Page 3 of 32 FirstFirst 12345678910111213 ... LastLast
Results 41 to 60 of 632

Thread: ROCH Chapter 26 onwards...

  1. #41
    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    5,569

    Default

    Felipe,

    SOD = State of Divinity = Another Translation name for Smiling Proud Wanderer.

    DGKB is mentioned mainly in the two novels, Return of the Condor Heroes (ROCH) and also SOD. He was never a protagonist in any story by JY.

  2. #42
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    240

    Default

    Thank you again Han Solo, sorry to bother!

    I was thinking of the chronological time of SOD (before or after Condor Trilogy) but I feel it would be inconvenient to abuse of your kind will.

  3. #43
    Senior Member wandering's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    710

    Default

    Chronologically, SOD should be after the Condor Trilogy.
    Because Wu Dang is already an established clan in SOD time period.
    Whereas, in HSDS, Wu Dang was only just being created.
    ******************************************
    Check out WXFS translated comic of Tian Long Ba Bu
    Last updated: 02/04/2008
    ******************************************

  4. #44
    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    5,569

    Default

    SOD is set in the Ming dynasty.

  5. #45
    Senior Member rayon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    300

    Default translation attempt

    I am currently attempting to translate the continuation of chapter 26. The text I am translating is taken from www.qiqi.com. However, I am really foreign to the language as I can only speak a few smatterings of Mandarin and can't even read or write it. So if it's ok with you guys, I need someone who can help me edit the translated works I have so far. Just to make sure that I got the words right. And maybe after editing, I can post these on the thread.
    "It's good to know what you don't know." - The Twit

    Xiao Shiyi Lang Book 2 - plodding thru Chap 27

  6. #46
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    240

    Default

    Thank you a lot, wandering and Han Solo. Sorry to bother.

  7. #47
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    240

    Default

    Please repost, people .

  8. #48
    Junior Member JingRong's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    37

    Default

    Yeah, especially BeeDreamer transalation and others.
    Really a pity to lose them all.

  9. #49
    Senior Member Du Gu seeking a win's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    453

    Default Chapter 26 (Hanky Panky, Athena, BeeDreamer, Lanny Lin)

    Hanky Panky:

    Chapter 26 Divine Eagle's Heavy Sword

    Xiao Long Nu saw Quan Zhen Sect's group of Taoists riot, the Mongolian warriors raided on a large scale, every dispute seemed from her viewpoint like a cloud of mist, she paid no attention to them, but seeing Lu Qing Du raised his sword to kill Yin Zhi Ping, how can she let other people try to stab him? Therefore, immediately she ran up front to block the attack.

    When Zhao Zhi Jing saw Xiao Long Nu suddenly advanced into the temple, he felt delighted: "Throughout the whole journey I've been chased by you without a moment's pause for breath, now that there's so many experts around, you're literally searching for death, it truly is the heaven's grant!" He called out: "The demon girl is not a good person, seize her for me!" The Mongolian warriors didn't take notice of his orders, they didn't even lift a finger. Zhao Zhi Jing's two close followers heard their master's command, rushed in front, individually tried to grab both her arms.

    Before both their hands reached her sleeve, the fight within their perspective was moving as fast as cold light, both their wrists felt a burst of severe pain, in haste leapt behind. How it happened was because within her waist Xiao Long Nu pulled out two swords. In the blink of an eye, both their wrists were struck by the swords, the carpal bones were almost broken, drenched with blood. The move was extremely quick, people did not have time to clearly see how she forced out the swords to attack, the two Taoists were already wounded and moved away, everyone can't help but feel startled.

    Lu Qing Du called out: "Great comrades let's attack together, our many hands will provide great strength, who care's where that demon girl came from?" He believed however skilful Xiao Long Nu can be, she's merely a young woman, once everybody rushes forward, they will be victorious, the vanguard straightened out their swords to stab Xiao Long Nu. Xiao Long Nu 's sharp swords vibrated, Lu Qing Du 's left wrist, right wrist, left leg, and right leg had been struck by her sword, with a loud howl, collapsed on the floor. The thrust of the 4 swords was even quicker than before, even experts such as Xiao Xiang Zi and Yin Ke Xi can't help but gaze at each other with pale faces. They've previously saw her fight Gong Sun Zhi at Loveless Valley, although her sword methods then were still fine and ingenious, but definitely not as unbelievable as they are now.

    Xiao Long Nu was formerly taught how to separate her mind into 2 uses by Zhou Bo Tong, Left/Right Mutual Combat Technique, between now and then her martial arts have multiplied. With Yang Guo forming the Dualing Sword Combination and using the 'Pure Heart Jade Maiden Sword Technique', few have matched it under the heavens, now as one person she can use 2 swords, with outstanding power. Regardless of how two people's intentions are interlinked with each other, it's still inferior to one person's thunder-like alertness during battle, at this moment although her sword method's energy and strength aren't as good as two people teaming up, but her moves are faster in comparison by many folds.

    Throughout her lengthy trail of Yin Zhi Ping and Zhao Zhi Jing , she was depressed for days on end, not knowing what way to dispose of them, within that moment Quan Zhen Taoist's commander launched an attack, she took advantage to return fire, once she saw blood on the tip on her sword, she felt grief and indignation, suddenly she broke out in effect. Only seeing her white garment drift about, like cold light flickering, both swords seemed like two silver snakes wandering inside the temple, ding-dong, qiang-long, sounds of "Oh!", "Not good" were let out by others, instantly, Quan Zhen Taoist's swords dropped on the ground, everyone of them had felt the thrust of her swords on their wrists. Even more bizarre was that she used the same manoeuvre "Hoary Wrist Jade Bracelet", all the Taoists only saw the ray of the sword brush past before their own eyes, their wrists felt intense pain, they're simply helpless and easily disposed of, without a chance to parry any blows. If her sword chose to thrust the chest or belly's vital parts, the group of Taoists already would've one by one died flagrantly. After the Taoists were injured, they steered away with deep shock. In front of 3 statue idols were only Yin Zhi Ping and a bunch of tied up Taoists.

    After Xiao Long Nu studied independently her Left/Right Mutual Combat Technique, besides having practiced it a couple of times in the wilderness, she's never exchanged blows with anyone, today she has the opportunity to try out those new techniques, even she would never have dreamt of possessing such might, after she fought with the group of Taoists, unexpectedly she was startled.

    Realizing the situation wasn't right, Zhao Zhi Jing rapidly out of his Taoist robe pulled out a sword to protect himself, and at the same time retreated. Xiao Long Nu had full of hatred towards him, as she moved in, both swords completely blocked the routes of his front and behind. Zhao Zhi Jing brandished his sword in order to seize his path, only the sounds of ding-dong could be heard, Yin Ke Xi said: "You won't succeed, get out of the way!" He already obstructed Xiao Long Ru's sword as he lashed out his Golden Dragon Whip. Xiao Long Nu has injured 10 people one after another, up to this point, one person was able to catch her single sword.

    Xiao Long Nu spoke: "Today I came here to seek for revenge against Quan Zhen Sect's Taoists, it does not involve others, quickly stay out of the way." Just now Yin Ke Xi saw how her sword was chasing like wind and electricity, even he lost a nerve, but he was after all a first-class expert, he cannot cower out because of someone's words, so laughed and replied: "Among the Quan Zhen Sect's Taoists the good and bad are intermingled, there are a dozen few who deserve to be killed, but who are those that offended you and deserves to die Miss?"

    Xiao Long Nu made an "ng" sound, and didn't pay further attention to him. Yin Ke Xi thought first I will establish a friendship with her, even if I'm no match for her, it won't result in death, if the situation is not right he will surrender, because other people know that we're acquainted with each other, so won't ridicule me for being cowardly, so consequently laughed out: "Dragon Girl, don't waste any time, your precious body is pure and healthy!" Xiao Long Nu made another "ng" sound, her eyes did not distant away from Yin Zhi Ping and Zhao Zhi Jing , fearing that they might seize an opportunity to slip away. Yin Ke Xi uttered: "Taking offence from these deceitful Taoists, don't let them harm your precious hands, all you have to do Miss is to give pointers, let me offer my services, one by one they will be punished by Miss." Xiao Long Nu replied: "Okay! Then kill him for me first." Then pointed at Zhao Zhi Jing.

    Last edited by Hanky Panky : 05-01-05


    Chapter 26 Part 2

    Yin Ke Xi thought: "This person is already imperially conferred by the Mongolian Da-Han, how can I kill him?" Then laughed out : "Immortal Zhao treats others very well, I'm afraid Miss there's been some misunderstanding, I'll tell him to go up to Miss and apologize in front of you!" Xiao Long Nu 's beautiful eyebrows slightly frowned, she lunged her left sword out, as fast as a bolt of lightning, heading for Yin Ke Xi. Yin Ke Xi hurriedly raised his whip to ward off, with one sound of "Ah", standing behind was Zhao Zhi Jing who got stabbed in the shoulders. Namely Xiao Xiang Zi and his class of experts, also couldn't tell how the jab was made, all they presumed it was the right hand's sword that was shot out, twisting past Yin Ke Xi's body, and stabbing the person that hid behind him.

    Yin Ke Xi was deeply surprised, he thought this sword may not have stabbed me, but I was powerless to guard Zhao Zhi Jing, that was also a disgrace, the opponent's move was very fast, he just couldn't follow her twin sword's route and oncoming force, if he continued to fight the opponent in such a way he will definitely lose, the more he thought of this, the more cowardly he became, with one swing of the Golden Dragon Whip, he bellowed: "Miss Dragon Girl, please be merciful!" Xiao Long Nu didn't care, she already didn't regard him as an enemy, or a friend, her pace faintly moved, and stepped twice to the left. Yin Ke Xi followed with one turn, still wanting to protect Zhao Zhi Jing, suddenly heard the noise of moaning behind him, slowly turning his head round, merely saw Zhao Zhi Jing's robe sleeves has been split into two parts by the point of her sword, blood came running out. However Xiao Long Nu stabs him, other people were still completely baffled by it, her rapid and skilful sword methods have reached a point where not only does her routes have no traces, it's actually as if she can cut off one person and still injure her foe.

    Zhao Zhi Jing has been consecutively stabbed twice, realizing that Yin Ke Xi's martial arts were average, he thought he could not count on him to protect himself, in imminent danger took a deep breath and scurried away, and leapt right to the side of Xiao Xiang Zi. Xiao Long Ru looked as though she never noticed it, turned her body, with force aimed her left hand sword at Yin Ke Xi, yet her right sword was directed at Ni Mo Xing's chest. Whilst supporting his left hand on his cane, Ni Mo Xing's right hand used the steel snake to block, but then overhears Zhao Zhi Jing crying out loud, followed by 'qiang-long' of a sound, his sword fell, his wrist has been poked by her sword yet again. That move was even more peculiar, it was obvious that Xiao Long Nu was far apart from him, yet somehow whilst attacking two formidable fighters she managed to find time to wound him.

    Xiao Xiang Zi grunted and said: "Miss Dragon Girl's sword techniques are not bad at all, I also want to challenge you." His left hand threw a palm near his side, Zhao Zhi Jing felt a breath of great force meeting his shoulder, he lost his footing, and fell out several zhang (ten-feet), fortunately his inner energy has considerable foundation, his body may have been wounded three times, but he was able to get up on his feet. As Xiao Xiang Zi's palm force has not yet arrived, the cane attacked at the same moment.

    Ma Guang Zuo was all along good friends with Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu, at this point his mind felt that this was far from right, and spoke loudly: "Don't you wanna save face? 3 Wulin Masters, ganging up on a young girl."

    Once Xiao Xiang Zi and others heard this, their faces showed signs of temper. Throughout their lives they paid no attention to such things as virtues or morality, however even arrogance and pride, to their identity and dignity were still regarded as extremely important, not to mention 3 people ganging up, they wouldn't even consider fighting such a young girl even one-on-one, but at present they knew depending on one person, it certainly won't be able to resist her supernaturally unfathomable sword movements, they could only pretend not to have heard those satirizing comments made by Ma Guang Zuo, all were thinking: "What a stupid idiot, we're all handling the same affairs here, and yet you help an outsider? When we're done I'll teach you a lesson." While their minds are filled with thoughts, before one's eyes the ray of the sword shone, Xiao Long Nu has already made a move. The 3 fighters still can't trace the force of her sword, so they leapt backwards together, moving away a few zhangs, not wanting to get caught up with each other while brandishing their weapons, protecting their body's vital parts.

    Numerous Mongolian warriors led Yin Zhi Ping, Li Zhi Chang, Wang Zhi Tan and others to give way near the temple wall, they all knew that the battle between the 4 is not to be taken lightly, all it needs is one person's weapon to be close to you, if you don't die then you'd definitely sustain a serious injury.

    Xiao Xiang Zi, Ni Mo Xing and Yin Ke Xi all expected her to attack the other person first, so long as they're able to spot clues in her moves, then will have chance of victory. The 3 fighters had the same intentions, consequently everyone of them executed unique skills, protecting their bodies without revealing vulnerable gaps, first seeking for a must not win, in order to win. The 3 fighters whilst attacking adopted a defensive position together, it was a rare occasion in itself, but seeing their adversary is this strong, if they rush ahead and make an assault, the search for glory most likely would backfire on them.

    Within the temple, Xiao Long Nu's twin swords faced the floor, and she stood in the centre, Xiao Xiang Zi and the other two placed themselves to each individual spot, each one of them had a cold light shimmering about in front of them. Yin Ke Xi's Golden Whip flourished into a round yellow light; Ni Mo Xing's Steel Snake illuminated strips of dark reflections; Xiao Xiang Zi's cane stirred into a grey screen, all hindered in front of them.

