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

Lovers' Handkerchief Part 6

The overall guiding principle of energy cultivation in the Nine Yin Manual was mysteriously deep; although Reverend Yideng was a proficient scholar with profound internal energy, he could not dissect the theory completely in such a short period of time. "Stay on the mountain for a few days, let me dig into it comprehensively, then I will transfer my knowledge to you two," he said. He further said, "Usually as my internal strength is damaged, I will need five years of continuous training for a full recovery; but if I practice according to the Manual, it seems like in less than three months I will get a five-year-worth of internal energy cultivation. Although what I practiced is a Buddhist martial art, which was different from the Taoism method of internal energy cultivation in the Manual, but looking at this principle, as the martial art is trained to the highest level, different approaches will lead to the same result; it is no different than the Buddhism method."

Huang Rong told him how Hong Qigong was injured by Ouyang Feng. Reverend Yideng showed great concern. "You two must tell your Shifu about the Nine Yin internal energy cultivation method; I am certain he will recover his internal strength," he said. Guo Jing and Huang Rong were very delighted to hear this.

Two people stayed on the mountain for more than ten days. Everyday Reverend Yideng explained the Nine Yin energy cultivation method to them. Huang Rong also took this opportunity for her own recovery.

One particular day they were walking idly outside the meditation building when suddenly they heard anxious cry of eagles in the air; they saw a pair of white eagles in the distance coming from the east. Huang Rong clapped her hands, "Jin wawa [lit. golden baby – see Chapter 29] is here!" The pair of eagles folded their wings and landed, they looked weary. Two people could not help to be alarmed; they saw a gaping wound on the breast of the female eagle. It looked like an arrow wound, but the arrow was no longer there; apparently the eagles had pulled the arrow themselves. There was a piece of green cloth tied on the male eagle's foot; but they did not bring any 'jin wawa' with them.

Huang Rong recognized this piece of green cloth as coming from her father's robe; then the pair of eagles had indeed been to the Peach Blossom Island. Could it be that there were powerful enemies on the Island? Could it be that Huang Yaoshi was too busy engaging the enemy that he did not have a chance to fulfill his daughter's request?

The pair of eagles was smart animals, yet the female eagle was hit by an arrow; indicating the person shooting the arrow must have been an excellent martial artist. Guo Jing quickly applied some ointment and wrapped the wound on the female eagle's breast. Huang Rong was thinking hard for half a day, but in the end she still did not have any clue as to what was happening. Too bad the eagles could not talk, otherwise they would be able to tell what they saw on the Peach Blossom Island.

Two people worried over Huang Yaoshi's safety; hence they bid farewell to Reverend Yideng immediately. "We can still be together for many days to come, but since there is something happening on the Peach Blossom Island I cannot retain you anymore. However, Yao Xiong [Brother Yao] is all-resourceful; he is wise and smart. I believe no one in the present age is able to harm him; you two do not have to be too anxious."

Yideng then sent for the fisherman, the woodcutter, the farmer and the scholar; together with Guo Jing and Huang Rong they sat on meditation mats in front of him. He explained the essence of martial art for several hours. When he was finished Guo Jing and Huang Rong bid their farewell reluctantly. The scholar and the farmer had not recovered yet, so they only sent them off to the gate. The fisherman and the woodcutter walked them off to the foot of the mountain. They waited until the two people found their little red horse and at last said their goodbyes with heavy hearts.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong returned via the same road, the scenery was still the same; but their feeling was entirely different from when they went up the mountain just several days ago. Remembering Reverend Yideng's profound kindness could not help but cause her to bend her knees and bow toward the mountain peak. Guo Jing followed her and kowtowed several times.

Along the way although Huang Rong was concerned about her father, she thought that all the time he had roamed the world far and wide he rarely suffered any setback. Even if he met a powerful enemy, perhaps he would not win, but at least he had enough ability to defend himself; just like Reverend Yideng had said, "No one in the present age is able to harm him." Therefore, she was not overly anxious.

Two people sat on the little red horse's back, chatting casually in light mood. Huang Rong laughed, "I don't know how many times we faced dangers since we met each other, but every time we suffered some loss, we also had some gains. Like this time I suffered injury under that old Qiu Qianren's palms; in the end we found out the marvelous secret of the 'jiu yin shen gong' [lit. nine yin divine strength/energy]; which Wang Chongyang himself did not understand."

"I would rather not know any martial art as long as you are safe and well," Guo Jing said.

In her heart Huang Rong was very happy but she laughed and said, "Aiyo, if you want to flatter others you don't need to blow such a big horn! If you don't know martial art, you would be long dead. Let's not talk about Ouyang Feng, Sha Tongtian and the others; even a black-dressed Iron Palm Clan member would be able to cut your head with a knife."

"No matter what I can't allow you to be injured anymore," Guo Jing said, "Last time when I was injured in Lin'an I felt all right; but these past few days looking at you suffering so much pain, ay, that was really not good."

"Humph," Huang Rong smiled, "You are a heartless man."

"Why?" Guo Jing wondered.

"You would rather be injured," Huang Rong said, "Do you think I will feel all right?"

