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

New Allies Old Arrangements Part 4

There was the faintest change of expression on Huang Yaoshi's face: he thrust out his left palm in front of his daughter, shielding her. Guo Jing had also recognised that Western Venom, in the midst of this turn, was stealthily unleashing his ruthless, sinister skills, and was about to use an Air-Splitting Palm-type technique to launch a sneak attack on Huang Rong. But both in reactions and making his move, he wasn't as quick as Huang Yaoshi; seeing the danger, it was already too late to help. So with a loud shout, he threw a double punch straight at Western Venom's stomach, hoping to force him to counterpunch in self-defence. The power applied in the sneak attack on Huang Rong would then not be enough.

The force unleashed by Ouyang Feng had just been repelled by Huang Yaoshi; exploiting the momentum, he immediately swung it around to attack Guo Jing instead. This move augmented the original force from himself with energy borrowed from Huang Yaoshi's block, amplifying its power. Guo Jing, in a critical position, ducked and rolled away. Leaping up afterwards, his face was already pale with shock.

"Good little boy!" swore Ouyang Feng. "I don't see you for a few days, and your skills improve yet again." Just now, his counterattacking move – borrowing an opponent's strength to injure another, an unfathomable variation delivered with unspeakable speed – had somehow been dodged by Guo Jing. That was completely beyond his expectations.

The Six Freaks of Jiangnan, seeing both sides go on the attack, had clustered into a semicircular barrier behind Ouyang Feng. Paying no attention to them in the slightest, he dashed straight through, taking big strides. Quan Jinfa and Han Xiaoying, not daring to obstruct him, stepped aside to get out of his way and watched wide-eyed as he left the forest.

If Huang Yaoshi had wanted to avenge Mei Chaofeng right now, he could have got everyone to join forces, surround Western Venom, and overwhelm him. But being proud and arrogant by nature, he was unwilling to let anyone say a word about him 'using the many to persecute the few', and would rather seek him out again in the future, alone. Following the figure of Ouyang Feng with his gaze, he gave a cold laugh.

Guo Jing, Quan Jinfa and the others untied Huazheng, Tuolei, Zhebie and Bo'erhu. Already beside themselves with joy at the sight of Guo Jing still alive, they loudly cursed Yang Kang for his deceitful rumourmongering. "That Yang character said that he had to hurry to Yuezhou for something," fumed Tuolei. "I thought he was just a decent person, so I wasted three fine horses on him as a gift."

Earlier, they'd been told of Guo Jing's tragic loss; in the midst of their grief they heard Yang Kang talking on and on about wanting to avenge his sworn brother, and had fallen for his spiel. That evening, while they were staying together at an inn in a small town north of Lin'an, Yang Kang had wanted to go and stab Tuolei to death. But he hadn't expected that Fatty and Skinny – the two beggars who'd seen him holding the stick of the Chief's authority – were guarding him vigilantly, taking turns on night watch outside his window. Yang Kang had several times been just about launch his attack, only to see if not Fatty then Skinny, patrolling to and fro in the courtyard with blade in hand. After waiting a whole night and from start to finish not getting an opportunity, he just gave up; the next day, he cheated Tuolei out of three fine horses, and rode off westward along with the two beggars.

Tuolei and the others, unaware that the previous night they'd nearly died a brutal death, were about to head north when they saw the pair of white eagles turn around and fly south. Waiting for half a day, there was no sign of them coming back. Tuolei knew that the eagles were unusually intelligent and that there must have been a reason for them to go south; as there was fortunately no urgency at all to return north, they therefore waited in the inn for a couple of days. When the third day arrived, the eagles suddenly flew back, crying incessantly at Huazheng. Tuolei and the others followed in a group as the pair of eagles led the way, once again travelling south. Unfortunately, they then chanced upon Qiu Qianren and Ouyang Feng in the forest.

The Jin Empire had conferred a mission upon Qiu Qianren: incite the champions in Jiangnan to get fired up against each other, so that the Jin army could come south. While talking trash to Ouyang Feng in the forest, he'd spotted Tuolei – the Mongolian ambassador – and, together with Ouyang Feng, had instantly gone on the attack. Although Zhebie and the others were extraordinarily brave, how were they a match for Western Venom? The two eagles had actually flown south because they'd discovered the tracks made by the Little Red horse, but had ended up unwittingly leading their master into a catastrophe. And if they hadn't brought Guo Jing and Huang Rong over just in time, Tuolei's entire group would have inadvertently lost their lives there and then in the forest.

