Apologies for the break, I probably should not have restarted translating while being bogged down by work.

Chapter 5: Male God YangGuo

The great hero YangGuo debuts with a giant bang resounding through the sky.

JiangChen’s heart is trembling with anticipation, and GuoXiang is also overjoyed, thinking:”the Conder Hero has arrived!” Looking up, a person is sitting on top of a branch,  while beside him is a huge and ugly condor.

This person is wearing a gray robe, right sleeve tucked in his belt, seems to be missing an arm, looking at his face sends shivers down their spines, because of the sickly yellow colour, rigged and covered in wrinkles, how is this even a living person? Obviously looks like more like zombie. The Western Hills Cave of Ghosts have people extremely ugly, but none as ugly as him.

Everybody at the scene, only JiangChen knows YangGuo is wearing a mask, he isn’t only extremely strong in martial arts, but also extremely handsome

In just a few seconds, YangGuo defeates the Shi brothers, and let out a lion’s roar to stop the beasts, then askes both sides the reason for their resentment.

JiangChen’s eyes start shining as he watches, thinking:”This YangGuo’s martial arts have really reached the pinnacle of this world, Condor Hero, indeed deserving the title “Male God” of the WuXia realm, certainly extraordinary.”

The Shi brothers answered by explaining ShiShuGang was ambushed by the prince of Mongolia in LiangZhou, and they require the blood of a nine tails spirit fox to recover, but nine tails spirit foxs are extremely rare animals, the five brothers searched for a year, and only then did they find traces of the spirit fox near Jinan. The nine tails spirit fox’s hiding place is also quite strange, it was hiding thirty miles to the north-west, within the giant marsh known as the Black Dragon Lake.

YangGuo couldn’t deny their request and agreed to head to the Black Dragon Lake to help look for the nine tails spirit fox. Everybody knows that YangGuo acts alone, they want to follow him, but do not have the courage to. YangGuo does a holding fist salute to everybody, turns around and leaves.

GuoXiang starts thinking:”My reason for coming is to see the Condor Hero, now I’ve accomplished that. Although he is ugly, his martial arts is amazing, he helps people who are in need, living up to the word “hero”, my trip is not wasted.” But she also thinks about how he would catch the nine tails spirit fox, curiosity spontaneously arises, and unknowingly she starts following behind YangGuo.

JiangChen’s whole plan this trip leads towards the Black Dragon Lake, naturally he follows without even hesitating.

GuoXiang is young and weak, although she knows some light-weight skills they aren’t very trained, also her inner strength is weak, so even though JiangChen doesn’t know any light-weight skills, he is still able to keep up to her because he is in his prime, but compared to YangGuo, they can only see walking step by step, with the giant condor on his shoulder. Immediately JiangChen and GuoXiang are already ten feet away, watching him get further and further by merely walking. In less than ten minutes YangGuo and his condor have become two little black dots off in the distance.

GuoXiang anxiously yells out:”Hey, wait for me!” at this moment she staggers and falls, JiangChen quickly rushes up wanting to help her up, but is still too late, GuoXiang already falls onto the snow, due to embarrassment and anxiety she starts crying.

Immediately a gentle voice can be heard:”Why do you cry? Did someone bully you?”

JiangChen couldn’t help my sigh as he watched YangGuo appear, this is all destiny! He just quietly watched their conversation from the side, only to helplessly find out, GuoXiang has already begun to admire this Condor Hero.

In the end YangGuo agrees to take GuoXiang to Black Dragon Lake, JiangChen was also dragged along, fine, there is just a little bit of ignoring his human rights, but thinking about his and YangGuo’s difference in strength, he righteously thought:”I’ll put up with it.”

Three people and one condor set out towards the Black Dragon Lake, which is easy to identify due to lack of vegetation. Originally the Black Dragon Lake was a giant lake, but due to blockage year after year, has dried up and become a giant mud bog, the three of them arrive after approximately one hour of travel.

Overlooking the bog just shows a view full of dead grass and trees that extends extremely far, presumably the nine tails spirit fox is hiding here.

YangGuo cuts off a branch from a tree to throw into the lake, at first the branch just sits on top of the snow, slowly begins to sink, the speed at which it sinks is quite slow, but it doesn’t stop, after a while the snow from both sides cover the stick and there isn’t a trace of it left.

Seeing this GuoXiang dismayingly said:”That branch sinks even though it’s so light, how can we cross?” while looking at YangGuo, wondering if he has any plans.

While JiangChen knows, very soon, YangGuo will reveal wisdom that is just as ridiculous as his handsomeness, creating the Condor Hero version of the skis, so his eyes also start  to shine.

Sure enough, after a little while YangGuo cuts off two branches, both about seven feet long, breaking off the twigs, and tying it to the soles of his feet saying:”Let me try, I’m not sure if this will fail or not.” Body leaning forward, quickly sliding around the snow, only to see him turn left and right extremely easily, never stopping, only to return to his original spot after making a few circles around the lake.

GuoXiang laughs while exclaiming:”Great ability! Great skills!”

