“The servants of Peach Blossom Island are all like that,” Zhou Botong said. “You have come here and if you don’t die, you will end up like them.”
Guo Jing heard what he said and he was silent for a long time. “How could Rong’er’s father be so cruel?” he thought.
“That Old Heretic Huang tortures me every night,” Zhou Botong continued, “I don’t want to admit defeat to him. Last night I almost fell into his hands; if not for you, little brother, my more than ten plus years of effort resisting him might have crumbled in one evening. Come little brother, we have wine and food. Today we will take an oath to be sworn brothers; in the future we will share fortune and bear difficult times together. The year when Wang Chongyang and I became sworn brothers he also resisted in every way … Why? Do you really not know? My sworn brother Wang Chongyang’s martial arts were much higher than mine; that was why he was not willing to swear brotherhood with me. Are your martial arts also much higher than mine? I don’t think so.”
“Junior’s martial arts are way below yours,” Guo Jing answered. “I don’t deserve to swear brotherhood with you.”
“If you say to swear brotherhood you have to have the same level of martial arts, then I have to swear brotherhood with Old Heretic Huang, or Old Poison,” Zhou Botong said. “That’s ridiculous! I only like to fight with them! Do you want me to swear brotherhood with this deaf and mute fellow?” He pointed to that old servant and jumped up and down in a fit of rage.
Guo Jing saw his red face and he quickly said, “Disciple and Senior are two generations apart. If I follow Senior’s directions, people will laugh at us and ridicule me. When I meet Priest Ma and Priest Qiu, how can I not be ashamed?”
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“You have these many considerations. You certainly don’t want to swear brotherhood with me because I am too old”, he sputtered. Zhou Botong covered his face and cried while unconsciously pulling his beard.
Guo Jing nervously waved his hands, “Disciple will do whatever Senior instructs.”
Zhou Botong cried even harder. “You said that because of my coercion, you reluctantly agreed; that doesn’t count. When someone asks in the future, you will say that it was entirely my fault. I know you are not willing to call me your sworn brother.”
Guo Jing was secretly amused. How could such an old man not act his age? He saw him pick up a dish and toss it outside; he did not want to eat any longer. The old servant promptly picked it up; he didn’t know what was going on and he was terrified.
Guo Jing had no choice; suppressing a laugh he said, “Since Elder Brother had shown kindness, how could Little Brother not accept? Let us use earth in place of incense and become sworn brothers.”
Zhou Botong smiled through his tears. “I have sworn to Old Heretic Huang that as long as I cannot defeat him, I will never leave this hole except for bowel movements or urinating. I will kowtow inside, you kowtow outside,” he said.
“If you can’t defeat Master Huang, then you will live in this hole all your life?” Guo Jing thought; but he did not say anything and simply knelt down on the ground.
Zhou Botong knelt alongside; with a clear voice he said, “Today the Old Urchin Zhou Botong and Guo Jing are swearing a brotherhood [lit. ‘jin lan’ – golden orchid]. We will share good fortune together and will face difficulty together. If I break this oath, may my martial arts perish so that I can’t even fight a puppy or a kitten.”
Guo Jing heard him call himself ‘Old Urchin’, and his oath was sort of peculiar; he could not restrain a smile. Zhou Botong stared at him. “What are you smiling at? Quickly say your oath.” Guo Jing quickly recited his oath; then two people poured wine on the ground. Guo Jing then paid his respects to his elder brother.
Zhou Botong laughed heartily and loudly shouted, “That’s enough! That’s enough!” He poured some more wine and drank. “The Old Heretic Huang is very stingy; he serves me insipid wine only.
One day a little miss came and brought me some good wine; it’s a pity she never came back.”
Guo Jing remembered Huang Rong had told him how she stole some wine and brought it to Zhou Botong; because of that she was scolded by her father. This caused her to leave the island in anger.
It seemed like Zhou Botong was not aware of it. Guo Jing had been hungry for the whole day; he did not want to drink any wine but he ate five big bowls of rice. Now at least he was full. As soon as the two finished eating, the old servant cleaned up and took the leftovers back.
“Brother,” Zhou Botong asked, “How did you offend the Old Heretic Huang? Tell your big brother.”
