The man, having had the fright of his life, only managed to answer after awhile, “I…I am the caretaker. What…what are you doing?”
Huang Rong answered, “What am I doing? I am going to kill you! You are the caretaker? That’s good. Where do you keep the medicines that your young prince had people buy during the day?”
The caretaker replied, “I…I don’t know. The young prince kept it himself!”
Huang Rong used her left hand to twist his wrist and used her right hand to push forward slightly, causing the steel object to pierce even deeper into his throat. The caretaker felt a sharp pain shoot through his wrist but didn’t dare scream out loud. Huang Rong said in a low voice, “Are you going to tell me or not?”
The caretaker responded, “I really don’t know.”
Huang Rong used her right hand to remove his cap and stuff it into his mouth. Following that, her left hand pulled and twisted his arm. A ‘crack’ was heard as she broke the bone in his right shoulder. The caretaker tried to yell before fainting but the cap in his mouth had muffled his yell.
Guo Jing was stunned. He didn’t expect this petite young lady to be so vicious and cruel in her 244
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actions. Huang Rong shook the caretaker and he came around. She swiftly removed the cap from his mouth and placed it back on his head before saying, “Do you want me to break your left shoulder as well?”
The caretaker wept in pain and answered weakly, “I really don’t know. Even if Miss kills me, I still won’t know.”
Now Huang Rong believed him; she lowered her voice and said, “Go and find young prince now and tell him that you fell and broke your shoulder. Also tell him that you suffered serious internal injures and the physician says that you must take the medicine that he bought up earlier. Beg him to give you some of the medicine.” The caretaker listened attentively to Huang Rong’s instructions and dared not question anything.
Huang Rong continued, “Hurry up, young prince is with the princess. I am going to follow you and if I see that you do not act properly, I will break your neck and dig out your eyes.” With that, she stretched out her fingers and made a clawing move at his eyes. The caretaker shivered and stood up; he clenched his teeth, ignored the dreadful pain and dashed towards the princess’s house.
Wanyan Kang was still talking with his mother when the caretaker suddenly dashed in, sweating and crying. He repeated what Huang Rong instructed him to say. The princess saw that his face was as white as a sheet and knew he was in great pain; she didn’t wait for Wanyan Kang’s answer and immediately ordered him to give the caretaker the medicine. Wanyan Kang frowned and said, “The medicine is with Master Liang, go and find him yourself.”
The caretaker wept and said, “Young prince, please write a note for me.” The princess immediately took out some paper, ink and a brush and Wanyan Kang wrote the note. The caretaker bowed and thanked them while the princess said gently, “Hurry and take the medicine to cure your injuries.”
The caretaker came out of the house and walked a few steps when he felt the cold blade of a knife on the skin of his neck. He heard Huang Rong say, “Go to Master Liang now.” The caretaker walked a little ways but he could stand the pain no longer and fell to the ground.
Huang Rong said, “If you don’t get the medicine, your neck will be broken.” With that, she grabbed his head and turned it forcefully. The caretaker was shocked and had a sudden wave of determination. Sweating continuously, he hurried on. They passed by seven or eight servants but no one asked anything when they saw Guo Jing and Huang Rong.
When they reached Liang Ziwong’s quarters, they found the door locked. A servant told them that he had gone to the Fragrant Snow guest hall. Guo Jing saw that the caretaker was having difficulty walking and helped him along. Just as they reached the guest hall, two guards carrying lanterns in one hand and sabers in the other called, “Stop, who’s there?”
The caretaker took out the note written by Wanyan Kang and gave it to the guards. They glanced at it and let him through before going up to question Guo Jing and Huang Rong. The caretaker said,
“They’re our own people.”
One of the guards said, “The prince is having a banquet with important guests, no one is allowed to disturb them. If you have anything to say, you can come back tomorrow to…” he didn’t finish his sentence before the two guards felt their strength disappear. They were unable to move because Huang Rong had sealed their accupoints. She hid them in some bushes before grabbing Guo Jing’s Eagle Shooting Hero
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hand and they made their way towards the entrance of the hall. She gently pushed the caretaker forward. She and Guo Jing swung up and caught a wooden window frame and peered inside the hall.
