Eagle Shooting Hero 1(82)
Eagle Shooting Hero
233
The young girl tied the boat to the bank and called out, “Brother Jing, come on board!” Guo Jing was astonished, and turned around, only to see the girl smiling sweetly and her robe floating gently in the wind. Guo Jing felt like he was in a dream and used both hands to rub his eyes.
The young girl giggled and said, “You don’t recognize me?”
Guo Jing thought that she sounded like Huang Rong, but how can a dirty and lowly male beggar suddenly transform into a beautiful fairy? He couldn’t believe his eyes.
He heard the voices of the ‘Four Demons of the Yellow River’ behind him shouting, “Little miss, cut the ropes that are hanging us up and let us down! If you help us, I’ll give you a hundred taels of gold! Each one of us will give you a hundred taels; you’ll get four hundred taels all together. We can even give you eight hundred taels!”
The young girl ignored them and smiled at Guo Jing, “I am your brother Huang, don’t you care about me anymore?”
Guo Jing studied her face and saw that her features were exactly the same as Huang Rong’s and stuttered, “ You………you…………” he only managed to say the word, ‘you’ before stopping.
Huang gave a little laugh and said, “That I am actually a girl, who asked you to call me brother Huang? Hurry, come onto the boat.” Guo Jing felt like he was dreaming, moved forward a little, and stumbled onto the boat. On the other hand, the ‘Four Demons’ kept making much noise in the background as they raised the amount of their reward.
Huang Rong rowed the boat to the middle of the lake, brought out some food and wine and giggled,
“And don’t you call me sister Huang, call me Rong’er. My dad always calls me that.”
Guo Jing suddenly remembered something and said, “I brought some cakes for you.” He took out the cakes that Wanyan Kang had given him and Wang earlier on. But because he had carried Wang Chuyi, taken care of him and ran around trying to find medicines, the cakes were smashed into little pieces.
Huang Rong saw the mess and laughed softly. Guo Jing reddened and said, “They can’t be eaten now” and was about to throw them into the water when Huang Rong stretched out her hand and took the cakes from him saying, “I’d like to eat them.” Guo Jing was surprised but she had already placed a small piece into her mouth and started eating. After watching her eat a few mouthfuls, his eyes grew red and tears started slowly forming, he didn’t understand her actions.
Huang Rong said, “My mother died after I was born and no one has ever remembered my likes and habits so well before…….” Then a few tears flowed from her eyes. She took out a clean handkerchief and Guo Jing thought that she was going to dry her eyes; but instead, she used it to wrap the smashed cakes and placed it in her pocket, before turning back to him with a smile, “I’ll eat them slowly.”
Guo Jing did not know much about romantic relationships, but he felt that ‘brother Huang’s’ actions were very special and unique. He asked her, “You said you had something important to tell me; what is it?”
234
Eagle Shooting Hero
Huang Rong giggled, “I wanted to tell you that I’m not brother Huang but Rong’er, isn’t that important?”
Guo Jing smiled and said, “You are so pretty, why disguise yourself as a little beggar?”
Huang Rong turned her head slightly and said, “You say I’m pretty?”
Guo Jing replied, “Yes, very beautiful, like the fairy on top of our snow mountain.”
Huang Rong laughed and said, “You’ve seen a fairy?”
Guo Jing said, “Of course not, if I’d seen one, how can I still live?”
Huang Rong asked, “Why?”
Guo Jing replied, “The elders in Mongolia always say that whoever sees a fairy will never want to return to the grasslands again; he will just stay in a daze and freeze to death after a few days.”
Huang Rong laughed and asked, “And do you feel dazed after seeing me?”
Guo Jing reddened and quickly answered, “We are good friends, so it’s different.”
Huang Rong nodded and said seriously, “I know you sincerely care for me, regardless of whether I’m a girl or a boy, pretty or ugly. If I dress like this, it’s not surprising that people are good to me; but you were nice to me even when I dressed like a little beggar, so you are truly good to me.” At this point, Huang Rong was in high spirits and smiled, “I’ll sing a tune for you, alright?”
Guo Jing replied, “Can you sing tomorrow instead, we have to get medicine for Taoist Wang first.”
