Chapter - 140 Exhausted From Travels (7)

He then found a quiet place and messed up his hair. Then he punched himself in the left eye, he scratched his cheek a few times; there was now a blue green bruise on his left eye and there were some red marks on his face. His clothes were already torn and old but he tore them even more making them look even more ragged. He rolled in the mud and dust a few times and then got up on the horse that was covered in scars and skin ulcers. Indeed, he now looked like he was a person with nowhere to go and on his last legs. As soon as he finished he limped back to the main road, he didn't ride on the horse and walked amongst the beggars. He didn't lead the horse along, the horse just followed on its own. Someone from the Beggar Clan asked whether he was on his way to attend the great feast, Yang Guo stared and didn't reply and slipped back into the crowd, walking back and forth. The group of people wound along the road and eventually came up to a large, old and ruined temple. He saw the two white eagles roosting on top of a pine tree in front of the temple.

One of the Wu brothers was holding a dish, while the other took a slab of meat from the dish and flung it towards the eagles. Yang Guo had seen the two before when they teamed up with Guo Fu to fight Li Mochou, but at that time he was too busy thinking about Guo Fu. He didn't take the two to mind, but now he took a closer look at the two. He saw Wu Dunru looked intense, he was concentrating one hundred percent, on the other hand Wu Xiuwen was active and lively; he ran to east and darted to the west, not taking a moment's respite. Wu Dunru was wearing a purple coloured Chong silk gown, Wu Xiuwen was wearing a large blue coloured Shandong silk gown, and around their waists were tied an embroidered satin 'hero' sash. They were indeed young heroes, standing out from the crowd.

Yang Guo went up to them and made a bow, and stammered, "Greetings… greetings brothers Wu, I hope you've been…been well."

At this time there were beggars everywhere around the temple, all their clothes were ragged, so although Yang Guo was covered in dirt, he did not look out of place in the crowd of beggars.

Wu Dunru returned the favour and glanced up and down at Yang Guo, he couldn't recognize him and said, "Forgive my inexperienced eyes, what is brother's name?"

Yang Guo said, "There is no need to worry about such a lowly name, little brother… little brother wants to meet with Chief Huang."

Wu Dunru thought his voice sounded slightly familiar, he was about to question him when a voice like a silver bell came from the entrance of the temple, "Big brother Wu, I asked you to buy me a soft horse whip, have you bought it?"

Wu Dunru quickly moved Yang Guo aside and walked forward saying, "I bought it ages ago, give it a test, does it feel right?" He fished out a horse whip from his pocket as he said this.

Yang Guo turned his head and saw a girl in a light green dress hurrying from the temple's doors; her brows were curved, her little nose slightly raised, her face like white jade, her smile like a flower, it was Guo Fu. The adornments in her hair weren't extravagant, only a pearl was worn in her hair, the light make her look as if she was adorned with jade gem make up. Yang Guo only gave her a glance but he couldn't stop himself from having a feeling of inferiority; he turned his head and didn't look back. Wu Xiuwen also dashed forward and the two brothers spent all their effort talking to her. After speaking with Guo Fu for a while, Wu Dunru remembered Yang Guo and turned around saying, "You've come because of the 'Heroes Feast'?"

Yang Guo did not know what the 'Heroes Feast' was and just answered agreeably. Wu Dunru summoned one of the beggars with his hand and said, "Take care of this friend, tomorrow take him to Da Xingguan." After he said this he turned his attention back to Guo Fu and ignored him.

The beggar agreed and after greeting each other, asked for his name. Yang Guo told him truthfully. He was a nobody. Of course the beggar won't have heard of his name before and wouldn't think anything of it. The beggar called himself Wang Shisan; he was a second band Beggar Clan member.

He asked, "Where has brother Yang come from?"

Yang Guo said, "From Xiaxi."

Wang Shisan said, "Ah, Brother Yang is from Quanzhen sect?"

As soon as he heard the words 'Quanzhen sect' Yang Guo's head ached, he shook his head and said, "No."

Wang Shisan, "Brother Yang you've got the 'Heroes' invitation with you?"

Yang Guo was startled and said, "I've just wandered around Jianghu, how can I call myself a hero? I have met your clan's chief Huang once before, I only want to see her and ask for some money to return to my home."

Wang Shisan's eyebrows wrinkled and he thought for a while and then said, "Chief Huang is receiving the heroes at the moment, I'm afraid that she won't have time to see you."

Yang Guo had deliberately made himself such a sorry sight, the lower the regard the other person had for him, the prouder he'll get, he made himself more pitiful and pleaded earnestly.

The members of the Beggar Clan are all people from poor environments, they have always helped those in need and distress; they would never look down on other poor people.

Wang Shisan heard him speak with such grief and woe, and so said, "Little brother Yang, have a meal first, tomorrow we'll go to Da Xingguan together. I'm your big brother, I'll go and tell the elders, who in turn will inform our chief. We'll wait and see what orders she gives, how about that?"

Wang Shisan had called him brother Yang, but now he heard that he wasn't one of the guests for the 'heroes' feast. He was a fair few years older than him so he changed his greeting to little brother Yang. Yang Guo thanked him repeatedly. Wang Shisan invited him into the derelict temple and bought out some rice and dishes for the guest. One of the rules of the Beggar Clan is when a Beggar Clan member arrives to celebrate a ceremony, they'll first need to get chicken, fish, beef and lamb and leave it until it starts to rot, and gets like a soup of spoiled meat. The meaning was that they shouldn't forget their origins; but when treating guests, proper wine and dishes are bought out.

As Yang Guo was eating, a flash of light shone in his eyes, he saw Guo Fu enter the hall, her face with a smile, the Wu Brothers followed behind on her left and right.

He heard Wu Xiuwen say, "Fine, we'll leave tonight and travel through the night to rush to Da Xingguan. I'll go and get your red horse." The three of them were too busy talking to notice Yang Guo who was sitting on the floor eating. The three of them went to the back garden to get their bags and weapons and exited the temple. Many hoof beats could be heard as the horses galloped away. Yang Guo planted his chopsticks into his bowl, and heard the hoof beats of the horses become distant; a hundred emotions went through his mind, but was it worry or hate, anger or sorrow?

The next day, Wang Shisan looked after him as they went back to the road. On the road, apart from the crowds of Beggar Clan members, there were many eminent names of Wulin, some traveled by horseback, some traveled on foot, all heading for the 'Heroes Feast'. Yang Guo didn't know what the 'Heroes Feast' was or what the 'Heroes' invitation was about; he knew that Wang Shisan wouldn't dare to reveal it to him so he pretended to be stupid and miserable. They arrived at Da Xingguan at around seven o'clock that night. Da Xingguan is an important strategic point in the Henan province, the topography of the area was divine yet there weren't many towns and cities around. This was because the Mongolian soldiers were situated north of here. Wang Shisan led Yang Guo past a town and traveled for another seven or eight miles. In front of them were hundred of Japanese Scholar trees surrounding a large manor; all the heroes were heading for this manor. Building followed building inside the manor, all folding over each other and it was hard to see how many rooms there really were; but it appeared that the manor could easily hold thousands of guests and have room to spare.