Chapter - 504 Grudges Over Three Generations (10)

A few tapping sounds were heard and the Flying Bat Ke Zhen'E walked in and said, "Ke Zhen'E has kept his word and has come. These are the "Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills", altogether there are twelve of them, which makes it three for each of you." He threw a small bottle over to the bald man. He said happily, "Many thanks." and caught it. Ke Zhen'E said, "This old man has completed his business and is here to die." He was standing erect proudly in front of them and his beard was floating in the wind.

The man with the lump said, "Shi Ge, he brought us the "Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills" which can treat our internal injuries, moreover we don't have any deep feud with him, let's just let him go."

The skinny man laughed, "Hey, Brother Hou, don't let the tiger escape back into the wild. Your kindness may cause us to die a horrible death. Although he hasn't revealed our secret, how can we be sure he'd never do it?" He shouted, "Let's act together!" The four people rushed over and surrounded Ke Zhen'E.

The old man said hoarsely, "More than thirty years ago, all of us witnessed Yang Kang's tragic death here, who knew it would happen to you too; this is retribution."

Ke Zhen'E smashed his walking staff on the floor and said angrily, "That Yang Kang acknowledged a scoundrel as his step-father and betrayed his country for wealth; he was a despicable animal. I, Ke Zhen'E, am a true man who has never let down the sky or the Earth, how can you compare that traitor with me, the Flying Bat? You know you can kill me but you cannot insult me (Ke Sha Bu Ke Ru – A rather common phrase at that time)!"

The skinny man sneered, "You're about to die and you still try to be a hero!" Three of them shot out their palms together and aimed at his head. Ke Zhen'E knew he was not their match and just stood there, not attempting any retaliation or defense.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew over them and a 'peng' sound was heard, causing the dust to fly. The four of them knew something was wrong and felt as if they did not hit any flesh. That bald man understood what was going on but Ke Zhen'E had suddenly disappeared and in his position was the statue. The statue's head was smashed and fell into pieces under the four people's combined force.

The bald man was shocked. He turned around and saw a thirty-something year old man with a furious face holding Ke Zhen'E's neck and lifting him high into the air, shouting, "Why did you insult my father?"

Ke Zhen'E asked, "Who're you?"

Yang Guo said, "I'm Yang Guo and Yang Kang was my father. When I was young you didn't treat me badly but why do you slander my late father behind my back?"

Ke Zhen'E coldly said, "There are many men in history, some leave a good reputation for a hundred generations, while some leave behind a stinking name. How can you silence everyone?"

Yang Guo saw that he was very stubborn and became more furious and threw him down hard onto the floor, shouting, "So you're saying my father was despicable and shameless?"

The bald man saw that Yang Guo's martial arts were superb since he could swap a person with a statue without even him knowing. He knew he was not his match and lightly tugged at the chain, wanting the group to sneak out of the temple. Yang Guo darted forward and blocked the exit, saying, "No one's getting out of here alive without giving me an explanation." The four people yelled and threw out a palm each towards him. Yang Guo said, "Good!" He also shot out his left palm and the force of a tornado smashed onto them, causing them to lose their balance and fall backwards, hitting the statue and smashing it. The second man's skills were the weakest and his lump hit right smack into the statue, causing him to black out immediately.

Yang Guo said, "Who are you people? Why are you chained together in this strange manner? And why do you want to meet Ke Zhen'E here?" After being hit by Yang Guo's palm, his chest became congested and his organs seemed to turn upside down, so he sat quietly for a while trying to circulate his chi before talking slowly.

This bald man was Sha Tongtian, the second man was his martial brother the Three Headed Serpent Hou Tonghai, the third man was the Thousand Hand Killer Peng Lianhu, the fourth was the Big Handprint Lama Ling Zi. More than 30 years ago, the Old Urchin Zhou Botong captured them and handed them to Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi who imprisoned them in Chongyang Palace, wanting them to repent before releasing them. But their evil characters were hard to change and they tried many ways and means to escape but were recaptured each time. On their third attempt, Hou Tonghai, Peng Lianhu and Ling Zi killed several of the Quanzhen disciples who were their wardens. The Quanzhen Taoists punished them by breaking their legs and blinding them. Since only Sha Tongtian had killed no one, he was not blinded. Then sixteen years ago the Mongolians overran Chongyang Palace and they managed to escape. However, since three of them were blind, they had to rely on Sha Tongtian to lead the way, but they were afraid that he would desert them, they had chained themselves up in this manner.

At that time Yang Guo only spent a short time at Chongyang Palace and was not in his master's and fellow disciples' good books. He had never been allowed to go near their cell; therefore he had never seen them and did not know their backgrounds.

When they escaped from Chongyang Palace the four of them were disabled so they could not fight the Quanzhen disciples. Although the Quanzhen's base had been destroyed, their strength in Jianghu had not diminished. They came to Jiangnan and lived in a deserted village, passing sixteen years uneventfully. But one day they came out and saw Ke Zhen'E passing along on a small road. Sha Tongtian was afraid he had come for them so they went to confront him. Ke Zhen'E's skills were no match for the four people and he was subdued almost immediately. After interrogating him, they found he was attending to some other matters. Although the four of them had no feud with him, they were afraid he would leak out their secret so they wanted to kill him.

Ke Zhen'E swore that he would make a trip to Jiaxing to attend to a matter then he would return to seek death, promising that if they let him off for the time being he would obtain the "Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills" from Peach Blossom Island to return the favour. After their legs were broken, they would ache and hurt whenever it rained. When they heard he would bring them such an effective treatment, they made him swear an oath not to reveal their whereabouts and not to get help to fight them and finally to meet at the Iron Spear Temple.

When Sha Tongtian finished his story, he said, "Hero Yang, when your father was still alive we were guests in his palace. We never did anything against him until he passed away. We hope that you consider our good ties with him and let us off." Many years ago these four people were outstanding people in Jianghu; even if they were threatened by swords and axes they would never be willing to show any weakness. After being disabled and suffering many years of hardship, they discarded their pride and begged Yang Guo for mercy.

Yang Guo snorted and did not bother with them. Facing Ke Zhen'E he said, "So you went to see Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang? What was it about?"