Bab 38

Perintah Rahasia

IlustrasiNarasi
Ilustrasi Bab 38Guo Jing meraih salah satu ujung jubah panjangnya dan membiarkan kudanya berlari mendekati Ouyang Feng. Ouyang Feng mengulurkan tangannya dan meraih ujung lainnya. Guo Jing meremas kakinya dan berteriak keras. Kuda merah kecil itu dengan marah menyerbu ke depan dan dengan suara cipratan yang keras, Ouyang Feng ditarik keluar dari lumpur dan diseret ke tanah bersalju.

Guo Jing menemani Qiu Chuji dan kedelapan belas muridnya, di antara mereka ada Li Zhicang, Yin Zhiping, Xia Zhiceng, Yu Zhike, Zhang Zhisu, Wang Zhiming dan Song Defang. Ketika keluar dari istana, mereka melihat Huang Rong dan ketiga penatua Kai Pang — Lu, Jian dan Liang Zhanglao — berikut sekitar seribu orang anggota Kai Pang di atas kuda. menunggu di luar istana.

Begitu melihat Guo Jing meninggalkan istana, Huang Rong menepuk kudanya supaya maju menyambutnya, sambil tersenyum ia berkata, “Semuanya baik-baik saja?”

Guo Jing tersenyum. “Nasibku tidak jelek, Qiu Daozhang tiba tepat pada waktunya, mengubah suasana hati Khan Agung menjadi lebih baik,” katanya.

Huang Rong menyapa Qiu Chuji dengan hormat, kemudian ia menanyai Guo Jing lagi, “Aku takut kalau-kalau Khan Agung membunuhmu karena marah, makanya aku membawa semua orang ke sini untuk menyelamatkanmu. Apa kata Khan Agung? Dia setuju membatalkan perkawinanmu?”

Guo Jing ragu-ragu agak lama sebelum menjawab, “Aku tidak menanyakannya.”

“Kenapa?” tanya Huang Rong kaget.

“Rong’er, tolong jangan marah,” kata Guo Jing. “Ini karena…” Tepat pada saat itu Putri Huazheng bergegas keluar istana, memanggilnya dengan lantang, “Guo Jing Gege!”

Begitu melihatnya, air muka Huang Rong langsung berubah. Ia cepat-cepat menaiki kudanya dan memacunya pergi. Guo Jing baru hendak membuka mulut ketika Huazheng menarik tangannya dan berkata, “Apa kau tidak kaget aku ada di sini? Kau senang melihatku?”

Guo Jing mengangguk. Ia memalingkan muka melihat Huang Rong, tetapi ia sudah menghilang. Mata Huazheng hanya terarah kepada Guo Jing, ia sama sekali tidak menyadari kehadiran Huang Rong. Ia menarik tangannya, tertawa, cekikikan dan mengatakan betapa ia merindukan Guo Jing.

Guo Jing diam-diam mengeluh, “Rong’er pasti mengira aku tidak meminta Khan Agung membatalkan perkawinan gara-gara aku melihat Huazheng.” Ia diam dan tidak mendengar apa yang dikatakan Huazheng.

Sesaat kemudian Huazheng melihat bahwa Guo Jing sedang melamun, ia tersinggung. “Kau kenapa sih? Aku datang jauh-jauh hanya untuk menemuimu, dan kau tidak memperhatikanku?”

“Meizi,” kata Guo Jing. “Aku harus mengurus urusan yang sangat penting, kita bicara lagi waktu aku pulang.” Tanpa menunggu jawaban Huazheng ia menugaskan pengawal pribadinya untuk mengurus Qiu Chuji, lalu buru-buru kembali ke kemahnya, mencari Huang Rong.

Pengawalnya berkata, “Nona Huang kembali untuk membawa lukisan, lalu pergi ke arah pintu timur.”

Guo Jing terkejut. “Lukisan apa?” tanyanya.

“Lukisan yang sering dilihat Pangeran1,” jawab pengawalnya.

Sekarang Guo Jing benar-benar ngeri. “Dia mengambil lukisan ini, artinya dia sungguh-sungguh memutuskan hubungan denganku. Entah bagaimana caranya, aku harus pergi ke Selatan untuk mencarinya.” Ia buru-buru menulis sebuah surat kepada Qiu Chuji, lalu menaiki kuda merahnya ia keluar dari kota untuk mengejar.

Kuda merah kecil itu sangat cepat, tapi Guo Jing takut tidak bisa melihat Huang Rong lagi, maka ia terus memacunya supaya lari lebih cepat lagi. Dalam waktu singkat mereka telah menempuh jarak lebih dari sepuluh li, sudah berada di lingkar luar kota. Para prajurit berkuda masih tetap berkeliaran di mana-mana. Beberapa puluh li kemudian, yang bisa dilihatnya hanya padang rumput yang luas diselimuti salju putih. Ia sangat gembira menemukan jejak kaki kuda di atas salju yang mengarah ke timur.

“Kuda merah ini begitu cepat, sampai tak seekor kuda pun di dunia ini bisa menandinginya. Sebentar lagi aku seharusnya bisa mengejar Rong;er,” pikirnya. “Aku akan membawa ibu, lalu kita bertiga bisa langsung pergi ke Selatan. Aku tidak peduli kalau Huazheng Meizi akan menyalahkanku.”

Beberapa puluh li kemudian jejak itu tiba-tiba berbelok ke utara, dan ada jejak manusia di sisi jejak kuda. Jejak kaki itu begitu aneh, karena jarak antara kedua kaki sekitar empat kaki, dan lagi ukurannya besar, tapi tercetak dengan ringan di atas salju, hanya sedalam beberapa inci. Guo Jing terkejut. “Qing Gong orang ini sangat tinggi.” Dengan segera ia teringat sesuatu. “Tidak ada orang lain kecuali Ouyang Feng yang punya kemampuan seperti ini. Apa dia mengejar Rong’er?” Berpikir begini, meskipun angin dingin menerpa tapi tanpa sadar sekujur tubuhnya berkeringa. Kuda merah kecil itu sangat pintar, entah bagaimana ia tahu majikannya sedang cemas, maka tanpa harus menunggu sampai Guo Jing menarik tali kekangnya, ia pun segera berlari mengikuti jejak itu.

Guo Jing melihat jejak kaki itu selalu berada di sebelah jejak kuda. Bebepara li kemudian kedua jejak manusia dan kuda itu tiba-tiba berbelok ke arah barat, lalu berbelok lagi ke selatan, terus berbelok dan berputar, tak satu bagian pun lurus. Guo Jing berpikir, “Rong’er pasti tahu Ouyang Feng sedang mengejarnya, jadi dia berusaha membuat Ouyang feng bingung. Tapi jejak itu tercetak jelas di salju, sama sekali tidak sulit bagi Racun Tua untuk mengikutinya.”

