Chapter 22 – Baby girl in a city that was going to fall, Part 1
Baby girl in a city that was going to fall.
Just as Guo Jing and Yang Guo thought they had ran out of luck, the Mongolian soldiers and horses suddenly started to disperse. An old crippled man with a metal crutch in his left hand and a hammer in his right advanced towards them. He called out, “Master Yang, escape quickly, I’ll hold them off.”
Yang Guo took a glance at him and recognized it was one of Peach Blossom Island’s disciples Feng Mofeng. He was extremely surprised by this event, but in this perilous danger, he didn’t give it much thought as to how he suddenly appeared.
When Feng Mofeng was forced into working for the Mongolian army, he used the chance to assassinate members of the Mongolian army and had already killed a Noyan and a Jagen leader. He was very careful in making his moves and was yet to be discovered. Today, he heard a great commotion and so he headed up to a high vantage point to see what was happening. He saw that Guo Jing and Yang Guo were surrounded, so he fought his way in to help them. His iron hammer caused gusts of wind as it was swung and those who met it died instantly. A bloody trail was left in his wake.
Yang Guo was delighted with this development and swung his sword to try to break out. However, Fawang used his wheel to intercept Yang Guo’s and Feng Mofeng’s stances at the same time. Whenever Xiaoxiang Zi’s rod came down towards Guo Jing’s back, Fawang would allow Yang Guo to save Guo Jing. If Fawang used his wheel to smash down on Guo Jing, Xiaoxiang Zi would block his attack with his rod. If it wasn’t for the two fighting each other, and even if Yang Guo gave his life in trying to protect Guo Jing, Guo Jing would have been dead long ago.
When Khubilai came up with the reward of being ‘Mongolia’s Greatest Warrior’, he had hoped that his men would use all their efforts to achieve this goal; but instead they fought with each other, which was something that he did not predict.
Guo Jing’s life might be safe for the time being, but the Mongolian army had positioned themselves all around him like an iron wall, presenting a metal boundary. Fawang and Xiaoxiang Zi were fighting for first place. Nimoxing bit down on his tongue as he held in his pain and looked for a chance to attack, attacking with vicious stances here and there.
By now, Yang Guo and Guo Jing had been battling within the army for over an hour. The sun was now skewed to the side. Fawang suddenly changed his stances and his wheel collided with Yang Guo’s long sword. The ‘Gentleman Sword’ was a blade that can cut through metal like butter; as soon as the weapons collided, a hole was made in the golden wheel. Fawang followed the momentum and kept on going forward. The wheel caused an extremely strong pressing wind over them. Yang Guo was afraid that if he moved out of the way, Guo Jing would be injured so he used his sword to take this attack head on. The wheel slanted slightly and a light ‘chi’ sound was heard; Yang Guo’s right forearm was slashed open. Though the wound wasn’t deep, it had cut a vein and blood rushed out. As he fought, he felt his legs going limp and was running out of breath; under these attacks, how could he stop defending in order to stop his bleeding?
Feng Mofeng swung his metal hammer viciously and used every ounce of strength in his efforts in help Yang Guo and Guo Jing. But Fawang’s left palm blocked and attacked, reducing Feng Mofeng to a state where he could only defend. If Feng Mofeng hadn’t fought for his life, he wouldn’t have even been able to save himself.
Xiaoxiang Zi saw his chance had come; he first sent Nimoxing’s iron snake to the side and then leapt up into the air. He pointed his rod towards Guo Jing and was about to release the poisonous dust.
Yang Guo was shocked by this and quickly stretched out his left hand to take the rod. At the same time, he sent his sword forward. At that time, his body was completely open; all Fawang had to do was strike him lightly with his golden wheel and he would have been sent to his death. But Fawang wanted to use Yang Guo to send Xiaoxiang Zi away. Fawang forced Feng Mofeng away with his palm and sent out his arm to grab Guo Jing’s back. Capturing him alive would be a great achievement. Xiaoxiang Zi did not predict that Yang Guo would actually risk his life to stop him. Before he came back to ground his rod had been grabbed and he couldn’t exert any force while in midair. A white light flashed across his eyes as the sword arrived at his chest. He could do nothing but let go of his rod and move out of the way to save his life.
Feng Mofeng smashed forwards with both his hammer and crutch at Fawang’s back. Two ‘dang dang’ sounds were heard as Fawang used his wheel to repel the attack. Feng Mofeng’s joints bled from the force. Fawang’s left hand went out for Guo Jing’s back. Feng Mofeng gave a howl and abandoned his weapons and grabbed Fawang’s back. The two fell down onto the ground. Fawang was furious and struck his shoulder with a palm. Feng Mofeng felt as if his insides were turned upside down. Feng Mofeng saw how cruel and vicious the Mongolians were from the camp and saw how they used his citizens in their attack on Xiangyang. He also saw how Guo Jing fought with his life to drive the enemy away. He didn’t know Guo Jing personally and had no idea that Guo Jing was his Master’s son-in-law; he just knew that if this person dies, Xiangyang would fall. So he made up his mind; he was going to endure anything in order to get Guo Jing out of danger. Fawang’s palms came out with unspeakable speed. Feng Mofeng’s bones were broken and his innards severely damaged but still, Feng Mofeng did not let go and dug deep into Fawang with his ten fingers.
