Guo Fu was surprised, âWhy did mother tell Yang Guo first, could it be that she wants to betroth me to that little beggar?â When she thought about this, she gave Yang Guo a look and put on a silly face.
Reverend Yideng of Dali has four disciples: âFisherman, Woodsman, Farmer, and Scholarâ. The Wu brothersâ father Wu Santong is the third disciple, Farmer. Ever since the battle with Li Mochou where he was wounded, he hadnât been seen since. The ones that have arrived for the âHeroes Feastâ today are the Fisherman, Si Shuiyuyin and the Scholar, Zhu Ziliu. Whenever Huang Rong and Zhu Ziliu meet, they start to battle with their wits. They havenât seen each other for over ten years and as soon as they saw each other, they were at it again. After the greetings, Si Shuiyuyin and Zhu Ziliu found a room and they indeed did start to teach the âSolitary Yang Fingerâ to the Wu brothers.
That morning, the Lu Manor was filled with countless heroes and good men; though the Lu Manor was large, there were people everywhere. After lunch, the members of the Beggar Clan assembled in the forest outside the Lu Manor. The ceremony of the old Chief passing the position to a new one is the grandest ceremony in the Beggar Clan. All the members from the east, south, west and north no matter what rank gathered here. The heroes that were invited to the Lu Manor were also invited to watch the ceremony.
Over the last ten years or so, Lu Youjiao had helped Huang Rong in running all the matters of the clan; he was just, he did things boldly and accepted the consequences, the members from the âdirtyâ clothed and âcleanâ clothed factions all respected him. Elder Jian of the âcleanâ clothed faction had passed away, Elder Liang has been incapacitated by illness and Elder Peng had revolted and left. There wasnât anyone that could challenge for the position of chief; this is why this yearâs ceremony proceeded smoothly. Huang Rong acted accordingly to the clanâs rules, after passing on the clanâs historic treasure, the Dog Beating Stick, to Lu Youjiao, she and the rest of the members spat on him to complete the procession. His face and body was covered in spittle.
Yang Guo saw that this procession was extremely strange. He was just about to go and tell them the news of Hong Qigongâs death when suddenly an old beggar leapt up onto a rock and said loudly, âChief Hong Lao has an order, he told me to tell everyone.â When the clan members heard this they all gave a cheer. They hadnât had any news from Hong Qigong for over ten years, they all missed him, now they heard that he had news, they all called out in joy.
An old beggar in the crowd called out, âBlessings to Elder Hong Lao!â The crowd all cheered, their voices really shook the earth. Cheer followed after cheer, and only after a while did it cease.
Yang Guo saw that everyone was moved, some even had tears on their faces, he thought, âIf a man can achieve respect like this, his life will not be in vain. Look at all these peopleâs joy, how can I tell them that Hong Qigong has passed away? Never mind the fact that Iâm a nobody; if I tell them such news they might not believe me. Once they hear this thereâll be chaos, this isnât good news anyway, why spoil things for them?â He continued his thought, âIf they asked âhow did Hong Qigong dieâ, I canât keep the fact that he was dueling with Godfather from them. The Wu brothers know that Iâve learned the âToad Stanceâ from Godfather, what reason have they got not to tell everyone this? There are many beggars here and it would be unavoidable for some of them to be suspicious that I might have helped my Godfather kill Chief Hong Lao. Iâll have no way to argue against hundreds of mouths. After the meeting I will explain everything carefully to Auntie Guo and allow her to tell them the news.â He thought that it was fortunate for him that the old beggar dashed out and allowed him time to think, if he blurted it out, he would have caused himself a lot of trouble.
He heard the old Beggar say, âHalf a year ago, I was on the Guangnandong road in the Shao province and met Elder Hong Lao in Xingjun, and drank wine with him. Heâs very healthy and his appetite is great; his drinking ability is the same as before and itâs still the only one of its kind.â
The crowd of beggars all cheered with delight again; within the cheers were sounds of laughter. That old beggar interrupted and continued, âOver the last few years, Chief Hong Lao has killed many unscrupulous officials and evil scoundrels who have terrorized our citizens. He said he had heard news that there are five evil bastards called the âFive Clowns of the Tibetan Borderâ who are following the orders of the Mongols. They have done many evil things in places like Chuandong and Huguang, he said that he was going to take a look himself and if it is true, of course heâs going to take their lives.â
A middle-aged beggar got up and said, âThe âFive Clowns of the Tibetan Borderâ, they caused trouble a while back, but they move without a trace, our brothers in Chuandong were not able to find them. Recently, there has been no news of them; Chief Hong Lao must have sorted out this problem.â The beggars and heroes who watched the ceremony all applauded.
Yang Guo was gloomy, âHow would you people know that after Chief Hong Lao and my Godfather made the âFive Clowns of the Tibetan Borderâ into invalids, the two of them left the world not long after.â
The old beggar continued, âChief Hong Lao said, âRight now the world is in a mess, the Mongols are slowly invading southwards, eating into our Song land. Those in our clan must have loyalty in our hearts, swear to kill our enemies and defend against aggressors with all our might.â All the beggars agreed and their spirits soared. The beggar said, âThe government is in a mess, corrupt ministers hold the power, and we canât expect some rotten officials to protect the people and defend the land. Theyâll never be able to do this. The foreign aggressors are getting closer, everyone must have the will to protect our country, and Chief Hong Lao ordered me to tell all of our brothers to remember the word âloyaltyâ.â
All the beggar clan members responded; they all called out, âWe swear to follow Chief Hong Laoâs orders.â
Yang Guo had never been taught much since he was young and didnât know how important the word âloyaltyâ is; he saw the beggars all trembling with justice and righteousness, and he couldnât stop himself from being touched. He felt that his making fools out of the Beggar Clan members before was wrong.
After the meeting, the clanâs matters were discussed; there was no need for the outsiders to listen and they took their leave.
When evening came, the Lu Manor was filled with lanterns and candles, all glowing brilliantly. There were over two hundred tables all together in the main hall, side halls, back and front halls, and the courtyard; over half of the worldâs heroes attended this feast. This âHeroes Feastâ is an exceptional event, a once in a lifetime event; if the host didnât have so many acquaintances who all respected him, it would be difficult for anyone to invite so many heroes of the Wulin world.
Guo Jing and Huang Rong accompanied the main guests and sat in the main hall. Huang Rong arranged a place for Yang Guo and he sat at the table next to hers. Guo Fu and the Wu brothers sat quite a distance away.