Chapter 59 Gong Jie I

　　—Life itself is a form of cultivation. Without wind and rain, how can one see the rainbow? The baptism of wind and rain is itself Heaven’s favor toward you. May you, after the baptism of violent wind and rain, still bloom brilliantly.

　　Early morning; the dense mist had already dispersed.

　　The green grass upon the ground seemed also to sense Gong Jie’s sorrow; every blade held dewdrops like tears.

　　Recalling the events of the previous day Gong Jie could not help shedding silent tears once more.

　　The events of the previous day seemed still before her eyes.

　　Upon this embassy journey the pampered young lady Gong Jie had opened her eyes considerably, yet she had also suffered no little hardship. Fortunately Ge Wu was at her side accompanying and protecting her; all the dirty and tiring work was done by Ge Wu in her stead.

　　Inside Fumu Forest the stifling heat made one feel asphyxiated. The cooks’ squad led by Ji Mazi was shut inside the wagon as though taking a sauna.

　　“Damn it—what kind of ghostly weather is this?” Old Wu grumbled and cursed while preparing to remove his upper garment.

　　Gong Jie’s face flushed with embarrassment; she turned her head away.

　　“What are you doing?” Ge Wu restrained Old Wu and glanced at Gong Jie. “Do you not see there is still a young lady here?”

　　“Oh—sorry, I completely forgot about Ji Jie. All of you—none of you are allowed to remove your clothes. No matter how hot, keep them on—do you hear?” Old Wu pointed at the several members of the cooks’ squad.

　　“Understood.” Apart from Ji Mazi, Old Wu possessed the greatest prestige within the cooks’ squad; everyone was willing to listen to his words. Thus they endured; soon everyone’s clothing was soaked with sweat.

　　Toward dusk the temperature dropped abruptly, as though winter had arrived.

　　“This ghostly weather—within a single day it first nearly kills me with heat and then freezes me to death. Does it still allow a person to live?” Old Wu cursed.

　　The several members of the cooks’ squad rubbed their hands and crowded together for warmth.

　　“The Great Chieftain has ordered that we make camp here. The cooks’ squad is ordered to take out all the remaining roedeer meat from the hunt and prepare a barbecue.” The people inside the wagon heard the orderly’s voice.

　　“Everyone move! You few hurry and light the fire; you few go set up the pots.” Ji Mazi assigned tasks to the cooks’ squad.

　　“Damn it—these officials, was the noon meal not enough? Must they still eat roast meat at night? During the day we become roast meat; at night we become frozen meat. They might as well just roast and eat us.” Old Wu cursed while holding the meat. “Ji Wu, Ji Jie—you two hurry and gather firewood. Do not think of being lazy—go!”

　　Gong Jie and Ge Wu gathered some dry branches in the vicinity. After lighting the fire Old Wu was just about to place the roedeer meat he held upon the rack to roast.

　　At that very moment, accompanied by a strange laugh, a black object flew down from the top of a giant cactuslike tree.

　　The object suddenly stretched out a huge claw, seized the roedeer meat, flapped its wings, and flew upward carrying Old Wu with it.

　　Ge Wu, nearest and quickest of eye and hand, leapt up, seized Old Wu by the ankle, and yanked Old Wu together with more than half the roedeer meat back to the ground.

　　These strange birds were precisely the WolfEating Eagles. At that moment more WolfEating Eagles uttered successive strange laughs and madly flew down from the cactuslike trees.

　　The embassy party fell into chaos; everyone successively drew their weapons, yet the several members of the cooks’ squad had no sharp weapons in hand.

　　“Old Wu—hurry and throw the meat in your hands to these monsters; we shall hide inside the wagon!” Ji Mazi shouted.

　　Old Wu threw the meat upon the ground and turned to follow the others into the wagon.

　　The last cook responsible for tending the fire had just set one foot inside the door when, unexpectedly, a huge claw stretched down from above and seized him precisely by the shoulder.

　　A single scream was heard; in an instant the entire cook vanished.

　　Ge Wu hurriedly closed the wagon door. Ji Mazi deftly drew a chest from beneath a seat and opened it; everyone saw that the chest was filled with glittering woodchopping knives.

　　Ji Mazi selected several sharp woodchopping knives from inside and, while distributing them to each person, said: “This is my experience. Although we are cooks, at any time we must keep weapons in reserve and be ready for battle.”

　　“Still Old Ji thinks things through thoroughly.” Old Wu stroked the edge of the woodchopping knife in his right hand with his left; the edge was extremely sharp and cut a line of blood upon his finger.

　　Ji Mazi looked at the panicstricken faces and comforted them: “Everyone, do not panic. Remain quiet and make no sound. Unless absolutely necessary, on no account provoke these strange birds. I think we are still safe.”