Guo Jing then narrated how he accidentally killed Chen Xuanfeng in his childhood; how at the Cloud Manor he had fought and defeated Mei Chaofeng; how Huang Yaoshi made things difficult Eagle Shooting Hero
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for the Six Freaks of Jiangnan; how because of that he had made a promise to come to Peach Blossom Island within a month to die; he told Zhou everything.
Zhou Botong loved to listen to stories; he bent his head, squinted, and listened with enthusiasm.
When Guo Jing only recounted something briefly he would ask for every detail of it. Every time Guo Jing paused even for the slightest time he urged him, “Then what happened?”
“Then I arrived here,” Guo Jing finally said.
Zhou Botong hesitated a moment. “Hmm…so turns out that pretty little girl is the Old Heretic Huang’s daughter. She is good to you. Why did she disappear soon after arriving on the island?
There must be a reason, maybe Old Heretic Huang locked her up.”
Guo Jing’s anxiety showed on his face, “This disciple also had this thought …”
“What did you say?” Zhou Botong snapped as his face changed color.
Guo Jing knew he made a mistake and quickly said, “Little brother made an indiscreet remark, please don’t mind me, Big Brother.”
Zhou Botong smiled. “The way you address me cannot be wrong. If you call me any name, then you’d better call me ‘wifey’, or ‘mommy’, or ‘daughter’. No, don’t make a mistake,” he said. Guo Jing agreed.
Zhou Botong leaned his head and asked, “Can you guess how I ended up here?”
“Brother is just about to ask,” Guo Jing said.
“It’s a long story, I will tell to you completely,” Zhou Botong said. “Do you know when the five experts, the Eastern Heretic, Western Poison, Southern Emperor, Northern Beggar and the Central Divinity, were having a sword meet on Mount Hua?”
Guo Jing nodded, “I’ve heard people talk of it.”
“It was in the dead of winter at Mount Hua,” Zhou Botong continued. “The peak was covered with a heavy snow. Five people were having a meet there; their hands contended in martial arts for seven straight days and nights. In the end the Eastern Heretic, Western Poison, Southern Emperor, and the Northern Beggar admitted that my martial brother, Wang Chongyang’s martial arts was number one in the world. Do you know why those five people were having that sword meet at Mount Hua?”
“This, brother has not heard,” Guo Jing replied.
“It was because of a scripture …” Zhou Botong said.
“The ‘Nine Yin Manual’!” Guo Jing exclaimed.
“That’s right!” Zhou Botong said. “Brother, you are young, but your knowledge of Wulin matters is not shallow. Do you know the origin of the ‘Nine Yin Manual’, then?”
“That I actually do not know,” Guo Jing replied.
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Zhou Botong playfully pulled his ears and long hair and his face showed that he was very pleased with himself. “A moment ago you told me a very interesting story, now …”
“What I told you was not a story; that really happened to me,” Guo Jing interrupted.
“What is the difference? As long as it is good to listen to,” Zhou Botong said. “Some people spend their lives eating, sleeping, urinating and defecating. If those people tell me every single detail of their life, the Old Urchin will die of suffocation.”
Guo Jing nodded his head. “That’s true,” he said. “Then why doesn’t Big Brother tell the story of the ‘Nine Yin Manual’ for little brother to hear.”
“The Emperor Hui Zong in the year of Zheng He wanted to compile Taoist books and scriptures from all over the world. He wanted to publish the work, which consisted of 5481 Chapters altogether. They were called the ‘Taoist Canon of Everlasting Life’ [wan shou dao zang]. The Emperor commissioned someone to do the work; he was called Huang Shang …”
“He was also surnamed Huang?” Guo Jing asked.
“Bah! What’s so special about the family name Huang?” Zhou Botong spat. “This person had nothing to do with the Old Heretic Huang Yaoshi; don’t get any wrong ideas. There are numerous people surnamed Huang in this world; the ‘yellow’ [huang] dog or yellow cat are also surnamed Huang.”
Guo Jing thought that a yellow dog and a yellow cat did not necessarily have ‘huang’ as their surnames, but he did not want to debate him; so he let him continue with his story.