“That’s so,” Mu Nianci gloomily said, “Actually it would be better if I met with the real Qiu Bangzhu that day and if he struck me dead with one palm.”
Huang Rong laughed, “Our Brother Yang might not want to give you up,” she said.
Mu Nianci twisted her body around so that Huang Rong’s hand fell from her shoulder. “Don’t talk to me like that,” she said sternly.
Huang Rong stuck out her tongue and laughed, “All right, it’s me who don’t want to give you up.”
Mu Nianci stood up and said, “Brother Guo, Sister Huang, I am leaving. You two take care; be careful of the Iron Palm Clan’s evil scheme on the boat.”
Huang Rong hastily stood up and held her hand. “Good Sister, please don’t be angry,” she pleaded,
“I won’t dare to talk nonsense anymore.”
Mu Nianci heaved a deep sigh, “I wasn’t angry with you, I … I was grieving.”
“Why?” Huang Rong asked, “Did that boy Yang Kang provoke your anger?” She pulled Mu Nianci to sit back down.
Mu Nianci said, “That night from behind the curtain I heard Yang Kang and that old man surnamed Qiu discussing all kind of plans to betray our country and harm the people; the more I heard the angrier I became. I wanted very much to jump out and kill that old man. They were talking for a long time. Suddenly the commotion outside got louder. That old man said, ‘Xiao Wangye [Young Prince, lit. young king master], I am going to take a look. We’ll talk again later.’ Then he left the room.”
“That’s right,” Huang Rong interrupted, “He went out to pursue Jing Gege and me.”
“After that old man left,” Mu Nianci continued, “Yang Kang went back to make small talk with me.
I asked him whether the things he discussed with that old man was a real thing or was he only pretending. He said, ‘We have become man and wife; I don’t need to conceal anything from you. It won’t be long before the Jin army will invade the south. We have received Iron Palm Clan’s great help to strike from both inside and outside. By attacking from two fronts, our victory is guaranteed.’
He was talking excitedly. He said that after the Great Jin destroyed the Song Dynasty, his father king, Zhao Wangye [Prince, lit. king master] will ascend to the great treasure, becoming the Emperor of the Great Jin; he will then be the crown prince. By that time riches and honor will be limitless. I listened without saying anything. He suddenly said, ‘Meizi, at that time you will be the Empress.’ I … I could not hold my patience much longer; I slapped his face fiercely and ran out the door, anxiously rushed down the mountain.
By then the commotion on the Iron Palm Peak had worsened; countless clan members with torches in their hands rushed toward the highest mountain peak. I was the only one going down the mountain, so I did not meet any resistance.
958
Eagle Shooting Hero
After this incident my heart felt like it was dying; as a matter of fact, I wanted to die very much. I did not know east from west, north from south, I just kept walking and walking, wandering aimlessly. Finally I saw a Taoist temple. I rushed toward the temple and barely stepped into the door when I fainted. Fortunately there was an old priestess living in that temple who gave me shelter. I was sick for more than ten days and I just got well not a few days ago. I donned this priestess garb and set on a journey to the Ox Village. Unexpectedly I met with you two here.”
Huang Rong was delighted, “Sister, we are on our way to the Peach Blossom Island and happened to go the same way. What do you say the three of us travel together? Then our journey will be more fun. If you don’t look down on me, I’ll teach you some martial arts along the way.”
Mu Nianci shook her head and said, “No, I … I want to go alone. I appreciate Sister’s good intention very much.” She stood up, took out a book from her pocket and gave it to Guo Jing; she said, “Brother Guo, this book contains some matters concerning the Iron Palm Clan. Please give it to Senior Qigong whenever you see him; perhaps he will have some use for it.”
“Yes,” Guo Jing said, holding out his hand to receive the book.
Mu Nianci walked quickly so that in a short moment she was far away; never once did she turn her head around to see them. Guo Jing and Huang Rong watched her back disappear behind a row of willow trees in the distance. They were silent for half a day.
Guo Jing said, “She is all alone, traveling thousands of ‘li’s to Zhejiang. I do hope she won’t meet some bullies along the way. It’s a good thing that her martial art is not weak; she does not have to fear ordinary criminals.”
“That is difficult to say,” Huang Rong said, “Even people like you and I are still bullied by some bad people.”
