Eagle Shooting Hero 2(69)
“Jing ge ge, there’s no need to look anymore. Let’s go to the top of the tree.”
Guo Jing stopped and looked up the pine tree. The tree was indeed a wonderful place for a shelter.
The two bent some branches and made a platform. Then, with one on either side, they sat Hong Qigong on their hands and shouted, “Heave!”. They flew up and put Hong Qigong safely on the platform they just made.
Huang Rong laughed and said, “We are living on branches like birds. Let them live in the cave like beasts.”
Then Guo Jing said, “Rong’er, do you want to send them food or not?”
Huang Rong said, “Since I cannot think of any wonderful plan to defeat the Old Poison at the moment, I think we’d better comply with his request.” Guo Jing continued to grumble.
The two wandered around a mountain and managed to catch a wild goat. Then they made a fire at the base of the tree to roast the goat. The roasted goat was then torn in two. Huang Rong took one piece of the meat and threw it on the ground and said, “Urinate on the meat!”
Guo Jiang laughed, “They’ll find out.”
Huang Rong said, “Don’t worry about that…just do it.”
Guo Jing blushed and said, “I can’t do it!”
Huang Rong asked, “Why?”
Guo Jing mumbled, “I can’t urinate with you beside me.” Huang Rong burst out in laughter.
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From the top of the tree Hong Qigong called out, “Throw the meat up here! I will urinate on it myself!” Guo Jing laughed, took the meat and leaped up to the platform so that Hong Qigong could urinate on it. Hong Qigong urinated a lot on the goat meat. Guo Jing laughed loudly then carried the meat towards the cave.
Huang Rong called, “No! Take this one.”
Guo Jing scratched his head and said, “That’s the clean one.”
Huang Rong said, “That’s right. We are going to offer them the clean meat.”
Guo Jing was confused, but he usually listened to whatever Huang Rong said. He came back and took the clean goat meat. Huang Rong took the urine-soaked meat and put it back on the fire while she went out to pick edible wild fruits. Hong Qigong did not understand Huang Rong’s plan and was upset. He’d drooled over the meat, but all that was left was the one soaked with his own urine.
He had no choice but to be patient.
The roasted goat released a very good aroma. Inside the cave Ouyang Feng had smelled that wonderful aroma. Without waiting for Guo Jing to arrive he went out of the cave and snatched the meat as his face showed how pleased he was at the moment. Then a thought came into his mind.
“Where is the other half?” he asked. Guo Jing pointed his finger.
Ouyang Feng walked in big strides towards the pine tree. He snatched the urine soaked meat and threw the clean meat on the ground. He laughed coldly before turning around to leave.
Guo Jing knew that he must not show anything suspicious on his face. However, it was not in his nature to pretend, so he was forced to turn around and dared not look at Ouyang Feng. He waited for Ouyang Feng to get far away before rushing to Huang Rong. He laughed and said, “How did you know that he would come and exchange the meat?”
Huang Rong smiled and said, “According to military tactics, void is actually solid, while solid is actually void. The Old Poison knew that we would try something with the food and did not want to be tricked. So I just let him trick himself.” Guo Jing listened to all of this in awe while tearing the clean goat meat into smaller pieces before taking it up to the shelter they’d made. The three ate the meat.
While they were happily eating, Guo Jing suddenly said, “Rong’er, you really came up with a wonderful ruse just now. Nevertheless, it was a dangerous one.”
Huang Rong immediately asked, “Why?”
Guo Jing replied, “If the Old Poison had not come and exchanged the meat, wouldn’t we be eating the meat soaked in master’s urine?”
Huang Rong, who sat on a branch while listening to Guo Jing’s words, bent over laughing loudly and tumbled down from the tree. Then she leaped back up into the tree unharmed and said, “Very, very dangerous indeed.”
Hong Qigong sighed and said, “Dumb child, if he didn’t come to exchange the meat, then you just don’t eat the tainted meat.”
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Guo Jing was startled at the truth of the statement and let out a loud laugh before falling down from the tree as well.
As Ouyang Feng and nephew ate the meat, they thought the wild goat meat had a urine-like smell to it, but they did not suspect anything. In fact, they praised Huang Rong’s wonderful skill in roasting the meat and giving the meat a salty taste. Not long after, the sky began to turn dark. It was at this moment that Ouyang Ke’s wounds started to ache, causing him to groan loudly.
