Leisurely ride on a shark.
Original translation by Foxs
Huang Rong saw Ouyang Feng carry his mud-drenched nephew to the shore, his face was beaming happily from ear to ear but never uttering any word reflecting his thankfulness to Guo Jing and herself. She pulled the sleeve of Guo Jing’s clothes and they returned to the cave together.
Guo Jing saw that Huang Rong had a worried expression on her face and asked her, “What are you thinking about?” Huang Rong replied, “I am thinking about three very difficult things.” Guo Jing replied, “You are an intelligent person who always has a way to solve problems.” Huang Rong gave a very light laugh; but a moment later her eyebrows were creased again.
Hong Qigong then opened his mouth to speak, “The first matter really does not matter much. The second and third matters actually cause people to be at a loss of what to do.”
Guo Jing then said, “Wow! You really are amazing! How would you know about the three matters that she is thinking about?”
Hong Qigong replied, “I simply guessed her thoughts. The first matter is how to cure my injury. There is no doctor, medicine and a person with good internal energy here to help me. The Old Beggar can always accept my fate with resignation. Whether I live or die in not of the most important matter now. The second matter is how to defend ourselves from the poisonous hand of Ouyang Feng. This person’s martial art is really solid. The two of you are definitely not his match. The third matter is how we can return to the mainland. Rong’er, am I right or wrong?”
Huang Rong replied, “Yes, at present the most pressing matter is to think of a way to discourage the Old Poison from acting so ruthlessly.”
Hong Qigong said, “In short, we must have a battle of wits with him. The Old Poison may be cunning but he is completely conceited; so conceited that it won’t be difficult to fool him. However, after he has been tricked, he will immediately adapt from the changes followed by a very severe counterattack.”
Two people gave a deep thought. Huang Rong started to think that the enemy’s skill is difficult to differentiate against her father’s and teacher’s. Even if her father were there, he would not necessarily defeat him; how she could she fight him? It seemed like if they could not take his life in one stroke, it would only make him committing more evil deeds.
Hong Qigong suddenly felt pin in his chest and coughed loudly. Huang Rong immediately helped him to lie down. Suddenly a shadow was blocking the sunlight at the mouth of the cave. She raised her head up to see Ouyang Feng carrying his nephew making a hissing sound saying, “Get out all of you! Let me have this cave for my nephew to heal his injury!”
Guo Jing was very angry; he jumped out and said, “This place belongs to my master!”
Ouyang Feng coldly replied, “Even if the Jade Emperor lives here, he must go away!”
Guo Jing furiously tried to answer him, but Huang Rong pulled Guo Jing’s sleeve. She stooped down to help Hong Qigong up and left the cave.
While passing by Ouyang Feng’s side, Hong Qigong opened his eyes and said with a mocking smile, “Impressive power! Very deathly!”
Ouyang Feng’s face turned red. He could have Hong Qigong died violently with just a stroke of his palm, but for some reason he was overwhelmed by Hong Qigong’s righteous air. He shivered and did not answer this insult. He turned his head to avoid Hong Qigong’s penetrating gaze and said, “Come back and deliver us something to eat! If you two small creatures mess with the food, just watch out for your three lives.”
The three of them went down the hill. Guo Jing cursed incessantly, while Huang Rong was deep in thoughts and did not say anything. Guo Jing said, “Master please rest here while I go and look for a suitable place to rest.”
Huang Rong helped Hong Qigong to sit down properly by a big pine tree when she spotted two squirrels hurriedly climbing up the tree trunk then immediately climbing back down again only a few feet from her; watching the two people with their small round eyes. Huang Rong was fascinated; she picked a pine cone and held it out. One of the squirrels came near to sniff at the cone, and used its front paws to slowly pull the cone away. The other squirrel boldly climbed Hong Qigong’s sleeve. Huang Rong sighed and said, “Nobody has been here before. Look at the two squirrels, not afraid of humans at all.”
As the squirrels heard Huang Rong’s voice they scurried up the tree. Huang Rong looked up the tree and saw dense leaves growing from the branches of the pine tree. The leaves formed a canopy and the top of the tree was full with green cane. Huang Rong suddenly got an idea and called out, “Brother Jing, no need to look anymore. Let’s go on top of the tree.”
Guo Jing stopped and looked up the pine tree. The tree is indeed a wonderful place as a shelter. Two people folded some branches and made a platform. Then with each of them on either side, they propped Hong Qigong in between and shouted, “Heave!” they flew up and put Hong Qigong safely on the platform they just made.
Huang Rong laughed and said, “We are living on branches like birds. Let them live in caves like beasts.”
Guo Jing then said, “Rong’er, do you want to send them food or not?”
Huang Rong said, “Since I cannot think of any wonderful plan and defeat the Old Poison at the moment, I think we’d better comply with his request.” Guo Jing grumbled incessantly.
Two people went behind the mountain and managed to catch a wild goat. They then made a fire to roast the goat. The roasted goat was then ripped into two. Huang Rong took a piece of the meat and threw it to the ground and said, “Urinate on top of the meat!”
Guo Jiang laughed, “They will find out.”
Huang Rong said, “Don’t you bother about that; just do it.”
Guo Jing blushed and said, “I can’t do it!”
Huang Rong asked, “Why?”
Guo Jing mumbled, “I cannot urinate with you beside me.” Huang Rong burst out in laughter.
From the top of the tree Hong Qigong called out, “Throw the meat up! I will urinate on it myself!” Guo Jing took the meat, laughed and leaped up to the platform so that Hong Qigong can urinate on that mutton. Hong Qigong urinated a lot on the mutton. He laughed out loud and carried the mutton to the cave.
Huang Rong called out, “No! Take this one.”
Guo Jing scratched his head and said, “This is the clean one.”
Huang Rong said, “That’s right. We are going to give them the clean mutton.”
Guo Jing was confused, but he usually listened to whatever Huang Rong said. He turned around and took the clean mutton. Huang Rong took the urine-soaked meat and put it back on the fire while she went out to pick edible wild fruits. Hong Qigong did not understand Huang Rong’s plan and was upset. He drooled over the mutton, but the only one left was the one smeared with his own urine. He has no choice but to be patient.
The roasted mutton released a very good aroma. Inside his cave Ouyang Feng had smelled the wonderful aroma of the meat. Without waiting for Guo Jing to arrive he went out the cave and snatched the meat while his face was showing how pleased he was at the moment. But then a thought came into his mind. “Where is the other half?” he asked. Guo Jing pointed his finger backward.
Ouyang Feng walked in big strides towards the pine tree. He snatched the mutton smeared with urine and threw the clean mutton on the ground while laughing coldly before turning around to leave.
Guo Jing knew that at this moment he must not reveal anything suspicious from his face. However, it was not in his nature to pretend; he was forced to turn around and did not dare to look at Ouyang Feng. He waited for Ouyang Feng to be far away before rushing to Huang Rong. He laughed and said, “How did you know that he will come and exchange the meat?”
Huang Rong smiled and said, “According to the military tactic, void is actually solid, while solid is actually void. The Old Poison knew that we will be applying some kind of trick on the food and does not want to be tricked. As a result, I just let him to trick himself.” Guo Jing listened to all of this in awe while tearing the clean mutton into smaller pieces before taking it up to the pavilion. The three of them ate the mutton.
While all of them were eating happily, Guo Jing suddenly said, “Rong’er, you really came up with a wonderful ruse just now. Nevertheless, it was still a dangerous one.”
Huang Rong immediately asked, “Why?”
Guo Jing then replied, “If the Old Poison did not come and exchange the mutton, wouldn’t we be eating the mutton covered with master’s urine?”
Huang Rong who was sitting on a branch while listening to Guo Jing’s words laughed loudly until her waist bended and she tumbled down the tree. She then leaped up the tree again unharmed and said, “Very, very dangerous indeed.”
Hong Qigong sighed and said, “Dumb child, if he did not come to exchange the mutton, can’t you just not eat the tainted mutton?”
Guo Jing was startled at the truth of the statement and gave a loud laugh before falling down from the tree as well.
Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew ate the mutton, they thought the wild goat had urine smell, but they did not suspect anything. In fact, they still praised Huang Rong’s wonderful skill in roasting the mutton that she gave the meat a salty taste. Not long after that, the sky was turning dark. It was at this moment that Ouyang Ke’s wound started to ache, causing him to groan loudly.
Ouyang Feng walked out towards the pine tree and called out, “Come down little girl!”
Huang Rong was startled because she did not expect Ouyang Feng to come that soon. She asked, “What is it?”
Ouyang Feng answered, “My nephew needs tea and water. Quickly go and serve him now.” The three people on the tree listened to everything and could not help but felt very angry. Ouyang Feng shouted angrily, “Hurry up! What are you waiting for?”
Guo Jing whispered, “Let us fight him.”
Hong Qigong added, “The two of you quickly run towards the back of the mountain. Don’t you worry about me.”
Huang Rong had already calculated properly on the two choices that they have now. Whether they flee or duel with Ouyang Feng, their master’s life would be lost. The only thing that can be done now is to compromise for the sake of their master’s safety. She leaped down the tree and said, “Alright, let me go and have a look at his wound.”
Ouyang Feng sneered and said, “The boy surnamed Guo, come down and follow me. Are you still soundly asleep? I have a good idea.” Guo Jing swallowed his anger and leaped down from the tree.
Ouyang Feng said, “Go get 100 lumbers for me by the night fall. If you are short by one lumber, I will break one of your legs. If you are short two lumbers, I will break both of your legs.”
Huang Rong asked, “What do you want to do with the lumbers? Besides, how are we going to see where we are going in the dark?”
Ouyang Feng cursed her, “You talk too much girl! What does this have to do with you? Quickly go and attend to my nephew. If there is something amiss or wrong, all of you will suffer the consequences!”
Huang Rong gave Guo Jing a hand signal telling him not to make things worse. Guo Jing saw Ouyang Feng and Huang Rong’s shadows disappeared in the darkness. He was so angry that tears flowed down from his eyes.
Hong Qigong suddenly said, “When I was young, my grandpa, my father and I were slaves of the Jins. What is this hardship compared to what we went through?”
Guo Jing was startled, he came to his senses, “Turned out benevolent master was once a slave, but later on he mastered a matchless martial art. I feel wronged today; can’t I just endure it patiently?” Guo Jing then leaped down from the tree and lighted a fire using a tree branch before heading towards the back of the mountain. He launched the 18-Dragon Subduing Palms, hacking down trees as big as a rice bowl cup in diameter. He was fully aware that Huang Rong would be able to escape from harm, just as the other day when she was surrounded by a whole bunch of criminals at Zhao palace. No matter how difficult the situation somehow she managed to escape unharmed. Therefore, he concentrated his attention and energy to cut down the trees.
But launching the 18-Dragon Subduing Palms took a lot of his energy. After a while he started to feel strained and numb. In less than an hour Guo Jing managed to knock down twenty one pine trees. While knocking down the twenty-second tree, Guo Jing‘s arm was already sore and tired. When he launched the Seeing Dragon in the Field, his palms were uneven; the branches and leaves were shaken, the trunk swayed but did not break; while he felt his chest tightened. Turned out the energy did not flow to his palm, but went up in reverse to his chest. His master had repeatedly warned him against this condition; the 18-Dragon Subduing Palms carried a tremendous force, but if his own strength was not enough, he would suffer tremendous self-inflicted injury. He was shocked; immediately sat down and focused his attention to control his breathing. After about an hour he struck that tree again; but he felt his body was worn out, his arms and legs were weak.
Guo Jing knew that if he forced himself to exert more strength, not only it would still be difficult to accomplish his task, but he would suffer internal injury as well. In this desolate island there was no saber or hatchet, how would he be able to chop down more trees?
He noticed that out of the hundred lumbers needed he was still about seventy, eighty lumbers short; while his pair of legs was about ready to give up. He thought aloud, “His nephews legs are crushed; he must have hated me to his guts. Even if I manage to give him a hundred lumbers tonight, tomorrow night he will require a thousand. When will it end? We can’t fight him, and on this desolate island nobody would help us.” Having thought this he heaved a long sigh, “We are stuck here on this desolate island, who in the world would come to rescue us? Benevolent master Hong has lost his martial art, whether he will live or die is difficult to tell. Rong’er’s father despised me. All Quan Zhen Seven Masters and six benevolent masters are not the Western Poison’s match. If only … if only my sworn brother Zhou Botong were here … but he had killed himself by jumping into the sea early on.” As soon as Zhou Botong came into his mind, he hated Ouyang Feng even more; thinking that this old sworn brother of his, who was skilled in the Nine Yin Manual and had created the mutual hands combat technique, was forced to his death by Ouyang Feng.
“Ah! Nine Yin Manual! Mutual hands combat technique?” these several words flashed through his mind just like seeing a bright star on the horizon in a dark and endless night. “My martial art may not be enough to fight the Western Poison, but the Nine Yin Manual contains the most wonderful secrets of the martial art world; plus the mutual hands combat technique will double my skill. If both Rong’er and I train hard day and night, then we can fight the Old Poison with everything we have. Only regardless of which martial art we use, we still need to fight him for a whole day and night; then how can this be good?”
