Chapter 44 Gong Kang I

　　—The hero standing in the light merely hides his weakness and helplessness in the shadow.

　　Before his departure on the embassy Great Chieftain Gongdian convened an internal family meeting; Lady Yu Jiao, Gong Yi, Gongkong, Gong Min and Gong Jie attended.

　　Since the previous quarrel with the Great Chieftain, Gong Kang had not appeared in the inner city for a long time; no one knew where he had gone.

　　Gongdian surveyed the family members: “I shall set out the day after tomorrow for the FireWorship Clan and, together with Lian Kui, go to the capital to pay homage to the EagleGod King. I have already notified every tribe of our clan that during the embassy Lady Yu Jiao will temporarily assume the duties of Great Chieftain; all affairs of the clan, great or small, will be decided by the Lady. My lady, I trouble you.”

　　“Great Chieftain, within one family there is no need to speak of two families. Whom do you intend to take with you on this embassy to the capital?”

　　Gongkong volunteered of his own accord: “Father, let me accompany you to the capital and protect you.”

　　“Gongkong, you cannot go.” Gongdian’s tone was firm as he once more rejected Gongkong’s proposal. “While your mother temporarily assumes the duties of Great Chieftain, Gong Yi will remain at home to assist her; Gong Kang will accompany me to the capital.”

　　Hearing that his father was unwilling to take him, Gong Yi hurriedly said: “Father, better let Elder Brother assist Mother and let me accompany you to the capital.”

　　“No. You are the future Great Chieftain of the Gongyou Clan; the future of the clan rests upon you. You must properly learn the governance of the clan from your mother. Your elder brother’s martial skill is outstanding; it is most suitable that he accompany me to the capital. Speaking of your elder brother Gong Kang angers me—where has he run off to these past few days? His shadow is nowhere to be seen.”

　　“Father, so many days have passed without seeing Elder Brother in the inner city; he may still be angry with you. Please calm your anger as well. If the two of you meet you will only quarrel again, and on the road the people of the FireWorship Clan will laugh at us. Therefore better let me accompany you to the capital.”

　　Gong Yi’s words struck the mark. Seeing that after hearing them his father fell silent in thought, he continued: “My various abilities and prestige are both inferior to Elder Brother’s; in the future for Elder Brother to become Great Chieftain is fully deserved. After we return from this embassy to the capital, we three—father and sons—shall sit down together and properly discuss the matter of the succession.”

　　“Mm, Gong Yi, your reminder is good. This time we must first go to the FireWorship Clan and, after joining Lian Kui, proceed together to the capital. For your elder brother to accompany me to the FireWorship Clan is indeed unsuitable. Then let you take your elder brother’s place and go with me. You are the future heir to the Great Chieftainship of our clan; going to the capital is also a form of training. This time, paying homage to the EagleGod King, it is also well to pay respects in advance.”

　　Seeing that Gongdian still would not change his words, Gong Yi was about to continue persuading his father when Gong Jie suddenly spoke: “Father, I also wish to go with you to the capital. I have grown so large yet have never seen the outside world. I beg you—take me with you this time.” Gong Jie was still young and always called Gongdian “Father,” unlike her elder brothers who used the respectful “Father.”

　　“No. Do you think we are going on a pleasure trip this time? The journey to the capital is long and the task arduous. Gong Jie, you have not yet come of age; stay properly at home. Gong Min, look after your younger sister carefully and do not cause your mother additional trouble—do you understand?”

　　“Father, I understand. Younger sister spoke only out of a momentary impulse; I shall look after her well—please rest assured.”

　　Hearing this, Gong Jie pouted, her face full of displeasure.

　　Gongdian saw it yet paid no attention and continued: “This embassy to the capital is for the EagleGod King to adjudicate the dispute over human sacrifices between the two clans and, taking the opportunity, through the EagleGod King, to present to the celestial gods a request for reduction of the numbers of sacrifices and laborers.

　　“Our embassy personnel bear an arduous task and at any moment risk greatly angering the celestial gods. In order not to fail in the mission I have decided that this time I shall take Gong Yi, Grand General Gong Wei, Guard General Yi Wu and Chief Instructor Lü Jin on the embassy to the capital.”

　　Early morning, outer city of Wangqiu.

