Eagle Shooting Hero 2(72)
From the other side of the hill Huang Rong ran shouting with a wild goat in her hands. When going out to hunt for the goat she carried some pebbles to herd the goat with; who would have thought that with only several jumps she had already overtaken the goat. She twisted around and grabbed the wild goat. Her body movements were so swift that she even surprised herself.
Hong Qigong smiled, “So the ‘Nine Yin Manual’ is truly a wonderful manual; no wonder countless heroes and warriors were willing to risk their lives for it.”
Huang Rong was delighted, “Master, do you think we can beat the Old Poison now?” she asked.
Hong Qigong shook his head, “Not yet, you are still far from that,” he replied, “You’ll have to train for another eight to ten years. His Toad Stance is not a small matter; no martial art can break it except Wang Chongyang’s Solitary Yang Finger.
Huang Rong pouted and said, “Then even if we train for another eight to ten years we might still not be able to defeat him.”
“That’s hard to say,” Hong Qigong said, “Perhaps the martial arts in that book are fiercer than I think.”
“Rong’er, please be patient,” Guo Jing said, “There is nothing wrong with learning a new skill.”
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A few more days passed and Guo Jing and Huang Rong finished the second part of the ‘Changing Muscles Forging Bones’. The raft was also ready. The three of them wove a sail from tree bark and they also prepared some fresh water and food on the raft. All along Ouyang Feng acted indifferent to what they were doing; he simply watched their activities with a cold look.
One evening everything was ready so they planned on sailing the next day. Just before bed that night Huang Rong asked, “Do we have to say goodbye to them?”
“Not only that, we must make a ten year agreement with them,” Guo Jing answered, “They have bullied us badly; how can we just forget it?”
Huang Rong clapped her hands and said, “Absolutely! I pray to Heaven to bless those two thieves so that they can go back to the mainland, and also to give the Old Poison ten more years of life; or perhaps to restore Master’s martial arts quickly, so that in one or two years we can hunt for him.
That would be even better.”
The next day before the crack of dawn Hong Qigong awoke; he indistinctly heard some noises from the shore. He quickly called, “Jing’er, did you hear that noise from the beach?”
Guo Jing got up immediately and jumped down from the tree. Once he saw what was happening on the beach he could not stop cursing; he immediately rushed forward in pursuit. By this time Huang Rong also awoke and ran after him, calling out, “Jing ge ge, what’s the matter?”
Guo Jing shouted from the distance, “Those wicked thieves stole our raft.” Hearing this, Huang Rong was shocked.
By the time they got to the beach Ouyang Feng had already carried his nephew out to the raft, raised the sail and was already several zhang [1 zhang = 3.3m or 11ft] away from land. Guo Jing was furious and was about to jump into the ocean to pursue, but Huang Rong pulled his sleeve and said,
“They are already too far.”
Ouyang Feng roared with laughter, “Many thanks for the raft!” he shouted.
Stomping his feet with rage, Guo Jing furiously kicked a red sandalwood tree nearby. Huang Rong suddenly had an idea, “I’ve got it!” she called out. She took a big rock and placed it in the tree branches. She wanted to use the tree as a slingshot. “Pull on this tree,” she said, “and we’ll hurl the rock.”
Guo Jing was delighted. He braced his legs on the tree’s base and pulled the trunk backward with all his might. Sandalwood trees are strong but supple; it bent almost completely down to the ground but did not break. Guo Jing let go and with a whooshing sound the big rock flew out to sea and fell near the raft’s side, creating a zhang high big splash.
“What a pity!” Huang Rong called out. She took another rock, aimed carefully and let go. This time the rock hit the raft dead on, but the raft’s construction was too good and it did not break. The two launched three more rocks, but all of them fell into the water.
Watching all their rocks miss the target, Huang Rong had a crazy idea. “Quick, use me as the rock!”
she shouted. Guo Jing was startled, unclear of what she meant. Huang Rong explained, “Hurl me out to sea; I’ll deal with them.”
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Guo Jing knew her water skills were excellent, her lightness kungfu was excellent as well; he saw no danger in complying with her request. He drew his knife and put it in her hand. “Be careful,” he said. He pulled the tree one more time. Huang Rong sat steadily on a branch and called out, “Fire away!”
