Chapter 22 – Baby girl in a city that was going to fall, Part 7
Huang Rong said, “Brother Jing, what’s more important, Xiangyang or us? Are you more important or am I?”
Guo Jing let Huang Rong go and said, “Yes, the country comes first!”
Huang Rong took out her bamboo rod and went over to the door. What she had discussed with Xiao Longnu had yet to reach Yang Guo’s ears, what was he going to do? Will he help to repel the enemy or will he take advantage of the situation to avenge his father and save his life? His thoughts have always been shrouded in mystery, if he does turn on us it will be even more trouble. Though she was guarding the door, she kept her eye on him.
Though what the Guo couple had said didn’t seem much, in Yang Guo’s ears, they rang loud and true. Guo Jing’s kindness had touched him and he had already decided to pay him back with his life and help him. But as he heard the words ‘the country comes first’, something stirred in him and he began to remember the teaching of Guo Jing of a few days earlier, “a hero’s duty is to serve your country, serve your people,” and, “holding your body to the task until your dying day”. He saw how deeply the couple loved each other, but even with themselves in such danger, they put the country first. Yet he could not let the death of his father go and he could not let Xiao Longnu out of his mind; when had he ever thought about his country? When had he ever worried about the suffering of his people? He felt extremely ashamed of himself.
Suddenly, a childhood memory came flooding back to him. It was a memory of Huang Rong teaching him on Peach Blossom Island; the teaching was along the lines of ‘dying for a righteous cause’ and ‘giving your life for justice’. It was now clearer to him than ever before. He seemed a little frightened by this, yet at the same time felt inspired. With life and death now on the line, many things that he’d never thought about never cared about suddenly became crystal clear. He seemed to be a different person with this newfound spirit, taller, bigger and brighter.
Many thoughts flickered through his mind. All this had happened in a short space of time. Huang Rong watched as his face turned from confusion to shame, from poignant to resolute but she couldn’t fathom what he was thinking.
Suddenly Yang Guo said quietly, “You can relax!” Unsheathing the Gentleman Sword, he made his way to the door.
Jinlun Fawang stood on the rooftop with a wheel in each hand. He laughed, “Brother Yang, how does it feel to be a man who goes back on his word?”
If it were the Yang Guo of old, these words would definitely have angered him, but the present Yang Guo was calm and clear. He thought to himself, “You’re right; my mind had never been set until this day. From now on, no matter how long I live, I will never be one who goes back on their word.” He laughed, “Fawang, you’re right. I don’t know what came over me that day; I don’t know why I helped Guo Jing escape. But once he got back to Xiangyang, I don’t know where he’s gone and I can’t find him, It’s only now that I’ve regretted what I’ve done. Do you know where he is?” He then leapt up to the roof and stood a few feet in front of him.
Fawang squinted, he knew that this little kid was very crafty and didn’t know whether he was telling the truth or telling a lie. He laughed, “If you find him, what will you do?”
Yang Guo said, “There’s a sword in my hand.”
Fawang scoffed, “Huh, you’d actually dare stab him?”
Yang Guo said, “Who said I’d stab him?”
Surprised, Fawang replied, “Who then?”
The Gentleman Sword pierced the air as it came towards Fawang’s left side very quickly. At the same time, Yang Guo laughed, “You of course!” This attack came out of nowhere and with great force. With the close distance and being caught unaware, had Fawang’s martial arts been just a little lower, like that of Nimoxing and Xiaoxiang Zi, he would surely have died from that attack. Fawang managed to react in time and gathered chi in his left arm and blocked the attack. However, the Gentleman Sword is an extremely sharp blade, his arm was cut by the sword and he suffered a wound inches deep and blood flowed.
Fawang might have known that Yang Guo was sly, but he would never have guessed that he would actually attack him. Getting injured like this just as he entered Xiangyang enraged him and he attacked furiously with the golden wheel in his right hand and at the same time, he threw the silver wheel in his left towards Yang Guo. Yang Guo stood his ground and took three stances before replying with three stances. He laughed, “I owed you one from your attack at the Mongolian camp. Let me tell you something, do you know that there’s something special about this sword?”
Fawang couldn’t help himself and asked, “What?” as he attacked continuously with his silver wheel.
Yang Guo laughed, “Let me tell you that it’s not my fault.”
Fawang said, “Damn you punk! What’s not your fault?”
Yang Guo said smugly. “This sword came from the Passionless Valley. Gongsun Zhi likes to use a bit of poison here and there so if you want to take revenge, go find him.”
Fawang was slightly alarmed as he wondered whether Gongsun Zhi would have laced his swords with poison. Unsettled, his stances become slower.
In reality, what poison was there on the sword? Yang Guo remembered how Huang Rong had scared away Huo Dou with tea and because he knew that his martial arts were not Fawang’s match, he tried to use words to disturb his enemy. As soon as he saw it had worked, he concentrated on defending and waited for a chance to pounce. Though Fawang’s injury was not serious; even without poison, the wound bled non-stop and as time went by, he would definitely tire. In the current situation, it would be to his advantage to have a quick battle so he hurried his wheels and attacked with even more vigor.
Yang Guo knew what Fawang intended to do and he defended even harder than usual. The power behind Fawang’s wheels was getting greater and greater. Suddenly, Fawang’s golden wheel attacked upwards and his silver swept across leaving Yang Guo with no other choice but to leap back. Fawang tore a piece of his sleeve off to wrap up his wound but as soon as he did this, Yang Guo came at him again. This game of cat and mouse continued on for a little while before Fawang decided on another plan; as soon as Yang Guo leaps back, he would leap back also and at the same time, throw his silver wheel. This would force Yang Guo to go back even further. This would leave him with enough time to tend to his wound. By the time Yang Guo came back for another attack, Fawang had wrapped up his wound. The fact that there didn’t seem to be any discomfort from his wound indicated that the blade was probably not laced with poison; he relaxed.
At that same time, the sounds of clashing weapons could be heard from a southeastern direction. Yang Guo glanced over and saw Xiao Longnu engaged in battle with Xiaoxiang Zi and Nimoxing. In Xiaoxiang Zi’s hand was a rod that looked exactly like the one that Yang Guo had snatched away and lost in his daze at the Mongolian camp, did this one contain poison as well? With the Guo couple directly below him, Yang Guo knew that it would be disastrous if Fawang finds them, he needed to lure him away. He must make sure that he didn’t reveal his intentions to Fawang so he called out, “Gu Gu, don’t worry, I’m coming!” After a few leaps, he landed behind Nimoxing and he sent his sword forward.
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