He stood in the forest thinking deeply; suddenly thought, “Why don’t I go and ask Shifu? His martial art might be gone, but his knowledge is not; he should be able to give me clear directions.” He went back to the tree right away, then explained to Hong Qigong every single one of his thought.
“Read the Nine Yin Manual slowly for me to hear,” Hong Qigong suggested, “Let us see if there is a marvelous martial art you can learn in a short period of time. Guo Jing immediately recited the Manual sentence by sentence. When Hong Qigong heard Guo Jing recited, ‘One knew that by sitting down and pondering deeply one can accomplish virtue; but unknowingly to attain excellence one requires flexibility, as well as clear and bright understanding. The body is cultivated two-folds; namely movement and stillness. Being attacked but stay still.’ he suddenly stood up, “Ah!” he exclaimed.
“What is it?” Guo Jing worriedly asked. Hong Qigong did not answer. He thought those sentences over for a while and then said, “Repeat the last part you were reading a moment ago.”
Guo Jing was delighted, he thought, “Shifu must have found some methods to fight the Old Poison in the last part.” Right away he re-read those sentences slowly.
Hong Qigong nodded his head and said, “That’s true. Carry on.” Guo Jing continued reciting the Manual from memory. Toward the end he recited, “Mo han si ge er, pin te huo ji en, jin qie hu si, ge shan ni ke …”
Hong Qigong was baffled, “What are you saying?”
Guo Jing answered, “Big Brother Zhou told me to memorize those sentences.”
Hong Qigong creased his brows, “What do they mean?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Guo Jing replied, “Big Brother Zhou himself did not understand.”
“Carry on, then,” Hong Qigong said.
Guo Jing continued, “Bie er fa si, ge luo wu li …” until he came to the end; reciting all kinds of these tongue-twisting sentences.
“Hmm,” Hong Qigong said, “Turned out the Manual also contains some incantations to catch the ghosts.” He wanted to add, “Crafty priest, cheating people with cheap tricks,” but remembering the Manual contained an extensive profound mystery, this mumbo-jumbo must have had a deep meaning; he simply did not understand it for the time being. Hence, the words were about to leave his lips, but he swallowed them back.
After half a day Hong Qigong shook his head, “Jing’er,” he said, “There are many marvelous martial arts in the Manual, but none of them can be mastered in one whole day and night.”
Guo Jing was disappointed. Hong Qigong continued, “Quickly go and build a raft from those twenty lumbers, then go away as far as you can. Rong’er and I will stay here and devise a plan to deal with the Old Poison.”
“No,” Guo Jing hastily said, “How can I leave you, Senior?”
Hong Qigong sighed, “The Western Poison is scared of the Old Heretic Huang, he won’t harm Rong’er. In any case The Old Beggar is invalid. You quickly go!”
Guo Jing burst out in grieve and indignation; he raised his hand and struck the tree trunk with his palm.
This strike was extremely heavy, the sound echoed on the mountain and valley. Hong Qigong was startled, he quickly asked, “Jing’er, the palm you launched, what technique did you use?”
“Why?” Guo Jing was perplexed.
“You hit so hard, but the trunk did not even shake,” Hong Qigong said.
Guo Jing was very embarrassed, “I used up all my strength striking trees, my hands are so sore; I don’t have any more strength left,” he said.
“No, no,” Hong Qigong shook his head, “Your palm strike technique was a little strange. Strike again!”
Raising his hand he struck the tree with his palm. The sound shook the forest, but the tree did not budge. Suddenly it dawned on him. “That was the seventy-two stances Vacant Fist Big Brother Zhou taught disciple.”
“Vacant Fist? I have never heard of it,” Hong Qigong mused.
“That’s right,” Guo Jing said, “Big Brother Zhou was held prisoner on the Peach Blossom Island. He had nothing to do, so he invented this technique. He taught me these sixteen-character secret of the technique: ‘kong meng dong song, feng tong rong meng, chong qiong zhong nong, tong yong gong chong’ [empty and hazy like a loose cave, the wind blow carrying a dream, playing around in power or exhaustion, a child can use a worm as a weapon]”
Hong Qigong laughed, “What kind of empty hole?” he asked. [Play of words here, Hong Qigong said ‘tong nong ku long’ which rhymes with whatever Guo Jing was saying. I can’t translate it properly.]
Guo Jing explained, “Each one of these sixteen characters has their own meaning. The word ‘song’ [loose] means the fist must be devoid of strength; ‘chong’ [worm] means the body must be flexible like a worm; ‘meng’ [hazy] means the fist movement must be obscure, must not be too clear. Disciple will play it out for you to watch, what do you think?”
“The night is so dark, I can’t see anything,” Hong Qigong said, “Why don’t you explain it to me? This is an excellent martial art, I don’t have to see in order to understand it.”
Guo Jing explained from the first stance, ‘kong wan cheng fan’ [empty bowl filled with rice], to the second stance, ‘kong wu zhu ren’ [empty house occupied with people], with all variations therein, including how to send out the force, to Hong Qigong.
By nature Zhou Botong was mischievous, he gave each and every stance a funny name. Hong Qigong only heard up to the eighteenth stance, his heart was already filled with admiration. He cut Guo Jing off, “You don’t need to continue, I have found a way to fight the Western Poison.”
“With Vacant Fist?” Guo Jing asked, “I am afraid the disciple’s skill is insufficient.”
“I know that,” Hong Qigong said, “But we are in a desperate situation, we have to take a risk. Do you still have the dagger given by Qiu Chuji on you?” A cold light flashed in the dark night; Guo Jing took out his dagger. Hong Qigong said, “With the Vacant Fist technique, use this dagger to cut down some trees.” Guo Jing held his dagger by the hilt, the thin blade was only about one foot long. He was doubtful and did not say anything.
Hong Qigong said, “The 18-Dragon Subduing Palms I passed on to you is the pinnacle of the external type of martial art; that Vacant Fist is a very profound inner type of martial art. Your dagger can cut through metal and carve jade; what would be the problem of cutting tree trunk? The important thing is, your hand strength must follow the ‘kong’ [empty] and ‘song’ [loose] principles.”
Guo Jing pondered about it for half a day. Hong Qigong also gave him some more directions. Finally he understood. He jumped down the tree and went to find a medium size pine tree. With the Vacant Fist method of exerting energy, as if with force and without force, he lightly struck the trunk and sure enough the dagger went through the tree trunk. He exerted his strength and cut around the trunk; that tree fell down immediately. Guo Jing was ecstatic, with the same method he cut dozens on trees one after another. Looked like before daybreak he would be able to cut down a hundred lumbers.
While he was cutting trees, suddenly he heard Hong Qigong called out, “Jing’er, come up here.”
Guo Jing leaped up to the platform. “It really worked,” he said, “I did not even use too much energy.”
“Certainly we can’t waste our energy, can we?” Hong Qigong said.
“That’s right! That’s right!” Guo Jing exclaimed, “Now I understand the ‘kong meng dong song’ principle. Big Brother Zhou had explained it to me, but I did not understand it.”
“This martial art is more than enough to cut down trees,” Hong Qigong said, “But it is still far from adequate to fight the Western Poison. You must train in the Nine Yin Manual again, only then will you have a chance to defeat him. Let us think of some way to buy some time.” Speaking about plan and strategy, Guo Jing could only stay silent, letting his master to think.
After a long time, Hong Qigong shook his head and said, “I can’t think of anything good. Let us wait till tomorrow, perhaps Rong’er can come up with some clever ideas. Jing’er, listening to you reciting the Nine Yin Manual I had a thought; I believe I am not wrong. Help me get down this tree, I am going to practice my martial art.”
Guo Jing was shocked. “Your injury is not healed yet, how can you train?” he asked.
Hong Qigong answered, “The Manual said, ‘The body is cultivated two-folds; namely movement and stillness. Being attacked but stay still.’ These sentences had opened my eyes. Let us go down.”
Guo Jing did not understand the meaning of these sentences, but he did not dare to defy his master; hence he propped his master’s body and gently jumped down the tree.
Hong Qigong calmed himself down, then opened up his arms and launched a palm strike. In the darkness Guo Jing saw his master’s body was staggering forward like he was falling down. Guo Jing rushed forward to help, but Hong Qigong had already steadied himself. His breathing was heavy, but he said, “I am alright.”
A moment later he launched a left palm strike. Guo Jing saw him staggering along, his feet stumbled; he appeared to be extremely exhausted. Guo Jing fought hard the urge to rush forward and help his master; who would have thought that the more Hong Qigong practiced, the stronger he became. Initially he had to catch his breath for every single stance he launched, but afterwards he was able to launch several stances in succession; his footsteps were getting steadier as well. It was a tremendous improvement. Hong Qigong launched the whole set of ’18-dragon subduing fist’, followed by a set of ‘fu hu quan’ [crouching tiger fist].
Guo Jing waited until he finished, then he shouted happily, “You are healed!”
“Help me back up,” Hong Qigong said.
Guo Jing wrapped his arm around his master’s waist and jumped up to the platform. His delight was unspeakable, he mumbled repeatedly, “Very good! Very good!”
Hong Qigong sighed and said, “Not so good, this martial art is only good to behold, it’s actually useless.” Guo Jing did not understand, Hong Qigong explained, “After suffering an injury, all I did was resting, trying to recuperate. It never occurred to me that my martial art is of the external type; the more I move the better. It’s too bad I realized it way too late; now although my life will be spared, but my martial art will be very difficult to be restored.”
Guo Jing wanted to utter some words of comfort, but he did not know what to say; so after a while he simply said, “I’ll go down and chop some more trees.”
“Jing’er,” Hong Qigong suddenly said, “I think I have an idea to intimidate the Old Poison. See if you agree with me.” And then he explained his idea. Guo Jing was delighted, “Splendid! Splendid!” he exclaimed; and immediately jumped down the tree to make preparations.
Early in the morning the next day, Ouyang Feng came under the tree. He counted the lumber Guo Jing chopped down and found only ninety of them. He coldly laughed and shouted, “Little bastard [the same ‘za zhong’ as in Ode to Gallantry]! Quickly roll down here! Where are the other ten?”
Huang Rong had spent the entire night by Ouyang Ke’s side, tending his injury. Listening to his pitiful groaning she felt sorry for him. That morning Ouyang Feng left the cave, she followed behind. Hearing his loud shouts she was worried for Guo Jing.
Ouyang Feng waited for a moment, but nothing was heard from the tree above, except some gust of winds coming out from the distant hill. It sounded like somebody was practicing martial art. Hastily he followed the source of the sound. When he turned on the hillside, what he saw surprised him. Hong Qigong was sparring with Guo Jing; palms and kicks flew toward each other, they were engaged in a tight fight.
Huang Rong saw her master not only was able to walk unaided, but it looked like his skill was restored as well; she was pleasantly surprised. She heard him shouted, “Jing’er, careful with this next stance!” and he launched a palm strike.
Guo Jing raised his palm to parry, but before their palms met his body flew backward and ‘bang!’ he hit a pine tree. That tree was not too big, but it was about the mouth of a bowl in diameter; ‘crack!’ it snapped by the strength of Hong Qigong’s push and fell to the ground.
This strike was nothing but ordinary, but it was enough to stun Ouyang Feng. Huang Rong praised, “Shifu, that was a great ‘pi kong zhang’ [hacking empty air palm technique]!”
“Jing’er, guard your body well, don’t let my palm strength injure you!” Hong Qigong called out.
“Disciple understands,” Guo Jing replied. He was just closing his mouth when Hong Qigong’s palm arrived. ‘Crack!’ again Guo Jing was sent flying and bumping into a tree. Strike after strike came one after another; in a short period of time Hong Qigong had used the ‘pi kong zhang’ to send Guo Jing flying and snapping ten big trees down.
“We have ten trees already!” Huang Rong called out.
Guo Jing was gasping for breath. “Disciple is exhausted,” he said.
Hong Qigong held his palm and laughed, “This Nine Yin Manual is really wonderful. My injury was that heavy; I couldn’t even exert any strength, yet I achieve success just by one morning exercise.”
Ouyang Feng was suspicious; he stooped down to examine the broken tree trunks, but what he saw stunned him even more. Apart from the core of the trunk, the outer ring was exceptionally smooth, even smoother than it would be if the trunk was sawed. He thought, “Could it be that the martial art in the Manual is this marvelous? It looks like the Old Beggar’s martial art has been completely restored. How can I fight them if the three of them gang up against me? It’s been this far, I’d better start training myself on the martial art from that manual.” He cast a glance toward those three and flew back to the cave in a hurry. Immediately he fetch the book Guo Jing wrote, unwrapped layer upon layer of oil paper bundle and straightaway buried his head in the book, diligently studying the Manual.
Hong Qigong and Guo Jing waited until they could not see Ouyang Feng’s shadow anymore before both of them burst out in laughter. Huang Rong was delighted, “Shifu, this Manual is truly wonderful,” she said.
Hong Qigong laughed without giving her any response. Guo Jing rushed to her and said, “Rong’er, we were only pretending.”
