The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 12 – Great banquet for heroes, Part 6

Huang Rong stroked his hair and softly said, “Guo’er, I won’t keep anything from you anymore. In the past I didn’t like your father, which is why I have always disliked you. But from now on, I will treat you well; once my body has recovered I will teach you all the martial arts I know. Uncle Guo said he will do the same thing as well.”

Yang Guo was feeling sadder, he cried even louder and choked, “Auntie Guo, there are many things that I’ve kept from you, I’ll…I’ll… I’ll tell you everything.”

Huang Rong stroked his hair and said, “Today I’m very tired, it won’t be too late if you tell me in a few days, all you’ve got to do is be a good child and I’ll be happy. When the Beggar Clan’s meeting is on, come and take a look.”

Yang Guo thought that important news such as the passing away of Hong Qigong needed to be revealed at the meeting, he wiped his tears and kept on nodding.

The two of them spoke with their true feelings under the tree and managed to scatter away the mutual dislike that they used to have for each other. As they finished, Yang Guo’s tears turned into a smile, he remembered the faith and love that Guo Jing had in his words to him, this is the first time he had felt so warm and affectionate since he and Xiao Longnu split up.

After speaking for a while, Huang Rong felt a slight pain in her stomach; she slowly got up and said, “Let’s go.” She held his hand and they slowly walked.

Yang Guo thought that he should tell her the news of the Hong Qigong’s death and said, “Auntie Guo, I have something very important I have to tell you.”

Huang Rong just felt the chi in her ‘dan tian’ was uncomfortable and not fluent; she frowned and said, “Tell me tomorrow, I’m… I’m not feeling well.”

Yang Guo saw that she was pale and couldn’t help from worrying, he felt her hand was slightly cold, he became bold and secretly circulated his chi and sent a warm energy from his hand into her. When he and Xiao Longnu were practicing the “Jade Heart Manual” on Mount Zhongnan, he had become very fluent in this technique of passing energy through the palms. But he was afraid that his and Huang Rong’s internal energy would clash with each other so at the start he only sent a little; afterwards when he felt no resistance, he started to increase the energy. Huang Rong felt the internal energy that he was passing on was soft and concentrated; it was very different to the internal energies of the Quanzhen sect. It was soft and fluid, it wasn’t below the skilled fighters of Quanzhen, her body had a use for it and in a short while she felt the opposing chi and her blood flow became more fluid and comfortable, her cheeks glowed, she was surprised, “Where did the child learn this advanced internal energy?” She smiled at him.

Just as she was about to ask him, Guo Fu called out from afar, “Mother, mother, guess who’s here?”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “Today all the heroes of the world are gathered here, how do I know who’s here?” She suddenly had a thought and said happily, “Ah, it’s the Wu’s Martial Uncles; I haven’t seen them for many years.”

Guo Fu said, “Mother, you are really clever, how did you get it in one guess?”

Huang Rong smiled and said, “What’s hard about that? The Wu brothers never leave your side, since they’re not following, it must be because their relatives have arrived.”

Yang Guo has always been assured of his intelligence but when he saw that Huang Rong predicted things like a god, he couldn’t stop himself from being startled and in awe of her.

Huang Rong continued, “Fu’er, congratulations, you can learn another advanced martial art but I’m afraid that you might not be able to learn it.”

Guo Fu asked, “What kung fu?”

Yang Guo blurted out, “The “Solitary Yang Finger”!”

Guo Fu ignored him and said, “What do you know? Mother, what kung fu is it?”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “Hasn’t brother Yang mentioned it?”

Guo Fu said, “Ai… so mother told you.” Yang Guo and Huang Rong both smiled and didn’t say anything. Huang Rong thought, “Guo’er is very intelligent, he’s ten times cleverer than the Wu brothers. And there’s no need to mention Fu’er. He knows that the “Solitary Yang Finger” is Reverend Yideng’s skill, the Wu brothers’ Martial Uncles are here, and they will pity the Wu brothers because of their parents and will definitely teach them the “Solitary Yang Finger”. The brothers are always trying to please Fu’er, whatever they learn will be passed onto her.”

Guo Fu was surprised, “Why did mother tell Yang Guo first, could it be that she wants to betroth me to that little beggar?” When she thought about this, she gave Yang Guo a look and put on a silly face.

Reverend Yideng of Dali has four disciples: ‘Fisherman, Woodsman, Farmer, and Scholar’. The Wu brothers’ father Wu Santong is the third disciple, Farmer. Ever since the battle with Li Mochou where he was wounded, he hadn’t been seen since. The ones that have arrived for the ‘Heroes Feast’ today are the Fisherman, Si Shuiyuyin and the Scholar, Zhu Ziliu. Whenever Huang Rong and Zhu Ziliu meet, they start to battle with their wits. They haven’t seen each other for over ten years and as soon as they saw each other, they were at it again. After the greetings, Si Shuiyuyin and Zhu Ziliu found a room and they indeed did start to teach the “Solitary Yang Finger” to the Wu brothers.

That morning, the Lu Manor was filled with countless heroes and good men; though the Lu Manor was large, there were people everywhere. After lunch, the members of the Beggar Clan assembled in the forest outside the Lu Manor. The ceremony of the old Chief passing the position to a new one is the grandest ceremony in the Beggar Clan. All the members from the east, south, west and north no matter what rank gathered here. The heroes that were invited to the Lu Manor were also invited to watch the ceremony.

Over the last ten years or so, Lu Youjiao had helped Huang Rong in running all the matters of the clan; he was just, he did things boldly and accepted the consequences, the members from the ‘dirty’ clothed and ‘clean’ clothed factions all respected him. Elder Jian of the ‘clean’ clothed faction had passed away, Elder Liang has been incapacitated by illness and Elder Peng had revolted and left. There wasn’t anyone that could challenge for the position of chief; this is why this year’s ceremony proceeded smoothly. Huang Rong acted accordingly to the clan’s rules, after passing on the clan’s historic treasure, the Dog Beating Stick, to Lu Youjiao, she and the rest of the members spat on him to complete the procession. His face and body was covered in spittle.