The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 20 – The greater xia, Part 6

Yang Guo knew that his time would be wasted if he remained here for much longer so he flicked his blade with his finger and said clearly with the resonation of the blade, “The lonely rabbit, going east watching west. The clothes are not of new; the person is not like that of before.” He motioned his sword in a flurry and turned around with Xiao Longnü’s hand held in his.

When Lu E heard the last two sentences, ‘the clothes are not of new, the person not like that of before’, her hurt became even greater; she took off the ragged gown that Yang Guo had given her. She went to him and offered it back to him, saying, “Brother Yang, it’s better to have old clothes.”

Yang Guo said, “Thank you.” He stretched out his hand to take it. He and Xiao Longnü knew that Lu E was deliberately standing in front of them so her mother wouldn’t be able to attack them with the date stones. Xiao Longnü had a faint smile on her face and nodded her head, showing her thanks.

Lu E moved her lips to the side, telling them to leave quickly.

Qiu Qianchi mumbled ‘the clothes are not of new, the person is not like that of before’ a few times before she suddenly raised her voice and said, “Yang Guo, you don’t want my daughter; but don’t tell me that you don’t want your life as well?”

Yang Guo gave a bitter laugh and backed another step out of the hall.

Xiao Longnü’s heart trembled and said, “Wait.” She asked clearly, “Senior Qiu Lao, have you got an antidote for the Passion Flower poison?”

Lu E had been thinking about this all along. Yang Guo gave the only Passionless Pill that her father had to Xiao Longnü while his poison had yet to be cleared. The only hope that he had was her mother, who might have a way to cure this poison. But she knew that her mother would use this to blackmail Yang Guo, to force him into marrying her; this is why she hadn’t mentioned this before. But in this urgent situation she could no longer care about her embarrassment and turned herself around, saying, “Mother, if it weren’t for brother Yang, you would still be trapped down in that cave. Brother Yang has not done anything to offend you. We need to pay back this kindness; please cure his poison.”

Qiu Qianchi chuckled, “Repay kindness with kindness? Repay vengeance with vengeance? How can the world’s vengeance and kindness be distinguished like that? Was that thanks I got from Gongsun Zhi?”

Lu E said loudly, “I hate men whose hearts are not loyal, men who like the new and forget those of old. If the one named Yang Guo wanted to leave his lover of old and marry me, I’d rather die than marry him.”

Those words rang in Qiu Qianchi’s ears, but after a thought, she immediately knew what her daughter was trying to do. Her daughter loved him dearly and if he agreed to marry her, she would leap for joy. Because the situation was pressing, her daughter was just hoping that she would save him first before doing anything else.

Jinlun Fawang, Yin Kexi and the others looked at each other in amusement as they watched this second show of a forced marriage. Fawang now knew that Yang Guo had been poisoned and he was feeling pleased. He hoped that Yang Guo would stick to his choice, by refusing to marry Lu E to save his life; but he was worried about the craftiness of Yang Guo who might lie about the marriage to get the antidote and then refuse. Then he thought that even if Yang Guo tried something, he’s there to see through him and alert Qiu Qianchi to his tricks.

Qiu Qianchi’s eyes swept across all the guests slowly and then said, “Yang Guo, amongst the people here there are those who wish that you live and those who wish that you die. Think about whether you want to live or die.”

Yang Guo placed his arm around Xiao Longnü’s waist and said with a clear voice, “If either of us can’t marry the other, then we’d rather die together.”

Xiao Longnü smiled sweetly and said, “Yes!” The two of them were as one; their love for each other was so deep that life and death was no longer anything important.

Qiu Qianchi did not understand Xiao Longnü and said, “If I don’t save him then he will die, do you understand this? Do you know that he can only live for another thirty six days?”

Xiao Longnü said, “If you do agree to save him and let us be together for a few more years then of course we’ll be extremely touched. If you refuse, we’ve still got thirty six days together, that’s fine as well! In any case, if he dies, I won’t carry on living.” Her beautiful face showed no signs of concern as she said this.

Qiu Qianchi looked at her and then looked at Yang Guo; she saw the two staring at each other, their love for each other so passionate, their devotion to each other so intense. This was something that she had never experienced nor even thought about before. So such devoted lovers actually existed in this world. When she saw how dedicated they were, she couldn’t help but muse over her and Gongsun Zhi and the way they ended up. She gave a long sigh and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Lu E went to her and threw herself into her arms; she cried, “Mother, just cure him please; then we’ll go and find uncle; he misses you, doesn’t he?”

Qiu Qianchi’s tears stirred her compassion, but then she immediately thought about the words in the letter from her brother Qiu Qianren; “Ever since first brother died at the hands of Guo Jing and Huang Rong on Iron Palm Peak…”

She herself was crippled and her brother had become a monk, saying something like ‘I dropped my knife of slaughter and followed the ways of Buddha’; does this mean that her brother’s death can never be avenged? Yang Guo’s martial arts weren’t weak; though he refuses to marry her daughter she could order him to help her avenge her brother.

She then said, “There were actually quite a lot of Passionless Pills; but apart from three pills, the rest were ruined by me when I soaked them in frosty arsenic water. Out of the three pills, that bastard Gongsun Zhi took one, another he took from me when I was drunk and that was the pill that you gave to that girl. There is only one pill remaining in this world. This pill has been with me for over twenty years. If one doesn’t prepare a Passionless Pill for themselves while living in the Passionless Valley, then they are not in complete control of the fate of their lives. Right now, I haven’t got long to live and my daughter might not stay here for much longer…” She then took out the last remaining Passionless Pill on this earth slowly and broke it in two with her nail. She took half a pill and placed it in her palm before saying, “I can give you the pill. You don’t want to marry my daughter, fine but you have to promise to do one thing for me.”

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnü looked at each other, both surprised with her sudden kindness. The two weren’t worried about life and death; but since there’s a way for them to live, of course they’d be happy to take this chance. Both said at the same time, “We’ll do our best to fulfill Senior’s request.”

Qiu Qianchi said slowly, “I want you to get me the heads of two people.”

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