Then he told her everything they had thought and done. It turned out that Guo Jing had used his dagger to cut around the trunks, leaving the center part intact. Actually Hong Qigong’s palm did not carry any strength at all; every time Guo Jing got hit, he used his own strength to fly backwards and bump into a tree, breaking it down. Ouyang Feng did not know that with the Vacant Fist energy, the dagger was capable of cutting deep into the bough; naturally he did not suspect that the cut was made by the dagger.
Huang Rong was laughing hard, but upon hearing Guo Jing’s story she was silent for half a day with a deep frown on her face. Hong Qigong smiled and said, “The Old Beggar is once again capable of walking on my own feet, it was truly a blessing from Heaven. I don’t care if it was a true martial art or a fake one. Rong’er, you are afraid the Western Poison will see through this deception, aren’t you?” Huang Rong nodded. “The Old Poison has good eyesight,” Hong Qigong continued, “How can we fool him that easily? But life is full of uncertainties, right now it is useless to worry over nothing. Hear me now: Jing’er had recited the contents of the manual to me. There is a section which was called ‘yi jin duan gu pian’ [changing muscle forging bones] or something; I think it was very interesting. While we don’t have anything else to do, why don’t we practice it?”
These words were said with gentleness and indifference, but Huang Rong was aware of the urgency of the situation. What their master had said was very reasonable; therefore, she said, “Very well, Shifu, please teach us.”
Hong Qigong asked Guo Jing to recite the ‘yi jin duan gu pian’ twice, and then based on that he taught the two on how to practice it. He himself went out hunting or fishing, lighted the fire and cooked their meals. Several times Guo Jing and Huang Rong offered their help, but every time he shooed them away.
Quickly seven days had passed; Guo and Huang had made some progress in term of their energy cultivation. Inside his cave Ouyang Feng was also painstakingly studying his Manual, putting all his effort in doing so. Toward the evening of the eighth day Hong Qigong smiled and said, “Rong’er, how was your Master’s roasted wild goat?”
Huang Rong smiled but did not say anything, she simply shook her head. Hong Qigong laughed, “I can’t eat it myself. You two have finished the first part of your lesson; today you must rest your muscle and bones, otherwise your ‘qi’ will be obstructed and you will suffer injury. Alright, Rong’er, you prepare our meal tonight, Jing’er and I will go and build a raft.”
Guo Jing and Huang Rong were astonished, “Building a raft?”
“That’s right,” Hong Qigong said, “Do you want to accompany the Old Poison on this desolate island forever?”
Guo and Huang were delighted, they both voiced their agreement, and start to work immediately.
The hundred lumbers Guo Jing cut down the other day were piled neatly on the side. They cut the tree bark and wove them into ropes and tied the lumber together to make the raft. When Guo Jing used his strength to pull the rope, it snapped and broke. He thought the rope was not made strong enough. He tried pulling another rope, but as soon as he exerted a little strength, it also broke easily. Guo Jing was baffled, he stared blankly at the rope and did not know what to do.
From the other side of the hill Huang Rong came shouting with a wild goat in her hands. When going out to hunt for the goat she carried some pebbles to shoot the goat with; who would have thought that with only several jumps she had already overtook the goat. She turned around and grabbed the wild goat. Her body movement was so swift that she surprised even herself.
Hong Qigong smiled, “So the Nine Yin Manual is truly a wonderful manual; no wonder countless heroes and warriors were willing to risk their lives for it.”
Huang Rong was delighted, “Shifu, do you think we can beat the Old Poison now?” she asked.
Hong Qigong shook his head, “Not yet, it is still far from that,” he replied, “You have to train for another eight to ten years. His Toad Stance is not a small matter; no martial art can break it except Wang Chongyang’s Solitary Yang Finger”
Huang Rong pouted and said, “Then even if we train for another eight to ten years we may still won’t be able to defeat him.”
“That’s hard to say,” Hong Qigong concurred, “Perhaps the martial art in that book is fiercer than I thought.”
“Rong’er, please be patient,” Guo Jing said, “There is nothing wrong with learning a new skill.”
A few more days passed, Guo Jing and Huang Rong had finished the second part of the Changing Muscle Forging Bones. The raft was also ready. The three of them wove a sail from tree barks; they also prepared some fresh water and food on the raft. All along Ouyang Feng was indifferent to what they were doing; he simply watched their activities with a cold look.
One evening everything was ready, they planned on sailing the next day. Just before bed that night Huang Rong asked, “Do we have to say goodbye to them?”
“Not only that, we must make a ten year agreement with them,” Guo Jing answered, “They have bullied us so bad, how can we forget it?”
Huang Rong clapped her hands, “Absolutely! I pray to the Heaven to bless those two thieves that they can go back to the mainland, and also to give the Old Poison ten more years of life. Otherwise, to restore Shifu’s martial art quickly, so that in one or two years we can look for him; that would be even better.”
The next day before the crack of dawn Hong Qigong awoke; indistinctly he heard some noise from the shore. He quickly called, “Jing’er, did you hear that noise from the beach?”
Guo Jing got up immediately and jumped down the tree. Once he saw what happened on the beach he could not stop cursing; immediately he rushed forward to pursue. By this time Huang Rong was also awoke and ran after him, calling out, “Brother Jing, what’s the matter?”
Guo Jing shouted from a distant, “Those two wicked thieves stole our raft.” Hearing this Huang Rong was shocked.
By the time they got to the beach Ouyang Feng had already carried his nephew on the raft, raised the sail and had already several ‘zhang’s away from land. Guo Jing was furious, he was about to jump into the ocean to pursue, but Huang Rong pulled his sleeve and said, “They are already too far.”
Ouyang Feng laughed a big laugh, “Many thanks for the raft!” he shouted.
Guo Jing stomped his feet in rage, furiously he kicked a red sandalwood tree nearby. Suddenly Huang Rong got an idea, “I got it!” she called out. She took a big rock then placed it on the tree branch. She wanted to use the tree as a slingshot. “Pull this tree,” she said, “We will hurl the rock out.”
Guo Jing was delighted. He braced his legs on the tree root and pulled the trunk backward with all his might. Sandalwood tree was strong but pliable; it bent almost completely down but did not break. Guo Jing let his hands go and with a whooshing sound the big rock flew to the sea and fell by the raft’s side, creating a ‘zhang’ high big splash.
“Pity!” Huang Rong called out. She took another rock, aimed carefully and let go. This time the rock hit the raft right on, but the raft construction was too good, it did not break. Two people launched three more rocks, but all of them fell into the water.
Seeing all their rocks missed their target, Huang Rong got a crazy idea. “Quick, use me as the cannonball!” she shouted. Guo Jing was startled, unclear of what she meant. Huang Rong explained, “Hurl me into the sea, I’ll deal with them.”
Guo Jing knew her water skill was excellent, her lightness kungfu was excellent too; he saw no danger in complying with her request. He drew his dagger out and put it in her hand. “Be careful,” he said. He pulled the tree one more time. Huang Rong sat steadily on the branch and called out, “Fire away!”
Guo Jing released his grip and Huang Rong’s body flew to the sky. She somersaulted twice in the air and plunged into the water several ‘zhang’s away from the raft. It was a beautiful scene to behold. Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew were dazzled; they did not know what she was going to do.
Huang Rong went deep into the water. She did not emerge from the water, but swam underwater toward the raft instead. Once she saw a black shadow overhead she knew she had arrived at the bottom of the raft. Ouyang Feng randomly hit the water with the oar, but he could not hit her at all.
Huang Rong held up her dagger, ready to sever the rope tying up the wooden raft; but suddenly she came up with a bright idea. She reduced the strength of her hand only cutting lightly on the ropes, leaving a third part intact; so that the raft would not be disintegrated until the rough waves of the open sea hit it. She turned around and dove away, emerged to the surface about dozen of ‘zhang’s away; she gasped for breath, pretending she could not catch the raft. Ouyang Feng laughed wildly and hoisted the sail. Not too long afterwards the raft had traveled far away.
While waiting for her to arrive at the beach Hong Qigong and Guo Jing were cursing incessantly; but they saw Huang Rong’s smug expression and were puzzled. After hearing what happened they were delighted to no end. “Even though we are sending these two wicked men to the bottom of the ocean, we will have to start work from the beginning again,” Huang Rong said.
Three people ate their meals with high spirit then they cut some lumbers again and built another raft. Several days later they were ready, and when the southeast wind blew, they hoisted the tree bark sail, left the island heading to the west. Huang Rong gazed her eyes toward the island, which was getting smaller and smaller, she sighed and said, “Our lives were almost gone on that island; but leaving it today, my heart is filled with sadness.”
“We can always revisit the island in the future,” Guo Jing said.
Huang Rong clapped her hands, “Good! We must come back. When that time comes, you can’t go back on your words. But first, let us give this small island a good name. Shifu, what do you think?”
“You crushed that little bastard’s legs with a big rock on that island,” Hong Qigong said, “Let us call it ‘ya gui dao’ [crushing ghost island]. What do you say?”
Huang Rong shook her head. “That is not very elegant,” she said.
“If you want elegance, why did you ask the Old Beggar in the first place?” Hong Qigong said, “If you ask me, the Old Poison ate my urine on the island, I’ll say we call it ‘chi sui dao’ [eat urine island].”
Huang Rong smiled while waving her hand; she leaned her head sideways to think. She saw a cluster of red clouds on the horizon, like bright luster of gems glamorously hovering over the island. “Let’s call it ‘ming xia dao’ [bright red cloud island]!” she called out.
“Not good, not good!” Hong Qigong countered, “That was too elegant.”
Guo Jing listened to master and disciple arguing, he smiled and did not say anything. He did not care whether the island had an elegant name or a vulgar name; but deep down in his heart he thought ‘ya gui’ or ‘chi sui’ were more interesting than ‘ming xia’.
Carried by the blowing wind they sailed for two days, the wind did not change its course. Toward the evening of the third day Hong Qigong and Huang Rong were asleep while Guo Jing was in charge of the rudder for the night. Amidst the ocean breeze and rolling waves suddenly he heard somebody shout, “Help! Help!” twice. The voice sounded like a clashing cymbals, it could be heard clearly amidst the screaming wind and waves.
Hong Qigong sat up and said in a low voice, “That’s the Old Poison.” They heard the shout one more time. Huang Rong grabbed Hong Qigong’s arm, “It’s a ghost, it’s a ghost!” she said with a trembling voice.
It was the end of the sixth month, the night was dark and moonless; there were only several stars scattered sparsely on the dark night. The sea was pitch-black; a scream in the middle of the night would make anybody terrified to the bone.
“Is that the Old Poison?” Hong Qigong called out. His internal energy was lost, so his voice did not travel too far. Guo Jing gathered the ‘qi’ on his ‘dan tian’ and called out, “Is that Uncle Ouyang?”
From a distant they heard Ouyang Feng answered, “It is me, Ouyang Feng. Help!”
Huang Rong was still terrified, “It doesn’t matter whether it is a man or a ghost, let us just leave, quick!”
“Help him,” Hong Qigong suddenly said.
“No, no!” Huang Rong quickly answered, “I am scared.”
“It’s not a ghost,” Hong Qigong said.
“Even if it is a man we still don’t have to help,” Huang Rong said.
“Helping others in distress is one of our Beggar Clan’s rules,” Hong Qigong said, “You and I are two generations of the Clan Leader; we can’t abandon the honorable customs handed down from the previous generations’ leaders.”
“The Beggar Clan’s custom is not right,” Huang Rong countered, “Clearly Ouyang Feng is a scoundrel, when he becomes a ghost, he will still be a scoundrel ghost. It doesn’t matter if it is a man or a ghost, we should not help.”
“It is the Clan’s regulation, we can’t change it,” Hong Qigong said.
In her heart Huang Rong was very angry. They heard Ouyang Feng’s voice in the distant again, “Qi Xiong [Brother Qi], are you really ‘jian si bu jiu’ [seeing death, do not help]?”
Huang Rong said, “I got it! Brother Jing, wait until you can see Ouyang Feng clearly, then strike him dead with your stick. You are not a Beggar Clan’s member, you don’t have to observe this unreasonable rule.”
Hong Qigong was angry, “Taking advantage of somebody else’s precarious condition; is that the righteous way of the warrior?”
Huang Rong did not have any choice, helplessly she watched Guo Jing steer the raft toward the voice. In the deep dark of the night they vaguely saw two men on the water rocked by the wave; next to their heads was a lumber. It looked like after their raft broke Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew had clung onto that piece of lumber until now.
“Let him make an oath never to harm anybody else, then we will rescue him,” Huang Rong said.
Hong Qigong sighed, “You don’t know the Old Poison’s character; he would rather die than surrender. He won’t make this kind of promise. Jing’er, rescue them.”
Guo Jing bent down and grabbed Ouyang Ke’s collar, lifting him up to the raft. Hong Qigong was eager to help and he forgot his martial art was gone. He held out his hand and Ouyang Feng took it. He wanted to borrow the strength and leap to the raft. But because of his pull Hong Qigong unexpectedly fell into the sea with a splash. Guo Jing and Huang Rong were shocked; they jumped into the sea immediately and saved Hong Qigong. Huang Rong angrily scolded Ouyang Feng, “My Shifu has a good heart rescuing you; how could you drag him into the sea instead?”