    Xiao Long Nu observed the 3 fighters one by one, thinking: "I have no enmity towards the three of you, who has the spare time to start a fight with you lot?" Noticing that Zhao Zhi Jing dodging and recoiling away and just when he was about to step behind the idol statue, she brushed her white sleeves, and moved in. Ni Mo Xing and Xiao Xiang Zi separately dashed to the left and right, the steel snake and cane rushed in front of her, they both allied together, the attack may not have been enough, but protecting themselves were their priority. Seeing that there is no loophole to exploit, Xiao Long Nu's twin swords did not immediately transmit outwards, seeing that Zhao Zhi Jing tried to escape through the back, she held her sword and chased forward two steps, however Ni Mo Xing's and Xiao Xiang Zi's two weapons whizzed like the wind blowing, she was unable to get past them. Xiao Long Nu said: "Will you lot let me get past?"

    Xiao Xiang Zi thought: "A feud has not started between us yet, she might not perform any massacre to any of us. What would I benefit from this Quan Zhen ringleader, why should I bother to make enemies with this strong girl?" He hesitantly did not answer, but Ni Mo Xing replied: "We insist on not letting you past, what can a demon girl like you do about it? Why don't you try and get past us?" Xiao Xiang Zi and Yin Ke Xi both stared down at him, both thought: "We're stuck with not letting her past, but why must there be abusive remarks? Can it be that you alone can match her skills? You truly overrate yourself too much." But then they're uniting efforts to ward off the enemy, it's inconvenient to complain with each other. They did not realise both legs of Ni Mo Xing were broken, truly enduring Yang Guo's and Li Mo Chou's favour, he knew Yang Guo was Xiao Long Nu's sweetheart, his anger must be let out on her body, at that point when he made a move, the move was very different from the other two, his intentions were to desperately fight to see who dies and who lives.

    Last edited by Hanky Panky : 05-01-05


    Chapter 26 Part 3

    Xiaolong Nu showed no anger at all, only knowing in order to kill the 2 Taoists Yin and Zhao she must drive away the 3 experts right in front of her. So coolly responded: "As you're not going to let me get past, then excuse me!" Right after she finished her words, her sword's light flashed by and a single noise was overheard without warning; and spread itself into the distant without pausing. The noise hasn't yet subsided, and Xiaolong Nu has already retreated back over 10 feet returning to the centre of the temple. Xiaoxiang Zi's and Nimo Xing's faces revealed no colour. The prolonged noise was formed by around 40 continuous attacks in a greatly constricted amount of time. Within that instant moment, Xiaolong Nu's 2 swords stabbed, cut, skimmed and chopped, and gathered up 40 moves. Nimo Xing and Xiaoxiang Zi were defending as tight as many imagined, every one of her moves collided with the top of their weapons. Through the bystander's ears, all it was were the recurring noise of the bumping weaponry that's all.

    Her attacks were so fast, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others were even more panicking. Just then when they were able to impede her sword lashes, were totally dependant on their method of flourishing their weapons in the way that nothing is going to get past them; and barely a loophole to be spotted. If they waited for her sword to come out completely, then the both of them would have tasted her sharp sword. Xiaolong Nu had admired their individual ways of defending tightly when her swift ranges of assaults were to no prevail. She paused for a slight second, and drifted backwards but her eyes still locked onto Xiaoxiang Zi. Then her 2 swords suddenly reversed their stab, 12 rapid sounds of ding, ding, ding, even a skilled player of the lute instrument's complex way of playing won't pull off that kind of speed. Yin Kexi's golden whip was never laid to rest and was busy blocking off those 12 attacks right from the start.

    After 2 periods of attacking and defending were finished, 4 of them understood each other. Xiaolong Nu was unfortunate not to have a stronger inner energy and didn't allow her sword moves the potency that's needed to knock out the opponent's weapon. If she had roughly similar inner energy to either of the 3, their defence would've been long breached through. Xiaolong Nu carrying her swords backtracked to the centre of the temple, and tried to conceive a plan to break the enemy. Only saw that the more they brandished their weapons the faster they became, where can she find the least bit of a weak point?

    She thought: "Wielding weapons at this sort of tempo would lead to an excessive exhaustion of inner energy, then surely I won't last for long. All I need to be is patient and wait for a change, as the time drags on I will then be able to find a flaw. Even if Zhao Zhijing manages to escape, no matter where he goes I'll find him in the end." Thereupon her 2 swords trembled slightly, appearing as though she's going to attack or not going to attack. Storing up valuable power that's ready to be dished out. But still she won't make the sally yet, causing her 3 opponents to not have any remote moments of relaxation at all. However, although Xiaoxiang Zi and his partner's inner energy were all considerably deep and profound, wielding weapons in such a way, will make their physical energy drop below standard in a short time period. As Xiaolong Nu saw no loophole to exploit, she quietly stood there with an elegant expression on her face and beared a severe mood. Her temper has generally never been anxious before, throughout her journey of following Yin Zhiping and Zhao Zhijing for about a month she's never even laid a hand on them. Right now if she had to wait for another day, why not? For 20 years she's been quietly keeping watch of Ancient Tomb and learnt an unrivalled unique way of maintaining her patience.

    Nimo Xing noticed that she held her sword in a state of idleness, as self-assured as he was; he's the first to not tolerate this any longer. Without warning roared out like a lion beast, and wielded his metal snake and drove swiftly towards her. Once he was on the offence, the left side of his body revealed a weak point. Xiaolong Nu's sword trembled, Nimo Xing's walking stick violently rammed out and then jumped back. But then felt a slight pain on his shoulder, glancing down he was surprised to see his left shoulder's clothing had tiny hole pierced through it, with blood seeping out of it. If Xiaolong Nu weren't also concentrating on defending against his metal snake, his left arm would've long been detached from his body.

    Nimo Xing racing to attack but got no merit out of it and instead received a wound. He maybe angry but did not have any more guts to hastily advance again. 3 of them separately deployed under 3 positions all brandishing their weapons. Xiaolong Nu standing in the middle did not pay any attention to them. Yin Kexi's single [10,000 Yellow Sand Whip Technique] repeated 4 times, then something abruptly popped up in his mind, so called: "Brother Nimo, Brother Xiaoxiang let's tread half a step forward." Nimo Xing and Xiaoxiang Zi weren't too sure of his intentions, but supposing that he's the Western Region's greatest asset, with extensive knowledge and not to mention his intelligence. As a result, they complied with his words and did move half a step up. Yin Kexi at the same time stepped forward half a pace, and commanded: "Defending must be well-knit, it's crucial for the steps to be slow. Let's make another step." Nimo Xing and Xiaoxiang Zi proceeded forward as requested like before.

    The 3 of them weren't at all slack or sluggish in any way. Then after a while, stepped out half a feet. At that point everyone already could make out what's happening, the circle surrounding Xiaolong Nu by the 3 people was gradually narrowing, in the end they will force her into the centre. Although the 3 of them weren't confident to come out and launch an assault, all 3 of them continued to wield their weapons. Almost composed of 3 impregnable fortresses progressively approaching the centre. The threatening 3 defensive styles merged into a single mighty blitz, in which its ferocity is incomparable. Everyone viewing this sort of situation, especially the likes of the Mongolian soldiers and Zhao Zhijing and his fellow Taoists secretly felt delighted. The other Taoists on the other hand were concerned of Xiaolong Nu.

    Xiaolong Nu noticed them getting even closer, and their weapon's movements still had no openings to exploit. Soon within a few moments, if she made an attack their continued pressure forward would definitely crush her. So at once, her two swords in succession poked out, all that's heard was 'ding-ding' that was suddenly fast and suddenly slow. Every move met with the top of their weapons. She dished out many sword thrusts persistently with every one of them blocked and turning back to her. The 3 of them moved up half a step once again. Xiaolong Nu gradually felt alarmed and bewildered, as she backed away to the left side she tripped, and faintly staggered. Her sword techniques showed a great deal of weaknesses, if Xiaoxiang Zi and his crew did not just think of defending only, and weren't confident to seize an opportunity, she would've been caught in an extremely malicious position.

    The temple's floor was actually occupied with many swords. The weapons belonged to Quan Zhen disciples and were abandoned in the floor after they were deprived from them. A moment ago, Xiaolong Nu's left foot trod onto one of the sword handles that laid nearby, as a result her balance wasn't steady. Suddenly she recalled: "Others are competent to use 2 swords with 2 hands, since I've mastered the art of splitting the heart for 2 uses, then 2 hands ought to wield 4 swords concurrently. Suppose it's improbable to attain the true degree of power in using 4 swords, perhaps it can be relied to confuse the enemy, before I grasp a chance to escape." Almost immediately, her left hand that carried a single sword was swapped over to her right hand, she then stooped over and picked up 2 more swords. Both hands each contained 2 swords now, and she began to wield her 4 swords at the same time.

    Xiaoxiang Zi and others were in disbelief and all thought: "This young girl's moves get stranger every time. This truly is the first time I've ever seen someone use 4 swords together." But all 3 of them agreed a plan to meet their contingency and settle with it, they weren't at all bothered about what sort of weird move or strange art she's going to use, all they thought of was only defending and not attacking. And continued on pressing forward step by step.

    Although Xiaolong Nu's 4 swords used together is frightening when heard and observed, the power when used originally with 2 swords is superior as opposed to using 4 swords. Normally she focused on a single sword during her training. The coordination of Quan Zhen Sword Technique and Fair Maiden Sword Technique on her right hand was flawless. Now the transition of using 2 swords with 2 hands is after all hardly effective, the movement's high level of proficiency as before is diminished. After several strokes, Xiaoxiang Zi and others realized her moves were somewhat slow. Each time she poked out her sword, it's lost its immeasurable essence from before. Nimo Xing larynx created 'coo-coo' noises, and waved his steel snake to signal his lunge forward. Yin Kexi urgently cried out: "What you're trying to do is useless, that's more like a plan of luring the foe." From his reminder, took a jolt and thought it's fortunate somebody else remembered really fast. Knowing how crafty the young girl was, once he attacks she will immediately respond with a counterattack. Not only will their besieging formation break down instantly, his life is very likely to be taken away.

    In reality Xiaolong Nu is not luring her enemy on purpose, however through Yin Kexi's information does she think: "That dark short guy cannot keep himself calm, I must come up with a plan against him. He insists that I'm luring them into a trap, then I'll show him what luring is all about." Abruptly she raised her right hand and flew out vertically, she then followed up with a thrust using her right hand's sword, and her left hand cast a sword into the air. Xiaoxiang Zi and the rest were surprised, and sure of what tricks she's playing at. Only seeing the 2 swords in midair has not descended. Another 2 swords that she carried were also tossed up into ceiling. This time round, she's left empty handed, Yin Kexi cried out: "We must defend strictly with absolutely no intention to attack." He wasn't perceptive of Xiaolong Nu's intention, but he believed providing that they defend tightly and progressively press forward, and then they'll surely have a chance of succeeding. Their opponent may be barehanded, but they're not taking any chances to come out and attack.

    Xiaolong Nu bent over, without any hesitation both hands grabbed the swords on the floor, and thrown them one after another into midair. At the same time, they sunk down one by one. As she got a hold of them again, she threw them back up. Seeing how those dozens of swords rise and fall, the cold lights glistening non-stop in the hall, it was dead spectacular to watch. Ancient Tomb Sect's martial arts foundation doesn't specialise in deep and profound inner energy, but rather based on swift and rapid techniques to be victorious. That very year when Xiaolong Nu passed on martial arts to Yang Guo that necessitated him to bar off 80 sparrows with just the pair of his hands. When this [Tight Encirclement Force/Tian Luo Di Wang Shi] is enabled, if live sparrows could be impeded, then the many swords flung and caught would be the same thing to her. Almost every split second there was a weapon in her hands, and vice versa. Catching sight of Xiaoxiang Zi and his mate's stupefied looks, their minds were ruminating is this young lady performing some sort of magic trick or circus jugglery?

    Without warning Xiaolong Nu's left palm rose out and pushed up the handle of an idle sword. The sword travelled horizontally towards Yin Kexi at a fast pace. The tip of the sword ran into his golden dragon whip's glossy cover, and then it swiftly at unbelievable velocity deflected back but this time sprang towards Nimo Xing. Nimo Xing's metal snake was wielded with a matter of urgency, and repelled the sword back to hit Xiaolong Nu. Right at this point, overhead were 2 swords raining down, Xiaolong Nu's both hands diverted the 3 swords and allocated them towards each of the 3 people.

    In an instant flash, the clusters of swords weren't taking to the air, but rather hovering fiercely rocking about amongst the 3 different weapon's glossy cover. Some sword's ending force tilted along and was vigorously shattered into 2 halves thanks to Nimo Xing's metal snake. Xiaolong Nu wore golden-threaded gloves and beat the top end of the sword, without a single bit of wound inflicted upon her. From her days of being young till now, she was well adept at [Tight Encirclement Force/ Tian Luo Di Wang Shi], right in the hall her advancing, retreating and avoiding skills were peerless under the heavens. Her eyes were sensitive and moves were fast, her spirit was crystal clear, the more she fought the faster she became. Her mind wasn't even phased by any distracting force, and didn't even think of whether she would win or lose in this fierce battle, or even as far as who lives and who dies. At times smoothly seizing a sword and lunge out several moves, then quickly abandon them back to the enemy. Previously with 2 swords, Xiaoxiang Zi and others already found it difficult to withstand, now with so many swords arbitrarily tossed and thrust out. With her as the nucleus stabbing out swiftly in all directions, how can it be possible for them to parry those attacks? Besides when the swords were knocked away by their weapons, they weren't in control of where it's headed for and how powerful it was. Whether they have to injure their companions, they'll have to take orders from heaven.

    The act of Xiaolong Nu throwing swords in the air was formerly used to enable disorder in the enemy's eyes. But as the trend of events fluctuated, it even exceeded her own expectations and conveniently became beneficial for her. At the core of the weapons waving in the air, indistinctly can be heard of Yin Kexi's and Nimo Xing's heavy breathing. Xiaoxiang Zi's cane although wielded at a fast rate, seemed uneasy and weighed up against his name "Xiaoxiang/Unrestrained" and opposed its nature.

