The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 31 – Half a pill of elixir, Part 10

Yideng bowed back and said, “Congratulations, great monk. You’ve found the right path!”

The two monks exchanged a smile. Ci’en ran out.

Qiu Qianchi quickly called out, “Second Brother, Second Brother, you come back!”

Ci’en turned his head back and said, “You call me to come back; I’m now asking you to come back too.” Having said that his gown sleeves flared out, and he floated out of the hall.

With a joyful expression on his face Yideng said, “Good, good, good!”

Then he retreated to a corner of the hall. He lowered his head, his eyebrows drooping, and said no more.

Huang Rong fixed her hair and got Guo Xiang back from Yelu Qi. Seeing that her mother was normal and her little sister was all right, Guo Fu was pleasantly surprised. She threw herself into her mother’s arms and said, “Ma, I thought you really went insane!”

Huang Rong walked over to Yideng and kowtowed. She said, “I (niece) had no other way but to mention that past affair. Reverend, please forgive me.”

With a faint smile Yideng replied, “Rong’er, Rong’er, you are really the female Zhuge!”

In the hall, Wu Santong was the only person who knew about the past events. Others were looking perplexed at one another.

After this unexpected turn of events, Qiu Qianchi saw her brother going out the screened door. She thought about how she wouldn’t see him again and couldn’t help becoming heavy-hearted. His words “You call me to come back, I’m now asking to you come back too” sounded like advice, urging her to control herself, repent and be salvaged. She secretly felt a pang of regret but her regret disappeared in a flash. All of a sudden, she proudly said, “Everybody, please wait here, I’m afraid this old woman can’t keep you company.”

Huang Rong said, “Hold on a minute! We’ve come here today to ask for the Passionless Pill…”

Qiu Qianchi nodded at her numerous disciples and they all responded with a war cry. Each entrance was blocked by four disciples in green, with an adorned fishnet in their hands. Four maids lifted Qiu Qianchi’s chair and retreated to the inner hall.

Seeing the power of the fishnets, Huang Rong, Wu Santong, Yelu Qi, and the others were secretly alarmed. They thought, “These fishnets are deadly, how can we break out of the trap?”

While they were hesitating, both the front door and the back door of the hall were being pulled shut, and the disciples in green all squeezed out. The Wu Brothers struck one of the doors with their swords. With a ‘peng’ sound, their double swords were caught in the crack of the door and immediately snapped. It seemed that these doors were cast from metal after all.

In a low voice Huang Rong said, “No need to be frightened! Even if we aren’t allowed to leave the hall, we can still think of a way to defeat those fishnets and get the antidote to help Yang Guo.”

Gongsun Lu’E followed her mother into the inner hall.

She asked, “Ma, what should we do?”

Seeing that her brother had abruptly departed and that skilled enemies were gathering, Qiu Qianchi knew she had a big problem. But the murderer of her brother had arrived; no matter who tried to persuade her, she would never yield. With a slight hesitation she said, “Go take a look. What are Yang Guo and those three girls doing?”

This was actually what Lu’E had wanted to do. She nodded in compliance and left for the kiln.

As she was halfway to the kiln, she heard voices ahead of her. It was Yang Guo and Xiao Longnü talking. It seemed that they said something about ‘Miss Gongsun.’ By this time, the sky had become totally dark, and Lu’E hid herself in a willow grove nearby. She thought, “What are they talking about?”

She gingerly stepped forward, approaching them without making a sound. She saw Yang Guo and Xiao Longnü standing side by side.

Yang Guo said, “You said these matters revolved around Miss Gongsun. That’s absolutely right. If the Divine Monk wakes up, all past animosity is buried, and all the poisons are expelled, won’t that be wonderful? Aiyo!”

Lu’E jumped as Yang Guo let out a sudden cry, not knowing what had just happened to him. She was worried and couldn’t help poking her head out to look around. In the darkness, she saw Yang Guo fall to the ground.