Ouyang Feng knew Hong Qigong had lost his martial art; otherwise, how could this simple pull make a martial art expert fall into the sea? But he had been immersed in the water for several days, he was extremely weary. He did not dare to look up, he lowered his head and said, “I … I did not mean to. Qi Xiong, please don’t blame your brother.”
Hong Qigong laughed heartily, “Well said, well said. Only the Old Beggar’s real skill is known to you now,” he said.
“Good Miss,” Ouyang Feng said, “Could you spare something for us to eat? We have been hungry for several days.”
Huang Rong replied, “We have food and water on this raft enough only for three people. I can give you some, but then what do we eat?”
“Very well,” Ouyang Feng said, “Please give a little bit of food to my nephew then, his legs are heavily injured, he won’t survive without food.”
“In that case let’s make a deal,” Huang Rong said, “Your viper hurt my Shifu; he has not recovered until now. Give him the antidote.”
Ouyang Feng groped his pocket and produced two vials, handed them over to her and said, “Miss, please take a look; the vials were drowned in the water, the antidote has been washed out clean!”
Huang Rong took the vials, she shook them and sniffed them; the vials were really filled with seawater. “In this case, tell us prescription of the antidote, as soon as we are ashore we can brew some.”
“If I want to swindle you, I can always give you any prescription, you won’t know if it is genuine or fake; but how can Ouyang Feng be this kind of person?” Ouyang Feng said, “Let me tell you the truth: my vipers are the most poisonous in the world, nothing can match its lethality; if one is bitten, although one won’t immediately die due to one’s excellence in martial art, within eight times eight, sixty-four days half of one’s body will be paralyzed and one will be invalid for the rest of one’s life. I have no problem giving you the antidote prescription, but not only the ingredients are hard to find, it also requires processing of three successive winters and summers. By the time the antidote is ready, I am afraid it would be much too late. I have told you the truth, if you still want to take my life it is entirely up to you.”
Huang Rong and Guo Jing listened to him, they secretly admired him; they thought, “Although this man is evil and cruel, he did not lost his dignity as a grand master of his martial art school in a matter of life and death.”
“Rong’er,” Hong Qigong also said, “He is telling the truth. A man’s life has been decided by fate; the Old Beggar has nothing to be worried about. You give them something to eat.”
Huang Rong’s heart was secretly crushed, she knew her master would not recover from his injury. Silently she took a roasted wild goat leg and tossed it toward Ouyang Feng. Ouyang Feng tore some meat for his nephew first before he took a big bite and chewed the meat.
Huang Rong coldly said, “Uncle Ouyang, you have injured my master, in the second Sword Meet of Mount Hua you will be the winner among the heroes. Let me congratulate you first.”
“That is not necessarily true,” Ouyang Feng replied, “There is at least one person in this whole wide world who can heal Qi Xiong’s injury.”
Guo Jing and Huang Rong jumped in shock so that the raft was leaning to one side. They both asked in unison, “Is that true?”
While biting the mutton leg Ouyang Feng said, “Only it is very difficult to ask this person to help. Your Shifu also knows about it.”
Two people’s eyes turned to their master. Hong Qigong smiled, “You know it is difficult, why did you say it?”
Huang Rong pulled her master’s sleeve, asking for explanation, “Shifu, tell us. Even if it is difficult, we still have to try. I will ask my father to help, surely he’ll find a way.” Ouyang Feng softly snorted. “What are you snorting about?” Huang Rong said. Ouyang Feng did not answer.
Hong Qigong said, “He was laughing at you to think your father is all powerful. But that person is really not a small matter, how could your father make that person help?”
Huang Rong was astonished, “That person! Who is that person?”
Hong Qigong continued, “Let’s not talk about that person’s high level of martial art skill, even if he is so weak that he can’t even kill a chicken, the Old Beggar will never harm others to benefit my own self.”
Huang Rong hesitantly said, “High level of martial art skill? Ah! I know. He is the Southern Emperor, Emperor Duan. Shifu, let’s ask him to heal your injury, how does that harm others to benefit yourself?”
“Go sleep! Don’t ask anymore questions. I prohibit you from bringing this matter up anymore. Understand?” Hong Qigong said. Huang Rong did not dare to say anything; she was afraid Ouyang Feng might steal their food, so she leaned against the food bucket and sleep.
Waking early the next morning Huang Rong looked at Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew, she jumped in fright, because the complexions of those two were very pale, their whole bodies swollen from being under seawater these past several days.
The raft was sailing until about ninth hour [3-5pm] when they saw a dark line in the distant. It appeared to be land. Guo Jing was the first to jump up and shout in delight. A time needed to eat a bowl of rice later they could see clearer, it was indeed land. The sea was calm, the sun was shining brightly, scorching those people, making them miserable. Ouyang Feng suddenly stood up; he swayed his body a little bit and stretched out his hands, grabbing both Guo Jing and Huang Rong. With the tip of his foot he also kicked and sealed Hong Qigong’s acupoint.
Guo and Huang were taken up by surprise, their vital acupoints were sealed; immediately half of their bodies were numb. Startled they asked, “What are you doing?” Ouyang Feng grinned evilly, but did not say anything.
Hong Qigong sighed, “The Old Poison is very conceited; he is not willing to accept other’s mercy. We have saved his life; if he did not kill his saviors, how can his heart be at peace? Ay, I can only blame my own benevolence of heart, rescuing others in the middle of the night, forgetting this fact, that now I endanger the lives of these two weary kids.”
“You knew it very well,” Ouyang Feng said, “Also the Nine Yin Manual is in my hand, if I leave a copy in this boy surnamed Guo’s mind, I will only invite infinite misfortune for myself.”
Hearing him mentioning the Nine Yin Manual Hong Qigong’s heart was stirred; with a loud voice he recited, “Nu er qi liu, ha gua er, ning xie qi qia, ping dao er …”
Ouyang Feng was startled; he recognized the sentence to be the one among hundreds of difficult sentences he did not know the meaning of. Listening to Hong Qigong recited it, he thought Hong Qigong understood the meaning, he thought, “There are many strange sentences in the manual, there must be a key to unlock its secret. If I kill these three, I am afraid there is nobody else in this world who understands it; then my taking possession of the manual will be in vain.” Therefore, he asked, “What does it mean?”
Hong Qigong replied, “Hun hua cha cha, xue gen xu bat u, mi er mi er …” Even though he had listened to Guo Jing reciting the strange sentences of the manual, how could he memorize everything? He was just talking nonsense, but his face showed a deep veneration.
Ouyang Feng actually thought the sentences carried a very profound meaning, he focused his attention and thought deeply. Hong Qigong shouted, “Jing’er, now!”
Guo Jing pulled back his left hand, sent out his right palm while his left leg flew forward simultaneously. Actually when Ouyang Feng sent out his kick and launched a surprise attack, his vital acupoint was grabbed and he was unable to move, but Hong Qigong had talked nonsense and confused Ouyang Feng, causing him to lose his concentration and thus slightly loosen his grip. Guo Jing grabbed this opportunity to free himself and launched a counterattack. Guo Jing had trained the Changing Muscle Forging Bones to the second stage, although he did not learn any new fist of kick techniques, his original strength was actually increased by at least 20%. This one pull, one palm and one kick were executed without any extraordinary move, but the force within his attack was unexpectedly very strong.
Ouyang Feng was taken by surprise; besides, the raft was narrow, there was no space to withdraw; he was forced to raise his hand to fend off, but his grip on Huang Rong did not loosen up.
Guo Jing’s fist and palm went out one after another, attacking the enemy like a violent storm. He was well aware that on this narrow raft if he ever let Ouyang Feng attack with his Toad Stance, then all three of them would be dead without any burial grounds. This flurry of attacks forced Ouyang Feng to withdraw half a step.
Huang Rong leaned sideways slightly, baring her shoulder to bump Ouyang Feng’s body. Ouyang Feng was secretly amused, he thought, “This little girl wants to bump me, just how much skill does she think she has? Don’t blame me if I bump you clear to the ocean.” He had just finished his thought when Huang Rong’s shoulder arrived. Ouyang Feng did not evade nor tried to parry, he appeared not to pay any attention; but suddenly he felt pricking pain on his chest. Out of pain he realized immediately that she was wearing the Peach Blossom Island’s treasure, the ‘ruan wei jia’ [soft hedgehog armor]. By now he was already at the edge of the raft, so he could not go back even for half a step. Her armor was full of sharp needles, which he could not deal with. Hence, hastily his left hand let go of her vital acupoint and flung her to the side.
Huang Rong did not have any space to set her foot on, she was going to fall into the water. Guo Jing reached behind his back and grabbed her, while his left hand was still attacking the enemy. Huang Rong drew out her dagger and rushed forward to attack.
Ouyang Feng stood by the edge of the raft, the water kept splashing his legs; but no matter how hard Guo Jing and Huang Rong attacked, they were not able to force him to fall into the water.
Hong Qigong and Ouyang Ke were unable to move, both of them helplessly watch the ferocious fight. Their hearts were thumping madly, watching the evenly matched fight, where the difference between life and death was just as narrow as a strand of hair’s width. They were both bitterly wishing they could help their side.
Ouyang Feng’s martial art was actually far above Guo and Huang’s combined power, but he was immersed in the water for several days; almost half of his strength was gone. Although Huang Rong’s martial art was not too high she was wearing the soft hedgehog armor, plus her hand was holding a sharp dagger. These two offensive and defensive weapons were enough to give Ouyang Feng some headache. On top of that, Guo Jing’s 18-Dragon Subduing Palms, his 72 stances of Vacant Fist, Mutual Hands Combat Technique, as well as recently trained Changing Muscles Forging Bones from the Nine Yin Manual combined together had made him a formidable opponent. These three people were engaged in a close fight on the raft.
After a while Ouyang Feng’s palm was getting stronger; Guo and Huang started to fall under his attack. Hong Qigong was very anxious watching this fierce battle. Amidst the dancing palm shadow Ouyang Feng’s left leg kicked out with a strong gust of wind. Huang Rong did not dare to parry and was forced to somersault and she fell into the water.
Suddenly facing a strong enemy alone Guo Jing was feeling strained. Luckily after falling into the water on the left side of the raft, Huang Rong swam across the bottom of the raft and rebounded from the right side and swept her dagger toward Ouyang Feng’s chest. Now Ouyang Feng had to face enemies on both sides.
While fighting courageously, Huang Rong secretly thought of plans to overcome this situation, “If this fight continues, our martial arts are still inferior to his, in the end we will fall under his hands. The only way to defeat him is under water.” As soon as this thought entered her mind, she swept her dagger out and cut the sail rope; the sail immediately fell down, the raft now carried by the waves, no longer moved forward. Huang Rong drew back two steps, wrapped the rope several times on Hong Qigong’s body, and then again several turns on a lumber from the raft, making two tight knots.
As Huang Rong left the battle, Guo Jing was not able to withstand the enemy much longer. He managed to block three successive stances, but the fourth stance forced him to step backward. Ouyang Feng did not want to let him go, his palms continuously attacked. Guo Jing was forced to step backward again, with ‘yu yue yu yuan’ [fish jumping out of the abyss] he managed to block another stance, but for the next stance he was forced to move backward again that his left foot stepped on an empty air. In this critical time he did not getting nervous, his right foot immediately flew forward to block the enemy from attacking further. As a result, ‘spash!’ he also fell into the water.
The raft was being rocked hard; Huang Rong took this opportunity to also leap onto the sea. Two people pushed and pulled the raft, trying to overturn it. They knew Ouyang Ke would be drowning to his death; also, in the water Ouyang Feng was not their match. Hong Qigong’s body was tied to the raft. These two people took a risk by dealing with the Western Poison first before trying to save their master.
Ouyang Feng understood their intention very well; he raised his foot on Hong Qigong’s head and loudly shouted, “Two kids, listen to me! If you rock the raft one more time, I will kick immediately!”
Huang Rong understood her first plan was foiled; she proceeded with her second plan: she took a deep breath and dove underneath the raft, cutting the ropes with her dagger. She knew they were not too far from the land; after drowning Ouyang Feng, uncle and nephew, she thought they could ride on lumbers and came ashore without too much problem.
‘Crack! Crack!’ the wooden raft was broken into two halves. Ouyang Ke was on the left half, while Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong were on the right half. Inwardly Ouyang Feng was anxious; quickly he stretched his hand to grab his nephew; then he stooped looking into the water, ready to strike Huang Rong if she cut another rope.
From under the water Huang Rong could see Ouyang Feng’s shadow clearly. Knowing his next attack would be very fierce, she did not dare to cut another rope. Both sides were in deadlock for a long time. Huang Rong swam several ‘zhang’s away and took another deep breath, then dove right back in, waiting for an opportunity to launch her attack.
With concentrated attention both sides were waiting for an opportunity. For a moment the sea turned very calm. The sun was shining brightly over their heads. The ocean seemed so calm and peaceful; but on this half wooden raft, one above and one below, there was a very thick murderous intention.
Huang Rong thought, “If this half raft is cut into two, the waves would certainly turn it over.” While Ouyang Feng thought, “As soon as she pokes her head out, I am going to slap the water. The vibration should be enough to scatter her brain out. Once this little girl is gone, the little thief surnamed Guo should not post any problem to me.” Two people waited without blinking their eyes, both were itchy to strike.
