s’ Meet, there will be a martial arts contest to pick a highly-skilled expert to lead the Beggar Clan and prevent it from splitting up into the Dirty Faction and Clean Faction again. You said this man is so powerful, tell him to spar with your brother-in-law and see who will be the next Beggar Clan Leader.”

Guo Xiang laughed, “He doesn’t want to be the Beggar Clan Leader.”

Guo Fu scolded, “You dare to look down on the Leader’s status? Elder Hong was the leader, Mother was the leader; you dare to look down on Elder Hong and Mother?”

Guo Xiang said, “When did I say I looked down on the Leader? You knew Uncle Lu and I were good friends.”

Guo Fu said, “OK! Tell your grand hero to spar with your brother-in-law, and then we shall clearly see who the hero is and who the useless bum is.”

Guo Xiang said, “Sister, you always talk unreasonably. When did I say brother-in-law was a useless bum? If he’s one, then that makes you an animal. We have the same mother, so I’d be ashamed too.”

Guo Fu heard this and did not know whether to laugh or flare up, so she stood up and said, “I don’t have the energy to talk nonsense with you. If you still won’t come back, I’ll get a scolding too.”

Guo Xiang had a razor-sharp tongue and liked to argue with her sister, so she said, “Even though you’re married, Father and Mother dote on you the most. Who will have the guts to scold you if you are the wife of the next Clan Leader?”

Guo Fu heard her sister address her as the ‘wife of the next Clan Leader’, she became smug and said, “There are so many heroes here and he’s not the Leader yet; don’t say such things, you’ll only make people laugh.”

Guo Xiang woke up from her day-dream and saw that the pale moon was almost full. Then she sighed and said, “It looks like Uncle Lu’s spirit won’t be coming. Sister, why the hurry to choose a new Leader? Why can’t we mourn Uncle Lu a little longer?”

Guo Fu said, “You’re being childish again. The Beggar Clan is the number one sect in Jianghu, how can it go without a leader even for a day?”

Guo Xiang said, “Which day did Mother say the Leader would be chosen?”

Guo Fu said, “The Heroes’ Summit will start on the 15th, the most important issue is to discuss how to allocate all the heroes in Jianghu to resist the Mongolians. This should take about five to nine days, so the new leader should be chosen on the 23rd or 24th.”

Guo Xiang exclaimed, “Ah.”

Guo Fu asked, “What?”

Guo Xiang said, “Nothing. The 24th just happens to be my birthday. Everyone will be busy preparing for this Meet, so Mother won’t be celebrating my birthday for me.”

Guo Fu laughed, “Ha-ha, you’re a little baby, what significance is your birthday? How can you put it on the same level as the Leader’s selection? People would laugh their teeth out. Ah, there can only be one such person like you on this Earth, remembering such trivial matters.”

Guo Xiang’s face turned red, saying, “Father may not remember, but Mother will surely remember. You say it’s a small matter, but I think otherwise. I’m going to be 16, you know?”

Guo Fu laughed even louder and needled her, “On that day all the heroes will congratulate our Miss Guo on her sixteenth birthday. She’s no longer a baby, she’s a lady now! Ha…ha…ha!”

Guo Xiang shook her head and said, “Others might not care, but there will be at least one hero who will remember my birthday. He promised that he will come to see me.” She felt very happy as she said this.

Guo Fu said, “What hero? Ah, is he the one who is superior to your brother-in-law? Let me tell you – Number 1, there’s no such person, you’re just fantasizing; Number 2, even if there’s such a person, he must have many things to do, how would he have the time to celebrate your birthday? If he’s attending the Heroes’ Summit, then he will come to Xiangyang.”

Guo Xiang heard this and was almost moved to tears. She stamped her feet and said, “He promised, he promised. He won’t attend the Heroes’ Summit; he won’t vie to be the Leader.”

Guo Fu said, “If he’s not a hero, our parents would not invite him. Even if he comes, he may not be fit to attend.”

