{As I said before, the Mongolian names were a PAIN to research for. But anyways, I still think the 7 Freaks are ALL idiots :P BTW, this is the first half of the chapter.}
Chapter 4
Twin Killers of the Dark Winds
"Alright, let's fight again!" Wan Yan Hong Xi proclaimed out loud.
But unexpectedly, the forwards scouts came back with a different report. "The Ong Khan is here to personally welcome the two Jin Princes!" Temujin, Jamuka, and Senggum immediately rode forward to greet him.
From the dust clouds an army emerged. With several hundred personal guards with him, The Ong Khan rode up, rolled off of the back of his horse in one fell swoop, with his adopted sons Temujin and Jamuka at his side, approached and kneeled before the two princes. He was a rather chubby man with glittering silver hair. He wore a robe made of the finest black leopard furs that was held in place by a golden belt around his waist. The way he carried himself was one of great dignity and confidence. Wang Yan Hong Lie hurriedly got off his own horse and returned the gesture, but Wan Yan Hong Xi remained on his horse and merely replied by cupping his fists.
"You humble servant had just heard the news of the Naimans's rudeness and was worried that Your Majesties might have been disturbed, so your humble servant brought a force here as soon as possible. But fortunately, due to Your Majesties' awe-inspiring presense, the three kids were able to defeat them already." The Ong Khan spoke.
Next, he took the lead and courteously led the Wan Yan brothers all the back to his very own ger. The inside of his ger was covered with leopard and fox furs as well as littered with the finest of furniture and wares. Even his personal guards are dressed in more luxurious than that of Temujins, not to mention him and his son. The bellowing of horn continuously clamored for several kilometers surrounding the ger, the men and horses bustled about, giving off an atmosphere of something great going on. Not since the Wan Yan brothers been outside the Great Wall have they seen anything approaching such grandeur.
After the ceremony of bestowing the title was finished, everyone settled down. That night, the Ong Khan held a huge banquet in the big ger to celebrate the arrival of the Wan Yan brothers. Scores of female slaves danced as entertainment as the banquet progressed late into the night, it became quite lively, miles apart from the simple and slightly backwatered reception that they received at Temujin's tribe. Wan Yan Hong Xi was having one hell of a time, two female slaves had caught his fancy and he was pondering ideas in his head, never did it occur to him to even talk to the Ong Khan.
After about half of the koumiss had been consumed, Wan Yan Hong Lie turned to the Ong Khan.
"Your heroic deeds are known far and wide, even we who resides within the Great Wall have long admired your greatness. But I really want to meet some of the heroes of the younger generation of Mongolians." He said.
"Well my two adopted sons over just happens to be the two greatest heroes of Mongolia." The Ong Khan responded with a smile. Senggum, his own son who sat at the side, did not react well to hearing this and began downing one cup of koumiss after another.
"Your very son is another hero, why isn't hero mentioning him?" Wan Yan Hong Lie asked, taking note of Senggum's displeasure.
"After I die, he would naturally take over my tribe." The Ong Khan smiled and replied. "But could he compare to his two adopted brothers? Jamuka is smart and intelligent. Temujin is even more brave and courageous, he started with nothing and made himself into what he is today with his own hands. What Mongol warrior wouldn't want to put his life in their hands and serve them?"
"Does that mean that the generals under hero doesn't compare to Temujin Khan's generals?" Wan Yan Hong Lie queried. Noticing that there was a hint of instigatin in his words, Temujin shot a look towards Wan Yan Hong Lie and mentally prepared himself for what might come next.
The Ong Khan slowly stroked his beard and did not reply. Instead he took another gulp from his cup of koumiss.
"Last time, when the Naimans came and stole several thousands of my livestock, it was only because of Temujin and his Four Aces were we able to get those livestock back. Even though he doesn't have many men under him, but each and every one of them are skilled and brav. Your Highnesses must have witnessed that first hand today." Senggum's face turned even angrier as he slammed the gold cup in his hand onto the table, causing a loud bang.
"What good am I really? I have today simply because of the attention and care that my adopted father has showered me with." Temujin hurried added.
"Four Aces? Who are they? I want to meet them." Wan Yan Hong Lie changed the subject as well.
"Why don't you summon them inside?" The Ong Khan asked Temujin. Temujin lightly clapped his hand and four men walked into the ger.
The first one look gentle and scholarly with a white and clean face, he was the master of strategy, Muquali. The second man had a strong and sturdy built, his eyes pierced like an eagles, he was none other than Temujin's good friend, Borgurchi. The third man was short but agile, his steps light and swift, that was Tolui's master Boroqul. The last one's face and hands were covered with battle scars, his face was blood red, this was the man who had saved Temujin's life so many years ago, Tchila'un. The four of them were each founding generals in rise of Mongolia, called the Four Aces by Temujin.