Beberapa puluh li berikutnya jejak manusia dan kuda itu tampak saling mengacaukan, keduanya tumpang-tindih dengan jejak kaki manusia dan kuda yang lain lagi. Guo Jing turun dari kuda untuk mengamatinya dari dekat. Ia bisa mengenali mana jejak yang tercetak lebih dulu dan mana yang belakangan. Melihat bahwa jejak-jejak itu terentang jauh di atas salju, ia tiba-tiba menyadari sesuatu. “Rong’er pasti menggunakan Qi Men Shi Shu ajaran ayahnya, dengan sengaja berputar-putar untuk membingungkan Ouyang Feng. Begitu Ouyang Feng kehilangan arah, dia langsung kembali ke tujuan semula.”

Ia kembali bangkit berdiri, hatinya gembira dan sekaligus cemas. Gembira karena tahu kemungkinan besar Ouyang Feng tidak akan bisa mengejar Huang Rong, cemas karena jejak-jejak yang membingungkan itu juga membuatnya kehilangan arah. Berdiri di atas salju ia berpikir, “Rong’er berputar-putar, tapi akhirnya dia pasti akan tetap ke selatan. Kalau begitu aku harus mengejar ke arah selatan.” Melompat ke atas kudanya, ia memandang langit untuk mencari arah, lalu ia berkuda ke selatan.

Setelah berpacu beberapa waktu, jejak kuda benar-benar muncul kembali. Ia melihat dari kejauhan, di mana langit biru bertemu dengan putihnya salju, ada bayangan seorang manusia. Guo Jing mengajak kudanya berpacu lebih cepat dan melihat bahwa orang itu sungguh adalah Ouyang Feng. Saat itu Ouyang Feng juga mengenali Guo Jing, ia memanggil, “Cepat, cepat! Nona Huang jatuh ke pasir hisap.” Guo Jing terkejut, kakinya menjepit kudanya, dan kuda merah itu melesat laksana anak panah terlepas dari busurnya.

Ketika masih sekitar selusin zhang dari tempat Ouyang Feng berdiri, Guo Jing tiba-tiba merasa kaki kudanya tidak menginjak tanah padat, seolah-olah di bawah lapisan salju itu adalah sebuah rawa. Kuda merah kecil itu juga merasa sedang menginjak tanah yang lunak, buru-buru ia menarik kakinya dan melesat ke depan. Guo Jing membawa kudanya dalam sebuah lingkaran besar dan kembali lagi, dan melihat Ouyang feng terus-menerus berlari di sekeliling pohon kecil.

“Apa dia sedang melakukan semacam ilmu sihir?” pikir Guo Jing heran. Ia menarik tali kekang karena ingin menanyakan sesuatu, tak disangka kuda merahnya tidak mau berhenti, malah mempercepat lajunya dan berputar kembali. Guo Jing segera menyadari. “Ternyata di bawah salju ini adalah sebuah rawa lumpur yang lunak, kita akan segera tenggelam begitu aku berhenti.” Tapi kemudian ia merasa seolah-olah darahnya membeku. “Mungkinkah Rong’er terjatuh ke dalam rawa ini?”

“Mana Nona Huang?” panggil Guo Jing.

Ouyang Feng tidak berhenti berlari, ia berteriak, “Aku mengikuti jejak kudanya sampai di sini, lalu tiba-tiba menghilang. Lihat!” Sambil bicara jarinya menuding pohon besar itu.

Guo Jing melaju melewati pohon itu di atas kuda, ia melihat sebuah cincin kuning terang di atas sebuah ranting. Ia mendekatkan kudanya ke arah pohon itu, mengulurkan tangannya dan menangkap cincin itu. Itu ternyata cincin emas yang biasa dikenakan Huang Rong di rambutnya. Jantungnya hampir melompat dari tenggorokannya.

Ia memutar kudanya ke arah timur. Beberapa li kemudian ia melihat berkilauan di atas salju di depan. Membungkukkan tubuhnya, Guo Jing masih di atas kuda mengulurkan tangannya untuk meraup onggokan benda itu. Itu adalah perhiasan kepala dari emas berbentuk bunga yang selalu dikenakan Huang Rong. Guo Jing sangat cemas, “Rong’er, Ring’er kau di mana?” teriaknya sekuat tenaga. Ia memandang ke sekeliling sejauh matanya bisa memandang, tetapi tak terlihat satu gerakan pun di sepanjang padang salju nan putih yang luas tak berujung itu.

Ia bergerak beberapa li lebih jauh, di arah sebelah kirinya ia melihat sebuah mantel bulu hitam tergeletak di atas salju. Itu adalah mantel bulunya sendiri pemberian Tolui, yang diberikannya kepada Huang Rong ketika mereka pertama kalinya bertemu di Kalgan. Ia mengitari mantel itu bersama kudanya, sambil berseru nyarig, “Rong’er!” Suaranya terbawa sangat jauh ke padang salju itu. Di sekitar situ tak ada bukit ataupun pegunungan yang terlihat, karenanya juga tak terdengar gema dari suaranya sendiri. Gui Jing benar-benar cemas, ia ingin menangis tapi tak satu suara pun keluar dari tenggorokannya.

Sesaat kemudian Ouyang Feng tiba. “Biarkan aku beristirahat di atas kudamu, lalu kita akan mencari Nona Huang bersama-sama,” katanya.

Guo Jing acuh tak acuh. “Kalau kau tidak mengejarnya, mana mungkin dia jatuh ke rawa ini?” omelnya. Ia menjepit perut kuda dengan kakinya, membuatnya melompat ke depan.

Ouyang Feng marah, ia melompat maju, dan dalam tiga lompatan ia telah berada di belakang kuda itu, mengulurkan tangannya untuk merenggut ekor kuda.

Guo Jing sama sekali tidak menduga ia akan secepat itu, dengan jurus Sang Naga Mengibaskan Ekor2 tangan kanannya meluncur ke belakang, menghantam telapak tangan Ouyang Feng, keduanya menggunakan tenaga penuh. Guo Jing terpental akibat kekuatan pukulan Ouyang Feng, tubuhnya melayang dari pelana kuda. Untung kuda merahnya bergegas maju, ia mengulurkan tangan kirinya untung meraih pantat kuda, dan mengayunkan tubuhnya ke depan ia berhasil kembali ke atas pelana dengan cepat.

