That farmer was always proud of having an outstanding physical strength, but obviously this youngster’s strength was far above his. His suspicions arose; he also looked down the hillside and Eagle Shooting Hero
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saw a young woman leaning against a rock, her facial expression was weary, like she was suffering from a serious illness. His suspicion deepened, “Friend, what are you doing here?” he asked Guo Jing.
“To seek an audience with your master,” Guo Jing replied.
“For what purpose?” the farmer asked again.
Guo Jing was startled and for an instant did not know how to reply. Huang Rong on the side called out, “Quickly pull the ox to safety first, it won’t be too late to ask question later. If his hands slip, won’t the man and the ox fall down together?”
The farmer thought, “These two are here to see Shifu, how come my two elder martial brothers down the mountain did not shoot whistling arrows? If these two broke through them, that means their martial arts are not to be trifled with. Now while his hands are not free, I need to understand this matter better.” Thereupon he asked, “Are you going to ask my Shifu to treat your injury?”
Guo Jing thought, “The people down the mountains are already aware anyway, there is no need to hide the truth from him.” He simply nodded his head.
The farmer’s countenance slightly changed, “I need to ask first,” he said. Without pulling the ox away he leaped down the hillside.
“Hey!” Guo Jing shouted, “Help me put down this rock first, then we can talk!”
The farmer smiled, “I will be back right away.”
Observing what was going on, Huang Rong had already guessed early on that farmer’s intention; he wanted to waste Guo Jing’s strength. He would deliberately wait for Guo Jing to be weary from suspending the rock, and then he would comeback and lent a hand. By that time it would be easy to expel these two people to go down the mountain. She hated herself for being injured at a time like this that she was unable to help Guo Jing shove away the big rock. She saw the farmer dashed out of the field, did not know when he would be coming back; she was anxious and angry at the same time. “Hey, Uncle!” she called out, “Please come back!”
That farmer paused and smiled, “He has a tremendous strength, nothing bad will happen to him in three-quarter or an hour time, don’t worry,” he said.
Huang Rong was angry, she thought, “Jing Gege was kind enough to help you, but you actually tricked him and let him trapped for three-quarter or an hour. I have to find a way to give you a lesson.” She creased her eyebrows and thought of an idea, “Uncle,” she called, “You want to ask your Shifu’s advice, that is very reasonable. Here is a letter from Benevolent Master Hong Qigong to be delivered to your master. Can you take it with you?”
“Ah!” hearing Hong Qigong’s name that farmer exclaimed in surprise, “Turned out Miss is the Nine-fingered Divine Beggar’s disciple. Does this Xiao Ge [lit. little/young elder brother] also belong to Senior Hong’s school? No wonder he is this good.” He came back to fetch the letter.
Huang Rong nodded, “Hey, he is my martial brother, capable of lifting several hundreds catties.
Speaking of martial art he is not too far below Uncle.” Slowly she opened her sack, pretending to
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find the letter; but first she took the soft hedgehog armor, and then turned her gaze toward Guo Jing, her face had a frightened look. “Aiyo! Not good!” she called out, “His palms are about to be smashed up. Uncle, quickly find a way to help him.”
The farmer was startled, but then he laughed, “He is fine,” he said, “Where is the letter?” He held out his hand to get the letter.
“You don’t know,” Huang Rong anxiously said, “My martial brother is practicing the ‘pi kong zhang’ [hacking/slicing/splitting empty air palm technique]. His palms were soaked in vinegar just last night, but his training is not complete yet. If his palms are put under pressure for a long time, they will be destroyed.” On the Peach Blossom Island her father had trained her in ‘pi kong zhang’
hence she was familiar with the training method.
Although the farmer did not know this martial art, but he was a martial art expert’s disciple, his knowledge was extensive; he had heard about this particular martial art, he thought, “If for no apparent reason I caused injury to the Nine-fingered Divine Beggar’s disciple, not only my Shifu would rebuke me, but I would also regret it for the rest of my life. Moreover, he was kind enough to help me. Only I don’t know whether what this young miss said was a truth or a lie. I am afraid she is just tricking me into releasing him from underneath the rock.”