Upon seeing them, Wan Yan Hong Lie praised each one a bit, awarded all of them with a big cup of koumiss.
"On the battle field today, there was a general with a black cape that led the charge through enemy formations, nobody could stop him, do you know who he was?" Wan Yan Hong Lie inquired after the Four Aces had finished their drinks.
"That's a Squad Leader that I just recruited," Temujin answered. "Everyone calls him Jebeh."
"Then why don't we invite him in for a drink as well?" Wan Yan Hong Lie suggested. Temujin turned and sent out the commanded.
Jebeh entered the ger and properly gave thanks for the reward of a drink. He was just about to drink when he was interrupted.
"How dare you, a measley Squad Leader, drink from my gold cup?" Senggum shouted. Jebeh was shocked and furious, but stopped bringing the cup up to his lips nevertheless. He looked over at Temujin for the proper course of action. In Mongol culture, stopping someone else from drinking is an enormous insult. Not to mention that this was done in front of all these people, how could anyone bear such an insult?
"For my adopted father's sake, I'm going to let Senggum get away with this one." Temujin decided turned to Jebeh.
"Bring it over here, I'm thirsty, let me drink it!" He took the cup from Jebeh's hands and drank all of its contents in one gulp. Jebeh shot an angry look towards Senggum, turned and began to walk out of the ger.
"Come back here!" Senggum commanded fiercely, but Jebeh just ignored him and walked out of the ger with his head held high.
"Even though Brother Temujin has his Four Aces, I have something that could defeat all four of them as soon as I let it out." Unhappy that things did not work out to his liking, Senggum changed the subject. He chuckled when he said that. Even though he called Temujin brother, he was not an anda of Temujin, he only did it because his father was Temujin's adopted father.
"Really? What could that be? What could be that powerful?" Wan Yan Hong Xi's interest was piqued by that statement.
"Well, we can go outside and I can show you." Senggum said.
"We are having a good time drinking, what are you trying to stir up now?" The Ong Khan objected.
"Just sitting here and drinking is getting boring, let's see something different." Wan Yan Hong Xi wanted very much to see some troubles, so much so that he had already stood up by the time he finished his sentence and walked out. The others had no choice but to follow him out.
The Mongolian troops had started several hundred camp fires and were celebrating at their sides. Once the Khans had exited their gers, there was a huge cacophony as a huge section of troops to the West all stood up immediately. They were lined up in perfect formation, not one of them was moving. They were none other than Temujin's troops. To the East, the Ong Khan's troops slowly and scatteredly picked themselves up from the ground, there were even faint sounds of joking to be heard within their ranks.
"Even though the Ong Khan's troops are much more numerous, it can't even compare with Temujin's troops!" Wan Yan Hong Lie concluded upon seeing this display.
"Wine!" Temujin had noticed that under the glow of the fire, Jebeh's face was covered with fury. So he ordered that a big jug of wine be brought to him.
"Today's tremendous victory over the Naimans was a result of everyone's hard work and dedication!" He loudly declared to everyone.
"It's because we were led by Ong Khan, Temujin Khan, and Jamuka!" All of the soldiers answered in one voice.
"Today, I saw someone who was especially brave, charging the enemy's rear no less than 3 times in a row. And shot down several dozens of enemies, who was he?" Temujin asked.
"Squad Leader Jebeh!" The soldiers answered again.
"No, not Squad Leader, Company Commander Jebeh!" Temujin corrected. Everyone was momentarily taken aback before realizing what he meant and began to cheer.
"Jebeh is a warrior, he's well deserving of being Company Commander!" They all shouted in approval.
"Bring my helmet to me!" Temujin turned and instructed Jelmi, soon Jelmi returned with the helmet and presented it to him.
"This is the helmet that I wear onto the battle field! This is the helmet that I wear as I kill my enemies!" Temujin raised the helmet high above his head for everyone to see. "Now this will be as a cup for a warrior to drink out of!"
He popped open the jug of wine and poured all of its contents into the helmet. Bring it up to his own lips, he took a huge chug from the helmet and offered it to Jebeh.
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Jebeh knelt down on one knee to receive the helmet and finished the rest of the koumiss inside of the helmet.
"Even the most precious and most diamond studded gold cup in the world cannot compare with my Khan's helmet." He said in a low voice. Temujin smiled as he took his helmet back and put it back onto his head.
The Mongol troops had all caught word of how Jebeh had been humiliated by Senggum and felt bad for him, even those troops under the Ong Khan had thought that Senggum was wrong in what he did. Now, seeing how Temujin had treated him, they all burst out in a great cheer.
