Lu, Jian and Liang three people looked at each other without saying anything.
Guo Jing continued, “Even if she is not willing to talk to me, if only she would let me see her once, I will be very much comforted.”
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“Sir is tired, better go to bed soon,” Jian Zhanglao said, “Tomorrow morning we will discuss how we are going to deal with Ouyang Feng if he stirs up trouble again.”
The next morning the army continued their journey to the west. That evening after they pitched camp Lu Youjiao came and said, “Years ago Xiao Ren bought a painting in Jiangnan. I am a rough uneducated man, how could I comprehend the meaning behind this painting? While Sir is lonely in this army, Sir may enjoy this leisurely.” While speaking he put a roll of painting on the table.
Guo Jing unrolled the painting to take a look, he could not help but feeling astonished. The painting depicted a young maiden with a flower on her hair; she was sitting weaving silk on a loom. Her appearance resembled Huang Rong’s, only she looked distressed; her eyebrows were knitted together and her face looked thin and pale.
Guo Jing looked in surprise for half a day, he saw next to the picture were two lines of poem. The first one read, “Seven looms, in the springtime silkworms spit their raw silk, it is not easy to weave them into silk cloth. Do not use a pair of scissors so recklessly, otherwise the immortal ‘luan’ [a mythical bird] and the phoenix will be separated on two sides of the clothes.” The other one read,
“Nine looms, a pair of flowers, a pair of leafs, and a pair of branches. From ancient time a shallow love often parts. From head to toe two hearts are bound together, passing through a strand of silk thread.” These two stanzas resembled the ‘si zhang ji’ [four looms/weaving machines] poem of Ying Gu, but the pain they carried was twice the ‘four looms’ had.
Although it was hard for Guo Jing to interpret the poem, he understood the ‘From ancient time a shallow love often parts’ part. After pondering it for half a day he thought, “This painting must be Rong’er’s handiwork; where did Lu Zhanglao get it from?”
He raised his head to ask, but Lu Youjiao had left early on. Hastily Guo Jing ordered his personal guard to summon him back. Lu Youjiao was persistent with what he said earlier, that he bought that painting at a bookstore in Jiangnan. Even if Guo Jing was ten times dumber, he’d know something was wrong. Lu Youjiao was a straightforward and rough warrior; how could he stroll into a bookstore and buy a painting? If the painting was a gift, he would throw it away without giving it a second thought. If he did buy it at a bookstore in Jiangnan, how come the maiden in the painting bore a very close resemblance to Huang Rong? But Lu Youjiao was determined not to reveal the truth; there was nothing he could do.
While he was hesitating, Jian Zhanglao walked in and whispered in his ears, “Just now Xiao Ren saw a shadow of a man moving on the tent toward our northeast; it swiftly disappeared without any trace. I am afraid that old scoundrel Ouyang Feng is going to sneak in tonight.”
“Good,” Guo Jing said, “We, four people will cooperate here to capture him.”
“Xiao Ren has an idea,” Jian Zhanglao said, “Let’s see if Sir will agree.”
“Any idea is good,” Guo Jing said, “Please tell me.”
Jian Zhanglao said, “This is a very ordinary idea: we dig a deep hole here, then we place twenty soldiers with bags of sand waiting outside. If he did not show up, consider him lucky, but if he did, I guarantee he can come but won’t be able to leave.”
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Guo Jing was delighted, he thought that Ouyang Feng was very conceited, never considered others worthy to be looked at. This idea was an old trick, but actually very effective against somebody like him.
The three elders immediately supervised several soldiers to dig a very deep hole. The top of the hole was then covered with a rug, and a light wooden chair was placed on top of the rug. Twenty soldiers with sand bags in their hand were waiting outside the tent.
It was not uncommon for an army to dig holes in the desert, looking for water; so the activity was gone unnoticed.
The set up was completed and Guo Jing waited by the candlelight, reading. But Ouyang Feng did not show up that night. After pitching their camp the next day, again the three elders had some soldiers dug another hole, but again nothing happened that night. Toward the evening of the fourth day Guo Jing heard some strange noise among the tents; his heart was thumping fast. Suddenly there was a rustling noise outside his tent; with a long laugh Ouyang Feng walked inside his tent then casually walked toward the wooden chair.
