Guo Jing followed her gaze and saw a bulk solid ice resembling a cavern; under the dim moonlight it glowed beautifully. It did look like a big crystal block carved into a palace. Two people walked hand in hand entering the cave, and then found someplace to sit on.
“Speaking about how you treated me on the Peach Blossom Island, tell me, should I forgive you?”
Huang Rong said.
Guo Jing stood up and said, “Rong’er, let me kowtow to you a hundred times to apologize.” He was serious, immediately knelt down and started kowtowing.
Huang Rong sweetly smiled, held out her hands to stand him up. “Let it be. If I haven’t forgiven you, I wouldn’t want to crawl to this peak even if you chop Lu Youjiao’s head a hundred times!”
Guo Jing was really happy, “Rong’er, you are really good.”
“What are you talking about good or not good?” Huang Rong said, “Originally I thought you wholeheartedly wanted to avenge your masters, certainly you don’t have the least of me in your heart; naturally I was really angry! Later on I learned about how you strike an agreement with Ouyang Feng; you are willing to spare his life three times for my sake. Only then did I know that you still have me in your heart.”
Guo Jing shook his head, “I can’t believe it’s only now that you know my heart.”
Huang Rong pursed her lips and smiled, “Did you see what I am wearing?” she asked.
Thus far Guo Jing’s eyes only looked at Huang Rong’s face; only after Huang Rong mentioned it that he turned his gaze to her clothes. Turned out she was wearing the black sable fur coat that he gave her when they first met at Zhangjiakou [Kalgan]. His heart was moved, he held out his hand and tightly hold Huang Rong’s hand.
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Two people sat leaning to each other for a moment. Finally Guo Jing broke the silence, “Rong’er, Da Shifu [First Master] said that you were captured by Ouyang Feng at the Temple of the Iron Spear; how did you manage to escape from his hand?”
Huang Rong sighed. “I feel sorry for Lu Shige’s [Martial (older) Brother] nice Cloud Village. The Old Poison wanted me to explain the Nine Yin Manual for him. I said the explanation is not difficult, but I needed a good and quiet place. The Old Poison said if that was the case, we would find some secluded temple. I said Buddhist monks are disgusting, I don’t like eating vegetarian food. The Old Poison then asked what I wanted. I said nearby Lake Tai there was a place called the Cloud Village; the scenery is beautiful, the food and wine are superb. The only thing is that the village master is my friend; it made him rather suspicious.”
“That’s right,” Guo Jing said, “Did he decide not to go?”
“No, he is arrogant,” Huang Rong said, “He is never afraid of other people. The more I told him, the more he wanted to go. He said no matter how many friends I have, the Old Poison would face them all. When we arrived at the Cloud Village, actually Lu Shige father and son were not home; they went north of the river to the city of Baoying, to visit their in-laws, Cheng Da Xiaojie’s [Eldest Miss Cheng] family. You know that the Zhuangzhu [Village Master] had learned building technique from my father according to the ‘wu xing ba gua’ [five ways eight diagram]. As soon as the Old Poison stepped into the village, he felt something was not right. He wanted to pull me out of there, but I entered to the east and turned to the west, very soon he lost my track. Hard as he tried, he could not find me, and in his anger he burned the Cloud Village down.”
“Ah!” Guo Jing gasped, “I did stop by the Cloud Village looking for you, but I found it in rubble.
Turned out it was the Old Poison’s doing.”
“I knew he was going to destroy the village,” Huang Rong said, “So I warned everybody to get out.
Although he could not catch me, the Old Poison is really evil and cruel. He guarded the way toward the Peach Blossom Island, hoping to catch me there. Several times I was nearly caught. Afterwards I ran to the north, toward the Mongolian border, and he followed. ‘Sha gege’ [dumb big brother], luckily you are dumb. If you are as smart as the Old Poison, you two will surround me from both directions. I may not know where to hide.”
Guo Jing simply blushed and smiled stupidly.
“But finally you are getting smarter, you knew how to push Lu Youjiao to think of something,”
Huang Rong said.
“Rong’er, it was you who taught me,” Guo Jing said.
Huang Rong was astonished, “I taught you?”
