The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 16 – Deep hatred for father’s killer, Part 14

Before the two started arguing, Jinlun Fawang was thinking about the situation, “How did the small boat pass this stone shield?” When he heard the words of the two, he said, “No one can pick up the boat on their own but the six of us together can. Brother Yang, brother Yin and I will be on one side, brother Ni, brother Xiao Xiang and brother Ma will be on the other side, the six of us working together, how about it?”

Everyone agreed and followed his instructions; the six of them stood on two sides and each one found a steady place to stand on the rocks. Luckily the brook was extremely narrow; the boat’s width was at arm’s length.

Fawang called out, “Lift!” Everyone lifted. Yang Guo’s and Yin Kexi’s strength was the weakest out of the six but the other four had the strength of many, especially Ma Guangzuo who had divine strength. The boat left the water and passed over the rocks.

Everyone leapt back into the boat; they wiped their palms and laughed. The six of them originally were wary of each other but after working together, naturally they became a bit friendlier.

Xiaoxiang Zi said, “Although the martial arts among us aren’t anything spectacular, we could be classed as first rate fighters of Wulin. The six of us lifting a boat isn’t really a difficult task but…”

Nimoxing followed on, “The four green people’s martial arts are all over the place, could they lift the boat over the rocks?”

Out of the six, five of them were already secretly surprised. Ma Guangzuo was still thinking about what the words ‘their martial arts are all over the place’ meant.

Nimoxing said, “Their boat is smaller… their numbers are smaller also… The four of them being able to do this… their strength must be… must be incredible.”

Yin Kexi said, “There’s no need to talk about the three men, that girl was a fragile seventeen or eighteen year old teenager, there is no way she could have such skill, there must be something about those rocks. It’s just that we can’t see through just yet.”

Fawang gave a wry laugh and said, “People cannot be judged on appearances alone. Take a look at our brother Yang, he is of a young age but possesses great martial arts, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, who would have believed it?”

Yang Guo said modestly, “The skills I’ve learned aren’t much, what’s good about my martial arts? But the four people in green were able to catch Zhou Botong; they must have some aspect that they excel at.” His words were modest but he was now talking to these first rate fighters as brother this and brother that.

Everyone had seen with their own eyes Yang Guo catching a plate thrown by Zhou Botong with a single finger; they did not look lightly on him. They all felt his words were reasonable and all started to make their own guesses about this matter.

Out of the six, Yang Guo was the youngest, Jinlun Fawang, Ma Guangzuo and Nimoxing spent most of their lives in the west; Xiaoxiang Zi spent his time along in the mountains and didn’t make acquaintances with anyone. Yin Kexi was the only one who was familiar with the sects, personalities and affairs of the central plains yet he had no clue about who these four people in green were. As they talked, they eventually rowed to the end of the brook. The six of them went ashore and followed the path deep into the valley.

There was only one mountain path so there was no way to go wrong; however the path got steeper and steeper as it went on and became more and more treacherous. The sky darkened and there wasn’t a trace of the people in green.

Just as they were getting anxious, there was firelight from faraway; everyone was pleased and thought, “In a wild valley like this, firelight must mean people; apart from those people in green; no one would live in a place with such dangerous terrain as this.”

They then increased their speed. They all knew that they were in a dangerous place and each one heightened their defenses. Each one of them had roamed the world of Jianghu by themselves before and had experienced many dangers; now six great fighters were entering the mountain, who on earth could stop them? Though they were wary, they had no fear.

After a while, they reached a wide level open space at the peak of the mountain. They saw an extremely large flaming bonfire. They walked closer a few hundred feet and by the firelight, they saw a large stone building.

Nimoxing called out loudly, “Hey, hey, some guests have arrived! Come out quickly.”

The door of the stone house slowly opened and out came three men and a girl. It was the people in green who had captured Zhou Botong earlier on. The four of them bowed and the leading person asked, “What are our guests’ names?”

The one thing that Yin Kexi excels most at is speaking; he laughed and then told them who the other five were. He then said, “My name is Yin Kexi, I am a Hu merchant. Apart from eating, the only thing I know are treasures, I am not like the others who are all highly skilled with martial arts.”

The person in green said, “Our residence is in an extremely secluded place, we’ve never had visitors before, it is our luck that some guests have arrived. But what brought our guests here?”

Yin Kexi laughed, “We saw the four of you catch the Old Urchin Zhou Botong, we were curious so we came along to take a look. Your residence is an extremely elegant and beautiful place, it has opened our eyes; this really wasn’t a trip in vain.”

The first person in green said, “That old man who messed up our place is named Zhou? He certainly lives up to the name Old Urchin.”

The second person in green said, “Are you with him?”