Eagle Shooting Hero 2(49)
Suddenly she heard hoof beats coming her way and at the same time she could hear her father’s jade flute in the distance. Huang Rong looked back; it was Guo Jing’s little red horse, galloping in the moonlight. It had been wandering aimlessly on the island and that particular night it ran towards the seashore. Huang Rong thought, “Where can I find Jing ge ge on this boundless sea? The little red horse has divine abilities on dry land, but on the water it is completely useless.”
o0o
Hong Qigong, Zhou Botong and Guo Jing dashed out of the cabin only to find their feet submerged in water almost to their knees. They were extremely shocked. Immediately they jumped up onto the mast; Hong Qigong even remembered to snatch a couple of deaf and mute sailors. They looked down and saw the turbulent water rising fast. It all happened so fast that they were at loss as to what to do.
“Old Beggar,” Zhou Botong called, “Old Heretic Huang is so amazing! I just wonder how he built this boat?”
“I don’t know!” replied Hong Qigong, “Jing’er, hold the mast tightly, don’t let go …”
Guo Jing was about to answer when a loud crack was suddenly heard; the boat broke in two and both halves slowly sank into the water. The two sailors were so shocked that they lost their hold on the mast and fell down into the raging water below. Zhou Botong flexed his muscles and jumped into the water.
“Old Urchin!” Hong Qigong called, “Do you know how to swim?”
Zhou Botong’s head came out of the water, “I guess I’ll just have to try …” he laughed. These exchanges happened in the midst of howling winds and they could not hear each other clearly.
By this time the mast was leaning far enough that it would hit the water very soon. Hong Qigong called out, “Jing’er, the mast is joined to the hull; let’s break it free. Come on!” The two gathered their strength and struck the mast near its center. Although the mast was made from solid wood, how could it withstand the combined forces of Hong Qigong and Guo Jing? After several strikes, with a ‘Crack’, the mast gave way. The two held on to it and together they fell into the sea below.
584
Eagle Shooting Hero
They were already many li away from Peach Blossom Island and looking in all directions there were towering waves as high as a mountain; there was no land in sight. Hong Qigong was secretly very anxious. Drifting on the sea like this, without food or fresh water, should nobody rescue them, they would certainly die in less than ten days no matter how high their martial arts skills were. Hong Qigong tried looking for Ouyang Feng’s boat but it was nowhere to be seen. He heard someone laughing hard to the south of them, it was Zhou Botong.
“Jing’er,” Hong Qigong said, “Let’s try going to him.” With one hand holding the mast, the other hand paddled towards Zhou Botong. The waves were quite strong, so as they moved dozens of zhang they were pushed back dozens of zhang.
“Old Urchin, we are coming!” Hong Qigong laughed. Due to his strong internal energy, his voice could be heard amidst the sound of the roaring waves around them. They heard Zhou Botong calling out, “The Old Urchin has become a dog in the water; sort of like an old dog in salty soup!”
Guo Jing was amused that in a situation as dangerous as this, he still had the urge to goof around; truly he did not bear the title ‘the Old Urchin’ in vain.
The sea was raging wildly around them and no matter how hard they tried, they were still dozens of zhang apart from each other. Only after working hard for a long time did they finally manage to get together on the broken mast. As soon as Hong Qigong and Guo Jing saw Zhou Botong, they were unable to stifle their laughter; Zhou Botong had used sail rope to tie a piece of board to his feet and used his excellent lightness kungfu to tread on the waves. Unfortunately the waves were too strong.
Even though his body was going up and down with the waves, free and unrestrained, it was actually very difficult to move forward. Zhou Botong played on the water enthusiastically, seemingly oblivious of the danger they were facing.
Guo Jing looked around to see their boat was gone along with all the crew; they were buried under the sea. Suddenly he heard Zhou Botong call out in alarm, “Aiyo! This is serious! The Old Urchin might meet a cruel death.”
Hong Qigong and Guo Jing heard his frightened voice and asked, “What is it?”
Zhou Botong pointed his finger and said, “Sharks…a school of sharks!”
Guo Jing grew up on the steppes so he did not know how fierce a shark was. He turned around to see Hong Qigong’s face looking strange. He wondered what kind of monster a shark was that would make his master and big brother Zhou, who were used to facing danger with smiles on their faces, look so nervous.
