The Legend of the Condor Heroes: Starting from the Bodyguard

Chapter 162 Supreme Forgetfulness, Dragon Girl Captured

I warm my hands with the smoke of a lone cigarette, and lean on a book to face the lingering snow.

The little girl's voice was childish but clear and melodious, like the sound of silver bells.

"A thousand thoughts are not as good as stillness; a hundred emotions are not as good as forgetting. Returning to one's origin and restoring one's life force, one's spirit and energy are complete. Just as fallen leaves return to their roots, quietly awaiting spring's arrival; just as waves recede and return to the sea, returning to clarity..."

"Better to forget than to be entangled in a hundred emotions..."

"Why is Master reading such books to my sister and me?" When Shaolongnu rested her chin on her right hand, the snow-white light made it look as if she was holding a vertical white jade plate.

She had so many questions. Why should martial arts training require forgetting one's emotions? If she really followed her master's teachings, wouldn't her sister forget Zhou Yan, since her sister often thought about him?

My older sister came back and said that my older brother praised her for being smart. He said such nice things, why should I forget them?
Little Dragon Girl was completely baffled. She closed the scroll and placed it on the rock beside her. She took the wooden sword, walked to an open space, made a sword incantation with her left hand, and swung the wooden sword in her right hand, creating a neat arc.

"The cold moon peeks at people," "Wandering the world," "Mulan's return shot"...

Every time the little girl uses the "Jade Maiden Sword Technique," she will say the name of the sword move. Her wooden sword will either make a thrust, a straight slash, or a diagonal cut, and her moves will be fluid and graceful. Although she is young, the sword technique she uses already has an elegant and graceful charm.

"Excellent swordsmanship."

Suddenly a male voice startled the forest birds, causing them to scatter and fine snowflakes to fall from the branches.

Little Dragon Girl sheathed her sword and looked around. She saw two men approaching together. The one on the left seemed to be slightly older, dressed in white, with a light fur coat and loose belt. He had slanted eyes and a handsome face. The one on the right wore a blue brocade robe and seemed to be a little older than his sister. He had a face like jade and was very good-looking.

Suddenly, a thought popped into her head: Zhou Yan has arrived.

In reality, it was Ouyang Ke and Helian Chuncheng.

Yang Kang murdered the emperor, and Wanyan Honglie ascended the throne; the overall situation was settled. The Jin dynasty was about to move its capital, and Ouyang Ke knew that arriving in Nanjing would inevitably bring another flurry of activity. Meanwhile, he couldn't stop thinking about Li Mochou. From afar, she shone like the rising sun in the morning glow; up close, she was as radiant as a lotus emerging from the vast waves—far surpassing any of the beauties beside him.

Moreover, Ouyang Ke was good at observing women's figures.

A woman's charm lies in her waist, not her overall appearance. The waist connects the upper and lower body; too much or too little waistline would be vulgar. Li Mochou's waistline was just right.

He was a man of deep desire, and when he had free time, he was consumed by lovesickness, wishing he could sprout wings and fly to Zhongnan Mountain.

When the Jin royal family moved their capital, Ouyang Ke would not travel with Yang Kang. He intended to plunder beautiful women wherever he went, but after seeing Li Mochou, he felt that all women in the world were just ordinary and vulgar. So he told Ouyang Feng and Yang Kang to take Helian Chuncheng and Nimo Xing to Zhongnan Mountain.

Helian Chuncheng did his best, selecting more than ten outstanding martial artists from the escort agency, and also bringing Yin Kexi along.

Ouyang Ke did not underestimate Li Mochou's sect. Nimo Xing's injuries were recovering quickly and he would be fully healed on the way. With Helian Chuncheng, Yin Kexi, and more than ten bodyguards, they were not afraid of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen. A sect that was hidden in Zhongnan Mountain could not be stronger than the Quanzhen Sect.

Helian Chuncheng knew the route to Zhongnan Mountain like the back of his hand. Along the way, all the large and small escort agencies in the towns and cities that followed Changfeng Escort Agency were very hospitable.

Ouyang Ke was thoroughly enjoying himself. Upon arriving at Zhongnan Mountain, Helian Chuncheng dispatched men to search for Li Mochou based on Ouyang Ke's description of her. They spent a lot of money to find out information about Li Mochou, who would come down from the mountain to purchase some food every ten days or so.

The镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) who frequently escorted goods were all skilled at finding people. Based on the general information they had gathered, the dozen or so people gradually narrowed down the search area to the area behind Zhongnan Mountain.

If it weren't for Xiaolongnu practicing her swordsmanship, Ouyang Ke and his group would probably have overlooked the ancient tomb.

But everything just happened so unexpectedly.

When Ouyang Ke saw Xiaolongnu from afar, he was amazed, thinking she was a celestial child who had already displayed a beauty that could last for ages. He was convinced that the woman he had been longing for must be closely related to this little girl.