    Suddenly Yin Kexi's right arm drooped downwards and cried out: "Aw Crap!" As soon as 3 swords sprang out of, all the places they ended upon were eventually tangled up with his whip. His defence may have been tight but every one of those swords were knocked out from Xiaoxiang Zi's and Nimo Xing's weapons. 3 of them happened to arrive together, inexplicably ending up on his whip. Yin Kexi used force and shook his whip to shed off the 3 swords. But just as he was about to lift his whip, Xiaolong Nu's sword pointed out and left Yin Kexi's wrist in severe pain, and the whip cannot be held any longer.

    With the sound of 'chong-long', the golden dragon whip fell on the floor. Xiaolong Nu's left palm struck in succession, 7-8 swords flew violently outwards and dispersed towards the 3 of them. She ensued with both hands catching a pair of swords; her body secured her place and moved further out beyond Yin Kexi's reach. After Yin Kexi sustained an injury on his wrist, it left him deprived of a weapon. As a result the impregnable fortress like ring is eradicated in an instant. Once his eyes caught a glimpse of her lightning quick twin swords, he hastily retreated out of the way. Xiaolong Nu's lightness gong was superior to either one of the 3, raising her Qi, she directly surged to the back of the temple in pursue of Zhao Zhijing.

    Xiaoxiang Zi and others for a short while weren't able to gather their weapons and had to wait until the many swords from above have all successfully dropped on the ground; until they were able to finally put a halt to cease their activity. Yin Kexi brought a look of shame on his face and said: "Xiao Di's incompetence has lead to her escape!" They were supposed to work as business partners and without any sentiments, no one there admired or respected each other. They fought with each other, all were thinking of ways to force each other to be convinced of their own qualities. But after experiencing such a soul-stirring ferocious battle, all 3 felt more like running away with their lives, in turn their hostility between each other has been reduced substantially. Xiaoxiang Zi and Nimo Xing both said: "We've never blamed you Brother Yin…" Before they even finished their sentence, suddenly overheard the 'ding-dong' sounds of weapons knocking at each other faintly transmitted from the rear mountain.


    Chapter 26 Part 4

    During the battle in the temple, Xiaoxiang Zi and others were supposed to be terrified, but amongst the weapons knocking against each other outside mixed with Fawang's 5 wheel's 'toot-toot'/whistling noise. Evidently both Xiaolong Nu and Fawang have started the action. All 3 of them thought: "With such a tough fighter available to act as the commanding general. If we fight by his side, we'll surely win." Yin Kexi retrieved his golden dragon whip, and bellowed: "Let's chase her partners!" So raced ahead to locate the racket. Xiaoxiang Zi raised his cane, and led a bunch of Mongolian soldiers to follow through. At this point everyone's archenemy was Xiaolong Nu the only one person. They've never had any Quan Zhen Taoists placed in their minds.

    Yin Zhiping, Li Zhichang and others used this chance to unty each other's ropes right after the Mongolian soldiers left. One after another they collected their swords in flocks and followed out.

    Xiaoxiang Zi and others arrived near the rear of Chongyang Palace where Jade Empty Cave was situated. Only seeing the wheels spurring in action and the sword qi in horizontal and vertical motion. Jinlun Fawang's roar trembled like the thunder; Xiaolong Nu's clothes were white as snow. The 2 were cut off at around 10 feet, enabling them to engage in a long distant battle. All five elements of metal: gold, silver, copper, iron and lead were melded into large wheels, now were twirling at flight, the noise's vibration created a humming disturbance to everyone's ears. Fawang's wheels in a number of fierce battles were once lost and not recovered. After losing it he tried to supplement with a replacement. Its size and weight were more or less equivalent to his earlier ones, but unfortunate to have the melded decorative pattern missing from its wheels, all it was were his mantra. In the process of utilisation, its proficiency was very high.

    Yin Zhiping and Li Zhichang commonly seen the Jade Empty Cave's entrance blocked by a large rock. They weren't sure of their teacher's life and death situation. With deep anxiety, altogether hastened towards the cave entrance. With Daer Ba's metal pestle and Huo Du's wielding of his steel fan, the groups of Taoists repulsed in only several moves.

    Wang Zhitan cried out: "Master, master are you safe and sound in there? Because of his apprehensive state, his voice carried a whimpering tone. Li Zhichang carefully thought: "On the basis of the 5 teacher's profound cultivation, how could they let people fight like this outside the cave without doing nothing? Otherwise, their practice must have reached a critical stage and cannot afford to divert their attentions and come out and deal with the foreign enemy. But with that call from Junior Wang, if they did happen to hear it, it would've thrown their minds into disorder." So hurriedly spoke out: "Junior Wang, do not call out anymore, the 5 teachers cannot be subjected to any form of disturbance." Wang Zhitan immediately realised his aggravation, and helped a fallen Song Defang and noticed his injuries weren't light. So tried to think of a way to help him out.

    Xiaoxiang Zi and others were onlookers to the battle between Fawang and Xiaolong Nu. They understood that although he was defending more than he was attacking, he still managed to return one move. The 5 wheel's powers were strangely fierce and did not allow Xiaolong Nu to get an inch closer to him. This defensive style was way more efficient than the other 3 fighters. The 3 showed admiration and topped with envy, all thought: "That monk being conferred as the Mongolian's No. 1 Guoshi weren't no slander at all." The 3 fighters had thought of helping out Fawang as a team, but with this sort of situation, their selfishness got the better of them. So they did not wish to aid him to victory.

    But little did they realise that although Jinlun Fawang's moves were fierce, in his heart he was actually complaining about his hardship repeatedly. Xiaolong Nu's each sword thrust was differentiated from each other but still coordinated into an ingenious and unsurpassed way of fighting. Her left sword aimed at his front with her right sword selecting a surprise attack from the back at the same time. It was a message to him of having neither way to retreat nor a way for him to advance forward. Every path that she chose with both her swords struck at several places, advising him to pay attention to those mistakes, as they're difficult to save. If he hadn't reached the stage where his internal force and external force were at the peak of his life, with his eyes sensitive and his moves fast, and with his many variations of hard and soft, his body would've been hit with 17-18 swords long by now. All it needed was a minor dip in his martial arts for that to exist. Actually, Xiaolong Nu as one person delivering 2 types of sword techniques pales in comparison to her alliance with Yang Guo in terms of power, even though her moves were rapid. Not to mention, her real martial arts were a long way behind Fawang's, even if Xiaoxiang Zi and others were stronger than her. But then again, once she stepped forward her moves were as fast as a bolt of lightning; everyone has never seen anything like it, to allow her fears to escape from inside of her. Fawang underwent suffering from [Fair Maiden Simple Heart Sword Technique], the moment it appeared again in front of his eyes, all he thought about was how to protect himself and how to slip away free. Xiaolong Nu gained the upper hand; because of the way she beat him down to the punch.

    By the time they reached 50-60 moves, Fawang looked to be at risk, he withdrawed his golden wheels to shield himself and wasn't confident to launch it again. After another several moves, this time the silver wheel was returned to tighten his defence further. By the time, 5 wheels were all returned together, his fighting style was an all-defensive approach just like how Xiaoxiang Zi and others fought her before. The five wheel's weight, size, colour and shape were all different from each other. Either its sharp or more curved, they organised into 5 rings of light, which rolled all over the place around him.

    Then suddenly one heard Xiaolong Nu's delicate shout: "Let's do it!" Followed by Fawang's low voiced uproar, echoing repeatedly. They both leapt vertically, and their moves were picking up pace. Even Xiaoxiang Zi and others did not see their shout or call clearly; not knowing an adjustment has already taken place. If Jinlun Fawang used his wheel's fierce power to attack her head on, Xiaolong Nu would struggle to withstand them. However since he was timid, he didn't show the best of his qualities. Trying to compare his speed to Xiaolong Nu, he's bound to be at a disadvantageous position.

    Then all of a sudden, Nimo Xing felt something on his face, as if a miniature-hidden weapon had struck him. For a moment of shock he stroked the area of contact, but found no wound on his face instead was blood on his palm. His mind was dumbfounded for a while, but then spotted a drop of blood flying towards Yin Kexi, and now was well aware that one person's injured in the fierce battle. In a short while, Xiaolong Nu's white garment was stained with over 10 marks of blood that were scattered on top. As if there were a few peach blossoms on a white silk fabric, which dazzled the eyes through its gaily-colouring. Nimo Xing cheerfully spoke: "The demon girl has been injured!" Immediately after 2 flashes of the sword's reflection, Fawang silently moaned. Xiaoxiang Zi coldly butted in: "No, it's the monk who got hurt!"

    Nimo Xing's initial judgment was right, the blood after Fawang was injured sprayed over Xiaolong Nu. He believed if Fawang was killed under her hands, then there's no way they can stop her, from that he called out: "Brother Yin, Brother Xiao, let's attack her together!" So he wielded out his metal snake and slowly pressed behind Xiaolong Nu. Xiaoxiang Zi and Yin Kexi also felt that they cannot look on unconcerned, so immediately split themselves left and right then approached them.


    Chapter 26 Part 5

    Fawang has been hit 3 times by her sword, but all were light injuries. Just when he's in grave danger, backup arrived. He felt a sense of relief, and saw Xiaoxiang Zi and the other 2 weren't at all opening up any attack. They were rather using their weapons to protect themselves as they diverged their positions to 3 sides steadily closing in on her. Knowing that once the time is slightly prolonged, it's imminent for Xiaolong Nu's sandglass to run out.

    In front of the Jade Empty Cave, the pinery field paths showcased a fierce battle between 4 Wulin strange guests gathering round a silk clothed young girl. The group of Mongolian soldiers and Quan Zhen Taoists were motionless with fear, their faces resembled dying embers, and how could they've encountered such a violent struggle before in their lives!

    The ear-deafening bumping sound of 'peng' shook the earth. Gravel was chucked out and the air was occupied with mist and dust. The dozen blocks of big stones collapsed to one side in front of Jade Empty Cave. 5 Taoists that were inside slowly stepped out, they were the 5 Quan Zhen Divisions Qiu Chuji Liu Chusuan and the rest.


    Excerpt by Athena (3rd edition, but not essentially different with the 2nd edition):

    Zhen Zhibing, Li Zhichang and others were very happy and called out:"Master!" and rushed forward. Da'erba and Huo Du were shocked and saw the explosive power that blew the doors of the cave open, like it was being blasted open with gunpowder. The two of them grabbed their weapons and rushed forward. Qiu Chuji and the other five masters moved aside a bit and suddenly all of them raised their ten palms and pressed at the backs of those two. A firm press was delivered and the two of them were thrown four metres away.
    Da'erba and Huo Du's martial arts were of the same level as Hao Datong, although they were not as powerful as Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi, but they cannot be defeated by them either within one stance.
    The Five Masters were in retreat contemplating in the Yuxu Cave to create a way to counter the Jade Maiden style, they were pondering intensively day and night. However, they felt that the martial arts displayed by Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were the bane of Quanzhen martial arts. It is impossible to surpass them with stances, it was Qiu Chuji, who came up with an idea when he thought of the Big Dipper formation. He said:"We cannot overcome them with stances and varieties, but if we combine our internal strength we can use power to make for variety."
    Hence, the five of them intensively thought of a way to merge their internal energies to overcome an enemy, every stance will be generated by the merged power of the five of them. They know that there are no exceptional talents within the third and fourth generation, the only way to survive is to unite the large number of disciples. Within two months time, they finally created [The Seven Star Assembly]. This technique was derived from the Big Dipper formation, although it is called [The Seven Star Assembly], it does not necessarily need seven persons to unite their internal strengths. Six, five or even four or three can perform this technique. When the Imperial Priest lead the other warriors to seal the cave, the five masters were reaching the critical point of [The Seven Star Assembly] and could not be distracted, even though they knew large foes have attacked and had to ignore this for the time being. When they finally managed to merge their five internal energies perfectly, they blasted open the sealed cave. However, because they were in a hurry this technique has only reached thirty, forty percent of its' level of attainment. Even so, Da'erba and Huo Du were unable to cope with it and the Five Masters were triumphant with one strike.
    Qiu Chuji and others now turned around and were observing the battle between Xiao Longnu and the Imperial Priest and others. After observing for a few moments, they looked at each other and looked very sad and depressed. They thought: "In vain.....everything was in vain. We never thought that the martial arts of the Ancient Tomb School would be this magnificent. We can never defeat her in this lifetime."
    The martial arts previously displayed by Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were the blueprints for their ponderings and contemplation. But the incredible, fantastic swordplay of Xiao Longnu was too awesome. They could not even see what those stances are, how could they think of a way to counter it?
    The Imperial Priest and the other Mongolian warriors had higher martial arts than the Five Masters of Quanzhen. It was practically impossible for the Quanzhen School to even produce someone like them now.
    Qiu Chuji and others thought:"If our late Master were still alive he would surely be superior to them, our martial uncle Zhou is probably also one level higher than these four men in the field of martial arts. Yet, when facing the combined forces of these four fighters, chances are high that he will suffer defeat."
    The Five Masters were ashamed and depressed, they felt that Quanzhen was degrading with each generation. They could not carry on the legacy of their patriarch anymore. When faced with a great enemy it seems that the Quanzhen School has no leg to stand on anymore.


    End of Athena's excerpt.


    Hanky Panky:

    What they saw were every move being brutal, every step made was critical. The more they watched on the more worried they became and weren't eager to make an inquiry to their disciples the reasons for this unforeseen event to take place.

    By now as the 5 people Xiaolong Nu and others battled on, the circumstances were contrasting again. Every move Xiaolong Nu made was an attack, whereas Fawang and others were still engaging a lot in obstructing her every move. Counterattacks were few, but they were gradually closing in on her. Xiaolong Nu's situation became even more disadvantageous. Several times when she tried to evacuate the circle in order to slip away temporarily, her opponent's strict and concentrated defence was anything but normal. Every move made brought her back well within the circle. She knew that with Jinlun Fawang managing the driving force, it rendered her useless to even try throwing her swords up in the air like before. Much less besides her own 2 swords that she held, there weren't any other weapons available for her.

