Eagle Shooting Hero 2(11)
Guo Jing ignored Huang Rong’s request. “Anda, why did you bring the eagles here?” he asked.
“Father sent me to see the Song Emperor; we want to make an agreement between the north and south, so that we can dispatch troops together and attack the Jin from both directions,” Tolui explained. “My sister thought I might meet you here, so she sent these eagles to you. She guessed right, I did meet you here.”
When Guo Jing heard him mentioning Hua Zheng, he was speechless. He knew he was in love with Huang Rong; when he sometimes thought of Hua Zheng he felt it wasn’t right. However, he did not know how to resolve the matter, and tried not to think too much about it. But now, hearing what Tolui said, he was at a loss. His only thought was, “Within a month I am going to Peach Blossom Island where Rong’er’s father might kill me. There’s no point thinking about it now.” Therefore, he turned toward Huang Rong and told her, “These two birds are mine. You can have them to play with.”
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Huang Rong was delighted; she found more dried meat to feed the eagles.
Tolui proceeded by telling how his father, Genghis Khan, had gained victory over the Jin on several fronts; but the Jin army was strong in numbers. They’d consolidated themselves and for many years strengthened their forts so that, for a while, they’ve managed to defend their borders. Therefore Genghis Khan had sent Tolui to make contact with the south to form an alliance with the Song to attack the Jin. Unfortunately they ran into a brigade of the Jin army and could not avoid a battle.
Their company perished and only the three of them managed to escape and run here.
Guo Jing remembered that day at Cloud Manor he heard Yang Kang asking Mu Nianci to go to Lin’an and see the Prime Minister Shi Miyuan, to ask him to kill the Mongolian messengers. At that time he did not know anything specific, but now he knew that the Jin had discovered the conspiracy and had sent Yang Kang to prevent the Song and Mongols from forming an alliance.
Tolui continued, “Looks like the Jin have determined to kill me to avoid Mongolia and the Song Dynasty from successfully forming an alliance; the Sixth Prince himself personally led the troops to capture me.”
“Wanyan Honglie?” Guo Jing asked in surprise.
“That’s right!” Tolui answered. “He was wearing a golden helmet; I saw him clearly and even shot three arrows at him. Too bad they were blocked by his bodyguards’ shields.”
Guo Jing was ecstatic, “Rong’er, Brother Kang! Wanyan Honglie is here. Let us quickly find him.”
Huang Rong quickly agreed, but Yang Kang was nowhere to be seen. Guo Jing was impatient, he shouted, “Rong’er, you go to the east, I will search to the west.” The two people used their lightness kungfu and ran very fast in opposite directions.
After several li Guo Jing managed to catch up with several runaway Jin soldiers. He captured one of them and found out that it was indeed the Sixth Prince Wanyan Honglie who personally led the pursuers; but the soldier did not know his whereabouts.
“We have deserted the Prince without any regard for his safety; if we go back, we will be executed.
Therefore we are throwing away our uniforms and trying to hide among the common people,” the soldier said.
Guo Jing turned and resumed his chase. It was almost dawn, but where was Wanyan Honglie? He knew the enemy who killed his father was near but seemed to be unreachable. He was anxious.
He rushed forward a little bit further and arrived at a small wooded area where he saw a white shadow flashing by. It was Huang Rong. The two met, looked at each other and knew they had not found him. Dejectedly they decided to go back to the temple.
“Wanyan Honglie led quite a number of troops pursuing us; he was riding a fast horse. I think by now he must be going back to fetch reinforcements to capture us,” Tolui reasoned. “Anda, I am bearing my father’s decree; I can’t stay for long. Let us part here. My little sister asked me to deliver this message to you: Please come back home to Mongolia as soon as possible.”
Guo Jing agreed to what he said, but feared that it would be difficult for them to meet again in the future. His heart was heavy. He hugged Tolui, Jebeh and Borchu and bade them farewell, saying Eagle Shooting Hero
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very little. They mounted their horses and galloped away. The sound of hoof beats gradually vanished; men and horses hidden behind a cloud of yellow dust.
“Let us hide and wait for Wanyan Honglie to come back,” Huang Rong proposed. “If the troops are numerous, we will simply follow them and try to assassinate him in the evening. Don’t you think it’s a good idea?”
