Hou Tonghai slapped the table and made quite a racket but nobody came. Liang Ziweng went out and walked around the building. He frowned and said, “Nobody lives here.” Hou Tonghai volunteered to go into the village and buy some wine and food. Ouyang Feng found a spot protected from the blowing wind and spread some straw. Then he carried his nephew and gently placed him on the straw to let him lie quietly to heal his broken legs.
Peng Lianhu said with a laugh, “Although those palace guards are useless, they are haunting us like ghosts. We didn’t even have time to stop and eat for the whole day. Prince, you are a northerner, yet you knew that there is a desolate village by the Qiantang River and led us here. Truly nothing is hidden from your knowledgeable mind.”
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Although he heard the flattering tone in Peng Lianhu’s voice, Wanyan Honglie’s face did not show the slightest satisfaction. He merely sighed softly and said, “I came to this place nineteen years ago.” Everyone could see that his expression had changed. They felt a little strange. Of course, nobody knew he was thinking about how Bao Xirou had saved his life in this village. The desolate village still existed, but that gentle lady with a hairpin in her hair, wearing green robes, and who fed him warm chicken soup, was no longer in this world.
Meanwhile, Hou Tonghai had returned from the village with wine and food. Peng Lianhu poured wine for everybody and said to Wanyan Honglie, “Prince, today you succeeded in attaining the marvelous book of military strategy. It is a sign that the Great Jin’s prestige will soon inspire the world, and your armies will dominate tens of thousands of lands. Let us all congratulate you!” He raised his cup and gulped his wine. His voice was loud and clear so Guo Jing could hear him clearly in spite of the wall between them. He was shocked. “Master Yue’s Legacy [Yue Yeye] has fallen into his hands!” he thought bitterly. As soon as his mind became anxious, the flow of energy in his chest reversed. Huang Rong could feel his palm shaking and she knew he’d heard everything. It had affected his ‘dan tian’ [pubic region] energy. If it was not controlled quickly his life might be in danger. She quickly pressed her lips to his ear and whispered, “If he could steal the book, can’t we do the same? When your Second Master [Er Shifu], the ‘Magical Hands Scholar’ makes his move, he can easily steal ten books.”
Guo Jing thought she was right and immediately closed his eyes. His mind no longer listened to the conversation beyond the wall. Huang Rong looked into the hole again and saw Wanyan Honglie raise his cup and drink his wine. Then, with a delighted smile, he said, “In today’s battle everyone worked hard to help and Mr. Ouyang rendered the greatest service. If he had not gotten rid of that kid named Guo, we would have had to expend a lot more effort.”
Ouyang Feng let out a dry laugh which sounded like a broken cymbal. As Guo Jing heard his laughter, his heart was stirred yet again. Huang Rong inwardly thought, “Heaven bless us and not let the Old Poison pluck his devilish zither here, or Jing ge ge’s life will be difficult to save.”
She heard Ouyang Feng say, “This place is so remote, the Song army will not find us here. I wonder what kind of treasure this Yue Fei Yishu [Legacy] is. Let us all take a look.”
He took the stone box from his clothing and placed it on the table. His thoughts were that should Wumu Legacy contain an exquisite martial arts method, then he would, without regard for anyone else, take it for himself. However, if the book only contained marching techniques and military strategies, it would be useless to him. In that case, he would gladly let the others enjoy it and allow Wanyan Honglie keep it.
In the meantime, everyone was gazing at the stone box. Huang Rong thought, “What can I do to destroy the book? Destroying it would be better than letting it fall into the hands of these traitors.”
She heard Wanyan Honglie say, “Xiao Wang [lit. little prince] has performed a comprehensive analysis of Yue Fei’s riddle in the form of a poem. I also carefully studied the official historical records of the previous dynasties on the construction of the Imperial Palace. I came to believe that this book was concealed fifteen steps east of the ‘Green-Jade Cold Hall’. Today my deduction was proved correct. I believe no one in the Song Dynasty knew that such a treasure was hidden in their palace. The commotion we made last night….I don’t think anybody knew what it was all about.” He sounded very proud of himself. Everyone seized the opportunity to immediately heap praises on him.
