Chapter 2 – Child of an old friend, Part 5
The two examined the site but found no traces of any evidence. Huang Rong suddenly saw something on one of the remaining walls and shouted, “Look, what’s that?”
Guo Jing looked up and saw a few blood handprints on the wall; after being burned, the blood prints became more prominent. The wall collapsed and on the lower section were two prints. Guo Jing gathered himself and suddenly spurted out,” The Scarlet Serpent Deity!”
Huang Rong replied, “It must be her.”
They had long heard of Li Mochou, the “Scarlet Serpent Deity”. Her kung fu was high, and no one can compare with her poisonous ways. She was comparable to the one called ‘Western Poison”. She was in Jiangnan and it was a chance to track her down.
Guo Jing nodded his head, “People in Wulin have said she is extremely difficult to deal with, if we can find your father it would be good.”
Huang Rong laughed and said, “The older they get, the less we have to worry.”
Guo Jing said, “You’re right. The more someone practices martial arts, the less work they have to do.”
Huang Rong laughed and said, “You are modest Master Guo! I find the more I practice the worse I get.”
The two laughed and joked, but secretly they were on the guard as well. They looked around, and by a pond they saw two “Soul Freezing Silver Needles”. One of the needles was half submerged in the pond, the ponds eighty or so gold fishes’ white bellies were facing up. It was the deed of the poison of the needle. Huang Rong stuck out her tongue and broke off two pieces of twig from a tree and used it to fish the needle out, and then placed it in her gown sack. The two searched everywhere, and then saw the two eagles and eventually met the boy.
Guo Jing thought that the boy looked familiar, but at the time could not think of who he looks like. His nose suddenly picked up a strange scent, and sniffed a few more times and felt his brain start to smother. Huang Rong had already noticed this, and knew the origin was nearby. She turned around to search for the source and saw the male eagle had a wound on its left claw, and after a closer examination, the source of the scent was indeed from the wound. The two gulped, and carefully examined the wound, the skin was broken only slightly yet the leg had swollen to more than twice its size, the skin and flesh had started to rot. Guo Jing thought, “What caused this wound, why is it so severe?” He suddenly saw the boy’s hand was black and asked, “You’ve been poisoned as well?”
Huang Rong went over and took his hand and looked at this palm; she pulled up his sleeve and took out a knife and slit the boy’s wrist to draw out the poison blood. Only to see that the blood flowing out was red. She thought this was strange and thought, “His palm’s black and definitely has poison so why doesn’t his blood have it? She didn’t know that when the strange man had bestowed his skills to the boy, the poisoned blood had already flowed out of his fingertips, and the poison did not rise back. From her bag, she took out a “Nine Flower Jade Dew” pill, and said, “Swallow this.” The boy took the pill, smelt it first and noticed a nice scent, and put it into his mouth. He felt a fragrance fill his mouth, the sweetness was incomparable. A cool clear air filled his “dan tian”. Huang Rong took out another two pills and fed it to the two eagles.
Guo Jing was immersed in thought, but he still managed to whistle a tune. The boy heard his high tune and knew it wasn’t easy; this gave him a surprise. Suddenly, a whistling sound came from afar, flocks of birds in the forest flew in all directions, and the branches of a nearby willow tree were shaking incessantly. As soon as the first song was finished, a second one followed, the sound of the two combined resonated and folded, herd of horses galloped hurriedly far away. Huang Rong knew that it was her father sending an invitation to Li Mochou for a battle. As the third whistle came, she filled her “dan tian” line, and followed the whistle with her own, Guo Jing’s whistle was loud and spacious, and Huang Rong’s was high and soaring. The two’s whistles combined together was like a large fabulous bird and a small bird in a competition to see who can fly higher, as they flew the higher they got, the little bird not settling for being behind the large bird. When the two were on Peach Blossom Island they refined and cultivated their internal strength, their internal energy had reached new levels. Right now, their sounds soared and resonated for many miles.
When the whistles reached the strange man, he quickened his steps, as he hurried to escape. When it reached the blue green-gowned man who was carrying Cheng Ying, he laughed and said, “You’ve finally arrived, this old man had better run to avoid getting caught.”
Li Mochou was carrying Lu Wushuang by her side, hurrying in her escape when she suddenly heard the whistles; she halted in her tracks, and waved her fly whisk. She turned around and laughed coldly, “Hero Guo’s name shakes through Wulin, and I must take a look to see if he lives up to his name.” She then heard a clear, crisp whistle follow the last one, the two sounds superimposed on each other produced a sharp yet soft sound, the power of it was increased further. Li Mochou’s heart shivered, she knew she had met a formidable foe; she thought about how the Guo couple swept Wulin, supporting each other, yet she was alone, her thoughts became grey, and sighed as she carried Lu Wushuang across her chest and ran away.
