sked, “Do you want to save your martial sister?”

Guo Jing was dumbstruck, immediately he bent his knees to kneel down and said, “If Senior is willing to give direction …”

Ying Gu’s face suddenly appeared to be covered with a layer of frost, sternly said, “Senior! Do you think I am old?”

“No, no!” Guo Jing hastily said, “Not too old.”

Slowly Ying Gu’s eyes moved from Guo Jing to look outside the window, she muttered softly, “Not too old. Hmm, after all, that means I am old.”

Guo Jing was happy and anxious at the same time; listening to the way she talked, looked like Huang Rong could be saved. But his words had offended her, he was not sure if she was still willing to render assistance. He wanted to say something to correct himself, but actually did not know what to say.

Ying Gu turned back to him, saw him to be sweating profusely, looking so distressed; there was a stab of pain in her heart, “If only my man showed one-tenth of the compassion this dumb kid has, ay, my life won’t be in vain,” she said in her heart. Then she softly recited, “’Four weaving machines, the weaving of mandarin ducks desiring to fly together right away. It’s a pity; not yet old but the hair on the head has turned white. When the green spring grass ripples, in the deepest of dawn’s cold, standing face to face taking a bath wearing red clothes.’”

Listening to her reciting this short poem, Guo Jing’s heart was stirred, he silently thought, “It sounds familiar, I have heard it before.” But tried as he might, he could not remember who wrote it. It was not his Er Shifu [Second Master] Zhu Cong, it was not Huang Rong either; so with a low voice he asked, “Rong’er, who composed the poem she recited? What does it mean?”

Huang Rong shook her head, “This is the first time I hear it, I don’t know who composed it. Hmm, ‘It’s a pity not yet old but the hair on the head has turned white.’ That was good! Mandarin ducks always have white head …” [Translator’s note: ‘bai tou’ literally means ‘white head’, but can also translated as ‘white haired head’ or ‘old age’] Speaking to this point her eyes involuntarily turned toward Ying Gu’s grizzled hair. “Exactly ‘It’s a pity not yet old but the hair on the head has turned white.’!” she thought.

“Rong’er was taught by her father, she knows everything. If it was a well-known poem, she would definitely know who composed it,” Guo Jing thought, “Who recited this poem then? It couldn’t be her, couldn’t be her father, also I am sure it couldn’t be the Cloud Village’s Master Lu. But I am sure I have heard it before. Ay, it doesn’t matter who recited this poem as long as this Senior really has a way to save Rong’er. She asked me a question and I gave her a wrong answer. I wish I have a way to make amends. I don’t care what she will ask me to do …”

Presently Ying Gu was still immersed in the memory of her past; her face sometimes showed delight, sometimes showed sadness. In a short moment her heart was recalling decades’ worth of gratitude and grudges. Suddenly she raised her head up and said, “Your martial sister has been hit by Qiu’s Iron Palm. I don’t know if he restrained the strength of his palm, or if it was you who blocked his palm, that she did not die immediately. Either way, in just three short days … Hmm, there is only one man in this whole wide world who can save her life!”

Guo Jing was listening to every word she said, his heart was thumping madly. Hearing her last sentence he dropped down to his knees and ‘bonk, bonk, bonk’ knocking his head on the ground three times while calling out, “Please Sen … No, no. Please, help us. We will be forever grateful.”

Ying Gu coldly said, “Humph! Do I have the skill to save others? If I do have this divine power, why do I have to endure a damp and bitterly cold place like this?” Guo Jing did not dare to open his mouth. A moment later Ying Gu continued, “Just consider yourselves lucky you met me and I know this person’s whereabouts; also consider yourselves lucky that he lives not too far away; you might be able to reach his place within three days. Only whether that man is willing to help or not, it’s really hard to say.”

Guo Jing was delighted, “I will earnestly ask him to help,” he said, “I believe he won’t go so far as seeing someone in distress and doesn’t want to help.”

Ying Gu smirked, “What do you mean ‘won’t go so far as seeing someone in distress and doesn’t want to help’? Seeing someone dying and do nothing is human’s natural behavior. You are going to ask earnestly, do you think other people did not? Do you think you can persuade him to help you? What have you done to him? Why would he want to help you?” Her voice was full of bitterness and resentment.

Guo Jing did not dare to open his mouth; presently there was a ray of hope for Huang Rong, he was afraid he might make a mistake even for half a word and thus ruined this opportunity. He saw that lady walked outside to the square room, sat down at the table, took a pen and started writing.

