Chapter 38 – Life and death are indistinct, Part 11
‘O mortals, what is love? That binds beyond life on earth?
To all corners, in pair we fly… braving sumr and winter, by and by…
Union is bliss, parting is woe, agony is boundless, for a lovelorn soul, sweetheart…
Give word, trail of clouds drifting forward…
And mountains capped with snow, whither shall my loneso shadow go?’
When she was a young girl, Lu Wushuang followed her master – Li Mochou, everywhere. Oftentis, in the dead of the night, when she thought she was dreaming, she heard her master sing this song. She did not know the true aning of love then, but now she saw it with her own eyes. She thought, “If the female eagle were still alive, she would be flying alone through the clouds and over snow-capped mountains. She was alone, her shadow solitary; how could she live any longer?” Without her realizing it, tears welled up her eyes.
“Shi Fu, Shi Jie,” said Cheng Ying. “Brother Yang is inside the gorge below, how can we rescue him?”
Huang Rong wiped her tears. “Xiang’er, tell the exact condition of the gorge’s bottom,” she asked, “What was happening to you?”
Guo Xiang was already feeling better. “As soon as I plumted down into the gorge, I hit the water at the bottom,” she answered, “I was shocked and swallowed a couple of mouthfuls. I don’t know how, but I was imdiately pushed back up to the surface. And then Big Brother, Yang Da Ge, pulled my hair, he lifted up …”
Hearing this Huang Rong was relieved. “Was there a big rock or sothing else where you could set your feet on?” she asked.
“There was a big tree right next to the water.”
“Hmm …” said her mother. “Why did you fall down?”
“That was also the first question Brother Yang asked when he pulled up,” answered the girl. “I took my golden needle out, I gave it to him and I said, ‘I co to ask you to take care of yourself, don’t be shortsighted’. He looked at without blinking. Not too long after the male eagle fell into the water, followed by his mate. The female eagle took her mate up, then she ca back to rescue . Brother Yang told to go up, he didn’t say anything else. He lifted up on the eagle’s back. Mother, tell the bird to go back down and rescue Brother Yang …”
Huang Rong didn’t want to tell her daughter that the birds were dead. She took off her coat and wrapped it around her daughter’s body.
“I believe Yang Guo is not in grave danger right now,” she said, turning to her companions, “Let us make a long rope to rescue him.”
That was a great idea. Everybody scattered to gather tree bark and braided it into a rope.
All except for Jinlun Fawang – whose accupoints were sealed, and Guo Xiang – who was too tired, worked hard. Cheng Ying, Lu Wushuang and Yinggu braided, while Yideng, Zhou Botong, Huang Yaoshi and Huang Rong gathered tree bark. They were not skilled at making rope; therefore, when the sky darkened all they had was a little over a hundred ‘zhang’s [around 300 ters] of rope.
Even though she felt the rope was not long enough, Cheng Ying put it into the gorge anyway. She tied one end to a rock and the other end to a tree stump and threw the rock into the gorge. The rope slid down, penetrating the thick fog below and vanished from their sight.
These seven people worked hard all night long without taking any rest. The next morning Guo Xiang was strong enough to help. Huang Rong asked her how she got captured by Fawang to help pass the ti.
The rope was getting longer and longer. They did not hear anything from Yang Guo down below. Huang Yaoshi was restless; he took out his jade flute and played a song. The sound of the flute echoed and flowed down into the gorge. Usually, as soon as Yang Guo heard the flute, he would whistle in response. When the song ended the gorge was still quiet, still no response, and only a thin mist rising up.
Huang Rong thought hard. She chopped a piece of wood, and carved this letter: “Are you all right? Please respond.” Then she threw the wood into the ravine.
They waited so more, still nothing … They looked at each other with anxiety in their eyes.
“Even though this gorge is deep, I believe our rope has reached its bottom,” said Cheng Ying. “Let go down and take a look.”
“Let !” Zhou Botong did not wait for an answer. Imdiately he grabbed the end of the rope and climbed down, agile as a monkey, and disappeared into the fog below. About an hour later he reappeared, his hair and beard was covered with moss. He shook his head.
“Not a single shadow or footprint was there, let alone Yang Guo? No ‘niu guo’ [a live ox], no ‘ma guo’ [a live horse] either [play on words: ‘guo’ of ‘Yang Guo’ also ans ‘live’],” he said. They looked at Guo Xiang and were perplexed.
Guo Xiang was almost crying, “I am sure Brother Yang was down there, where could he go?” said the girl. “He was sitting next to the big tree by the water.”
Cheng Ying didn’t say anything; she grabbed the rope and start climbing down. Lu Wushuang followed suit. And then Yinggu, Zhou Botong, Huang Yaoshi and Yideng did the sa. They were worried about Yang Guo, but they were also curious.
“You have not recovered Xiang’er, don’t co down,” Huang Rong counseled her daughter. “Don’t make your mother worry about you. If your Brother Yang is down there, we certainly will rescue him, won’t we?”
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