Di lain pihak, Ouyang Feng terdorong mundur dua langkah. Karena kekuatan tangan Guo Jing ia mendarat dengan berat, di luar dugaan kaki kirinya terperosok ke lumpur yang dalam, langsung terbenam sampai ke lututnya. Ouyang Feng sungguh sangat terkejut, ia tahu bagaimana karakteristik pasir hisap semacam ini, segera setelah ia mengerahkan tenaganya, kaki kanannya juga akan masuk ke dalam lumpur itu. Sekali kedua kakinya masuk, tak jadi soal lagi apakah ilmunya setinggi langit, ia tetap akan sangat sulit menarik diri keluar dari situ. Dalam keputusasaan ia merebahkan tubuhnya secara horizontal di atas tanah, lalu bergulingan sambil menendang dengan kaki kanannya ke udara. Menggunakan teknik Lian Huan Yuan Yang Tui[^kaki-bebek] ia meminjam tenaga dari tendangan kaki kanannya untuk mengangkat kaki kirinya keluar dari pasir hisap itu. Lumpur berpasir berhamburan kemana-mana, tetapi kaki kirinya berhasil dibebaskan.

Ia berplaing dan bangkit berdiri, hanya untuk mendengar suara nyaring Guo Jing memanggil-manggil, “Rong’er! Rong’er!” Orang itu bersama kudanya telah melaju sejauh lebih dari satu li dari tempatnya. Ia melihat kuda merah itu berlari dengan mantap, tampaknya mereka telah keluar dari areal rawa. Ouyang Feng memutuskan untuk mengejar, tetapi makin jauh ia berlari, ia merasa tanah yang diinjaknya semakin gembur, seolah-olah ia sedang berdiri di ujung rawa dan sekarang sedang menginjak bagian tengahnya.

Ini ketiga kalinya Ouyang Feng jatuh di tangan Guo Jing, sebelumnya ia dipaksa untuk telanjang di hadapan ratusan ribu orang. Itu situasi yang sangat berbahaya. Orang lain barangkali beranggapan ilmu silatnya snagat tinggi, tapi sebenarnya ia sendiri merasa bahwa kejadian tersebut adalah sebuah penghinaan besar. Kali ini ia kembali bertemu dengan Guo Jing, sendirian. Entah baik atau buruk ia merasa harus membalas dendam. Meskipun dataran itu berbahaya, ia tidak bisa membiarkan peluan ini berlalu begitu saja. Lagipula Huang Rong masih belum ketahuan masih hidup atau sudah mati, ia tidak bisa menyerah dalam keadaan ini, tidak bisa. Karena itu dalam murkanya ia memutuskan untuk mengejar Guo Jing.

Memamerkan ilmu meringankan tubuhnya yang hebat, dalam beberapa li ia telah mencapai kecepatan yang sama dengan seekor kuda cepat. Guo Jing mendengar suara langkah manusia di belakangnya, ia cepat-cepat memalingkan kepalanya dan melihat Ouyang Feng dalam jarak hanya beberapa zhang di belakang kudanya. Ia kaget, buru-buru memacu kudanya. Dalam waktu singkat mereka telah menempuh lebih dari selusin li.

Guo Jing tak henti-hentinya berteriak, “Rong’er!” tetapi ia hanya melihat langit yang semakin gelap. Nasib Huang Rong semakin tak menentu. Suaranya serak karena berteriak-teriak. Dari kadang-kadang tersedak ia menjadi terisak. Kuda merah kecil itu mengerti situasi berbahaya yang mereka hadapi sejak awal, begitu merasa tanah yang diinjaknya menjadi agak lunak, ia melaju lebih kencang. Akhirnya keempat kakinya bergerak seolah-olah sedang melayang di atas salju.

Kuda Merah berkeringat darah adalah hewan yang sangat langka, mampu berlari sangat cepat, tetapi ilmu meringankan tubuh Ouyang Feng tidak kalah. Malangnya ia makin kelelahan, setelah berlari sangat lama nafasnya makin memburu, kekuatan kakinya melemah, langkah kakinya berangsur-angsur melambat. Kuda merah kecil itu juga berkeringat deras, butiran keringat merah menetes dari tubuhnya, terpercik ke atas salju, jatuh di dekat jejak kakinya, mirip sekumpulan cherry yang bermekaran.

Ketika langit berubah gelap total, kuda merah kecil itu telah berada di luar rawa. Sebelumnya Ouyang Feng telah menghilang tanpa jejak. Guo Jing berpikir, “Kuda yang ditunggangi Rong’er tidak punya kecepatan ajaib seperti ini. Ia tidak akan bisa berlari setengah li memasuki rawa tanpa tersedot oleh lumpur di bawahnya. Kalaupun harus kehilangan nyawa aku tetap harus menyelamatkannya.” Ia sangat sadar bahwa Huang Rong telah hilang sangat lama, kalau memang terjatuh ke rawa, meskipun ia bisa saja menariknya keluar, ia tak akan mampu menghidupkannya kembali. Jadi motivasinya itu sebenarnya hanya untuk menenangkan dirinya sendiri.

Guo Jing turun dari kuda untuk memberi kudanya kesempatan untuk beristirahat. Sambil mengelus punggung kudanya ia berkata, “Xiao Hongma, Xiao Hongma3, hari ini aku memintamu untuk tidak takut lelah. Kita istrahat sebentar, lalu pergi lagi.”

Guo Jing melompat kembali ke atas pelana dan menarik tali kekang untuk memutar kudanya. Kuda merah kecil itu takut melangkahkan kakinya lagi ke rawa, tetpi Guo Jing terus memaksanya. Akhirnya dengan diiringi ringkikkan panjang keempat kaki kuda itu melesat memasuki rawa. Kuda itu tahu tujuan mereka masih sangat jauh, jadi ia berlari dengan segenap tenaganya, makin lama makin cepat memasuki areal rawa.

Tiba-tiba mereka mendengar jeritan putus asa Ouyang Feng, “Tolong! Tolong!” Guo Jing mempercepat langkah kudanya. Di bawah kilau pantulan cahaya bulan di atas salju ia melihat Ouyang Feng terperosok ke dalam rawa. Tangannya terangkat tinggi, menggapai-gapai di udara dengan panik. Lumpur berpasir itu pelan-pelan naik sampai ke dadanya. Begitu mencapai mulut dan hidungnya, maka ia pasti akan mati sesak nafas.

Guo Jing bisa melihat betapa daruratnya keadaan itu. Ia teringat bahwa Huang Rong bisa jadi menghadapi ancaman bahaya yang serupa. Darahnya mendidih di dalam dada, ia hampir turun dari kuda dan terperosok ke tempat yang sama, tetapi di detik terakhir ia sempat melawan keinginan itu.

“Cepat tolong aku!” jerit Ouyang Feng.

Guo Jing menggertakkan giginya dan berkata, “Kau membunuh guru-guruku yang mulia, kau juga membunuh Nona Huang. Kau masih berharap aku akan menolongmu? Mimpi!”

Dengan galak Ouyang Feng menjawab, “Kita sudah sepakat, kau harus menyelamatkan aku tiga kali. Ini yang ketiga. Kau mau bilang tidak peduli akan nasib baik?”

Dengan air mata berlinang Guo Jing berkata, “Nona Huang tidak lagi hidup, apa gunanya kesepakatan kita?”

