The Legend of the Condor Heroes Episode 28 Recap
> The Legend of the Condor Heroes Recap
After enduring their ordeal on the isolated island, Guo Jing, Huang Rong, and Hong Qigong found themselves adrift on a small bamboo raft once again. Huang Rong suggested they name the island they had just left. Hong Qigong proposed "Rascal-crushing Island" due to Ouyang Ke's near-death experience there, but Huang Rong disliked the name as it would remind her of "Little Venom" and suggested "Sunset Glow Island" instead.
While Guo Jing approved of "Sunset Glow Island," Hong Qigong still insisted on "Rascal-crushing Island," considering "Sunset Glow Island" too bookish. Meanwhile, aboard a grand ship, Ouyang Feng continued to treat Ouyang Ke's leg injuries using the "Nine Yin Manual" that Guo Jing had written from memory. However, Ouyang Ke felt no improvement, leading him to doubt the manual's famed efficacy.
Ouyang Feng dismissed his nephew's doubts, recalling how Wang Chongyang had guarded the manual and how Hong Qigong had recovered much of his power after being poisoned. He suspected the manual contained a deeper, hidden meaning, a "bizarre language," that Guo Jing might comprehend. Convinced that Guo Jing held the key to Ouyang Ke's full recovery, Ouyang Feng sternly ordered Wanyan Honglie to turn the ship back to search for him.
Wanyan Honglie initially resisted, citing the urgency of reaching Lin'an for the "Wumu Manual", but Ouyang Feng's unwavering determination, emphasizing the critical state of Ouyang Ke's legs, compelled him to agree. Back on their small raft, Guo Jing, who had grown up in the desert, suffered terribly from seasickness, vomiting repeatedly. Huang Rong and Hong Qigong worried about his condition. Their spirits lifted when they spotted a large ship approaching, signaling their potential rescue.
However, their joy quickly turned to dismay upon realizing the ship belonged to Wanyan Honglie. Enraged, Guo Jing lunged at Wanyan Honglie, determined to avenge his father, but Huang Rong quickly intervened, holding him back. Guo Jing then saw Yang Kang standing beside Wanyan Honglie and accused him of once again siding with his father's murderer. Wanyan Honglie observed Guo Jing's improved martial arts, and later, in a private conversation, he questioned Yang Kang about Guo Jing's capabilities.
Yang Kang downplayed his sworn brother's strength while Wanyan Honglie mused about their lingering feud. The trio was escorted to a cluttered storeroom on the ship. Guo Jing, still baffled by Huang Rong's earlier restraint, asked why she prevented him from fighting. Huang Rong explained that facing only Peng Lianhu and his associates would have been manageable, but Ouyang Feng's presence would have complicated matters, potentially exposing Hong Qigong's weakened state, which would put them in grave danger.
Hong Qigong confirmed Huang Rong's strategy, likening it to a "bluffing the enemy" tactic. They also speculated on Ouyang Feng's motives for returning to pick them up, concluding that he must be facing some difficulty with the "Nine Yin Manual". Meanwhile, in a hidden chamber, a brooding Yang Kang secretly practiced the "Nine Yin White Bone Claw", his heart consumed by envy for Guo Jing's seemingly effortless martial arts progression.
Later, Ouyang Feng paid the trio a visit, bringing wine and dishes as a gesture of goodwill. He admitted that Ouyang Ke's legs had not improved despite diligently practicing the "Nine Yin Manual", and again questioned Hong Qigong about his swift recovery from Ouyang Feng's venom. Huang Rong, seizing the opportunity, declared she could reveal the secret, but only if Ouyang Feng guaranteed their safe release once they reached shore.
Ouyang Feng, however, gave her only one day to translate the "bizarre language" within the manual, threatening to throw them overboard to feed the sharks if she failed. After Ouyang Feng left, Huang Rong confessed to Guo Jing and Hong Qigong that she had been bluffing about her knowledge of the Tocharian language.
She warned them that Ouyang Feng, whose nephew's life depended on a cure, would not be easily fooled a second time, and they needed a genuine escape plan. The next day, during dinner, Ouyang Feng pressed Huang Rong for the translation. Huang Rong claimed the secret to Ouyang Ke's recovery was for him to chop down a hundred trees with his bare hands.
She supported this by quoting a passage about internal and external cultivation, stating that Ouyang Ke needed to move about rather than stay in bed. Hong Qigong corroborated her story, claiming his own recovery had been aided by helping Guo Jing chop trees. Ouyang Ke questioned how Huang Rong understood the Tocharian language.
Huang Rong fabricated a tale about her father, Huang Yaoshi, having once kept a Tocharian lecher as a servant, allowing her to learn the language before her father inflicted a gruesome punishment upon him. Ouyang Feng, still suspicious, tested Hong Qigong, who, with the aid of a trick item from Qiu Qianren, managed to convincingly feign a resurgence of his internal energy. This performance largely convinced Ouyang Feng that Huang Rong's explanation was true.
Separately, Mu Nianci urged Yang Kang to help rescue Guo Jing and the others, reminding him of their sworn brotherhood. Yang Kang, however, hesitated, claiming that saving them was impossible given Wanyan Honglie's power. Around the same time, Wanyan Honglie, plagued by nightmares of Guo Jing seeking revenge, presented Yang Kang with a dagger and ordered him to eliminate his sworn brother, Guo Jing.
Yang Kang was visibly torn, tormented by the conflicting loyalties, repeating to himself, "One side's forcing me to be Yang Kang, and the other wants me to kill my brother!" Back in the storeroom, Huang Rong grew uneasy about the unusual silence from Ouyang Feng and Wanyan Honglie, sensing a trap. Guo Jing, however, found it preferable to their constant harassment.
Huang Rong insisted that even if Ouyang Feng honored his promise, Wanyan Honglie would never let them go, fueling her ominous premonition. Realizing they couldn't afford to wait until they reached shore, Huang Rong devised a plan to escape. She successfully tricked the guard, Master Hou (Sarcoma Head), into opening the door, and the trio slipped out. As they made their way across the deck towards the small boats, Ouyang Feng appeared, blocking their path.
Huang Rong confronted him about breaking his promise of safety, but Ouyang Feng coldly stated he had only promised safety, not freedom. Ouyang Feng quickly immobilized Hong Qigong by locking his acupoints. Hong Qigong, stripped of his remaining martial arts, bravely offered his life, warning Ouyang Feng against harming his disciples. Huang Rong quickly interjected, threatening to withhold the true secrets of the "Nine Yin Manual" and leave Ouyang Ke crippled if Ouyang Feng harmed her master or Guo Jing.
Guo Jing, in turn, shielded them, declaring Ouyang Feng would have to kill him first. As the tension reached its peak, Yang Kang, clutching the dagger given to him by Wanyan Honglie, slowly advanced towards Guo Jing. Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through the eerie silence. Zhou Botong appeared on the ship's deck, oblivious to the gravity of the situation, cheerfully greeting everyone.
Ouyang Feng immediately seized the opportunity to remind Zhou Botong of their old bet, where Zhou was supposed to have plunged into the sea after losing. Zhou Botong, however, refuted this, recounting how fragments from Huang Yaoshi's sunken boat, specifically a stick wedged in a shark's mouth, had prevented the shark from consuming the poisoned meat. This, he argued, meant he hadn't lost the bet entirely. Hong Qigong, agreeing, declared that the true winner of their peculiar wager remained undetermined.
