Liang Ziwong trailed behind, still longing for the blood in Guo Jing’s body. He actually didn’t care about rescuing the Consort but was alone in wanting to stay behind and had no choice but to follow miserably.
Guo Jing called, “Hey, return my medicine!” Fuming, Liang Ziwong turned and shot a bone-penetrating projectile straight at his head. The projectile cut through the night air with incredible strength.
Zhu Cong dashed forward and deflected the projectile with the handle of his fan. As the projectile fell, he caught it with his left hand and held it to his nose to have a sniff. “Ah,” he said, “seals throats when it touches blood; this is a ‘Bone-Penetrating Meridian Nail’.
Hearing the name of his secret weapon startled Liang Ziwong; he spun around and yelled, “What?”
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Zhu Cong went up to him and held out his palm; the Meridian Nail was resting on it. He said lightly: “I’ll give it back to you, old master!”
Liang Ziwong retrieved it calmly. He knew that with Zhu Cong’s level of kung fu, he could not harm him. Zhu Cong saw that Liang Ziwong’s left sleeve was covered with mud and grass and used his own sleeve to swipe the dirt away. Liang Ziwong said angrily, “I don’t need your bootlicking!”
With that, he turned around and left.
Guo Jing was in a miserable position. If he went back without the medicine, all the night’s misadventures would have been for naught; but if he tried to regain it forcefully, he would undoubtedly be defeated by Liang Ziwong. He was still hesitating when Ke Zhen’E said, “Let’s go.” Ke Zhen’E leapt to the top of the Palace wall and the other five ‘Freaks’ followed suit.
Pointing at Mei Chaofeng, Han Xiaoying said: “Elder brother, what about her?”
Ke Zhen’E replied: “We promised Priest Ma to spare her life.”
Huang Rong did not acknowledge the ‘‘Six Freaks’’ and leapt on to the other end of the wall, grinning.
Mei Chaofeng hollered: “Little martial sister, where is Shifu?”
Huang Rong giggled and said, “My father is, of course, on Peach Blossom Island, why do you ask?
Are you going to pay him a visit?”
Mei Chaofeng seethed, her breath growing heavier and quicker. After a moment she said, “Didn’t you just say that Shifu was on his way here?”
Still laughing, Huang Rong replied, “He doesn’t know you’re here, but rest assured I’ll tell him for you. I’m sure he’ll come straight away. Don’t worry, I’m not bluffing.” Enraged, Mei Chaofeng braced herself with both hands and sprung up suddenly. With staggering steps, she charged towards Huang Rong.
Mei Chaofeng had lost the use of her legs as a result of intensely practicing a nei gong she didn’t understand. A stream of Qi had flowed down to her ‘dan tian’ (energy field) and was unable to work its way back up, paralyzing her lower body. She had stubbornly attempted to work the Qi back upwards but the harder she tried, the stronger the resistance she met.
At this moment, her senses were consumed with fury, so much so that she forgot about her paralysis. She was in a state where she had disengaged from her body and was only aware of a violent surge of anger rushing up to her heart. Suddenly her legs had become part of her body again and she charged towards Huang Rong. Shocked that Mei Chaofeng had regained the use of her legs, Huang Rong leapt down to the other side and fled into the night.
Suddenly regaining the use of her legs, Mei Chaofeng thought, “Eh, how come I can walk now?”
With this thought, a sudden wave of numbness washed over her legs and she fell, losing consciousness.
For the ‘Six Freaks’ to kill her now would be an easy task; but they had promised Ma Yu to spare her life. So they leapt over the wall and left the palace with Guo Jing.
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Han Xiaoying was the most anxious and hurriedly asked, “Jing’er, how did you end up here?”
Guo Jing roughly sketched the events leading up to this point…Wang Chuyi coming to his rescue, getting poisoned at Wanyan Kang’s banquet, stealing the medicine, bumping into Mei Chaofeng in the tunnel, et cetera. For the moment, however, he did not mention the Yang family saga.
Zhu Cong said, “Let’s hurry and see how Priest Wang is coping.”
o0o
Having just been reunited with his wife, Yang Tiexin felt an inexpressible mixture of joy and sadness. Carrying her in his arms, he leapt out of the palace. His foster daughter Mu Nianci was anxiously waiting outside the palace walls when she saw him carrying a woman in his arms.
Surprised and curious, she asked, “Father, who is she?”
Yang Tiexin replied, “She’s your mother. Let’s go.”
Mu Nianci said, bewildered, “My mother?”
