Chapter 34 – Mediating disputes, Part 3
Yang Guo laughed, “There’s no need for that.”
Fan Yiweng was feeling uncomfortable with what had been said and asked, “Eldest Brother Shi, please wait. The Third Brother Shi said we unintentionally did something wrong. What did we do besides entering your territory without authorization? We, the Xishan Ghosts are not afraid to lose our heads; we are certainly not afraid to kowtow to apologize to you.”
Shi Bowei had seen that when they were under the animal’s attack they were throwing the fur hat to each other. Each one of them certainly did not fear death. They were also the kind of people who knew right from wrong. So mournfully he said, “You frightened off the ‘Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox’ [jiu wei ling hu] which my Third Brother needs for treatment of his internal injury. Even if we kill you a thousand times, or even ten thousand times, what good would that be?” Fan Yiweng was shocked; he recalled how the Shi Brothers were leading a large pack of animals to pursue that little fox and wondered why the fox was so important to them.
The Killer Ghost said, “What’s the use of this little fox? Mmm … since it is important to the Third Brother’s well-being, let us join forces and capture that small fox. Wouldn’t it be great?”
Shi Jiqiang shouted, “What do you mean ‘great’? If you can catch that fox I will kowtow to you a hundred times, no, a thousand times!” He was getting emotional.
Fan Yiweng thought, “The Shi Brothers are animal experts without equal in the world. If THEY say it is difficult, what chance would other people have?” Thinking this he involuntarily cast a glance at Yang Guo.
Guo Xiang could not contain herself any longer. “Why do you keep talking? Why don’t you ask the Eagle Hero for help?” she interjected.
Shi Zhongmeng’s heart was stirred; he thought, “This Eagle Hero is highly skilled, maybe he really can help us.” But he said, “What do you know? Unless ‘da luo jin xian’ [the Great Golden Immortal surnamed Luo – I think he is one of Taoist deities] comes down to earth, who else would be able to catch that animal?” Yang Guo knew he deliberately provoked him; so he simply smiled.
Guo Xiang said, “What’s so special about the fox? Would the Second Shi Uncle care to explain?”
Shi Zhongmeng sighed and said, “Toward the end of the year before last my Third Brother defended against injustice in Liangzhou, but the enemy was playing dirty. My Third Brother was not careful and was severely injured …”
Guo Xiang said, “The Third Uncle Shi’s skills are good. Who’s capable of hurting him?”
Shi Shugang said, “You’re flattering me. My skill is like the faint glow of a firefly compared to the sun. What you just said, I am afraid The Eagle Hero would laugh to my face.”
Guo Xiang cast a glance at Yang Guo and said, “Him? He is different. I am talking about other people here.”
Shi Zhongmeng said, “It was a Mongolian Prince called Hou Du. I heard he is the disciple of Jinlun Fawang.”
Yang Guo softly sighed, “It was he. No wonder.”
Guo Xiang said, “Eagle Hero, please punish this Mongolian Prince severely for Third Uncle Shi’s sake.”
Shi Zhongmeng said, “We do not dare to bother the Eagle Hero. As soon as the Third Brother’s injury is cured, we will find him and fight him fair and square. I am sure we won’t be defeated. Only my Third Brother’s internal injury will need a long time to heal; additionally, he will need to drink the blood of the fox for treatment.”
“So that’s the story,” Guo Xiang and the Xishan Ghosts murmured.
Shi Zhongmeng said, “The ‘jiu wei ling hu’ is a rare animal; extremely skittish. We, five brothers have spent almost a year trying to track it down. This fox’s habitat is also in unusual places, like a big marsh located about thirty li [about 15 km] northwest.”
The Killer Ghost asked, “Big marsh? Is it the Black Dragon Marsh?”
Shi Zhongmeng said, “Precisely. You have lived in the Jinnan area for a long time, naturally you know that place. This Black Dragon Marsh’s surrounding area is covered with sludge for a few li around it; no man or beast is able to live there. It’s been a very big effort on our part to simply lure one to this forest.”
The Killer Ghost said, “Oh, no wonder you wouldn’t allow us to enter the forest.”
Shi Zhongmeng continued, “We Shi Brothers are newcomers to this area, naturally we can’t act impolitely. But this is an urgent matter; we did not have any other choice. That fox can run very fast, you have seen it with your own eyes. We led the animals to surround this forest and had actually hoped we would catch it. Unexpectedly you lighted a fire in the forest that our animals were afraid of, and, using that opportunity, the fox escaped. We are ashamed that even with all our might we weren’t able to catch that animal. Once the fox went back to its lair I doubt if we will ever be able to lure it out again. In the meantime my Third Brother’s injury is not getting better. We are running out of time. That was the reason we acted unreasonably.” He then looked at Yang Guo imploringly.
Fan Yiweng said, “We are partly responsible for this mishap. But may I know, how did you lure the fox in the first place? Why can’t we repeat it?”
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