Everybody else thought Huang Rong was just talking nonsense. Shagu was asleep; looked like the case was closed. They started to lie down or sat leaning against the wall, trying to get some sleep.
Just when the moon was rising higher they heard Shagu’s startled voice. She jumped up and shouted, “Don’t hurt me! Ouch, it hurt!”
With shrilling voice Huang Rong cried, “Ghost! Ghost! It’s a ghost without legs! Shagu, you killed that young mister without legs; he is coming to get you!”
In the quietness of the night Huang Rong’s voice made the hair on everybody’s back rose up.
“No!” Shagu cried, “It wasn’t me! It was this good brother …” she had not finished when suddenly
‘Ah!’ ‘Bang!’ ‘Aiyo!’ were heard simultaneously. Yang Kang abruptly sprang up, his arms outstretched, his fingers forming a claw heading straight toward Shagu’s skull, but Huang Rong had used her dog-beating stick to entangle his legs.
The temple was in chaos; Sha Tongtian and the others immediately surrounded Huang Rong. Huang Rong, however, seemed oblivious to all this, her left index finger pointed toward the temple’s door; she cried out, “Mister with no legs, come here, Shagu is here!”
Shagu looked at the temple door. It was dark, so all she could see was blackness, but she was always scared of ghosts ever since she was little; quickly she pulled Huang Rong’s sleeve and cried in panic, “Don’t come to take my life, it was this good brother who killed you with an iron spearhead. I was in the kitchen watching through the door … ghost with no legs, don’t come looking for me!”
Not in a million years would Ouyang Feng guess that his beloved nephew was killed by Yang Kang; yet he always thought that Yang Kang was unable to tell lies. Obviously Shagu could not lie.
Sad and angry he laughed maniacally, casting a sharp glance toward Yang Kang. “Xiao Wangye, my nephew deserved to die. It’s good that you killed him, it’s good!” he said. His laughter sent a chill on everybody’s spine; his voice was very mournful, making ears buzzing like innumerable needles were piercing their eardrums at the same time. Everybody was trembling, their teeth chattered. There were thousands of white-head crows on the temple’s pagoda that night; Ouyang Feng’s laughter startled them. ‘Caw! Caw! Caw!’ they were crying noisily and then they flew away loudly flapping their wings.
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Yang Kang thought he would not live to see another day; both eyes looking left and right, trying to find a way to escape.
Wanyan Honglie was also secretly frightened. After the crows noise subsided he said, “This girl is insane, Mister Ouyang, how can you believe what she said? Your honorable nephew came by Xiao Wangye’s invitation because Xiao Wang [lit. little king – he was referring to himself] is relying heavily on his assistance. How could Xiao Wangye harm him without any reason?”
Seemingly without making any effort Ouyang Feng stood up, his body glided over and with a slight bend on his knees he landed on Shagu’s side. His left hand grabbed Shagu’s arm. “Why did he kill my nephew? Speak up!” he roared.
Shagu was scared to death. “I didn’t kill him, don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me!” she cried. She struggled hard, but Ouyang Feng’s grip was like a pair of steel pliers, how could Shagu free herself?
The more she struggled, the harder his grip became. Shagu was frightened and cried, “Mama!”
Ouyang Feng repeated his question several times; Shagu became so scared from crying that she did not dare to cry anymore. She only stared at Ouyang Feng’s face with a blank expression.
“Shagu,” Huang Rong soothingly said, “Don’t be afraid, this nice grandpa is going to give you a cake.”
Her words reminded Ouyang Feng. He realized that if he used force, Shagu would not dare to talk; therefore, he groped inside his pocket and produced a dried and already cold steamed bun and held it out to Shagu’s hand. “That’s right! Here, you can eat this cake.”
Shagu grabbed the bun, her fear was gone. “Yeye, you grabbed my arm, it hurt, you must not grab me anymore,” she said.
“Good Shagu, you are an obedient child,” Ouyang Feng warmly said, “Yeye won’t grab your arm anymore.”
Huang Rong said, “That day the mister without legs was hugging a lady. Tell me, was she pretty?”
Shagu nodded. “Very pretty. I wonder where she is going.”
Huang Rong asked again, “Do you know who she is? You don’t know, do you?”
Shagu’s face lit, she was so proud of herself; she clapped her hands and said, “I know, I know! She is this good brother’s wife!”