"What a man among men this Temujin is! At this moment Jebeh would gladly die one thousand times for him!" Wan Yan Hong Lie thought to himself. "Back in the Imperial Court all those officials insist that the North was populated by brainless barbarians, it's obvious that they have grossly underestimated these people."
But Wan Yan Hong Xi was only concerned about finding out what was that thing that Senggum claimed could eat all four of the "Aces."
"So what is it that you have that's so powerful that it could eat all four of the Aces?" He said as he casually sat back down onto the tiger-fur covered chair that his personal servants had carried out.
"I invite Your Highness to get ready to see something really special. Four Aces my foot, they probably won't even measure up to these 2 bastards of mine." Senggum quietly said with a smile before turning around to the troops and loudly ask. "Where are my Brother Temujin's Four Aces?"
The four men came walking up and saluted their superiors. Senggum turned and whispered something to his trusted servant at his side and he nodded before running off. Soon after, a wave of beastial roar could be heard as a pair of huge golden leopards came strolling out from behind the ger. In the darkness the leopard eyes were glowing like a pair of lanterns, emitting an oily jade-like glow as they slowly approached. This gave Wan Yan Hong Xi quite a scare as he immediately grabbed the handle of his sabre tightly. Only when the leopards walked close to a particular bonfire did he see that, in fact, there was a collar around their necks and each leopard had a big fellow on the other end of the leash. The big fellows both had a long stick in their other hand, turned out that they were especially in charge of raising and taking care of the leopards. Mongolians love raising leopards for hunting purposes. Not only do leopards run faster than hunting dogs, but they are especially feisty, being caught by the leopard means instant death for whatever they are set upon. The only draw back was that the leopards consumed a great deal of food, so only royalty or top officials could afford to keep leopards. Although the leopards were restrained by men, they were still snarling and clawing every which way, glaring viciously at everyone, and scuttling left and right randomly. The muscles on their bodies looked as if they contained boundless energy within them, ready to explode at any moment. Wan Yan Hong Xi felt his heart get a little hairy as he felt exceedingly uncomfortable, from the power and might that these two leopards were showing, it looked as if they could easily break out of the grips of their masters on a whim.
"Brother, if those Four Aces of yours are truly great warriors and could subdue these two leopards of mine bare handed, then I'll be truly convinced." Senggum turned towards Temujin.
The Four Aces were furious as the same thought ran through their minds. "You humiliated Jebeh, now you are going to humiliate us? Are we just game? Are we wild wolves? Then why should we fight your leopards?"
Temujin was far from happy about this whole proposal as well.
"I love my men like my own life, how could I let them fight a leopard?"
"Is that so?" Senggum burst out into a loud laugh. "Then why claim to be Four Aces or whatever you want to call it. Not even brave enough to fight my leopards!"
Of the Four Aces, Tchila'un;s temper were the shortest and he could not stand such insult any further as he took a huge step forward.
"My great Khan, it doesn't matter if they laugh at us, but we cannot allow you to be shamed in the slightest." He said to Temujin. "I'll fight the leopards!"
Wan Yan Hong Xi was ecstatic to hear this. So much so that he removed a bright red ruby-studded ring from his finger and tossed it on the ground, proclaiming: "If you can beat the leopard, then that's yours."
Tchila'un did not even give the ring a look before lunging forward, only to be held back by Muqali. "Our name are known throughout the Steppe because we have defeated so many foes. Can a leopard command an army? Can a leopard ambush or surround enemies?" Muqali reasoned loudly.
"Brother Senggum, you won." Temujin said as he bent down, picked up the ring, and placed it in Senggum's hand. Senggum immediately put the ring on one of his fingers and let out a triumphant laugh as he raised his hand to show off his newly won ring. The Ong Khan's troops began to cheer in response. Jamuka stayed silent throughout but was frowning heavily. Temujin kept a calm expression about him. And the Four Aces bittered retreated back to their ranks.
Disappointed and terribly unhappy about not seeing a man versus leopard fight, Wan Yan Hong Xi asked the Ong Khan for two female slaves and retired to his own ger.
The next morning, Tolui and Guo Jing ran off to play. Hand in hand, they made their way far from the main camp when suddenly a white rabbit ran by right in front of them. Tolui took out his own little minature bow and arrows, aimed, shot, and hit the rabbit squarely in the belly. But because he was so young the arrow lacked power, so even though it was a direct hit, it was not immediately fatal and that rabbit scuttled off with the arrow. The two little kids, screaming at the top of their lungs, chased after the rabbit.
After running for quite a while, the rabbit finally collapsed. The two kids let out a simultaneous cheer and was just about to retrieve the rabbit when 7 or 8 kids suddenly came pouring out from the woods at their side. One particular kid who was about 12 years or so was quick to recognize the situation and grabbed the rabbit from off of the ground. He pulled the arrow from the rabbit's belly, threw it on the ground, and shot a fierce look in Tolui and Guo Jing's direction before stomping off with the rabbit.
