Guo Jing was startled, he did not know how to answer her; but then he heard Huang Rong said again, "No, no. I was wrong; I don''t want anything. I know in your heart you love me very much, and that is enough for me."


    "Rong''er, Rong''er," Guo Jing called in a low voice. But Huang Rong did not reply, her breathing was even, apparently she was sleeping. Turned out she was talking in her sleep. Guo Jing felt deep affection and pity toward her at the same time. He started blankly at Huang Rong''s face illuminated by the moonlight. She was just starting to recover from her injury, her face was still pale and under the moonlight it looked like her face was translucent. Guo Jing stared at her for a long time. He saw her eyebrows wrinkle slightly and there were drops of tears in her eyes. Guo Jing said in his heart, "She must be dreaming of the challenges we are facing. All day she acted like she was carefree, laughing and joking, but in her heart she actually was grieving. Ay, it was I who caused her worries. I wish we did not meet at Zhangjiakou, then her life would be better. But what about me? Would I be willing to give her up?"


    One was sleeping with a sad dream, the other was awake with heavy heart; suddenly he heard the water ripple, a boat was coming downstream. Guo Jing thought, "The terrain of this River Yuan is so rugged; what kind of boat is so daring as to travel here in the middle of the night?" He was about to poke his head out of the cabin to take a look when suddenly from the stern of his own boat came three clapping sounds. The clapping was very light, but in the stillness of the night the sound traveled far on the surface of the water. He then heard the sound of a sail being lowered and the oars paddling the water. That incoming boat came closer to the right hand side riverbank and slowly positioned near their boat. A short moment later it was side to side with the boat Guo Jing rode.


    Guo Jing gently patted Huang Rong to wake her up; he felt the hull shook slightly. Quickly he raised the cabin covering to look outside, right in time to see a dark shadow leaping from his boat to the incoming boat. Judging from the appearance, that shadow looked like the mute boatman.


    "I''ll go over to take a look, you stay and guard here," Guo Jing said. Huang Rong nodded.


    Guo Jing crouched and stealthily walked to the bow; he saw that the incoming boat was swaying on the water, he leaped and landed on the horizontal part of the sail mast, which happened to be the center of gravity of the boat. The hull slightly sunk in, but the inclination of the boat did not change one bit; nobody on that boat noticed. He opened his eyes wide, trying to see through some openings on the cabin''s roof. He saw three men standing in the cabin; they wore the black uniform of the Iron Palm Clan. One of them was quite tall; he was wearing a green cloth wrapped around his head, looked like he was the leader.


    Guo Jing''s movement was so quick that even though that pretend-to-be-mute boatman leaped to this boat first, by this time he was just entering the cabin. He cupped his fists and greeted the tall man, "Leader Qiao."


    "Those two little thieves are still in?" Leader Qiao asked.


    "Yes," the boatman replied.


    "Do they have any suspicion?" Leader Qiao asked again.


    "No suspicion," the boatman replied, "But those two thieves did not want to dine on board, so I did not have any chance to do anything."


    "Humph," Leader Qiao said, "They are going to die at the ''qing long tan'' [green dragon shore]. The day after tomorrow at noon you will arrive at the Green Dragon Shore. About three ''li''s from the beach is the Green Dragon Village. Break the boat''s rudder there; we will be waiting for you."


    The boatman gave his reply. Leader Qiao continued, "Those two little thieves are very skilled in martial arts, you must be very careful. After the successful completion of this mission our Bangzhu will heap you with generous reward. Now go back from the water, don''t rock the boat and alert them."


    "Yes," the boatman replied, "Do you have further instructions, Leader Qiao?"


    "No," Leader Qiao waved his hand. The boatman cupped his fists again and retreated; he went down the water from the side of the boat and quietly swam back.


    Guo Jing leaped from the mast back to his own boat and told Huang Rong everything he just heard. Huang Rong smiled coldly and said, "We have been through Reverend Yideng''s torrential stream going up the mountain; why should we be scared away by Green Dragon Rugged Shore or White Tiger Rugged Shore? Let''s sleep."


    Their minds were at ease knowing the bandits'' plot. The next day they enjoyed the scenery light-heartedly; and had a good rest in the evening, did not even bother to keep a night watch. Early morning the third day the boatman was about to raise the anchor when suddenly Huang Rong said, "Hold on, let the horse come ashore first, otherwise it will die when the boat capsizes at the Green Dragon Shore."


    The boatman''s face changed slightly, which could not be disguised. Huang Rong raised her both hands, she could not help to ''say'' several vulgar words to curse him. Each one of the deaf and mute servants of the Peach Blossom Island was a criminal; their skills at cursing people were naturally above average. When Huang Rong started learning those words, she did not understand their real meaning. This time two of her left fingers made a circle, carrying a vulgar sense; with a giggle she let her hand dropped; and then she came alongside Guo Jing taking the horse ashore.


    Suddenly Guo Jing said, "Rong''er, let''s not play around with them anymore. We leave the boat and ride the horse from here."


    "Why?" Huang Rong asked.


    Guo Jing replied, "These Iron Palm Clan people are criminals, why should we squabble with them? As long as we can live together peacefully, we don''t have to prove that we are stronger."


    "Can we live together peacefully forever?" Huang Rong asked. Guo Jing was silent. He saw Huang Rong loosen the little red horse''s rein and point to the north. The little red horse had a divine intelligence, it had been separated from its master several times and right now understood that its masters wanted to part again temporarily. Without hesitation it ran to the north and in a short moment its shadow could not be seen anymore.


    Huang Rong clapped her hands, "Let''s get on board."


    "You are not fully recovered yet," Guo Jing said, "Must you brave the danger?"


    "You can''t just let it go," Huang Rong replied and walked the downward slope toward the boat. Guo Jing had no other choice but follow her to the boat. Huang Rong smiled, "Sha gege [dumb older brother], we have been through many strange and fantastic adventures together. Someday when we are not together anymore, we will have many memories we can cherish, wouldn''t that be good?"


    "In the future, must we … must we really part?" Guo Jing stammered. Huang Rong stared at him but did not say anything. Guo Jing did not have the slightest idea until today that when at the Ox Village he promised Tuolei he would marry Huazheng he had caused a deep wound in Huang Rong''s heart.


    It was almost noon; they have been sailing for a few hours. The further they went, the steeper and steeper the banks became on both sides of the River Yuan. The Green Dragon Shore must be not too far ahead. Jing and Rong two people stood on the bow looking into the distance. They saw that the passing boats were pulled by porters on the banks. Big boats needed more than a dozen men, while the smallest boats needed three, four men. The porters were stooping down at their waists, at several places their foreheads were almost touching the ground; step by step they pulled the boats upstream against the strong current, sometimes as if the boats were motionless, dead as a nail.