Guo Xiang took out her handkerchief to dab her tears and said, “If that’s the case, I won’t attend the Heroes’ Summit either, nor will I even look in at the Leader’s selection.”

Guo Fu coldly laughed, “Ah, Miss Guo’s not attending the Heroes’ Feast, all the grandeur is gone. Where’s the glory of being the new Leader? Face it, nobody would miss you.”

Guo Xiang covered her ears and dashed out of the temple.

Suddenly a black shadow flashed across and stood silently at the temple’s entrance, blocking it. Guo Xiang was shocked and leapt back to prevent herself from running into him. The tall person stood under the moon light, exhibiting his dark face, but his upper body was rather short. Looking closely, she noticed that he had two legs missing, his arms supporting his body with six-foot long crutches. His pants were very long, dangling on the ground, making him look like a giant.

Guo Fu was shocked and said, “You’re Nimoxing?”

That person was indeed Nimoxing. This time the Khan was commanding the campaign himself, so all the brave warriors followed him north from Dali. The warriors all tried to prove themselves to win glory for their names. Although Nimoxing’s legs were gone, he did not lose his martial skills; in fact he trained harder and he was better than before he lost his legs. The Mongols were still a hundred li from Xiangyang, but some warriors were sent ahead to Xiangyang to scout first, so Nimoxing reached Xiangyang earlier. On this night he was wandering around the temple and he overheard the Guo sisters’ conversation. Then he got very excited, thinking that since Guo Jing was leading Xiangyang’s defense, if he captured the Guo sisters he could force him to surrender or at least demoralize him and thus contribute greatly to the Mongol war effort. He heard that Guo Fu knew him, so he said, “Miss Guo is very sharp, I’ve not seen you for so many years and you have grown even more pretty. Don’t cause any trouble, just be good and follow me!”

Guo Fu was shocked and angry. She knew his martial arts were very high, even if she and Guo Xiang attacked him together, they would still lose, so she could not help but glare at Guo Xiang, thinking, “It’s entirely your fault, how are we going to get out of this mess?”

Guo Xiang asked Nimoxing, “Why are your two pant legs so strange? Were your legs very long before you lost them?”

Nimoxing snorted and ignored her, telling Guo Fu, “You two walk in front. Don’t try any tricks!” He treated them as his prisoners as he said that.

Guo Xiang said, “You’re talking very strangely. Where do you want to take us in the middle of the night?”

Nimoxing angrily said, “Little girl, just shut up and follow me.” He was afraid that there might be strong opponents from Xiangyang coming to help, so he wanted to leave quickly.

Guo Fu whispered, “Sister, this black guy is a Mongolian warrior and his martial arts are great; you attack his right while I attack his left.” She drew out her sword and thrust towards Nimoxing’s waist.

Guo Xiang did not bring any weapons out of the city and thought that since he had lost his legs and was using his crutches to fight, how could he fight her sister? So she said, “Sister, this person is pitiful, don’t hurt him!”

As she said this, Nimoxing braced his left crutch on the ground and defended himself with his right crutch. Then he struck Guo Fu’s sword, causing sparks to fly and Guo Fu’s sword to fly out of her hand. She felt her hand go numb and her chest was hurting. Then she used a special stance to follow the sword and retrieve it with her left hand. Striking forward with the ‘Sword of the Yue Maiden’ [Chao Nu Jian Fa] as she fought with Nimoxing. This ‘Chao Nu Jian Fa’ was taught to Guo Jing by Han Xiaoying of the Jiangnan Seven Freaks. Guo Jing taught this skill to his two daughters out of gratitude to her. This sword skill was smooth and contained subtle changes and was a powerful skill. If Guo Jing executed this skill, it would be strong and powerful and would not be overcome easily, but Guo Fu was not very strong; although the strokes were good, they were not good enough to defend against Nimoxing’s crutches.