Fearing that he might frighten Xiaolongnu, Ouyang Ke told Yin Kexi, Nimo Xing, and the others to wait where they were, while he led Helian Chuncheng to the location.

The young master of White Camel Mountain was quite approachable when he was being friendly. He walked up to Xiaolong, squatted down, and smiled, "What a fine swordsmanship!"

"Who are you?" Little Dragon Girl's eyes were bright and clear.

“I am…” Ouyang Ke pondered for a moment. If Li Mochou and the girl in front of him had any connection, they must not be her teacher. So he said, “Your sister’s friend.”

"Ha, you are..." Little Dragon Girl was about to say that Ouyang Ke was Zhou Yan when her gaze suddenly lingered on Ouyang Ke for a moment. The words that came out were, "Are you Bruce Lee?"

In her haste, Xiaolongnu couldn't come up with a more reasonable name to test the waters, so she simply took Li Mochou's surname and the characters "Xiao" and "Long" from her own name.

"Exactly!" Ouyang Ke thought to himself that this man named Li Xiaolong must be that woman's lover, and he would kill him when he turned around.

Thinking this through, he laughed and asked, "Where's your sister?"

"I'll go find it."

"Thank you."

Shaolongnu turned and walked towards the ancient tomb.

She was indeed very clever. When she saw that Ouyang Ke was not carrying the giant horn bow, she became suspicious. However, she was only four or five years old after all. She was flustered and couldn't help but run when she saw that she was about to reach the entrance of the ancient tomb.

Helian Chuncheng was an extremely clever and alert person. With a whoosh, his blue figure moved with lightning speed, kicking up grass clippings that swirled like a tornado. "Little sister, stop!"

"Master, there are bad people."

Two voices overlapped, and Ouyang Ke gave a bitter smile. He had actually been fooled by a four or five-year-old child. How did she see through him?

With this thought in mind, Ouyang Ke unleashed his family's "Instant Thousand Miles" lightness skill, transforming his figure into a light white shadow as swift as a shuttle and lightning, passing through the flying grass clippings and landing on Xiaolongnu.

Further behind him, Yin Kexi and Nemo Xing also rushed out.

Ouyang Ke and Helian Chuncheng were one in front of the other.

Young Master Changfeng moved like an eagle, landing swiftly behind Little Dragon Girl.

Little Dragon Girl countered with a move from the "Jade Maiden Sword Technique"—the "Mulan Counter Thrust"—but the next moment, her tiger's mouth trembled, and the wooden sword in her hand flew out, allowing Helian Chuncheng to capture her.

"Insolence!" A sharp voice suddenly rang out, followed by the clanging sound of swords. Helian Chuncheng retreated quickly, while Ouyang Ke clashed with a figure that had rushed out of the ancient tomb.

The figure brandished his long sword, and a cold, iridescent light instantly enveloped Ouyang Ke.

"Brother Nemo, help!" Helian Chuncheng saw that the figure rushing towards them was actually a woman, around fifty years old, with a stern expression, narrow eyes, and the appearance of a wise person. He called to Nemo Xing to join the attack.

Nemo Xing dared not be careless and drew his snake whip to pounce. In this battle, three figures rolled around, and the iron snake whip in Nemo Xing's hand sometimes leaped and danced, sometimes coiled and rolled, changing in countless ways and being extremely agile.

Ouyang Ke's folding fan sometimes spun like a knife, and sometimes tapped, flicked, pointed, and smeared, striking the vital points of the figure. The figure, however, was elusive, like a fleeting shadow, appearing in front and then suddenly behind. When the sword move was first made, the person was on the left, and when the sword move was used to defend, the person had already turned to the right. It was as if the sword was the sword and the person was the person, and the two were completely unrelated. A set of sword techniques only used a few dozen moves, which made Ouyang Ke and Nemo Xing repeatedly live in danger.

Little Dragon Girl, fearing to distract her master, kept silent, her clear eyes fixed on the battle. However, with her limited cultivation, how could she possibly discern who was winning or losing?

After more than ten moves, Ouyang Ke felt at ease. His opponent's cultivation was actually not much worse than his own. When he joined forces with Nemo Xing, they were initially caught off guard and flustered. This was mainly because the opponent's movements were swift and ghostly, and his swordsmanship was unprecedented, which temporarily restrained them.

Nemo Xing's cultivation was slightly inferior to Ouyang Ke's, but superior to Helian Chuncheng's. His eyesight was naturally excellent, and he also saw through the clues. He laughed during the exchange, "You scared me, but it turns out you're nothing special."

"Brother Nemo, let's finish this quickly."

"it is good!"

