Fake scriptures of Nine Yin.
Original translation by Foxs
Hong Qigong and Guo Jing saw that Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew led Zhou Botong to a cabin in the back; while they were taken to a different cabin to change their clothes. Four white-dressed maidens served them. Hong Qigong laughed, “The Old Beggar has not had any luck to enjoy this kind of treatment,” he said. Taking out all his clothes a maiden dried him up with a clean towel.
Guo Jing felt blood flowing up his neck and face and he did not dare to take his clothes off. Hong Qigong laughed, “What are you afraid of? They won’t eat you alive!” he said. Two maidens approached him to take his boot off and loosen up his belt. Guo Jing quickly took his boot and upper garment, then jump to the bed, hiding underneath a blanket, changing his own clothes behind the blanket. Hong Qigong burst out in laughter, those four maidens also giggled.
Once they were finished, two other maidens entered the cabin carrying trays full of wine, dishes of meat and vegetables, and some white rice; saying, “Please two gentlemen eat what we prepared in a hurry.”
Hong Qigong waved his hand, “Please all of you get out of here, every time the Old Beggar sees good-looking ladies I can’t get the food down to my tummy.” The maidens smiled and complied, closing the door on their way out.
Hong Qigong took the wine and the dishes to his nose and sniffed at them, “Don’t eat or drink this,” he whispered, “The Old Poison is so crafty. Just eat the plain white rice.” He took the gourd on his back, pulled the plug and took two mouthfuls of wine, while busily eating three big bowls full of rice. Guo Jing followed his lead and dumped the dishes under the deck.
“I wonder what would they want Big Brother Zhou to do?” with a low voice Guo Jing asked.
“Can’t be anything good,” Hong Qigong replied, “This time the Old Urchin really got himself in trouble.”
Suddenly the cabin door was pushed open and a maiden said, “Master Zhou asked Young Master Guo to come to the rear cabin. He has something to discuss with you.” Guo Jing looked at his master and walked out the cabin following the maiden; they walked alongside the port side of the boat toward the back. The maiden lightly knocked the cabin door and after waiting a moment, shoved the door open, announcing, “Young Master Guo has arrived.”
Guo Jing entered the cabin and the door was closed behind him. There was no one inside the cabin. Guo Jing felt strange, but then the small door to his left was shoved open and Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew walked in.
“Where is Big Brother Zhou?” Guo Jing asked.
Ouyang Feng closed the door with the back of his hand, took two steps forward and grabbed Guo Jing’s wrist. His movement was very swift, besides, not in a million years would Guo Jing guess that Ouyang Feng would do that. He felt like his wrist was pinched by a pair of pliers; he could not move at all. Ouyang Ke pulled a steel-spined folding fan from his sleeve pocket and placed it on a vital acupoint on Guo Jing’s back. Guo Jing was dumbstruck; he could not guess what these uncle and nephew wanted from him.
“The Old Urchin lost a bet to me, but when I asked him to do something for me he refused,” Ouyang Feng coldly said.
“Humph?” Guo Jing was confused.
“I told him to rewrite the Nine Yin Manual from memory for me to see, but unexpectedly he did not keep his word,” Ouyang Feng explained.
“How could Big Brother Zhou give the manual to you?” Guo Jing thought; and again he asked, “Where is Big Brother Zhou?”
“It was he who said that whoever does not keep his words must jump to the sea to be eaten by the sharks. Humph! Finally he made his mind and did what he said he would,” Ouyang Feng coldly said.
Guo Jing was shocked. “He … he …” he stammered. He tried to pull his hand and dash to the door, but Ouyang Feng’s grip was very tight, forcing Guo Jing to stop. Ouyang Ke pushed his fan slightly harder on Guo Jing’s ‘zhi yang’ [lit. the most positive] acupoint.
Ouyang Feng pointed to a table with a stack of paper and some ink on it and said, “Now in the whole wide world you are the only one who knows the manual’s full text. Quickly write it down for me.”
Guo Jing shook his head. Ouyang Ke smiled and said, “The food and wine you and the Old Beggar ate just now was poisoned. If you don’t take my Uncle’s only antidote you will die within twelve hours, just like the sharks you saw earlier. If you comply, we will spare both your and your master’s lives.”
Guo Jing was secretly startled, “If Master was not alert we would certainly fall into their trap.” He stared at Ouyang Feng and thought, “You are a great master of martial art, yet you commit this despicable act.”
Seeing Guo Jing just stared at him without saying anything Ouyang Feng said, “You have memorized the manual in your heart anyway. You won’t lose anything by writing it down. What are you waiting for?”
Guo Jing shivered from rage, “You have harmed my sworn brother’s life; there is hatred as deep as the ocean between you and I; if you want to kill me then go ahead. But if you think you can force me, dream on!”
“Humph!” Ouyang Feng said, “Good kid, you have guts! You are not scared of death, but does your master’s life mean nothing to you?”
Before Guo Jing could reply a loud bang was suddenly heard; the cabin door was shattered with wood fragments flying everywhere. Ouyang Feng turned his head only to see Hong Qigong with a couple of wooden barrels in his hands. Hong Qigong threw the water out, two deep green transparent water columns flew toward Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew. Ouyang Feng knew the fierceness of this water attack; he leaped to the left to elude while his left hand still holding Guo Jing’s wrist tight. The water hit the cabin’s wall and splashed to all direction. Ouyang Ke loudly called out in alarm because Hong Qigong had grabbed the back of his head.
Hong Qigong laughed out loud, “Old Poison, you always want to kill me by any means possible, fortunately the Heaven won’t allow that to happen!”
Ouyang Feng saw his nephew had fallen into Hong Qigong’s hand so he smiled and said, “Qi Xiong, are you going to challenge me again? It won’t be too late if we wait till we are ashore.”
“I see you like my disciple very much that you won’t let his hand go,” Hong Qigong laughed.
“I made a bet with the Old Urchin and I won, didn’t I?” Ouyang Feng asked, “You are our witness, are you not? Let me ask you this: The Old Urchin did not keep his word, did he?”
Hong Qigong repeatedly nodded his head in answer to his questions, “That’s correct. Where is the Old Urchin?”
Guo Jing was grieved, he shouted, “Big Brother Zhou was … he was forced to jump into the sea and die!”
Hong Qigong was startled, with Ouyang Ke still in his grip he jumped out of the cabin, looked to all direction, but all he saw was the billows rolled, did not see even Zhou Botong’s shadow.
Ouyang Feng with Guo Jing still in his grip also walked out to the deck. Loosening up his grip he said, “Guo Xianzhi, your skill is still very far from adequate. You let others grab your hand without you able to do anything. Go and learn ten more years from your master, then you can roam the Jianghu again.”
Guo Jing was worried about Zhou Botong’s safety, so he ignored his derogatory remark and climbed the mast, looking at all directions.