Guo Xiang saw how Nimoxing was using his crutches. The left and right crutches were swapping roles intermittently and were very swift. The crutches were long as well, so her sister was losing to his fierce attacks. She then became more anxious. Guo Fu felt the pressure from his crutches getting stronger and stronger, hitting her sword with great force, causing her strokes to be unsteady. Guo Xiang was worried about her sister but was unarmed so she sent out her palms and struck towards Nimoxing.

Nimoxing shouted and poked his left crutch on the ground and leapt into the air, attacking with both crutches at great speed. The crutches hit Guo Xiang in the shoulder and Guo Fu in the chest. Guo Xiang stumbled and retreated several steps. Guo Fu was hit quite hard and could not withstand the pain and she sat down heavily.

Nimoxing was feeling proud of himself and swaggered towards Guo Fu, laughing coldly, “I told you to be good and follow me…”

Guo Fu jumped up and said, “Let’s escape from the back of the temple!”

Nimoxing was shocked. He had obviously hit her “Shen Cang” (Hiding Deity) Accupoint, how could she still move? He did not know about Guo Fu’s soft armour and thought she must have learned some great skills from the Guo family that prevented her accupoint from being sealed. Actually, Guo Fu’s accupoint was not sealed, but she was injured by that strike and could not use her sword. Guo Xiang then unleashed the ‘Descending Hero’s Palm Skill’ [Luo Ying Zhang Fa] to protect her sister and shouted, “Sister, you go first!”

Nimoxing raised his left crutch and sent it towards Guo Xiang, stopping three inches in front of her nose, but the wind generated was so great that her face hurt. He shouted, “Don’t move!”

Guo Xiang angrily said, “At first I pitied you, but you’re such an evil person!”

Nimoxing laughed, “Little girl, if you don’t suffer you won’t know my strength.” His crutch hit the ground, his face was fierce and ugly, he opened his mouth, exposing his white teeth and charged forwards screaming like he wanted to bite someone.

Suddenly someone behind said, “Don’t be afraid! Use secret projectiles on him.”

This was a dangerous moment and Guo Xiang did not care who that was and felt around her body and urgently said, “I don’t have any.” She saw Nimoxing getting closer and was at her wits’ end and tried to use a palm stance called the ‘Flower Spreading Stance’ [Shan Hua Shi] to protect herself. She out stretched her palms and felt a breeze suddenly blow across them; then her hands trembled slightly and two thin golden bangles flew out, striking Nimoxing’s crutches.

Although the sound made on impact was not very loud, Nimoxing knew he could not withstand it and his crutches flew backwards, hitting the wall, causing dust and mud to fly on impact. Nimoxing lost his crutches and fell down. He hit his back on the ground and then jumped up, screaming angrily and struck his palms out, sending his whole body forwards with his palms aiming at Guo Xiang.

Guo Xiang did not think and reacted by taking a hair pin out of her hair and tried to hit Nimoxing, then she felt the breeze behind her again and sent the pin flying forward. Nimoxing suddenly saw the pin flying towards him and quickly tried to use both hands to block, then he cried, “Strange!” and fell onto the ground, unmoving.

Guo Xiang feared that he was up to no good, so she jumped to Guo Fu and said, “Sister, let’s go!”

The two sisters were standing next to a deity’s statue in the temple and saw that Nimoxing did not move at all, so Guo Fu said, “Did he suddenly have a stroke and die?” She raised her voice and said, “Nimoxing, what are you doing?” She thought that since he’d lost his crutches, it would not be convenient for him to move, so she was not afraid and advanced to him. She saw his eyes staring blankly upwards, his face without colour and his mouth wide open; he was dead.

Guo Fu was very surprised and lit the candles in the temple, wanting to investigate further when she heard someone outside the temple saying, “Fu, Second Sister, are you in the temple?” It was Yelu Qi. Guo Fu happily said, “Brother Qi, come quickly. Strange… this is strange!”

When Guo Fu went to find her sister and did not return for quite some time, Yelu Qi, remembering that Lu Youjiao was ambushed and killed and the enemy was just outside Xiangyang, got worried and went to find the two sisters. He brought two sixth grade Beggar Clan members and hurried there only to find Nimoxing dead on the ground, and he was shocked. He knew this short person’s martial arts were good; even he could not handle this person himself, so he was surprised that his wife had killed Nimoxing. He took the candle from Guo Fu’s hand and looked closely.

