“Help him,” Hong Qigong suddenly said.
“No, no!” Huang Rong quickly answered, “I am afraid.”
“It’s not a ghost,” Hong Qigong said.
“Even if it is a man we still don’t have to help,” Huang Rong said.
“Helping others in distress is one of our Beggar Clan rules,” Hong Qigong said, “You and I are two generations of Clan Leaders; we can’t abandon the honorable customs handed down from previous generations’ leaders.”
“The Beggar Clan’s custom is not right,” Huang Rong countered, “Ouyang Feng is clearly a scoundrel; when he becomes a ghost, he will be a scoundrel ghost. It doesn’t matter if it is a man or a ghost, we should not help.”
“It is the Clan’s regulation; we can’t change it,” Hong Qigong said.
In her heart Huang Rong was very angry. They heard Ouyang Feng’s voice in the distance again,
“Brother Qi [Qi Xiong], are you really ‘seeing death, but do not help’ [jian si bu jiu]?”
Huang Rong said, “I’ve got it! Jing ge ge, wait until you can see Ouyang Feng clearly, then strike him dead with your stick. You are not a Beggar Clan member; you don’t have to observe this unreasonable rule.”
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Hong Qigong was angry, “Is taking advantage of somebody else’s precarious condition the way of the righteous warrior?”
Huang Rong did not have a choice. She watched helplessly as Guo Jing steered the raft towards the voice. In the deep darkness of the night they vaguely saw two men in the water rocked by the waves; next to their heads were logs. It seemed that after their raft broke up, Ouyang Feng and his nephew had clung onto the logs until now.
“Let him swear an oath never to harm anybody else, then we will rescue him,” Huang Rong said.
Hong Qigong sighed, “You don’t know the Old Poison’s character; he would rather die than surrender. He won’t make that kind of promise. Jing’er, rescue them.”
Guo Jing bent down and grabbed Ouyang Ke’s collar and lifted him up onto the raft. Hong Qigong was eager to help and he forgot his martial arts were gone. He held out his hand and Ouyang Feng took it. He wanted to borrow strength and leap to the raft; but because of his pull Hong Qigong fell unexpectedly into the sea with a splash. Guo Jing and Huang Rong were shocked; they immediately jumped into the sea and saved Hong Qigong. Huang Rong angrily scolded Ouyang Feng, “My Master has a good heart and wanted to rescue you; how could you drag him into the sea like that?”
Ouyang Feng now knew Hong Qigong had lost his martial arts; otherwise, how could his simple pull make a martial arts expert fall into the sea? But he had been immersed in the water for several days and he was extremely weary. He did not dare to look at them; he lowered his head and said, “I
… I did not mean to. Brother Qi [Qi Xiong], please don’t blame your brother.”
Hong Qigong laughed heartily, “Well said, well said. But now the Old Beggar’s real skills are known to you,” he said.
“Good Miss,” Ouyang Feng said, “Could you spare something for us to eat? We haven’t eaten for several days.”
Huang Rong replied, “We only have food and water enough for three people on this raft. I can give you some, but what do we eat?”
“Very well,” Ouyang Feng said, “Please give a little bit of food to my nephew then; his legs are severely injured and he won’t survive without food.”
“In that case let’s make a deal,” Huang Rong said, “Your viper injured my Master; he has not recovered. Give him the antidote.”
Ouyang Feng groped in his pocket and produced two vials; handing them over to her and said,
“Miss, please take a look; the vials were submerged in the water and the antidote has been washed out!”
Huang Rong took the vials, shook them, and sniffed them; the vials really were filled with seawater.
“In that case, tell us ingredients for the antidote; as soon as we are ashore we can prepare some.”
“If I wanted to swindle you, I could just tell you some ingredients and you wouldn’t know if it is genuine or fake; but how can Ouyang Feng be that kind of person?” Then he said, “Let me tell you the truth: my vipers are the most poisonous in the world; nothing can match their lethalness. If one
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is bitten, although you won’t die immediately due to one’s excellence in martial arts, within sixty-four days half of your body will be paralyzed and you will be an invalid for the rest of your life. I have no problem about giving you the antidote ingredients, but not only are the ingredients hard to find, it also requires processing for three successive winters and summers. By the time the antidote is ready, I am afraid it will be much too late. I have told you the truth; if you still want to take my life that is entirely up to you.”