Hong Qigong lifted Ouyang Ke up and tossed him toward Ouyang Feng. He shouted, “Old Poison, you forced the Old Urchin to his death, the Quan Zhen people will deal with you. Your martial art may be profound, but I don’t believe you’ll survive the Quan Zhen Seven’s besiege.”
Ouyang Ke did not wait until his body touched the deck, his right hand pushed the deck and he somersault to an upright position; secretly cursed, “Stinky beggar! By this time tomorrow you will crawl in front of me, begging me to save your life.”
Listening to Hong Qigong’s remark Ouyang Feng simply smiled faintly, “I am afraid you won’t be able to witness this when it happens.”
“Very well!” Hong Qigong said, “Until that time I am going to use my dog beating stick to beat some wet dogs.”
Ouyang Feng raised his hands to salute then entered the cabin.
After looking around for a while without seeing anything Guo Jing got back down to the deck and told his master how Ouyang Feng had forced him to rewrite the manual. Hong Qigong nodded without saying anything, he quietly pondered, “Once the Old Poison set his mind, he won’t easily let go. Before he gets hold of the manual he will entangle my disciple continually.”
Guo Jing remembered Zhou Botong’s death, he cried mournfully. Hong Qigong was also grieving. He knew the boat was sailing fast to the west, so within two days they were going to reach land. He was afraid Ouyang Feng would poison their food, so he went to the kitchen and plundered some dishes and plenty of rice; and after eating it with Guo Jing he nodded his head and snored.
Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew waited until the afternoon of the next day, practically sixteen, eighteen hours had passed, yet they have not heard Hong Qigong and his disciple made any noise. Ouyang Feng was afraid his poison was too strong for them and killed them. Killing Hong Qigong was not a big deal, but killing Guo Jing meant the Nine Yin Manual would be lost forever. Secretly he took a peek through a crack on the door, only to see two people were sitting comfortably and chatting amiably; Hong Qigong’s voice was loud and clear. Ouyang Feng was enraged, “Looked like the Old Beggar was alert. They aren’t poisoned at all.” His poison collection was vast, but in order to poison Hong Qigong without harming Guo Jing, he had to think of some better plan.
Hong Qigong was telling Guo Jing the ins and outs of the Beggar Clan; that although they begged for a living, actually every member had the responsibility to uphold justice, to help those in distress, to follow their predecessors’ good deeds, not the bad ones. These facts were mostly hidden from the public eyes. He further talked about the election procedure of the Beggar Clan Leader when the time comes to find a successor. “It’s a pity you don’t like being a beggar,” he said, “Otherwise you have a perfect character to be a leader; there is no one inside the clan superior to you. I’d really like to bestow the ‘da gou bang’ [dog beating stick] to you.” While they were still chatting suddenly there came banging noise from outside, it sounded like a hatchet or a chisel hitting the wall.
Hong Qigong jumped in alarm, “Not good! This stinky snake is going to sink the boat,” he cried out. Rushing toward the door he shouted to Guo Jing, “Quickly go to the small life boat at the back!” He was just finished shouting when with a loud crash a big hole appeared on the wooden partition, followed by loud hissing noise; it was not seawater came rushing in, but dozens of venomous snakes.
“The Old Poison’s snake attack!” Hong Qigong mocked; his right hand swept, scattering dozens of steel needles. Dozens of snakes were nailed onto the wooden deck; with loud hissing noise their bodies coiled and were not able to move anymore.
“Rong’er is very good at this scattering needles technique, yet compared to Master she still falls far short,” Guo Jing thought.
By that time dozens more snakes coming through the hole in the wall. Hong Qigong kept shooting steel needles and more and more snakes were nailed to the floor. A wooden whistle sound was still heard outside, and more and more snakes were driven into the cabin.
Hong Qigong shot more and more needles, “The Old Poison sends all these target for me to practice my martial art skill, truly it is a rare opportunity,” he said. But when he put his hand into his pocket to grab some more needles he was startled since only a few left. Secretly he was alarmed seeing the snakes kept coming continuously. He was thinking hard on what to do next when suddenly a loud crash was heard and the wall behind him fell down; a palm was swiftly moving toward his back.
Guo Jing was standing beside his master, but suddenly heard the swift and fierce wind he turned around and using both hands he blocked the sneak attack. The incoming attack was so strong that he felt his stomach turned upside down and he almost passed out.
Having his attack unexpectedly blocked Ouyang Feng uttered a cry of surprise. He stepped back a little bit and then horizontally hacked with the back of his hand.
Guo Jing knew this attack would be hard to defend, so with his left palm he parried the attack, while his right hand launched a counterattack toward Ouyang Feng’s side, forcing him to withdraw. Ouyang Feng did not dare to take Guo Jing’s palm on his side, so he ducked while sending out a hand in chopping motion toward Guo Jing’s lower body.
Guo Jing was aware that the situation was very critical. The snakes would keep coming in as long as Ouyang Feng could control the entrance; his master and he would be in grave danger. Therefore, he gritted his teeth and to the utmost of his ability using one hand to fend off the incoming attacks while with the other hand tried to send counterattacks. When his left defend his right hand attack, when his right hand void his left hand solid; following Zhou Botong’s technique of mutual hands combat.
Ouyang Feng had never seen this mutual hands combat technique before, so he was confused for a moment, giving Guo Jing a chance to send several stances. Talking about true martial art skill, Ouyang Feng was still twice as superior to Guo Jing; only this mutual hands combat technique was so strange to him and it took him by surprise, so Guo Jing was able to gain an upper hand for a while. But the Western Poison Ouyang Feng had enjoyed his title for dozens of years; he was a great martial art master, so he was confused only for a short while but soon had thought of a method to deal with this strange technique. “Ugh!” with a loud grunt both his palms shot forward.
Guo Jing would not be able to block this attack single handedly, he was forced to step back, but behind him a flock of snakes was heard hissing loudly.
“Wonderful, wonderful!” Hong Qigong shouted loudly, “Old poison, you can’t even defeat my disciple; how can you flaunt yourself as a great hero?” With ‘fei long zai tian’ [the dragon flies to the sky] he leaped over both Ouyang Feng and Guo Jing’s heads, toward Ouyang Ke. With one kick he knocked Ouyang Ke down. Hong Qigong then used his elbow and struck Ouyang Ke somersaulting toward Ouyang Feng’s back. Ouyang Feng leaned sideways to avoid his nephew, and because of that Guo Jing was freed from his vicious attack.
“Master’s martial art skill is in par with his, while his nephew’s is below mine; plus, he is wounded. So by two against two, we would certainly win,” Guo Jing thought. His spirit rose, and with renewed vigor his hands and feet attacked Ouyang Feng like a violent storm.
While violently fighting the enemy Hong Qigong opened his eyes wide to all directions. He saw dozens of snakes were approaching Guo Jing’s back; ready to strike. Once Guo Jing got bitten he would certainly die. Hong Qigong anxiously called out, “Jing’er, get out of here, quick!” He increased the intensity of his attack toward Ouyang Feng; forcing him to withdraw from Guo Jing.