He saw two holes in Nimoxing’s palms and a hair pin stuck in the Shen Ting (Deity’s Hall) Accupoint. This pin hit with great force but did not break and instead was able to penetrate this highly-skilled expert’s palms and kill him. Such a powerful skill like that is unthinkable. He turned to Guo Fu and said, “Is Grandfather here (referring to Huang Yaoshi), quickly lead me to greet him.”

Guo Fu curiously said, “Who said Grandfather was here?”

Yelu Qi said, “It’s not Grandfather?” He swept the place with his eyes and said excitedly, “So it must be Master.” He looked around but could not find Zhou Botong. He knew his master was mischievous, so he must have hid himself to scare them. He went out of the temple and jumped onto the roof, but he saw no one.

Guo Fu said, “Hey! Why are you saying such silly things? What Grandfather, what master?”

Yelu Qi then came down and asked how they met Nimoxing and how he met his end. Guo Fu told him, but she completely could not explain how her sister’s hair pin could kill him. Yelu Qi said, “Some powerful hero must be helping Sister secretly. The only people I know with such martial arts are Father-in-law, Grandfather, Master, Reverend Yideng and the Golden Wheel Monk (Jinlun Fawang). Fawang is the Mongolian Guo Shi (Spiritual Leader), he wouldn’t kill Nimoxing, while Reverend Yideng won’t kill anyone, so I thought since it’s not Grandfather; it must be Master. Sister, who do you think helped you?”

After Guo Xiang’s hair pin killed Nimoxing, she immediately turned around but saw no one, and kept repeating “Don’t be afraid! Use secret projectiles on him,” to herself. She thought the voice familiar. She wondered if it could be Yang Guo. But as she thought of him, she said to herself, “That’s impossible! It must be because I was thinking of him, and I mistook that voice for his.” Yelu Qi saw that she seemed to be day-dreaming and might not have heard him.

Guo Fu saw that her sister’s eyes were red and tears were streaming down her face and she was looking lost. Guo Fu thought she must be in a shock and held her hand, asking, “Sister, what’s up with you?”

Guo Xiang trembled and her face turned red, saying, “Nothing.”

Guo Fu said, “Brother-in-law was asking you who saved you just now, didn’t you hear?”

Guo Xiang said, “Who saved me? It must be him! Who else would have such excellent skills?”

Guo Fu asked, “Him? Who’s he? Is he the special hero you were talking about?”

Guo Xiang felt her heart beating heavily and quickly said, “No, no! I’m talking about Uncle Lu’s spirit.” Guo Fu spat “Pui” and threw down her hand. Guo Xiang said, “I didn’t even see a shadow just now, it must be Uncle Lu secretly helping me. You know we were good friends when he was still alive.”

Guo Fu half-believed what she said and was wondering if Lu Youjiao’s spirit refused to go away. But if it was not a spirit, how could a person kill someone without even showing himself?

Yelu Qi took up Nimoxing’s crutches and sighed, “This level of martial arts really commands admiration.” Guo Fu and Guo Xiang looked carefully, observing that both crutches had a golden bangle lodged deep into them, as though they were made that way. This person actually used his internal energy (nei gong) to hit Nimoxing’s crutches out of his hands, so it was no wonder Yelu Qi praised him like that.

Guo Fu said, “Let’s bring them to Mother, she should know who did this.”

The two beggars carried the body, the crutches and followed Yelu Qi and the two sisters back into the city. Guo Jing and Huang Rong heard Guo Fu’s narration and thought about the matter, causing them to be shocked.

Guo Xiang thought she would surely be scolded by her parents for getting into such trouble again. However Guo Jing liked his daughter’s deep loyalty so he consoled her instead. Huang Rong saw that he was not angry so she hugged her and comforted her. She saw Nimoxing’s body and crutches and said to Guo Jing, “Brother Jing, who do you think it is?”