Ouyang Feng berteriak mengutuk dan memaki-maki dengan bahasa kasar, tetapi Guo Jing mengabaikannya. Ia pergi dengan kudanya. Baru beberapa zhang berikutnya ia kembali mendengar jeritan Ouyang feng yang memelas hati. Guo Jing tidak tahan lagi. Ia menghela nafas dan berbalik. Lumpur telah mencapai leher Ouyang Feng. “Aku mau menyelamatkanmu, tapi kalau kita berdua naik ke atas kuda ini, maka kita akan sama-sama tenggelam di lumpur itu,” katanya.

“Kalau begitu pakai tali untuk menyeretku,” usul Ouyang Feng. Guo Jing tidak membawa tali, tapi ia teringat akan jubah panjangnya. Sambil memegang salah satu ujungnya, ia membiarkan kudanya berlari ke dekat Ouyang Feng. Ouyang Feng menangkap ujung satunya. Guo Jing menjepit perut kuda dengan kakinya dan berteriak keras. Kuda merah kecil itu mengamuk dan menerjang ke depan, dengan diiringi suara cipratan keras Ouyang Feng berhasil ditarik keluar dan diseret di atas tanah bersalju.

Kalau mereka mengarah ke timur, maka dengan cepat mereka akan keluar dari areal rawa, tetapi Guo Jing sangat cemas akan keadaan Huang Rong, jadi ia memutuskan untuk menuju ke barat. Ouyang Feng masih berpegang pada jubah itu, ia berbaring telentang, diseret dengan cepat di atas salju. Ia menggunakan kesempatan itu untuk mengatur nafas.

Kuda merah kecil itu berlari secepat kilat, sebelum fajar mereka telah menyeberangi rawa. Guo Jing melihat jejak kuda di atas salju, itu jejak kuda Huang Rong yang memasuki rawa. Jejak itu masih terlihat, tapi bagaimana dengan Huang Rong? Guo Jing turun dari kuda, berdiri di atas salju, melamun.

Dalam duka ia telah sama sekali melupakan musuh bebuyutannya. Ia berdiri dengan tangan kiri memegang tali kekang, sementara tangan kanannya memegang mantel bulu, matanya memandang ke kejauhan, hatinya tergetar, jantungnya berdetak keras.

Tiba-tiba ia merasakan sentuhan ringan di bahunya. Ia berpaling engan kaget, dan melihat tangan Ouyang Feng menyentuh titik akupuntur Tao Dao. Ketika Ouyang Feng jatuh ke perangkap Guo Jing dan keluar dari dalam pasir, Guo Jing menotok titik Tao Dao-nya. Kali ini Ouyang Feng berhasil melakukan hal yang sama terhadap Guo Jing, ini sebuah pembalasan, tak tertahankan lagi Ouyang Feng tertawa terbahak-bahak.

Guo Jing sedang diselimuti duka, ia tak lagi mempedulikan keselamatannya. “Kalau kau ingin membunuhku, bunuh saja. Kita toh tidak punya kesepakatan bahwa kau harus mengampuniku,” katanya dengan nada kering.

Ouyang Feng tercengang, sebelumnya ia ingin menyiksa Guo Jing untuk mempermalukannya sebelum akhirnya membunuhnya. Di luar dugaannya Guo Jing telah kehilangan semangat hidup. Ia berpikir, “Bocah tolol ini sangat mencintai anak perempuan itu, kalau aku membunuhnya maka aku akan membantunya meraih harapan untuk mati bersama-sama atas nama cinta.” Ia berubah pikiran dan berpikir, “Anak perempuan itu sudah terkubur di bawah salju. Sekarang bocah tolol ini menjelma menjadi satu-satunya harapanku untuk menjelaskan isi kitab itu.” Ia mencekal lengan Guo Jing, mengangkatnya, dan melompat ke punggung kuda. Mereka berkuda menuju ke arah lembah di selatan.

—Batas Saduran—

About the sixth hour [between 9 – 11 am] he saw a village by the roadside. Ouyang Feng steered the horse to enter the village, but everywhere he looked there were corpses scattered around the village. Because the weather was cold, the corpses were preserved; they looked exactly like the day they were mutilated and killed by the pass- ing Mongolian army. Ouyang Feng called out several times, but nobody answered; looked like everybody in that village had died. Instead, he heard cattle mooing and sheep bleating. Ouyang Feng was delighted. He took Guo Jing to a stone house and said, “You are my prisoner now. I won’t kill you. If you can defeat me, you are free to go.” Having said that he took a sheep, butchered it, and boiled it in the kitchen.

The more Guo Jing saw his smug expression, the more he hated Ouyang Feng. Ouyang Feng threw a mutton leg to him and said, “I’ll wait until your stomach is full, then we’ll fight.”

Guo Jing was angry, “You want to fight then fight. Why wait for the full stomach?” His body flew, his palm hacked down. Ouyang Feng raised his hand to block then sent out a fist to counterattack.

Very soon they were fighting inside the stone house, among upturned table and broken chairs. About thirty stances later Guo Jing had to admit his inferiority; he was half a step in front of Ouyang Feng when Ouyang Feng’s right palm swung onto his side. It was very difficult for Guo Jing to fend off, all he could do was to wait for his death. Unexpectedly Ouyang Feng did not exert any strength; he laughed and said, “It’s enough for today. You go ahead and train martial art from the manual; tomorrow we’ll fight again.”

“Bah!” Guo Jing spat; he sat on an overturned chair, picked the mutton leg up and started to eat. He thought, “He wanted to see me using the martial art from the manual, so that he might observe and steal it. I won’t be fooled. If he wants to kill me, let him kill … Hmm, his swing just now, how would I block it?”

Thinking about all kinds of fist techniques and palm methods in the manual, he could not find a single move capable of blocking Ouyang Feng’s attack. He did remember, however, that there was a technique in the manual called ‘fei xu jin’ [flying cotton strength], which would allow him to strengthen his back and render Ouyang Feng’s at- tack useless.

“I’d better train internal strength; even if he wants to see it, he can’t,” Guo Jing thought. Immediately he ate the mutton leg clean then sat cross-legged on the ground; he recited the manual in his heart then started practicing according to the manual. Since master- ing the ‘yi jin duan gu pian’ [changing muscle forging bone technique], his foundation was getting stronger; moreover, with what Reverend Yideng had taught him the Manual became like a second nature to him. This ‘fei xu jin’ for instance, in less than four hours he had learned how to use it.

With the corner of his eye he looked at Ouyang Feng, who was also sitting quietly, medi- tating. “Watch out!” Guo Jing called out. Without standing up his palm hacked down on the enemy.

Ouyang Feng parried the attack while sending out a counterattack. He wanted to repeat his earlier stance toward Guo Jing’s side. But to his surprise his palm slid down Guo Jing’s back, slanting to one side; because of his own strength he was slightly propelled forward. Taking that opportunity Guo Jing’s left palm shot toward his neck.

