“I haven’t been there,” Yang Kang coldly replied.
Wanyan Honglie heard the tone of his voice and guessed that Yang Kang had probably found out about his own life story; but why did Yang Kang save him? Could he have another plan in mind?
Those two men had lived together for eighteen years as father and son; they loved each other dearly.
But now that they were together in that small room, Yang Kang suddenly thought there was a deep hatred between them. There was a raging battle inside his heart: “With just a whack of my palm I will avenge my father and mother; but how can I do that? Yang Tiexin was my biological father, but what did he give me? Mama normally treated Fu Wang well and if I kill him now, would Mama like it? Besides, if I really forsake being a prince, will I end up wandering around in the wilderness, destitute like Guo Jing?”
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He was still having these disquieting thoughts when Wanyan Honglie said, “Kang’er, we have had a father-son relationship. No matter what, you are my son and I love you. Within ten years our great Jin will conquer the Song. At that time I will have enormous power and authority in my hands, with unlimited riches and honor. This beautiful country, this mortal world, will eventually fall into your hands.”
Yang Kang understood the implications of his speech; Wanyan Honglie aimed to be the emperor.
Thinking about ‘unlimited riches and honor’, his heart was thumping loudly and he secretly thought, “With the power of the Great Jin, it will not be difficult to crush the Song. Mongolia will pose another problem, but it will be temporary. They are just a bunch of barbarians with excellent riding and archery skills; nothing refined. Fu Wang’s management skill is superb. Which other Great Jin prince can be compared to him? When all’s said and done, I will definitely become the crown prince of this world.” Thinking thus, his blood boiled. He stretched his hand to grab Wanyan Honglie’s. “Dad, your child will certainly help you in this great undertaking.”
Wanyan Honglie noticed Yang Kang’s hand had become warm; he was delighted. “I am Li Yuan, you are Li Shi Min.” [Translator note: Li Yuan and Li Shi Min were the father and son founders of the Tang Dynasty]
Yang Kang was about to reply when they suddenly heard a noise behind them. The two men froze.
Quickly they turned their heads. It was already morning and bright sunlight came through the window. They saw seven or eight coffins scattered throughout the room. It turns out that this west wing was the temporary place for the dead before burial. They listened carefully; the noise sounded like it came from one of the coffins.
“What was that?” Wanyan Honglie asked.
“Probably a mouse,” Yang Kang replied. At that moment they heard Guo Jing and Huang Rong talking outside about the golden helmet; then joking around as they looked for them.
“Confound it!” Yang Kang thought, “Father’s golden helmet was left outside! This could be bad.”
With a low voice he said, “I am going to lead them away.” Quietly he opened the door and jumped outside, towards the roof.
Huang Rong was on the roof when she suddenly saw a shadow flash by on the roof’s peak. “Good!
He is here!” She dashed toward that shadow, but the shadow quickly jumped down and disappeared around a corner.
Guo Jing heard her voice and came. “He can’t run far and must be hiding in the woods,” Huang Rong said.
The two were about to run into the woods when suddenly there was a noise from the bush and out came Yang Kang. Guo Jing was pleasantly surprised. “Xian di, where did you come from?” he asked. “Did you see Wanyan Honglie?”
“Wanyan Honglie is here?” Yang Kang feigned surprise.
“He was the commander of those troops. Look, his golden helmet is here,” Guo Jing said.
“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kang said.
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Huang Rong noticed his expression was unusual; she also remembered he was speaking with Ouyang Ke earlier so she was suspicious. “We were looking for you everywhere just a moment ago.
Where were you?” she asked.
“I ate too many strange foods yesterday, I think I suffered food poisoning, so I relieved myself over there,” Yang Kang said, pointing to a small wooded area.
Huang Rong did not believe him, but she was too uncomfortable to challenge him. “Xian di,” Guo Jing said, “Let’s look together.”
Yang Kang was worried; he was not sure if Wanyan Honglie had run away or was still here; but his face did not show anything. “He came here to die! We could not have asked for anything better,” he said, “Why don’t you two search to the east, I’ll go to the west.”