Suddenly Ouyang Ke pointed to the left and called out, “A boat! A boat!”
Hong Qigong and Guo Jing turned their heads and saw a big boat with a dragon ship head, its sail was fully raised, it approached riding the wind and breaking the waves. A moment later Ouyang Ke saw someone standing on the bow; he had a big stature and was wearing a scarlet kassaya, it looked like he was Monk Lingzi. As the boat got closer, he saw more clearly, and it was indeed Monk Lingzi. Hastily he told his uncle.
Ouyang Feng concentrates his ‘qi’ on his ‘dan tian’ and loudly called out, “Friends, here, come quickly!”
Under the water Huang Rong did not know what was happening; Guo Jing knew they were in more trouble; he went underwater and pulled Huang Rong’s arm, signaling her that more enemies were coming. Huang Rong was not very clear on his intention, but she was aware something was not right, so she signaled back to Guo Jing to block Ouyang Feng’s palm, while she would sever the rope.
Guo Jing realized his own skill was inferior to the enemy by a long shot; now that he was underwater while the enemy was above the water, the difference was farther away. He knew blocking Ouyang Feng’s palm meant endangering his own life, but it was a critical time, he had no other alternative. Hence he exerted all his strength to his palms and suddenly jumped upward.
“Ugh!” Ouyang Feng grunted, his palms struck to the water; while Guo Jing’s palms were coming up from below. Two forces collided on the surface of the sea, creating a big splash. The raft was lifted several feet upward, and ‘crack! crack!’ the half raft was broken into two parts; it looked like Huang Rong managed to cut the rope just in time.
In the meantime the big boat was already dozens of ‘zhang’s away from the raft. After cutting the rope, immediately Huang Rong dove underwater. She was about to come up and stab Ouyang Feng when she saw Guo Jing was motionless, slowly sinking down. She was alarmed and quickly swam near and pulled his arm. She swam away for several ‘zhang’s before coming up to the surface. Guo Jing’s eyes were tightly shut, his face blue and his lips colorless; he was unconscious.
The boat lowered a small rescue boat with several sailors rowing the oars; they took Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew, as well as Hong Qigong aboard. Huang Rong called three times, “Brother Jing!” but Guo Jing did not wake up. She thought although the boat is full of the enemies, but she had no other alternative; she held on to Guo Jing’s head and swam toward the small boat.
The sailors pulled Guo Jing aboard and held out their hands to draw her, but Huang Rong’s left hand pressed on the boat’s edge and leaped up like a flying fish from the water to the boat, scaring the sailors.
When his palms collided with Ouyang Feng’s, Guo Jing felt a tremendous force surging through his body and he passed out immediately. He awakened and felt he was leaning on Huang Rong’s bosom, and was aware that they were on a small boat. He circulated his breathing and found out that he was not internally injured; he raised his brows and smiled to Huang Rong.
Huang Rong smiled back at him and her anxiety and fear were gone in an instant; at last she had an opportunity to see what kind of boat was coming to rescue them. But once she looked up, she was groaning inwardly; she saw on the bow of the big boat stood seven, eight men, tall and short. They were precisely the Wulin characters she met several months earlier at the Zhao Palace in Yanjing. The one short and stout with bright eyes was ‘qian shou ren tu’ [thousand-hand man slaughterer] Peng Lianhu, the one with a bald, shiny head was ‘gui men long wang’ [dragon king of Guimen (lit. ghost gate) Note to final editor: the earlier chapter has ‘Dragon King of Demonic Group’] Sha Tongtian, the one with three tumors on his head sticking out like horns was ‘san tou jiao’ [three-headed scaly dragon] Hou Tonghai, the one with ruddy face and white hair was ‘shen xian lao guai’ [ginseng immortal old freak] Liang Ziweng, the one wearing scarlet kassaya was the Tibetan monk ‘da shou yin’ [big hand print] Venerable Lingzhi. There were several others that she did not know. She thought, “Recently Brother Jing’s martial arts and mine have enjoyed a tremendous improvement. If we have to fight with Peng Lianhu and the others one to one, I might not win, but Brother Jing will definitely score victory. But there is the Old Poison standing nearby, plus these many people are gathered together. It will be very difficult for us to escape danger today.”
The people on the big boat were surprised to hear Ouyang Feng’s shouts from the raft. Now they saw Guo Jing and the others, they were even more surprised. Ouyang Feng was holding his nephew; Guo Jing and Huang Rong carried Hong Qigong, five people in two groups jumped up one after another from the small rescue boat to the big boat.
Soon a man was coming out the cabin to welcome them; he wore an embroidered colored robe. As soon as he saw Guo Jing, both men were stunned. That man wore a neat beard on his chin, he had a handsome face; it was none other than the Sixth Prince of the Great Jin, Wanyan Honglie.
After escaping from the Liu family ancestral hall in Baoying, Wanyan Honglie was afraid Guo Jing might pursue him to the north, hence he did not dare to go home. He came across Peng Lianhu, Sha Tongtian and the others and decided to go down south to steal the book left behind by Yue Wumu (the Wumu Legacy). At that time the Mongolian army had dispatched a large scale military expedition against the Jins; the capital, Yanjing, had been besieged for several months, the sixteen prefectures surrounding it had fallen under Mongolian invasion. As the days past, the situation of the Jin was getting more and more critical. Wanyan Honglie was very worried about the fate of his country; he saw with his own eyes that the Mongolians were very swift and fierce. Although the Jin army was ten times in terms of number, each time they met, the Jins were routed left and right. Wanyan Honglie painstakingly pondered any idea to rebuild his country’s lofty aspirations, and came to the conclusion that what he needed right at that time was the Wumu Legacy. He thought that as long as this book on military strategy was in his possession, he would be able to build a divine and invincible army; just like Yue Fei’s own army. Even though Mongolian army was strong, they would flee just at the sight of his army.
Presently he led this expedition going south, trying to track the whereabouts of the Legacy; only he feared the Southern Song would uncover his intention and be on guard against the intruders. Therefore, he decided to go by the sea; hoping nobody would know his itinerary and he could land at the Zhejiang coast undetected and quietly enter Lin’an to steal the book.
Actually before departing he was looking for Ouyang Ke; he knew he was a martial art expert and would become a highly useful companion, but after a long time did not have any news about him, he decided to leave without waiting for this man. This time suddenly they met quite by accident on the sea, not only Ouyang Ke, but also Guo Jing at his side, he could not help but secretly feeling anxious; he was afraid his big secret mission had been compromised.
Seeing the enemy who killed his father, Guo Jing was seething with anger; he did not care if he was being surrounded by powerful enemies, he looked at Wanyan Honglie with blazing gaze.
Just then someone else was coming out of the cabin, but only half step through the door he immediately shrunk back in. Huang Rong’s sharp eyes saw that man looked like Yang Kang.
In the meantime Ouyang Ke introduced his uncle to the prince, “Uncle, this is the Sixth Prince of the Great Jin who loves people of high skill.” Ouyang Feng cupped his fists in front of his chest.
Wanyan Honglie did not know that Ouyang Feng had a very big name in the martial art realms; he saw Ouyang Feng showed an arrogant expression, but for Ouyang Ke’s sake he returned the respect.
As Peng Lianhu, Sha Tongtian and the others heard his name, they bowed and sang their praises, “For a long time Mr. Ouyang is the Mount Tai and the Big Dipper [meaning ‘ultimate’] of the Wulin world; today we are fortunate to finally meet you.” Ouyang Feng slightly bowed, returning their respect half-heartedly.
The ‘da shou yin’ Venerable Lingzhi came from Tibet, he did not know the Western Poison’s reputation; he merely put his palms together without saying anything.
Wanyan Honglie knew that Sha Tongtian and the others were conceited men, they always looked down towards others; but he noticed they were very respectful toward Ouyang Feng almost to the point of fear and heaped him with flattering words, and their faces looked very unusual. Wanyan Honglie realized that this swollen man with disheveled hair and bare feet was not an ordinary person; immediately he treated Ouyang Feng with respect and uttered some polite words.
Among these people, Liang Ziweng was the only one with different feeling. Guo Jing had drunk the valuable blood of his precious viper; now that they saw each other, how could he not feel angry? But he noticed that the person he was most afraid of, Hong Qigong, was with Guo Jing. So even though he was very angry, he managed to keep a smiling face. He went forward and bowed respectfully, “The little Liang Ziweng greets Clan Leader Hong, wishing you, Senior well.”
His speech had startled everybody else; they have heard the stellar reputation of the Western Poison and the Northern Beggar for a long time, but they have never met them in person. Who would have expected that two of the biggest names of the martial art world actually made their appearance at the same time? They were about to rush forward and pay their respects when Hong Qigong laughed big and said, “The Old Beggar is having a very bad luck, a vicious dog has bitten me half dead and half alive, what are you paying respect for? It’s better for you to bring me something to eat.”
Everybody was startled, they thought, “This Hong Qigong only laying down motionless, turned out he is severely injured. We don’t have anything to fear, then.” They looked at Ouyang Feng, wanted to see what he was going to do.
Early on Ouyang Feng had cooked up a plan on how to get rid of these three people: Hong Qigong must be eliminated first to avoid his own lowly behavior to be publicly known; next, he would force Guo Jing to explain the difficult sentences from the manual, and then he would execute him. As for Huang Rong, although his nephew loved her, if he left her alive, she would bring enormous disaster in the future. However, if he personally killed her, Huang Yaoshi would not let him have a single moment of peace. Therefore, he wanted to borrow someone else’s hand to have her killed thus shifting the blame from his own shoulders. Presently these three were aboard the boat, thus he was not afraid they would fly to the sky to escape. He stepped forward and said to Wanyan Honglie, “These three people are very crafty; they are also highly skilled in martial arts. I beseech the Prince to assign some people to guard them well.”
Liang Ziweng was very pleased; he leaned to the left and squeezed through Sha Tongtian to grab Guo Jing’s hand. Guo Jing turned his wrist over and slapped Liang Ziweng’s shoulder. It was the ‘seeing dragon in the field’; a swift and heavy stance; even though Liang Ziweng’s martial art skill was high, unexpectedly he was forced to stagger back two steps.
Peng Lianhu and Liang Ziweng were continually in competition to win favor in the presence of Wanyan Honglie. They always wanted to outdo the other; their faces were different from their hearts. Seeing Liang Ziweng stumble, Peng Lianhu was secretly very pleased. He stepped forward to surround Hong Qigong and the others; but he waited for Liang Ziweng to fall flat before making any action.
When Liang Ziweng squeezed through Sha Tongtian’s side to pull Guo Jing away; he was prepared against Guo Jing’s single stance of the Proud Dragon Repents; he knew he would not be able to block it head on, hence the sideways attack. Who would have thought that in less than a month the Proud Dragon Repents was not the only one Guo Jing knew? Seeing Guo Jing did not pursue, he jumped up and attacked with his fists, launching his lifelong trained martial art, the ‘liao dong ye hu quan fa’ [wild fox from Liaodong fist technique]; determined to take Guo Jing’s life, both for embarrassing him just now, also for killing his precious snake in the past.
One time Liang Ziweng went to pick ginseng on Mount Changbai [located in Jilin province]; he saw a hound was fighting with a wild fox on the snow. The fox was very cunning, it leaped to the east and hopped to the west, very quick and agile. Although the hound’s claws and teeth were sharp, after battling for a long time it had not scored victory yet. Liang Ziweng noticed the ability of the fox to jump very high; he got a sudden inspiration. He abandoned his intention to pick ginseng and decided to stay inside a thatched hut on the deep snowy mountain, painstakingly pondering martial art moves for several months. As a result, the ‘wild fox fist technique’ was born.
The technique incorporates four fundamental principles, namely ‘ling’ [alert/quick], ‘shan’ [dodge], ‘pu’ [pounce], and ‘die’ [tumble]. This technique had come in handy in dealing with powerful enemies of his. First of all, he did not give the enemy any opportunity to catch him as he was very quick to retreat, as he was able to hasten to the left and escape to the right; and then struck back as opportunity arose.
This time he did not dare to underestimate his opponent anymore and launched this fist technique right away. His attacks were lightning fast as he threw everything he got on Guo Jing. The fist technique was weird, Guo Jing had never seen anything like it before. He thought, “In Rong’er’s ‘luo ying shen jian zhang’ [falling leaves divine sword palm technique] there are many trick moves; out of five attacks only one is real; or perhaps one out of eight. But seems like this old man’s fists are all empty strikes. I wonder what kind of strange technique is this?” However, he still remembered Hong Qigong’s advice that regardless of the technique his opponent was using, all he needed to do was to keep fighting using the 18-Dragon Subduing Palms.
After watching these two men fighting for a while, everybody started to silently shake their heads, thinking, “The Old Freak Liang can be considered a grand master of martial art; how come in fighting this new born kid he keeps moving around and does not dare to attack head on?”
Several moves later Guo Jing’s palm strength started to push him back step by step; looked like very soon he would fall into the ocean. Realizing his ‘wild fox fist’ would not help him scoring the victory, Liang Ziweng was thinking of using a different set of fist technique; but it was too late. Guo Jing’s palms had enveloped him completely, did not give him any chance to counterattack.