Ouyang Feng faced attacks from both his front and rear; he felt quite strenuous. Hong Qigong’s attack had forced him to lean sideways, thus giving Guo Jing an opportunity to dash out of the cabin while Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong were engaged in a fierce battle again.
In the meantime hundreds of snakes crawling around the deck had surrounded the two of them. “Fighting with pets as your helper? You are shameless!” Hong Qigong mocked, but in his heart he was anxious, since the snakes were countless; they were everywhere. With the dog beating stick in his right hand he crushed dozens of snake’s heads; pulling Guo Jing’s hand they headed for the mast.
Ouyang Feng was secretly alarmed, “Not good! If these two leap to the mast they will be unreachable for a while.” He flew to block them.
Hong Qigong’s both palms made a ferocious chopping motion with a roaring gust of wind. Ouyang Feng’s fist swept horizontally to parry. Guo Jing stepped forward to help his master, but Hong Qigong called out, “Just go to the mast, quick!”
“I want to kill his nephew to avenge Big Brother Zhou,” Guo Jing replied.
“Snake! Snake!” Hong Qigong urgently warned him.
Guo Jing saw vipers all around him slithering about; he did not dare to linger much longer. With the back of his hand he caught Ouyang Ke’s ‘fei yan yin suo’ [lit. flying swallow silver shuttle]; leaping dozens of feet high, his left hand grasped the mast. At that very moment he heard the wind of an incoming projectile, so he shot the ‘yin suo’ in his hand and with a loud clang, two projectiles met midair; both changed direction toward the side of the boat and fell down to the sea. Guo Jing moved his hands and feet and in a short while he had reached the middle of the mast.
Ouyang Feng knew Hong Qigong also want to go up the mast so he intensified his attacks. Even though Hong Qigong was able to hold his ground steadily he could not move toward the mast.
Guo Jing saw the snakes crowding around his master’s feet he was very anxious; with a loud shout he wrapped his legs around the mast and bent his body down. Hong Qigong understood his intention; his left foot kicked the deck, his right foot flew toward Ouyang Feng’s face while extending his dog beating stick toward Guo Jing. Guo Jing grabbed the end of his stick and flung it up. Hong Qigong’s body flew to the air. With a long laughter Hong Qigong’s left hand caught the mast above Guo Jing. This way these two were high in the air looking down to their opponents; thus occupying a superior position.
Ouyang Feng knew that if he climbed the mast he would certainly be at a disadvantage, so he called out loudly, “Very well! We lost this time. Turn the rudder to the east!” With an abrupt turn the boat was sailing to the east.
From high above the deck with their feet on the mast Hong Qigong and Guo Jing saw the snakes were very dense on the deck. Hong Qigong sat comfortably on the sail yardarm; his mouth loudly sang the ‘lian hua luo’ [falling lotus flower], the song beggars sang when begging for food. His face showed complacency, but actually his heart was very anxious. “How long can we stay on this mast?” he wondered, “Even if the Old Poison won’t chop it down we still can’t go down if he did not withdraw the snakes. The two of them can drink wine and sleep, but all the two of us can do up here is eating wind and urinate. That’s it!” As soon as he remembered urinating, he stood up, pulled his pants down and scattered his urine down to the snakes. “Jing’er,” he shouted, “Let those scoundrels drink your urine to their hearts’ content.”
Guo Jing still had his childish character; he followed his master’s instruction while shouting happily, “Please! Be my guests!” Both master and disciple sent their urine down.
“Get the snakes out of here! Quick!” Ouyang Feng barked while at the same time leaped several steps back. He moved so fast that Hong and Guo’s urine did not touch his body. Ouyang Ke, on the other hand, was startled to hear his uncle’s anxious call; some urine drops splashed on his face and neck. He was a neat and clean person, so naturally he was indignant, but suddenly remembered, “Our snakes fear urine!”
Amidst the wooden whistle sound the snakes slowly flocked away, but dozens of them closest to the mast were already drenched in urine. These vipers were all hybridized from the snake valley in the western region where the Mount White Camel was; their toxicity was really fierce. Ouyang Feng had used big bamboo baskets hanging in between several hundreds pairs of camels to transport these vipers thousands of miles to the Central Plains with the intention of using them as weapons to dominate the Wulin world. Only the snakes were afraid of human’s excrements. As soon as they were wet they started to turn around and coil in confusion, biting each other so the snake shepherds were totally unable to control them.
Hong Qigong and Guo Jing laughed very hard seeing this chaotic situation they have caused. Guo Jing thought, “If Big Brother Zhou saw this I am sure he would be very happy. Ay! A martial art expert of this age had to die in the sea. With their level of martial art skills Island Master Huang and the Old Poison were still drenched in his urine; while my master’s and my urine did not even touch the Old Poison.”
About four hours later the sky gradually turned dark. The boat crew prepared some banquet tables on the deck; meat and wine flowed freely, the sweet smelling aroma drifted upward attacking Hong Qigong and Guo Jing’s nostrils. Ouyang Feng was really shrewd, how could a glutton like Hong Qigong endure this kind of torture? The gourd on Hong Qigong’s back was empty only a short while later.
That night Hong Qigong and Guo Jing took turn for the night watch duty. On the deck below them the crew lighted up dozens of lanterns, while a flock of snakes staying guard around the mast. They really did not have any chance to break up this formidable defense; certainly they could not urinate all the time.
Hong Qigong cursed Ouyang Feng’s ancestors up to 18 generations, with all the fabricated scandals he could think of, adding some spices to make the scandals more dramatic; but Ouyang Feng did not even go out of his cabin. Hong Qigong cursed until his lips were tired and finally he fell asleep.
Early the next morning Ouyang Feng sent a servant to shout loudly under the mast, “Hong Bangzhu, Guo Xiaoye [Clan Leader Hong, Young Master Guo], Master Ouyang has prepared a superb wine and banquet for you to enjoy; please come down and enjoy it.”
“You go and invite Ouyang Feng to come out, we will serve him our urine!” Hong Qigong shot back.
Not long afterward the banquet table was ready under the mast. The foods were steaming hot, looked like they were fresh out from the kitchen. They prepared two chairs on each side of the table; it appeared they were waiting for Hong Qigong and Guo Jing to come down and enjoy their banquet.
Several times Hong Qigong wanted to slide down the mast and plunder the food, but he knew they must be poisoned, so he had no choice but restrain himself. He was so upset and starting his ‘your mother is a b*ch’ and ‘you are a male dog with bird’s brain’ series of cursing.
On the third day these two people were so hungry and thirsty that their heads started to spin. “If only my female disciple is here,” Hong Qigong sighed, “She is so smart that I am sure she will come out with something to counter the Old Poison’s tactic. All we, master and disciple, can do is just staring and swallow our own saliva.” Guo Jing also sighed.