　　Ji Jie and Yu Kai, fully armed and armored, pushed open the door of the treehouse and saw Gong Kang lying faceup upon the bed; the leather winebag had slipped from his hand and wine was spilled upon the floor. Clearly he had again drunk through the night.

　　Seeing Gong Kang’s dissipated appearance the two shook their heads.

　　They were Gong Kang’s sworn brothers; Gong Kang was the eldest, Ji Jie the second, Yu Kai the third.

　　After quarreling with his parents Gong Kang had left the inner city and come to the dwelling of his sworn brother Ji Jie in the outer city.

　　Ji Jie was a bachelor with only one treehouse; he vacated the room for Gong Kang and himself moved to Yu Kai’s place.

　　During the day Ji Jie and Yu Kai went out to hunt and invited Gong Kang to accompany them; Gong Kang always shook his head and refused. He remained alone in Ji Jie’s room, never going out of the main gate or the second gate, drinking dull wine and living a life of drunken stupor.

　　The military forces of the Dragon Tribe were mainly divided as follows: the Guard of Wangqiu City was a standing army belonging to the regular forces, under the direct jurisdiction of Tribal Great Chieftain Gongdian; the Grand General was Gongdian’s third younger brother Gong Wei, numbering approximately eighty thousand men. The garrisons of the Western and Eastern Passes, commanded respectively by Gongdian’s second younger brother Gong Hui and fourth younger brother Gong Yao, each numbered about five thousand men.

　　The hunters of the tribe were almost all soldiers; in peacetime they were hunters, and once war broke out they could be summoned into the ranks at any time. Gong Kang and Gong Yi organized skilled hands among the hunters and established the LongSpear Corps and the DivineArchery Camp—soldiers and civilians at once. Once a week they returned to the ranks and concentrated on training and drills for one day; ordinarily they formed small teams of hunters and went into the forest to hunt. Each of these militia units numbered about ten thousand men.

　　The Women’s Gathering Escort Company was also a militia organization under the jurisdiction of Lady Yu Jiao, responsible for protecting the various gathering parties while they went into the forest to collect produce; it numbered about three thousand.

　　The intelligence organization, the Scout Internal Guard Bureau, was managed by Gongkong and numbered about five hundred.

　　Ji Jie and Yu Kai were vicecaptains of the LongSpear Corps and ordinarily on the best of terms with Captain Gong Kang.

　　Before joining the LongSpear Corps the two had already been famous hunters of Wangqiu City. The Ji and Yu clans were the two largest hunterfamily forces of Wangqiu; both sides frequently organized the hunters of their respective clans to hunt in the forest, and it was therefore inevitable that conflicts over prey resources sometimes arose.

　　Ji Jie and Yu Kai were the outstanding figures among the young men of the two clans. Once Ji Jie led twenty or thirty young hunters of his clan into the forest to hunt. They lay in ambush on the downwind side; five or six greathorned wild oxen entered their encirclement.

　　Greathorned wild oxen were common herbivores of the forest—large in body, with delicious meat, yet of violent temper and immense strength, bearing a pair of terrifying great horns upon the head.

　　At Ji Jie’s command the ambushed hunters flung their long spears one after another; the foremost few greathorned wild oxen were struck and fell. The rearmost greathorned wild ox was only struck by a spear in the back; it turned and fled into the depths of the forest.

　　Ji Jie ordered a dozen or so hunters to deal with the fallen prey, then led the remainder in pursuit of the wounded longhorned wild ox.

　　The wounded longhorned wild ox fled madly for its life and, by chance, ran headon into another hunting party—precisely the hunters of the Yu clan led by Yu Kai. Yu Kai hurled a long spear with all his strength and the wild ox finally fell dead.

　　At that moment Ji Jie and his men also arrived at the scene; both sides began to quarrel over ownership of the beast. In the end, unable to settle the dispute, they decided upon a combat; the victor would possess the prey.

　　Ji Jie and Yu Kai represented the hunters of their respective clans in the combat; continuous cheers rose from the surrounding crowd.

　　The cheers attracted the attention of another group of people who happened to be passing through the area; the leader of that group was precisely Gong Kang. At that time Gong Kang was still head of the scout unit and was leading a dozen or so scouts past the place.

　　Seeing a combat in progress Gong Kang’s interest was immediately aroused and he joined the onlookers.