    By herself in the main hall she injured Lu Chingdu, at this point she has fought close to 2 hours. Her physical strength was hanging on a thread, and the powerful enemy getting closer to her reach. Qiu Chuji and and others were lying in wait for her to one side. These 5 old Taoists were still very rare gems to find in the martial art world, every corner were populated with enemies galore. She was only one person, will definitely lose her life here at Chongyang temple. Suddenly she remembered: "With me being brought to this predicament, what's the pity when I simply die here? But…but…at the brink of death, I dearly hope I can meet Guo-er at the same time. Where is he at this moment? He's bound be getting intimate with Miss Guo, perhaps even already married to her. As a newly wed, why would he even think of a hopeless girl like me besieged from all sides? No it can't be, it can't be! Guo-er wouldn't be like that, even if he married Miss Guo, no way would he forget about me. All I yearn for is to see him once again …"

    As she left Xiangyang and headed for the north, she's made up her mind that she'll never meet Yang Guo ever again. But at this stage where she faced the brimming moment of life and death, she found it more and more difficult to stick to her vow. What was previously 'dividing heart with 2 uses', is suddenly now 'heart embraces her special one'. Even though both her sword strike's activity were the same as before, her [Fair Maiden Simple Heart Sword Technique]'s might wasn't there. Fawang noticed a change in her sword style; he initially believed she intentionally showed weakness to tempt them. But after several moves cleared away, it didn't seem so. So he immediately stepped further forward, his left hand's silver wheel guarded himself, whereas his right hand's golden wheel aimed for one of her swords to smash into.


    Chapter 26 Part 6

    Only hearing the sound of 'dong', Xiaolong Nu's left hand's sword flew out of her hand. From mid-air landed with a 'pak', and broke into 2 halves. Fawang was just probing, and it actually worked. This was far better than he what he expected so without wasting any chances his right hand's golden wheel rammed out. This stunned Xiaolong Nu and quickly made an effort to suppress her perturbed mind; and brushed out 3 slashes. But as she was forced into using just a single sword, the martial arts difference between her and Fawang stretched further. Xiaoxiang Zi and his partners seeing the small advantages arising progressed forward with their own weapons.

    Xiaolong Nu revealing a tasteless smile had not wished to plunge into a contest anymore. She caught a glimpse of the pinery field path that sprouted a rosebush nearby within 30 feet distance. The flowers were delicate and charming like it's about to drop. Suddenly one scenery occurred to her, a scenery where she was cut off by the rosebushes with Yang Guo whilst learning [Fair Maiden Heart Manuscript]. She thought: "Since I'll never see Guoer anymore, then I'll think of him before I die. Her face expression as gentle and soft as it is was absorbed into a moment of content.

    Fawang and his teammates had surrounded her in all 4 directions, if they wanted to they could've finished her in one stroke. But suddenly noticed a wave of abnormality highlighted on her face, appearing as though she had forgotten about fending herself from the enemy. All were astonished, and didn't know whether she was up to those dirty old sorcery tricks again. 4 different weapons wavered out in mid-air but didn't come down. But within that pause, Nimo Xing's steel snake was the first to transmit forward.

    Then all of a sudden beside him was the sound of wind soughing; it appears that someone had stretched a sword to strike him. Nimo Xing frantically got back his steel snake to obstruct the sword, but got nothing but empty air. Then he saw a person in motion, it was none other than Yin Zhiping who scrambled in front of Xiaolong Nu. Arriving by means of delivering his own sword to her. Xiaolong Nu at this point seemed possessed like nothing is within her sight, nor can she hear with her ear, and already abandoned the matter of engaging in a hand-to-hand combat. Then she felt her left hand was added one sword, so smoothly clung onto it.

    The onlookers couldn't help but cry out in alarm after suddenly catching sight of Yin Zhiping entering the danger zone of 5 top-notch fighters. For him, it was no different than digging his own grave.

    Fawang was acquainted with him, and did not wish to harm his life. So thereupon his left arm met his shoulder by force and pushed him away. His right hand's wheel swayed towards Xiaolong Nu. Yin Xhiping was curious of why she had no intentions to fight anymore. Desperately trying to think, his eyes understood that she'd be dead if this wheel grazed into her. Without care of his own safety flung himself, and screamed: "Xiaolong Nu, watch out!" Then used the back of his own body and obstinately blocked against Fawang's golden wheel.

    Whenever Fawang's golden wheel pounds out, its remarkable power alone could (split rocks and quarry mountains – can't make out an English translation for this), what chance does Yin Zhiping have of withstanding that? So he immediately dived out. After Xiaolong Nu caught the sword thrown over by Yin Zhiping, as immovably as before she continued to firmly hold the sword erected whilst in a trance. Yin Zhiping flew out, and met just right on the sword's end, seeping through his chest. When Xiaolong Nu came to her senses, a dawning realisation swept across her mind and was certain that it was him who saved her life. Staring down at his back wounded by the wheel, along with his chest pierced by his own sword, both were mortal wounds. In a split second her yeasty hatred converted into compassion, and softly spoke: "Why did you do this?"

    Yin Zhiping's life is at one's last gap, as soon as he heard the 4 words of 'Why did you do this?' couldn't hold back his wild joy. And said: "Long Guniang, I'm deeply…deeply sorry for what I've done to you, I could never amend my selfless actions. Will…will you forgive me?"

    Xiaolong Nu stared blankly again, and recollected the time when she heard his conversation with Zhao Zhijing at Guo's residence in Xiangyang. A thought just skimmed across her head: "Guoer has always been deeply affectionate with me, and even once swore that he would never be unfaithful to me. Then without notice he's made up his mind to marry Guo Guniang and abandoned me like nothing happened, and didn't for the least second care about the after-effects. He must've learnt that I was once smeared by this filthy scoundrel." Her heart was innocent, even when she followed the tracks of both the 2 Taoists Yin Zhiping and Zhao Zhijing, this notion was never brought up in her mind. Once it was abruptly reminded by Yin Zhiping, her mind's compassion immediately spiralled back into hatred. Her fury has in fact 10-fold, clenching her teeth; her right hand's sword immediately drew on his chest and poked forward. However in all her life she has never took somebody's life away. Although her bosom was filled with grief and indignation, the sword that was to be perforated through his chest never happened to one's surprise.

    Qiu Chuji observing to one side saw his beloved pupil died a violent death. He was distressed like a dagger through his heart, the incident was faster than anyone could imagine, and failed to reach in time to rescue him. Xiaolong Nu's first sword can be said to have been Fawang's cause. But the second sword strike was intentional. He doesn't have the slightest knowledge of the tortuous details. During these six months he's been put without rest, for the most part thinking of how to negate Xiaolong Nu's manoeuvres. In the recent month apart from this he had nothing else to think about. Xiaolong Nu has been established as his own sect's archenemy, but he definitely could not believe Yin Zhiping was willing to sacrifice his life to save her. Eyes seeing her sword stuck out again he immediately leapt in front. With his left hand's 5 fingers whisking her wrist, and his right palm aimed squarely for her face. Qiu Chuji's martial arts occupied first place amongst the Quan Zhen 7 Masters, the circumstances forced him to make that move, and his palm's might was very forceful.

    That jerk did manage to pull Xiaolong Nu's wrist, and the sword was instantly out of her grasp. Without waiting for the sword to drop on the floor, she reached out her hand and regained possession of it. Then followed up with a lunge forward across to Qiu Chuji's chest. During this moment, Yin Zhiping shrieked in pain as he sank down on the floor with blood gushing out of his woundedspot. Xiaolong Nu's left sword pointed towards Qiu Chuji's lower abdomen. Now that both her swords have combined harmoniously, its power has rapidly amplified. Qiu Chuji's martial arts maybe profound, but within 3 strokes, he was in a helter-skelter state. Wang Chuyi noticing the situation wasn't right, meanwhile dashed forward to lend a hand, discarding Fawang and others to one side.

    Jinlun Fawang and his motley crew felt surprised when they saw Xiaolong Nu fight against the Quan Zhen 5 Descendants, but knew that this change of event was beneficial for them. And thought it would be a good idea to watch them fratricide. All of them gave each other a wink, and backed off several paces. Only waiting for the real victor between Xiaolong Nu and the Quan Zhen 5 masters, and then they'll step in to tidy up the final phase of the chess game.

    As the top fighters come to blows, every move was mortal, nobody dared to risk any room for error. That's why even when Qiu Chuji and his peers were aware that the situation was odd they knew it was hard to solve that easily. But since the battles commenced, where could they find the spare time to inquire all of this? Quan Zhen 5 masters were unarmed, when confronting Xiaolong Nu's marvellous and improper methods of swordplay, the single month spent on initiating a skill called [Seven Star Rally] did not even have any chance of being put to good use. In a moment, Hao Datong and Liu Chuxuan both were harmed by her sword, but both persisted and cared for every martial brothers safety. Then (嗤 ) of a sound, Sun Buer was struck by a sword.

    Various Quanzhen disciples seeing how the masters were succumbing in a dangerous situation can't help but cry out in fear. Li Zhichang called out: "Quickly deliver them a weapon!" During this point, the 5 descendant's palm wind whizzed through the air, leaving their disciples unable to get near them and can only throw the swords one by one over to them. Xiaolong Nu raced ahead and brandished her sword to push out the incoming weapons. Every sword arriving near them was knocked away, with the advantage of Xiaolong Nu having a sword longer than their human arms; the 5 descendants were given no chance to grab a weapon. Suddenly the noise of 'ding-dong' was heard, Xiaolong Nu's left hand collected another sword thrown in the battle, and abruptly lobbed it backwards. Wang Chuyi couldn't prepare himself in the nick of time; the corner of his left eye was stabbed by an outsider's sword. Out of the 5 Quanzhen descendants, 4 were injured; a conclusion on who triumphed can be reached.

    Jinlun Fawang laughed ecstatically, and called out: "My Taoist friends please step aside, let me take care of this demon girl!" Finishing those words he intervened. Xiaoxiang Zi, Nimo Xing and Yin Kexi jointly attacked her as they wielded their weapons; it's now escalated into a phase where 9 experts are besieging a single Xiaolong Nu.

    As soon as Fawang got involved, Quanzhen 5 descendants were instantly released from Xiaolong Nu's twin sword's coercion. 5 of them called out loudly, and stood shoulder to shoulder. Either it's the right palm or the left palm, 5 streams of huge energies amalgamated into one that generated the [Seven Star Rally] attack. It maybe only 5 star rally right now, but the power is out of the ordinary. Tilted her body to evade the attack, the noise of 'peng' was heard. The dust on the ground flew upwards, the attack left Nimo Xing somersaulting in the air as he fell.

    After both his legs were broken, he had to rely on his walking sticks for support; his lower-body wasn't stable and not enough to sustain the whack. At least when he was in imminent danger he managed to slip away from the direct force of the blow. He may have toppled over, but instantly got back up on his feet unscathed. With a few bawls of 'wa-wa', he raised his steel snake aimed down Liu Chuxuan's top of head. In front of the Jade Empty Cave the sounds of calls exalted in all directions jumbling into a mass.

    Xiaolong Nu seeing Nimo Xing turn on the Quanzhen 5 descendants stroked her white sleeves, and wanted to pull out of the circle. Jinlun Fawang hurried over to hinder the attacks, and said: "Brother Nimo, it's more important to deal with the demon girl." Nimo Xing who's preoccupied with the fight, did not pay attention to the calls of Fawang. Prodding out with his steel snake, the assaults were laid upon the various Quanzhen Taoists. Xiaolong Nu's both swords quickly stabbed out Fawang several times. Fawang felt the unbelievable speed from the oncoming force; leaving him a hard time just to parry them, and had to withdraw a few steps.

    Suddenly, Xiaolong Nu gasped loudly, both cheeks had no touch of complexion. With 2 sounds of 'qiang-long', both swords from her hand fell on the ground. Staring in blank amazement at the pinery field path's rosebush, called: "Guoer, is that really you?"

    At this juncture, Fawang's golden wheel had sliced her head-on; Quanzhen 5 descendant's [7 Star Rally] pummelled her in the back. The attack was supposed to keep Nimo Xing at bay, but the Indian short man has already suffered the bitter taste of the piledriver. So had no second thoughts of matching it and evaded to the left. The attack was alternatively expended upon Xiaolong Nu's garment.

    But instead she looked bewitched, and the reaction that was to bear her evasion wasn't there. Her vest has endured a palm, her chest struck by the wheel. Even with such a fragile body weathering these 2 tremendous converging forces, her eyes were nevertheless still secured upon the external influence of the rosebush. By this moment, her heart was agitated and turned her thoughts to her beloved, it seemed as though those 2 forces had never harmed her a single bit.

    The spectators felt in awe of her gaze, and all involuntarily turned their heads to see what was so strange about that rosebush. Then noticed a human shadow fly out round the side of the pinery field and sneaked into no-man's land between Fawang and Quanzhen 5 descendants. That person grabbed a hold of Xiaolong Nu with his left arm, darting past, has already leapt out of the ring. And without a moment's waste sat below the pinery field and beside the rosebush, and rested her on his chest.


    BeeDreamer:

    This person was of course Yang Guo!

    Xiao Longnu’s face lighted up, tears flowing from her eyes, "Guo’er, it's you. This isn't a dream?"

    Yang guo nodded, kissing her cheek. He softly asked, "Not a dream. Am I not holding you right now?"

    Then he saw her blood-stained clothes and was alarmed. He quickly asked, "Are you seriously injured?"

    Xiao Longnu had received two vicious attacks. When she first saw Yang Guo, she didn't feel her injury. Only now she felt the searing pain. She placed her arm around Yang Guo's neck and said, "I.. I.." Her body hurt so much she couldn't get the words out.

    Yang Guo couldn't bear to see her in pain, his voice broke, "Gugu, I'm too late!"

    Xiao Longnu said, "No, it's good that you are here. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see you again."

    Suddenly she felt cold as if her soul was leaving her body. She hung on to Yang Guo's arms. Still, she was slowly falling down. She said, "Guo’er, hold me."

    Yang Guo's left arm sligtly tightened. He pulled her close to his chest. He was overwhelmed by hundreds of feelings, his slowly falling down to Xiao Longnu's face.