"Hey, I shot that rabbit, why are you taking it?" Tolui shouted. That kid whirled around and came back."Who says that you shot it?" He laughed.
"Well this arrow is mine isn't it?"
That kid's eye brows suddenly flared up and his eyes bulged out.
"This rabbit was my pet, you are lucky I'm not asking you to pay for this!" He shouted back.
"You are lying, this is obviously a wild rabbit." Tolui shot back. That kid became even angrier as he walked up and shoved Tolui.
"Watch who you are accusing! My grandpa is the Ong Khan, my dad is Senggum, did you know that? Even if you did shoot this rabbit, I'm taking it anyways, so what?"
"My dad is Temujin!" Tolui proudly answered.
"Pei! So what if he's Temujin? Your dad's a coward! He's scared of my grandpa and scared of my dad!" This kid's name was Dukhsh, he was Senggum's only son. After having a daughter, Senggum had to wait several years before finally having a son, and after him he had no other off spring. Therefore he had always spoiled his son, letting him bully as he pleased. Temujin, Ong Khan, and Senggum had not met for a long time, even though that their sons had met before, this was for all practical purposes their first meeting.
Hearing someone making fun of his father, Tolui was mad with anger and proudly shouted back: "Says who? My dad's not scared of anybody!"
"When your mom was stolen, it was my grandpa and my dad who went and took her back for your dad. You think I didn't know that? So what's the big deal if I just take this measely little rabbit of yours?"
Even back then, Senggum had been envious of Temujin's fame. So when they helped out Temujin that one time, Senggum made sure to tell everyone that he knew about it, even his son had heard it many times.
Tolui was still a small kid back then, and also Temujin had always viewed that event as an incredible embarrasment for himself, so naturally he never told Tolui about it. So at this moment, upon hearing this, Tolui was so mad that his face turned white as sheet.
"You liar! I'm going to tell my dad!" He agrily threatened before turning around and walking off.
"Your dad's scared of my dad, so what if you tell him?" Dukhsh laughed at Tolui. "Last night when my dad brought out his two leopards, your dad's Four Asses were all so scared they couldn't even move!"
Of the Four Aces, there was Boroqul, Tolui's master. Hearing this only made Tolui even angrier. So angry he could barely speak.
"My master isn't even scared of tigers, why would he be scared of leopards? He just didn't want to fight against wild animals." He finally stuttered out.
Dukhsh took a step forward and suddenly slapped Tolui squarely on his face.
"How dare you talk back to me! Are you scared of me?" He yelled. Tolui was startled as his cheeks instantly swelled to blood red. He wanted to cry, but could not let himself cry.
Guo Jing had been seething on the side all this time, but now he could no longer hold back as he suddenly lunged forward and rammed his head squarely in the stomach. This caught Dukhsh by surprise and knocked him flat on his back.
"Yay!" Tolui clapped in joy for a moment before grabbing Guo Jing's hand and tried to run away.
"Kill those two bastards!" Dukhsh screamed out, still on the ground. Dukhsh's companions chased up to the two kids and a fierce fight quickly broke out. Dukhsh picked himself up from off the ground and angrily charged into the fray. Dukhsh's gang was older to begin with and also outnumbered the opposition, so they were able to pin down Tolui and Guo Jing very quickly.
"Give up? Give up?" Dukhsh shouted as he continually flailed punches into Guo Jing's back. Guo Jing tried with all his might to get back up, but was weighed down by his foe's weight. At his side, Tolui was also being ganged up on by two kids.
It was at this precarious moment that the sound of horse bells could be heard coming from just over the sand dune as a small group of riders appeared. The leading rider was a short, fat fellow riding on a yellow horse. Upon seeing the kids fighting at a distance, he let out a little laugh.
"Hah, fighting!" Only when he ride closer for a better look did he realize that it was 7 kids or so bullying two much smaller kids, pinning them down on the ground and beating them. The two little kids' faces were already full of bruises.
"Shame on you! Let them go!" He shouted.
"##### off!" Dukhsh shouted back. "Do you know who I am? I'll beat up whoever I want to, and you can't do anything about it!"
His father was one of the most powerful men in the North, so he was used to bullying everyone as nobody dared to challenge him.
"How dare you act like that? Let go of them!" The rider on the yellow horse yelled back. By this time, the rest of his group had joined him.
"Third Brother, stop meddling in affairs that doesn't concern us, let's go." There was a woman in that group.
"Look at this, what kind of fighting is this?" The rider on the yellow horse replied.