Huang Rong understood his hesitation, she took the soft hedgehog armor out and shook it. “This is the Peach Blossom Island’s most precious treasure, the soft hedgehog armor; blade and sword cannot harm it. I am asking Uncle to put it on his shoulder as a cushion and let him support the rock with his shoulder. That way he won’t be able to walk away, but he won’t suffer any injury, won’t that satisfy both parties? Or else you will cause injury to his palms and my Shifu won’t hold you innocent and will find your Shifu to settle the score.”
The farmer had also heard about the soft hedgehog armor; half believing and half doubting he took the armor. Huang Rong saw that he was not convinced yet, so she said, “My Shifu taught me not to lie to others, how can I deceive Uncle? If Uncle does not believe me, then try chopping this armor several times.”
The farmer saw her innocent face, he thought, “Nine-fingered Divine Beggar is an honorable Senior with high skill, his words are like gold and jade; whenever my Shifu mentioned his name, he always do so with utmost respect and admiration. This young miss also does not look like a liar.” It was because he was thinking about his master’s safety and well-being that he did not dare to act carelessly. Hence he drew the short blade from his waist and chopped the soft hedgehog armor several times. Sure enough, the armor did not show any trace of damage; it was truly one of the Wulin world’s treasures. All his doubts were gone, “Very well, I will put this on his shoulder as a cushion,” he said.
Not in a million years did he know that behind Huang Rong’s innocent and childlike face hid a heart and mind full of tricks. He took the soft hedgehog armor and went toward Guo Jing. He threw the armor on Guo Jing’s shoulder and exerted his strength toward his arms he lifted up the rock and said, “Let your hands go, support this rock with your shoulder.”
Leaning on a mountain rock Huang Rong kept her attention toward those two men. As soon as the farmer picked up the big rock she called out, “Jing Gege, ‘fei long zai tian’ [dragon fly to the sky]!”
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Guo Jing felt his hands were free, he also heard Huang Rong’s shout; almost without thinking his right palm pushed forward, his left palm made a turn from the right wrist, launching the ‘fei long zai tian’ from the 18-Dragon Subduing Palms. He leaped to the air, again his right palm turned ahead of his left palm and pushed forward; he landed by Huang Rong’s side, with the soft hedgehog armor still perched nicely on his shoulder. He heard the farmer shouting curses; so he turned his head to see the farmer with his hands high in the air, supporting the big rock and was not able to move.
Huang Rong was very proud of herself, she said, “Jing Gege, let’s go.” Turning her head to the farmer she said, “You have a tremendous strength; nothing bad will happen to you in three-quarter or an hour time, don’t worry.”
The farmer cursed her, “Little girl, you deceived this old man! You said the Nine-fingered Divine Beggar always keep his words. Humph! This honorable Senior’s illustrious name is ruined by a little girl.”
Huang Rong smiled, “What did I ruin?” she said, “My Shifu taught me never to tell a lie, but my father said that deceiving people once in a while is not a big deal. I love to listen to my father, my Shifu cannot do anything about that.”
“Who is your father?” the farmer was angry.
“Ah! Didn’t I let you test the soft hedgehog armor?” Huang Rong asked.
The farmer cursed even more, “I deserve to die! I deserve to die! Turned out this sly little girl is the Old Heretic Huang’s daughter. Why was I so muddleheaded?”
Huang Rong laughed, “That’s right! My Shifu’s words are like a mountain, he has never deceived anybody. This is very difficult to learn, I don’t want to follow his teaching. I’ll say my father’s teaching is better!” She giggled and pulled Guo Jing’s hand, leading him to follow the pathway.
[Author’s note: the popular tune originated from the Northern Song Dynasty during its peaceful years. Since its appearance, the tune had become a popular folk song during both the Song and Jin era. The source of “Hillside Sheep” sung by the woodcutter and Huang Rong was actually the later version of the tune.]
End of Chapter 29.
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Chapter 30 – Reverend Yideng
Translated by Frans Soetomo
Successively crossing seven gaps, they heard someone reading aloud; it seemed like they had arrived at the end of the stone bridge. On the other side of the gap a scholar was sitting cross-legged, a book in his hand, from which he was reading. Behind the scholar there was another short gap.