Yang Tiexin said, “Hush, we’ll talk afterwards,” and sprinted off urgently.
After a time, Bao Xiruo slowly regained consciousness. It was near daybreak and in the dim light, she saw that the person bearing her was the husband she had been thinking of day and night for eighteen years. She didn’t know if it was real or just an illusion. She felt like she was in a dream and reached out to caress his face. Her voice quivered as she spoke, “Tie-ge, am I dead too?”
Crying joyfully, he replied in a gentle voice, “Both of us are alive and well…” His sentence was interrupted by shouts from behind. Light from torches lit the area as soldiers quickly streamed forward. Raising their swords and spears, they yelled, “Don’t let the Consort’s kidnapper escape!”
Yang Tiexin quickly surveyed their surroundings but there was no place they could hide. He thought, “The heavens have pitied us husband and wife and allowed us to reunite against the odds.
Even if I were to die now, I would have nothing left to wish for.” He called to Mu Nianci, “Here, hold your mother.”
The scene at Lin’an’s Ox Village eighteen years ago suddenly sprang into Bao Xiruo’s mind: her husband fleeing with her in his arms, the cries of soldiers in the night and the eighteen years of separation and grief that followed. Sensing that the tragedy was to repeat itself, she held on stubbornly to her husband, refusing to let go. The soldiers were getting near and Yang Tiexin thought it better to die fighting than be captured and humiliated. With that, he pried his wife’s fingers away and entrusted her to Mu Nianci. Turning around, he charged towards the soldiers and with a fist, knocked out a foot soldier and seized his spear. With a spear in hand, Yang Tiexin was even more lethal. The troops’ commander, Tang Zude, was speared in the leg and promptly fell off his horse. With their leader down, the rest of the soldiers scampered away in all directions. Seeing there were no skilled pugilists amongst them, Yang Tiexin felt slightly relieved even though it was a pity not to have been able to grab a horse. The three of them continued their escape.
By this time it was morning. Bao Xiruo noticed the bloodstains on her husband’s clothes and said, frightened, “Are you hurt?”
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Hearing this, Yang Tiexin was suddenly aware of a sharp pain in his arm. Because he had exerted too much strength during the fight, the wound from Wanyan Kang’s claws had re-opened and was now bleeding profusely again. Earlier he had been fixated with escaping and was not aware of the pain; but now both arms felt stiff and weak and he was unable to lift them. Bao Xiruo was about to bandage his wounds when loud calls came from behind and the dust from countless pursuing soldiers appeared. With a bitter smile, Yang Tiexin said, “No need to bandage.” He turned and said to Mu Nianci, “Child, run for your life! Your mother and I will stay here…”
Mu Nianci successfully fought back tears and raised her head proudly, saying, “The three of us will die together.”
Confused, Bao Xiruo asked, “How… how is she our daughter?”
Yang Tiexin was just about to answer when he heard the soldiers nearing. Looking up, he saw two Taoist priests coming towards them, one had a white beard and eyebrows and looked kindly; the other had a long black beard, a long sword slung on his back and looked grand and dignified. Great delight replaced his initial astonishment and Yang Tiexin called out, “Priest Qiu, we meet again!”
Of the two priests, one was ‘Scarlet Sun’ Ma Yu and the other was ‘Eternal Spring’ Qiu Chuji. The two of them, along with ‘Jade Sun’ Wang Chuyi, had arranged to meet in Zhongdu to discuss the upcoming duel with the ‘Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’. Both had hurried here and chanced upon the Yangs. Qiu Chuji had an accomplished level of nei gong and thus his appearance had not changed much over the eighteen years. Only the hair on his temples was speckled with white. Hearing this greeting, he looked more closely, but it was someone he did not recognize.
Yang Tiexin said, “Eighteen years ago at Ox Village in Lin’an, we once drank and killed enemies together, do you still remember?”
Qiu Chuji said, “You are…”
Yang Tiexin declared, “I’m Yang Tiexin, have you been well?” Yang approached him and bowed.
Qiu Chuji hurriedly returned the formality but still harbored some doubts. Eighteen years of hardship and grief had eroded his youthful appearance and Yang Tiexin looked vastly different than before. Yang Tiexin sensed his doubts but the soldiers were getting near and it was not a good time to clarify things in detail. Raising his spear, he displayed the ‘Phoenix Striking Head’. The red tassel trembled as the spear headed for Qiu Chuji’s chest and he said, “Priest Qiu, you may have forgotten me, but you can’t have forgotten the ‘Yang Family Spear’!”