Guo Jing sighed, “Er Shifu [Second Master] often said, ‘In a tumultuous time, people are not better than dogs.’ There is nothing we can do about it.”
“All right, let’s kill that mute dog then,” Huang Rong said.
“What mute dog?” Guo Jing asked.
Huang Rong made some ‘ah, ah, uh, uh’ noise, flailing her hands and feet. Guo Jing laughed. “Are we going to ride this mute’s boat?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” Huang Rong said, “That old traitor Qiu Qianren had caused me a lot of pain, how can I just let it go? I am not his match, but I want to kill some of his disciples and followers first and talk about it later.”
They went back to the restaurant immediately, and saw that mute boatman snooping around the restaurant to find them. As he saw them, his face was beaming, he busily greeted them. Jing and Rong two people acted like nothing happened; they followed him boarding the boat.
The boat was not too big nor it was too small, it was covered with black matting; it held around eighty, ninety sacks of rice. This kind of boat was very common along the Yuanjiang [Yuan River], Eagle Shooting Hero
959
transporting commodities from the hills of Xiangxi and rice from the fields of the lake front. Two bare-chested young men were scrubbing the deck.
As soon as Jing and Rong two people embarked, the boatman untied the rope and pushed the boat to the river, raising the sail. Under the strong southerly wind and following the current, the boat sailed down the river like an arrow. Guo Jing thought about the affair between Yang Kang and Mu Nianci, and could not help but heave a deep sigh. “Yang Kang is my sworn brother,” he said in his heart,
“We have made a vow to share fortune and disaster. Now he is making a wrong choice, I cannot ignore it; no matter what, I have to persuade him to leave his evil ways and go back treading the path of righteousness.” Leaning against the cabin wall he was lost in thought.
Huang Rong suddenly said, “Let me see the book Sister Mu gave you. I wonder what’s written in it.”
Guo Jing took the book out of his pocket and gave it to her. Huang Rong flipped the pages, browsing the book. “Ah, so that’s how it is!” she suddenly called out, “Take a look here.”
Guo Jing moved closer, sat right next to her and read the book in her hand. It was late afternoon, the bright red sunset shone on the river reflecting the ripple of the water on Huang Rong’s face, her clothes, and the book in her hand, creating a waving light dancing on her body.
It turned out that the book was written by the thirteenth Clan Leader of the Iron Palm Clan, Shangguan Jiannan; a journal of important events within the Clan year after year. Shangguan Jiannan was formerly a high-ranking army officer serving under General Han Shizhong. After Qin Gui killed Yue Fei, Han Shizhong resigned from his military duty to live as a commoner. Most of his officers and soldiers also returned to civilian lives [jie3 jia3 gui1 tian2 – lit. removed armor return to the (rice) field].
Shangguan Jiannan loathed the way the traitor ministers run the government, so he led a group of brethrens to become outlaws in the Jing Xiang district, and later on they joined the Iron Palm Clan.
Not long afterwards the old clan leader died and Shangguan Jiannan took over the clan leader position. The Iron Palm Clan was originally a tiny underworld organization, after he consolidated it, the clan managed to do much chivalrous deeds. A lot or heroes and warriors around the two Hu’s
[i.e. Hunan and Hubei] heard of his patriotism and joined the clan so that in a few years the Clan enjoyed equal reputation among the Jianghu people with the Beggar Clan of the north.
Shangguan Jiannan had never forgotten where his loyalty and patriotism lie, although he lived in the wilderness he had never forgotten his duty to defend the country and destroy the enemy, and to restore his homeland; therefore, he frequently dispatched his men to Lin’an, Bianliang and the surrounding areas to gather information, waiting for a good opportunity.
A few years had passed. An Iron Palm Clan brother happened to be a good friend of the warden where Yue Fei was held prisoner. He learned that after Yue Fei was executed, his belongings were confiscated by the government, among which was a book containing military tactics and strategies.
He went to many places to inquire and indeed learned that the book was kept in the imperial palace.
A fast horse carrying this piece of information was dispatched to the Iron Palm Peak. That very day Shangguan Jiannan led a group of his highly skilled pugilists to enter the palace in the middle of the night and without too much effort they succeeded in stealing the book away. That very night they delivered the book to his former superior, retired general Han Shizhong.