Ouyang Feng was startled and pleased at the same time; he continued moving forward and thus had evaded the attack. He turned around and called out, “Good move! Was it from the Manual? What is it called?”

“Sha cha yi tui, ai mo qin er,” Guo Jing said.

Ouyang Feng was startled, but then he remembered the weird sentences from the man- ual. He thought, “This dumb kid has a profound strength, but he is as hardheaded as a bull. I have to trick him since brute force will be useless.” Changing his tactic he fought Guo Jing carefully.

Two people fought without ceasing. As soon as Guo Jing lost they would stop, then Guo Jing would train himself in new stances. Guo Jing slept soundly during the nights, but Ouyang Feng slept with trepidation; he was afraid Guo Jing might attack him in the middle of the night, or that he would try to escape in the dark.

They lived like that in the stone house for over a month, and had eaten almost half of the cattle and sheep in the village. Within this one month Guo Jing was forced to train his martial art, while Ouyang Feng tried hard to steal it. What Ouyang Feng had learned was already profound, but when he verified what he saw at Guo Jing, he real- ized there were many discrepancies; it was very difficult from him to link from one sentence to the next. The more he pondered, the more he did not understand; and he could not get anything from Guo Jing. In the meantime, within this month Guo Jing’s martial art had unexpectedly advanced by leaps and bounds.

Ouyang Feng could not help but secretly anxious, “If we continue like this, before I un- derstand the essence of the manual, I might not be this dumb kid’s match.”

The first several days Guo Jing was filled with hatred; after every fight he would be more determined than ever to score a victory, he wanted to master a fierce martial art to kill his enemy. However, he soon learned that this matter was extremely difficult. He was not discouraged nonetheless; his anger had decreased somewhat, but his firm reso- lution had actually increased.

One day he picked a steel sword from among the corpses lying around in the village; then trained hard on swordsmanship to fight Ouyang Feng’s wooden staff.

Ouyang Feng’s original snake staff fell and was lost in the ocean when he was fighting Hong Qigong on the boat. Afterwards he made another cast steel staff complete with new pair of strange snake; but it was also lost when he was trapped inside the ice block, destroyed by Lu Youjiao. Right now he was using an ordinary wooden staff, without any assistance from his strange snakes; but his staff technique was still out-of-this- world, with infinite variations. Several times the staff shook the sword in Guo Jing’s hand and made it fly. If there were snakes on his staff, definitely Guo Jing would not be able to resist at all.

In the meantime they heard Genghis Khan’s army returning to the east; the people and the horses were marching noisily, the noise did not stop for several days. But two peo- ple were engrossed in fighting each other violently, they did not pay the slightest atten- tion to this. One evening the noise simply stopped, the army had all gone and nothing was heard except the quietness of the night.

Guo Jing raised his sword straight up, thinking, “Although I can’t win over you tonight, your wooden staff won’t shake my sword in any way.” He was anxious to try the new stance he had just learned, but he waited calmly for the opponent to attack first. Suddenly from outside the house somebody was shouting loudly, “Traitor! Where are you running to?” Guo Jing was absolutely certain it was the Old Urchin Zhou Botong’s voice.

Ouyang Feng and Guo Jing looked at each other in bewilderment, they both thought, “Why did he go thousands of miles to the west?” They wanted to say something, but heard footsteps came approaching; then two people, one after another, rushed toward the stone house. There were numerous other buildings in the village, but apparently they saw that firelight came from this house.

Ouyang Feng waved his left hand and with his internal strength extinguished the fire. By that time the front door was shoved open, somebody rushed in, with somebody else hot on his heels; the latter one was indeed Zhou Botong. Both men’s footsteps were ex- traordinarily light and nimble; the man in the front’s martial art certainly not below Zhou Botong’s.

Ouyang Feng marveled greatly, “This man surprisingly able to escape the Old Urchin’s hand. His skill is very rare among the experts of this generation. If it were Huang Yaoshi or Hong Qigong, the Old Poison won’t be so surprised.” Because of this thought he refrained from making any move.

They heard the man in the front jump vertically up and sat on the beam. Zhou Botong laughed, “The Old Urchin’s favorite game is the hide-and-seek; I won’t let you slip away anymore.” In the darkness they heard him closing down the front door, and placed a nearby big rock behind it. He called out, “Stinky thief, where are you?” At the same time he groped around back and forth to find him.

Guo Jing was thinking of making some noise to tell him the enemy was on the beam, when suddenly Zhou Botong leaped high while laughing loudly, grabbing that man on the beam. Turned out he was aware from the start that his enemy was on the beam. He was deliberately groping around to the east and to the west to throw him off guard, then suddenly launched a sudden attack.

The man on the beam was not weak either; without waiting for Zhou’s fingers to touch him he somersaulted and crouched by the north wall. Even though his mouth was bab- bling nonsense, but Zhou Botong was actually very wary of this man. He stopped to lis- ten to his exact location; did not dare to act rashly. In the quietness of the night he

heard three distinct breathings. He had known from the start that this house must be occupied, since he saw the fire was extinguished. But since they did not make any sound, he thought they must be frightened; thereupon he called out, “Master of the house please don’t be afraid, I am here to capture this little thief. Once I get him I will go out immediately.”

He knew ordinary people’s breathing was rough and heavy, while those with strong in- ternal energy would breathe slowly and long, light and deep; with just a little attention they were very easy to distinguish. But when he cocked his ears to listen, the people to- ward his north, east and west were all breathing low and slowly.

Zhou Botong was greatly surprised, “Traitor,” he called out, “You have prepared an am- bush here!”

Guo Jing wanted to open his mouth to greet him, but changed his mind at the last minute; he thought, “Ouyang Feng is lurking on the side, the man Zhou Dage [Big Brother Zhou] is chasing is another powerful enemy. I’d better stay quiet and wait for a good opportunity to help him.”

Zhou Botong moved step by step toward the front door while mumbling, “Looked like before the Old Urchin can capture the enemy, he would be captured by the enemy.” He had made a decision to dash out the door if the situation was unfavorable. Right at that moment came a rumbling noise from a distance; hoof beats sounded like an evening tide came crashing the shore. It looked like a strong army with multitude of horses had arrived to kill.

Zhou Botong called out, “You have more and more helpers coming, the Old Urchin doesn’t want to play anymore.” While saying that he picked the rock stopping the door as if he was about to open the door and leave; but then suddenly he hurled the rock to- ward the man he chased. The rock was not light; Ouyang Feng placed that rock behind the door every night, so that if Guo Jing wanted to sneak out he would find out even when he was sleeping.

Ouyang Feng heard the wind carried a lot of strength in it, he thought that when the Old Urchin threw the stone, his right flank must have been defenseless; if he attacked him first, not only he would have one less enemy for the present time, but also during the second Sword Meet of Mount Hua he would have one less powerful contestant. Having this intention he bent his knee, slightly squatting, pushed both hands together to launch a ‘Toad Stance’ attack.