Amidst the strong gusts of wind Hong Qigong’s voice was heard, “Attack the lower part!”
Guo Jing immediately launched the stance ‘zhan long zai ye’ [exhausted battling dragon] and his left arm swept away. Liang Ziweng cried out in alarm and tumbled down over the edge of the boat.
Everybody was stunned and rushed forward to the edge to watch, only to hear somebody on the sea laugh a long laugh. Suddenly Liang Ziweng’s body flew back up and with a loud grunt he fell straight back to the deck, unconscious.
What had just happened confounded everybody on board. Could it be that the sea water bounced his body back up? Everybody crowded by the edge of the boat, looking down to the sea below, only to see an old man with white beard and white hair rushing to the east and dashing to the west on the surface of the sea with an unusual speed. They strained their eyes to see more clearly; turned out that man was riding on the back of a huge shark, with a speed not inferior to those riding on horseback galloping on dry land.
Guo Jing was pleasantly surprised, with a loud voice he shouted, “Big Brother Zhou, I am here!” That shark rider was indeed the Old Urchin Zhou Botong.
Zhou Botong heard Guo Jing’s shout; he cheered in delight and hit the shark head near its right eye with his fist; the shark turned left immediately, coming near by the boat’s side.
“Is that Brother Guo?” Zhou Botong called out, “How are you? There is a whale ahead. I have been chasing it for a whole day and night. I want to continue chasing it. See you later!”
“Big Brother! Come here, quick!” Guo Jing anxiously called, “There are so many bad people in here want to bully your little brother!”
Zhou Botong was angry, “Is that so?” His right hand held on something inside the shark’s mouth and pulled, while his left hand dangled on the ledge of the big boat. Both man and shark suddenly flew up and above everybody’s head, and landed on the deck. He roared, “Who dares to bully my little brother?”
Every single one of the people aboard had an extensive knowledge of Jianghu matters, but this white bearded old man who suddenly appeared in a most bizarre way caused everybody to be stupefied. Even Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng were dumbstruck.
Zhou Botong saw Huang Rong; he felt strange. “How come you are also here?” he asked.
Huang Rong smiled, “Why not?” she replied, “I figured out you will come back today, that’s why I am waiting for you here. Quickly teach me how to ride a shark.”
Zhou Botong laughed, “Very well, I’ll teach you.”
Huang Rong replied, “But first you have to help us get rid of these bad people, and then you can teach me.”
Zhou Botong swept his gaze across the people on the deck and he said to Ouyang Feng, “I knew other people won’t dare to act so savagely, turned out it is really you.”
Ouyang Feng coldly replied, “A man who did not keep his word, even if he is alive in this world, he will be the laughingstock of all the warriors of the world.”
“Totally correct,” Zhou Botong said, “A man of integrity certainly won’t cause trouble; but whoever speaks and whoever farts has to be distinguished clearly; otherwise other people who hear it might not know if the sound comes out from above or from below. I am indeed looking for you to settle an old score, so it’s nothing better than to see you here. Old Beggar, you are our witness; stand up and give us your judgment.”
Hong Qigong was lying on the deck, he smiled slightly. Huang Rong said, “The Old Poison was almost dead nine times, and my Shifu was kind enough to rescue him every single time; but who would have thought that he has a heart of a wolf and the lungs of a dog, repaying kindness with evil, he injured my Shifu and sealed his acupoints.”
Actually, overall Hong Qigong only saved Ouyang Feng’s life three times, but Huang Rong intentionally exaggerated that number three times. Ouyang Feng knew this, but he did not want to argue; he only looked at her with blazing eyes.
Zhou Botong stooped down trying to unseal Hong Qigong’s ‘qu xhi’ [song reservoir] and ‘yong quan’ [bubbling spring] acupoints by rubbing them. “Old Urchin, it’s useless,” Hong Qigong said.
Turned out the acupoint sealing method Ouyang Feng used was somewhat unusual, other than himself and Huang Yaoshi, there was nobody else in this whole wide world who would be able to unseal it. Ouyang Feng was so smug, “Old Urchin, unseal his acupoints if you have the ability,” he challenged.
Even though Huang Rong could not unseal them, but she was familiar with the sealing method; she made a flat lip and said, “What’s so strange about that? Without too much effort my father can unseal this ‘tou gu da xue fa’ [penetrating bone acupoint sealing technique].”
Hearing her mentioning the correct name of his acupoint sealing technique, Ouyang Feng was amazed that this little girl knowledge was as deep as a bottomless abyss, even encompassing acupoint sealing techniques. However, he did not pay any attention to her; turning to Zhou Botong he asked, “You have lost our bet; why are you talking like breaking a smelly wind?”
Zhou Botong covered up his nose and called out, “Break wind? Smell bad, smell bad! But let me ask you this: what did we bet on?”
“Everybody here, except this surnamed Guo kid and this little girl, is a well-known warrior. I’ll tell what had happened and ask these gentlemen to be our judge,” Ouyang Feng replied.
“Well said, well said,” Peng Lianhu said, “Mr. Ouyang, please tell us.”
“This gentleman here is the Quan Zhen Sect’s Zhou Botong, Master Zhou, known in the Jianghu world as the Old Urchin. In term of seniority he held a very high position, even Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi, and the other Quan Zhen Seven Masters are his martial nephews.
For the last dozen of years or so, Zhou Botong was detained on the Peach Blossom Island, before then his martial art skill was still obscure; except for some mischievous troubles, he had never accomplished anything worth mentioning, therefore, his reputation did not spread loud and wide in the Jianghu world. However, everybody had seen that he was riding a shark, a feat not easily accomplished by any of them. Turned out he was the martial uncle of the Quan Zhen Seven Masters, no wonder he was this good. As a result everybody talked among themselves in low voice.
Peng Lianhu remembered their appointment on the eighth month’s mid-autumn festival in Jiaxing; if the Quan Zhen Seven Masters had this strange man as their helper, they would not be easy to deal with. He could not help but feeling anxious.
Ouyang Feng continued, “This Zhou Xiong was stranded on the sea among a flock of sharks, and I rescued him out. I said this flock of sharks was nothing; without to much effort I can kill every single one of them. Zhou Xiong did not believe me, thus the two of us made a bet. Zhou Xiong, wasn’t what I said true?”
Zhou Botong nodded his head repeatedly, “It was absolutely true. Betting on what, you need to explain to everybody,” he said.
“Exactly!” Ouyang Feng said, “I said that if I lost, I will do whatever you want me to do. If I am not willing to do it, then I must jump into the sea to become fish food. You have said the same thing, is that correct?”
Zhou Botong nodded his head again, “Right, right, that was absolutely correct; and then what happened?” he asked.
“What do you mean ‘what happened’? You have lost!” Ouyang Feng said.
This time Zhou Botong shook his head repeatedly, “Not true, not true!” he said, “It was you who have lost, not me.”
Ouyang Feng was angry, “A real man can distinguish between right and wrong; how can you deny your own words? If I lost, how come you were willing to plunge into the sea to kill yourself?”
Zhou Botong sighed, “That’s true. Originally I also said that the Old Urchin’s fortune was bad so I lost to you; who would have thought that as I went down into the water the Heaven sent something we can regard as a coincidence. Only then did I know that the Old Poison had lost, the Old Urchin had won.”
Together Ouyang Feng, Hong Qigong and Huang Rong asked, “What coincidence?”
Zhou Botong stooped down and with his left hand, grabbed a piece of stick stuck inside the shark’s mouth. He lifted the shark and said, “I met my riding animal. Old Poison, take a look; it was your precious nephew who stuck this wooden stick inside its mouth, wasn’t it?”
It was indeed Ouyang Ke who concocted this wicked plan to prop-up a wooden stick inside the shark’s mouth, so that it would not be able to eat and eventually die of starvation. This, Ouyang Feng had seen with his own eyes. Right now he saw a huge shark with a wooden stick in its mouth; he also saw the wound caused by the hook on the shark’s mouth. Without any doubt this was the very same shark they returned to the sea that day. “So what?” he asked.
Zhou Botong clapped his hands and laughed, “That means you lost! Our bet was you killed every single one of the sharks, but this good fellow was bestowed a good fortune by your nephew, it could not eat the dead sharks, hence could not eat the poison. It was the only shark left alive. So how can’t you say the Old Urchin has won?” He burst out in laughter. Ouyang Feng’s countenance changed, he could not say anything.
Guo Jing delightedly asked, “Big Brother, where were you these past few days? I was so miserable thinking about you.”
Zhou Botong laughed, “I am playing and having fun. Not long after I jumped into the sea, I saw this fellow grasping for breath on the surface, it seemed to be in agony. I said, ‘Old Shark, oh Old Shark, looks like today you and I share the same fate!’ And then I jumped suddenly on the shark’s back. It furiously went down under the water, I had to hold my breath, my both hands holding tightly to its neck and my feet randomly kicked its belly. With great difficulty it went back up to the surface. Without giving me a chance to take two mouthfuls of breathe this fellow dove back underwater. The two of us fought for half a day and finally he became obedient and was willing to listen to what I say; I want it go to the east, it went to the east, I want it to head north, he wouldn’t dare of going south.” While saying those words he gently patted the shark’s head, looking so pleased.
Among those who were present, Huang Rong was the only one who admired and envied him. Her eyes shone and she asked, “I have played in the sea for many years, why hadn’t I thought of this trick? I was so stupid!”
“Look at its mouth full of teeth, they are as sharp as knives,” Zhou Botong said, “If there is no stick in its mouth, do you dare to ride it?”
“You spent the last few days riding on the back of the fish?” Huang Rong asked.
“Certainly,” Zhou Botong replied, “The two of us have a pretty good skill of catching fish. As soon as we saw a fish, we chased it; I sent a fist or a palm to kill it. Out of ten fish, I only ate one and this fellow ate the other nine.”
Huang Rong traced the shark’s belly and asked, “You dumped dead fish into its belly? It did not need its teeth to eat?”
“Oh, he is a good eater,” Zhou Botong answered, “There was a time the two of us chasing an extremely big cuttlefish …”
Two people, one old the other young, were having an animated discussion, totally ignoring everybody else on board the ship. Ouyang Feng groaned inwardly, silently thinking of some ideas to deal with this situation. Suddenly Zhou Botong turned to him and said, “Hey, Old Poison, do you admit defeat?”
Ouyang Feng was the one making the speech earlier; how could he swallow his own words in front of these many people? He was obliged to say, “So what if I lost? Do you think there is anything I can’t do?”
“Hmm,” Zhou Botong said, “I must think of a difficult thing for you to do. Very well, you scolded me just now that I was farting; I want you to fart immediately! Let everybody smell.”
Hearing Zhou Botong only asked Ouyang Feng to break wind for no reason at all Huang Rong was annoyed. Breaking wind at will was naturally not easy for an average person, but with a strong internal energy, it was not difficult to circulate the breathing to the whole body, hence it was an extremely trivial thing to do. She was afraid of Ouyang Feng’s craftiness and of his venomous snake staff; she was afraid he would grab this opportunity and gently broke wind, hence put it all behind without too much trouble. Therefore, hastily she said, “Not good, not good! First you want to tell him to unseal my Shifu’s acupoints, then we can talk again.”
“Look!” Zhou Botong said, “Even a young miss is afraid of your smelly fart. Alright, I’ll let you go this time. I am not going to ask you to do a difficult thing anyway; quickly tend to the Old Beggar’s injury. The Old Beggar’s skill is not under yours; if not of your sneakiness, no way you would be able to injure him. After he is healed, the two of you can fight again. That time let the Old Urchin be the judge.”
Ouyang Feng knew Hong Qigong’s injury was incurable; he was not afraid of future retaliation. But he was afraid Zhou Botong would come up with a more difficult and strange request. Under the eyes of numerous people he felt really awkward; he did not want to comply, yet he was too proud to deny. Without saying anything he bent down and exerted his strength to his palm and unsealed Hong Qigong’s acupoints. Huang Rong and Guo Jing rushed forward to help their master standing up.
Zhou Botong again swept his gaze to the people on the deck, he said, “The Old Urchin is most afraid to smell the urine taste of the sheep eaten by barbarians. Quickly let down a small boat to send us four people ashore.”
Ever since he saw the fight between Zhou Botong and Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng knew that this man’s martial art was really strange. If for any reason they had to fight, he was certain he would not be defeated, but scoring a victory was not guaranteed either. Therefore, he decided to endure patiently for the time being. He wanted to wait until he had mastered the Nine Yin Manual, then he would come and settle the account with Zhou Botong. Besides, he had an excuse of losing the bet earlier. When all was said and done, it would be better off to send this annoying plague away anyway, so he made up his mind and said, “ Very well, your luck was very good! Since you won the bet, let it be as you said.” Turning his head to Wanyan Honglie he said, “Prince, please let down a boat to take this four people ashore.”
Wanyan Hongli hesitated, he thought, “I am afraid as soon as they are ashore, these four people will leak my secret mission to the south.”
