Chapter - 257 The Underground Old Lady (11)

He climbed up about six or seven hundred feet; with his outstanding lightness kung fu, he managed to turn all the dangers he met along the way into minor obstacles. But when he was about seventy or eighty feet away from the entrance, the walls became smooth and slippery without any hand holds and the walls slanted inwards as well. You wouldn't be able to get out unless you were a fly.

Yang Guo took a look around and saw that the opening of the cave was around ten feet wide; more than enough space for someone to pass through. He had a plan and slipped back down to the bottom of the grotto and said, "We can get out! But we'll need a long rope." He then took out the dagger and cut bark off the date trees and tied them into a rope. Gongsun Lu E was delighted and helped him. Although the two were quick, they had to work for over four hours. The sky was dark before they finished forming an extremely long rope made out of tree bark.

Yang Guo held the rope and tugged it a few times with force; he said, "It won't snap." He then used the dagger to cut off a branch that was around fifteen feet in length and tied one end of the rope to the middle of the branch and wrapped the rope up around it. He then climbed up along the wall again until he neared the top. He then used the "Thousand Kilogram Fall" in his legs to secure his footing and circulated energy into his arms. He shouted out, "Get up!" He threw the tree branch towards the opening of the cave. He used just the right amount of energy and when the branch came back down, it hung across the opening of the cave. Yang Guo pulled the rope to make sure the branch was secure across the opening of the cave. Just two tugs, after which he felt the branch was tight, secure and would be able to take his weight. He called out, "I'm going up!" He grabbed the rope and climbed up it; he looked down and saw that Lu E and her mother had become two small black images in the indistinct evening light.

He used more strength in his hands and climbed up even quicker; in a short while he had reached the branch that was hanging across the opening of the cave. He bent his arms and a 'hu' sound was heard as he flew out of the cave and landed on the ground.

He took in a few deep breaths and then stood up. He saw that a bright moon had risen in the east above the mountains. He had been trapped down in the pool and grotto for half a day; now as he gained freedom, he felt an indescribable comfort and thought, "Will I feel no boredom at all if I stay in the tomb with Gu Gu? It is clear that the affect of the surroundings depends on one's feelings; if one wants to get out but can't they'll feel troubled in their hearts; but for those who don't want to get out, getting out will create misery." He then lowered the rope.

As soon as Qiu Qianchi saw Yang Guo climb out of the cave, she cursed her daughter, "Stupid girl, how can you let him get out by himself? Why would he still be worried about us once he gets out?"

Lu E said, "Mother, relax, brother Yang is not that sort of person."

Qiu Qianchi said angrily, "All men are the same; what good men are there?"

She then turned her head towards her daughter and looked at her carefully, she said, "Stupid girl, you've been taken advantage of by him haven't you?"

Lu E's face went red and said, "Mother, what are you trying to say, I don't understand."

Qiu Qianchi was even angrier and said, "If you don't understand then why did your face go red? Let me tell you, when it comes to men you cannot give them one single step, you cannot be careless; can't you see what happened to your mother?" Just as she was beginning to carry on non-stop, Lu E got up and caught the rope. She tied it around tightly around her mother's waist and smiled, "Look, does brother Yang care about us or not?" She then tugged on the rope signaling to Yang Guo that she had tied her mother in place.

Qiu Qianchi gave a 'heng' grunt and said, "Let me tell you, once we get back up you better make sure you hold onto him tightly and don't give him an inch. Zhang fu, zhang fu (zhang fu=husband, zhang= ten feet), within ten feet they are still your husband but once outside of ten feet, they're not your husband anymore, do you understand? Your grandpa named your mother Qianchi, a thousand (qian) feet (chi) is a hundred zhang, ha-ha, what husband is there outside of a thousand feet?"

Lu E was amused but sad at the same time; she thought, "Mother's thinking really is wishful; he hasn't got a place for me in his heart." Her eyes went red and she turned her head.

Qiu Qianchi was just about to say something when she felt the rope around her waist tighten and her body lifted upwards slowly into the air. Lu E looked at her mother and although she knew that Yang Guo would immediately lower the rope to rescue her, she was alone in this grotto all by herself for the time being and started to tremble with fear.

Yang Guo pulled Qiu Qianchi out of the cave and untied the rope from her waist. He lowered the rope down for a second time. Only after wrapping the rope around her waist did Lu E relax a little; she pulled on the rope and felt it tighten around her waist; her body rose up into the air. She saw that the date trees at the bottom of the cave were getting smaller and smaller, while the stars above her were getting brighter and brighter. Just a few more tens of feet and she would be able to get out of the cave.

Suddenly she heard someone shout out from the opening followed by the rope getting loose and her body fall straight back down. What chance is there of staying alive while dropping hundreds of feet? Lu E screamed and almost fainted; she felt her body plummeting downwards but could do nothing about it.

Yang Guo was pulling Lu E up and saw that he was about to bring her out when suddenly he heard footsteps from behind him; someone had actually come to attack him from behind. He was extremely startled by this; he couldn't worry about trying to turn around to fight off the attacker and just pulled the rope as quickly as possible.

He heard the attacker shout; "What are you doing sneaking around here?" The sound of a ferocious wind followed, and an extremely long and heavy weapon was sent out towards his back.

From the sounds of the weapon, Yang Guo knew it was the short man Fan Yiweng; with this danger he could only return his left hand and push the staff away, dispersing the force of this attack. Fan Yiweng couldn't see Yang Guo's face in this darkness but knew that his opponent was highly skilled. He took back his staff and swept the staff out again towards his opponent's waist; he had put all his strength behind this attack and really wanted to break his opponent into two pieces.

Yang Guo was holding up Lu E along with the fairly weighty long rope with his right hand only, in a little while he would struggle to keep control. When he saw the staff come towards him again, he again sent out his left palm to disperse the attack. He didn't predict that this attack of Fan Yiweng's was so ferocious, when his left palm met the staff his whole body trembled, his right hand couldn't hold on and the rope slipped with Lu E plummeting downwards.