    Xiao Longnu said, "Hold me, use both.. both hands!"

    Suddenly she saw that his right sleeve was empty. Strange. She cried out, "Your right arm?"

    Yang Guo forced a smile, his voice cracked, "Don't worry about me right now. Close your eyes. Don't use up your energy. I've worried you."

    Xiao Longnu said, "No! Your right arm? How come it's gone? How come?"

    Even though her own life was hanging by thread, she didn't care about herself at all and determined to find out why Yang Guo was missing an arm. This was because in her heart,Yang Guo's well-being was 100 times, 1000 times more important than hers.

    It had been like this since the time they were together at Gumu. Only then she didn't know it was love, nor did Yang Guo. They only thought that their mutual concerns for each other's well-beings were what was right between master and disciple. Since there were only two of them living at Gumu, if one didn't care for the other, who else would they care for? Actually, this was a normal feeling between young man and woman. But most of them fell in love with each other, only to find out later that the other person’s well-being was not as important as his or her own, let alone 100 times, 1000 times more important. Only the most passionate people could treasure their loved one more than they did themselves.

    For Xiao Longnu, Yang Guo's one arm was much more important than her life, and so she persisted on asking. She gently stroked his gown sleeve, not daring to touch it too hard. But really, there was no arm under the sleeve.

    Suddenly, she no longer felt the severe pain in her body. This was because her mind was occupied by Yang Guo's pain, making her forget her own suffering. She softly said, "Poor Guo’er. Has it been very long? Are you in pain now?"

    Yang Guo shook his head and replied, "It doesn't hurt anymore. As long as I get to see your face and never to part with you again, what's a big deal with missing an arm? My left arm can still hold you, can't it?"

    Xiao Longnu let out a soft smile, deciding that Yang Guo was right. She lied down in his embrace. Even though he had only one arm left, she was content. She was facing death just before seeing him again. Right now it was very good, really very good.

    Jinlun Fawang, Xiao Xiangzi, Yin Kexi, the Quan Zhen five masters, their numerous disciples .. numerous Mongolian soldiers .. nobody made a sound. They could only looked dumbfoundedly at the young lovers. At a time like this, all were thinking about attacking them, yet nobody dared to start it.

    Jinlun Fawang certainly was not afraid of the couple, only astonished. He saw that Xiao Longnu was badly injured and Yang Guo had only one arm. The couple certainly couldn’t fight again. But their love for each other had an awe-inspiring and fearless effect, not something to be taken lightly.

    Eventually, Xiao Longnu couldn't stay quiet and asked, "Your arm .. How did you break your arm? Tell me."

    Yang Guo forced a bitter smile and said, "My arm broke. Of course it got cut off by other people."

    Xiao Longnu looked at him sadly. She hadn't thought that he wouldn't tell her who did it. That meant it didn't matter who it was. She felt the rising pain in her chest and knew her life wouldn't last much longer. She lowered her voice, "Guo’er, I beg you one thing."

    Yang Guo said, "Gugu, you've forgotten. At Gumu, I promised you, whatever you wanted me to do, I'd do it."

    Xiao Longnu let out a quiet sigh and said, "That was a long, long time ago!"

    "To me, forever is the same," replied Yang Guo.

    With a sad smile Xiao Longnu said, "I don't have long to live. You stay with me, until I die. Don't go accompany Guo.. Guo Fu Guniang.”

    Yang Guo was sad, yet angry. He said, "Gugu, of course I'll be with you. What does Guo Fu Guniang have to do with me? It was her who chopped off this arm of mine."

    Alarmed, Xiao Longnu cried out, "What?, It was her? Why was she so heartless?" Is that.. Is that why you don't like her?"

    Yang Guo resentfully said, "The two of us are very good together. Why are you being suspicious? Except you one person, in my life I've never loved anybody else. This Guo Fu Guniang, Hmmph.”

    Yang Guo's right arm was indeed chopped of by Guo Fu.


    Last edited by BeeDreamer 07-21-05


    Hanky Panky:

    That day Yang Guo and Guo Fu's quarrel escalated to a fight, Guo Fu's burning anger was hard to restrain. She grabbed hold of the Fair Maiden sword and stroked down on top of his head. After Yang Guo was poisoned he hasn't fully recuperated yet, his 4 limbs had no energy to spare. Seeing the sword arrive, he was out of options and had to raise his right arm in front of his face. Guo Fu in furious vexation gave her all. The Fair Maiden sword was as sharp as it gets, Yang Guo's right arm in a flash was silently let loose.

    With that sword chopping down, it did incur in such a way. Yang Guo no doubt let out a fierce burst of anger, Guo Fu was quivering with fear and knew she made a huge mistake that could never be made up. But after witnessing the blood well up like a fountain, she hadn't a clue of what to do. Past a moment, suddenly the sound of 'wa' was released, she covered her face and wept whilst pushing open the door and rushing out. After a short period of nervous discomfort, Yang Guo promptly relaxed himself. And extended his left hand to seal his right shoulder's [Loyal Shoulder Point], he tears up a bed sheet and firmly tied up his shoulder to prevent the continuous flow of blood. Then applied the Golden Wound Medicine on his wound, and thought: "I cannot stop over here any longer, I must hurry and get out of the city." Slowly holding the wall walked a few steps. Because he bled excessively, he almost fainted several times as his eyes became more and more dazed.

    Right at this moment, he heard the loud calls of Guo Jing: "Come on, come on, how is he? Has he stopped bleeding yet?" The sound of his speech was filled with anxiety. Yang Guo's mind at that time only encompassed these thoughts: "No way am I going to see Uncle Guo, in any event I don't want to see him." So took a deep breath, and sprinted out of the room.

    He rushed outside the mansion's gates, pulled in a horse, mounted on top of it and galloped to the city gate. The officers and men that supervised the city had seen him rescue Guo Jing at the top of the city wall once before, they had a great deal of respect for him. So immediately opened the city gate for and dashed past as he rode on the horse.

    During these periods the Mongolian armed forces have decamped a hundred-odd Chinese miles away. Yang Guo did not take the route of the main road. The horse was rode along the desolated area. Thinking: "The time is up for the Passion Flower that's infected my body, but I'm still very much alive. Perhaps just like what the Indian Divine Monk said, after I sucked the poison off the Ice Spirit Acupuncture Needles, the poison managed to counteract the other poison, which instead prolonged my life. But the poison has only subsided; sooner or later it's inevitable for it to break out again. With severe wounds at hand, if I were to head off to Mount Zhong Nan to look for Gugu, I definitely won't last very long. Could this be what is destined for my fate, and condemn me to die in such a strange place en route? He began to reminisce his wretched orphaned life, other than those fond memories he had of him being together with Xiaolong Nu in Ancient Tomb; he rarely disclosed any specific moments of bliss. At this moment his only close person has abandoned him and left, just when he's recovered – part of his body is disabled. Already half-dead along the way, when his thoughts reached this point, he was hardly able to restrain his tears.


    translated by Lanny Lin

    Yang Guo laid flat on the horseback. In the wooziness, he didn't care where the horse would take him, as long as Guo Jing wouldn't be able to find him and he didn't bump into any Mongolian army. Soon, the horse came near the desolate valley where the Wu brothers had fought each other the night before.

    It was dusk already. The long grasses in the valley were even taller than knee-highs. Silence swept the night. Yang Guo was quite sure that he was all alone now, so he lay down in the bushes and tried to get some sleep. By then he couldn't care less about his own safety, and didn't even bother to guard against poisonous snakes or wild animals. But the excruciating pain from his wounds never stopped throughout the night. He could barely fall asleep.

    The next morning when he opened his eyes and sat up, something suddenly caught his attention. Only inches from him lay two dead centipedes, bloodstains in their mouths, stiff as sticks, with red and black stripes all over their bodies, looking frightful even after they were dead. In shock, Yang Guo examined it more closely and found a big pool of blood next to the centipedes. After a short ponder, he had it figured out. It turned out that the much bleeding from his wounds had created the pool of blood, and because of the strong toxin contained in his blood, the two poisonous centipedes had died off poison.

    A wry smile flashed across Yang Guo's lips as he murmured, "Who would have imagined that even poisonous centipedes couldn't stand my toxic blood." Anger, indignation, sorrow and bitterness swelled in his heart. He could no longer control his surging emotions. Raising his head high, he burst into mad laughter.

    Three chirps came from the top of the peak and caught Yang Guo's attention. He looked up. It was the divine condor, its head held high, standing on the very top of the peak. Even though it looked ferocious and hideous, there was something about it that made it looking majestic and awe-inspiring.

    Yang Guo was overjoyed as if he had just seen an old friend. "Brother Condor, we have met again!" he shouted.

    A long chirp echoed as the divine condor darted down from the peak. It couldn't fly because of the heavy body and the two short wings, but it could run like a stallion. Within moments, it had already arrived by Yang Guo. Having noticed that one of Yang Guo's arms was missing the condor fixed its stare at Yang Guo.

    "Brother Condor, great misfortune has fallen upon me. That's why I've come to you for shelter," Yang Guo explained with a wry smile.

    He couldn't tell whether the condor understood him. It simply turned around and started walking. So he grabbed the rein of the horse and followed.

    Only after several steps, the divine condor suddenly turned its head back and smacked the belly of the horse with its left wing. Taking a couple of steps back, the horse neighed in pain and jumped up and down.

    "I see," Yang Guo nodded. "Once I enter Brother Condor's valley, there will be no need to leave again. Why bother keeping the horse?" Deep in his heart, he was already convinced that the condor was really no less intelligent than a human being, so he let go of the rein and followed the divine condor in big strides. Because of his severe wounds, he had to sit down to rest every little while, and the divine condor would then hold its steps and wait for him.

    After close to two hours of walking, with many breaks along the way, the two of them arrived at the cave where the Demonic Swordsman Dugu Seeking-A-Loss had been buried in.

    Seeing the grave made out of rocks and stones, Yang Guo heaved a long sigh. All sorts of feelings welled up in his mind. "If this legendary master was able to roam the Martial World with no equal, his Kung Fu skills must have been extraordinary," Yang Guo thought to himself. "But he must have also been very eccentric and arrogant because of his unmatched talents and didn't get along with ordinary people. That was probably why he just passed away so quietly in such a desolated valley while no great stories or legends of his were told in the Martial World and no sword art manuals or apprentices of his were left behind to pass down his invisible martial arts techniques. His life must have been very exciting and admirable, yet at the same time sad and gloomy. Even though the divine condor is very intelligent, it is so unfortunate that it doesn't speak, otherwise it could have told a little about the senior master's life story."

    He stared at the grave blankly, lost in thoughts. When he finally got hold of himself, the divine condor had brought back two wild rabbits from outside the cave. Yang Guo barbecued the rabbits and made a good meal out of them.

    Days went by. The wounds started to heal gradually, and Yang Guo found himself on a path of recovery. Every time when he thought of the Little Dragon Girl, he would still feel pain from his chest, but it was far from the kind of unbearable pain he used to have. Yang Guo was the restless type. Having spent so many days in the desolated valley accompanied only by the divine condor, he soon became very bored.

    On this no particular day, the verdant hill at the back of the cave caught his attention. It was a beautiful day, so he decided to take on a random scenery walk. About half a mile into the walk, he found himself in front of a big cliff. The cliff towered straight into the sky almost like a huge screen. In the middle of the cliff, probably two hundred feet above the ground, a huge rock, about thirty or forty feet wide, stuck out from the cliff like a platform, and vaguely, he thought he could see words carved on the rock. Raising his head high, he stared up. Only after a long while was he able to tell what they were. Carved on the rock were two large characters: Sword Tomb.

    "Why would a sword have a tomb? Could senior master Dugu have somehow broken his favorite sword and decided to bury it here?" Yang Guo's curiosity started growing.

    He walked next to the bottom of the cliff and looked around. The cliff wall was made out of bald rocks. There wasn't even any grass or bush on the rock wall. There was no rock edges for grabbing or stepping on, which made him wonder how the senior master had been able to climb up the cliff.

    He stared at the rock wall for a good while, and the more he stared at it, the bigger the urge to climb up he felt.

    "He was also just a human being," he thought aloud. "How did he climb up so high? He's got to have some kind of tricks. If he had been able to climb up there using pure martial arts skills, then his skills had to be god like."

    He stared at the rock wall again even more carefully. After a while he noticed something. On the rock wall, there were dozens of patches of moss, each patch several feet away from the other, going upwards in a straight line. An idea popped out. He leapt up and reached for the lowest patch of moss. Not to his surprise, a small hole emerged after he scrubbed out the dark soil. He figured that Dugu Seeking-A-Loss must have dug these holes with sharp blades. After so many years, dirt had accumulated in the holes and mosses had started to grow.

    Having nothing else urgent to do, Yang Guo decided to check out this Sword Tomb. But having only one arm left certainly made climbing a more difficult task.

    "If I can't climb up the platform, then I can't. Who's going to laugh at me here?" he thought.

    After tightening his waistband, he took a deep breath and leapt a few feet up, stepping his left foot in the first small hole. Then he leapt upward again, kicking his right foot toward the second patch of moss. The soft soil fell, and sure enough, there was another small hole on the rock wall just big enough for a foot.

    His first attempt at climbing the cliff only lasted a little bit over one hundred feet before he ran out of breath, so he slid back down to the ground.

    "I've already found over twenty stepping spots. The second attempt should be much easier," he told himself.

    After some meditation at the bottom of the cliff, he gathered enough strength and finally climbed up the rock platform. Although he only had one arm left, his Qing-Gong skills didn't weaken a single bit. He couldn't help but feel some relief.

    Next to the two large characters "Sword Tomb," there were two rows of words carved on the rock in smaller font size:

    "The Demonic Swordsman Dugu Seeking-A-Loss has become the invincible and unchallenged warrior under Heaven; he therefore buried his swords here. Alas, the heroes of the realm had laid down their arms, now my long sword are sharp as usual yet useless...the agony!"