Guo Jing shook his head and said, “This internal energy is so fierce and powerful, from what I know, only two people are capable of it.”

Huang Rong said, “But Master Hong Qigong passed away long ago and it is not you.” She asked for the details but could not think of an explanation.

After taking Guo Fu and Guo Xiang back to their rooms to rest, she said, “Brother Jing, our second lady has hidden something from us, do you know that?” Guo Jing curiously asked, “Hiding what?” Huang Rong said, “Ever since she returned from sending the Heroes’ Summit invitations, she has been day-dreaming alone. Tonight she was speaking even more strangely.” Guo Jing said, “She has suffered a shock, so she’s not thinking clearly.”

Huang Rong said, “No. Sometimes she would be shy, sometimes she would smile to herself, and this is obviously not symptoms of suffering a shock. She actually has a joy in her heart which she can’t say.” Guo Jing said, “When a child suddenly fights an expert, she would be shocked and happy, there’s nothing strange about that.” Huang Rong smiled and thought, “Regarding matters concerning a girl’s heart, you didn’t understand when you were young, now that you’re old, what do you know?” They changed the topic, discussing strategies to defeat the enemy, how to welcome the guests to the Heroes’ Summit, how to arrange the seating etc. before resting.

Huang Rong lay on her bed and thought of Guo Xiang’s affairs and found it hard to sleep, so she thought, “This girl met with much hardship and troubles when she was born, I’m worried her life may be rather troubled. She has fortunately lived the past 16 years peacefully; don’t tell me she will meet with some serious disaster now?” She thought about the strong enemy’s imminent attack and the impending hardships for the people. If she had some prior intelligence, it would greatly aid them. Yet her daughter has been very strange since birth. If she did not want to say something, she would not say it no matter how her parents coerced or scolded her. Instead her face would turn red but she would not reveal a single word. Her parents found it funny yet still got angry.

The more Huang Rong thought of it, the more worried she was, so she stood up and went to the city wall, ordering the guards to open the gate and she went to the Yang Tai Temple.

The sky was cloudy, hiding the Moon and the stars. Huang Rong took a white candle and used her qing gong (lightness skill) to ascend Mount Xian. Suddenly, she heard voices dozens of meters away near “Dropping Tears Tablet”. She crouched down and crept forward and hid behind a tree several meters away, not moving any closer.

Someone said, “Brother Sun, the Benefactor told us to wait behind the Dropping Tears Tablet, but why does this place have such a unique name?”

The one named Sun said, “The Benefactor must have had some problematic affairs of the heart. So whenever he sees any place named Duan Chang (Severed Intestine), You Chou (Worries) or Duo Lei (Dropping Tears), he remembers them easily.”

The first person said, “With the Benefactor’s great skills, he should be able to solve any problem, but whenever I see his expression or hear his tone of voice, it seems like he has indeed some unhappy problems. I think he actually named this place Dropping Tears Tablet himself.”

The one named Sun said, “No. I’ve always heard Master Guo’er Shu say that during the Three Kingdoms Period, Xiangyang belonged to the Wei Kingdom. The general in charge, Yang Hu, had great merit in administrating the city and protecting the people. He used to tour this mountain. When he was dead the people remembered his contributions and built the Yang Tai Temple on this mountain and made this tablet to remember him. When the people remembered what he had done for them, they would be moved to tears, so this place is called the ‘Dropping Tears Tablet’. Brother Chen, someone who has done as much as Grand Elder Yang is really a great man.”

The one named Chen said, “The Benefactor has done many heroic deeds and helped countless people around the world. If he were the general of Xiangyang, he may even be better than Yang Hu.”

The one named Sun smiled, “Xiangyang’s Hero Guo is defending the people and does many heroic deeds, so he must be on the same level as Grand Elder Yang and the Benefactor.”

Huang Rong heard them praise her husband and was secretly pleased, but thought, “Who is the Benefactor they’re referring to? Is he the one who secretly helped Xiang-Er?”

