Chapter 28 – The wedding, Part 3
Qiu Chuji and the others stepped forward to kowtow to him. Zhou Botong frantically waved his hand, calling out: “Enough, enough. No more kowtows, you good boys get up!” By now Qiu Chuji and the others already had white beards and hair but Zhou Botong still called them ‘Good boys.’
Many people were about to start small talk when Zhou Botong caught a glimpse of Zhao Zhijing slyly sneaking off. He gave out a loud shout, jumped forward to hold him, and scolded: “You cow-nosed thief, still thinking to run away?” His left hand shot out towards the large bell and lifted it, two feet from the ground, while the right hand tossed Zhao Zhijing underneath. Then he let loose his left hand and the large bell came down, all the while repeatedly scolding: “Cow-nosed thief, cow-nosed thief.” At this time in the palace hall, except for him, everybody else was a Taoist. His loud scolding “Cow-nosed thief” was the same as scolding all Wang Chongyang’s disciples and followers. Qiu Chuji and the others knew their Martial Uncle’s temper and did not think to disobey. They couldn’t help but smile at each other.
Wang Chuyi asked: “Shi Shu [Martial Uncle], what did Zhao Zhijing do to offend the Old Master? This disciple will definitely punish him heavily.”
Zhou Botong said: “Hey, hey, this little cow-nosed thief led me to steal a flag that was put in a cave but before that he hid these very big colorful most deadly poisonous spiders there,. Luckily that small Miss, hmm, where’s that small Miss? Where are all the bees?” He talked without order and Wang Chuyi couldn’t quite understand yet but then saw him look around trying to find Xiao Longnü.
At this time ten disciples rushed in and reported that the Yang-Long couple had retreated to the Sacred Scripture Chamber on the back side of the mountain. The following disciples didn’t dare to use torches to fight off the bees for fear that they might burn the Taoist scriptures. Qiu Chuji and others were startled. The Sacred Scripture Chamber was the Quanzhen Sect’s sacred place as it stored the Taoist scriptures of the past dynasties and the work of Wang Chongyang and his seven disciples. There were several secret documents of the sect hidden there. If something happened, it would be a great loss. Qiu Chuji said: “We’ll go and take a look. Yang Guo has shown mercy and spared Sun Shi Mei [Apprentice Sister Sun]. We could definitely turn an enemy into a friend.”
Sun Bu’Er said: “You are right!” Then everybody rushed out to the Sacred Scripture Chamber at the back of the mountain.
At the door Wang Chuyi saw Zhao Zhijing trapped inside the bell, he thought: “Zhou Shi Shu’s [Martial Uncle Zhou] affairs are quite silly. This matter might not necessarily be Zhao Zhijing’s fault. We’ll investigate this in details when we come back.” For fear that there would be no air inside the bell and Zhao Zhijing would be suffocated to death, he used his energy to lift the bell up a few inches, kicked up a brick, and placed it under the bell. He left the crack a few inches wide so air could ventilate it and then went out to catch up with other people.
In front of the sacred scripture chamber, several hundred disciples were shouting loudly but nobody dared to go upstairs. In a loud and clear voice, Qiu Chuji called out: “The Yang-Long couple, we’ll let bygones be bygones. How about we stop fighting and become friends?” He waited for a while and no sound from the chamber could be heard. Qiu Chuji said again: “Long Guniang [Miss Long] has been injured. Please come out and we’ll try to treat the injury together. Our sect’s disciples won’t dare to be disrespectful to the two of you. Qiu Chuji roamed Jiang Hu for several decades and has never broken a promise to anyone.” Half a day passed and there was still no sound.
Liu Chuxuan pondered the situation and said: “They are already gone!” Qiu Chuji asked: “How?” Liu Chuxuan said: “Look at the bees. They are flying scattered.” He took a torch from one of the disciples and rushed inside the chamber.
Qiu Chuji and the others stepped into the chamber but only saw the four walls of books and not a single person. There was also that bottle of Jade Bee honey on the writing desk. As if he had found a treasure, Zhou Botong snatched it and put it away in his chest. Many people turned the chamber upside down but didn’t find any books missing. They only saw a pile of books on the floor and the wooden chest that used to house them was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Hao Datong called out: “They left from here!” The people followed Hao Datong’s voice to the window in the back of the chamber and saw a rope tied to a wooden pole, with its other end tied to a tree on the cliff on the opposite side. Between the Sacred Scripture Chamber and the cliff was a deep ravine, with no way to pass through it. They didn’t expect that Yang Guo would actually have such lightness Kung Fu and could carry Xiao Longnü and also across the valley on a rope.
As Yang Guo and Xiao Longnü bowed to heaven and earth at the Chongyang Palace, everybody in the Quanzhen sect felt badly violated. But this time seeing how the two people had retreated, the Quanzhen Five Masters smiled at one another and actually turned soft in their hearts. Sun Bu’Er was originally the most resentful but at the palace hall she witnessed how the two of them were idealistic and sincere. On top of that, Yang Guo had spared her own life at a critical moment. She couldn’t help feeling a loss and fell silent.