At that moment, Madam Wu supported her husband, taking her two children with her preparing to leave along with Ke Zhen E. After the battle with Li Mochou, Ke Zhen E was afraid that she would come back and harm Guo Fu; he wanted to take her to a safe place and hide for a while. When he heard the calls by the Guo couple he was glad and relieved. Guo Fu shouted out, “Father, mother!” and ran out. One old, one young followed the sounds of the whistles and hurriedly rushed to the Guo couple. Guo Fu threw herself onto Huang Rong and smiled as she said, “Mother, grandpa fought off an evil woman, his skills were unbelievable.” Huang Rong knew she was lying but could only smile. Guo Jing reprimanded her “Young children should always tell the truth.” Guo Fu stuck out her tongue as she said, “Grandpa’s skills are not good? How can he be your master?” Afraid that her father will scold her again, she ran on ahead and pointed to the boy saying, “You go pick some flowers for me and arrange it into a crown for me to wear!” The boy followed her. Guo Fu saw that his palm was black and said, “Your hand is disgusting, take the flowers you pick and cover your smell with it.”
The boy calmly said, “Who wants to play with you?” and took large steps as he walked away.
Guo Jing said, “Little brother, don’t run. The poison in your body has not fully been removed; when it reacts again it will be painful.”
The little boy wished that he would mind his own business, and after being spoken to like that by Guo Fu, he carried on walking ahead, ignoring the man’s words. Guo Jing walked in front of him and said, “Why have you contracted poison? Let me cure it for you first, it won’t be long.”
The boy replied, “I don’t recognize you, what had this got to do with you.” He increased his speed and wanted to walk past Guo Jing. Guo Jing saw that the boy’s face seemed to carry a noble air, his face looking like someone he has met before, his feelings were aroused and asked the boy, “What’s your surname?” The boy gave him a glance and walked around him, still wanting to get away. Guo Jing caught his wrist. The boy couldn’t shake himself free, and formed a fist with his left hand punching Guo Jing in the stomach. Guo Jing just smiled, and took no notice of the punch. The boy wanted pull back his fist, but his fist seemed to be held within the man’s stomach, unable to move. His face became red, and pulled back with all his strength until his arm ached, but he couldn’t over come the pull of the man’s stomach. The man smiled and said, “If you tell me what your name is, then I’ll let you go.”
The boy replied, “My surname is Ni, first names Laozi, now let me go.” Guo Jing was disappointed with the answer and relaxed his abdomen, he didn’t realize that the boy had tricked him and called himself, “I’m your father”. The boy’s hand was now free and thought, “You’ve got great ability, your father can’t compare to his good son.” Huang Rong saw the boy had a devious expression on his face, and still felt that he looked like someone from the past so tested him again.
She smiled and said, “Little brother, if you are my husband’s father that means you are mine too.” She stretched out her hand and held the boy’s neck from behind. The boy felt the hold came from an extremely strong force, and tried desperately to pull away. Huang Rong loosened her grip, the boy got a glimpse of the sky before falling over. Guo Fu clapped and laughed. The boy hid his embarrassment and got up, and took a few steps back, and swore at her. Huang Rong was already standing in front of him, she held his shoulder and looked him in the eye and gently said, “Your surname is Yang, first name Guo. Your mother’s surname is Mu, isn’t that correct?” The boy was indeed named Yang Guo, and somehow Huang Rong had called it out, the shock was too much for him, he felt pain in his chest, the poison in his hand had returned, his brain started to get blurry and he fainted.
Huang Rong managed to hold onto him. Guo Jing pushed him a few times using his internal energy, but his eyes did not open, his teeth had bitten his tongue, his mouth full of red blood, and he didn’t wake up. Guo Jing was happy and worried at the same time and said, “He, he is brother Yang Kang’s son.” Huang Rong saw that Yang Guo’s poison was serious and gently said, “Let’s first get to an inn, then we’ll mix up some medicine for him.”
Huang Rong had seen that the boy looked extremely like Yang Kang, and remembered that she had met Mu Nianci in an inn. When she held the back of Mu’s neck, instead of pushing forward, Mu pushed backward. This was a secret skill of Hong Qigong’s. It was part of his circulating air and practicing energy method. If the boy was Mu Nianci’s son, then their kung fu would be the same. Huang Rong was a disciple of Hong Qigong’s and knew the arts of her master well, so she tested him, and indeed he was who she thought he was.
Guo Jing carried the boy, and along with Ke Zhen E, Huang Rong, Guo Fu and the pair of eagles returned to the inn. Huang Rong wrote out an herb lit, and gave it to the inn’s waiter to go to the medicine shop and pick them out. However the herbs she picked out were all rare, even in a place like Jiaxing the shops did not have them. Guo Jing saw that Yang Guo was still unconscious and was extremely worried about him. Huang Rong knew that after Yang Kang had died, her husband had felt responsible, and now he had found his son, he would be ecstatic. But now the boy had contracted a lethal poison, his life in the balance, and said, “We will go and gather the herbs ourselves.”
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