Then Mr. Sun said, “Long ago we were the Benefactor’s enemies, then the Benefactor saved our lives; the Benefactor’s kind personality of treating his enemies as his friends might be comparable with Grand Elder Yang Hu. About that story during the Three Kingdoms Period, that master also mentioned that when Yang Hu was protecting Xiangyang, the enemy opposing him was General Lu Xun’s son Lu Kang of the Wu Kingdom. Yang Hu sent troops into Wu territory to fight the enemy, whenever he harvested the people’s rice for his military provisions he would compensate them. When Lu Kang was sick, Yang Hu sent medicine to him and Lu Kang took it without any suspicions. His lieutenants advised him to be careful, but he said, “Someone like Uncle Yang (“Zhen De Mu Pang Huan Xi Pang”) did not resort to despicable tactics. Uncle Yang is Yang Hu. His character was above question and the enemy respected him. When he died, even the Wu Kingdom Generals mourned him. The way he treated others really made him deserve to be a hero.”

(Some background information: the three countries of the Three Kingdom Period were Wu, Shu and Wei. Wei was controlled by Cao Cao and Wu by Sun Quan. When Shu’s Liu Bei attacked Wu in retaliation for the killing of Guan Yu, Lu Xun defended Wu. He managed to destroy Liu Bei’s 700,000 strong army with his 50,000 troops. Liu Bei did not listen to his advisor Zhuge Liang’s advice. This Zhuge Liang of Xiangyang was mentioned in earlier chapters by Guo Jing.)

Mr. Chen kept sighing as he touched the stone tablet, then after a while he said, “The Benefactor told us to meet here, is it also to admire Grand Elder Yang’s character?”

Mr. Sun said, “I heard the Benefactor mention before that when Yang Hu was alive there was a sentence that he always remembered.”

Mr. Chen asked, “What was that? Say it slowly, I must memorize this. If the Benefactor admired it, this sentence must be something great.”

Mr. Sun said, “After Lu Kang died, the Lord of the Wu Kingdom said that Yang Hu treated the Wu Kingdom sincerely and saved many Wu Kingdom citizens, but he was serving the traitors of the Imperial Court, so Yang Hu sighed, ‘Tian Xia Bu Ru Yi Si, Shi Chang Ju Qi Ba’ (easy matters are often complicated). The Benefactor praised these words.”

Mr. Chen never expected it to be such a sentence and was slightly disappointed and sighed, then suddenly said loudly, “Brother Sun, Yang Hu – this name sounds the same…”

Mr. Sun said, “Hush! Someone’s here.”

Huang Rong was slightly surprised, and then she heard someone running round the mountain. Then she thought, “Sounds the same as ‘Yang Hu’ but uses different characters? Could it be ‘Yang Guo’? No, no way. Even if Guo’er’s martial arts have improved, it can’t have reached such an unimaginable level. This person couldn’t be saying that it sounds the same but uses different characters.”

After a short while, the person ascending the mountain clapped lightly trice and Mr. Sun returned three claps. That person walked to the Dropping Tears Tablet and said, “Brothers Sun and Chen, the Benefactor tells you not to wait for him; here are two invitations from the Benefactor, please help him deliver them. Brother Sun, this invitation is for Old Master Zhao of Henan’s Xingyang Mansion on Crows Mountain; Brother Chen, this invitation is for the deaf-mute Head Camel of Hu Nan’s Changde Mansion. Please tell them that they are requested to meet here within ten days.” Mr. Chen and Mr. Sun respectfully agreed, they took the invitations and placed them in their inner pockets.