After writing for a while she folded the paper and wrapped it with a cloth, and then she took a needle and sewn the cloth into a tight pouch. In a similar matter she made three pouches, only then did she return to the round room. “After leaving this forest, avoid the Iron Palm Clan people, go straight northeast. When you arrive within the border of Taiyuan County, open the white pouch. Inside you will find what you are to do in detail. You are not to open the pouch for any reason before you arrive there.”

Guo Jing was very happy, he gave his promise repeatedly, and held out his hand to receive the pouch. Ying Gu drew back her hand and said, “Not so fast! If that man is not willing to help, so be it. But if he is willing and can save her life, I have a request to make.”

“We have received your kindness,” Guo Jing said, “If Senior has anything for us to do, just let us know.”

Ying Gu coldly said, “If your martial sister did not die, within a month she has to come back here and stay with me for a year.”

“What for?” Guo Jing wondered.

“It’s none of your business,” Ying Gu sternly said, “I only ask her if she is willing or not?”

Huang Rong interrupted, “You want me to teach you ‘qi men shu shu’ [lit. strange/wonderful/mysterious way counting method]. How difficult is that? All right, I give you my promise.”

Ying Gu cast her glance toward Guo Jing and mocked, “It’s useless for you to be a man; your intelligence is not even one-tenth of your martial sister’s.” But she handed out the three pouches to him anyway.

Guo Jing held out his hand. Other than the white pouch, he saw the other pouches were red and yellow. He put everything securely in his pocket and then bowed down to express his gratitude.

Ying Gu quickly moved aside, did not want to accept his gratitude. “You don’t have to thank me,” she said, “I don’t need it. You two are neither my family nor my friends, why would I want to save her? Even if we were related you still don’t need thank me profusely! Let me be frank with you in advance, I am helping her for my own behalf. Humph, whoever does not do things for themselves, let the Heaven punishes them to their death.”

Her words sounded so cruel in Guo Jing’s ears, but he had never been good with words, so he did not want to contradict her; besides, this time he had Huang Rong to think about, he did not dare to say anything even more, he simply listened respectfully.

Ying Gu looked at them condescendingly, she said, “You two must be tired tonight, also hungry. Have some porridge.”

Huang Rong lied down on a couch, half awake and half asleep. Guo Jing stood by her side with heart full of disquieting thoughts. A moment later Ying Gu came back with a wooden tray in her hands. There were two big bowls of steaming and sweet-smelling rice porridge on the tray, along with a big plate of wild chicken dish and a small plate of preserved fish.

Guo Jing had been hungry for a while; previously he forgot about food because he was deeply concerned about Huang Rong’s condition. Right now he was in a better mood. Seeing the chicken, fish, and rice porridge he was forced to swallow a mouthful of saliva. Gently he tapped Huang Rong’s hand and said, “Rong’er, wake up and eat some porridge.”

Huang Rong opened her eyes slightly, shook her head and said, “My chest hurt very much, I can’t eat.”

Ying Gu sneered, “I have medicine to stop the pain, yet you were terribly suspicious.”

Huang Rong ignored her, “Jing Gege,” she said, “Take a Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pill and give it to me.” These were the pills given by Lu Chengfeng at the Cloud Village the other day. Huang Rong always carried them around in her pocket. When Hong Qigong and Guo Jing were injured by Ouyang Feng, they took some of these pills. Although the pills could not heal their injuries, but they could stop the pain and refresh their spirits. Guo Jing complied and untied her pouch, taking a pill out.

When Huang Rong mentioned the ‘Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pill’, suddenly Ying Gu’s body slightly shook; afterwards she saw the red pill, she sternly said, “Is that the Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pill? Let me take a look.”

Guo Jing thought the way she spoke was really strange, unconsciously he lifted his head to stare at her. He saw a glint of fierceness in her eyes, he felt even more strange; but he gave the pouch of pills to her nonetheless.

Ying Gu took the pills and brought them up to her nose. A whiff of fragrance attacked her nostrils, giving them a cool feeling. She looked at Guo Jing with penetrating gaze and asked, “This is the Peach Blossom Island’s special medicine. Where did you get it? Tell me, tell me!” Her last sentence carried an extremely fierce tone.

Huang Rong’s heart was moved, “This lady learned ‘qi men wu xing’ [mysterious gate five path]; is she related to one of my father’s disciples?” She heard Guo Jing replied, “She is the daughter of the Peach Blossom Island’s Master.”