    A mixed feeling of shock and admiration welled up in Yang Guo's heart. He couldn't help but feel that this senior master's personality was very similar to that of his own. Both of them were lofty and defied the entire world. But he himself was certainly far from invincible and unchallenged. And since now he only had one arm left, even if he could survive this time, the chance of him becoming invincible would be too slim. He stared at the two rows of words for a while and then looked down. Rocks and stones formed a big pile in the shape of a tomb, its back facing the deep and broad valley. Putting aside the fact that how brilliant the Demonic Swordsman was, just the sword tomb was impressive enough by its own. It was apparent that this senior master must have been outstanding in both his wits and his martial arts skills, and had high aspirations. He wished that he could have been born many years earlier for a chance to meet such a legendary master in person. Feeling thrilled, he shouted out loud by the sword tomb in a long roar, and moments later, echoes rose in all directions. He suddenly remembered the kind of joy Huang Yaoshi[3] had described to him: "To flick my robe on zenith of the high peak and to wash my feet in the river thousands of miles long." At the current moment, he could almost feel the same kind of lofty sentiments and aspirations. Although he really yearned to find out what kind of blade had been buried in the tomb, feeling afraid to offend the deceased master, he finally gave up the thought and simply sat down, holding his knees in his arms, and breathed in against the wind. Soon, he almost felt as if his chest had been filled with pure energy and he could just ride the wind and glide in the air.

    Several chirrups came from the bottom of the cliff. Yang Guo looked down and saw the divine condor jumping its way up the cliff by holding the small holes with its claws. Although the condor had a heavy body, its leg and claw strength was simply amazing. Only moments later, the condor had already made its way up the rock platform.

    After taking a brief look around, the divine condor nodded toward Yang Guo and chirped. The sounds of the chirps were quite different from the sound of its regular chirps.

    "Brother Condor, unfortunately I don't have the skills of Gongye Chang[4] and can't understand anything you say. Otherwise you could have told me the entire life story of this senior master Dugu," Yang Guo said with a smile.

    The divine condor let out several more chirrups and then reached out with its claws. Grabbing onto some of the rocks on the sword tomb, it started moving them aside.

    A thought suddenly popped into Yang Guo's head. "Senior master Dugu had superior martial arts skills. Could he have left behind some kind of sword arts manual or manuscript?"

    The divine condor's claws kept moving and soon had moved away all the stones on top of the sword tomb, exposing three long swords lying side by side. Between the first sword and the second sword lay a long rock strip. The three long swords and the long rock strip lay neatly on a slab stone.

    Yang Guo picked up the first sword on the left and saw two rows of small words carved on the slab stone underneath where the sword was placed.

    "Fierce and aggressive, able to penetrate any obstacle. With it, I competed with the heroes of the Northern Plains during my teenage years."

    Looking more carefully at the sword, he found it to be about four feet long. The blade flashed under the daylight. It was indeed a very sharp sword.

    Laying the sword back to its original place, he then picked up the long rock strip. There were also two rows of small words underneath carved on the slab stone.

    "Flexible Sword of the Purple Rose, used it prior to the age of thirty. With it, I accidentally wounded a righteous man. A weapon of doom, I abandoned it in a deep valley."

    "The sword is missing because he had abandoned it," Yang Guo thought. "I wonder how he ended up wounding a righteous man. Perhaps no one will ever get to know the story behind."

    After a short daze, he reached out to pick up the second sword. But only inches off the slab stone, the sword fell out of his grip and smacked back onto the slab stone. A loud clank echoed as sparks sparkled everywhere. That gave Yang Guo a good shock.

    Although the sword looked dark with nothing unusual, it turned out to be extremely heavy. The sword was only slightly longer than three feet, but it weighed at least one hundred and ten to one hundred and thirty pounds, several times heavier even than the heaviest saber or halberd used in battlefield. He had not expected it to be this heavy when he picked it up. Caught by surprise, he had lost grip of the sword. The second time when he picked it up, knowing what to expect, he had a good grip on the sword. When prepared, something as heavy as one hundred and thirty pounds really wasn't hard for him at all. Taking a better look at the sword, he found both sides of the blade blunt, and the tip of the sword was more like a half circle.

    "This sword is too heavy. How can someone wield a sword like this and still able to control it well? Besides, the blades on both sides and the sword tip are all blunt. How strange!" he thought aloud.

    Looking down on the slab stone underneath where the sword was, he also found two rows of small words.

    "Heavy sword with blunt edges, simplicity brings superiority. Before I reached the age of forty, I used it to roam the entire world under Heaven."

    Yang Guo murmured the words "heavy sword with blunt edges, simplicity brings superiority" repeatedly. He seemed to have comprehended part of the idea, but the idea was still very vague in his head. There were many styles of sword arts in the world, but regardless of style or school, each sword art always emphasized in flexibility and speed. How should this heavy sword be used? He couldn't help imagining how the senior master had wielded the heavy sword and soon fell into a trance.

    Only after a long while did Yang Guo lay the heavy sword down and reached out for the third sword. But this time something went wrong again. He had thought that this third sword must have been even heavier than the previous one, so when he reached out to pick up the sword, he made sure he had shifted enough strength to his left arm, but the sword turned out to be so light that he felt as if he had only picked up empty air. Casting a closer glance at it, he found a wooden sword in his hand. After the many years, part of the sword body and the hilt were almost completely rotten. The words underneath said,

    "After the age of forty, I no longer relied on weaponry. Even bushes, trees, bamboo sticks or rocks call all be my swords. From then on, I achieved great progress and slowly reached the realm of overcoming the sword without a sword."

    Laying the wooden sword back to its original place respectfully, Yang Guo sighed in great admiration.

    "The senior master's brilliant skills must have exceeded way beyond my imagination," he murmured.

    Thinking of the idea that there might be sword art manuals or the kind underneath the slab stone, he grabbed the slab stone and lifted it up. But there was nothing under except the hard surface of the rock platform. He couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

    The divine condor let out a loud chirp. Lowering its head, he picked the heavy sword up with his beak and then placed it in Yang Guo's hand. With another loud chirp, the condor suddenly swung his left wing and smacked down toward Yang Guo's head. The swing was so fierce and powerful that Yang Guo could feel the strong wind generated from the powerful swing long before the condor's wing even came close to him. In the split of the second, Yang Guo felt as if he couldn't even breathe, and when he finally broke out from the brief shock, the divine condor had held its wing still only about one foot away from his head. Another two chirps came from the condor.

    "Brother Condor, are you interested in checking out my Kung Fu skills?" Yang Guo grinned. "I've got nothing else to do. Fine, let's have some fun."

    But it would be too hard to wield the over-one-hundred-pound heavy sword, so he put it down and picked up the first sword. To his surprise, the divine condor suddenly retracted its two wings and turned his head aside, paying no more attention to him, its face covered with disdain.

    Yang Guo immediately understood. "You want me to wield the heavy sword? But my Kung Fu skills are so ordinary. I am certain I would be no match for you, especially on top of this steep cliff, Brother Condor. You've got to cut me some slacks!" he said with a grin.

    Picking the heavy sword back up, he gathered his inner energy around his lower stomach and shifted his strength to his left arm before stabbing the sword out slowly. The divine condor didn't even turn around. Swinging its left wing backwards, the divine condor attacked, its wing colliding with the heavy sword. Yang Guo felt a stream of vigorous force rushing toward him passing through the sword, so powerful that he almost ran out of breath. In a rush, he let out a roar and fought the force back with all his strength. The sword shook slightly between the two forces and suddenly all Yang Guo could see was complete darkness, and seconds later he fell unconscious.

    Slowly, he regained consciousness, not knowing how long it had passed. Something unbearably bitter in his mouth immediately caught his attention. Meanwhile, some kind of bitter juice kept dripping down his throat. He opened his eyes and saw the divine condor placing a dark purple ball shaped thing into his mouth. This thingy stunk like a rotten fish, but Yang Guo ate it anyway, thinking that since the divine condor was extremely intelligent, this thingy in its mouth had to be something good. With only a gentle bite, the skin of the ball shaped thingy cracked open and immediately his mouth was filled with bitter juice.

    The juice was extremely bitter and smelly. It tasted terrible. Yang Guo really wanted to spit them all out, but he didn't want to go against the divine condor's good will and finally managed to swallow them down. A few moments later, he tried to slightly control his inner energy flow, and to his surprise, he found his breathing smooth and fluent. He stood back up, and again, not only didn't he feel tired or exhausted, instead, he felt totally refreshed, no, it was even better than before.

    Yang Guo was puzzled. Logically, when someone got knocked out with a strong blow, even if the person was lucky enough to not get injured seriously, he would at least feel soreness all over his body. Could that dark purple ball shaped thingy be some kind of magical cure?

    He bent over and picked the heavy sword up. It felt as if the sword had become slightly lighter than before. Right at the second, the divine condor let out another loud chirp before striking with its wing again. This time Yang Guo dared not taking on the blow directly and dodged to the side. The divine condor took a step forward and struck again with both wings, fierce and powerful. Yang Guo knew that the condor had no ill intention toward him, but even though the condor was extremely intelligent, it was still just an animal, with the kind of mighty power it possessed, when it attacked with its wings, it wouldn't really know when to stop and how to restrain its power. If he had gotten hit by the wing and fallen off the rock platform, that would for sure kill him. Seeing the two wings striking toward him, he took two steps back in a hurry. By then, his left foot was already on the edge of the rock platform.

    Who would have thought that the condor showed no mercy? With a quick stretch, its sharp beak had shot out toward Yang Guo's chest. Having no space to retreat back, Yang Guo had no choice but to block the attack with the sword. The peck landed squarely on the sword. A tremendous shock ran through Yang Guo's arm and he almost had to let go the heavy sword. The divine condor immediately followed with a low sweep using its right wing and strike toward Yang Guo's ankles. Astonished, Yang Guo jumped up and leapt over the divine condor's head, rushing toward the inside of the platform. In fear that the condor would follow up with its attacks, he waved the sword backward. A loud clank echoed as the sword collided with another peck from the condor.

    Having so narrowly escaped death, Yang Guo broke out in a cold sweat. "Brother Condor," he shouted, "I am not Master Dugu!" Feeling aching and limp in his feet, he sat down. The divine condor let out two low chirps and halted its attack.

    Having blurted out the words "I am not Master Dugu" without much thinking, Yang Guo suddenly thought of something. The condor had been a long time companion of senior master Dugu. The way it had struck and moved about actually had matched with martial arts principles loosely. Perhaps when senior master Dugu sometimes became bored living in the desolated valley all by himself, he had treated the condor as if it was a spar partner of his. Senior master Dugu had long perished, along with all his superior martial arts techniques. But it might be possible to find some traces of this great Master's martial arts style and essence from the condor. At that thought, he became pleased and stood up.

    "Brother Condor, watch out!" he shouted. "Here comes another sword move!" Pushing the heavy sword forward as fast as he could, he stabbed it toward the divine condor's chest.

    The divine condor blocked the sword with its left wing and then struck another heavy blow with its right wing. Its strength was simply too strong. Every time when it swung its wings, the force it generated was on par with the kind of force generated by several first-class fighters hitting out their palm strikes at the same time. Besides, the sword in Yang Guo's hand was simply too heavy for him to use any sword moves out of the Quan-Zhen Sword Art or Jade-Maiden Sword Art. So for defense, all he could do was to dodge to the sides, and for offense, all he did was stabbing the sword forward clumsily.

    After a few moments into the fight, Yang Guo became tired and sat down to rest. As soon as he sat down, the divine condor would step aside. The two of them played like this for well over two hours before they finally slid down the platform and went back to the cave.

    When Yang Guo woke up the next morning, the divine condor had already placed three dark purple stinking balls by his side. After some careful examination, Yang Guo finally realized that these were animal gallbladders. He remembered that when he met the divine condor the first time, it was feeding on poisonous snakes and also fought with a giant serpent. Then these must have been snake gallbladders. He wondered if the gallbladder of a poisonous snake would also be venomous, but after he had eaten a gallbladder the day before, he had felt totally refreshed and rejuvenated, having even more strength in him than before. Besides, there were already strong toxins from the Flower of Love and the Icy Silver Needles inside his body; he really couldn't care less. So in a few bites, he quickly swallowed the gallbladders, and then sat up to meditate. To his great surprise, many of the pressure points along his inner channels that he had a hard time sending inner energy flowing through before suddenly all opened up, and the energy flow inside him became so smooth and fluent. In great happiness, Yang Guo uttered a loud cry of joy. Usually, when someone was in the middle of cultivating his inner energy flow in a meditation stance, it was critical for him to abstain from irrelevant thoughts, especially extreme joy or extreme grief, but this time his inner energy continued to flow smoothly around his body with no glitches or any blockage.

    Jumping back onto his feet, Yang Guo picked up the heavy sword and stepped out of the cave for some more rounds of sword training. Having no more fear and worries, even though he still dodged a lot more than blocking, once in a while, he was actually able to organize some sneak attacks in between the fierce and powerful forces created from the divine condor's waving of its mighty wings.

    This kind of training went on for several days, and gradually, he was able to wield the heavy sword with better control. It almost felt as if the heavy sword was no longer as heavy as the time when he first wielded it. In the meantime, he also came to realize that all the sword arts he had learned before were too intricate with too many fancy techniques. He kept thinking about Dugu Seeking-A-Loss's words "heavy sword with blunt edges, simplicity brings superiority" on the slab stone. They had described a realm of sword art much more advanced compared to even the most ingenious sword techniques in the world. While sparring with the divine condor, he concentrated on comprehending the movement of his sword, and what he started to realize was that the more ordinary a sword move is, the more difficult it was for the opponent to defend against it. For example, if he simply stabbed out straight forward, as long as he had fierce and resourceful power to back it, the might of the stab would be actually more powerful than the kind of sword arts like the Jade Maiden Sword Art that relied on fluctuating and unpredictable techniques. Even though he only has one arm – his left arm, from eating those snake gallbladders the divine condor had brought to him, he had no idea that his arm had become much stronger than before.