　　At that moment outside the wagon the eerie strange laughs of the WolfEating Eagles and the tragic screams of humans rose one after another; one could imagine that outside must be a scene of carnage.

　　The young girl Gong Jie had practiced martial arts from childhood and fancied she had some skill; she was completely unconcerned and not the least afraid. On the contrary she was rather excited. The entire journey had been so ordinary and unexciting—far too dull.

　　She quietly opened the wagon window and actually wished to thrust her head out to see what the situation outside was.

　　Ge Wu, quick of eye and hand, pulled her back in at once and closed the window: “What are you doing? Do you not want your life?”

　　Just at that moment the wagon suddenly shook heavily; a huge sharp claw pierced the window that had just been closed.

　　A close call—only a little farther and Gong Jie’s head would have been pierced by the claw. Seeing the claw, Gong Jie angrily raised the woodchopping knife.

　　“Do not move!” Ji Mazi shouted.

　　Unfortunately it was already too late; the woodchopping knife in Gong Jie’s hand had already struck the claw with force, cleanly severing one toe of the strange bird. Blood spattered all over Gong Jie.

　　A tragic cry was heard from the strange bird; it withdrew the wounded claw. The vehicle shook violently several more times.

　　Immediately afterward everyone heard a tragic cry from a camelhorse outside; then the entire wagon stood upright and was slowly pulled away from the ground.

　　Inside the wagon everyone cried out in unison; their centers of gravity tipped backward, now to the left, now to the right; they lost balance inside the vehicle.

　　Then came a sensation of weightlessness; beside their ears they heard only a “pa!” Everyone felt the wagon they sat in crash heavily upon the ground; they were flung one after another out of the wagon and scattered in twos and threes upon the earth.

　　Looking again, the wheels of the vehicle had been smashed away; the wagon body had long been shaken to pieces.

　　Gong Jie, Ge Wu and Old Wu were flung together. The strange bird that had attacked the vehicle was precisely the one whose foot had been wounded. These strange birds were strongly vindictive; seeing Gong Jie lying upon the ground covered in blood, it flew straight down from the air toward her.

　　At that moment Gong Jie was lying facedown upon the ground; she turned and was just about to rise when she saw the strange bird already flying toward her face. It was already too late to dodge.

　　At that critical moment Old Wu, nearest to Gong Jie, picked up a woodchopping knife that had fallen beside him and flung it with all his strength toward the strange bird in the air.

　　The woodchopping knife struck true, planting itself squarely in the belly of the strange bird; the pain caused it to fall from the air.

　　The strange bird that had fallen to the ground ignored Gong Jie and flew straight at Old Wu. Its huge sharp claws plunged into Old Wu’s belly; then with one peck of its beak it struck Old Wu’s head. Old Wu screamed continuously in agony.

　　By then Ge Wu had already risen from the ground. He happened to be behind the strange bird; he picked up a woodchopping knife from the ground and charged toward it.

　　Everything around was pitchblack; Ge Wu’s stroke struck true, plunging precisely into the anus of the great bird. The pain caused the strange bird to cry out; it kicked backward with its claws, sending Ge Wu flying several meters away. Ge Wu crashed heavily upon the ground and fainted.

　　The strange bird pecked several more times with its beak at Old Wu lying upon the ground. When Old Wu no longer moved it left him, turned, and flew toward Ge Wu. Its two sharp claws seized Ge Wu’s shoulders and it was about to end Ge Wu’s life with its sharp beak.

　　On Ji Mazi’s side the situation was also critical. Ji Mazi held knives in both hands and, together with three members of the cooks’ squad, was fighting the WolfEating Eagles. Already one cook had been pecked to death by a WolfEating Eagle; Ji Mazi seized the opportunity to circle behind that WolfEating Eagle and ended its life with a single stroke.

　　The smell of blood attracted still more WolfEating Eagles that flew toward this group of cooks. Ji Mazi was already hardpressed to protect himself. Just when the cooks’ squad was about to be overwhelmed, a sudden cry arose in the sky; the strange birds seemed to receive some order to withdraw and successively rose and flew away.

　　The WolfEating Eagle that had seized Ge Wu did not wish to let him go. Its two claws gripped Ge Wu’s shoulders; it flapped its wings and, trembling, rose into the air. In the blink of an eye it disappeared without a trace together with the other strange birds.

　　Seeing the strange birds depart, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Ji Mazi hurried over to examine Old Wu’s injuries and discovered that Old Wu had already been dead for some time.

　　Old Wu’s belly had been torn open by the strange bird’s sharp claws; the intestines lay scattered upon the ground; half his face had almost been eaten by the strange bird. The manner of his death was extremely tragic.