These riders were the Seven Freaks of the South. They had followed Duan Tian De all the way north into the Steppe before losing his trail. These 6 years, they had roamed up and down the Steppe in search of Duan Tian De and Li Ping. All 7 of them had actually learned Mongolian through it all, but they still could not find any clue as to the whereabouts of Li Ping. The Seven Freaks were all stubborn characters, and very competitive as well, so even if faced with ordeals 10 times more difficult and more dangerous than this, they would not concede this bet to Qiu Chu Ji. Without ever conferring, the 7 of them all had the same plan, even if they never find Li Ping, they would still search until the 18 years is up, at that time they would go to Pavilion of Drunken Goddess in Jia Xin and admit defeat to Qiu Chu Ji's face. Besides, Qiu Chu Ji might not find Yang Tie Xin's widow either. If neither side could find their widow, then a tie would result and then maybe another challenge would be issued.
"Two against one, we can't allowed that." Han Xiao Yin hopped off of her horse and picked the two kids that were ridding on Tolui's back off of him. Suddenly realizing that all the weight was off of his back Tolui struggled to jump up. Dukhsh paused for a moment and Guo Jing took advantage as he flipped his body violently and crawled out from in between Dukhsh's legs. The two of them, having finally freed themselves, immediately tried to run away.
"Go after them!" Dukhsh yelled as he led the rest of his gang in hot pursuit.
Seeing these little Mongolian kids fight reminded the Seven Freaks of all the mis-adventures that they had together when they were little, causing all of them to smile quite fondly over them.
"Time to go now, let's get to the market ahead before it disperses, or else we would miss a chance to ask the people there!" Ke Zheng'E suggested. By this time, Dukhsh's little gang had caught up to Tolui and Guo Jing once again and surrounded them.
"Do you give up?" Dukhsh demanded. Tolui, still looking might angry, did not reply but instead fiercely shook his head.
"Well you ask for it!" The kids converged upon one another yet again.
Suddenly a cold flash covered the ground as a little dagger suddenly materialized in Guo Jing's hand.
"You want some of this?"
Turned out that Li Ping, out of love for her son, had already given him that dagger that her husband left her for him to carry around. She felt that this object was good for warding off evil and had intended for this dagger to protect her son from evil spirits. But because of the bully Guo Jing was receiving, he pulled it out.
Seeing that he had a weapon with him, none Dukhsh's gang was brave enough to challenge him.
Magical Hand Scholar Zhu Cong was already on his way when a sudden flash caught his eyes. The way the dagger reflected the sunlight lit up his heart.
"This reflection is incredibly strong, gotta see what precious little toy this is." Having stole from government treasuries and rich gentry vaults all his life, he was quite an expert at discerning precious objects. So he immediately pulled his horse around and saw that one of the kids had a dagger in his hand. The dagger reflected a blue light that flickered endlessly, obviously an extremely rare weapon. But how did it end up in the hands of a little kid? Looking over the kids again, he noticed that other than Guo Jing, all the other kids were wearing expensive shirts made of leopard furs. But Guo Jing made it up by having a golden crown-looking ring on top of his head. Obviously the kids were all members of wealthy and influential Mongol families.
"The kid probably stole his father's favorite knife out to play with. Stealing from kings and aristocrats won't cause too much harm." Once he made up his mind, he jumpped off of his ride and smiled sweetly as he approached the kids.
"Come on everyone, stop fighting. Play nice." As he was talking, he suddenly flashed into the circle of kids and grabbed the knife. Having devoted an incredible amount of training on capturing weapons with bare hands, only the best martial arts masters could hope to stop him from taking their weapons, never mind a small kid like Guo Jing.
As soon as the dagger was in his hand, Zhu Cong immediately scuttled out of the circle and hopped onto his horse. With a jerk of the reins, he laughingly galloped off and caught up to the rest of his group.
"Well, today wasn't a total loss, ended up with a little number." He laughed quite heartily about his success.
"Second Brother, you won't ever get rid of that stealing habit of yours will you?" Smiling Dhuda Zhang Ah Sheng joined in on the laughter.
"What little number? Let me see it." Hidden Hero of the Bustle Quan Jin Fa, being a merchant by trade, was curious. With a flick of his arm, Zhu Cong tossed the dagger over.
A streak of blue shot across the sky, under the sunlight, the light from the dagger wavered, looking as if a small rainbow had just materialized, causing everyone present to shout in praise.
"Excellent!" Quan Jin Fa involuntarily yelled as the dagger flew towards his face, giving him a shiver up his spine. He reached out and caught the dagger by the handle. He "tch"ed endlessly in admiration as he examined the dagger over. When his attention moved to the handle, he saw the characters "Yang Kang" carved onto it.
"This is a Han name! How did this dagger end up here in Mongolia?" A question shot through his mind. "Yang Kang... Yang Kang? I have never heard of any hero named Yang Kang. But if he wasn't a martial arts hero, then why would he have such a exceptional weapon?"