    One day while strolling about the valley, he discovered the bodies of three giant poisonous snakes on the ground. Their bellies had been ripped open and cuts from sharp claws left snake blood all over their bodies. By then, he was sure that the bitter things he had been eating were snake gallbladders. The bodies of these poisonous snakes shinned vaguely in a golden color. He had never seen any snakes like these before and had no idea what kind of snakes they were.

    "I suppose the reason why the divine condor has such tremendous strength is because it had eaten a lot of snake gallbladders of this strange specie of snakes," he thought to himself.

    After over a month worth of sparring, with some hard efforts, Yang Guo could actually take on the divine condor's mighty force head to head now, and each of his stab had also become so powerful that it would whistle in the air. He couldn't help but feel much gratified about himself. Since his skills in martial arts had advanced to a new level, the martial arts he learned before all seemed to be so insignificant, just like once one climbs to the top of Mount Tai, the whole world looked small and insignificant. But in another thought, he realized that without his previous foundation in martial arts training, he wouldn't have been able to advance to such a new level. After all, the divine condor was just an animal that couldn't speak. It might be able to guide some, but it would never be able to explain things or provide advice. Besides, the divine condor didn't really know any true martial arts skills. All it had was the god-given mighty strength plus the handful of moving and dodging techniques it had picked up while sparring with Dugu Seeking-A-Loss in the many years of companionship.


    One morning, after Yang Guo got up, he found heavy rain pouring down from the dark cloud covered sky. "Brother Condor, it's raining very hard. Are we still going to train today?" he asked the divine condor. The condor held Yang Guo's sleeve in its beak and pulled him toward the northeast. Then it let go of the sleeve and strode out.
    "Is there something strange again in the northeast?" Yang Guo thought aloud. He grabbed the heavy sword and then followed in the rain.

    After a couple of miles into the journey, some vague but continuous rumbling sound came to Yang Guo's attention. And the further they walked, the louder the rumbling sound became. It was the sound of a waterfall.
    "With such a pouring rain, I'd better watch out for mountain torrents," Yang Guo reminded himself.

    After turning over a mountain gorge, the sound of the waterfall all of a sudden became so much louder that it could almost deafen one's hearing. Between two peaks, the waterfall crashed down poured into the creek below like a white dragon. In the thunderous echoes, the swift currents rushed downward with mighty force. The many broken branches and rocks, carried forward by the currents, only took a split of a second to be flushed down the stream.

    By then, the rain had become even heavier and Yang Guo had become soaking wet. A think mist from the smashing waterfall surrounded everything, creating a magnificent view. But seeing the mighty force from the mountain tolerance, Yang Guo couldn't help but feel a slight dread inside of him.

    Hlding Yang Guo's sleeve in its beak, the divine condor dragged him toward the creek as if it wanted Yang Guo to jump down.
    "Why do you want me to go down there? The stream is running very swift. I am afraid that I would be able to hold myself steady," Yang Guo asked in surprise.

    The divine condor let go of Yang Guo's sleeve, and after a long and loud roar, it jumped into the creek and landed steadily on a huge rock in the middle of the creek. The condor swung its left wing forward. A rock that had been carried down by the rushing current was sent back up the stream from the swing. As soon as the rock came back down with the current again, it swung its wing once again, which sent the rock flying up the stream the second time. Thus the condor did the same thing five or six more times, and the rock never made it pass the condor. By the seventh time, the divine condor gave it a good smack, which sent the rock flying out of the water and finally landing on the bank. The divine condor then leapt back onto the bank and stood next to Yang Guo.

    Yang Guo understood. Demonic Swordsman Dugu Seeking-A-Loss must have come here often to train sword arts in the mountain tolerance every time when it rained. But he knew very well that he didn't yet possess such skills and strength. Feeling afraid, he hesitated.

    Suddenly, the divine condor extended its wing out and pushed Yang Guo in the arm. Since it was standing so close to Yang Guo, and the push caught Yang Guo by surprise, he lost his footing and fell into the creek.

    In the rush, Yang Guo quickly used a technique called the "thousand-pound plummet" and landed on that huge rock the divine condor had stood on. As soon as his feet entered the water, the great force from the swift current almost swept him off his feet. Yang Guo tumbled back and forth and had a hard time maintaining his balance.

    "Senior master Dugu is a human, I am also a human. If he could hold himself steady, why can't I?" Yang Guo thought to himself. So he took a deep breath and then concentrated all his attention in the effort to fight the force from the swift currents. That alone had exhausted all his strength. It was simply impossible for him to spare any strength to hit the rocks in the currents with the heavy sword.

    In the amount of time of burning down a joss stick, Yang Guo had exhausted all his strength, so he jabbed his sword on the rock, and with the push, leapt back on to the bank. Before he even had a moment to catch his breath, the divine condor had already swung its wing toward him once again. Having being on his guard, he dodged the push swiftly. Quickly taking in a few deep breaths, he jumped back down into the creek himself, thinking, "This condor brother is indeed a strict teacher and a forthcoming friend. He wouldn't cut me any slacks in the training. He certainly has high expectations, and I, of course, want good improvements."

    At this thought, he directed all his energy to the lower half of his body and held his footing steadily. As time went by, he gradually comprehended some techniques as to how to focus his energy and how to best utilize his strength. Even though the mountain torrent had grown larger and water had rose up to his waist, he was able to hold his own a little easier compared to the previous efforts. A few moments passed and by then water had rose up to his chest and soon up to his mouth.

    "Even though I can hold my footing now, I don't think I'll just stand here and get drowned!" he thought. So he leapt back on to the bank.

    Who had expected that the divine condor had been waiting by the bank? Before his feet touched the ground, the condor struck out with its wing. Yang Guo hurriedly blocked it using the heavy sword, but the striking force sent Yang Guo right back into the creak. Splash, he fell back into the water.

    When his feet touched the giant rock under the steam, his entire boy was under the surface. Water had filled his mouth as he was falling down. Yang Guo knew that if he had spit the water out of his mouth, then his inner energy would shift upward, thus reducing the strength in his legs, so he held his breath and took a stable stance. A few moments later, he pushed hard with his feet and leapt in the air. A stream of water darted out from his mouth. Taking another quick breath, Yang Guo fell back down to the bottom of the creek. The turbulences and swift currents rumbled through above his head. He simply stayed still like a firm rock in midstream. Gradually his mind calmed down.

    "Brother Condor wanted me to stand in the middle of the mountain torrent, but if I don't hit the rocks in the currents, for sure he would belittle me," Yang Guo thought.

    He was a man of great pride and was always eager to excel. Even though the condor was only an animal, he would still rather not lose face in front of it. So when he spotted the branches and rocks brought down by the current, he jabbed and stabbed and tried hard to push them back them way they came from. In the water, the rocks had become lighter. The heavy sword also felt lighter and easier to control when he waved it around under water. He waved and swung and jabbed and stabbed the sword until he was completely exhausted and begun to have a hard time holding his footing. Then he finally leapt back onto the bank.

    He was quite afraid that the divine condor would once again force him back into the creek again. Without some rest, his tiring legs probably wouldn't be able to stand the forces from the mountain torrent. Not to his surprise, the divine condor didn't want him on the bank at all. As soon as it saw him leaping out of the water, the condor struck out with its wing.

    "Brother Condor," Yang Guo shouted in complaint, "you know you are just killing me right now?"

    He jumped back into the creek for a little while but simply could not stand the currents any longer and had to leapt back to the bank. Seeing the divine condor's wing striking toward him, not willing to sit down and give in, he had no other choices but to stab the sword at the divine condor. The two of them soon exchanged three moves, and to his great surprise, the divine condor was forced to take one step back.

    "Excuse me!" Yang Guo shouted as he extended his arm and stabbed forth the sword again. Sound of whistling echoed as the blade cut through thin air – this was something quite different from his past experience.

    Seeing the tip of Yang Guo's sword approaching rapidly toward it, the divine condor no longer dared to take it straight on and had to dodge aside.

    Yang Guo knew that the half-day worth of training in the mountain torrents must have improved his strength tremendously. A mixed feeling of shock and joy swarmed in his heart. He couldn't help but question himself, "It would certainly take more than a couple of weeks to increase one's strength and power. How did I gain such great strength after wielding the sword underwater for a mere half-day?" He finally concluded that it had to be the snake gallbladders from the snakes of the strange specie. Those gallbladders must have magical effects in increasing one's power and strength. That was why his strength and inner power had increased tremendously, and he had only noticed it when he released the strength accidentally in the dangerous circumstance.

    He sat by the creek and meditated for a while. His strength soon replenished. This time he jumped back into the creek for more training without being forced by the divine condor. By the time he leapt back up the bank, the divine condor was no longer waiting by the creek, leaving no clue as to where it had gone.

    The rain had begun to slow down. Yang Guo figured that mountain torrents would have been a lot smaller and weaker the next day. Since he didn't feel that tired, it would be better to train some more right now while the torrent still lasted. At that thought, he jumped back into the creek.

    By the time he got back onto the bank the forth time, he found two snake gallbladders placed closed to the bank. Feeling utterly grateful for the divine condor's caring, he ate them and then continued on with his training. Night came, and the mountain torrent had slowly become smaller and weaker.

    That night he didn't sleep at all and kept on training in the creek. Gradually he began to realize many sword art principles such as piercing following the force, blocking against the force, slashing from the side, and chopping with a back swing. By then he finally understood: Wielding a sword this way, nothing would be strong enough to stand the force from the sword, and there would be no need for the sword to have a sharp blade. But without such a unique heavy sword, which was twenty or even thirty times heavier compared to a normal sword, this kind of sword art wouldn't have been effective. If it were just an ordinary blade, the force released from a gentle wrist snap would have shocked the blade into pieces.

    The rain finally stopped, and the clear sky shined dimly in dark blue. Moonlight from a new moon illuminated over the trees and the water in the creek, painting everything with silver. Yang Guo watched the swift currents flushing down the creek path non-stop, his mind as clear as the sky. By then, he had understood the principles behind the flow of currents and mastered the techniques with the heavy sword. He knew that he had learned the entire sword art of the heavy sword and there was no more to learn. Even if the Demonic Swordsman could have come back to life, all he could have taught would still be the same. From now on as his inner energy grew, he would be able to used lighter swords, and eventually be able to wield a wooden sword like the heavy sword, but that would all be attributed to the advancement in his own abilities and skills. Regarding the sword art, this was as far as it would ever be.

    Yang Guo paced back and forth along the bank. Raising his head high, he stared at the bright moon and soon was lost in thoughts. If senior master Dugu hadn't left him this heavy sword, or if there wasn't the divine condor to guide him, furthermore, if he didn't eat those gallbladders of the strange snakes and thus gained tremendous amount of inner strength, then the entire world wouldn't have had the luxury of seeing this sword art once again. Dugu Seeking-A-Loss didn't have any help or reference, yet was able to comprehend such acme of sword arts all by himself. His cleverness must have been a hundred times better than mine.

    Yang Guo's admiration and understanding of this past sword master kept growing as he imagined the senior master's demeanor in his mind. Suddenly, a thought popped into his head.

    "If auntie could see the great kung fu skills I possess now, she would be very happy for me for sure. Alas, where is she now? Is she also staring at the beautiful moon and thinking of me?" As soon as he thought of the Little Dragon Girl, severe pain rose from inside his chest.

    "Even though I've comprehended the ultimate principles of sword art," Yang Guo thought, "what good does it do if I stay here in the remote mountain all by myself? What if the poison from the Flower of Love suddenly activated tomorrow and killed me? Wouldn't this magnificent sword art get lost for eternity?"

    At this thought, aspiration rose again in his heart.

    "I shall follow senior master Dugu's footsteps and defeat all heroes under heaven with this sword art. Then I can die with no regrets," he spoke out his thought loudly.

    Looking at what was left of his right arm, Yang Guo knitted his eyebrows into a straight line, and his hatred for Guo Fu, the one person who had mercilessly cut off his arm, swarmed his heart once more.

    "This girl relied on the facts that her father is a legendary hero and her mother is the chief of the Beggars Clan. She has never respected me. When I was still a kid and lived in her home, she treated me with so much distain and humiliation. I was actually doing her a favor when I lied to the Wu brothers. If any one of the Wu brothers ended up dead because of her, wouldn't she be the one to blame for? Humph! She took advantage of my severe illness and cut my arm off. If I don't settle the score with her one day, I am not a true man!"

    He had always been one who took in kindness and grudge to his heart without a forgiving heart. Before, right after his arm was cut off, he had no other choices but to hide in the remote valley for the wound to heal. Now when his wound had sealed and his Kung Fu skills had progressed dramatically, he could no longer hold his urge for revenge. Having made up his mind, he immediately returned to the cave.

    "Brother Condor," he said to the divine condor, "I'll never be able to repay the great kindness you've shown me. There are still several matters in the Martial World that I need to take care of. That's why I need to leave you temporarily. I'll be back here again once I've taken care of those businesses. If you don't mind, I need to borrow senior master Dugu's heavy sword for the trip."

    He bowed down toward the divine condor deeply and then knelt down in front of the stone grave of Dugu Seeking-A-Loss to salute before heading out of the valley. The divine condor walked with him all the way to the opening of the valley. After many affectionate hugs between the man and the condor, Yang Guo bid his farewell and got on with his journey.

    The heavy sword was indeed very heavy. If he had tied it to his waistband, the waistband would break in no time. Yang Guo cut down three old vines from the bushes and made a rope out of them. Tying the heavy sword on his back, he ran using his Qing-Gong and headed straight toward the city of Xiangyang.

    [1] "Gentleman Sword" is the name of Yang Guo's sword. It is the male-sword out of a pair of ancient swords Yang Guo and Little Dragon Girl found in the Ancient Tomb (if I remembered it right). The female-sword out of the pair is named "Maiden Sword."

    [2] He was referring to Little Dragon Girl here.

    [3] Huang Yaoshi, nicknamed East Wicked, was the father of Huang Rong and father-in-law of Guo Jing. He enjoyed great fame as one of the five top fighters. He was also famous for his eccentric personality.