Guo Jing was delighted. He praised Huang Rong endlessly. Huang Rong was very happy too, she smiled and said, “It was nothing, I was just using the common tactic of ‘leaving the shore to move to a ship’ [yi an jiu chuan].”
“I’ll go to the woods to hide our horses,” Guo Jing said. He walked towards the backyard of the temple and suddenly saw something gleaming in the grass in the morning sun. He bent down to take a closer look and found that thing was a golden helmet, inlaid with three big jewels. Guo Jing picked it up and walked back to Huang Rong. “What do you think this is?” he quietly asked.
“Wanyan Honglie’s golden helmet?” Huang Rong guessed.
“Exactly!” whispered Guo Jing. “I believe he is still hiding somewhere close to this temple. Let’s spread out and find him.”
Huang Rong turned, her hands pressed down on the wall and she floated atop the wall in no time.
“I’ll search from above, you from below,” she called out. Guo Jing entered the temple.
“Was my lightness kungfu good?” Huang Rong called.
Guo Jing was taken aback, he stopped in his tracks. “It was very good! Why?” he asked.
“Then why didn’t you praise me?” Huang Rong said with a laugh.
Guo Jing stomped his feet. “You’re a mischievous kid! You still want to joke at a time like this,” he said.
Huang Rong simply laughed; raising her hands, she flew to the rear courtyard.
When Guo Jing was fighting the Jin soldiers, Yang Kang had observed from one side. Despite the darkness he could recognize the Sixth Prince Wanyan Honglie. Although Yang Kang knew by now he was not his father, he nonetheless had raised Yang Kang for more than eighteen years. He had been a father figure to Yang Kang all this time. Yang Kang saw how Guo Jing dispersed the Jin soldiers; if Wanyan Honglie was seen by Guo Jing, he would surely lose his life. It was a critical moment and Yang Kang did not have too much time to think; so he jumped onto the battleground.
At that time Guo Jing was hurling a Jin soldier’s body into the air. Wanyan Honglie’s horse got frightened, so he was busy holding the reins. Yang Kang grabbed him from behind and pulled him to safety.
“Fu Wang [Father King], it’s me, Kang’er. Don’t make a sound!” Yang Kang whispered urgently.
Guo Jing was still fighting and Huang Rong’s attention was occupied by the eagles. The night was dark, so nobody saw him with Wanyan Honglie moving towards the rear courtyard of the temple.
Yang Kang quietly pushed open the door to the west wing and, equally quietly, the two hid 476
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themselves there. Their ears could still hear the battle cries outside, followed by the sounds of Jin soldiers scampering away; finally they heard the mumbled sounds of the three Mongolians talking to Guo Jing.
Wanyan Honglie thought he was dreaming, “Kang’er,” he whispered, “What brought you here?”
“It was a fortunate coincidence,” Yang Kang replied. “Ah … but that man surnamed Guo means you harm.”
By then Wanyan Honglie heard Guo Jing and Huang Rong were going to go separate ways to look for him. He also saw how Guo Jing had defeated the ‘Three Ghosts of the Yellow River’ and how fiercely and swiftly he had beaten and killed numerous Jin soldiers. If he were discovered by those two, what would happen? He shuddered involuntarily.
“Fu Wang, if we go now, I am afraid we’ll run into them. Let’s just hide here; they will leave eventually. We’ll wait until they are far away, then we can carefully leave,” Yang Kang said.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Wanyan Honglie said. He paused, then said, “Kang’er, why did you call me Fu Wang and not dad [die]?”
Yang Kang was silent. He remembered his late mother’s fate and his heart was filled with turbulent emotions.
Wanyan Honglie said slowly, “You were thinking of your mother, were you not?” He stretched his arm to hold Yang Kang’s hand and that hand was icy cold with Yang Kang’s sweat.
Yang Kang gently pulled his hand away. He changed the subject, “Guo Jing’s martial arts are high.
He is seeking vengeance for his father; he is determined to find and kill you. He also has befriended many, many experts in martial arts; it will be impossible for you to guard against him. I think it will be to your benefit if you do not go back to Beijing for the next six months or so.”
Wanyan Honglie recalled what happened at Ox Village near Lin’an nineteen years ago; he was saddened. Yet there was a tinge of guilty feelings in him, so he was silent for quite a while. “Very well,” he finally said, “I’ll avoid Beijing for a while. Have you gone to Lin’an yet? What did Prime Minister Shi say?”