Guo Jing was taken aback; and then he let out a long laugh. His legs kicked the little red horse's ribs and the horse ran faster; it looked like its four feet were flying above the ground that by noon they had arrived at Taoyuan prefecture. Huang Rong had not yet recovered fully; after half a day of riding she was very tired, her cheeks were flushed and she was panting for breath. There was only one decent restaurant in the city of Taoyuan, it was called 'bi qin jiu lou' [evading qin (dynasty) wine shop; lou – multi-story building]. Its name came from the 'tao hua yuan ji' [a note on the origin of peach blossom] a literary work of Tao Yuanming [Translator's note: different characters from the 'Taoyuan' prefecture].

Guo Jing and Huang Rong took a seat and immediately called for food and wine. To the wine shop attendant Guo Jing said, "Brother, we need to go to Hankou; I am wondering if you could go down to the river and invite a boatman to come over here to talk to us."

The wine shop attendant said, "If Sir is willing to ride the boat together with other people, you will save quite a bit of money. To charter a boat just for the two of you will cost you a lot of money."

Huang Rong rolled her eyes; she took a silver ingot worth five 'liang's and tossed it to the table. "Is it enough?" she asked.

"Enough, enough," the wine shop attendant busily said with a smile. He turned around and went downstairs.

Guo Jing was afraid Huang Rong's condition has worsened, so he forbade her from drinking wine; as a result, he also restrained from drinking himself, they only ate the meals. They just ate half a bowl of food when the wine shop attendant came back with a boatman; saying that the boatman agreed to take them to Hankou, the rice was included but the dishes were not, and the total cost would be three 'liang's and six 'qian's of silver. Huang Rong did not bargain; she simply gave the silver ingot to the boatman. The boatman took the silver and cupped his hands in an expression of gratitude; he pointed to his own mouth and made several hoarse throaty 'Ah' sounds. Turned out he was a mute. His hand flailing to the east and pointing to the west, making some hand signals. Huang Rong nodded and also made some hand signals. It seemed like their signals were very complicated and they were communicating at length, exchanging signals incessantly. At last the mute looked pleased, he nodded his head repeatedly and left.

"What were the two of you discussing?" Guo Jing asked.

"He said we'll leave as soon as we finish eating here," Huang Rong replied, "I told him to buy several chickens, several catties of meat, some good wine and vegetables; and not to worry about money. I will reimburse everything later."

Guo Jing sighed, "If I met this mute boatman by myself, I wouldn't know what to do," he said. Since all the servants on the Peach Blossom Island were deaf and mute, Huang Rong had learned how to communicate in sign language since she was two years old.

The honey-steamed cured fish of that restaurant was really tasty; Guo Jing ate several pieces and remembered Hong Qigong. "I wonder where 'en shi' [benevolent master] is, and how is his injury?" he said, "Thinking about him makes me worried." He wished he could wrap some cured fish and gave it to Hong Qigong.

Huang Rong was about to reply when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. A Taoist priestess appeared. She wore grey Taoist robe with a veil over her face to protect her against the dust. The veil covered her mouth and nose so that only her eyes were visible. The priestess chose a table in the corner and sat down. The wine shop attendant promptly greeted her. The priestess talked in low voice. The wine shop attendant gave his reply and went downstairs. A short moment later he came back with a bowl of vegetable noodle. Huang Rong thought this priestess looked familiar, but she could not figure out where she saw her.

Guo Jing followed her gaze and turned his head toward the priestess, who hastily turned her head around. Apparently the priestess was also looking at him. Huang Rong smiled and whispered, "Jing Gege, that priestess' heart is moved by worldly desire; she must thinks that you are outstandingly good-looking."

"Pei," Guo Jing spat, "Don't talk nonsense. How can you make fun of 'chu jia ren' [lit. people who leave their homes to become monks or priests]?"

Huang Rong laughed, "If you don't believe me, just wait and see."

They finished eating and walked to the stairs. Huang Rong was still in doubt, she cast another glance toward that priestess, who at that moment lifted up her veil a little bit, revealing her face. Huang Rong gasped and almost cried out in surprise. The priestess shook her hand, put the veil back down immediately and lowering her head she resumed eating the noodle. Guo Jing had walked down and was oblivious to what was going on.

They went downstairs and settled the bill. The mute boatman was already waiting outside the restaurant door. Huang Rong made several hand signals, saying that they needed to buy some things and would be little bit late coming to the boat. The mute boatman nodded, pointed to a boat with a black sail by the river. Huang Rong nodded, but she saw the boatman did not leave, so she took Guo Jing walking to the eastern end of the road. As they walked to a corner they stopped and hid behind a wall, so that they were not visible from the restaurant while they could still see the restaurant entrance.

Not too long afterwards the priestess left the restaurant; she looked at the little red horse and the pair of eagles nearby. It appeared she was looking for Guo Jing and Huang Rong. After looking at four directions without seeing anybody she turned and walked to the west.

"Right, just as I expected," Huang Rong said in a low voice. She pulled Guo Jing's sleeve and hastened to the east. Guo Jing was baffled, but he did not ask any questions, he simply followed her obediently.

The town of Taoyuan was not big; in a short moment they had arrived at the eastern gate. Huang Rong turned around to the south. After passing the southern gate they turned again to the west.

"Are we following that priestess?" Guo Jing asked in a low voice, "Don't play a joke on me."

Huang Rong laughed, "What joke?" she said, "The priestess is so beautiful like an angel; if you don't pursue her you will regret it later."

Guo Jing anxiously halted his steps, "Rong'er, if you keep making this kind of talk I will be angry," he said.

"I am not afraid," Huang Rong said, "I want to see you mad."