Eagle Shooting Hero 3(80)

Hong Qigong called out, “We can fight the arrows, but cannot fight the snakes; if we evade the snakes, it will be difficult to keep off the arrows! Everybody quickly withdraw!” They heard Zhou Botong, still shouting abusive words from the top of the roof; he had caught two arrows and used them to fend off the incoming arrows.

Three sides of the Misty Rain Tavern faced the water. The soldiers rode on small boats surrounding the building and showered it with arrows. It was because of the thick fog that they did not dare to press closer to the banks. Hong Qigong called out, “We go to the west, we take the land route.” He was the chief of the world’s largest clan; each word he said carried a lot of authority and influence.

In this chaotic situation everybody accepted his leadership without question; they groped their way back downstairs. They tried hard to open their eyes, but could not see farther than half a foot ahead; how did they know which direction was east, west, south or north? They struck down several arrows while walking in line, holding each other’s hand to avoid getting lost. Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi led the way with swords in their hands; their swords combined and complemented each other, forming a sword umbrella to keep off the arrow rain.

Guo Jing’s right hand was pulling Hong Qigong, while his left hand grabbed someone’s hand behind him. He felt this hand was soft, warm and slightly sweaty; turned out it was Huang Rong’s small hand. His heart skipped a beat; hastily he let her hand go, only to listen to Huang Rong’s cold voice said, “Who needs your concern?” Suddenly he heard Qiu Chuji called out, “Turn around, quick! There are snakes ahead; we can’t go through!”

Huang Yaoshi and Ma Yu were at the end of the line blocking the pursuing soldiers; hearing Qiu Chuji’s cry they turned their head anxiously. Huang Yaoshi picked a couple of bamboo sticks and swept them outward to strike the snakes. In the fog they heard the hissing sound of the snakes, and a foul stench attacked their nostrils. Huang Rong could not endure it any longer, with a ‘wah!’ sound she threw up. Huang Yaoshi sighed and said, “There is no way out, everyone fight for your own life!” Tossing his bamboo sticks aside he carried his daughter in his hands.

Based on everyone’s martial art skill, actually the soldiers’ arrows would not be able to stop them; but the Western Poison’s snake formation was tens of thousands more lethal, as soon as one was bitten, one’s life immediately would be gone. Listening to these frightening snakes everybody could not help but feel terrified. Huang Yaoshi’s jade flute was broken, Hong Qigong’s steel needles were not easy to be launched; the most difficult part was the fog was too thick that nobody could see anything. Even if there were an escape route, nobody knew where to go.

In this critical situation suddenly they heard someone with a cold voice say, “Little witch, give your bamboo stick to this blind man.” It was Ke Zhen’E’s voice.

Hearing him saying the ‘blind man’, two characters, Huang Rong immediately understood his intention; she was very happy and without hesitation handed over the Dog Beating Stick to him. Ke Zhen’E maintained his composure; tapping the stick on the ground he said, “Everyone, follow this blind man to safety. There is always fog and mist around the Misty Rain Tavern; what’s so strange about it? Otherwise how can it be called the Misty Rain Tavern?” He was a native of Jiaxing; ever 1



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since he was little all streets and alleys around the Misty Rain Tavern had been ingrained in his heart. Both of his eyes were blind, normally he would be inferior to ordinary man, but now the fog was really thick, black clouds covered the sky; to him it was not the least bit of obstacle.

Listening to the snakes and the arrows he knew that there was an alley to the west with no enemies in that direction. Limping away he immediately led the way. Who would have thought that over the past several years this small alley had been covered with green bamboos, which render it impassable. Ke Zhen’E was very familiar with this road; yet he had not visited this place for decades, so he did not know that this alley had turned into a bamboo grove. He walked only for seven, eight steps and had to stop because the bamboo was on his way. Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi again brandished their swords and the bamboo flew out, opening up a passageway where everybody could pass through.

Ma Yu called, “Zhou Shishu, come over here! Where are you?” Zhou Botong was still sitting on the roof; hearing the sound of snakes all around him, how could he dare to reply? He was most afraid that the snakes’ favorite food was the Old Urchin’s flesh, so if he opened his mouth and let the snakes heard his voice, wouldn’t he be finished then?