When Huang Rong heard this, she was greatly surprised. Old Master Zhao of Xingyang was working for the Imperial Court, his Thirty-two Long Punches and Eighteen Rod Stances were the special skills of his family and were passed from generation to generation within his family. He was a nobleman and never bothered about Jianghu affairs. The Head Camel of Crows Mountain was a famous elder in Wulin, his martial arts were very good, but because he was a deaf-mute, he seldom mixed with outsiders. For this Heroes’ Summit at Xiangyang, Guo Jing and Huang Rong knew these two people liked seclusion and would not attend the meet, but they still respected their reputation and sent them invitations. Obviously they replied and declined. Could it be that this so-called ‘Benefactor’ has such a great influence on them and is able to draw them out of seclusion and hurry them here based on his invitation alone?

Then Huang Rong thought again, “The Heroes Meet would start tomorrow and this person is summoning all the experts in Jianghu to Xiangyang, what is his motive? Could he actually be helping the Mongols? That’d be unfavorable for us.” Then she felt that although Old Master Zhao and Deaf-Mute Head Camel were loners, they were not traitors. This ‘Benefactor’ secretly helped Xiang’er kill Nimoxing, so he must not be one of them.

As she was talking to herself, she heard the three people talking softly but she could not hear clearly as she was too far away, then she heard Mr. Chen say, “Benefactor has never entrusted us with such an important assignment, this assignment will… it would be a grand event… our present… “ She missed several words in between. Mr. Sun said, “OK! Let’s do it. Rest assured we will not mess up the Benefactor’s plans.” When he said that, the three people descended the mountain.

Huang Rong could not guess the origin of that ‘Benefactor’ but she did not want to blow things up by capturing the three people to ask about the matter. When they were gone far, she went into the temple and looked around but did not see anything amiss. When the enemy attacked the area, all the worshippers and caretakers at the temple fled into the city so there was no one there. When she went back, it was already dawn.

When she was near the city’s west gate, two horses charged along the road and she had to leap aside to avoid them. She saw two big and strong men riding the horses. The two horses went to the intersection and separated, with one heading west and the other heading south. She heard one of them say, “You must remember to tell Fat Zhang that he must bring the musical instruments and the show’s costumes himself. And don’t forget to bring decorations experts.” The other laughed, “Don’t nag at me, if you’re late by one day in inviting Master Chuan Chai, even if the Benefactor forgives you, we won’t.” The first man laughed, “Hey, that’s alright. If I’m late by one day, cut off my head to feed the pigs.” The two men saluted each other and rode off.

As Huang Rong entered the city, she mumbled to herself, “I heard Fat Zhang is a tyrant, even chivalrous outlaws respected him, and how could this ‘Benefactor’ get him here with one word? They talked about flags and drums, what could they be used for?” Suddenly she thought of something and said, “Yes, yes! It must be so.”

She went into the Government Office and asked Guo Jing, “Brother Jing, did we miss out any invitations?”

Guo Jing curiously said, “How could we have missed anything? We checked for many days, it couldn’t have happened.”

Huang Rong said, “I think so too; we must have offended a great hero who’s not that famous, so he sent invitations to those who obviously won’t come. From the way it looks, it must be a great man who’s dissatisfied with us, so he also wants to host another Heroes’ Summit to compete with us.”

Guo Jing happily said, “This hero has the same motives as us, nothing could be better. We will invite him to chair the Heroes’ Summit and get him to command the heroes to defend against the Mongolians; it’s alright for the both of us to listen to him.”

Huang Rong frowned and said, “But from what I hear of him, he might not be here to defend the city. He sent invitations to Xingyang’s Old Master Zhao, Deaf-Mute Head Camel of Crows Mountain and Hankou’s Fat Zhang and others.”

Guo Jing was surprised and happy; he clapped and said, “If this man can invite such great people here, Xiangyang would be strengthened. Rong’er, we must definitely meet such a man.”

Huang Rong became quiet. She knew that the beggars from Jiangnan would arrive soon, so Guo Jing and Huang Rong went forth to welcome them. On that day heroes from all around Jianghu arrived and Huang Rong was so busy entertaining the guests that she almost had no time to breathe and of course forgot the events of the previous night.

The next day was the banquet for the ‘Heroes’ Summit, and the heroes sat around four hundred-odd tables, with Xiangyang’s Com