Chapter 18 – Master Gongsun of the Valley, Part 12
Valley Master Gongsun had been trying to force her to say this all along; when he heard this he was delighted but also resentful. He knew that from now on, she would detest him and loathe him. She would never have any love towards him so he nodded his head and said, “It’s for the benefit of everyone that you have changed your mind. After we’ve consummated our marriage tonight, I’ll give him the antidote in the morning.”
Xiao Longnu said, “First cure him.”
The Valley Master sighed and said, “Sister Liu, you think too little of me. I know that agreeing to this is not what you want; even if I was stupid, how would I not know? Do you think I would cure him first?” He turned to leave the room.
Xiao Longnu and Yang Guo looked at each miserably, neither one saying a word for a while. Yang Guo said slowly, “Gu Gu, even when I’m down in the underworld I will feel no pain because of your love. Just kill me with one palm!”
Xiao Longnu thought, “I’ll first kill him with one palm and then commit suicide.” So she raised her hand and gathered internal energy in her palm.
Yang Guo’s face had a smile, his eyes soft and peaceful; looking at her sweetly, he whispered, “This is where we’ll consummate our love.”
Xiao Longnu saw his air was glorious; she thought, “Why is heaven so cruel towards such a handsome and graceful man, wanting him to die today.” Her chest ached and suddenly she tasted sweetness at the back of her throat; it appeared that she would throw up blood again and the internal energy in her arm immediately dissipated. Suddenly, she threw herself on top of Yang Guo; the thousands and thousands of thorns of the Passion Flower pierced her body; she said, “Guo’er, we’ll endure the suffering together.”
Valley Master Gongsun called out, “Oh no!” in shock, he said, “You… you…” He then said coldly, “Why did you do this? Will your suffering lessen his?”
Xiao Longnu took one deep look at Yang Guo, then slowly turned around. She exited the room and didn’t look back.
Valley Master Gongsun said, “Brother Yang, I’ll give you the antidote in twenty hours time. All you’ve got to do in these twenty hours is cleanse your thoughts and don’t rouse any feelings of love. Even if there is pain, it won’t be that hard to endure.” He then left the room and closed the door.
Yang Guo’s body was wracked with pain and his heart was full of hurt. “All the pain and suffering that I’ve experience before today is nothing compared to the pain I’m experiencing now. The Valley Master is such an evil person; how can I just die like this and let Gu Gu suffer at his hands? Besides, I still have to avenge my father; how can I allow the phony, righteous and benevolent Guo Jing and Huang Rong to not get what they deserve for their evil deed?” When he thought about this, his blood boiled, shaking and stirring him, “I cannot die; whatever happens I cannot die! Even if Gu Gu becomes the wife of the Valley Master I’d still need to save her. I need to train my martial arts and avenge my father.” So he clenched his teeth and sat up. Although he couldn’t assume the proper form in the fish net, he was still able to submerge his chi into his dan tian and started to circulate his internal energy.
Four hours later, midday had passed. A disciple in green entered with a plate; there were four new buns on it. The disciple said, “Our master is celebrating his wedding and he’s allowing you to have a good meal.” The disciple placed the plate by the fish net; his hand was covered with a coarse cloth to avoid getting injured by the passion flowers. As Yang Guo stretched out his hand through the net for the buns and ate them, he thought, “Since I’m going to fight with my life against that bastard Valley Master, I can’t torture myself.”
The disciple laughed, “I couldn’t have guessed that you would have such a great appetite.”
Suddenly there was a green blur by the door; another disciple had come through the door and had moved up silently behind the first disciple. That disciple threw a heavy punch against the first disciple’s back. The disciple fainted before he could see who threw the punch.
Yang Guo saw that the person who did the sneak attack was actually Gongsun Lu E; he said with surprise, “You… you…”
Gongsun Lu E first turned around and closed the door before whispering, “Quiet brother Yang, I’ve come to rescue you.” She untied the knots of the net and cleared the Passion Flowers away from Yang Guo, letting him out. Her hands were covered with a thick piece of cloth.
Yang Guo hesitated, “If your father finds out about this…”
Gongsun Lu E said, “I’ll ignore whatever heavy punishment I’ll get.” She picked up a Passion Flower and placed it in the mouth of the unconscious disciple so that he won’t be able to call for help when he wakes up. Then she placed him in the fish net and threw the Passion Flowers over him. She whispered again, “Brother Yang, hide behind the door if someone enters. I’ll go and get the antidote for your poison from the pill room.”
Yang Guo was extremely touched. He knew that she was putting herself in danger by doing this; his friendship with her was not even a day old and she’s actually rebelling against her father to rescue him. He said, “Miss, I… I…” He was so touched that he couldn’t say anything.
Gongsun Lu E smiled at him and said, “Just wait here for a little while, I’ll be right back.” She then left the room.
Yang Guo was lost in thought, “Why is she treating me so well? Though I’ve had an unfortunate life and suffered under other people ever since I was small, there are actually many people who have treated me sincerely. There’s no need to mention Gu Gu; there’s Grandma Sun, Hong Qigong, my Godfather Ouyang Feng and Island Master Huang. There’s also the girls Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang, and now’s there’s Gongsun Lu E as well amongst them; all of them have treated me with great sincerity. My birth date and time must be of an extremely strange nature; otherwise how could those who’ve been good to me treat me so well and those who’ve been cruel to me have treated me so badly?” But he never thought about how all his encounters have been extraordinary; the people he meets either treat him with great sincerity or treat him with extreme insincerity. His character was such that he would only get on well with those who could agree with him; those whose words clashed with his, he treated as an enemy. How he treated others was, of course, how others repaid him.
He waited for a long while but Gongsun Lu E still had not returned. Yang Guo was getting more and more worried. At first he thought that there must have been someone else present in the pill room so she couldn’t steal the antidote. But as time went by, he thought that even if she couldn’t steal the antidote, she would have come back and told him so. It looks like something must have gone terribly wrong; she took such a big risk for me, how can I not try to save her? He opened the door slightly and peeked out. It was quiet outside and there was no one around; he slipped out but he did not know where Gongsun Lu E might be.
Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly heard footsteps from around the corner; he quickly hid behind the corner and saw two disciples in green passing by shoulder to shoulder. In their hands was a thorny stick; it appeared that it was something that was used for punishment.
Yang Guo was furious, “Gu Gu would rather die than submit, and that shameless Valley Master is actually trying to force her to submit through torture!” He lightened his steps and followed the two disciples. The two disciples did not notice him; they turned and twisted along a few corridors before arriving outside a stone room. They said clearly, “Master, the thorny stick is here.” They pushed open the door and entered.
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