Walking for dozens of ‘zhang’s they saw the bamboo grove was getting thin; ahead they could see an alley. The snakes sound was getting farther away, but the soldiers’ shouts were actually getting closer; it sounded like some of the soldiers came around to outflank them. This group of warriors was afraid of snakes, they did not even look at ordinary soldiers. Liu Chuxuan said, “Hao Shidi

[martial (younger) brother Hao], let us kill some of the dog officers to vent our anger.”

“Good!” Hao Datong replied. Two people brandished their swords to block the incoming arrows which came suddenly like locusts.

Walking a little longer they arrived at a bigger road; above them lightning flashed and thunder struck, followed by heavy rain pouring down from the sky. But because of this downpour the fog cleared up. Although the sky was still covered with dark clouds, they started to be able to see each other’s shadow. “Good, good,” everybody said, “The thick fog is dispersing.”

Ke Zhen’E said, “The danger has passed, everyone can do as they please.” Giving the bamboo stick back to Huang Rong he walked to the east without turning his head back.

“Shifu!” Guo Jing called out.

Ke Zhen’E said, “You go and send Hong Laoxia [Old Hero Hong] someplace peaceful and quiet where he can recover from his injury; then come to the Ke Jia Cun [Ke Family Village] to see me.”

“Yes,” Guo Jing replied.

Huang Yaoshi stretched out his hand to block one incoming arrow, then he went to Ke Zhen’E and said, “I was not willing to explain to you if not for the fact that you saved my life today …”

Ke Zhen’E did not wait for him to finish, he spat thick phlegm toward the bridge of Huang Yaoshi’s nose; he cursed, “Because of what I did today, I won’t have any face to see my six brothers and sister!”

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Angrily Huang Yaoshi raised his palm. Guo Jing watched this in shock, he flew in trying to rescue; he knew that as soon as this palm struck down, his Da Shifu’s life would be gone. But he was more than a dozen steps away from Ke and Huang two people, so he knew he would be too late. Under the dim light of the moon he saw Huang Yaoshi’s palm slowly went down. Huang Yaoshi laughed a big laugh and said, “What kind of a man is Huang Yaoshi? How can I lower myself to the same level with you?” With his sleeve he wiped the phlegm from his face; turning around to Huang Rong he said, “Rong’er, let’s go!”

Hearing these words Guo Jing’s heart was shaken with doubt; only he was unclear of what had actually stirred his doubt. He only vaguely felt that something was not completely right. It was like something was flashing in his mind, then suddenly it disappeared into a thick fog.

Suddenly he heard an outburst of shouting, a group of soldiers came charging in. The Quanzhen Six Masters with swords in their hands engaged the enemy. Huang Yaoshi felt it was beneath his dignity to fight soldiers, so he turned around to pull Hong Qigong’s arm and said, “Qi Xiong, let us two brothers go on ahead and drink some wine; we’ll talk about it later.”

It was precisely what Hong Qigong had been expecting; he said with a laugh, “Wonderful, just wonderful!” In a moment two people disappeared into the darkness.

Guo Jing wanted to take Ke Zhen’E away, but another group of soldiers came attacking them. Guo Jing did not want to kill too many people, so he pushed his arms forward to open a way. In this confusion he heard Qiu Chuji and the others were fighting a fierce battle; it turned out Wanyan Honglie had dispatched several of his own personal bodyguards among the soldiers, also joining their ranks were a group of valiant Iron Palm Clan people, making them difficult to push back in a short period of time. Guo Jing was afraid his shifu would be injured in this chaotic battle, he shouted, “Da Shifu, Da Shifu, where are you?” By now the battle cry and the clashing of the weapons had merged into one chaotic noise; but all along he did not hear Ke Zhen’E’s reply.

After taking the bamboo stick back from Ke Zhen’E’s hand Huang Rong had stayed near him all the time. She saw him spitting her father, her mind was tumultuous. She believed this matter had grown out of proportion; her long life’s beautiful dream was shattered into pieces. Hence when the soldiers came she just stood alone, leaning on a tree; when the soldiers galloped quickly past her, it was as if she did neither see nor hear them, she was totally lost in her thought.

Suddenly she heard a call, “Aiyo!” It was Ke Zhen’E’s voice. Following the source of the sound she went out to take a look, only to see Ke Zhen’E was laying by the roadside; an officer was holding a saber high above his head, ready to chop it down into Ke Zhen’E’s back. Ke Zhen’E rolled away to evade, he sat up and threw a backward fist, hitting the officer squarely that he fainted. Ke Zhen’E