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Chapter 20 – The greater xia, Part 12

When E’er Dou got down, he turned to Guo Jing and bowed to him on the ground. He said clearly, “Since Jin Dao Fu Ma (Golden Blade Consort) is here, this servant will not dare fight again.”

Guo Jing stood at the top of the wall with a commanding aura around him and shouted out, “The commander of the Mongols, listen: Years ago the Mongols and Han worked together to get rid of the Jin; why are you Mongols now invading our land and killing our citizens? We have ten times more people than you Mongols have. If you don’t quickly retreat then we’ll gather our armies and kill the hundreds of thousands of soldiers that you have. We’ll not even leave them with a body that can be buried.” He spoke in Mongolian with great vigor. Though the wall was high and there was a large distance between the two armies, the Mongolian soldiers could hear every single word clearly and they couldn’t stop themselves from looking at each other pale faced.

A Noyan led E’er Dou to Khubilai and told him what had happened. E’er Dou then told Khubilai about how he followed Guo Jing on the expedition to the west and described how the Jin Dao Fu Ma (Golden Blade Consort) used his troops like a god. How he subdued and defeated the enemy, explaining all this with great enthusiasm.

Khubilai’s face turned heavy and shouted, “Execute him!”

E’er Dou called out, “Please, I’ve done nothing!”

The Noyan said, “Please your Highness, this E’er Dou has achieved many great deeds for our army…”

Khubilai waved his hand and four guards came. They took E’er Dou away and executed him, bringing his head back to Khubilai. All the Generals trembled with fear.

Khubilai said to the Noyan, “Apart from the money owed to E’er Dou’s family for his services to the army, give his wife ten ‘jin’ (5kg/11lbs) of gold, thirty slaves and three hundred livestock.”

The Noyan was puzzled but replied, “Yes, yes.”

Khubilai said, “I’ve killed him yet I’m also rewarding his family; you do not understand this, do you?”

All the Generals bowed to him and said, “Please enlighten us your Highness.”

Khubilai said clearly, “That Jagen Sergeant bowed down to Guo Jing and talked about how powerful Guo Jing is; shouldn’t he die for disturbing the morale of the soldiers? But he was brave and led the attacks; he fought with his life up until he reached the final man, shouldn’t he be rewarded?” All of the Generals bowed to him.

But after this event, the Mongolian army’s morale was low. Khubilai knew that if he continued to battle on today, he would just suffer more loses. He was exasperated when he saw the hundreds of corpses of his experienced spirited soldiers lying across the battlefield. He then looked at the fortified wall of Xiangyang; it was guarded tightly and there was no way to break through. He couldn’t stop himself from releasing a sigh. He immediately gave the order to retreat back forty li.

Two of his guards looked at each other and both said, “This servant would like to share the burdens of your Highness and will go to dampen the morale of the Song.” They leapt onto a horse and galloped towards the city. The two mounted their bows and shot the arrows towards Guo Jing.

The two were skilled riders and their archery skills were accurate; their horse galloped like the wind and the arrows were shot out like lightning. By the time warning cries were heard from both the top and bottom of the city walls, the arrows had reached Guo Jing’s chest and stomach. It appeared that Guo Jing had no way to avoid the arrows; but he gathered his hands towards himself and grabbed the arrows. He then raised his hands and shot the arrows back. Before the two guards had turned their horses around, the arrows had arrived and shot through their chests. The two fell onto the ground. The Song army at the top of the city wall cheered thunderously.

Khubilai was not pleased and ordered his men north. The army had traveled for a few li when Yang Guo said, “There is no need to be troubled your Highness; I will now go to the city to take Guo Jing’s life.”

Khubilai shook his head and said, “That Guo Jing is both valiant and wise; he indeed does live up to his reputation. This matter is more troublesome than I thought it would be now that I’ve seen him with my own eyes.”

Yang Guo said, “I lived with Guo Jing for many years and I have helped him before; he will have no suspicions about me. There’s a saying; a spear out in the open is easy to dodge, but an arrow in the dark is hard to avoid.”

Khubilai said, “When you were standing next to me watching the battle, you were afraid that he would recognize you from the top of the city’s walls?”

Yang Guo said, “I was wary of this so when you were attacking the city, Miss Long and I wore hats to cover our faces and fur garments to hide our bodies; he would not be able to recognize us.”

Khubilai said, “Well then, I hope you succeed. I will keep my word about the rewards.”

Yang Guo casually thanked him and he was about to turn around to Xiao Longnü to leave with her when he saw Jinlun Fawang, Xiaoxiang Zi, Yin Kexi and the others with strange expressions. His mind lit up, “These people are afraid that I’ll get the title of the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia if I succeed in killing Guo Jing; they’ll definitely try to stop me.” He turned to Khubilai and said, “Your Highness, I have something to tell you. The reason I am going to assassinate Guo Jing is because I want to avenge my father’s death and because I need his head in exchange for an antidote to save my life. If I succeed in helping your Highness, I cannot accept the title of the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia.”

Khubilai asked, “Why?”

Yang Guo said, “My martial arts can’t compare with these people; how can I be the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia? I can only make my move if your Highness promises me this.”