“Very well.” Guo Jing said, immediately walking to the east and pushing open the door to the
‘Clemency and Filial Hall’ [jie xiao tang].
“Brother Yang,” Huang Rong said, “I think that man is hiding in the west wing; let me come with you.”
Yang Kang groaned inwardly, but his face feigned happiness. “Let us go, quickly!” he said, “Don’t let him run away.” Immediately the two searched from room to room.
The Liu family of Baoying was originally an important family during the Song Dynasty; naturally their ancestral temple was huge. Because of the war with the Jin, this temple was partially burned and some of the Liu family killed. Therefore parts of temple were left in ruins without any effort to rebuild it.
With a cold look Huang Rong watched Yang Kang open dust-laden and spider-webbed doors one by one. He searched each and every room. Finally they arrived at the west wing. Huang Rong saw thick dust on the floor and in that dust there were several footprints, which – from the look of them, were recently made. There were a couple of handprints on the closed door too. “In here!” she shouted excitedly.
Guo Jing and Yang Kang both heard her shout; Guo Jing was delighted, while Yang Kang was anxious; both rushed towards her.
Huang Rong kicked the door open, but to her surprise, all she saw were several coffins with no sign of Wanyan Honglie.
Yang Kang was greatly relieved, he knew Wanyan Honglie must have escaped; but he entered the room and loudly shouted, “Wanyan Honglie, traitor! Where do you hide? Come out!”
“Brother Yang, he must have heard us a long time ago. You don’t have to be so kind as to let him know we are here,” Huang Rong snickered.
Yang Kang was embarrassed, his face flushed, “Miss Huang, why do you joke with me?” His embarrassment turned to anger.
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“Never mind her, Xian di; Rong’er likes to joke,” Guo Jing smiled. He lowered his head and said,
“Look here, someone must have left all these footprints. Indeed he was here.”
“Quick, we must pursue him!” Huang Rong urged. Just as she turned her head, there came a noise from behind her. All three were frightened. They saw a coffin move slightly.
Huang Rong had always been afraid of coffins and ever since she entered this room, she had been feeling queasy; now a coffin suddenly moved by itself, she uttered a cry and tightly held Guo Jing’s arm. But even though her heart was scared, her brain was still working. “That traitor … that traitor hides in the coffin,” she said with a trembling voice.
Yang Kang suddenly pointed his finger outside, “Hey! He is over there!” Without waiting for a reply he readied to run outside. But Huang Rong was quick, she reached backward and grabbed Yang Kang’s main artery. “You have seen a ghost?” she sneered.
Half of Yang Kang’s body was numb; he could not move. “You … what are you doing?” he asked anxiously.
Guo Jing was delighted. “Right…that traitor must be hiding in the coffin.” With big strides he walked towards the coffin and lifted his hands, ready should Wanyan Honglie came out.
“Elder Brother, be careful!” Yang Kang called out. “There could be a zombie inside.”
Huang Rong twisted Yang Kang’s hand so that he fell to the floor. “You still want to scare me?”
she asked angrily. She was certain that it was Wanyan Honglie hiding inside the coffin, but still, she was scared. What if it really was a zombie inside? You never know, do you?
“Jing ge ge, not so fast!” she tremblingly said.
Guo Jing halted and turned his head, “What is it?”
“Just hold the lid down,” Huang Rong said. “Don’t let … don’t let that thing come out.”
Guo Jing smiled, “How can it be a zombie?” But he saw that Huang Rong was really afraid, so he jumped toward the coffin and comforted her, “He won’t be able to crawl out!”
Huang Rong was still anxious, she hesitated a little bit, and then said, “Jing ge ge, let me hit the coffin using the ‘Empty Splitting Palm’ [pi kong zhang] while you keep your eyes open. Whether it is a zombie or Wanyan Honglie, I will split the coffin. Then we’ll see whether it is a person crying or a zombie wailing!”
As soon as she finished speaking she exerted energy to her palms, took two steps and sent the palms at the coffin. Her ‘Empty Splitting Palm’ was not as strong as Lu Chengfeng’s; therefore, she needed to hit the coffin directly. Actually it could be launched from a distance with empty air between her and the target.