Ying Gu jumped up in shock, “She is the Old Heretic Huang’s daughter?” Her eyes shone brightly, one arm extended, the other pulled back, as if she was about to strike.

“Jing Gege, give those three pouches back to her!” Huang Rong said, “She is my father’s enemy, we don’t need her pity.”

Guo Jing took out the pouches, but he hesitated to hand them over. Huang Rong said, “Jing Gege, Just put them down! I may not necessarily die. Even if I die, so what?”

Guo Jing had never disobeyed Huang Rong from the start; he put down the pouches on the table with tears streaming down his cheeks.

Ying Gu was looking outside the window, muttering, “Heaven, oh Heaven!” Suddenly she walked to the other room. Her back was facing them, so they did not know what she was doing.

“Let us go,” Huang Rong said, “I am sick of seeing this woman.”

Before Guo Jing could answer, Ying Gu walked in and said, “I diligently studied mathematics because I want to enter the Peach Blossom Island. But judging from the Old Heretic Huang’s daughter, even if I study for another hundred years it will still be useless. It was fate. What more can I say? Just go. Take away these pouches.” While saying it she pushed the Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pill pouch and the three pouches she made into Guo Jing’s hand. To Huang Rong she said, “These Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills are harmful to your injury. Don’t take it no matter what. After you are healed, don’t forget your promise to stay with me for a year. Your father had destroyed my life; I’d rather give all these food to the dogs than to let you eat them.” She threw the porridge, chicken and fish out the window.

Huang Rong was seething with anger; she wanted to answer back sarcastically, but then she changed her mind. She held Guo Jing’s hand and stood up, then with her bamboo stick she wrote three mathematics problems on the ground:

The first one included the ‘ri, yue, shui, huo, mu, jin, tu’ [sun, moon, water, fire, wood, metal and earth] collection of the ‘qi yao jiu zhi tian zhu bi suan’ [seven dazzling nine grasping Indian method of calculation].

The second one was ‘li fang zhao bing zhi yin gei mi ti’ [lit. ‘standing up soldier supplying silver’ topic]. [Author’s note: This is the vertical theory of numbers in western mathematics].

The third one was ‘gui gu suan ti’ [ghost valley mathematic problem]: “There is an unknown number; three and three has two as the remainder, five and five has three as the remainder, seven and seven has two as the remainder, what mathematical operand is that?” [Author’s note: this problem belongs to the theory of numbers of higher mathematics; our Song Dynasty scholars have been quite profound in this kind of study.]

[Translator’s note: for the life of me, I have no idea what kind of theory of numbers Jin Yong was talking about; therefore, I translated this part as best as I could; although they still don’t make any sense, I am afraid. I am an engineer and not a mathematician, so I am not familiar with theory of numbers. If any of you can help, we (both I and the other readers) will certainly appreciate it.

Huang Yushi, Huang Qianbei, the translator of Ode To Gallantry, has sent me a two-part article about the first problem. Unfortunately it was in Chinese, so it won’t help much for those of you who don’t read Chinese. Basically it says that the ‘seven dazzling’ referred to the seven days of the week, and the ‘nine grasping’ was the almanac calculation method of the ancient India. Here is the link: http://www.ytlee.org.tw/publish/find/menu_show.asp?period=45#3

And the second part: http://www.ytlee.org.tw/publish/find/menu_show.asp?period=46#2]

After writing these three problems, Huang Rong slowly walked out, holding on Guo Jing’s arm. As he stepped over the door, Guo Jing turned his head around and saw Ying Gu’s hand grasping her computing device, her eyes fixed to the ground like she was entranced. As soon as they were outside Guo Jing carried Huang Rong on his back, still following Huang Rong’s direction, walking step by step out of the marsh. Guo Jing was afraid he might miscount his steps, so he did not dare to say anything; but as soon as they left the forest he asked, “Rong’er, what did you write on the sand?”

Huang Rong smiled, “I gave three mathematical problems to her. Humph, I doubt it if she will be able to solve them in half a year. Let all her gray hair turn white. Who told her to be so rude?”

“What enmity does she have toward your father?” Guo Jing asked.

“I have never heard Father mentioned it,” Huang Rong replied. After being silent for about half a day she suddenly said, “She must be very beautiful when she was young. Jing Gege, don’t you agree?” Actually she bore a suspicion in her heart, “Is it possible that in the former days my father and she were lovers? Humph, most likely she wanted my father to marry her but my father did not want her.”

Guo Jing replied, “Doesn’t matter if she was beautiful or not; even if she cannot solve your problems she still won’t be able to chase us and take the pouches back.”