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Wanyan Honglie twisted his moustache and laughed. “Kang’er,” he said, “Go ahead…open the box.”
Yang Kang responded and stepped forward. First he removed the seal and then lifted the lid.
Everyone’s eyes were on the box. Their countenances suddenly changed and they were confounded.
No one made a sound. The box was completely empty. There wasn’t a military strategy book inside
…there wasn’t even a blank sheet of paper. Although Huang Rong could not see the box, judging from everyone’s expression, she could deduce that the box was empty. She was delighted and found it amusing.
Wanyan Honglie was very disappointed. He held onto the table as he sat down. His hand propped his cheek as he began thinking deeply. “My thousands of calculations, tens of thousands of iterations, all pointed to Yue Fei’s Legacy being in this box. How can it be that there’s not even a trace of it?” he thought. Suddenly he had an idea and his face lit up. He took the stone box outside towards the well and smashed it with all his might against the flagstones. ‘Bang!’ the box broke into pieces.
When Huang Rong heard that breaking stone she immediately thought, “Ah, there is a secret compartment in the box.” She was anxious to see if the Legacy was inside a secret compartment, but no matter what, she could not go out. After a moment, however, she saw Wanyan Honglie dejectedly return to the room and sit down.
“I knew there was a secret compartment in that box, but who could have known it was also empty,”
Wanyan Honglie said.
One after another the others tried to offer their opinions. Huang Rong was amused listening to their wild imaginings. Each was weirder than the next. She immediately told Guo Jing. When he learned that the Wumu Legacy had not been stolen, he was greatly comforted. Huang Rong deliberated further. “These traitors will not give up just like that…they must be thinking of going back to the palace tonight.” She was thinking of her Master who was still inside the palace and she was afraid he might be implicated if found. Zhou Botong was there to protect him, but Huang Rong could not help but feel worried since the Old Urchin behaved like a madman. He could not take care of important matters properly.
Sure enough, she heard Ouyang Feng say, “It’s not a big deal. We’ll go back to the palace tonight and search some more.”
“We can’t go tonight,” Wanyan Honglie objected. “We made quite a disturbance last night and I am sure they will guard the palace closely tonight.”
“We can’t avoid the guards,” Ouyang Feng said, “But why worry over it? The Prince and Young Prince do not need to go. You and my nephew may stay here to have some rest.”
Wanyan Honglie cupped his fists in front of his chest. “Then I will trouble Mister to do this work for me. The Prince will await your good news with a peaceful heart.” Straightaway everyone spread out some straw in the room and lay down to sleep. After they’d slept for more than two hours, Ouyang Feng woke the others and they went to the city once again.
Wanyan Honglie tossed and turned without being able to get any sleep. Around midnight he could hear the sounds of the rising tide in the river. He could also hear a dog barking at the other end of
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the village and the dog barked intermittently throughout the night, as if it was lamenting. In the quiet of the night it brought sorrow to the heart, adding to the anxiety he already felt inside.
After a long while footsteps were heard outside the door…someone was coming in. Wanyan Honglie quickly sat up and drew his sword. Yang Kang had quickly jumped behind the door to set an ambush. In the moonlight they saw a woman with disheveled hair, humming a children’s song, open the door and come in. It was none other than Sha Gu. She had just got back from playing in the woods all day. She thought little of seeing people sleeping in her room, so she kept walking towards the pile of firewood, and lay down next to it. Not too long afterwards, she was snoring.
When Yang Kang saw it was only a dumb country girl, he smiled and went back to sleep. Wanyan Honglie’s mind, however, was filled with thoughts of the past and present. He did not sleep for a long time. He got up, took a candle from his backpack and lit it. Then he took out a book and started flipping the pages.
Huang Rong saw the bright light through the small hole. She took a peek and saw a moth circle the candle, then fly suddenly into the flame. Its wings were immediately scorched and it fell onto the table. Wanyan Honglie picked the moth up. He could not help but feel distressed. He thought, “If my Madame Bao were here, she would certainly take care of you.” From his bosom he took out a small silver knife, a small medicine bottle and stroked them affectionately.