Chapter 20 – The greater xia, Part 10
Fawang thought, “If this continues I’m going to lose to this dark dwarf; I need to think of something else. Luckily he’s up by himself; when I kill him that zombie face would not dare to come up against me. Yang Guo and Xiao Longnü have been poisoned and won’t be able to use their “Pure Heart of Jade Maiden Swordplay” smoothly.”
Suddenly, the thunderous sounds of horses were heard from nearby. Flags fluttered in the air as a group of men on horseback rushed towards them. Fawang and Nimoxing were in the middle of a heated battle and had no time to look. Yang Guo and the others saw it was a division of Mongolian soldiers on horseback armed with bows and sabers. About a hundred feet from Yang Guo and the others, the leader of the division held up his hand to order his men to stop. The soldiers all reigned in their horses.
Below the flag, a person watched the battle from his horse for a while before riding up towards them and called out, “Stop, stop!” This person wore a yellow gown and carried an iron bow; it was the Mongolian Prince Khubilai.
When Nimoxing heard his voice, he struck the rock with his palms and sent it rolling down the mountainside. Vast amounts of dust and dirt were thrown up as the boulder rolled down the slope.
Khubilai leapt off the horse and held Fawang with his left hand and Nimoxing with his right. He laughed, “So you two are exchanging a few stances here; it really was a great spectacle.” He knew that the two were having a real battle but he said this to keep the face of both sides. Fawang gave a wry laugh and said, “Brother Ni’s martial arts has its good points; a rare sight, a rare sight.”
Nimoxing’s eyes glared at him and said, “I thought the First Protector of Mongolia would be someone extraordinary, but you’re just… bah!”
Fawang was furious and thought, “Do you really think I can’t beat you?” He was just about to say something when Khubilai laughed, “This place has everything, but where’s the wine? Men, bring wine! We’ll drink three bowls here!”
Mongolians have always lived in the wild and made the world their home. Eating and drinking outside was no different than eating in a hall to them. One of the guards brought some wine and food to them and laid a rug on the ground.
Khubilai looked at Xiao Longnü and was shocked, “There’s actually a girl with such beauty here on this earth.” He saw Yang Guo and her holding hands, standing next to each other intimately; he asked Yang Guo, “Who’s this girl?”
Yang Guo said, “This is Miss Long; she is my Master and she is also my wife.”
After the life and death experiences in the Passionless Valley; the world’s customs and traditions meant absolutely nothing to him. He deliberately wanted everyone in the world to know that ‘I, Yang Guo, have married my Master’.
Mongolians weren’t as strict as the Han when it came to adhering to custom and tradition. When Khubilai heard this he wasn’t surprised, but instead, he had great respect for Xiao Longnü when he heard that she was the one who taught Yang Guo martial arts. He laughed, “You two are indeed a match made in heaven, excellent, excellent. Everyone, let’s congratulate these two.” He raised his bowl of wine and drank it all in one go.
Fawang gave a wry laugh before he too raised his bowl and drank it all in one go. The others followed and Ma Guangzuo drank three bowls in one go.
Xiao Longnü did not hate or like Mongolians; but when she heard Khubilai praising her and Yang Guo as a great match, she was wild with joy. She drank half a bowl of wine and her face became even more beautiful. She thought, “All the Han say that I and Guo’er can’t marry each other; while this Mongolian Prince kept on saying excellent, excellent. It looks like Mongolians are more knowledgeable than the Han.”
Khubilai laughed, “I missed everyone here while you were gone for these past three days. However, matters at Xiangyang were getting urgent and so I was unable to continue hosting our esteemed guests. I’d left requests for you at the camp to meet up with the army at Xiangyang to aid us. Things will go a lot smoother now that we’ve met here.”
Fawang asked, “My Highness, how has our army been doing in our attacks on Xiangyang?”
Khubilai frowned and said, “Lu Wende, the General who’s guarding Xiangyang, is just a mediocre General; the person I’m worried about is Guo Jing.”
Yang Guo’s heart trembled and asked, “Is Guo Jing really at Xiangyang?”
Khubilai said, “This Guo Jing is my Senior. He was my father’s sworn brother and was my grandfather Genghis Khan’s most beloved General. This person was both brave and wise; he commanded an army at Xiyu and used an extraordinary plan to succeed in his task. My father once said to me, ‘The Song courts are led by an incompetent Emperor and scheming ministers; they have timid Generals and a weak army. Although they have great numbers they will not be able to defend against our skilled army. But if you come across Guo Jing, you must be careful. Father’s foresight was indeed right; our army has attacked Xiangyang many times but all attempts have been unsuccessful. The reason behind all this is Guo Jing.”
Yang Guo stood up and said, “That Guo Jing is the person who killed my father; I would like to request the order to assassinate him.”
Khubilai said with pleasure, “I have gathered all you heroes together for this exact task. But from what I hear, Guo Jing is the best martial artist of all the Han and he’s got many able people under his command. I have ordered many warriors to go and assassinate him but all have failed. They were either captured or killed; none of them returned. Brother Yang might be brave but it would be difficult for you to achieve this on your own. I want to send everyone here to go into Xiangyang and to work together to kill him. Once this person is killed, Xiangyang will fall.”
Fawang, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others all stood up; they crossed their arms and said, “We will use every ounce of our strength to follow your Highness’ order.”
Khubilai was delighted and said, “It doesn’t matter who kills Guo Jing, and those who go along to help will also be greatly rewarded. However, the Khan will be informed of the name of the person who killed Guo Jing, be given the title of Viscount and be called The Greatest Warrior of Mongolia.”
Xiaoxiang Zi, Nimoxing and the others did not care about the Viscount position; but if they got the title of the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia, they’ll be famous throughout the world, and achieve their life’s dream. The influence of the Mongolian army has spread far and wide; they have countless li of territories in the western regions and have taken two thirds of the land of China. It would take a fast horse a year to travel from the centre of their empire to its boundaries. If they had the title of the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia, all of the world’s heroes, bar none, will be in awe of them. Everyone’s spirits were motivated and even Fawang reacted to this news; there was a glint in his eyes when he heard it.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