“I wonder what’s inside those pouches. I doubt it if she had our well-beings in her mind. Let’s open them and take a look,” Huang Rong said.

“No, no!” Guo Jing hastily said, “We must follow her instructions, we must not open it until we arrive at Taoyuan.”

Huang Rong was very curious; she persuaded Guo Jing to open it, but Guo Jing firmly refused; finally Huang Rong resigned.

After being busy the whole night finally the sky turned brighter. Guo Jing leaped up a tree to take a good look around; he was relieved not to see any trail of the Iron Palm Clan disciples. He whistled loudly several times, and the little red horse came galloping fast. Not too long afterwards his pair of eagles was also seen flying above their heads.

Two people were just mounting the horse when suddenly they heard shouts coming out of the forest. Dozens of Iron Palm Clan disciples came rushing forward. They have been guarding around the forest for half a night. As soon as they heard Guo Jing’s whistle they came out to catch them. Luckily Qiu Qianren was not among these people. Guo Jing called out, “You missed!” He squeezed his legs on the horse’s belly and the little red horse ran like the wind; in a moment they could not see their pursuers anymore.

By noon that day the little red horse had run for more than a hundred ‘li’s; they stopped by a small restaurant by the roadside. Huang Rong’s chest was still hurting, but she managed to drink half a bowl of rice soup. Guo Jing asked around and found out that they had arrived within Taoyuan County border. Quickly he took the white pouch and cut the thread. Inside he found a map with two lines of characters which read, “Follow the route shown on the map. At the end of the road you will find a waterfall with a thatched hut next to it. Open the red pouch when you arrive there.” Guo Jing did not tarry any longer; they remounted the horse and galloped away.

After traveling for about seventy, eighty ‘li’s, the road was getting narrower. Eight, nine ‘li’s later they entered a narrow passageway with mountain walls on both sides. Soon the pathway turned into a winding alley so narrow that one person could barely squeeze through. They were compelled to leave little red horse to graze by itself on the side of the hill. Guo Jing took Huang Rong and carried her on his back; together they entered the alley. Following the steep mountain pathway they walked for about two hours. Sometimes the alley was so narrow that Guo Jing had to lift Huang Rong up and he walked sideways, squeezing in between the mountain walls.

It was already the seventh month, the weather was scorching hot and it felt like the heat would be enough to melt metal. Fortunately there were skyscraping mountain peaks around them cooling down their path.

A moment later Guo Jing was hungry; he took some dried buns from his pocket and tore several pieces to feed Huang Rong. He did not stop walking however; he was eating while walking forward. After eating three buns he was thirsty. Suddenly he heard from a distant a faint sound of a waterfall. His spirit arose and he sped up his steps.

In the quietness of the mountain, that waterfall echoed in the valley, creating a loud rumbling noise like a torrential flood. The closer he got, the louder the noise became. When he reached the top of the hill he saw a big waterfall like a white dragon coming out from in between a pair of peaks opposite the hill where he was standing, falling down to a big pond below with astonishing force.

From the top of the hill Guo Jing looked down and saw a thatched hut next to the waterfall. Guo Jing sat on a piece of rock and took the red pouch from his pocket. Inside was a piece of paper with these words: ‘The injury this girl suffers can only be healed by Emperor Duan …’

Seeing those three characters ‘Duan huang ye’ [Emperor Duan] Guo Jing was startled, “Emperor Duan, isn’t he the Southern Emperor who share the same fame as your father?” he asked.

Huang Rong was exhausted, but hearing him mentioned the Southern Emperor her heart was stirred. “Emperor Duan?” she said, “Shifu also said that his injury can only be healed by Emperor Duan. I heard my father mentioned Emperor Duan is the emperor of Dali in Yunnan. Isn’t that …” Suddenly she remembered that this place was separated with Yunnan by ‘ten thousand rivers and a thousand mountains’ [wan shui qian shan – meaning ‘the trails and tribulations of a long journey’]. It was impossible to reach in three days. Suddenly her chest felt cold. She made an effort to sit down and leaning on Guo Jing they read the paper together.

‘The injury this girl suffers can only be healed by Emperor Duan. Because many of his conducts were not righteous he hid himself in Taoyuan and made it very difficult for outsiders to see him. Anyone seeking medical help is a taboo to him; if you mention your intention, before you reach his residence you will be stopped by the vicious hands of a fisherman, a woodcutter, a farmer and a scholar. Therefore, you must say that you have an important message from your master Hong Qigong and want to have an audience with the Emperor. Once you are in the presence of the Southern Emperor, give him the yellow pouch. Your fate depends on this.’

