This guess of Huang Rong was correct. Guo Xiang was taken by Yang Guo and he got into the cane maze from the air!
That day Yang Guo observed how Huang Rong hit Guo Jingâs accupoint and then followed her daughter out of town. Yang Guo also followed them from afar, thinking: âAunt Guo, your daughter owes me an arm, if your husband doesnât succeed in cutting it off, let me do it. I can see you, you canât see me; if you want to save your daughterâs arm, I think that wonât be easy.â Huang Rong and her daughter being preoccupied didnât realize they were being followed.
The meeting with Li Mochou in the small town and the fight, all were observed by Yang Guo. As the fighters left the forest, he immediately jumped up a tree, bound the end of a cane to the tree, slid into the middle of the cane circle on the cane, clamped Guo Xiangâs waist with his feet, then pulled his body up again into the tree. After landing on the ground again after several tree jumps, he returned to the small town.
He saw Guo Fu on the street corner, holding the reins of the hong ma (red horse) waiting impatiently for her mother. Yang Guo leapt to sit astride the red horse. Guo Fu was startled, turning she saw that the unexpected rider was Yang Guo. She unsheathed her sword, her normal sword, not Xiao LongnĂŒâs âLady Swordâ, which she didnât like using.
Yang Guo saw her face turning pale with a frightened look, if he had wanted to cut her arm off now it would be all too easy. Somehow in the last moment he moved his right shoulder, the empty sleeve wrapped around the sword and flung it away. Guo Fu had let the sword go and it hit the corner of a wall. Yang Guoâs left hand snatched the reins; clamping his legs to the horseâs belly urged it to gallop away like the wind. Guo Fu slowly walked to pick up her sword; it was bent like a square.
To use soft material as a weapon was GuMu Paiâs [Ancient Tombâs] unique wugong, Li Mochou used a whisk and Dragon girl used a silk belt. Yang Guo used his strong inner energy and the sleeve had struck like a steel whip. Yang Guo, holding Guo Xiang, sped the âhan xue bao maâ (precious horse with sweat like blood) soon leaving the small town a couple of li behind, thatâs why they couldnât be detected by Huang Rong from the tree top.
Yang Guo rode speedily; he saw the trees on the roadside flying away. He looked at Guo Xiang on his bosom, seeing her tender and delicate small face, he thought: âUncle and Aunt Guo, your youngest daughter will always be mine, think of it as a kind of compensation for my lost arm. They would feel grieved and dejected, especially because they excel me.â After a while he thought: âWhy didnât I take revenge directly? Is it because Guo Fu is a beautiful young girl? If the one who cut off my arm was a male, would I also have forgiven him?â Thinking about it half a day he could only shake his head and smile wryly. He himself couldnât understand his unstable and unpredictable behavior.
After traveling two hundred li there gradually appeared houses with smoke coming from them. He got something to eat and Guo Xiang some goat milk. He decided to go to the Ancient Tomb looking for the Xiao LongnĂŒ. After several days he arrived at Mount Zhongnan. As the horse climbed the mountain and found the right path to the Ancient Tomb he pondered about past things.
The inscription âTomb of the Living Deadâ still stood on the majestic tombstone. After Li Mochouâs attack, the tomb had been sealed, if one wanted to enter, they had to use the secret entrance through the water. For him it wouldnât pose a problem but what about Guo Xiang? She would drown in the water. But the thought of soon meeting Xiao LongnĂŒ in the tomb greatly excited him. He took a pastry from his pocket, chewed a bit for Guo Xiang, and then he found a cave nearby. He put Guo Xiang in it and hid the cave mouth with thorny wood. Whether he met Xiao LongnĂŒ or not in the tomb, he planned to return and put the baby in a safer place.
Suddenly he heard the far away sound of weapons clashing coming from the direction of the Chongyang Palace. He was suspicious for a bit and then saw a buzzing silver wheel flying fiercely into the sky. That was Jinlun Fawangâs weapon. Growing curious, he hurriedly followed the sound to the Chongyang Palace. During this time, Xiao LongnĂŒ was enduring Quanzhen Five Mastersâ âGathering of the Big Dipperâ (Qi Xing Ju Hui) and Jinlun Fawangâs wheel strike, her body seriously injured.
Had Yang Guo arrived earlier, he could have prevented the disaster. But how could things be as easy as one desired? Life was full of sorrow and joy, the difference between disaster and good fortune was often very small.
Upon seeing Yang Guo, the Quanzhen Five Masters knew this mess was escalating. Qiu Chuji cried out: âMy Chongyang Palace has been a respected place but today all of you are here to violate it. Why is that?â
Wang Chuyi was also furious, shouting: âLong Guniang [Miss Long], even though your Gu Mu sect and our Quanzhen sect share the same mountain ridge, we both stick to our own sides. What is the reason you are leading these foreign people from the West, these evil miscreants, to kill many disciples of mine?â
Xiao LongnĂŒ, badly injured, thought, these people couldnât tell right from wrong, why bother arguing with them? Their many disciples witnessed how Zhen Zhibing was pierced by her sword and how Zhao Zhijing was wounded but, in this time of trouble, nobody came forward to explain the truth.
Yang Guo gently stretched his left arm to support Xiao LongnĂŒâs waist, softly saying: âGu Gu, let us go back to Gu Mu. Donât pay attention to these people!â
Xiao LongnĂŒ then asked: âDoes your arm still hurt?â
Yang Guo shook his head, replying: âItâs all fine.â
Xiao LongnĂŒ continued: âHas the Passion Flower (Qing Hua) Poison in your body acted up again?â
Yang Guo replied: âA few times, but itâs nothing to worry about.â
After being slashed by Xiao LongnĂŒ, Zhao Zhijing went to hide, not daring to show his face. Seeing the Quanzhen Five Masters coming out, he realized that after a series of investigation, he would be expelled from his charge and also severely punished. Originally he was only of a short-tempered and narrow-minded nature, not really a traitorous and wicked person. Only he was considered the first at Wu Gong in the third generation disciples, yet the Zhang Jiao (leader of the generation) position fell to Zhen Zhibing. His resentment festered, trapping him into his erroneous way of thinking. Quickly looking at the situation, disturbed and afraid of his five teachers, he grasped at the present opportunity. Suppose Jinlun Fawang and the Mongolian warriors wiped out the Quanzhen Five Masters, he would be able to escape forever. Also, he saw Yang Guoâs right arm missing and left arm holding Xiao LongnĂŒ, looking like his hands were bound, waiting for violent death. To the betraying disciple, Yang Guo was his most hated person, now he had a good opportunity, why would he let it pass? Glancing at Lu Qingdu who was nearby, he loudly shouted: âTreacherous disciple Yang Guo, your two masters are speaking to you. You donât kneel down and kowtow, how dare you to pay no attention?â
Yang Guo turned back, his eyes filled with hatred, and thought: âGu Gu has already wounded one Quanzhen smelly priest. Today Iâll temporarily pay no mind to you. Iâll deal with you later.â Sweeping his empty sleeve at the crowd disgustedly while supporting Xiao LongnĂŒ, they then moved forward.