"Big Brother! Do you know who Yang Kang is?" He called out.
"Yang Kang?" Ke Zheng'E searched through his memory for a while and shook his head. "I have never heard of him before."
"Yang Kang" was the name that Qiu Chu Ji had given to the baby that was still inside of Bao Xi Ruo. The two fathers had exchanged their daggers and that was how Li Ping ended up with the dagger that had "Yang Kang" carved on it. Of course, the Seven Freaks did not know of this entire matter. Of the 7 of them, Ke Zheng'E was the oldest as well as the most knowledeable. If even he did not know, then there was no way that the other 6 did.
"Qiu Chu Ji is searching for Yang Tie Xin's widow, could this Yang Kang have something to do with that Yang Tie Xin?" Quan Jin Fa's attention to detail made him ask.
"Well, if we find Yang Tie Xin's widow, we would still have one-upped that Bull Nose." Zhu Cong joked. But having searched endlessly and fruitlessly for the past 6 years, this seemingly remote and completely unrelated lead was something that none of them were willing to let slip by.
"Let's go back and ask that kid." Han Xiao Yin concluded.
Han Bao Ju's horse was the fastest, so he arrived back where the kids were first, only to discover that the kids were at it again. Tolui and Guo Jing were, once again, pinned down on the ground. Han Bao Ju ordered the kids to break it up, but none of them heeded to his words. Getting impatient, he grabbed a couple of kids and threw them off to the side.
"You two dogs, come back tomorrow and we'll fight again!" Dukhsh threatened Tolui, because he was too scared to carry on fighting.
"Alright, tomorrow!" Tolui shouted back as Dukhsh led his gang away. He already had plans on what to do, he would go and ask his third oldest brother Chagatai for help as soon as he get back. Of his brothers, Chagatai was the nicest to him, and strong as well. He would surely help if asked.
"Give it back!" Despite having his face covered in blood from his nose, Guo Jing put his hand out at Zhu Cong.
"Sure, no problem," Zhu Cong waved the dagger back and forth in front of Guo Jing's face. "But you have to tell me where you got this dagger from."
"My mom gave it to me." Guo Jing answered, wiping blood away from his still bleeding nose with a sleeve.
"What's your dad's name?" Guo Jing never had a father and was caught speechless by the question. All he could do was shook his head.
"Is your surname Yang?" Quan Jin Fa asked. Once again, Guo Jing shook his head. Seeing that this kid was acting rather slow, the Seven Freaks were all quite disappointed.
"Who's Yang Kang?" Zhu Cong probed further. Guo Jing still shook head.
The Seven Freaks had always valued their integrity above all else, so they had always kept their word, even to a kid. So Zhu Cong handed the dagger back to Guo Jing.
"You can go home now." Han Xiao Yin took out a handkerchief and wiped off the blood from Guo Jing's face as she tenderly told him. "Don't fight anymore. You are still small, you can't beat them yet."
Afterwards, the 7 of them climbed back onto their horses began to leave. Guo Jing just stood there, watching them ride off to the East.
"Guo Jing, let's go back." Tolui suggested.
The Seven Freaks was already quite a distance away, but Ke Zhen'E's hearing was incredibly sensitive. When he heard the name "Guo Jing", his entire body shook violently as he immediately jerked his horse around and ran back to the kids.
"Kid, your surname is Guo? You are Han Chinese and not Mongolian, right?" He anxiously asked.
Guo Jing nodded, setting Ke Zheng'E into the clouds with joy.
{Note: I'm not sure how Ke Zheng'E knew that Guo Jing nodded. Maybe Jin Yong just forgot that Ke Zheng'E was blind.}
"Who is your mother?" He hurriedly asked.
"Mom is mom." Guo Jing answered, making Ke Zheng'E scratch his head for a bit. "Can you take me to your mother?"
"My mom is not here."
"Sister, you ask him." Ke Zheng'E suggested, realizing that there was some hostility in Guo Jing's responses. Han Xiao Yin hopped off of her horse and walked up to Guo Jing.
"Where's your father?" She asked in a warm voice.
"My dad was killed by bad people, when I grow up, I'm going to kill them and avenge my father."
"What was your father's name?" Han Xiao Yin was so excited that her voice was trembling. But Guo Jing just shook his head.
"Who killed your father?" Ke Zheng'E asked.
"His... his name is Duan Tian De!" Guo Jing could barely contain his anger as he said that name.
As it turned out, Li Ping knew that at such a desolate and remote place like the Steppe, any moment could bring with it many dangers and that her chances of ever returning to China was slim to none. If something should suddenly happen to her, then her son would never come to know the name of his mortal enemy, and that would not do. So she had long ago told her son over and over again the name and appearance of Duan Tian De. She was an illiterate farm girl and had always called her husband "Xiao-Ge," she had heard other people call him "Brother Guo" but had never minded what her husband's real name was. So Guo Jing had only ever known his father to be "dad" and did not know that he had other names.