Nemo Xing's iron snake swirled, coiling towards the woman's longsword. The woman's sword straightened slightly, its tip trembling a few times. With a move called "Parting Flowers and Willows," seemingly to the left but actually to the right, she aimed for Nemo Xing's throat. In the instant she thrust forward, Ouyang Ke suddenly deflected the woman's longsword with his left folding fan and threw a punch with his right.

The woman's sword technique suddenly changed, slashing towards Ouyang Ke's arm. But Ouyang Ke's arm, as supple as a rock, suddenly changed direction, bypassing the sword and punching the woman in the chest.

Ouyang Ke unleashed a powerful attack, sending the woman tumbling backward.

Before she could get up, Helian Chuncheng, who had handed Xiaolongnu over to the bodyguard, rushed over, pointed his spear downwards, and the woman rolled around several times as the spear tip followed her body and stabbed her several times. Then he swept the spear horizontally, and the spear shaft hit the woman solidly.

The gray figure rolled away suddenly and disappeared into the ancient tomb.

Ouyang Ke caught up, and suddenly a cold glint flashed in his eyes. Having suffered from the Jade Peak Needles before, he leaped up from the ground, and more than a dozen fine needles swept past his feet and landed on the ground behind him.

"The hidden weapon is vicious, be careful."

Ouyang Ke landed and flung out a silver shuttle, which rang out with a metallic clang, clearly striking the stone wall.

Ouyang Ke said, "They originally lived in a stone cave, which makes it difficult to capture them."

Helian Chuncheng laughed and said, "With a little girl in hand, there's no need to worry about the other party hiding their tail."

“That’s right!” Ouyang Ke smiled. “This old woman’s swordsmanship is superb, but her internal strength is much weaker, so she’s not a threat.”

He walked to Xiaolongnu's side and asked, "Where did your senior sister go? Is anyone still in the stone cave?"

"Bad guy!"

"Heh, even your fierce appearance is beautiful," Ouyang Ke praised Xiaolongnu's looks.

"How about we interrogate them?" Yin Kexi suggested.

"Forget it, she's such a pretty little thing. With her in our hands, we don't have to worry about the other side not showing up," Ouyang Ke said.

"Then let's wait and see," Helian Chuncheng suggested.

"Very good."

More than a dozen镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) from Changfeng镖局 (Changfeng Escort Agency) gathered around, each taking their place, and sealed off the outer perimeter of the ancient tomb. Inside the tomb passage, Lin Chaoying, a maid with bloodstains at the corner of her mouth, took a pill from a porcelain bottle, then sat against the wall to regulate her breathing and stabilize her injuries.

She practiced the Ancient Tomb Techniques, showing no emotion and showing no concern for Xiaolongnu's safety. She overheard Ouyang Ke and the others talking outside the Ancient Tomb and guessed that they were after Li Mochou. She decided to wait for the disciples who had gone down the mountain to buy supplies to return before rescuing Xiaolongnu.

Lin Chaoying's maid couldn't come up with a more detailed rescue plan. She had never left Zhongnan Mountain, and her experience in the martial arts world and her shrewdness were even worse than Li Mochou's when she first entered the scene.

……

In the darkness, birds spread their wings and flew across the night sky. Under the half-moon, the ridges of Zhongnan Mountain stretched out in undulations, and the streams and rivers scattered in the valleys looked like silver ribbons scattered across the earth under the starlight.

The air was filled with the crackling sound of burning branches and the smell of roasting.

"Eat meat."

Ouyang Ke tore off a rabbit leg and handed it to Xiaolongnu.

Little Dragon Girl turned her head away.

"Heh, that's got character." Ouyang Ke chuckled and started eating. Shaolongnu looked at the deep forest, wondering if her sister had returned yet.

My sister is clever. Seeing that she has been captured, she will not act rashly. Perhaps she will lie in wait in the shadows.

"I want water and fire."

"Bad luck. Take her with you," Ouyang Ke said.

A bodyguard led Xiaolongnu toward the nearby woods.

Deep within the woods, Zhou Yan watched with sharp, calm eyes as he observed Ouyang Ke and the others outside the ancient tomb.

Riding alone for a thousand miles, the magnificent "Jade Lion Under the Night" steed bought him a lot of time.

Although Zhou Yan did not know the exact location of the ancient tomb, he knew the location behind Zhongnan Mountain. By referring to the location of the main hall of the Quanzhen Sect, it would not be difficult to find it, which would save time.

Even so, they arrived at night and approached by following the campfire.

Then they saw the captured Little Dragon Girl.

He didn't recognize Xiaolongnu, but it was easy for him to distinguish her.

I didn't see Li Mochou, Lin Chaoying's maid.

But since Ouyang Ke and the others were lying in wait outside the ancient tomb, they must still be alive.

After calming down, Zhou Yan lay in wait in the forest, waiting for an opportunity to rescue Xiaolongnu.

(End of this chapter)