All along the Venerable Lingzhi was watching with his cold eyes; earlier he had seen Ouyang Feng’s unkempt appearance and already his heart was filled with contempt. He thought that this chicken-half-drown-in-soup did not dare to defy even for half a word of whatever Zhou Botong told him to do; most likely he had been enjoying an unearned reputation. Even if his martial art was excellent, he would not be necessarily more skillful than the rest of the people on board. Noticing Wanyan Honglie had a slight hesitation, he moved forward two steps and said, “If we are on the raft, then whatever Mr. Ouyang wishes we must comply, how can other people dare to speak too much? But we are on the boat, we have to listen to the Prince’s instruction.”
Listening to this, everybody’s heart was stirred and they turned their gaze toward Ouyang Feng to see what he was going to do. Coldly Ouyang Feng looked up and down Venerable Lingzhi, sizing him up. He raised his head to the sky and wryly said, “This Great Monk deliberately wants to make things difficult for this old man?”
Venerable Lingzhi replied, “I don’t dare. The lowly monk lived at the edge of Tibet; friendless and ignorant. Today was the very first time I heard Mr. Ouyang’s honorable name. I don’t have anything to do with you whatsoever …”
Before he could finish, Ouyang Feng had moved forward one step; his left hand swiftly made a false move, his right hand deftly grab Venerable Lingzhi’s tall and grand stature. With a little effort he turned the monk around and held him upside down. It had happened so fast; all the others saw was Venerable Lingzhi’s red kassaya sway and then loosely flutter in midair; nobody saw clearly what kind of technique Ouyang Feng used.
Venerable Lingzhi was a head taller than everybody else, but Ouyang Feng was able to grab his neck like holding a slice of fat meat. Even if Ouyang Feng stretched out his arm completely upward, he would not necessarily be able to lift Lingzhi’s feet off the ground; but when Ouyang Feng turned his body upside down, the top of Lingzhi’s head was actually about four feet above the deck.
Venerable Lingzhi’s legs were kicking randomly in the air, his mouth let out roaring curses. Everybody had seen Venerable Lingzhi fought Wang Chuyi at the Zhao Palace the other day; they knew his skill was not a trivial matter. But how could he be turned upside down by Ouyang Feng, his arms flailing weakly on the sides of his ears, like those arms were broken and he did not have any strength to struggle free?
With his eyes still looking upward, Ouyang Feng dryly said, “Today was the first time you heard my name; therefore, you look down upon the old man, don’t you?”
Venerable Lingzhi was both scared and angry. He tried to exert his energy several times, trying to struggle free, but no matter what, he was not able to escape. Peng Lianhu and the others saw what happened, their countenances changed of amazement.
Ouyang Feng continued, “You look down upon the old man, that’s alright. But I don’t want to stoop down to your low level in front of the Honorable Prince. You want to detain the Old Urchin, Master Zhou, the Nine-fingered Divine Beggar, Master Hong. Heh, heh … do you think you can rely on your magical skill to match them? You are both friendless and unlearned; no wonder you don’t know much and have not had enough lessons to teach you manners. Old Urchin, take this!”
Again, nobody saw Ouyang Feng’s hand move; he merely exert his strength to his palm and Venerable Lingzhi flew like a cloud from the port side to the starboard of the deck. As soon as he felt Ouyang Feng’s palm strength left his body and he was free, Lingzhi stretched his body like a carp trying to turn his body right side up. But suddenly he felt a shot of pain on his neck; he cried out in pain, and stretched out his left arm to attack, but again he felt his arm went numb and hung helplessly on the side of his head. Once again his body was suspended midair. Turned out Zhou Botong followed Ouyang Feng’s example and grabbed him by the neck.
Wanyan Honglie understood Lingzhi’s precarious situation; he knew nobody could accuse Ouyang Feng of not giving forewarning. No one among his warriors had the ability to deal with Zhou Botong, this one man; hence he hastily said, “Mister Zhou, you don’t have to play anymore, Little Prince is sending out a boat to take the four of you ashore.”
“Very good,” Zhou Botong said, “You can also try; take this!” Following Ouyang Feng’s example, he exerted his strength to his palm and sent Venerable Lingzhi flying toward the Prince.
Of course Wanyan Honglie knew martial art, but his skill was limited to saber, spear and bow and arrow on a horseback. The flying plump monk from Zhou Botong’s hand carried a swift and strong force; how could he take it? Even if he didn’t die he would certainly suffer a heavy injury; so he hastily stepped aside to elude.
Sha Tongtian knew the Prince was in danger and right away he stepped forward in front of the Prince, trying to protect him. He saw Venerable Lingzhi was coming fast; if he struck with his palm, he might injure the monk. Following Ouyang Feng and Zhou Botong’s example earlier, he wanted to grab the monk’s neck and turn him right side up, and then lay him down nicely.
However, he had forgotten one important detail; namely, his martial art was way below of those two people. He saw Ouyang Feng and Zhou Botong seemingly without any effort grabbing and throwing Venerable Lingzhi’s heavy body. Hence he leaped up to intercept Lingzhi, stretching his hand to grab his neck. Unexpectedly as he touched Venerable Lingzhi’s neck he felt a burning sensation following a strong force attacking his hand and wrist. He knew if he did not ward off this attack his wrist would be broken immediately. In this critical time he quickly withdrew his right hand, while his left fist launched the ‘po jia zhui’ [splitting armor awl].
What happened was when Venerable Lingzhi was thrown away back and forth between Ouyang Feng and Zhou Botong, his blood was flowing adversely, his head was dizzy while his heart was burning with anger. He heard Zhou Botong calling out someone else to take his body, all he knew was that person must be an enemy; hence when he was still airborne he had already exerted his strength in anger. As soon as Sha Tongtian’s hand bumped onto his neck his ‘da shou yin’ slapped out.
In term of strength these two were in par with each other; Sha Tongtian had the advantage of standing upright, but Venerable Lingzhi had prepared his attack beforehand, and thus caught him off guard. Two equal forces collided, Sha Tongtian was pushed back three steps, but Venerable Lingzhi was also shaken from the collision that he fell flat on the deck. Immediately he stood up and saw that the person who attacked him was Sha Tongtian; he thought, “Even you, a stinky thief, want to take advantage of me!” With a loud roar he pounced forward.
Peng Lianhu knew he misunderstood; hastily he blocked in between two people, calling out, “Reverend please don’t get angry, Brother Sha only has a good intention.”
In the meantime the small boat had been lowered down. Zhou Botong grabbed the stick inside the shark’s mouth; he lifted and hurled the huge shark to the sea, simultaneously exerting his strength and broke the stick into two parts. While diving into the sea, that shark suddenly felt the stick in its mouth was broken, it was very happy. It dove deep into the water to hunt for some fish.
Huang Rong smiled, “Brother Jing, later on the two of us and Big Brother Zhou can ride sharks together and then we can have a race.” Guo Jing did not answer, Zhou Botong clapped his hands and cheered, he said, “We can ask the Old Beggar to be our judge.”
After seeing Zhou Botong and the others went out on the small boat, Wanyan Honglie started to think that with this kind of martial art, Ouyang Feng would provide a valuable assistance to his plan of stealing the book. He pulled Venerable Lingzhi’s hand and walked toward Ouyang Feng. “Everybody here is good friend, I hope Sir would not be offended, I am sure Reverend was not serious. I wish both gentlemen would give Little Prince face and consider everything as a joke,” he said.
Ouyang Feng smiled and extended his hand. Venerable Lingzhi on the other hand, was still upset. He mused, “You only use the seizing technique [‘qin na’] and caught me off guard. I have trained painstakingly for dozens of years to develop my ‘da shou yin’ power; do you think I am inferior to you?” Hence he also stretched out his hand while sending his energy to his palm, with the intention of gripping hard Ouyang Feng’s palm. But he was just about to exert his strength when he suddenly jumped away. He felt like he was touching red-hot burning steel and his hand was so much in pain that he dropped it in a hurry. Ouyang Feng did not want to pursue, he simply smiled faintly. Venerable Lingzhi looked at his hand and did not see anything unusual, he thought, “Damn it, this old thief surely knows demonical tricks.”
Ouyang Feng saw Liang Ziweng was still lying down on the deck, unmoving. He came to examine him. Ouyang Feng knew that Liang Ziweng was pushed to the sea by Guo Jing and later on intercepted by Zhou Botong, who sealed his acupoint and threw him back to the boat. Thereupon he unsealed Liang Ziweng acupoints. Automatically Ouyang Feng became the leader of this group of warriors.
Wanyan Honglie immediately ordered a banquet to welcome Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew. While drinking wine Wanyan Honglie explained his plan to go to Lin’an and steal the ‘Wumu Legacy’ to Ouyang Feng; and at the same time asking Ouyang Feng’s willingness to help him. Actually Ouyang Feng had heard about this matter from his nephew; this time his heart was stirred, suddenly a thought came into his mind, “What kind of man do you think I, Ouyang Feng, am? How can I submit to you? But I heard not only Yue Fei’s military skill was divine, but his martial art skill was also superb. I heard the Yue Family’s martial art has been lost in the martial art world. Perhaps in his legacy there was a martial art manual besides the military strategy. I will agree to help him get the book then if I like what I see, can’t the Old Poison get what he wanted?”
It was precisely: You cheat, I am crafty; everybody for himself. Wanyan Honglie wholeheartedly wanted the book to help him defeat the Great Song, but while the praying mantis was hunting for cicada, the yellow canary caught it from behind; Ouyang Feng had a different idea on top of his. Therefore, one man heaped flattering words, the other’s mouth was full of compliance. In addition, Liang Ziweng made an utmost effort to be a good host; the banquet table was overflowing with wine. The guests and the hosts were having a good time. Only Ouyang Ke was still in pain from his injury; he did not drink any wine, he only ate some dishes and then asked the crew to help him going to the rear cabin to take a rest.
While they were eating and drinking in a lively manner, suddenly Ouyang Feng’s countenance changed. The cup stopped at his mouth, he did not drink. Everybody was startled; nobody knew what had offended him. Wanyan Hongli was about to ask when Ouyang Feng said, “Listen!”
Everybody inclined their heads to listen, but other than the wind and the wave of the sea, they did not hear anything. A moment later Ouyang Feng asked again, “Do you hear it this time? It’s a flute sound.” Everybody listened attentively with rapt attention, now they could hear amidst the sound of the waves, there was a faint sound of bamboo flute, sometimes broken, sometimes continued. Nobody could hear it if Ouyang Feng did not point it out.
Ouyang Feng walked to the bow; there he let out a long whistle, the sound traveled far away. By now everybody else had arrived at the bow. They saw on the distant a light boat with three green sails, cutting the waves and coming fast toward their boat. They were inwardly astonished, “Is the flute sound coming from that boat? It’s very far away, how can the sound travel here?”
Ouyang Feng ordered the sailors to change the rudder to intercept that fast boat. Two boats gradually came closer to each other. On the bow of that fast boat stood a man wearing a dark green long robe, in his hand was indeed a flute. He called out loudly, “Feng Xiong, have you seen my daughter?”
“Your daughter has a very strong temperament, how can I dare to provoke her?” Ouyang Feng replied.
Two boats were several ‘zhang’s apart; nobody saw that man moved his body and jumped, yet they saw a blur shadow, and that man had already standing on the big boat’s deck.
As Wanyan Honglie saw his marvelous skill, his desire to recruit warriors arose; he stepped forward to welcome the guest, saying, “What is your surname, Sir? I am very fortunate to receive your visit.” Considering his lofty position as a prince of the Great Jin, he was being unusually modest; but upon seeing he was wearing a Jin country official’s costume, that man only gave him a blank stare, apparently did not pay any attention to him.
Seeing the prince did not get the attention he deserved Ouyang Feng said, “Yao Xiong, let me present to you the Sixth Prince of the Great Jin, Prince Zhao.” To Wanyan Honglie he said, “This is the Master of the Peach Blossom Island, the number one martial artist in the world, his knowledge is unparalleled.”
Peng Lianhu and the others were so shocked that they involuntarily withdrew several steps back. They knew from the start that Huang Rong’s father was a very fierce devil; the Twin Killers of the Dark Wind were his renegade disciples, yet they were able to shake the Jianghu with their might, the face of the people of the Wulin world would change color whenever their names were mentioned. If the disciples were this fierce, how much more would be their master? This time he appeared to create trouble for sure, they thought; everybody remembered that they have offended his daughter. Therefore, everybody’s heart was filled with fear and nobody dared to make a sound.
When his daughter ran away, Huang Yaoshi knew she must be looking for Guo Jing. Initially he was angry and ignored her. But a few days later he became worried, he was afraid she would find Guo Jing on the special ship he built and thus went down to the bottom of the sea together. He was worried to the death for his daughter, so he decided to go out to the sea and search for her.
Knowing they were returning to the mainland, he decided to head to the west. But looking for a boat in a boundless sea was truly easier said than done. Even though Huang Yaoshi possessed an extraordinary intelligence, but after going back and forth searching he could not see even her shadow. That particular day backed by his strong internal energy he played his flute at the bow of his boat, with the hope that his daughter would hear and responded; unexpectedly it was Ouyang Feng whom he met.
Huang Yaoshi and Peng Lianhu and the others did not know each other. Hearing Ouyang Feng say that this person was a prince of the Jin, he did not want to stay much longer; he cupped his fists across his chest and said to Ouyang Feng, “Brother needs to continue my search for my daughter; I apologize for not accompanying you much longer.” Then he turned around to leave.