“You taught me in a dream,” Guo Jing replied. Then he told her the dream he had the other night.
This time Huang Rong did not laugh at him, in fact, her heart was moved. She said quietly, “The people of ancient times used to say that perfect honesty and sincerity could open up metal and stone. You think about me and miss me this much; I should’ve let you see me sooner.”
“Rong’er,” Guo Jing said, “Later on you will never leave me forever, won’t that be good?”
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Huang Rong swept her gaze around the marvelous structures cluttered on the peak. “Jing Gege, I am cold,” she suddenly said.
Guo Jing hastily took his own fur coat off and wrapped it on Huang Rong’s body. “Let us go down,” he said.
“All right,” Huang Rong said, “We’ll come back here tomorrow night. I am going to explain the Nine Yin Manual in detail for you.”
Guo Jing was astounded, “What?” he asked.
Huang Rong’s right hand was still holding Guo Jing’s left hand; she squeezed her hand and said,
“My father has translated the last part of the manual, where the sentences were jumbled. I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow night.”
“This Sanskrit part is obviously translated by Reverend Yideng,” Guo Jing thought, “Why did she say it was his father?” He was full of doubts, was about to ask again when Huang Rong squeezed his hand one more time. He knew there must be a reason, so he agreed without asking anymore questions. Two people went down the peak.
Once they were in his tent, Huang Rong whispered in his ear, “Ouyang Feng also climbed the ‘bald wooden peak’, he hid behind us as we speak, secretly listening to us.”
Guo Jing was startled, “Ah! I didn’t even know he was there.”
“He was hiding behind a huge ice block,” Huang Rong said, “The Old Poison is extremely crafty, but this time he forgot that the ice is transparent, it could not conceal anything. It was not until the moonlight shone on it did I see a blurry shadow behind it.”
“So you talked about the Nine Yin Manual was actually for his benefit,” Guo Jing said.
“Hmm, I want to lure him to the peak, then we remove the ‘sheep ladder’; let’s see if he can meditate to become an immortal on that mountain peak, maybe he’ll become a deity,” Huang Rong said.
Guo Jing was very happy; he clapped his hands and cheered.
The next day Genghis Khan attacked the city again. Another thousand or so Mongolian soldiers died. The Khoresm soldiers on the city wall threw some insults and cursed their enemy. Genghis Khan flew into rage; but sweeping the battlefield with his eyes he saw the dead body of Mongolian soldiers and horses; he was upset.
That very evening Guo Jing, Huang Rong and the three Beggar Clan Elders readied themselves, they only had to wait for Ouyang Feng to climb the peak, then they would destroy the sheep ladder immediately. Who would have thought that Ouyang Feng was so cunning and had anticipated this; as long as Guo Jing and Huang Rong did not climb up, he also stayed down, hiding.
Huang Rong was forced to think of something else. She took some ropes and soaked them in oil.
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but they found oil instead. Since then the people had used oil to cook their meals. The Mongolian army had seized several barrels of this oil and used them as fuel.
Jing and Rong, two people climbed to the peak with ropes soaked in oil on their back. Then they hid the ropes behind a big ice block. Two people sat inside the crystal palace talking to each other. Not too long afterwards they saw Ouyang Feng’s indistinct shadow appeared behind a big ice block. His lightness kungfu had been trained to perfection; he was extremely quiet, he never expected those two people to be aware that he was there.
Right away Huang Rong started talking about the manual, which they discussed earnestly. Of course they were discussing the real Manual. Ouyang Feng listened attentively, he found the manual was really marvelous; could not help but feeling ecstatic. He thought even if he compelled this little girl to explain, she might not tell him the whole thing, but right now he was eavesdropping he felt very fortunate.
Huang Rong slowly explained, and Guo Jing pretended to ask a lot of questions. Ouyang Feng thought, “He did not get such a simple truth, he is really stupid.”
Suddenly the horn was sounded urgently on the ground. Guo Jing jumped up immediately, “The Great Khan summons the generals, I have to go,” he called out. Actually it was a false alarm; he had made this arrangement in advance.
“We’ll go down together,” Huang Rong said.
“We are going up and down this peak, so much hassle,” Guo Jing said, “Can’t we do it inside my tent?”