Finished reading Guo Jing turned his head to Huang Rong only to see her frowning silently. “Rong’er,” he asked, “Why did Emperor Duan do many unrighteous conducts? Why is it seeking medical help is a taboo to him? What are the vicious hands of a fisherman, a woodcutter, a farmer and a scholar?”

Huang Rong sighed, “Jing Gege, please don’t think that I am so smart that I know everything.”

Guo Jing was taken aback; he held out his arms and gave Huang Rong a hug. “Very well, let us go down,” he said. Casting his glance to the distant he could see there was a man sitting under the willow tree next to the waterfall. That man was wearing a bamboo hat, but because the distance was quite far he could not see clearly what that man was doing.

First, he was in a hurry, second, the pathway down was a lot easier, therefore, without needing to much time Guo Jing with Huang Rong on his back quickly arrived by the waterfall. He saw that man was wearing a raincoat, sitting on a piece of rock, fishing.

The falling water created a strong rapids, the water flowed too fast, how could there be any fish? Even if there was, how could the fish have time to take the bait?

Guo Jing saw that man was about forty years old, his face was black like the bottom of a pot, full with beards and whiskers sprouting out like wire brush. His eyes stared motionless toward the water. Seeing he was fishing with a full concentration Guo Jing did not dare to disturb, he put Huang Rong down by the willow tree to rest, while they waited to see what kind of fish live in that waterfall.

After waiting for a long time suddenly a golden streak of light came flashing out of the water; that fisherman’s face showed delight, his fishing pole was bent downward. They saw something about a foot long biting the fishing line. That something did not look like either a fish or a snake, it looked so strange.

Guo Jing was astounded, he could not restrain from calling out, “Ah! What is that?”

By that time another golden streak jumped up the water to bite the fishing line. That fisherman was delighted, he kept the fishing pole steady. But the pole was bent more and more. The fisherman struggled to keep it straight. ‘Crack!’ suddenly the pole broke. Two strange fish let the fishing line go, then swam away complacently. The water current was very strong but it seemed like those fish were swimming in a still water. In an instant they disappeared under a rock.

The fisherman turned around with eyes bulging, glaring angrily, shouted loudly, “Stinky kid, your old man has waited painstakingly for half a day, and then you little thief came and scared them away.” His hands stretched out with palms open wide, moved forward two steps ready to pounce. But for an unknown reason he managed to control his temper and held his big hands; his finger joints made cracking sounds; his face was full of anger.

Guo Jing realized he had inadvertently caused trouble therefore he did not dare to talk back. “Uncle is angry, that was my fault. But what kind of strange fish are they?” he humbly asked.

That fisherman scolded him, “Are you blind? Those are not fish, those are ‘jin wawa’ [golden baby or baby doll].”

Guo Jing was not angry even though scolded; he smiled and asked further, “Please forgive my ignorance, but what is a ‘jin wawa’?”

That fisherman flew into a rage, he shouted, “’Jin wawa’ is ‘jin wawa’, why do you stinky little thief want to know anyway?”

Because Guo Jing earnestly wanted to ask him to show the way to see Emperor Duan, he did not dare to say anything, he simply raised his cupped fists to apologize.

Huang Rong could not hold her patience much longer, she interrupted, “‘Jin wawa’ is a golden colored giant salamander. We raise several pairs of them in my home. What’s so strange about it?”

Listening to Huang Rong correctly explained what a ‘jin wawa’ really was, the fisherman was slightly confounded, he scolded, “Humph, you are blowing your horn very loud! Raising several pairs of them! Let me ask you, what’s the purpose of a ‘jin wawa’?”

“What’s the purpose?” Huang Rong asked, “They are attractive, can make a ‘ya ya ya’ noise like a little baby, so we raise them to play with them.”

Hearing her saying the right thing, that fisherman’s face softened, he said, “Little baby girl, if you raise several pairs in your house, then you must give me a pair to compensate my loss.”

“Why must I compensate you?” Huang Rong asked.

The fisherman pointed to Guo Jing and said, “I happened to catch one with my fishing pole, but he came and rudely shouted, so the other one appeared and pull apart my fishing pole. This ‘jin wawa’ is very smart; once it escaped danger, don’t ever think of catching it for the second time. If I don’t ask you to compensate me, whom should I ask?”

Huang Rong smiled, “Even if you did catch it, you only caught one. Try as you might, but how could the second one be willing to take your bait?”