Of these particulars, there were some Huazheng knew of, and there were some she was oblivious to. Tugging at Guo Jing's hand, she chattered away endlessly. Huang Rong, seeing the manner between Huazheng and Guo Jing so intimate, was already somewhat unhappy. Even more uncomfortably, Huazheng was speaking entirely in Mongolian, which Huang Rong couldn't understand a single word of. She had become an outsider.

Huang Yaoshi noticed the odd expression on his daughter's face. "Rong'er," he asked, "who's this barbarian girl?"

"Brother Jing's wife-to-be," answered Huang Rong, morose.

Hearing this, Huang Yaoshi almost couldn't believe his own ears. "What?" he asked, insistently.

Huang Rong hung her head. "Dad," she said, "go and ask him for yourself."

Zhu Cong, nearby, had recognised in advance that things were getting inauspicious, and hastened forward. Delicately, he raised the circumstances of Guo Jing's already having gotten engaged with Huazheng earlier in Mongolia.

Huang Yaoshi, unable to restrain his anger, cast an accusing glance at Guo Jing. Icily, he said: "So it turns out that, before coming to Peachblossom Island as a suitor, he'd already set on an engagement in Mongolia?"

"We ought to think of a...think of a way to satisfy both parties," stuttered Zhu Cong.

"Rong'er," said Huang Yaoshi sharply, "dad's going to do something, and you'd better not get in the way."

"Dad, what is it?" asked Huang Rong, her voice trembling.

"That disgusting boy, that worthless girl – I'll slaughter both of them together!" said Huang Yaoshi. "How could we allow anyone to disgrace the two of us, father and daughter?"

Huang Rong dashed forward a step and grabbed her father's right hand. "Dad," she said, "Brother Jing said wholeheartedly that he really, really loves me – that he's never taken this barbarian girl to heart!"

"Well, fine," snorted Huang Yaoshi. Raising his voice, he shouted: "Boy, hurry up and kill the barbarian girl, to display evidence of your own feelings!"

Guo Jing had never in his entire life met with such an awkward situation. Naturally hesitant in his thoughts, he heard what Huang Yaoshi just said and felt totally at a loss; standing there in a daze, dumbfounded, he didn't know what to do.

"You'd already set on a marriage beforehand," continued Huang Yaoshi frostily, "yet you still came to me in suit! Whoever heard of such a thing?"

Seeing Huang Yaoshi's ashen expression, the Jiangnan Freaks knew that Guo Jing was one sudden flick of a palm away from fatal misfortune; furtively, each of them went on guard. But with their ability so far inferior by comparison, they'd actually be helpless to assist should the fighting get serious.

Guo Jing had always been unable to tell lies. Having heard these questions, he answered with the plain truth: "All I hoped for was to be with Rong'er for the rest of my life. Without Rong'er, there's no way I can live."

Huang Yaoshi's expression softened slightly. "Very well," he said. "If you don't kill this girl, that's fine; but from now on, you cannot ever see her again."

Guo Jing, faltering, had yet to respond, when Huang Rong asked: "You definitely need to see her, don't you?"

"I've always treated her just like a dear sister," said Guo Jing. "If I can't see her, sometimes I'd worry about her."

Huang Rong gave a beautiful smile. "Just see who you'd like to see – I don't mind!" she said. "I have faith that you don't really love her. And how could it be that I don't compare to her?"

"Fine!" said Huang Yaoshi. "I am here. The barbarian girl's family are here. And your six teachers are here, too. Now you better say it loud and clear: the one you want to marry is my daughter, and not that barbarian girl!" It was already greatly against his nature to concede repeatedly like this; but out of respect for his beloved daughter, he restrained himself with all his might, and tolerated it. His heart had also softened briefly since Mei Chaofeng lost her life while shielding her teacher.

Lost in thought, Guo Jing hung his head. Stashed around his waist, he glimpsed both the golden blade granted to him by Genghis Khan, and the small dagger gifted to him by Qiu Chuji.

"Going by the will of father," he pondered, "Yang Kang and I should be good brothers, not changing through life and death. But how can I keep faith in this tie if he acts like he does? And going by the will of Uncle Yang Tiexin, I should take Sister Mu as a wife. But that obviously can't be right. It looks like I don't always have to follow the orders laid down for me by elders. The engagement between myself and Sister Huazheng was made by Genghis Khan. How can it be that, because some person said a few words, Rong'er and I have to spend our lives apart?" Having thought this far, he'd already made up his mind. He raised his head.

By now, Tuolei had clarified with Zhu Cong what had been spoken about in the exchange between Huang Yaoshi and Guo Jing. He saw Guo Jing dithering and ruminating, seemingly embarrassed; and he realised that he truly felt no sentiments towards his sister. Bursting with rage, he took a long, wolf-fanged-and-vulture-plumed arrow out from his quiver, and gripped it in both hands.