Huang Rong and Guo Jing listened to him and secretly admired him; they thought, “Although this man is evil and cruel, in a matter of life and death he did not lose his honor as the grand master of his martial arts school.”
“Rong’er,” Hong Qigong said, “He is telling the truth. A man’s life has been decided by fate; the Old Beggar has nothing to be worried about. You give them something to eat.”
Inwardly Huang Rong’s heart was crushed and she knew her master would not recover from his injury. Silently she took a roasted wild goat leg and tossed it towards Ouyang Feng. Ouyang Feng first tore some meat off for his nephew before he took a big bite and chewed the meat.
Huang Rong said coldly, “Uncle Ouyang, you have injured my master; at the second Sword Meet of Mount Hua you will be the winner amongst the heroes. Let me be the first to congratulate you.”
“That is not necessarily true,” Ouyang Feng replied, “There is at least one other person in this whole wide world who can heal Brother Qi’s injury.”
Guo Jing and Huang Rong jumped up in shock so that the raft leaned to one side. They both asked in unison, “Is that true?”
While biting the goat leg Ouyang Feng said, “But it is very difficult to ask this person to help. Your Master also knows about it.”
The two’s eyes turned to their master. Hong Qigong smiled, “You know it is difficult…why did you mention it?”
Huang Rong tugged her master’s sleeve, asking for an explanation, “Master, tell us. Even if it is difficult, we still have to try. I will ask my father to help; surely he’ll find a way.” Ouyang Feng snorted softly. “What are you snorting about?” Huang Rong said. Ouyang Feng did not answer.
Hong Qigong said, “He was laughing at you for thinking your father is all powerful. Finding that person is not a small matter, so how could your father convince that person to help?”
Huang Rong was astonished, “That person! Who is that person?”
Hong Qigong continued, “Let’s not talk about that person’s high level of martial arts skills. Even if he was so weak that he couldn’t even kill a chicken, the Old Beggar will never harm someone to benefit myself.”
Huang Rong hesitantly said, “High level of martial arts skills? Ah! I know. He is the Southern Emperor, Emperor Duan. Master, let’s ask him to heal your injury, how does that harm others to benefit yourself?”
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“Go to sleep and don’t ask any more questions! I forbid you to bring up this matter again.
Understand?” Hong Qigong said. Huang Rong did not dare to say more. She was afraid Ouyang Feng might steal their food, so she leaned against the food basket and slept.
Waking early the next morning Huang Rong looked at Ouyang Feng and his nephew; she jumped in fright because their complexions were very pale and their bodies swollen from being in seawater these past several days.
The raft sailed until about the ninth hour [3-5pm] when they saw a dark line in the distance. It appeared to be land. Guo Jing was the first to jump up and shout in delight. In the time needed to eat a bowl of rice they could see more clearly; it was indeed land. The sea was calm and the sun shone brightly, scorching these people and making them miserable. Ouyang Feng suddenly stood up; he swayed a little bit and stretched out his hands and grabbed both Guo Jing and Huang Rong. With the tip of his foot he also kicked and sealed Hong Qigong’s acupoint.
The two were taken by surprise and their vital acupoints sealed; half of their bodies numbed immediately. Startled they asked, “What are you doing?” Ouyang Feng grinned evilly, but did not say anything.
Hong Qigong sighed, “The Old Poison is very conceited; he is not willing to accept another’s mercy. We have saved his life; if he does not kill his saviors, how can his heart be at peace? Ay, I can only blame my own benevolent heart for rescuing these people in the middle of the night and forgetting this fact. Now I’ve endangered the lives of these two weary kids.”
“You knew it very well,” Ouyang Feng said, “Also the ‘Nine Yin Manual’ is in my hands; if I leave a copy in this boy named Guo’s mind, I will only invite inevitable misfortune on myself.”
Hearing him mentioning the ‘Nine Yin Manual’ Hong Qigong’s heart was stirred; with a loud voice he recited, “Nu er qi liu, ha gua er, ning xie qi qia, ping dao er …”