The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 10 – The young hero, Part 8

Wanyan Ping saw her face and was startled; she didn’t dare to take any more glances and thought, “Is there such an ugly girl on this earth?”

The girl waited for the two to finish their food and said, “Master Yang, Li Mochou knows you, yes?”

Yang Guo said, “She’s seen me a few times.”

The girl took out a thin towel like object from her bag and said, “This is a human skin mask, when you wear it she won’t be able to recognize you.”

Yang Guo took it in his hand and saw that the mask had four holes for the eyes, mouth and nose, when he placed it on his face it matched the shape of his face, like as if he was born with it, he thanked her with joy.

Wanyan Ping saw Yang Guo put on the mask, his face was now extremely ugly and then she understood, “Sister, so you’re wearing a human skin mask as well; I’m really foolish, I thought you really were born with that weird face. I’m really sorry.”

The girl gave a quiet laugh and said, “With Master Yang’s handsome face, wearing this mask is asking a lot from him. With my face, it’s the same whether I wear it or not.”

Wanyan Ping said, “I don’t believe that! Sister, could you take off your mask and let me see your face?”

Yang Guo also was curious and he too was anxious to see her face, but the girl took two steps back and laughed, and said, “Don’t look, don’t look, my face will scare you guys.” Wanyan Ping saw that she won’t take it off and so didn’t ask her again.

By midday the three arrived at Wuguan. They found a restaurant in the town and had something to eat. The waiters saw Yang Guo was wearing Mongolian clothes and didn’t dare to be slow; they made sure they tended to his needs first. The three were halfway through their food when they saw three females enter the restaurant; it was Li Mochou and her disciple along with Lu Wushuang as their captive.

Yang Guo thought that although Li Mochou could not possibly recognize him at this moment in time, his strange face would attract her suspicions. It wouldn’t be convenient for him to act so he turned around and ate his rice, shifting his body to hear their conservation. Who would think that Lu Wushuang would not make a sound? After Li Mochou and Hong Lingbo ordered, they too didn’t speak.

Wanyan Ping had heard Yang Guo describe Li Mochou and her disciples before. She was anxious and dipped her chopstick into a bowl of soup and wrote on the table, “Time to move?”

Yang Guo thought, “Even with the three us and ‘Wifey’ it’ll be hard for us to beat the two of them. We can only win by using our brains, we can’t use force.” He waved his chopstick.

There were footsteps from the stairs and two people emerged. Wanyan Ping glanced over; it was Yelu Qi and Yelu Yan. The two people also noticed that Wanyan Ping was there and both were surprised; they nodded and then found a table to sit down. The two knew that Wanyan Ping had left and wasn’t going to try to assassinate their father again so they left their father and brother and went traveling. They were even more relaxed when they saw Wanyan Ping was here.

Li Mochou was troubled by the fact that the ‘Five Poison Codex’ had fallen into the hands of the Beggar Clan. These past few days she had no appetite for food; she just ate half a bowl of noodles and then placed her chopsticks on the table. She raised her head and looked out of the restaurant; on the corner of the street she saw two beggars, on their backs their were five pockets, they were five band beggar clan members. She had a thought and went over to the window, she signaled to the beggars and said, “Beggar Clan members, please come here, This Taoist priestess has a message for your clan’s chief.” She knew that if she asked them to come up for no reason, they might not come, but if she said she had a message for their chief, they would definitely come.

Lu Wushuang heard her Master calling the beggars and knew that she wanted to inquire about the whereabouts of the ‘Five Poison Codex’; her face couldn’t refrain from turning white. Yelu Qi knew that the Beggar Clan was a powerful force up here in the north, yet this beautiful priestess actually had something to say to them; he didn’t know who she was, his curiosity was roused, he stopped drinking and watched them.

In a short while, the sound of footsteps could be heard outside, two Beggar Clan members entered and greeted Li Mochou and said, “What does the Angelic Priestess want, we’ll honor the request.” After they greeted her they stood up. One of the beggars saw that Lu Wushuang was present and his face immediately changed, he had tangled with her before, he pulled his friend and leapt to the stairs entrance.

Li Mochou gave a wry smile and said, “Please take a look at the back of your hands.” The beggars looked on their back of their hands only to see three red prints, they didn’t know how on earth she managed to do this; she had used her “Divine Five Poison Palm” without ‘disturbing ghosts or gods’ (roughly ‘completely un-seen’). The beggars didn’t even know she had done anything, even Yang Guo and Yelu Qi couldn’t see clearly what had happened.

The beggars were startled and both called out, “You’re… you’re the ‘Scarlet Serpent Deity’?”

Li Mochou softly said, “Go and tell your chief, ‘your clan and the one named Li have always kept away from each other’, say ‘the river water does not mix with the well water’. I have always admired the heroes of the Beggar Clan, it’s just that I’ve never had the chance to acquaint myself with the clan, I really regret that.”

The beggars looked at her and thought, “It sounds nice but why did you use your poisonous techniques on us for no reason?”

Li Mochou took a break and then carried on, “The two of you have fallen victim to the “Divine Five Poison Palm”, don’t worry, all you’ve got to do is return the book you stole and I will help you cure it.”

One of the beggars said, “What book?”

Li Mochou laughed and said, “That old book isn’t worth much, if your clan won’t return it, its not too important. I’ll just take the thousand Beggar Clan member’s lives as compensation.”