"Duan Tian De". That name did not come out of Guo Jing's mouth very loudly at all, but when the 7 Freaks heard them, it immediately rendered all of them speechless in shock. Even if three bolts of lightning suddenly struck down beside them on this clear and sunny day would not have shocked them as much. In a blink of an eye, it felt as if the Earth beneath them shook, as if the wind and air around them became colored. Only after a very prolonged silence did Han Xiao Yin suddenly let out an ecstatic shout, all the while Zhang Ah Sheng was beating his fists into his chest like a mad man, Quan Jin Fa had thrown his arm tightly around Nan Xi Ren's neck, Han Bao Ju was doing back flips on the horse saddle, Ke Zheng'E reared his head back and laughed crazily, and Zhu Cong was spinning like a top. Seeing them act like this, Tolui and Guo Jing could not decide whether they were funny or just plain weird. Only after a long time did the Seven Freaks finally, slowly, calm down, but their faces were still covered with joy.
"Merciful Bodhisattva, thank you, thank you!" Zhang Ah Sheng knelt down and prayed.
"Little brother, let's sit down and talk." Han Xiao Yin said to Guo Jing. Anxious to get back and ask his brother Chagatai for help as well as having a bad feeling about these seven strangers over their strange accent and even stranger behaviour, Tolui did not want to stay any longer, even though these same strangers had just helped them in a fight. So Tolui incessantly begged Guo Jing to start heading back.
"I need to go now." Guo Jing finally relented and and began to walk away hand in hand with Tolui.
"Hey, hey! You can't go now. Let that little friend of you go back by himself." Han Bao Ju almost panicked and yelled at the top of his lungs.
The two little kids was scared of the man's ugly complexion and immediately started to run as soon as he started to yell. Han Bao Ju chased up and was just about to grab the back of Guo Jing's head with his fat hands when Zhu Cong cut him off.
"Third Brother, don't be so rude." Zhu Cong lightly parried Han Bao Ju's hand and stopped it in its track, much to Han Bao Ju's surprise. Picking up a little speed, Zhu Cong quickly got in front of the two little kids.
"I'm going to do some magic, you guys just watch, ok?" He smiled at the kids as he picked up three stones. Guo Jing and Tolui's curiousity were immediately piqued as both of them stopped and watched him.
Zhu Cong laid his right hand out for all to see and placed the stones in the middle of his hand.
"Gone!" He shouted as he balled his hand together in a fist. When he opened his palm again, the stones were gone, shocking the little kids.
"Get in there!" Zhu Cong pointed at the old hat that was on top of his head before taking it off. The stones were sitting right in the middle of the hat. Guo Jing and Tolui let out a loud cheer and applauded in joy.
At this moment, a flock of wild geese came flying toward them in a spear formation. This gave Zhu Cong an idea.
"Now let our Big Brother show you a trick." He fished out a handkerchief, handed it to Tolui, and pointed at Ke Zheng'E. "Put this blind fold on him."
"Is it hide and seek?" Tolui wondered hopefully as he put the blind fold on Ke Zheng'E.
"No. He will shoot a wild geese out of the sky while blind folded." Zhu Cong answered as he produced a bow and an arrow.
"How could he? I don't believe you." Tolui concluded.
While the conversation was going on, the wild geese flew straight over head. Zhu Cong flicked his arm and tossed the three stones in his hand up at the geese. Because of his powerful hands, the stones shot up and startled the geese, causing the leading geese to honk several times as he was getting ready to lead the formation to a different direction. But Ke Zheng'E had already determined his location, drew his bow to the fullest, and let loose. He hit the goose squarely in the belly as the goose, with the arrow still in it, came tumbling down onto the ground.
Tolui and Guo Jing exploded into another cheer. They ran off to retrieved the goose and brought it back to Ke Zheng'E, their young hearts filled with admiration.
"Remember how the 8 of them ganged up on you two earlier? Well, if you know some martial arts, then you wouldn't have to worry about there being more of them." Zhu Cong told the kids."We will fight some more tomorrow, I'm going to get my older brother to help." Tolui told him.
"Getting help from your older brother? Hmph, that's something that useless kids do. I'll teach you a couple of moves that I guarantee will help you win tomorrow." Zhu Cong replied.
"You mean that two of us beating the eight of them?" Tolui asked.
"Yes!"
"Yay! Come on, teach me!" Tolui was greatly excited at the prospect of beating Dukhsh.
"How about you? Don't you want to learn?" Zhu Cong noticed that Guo Jing was standing to the side, seemingly uninterested, and asked him.