Ouyang Feng walked out towards the pine tree and called out, “Come down little girl!”
Huang Rong was startled because she did not expect Ouyang Feng to come that soon. She asked,
“What is it?”
Ouyang Feng answered, “My nephew needs tea and water. Quickly go and serve him now.” The people in the tree listened to everything and could not help but feel very angry. Ouyang Feng shouted angrily, “Hurry up! What are you waiting for?”
Guo Jing whispered, “Let’s fight him.”
Hong Qigong added, “The two of you run quickly towards the back of the mountain. Don’t worry about me.”
Huang Rong had already calculated carefully the two choices that they had now. Whether they should flee and allow their master’s life to be lost…or duel with Ouyang Feng. The only thing that could be done now was to compromise for their master’s safety. She leaped down from the tree and said, “Alright, let me go and have a look at his wounds.”
Ouyang Feng sneered and said, “The boy surnamed Guo…come down and follow me. Are you still soundly asleep? I have a good idea you’re not.” Guo Jing, swallowing his anger, leaped down from the tree.
Ouyang Feng said, “Go get a hundred logs for me before the night ends. If you are short by one log, I will break one of your legs. If you are short two logs, I will break both of your legs.”
Huang Rong asked, “What do you want with the logs? Besides, how are we going to see where we’re going in the dark?”
Ouyang Feng cursed her, “You talk too much girl! What does this have to do with you? Go quickly and attend to my nephew. If there is something amiss or wrong, all of you will suffer the consequences!”
Huang Rong gave Guo Jing a hand signal telling him not to make things worse. Guo Jing watched Ouyang Feng and Huang Rong’s shadows disappear in the darkness. He was so angry that tears flowed from his eyes.
Hong Qigong suddenly said, “When I was young, my grandpa, my father and I were slaves of the Jin. What is this hardship compared to what we went through?”
Guo Jing was startled and he came to his senses, “It turns out that my benevolent master was once a slave, but later he mastered a matchless martial art. Although I feel wronged today, can’t I just Eagle Shooting Hero
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endure it patiently?” Guo Jing then leaped down from the tree and lit a tree branch before heading towards the back-side of the mountain. He used the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’, hacking down trees as big as a rice bowl in diameter. He was fully aware that Huang Rong would be able to escape from harm, just like the day she was surrounded by a bunch of criminals at the Zhao palace.
No matter how difficult the situation, she somehow managed to escape unharmed. Therefore, he concentrated his attention and energy on cutting down trees.
Using the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’ took a lot of his energy. After a while he started to feel strained and numb. In less than an hour Guo Jing managed to knock down twenty one pine trees. By the time he knocked down the twenty-second tree, Guo Jing‘s arm was sore and tired.
When he launched the ‘Seeing the Dragon in the Field’, his palm strokes were uneven and though branches and leaves shook, the trunk swayed but did not break. He felt his chest tightening. The energy did not flow to his palm, but went in reverse to his chest. His master had repeatedly warned him about this condition. The ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’ carried tremendous force, but if his own strength was not sufficient, he would suffer a tremendous self-inflicted injury. He was shocked, immediately sat down, and focused his mind on controlling his breathing. After about an hour he struck that tree again, but his body was worn out and his arms and legs were weak.
Guo Jing knew that if he forced himself to exert more strength, not only would it still be difficult to accomplish his task, but he would suffer internal injuries as well. On this desolate island there was no saber or hatchet…how would he be able to chop down more trees? He noticed that out of the hundred logs needed he was still about eighty logs short and his legs were about ready to give out.
He thought aloud, “His nephews legs are crushed… he must hate me to my guts. Even if I manage to give him a hundred logs tonight, tomorrow night he will require a thousand. When will it end?
We can’t fight him and on this desolate island there’s nobody to help us.” Having thought about this he heaved a long sigh, “Here we are stuck on this island…who in the world would come to rescue us? Benevolent master Hong has lost his martial arts and whether he will live or die is difficult to tell. Rong’er’s father despises me. All of the Quanzhen Seven Masters and my six benevolent masters are not the Western Poison’s match. If only … if only my sworn brother Zhou Botong was here … but he killed himself by jumping into the sea earlier.” As soon as Zhou Botong came into his mind, he hated Ouyang Feng even more. He thought of that old sworn brother of his, who was skilled in the ‘Nine Yin Manual’, who had created the ‘Mutual Hands Combat technique’, and was forced to his death by Ouyang Feng.