Chapter - 434 What is Love? (9)

Cheng Ying, who all this time stood quietly beside him, suddenly said, "Yang Da Ge, you should not belittle everybody's loving concern toward you. We love you. Let us go together." As we all know, Cheng Ying had always loved Yang Guo, and treated him with nothing but kindness. Yang Guo was not unaware of that fact. Even though he had already given his heart to another, he had always regarded Cheng Ying with nothing but respect and brotherly love. The young miss had never asked him for anything until now. How could he refuse? Therefore, he nodded his head and said, "Very well, let us see what evil scheme that old hag on top of that hill has."

Quickly they climbed the hill toward Qiu Qianchi. Very soon Yang Guo could see that it was the hill where the old granny, together with Lu'E and himself had escaped from the underground cave. The trees and everything around were still the same, but the golden-hearted lady was no longer here. He sighed and was deeply saddened.

Within about a 'li' they could see from afar that Qiu Qianchi was sitting on a chair on the hilltop. She was laughing with a creepy voice, and kept looking off in the distance. She looked and behaved like a mad woman.

"I think she's gone crazy," said Wushuang.

"Don't get too close," said Huang Rong, "That woman is so cruel that we have to be on our guard against her evil schemes. In my opinion she is not crazy."

Everybody stopped. They were wary of the old granny's iron date stones. Carefully Huang Rong approached her, but before she said anything, somebody appeared from behind a big rock. He was wearing a blue robe, and was none other than Gongsun Zhi himself. Laughing menacingly he took his robe off, and with his profound internal energy, made the robe hard and stiff like a stick. Huang Rong and the others were impressed with this internal energy demonstration. "Wicked woman," he cursed, "You have destroyed everything I had, and everything my ancestors had owned, with a torch. I will not show any mercy to you!" And he ran toward her.

With a swish sound Qiu Qianchi launched a stone, stopping Gongsun Zhi's attack. From the top of that hill the stone could reach far and it also created a violent wind gust. Gongsun Zhi parried with his robe. The stone penetrated several layers of cloth, but did not hurt him at all. Gongsun Zhi was able to neutralize her "hard" energy with his "soft". He was initially not sure if he could withstand her stone, but in his anger toward the granny who burned down everything he had, he was determined to kill her. Besides, he knew that as soon as the intruders intervened, he wouldn't be able to even get near her. Therefore, he was delighted to find that his energy was sufficient to counter Qiu Qianchi's.

Shouting a terrifying cry he leaped towards her.

"Help!" cried Qiu Qianchi, her eyes wide open.

"Mother… That granny's going to die!" said Guo Fu, her heart pounding.

"I don't understand," Huang Rong said, her eyes never leaving those two people, "She is not crazy, but why did she act like it? Was it to lure Gongsun Zhi here?"

In the mean time two more swishing sounds were heard, Qiu Qianchi launched two date stones in close succession. Gongsun Zhi again used his robe while leaping forward. Suddenly, he vanished from sight in a blink of the eyes. The granny opened her mouth to laugh.

That laugh only sent out two "Ha .. ha …" when suddenly a long robe appeared from below. Like a snake it wrapped itself around the leg of the chair Qiu Qianchi was sitting on. A fraction of a second later that chair flew down into the opening, taking Qiu Qianchi with it. Qiu Qianchi's laughter turned into a terrifying cry intermingled with Gongsun Zhi's cry of horror. Then everything fell silent …

Everyone witnessed and heard everything, but nobody knew what had really happened; except Yang Guo. He sighed and softly said, "Revenge! Revenge!" Quickly, Huang Rong and the others climbed to the hilltop. There they saw four female bodies lying around near a big hole in the ground. Looking down, all they could see was darkness.

In her desire to seek revenge, Qiu Qianchi had become more cruel and evil than ever. After burning the building complex, she commanded four slave girls to carry her to that hilltop, to the underground cave mouth, where she and her daughter were rescued by Yang Guo. She commanded the girls to cover the hole with tree branches and leaves. Afterwards, she cruelly murdered them with her iron date stones. Then she pretended to be crazy to lure Gongsun Zhi. Her cry for help when Gongsun Zhi first attacked was part of her ploy to lure him closer.

Gongsun Zhi had forgotten the cave entrance; hence he fell into her trap. In his last struggle to save his own life, he threw his robe up, with the hope that he could use the chair as an anchor to pull himself out of the hole. Unfortunately, the chair – with Qiu Qianchi on it, fell down into the cave because his pull was too strong. So it happened that, husband and wife became archenemies, and died together on the same day, on the same hour, smashed together inside that underground cave.

Yang Guo then told the rest what he knew about their life story. Everybody sighed and could not help but feel sorry for them. Cheng Ying along with Yelu Qi and his sister dug a big hole and buried the bodies of the four slave girls.

The fire was still raging down in the valley, and the whole building complex was destroyed. There were no other buildings around for them to rest in. Besides, after witnessing so many deaths that day, nobody wanted to stay around much longer.

"Brother Yang has not found cure for his injury, we have to find another doctor promptly," Zhu Ziliu said. Several others voiced their agreement.

"No," said Huang Rong. "We cannot leave today."

"What is your suggestion then, Madame Guo?" asked Zhu Ziliu.

Huang Rong knitted her eyebrows, "I receive an injury from Qiu Qianchi's date stone, and it hurts badly right now," she answered. "Could we stay overnight here, please? We will leave tomorrow first thing in the morning. What do you say?"

Of course nobody objected. They spread out and searched for some caves or anywhere suitable to stay overnight.

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnü walked hand in hand going down the hill, but before they got too far, they heard Huang Rong call, "Sister Long, could you come over here, please? I have something to discuss with you." Having said this she put Guo Xiang in Guo Fu's care and walked toward Xiao Longnü.

Holding Xiao Longnü's hand she turned her head toward Yang Guo and smiled, "Guo'er, don't you worry. She has become your wife, and I certainly will not try to persuade her to leave you."

Yang Guo smiled but didn't say anything. He couldn't help wondering in his heart, "What does Auntie Guo want to talk about?" He saw Huang Rong holding Xiao Longnü's hand, walking toward a big tree and then they both sat down underneath it. Yang Guo felt a little bit of uneasiness, but he felt it was not proper for him to sneak in and eavesdrop on them. "Long'er has never concealed anything from me, why would I worry she wouldn't tell me about it?" he thought.

"Sister Long," Huang Rong began. "My spoiled brat daughter has caused you and Guo'er many miseries. I feel really bad."

Xiao Longnü just smiled and said, "Oh, it's alright." But in her heart she was thinking, "Her single Soul Freezing Needle is taking both of our lives, what good is your apology?"