“That’s not right!” Yang Kang said anxiously, “You hit the coffin’s lid and a zombie might poke his head out and bite your hand, that won’t be good!”
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He was successful in making Huang Rong more frightened than ever. She was shivering and halted her movement. Suddenly a cry came out from the coffin; it was a woman’s voice. Huang Rong jumped. She was extremely terrified. “A female ghost!” she cried. Flailing her hands she ran outside and cried, “Quick! Get out of here!”
Guo Jing was brave, “Brother Yang, let us lift the coffin lid and take a look,” he said.
Yang Kang was drenched in a cold sweat, but how could he refuse Guo Jing’s request? Surely he could not make himself an enemy of this Guo-Huang couple. But then he heard that woman’s voice again, so he rushed ahead to raise the coffin lid. They used a knife to jack the lid up and together they opened the lid, which actually had not been nailed to the coffin.
Guo Jing had directed his strength to his arms, ready to strike the zombie’s head; but when he looked down, he was stunned. There was no zombie; it was a good-looking young girl, with a pair of big eyes looking up at them. It was none other than Mu Nianci.
Yang Kang was pleasantly surprised and quickly he held out his hand to help her out.
“Rong’er, come here, quick!” Guo Jing called out. “Look who’s here?”
Huang Rong turned her head with her eyes closed. “I don’t want to see!” she shouted back.
“But it’s Elder Sister Mu!” Guo Jing urged.
With her left eye still closed, Huang Rong took a peek with her right eye. She saw Yang Kang embracing a woman who looked like Mu Nianci. She felt relieved and timidly entered the room again. Who was that woman if not Mu Nianci?
Huang Rong saw Mu Nianci’s face looked haggard and two streams of tears flowed down her cheeks. She was unable to move. Huang Rong unsealed her acupoint and asked, “Elder Sister, why are you here?”
Mu Nianci’s acupoint had been sealed for quite a while; her whole body was stiff and her breathing was uneven. Huang Rong helped by rubbing her back. After a while [about the time needed to drink a cup of tea] Mu Nianci told her, “I was captured and held prisoner.”
Huang Rong noticed that the sealed acupoint was located at the center of the sole of the foot; the
‘Bursting Fountain’ [yong quan] acupoint. This was rarely used by the wulin characters of the Central Plains. So with eighty to ninety percent certainty she guessed, “Was it that bastard Ouyang Ke?” Mu Nianci did not answer, but she nodded.
That day when she was trying to contact Mei Chaofeng for Yang Kang’s sake she was captured by Ouyang Ke near the pile of skulls and her acupoint was sealed. After Huang Yaoshi played his jade flute to disperse the snakes and help Mei Chaofeng; Ouyang Ke’s concubines and his three snake herders were left unconscious by the flute’s sound and Ouyang Ke ran away in distress. At daybreak the concubines and the snake herders woke up and found Mu Nianci lying on her side, unable to move. They took her to their master. Ouyang Ke tried to rape her, but she was determined to fight to her death. Although Ouyang Ke was conceited and lecherous, he always prided himself as being an elegant and cultured man; his martial arts skill was high, so he could easily melt women’s hearts. If he resorted to violence and brute force, he would certainly succeed in raping her; but then he would Eagle Shooting Hero
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mar the name of the White Camel Mountain. Because of this pride, Mu Nianci was fortunate and able to keep her purity.
Afterwards they arrived at Baoying and Ouyang Ke hid her inside one of the Liu ancestral temple’s coffins. He then sent his concubines to ‘invite’ several beautiful young women from rich families, including Miss Cheng. It was then that the Beggar Clan intervened which resulted in a battle.
Ouyang Ke left in a hurry. He’d had several women these past few days, so he did not remember Mu Nianci was still inside one of the coffins. If Guo Jing and the others had not been looking for Wanyan Honglie, she would have starved to death inside the coffin.
Yang Kang was unexpectedly happy to see his beloved here. With a compassionate face he said,
“Little sister, just rest here, I am going to boil some water for you to drink.”
“How can you boil some water?” Huang Rong smiled, “I’ll go. Jing ge ge, come with me.” She had thought to leave those two alone to alleviate their lovesickness, but Mu Nianci sat straight up, “Hold a moment!” she said without a smile, “Mister Yang, I congratulate you on your unlimited riches and honor in the future.”