About noon that day the sun was shining very bright. Suddenly Guo Jing saw two white dots on the horizon. He thought they were a couple of white clouds, but the dots moved way too fast for a cloud. They flew closer and getting bigger and bigger, uttering a loud cry. Turned out they were two white eagles. Guo Jing was ecstatic; he formed a hook with his left fingers and put it in his mouth, whistling repeatedly.
The eagles circled above the boat several times before diving down and perched on Guo Jing’s shoulders. They were indeed the pair of eagles Guo Jing had raised in the Mongolian desert. “Master, could it be Rong’er is sailing this way?” he happily asked.
“That would be wonderful!” Hong Qigong replied, “Too bad these eagles are too small, won’t be able to carry us master and disciple out of here. We are stuck here, at loss of what to do. Quickly tell her to come over here and think of something.”
Guo Jing took out his dagger and cut two pieces about five inches square from the sail and carved out two characters ‘you nan’ [lit. have trouble], and a picture of a gourd. [I don’t know how Guo Jing carve a piece of cloth with his dagger, but that’s what written] Then he strapped those pieces, one on each white eagle’s leg, and said, “Quickly fly back and get Miss Huang to come here.” The white eagles made some chirping sound, stretched their wings, and flew from Guo Jing’s shoulders. They circled the boat once then flew toward the west.
About an hour after the white eagles left, Ouyang Feng again tried to entice Hong Qigong and Guo Jing to come down the mast by preparing another banquet table, loaded with food and wine. Hong Qigong was indignant, “The Old Beggar is a glutton and the Old Poison is using this dirty trick to torture me. I practice martial art my whole life, but I have to admit my spiritual strength is rather lacking. Jing’er, what do you say we go down and beat them up real good?”
“The white eagles have already delivered our letter; I believe the situation will change very soon. Please be patient and wait a little bit longer,” Guo Jing replied.
Hong Qigong smiled. A while later he asked, “Among the world’s bad aroma, what do you say is the worst?”
“I don’t know. What is it?” Guo Jing replied.
“There was one time I had to wander way up north. I was caught in a heavy snowstorm for eight days without any food; not even a squirrel could be found. I wanted to eat tree bark, yet I couldn’t find any either. Randomly I dug around the snow-covered ground and was lucky to find five living things, so I could extend my life another day. The next day I found a yellow wolf and was able to satisfy my hunger.”
“What were those five living things?” Guo Jing asked.
“They were earthworms, fat and juicy earthworms. I just swallow them alive, did not even dare to chew,” Hong Qigong replied.
Guo Jing recalled how the slimy earthworms wiggle, he almost threw-up. Hong Qigong laughed heartily. He intentionally talked about the world’s dirtiest and smelliest things to battle the aroma from food and wine below them. He talked some more and cursed some more, before finally said, “Jing’er, the Old Beggar has eaten earthworms, but there is something even more disgusting than they that the Old Beggar would rather eat my own toes than eating that thing. Do you know what it is?”
Guo Jing smiled, “I know! It’s dung!” he exclaimed.
Hong Qigong shook his head, “No, it is dirtier that that.” He let Guo Jing made some more guesses before bursting out in laughter, “I’ll tell you what it is; the world’s dirtiest and most disgusting thing is the Western Poison Ouyang Feng!”
“Right! Right!” Guo Jing also burst in laughter.
After suffering the whole afternoon, that evening Ouyang Ke came out and stood amidst his flock of vipers. He smiled and said, “Uncle Hong, Brother Guo, my uncle wants to borrow the Nine Yin Manual just to take a look, nothing else.”
Hong Qigong cursed under his breath, “Son of a bitch, what a good intention he has!” In his anger suddenly an idea came into his head; but he kept a straight face and shouted loud and clear, “Little Rascal, the old man admits defeat to your dog-like uncle’s evil scheme. Quickly prepare some food and wine, we’ll talk again tomorrow.”
Ouyang Ke was delighted; he knew Hong Qigong’s word was like a mountain, he certainly would live up to his promise, so he gave the command to withdraw the snakes immediately. Hong Qigong and Guo Jing slid down the mast and went into the cabin; where Ouyang Ke’s servants delivered all kind of food and wine. As soon as the door was closed Hong Qigong immediately drank half a pot of wine; ripping half a chicken and started to chew.
“Are these food and wine free of poison?” Guo Jing asked with a low voice.
“Stupid kid,” Hong Qigong said, “That bird brain wants you to write down the manual, he won’t harm your life just yet. Quickly eat as much as you can, we have things to discuss afterward.” Guo Jing silently agreed, in one breath he ate four big bowls of rice.
After eating and drinking to his heart’s content Hong Qigong used the end of his sleeve to wipe his greasy mouth, then whispered in Guo Jing’s ear, “The Old Poison wants the ‘jiu yin zhen jing’ [Nine Yin Manual] from you, you write a ‘jiu yin jia jing’ [Nine Yin Altered Manual] for him.”
Guo Jing was puzzled, “Nine Yin Altered Manual?” he asked in a low voice.
[Translator’s note: jiu yin zhen jing – nine ‘yin’ (negative/female/moon – as opposed to ‘yang’ – positive/male/sun) divine/holy scripture; jiu yin jia jing – nine yin fake/imitation/not the real thing scripture. The term ‘Nine Yin Manual’ has been widely used, so let’s just use that; otherwise we’ll have to change every reference to it, not only in this novel, but in RoCH and HSDS as well]
Hong Qigong smiled, “That’s right!” he said. “In this whole wide world, you are the only one who knows the Nine Yin Manual. Whatever you want to write, just write. Who is going to say that what you write is not the real manual? Intentionally you alter and mix up the sentences, let him use that to train himself in martial art. I am sure even if he practices for a hundred years he won’t master even one fart!”
Guo Jing was delighted, he thought, “This is a really clever trick; the Old Poison will surely fall for it.” But then he remembered something, “Ouyang Feng’s martial art is profound; he is also crafty and vigilant, if disciple just scribbles some nonsense, he will find out eventually, then what?” he asked.
“You have to write something that appeared right but actually wrong,” Hong Qigong explained, “Write three correct sentences then alter the fourth one. Add or subtract some numbers, for example, if the manual says you need to do it eight times, change it to six or perhaps ten. As smart as he is, he will never find it out. I am willing to spend seven days and seven nights without food or wine just to see him training from this fake manual.” Speaking to this point he could not restrain his smile.
Guo Jing also laughed, “If he really practice according to the altered manual, not only he will waste his time and energy, but he could suffer some internal injury as well,” he said.
“Now quickly think carefully how you are going to alter the manual; once he is suspicious, our plan will be foiled,” Hong Qigong said with a smile; then he added, “The content of the second volume had been read and rewritten by Huang Yaoshi’s wife, moreover, that little rascal had read it on the Peach Blossom Island; hence this part you can’t change too much, just add some incorrect words here and there; I am sure that little rascal won’t know the difference.”
