Chapter 20 – The greater xia, Part 14
By the time dinner finished, it was around eleven o’clock. Guo Jing told his daughter to take Xiao Longnü inside to rest and he himself took Yang Guo to his room to sleep in the same bed. When Xiao Longnü was about to go inside, she glanced at Yang Guo, telling him to be careful. Her face was filled with love and concern. Yang Guo was afraid that his intentions would be revealed and so turned his head away, not daring to look at her directly.
Guo Jing led Yang Guo to his room and praised Yang Guo for saving Huang Rong, Guo Fu and the Wu brothers from Jinlun Fawang at the restaurant and the stone formations. He then asked about what had happened to him afterwards.
Yang Guo was afraid that he might let something out if he talked too much; and so he kept the events of how he met Cheng Ying, Lu Wushuang, Sha Gu and Huang Yaoshi from him. He just said, “After I was injured, I recuperated in a wild valley. Afterwards, I met my Master again and we decided to come here to help Uncle Guo.”
Guo Jing got himself readied for bed and said, “Guo’er, there is a strong enemy pressing against the boundaries of our land; the Song Empire is in great danger. Xiangyang is a barrier for our Song land; if this city falls then the thousands and millions of citizens that we have will become the slaves of the Mongols. I have seen the brutality of the Mongols when they kill with my own eyes; it causes one’s blood to boil.”
When Yang Guo heard this, he remembered the tragic and terrifying scenes of the actions of the Mongols he encountered during his travels. He couldn’t stop his teeth from clenching in anger and his chest filled with fury.
Guo Jing continued, “Why do we learn martial arts? Lending a helping hand and getting people out of danger is of course something that we must do; but this is just one of the minor parts of being a hero. The people of Jianghu call me ‘Hero Guo’ because they respect me for serving my country and my people and guarding Xiangyang without care for my life. But my abilities are limited, I cannot get my people out of this trouble; I really am not worthy of the title ‘Hero’. You are ten times more intelligent than me; your future achievements will definitely exceed mine. I just hope that you remember these words, ‘a hero’s imperative is to serve your country, to serve your people’. You will be a famous true hero of the people if you remember this.”
These sincere words moved Yang Guo. He saw that Guo Jing had a stern face on him and although Guo Jing was his father’s murderer, Yang Guo couldn’t help but feel respect for him. He replied, “Uncle Guo, after you’ve gone, I will definitely remember the words that you have said tonight.”
How would Guo Jing know that Yang Guo was planning to assassinate him tonight? He stretched out his hand and stroked his hair and said, “Yes, bend your body to the task until your dying day. If our country perishes then your Uncle Guo’s life will go along with it. I have heard that Khubilai is skilled in warfare; he retreated today but he will come back to attack again soon. There’s definitely going to be a great battle in the upcoming days. It’s going to be a spectacular battle. It’s getting late, let’s go to sleep.”
Yang Guo replied, “Yes.” He undressed himself for bed and hid the dagger from the Passionless Valley on him. He thought, “I’ll wait until you’re deep in your sleep and then stab you; even if your martial arts were a hundred times better, how could you avoid this attack?”
Guo Jing had fought in a great battle today and he immediately fell asleep. How could Yang Guo sleep with the thoughts that he had? He lay on the bed and listened to the breathing of Guo Jing. Every inhalation and exhalation was spaced out with an extremely long gap; he admired how profound Guo Jing’s internal energy was.
Some time passed. It was silent everywhere with the exception of the noises from the guards. He sat up quietly and felt out the dagger from underneath his clothes. He thought, “I’ll kill him first and then go kill Huang Rong. She’s a pregnant woman, what can she do? Once I’ve killed them, I’ll immediately go back to the Passionless Valley with Gu Gu to get the other half of the antidote. Once I’ve got the antidote, I will go back to the tomb with Gu Gu and enjoy the pleasures of life; who cares about whether this empire is Song or Mongol?”
He felt extremely pleased with himself as he thought about this; but suddenly he heard the crying of a baby from one of the neighboring residences. He then heard the mother of the baby comforting it; the baby gradually stopped crying and fell asleep.
Yang Guo’s heart trembled and remembered the time when he saw a Mongolian soldier holding up his spear in midair with a baby hanging off the end of it; the baby had not died and was crying miserably. He thought, “It would be easy for me to kill Guo Jing now; but once he dies, it will be difficult to protect Xiangyang. This city has thousands and thousands of babies; won’t they all be killed by the Mongolian soldiers for fun? My avenging of my father will lead to countless deaths, is this right?”
But then he thought, “If I don’t kill him, how can I get the antidote from Qiu Qianchi? If I die, Gu Gu will not live on.” Nothing in the world could compare to his love for Xiao Longnü and he made up his mind, “Fine, fine, who cares about the lives of Xiangyang; who cares about the Empire of the Song? When I was suffering, who cared about me apart from Gu Gu? The people of the world don’t love me; why should I love the people of the world?” He raised the dagger and gathered all his strength into his right hand. He aimed for Guo Jing’s chest.
The candlelight in the room had gone out long ago but Yang Guo had the ability to see things in the dark. When he was about to thrust the dagger, he glanced over at Guo Jing’s face. There was a peaceful expression on his face and he was in a deep sleep; all the love that Guo Jing shown him when he was younger suddenly surfaced in his heart. How he treated him lovingly on the Peach Blossom Island; how he took him all the way to Mount Zhongnan to learn martial arts; how he betrothed his only daughter to him. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking, “Uncle Guo is a straight and honest man; he is an extremely sincere and kind person; he cannot be the person who killed my father. Could it be that Sha Gu was confused and was talking rubbish? If this knife goes forward and kills an innocent man, I won’t be able to redeem this with ten thousand deaths. I’ll wait; I need to make sure.”
He put away his dagger slowly and thought about all the things that had happened since he’d met the Guo couple; pondering over every single memory. He remembered how Huang Rong always felt uneasy with him around; there were many times when she and Guo Jing were talking about something but would immediately change the subject once she saw him. There was no question about it; the couple was keeping something from him. He continued thinking, “When Auntie Guo took me as a disciple, how come she only taught me to read and write and didn’t teach me martial arts? Could it be that the reason why Uncle Guo treats me so well is because he’s trying to make himself feel better about killing my father? But if he really did kill my father then how come he is not wary of me at all? He lets me sleep with him and gives me the chance to kill him with one stab of a knife. He was troubled as his thoughts went to and fro like the tides.
Though Guo Jing was sleeping, he noticed that Yang Guo’s breathing was quickening and he opened his eyes. He asked, “Guo’er, what is it?”
Yang Guo trembled a little and said, “It’s nothing.”
Guo Jing laughed, “If you’re not used to sleeping with someone, then I’ll go and sleep on the table.”
Yang Guo said quickly, “No, it’s nothing important.”
Guo Jing said, “Fine, just go to sleep. We martial artists need to make sure our states of mind are well rested.”
Yang Guo replied, “Yes.”
Another while passed. Yang Guo could not hold it in any longer and asked, “Uncle Guo, that year when you took me to Mount Zhongnan, I asked you a question at the Cow Head Monastery at the foot of Mount Zhongnan.”
Guo Jing said, “What was it?”
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