write the same thing."

"Ah!" Yin Zhiping exclaimed and stood up.

Cheng Yaojia smiled and said, "You wrote 'Huang Yaoshi' three characters, he actually drew a peach blossom."

Huang Rong was shocked, "Both of them are looking for Jing Gege in relation to my father?" she thought. She heard Lu Guanying say, "What Yin Shixiong wrote is the grandmaster of my school, Little Brother did not dare to write down his name."

Yin Zhiping was startled, "Your grandmaster? Hmm, looks like what we wrote down are the same after all. Isn't Huang Yaoshi the Master of the Peach Blossom Island?"

"Oh! So that's how it is," Cheng Yaojia said.

Yin Zhiping said, "Since Lu Xiong is a Peach Blossom Island's disciple, then the reason you are looking for the Six Freaks of Jiangnan is certainly not in their favor."

"That's not true," Lu Guanying said.

Yin Zhiping noticed Lu Guanying spoke with reluctance, he was unhappy, he said, "Since Lu Xiong does not regard Little Brother as your friend, then it's useless for us to talk much longer. I'll take my leave now." He stood up and turned around to leave.

Lu Guanying busily said, "Yin Shixiong, wait! Little Brother has a difficulty and I wish for Shixiong's help."

Yin Zhiping just loved it when others came to him for help, he happily said, "All right, then talk to me."

Lu Guanying said, "Yin Shixiong, you are a disciple of the Quanzhen Sect. If you know someone is in danger, you will certainly forewarn that person to guard against the danger, since that is part of your duty as a chivalrous person. But what if your own superior wanted to harm innocent people; would you still warn those innocent people to guard against your superior?"

Yin Zhiping slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That's right! I know you are a Peach Blossom Island disciple; so you must have a great difficulty in this matter. All right, let us see what I can do."

Lu Guanying said, "In this matter, if Little Brother does not do anything, I am not doing my duty in upholding righteousness; but if I do something, I am betraying my own school. Even though Little Brother wishes to ask Shixiong's help, in all honesty, I cannot open my mouth."

Yin Zhiping had more or less guessed what he wanted, but since he was not willing to say it out loud, Yin Zhiping did not quite know what to do. He lifted his hand to scratch his head, his face looked awkward.

Cheng Yaojia remembered something: when a girl was too shy to say her heart's content, usually the mother or her sisters would ask her questions, and determine what she really wanted by her nodding or shaking her head. Although it was not the best method, it usually would reveal the content of the girl's heart in the end. For instance the mother would ask, "Child, are you in love with Zhang San'ge [Third Brother surnamed Zhang]?" The girl would shake her head. "Is it Li Silang [Fourth lad of Li family]?" The girl would shake her head again. "Then it must be the Wang family's cousin." The girl would hang her head low without saying anything; that meant the guess was correct. Thereupon Cheng Yaojia said to Yin Zhiping, "Yin Shige [martial brother Yin], you ask Lu Dage [big brother Lu] questions. If it is correct, he will nod, if wrong, he will shake his head. That way he won't say anything to betray his own school."