Guo Jing silently recited the manual in his head, trying to think which sentences he could alter, where he could insert some misleading sentences. He replaced hold with move, above with below, and other simple altering that did not require him to recompose the whole sentence; in short, he was following his master’s instruction to make subtle changes every where in the manual. For example, he changed the sentence ‘hand and mind toward the sky’ to ‘foot and buttock toward the sky’; or ‘feet firmly on the ground’ into ‘hands lightly moving on the ground’. On the internal energy cultivation he changed ‘concentrate ‘qi’ in the pubic region (dan tian)’ into ‘concentrate ‘qi’ in the chest and throat’.
While thinking about all these changes he could not restrain from heaving a heavy sigh and said in his heart, “Playing practical jokes like this is Rong’er and Big Brother Zhou’s delight. It’s a pity that one is nowhere near, the other is already died. Someday I will see Rong’er again, but I will never be able to tell this story to Big Brother Zhou.”
Early morning on the next day Hong Qigong called Ouyang Ke and proudly told him, “The Old Beggar’s martial art is already unique; I don’t need to see all kinds of Nine Yin Manual. As a matter of fact, even if you show the manual in front of my face I won’t even cast a glance to it. Only some bird brain whose martial art is useless would be dying to steal all kinds of gold and silver [play of words here: shen jing – divine scripture, shen jin – pure gold, shen yin – pure silver]. Tell your dog uncle that the manual will be written just for him. Tell him to shut himself up and train hard; and when he’s done, to come to the Old Beggar to test his newfound skill. The Manual naturally is a good thing, but I don’t want to look at it even with one eye. I want to see if with the Manual’s help he would be able to defeat the Old Beggar. I want to see whether after he has painstakingly practiced the martial arts from the manual he wouldn’t just ‘ban jin ba liang’ [the same, equal to] with the Old Beggar? I’ll say he’s just taking off his pants to fart; totally useless!”
Ouyang Feng was actually standing behind his cabin door, so he heard everything, but he was delighted instead of getting angry. “It’s a very good thing the Old Beggar is very proud, he doesn’t mind letting me have the manual,” he thought, “Otherwise, even if I fight him, threaten him with snakes or poison, or I starve him to death, it would still be difficult to force him.”
“Uncle Hong, you are wrong!” Ouyang Ke said, “My Uncle’s martial art has reached perfection. With Uncle Hong’s ability, you could not gain even half a move advantage; so why would Uncle want to learn the Nine Yin Manual? My Uncle once told Little Nephew that he is convinced the Nine Yin Manual had enjoyed undeserved reputation. Otherwise, when Wang Chongyang won the book, why didn’t he learn anything from it and demonstrate it in front of everybody? My Uncle wants to take a look at it to point out the errors and prove that the manual is actually a hoax. Wouldn’t you say that it will benefit the Wulin world tremendously?”
Hong Qigong burst out in laughter, “You are blindly blowing your horn too hard!” he mocked. “Jing’er, go ahead and write the manual from your memory. If the Old Poison can point out any error in the Nine Yin Manual, the Old Beggar will kowtow to him.”
Guo Jing said yes and came out. Ouyang Ke led him to the big cabin where there was a stack of paper and some ink stick; he even prepared the ink himself and respectfully waited on the side.
Guo Jing’s school years were not too many, his handwriting was shoddy; oftentimes he had to think the characters he had to write; so he worked very slowly. More than once he did not know how to write certain character, so he had to ask Ouyang Ke to write it for him. Working until noon that day he barely finished the first half of the first volume.
Ouyang Feng did not show himself at all, but every time Guo Jing finished writing a page Ouyang Ke would take that page and gave it to his uncle. Ouyang Feng looked at them carefully. Some sentences did not make any sense to him, but even though shoddy, the characters were clear. He thought those sentences must have very deep meaning behind them, so when he’s back to the west he would slowly digest the manual. He believed with his intelligence and ability he would eventually understand the manual thoroughly; and after a dozen of years or so he would master the entire martial arts from the manual. He could not help but feeling elated. He knew Guo Jing was dumb, he also noticed Guo Jing’s handwriting was so plain and naïve, almost child-like. He believed this kind of person would not be able to fabricate a complex manual such as this one. Besides, his nephew had told him that many characters Guo Jing knew the sounds, but did not know how to write, so his nephew had to teach him or write the characters himself, so without a doubt this was the real manual. How would he know that this dumb kid had conspired with his master to deliberately alter the manual and so deceive him? As for the confusing sentences, he blamed that on Guo Jing’s inability to remember the text correctly.
Guo Jing did not stop writing even though the sky had turned dark; he had finished more than half of the second volume. Ouyang Feng did not allow him to return to his cabin for fear that Hong Qigong would influence him to change his mind and make things difficult for him. Even though he had already had most of the manual in his hands; he wanted to have the complete manual. So he arranged for a sumptuous meal and wine to be brought to Guo Jing, let Guo Jing continue to write without interruption.
Hong Qigong waited until about the end of the eleventh hour, early twelfth hour [about 9 pm] but did not see Guo Jing came back. He felt queasy, afraid that Ouyang Feng had discovered their scheme and his dumb disciple might suffer the worst. He sneaked out of his cabin and quietly walked toward the main cabin. There were two snake shepherds stood guard in front of the main cabin. Hong Qigong sent his left palm forward creating a gust of wind making the sail rope moved. Those two snake shepherds heard the noise and looked around while Hong Qigong had already moved to the right. His movement was so quick that those two did not see anything; they thought it was a ghost or something. Very soon Hong Qigong was at the starboard of the main cabin.
Hong Qigong could see a faint glow coming out of the main cabin’s window. He took a peek inside and saw Guo Jing was still crouching on the desk, writing. Two white-dressed maidens stood beside him, busily serving tea or lighting some incense or replenishing some papers or preparing some more ink. Guo Jing was well taken care of. Hong Qigong was relieved; but then his nostrils caught a scent of the wine. He fixed his gaze for a long time and saw in front of Guo Jing a cup of amber brown aged wine, the color is almost rouge, the sweet fragrant attacking his nose mercilessly.
Hong Qigong secretly cursed, “The Old Poison is very stingy, just because my disciple writes for him he serves the best wine to entertain him, while for the Old Beggar he only serves insipid cheap wine.” He was the world’s number one glutton and drunkard; seeing his disciple with this kind of excellent wine, how could he restrain himself from wanting some of that wine? “The Old Poison must have stored the good wine in the boat’s hold downstairs; I am going to drink for his happiness, then replace the wine with my urine, let him taste the Old Beggar’s own brewed urine wine. Compared to what the Old Beggar and his disciple went through with the sharks, his drinking of some urine in his wine won’t be too bad, at least he won’t die because of it.”
Having this thought he could not help but smile; stealing wine and food was the skill he most proud of. Once he spent three whole months inside the imperial palace in Lin An; he hid on a beam in the imperial kitchen, he had tasted practically every single food and wine that was supposed to be served to the emperor. The imperial palace was heavily guarded, yet he was able to come and go like there were no other people there. Stealing food and wine from a boat’s kitchen certainly would not give him any trouble.