Hearing this, any doubt left in Ouyang Feng’s heart was gone. He knew his nephew’s lecherous character; it must be because of Mu Nianci that his nephew met his fate. But, Ouyang Ke’s martial art was higher than Yang Kang’s; even though his legs were injured, Yang Kang was still not his match; he could not figure out how Yang Kang was able to kill him? He turned his head toward Yang Kang and said, “My nephew was oblivious to what’s good and what’s not, he dared to offend the Xiao Wangye’s concubine; he deserved to die ten thousand times.”
“No … No …” Yang Kang stammered. “It wasn’t me …”
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“Then who?” Ouyang Feng sternly asked.
Yang Kang was so scared that his knees turned into rubber, cold sweats pouring down his forehead; his usual shrewdness was gone, he was unable to utter a single word.
Huang Rong sighed, “Uncle Ouyang, you can’t blame the Xiao Wangye of being heartless, you can’t blame your nephew flirtatious character either, you have only your superb martial art to blame.”
“How so?” Ouyang Feng was puzzled.
Huang Rong answered, “I don’t know why, but in that house at the Ox Village I heard a couple, a man and a woman, were talking. I do not understand what they were discussing.”
Listening to this muddy talk with so many unknown Ouyang Feng was more confounded, “What did they say?” he asked.
Huang Rong answered, “I will repeat what they said word for word, I won’t add or subtract a single word; please Uncle hear me out. I did not see their faces, I don’t know who the man was, I don’t know who the woman was either; what I heard was that man said, ‘If this fact that I killed Ouyang Ke ever leaks out, won’t that be a disaster?’ That woman replied, ‘A real man is not afraid to take responsibility of his action. If you are afraid, you shouldn’t have killed him yesterday. Even though his uncle is very fierce, we can run away to some far away place, he won’t be able to find us.’”
Listening to Huang Rong, Ouyang Feng said, “That woman was right. What did the man say?”
While these two were talking, one asked the questions and the other answered, Yang Kang was getting more and more afraid than ever. The moon cast its light through the temple’s door, throwing a slanting column of light illuminating the face of the temple’s idol. Yang Kang slowly moved away from the light, quietly walked toward Huang Rong’s back. He heard Huang Rong answered Ouyang Feng’s question.
“That man said, ‘Meizi [sister/beloved], I have another thought: his uncle’s martial art is unparalleled, I wanted to take him as my master, I have had this thought for a while, but they followed a very strict rule: they only take one disciple per generation. Now that this man is dead, his uncle might take me as his disciple!”
Huang Rong did not mention anybody’s name, but she had an uncanny ability to imitate Yang Kang’s accent. Yang Kang grew up in the northern area, but Bai Xirou, his mother, was a native of Lin’an in the south; so Yang Kang’s accent was a mixture between northerners and southerners. As soon as Huang Rong said these things, everybody knew it was Yang Kang she was imitating.
Ouyang Feng laughed coldly; he turned his head but did not see Yang Kang.
Suddenly they heard ‘whack!’, then ‘Aiyo!’ Someone was crying in alarm. They saw Yang Kang standing under the moonlight with blood dripping from his right hand, his face was deathly pale.
Turned out that when Yang Kang heard Huang Rong was revealing his secret he could not restrain himself much longer; he leaped ferociously, his claw was aimed toward Huang Rong’s head. As Huang Rong imitated Yang Kang’s accent, she was fully aware he would certainly attack her; 1
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therefore, she had guarded against this attack from the start. Her martial art level was higher than Yang Kang’s. As soon as she heard the gust of wind she leaned her head sideways to elude, so the claw fell on her shoulder.
Yang Kang had launched the ‘Nine Yin White-bone Claw’ with all his might, his five fingers landed on the soft hedgehog armor Huang Rong was wearing. A shot of pain traveled from his fingers to his brain; he almost pass out.
The others were clueless as whether it was Yang Kang who made the sneak attack, or was it Huang Rong or Ouyang Feng who attacked him. They were all scared of Ouyang Feng, so nobody dared to say anything.
Wanyan Honglie rushed forward, trying to help. “Kang’er, what happened to you? Where does it hurt?” he asked. Casually he took out the dagger on his belt and placed it on Yang Kang’s hand. He realized Ouyang Feng would not have good intention. He was hoping that in a chaotic battle they, father and son, would be able to save their lives.