　　He watched the two young men, long swords in hand, each displaying his unique skills, fighting so evenly and brilliantly that neither could gain the upper hand. Both men’s martial arts were of a high order; Gong Kang nodded in continuous approval as he watched.

　　Both Ji Jie and Yu Kai were of hunter origin; their martial arts contained no empty flourishes—every stroke was lethal.

　　Gong Kang greatly valued the talents of the two men. Seeing that if he did not intervene lives might be lost, he waited until the long swords of Ji Jie and Yu Kai were locked together in mutual struggle, then drew the DragonFlame Sword, cried “Open!” and with an upward sweep of the blade both Ji Jie and Yu Kai felt their tiger’s mouths split open; their swords flew from their grasps.

　　Ji Jie and Yu Kai turned their heads and looked in puzzlement at the stranger before them.

　　Ji Jie glared and demanded: “Who are you? Why interfere in our business?”

　　Gong Kang clasped his fists: “Two good fellows, who I am is not important. I only feel that both of you are heroes. A man must die, yet a hero should die upon the battlefield resisting foreign races, not in internal strife that makes the world laugh!”

　　The words awakened the two men. In the depths of their hearts they still felt gratitude toward this stranger, for once the combat began they had discovered they were evenly matched; the young men of both clans stood by egging them on, and neither could withdraw with dignity—only by exerting every last ounce of strength could they fight.

　　Yet when two tigers contend one must be injured; as this stranger had said, the two of them had no great enmity, and to die for this would be far too unworthy. The appearance of this stranger had saved both their lives.

　　The two men clasped their fists toward Gong Kang in shame: “This good fellow’s instruction is correct!”

　　“May I ask for what matter the two good fellows are contending here?”

　　Ji Jie and Yu Kai explained the circumstances to Gong Kang. Hearing them Gong Kang laughed heartily: “This is simple.”

　　He walked to the corpse of the greathorned wild ox, drew the DragonFlame precious sword, and with a single stroke the wild ox was cleanly sliced from head to tail into two halves. The swordsmanship left everyone staring in astonishment.

　　“How about each of your two clans taking half?”

　　“Excellent!”

　　Ji Jie and Yu Kai agreed to cease the strife. It was then noon, the time for the midday meal; therefore the two invited Gong Kang to share the meal.

　　They roasted the meat of the newly slaughtered greathorned wild ox upon the spot. The three men drank wine and ate meat in great mouthfuls while conversing of martial arts. They talked with great pleasure and grew ever more congenial; heroes recognize heroes.

　　Finally Gong Kang proposed that the three of them form a sworn brotherhood upon the spot, binding themselves in goldandorchid brotherhood. According to age Gong Kang was the eldest, Ji Jie and Yu Kai the second and third.

　　At that time Ji Jie and Yu Kai knew only that their eldest brother’s name was Gong Kang; they did not know that Gong Kang was the eldest son of the Great Chieftain of the clan.

　　One year later Gong Kang first took part in the humansacrifice combat tournament between the Gongyou and FireWorship Clans and became famous throughout the world; only then did Ji Jie and Yu Kai learn of Gong Kang’s identity.

　　One day in the second half of the following year Gong Kang sought out Ji Jie and Yu Kai and asked the two of them to help organize a militia force. Ji Jie and Yu Kai actively canvassed among the hunters of Wangqiu City; the hunters of the Ji and Yu clans enrolled one after another, and the “LongSpear Corps” was established.

　　Not long thereafter Gong Yi also requested the help of the Ji and Yu clans and established the “DivineArchery Camp.”

　　As more hunters continually joined, the two forces continually expanded. Gong Kang and Gong Yi regularly trained the two forces. After several years the combat power of the LongSpear Corps and the DivineArchery Camp underwent earthshaking changes.

　　Ji Jie shook Gong Kang: “Elder Brother, wake up.”

　　“Stop making noise—let me sleep a little longer.”

　　“Elder Brother, today is the onceaweek concentrated training time of the LongSpear Corps; you must attend.”

　　“What? Why didn’t you say so earlier—I had forgotten.” Gong Kang rolled out of bed in one movement, hurriedly put on helmet and armor. Although his face was still stubbled, once fully armed and armored he immediately looked much more spirited.

　　Gong Kang, Ji Jie and Yu Kai strode rapidly out of the treehouse, mounted camelhorses beneath the trees, and hurried toward the square outside the city.