"Mom told me that I shouldn't fight others, if I learn how to fight, then my mom would be unhappy."
"Scaredy-cat!" Han Bao Ju lightly berated him.
"Then why were you in a fight just then?" Zhu Cong asked again.
"Because they started it."
"Well what are you going to do when you see your enemy, Duan Tian De?" Ke Zheng'E asked in a heavy tone.
"I'll kill him to avenge my father!" Just hearing the name made fire shoot out from Guo Jing's young eyes.
"Your father was an expert in martial arts and was still killed by him, how could you kill him if you don't know any martial arts? How can you get your revenge then?" Ke Zheng'E rendered Guo Jing speechless with those questions.
"See? You have to learn some martial arts." Han Xiao Yin concluded for him.
"See that peak over there?" Zhu Cong pointed to a deserted mountain top to his left. "If you want to learn martial arts and get your revenge, then come to the top of that mountain tonight at midnight. But you have to come by yourself. And besides this little friend of yours, you can't let anybody find out about this. Brave enough to do it? Scared of ghosts?"
Guo Jing was still stupidly standing there, but Tolui was getting impatient.
"Come on, teach me, please!"
Zhu Cong suddenly grabbed his wrist, hooked his left foot around the kid, and gently tripped him, sending Tolui onto the ground.
"Why did you hit me?" Tolui angrily demanded once he got back up off the ground.
"That was martial arts, did you learn it?" Zhu Cong smiled and answered. Turned out Tolui was quite smart and understood right away. He mimicked Zhu Cong and showed the move against an imaginary foe once.
"Teach me something else." He said to Zhu Cong. Zhu Cong faked a punch toward Tolui's face. Tolui dodged to the left, but Zhu Cong's right fist was waiting there for him. This punch had no force behind it and stopped the moment it touched Tolui's nose.
"Yay! Teach me something else!" Tolui was esctatic. Zhu Cong suddenly braced himself and gently bumped his shoulders squarely into the little kid's stomach, sending him flying off. Quan Jin Fa jumped up, caught him in mid air, and steadly put him back onto the ground.
"Mister, teach me something else!"
"If you master those three moves, most adults won't be able to beat you, enough is enough." Zhu Cong smiled and told him before turning towards Guo Jing. "Did you get them?"
Guo Jing was still dumbstruck and not really thinking of anything as he absent mindedly shook his head. When compared to the smart and intelligent Tolui, Guo Jing looked incredibly stupid and slow to the Seven Freaks, who were all very disappointed at this turn of events. Han Xiao Yin let out a long sigh and her eyes reddened.
"I say that we stop wasting energy, just take the mother and son back South and hand them over to Qiu Chu Ji. As for the competition, let's just admit defeat." Quan Jin Fa observed.
"This kid's make up is just too bad, he's not the kungfu practicing type." Zhu Cong agreed.
"There isn't a bit of fight in him, I don't see how it's going to work either." Han Bao Ju also agreed and the Seven Freaks began discussing the matter over among themselves in their Southern dialects.
"You two can go home now." Han Xiao Yin waved at the two little kids. Tolui grabbed a hold of Guo Jing hand and happily skipped off.
Having searched for 6 long and hard years all over the boundless Steppe, the Seven Freaks were joyous beyond description when they finally found Guo Jing. But as it turned out the joy was only temporary as they discovered that the kid was so dumb that it would be incredibly difficult for him to ever amount to much of a martial artist. They could not help but feel defeated. This set back could only be matched by the one they would experience if they had, in fact, never found Guo Jing. Han Bao Ju, whip in hand, was relentlessly beating the ground, trying to vent his frustration and nobody could get him to stop. All this time, only the Woodsmen of the Southern Mountains, Nan Xi Ren, remained silent.
"Well, what do you think, Fourth Brother?" Ke Zheng'E asked.
"Very good." Nan Xi Ren replied.
"What's very good?" Zhu Cong inquired.
"The kid's very good."
"Fourth Brother is always like this. Acting as if speaking costs him money." Han Xiao Yin was letting the frustration get to her. "He would never say a word more than he has to."
"I was also very dumb as a kid." Nan Xi Ren gently smiled. He was always very quiet and every word that he spoke had already been carefully thought over, meaning that everything he said would always hit the nail on the head.
Hearing this, the other 6 Freaks immediately found a glimmer of hope and instantly became more confident.
"Right! That's right! Since when have I been smart?" Zhang Ah Sheng agreed, looking in Han Xiao Yin's direction.
"Let's wait and see if he got the guts to come tonight." Zhu Cong suggested.
"I say most likely not." Quan Jin Fa replied. "Well, I'm going to go find where he lives first."
He jumped off of his horse and trailed far behind Tolui and Guo Jing all the way until he saw them walking into their own gers.