YangGuo sees that her eyes are full of envy, knowing that she also wants to catch the fox within the bog, but doesn’t have the light-weight skills so he smiles and says:”I promised to take you to the Black Dragon Lake to catch the nine tails spirit fox, do you have the courage?”

GuoXiang gently sighes saying:”I don’t have your kind of ability, even if I do have the courage, it is in vain.”

YangGuo smiles without a word, but also cuts off two five feet long branches, passes it to GuoXiang saying:”Tie these under your feet!” Then turns towards JiangChen and asks:” How about you, want to go together?”

JiangChen hurriedly waves his hands, he is very clear about his own abilities so he laughes:”Nah I’m fine.”

While GuoXiang is pleasantly surprised, she ties the branches firmly under her feet. YangGuo said:”slightly lean forward, don’t use any strength under your feet.” holding onto her right hand with his left and yells:”Don’t be afraid!” Being pulled, GuoXiang’s body couldn’t help but also slide into the lake. At first she panicked, but after sliding a few feet, her body starts feeling as if she is floating on the winds, yelling out:”This is really fun!”

JiangChen watched the two of them leave, lightly smiling and leaned onto a tree, closing his eyes and starts thinking. Obviously he knows, YangGuo and GuoXiang will encounter YingGu, and won’t be able to catch a nine tails spirit fox, and that is also the last step of the plan, afterwards, everything will rely on his acting skills!

At this moment, a buddhist chant can be heard from behind him:”Amitābha!*1” followed by :”This old monk YiDeng would like to request a meeting with YingGu.”

Hearing this sound, JiangChen immediately openes his eyes and faintly smiles while whispering to himself:”Master YiDeng, you’ve finally appeared, QiuQianRen, you have also finally came!”

He knows that YiDeng used a superior internal strength technique known as the “Thousand Miles Sound Transfer”, although this technique is called the “Thousand Miles Sound Transfer” but it’s not really effective within a range of a thousand miles, but as long as there isn’t a giant mountain blocking the sound, people with profound kung-fu can be heard within a few miles, and the listener will feel as if the sound came from close by, the higher the internal strength, the better the sound transfers.

Back in the past,  master YiDeng was the King of the Dali kingdom and known as DuanZhiXing, while YingGu was one of his princesses, but The Old Clown ZoBoTong privately had a son with her. Afterwards QiuQianRen with his Steel Palms kung-fu injured the child, and the king didn’t save the child due to jealously, and because he did not save the child, he died, and the king, seeing all of YingGu’s hair turn white in one night started regret his actions, so he decided to become a monk, and changed his name to YiDeng.

QiuQianRen, nicknamed The Iron Palms that Float on Water, a martial arts expert who doesn’t lose to the top five masters, once using only his pair of Iron Palms slaughtered HengShan school, but became devastated after, at one point after the first “Sword Discussion at HuaShan” he sneaked into the Dali palace, and injured Royal Princess YingGu’s illegitimate son severely, only to force the “Southern Emperor” DuanZhiXing to save the child by using up a lot of his internal strength, so that he would lose during the second “Sword Discussion at HuaShan”.

This experience brought QiuQianRen endless trouble, YingGu was able to recognize his laughter that he was the murderer of her child, and fought him with the determination to perish together. Afterwards, during the second “Sword Discussion at HuaShan”, QiuQianRen surrendered to master YiDeng, also becoming a monk, changing his name to Mercy.

However, even though Mercy became a monk, it was difficult to curb his killing intent, due to an encounter with his sister QiuQianChi within the unfeeling valley, in a moments confusion, almost killed GuoXiang who was still in her infancy. Due to desperation HuangRong, became just as crazy as YingGu while facing him, which stimulated Mercy and cleared up his mind.

Since then, Mercy and master YiDeng both became reclusive within HuNan, but due to recent events and the Mongolian’s inability to take down XiangYang, leading to them switching their sights to Dali down to the south, to be able to attack XiangYang from both sides. Mercy saw master YiDeng thinking of his motherland, so he went out to get information, but met with His Holiness of the Golden Wheel, both of them fought for a day and a night, but in the end Mercy was unable to beat His Holiness of the Golden Wheel, and got seriously injured.

On the verge of death, Mercy reflected on his life, and found that he had sinned far too much, although in the past decade he tried to make up for a lot of it, there was one thing that he brooded on, even if he died he could not rest in peace due to this incident, it’s not about him getting revenge on someone or killing an enemy, but a desire for one person to forgive him, so that he could pass in peace.

YingGu couldn’t kill QiuQianRen, and couldn’t save ZhouBoTong, after roaming JiangHu finally decided to settle down in the Black Dragon Lake. When YiDeng found out, he brought Mercy to the outskirts of the Black Dragon Lake, they have already arrived for seven days, and everyday they request a meeting at this time, but YingGu still remembers his cruelness of not saving her child a decade ago, unable to put down the hate in her heart, refuses to meet with him.

Translator Notes:”

*1  阿弥陀佛 Ēmítuófó Amitābha closest translation I can think of for this term is the Christian term “Amen”. Just something followers of buddha say.