Venerable Lingzhi was just angered by Ouyang Feng and Zhou Botong, and now he saw another extremely arrogant and impolite person coming on board. He heard what Ouyang Feng had said, but he thought, “Could it be that there are so many highly skilled people in this world? Most likely these people knew some witchcraft and deceived others with their demonical ability. Let me try, perhaps I can deceive him as well.” Hence seeing Huang Yaoshi was about to leave with a loud voice he said, “Are you looking for a fifteen, sixteen years old young lady?”
Huang Yaoshi paused and turned around with a happy expression on his face, “Yes Reverend, did you see her?”
Venerable Lingzhi coldly replied, “I did see a young lady, but the one I saw was dead one, not a live one.”
Huang Yaoshi’s heart turned cold, “What?” he quickly asked, his voice was trembling.
Venerable Lingzhi replied, “About three days ago I saw a body of a young girl floating on the surface of the sea. She was wearing white clothes with a gold ring on her hair; originally her face must be so pretty. Ay! What a pity, what a pity! What a pity her body was swollen by the seawater.” What he described was exactly Huang Rong’s clothes and adornments, every single one was accurate.
Huang Yaoshi’s mind was greatly troubled, his body shook, his face turned pale; a moment later he asked, “Are you telling me the truth?”
Everybody else clearly saw Huang Rong boarded the small boat just a moment ago; now they heard how Venerable Lingzhi was deceiving this man, taking pleasure in other’s misfortune; but even as they saw Huang Yaoshi’s grieving face, nobody made any sound.
Venerable Lingzhi coldly continued, “Beside that young lady’s body I saw three other corpses; one was of a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, the other one was an old beggar with a scarlet wine gourd on his back, and the last one was a white haired old man.” He was describing Guo Jing, Hong Qigong and Zhou Botong, three people.
Reaching this point Huang Yaoshi’s doubt was completely gone; he squinted at Ouyang Feng, thinking, “You knew about my daughter so why you didn’t tell me earlier?”
Ouyang Feng noticed his look and realized his grief has reached its peak so he started to have a murderous intent. Although he himself would not suffer a loss this oncoming force would not be easy to resist; hence he quickly said, “Brother had just come in on board this board today, and it was the first time I met all these people. When this Reverend saw some floating corpses, your daughter was not necessarily among them.” Sighing, he continued, “Your beloved is such a good girl; it is very regrettable if she really died in such a young age. If my nephew found out, he would die of heartbreak.” This speech had shifted the blame from his own shoulder, but clearly did not offend either side.
Listening to Ouyang Feng Huang Yaoshi was completely in shock; his heart sank in an instant. He was of the kind who loved to vent his anger to others; otherwise when the Twin Killers of the Dark Wind stole his manual, why did he break Lu Chengfeng and his other innocent disciple’s legs and expelled them from his school?
This time he felt his chest was icy-cold, but his blood was boiling hot, just like when his beloved wife died some years ago. His hands were trembling, his face turned from snow white to crimson red alternatively.
Everybody was looking at him in silence; their hearts were filled with unspeakable fear. Even Ouyang Feng was anxious; he gathered his ‘qi’ in his ‘dan tian’, his whole body was alert, ready to take any attack. The entire deck was unusually quiet. Suddenly Huang Yaoshi let out a long laugh, it sounded like a never ending dragon roar.
This latest development has taken everybody by surprise; they were startled. They saw him facing upward and laughing wildly, getting louder and louder. His laughter had caused a chill in the air; those who listened to it felt more and more miserable. Gradually the laughter turned into weeping, a very sad one. The people could not bear it any longer, they felt like they shared his grief and were about to shed tears too.
Ouyang Feng was the only one who knew his temperament well, that he used to sing and cry without any specific reason; hence he did not feel too strange. But listening to him weeping so miserably he thought, “If he keeps crying like this, the Old Heretic Huang will inevitably injure himself. In the past Ruan Ji mourned the death of his mother and in doing so had vomited a lot of blood. The Old Heretic Huang could experience the same fate as that person from the past. It was a pity my iron zither was lost when my boat sank; otherwise I could have played it along and make his crying more interesting. This man has an unusual character once he unleashes his uncontrollable emotion he will most likely suffer a serious internal injury. When it’s time for the second Sword Meet of Mount Hua I will surely miss a worthy and formidable opponent. Ay! What a great loss! What a pity, what a pity!”
After crying for a while Huang Yaoshi lifted his jade flute up and struck the edge of the boat while singing, “Why did God make someone’s life so short? Or someone die when all the hair in his head had turned white, while the other die because of disaster or child-birth. The previous calamity had not passed, the new one has come along. Morning had just blossomed, the evening had already come, the dew came with the dawn and evaporated immediately. The departed cannot be pursued, the emotion suddenly fails. The high heaven does not have stairs, to whom shall I pour my complain out?”
‘Crack!’ the jade flute was broken into two. Without turning his head Huang Yaoshi walked to the bow. Venerable Lingzhi dashed forward to block him off and coldly said, “You wept and you laughed like a madman, what do you think you are doing?”
“Reverend, don’t …” Wanyan Honglie called out, but before he finished, Huang Yaoshi’s right hand stretched out and grabbed Venerable Lingzhi’s neck. Turning him midair until his feet were facing upward Huang Yaoshi threw him down until his fat bald head penetrated the deck straight to his shoulders.
It turns out that in the martial art Venerable Lingzhi practiced, his neck was his weakest point. As soon as he made his move, highly skilled martial artists like Ouyang Feng, Zhou Botong and Huang Yaoshi could immediately see through this flaw and attack his weakest spot.
Huang Yaoshi continued singing, “The sky eternal, the earth unchanging, how long will a man live? The past, the future, everything passed unawares; there is a time for everything.” A dark green shadow flashed, he had already moved to his own boat, turned the rudder and sailed away.
The people on board was about to rescue Venerable Lingzhi who stayed motionless, they did not know if he was alive or dead, suddenly they heard a grunt and the deck floor opened, out came a young man. He was handsome, with red lips and white teeth, and a face like a crown jade; he was Wanyan Honglie’s son, Yang Kang, whose former name was Wanyan Kang.
After having a disagreement with Mu Nianci he kept remembering Wanyan Honglie’s words, ‘unlimited riches and honor’; thereafter he contacted a Jin government office in the north to get information. Not long after he found his father king and thus accompanied him to the south. When Guo Jing and Huang Rong embarked, he caught a glimpse of them and immediately went hiding inside the cabin, did not dare to come out, only took a peek through a crack on the cabin’s door; hence he saw everything that happened on the deck clearly. When the people were eating and drinking he was still afraid Ouyang Feng was Guo Jing’s accomplice. He hid in the boat’s hold and eavesdropped at the conversation on the banquet table, trying to find out Ouyang Feng’s real intention. Only after Huang Yaoshi left he finally decided that he had nothing to worry about, so he opened the deck’s plank and came out.
The fall of Venerable Lingzhi was truly heavy; fortunately due to his hard training his head was strong. He made a hole on the deck, but his head was not injured, it was only a little bit dizzy. He calmed himself down and pushed both hands on the deck to lift his own body up; then he leaped and stood up.
The people saw the round hole on the deck; they could not be refrained from looking at each other in amazement. They felt funny, but felt it was inappropriate to laugh, so they kept their faces straight, but they looked very awkward.
Wanyan Honglie broke the silence by saying, “Son, meet Mr Ouyang.”
Yang Kang immediately knelt in front of Ouyang Feng and kowtowed to him four times. It was a very big honor, caused everybody to be surprised. Actually at the Zhao Palace Yang Kang had had a great admiration toward Venerable Lingzhi; but today he had seen Ouyang Feng, Zhou Botong and Huang Yaoshi, three people, one after another grabbed his neck and tossed him back and forth like he was just a baby. Only then did he realize there was a sky above the sky and there was another man above a man. He recalled the disgrace when he was held captive at the Cloud Village on Lake Tai, when he was scared of and lost his nerve to fight Guo Jing and Huang Rong at the Liu ancestral hall in Baoying; all because his skill was inferior to others. Presently there was a man with a very high skill in front of him, so he wanted to take him as his master. After paying Ouyang Feng a big respect he turned to Wanyan Honglie and said, “Father, your son wants to take this gentleman as my master.”
Wanyan Honglie was delighted, quickly he stepped forward and bowed his respect to Ouyang Feng, saying, “My young child likes to learn martial arts, only he has not met a suitable master. If Sir do not relinquish this request and willing to bestow instructions, Little King father and son will be forever grateful.”
Other people thought that being the young prince’s master was the wish of everybody; who would have thought that Ouyang Feng simply returned the greeting and said, “There is always a rule in the Old Man’s martial art school that our knowledge will be bestowed only to one disciple, and not to someone else. The Old Man has already taken my own nephew as my disciple, I can’t take another one. For this I beseech the Prince’s forgiveness.”
Seeing Ouyang Feng did not grant his request Wanyan Honglie did not press. He ordered his men to prepare some more food and wine. Yang Kang on the other hand, was quite disappointed.
Ouyang Feng smiled and said, “I don’t deserve to be the young prince’s master, but it’s not difficult for the Old Man to give you directions on martial arts. We will talk about it later.”
Yang Kang had seen Ouyang Ke’s many concubines; they had received instructions in martial arts from him but because they were not his disciples their skills were nothing but ordinary. Listening to Ouyang Feng said it that way his heart was not in the least enthusiastic, but his mouth was obliged to utter some grateful words. He had never realized that Ouyang Feng’s skill was not to be compared with his nephew; receiving one or two instructions on martial arts from an expert of Ouyang Feng’s caliber would give him sufficient skill to boast his power and prestige among the heroes of the Wulin world.
Ouyang Feng noticed his expression and realized his intention to give instructions was not very well received; so he never raised this matter anymore.
During the banquet they were talking about Huang Yaoshi’s arrogance and rudeness; they praised Venerable Lingzhi for fooling him well. Hou Tonghai said, “This man’s martial art’s skill was truly high; turned out that stinky girl is his daughter, no wonder her way was somewhat crafty.” While saying that he turned his attention toward Venerable Lingzhi’s bald head. After staring for a while he turned his gaze toward Lingzhi’s fat neck, and then he bent his own right arm to grab his own neck. “Hey, hey,” he mocked and asked, “Shige [Older Martial Brother], those three were using a grabbing skill, what kind of technique was that?”
“Don’t talk nonsense!” Sha Tongtian rebuked him.
Venerable Lingzhi could not hold his patience anymore and he stretched out his left hand to grab the three horns on Hou Tonghai’s forehead. Hou Tonghai quickly shrank his body and slid under the table. Everybody was laughing and cheering.
Hou Tonghai reappeared on his chair and said to Ouyang Feng, “Master Ouyang, your martial art skill is very high indeed! How about you teach me the skill to grab someone’s fat neck?” Ouyang Feng smiled but did not answer. Venerable Lingzhi looked at Hou Tonghai with glaring eyes.
Hou Tonghai turned his head and asked again, “Shige, that Huang Yaoshi was crying and singing, what did he say?”
Sha Tongtian glowered at him, did not know how to answer; “Who cares about the jabbering of a madman?” he said.
Yang Kang explained, “What he sang was a poem written by Cao Zijian of the Three Kingdoms period. That Cao Zijian composed two stanzas of lamentation because of his daughter’s death. In the poem he said how some people live until the hair on their heads had turned completely white, while some children died prematurely. He questioned why God was so unfair? He hated the fact the Heaven was so high without stairs that he could not ascend to His throne to cry out his complain. He finally said that his grieve was so deep that the day he would follow her to the grave would not be far away.”
The warriors immediately heaped him with praise, they said, “The Young Prince is truly a scholar, highly educated. We are rough men, how would we know?”
Huang Yaoshi’s heart was filled with grieve and indignation. He pointed his finger to the sky and scolding the earth, cursing ghosts and blaming divine beings for treating him unjustly, for all his sorrows and unfair fate. He commanded his boat toward the mainland. Once he was ashore his anger flamed again. He looked up to the sky and shouted, “Who killed my Rong’er? Who killed my Rong’er?”
Suddenly a thought came into his mind, “It’s that boy surnamed Guo. That’s right, it was him. If not for him, how could Rong’er come aboard that boat? But this boy died alongside Rong’er; whom should I lash my anger on?”
As soon as he had this thought, he remembered Guo Jing’s masters, the Six Freaks of Jiangnan. “These six are most guilty of killing my Rong’er! If they didn’t teach that surnamed Guo kid, how could he meet Rong’er? I won’t be appeased before I cut their arms and legs one by one.”
As his anger increased, his sorrow decreased somewhat. He arrived at a small town and stopped for some food; still thinking deeply about how he would pursue the Six Freaks of Jiangnan. “The Six Freaks’ martial art skills are not high, but their reputations are not low. Perhaps they have something that set them above everybody else; perhaps they only use deceit. If I pay a visit to their residence and inquire, chances are I am not going to find them. I must go in the middle of the night breaking into their houses; and then I will wipe them and their whole families clean, young and old alike.” Hence he took big strides walking north toward Jiaxing.