Yin Zhiping had been under his master’s tutelage for quite a long time and he also had inherited his master’s broad-minded and heroic disposition. He regarded this martial sister as girlish and shy. She did not look like a heroic person at all, so he was secretly amused. He chatted with her about their school for a while then turned toward Lu Guanying to introduce himself. Lu Guanying introduced himself, but did not mention his father’s name or title.
Yin Zhiping turned his attention to Hou Tonghai. “This lunatic’s martial arts are actually very good.
I wonder where he came from. We must not release him,” he said.
Lu Guanying said, “Let little brother use my saber and finish him off.” He was the leader of a band of pirates at Lake Tai and killing was not a serious matter for him. Miss Cheng, on the other hand, was tender-hearted. “Ah! Don’t kill him!” she said.
Yin Zhiping smiled, “It’s all right with me if we don’t kill him,” he said. “Younger Martial Sister Cheng [Cheng Shimei], have you been here long?”
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Miss Cheng blushed. “Little sister has just arrived,” she said.
Yin Zhiping looked at the couple and thought, “Looks like these two are in love with one another…I must not interfere. I’ll just visit for a while and then I’ll go.” He said, “I received an order from Master to go to Ox Village to find someone and convey a message to him. Little brother must take his leave. We’ll meet again later.” He cupped his hands and turned around to leave.
Miss Cheng’s blush had not quite faded and from listening to him it seemed like a tinge of redness crept back onto her face. Hanging her head she asked timidly, “Elder Martial Brother Yin, who are you seeking?”
Yin Zhiping hesitated slightly as he thought, “Younger Martial Sister Cheng is a disciple of my school and this fellow surnamed Lu is her travel companion, so he is not an outsider. I think there is no harm in telling them.” Thereupon he said, “I am looking for a friend surnamed Guo.”
With these words, the people on both sides of the wall were stunned. Lu Guanying asked, “Could it be that this friend has the single character ‘Jing’ as his name?”
“That’s right,” Yin Zhiping said, “Brother Lu also knows this Guo friend?” he asked.
Lu Guanying replied, “The one little brother is looking for is exactly this Martial Uncle Guo [Guo Shishu].”
Yin Zhiping and Miss Cheng were both surprised, “You call him Martial Uncle?”
“My father is of the same generation as he,” Lu Guanying said. “That’s why Little Brother calls him Shishu.” Lu Chengfeng and Huang Rong were of the same generation [meaning that they had the same teacher-Huang Yaoshi] and Guo Jing and Huang Rong were engaged to each other. It was for this reason that Lu Guanying referred to Guo Jing as Martial Uncle.
Miss Cheng did not say anything, but her heart was troubled. Yin Zhiping quickly asked, “Have you seen him? Where is he?”
“Little Brother has just arrived. I was about to inquire about him when this lunatic attacked without any reason,” Lu Guanying replied.
“Good!” Yin Zhiping said. “Then let us look for him together.” The three went out the door together.
Huang Rong and Guo Jing looked at each other with bitter smiles on their faces. “They will come back,” Guo Jing said. “Rong’er, open the door and call them.”
Huang Rong sighed and said, “How can I do that? These people are looking for you and it must be about some important matters. You are still trying to heal your injury…how can your attention be diverted?”
“That’s right,” Guo Jing agreed. “It must be a very important matter. Can you think of something?”
Huang Rong said, “I will not open the door even if the sky is falling”
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Sure enough, not too long afterwards, Yin Zhiping and the others came back to the inn. Lu Guanying said, “Even in his hometown no one can shed any light on his whereabouts. This is not good.”
Yin Zhiping said, “May we know for what important matter does Brother Lu seek him?”
Initially Lu Guanying was unwilling to say, but seeing Miss Cheng’s hopeful look, for some unknown reason he found it hard to refuse. He said, “It is a long story. Let little brother sweep the filth from the floor first, then I will relate the story to you two.” There was no broom or dustpan in this inn, so Yin and Lu had to use tree branches to clean up the mess and only then did they sit down to talk.
Lu Guanying was about to speak when Miss Cheng suddenly said, “Wait a minute!” She went to Hou Tonghai and cut two small pieces from her clothing to stop his ears. “We can’t let him listen,”
she said in a low voice.