The Quanzhen five masters and Zhou Botong went back to the palace hall and inquired about the Mongolian Prince’s imperial decrees, the fights of the two disciples Zhao and Zhen, Xiao Longnü’s sudden attack, and so on. They went over each report one by one. With tears in his eyes, Qiu Chuji said: “Zhibing’s disgracing someone was truly abominable but he did defend our sect with loyalty and patriotism, pledging to fight to death rather than surrendering to the Mongols. That has great merit.”
Wang Chuyi said: “Zhibing naturally had flaws but he also tried to uphold justice. We should still recognize him as a Zhang Jiao [Jiao chief].” Liu Chuxuan, Hao Datong, and others also agreed.
Qiu Chuji said again: “If it was not for Long Guniang [Miss Long] arriving in time to block the enemy, our sect would have been annihilated. Long Guniang is really our sect’s great benefactor. From now on we not only cannot be disrespectful to them as husband and wife, we would also have to repay the debt of gratitude. Ai, we did injure her, not knowing… not knowing…” Thinking about how Xiao Longnü was heavily injured, he deeply blamed himself.
Qiu Chuji and the others were busy investigating the past events and cleaning up damage while Zhou Botong didn’t pay attention to these matters in the slightest, he was playing with that bottle of Jade Bee honey in his hand. Several times he thought about opening the bottle to tempt the bees but always feared the outcome, and of not being able to get away. At this time a disciple stepped in and reported that five disciples were stung by the Jade Bees and that their itchy pains were difficult to endure and so asked the master to help. Hao Datong thought about the year Sun Po Po (Grandma Sun) broke into the palace to give them the honey so he said: “Long Guniang [Miss Long] must have left this bottle of Jade Bee honey for us to treat the injured. Shi Shu [Martial Uncle], please give the Jade Bee honey to the five disciples, and let them take a little.”
Zhou Botong stretched out both hands and his palms were empty. He said, “Don’t know how but I suddenly can’t find it.” Hao Datong had obviously seen him playing with the bottle in his hand so it couldn’t possibly be suddenly missing. He decided that Zhou Botong was not willing to hand it over but Zhou Botong was an elder so it was not very convenient to say much.
He couldn’t help but feel awkward. Zhou Botong then gave his sleeves a brush and patted his body several times. He said, “I didn’t hide it. Don’t suspect me being so mean that I don’t want to give it to you. Do you want me to take of all my clothes for you to take a good look?” Zhou Botong had always been naughty and only wanted to play, not distinguishing between big, small or urgent matters, and this didn’t change with old age. In his mind, these little cow noses [Taoists] were stung by the bees. At most they would be in immense pain for half a day so it was hardly a life or death worry.
This bottle of Jade Bee honey couldn’t be given to anyone. Then he heard Hao Datong speaking so he passed the bottle up his shirt sleeve and let it slide down from his chest to his belly. He shrank his belly a bit so the bottle could go down his pants and from there the bottle slowly dropped to his foot and gently fell down to the floor. His internal energy was so profound that the muscles in his whole body could all be manipulated. That small bottle was sent to the floor and surprisingly didn’t even make a sound.
Wang Chuyi thought, “Martial Uncle didn’t want to hand over the bottle but only wanted to play with people. If I say something, there is no way I could change his mind. I should just take care of other business first and when his temper is improved, I will get the bottle from him. For now let’s heavily punish the treacherous disciple Zhijing. If not for Zhao Zhibing’s willingness to die rather than to surrender, wouldn’t our sect’s long-built reputation have already been destroyed by this treacherous disciple’s hand?” Having thought this, he said out loud, “Hao Shi Di [Apprentice Brother Hao], it won’t hurt if we postpone the matter of treating the injured. We must quickly deal with this treacherous disciple Zhijing first!”
The Quanzhen five masters were apprentice brothers for several decades so they all knew about Wang Chuyi’s straight and unselfish character. Even though Zhijing was his Taoist disciple, he had committed an atrocious crime. Wang Chuyi wouldn’t think to protect him. Everybody thought, “This perfidious disciple sold out his sect for personal glory and harmed his own sect brothers in the process. He cannot be forgiven.”
Suddenly they heard a faint sound coming from under the bell, “Martial Grandpa Zhou, if you save my life, I’ll give you the bee honey; otherwise I’ll just eat it all before I die!” Zhou Botong was alarmed and quickly moved forward a step. Sure enough that bottle of Jade Bee honey was gone without a trace. Zhou Botong had earlier stood by the bell, with Zhao Zhijing beneath it. That small bottle happened to fall right in front of him. Upon hearing that Hao Datong couldn’t get the Jade Bee honey from Zhou Botong, he immediately stretched out his hand through the crack and grabbed it.
Now he used this small bottle to bargain for his life. He himself knew that this attempt could be in vain but he was desperate and therefore must fight for his life to the bitter end. As Zhou Botong heard Zhao Zhijing’s words, he was extremely worried and cried out, “Hey, hey, you definitely can’t eat the bee honey. Wait, let’s talk about it.”
Zhao Zhijing then replied: “Then you must agree to save my life.”
The Quanzhen five masters were startled, fearing that if this Martial Uncle were to agree to this demand, they wouldn’t be able to punish Zhao Zhijing. Qiu Chuji hurriedly said, “Shi Shu [Martial Uncle], this person has committed a really heinous crime, we cannot spare him no matter what.”
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