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

Expedition To The West Part 1

Huang Rong quietly said, "I appreciate Uncle Ouyang's compliments to me. Too bad Guo Jing is so gullible that right now he doesn't even want to live in the same world as my father and I. After you save my father, if your nephew were still alive, ay! Couldn't the marriage proposal of the past be pursued further?"

Ouyang Feng's heart was stirred, "What is she getting at by bringing this matter up?" he pondered. In the meantime, Huang Rong continued, "Shagu, this good brother is very nice to you, isn't he?"

"Yes," Shagu answered, "He is going to take me home. I don't want to play on that island anymore, I want to go home."

"What are you going to do at home?" Huang Rong asked, "There is a dead man in your house; there is a ghost there."

"Ah!" Shagu cried, she was scared, "Ah! There is a ghost in my house, a ghost! I don't want to go home."

"Who killed that man?" Huang Rong asked.

"I saw it, it was this good brother ..." Shagu answered, but before she finished, 'bing! bing!' a couple of metallic sounds were heard, two secret projectiles fell down on the ground.

Huang Rong laughed, "Xiao Wangye [Young Prince], you don't want her to talk? Fine. Just don't use secret projectiles to hurt her."

Yang Kang was indignant, "This idiot talked nonsense, with ghost and everything."

"Shagu," Huang Rong said, "You can keep talking. This nice Yeye [grandpa] loved to hear your story."

"No," Shagu answered, "Good brother doesn't want Shagu to talk, Shagu won't talk."

"That's right," Yang Kang said, "Go lie down and sleep. If you open your mouth for just one more word, I'll have the ghost come over and eat you."

Shagu was very scared, "Oh, Oh," she said. Then Ke Zhen'e heard some rustling sound. It was Shagu's clothes, she lied down and slept.

"Shagu," Huang Rong said, "If you don't want to talk to me, I'll get Yeye to take you back to the Island."

"I don't want to go, I don't want to go," Shagu scried.

"Then you'll have to talk," Huang Rong said, "This good brother has killed someone in your house; what kind of man has he killed?" Everybody felt strange on why she suddenly wanted to talk about Yang Kang killing a man.

Yang Kang's heart was thumping loudly, he got his right hand ready; as soon as Shagu revealed his secret about him killing someone at the Ox Village, even if it would arouse Ouyang Feng's suspicion, he would use the 'Nine Yin White-bone Claw' to kill Shagu. He was wondering in his heart at the same time, "When I killed Ouyang Ke, only Mu Nianci, Cheng Yaojia and Lu Guanying, three people saw it. Did any one of them leak the secret? Hmm, it is likely that Shagu was also there to witness it, I was not being careful."

The temple was quiet and everybody was waiting for Shagu to open her mouth. Ke Zhen'E could feel the tension, but he did not dare to make a slightest move.

After waiting for half a day Shagu still did not say anything, only her light snore was heard; apparently she had fallen asleep.

Yang Kang breathed out a sigh of relief; his palm was sweating cold, "This Shagu poses a great danger to me," he thought, "I must think of a way to get rid of her." He cast his glance toward Ouyang Feng who was sitting quietly with his eyes closed. The moon illuminated the side of his face. He looked indifferent, seemed like he was unconcerned of everything that was going on around him.

Everybody else thought Huang Rong was just talking nonsense. Shagu was asleep; looked like the case was closed. They started to lie down or sat leaning against the wall, trying to get some sleep.

Just when the moon was rising higher they heard Shagu's startled voice. She jumped up and shouted, "Don't hurt me! Ouch, it hurt!"

With shrilling voice Huang Rong cried, "Ghost! Ghost! It's a ghost without legs! Shagu, you killed that young mister without legs; he is coming to get you!"

In the quietness of the night Huang Rong's voice made the hair on everybody's back rose up.

"No!" Shagu cried, "It wasn't me! It was this good brother ..." she had not finished when suddenly 'Ah!' 'Bang!' 'Aiyo!' were heard simultaneously. Yang Kang abruptly sprang up, his arms outstretched, his fingers forming a claw heading straight toward Shagu's skull, but Huang Rong had used her dog-beating stick to entangle his legs.

The temple was in chaos; Sha Tongtian and the others immediately surrounded Huang Rong. Huang Rong, however, seemed oblivious to all this, her left index finger pointed toward the temple's door; she cried out, "Mister with no legs, come here, Shagu is here!"

Shagu looked at the temple door. It was dark, so all she could see was blackness, but she was always scared of ghosts ever since she was little; quickly she pulled Huang Rong's sleeve and cried in panic, "Don't come to take my life, it was this good brother who killed you with an iron spearhead. I was in the kitchen watching through the door ... ghost with no legs, don't come looking for me!"

