Animals

Black Rose (Hei1 Mei2 Gui4 黑玫瑰) - a black (presumably) mare with very quiet footfalls, a slender body and long legs. Appeared impressive and tall. Had extraordinary strength in its legs. Could not be whipped, because 'it would gallop faster if given better treatment'. Duan Yu could tell from the horse's neigh alone that the animal had come from good stock. As Black Rose sped down the road to Dali, Duan Yu found the horse's back unusually steady to ride on, with very few bumps along the way. Could travel more than ten li (5 km) within the time it took to brew a pot of tea. Could act on its own accord and kick hostile individuals away with its hind legs. Responded to the whistles of its owner, Mu Wanqing, regardless of attempts to stop it from doing so. Able to leap over the heads of a group of people without any run-up (Chapter 3). Had suffered from fatigue and a injured leg after an extended period of frenzied fleeing; later fell to its death after trying to leap across a wide chasm with Mu Wanqing and Duan Yu on its back (Chapter 4).

Lightning Marten (Shan3 Dian4 Diao1 闪电貂) - Zhong Ling's pet marten; four years old in the beginning of the story. Greyish-white in colour with a reddish glow in its eyes and very sharp claws on its feet. Less than a chi (33.33 centimetres) long. Very nimble in its movements; faster than any projectile. Could act/move in response to Zhong Ling's whistles; did not respond to anyone else. Loved eating poisonous snakes; had a poisonous bite that did not allow victims to live for more than eight days. Unable to withstand the odour of Sikong Xuan's 'Special Snake Repellant'; but managed to bite more than twenty people in the Society of Divine Farmers, including seven to eight senior members. Disappeared into the surrounding undergrowth after biting Sikong Xuan on the neck and arm, and attacking a few more people (Chapter 1).

Found by Duan Yu in the vicinity of The Boundless Cave (former 'Boundless Sword'); bit Duan on the left leg and caused him excruciating pain. Duan's left leg began numb, followed by his right. Then, both his arms became numb, followed by all the other muscles in hie body, a sign that the marten's poison had spread. Eventually, he could not even close his eyes or his mouth, but his mind remained lucid (Chapter 5).

Finally killed by the Poisonous Bovine Vermillion Toad, by way of a poisonous mist that was released from the toad's mouth. Buried where it had died by Duan Yu (Chapter 5).

Poisonous Bovine Vermillion Toad (Mang3 Gu3 Zhu1 Ha2 莽牯朱蛤) - amphibian with very loud 'jiang-ang, 'jiang-ang' croaks; sounded several degrees more thunderous than the lowing of a cow. Had not appeared in the vicinity of the Boundless Mountain for a long time; the current appearance of which frightened Qian Guangsheng. Believed to be the mount (ride) of the Deity of Plague; disputed by Yu Guangbiao. Considered the 'king' among ten thousand types of poison; thought by Yu to give out a toxic gas that would cause its victim immediate blindness, followed by brain failure and death (Chapter 5).

Less than two cun (6.67 centimetres) in length; bright red in colour with eyes that flashed like bits of gold. Considered by Duan Yu to be appropriately-named because it could really sound like a cow; however, Yu Guangbiao's talk about the toad's ability to reduce its victims into a pool of pus and blood proved to be untrue (Chapter 5).

Attacked other creatures by releasing a reddish mist of poison from its mouth; used the mist against the Lightning Marten and killed it. Then, the toad sucked on the marten's left and right jaws, apparently to ingest the poison in the marten's teeth. Leapt into Duan Yu's mouth after a large centipede; followed the centipede into Duan's stomach, where it was eventually killed by the digestive juices there. The energy that resulted from the digesting of the toad was then circulated by Duan through the various channels and meridians, before being stored in the Shan Zhong 'sea' of energy (Chapter 5).

Note: Jin Yong probably modelled the Poisonous Bovine Vermillion Toad after the Oriental Fire-Bellied Toad (Scientific name: Bombina orientalis, see pic above), a 2-inch-long (5 centimetres) amphibian that is found in Korea, northeastern China and southeastern Russia. This toad has toxic skin secretions which helps to protect it against predators.

Generic animals:

• Centipede (wu2 gong1 蜈蚣) - a large specimen about 7-8 cun (23.33-26.67 centimetres) in length; had red and black spots on its body. Crawled into Duan Yu's gaping mouth and slid right into his stomach. Subsequently killed by Duan's stomach juices (Chapter 5).
• Horse (ma3 马) - used for travel by various characters (Chapter 6).
• Snake, Red-Banded (chi4 lian4 she2 赤练蛇) - snake with black and red markings on its body (Chapter 1); non-poisonous. Scientific name: Dinodon rufozonatum. Zhong Ling fed this snake, which was erroneously written as being 'very poisonous', to the Lightning Marten (Chapter 1).

• Snake, green-coloured (species unspecified) - slid all over Gong Guangjie but out of his reach, after Zhong Ling released it on to him (Chapter 1).
• Swallows (yan4 zi3 燕子) - found in abundance around the Embankment of Swallows that belonged to the Murong Family, hence its name (Chapter 11).

• Tapeworm (hui2 chong2 蛔虫) - used as a figure of speech by Yu Guangbiao when he said that he was not a tapeworm in the stomach of the Holy Emissary Fu, hence he did not know why the emissary had addressed Duan Yu with such politeness (Chapter 5).