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Chapter 21 – Fierce fight in Xiangyang, Part 3

Guo Jing said, “Guo’er, the internal energy of the Quanzhen sect is the most orthodox in the world, though progress is slow, you will not run into any trouble. You can learn other sect’s and school’s martial arts but when it comes to internal energy it would be advisable to practice Xuan Men martial arts. We’ll study this together once the enemy has retreated.”

Yang Guo said, “Don’t tell Auntie Guo about me fire deviating last night. If she finds out she’ll laugh at me for learning Long Gu Gu’s unorthodox martial arts and blame me for making Uncle Guo suffer.”

Guo Jing said, “Of course I won’t say. Miss Long’s martial arts aren’t unorthodox; it’s just that you weren’t concentrating and didn’t practice with a clear mind.”

Yang Guo knew that if Huang Rong found out about this she would immediately know the truth. When he heard Guo Jing promise not to tell Huang Rong, his mind relaxed.

The two of them headed west of the city and arrived at a stream.

Guo Jing said, “Though this is a small stream, it is very famous; it is called the Tan Torrent.”

Yang Guo said, “Oh. I have heard people talk about the story of the Three Kingdoms; they mentioned that Emperor Liu of Shu leaped over the Tan Torrent on horseback. So, the Tan Torrent is located here.”

Guo Jing said, “The horse that Liu Bei rode that year was called De Lu; the horse handler said that it would harm its rider. But in the end De Lu actually leaped over the Tan Torrent and escaped from the pursuing army, saving Emperor Liu of Shu’s life in the process.” When he talked about this, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Yang Guo’s father Yang Kang. He gave a heavy sigh and said, “The people of the world are just the same as the horse Du Lu; to the good it does good, to the evil it does evil. Is there such a thing as a definite good or evil person? The only difference between the two is that there is a contrast in thought.”

Yang Guo’s heart trembled and he took a look over at Guo Jing. There was an extremely hurt expression on his face; it appeared that these words weren’t meant as an attack on him. Yang Guo thought, “Your words might be right but what is good? What is evil? You and your wife killed my father, could that be the actions of someone who’s good? Your words really are brash; you don’t know how shameful you are.” He had always had great respect for Guo Jing; but from now, whenever he remembers how his father died at their hands, evil thoughts filled his mind.

The two rode on for a little while and arrived at the top of a hill. From above one could see the flow of Han going southwards; refugees from all over were descending on Xiangyang. Guo Jing stretched out his horsewhip and pointed at the refugees. He said, “The Mongolians must have intensified their slaughter of our people in Sixiang, destroying the homes of our citizens. They’re abominable.”

Looking down from the hill, one could see, by the side of the road, a stone slab with some words written on it. It said: Minister of Works for the Tang Dynasty, Du Fu’s hometown lies there.

Yang Guo said, “Xiangyang is no ordinary city. So the hometown of this great poet is here.”

Guo Jing swept his whip and recited, “The great city unlike metal, the small cities of over ten thousand zhangs… the joined clouds of lined up battles, the flying birds unable to rise beyond. Self-guarding with ruin, how can Xi Dou be recovered? … Struggling with long halberds, history needs one man.”

Yang Guo heard him recite this with great passion and he recited it himself; “Self-guarding with ruin, how can Xi Dou be recovered? Struggling with long halberds, history needs one man. Uncle Guo, this is a really good poem, was it written by Du Fu?”

Guo Jing said, “Yes. A few days ago, your Auntie Guo and I were discussing the defense of Xiangyang and this poem by Du Fu came up. She wrote it out for me. I really like this poem but my memory is bad. I went over this poem many times but all I can remember are just a few lines. There have been many educated men in our history who have written poems; but over the years, they have proclaimed Du Fu as the greatest poet of all and it’s all because of his worry for his nation and people.”

Yang Guo said, “You said, ‘a hero’s imperative is to serve your country, serve your people’, literature and martial arts are different but the same can be applied to both.”

When Guo Jing heard him grasp this he was delighted and said, “I do not understand much about literature; but no matter what one becomes in their life, a merchant, a slave, a solider, as long as the thought ‘serve your country, serve your people’ is there, one can be a true man, a true hero.”

Yang Guo asked, “Uncle Guo, do you think you will be able to defend Xiangyang?”

Guo Jing thought for a while and then pointed to the hills and trees to the west before saying, “In Xiangyang’s history, the most famous person is Zhuge Liang. Twenty ‘li’ (10km) west of here is a thriving place. It was the place where he lived in seclusion. Coarse people like me can’t fathom the deeds that he did saving our nation and bringing peace to our people. He once said that all he knew was that one must follow the phrase ‘bending your body to the task until your dying day’. Whether it would lead to success or failure, he didn’t know. When your Auntie Guo and I talked about whether Xiangyang can be defended or not; we ended up with these same words.”

Just as they were talking, they saw that the refugees who were at the doors of Xiangyang had suddenly turned around while the refugees behind kept on flowing forward towards Xiangyang. It was chaos.

Guo Jing was shocked and said, “Why aren’t the guards letting them into the city?” He galloped towards the city and saw a line of archers with their bows armed pointing at the refugees.

Guo Jing called out, “What are you doing? Quickly open the gates.”

When the guards saw that it was Guo Jing, they quickly opened the gates and let him and Yang Guo in.

Guo Jing said, “These people are being persecuted by the Mongolians, why aren’t you letting them in?”