He was squatting on the west, therefore, his attack was toward the east, carrying a very strong energy. Guo Jing had fought him for dozens of days, he knew by heart Ouyang Feng’s every action and every movement even though the room was pitch black. As soon as he heard the gust of wind, he knew Ouyang Feng was attacking Zhou Botong. Guo Jing stepped forward and launched the ‘Proud Dragon Repents’ to meet Ouyang Feng’s ‘Toad Stance’ head-on.

In the meantime the man who was standing on the north also heard the big rock was flying his way; he bent his knees to get a stronger stand, and push both hands forward, creating a strong force striking the big rock.

Four people from four directions sending out four forces; even though they did not re- lease their energy at exactly the same time, but the forces were actually not inferior one to another. The big rock was struck by forces from east, south, west and north; it fell on the center of the room. ‘Crash!’ with a loud noise it broke the table to smithereens.

The sound was actually very loud; which Zhou Botong thought amusing. He could not restrain from bursting into loud laughter. But his laughter was drowned by the sound of thousands of cavalry soldiers entering the village. They could hear the warhorses neighing, the weapons clashing, and the soldiers shouting their battle cry.

Guo Jing listened to the officers’ commands, and he found out they were the defeated army of Khoresm entering the village, perhaps trying to hold their ground in the vil- lage; but it sounded like the Mongolian army had pursued them. He heard the hoof beats, the sound of battle flag fluttered in the wind, the loud battle cry, as well as flying arrows near and far. It sounded like the armies were engaged in a close hand-to-hand combat. The four people in the house did not know for certain how many soldiers were fighting outside. Suddenly someone shoved the door open and came in. Zhou Botong grabbed that person and flung him back outside; then he lifted the rock and placed it back behind the door.

As Ouyang Feng’s attack failed, he thought that he had been discovered anyway, so he called out, “Old Urchin, do you know who I am?”

Zhou Botong indistinctly heard someone speaking, but because of the noise he could not distinguish who the speaker was. He raised his left hand to guard against an attack while stretching his right hand to grab. Ouyang Feng easily neutralized this grab with his right hand, while slapping with the back of his left hand. Zhou Botong parried this attack, he was startled, “The Old Poison! You are here?” he called out. He swayed his body slightly, leaning to the left. At that very moment the man on the north took the op- portunity to attack Zhou Botong’s back.

Zhou Botong’s right hand engaged Ouyang Feng, while his left fist parried the attack to his back. He was thinking of testing the mutual hands combat that he created on the Peach Blossom Island. Until that day Zhou Botong had not tested his special skill against two masters; so even though he was in danger, he could not let this good opportunity to pass. But suddenly Guo Jing from the east threw himself into the fight; his right hand parried Zhou Botong’s fist, while his left hand engaged that person’s attack.

Three people simultaneously called out in alarm; Zhou Botong shouted, “Guo Xiongdi [Brother Guo],” that person shouted, “Guo Jing,” and Guo Jing himself cried out, “Qiu Qianren.”

Zhou Botong was scared by the snakes at the martial art contest at the ‘yan yu lou’ [Misty Rain Tavern]; he saw no way to escape, so he laid down on top of the tavern’s roof, using layers upon layers of split-bamboo sheets to cover up his body. Because his ‘armor’ was so thick no arrow could harm him, Ouyang Feng’s vipers were also help- less to climb to the roof. When the morning fog was gone, the snakes, as well as the sol- diers were also gone; so was everybody else, he did not know where they went. He was bored to death, so he just wandered around everywhere.

A few months later a Beggar Clan disciple delivered a letter to him; it was from Huang Rong. In the letter Huang Rong reminded him that he had promised no matter what Huang Rong asked, he would comply. Now Huang Rong wanted him to go kill the Clan Leader of the Iron Palm Clan, Qiu Qianren. She explained that Emperor Duan’s Concubine Liu had a very deep enmity against this man; if he killed him, Concubine Liu would not look for him anymore. Otherwise, Concubine Liu would find him even to the end of the earth, to take him as her husband. Huang Rong also gave him the detail of the Iron Palm Peak’s exact location.

Zhou Botong thought that his promise ‘to comply no matter what’ was actually given to Huang Rong; but that old scoundrel Qiu Qianren colluded with the Jins, he was a traitor, so he felt it was appropriate to kill him. As for his own affair with Concubine Liu, he realized he had offended her deeply; she had a deep enmity against Qiu Qianren, so if he lent her a hand, she might not come and bother him anymore, and that would be an awfully good luck for him. Therefore, he decided to go to the Iron Palm Peak.

At first Qiu Qianren was able to match him stance for stance, but as soon as Zhou Botong used the mutual hands combat technique, Qiu Qianren was forced to withdraw. When martial art masters contended, as soon as one admit inferiority, then victory or defeat should be decided; who would have thought that Zhou Botong did not want to stop and kept chasing him. Qiu Qianren did ask him the reason behind it several times, but Zhou Botong only looked at him with a blank expression; could not tell him the real reason. He only said three characters ‘liu gui fei’ [Concubine Liu]; and that would be enough to take his head.

Two men fought and stop, one ran away the other chased; they went farther and far- ther away. Zhou Botong’s martial art was slightly superior to Qiu Qianren’s; yet it would not be easy for him to kill Qiu Qianren. Qiu Qianren had tried any means possible to get rid of him; but Zhou Botong doggedly chased him anywhere he went. He thought, “Would you still chase me if I go to the bitter cold west?” On the other hand Zhou Botong thought, “I want to see where you would go; then I’ll go back home.”

As soon as they arrive at the desert outside the great wall, the landscape was flat, it was easy to follow someone’s trail; Qiu Qianren did not have any place to hide. Fortunately Zhou Botong had shown a good faith toward him; whenever Qiu Qianren needed to sleep or sat down to eat his meal, or perhaps he was having a bowel movement or uri- nating, Zhou Botong did not disturb him in any way; he simply did the same. But no matter what Qiu Qianren did, no matter how bad he cursed him, the Old Urchin haunted him like a ghost, continuously pestering him.

The more Zhou Botong fought Qiu Qianren, the more excited he became. Several times he did gain an upper hand, but unexpectedly he did not kill Qiu Qianren. That particu- lar day, two men fought and ran and by a pure coincidence rushed into the stone building.

Now Zhou and Guo two people knew who the other three people were, but when the three of them called out each other’s name, their voices were drown by the loud com- motion outside; hence Ouyang Feng still did not know who the other person was. He only knew that person was Zhou Botong’s enemy. On the other hand, Qiu Qianren thought the other two were on the same side.