The hall was brightly lit with a huge banquet table in the middle. Guo Jing looked at the people sitting around the table and his heart beat furiously. He has seen the same people in the same room earlier. There was the Junior Chief of White Camel Mountain, Ouyang Ke, the ‘Dragon King of the Demonic Group’, Sha Tongtian, his martial brother the ‘Three-Headed Dragon’, Hou Tonghai, the
‘Ginseng Immortal’, Liang Ziwong and the ‘Butcher of One Thousand Hands’, Peng Lianhu. At the head of the banquet table was the Jin sixth prince, Wanyan Honglie. At one corner of the table was a thickly padded grand chair in which sat ‘Superior Virtue’ Lingzhi, who had a golden complexion and looked seriously injured. Guo Jing laughed gleefully, “You ambushed Taoist Wang, so it serves you right to have a taste of your own medicine.”
The caretaker entered the room and bowed in front of Liang Ziwong before handing him the note written by Wanyan Kang. Liang Ziwong read the note, glanced at the caretaker and handed the note to Wanyan Honglie, “Esteemed Prince, was this written by the young prince?”
Wanyan Honglie read through the note and said, “Yes, please do what it says Master Liang.”
Liang Ziwong turned and instructed a dwarf dressed in green, “Go and take out five grams each of the medicines that the young prince delivered today and give it to the caretaker.” The dwarf nodded and followed the caretaker out.
Guo Jing whispered to Huang Rong, “Let’s go, these people here are too formidable.”
Huang Rong smiled and shook her head. A strand of Huang Rong’s soft hair brushed past Guo Jing’s face and he felt a tickling sensation not only on his face but also in his heart. He didn’t argue with her and dropped down. Huang Rong hurriedly grabbed his wrist, flung her body forward, locked her legs around a high wooden pole and gently lowered Guo Jing to the ground.
Guo Jing was relieved, “That was close! Had I just jumped down, wouldn’t it have alerted the high level fighters inside?” Guo Jing was not a veteran Jianghu traveler and tended to be careless at times.
The caretaker and the dwarf came out and Guo Jing followed behind them. He walked ten steps before turning around and saw that Huang Rong had flipped up and was peering into the hall with her legs hooked on the roof’s edge and her head hanging below. There was a light breeze, causing her white robe to float gently; the image looked like a blooming white lily in the darkness. Huang Rong glanced into the hall and saw that no one had noticed her presence; she turned her head and watched until Guo Jing’s figure disappeared into the darkness before turning her attention back to what was going on in the hall.
Peng Lianhu suddenly turned around, and with eyes quick as lightning, he did a check of the windows. Huang Rong didn’t dare look any longer, and crouched near the window to hear what was going on. She heard a rasping voice say, “Do you people think that Wang Chuyi turned up coincidentally or was it for a reason?”
A high pitched voice replied, “No matter whether he had ill intentions or not, being injured by
‘Superior Virtue’ Lingzhi will leave him dead, or at least crippled.”
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Huang Rong glanced into the hall and saw that the person talking was Peng Lianhu, who was small and had eyes that flashed like lightning. She heard a clear voice laugh, “We have even heard of the
‘Seven Masters of Quanzhen’ in Tibet. They really live up to their name; if it were not for ‘Superior Virtue’ Lingzhi’s attack, we would have been defeated by him.”
A deep and rough voice answered, “Master Ouyang, you don’t have to flatter me, both that Taoist priest and I are injured, there is no winner.”
Ouyang Ke said, “Yes, but you just have to recuperate quietly for some time whereas even if he doesn’t die, he will end up handicapped!”
After this comment no one spoke. The host could then be heard toasting all the assembled guests.
Guest by guest he said “Sir, you have come from a great distance to visit me, I am deeply honored!
It reflects greatly on the Jin nation to have such honored guests as you!” Huang Rong thought that the person speaking must be the Prince Zhao, Wanyan Honglie. The assembled guests then all answered with the modest protestations as decorum required.
Wanyan Honglie then continued, “Lingzhi is Tibet’s foremost monk, Liang is a master of great learning and integrity, Chief Ouyang is a legendary leader of military virtue, Master Peng's prestige is widely feared on the central plains, and Formidable Sha rules over Yellow River! If any one among the five heroes lends a hand, the Jin Nation's challenges could be overcome; but imagine what could be achieved with all five of you united together! Ha…Ha! That would be akin to having a lion using all its strength to catch a rabbit!” This speech made him sound very arrogant indeed.