The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 32 – What is love?, Part 12

“Why wouldn’t I?” he answered.

“Well, do you remember taking an oath to always obey what I command as long as you live?” she continued, “Whatever I say, you cannot disobey. But I have become your wife now. Tell me, do I have to obey you, or will you forever obey me because I was your master and teacher? What do you think?”

“I will always obey you,” promised Yang Guo. “Teacher’s word has to be obeyed. Wife’s word even more, I cannot disobey.”

“Hmm!” said his wife, “It’s good to know you remembered.”

They sat shoulder-to-shoulder, leaning against each other, enjoying the beautiful dusk scenery around them. From a distance they heard Wu Santong calling them for dinner. They looked at each other and smiled. Who would want to eat while enjoying this breathtakingly wonderful time?

Eventually, the sun set, and the moon slowly rose. Night was falling. They were tired, and unwittingly fell asleep.

Yang Guo stirred and opened his eyes around midnight. The weather had turned cold. Half-asleep he asked his wife, “Long’er, are you cold?” He stretched out his arm, wanting to embrace her. With a sudden jolt he felt like his blood was drained completely from his body, because his hand only grabbed a handful of dirt! He leaped up instantly. His wife was nowhere to be seen! He looked everywhere, but all he could see were mountaintops and trees, gleaming under the silver light of the moon. He stretched his neck, trying to listen; but all he could hear was a gentle breeze, carrying soft chirping and buzzing of the little critters. Where could Xiao Longnü be? His heart was pounding very hard! He exerted his internal energy, ran to the hilltop and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Long’er! Long’er!”

Frantically he dashed to another hilltop. “Long’er! Long’er!” His voice echoed throughout the valley. “Long’er! Long’er …!” but Xiao Longnü did not answer. Yang Guo’s heart turned cold, “Where could she go? She slept next to me; it is impossible for an enemy to capture her, or even a beast to harm her without my knowing.”

His cry had awakened Yideng, Huang Rong, Zhu Ziliu and the others. Knowing what happened, immediately they spread out around the valley, trying to find the young madam; while their hearts were puzzled. Xiao Longnü was nowhere to be seen, even after searching high and low.

Yang Guo was running around like crazy. A moment later they gathered together again. Yang Guo also stopped running, he thought, “She must have left of her own will, otherwise I would certainly know; but why? I believe Mrs. Guo had something to do with it. She once ran away from me and went to the Passionless Valley because of her.” Because of this thought his blood boiled and he exploded, “Auntie Guo! What exactly did you say to her this afternoon?”

Huang Rong herself was confounded; she did not have any idea why Xiao Longnü would suddenly disappear. She saw Yang Guo’s veins showing on his face and neck, and realized how critical this moment was. “I only advised her to persuade you to take the ‘Severed Intestine Grass’ to neutralize the poison inside your body,” she explained patiently.

“Since her life cannot be saved, do you really think I would want to live alone?” Yang Guo screamed.

“Don’t you worry,” said his auntie soothingly, “Miss Long possesses a very high level of martial arts. It is unthinkable that something bad has happened to her that she could not overcome. Why did you say ‘her life cannot be saved’?”

In his unbearable grief Yang Guo lost his temper and snapped, “Huh! This is all your precious daughter’s doing. She struck her with a ‘Soul Freezing Needle’ while she was reversing her blood flow, so that the lethal poison attacked her internal organs. My wife is not a deity, how could she endure that?”

How would Huang Rong know what had happened? Her daughter indeed told her that she had accidentally injured the Yang – Long couple with a Soul Freezing Needle’; but those two were from the Ancient Tomb Sect, the same sect Li Mochou was from. Certainly they must have the antidote. Yes, they would be hurt momentarily, but she did not think the poison would threaten their lives. Yang Guo’s answer was like a thunderbolt from a blue sky. Her countenance was sheet-white. Now she understood, “So it turns out Guo’er was adamant about not taking the pill because he would rather die than live alone. But where could Xiao Longnü go?” She looked up towards the hill where Gongsun Zhi and Qiu Qianchi met their tragic ends. She shuddered involuntarily.

Yang Guo had kept his gaze on Huang Rong and understood why she shuddered. He was shocked and angry beyond any reasoning. “You knew it! You knew she is beyond help and persuaded her to kill herself to save my life, didn’t you?” he screamed. “You think you are doing me a big favor, but … but … I HATE YOU!!!” His chest tightened, he fainted and collapsed to the ground,. Reverend Yideng immediately gave him a massage and after a moment he regained his consciousness.

“I only persuaded her to save your life,” said Huang Rong, “I have never told anybody to commit suicide. Whether you believe me or you don’t, it’s up to you.”

Everybody was looking at each other, they did not know what to say or do. “Let us go to that hilltop and take a look,” Huang Rong said. Everybody left at once. But the hole on that hilltop was deep and so dark, they could not see anything.

“I think we’d better make a rope for me to go down into the cave to investigate,” Cheng Ying broke the silence. “Perhaps … perhaps … Sister-in-law slipped …”

Huang Rong sighed. “Very well, let’s find out.”

They immediately unsheathed their weapons and gathered tree bark, which was then braided into a long rope. They worked hard and around dawn, more than a hundred zhangs [a zhang is approximately 10 feet or 3 meters] of rope was ready. Several of the youngsters immediately offered to go down first. “Let me go first,” said Yang Guo.

Everybody looked at Huang Rong for approval. Mrs. Guo thought hard. She was sure that if she said ‘no’, Yang Guo would insist on going anyway; but if she said ‘yes’ and – God forbid – Xiao Longnü were found inside, Yang Guo would certainly not be willing to come back up. While she hesitated, Cheng Ying once again offered a solution, “Brother Yang, let me go. Don’t you trust me?”

Other than his wife, Cheng Ying was the only person Yang Guo loved and respected. Besides, he felt weak from excessive grief anyway, so he just nodded his agreement.

Wu Santong and his sons, along with Yelu Qi slowly lowered Miss Cheng into the opening. The cave entrance was located on or near the hilltop, so we can safely conclude that the depth of the cave is approximately the same as the height of the hill itself. Therefore, when they had almost run out of rope, Cheng Ying finally reached the bottom.

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