Immediately he looked for the steps that would lead him downstairs, and after making sure nobody was watching he carefully went downstairs, relying on his nose to find where the food supply was. The hold was pitch black, but Hong Qigong’s nose was able to smell food from a mile away. Slowly he walked along the wall, lighted his torch just to see six, seven wooden barrels piled up in the corner. Hong Qigong was delighted; he extinguished the fire after picking up a broken bowl he found laying around and put it back in his pocket. He walked groping around toward the barrel and tried to lift one up. The barrel was very heavy, it could contain anything.
His left hand he found the plug, while his right hand placed the bowl under it. He was about to pull the plug when suddenly his sensitive ears heard some footsteps. It looked like there were two people walking toward the hold. Their steps were nimble, so Hong Qigong knew they were Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew since nobody on board had that kind of ability. He thought those two came to the boat hold late at night, they must have some evil intentions, like poisoning the food to harm others; so he shrunk his body and hid curled up among the barrels.
He heard the door opened quietly, a flame flashed, and two people walked in; they stopped right in front of the barrels. Hong Qigong’s heart skipped a beat, “Are they going to poison the wine?” he wondered in his heart; but what he heard next turned his heart cold.
“Have you placed oil, firewood and sulfur in each cabin?” he heard Ouyang Feng asked.
Ouyang Ke laughed, “Everything is ready, as soon as we start the fire this boat will turn into ashes and the stinky Beggar will be scorched to death instantly.”
“They are going to burn the boat?” Hong Qigong was shocked.
“We must wait a little bit longer,” Ouyang Feng said, “As soon as that kid surnamed Guo falls asleep you go first to the life boat; just be really careful not to wake the Old Beggar up. I’ll come over here and light up the fire.”
“What are we going to do with those maidservants and the snake shepherds?” Ouyang Ke asked.
“The stinky Beggar is a great master of this age; it’s worthy of his reputation to sacrifice some people to accompany him in his death,” Ouyang Feng coldly said.
While still talking their hands did not stay idle, they unplug the barrel and the smell of oil attacked Hong Qigong’s nose. Turned out the barrels were full of vegetable oils. Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew also took some sulfur from a stack of wooden boxes, some firewood and sacks of wood shavings from the shelves, and scattered them on the floor.
Not too long afterward they have finished their job and turned around to go out when Ouyang Ke laughed and said, “Uncle, in less than 12 hours that kid surnamed Guo will be buried in the sea; the only person who knows the Nine Yin Manual will be just you, Senior.”
“No, there will be two. Won’t I pass it on to you?” Ouyang Feng replied. Ouyang Ke was delighted; he pushed the door closed with the back of his hand.
Hong Qigong was furious and shocked at the same time, he thought if there was no ghost or spirit telling him to steal some wine how would he found out these two people’s treacherous plan? If the boat was suddenly on fire, how would he escape the disaster? After could not hear the footsteps of those two anymore, he carefully sneaked out and went back to his own cabin. Guo Jing had already gone back and was sleeping soundly on the bed. He was about to wake him up and discuss what they were going to do when suddenly there was a slight rustling noise outside the door. He knew it must be Ouyang Feng trying to see if they were sound asleep, so he pretended to talk in his sleep, “Good wine! Good wine! I want ten more pots!”
Ouyang Feng was startled, at first he thought the Old Beggar was still awake, drinking wine, but then Hong Qigong cried out loud again, “Old Poison, let us fight for another thousand stances … (giggling) … Good boy! That was awesome!”
Standing outside the door Ouyang Feng listened to him speaking nonsense, he was confused, but then realized that Hong Qigong was talking in his sleep. “This stinky Beggar’s death is imminent, yet he still drinks and fights in his dream,” he thought.
With his mouth Hong Qigong talked nonsense, but with his ears he listened attentively. Ouyang Feng’s lightness kungfu was superb, but Hong Qigong was still able to hear him walking toward the port side of the boat. Hong Qigong put his mouth on Guo Jing’s ear and lightly shook his shoulder, “Jing’er!” he whispered.
“Mmm!” Guo Jing awoke.
“Just follow my lead, don’t ask any question,” Hong Qigong said urgently, “Get out quietly, make sure nobody’s watching you.”
Guo Jing rolled over and crawled quietly toward the door. Hong Qigong silently opened the door and tugging Guo Jing’s sleeve they moved toward the starboard. He was afraid they would be detected by Ouyang Feng; so instead of jumping out he climbed over the edge. With his left hand hanging on the edge his right hand pulled Guo Jing along; both of them hanging outside the boat’s side. Guo Jing felt strange, but did not dare to make any noise. Hong Qigong slowly released his hands from the edge and quietly crawled downward; keeping his eyes on Guo Jing for fear that the boat was too slippery for him, that if he should fall, he would surely make noise.
The boat was smoothly painted, plus, it was wet. Secondly, they were going downward, where the boat was sloping toward the water; thirdly, the boat was moving above the waves that made the boat rocked; so climbing downward was truly not an easy matter. Luckily Guo Jing was trained by Ma Yu going up and down the cliff everyday in the desert; besides, his skill had been improved tremendously this past year or so. He would stick his fingers in between the wood plank, or grab the head of a nail, or find a crack somewhere; slowly but steadily going down.
Half of Hong Qigong’s body was already under water. He moved toward the stern, with Guo Jing following close behind. His target was the small life boat tied on a rope behind the boat. “Get on that boat!” he told Guo Jing. He loosened up his grip and separated his body from the big boat.
The big boat was traveling quite fast, so a second later Hong Qigong had grabbed the edge of the small boat. Swing his hands his body somersaulted and landed on the small boat without making any sound. When Guo Jing had followed his example he quietly said, “Cut off the rope.” Guo Jing took the dagger out and a moment later that small boat was floating freely on the ocean waves. Hong Qigong pulled the oar to give themselves some distance from the big boat. A moment later the big boat disappeared into the darkness.
Suddenly a flame was seen on the big boat’s stern, it came from the torch in Ouyang Feng’s hand. Ouyang Feng was heard shouting in alarm because the small life boat was nowhere to be seen. He sounded shocked, but also angry and afraid at the same time. Hong Qigong concentrated his ‘qi’ in the ‘dan tian’ region and let out a long laugh.
Out of nowhere another boat appeared, coming rapidly toward the starboard of the big boat. Hong Qigong wondered, “Uh, what boat is that?” Before he finished speaking a pair of white eagles came down from the sky, circling the big boat’s main sail. Someone dressed in white was seen leaving the incoming boat, leaping toward the big boat. Under the bright starlight above one could see a glimmer of golden hair band on her head. “Rong’er!” Guo Jing gasped.
The person who was just leaping onto the big boat was indeed Huang Rong. Just before leaving the Peach Blossom Island she saw the little red horse came galloping from the forest, she thought, “This little red horse is useless on the sea, but those two condors would actually be able to help me find Brother Jing.” Therefore, she whistled loudly to call the white eagles.
