Chapter - 314 Recuperating In a Secret Chamber (2)

Although he heard the flattering tone in Peng Lianhu's voice, Wanyan Honglie's face did not show the slightest satisfaction. He merely sighed softly and said, "I came to this place nineteen years ago." Everybody could see that his expression had changed. They felt a little strange, but of course nobody knew he was thinking about how Bai Xirou saved his life in this village. The desolate village still existed, but that gentle lady with a hairpin in her head, wearing green robe, the one fed him warm chicken soup, was no longer in this world.

Meanwhile Hou Tonghai had returned from the village with wine and food. Peng Lianhu poured wine for everybody and said to Wanyan Honglie, "Wangye, today you succeeded in attaining the marvelous military strategy book, the sign that the Great Jin's prestige will soon inspire the world, your army will dominate tens of thousands of lands. Let us all congratulate you!" He raised his cup and gulped his wine.

His voice was loud and clear. Guo Jing on the other side of the wall could still hear him clearly; he was shocked, "Yue Yeye's [Master Yue, lit. grandfather Yue] Legacy has fallen into his hand!" he bitterly thought. As soon as his mind was anxious, the flow of energy in his chest reversed. Huang Rong could feel her palm shaking; she knew he heard everything and it had affected his 'dan tian' [pubic region]. If it was not controlled quickly his life might be in danger. Busily she pressed her mouth to his ear and whispered, "If he can steal the book, can't we do the same? As long as your Er Shifu [Second Master], 'Miao Shou Shu Sheng' [Magic Hands Scholar] makes his move, he can easily steal even ten books."

Guo Jing thought she was right, immediately he closed his eyes and his mind, no longer listened to the conversation behind the wall. Huang Rong looked into the hole again, and she saw Wanyan Honglie raise the cup and drank the wine; and then with a delight he said, "In this battle everybody has worked hard to help; Mr. Ouyang rendered the most service. If he did not get rid of that kid surnamed Guo, we would have to spend a lot more effort."

Ouyang Feng let out a dry laugh; it sounded like a broken cymbal. As Guo Jing heard his laughter, his heart was shaken yet again. Huang Rong secretly thought, "Heaven bless us, let this Old Poison not pluck his devilish zither here; otherwise Jing Gege's life will be difficult to retain."

She heard Ouyang Feng say, "This place is so remote. Song's army would not find us here. I wonder what kind of thing this Yue Fei Yishu [Legacy, something left behind] is; let us all take a look."

He took the stone box from his bosom and placed it on the table. His thought was that if Wumu's Legacy contained an exquisite martial art method, then without regard of everybody else he would take it for himself. However, if the book only contained marching technique and military strategy, it would be useless to him; then he would gladly let others enjoy it, he would let Wanyan Honglie take it.

In the meantime everybody was gazing at the stone box. Huang Rong thought, "What can I do to destroy the book? It would be better than let it fall into the hands of these traitors." She heard Wanyan Honglie say, "Xiao Wang [lit. little king] has performed a comprehensive analysis on Yue Fei's riddle in the form of a poem; I also studied carefully the official history record of all previous dynasties on the construction of the imperial palace. I believed this book was concealed fifteen steps east of the 'cui han tang' [green-jade cold hall]. Today my deduction was proved to be correct. I believe nobody in the Song Dynasty knew that in their palace was hidden such a treasure. The commotion we made last night, I don't think anybody knew what that commotion was all about." He sounded very proud of himself. Everybody immediately seized the opportunity to heap praises on him.

Wanyan Honglie twirled his moustache and laughed. "Kang'er," he said, "Go ahead, open the box."

Yang Kang responded and stepped forward. First he removed the seal then he lifted the lid. Everybody's eyes were on the box. Suddenly their countenances changed; they were confounded, nobody made any sound. The box was completely empty, not only there wasn't any military strategy book, not even a sheet of blank paper was to be found inside.

Although Huang Rong could not see the box, judging from everybody's expression, she could deduce that the box was empty. She was delighted and also found it amusing.

Wanyan Honglie was very disappointed. He held on the table to sit down. His hand propped his cheek and he was thinking deeply. "My thousands of calculations, tens of thousands of iterations, all point out that Yue Fei's Legacy is in this box. How can suddenly not even a trace of it is in the box?" he thought. Suddenly he had an idea, his face lighted up. He took the stone box and brought it outside toward the well then with all his might he smashed the box against the flagstone. 'Bang!' the box broke into pieces.

As Huang Rong heard that broken stone sound she immediately thought, "Ah, there is a secret compartment in the box." She was anxious to see if the Legacy was inside the secret compartment, but no matter what, she could not go out. After a moment however, she saw Wanyan Honglie dejectedly return to the room and sit down.

"I knew there was a secret compartment in that box; who would have thought it was also empty," Wanyan Honglie said.

One after another everybody tried to offer their opinions. Huang Rong was amused listening to their wild imaginations, one was more weird than the other; she immediately told Guo Jing. As he learned that the Wumu's Legacy had not been stolen, Guo Jing was greatly comforted. Huang Rong deliberated further, "These traitors will not possibly give up just like that; they must be thinking of going back to the palace tonight." She was thinking of her Shifu who was still inside the palace; she was afraid he might be implicated. There was Zhou Botong to protect him, but Huang Rong could not help but feel worried; since the Old Urchin behaved like a madman, he could not properly take care of important matters.

Sure enough, she heard Ouyang Feng say, "That's not a big deal. We'll go back to the palace tonight and search some more."

"We can't go tonight," Wanyan Honglie objected, "We made quite a disturbance last night, that I am sure they will strictly guard the palace tonight."

"We can't avoid the guards," Ouyang Feng said, "But why worry over it? Wangye and Xiao Wangye [Young Prince] do not need to go. You and my nephew may stay here to take some rest."

Wanyan Honglie cupped his fists in front of his chest. "Then I will bother Mister to work for me. Xiao Wang will wait for your good news with a peaceful heart." Straightaway everybody spread some straw in the room and lay down to sleep.

After they slept for more than two hours Ouyang Feng woke everybody up and they went to the city once again.

Wanyan Honglie tossed and turned without being able to get some sleep. Around midnight he could hear the sound of the rising tide on the river. He could also hear a dog barking at the other end of the village; the dog kept barking intermittently throughout the night, as if it was weeping. In the quiet night it brought sorrow to the heart, adding to the anxiety he already felt inside.

After a long while suddenly there were footsteps outside the door, there was someone coming in. Wanyan Honglie quickly sat up and drew his sword. Yang Kang had early on jumped behind the door to set an ambush. Under the moonlight they saw a woman with disheveled hair, humming a children's song, shoved the door and came in. She was none other than Shagu. She had just got back from playing in the woods all day. She thought little of seeing people sleeping in her room; she kept walking toward the pile of firewood, lied down next to it, and not too long afterwards she was snoring.