Guo Jing released his grip and Huang Rong’s body flew into the sky. She somersaulted twice in the air and plunged into the water several zhang away from the raft. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
Ouyang Feng and his nephew were dazzled and they didn’t know what she was going to do.
Huang Rong went deep into the water. She did not emerge, but swam underwater towards the raft instead. Once she saw a black shadow overhead she knew she had arrived at the bottom of the raft.
Ouyang Feng randomly hit the water with the oar, but he could not hit her.
Huang Rong held up the dagger, ready to sever the ropes tying the wooden raft together; then she suddenly came up with a bright idea. She reduced the strength of her hand only partly cutting the ropes, leaving a third intact; that way the raft would not break apart until the rough waves of the open sea hit it. She turned around and swam away, emerging on the surface about a dozen zhang away; she gasped for breath, pretending she could not catch the raft. Ouyang Feng laughed wildly and hoisted the sail. Not too long afterwards the raft was far away.
While waiting for her to arrive back at the beach, Hong Qigong and Guo Jing cursed continuously; but then they saw Huang Rong’s smug expression and were puzzled. After hearing what had happened, they were delighted to no end. “Even though we are sending those two wicked men to the bottom of the sea, we will have to start the work over again,” Huang Rong said.
The three ate their meal in high spirits; then they cut logs again and built another raft. Several days later they were ready, and when the southeast wind blew, they hoisted the tree bark sail and left the island heading to the west. Huang Rong gazed towards the island, which was getting smaller and smaller, she sighed and said, “Our lives were almost lost on that island; but leaving it today, my heart is filled with sadness.”
“We can always revisit the island in the future,” Guo Jing said.
Huang Rong clapped her hands and said, “Good! We must come back. When that time comes, you can’t go back on your word. But first, let’s give this small island a good name. Master, what do you think?”
“You crushed that little bastard’s legs with a big rock on that island,” Hong Qigong said, “Let us call it ‘Crushing Ghost Island’ [ya gui dao]. What do you say?”
Huang Rong shook her head. “That is not very elegant.”
“If you want elegance, why ask the Old Beggar in the first place?” Hong Qigong said, “If you ask me, since the Old Poison ate my urine on the island, I say we call it ‘Eat Urine Island’ [chi sui dao].”
Huang Rong smiled with a negative wave of her hand; she leaned her head to one side to think. She saw a group of red clouds on the horizon, like a cluster of gems hovering gloriously over the island.
“Let’s call it ‘Bright Red Cloud Island’ [ming xia dao]!” she called out.
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“Not good, not good!” Hong Qigong countered, “That was too elegant.”
Guo Jing listened to the master and disciple arguing; he smiled and did not say anything. He did not care whether the island had an elegant name or a vulgar name; but deep down in his heart he thought ‘ya gui’ or ‘chi sui’ were more interesting than ‘ming xia’.
Carried by the blowing wind they sailed for two days and the wind did not change its course.
Towards the evening of the third day Hong Qigong and Huang Rong were asleep while Guo Jing kept charge of the rudder for the night. Amid the ocean breeze and rolling waves he suddenly heard somebody shout, “Help! Help!” twice. The voice sounded like clashing cymbals and it could be heard clearly amidst the blowing wind and waves.
Hong Qigong sat up and said in a low voice, “That’s the Old Poison.” They heard the shout one more time and Huang Rong grabbed Hong Qigong’s arm, “It’s a ghost…it’s a ghost!” she said with a trembling voice. It was the end of the sixth month and the night was dark and moonless; there were only a few stars scattered sparsely in the dark night. The sea was pitch-black and a scream in the middle of the night would make anybody terrified.
“Is that the Old Poison?” Hong Qigong called out. His internal energy was lost, so his voice did not travel too far. Guo Jing gathered the ‘qi’ on his ‘dan tian’ and called out, “Is that Uncle Ouyang?”
From the distance they heard Ouyang Feng answer, “It is me, Ouyang Feng. Help!”
Huang Rong was still terrified, “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a man or a ghost, let’s just leave, quickly!”