Zhou, Qiu and Ouyang, all three people possessed outstanding martial art skills; but af- ter battling Ouyang Feng for more than a month, Guo Jing’s martial art level was also improving by leaps and bound, which enable him to keep pace with the other three. These four martial art masters were confined in a pitch-black, approximately two ‘zhang’s square room; they could not see a thing, could not hear each other, and could not talk to each other. It was as if they had turned into deaf, mute and blind people.

“If I block Ouyang Feng, then Zhou Dage can finish off Qiu Qianren. After that it won’t be too difficult for us two people to join forces to kill Ouyang Feng,” Guo Jing thought. Once he reached that decision, his hands started to move. His right hand hit an empty air, while his left palm met someone else’s hand.

On the Peach Blossom Island Guo Jing had fought Zhou Botong countless of times; therefore, as soon as his palm touched Zhou’s hand, he knew immediately it was his Zhou Dage, he retracted his palm quickly. Unexpectedly Zhou Botong’s childlike enthu- siasm was aroused; he slightly shrank his left arm then sent out a right fist toward Guo Jing’s shoulder. This hit did not carry any strong internal energy, but since Guo Jing did not guard against it, he felt pain nonetheless.

“Hao Xiongdi [Good Brother], you want to test your Dage’s martial art? Be careful!” Zhou Botong said, his left palm shot out. Guo Jing could not hear what he said, but this time he was prepared; he wielded his arms and neutralized the attack.

By this time Ouyang Feng and Qiu Qianren had also exchanged several stances; as a re- sult they recognized the opponent by his martial art. These two men did not have any enmity against each other, but they both thought that the Sword Meet of Mount Hua was coming. Potentially they were going to fight a life and death battle against each other anyway; therefore, why not try to inflict as much damage as possible to the oppo- nent since they have the opportunity now? Hence they did not slack one bit.

After fighting for a moment they felt gusts of wind blowing behind them, to their sur- prise Zhou Botong was fighting Guo Jing. They were bewildered, but then they remem- bered Zhou Botong always handled matters differently, he was an unpredictable man; besides, it gave them a good opportunity, why wouldn’t they be happy? Thus without prior agreement they both attacked Zhou Botong and Guo Jing.

After exchanging more than a dozen moves with Guo Jing; Zhou Botong found out that Guo Jing’s martial art was far more advanced than what he had known, he was pleas- antly surprised. “Xiongdi, where did you learn your martial art from?” he asked. But the noise outside was deafening, how could Guo Jing hear what he said? Zhou Botong was offended, “Fine, you don’t want to tell me. Do you think I care?” Right at that mo- ment he felt a gust of wind on his face, Ouyang and Qiu’s attacks had arrived. Zhou Botong kicked the ground and leaped up to the beam. “I’ll let you fight these two alone!” he called out.

Ouyang Feng and Qiu Qianren felt the wind from Zhou Botong’s sleeves, they realized he had jumped to the beam; they had the same thought of joining forces and kill this dumb kid, suddenly Guo Jing had to face a converging attack from left and right.

Initially Guo Jing was surrounded by Zhou Botong’s attacks; he had tried four, five dif- ferent techniques but was unable to free himself. He was waiting for Zhou Botong to withdraw when two powerful enemies attacked; which forced him to groan inwardly. He had no choice but braced himself and used the mutual hands combat technique to resist these two.

After fighting for a while Ouyang Feng and Qiu Qianren were unable to restrain their amazement. Knowing Guo Jing’s skill, either one of Ouyang Feng or Qiu Qianren should be able to defeat him easily. Who would have thought that after fighting two against one, Guo Jing’s left palm could block Ouyang Feng’s attacks, while his right fist thwarted Qiu’s palms? Two people were helpless against one.

Zhou Botong was sitting on the beam; he had decided to get down, but was afraid Guo Jing might get hurt, so quietly he slid down the wall, stretching out both his hands arbi- trarily, and by coincidence caught Ouyang Feng’s back.

Ouyang Feng was squatting on the ground, ready to strike Guo Jing with his fierce Toad Stance; suddenly he felt somebody on his back, hastily he sent his palms backward. Guo Jing seized this opportunity to kick Qiu Qianren then leap to the corner of the house, gasping for breath. If Zhou Botong were one step late, he would be injured by Ouyang Feng’s attack.

Four people in the pitch-black room clashed to each other then separated from each other. Sometimes Zhou Botong fought Qiu Qianren, sometimes Guo Jing fought Qiu Qianren, sometimes Ouyang Feng fought Qiu Qianren, sometimes Zhou Botong fought Ouyang Feng, and sometimes Guo Jing fought Zhou Botong. Four people engaged in this mixed-up fight, among them Zhou Botong was most excited; it was the most fun among all of his fights, of course he would not let this opportunity pass.

After fighting for a while an idea popped up in his head. “My two hands can be consid- ered two people; Ouyang and Qiu are also two. See if you can fight four people at once. Have you ever tried this?” he asked Guo Jing.

Guo Jing did not hear what he said, but suddenly felt three people attack him at the same time; desperately he tried to block and evade. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid,” Zhou Botong encouraged him, “I will help you if you are in danger.” But in this dark room, as soon as somebody sent out a fist or a kick, his life would be in grave danger; how could Zhou Botong have time to help?

A dozen or so stances later Guo Jing was already dead-tired; he felt Ouyang and Qiu, two people’s fists were getting heavier and heavier, he was forced to step back one step after another. He wanted to jump up the beam to catch his breath, but Zhou Botong’s palms did not give him any slack. He was both alarmed and angry, finally he lost his pa- tience, “Zhou Dage, you silly old man, why do you bother me?” but his words were drowned by the commotion outside, nobody heard him.

Guo Jing withdrew several more steps, suddenly his feet knocked the big rock on the ground; he nearly tumbled down. Before he had any chance to straighten up his waist, Qiu Qianren’s iron palm was ready to slap him down. In this dire situation Guo Jing did not lose his wit, swiftly he picked the big rock up and held it in front of his chest. Qiu Qianren’s palm hit the rock. Guo Jing focused his strength on his arms and pushed the rock forward to meet the attack. Suddenly he felt gust of wind coming from his left; Ouyang Feng’s palm had arrived. With a loud shout Guo Jing threw the big rock up- ward, while he jumped sideways to evade the attack.

The big rock flew through the roof; bricks and plasters fell down like rain. Immediately the stars in the sky above cast a dim light through the hole. Zhou Botong was angry, “Look what you did! Now we lost all the fun!”

Guo Jing was extremely exhausted; he kicked the ground and jumped out through the hole. Ouyang Feng hastily flew up to chase him. Zhou Botong shouted, “Don’t go! Don’t go! Stay here and play with me.” He stretched out his hand to grab Ouyang Feng’s left foot. Ouyang Feng was startled, quickly his right foot kicked, forcing Zhou Botong’s hand to let go; but as a result he could not jump and was forced to land back down.

