SWORDS FIGHTS ON MOUNT HUA (Book 3 of Legend Of The Condor Heroes)

Reverend Yideng Part 4

Yideng happily said, "Good, I did not think you would bring these energy-booster miracle pills. That year when we had the Sword Meet of Mount Hua each one of us was dead tired after the competition; your father gave us some of these pills and the effectiveness was marvelous."

Guo Jing quickly took the small bag of pills from Huang Rong's backpack and handed it over to Yideng. The woodcutter went to the kitchen to fetch a bowl of clear water, while the scholar poured the pills on his palm and presented them to his master.

Yideng laughed, "Why so many? These pills are not easy to make, we'll just take half."

The scholar anxiously replied, "Shifu, all the miracle pills in the world won't be enough."

Yideng conceded since he felt extremely exhausted; he took several dozens of Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills from his disciple's hand and swallowed them all, washed by a bowl of clear water. He turned to Guo Jing and said, "Take your Shimei [Martial (younger) Sister] to have a couple of days' rest and then you can go down the mountain. You don't need to see me again. Hmm, I have something I want you to promise me."

Guo Jing bowed to the ground and 'bonk, bonk, bonk, bonk', knocked his head to the floor. Huang Rong ordinarily loved to joke around and be casual with everybody. Even in the presence of her father and her master she still did not follow proper junior-senior relationship; yet this time she actually bowed down reverently and said with a low voice, "Uncle has saved my life, I will not dare to forget even for a moment."

Yideng smiled and said, "It's better if you forget about it; don't let it hang in your mind." Turning his head to Guo Jing he said, "Don't tell anybody that you have come up this mountain; don't ever tell it, even to your Shifu."

Guo Jing was just thinking about taking Hong Qigong up the mountain to ask Yideng to treat his injury; hearing this he could not help but was taken aback and did not know what to say.

Yideng smiled and continued, "Later on don't even bother to come back here, since very soon we are going to move away."

"Where are you moving to?" Guo Jing hastily asked. Yideng smiled without say anything.

Huang Rong said in her heart, "Silly Brother, because their whereabouts has been discovered by us they will have to move away; how can he tell you?" She thought about how Yideng, master and disciples, had spent a lot of effort laboriously developing this place and now because of her they would have to abandon everything; she felt sorry and thought it would be difficult for her to pay back this kindness. No wonder the fisherman, the woodcutter, the farmer and the scholar did everything they could to prevent them from going up the mountain. Thinking of this she turned her gaze toward the four disciples, wanted to say something to express her apology and gratefulness but she could not find any appropriate words.

Suddenly Reverend Yideng's countenance changed, his body swayed and he fell to the ground. The four disciples, along with Guo Jing and Huang Rong were extremely shocked; they rushed forward trying to help. They saw his face twitching like he was trying to suppress a great pain. The six of them were very anxious, they stood around with their hands hanging down, nobody dared to make any noise.

About the time needed to drink a cup of tea later Yideng's face showed a faint smile, he said to Huang Rong, "Child, did your father personally make these Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills?"

"He did not," Huang Rong replied, "It was my martial brother Lu Chengfeng who made them according to my father's secret recipe."

"Have you ever heard your father said that these pills would be harmful if taken excessively?" Yideng asked further.

Huang Rong was stunned, she thought, "Is there something wrong with these Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills?" She hastily said, "Father said the more the better; only because these pills were not easy to make, he did not want to take too much."

Yideng lowered his head and knitted his brows for half a day; finally he shook his head and said, "Your father can be considered a genius, but his actions are unpredictable; how can I guess what he is up to? Could it be that he was punishing your Martial Brother Lu by giving him a fake recipe? Or could it be that your Martial Brother Lu had a grudge against you and mixed some poison into the pills?"

Hearing the word 'poison' everybody called in alarm in one voice. "Shifu, are you poisoned?" the scholar asked.

Yideng smiled and said, "It's a good thing your Shishu [Martial (younger) Uncle] is here; even a more lethal poison won't kill anybody."

The four disciples could not hold their anger anymore, they cursed Huang Rong, "Our Shifu was so kind to save your life, but you have the guts to actually harm other with poison?" They surrounded Guo Jing and Huang Rong, ready to strike.

This turn of events happened so abruptly that Guo Jing was at a loss; he did not know the best action to take. Ever since Yideng's first question Huang Rong had correctly guessed that the Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills had caused a disaster. Her mind quickly recalled the succession of events concerning these pills since she received them at the Cloud Manor [gui yun zhuang]; when she arrived at the thatched hut in the Black Marsh forest she remembered how Ying Gu brought the pills to the other room and examined them for quite some time before she re-appeared. Suddenly a thought came into her mind like bright light. "Uncle, I know it!" she called out, "It was Ying Gu."

"It was Ying Gu?" Yideng asked.

Immediately Huang Rong told him everything that happened inside the thatched hut in the Black Marsh forest. She furthermore said, "She repeatedly warned me not to take any of these pills; apparently it was because she had already mixed some poison in them."

"Hmm," the farmer sneered angrily, "She was really good to you; she was afraid you might die."

Ever since she learned that Yideng was poisoned Huang Rong's heart was full of regrets; she did not feel like arguing. She lowered her head and said, "She was not afraid to kill me, but she was afraid that if I take the pill then Uncle would not be poisoned."

Yideng could only sigh, "Karma, karma," he said. His face turned gentle. He turned toward Guo Jing and Huang Rong and said, "This is the result of my own sin; it has nothing to do with you. It was that Ying Gu; and I am reaping what I sow. You go ahead and take some rest, then you can go down the mountain, there is no need to worry over me. Although I am poisoned, my martial brother is here and he is an expert in healing poison related sickness." He finished speaking; he closed his eyes and did not say another word.

Jing and Rong two people bowed. They saw Yideng's face showed a smile, he waved his hand lightly. Two people did not dare to tarry much longer, they slowly turned around and went out. The young monk was waiting outside, he led two people to rest at a small building in the rear courtyard. The little building was also empty except for a couple of bamboo couches and a small bamboo table. Not too long afterwards two older monks came in with some vegetarian dishes; "Please eat," they said.

Huang Rong was still concerned over Yideng's condition. "Is Reverend well?" she asked.

"Xiao Seng [lowly monk] does not know," the old monk replied with a sharp voice. He bowed and went out the door.

"Listening to their voice I thought they were women," Guo Jing said.

"They are eunuchs," Huang Rong said, "They must be Emperor Duan's former attendants."

"Oh," Guo Jing muttered. Their minds were filled with concern, how could they eat?

The courtyard was secluded and very quiet, with light breeze occasionally stirred the bamboo leaves. After a long time Guo Jing broke the silence, "Rong'er, Reverend Yideng's martial art skill is very high.

"Hmm," Huang Rong mumbled. Guo Jing continued, "Our Shifu, your father, Zhou Dage [Big Brother Zhou], Ouyang Feng and Qiu Qianren, these five people's martial art is also high, but they won't necessarily superior to Reverend Yideng."