The fisherman could not find any word to answer this; he scratched his head and said, “All right then, just give me one.”

“If you separate a pair of ‘jin wawa’, within three days both of them, the male and the female, will die,” Huang Rong said.

That fisherman did not have any doubt anymore; he cupped his fists and bowed respectfully to Guo Jing and Huang Rong, “All right, just consider it my fault,” he said, “Would you share a pair with me?”

Huang Rong smiled. “Tell me first, what are you going to do with ‘jin wawa’?” she asked.

The fisherman hesitated a little bit, then explained, “All right, I’ll tell you. My martial uncle is an Indian. He had come to visit my master these past few days. On the way here he managed to catch a pair of ‘jin wawa’; he was very happy. He said there was an extremely poisonous insect harming a lot of people in India. There was no way of exterminating this insect. This ‘jin wawa’ is actually the insect’s adversary. He asked me to take care of them for a few days, and then hand them back to him by the time he is done talking to my master and is ready to go down the mountain. He is going to take them back to India and breed them. Who would have thought …”

“Who would have thought you were not careful and let the ‘jin wawa’s run away into this waterfall,” Huang Rong cut him off.

That fisherman was startled, “Ah! How did you know?” he asked.

Huang Rong pouted her little mouth and said, “Is that so difficult to guess? This ‘jin wawa’ is really not easy to keep. Originally we have five pairs, later on two pairs ran away.”

The fisherman’s eyes gleamed, his face showed a happy expression. “Good Miss, please give me a pair. You will still have two pairs. Or else my martial uncle will be mad at me; I may not be able to take it,” he begged.

Huang Rong laughed. “It’s not difficult to give you a pair, but why were you so vicious to us earlier?” she asked.

That fisherman smiled awkwardly, he sheepishly said, “Ay! My bad temper; I really have to change. Good Miss, where is your mansion? Is it alright if I follow you? Is it far from here?”

Huang Rong gently let out a deep breath and said, “If you say it’s near, it is not; but if you say it is far, it isn’t either. Maybe about three, four thousand ‘li’s from here.”

That fisherman was startled, his brush-wire whiskers stood up, he roared, “Little girl, you are swindling me!” His vinegar-bowl sized fist raised up, ready to smash Huang Rong’s head; but realizing she was only a young and feeble girl, he was afraid he might kill her. His fist stayed midair then slowly dropped down to his side.

Guo Jing was ready, as soon as that fisherman strikes, he would block the attack immediately. Huang Rong smiled and said, “Why worry? I have already had a good idea from the start. Jing Gege, please call the white eagles.”

Guo Jing was not clear of her intention, but he whistled to call the eagles anyway. That fisherman was secretly surprised; Guo Jing’s whistle echoed throughout the valleys and mountains, supported by a profound internal energy. “Luckily I did not fight with him earlier,” he thought, “Otherwise this little kid will beat me to death.”

Not too long afterwards, the pair of eagles came flying by, following the whistle sound. Huang Rong peeled a piece of tree bark, and then carved a line of characters with a needle, ‘Father, I want a pair of ‘jin wawa’. Let the eagles carry them back here. Your daughter Rong pays respect.’

Guo Jing was delighted; he cut two pieces of cloth from his belt and firmly tied the bark on the male eagle’s foot. “Go to the Peach Blossom Island, quickly go and quickly come back,” Huang Rong told the pair of eagles.

Guo Jing was afraid the eagles did not understand, he pointed to the east and said three times, “Peach Blossom Island.” The pair of eagles let out a long cry, lifted up their wings and soared away. They made a circle in the air, headed east and then disappeared behind the clouds in a short moment.

The fisherman’s jaw dropped and stayed open for a while; he muttered, “Peach Blossom Island, Peach Blossom Island? What is Huang Yaoshi, Venerable Huang to you?”

“He is my father, why?” Huang Rong proudly said.

“Ah!” that fisherman exclaimed; he was at a loss of words.

Huang Rong said, “My white eagles will bring the ‘jin wawa’ here in a few days; it won’t be too late, will it?”

“I hope not,” the fisherman said. He looked up and down Jing and Rong two people to size them up with eyes full of suspicions.

Guo Jing bowed and asked, “We haven’t found out Uncle’s honorable name.”

The fisherman did not answer, instead he asked questions, “What are you doing here? Who told you to come here?”

Guo Jing respectfully answered, “Junior has come to seek an audience with Emperor Duan.” Initially he wanted to say as Ying Gu had directed them to