Qiu Qianren did not wait for him to land, he sent out a kick toward Ouyang Feng’s chest. Ouyang Feng slightly pulled his chest back while stretching out his arm to grab Qiu Qianren’s ankle. Three people once again engaged in a fierce battle against each other. This time they could vaguely see each other’s shadow; while the battle noise out- side was also gradually diminishing. The thrill of the fight decreased substantially.

Zhou Botong was upset, he lost his interest; he vented his disappointment toward these two people. His fist technique changed abruptly, he fought the two people with murder- ous intention.

After escaping from the house via the roof, Guo Jing saw the troops and horses running around swiftly; he could also hear the sound of clashing weapons in a distance. Oftentimes he heard heart-rending groan and cry of soldiers wounded by blades or ar- rows. He dashed through these miserable people, running toward a small wood outside the village to lie down and take some rest.

He had fought fiercely for half a night, as he lay down, he felt his whole body, muscles and bones were aching, like they were going to crack. Recalling the fight inside that stone house, he shivered involuntarily. Although worried about Zhou Botong’s safety, but with his martial art level he knew even if he came back there he would not be able to help Zhou escape. Finally he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Early morning the next day he felt his face was wet and cold, something was wiggling around on his face. Startled he opened his eyes and leaped up, only to listen to a happy neighing sound. Turned out it was his little red horse licking his face. Guo Jing was de- lighted, immediately he hugged the horse’s neck; one man and one horse embraced in a joyful reunion.

When Guo Jing was held captive by Ouyang Feng, the red horse was let loose outside; it went grazing on the nearby prairie. During the fierce battle last night the horse utilized its swift legs to escape. When the soldiers were gone, the horse came back and found its master.

Guo Jing led the red horse returned to the village only to see broken bows and arrows everywhere, dead soldiers and horses scattered all around. Here and there he saw in- jured soldiers who were still alive, crying out pitifully. He had been in a lot of battles, he was accustomed to dead or wounded soldiers; but recalling his own life experience he could not refrain from feeling a great sorrow.

Quietly he returned to the stone building. Cocking his ears outside he tried to listen, but the house was quiet. He took a peek through a crack in the door and saw no one inside.

He pushed the door open to see; but Zhou Botong, Ouyang Feng, and Qiu Qianren three people had already disappeared without ay trace. He stared blankly for half a day then mounted his horse heading east. The little red horse ran very fast, very soon they caught up with Genghis Khan’s main army.

By this time Khoresm cities had either surrendered or been destroyed; hundreds of thousand warriors had fallen like broken tiles. Khoresm king, Muhammad, was a haughty tyrant; he was deserted by his friends and allies. He led the remnants of his defeated army desperately escape to the west. Genghis Khan assigned his senior generals, Subotai and Jebeh to lead twenty thousand soldiers to pursue to the west; while he led the main army went home to the east.

Subotai and Jebeh pursued to the west of modern day city of Moscow, to the city of Kiev nearby the bank of Dnieper River. They crushed several hundred thousands of Russia and Kipchak alliance army; destroyed the city of Kiev and killed the Hertog [Grand Duke] of Kiev along with eleven princes by running a chariot over them. This war was called ‘The Battle of the Kalka River’. Since then the Russian prairie groaned under the Mongolian horses’ hoofs.

Muhammad went as far west as he could, finally he escaped to a deserted island on the Caspian Sea and died of illness there.

When suddenly Guo Jing disappeared at Samarkhand, Genghis Khan was very worried. He was afraid that Guo Jing somehow got killed in the chaotic battle without anybody knowing it. Seeing him return safe and sound he was really thrilled. Needless to say, Princess Huazheng was even more overjoyed.

Qiu Chuji followed the main army went back to the east. Along the way he was always giving advice to the Great Khan to love the people more and kill innocent civilians less. Although Genghis Khan did not necessarily agree with his view, he realized the Priest spoke reasonably, hence he did not argue too much. In the chaotic battles that followed, Qiu Chuji had succeeded in saving innumerable civilians’ lives.

Khoresm was located tens of thousands of ‘li’s from Mongolia; the return of Genghis Khan’s army to the east took a very long time. As soon as they arrived back home, he held a big feast to celebrate their victory by the bank of Onon River; while giving the in- jured soldiers time to recuperate. Qiu Chuji and his disciples, along with Lu Youjiao and the rest of the Beggar Clan disciples took their leave and went back to the south.

Several months later Genghis Khan saw his warriors had eaten to their hearts’ con- tents, their horses galloped freely on the prairie; his interest to attack the south was rekindled. One day he held a general assembly to discuss strategies to defeat the Jin country.

Ever since Huang Rong’s death, Guo Jing was broken hearted; oftentimes he went rid- ing alone with only his little red horse and his pair of eagles to keep him company, wandering the vast Mongolian prairie. Most of the time he would just stare blankly and not say anything for a few days. Princess Huazheng was always trying to speak warmly to him, but it seemed like he did not hear anything she said. Everybody knew his feel- ings, knew that he was grieving, so nobody dared to bring up the wedding plan; while Genghis Khan was busy preparing the expedition to the south and did not pay attention to this matter.

That day at the general assembly inside the Great Khan’s Golden Tent, many generals proposed various tactics and strategies to attack the south; yet Guo Jing did not utter a single word.

After dismissing his generals, Genghis Khan went to the top of a small hill and stayed there for half a day, to think of the actions he would take. The next day he dispatched his army to attack the Jins from three directions. At that moment his eldest son Jochi and his second son Chagatai were still busy consolidating their conquests in the west; therefore, he put the main army to take the Jins down under his third son, Ogedei; while the left flank was placed under the command of his fourth son, Tuolei, and the right flank was placed under Guo Jing’s command.

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Footnotes

  1. Pengawal itu memanggil Guo Jing Fu Ma Ye (驸马爷). Istilah Fuma (驸马, atau dalam karakter tradisional 駙馬), adalah sebutan bagi seorang pendamping dari seorang putri keluarga bangsawan, biasanya anak atau saudara perempuan raja. Gelar ini sama seperti ‘Selir’, tetapi ditujukan bagi seorang laki-laki. Karakter Ye (爷) yang ditambahkan itu artinya adalah ‘Majikan’, atau sama dengan ‘Tuan’. Karena tidak ada istilah yang sama untuk ‘Selir’, yang ditujukan bagi seorang pria dalam bahasa Indonesia, maka sebaiknya kita pakai istilah ‘Pangeran’, karena seorang ‘Selir’ pada dasarnya juga dipanggil ‘Putri’. Kita bisa membayangkan melompatnya status sosial Guo Jing dari seorang warga biasa dalam suku Genghis Khan, dan bahkan seorang keturunan Han, menjadi seorang Pangeran, hanya karena ia dijodohkan dengan Huazheng. ↩

  2. Shen Long Bai Wei (神龙摆尾). ↩

  3. Xiao Hong Ma (小红马) berarti ‘Kuda Merah Kecil’. ↩

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