The eagles’ eyes are sharp, they can fly extremely fast. On this boundless sea they unexpectedly saw Guo Jing on the big boat. Huang Rong was alarmed, but also pleasantly surprised to find the ‘in danger’ message Guo Jing tied on the eagles’ leg; immediately she let the eagles soar to the sky and steered the boat following them. Eventually her boat caught up with the big boat, but she was a little bit too late, Hong Qigong and Guo Jing had already left the big boat.
Huang Rong had never forgotten the ‘in danger’ message she got earlier, she was afraid she might be too late; hence as soon as the eagles circled above this boat, she ordered her crew to sail alongside the big boat. As soon as the distance was manageable with a butterfly steel projectile in her hand she leaped to the big boat, only to see Ouyang Ke was pacing around nervously, like an ant on a hot pot.
“Where is Guo Jing?” Huang Rong shouted, “What did you do to him?”
Ouyang Feng had lighted the fire in the hold and was going to escape using the small life boat when suddenly he saw the boat was gone. His perspiration came down his forehead like beads or pearl when he heard Hong Qigong’s loud and long laughter. He silently cursed his own stupidity because instead of harming others he had harmed himself; of course he was very anxious. But suddenly Huang Rong arrived on a boat, he rushed to grab this opportunity, “Quickly seize that boat!” he shouted.
Who would have thought that the crews of Huang Rong’s boat were all deaf and mute servants from the island. As long as Huang Rong was on board, they followed her commands out of fear, but as soon as Huang Rong left the boat, immediately they turned the boat around, hoisted the sail and escaped as far as they could.
Not long after Hong Qigong and Guo Jing saw Huang Rong jumped onto the big boat, the fire from the hold was starting to reach the deck. Guo Jing did not know what happened yet, he called out in alarm, “Fire! Fire!”
“That’s right,” Hong Qigong said, “The Old Poison set the boat on fire to burn the two of us, master and disciple to death.”
Guo Jing had a blank expression on his face, he busily said, “We must save Rong’er!”
“Let’s go back to the boat!” Hong Qigong said. With all his might Guo Jing pulled the oar. That big boat was also changed its direction to approach the small life boat. The deck was full of male snake shepherds and female maidservants running around chaotically, shouting for help. Hong Qigong had to raise his voice to be heard, “Rong’er! Jing’er and I are here! Quickly swim over! Quick!”
On the sea the mighty waves rolled, the night was dark, so it was very dangerous to swim; but Hong Qigong knew Huang Rong’s water skill was excellent and also it was a critical moment so he was compelled to take this risk.
Huang Rong heard her master’s voice, she was delighted. No longer paying attention toward Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew she rushed to the boat’s side and jumped into the water below. But suddenly she felt something was holding her back. Huang Rong turned her head in great surprise to see her right wrist in Ouyang Feng’s hand. “Let me go!” she shouted, sending her left fist toward Ouyang Feng’s face; as a result, both of her wrists were in Ouyang Feng’s hands.
Ouyang Feng saw the boat that brought Huang Rong had already gone far away, too far for them to pursue; while the big boat they were on was already ablazed; the main mast was burnt and was about to fall down; the deck was extremely chaotic, the boat would sink any minute. His only hope right now was the small life boat in Hong Qigong’s control; so he loudly shouted, “Stinky Beggar! Miss Huang is in my hand; do you see her?” He lifted Huang Rong high in the air.
By that time the sea was bright red with the fire from the boat. Hong Qigong and Guo Jing could see her clearly. Hong Qigong was very indignant, “Again he is using a dirty trick to get this boat. Humph! I am going the get Rong’er back.”
Guo Jing saw the boat was almost burnt down, “I am coming too!” he said.
“No! You stay and guard this boat, don’t let the Old Poison take it away,” Hong Qigong said.
“Yes!” Guo Jing said and exerted his strength to pull the oar. By that time the big boat was motionless on the sea surface, so with only several pulls they have come close to the big boat.
Hong Qigong kicked the small boat and his body flew toward the big boat. Stretching his left hand out he grabbed the boat’s edge with his strong fingers; and then catapulted his body upward and somersaulted toward the deck.
Ouyang Feng was still holding Huang Rong’s wrists; “Stinky Beggar, what do you want?” he said, smiling ferociously.
Hong Qigong cursed him, “Come! Let us fight another one thousands stances.” ‘Swish, swish, swish!’ He sent three palm attacks toward Ouyang Feng’s face. Ouyang Feng was shrewd; he pushed Huang Rong’s body forward as a shield, forcing Hong Qigong to retract his attacks. Ouyang Feng had sealed Huang Rong’s acupoint, so she was paralyzed.
Hong Qigong loudly shouted, “Old Poison, you are shameless! Quickly release her and let her go; you and I will fight here to decide victory or defeat.”
How could Ouyang Feng release his prisoner so easily? But he saw his nephew was continuously pushed backward by the fire, he threw Huang Rong toward him and called out, “Go to the small boat first!”
Ouyang Ke caught Huang Rong, then looked downward to see Guo Jing waiting on the small boat down below. He thought the small boat was really too small. If he jumped down carrying a person, he might cause the boat to turn upside down, so he found a thick rope. Tying it to the mast he used his right hand to slide down onto the small boat while holding Huang Rong with his left.
Guo Jing was relieved to see Huang Rong on the small boat; he did not know that Huang Rong’s acupoint was sealed. His attention was focused on his master and Ouyang Feng fought a fierce battle on the blazing deck. He was so worried about his master’s safety that his gaze was fixed on the fight and he forgot to speak to Huang Rong.
Both Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng demonstrated their excellence in martial arts; while leaping around to avoid falling wood and rope they attacked nd counterattacked each other. Hong Qigong had a slight advantage in that his body was still wet from swimming into the small boat earlier; while Ouyang Feng’s clothes and hair had caught a little bit of fire here and there.
Those two people’s martial arts were in par to begin with, a slight advantage was enough for Hong Qigong to gain an upper hand. Ouyang Feng was forced to step back bit by bit until his back was very close to the cabin, while his clothes and beard started to catch fire. He wanted to jump into the sea, but Hong Qigong did not give him any slack. If he tried to jump and thus divert his attention from the fight, he might be seriously wounded or even worse, dead. Ouyang Feng became very anxious and it seemed like defeat was imminent.
Hong Qigong also realized that he would certainly win this time, and that boost his confidence. But then another thought came into his mind, “If I forced him to enter the fire and die, that won’t do me any good. He has obtained the Nine Yin Altered Manual from Jing’er, he won’t die satisfied before he practice that manual. Why don’t I let him go this time?” Thereupon he laughed and said, “Old Poison, I let you go this time, quickly jump into the boat.”
Ouyang Feng looked at him strangely, then turning his body he jumped into the sea. Hong Qigong was about to follow when suddenly Ouyang Feng flew back up. “Hold on! Now my body is also wet; we are on a level ground. Let us fight again to decide victory or defeat.” Holding onto the boat’s edge he swung his body up and landed on the deck.