Hong Qigong sent his strength to his palm and broke the end of the mast; then he divided the broken pieces further into two halves. Suddenly he saw a shark’s head appear amongst the white foam of the waves; its two rows of sharp white teeth glistening in the sunlight. It was only for a moment, and then it disappeared under the water. Hong Qigong threw a wooden stick to Guo Jing. “Aim for their heads!” he called out.
Guo Jing groped in his pocket and produced a dagger. “Disciple has a dagger!” he called back and threw the wooden stick toward Zhou Botong.
Eagle Shooting Hero
585
By now there were four or five sharks circling around Zhou Botong; it looked like they were assessing the situation, but no shark had attacked yet. Zhou Botong leaned over and struck; a shark’s head split open. As soon as the other sharks smelled blood they all attacked their dead comrade.
Guo Jing saw the water’s surface bubbling like boiling water; he wondered how many thousands of sharks were there. He saw white teeth flashing and in a very short moment, nothing was left of that dead shark. He was horrified. Suddenly he felt something bump his feet. Nervously he kicked around and a big shark shot up from the water towards him. With his left hand holding the mast he sent all his might to his right hand and with unmatched accuracy his extremely sharp dagger made a hole in the shark’s head. Again the water boiled as a group of sharks feasted on their dead companion. Thousands of sharks were moving and biting randomly in the water.
The three men’s martial arts were superb; surrounded by thousands of sharks they moved to the west and dodged to the east. Every time their hands struck, a shark was either dead or heavily injured while their own bodies were not even scratched. As soon as a shark bled, it became the other sharks’ food and in a flash it became a pile of cartilage sinking in the sea. Although the three’s martial arts were profound and they had great courage, when they saw this sight, they could not help feeling frightened. The sharks were uncountable and seemed like they were killing them endlessly.
They did not have time to think of anything else; they needed all their energy and concentration to fight and fight and fight …
After hours of fighting they’d killed more than two hundred sharks, then fog began rising from the water as the sun slowly fell to the western horizon. Zhou Botong called out, “Old Beggar, Brother Guo, once the sky is dark all three of us will go into the sharks’ tummies. Shall we make a bet?
Who will be first to be eaten?”
“Is the first to be eaten the winner or the loser?” Hong Qigong asked.
“The winner, certainly,” Zhou Botong replied.
“Aiyo, in that case I’d rather be the loser,” Hong Qigong said. With the back of his hand he launched the ‘Divine Dragon Swings its Tail’ and hit a big shark on its side. That big shark weighed approximately 200 jins [100kg / 220 lbs], but because of Hong Qigong’s strength, it flew into the air, rolled twice, before it fell back into the water, creating a big splash. That shark turned belly up; it had been killed instantly.
“Excellent palm technique!” Zhou Botong praised, “I’ll bow to you and take you as my master so you can teach me the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’. It’s too bad I won’t have time to learn it.
Old Beggar, do you want to compete with me?”
“I am sorry I can’t accommodate you right now,” Hong Qigong said.
Zhou Botong laughed heartily, “Brother, are you scared?” he asked Guo Jing.
In his heart Guo Jing was really scared; but seeing these two people were still able to chat and make jokes in a life and death situation his spirits were lifted. “I was scared, but not anymore,” he replied.
Suddenly he saw a monstrous shark charging his way. He leaned sideways then lifted his left hand high in the air as bait. That big shark turned around and leaped out of the water to bite his hand. The dagger in Guo Jing’s right hand moved upward and stabbed beneath the shark’s mouth. Because the 586
Eagle Shooting Hero
shark was moving forward, the dagger made a long cut along the shark’s body. Blood gushed and the contents of its stomach spilled out.
By that time Zhou Botong and Hong Qigong had each killed another shark. Zhou Botong had not yet recovered from Huang Yaoshi’s blow earlier; after fighting for such a long time he began to feel a severe pain in his chest. He laughed loudly and said, “Old Beggar, Brother Guo, I am so sorry I can’t continue much longer, I’ll have to be the first one going into a shark’s belly. Ay! Too bad you two didn’t want to bet. I would’ve won!”