Yang Kang felt a flush creeping onto his whole face, but his heart turned cold. “She must have heard my conversation with Fu Wang in here.” He stood still not knowing what to do.
Mu Nianci saw he was distressed and her heart melted; she did not have the heart to reveal the secret that he was the one who let Wanyan Honglie go, for fear that Guo Jing and Huang Rong would kill him out of anger.
“You called him ‘Dad’, wasn’t that better? It is much more intimate than if you call him ‘Fu Wang’, isn’t it?” she coldly said. Yang Kang felt so ashamed; he hung his head and did not say anything.
Huang Rong did not know what was going on; she thought this young woman was upset and blamed Yang Kang for not coming earlier to rescue her. She pulled Guo Jing’s sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go out, I am sure those two will make up immediately.” Guo Jing smiled and went along with her.
“Let’s eavesdrop on what they’re saying,” Huang Rong said as soon as they reached the courtyard.
Guo Jing smiled, “Don’t intentionally create trouble. I don’t want to listen.”
“Very well!” Huang Rong sulked. “Just don’t be disappointed if I hear something interesting and I don’t tell you about it.” She leaped to the roof and walked quietly back to the west wing only to hear Mu Nianci speaking harshly.
“You called an enemy your father. I can understand that considering your past relationship; you will get over it. But who would have thought you also have delusional thoughts; you want to destroy the country of your own parents, this … this …” Reaching this point she was so furious that she could not continue.
Yang Kang smiled nervously. “Little sister, I …” he said softly, but Mu Nianci cut him short.
“Who’s your little sister? Don’t touch me!” she screamed. ‘Slap!’ her hand left a red imprint on Yang Kang’s face.
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Huang Rong was surprised. “They’re fighting, I must stop them,” she thought. Entering through a window she laughed and said, “Aiyo! Even if you don’t agree with each other, please don’t resort to violence.” But she stopped dead in her track at seeing Mu Nianci’s fiery red cheeks while Yang Kang was very pale. She was about to open her mouth again when Yang Kang suddenly shouted,
“Good! You have met the new one and abandoned the old. Your heart is already occupied by another and so you treat me like this.”
“You … what did you say?” Mu Nianci stammered. Yang Kang snickered, “You and that fellow named Ouyang. His martial arts are ten times better than mine; of course you would immediately brush me from your heart.”
Mu Nianci was so angry that her hands and feet went icy-cold; she nearly passed out.
Huang Rong interrupted, “Brother Yang, you must not speak nonsense; if Sister Mu liked him, why would that bastard seal her acupoint and leave her starving inside the coffin?”
Out of shame Yang Kang became indignant. “The truth is good, yet hypocrisy is also good. She was held by that bastard for quite some time and she has lost her innocence. How could she and I be together again?”
Mu Nianci was outraged, “I … I … What innocence have I lost?”
“You were in that man’s possession for many days; he must have cuddled you, you must have embraced him. How could you keep your crystal clear purity?” Yang Kang mocked.
Mu Nianci really could not hold herself back any longer. She was tired and angry. This last attack was too vicious for her to bear. With a ‘wah’ sound she spit some blood and fell backwards.
Yang Kang realized his words were too vicious; seeing her like that he felt remorse and wanted to embrace and comfort her. Then he remembered she knew his secret. Huang Rong had voiced her suspicions earlier; if Mu Nianci should open her mouth, his life would be in danger. Moreover, he was worried about his father; so without saying anything he turned around, rushed outside and leaped over the wall.
Huang Rong had to massage Mu Nianci’s chest for quite a while before she finally came to. She was unusually composed and did not even cry. “Little Sister,” she calmly said, “Let me borrow the dagger I gave you earlier.”
“Jing ge ge!” Huang Rong called out loudly, “Can you come here, please?” Guo Jing quickly came.
“Please give the dagger that belongs to Brother Yang to Elder Sister Mu,” Huang Rong said.
“Certainly,” Guo Jing complied. He pulled the dagger out of his pocket; it was the dagger taken by Zhu Cong from Mei Chaofeng. It was wrapped in, what would appear to the casual observer, a thin sheet of leather. The leather was full of characters tattooed with a needle. Guo Jing was not aware that the characters were actually the second part of the ‘Nine Yin Manual’. He casually unrolled the leather sheet and gave the dagger to Mu Nianci.