“Wonderful! Wonderful!” Hong Qigong said, “I have a satisfying fight today!” With him sending his fist forward, the two people were engaged in a fierce battle one more time.
“Rong’er, do you see how fierce the Old Poison is?” Guo Jing asked. Huang Rong’s acupoint was still sealed, so of course she was not able to answer. “Do you think I should go up there and help Master to come down here? The boat is about to sink,” Guo Jing said again. Still no answer from Huang Rong. Guo Jing turned his head to see Ouyang Ke was hugging Huang Rong; he became angry and shouted, “Take your hands off!”
It was with great difficulty that Ouyang Ke finally able to touch Huang Rong’s hands; how could he let go that easily? Smiling he said, “If you move, I am going to hack her brain out with my palm.”
Guo Jing did not even think, he swept the oar in his hand horizontally. Ouyang Ke ducked to avoid this attack, but Guo Jing sent his palm with a whistling sound toward his head. Ouyang Ke was forced to let Huang Rong go, he swung his head backward to avoid this attack. Guo Jing’s fists moved simultaneously, one downward, the other upward, both aimed toward Ouyang Ke’s head.
Ouyang Ke realized this small boat was not the best place to fight; while the enemy attacked fiercely. He stood up and sent a stance from his ‘ling she quan’ [spirit snake fist technique], his hand swept horizontally. Guo Jing extended his left arm to parry, but suddenly Ouyang Ke’s fist curved upward and turning into a palm slapped Guo Jing hard on his cheek.
This hit was really heavy, Guo Jing’s head was spinning because of it; but he realized the danger he was in, so he opened his eyes and saw the second attack was coming. Ouyang Ke’s movement resembled a wine gourd with two successive bends. Guo Jing avoided this attack by throwing his head backward while sending his right arm forward to counterattack. But because his head was moving backward, this attack of his was not effective. Luckily he had learned the mutual hands combat technique from Zhou Botong, so both his left and right hands could move independently of each other. This time his left hand followed his right with a different stance coming toward the opponent. Ouyang Ke’s hand was still coming toward Guo Jing, hence Guo Jing’s arms were surrounding his hand. With a crack sound Ouyang Ke’s bone was broken.
Actually Ouyang Ke’s martial art skill was not under Ma Yu, Wang Chuyi or Sha Tongtian. No matter which technique he used, he should be able to defeat Guo Jing in a fair battle. It was just that Guo Jing’s techniques were more bizarre than any other techniques he had seen that he fell under Guo Jing’s hands twice.
Ouyang Ke fell onto the small boat’s deck. Guo Jing did not pursue his opponent; he quickly took Huang Rong’s yielding body and unsealed her acupoint. Lucky for him when Ouyang Feng sealed her acupoint he did not use too much energy; he was trying to conserve his energy because he anticipated Hong Qigong’s attack, otherwise Guo Jing would not be able to unseal the Western Poison’s sealed acupoint.
Huang Rong came to her senses, “Quickly help Shifu!” she called out.
Guo Jing lifted up his head to see his master and Ouyang Feng were engaged in a close hand-to-hand combat like they were dancing around amidst the blazing fire. The sound of the wind generated by their movements was intermingled with the sound of burning and cracking and falling debris all over them. Suddenly a loud crack was heard, the boat’s body broke; the stern was slowly sinking into the sea and vanished into the dark water. The bow was lighter, but slowly it sank nonetheless. Guo Jing took his oar and started paddling to get the small boat closer with the intention of helping his master.
Hong Qigong’s feet got into the water first. His clothes had been dried out by the fire, while Ouyang Feng’s were still wet from the sea earlier; so this time the Western Poison gained an upper hand against the Northern Beggar. Hong Qigong did not want to surrender so easily, he fought with all his might. At that moment the main mast broke and fell down. Two people hurriedly jumped backwards so they were separated by a burning mast.
Ouyang Feng fetched his snake staff and jumped over the burning mast. Hong Qigong immediately drew the bamboo stick from his waist and fended off the attack. They were fighting barehanded ferociously before, so imagine how fierce the battle had become now that both were wielding weapons.
Guo Jing held the oar in his hands, ready to jump on board. He was very concerned about his master’s safety, yet watching two people’s wonderful weapon techniques he was carried away, clucking his tongue and praising unceasingly.
There was a saying among the martial arts practitioners, “A hundred days to master a blade, a thousand days to master a spear, ten thousand days to master a sword,” showing that sword technique was the most difficult to learn. However, when the martial artists had reached perfection each would develop his/her own unique skill; then the difference between various weapons would be minuscule. Twenty years ago during the Sword Meet of Mount Hua both Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng had already admired each other’s martial arts very much. Even using swords it was very difficult for them to defeat the other. Now both did not use any sword anymore.
Hong Qigong wield a bamboo stick which he carried anywhere he went, as a token of authority of his position as the Beggar Clan Leader. The bamboo was pliable but hard to break. Compared to a sword it was about one foot longer. His skill in external martial art was superb; he was able to impart an incredible strength to the flexible weapon in his hands, increasing its might tremendously.
Ouyang Feng’s snake staff was also unique in that he combined the cudgel, stick, and spear techniques; the movements were complicated. The staff head was carved in the form of a human head; its mouth grinned ferociously, looked very scary. Two rows of sharp teeth inside its mouth were covered with poison. The head danced around like a ghost ready to strike its victim. On top of that, there was a secret button on the staff that when pressed the head would shoot some poison toward the enemy. If those weren’t enough, fiercer still were the two snakes wrapped around the staff. They were alive and able to make unpredictable moves; very difficult to guard against.
Two people exchanged palms and weapons, unfolding their respective unique skill. Ouyang Feng had a slight advantage in term of weaponry, but Hong Qigong was the leader of beggars everywhere, and beggars were experts in catching snakes. His bamboo stick danced amidst the snake staff movements, parried every move that came his way but also took advantage of any opening in the opponent’s offensive line; striking the snake staff’s vital point. Ouyang Feng moved his staff very fast, to make it difficult for the opponent to have an accurate aim; he knew Hong Qigong meant to kill the snakes on his staff. He did not activate the secret device on his staff for fear that his reputation would be ruined.
Hong Qigong still had a unique skill set belonging to the Beggar Clan, namely the ‘da gou bang’ [Dog Beating Stick technique]; its changes were subtle yet marvelous, a very sophisticated stick technique. However, Hong Qigong did not want to use this special skill of his unless in an emergency situation. He was planning on using it on the second Sword Meet of Mount Hua the following year; so he did not want to let his would-be-contender to have an advantage by watching his moves beforehand.
Guo Jing was standing on the bow of his small boat; several times he wanted to jump on board to help his master, but those two combatants were fighting closely. He realized his own skill was too far below theirs; it would be very difficult to even get close to them. All he could do was staring blankly, unable to do anything.