‘Crack! Crack!’ with a loud noise both the man and the chair fell into the hole. The trap’s depth was about seven, eight ‘zhang’s [70 – 80 feet, about 25 meters], the mouth was narrow. Even if Ouyang Feng’s martial art were higher, how could he jump back up easily? Twenty soldiers swarmed the tent, and forty bags of sand were rapidly poured into the hole, burying Ouyang Feng’s body.
Lu Youjiao burst up in laughter, “Huang Bangzhu predicts like a deity …” he said.
Jian Zhanglao cast him a glance; Lu Youjiao closed his mouth immediately.
“What Huang Bangzhu?” Guo Jing quickly asked.
“Xiao Ren had a slip of tongue,” Lu Youjiao said, “I mean Hong Bangzhu. If Hong Bangzhu were here, he would have been delighted.”
Guo Jing stared at him, hard. He was about to ask another question when suddenly the soldiers outside his tent were shouting noisily. Guo Jing and the three elders quickly went out the tent to see the soldiers were pointing their fingers to the ground, shouting loudly. Guo Jing rushed forward to take a look, he saw the ground was rising up gradually, looked like something was trying to come out of the ground. Immediately Guo Jing realized what was going on, “With his excellent martial art Ouyang Feng is drilling the ground, trying to climb up,” he said. He commanded a dozen or so of his soldiers to ride their horses and trampled the ground at once.
The weight of the dozens or so soldiers and their horses was heavy enough to trample the raising ground back down. Even though Ouyang Feng’s strength was incredible he was not able to penetrate the ground, so the earth was slowly leveled up as before. To everybody surprise, in another location the ground was starting to rise again. The soldiers simply rode their horses to wherever the ground rose and trampled it flat.
Not too long afterwards the ground no longer rose anywhere. They assumed Ouyang Feng had lost his strength or even died of suffocation. Guo Jing ordered the soldiers to dismount their horses and dug the ground. It was already the first hour [between 11pm – 1 am]; the soldiers lifted up their torches high, they stood in a circle surrounding the digging.
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About a dozen soldiers used spades and shovels dug a little over a ‘zhang’ before finally they saw Ouyang Feng was standing inside the sand. This location was a few ‘zhang’s away from the tent.
Although the sand was soft, yet by using his bare hands Ouyang Feng was able to dig underground just like a mole. It was a demonstration of a very strong internal energy, truly extraordinary. The soldiers were astounded but full of admiration; they lifted him up and laid him on the ground.
Lu Youjiao probed him for breath, but felt his chest was still warm; he ordered the soldiers to get some iron chain to tie him up, for fear that Ouyang Feng would create problem once he was awake.
Who would have thought that when he was crawling in the sand Ouyang Feng was unable to excavate his way upward because of the horses, he feigned death, thinking he would escape later.
He suspended his own breath, and did not see Lu Youjiao stood beside him. But as soon as Lu Youjiao shouted his order to take some chain, Ouyang Feng leaped up, gave a loud shout, and grabbed Lu Youjiao’s main artery on his right hand.
It was a sudden change; a corpse went back to live. Everybody was shocked. Guo Jing rushed forward, his left hand pressed the ‘tao dao’ [pleasing talk] acupoint on Ouyang Feng’s back, while his right hand attacked the ‘ji zhong’ [spine’s central] acupoint on Ouyang Feng’s waist. These two were two main acupoints on the back; if Ouyang Feng was not buried under the ground, half-dead, and was very tired, how could he let his main acupoints be sealed that easily?
Ouyang Feng was startled, he swung his hand backward trying to fend off, but his acupoints were numb. He realized Guo Jing did not use his full strength; otherwise his internal organs would be shaken. Moreover, his hands and feet were weak; even if Guo Jing did not seal his acupoints still he would not be Guo Jing’s match. He was forced to let Lu Youjiao go and stood still.
“Mr. Ouyang,” Guo Jing said, “May I ask did you see Miss Huang?”
“I saw her shadow, that’s why I came looking for her,” Ouyang Feng replied.
“Did you see her clearly?” Guo Jing pressed.
Ouyang Feng hatefully said, “If that sly little girl is not in this, I bet you wouldn’t think of some clever trap like this.”
Guo Jing was silent for half a day, then he finally said, “You can go. I spare your life.” His right hand lightly waved, sending Ouyang Feng tumbled down a little over a ‘zhang’. He was afraid if he freed him in close proximity, Ouyang Feng would suddenly execute a counterattack.