Not in a million years would Ouyang Feng guess that his beloved nephew was killed by Yang Kang; yet he always thought that Yang Kang was unable to tell lies. Obviously Shagu could not lie.

Sad and angry he laughed maniacally, casting a sharp glance toward Yang Kang. "Xiao Wangye, my nephew deserved to die. It's good that you killed him, it's good!" he said. His laughter sent a chill on everybody's spine; his voice was very mournful, making ears buzzing like innumerable needles were piercing their eardrums at the same time. Everybody was trembling, their teeth chattered. There were thousands of white-head crows on the temple's pagoda that night; Ouyang Feng's laughter startled them. 'Caw! Caw! Caw!' they were crying noisily and then they flew away loudly flapping their wings.

Yang Kang thought he would not live to see another day; both eyes looking left and right, trying to find a way to escape.

Wanyan Honglie was also secretly frightened. After the crows noise subsided he said, "This girl is insane, Mister Ouyang, how can you believe what she said? Your honorable nephew came by Xiao Wangye's invitation because Xiao Wang [lit. little king – he was referring to himself] is relying heavily on his assistance. How could Xiao Wangye harm him without any reason?"

Seemingly without making any effort Ouyang Feng stood up, his body glided over and with a slight bend on his knees he landed on Shagu's side. His left hand grabbed Shagu's arm. "Why did he kill my nephew? Speak up!" he roared.

Shagu was scared to death. "I didn't kill him, don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" she cried. She struggled hard, but Ouyang Feng's grip was like a pair of steel pliers, how could Shagu free herself? The more she struggled, the harder his grip became. Shagu was frightened and cried, "Mama!"

Ouyang Feng repeated his question several times; Shagu became so scared from crying that she did not dare to cry anymore. She only stared at Ouyang Feng's face with a blank expression.

"Shagu," Huang Rong soothingly said, "Don't be afraid, this nice grandpa is going to give you a cake."

Her words reminded Ouyang Feng. He realized that if he used force, Shagu would not dare to talk; therefore, he groped inside his pocket and produced a dried and already cold steamed bun and held it out to Shagu's hand. "That's right! Here, you can eat this cake."

Shagu grabbed the bun, her fear was gone. "Yeye, you grabbed my arm, it hurt, you must not grab me anymore," she said.

"Good Shagu, you are a good listener," Ouyang Feng warmly said, "Yeye won't grab your arm anymore."

Huang Rong said, "That day the mister without legs was hugging a lady. Tell me, was she pretty?"

Shagu nodded. "Very pretty. I wonder where she is going."

Huang Rong asked again, "Do you know who she is? You don't know, do you?"

Shagu's face lit, she was so proud of herself; she clapped her hands and said, "I know, I know! She is this good brother's wife!"

Hearing this, any doubt left in Ouyang Feng's heart was gone. He knew his nephew's lecherous character; it must be because of Mu Nianci that his nephew met his fate. But, Ouyang Ke's martial art was higher than Yang Kang's; even though his legs were injured, Yang Kang was still not his match; he could not figure out how Yang Kang was able to kill him? He turned his head toward Yang Kang and said, "My nephew was oblivious to what's good and what's not, he dared to offend the Xiao Wangye's concubine; he deserved to die ten thousand times."

"No ... No ..." Yang Kang stammered. "It wasn't me ..."

"Then who?" Ouyang Feng sternly asked.

Yang Kang was so scared that his knees turned into rubber, cold sweats pouring down his forehead; his usual shrewdness was gone, he was unable to utter a single word.

Huang Rong sighed, "Uncle Ouyang, you can't blame the Xiao Wangye of being heartless, you can't blame your nephew flirtatious character either, you have only your superb martial art to blame."

"How so?" Ouyang Feng was puzzled.

Huang Rong answered, "I don't know why, but in that house at the Ox Village I heard a couple, a man and a woman, were talking. I do not understand what they were discussing."

Listening to this muddy talk with so many unknown Ouyang Feng was more confounded, "What did they say?" he asked.

Huang Rong answered, "I will repeat what they said word for word, I won't add or subtract a single word; please Uncle hear me out. I did not see their faces, I don't know who the man was, I don't know who the woman was either; what I heard was that man said, 'If this fact that I killed Ouyang Ke ever leaks out, won't that be a disaster?' That woman replied, 'A real man is not afraid to take responsibility of his action. If you are afraid, you shouldn't have killed him yesterday. Even though his uncle is very fierce, we can run away to some far away place, he won't be able to find us.'"