The Mongolian soldiers had decided to watch from the side because they thought that Fawang would definitely be able to handle the situation. But when they saw him fall down to the ground, they all rushed forward.
In such a situation, even if Guo Jing was perfectly healthy and if his and Yang Guo’s martial arts were even better, how could they fight off the rush of hundreds of soldiers?
Yang Guo sighed to himself, “It’s over…it’s over!” He swung out Xiaoxiang Zi’s rod wildly when suddenly there was a light ‘po’ sound; black dust spurted out from the end of the rod. The ten soldiers that were directly in front of the smoke fell down immediately. In his wild movements, Yang Guo had accidentally triggered the release of the poisonous dust.
Yang Guo was slightly startled but immediately understood. He carried Guo Jing and made his way forward; whenever Mongolian soldiers came to meet him, he would trigger the poison and send more men to the ground with the poison.
Though the Mongolian soldiers were great in battle, they were all superstitious. When they saw how their own men suddenly fell down dead to the ground as soon as black smoke came from the rod, they shouted, “His rod is covered by an evil spell, everyone back!”
Khubilai’s personal guards were extremely brave and regarded his orders above all else; even though they saw how dangerous it was for them, they still went forward to catch Yang Guo and Guo Jing. Yang Guo sent out some more poisonous dust and immediately sent another ten or so men to their deaths.
Yang Guo whistled and summoned his horse. His yellow horse stretched its legs and flew towards him. Yang Guo used every last ounce of his strength to place Guo Jing on the horse’s back but felt his limbs were all drained of energy. He had no strength left to get onto the horse. He could only strike the horse’s back lightly and call out, “Quick, leave quickly!” However, the yellow horse was very loyal to its master; when it saw that Yang Guo had no strength to get on, it raised its head and neighed. Yang Guo saw that the Mongolian soldiers were closing in on him; though the poison in the rod was lethal, there’s a limit to the amount of poison it holds. He raised his sword wanting to jab his horse to force it to leave, but in the end he couldn’t bear to. He called out, “Leave!” He poked the horse with the end of the rod. Because his strength had been drained in battle, his poke wasn’t accurate and actually struck Guo Jing. Guo Jing had been unconscious but with this sudden poke, he opened his eyes. He immediately picked up Yang Guo and helped him onto the horse. The yellow horse gave out a joyous neigh and galloped away.
However, the sounds of horns followed closely behind them. Guo Jing gave a whistle and his red horse galloped towards him. The Mongolian army was right behind them. The red horse galloped to the yellow horse’s side and kept nuzzling Guo Jing. Yang Guo knew that although his yellow horse was a fine animal, it was still inferior to the red horse. He drew a deep breath and with Guo Jing in his arms, leaped on the red horse. Just at this time, he heard a ‘ming ming’ sound; Fawang’s golden wheel was flying towards them. Yang Guo’s heart ached as he thought, “Feng Mofeng has died at Fawang’s hands.”
His thoughts stilled as the wheel came closer and closer. Yang Guo lowered himself to the horse’s back and hoped the wheel would brush past him. But the wheel sounded from below; it was actually aiming for the horse’s legs.
After Fawang had killed Feng Mofeng, he stood up and saw that Yang Guo and Guo Jing had already gotten onto their horses; it was too late to chase after them. He immediately shot out his golden wheel low to the ground. Fawang knew that if the wheel struck Yang Guo and kills him, the red horse would still escape with Guo Jing. Only by cutting off the horse’s legs would he have a chance to succeed in his task.
As the wheel got closer and closer, Yang Guo had no other option but to use his sword to repel the wheel. He knew that he had no strength left and knew that it was nigh on impossible for him to succeed but he had no choice but to give it his all. The wheel was now just two feet away from the horse with the wheel generating a soul shaking noise. He hung his sword down to the protect the horse’s legs but who would have thought that as soon as the horse realized it’s life was in danger, it galloped faster and faster. The wheel remained two feet away from the horse. Yang Guo was delighted as he knew that the wheel would only get slower and slower. Indeed, a little while later the distance between the wheel and the horse’s legs increased to three feet, to four feet, to five feet; the gap was getting larger and larger. Eventually a ‘dong’ sound was heard as the wheel landed on the ground.
Yang Guo was filled with delight, but then he heard a pitiful neigh behind him. He turned around and saw his yellow horse, its stomach filled with arrows, still staring lovingly at its master. Yang Guo’s heart was filled with sadness and tears fell from his eyes.
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