Even though Guo Xiang had plugged her ears, she could still hear the roar. Her heartbeat sped up and she could barely stand up. But luckily she had practiced the purest form of internal energy with her father Guo Jing and her mother Huang Rong ever since she was little. So even though she was young, her internal energy was better than an average martial artists and she didn’t fall down but only staggered a few times.

Yang Guo’s dragon roar seemed like it would never end. Everybody’s face changed color. The animals started to fall down one by one, leaving only the elephants still standing. Slowly one by one the Xishan Ghosts fell down. Next the Shi Brothers also fell down; leaving only two people barely standing up. They were Shi Shugang and Guo Xiang. Yang Guo was amazed and impressed that this sick man, Shi Shugang, was able to stay standing. He knew that if he continued he would hurt Shi Shugang even more.

So he waved his sleeve and his dragon roar stopped. The eagle looked proudly at Yang Guo. Only then did everybody and the beasts slowly stand up. The wolves and other small animals had not awakened yet; their bodies still scattered about on the snow. The larger animals did not wait for the Shi Brothers’ command, they tucked their tails between their legs and scampered away deep into the woods, not even daring to look back. The Shi Brothers and Xishan Ghosts have never met such opponent in their entire lives. They just stared at Yang Guo and could not utter a single word. Yang Guo said, “Shi Brothers, I apologize for the disturbance. I have an appointment with Xishan Ghosts; but since you had started fighting, I had to intervene. After taking care of this small problem, I will let you continue your fight and I promise not to be on anybody’s side.” He turned his body around and continued, “Well? Are you going to fight me one on one, or are all of you going to fight me together?”

The one supposed to answer his question would be the Fairy Ghost, the burly man with a body like an iron tower, whose ears were cut off by the Eagle Hero. But since he was still dazed from the roar, he couldn’t say anything. The Long Beard Ghost then moved a step forward. He clasped his fists in respect, bowing to the ground and said, “Eagle Hero, your skill and ours are like heaven and earth apart. We, the Xishan Ghosts, do not dare to fight you. Our lives have been saved by you. In the future, if Great Hero (Da Xia) ever has any need of our services, even if we have to go through water or fire, we will comply. If Da Xia wants us to leave Shanxi, we will not stay another second.”

As soon as he saw the Long Beard Ghost, Yang Guo was suspicious. And now, after hearing his voice, he asked straight away, “Are you not the one surnamed Fan with a given name Yiweng?”

The Long Beard Ghost was indeed Fan Yiweng, the first disciple of Gongsun Zhi, master of the Passionless Valley. After Yang Guo spared his life at the Valley, he had run away and hidden himself. About ten years later he re-entered the Jianghu world and with his level of martial arts, he managed to attain the first position of the Xishan Ghosts. During the battle at the ‘Broken Heart Cliff’ Yang Guo’s arm had not yet been chopped of by Guo Fu. Besides, Yang Guo was wearing a mask now, so he did not recognize him. Hearing the question, he bowed and answered, “This lowly one is indeed Fan Yiweng. What is your command, Great Hero?”

Yang Guo smiled and lifted his hand. “Don’t use such humility. If you want my command, I will say it: Do not move away from Xishan. Fairy Ghost, you’d better let your four concubines go!”

“Very well,” said the Fairy Ghost. He was silent for a moment and then continued, “If they don’t want to go, I’ll beat them with a stick.”

Yang Guo was taken aback. He recalled what happened that day, how this Ghost’s wife and four concubines kneeled down and begged him for mercy. He laughed and said, “No! You can’t beat them. If they want to leave, just let them leave; but if they want to stay with you …” he heaved a sigh. “An outsider certainly cannot interfere. Uh, did you say you were going to take four more concubines to make yours exactly eight?”

The Fairy Ghost blushed. “Because of my concubines the Eagle Hero has had some trouble and my brothers and sisters were almost harmed,” he embarrassedly said. “Even if I want to do that, Big Brother certainly wouldn’t let me.” Everybody laughed hearing his response.

“Very well, this business is settled,” said Yang Guo. “Now you can continue your fight.” He moved aside and together with his eagle they were ready to be the spectators of the Shi Brothers versus the Xishan Ghost’s battle.

Fan Yiweng moved a few steps forward and said to Shi Bowei, “The Xishan Ghosts have met an ill-fated event today, and we are hurting; therefore, we’ll have to ask for your leave. However, may we know where your Beastly Mountain Village will be: in Shanxi or Liangzhou? The reason I asked, is so that we can pay a visit in the future.”

Shi Bowei understood the threat very well, he said, “We will wait for your visit in Liangzhou. But if … if … my third brother can’t be saved because of this, you don’t have to come to Liangzhou; the four of us will certainly pay you a visit wherever you are.”

Fan Yiweng was shocked. “What have we to do with Third Brother’s illness?” he wondered.

Shi Bowei’s face turned red and he shouted, “My Third Brother…” Shi Shugang sighed, “Eldest Brother, never mind. The Xishan Ghosts’ actions were unintentional; it is your younger brother’s fate. We don’t have to add unnecessary enmity.”

Shi Bowei struggled to control himself and said, “Fine!” He lifted one hand toward Fan Yiweng and said, “The green hill will not change; the green water always flows; we will meet again.” He turned to Yang Guo and said, “Eagle Hero, even if we train for another 30 years we are still not your match. We admit defeat. We will never dare to cross your path again.”

Yang Guo laughed, “There’s no need for that.”

Fan Yiweng was feeling uncomfortable with what had been said and asked, “Eldest Brother Shi, please wait. The Third Brother Shi said we unintentionally did something wrong. What did we do besides entering your territory without authorization? We, the Xishan Ghosts are not afraid to lose our heads; we are certainly not afraid to kowtow to apologize to you.”

Shi Bowei had seen that when they were under the animal’s attack they were throwing the fur hat to each other. Each one of them certainly did not fear death. They were also the kind of people who knew right from wrong. So mournfully he said, “You frightened off the ‘Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox’ [jiu wei ling hu] which my Third Brother needs for treatment of his internal injury. Even if we kill you a thousand times, or even ten thousand times, what good would that be?” Fan Yiweng was shocked; he recalled how the Shi Brothers were leading a large pack of animals to pursue that little fox and wondered why the fox was so important to them.

The Killer Ghost said, “What’s the use of this little fox? Mmm … since it is important to the Third Brother’s well-being, let us join forces and capture that small fox. Wouldn’t it be great?”

Shi Jiqiang shouted, “What do you mean ‘great’? If you can catch that fox I will kowtow to you a hundred times, no, a thousand times!” He was getting emotional.