Lu Guanying praised her, “Miss is very careful. We don’t know where this lunatic came from, so we must not let him listen to what we are discussing.”
On the other side of the wall Huang Rong silently laughed. “We are eavesdropping in here and it is impossible for you to know about it. Ouyang Ke is lying there inside and listening and nobody notices, yet you still talk about being careful?”
Miss Cheng had not roamed Jianghu before. Yin Zhiping had his master’s impetuousness and he was young and inexperienced. Lu Guanying was the leader of Lake Tai’s pirates and he was used to giving orders and not used to paying attention to the details. For that reason the three talked about important matters without carefully investigating their surroundings.
As Miss Cheng stooped down, she saw that Hou Tonghai’s ears had been cut off. She was only startled for moment before stuffing the pieces of cloth into his ear holes. She smiled slightly and said to Lu Guanying, “Now you can talk.”
Lu Guanying reluctantly said, “Ay! I don’t know where to start. I am looking for Martial Uncle Guo and reasonably speaking, I should not be looking for him, but I have to.”
“This is so strange,” Yin Zhiping commented.
“That’s true,” Lu Guanying continued, “I am looking for Martial Uncle Guo not because of him, but because of his six masters.”
Yin Zhiping slapped the table and shouted, “The Six Freaks of Jiangnan?”
“Exactly,” Lu Guanying replied.
“Aha!” Yin Zhiping exclaimed. “I think Brother Lu came to this place for the same matter as little Brother. Why don’t we write down a name and let Younger Martial Sister Cheng decide whether we are thinking of the same thing or not.”
Before Lu Guanying could answer, Miss Cheng was already smiling and said, “That’s a good idea.
You two turn your backs and write.”
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Yin Zhiping and Lu Guanying both picked up a twig and wrote something on the floor. Yin Zhiping said with a smile, “Younger Martial Sister Cheng, see if what we wrote is the same or not.”
Miss Cheng looked at their writing and in a low voice said, “Elder Martial Brother Yin, your guess was wrong. The two of you did not write the same thing.”
“Ah!” Yin Zhiping exclaimed and stood up.
Miss Cheng smiled and said, “While you wrote ‘Huang Yaoshi’, he actually drew a peach blossom.”
Huang Rong was shocked. “Both of them are looking for Jing ge ge in regards to my father?” she thought. She heard Lu Guanying say, “What Brother Yin wrote is the name of the Grandmaster of my school. Little brother does not dare to write down his name.”
Yin Zhiping was startled. “Your Grandmaster? Hmm, it seems that what we wrote down is the same after all. Isn’t Huang Yaoshi the Master of Peach Blossom Island?”
“Oh! So that’s how it is,” Miss Cheng said.
Yin Zhiping said, “Since Brother Lu is a Peach Blossom Island disciple, then the reason you are looking for the Six Freaks of Jiangnan is certainly not in their favor.”
“That’s not true,” Lu Guanying said.
Yin Zhiping noticed Lu Guanying spoke with reluctance. He was unhappy as he said, “Since Brother Lu does not regard little brother as a friend, it’s useless for us to talk any longer. I’ll take my leave now.” He stood up and turned around to leave.
Lu Guanying hastily said, “Elder Brother Yin, wait! Little brother has a difficulty and I wish for older brother’s help.”
Yin Zhiping was overjoyed when others came to him for help so he happily said, “All right, talk with me.”
Lu Guanying said, “Elder Brother Yin, you are a disciple of the Quanzhen Sect. If you know someone is in danger, you will certainly warn that person to guard against the danger. That is part of your duty as a chivalrous person. But what if your own superior wanted to harm innocent people…would you still warn those innocent people to guard against your superior?”
Yin Zhiping slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “That’s right! I know you are a Peach Blossom Island disciple, so you must have great difficulty with this matter. All right, let us see what I can do.”
Lu Guanying said, “In this matter, if little brother does not do anything, I am not doing my duty upholding righteousness. But if I do something, I am betraying my own school. Even though little brother wishes to ask older Martial Brother’s help, in all honesty, I cannot open my mouth.”