With that, he related the story of how Wang Chuyi got injured and how all the medicines were bought up by Wanyan Kang.
Huang Rong replied, “Ah, no wonder you were running anxiously from one medicine shop to another.”
Guo Jing thought, “She was following me and that’s how she knew where I stayed.”
He said, “Brother Huang, may I ride your little red horse to buy the medicines?"
Huang Rong said seriously, "Firstly, I am not your brother Huang. Secondly, the horse is yours; do you think that I would actually take it? I just wanted to test you. Thirdly, you may not be able to get the medicine even if you travel to the nearby cities.”
Hearing what she said, Guo Jing felt anxious. Huang Rong smiled a little and said, “I am going to sing now, listen well.” Huang Rong gently turned her head, leaned to the edge of the boat, and then started singing in a crystal clear voice:
“The wild geese penetrated the cold frost curtain.
Tender ice covered the pale moon of the first month.
The creek flowed like a comb on the bride’s hair.
Wishing to keep the fragrance of the face powder,
looking at the adornment makes one difficult to study.
Eagle Shooting Hero
235
The weak muscle delicate as jade, covered by layer upon layer of dragon-lining silk.
With an easterly wind, one captivating smile,
tens of thousands flowers bashfully hope to be left behind.”
[Ignoring my own inadequacy, I tried to translate this part just for completeness sake – Frans Soetomo, after the chapter has been edited by the team of editors]
Guo Jing listened carefully to each and every word. Although he didn’t know the meaning, Huang Rong’s voice was gentle and sweet such that he felt like he was in a daze. The beautiful scenery gave him a feeling of warmth that he had never felt before.
Huang Rong finished singing and said in a low voice, “This is a song composed by the official Xing, which describes the plum flowers which bloom after winter; was it good?”
Guo Jing replied, “I don’t know about these things, but the song sounded very nice. Who is official Xing?”
Huang Rong answered, “Official Xing is Xing Qiji. My father says that he is a good official who loves his people. When the Jin captured the north and villains harmed mister Yue, official Xing was the only one left struggling to restore our lost lands.”
Although Guo Jing often listened to his mother talk about how violent the Jin were, and how they mercilessly killed many Chinese, he had grown up in Mongolia and did not feel that strongly about the Jin. Guo Jing replied, “I have never been in the central plains before, you’ll have to tell me the stories slowly another time, the most important thing now is to save Taoist Wang.”
Huang Rong said, “Listen to me, we’ll play just a little while longer so don’t worry.”
Guo Jing replied, “Taoist Wang said that if he doesn’t take the medicine in twenty-four hours time, he will be crippled!”
Huang Rong retorted, “So let him be crippled; anyway, it’s not you or me who will be crippled.”
Guo Jing let out an “Ah” sound and jumped up saying, “This…..this……” his face became furious.
Huang Rong giggled, “Don’t worry; I’ll make sure that you get the medicine.”
Guo Jing heard the confidence in her voice and thought, “She is much smarter than me, and besides, I don’t have any brilliant ideas so maybe I should listen to her.” He had no choice but to follow her wishes for the time being. They both clapped with laughter when she told of how she tricked the
‘Four Demons of the Yellow River’ and how she teased Hou Tonghai. The combined colors of the white snow, the water in the lake and the plum flowers was beautiful; Huang Rong slowly stretched out her hand and put it into Guo Jing’s and whispered, “I’m not afraid of anything now.”
Guo Jing asked, “Why?”
Huang Rong replied, “Even if my father doesn’t want me anymore, you will want me to follow you right?”
Guo Jing answered, “Of course. Rong’er, I…I…like…like being with you.”
236
Eagle Shooting Hero
Huang Rong leaned gently on his chest and Guo Jing smelled a sweet scent surrounding his whole body, surrounding the lake, surrounding the whole world; he didn’t know whether it was the plum flower scent or if it came from Huang Rong. The two just held hands silently. After a very, very long while, Huang Rong sighed and said, “It’s so nice here, such a pity that we have to go.”
Guo Jing asked, “Why?”
Huang Rong said, “Don’t you want to get the medicine to save Taoist Wang?”