The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 19 – The underground old lady, Part 2

Chapter 19 – The underground old lady, Part 2

Yang Guo knew that even if he hadn’t fallen into this dangerous situation, he would not live for more than a couple of days because of the poison; he had heard the Valley Master say that the pain would keep on increasing over the next thirty-six days before he finally died. The pain was so unbearable that even if he endured it a few more times, he’d eventually give in to the pain and kill himself. But when he dies, Gongsun Lu E will have no one to protect her; that would be terrible for her and he thought, “The reason she’s in this danger is because of me. No matter what pain I’m in I must endure it; hopefully the Valley Master will still have some love for his daughter and will come to save her.” As he thought about this, his thoughts of Xiao Longnu disappeared for the time being and the pain lessened; he said, “Miss Gongsun, don’t be afraid, I think that your father will come for you. He hates me only and has always loved you; he must be feeling very regretful right now.”

Gongsun Lu E cried, “When my mother was alive, father really did love me. But after mother died, he became cold towards me. However, I know that… I know that in his heart he doesn’t hate me.” She stopped for a while and thought of many strange and hard-to-explain things; she said, “Brother Yang, I’ve suddenly thought of something; my father has always been afraid of me.”

Yang Guo said surprised, “He’s afraid of you? That’s strange.”

Lu E said, “I just feel that whenever my father sees me he doesn’t seem to be at ease; it’s like he’s got something hidden in his heart and is afraid that I will find out about it. Over the past few years, he’s been avoiding me and doesn’t want to see me.”

She had noticed that her father’s expression had been strange; though she wondered about this, she reached the same conclusion every time; the reason he’s changed is because he was deeply hurt by her mother’s passing away. But this time, falling into the crocodile pit was definitely her father’s plan. He had moved the pill cauldrons in the pill room to activate the collapsing floor. If her father hated Yang Guo and wanted to kill him, all he had to do was keep the antidote for the Passion Flower poison away from him and he would have little chance of living. Now that Yang Guo had fallen into the crocodile pit, the chance of him escaping death was next to none; so why did her father push her into the crocodile pit as well? What fatherly love was there in that push? This wasn’t a slip due to anger, he had planned this. The more she thought about it, the sadder she became because it was becoming clearer and clearer to her. There were many words and actions of her father that she did not understand and just used the reason ‘eccentric behavior’ to explain it all. Right now, as she thought, it appeared that the word ‘fear’ was more apt. Her father fearing her was something that she could never have conceived.

The crocodile pool broke out in a thrashing roar as all the crocodiles fought over the dead crocodile; they’d stopped climbing up onto the rock face for the time being.

Yang Guo saw that she was deep in thought and asked, “Maybe your father has some kind of hidden secret and you’ve somehow stumbled upon it by accident?”

Lu E shook her head and said, “No. My father’s actions are honorable; he is very fair, and everyone in the valley had great respect for him. His treatment of you really is wrong; but he has never done such uncharacteristic things like this before.”

Yang Guo did not know about the past affairs of the Passionless Valley and so it was hard for him to help her guess what the reasons were behind all this.

The crocodile pool was deep underground and was cold like an ice cave; the two were wet and felt the effects even more. Yang Guo had trained on the Chilled Jade Bed and took no notice of such insignificant coldness; but Gongsun Lu E kept on shivering and searching for warmth in Yang Guo’s arms. Yang Guo knew that this girl would be feeling frightened and sad right now; as he watched the struggle in the crocodile pool he wanted to make her laugh. The crocodiles were opening their mouths and showing vicious teeth, looking extremely terrifying, so he laughed, “Miss Gongsun, we’re going to die together today; when you reincarnate in the next life, what do you want to reincarnate as? Whatever happens, I don’t want to change into one of these unsightly crocodiles.”

Gongsun Lu E smiled a little and said, “Then you should change into a narcissus flower; it’s beautiful and fragrant, and it’s something that everyone loves.”

Yang Guo laughed, “The only types of people who are worthy of changing into those kind of flowers are people like you. If it’s me, I’ll get changed into some ugly daisy or chrysanthemum.”

Lu E laughed, “If the Yan Luo Wang (ruler of hell) tells you to change into a Passion Flower, would you?”

Yang Guo was silent and did not reply. He was feeling great resentment and thought, “With Gu Gu’s and my “Pure Heart of the Jade Maiden Sword”, that scoundrel is not our match. At the time he was on his back foot he was about to lose. But things had to happen this way. Gu Gu had been pierced by the Passion Flower in the sword room. When we were about to use swordplay which requires the users to be as one and to be filled with love to make use of its power, the poison prevented it. This is fate; I can’t do anything about it. I wonder how Gu Gu is right now?” As soon as he thought about Xiao Longnu again, his body broke out in pain all over.

When Gongsun Lu E heard him stay silent, she knew that she shouldn’t have mentioned the Passion Flower; she quickly changed the subject and said, “Brother Yang, you’re able to see the crocodiles while all I see in front of me is darkness.”

Yang Guo laughed, “The crocodiles are extremely ugly, it’s better not to see them.” He patted her on the back gently to console her; but as soon as he touched her, he felt something cold, smooth and soft. Then he remembered how she undressed herself in front of her father in the pill room. She only had on her underwear; her shoulders and neck were uncovered. Yang Guo was slightly alarmed and quickly pulled back his hand.

Lu E thought about how he could see things in the dark; her semi clothed self would be seen clearly by him and she couldn’t stop herself from calling out ‘Oh no!” She automatically moved away a little.

Yang Guo sat a little distance away from her and took off his gown to cover her with. As he took it off, not only did he think about Xiao Longnu, but he also thought about Cheng Ying who made a gown for him and Lu Wushuang who was willing to die for him. He blamed himself for letting down the kindness of all these beautiful girls, and he felt guilt for not being able to repay them. He couldn’t stop himself from letting out a long sigh.

Gongsun Lu E straightened the gown and tied the belt around herself. Suddenly she felt a small package in the gown’s pockets; she took it out and handed it over to Yang Guo, saying, “What’s this? Do you need it?”

Yang Guo took it in his hands and felt that it was fairly heavy; he said, “What is this?”

Lu E laughed, “I found it in your pockets, why are you asking me about it?”

Yang Guo looked at it and saw that it was a small package covered in rough cloth; he had never seen it before and immediately opened it. There was a sudden light in front of his eyes; four objects were within that package. One of them was a little dagger; on the handle was a pearl of the size of a long yan stone. It glimmered and sparkled, the light shining on Gongsun Lu E’s graceful face; he thought, “People say that pearls are lights of the night, it appears that this isn’t a lie.”

Lu E suddenly screamed, “Yi!” She stretched out her hand towards the package and picked up a small emerald colored jar; she called out, “This is the Passionless Pill.”

Yang Guo was shocked and delighted; he asked, “This is the medicine that cures the poison of the Passion Flowers?”