    [4] Gongye Chang was a man in ancient Chinese folklore that could understand animal languages.




    Hankypanky:

    Arriving outside the city, the time of day has approached dawn. He understood that settling out his business in broad daylight is not the wisest of decisions. Much less he's due one night's sleep, and his energy level would've plummeted down. Uncle Guo and Aunt Guo were experts in the field of martial arts. At this point of time their health must be restored, a fierce struggle is guaranteed if by chance he was to confront the both of them. Therefore ferreted out a thick patch of grass near a cemetery outside the city and slept there for many hours. Later he performed breathing exercises and cultivation, and garnered some wild fruit to be served as meal. He waited for the first watch of night, before he set foot below the city of Xiangyang.

    Xiangyang's imposing wall was like a fortress. That day when Jinlun Fawang, Li Mochou and others leapt from the top of the city wall, they still required padded feet set up to prevent possible injuries. Right now trying to climb from the wall base to the top is never going to be an easy task. Yang Guo had already thought about this and came up with a method during his time resting near the cemetery. Thinking: "I will never have enough time to learn Uncle Guo's kung fu of [Walking on Heaven's Staircase]. What ever method Senior Dugu used to get up that cliff, I will capitalize on to climb up the wall of Xiangyang." He proceeded towards a secluded area near the east gate, luckily the troops that guarded near the top of the city wall made their inspection from afar. Much to the convenience of Yang Guo as he leapt up, then straightened out his heavy sword and spared no effort to drive it into the city wall. The heavy sword maybe blunt, but the ending force was unyieldingly strong. The city wall was the product of extremely thick granite employed for construction. Hearing the noise of 'peng', the wall was cracked open by the sword, which left a round niche. Yang Guo had never expected an effortless jab with the sword could have such power, and was pleasantly surprised about that. Next, whilst jumping up his left foot was poised on the cavity, he raised his sword and stabbed a hole into the city wall that's above his head. This time he didn't put a lot of power into it, just so that he avoids alarming the garrison troops.

    Helping himself up step by step he was at the point where there's several zhangs left before he reaches the top. From here he displayed his [Gecko Crawling Wall Skill] to rise over the top of the wall and hid in a secret place. Inside the city wall were a series of stony steps that sloped down. Yang Guo waited until the troops walked away and sneaked down past them and dashed ahead straight to Guo's residence.

    After taking nourishment from the snake gallbladders his inner energy rapidly increased. At the same time his body was more agile and his lightness gong was far greater than former days. But Guo Jing's martial arts was still very dangerous, there's a likely chance that the strength of his palms in the 18 Dragon Subduing Palms series is unchallengeable. In addition, were the mysterious and diverse set of Dog Beating Techniques used by Huang Rong. He only knew about 60%-70% of it so couldn't be too careless. As he reached outside of Guo residence, he quietly leapt over the wall and entered.

    Bypassing the garden, promptly glanced at the house where he originally stayed. He went up to its window listened and found that no one was in there. He gently pushed the door and entered.

    In the darkness he noticed the bed-curtains and other furniture were no different than when he left. All that was withdrawn was the bed's pillow. He lowered his body and sat along the edge of the bed, reminiscing privately of how his healthy right arm was lost forever within this bed. A stroke of sickness and anger latched onto his heart.

    All along he was blessed with pretty and charming looks; by nature he was also somewhat lustful and cheerful. He maybe passionately devoted to Xiaolong Nu and thinks of her constantly, but there were many young girls who often can't help but pour out their affectionate feelings whenever they meet him. Girls like Chengying, Lu Wushuang, Gongsun Lue either secretly had a crush on him or were frankly flirtatious in front of him. Right now his hand loosely stroked the side of the bed, and faced the inconsolable truth that he has become disabled. If he ever bumped into those love-stricken girls, he will no doubt be viewed as a ridiculous and pitiful soul amongst their eyes. His martial arts maybe fantastic, but he's still a mere freak that's shocking to behold. Thinking of all the ups and downs and chasing all the events that happened in his life, can't help but lower his voice and say: "It is only Gugu, it's Gugu alone who's feelings for me won't deteriorate. Even as catastrophic as losing 4 limbs, it will be no different in the end."

    Convinced up to now, suddenly on his east side he heard the muffled sounds of an argument between 2 people. He could made out the voices were in fact Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Yang Guo was curious how these 2 people set it forth, thereupon tiptoed to search for where it originated. Then found the room where the Guo couple were situated and eavesdropped outside their window.

    All that was heard was Huang Rong yelling with rage: "Those 2 have plainly carried Xiang er away to Loveless Valley, in exchange for the antidote. How could you still go on and insist that Yang Guo is a good person? The child was given birth for not even close to 2 hours, and ended up in their hands. What chance does she have of surviving up to this point?" Those words dissolved into sobs and weeping.

    Guo Jing said: "Guo er is not that kind of person. Besides, time after time he's saved our lives. If Xiang er's life could help him trade for his own life, then I'll gladly accept it." The sobs drowned out Huang Rong's words: "You'd rather do that, but I won't…"

    Then the sounds of a baby crying aloud interrupted the conversation in the room, the noise was loud and clear. Yang Guo wondered: "Did they somehow manage to snatch the baby girl back home from the clutches of Li Mochou? Then why did she say: 'What chance does she have of surviving up to this point'?" Holding his breath he raised his view against the window seam and looked around. And did notice a baby cuddled up safely in Huang Rong's arms. It so happens that the baby was facing the window towards him, Yang Guo understood what he saw. He had a square-face that protruded out huge ears, his skin was coarsely dark that grew fine whiskers. He has carried the female infant Guo Xiang for a long period of time, and remembered she was tenderly white and petite with delicate features on her face. It's the complete opposite to this stoutly and plump baby. Huang Rong's back faced the window, and quietly settled the baby down, and said: "It was nice when the siblings were together, you'd better find his sister and bring her back home." Yang Guo was suddenly conscious of it now, only now did he comprehend that she gave birth to twins from her embryo after all. She first gave birth to baby girl Guo Xiang, hereafter arrived a male child. The moment her son entered this world, Xiaolong Nu had already carried her daughter away.

    Guo Jing wandered slowly and aimlessly around the room, then said: "Rong er, you usually recognise main principles. As soon as it involved matters with our children, how can you not just put it to one side for the time being? At present the military affairs are in a state of urgency, how could I just leave Xiangyang and place my responsibilities for a mere infant daughter?" Huang Rong said: "I did say I wanted to look for her by myself, but you never permit me to leave. Are you actually going to let our child die in vain? Guo Jing said: "You haven't recovered yet, how can you go?" Huang Rong turned on him with rage: "Not wanting his daughter as a father. It's a hard lot being a mother, what do you expect me to do?"

    Yang Guo has been together with them for many years in Peach Blossom Island, and remembered them as a loving couple, and no bust-ups were involved. Now that their faces grew red with anger, all words were equally matched. It seemed clear that they've quarrelled over this matter on many occasions. Huang Rong cried and spoke at the same time, Guo Jing pulled a taut face; randomly walk back and forth around the room.

    After a while, Guo Jing said: "Even if she's brought back, you'll treat her in the same way as you did to Fu er, pampering her till she's lawless, she may as well count for nothing!" Huang Rong loudly exclaims: "What have you got against our Fu er? She loves our daughter dearly, she may have been bit too reckless, but the reasons were quite understandable. If it was me, and Yang Guo insisted on keeping my daughter, I'll even chop off his left arm for good measure."

    Guo Jing's face contorted with anger, bellowed out: "Rong er, what are you talking about?" Raising his hand and heavily knocked the top of the table, 'PENG!', scraps of wood flew all over the place. A practically rock-solid red wooden table was instantly broke in half by his strike. The baby boy was actually crying without knowing when to stop. When he heard a shout and a bang he automatically calmed down as a result of the fright he received.

    Right at this moment, Yang Guo suddenly noticed a human silhouette below the window on the west side, also crouching down and quietly drawing back. Yang Guo thought: "So besides me, there's another eavesdropper outside the window, but who could it be?" So tiptoed behind that person, and noticed that her figure was elegant, it's precisely Guo Fu. The burning fury wasn't extinguished, Yang Guo thought: "Great! I've been looking for you!" Then behind him the light radiated from inside was gone - the lights were off. Then hearing Huang Rong angrily spoke: "Get out, stop frightening the baby!"

    Yang Guo knew Guo Jing was about to come out, and in his eyes he would be able to locate Yang Guo very easily. So shifted himself behind the rockery, then quickly made his way outside Guo Fu's room. Launching himself high up, and got himself on top of a (木筆花 tree, and concealed himself between the branches and leaves.

    Within a moment, he saw Guo Fu return to her room. Then a voice of a woman said: "It's past the second period of night, sleep well Miss!" Guo Fu grunted: "I will sleep when I am actually asleep! Get out." The woman responded: "Very well." Then saw a maidservant leave the area on her own.

    After quite a while, he saw Guo Fu faintly heaved a long sigh of relief, Yang Guo thought: "What is that sigh meant for? You've taken away my beloved arm from me; now it's your turn to lose an arm. But I'll take it easy on you coz you're a woman, (*Very grateful if somebody can even give a good translation of the idiom: 好男不與女鬥*), I won't harm you for the moment. If I did, it'll be just like taking candy from a baby, but such an act won't conform to the ideals of a real man." Paused in a moment of thought, he then came up with a strategy: "Alright then, I'll call out loudly, to get Uncle Guo's attention. Once I've defeated him, I'll settle an old score with his daughter. As a man who's got a clear conscience, no one will ever jest at my actions." But then reconsidered again: "Uncle Guo's martial arts is extraordinary, am I really able to triumph over him? I don't think so! Will this mean I can't take my revenge?" Recalling the way he lost his arm, the blood boiled up inside of him and his heart hardened. Just when he's about to jump down from the (木筆花 tree, the sound of footsteps approached, and the person was striding over here.

    He noticed the pace deeply stiffened, the body was upright, it was none other than Guo Jing. He reached just outside of his daughter's room, and gently knocked on the door, saying: "Fu er, are you asleep yet?" Guo Fu rose up and replied: "It's you father?" There was a hint of fear in her voice. Yang Guo was surprised by this: "Is it possible that Uncle Guo knew I've already arrived, so came to offer her daughter protection? Alrighty then! You'll be my first opponent! If I lose to you, my life is yours to take." Guo Jing uttered an 'ng' sound. Guo Fu opened the door, raised her head and looked directly into his father's eyes, and immediately hung her head down.

    End of Chapter 26

    Last edited by Hanky Panky : 05-08-05
    Last edited by Du Gu seeking a win; 07-22-05 at 07:44 AM.

  10. #50
    Senior Member Du Gu seeking a win's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    453

    Default Chapter 27-1 (BeeDreamer)

    -

    Guo Jing walked through the door and went to sit in a chair in front of the bed, not saying a word. The two people had been tense and quiet for a long time. Finally, Guo Jing asked, "Where have you been all this time?"

    Guo Fu said, "I .. I've wounded Brother Yang. I was afraid you'd punish me, so.. so.."

    Guo Jing said, "So you went out to avoid me for several days?"

    Guo Fu bit her lip and nodded.

    Guo Jing continued, "You were waiting for my anger to pass before coming back?"

    Guo Fu nodded, suddenly throwing herself into his arms. She said, "Father, are you still mad at me?"

    Guo Jing stroked her hair gently. He said in a low voice, "I wasn't angry. I haven't been angry. I was only sad about you."

    Guo Fu cried out, "Father!" and sobbed on his chest.

    Guo Jing looked up and gazed out at the roof without saying a word. He waited for her weeping to subside and then said, "Yang Guo's grandfather Tie Xingong and your grandfather Xiao Tiangong were sworn brothers, so were his father and yours. You know that."

    Guo Fu made a low sound, "Hmm."

    Guo Jing then continued, "Even though Yang Guo has always done things as he pleases, he has a heroic heart. He has so many times saved your father and mother, and even yourself. He is young in years but to our country and our people, his contribution is not. You know that."

    As Guo Fu heard her father's tone getting more and more serious, she was even more afraid. Guo Jing got up and added, "There is something you don't know about. Today I will tell you. Years ago, Guo’er's father wasn’t so scrupulous. I was his sworn brother, yet I couldn't change him. He eventually died a tragic death at the Jia Xing Wang Tie Qiang temple. Even though it wasn't your mother who took his life, his death was caused by her. Our Guo family and his Yang family heavily.."

    Yang Guo heard him say 'Died a tragic death at the Jia Xing Wang Tie Qiang temple.' This was the first time he heard someone talking about his father's death place. Filled with hatred, he was about to jump out to face them. But then Guo Jing continued, "I originally thought about betrothing you to him to make up for the hatred in my lifetime, who would have thought.. who would have thought.. alas!"

    Guo Fu lifted her head and said, "Father, he kidnapped my sister and said a lot of rubbish, slandering me. Father, even though his Yang family and ours go back a long way, that is not to say I have to let him bully me and not resist, is it?

    Guo Jing jumped up and bellowed, "Apparently, you cut off his arm, how did he bully you? If he really wanted to, even you had ten arms, he would have already cut them all off. Is that a sword handle?"

    Guo Fu didn't dare to say anything and just took out the 'Lady' sword from under a pillow. Guo Jing reached out, his hand slightly shaking. The edge of the blade made a chilling sound. His voice trembled, "Fu’er, this must be done. Even though I'm being severe with you, in my heart I love you just like your mother does. His voice turned gentle at the end of his speech.

    Guo Fu let out a soft cry, "I know."

    Guo Jing then said, "Good, stretch out your right arm. You cut off another' s arm, I'll cut yours off just the same. Your father has lived a righteous life and can't follow selfish instincts, shielding his own daughter."

    Guo Fu knew perfectly well that this time her father must be difficult, but she hadn't expect him to go as far as demanding her arm. Frightened, color drained out of her face. She called out loudly, "Father!" Guo Jing paled, both eyes gazing at her.

    Yang Guo hadn't expected Guo Jing to be this righteous. He looked at the situation, heart beating fast. He thought to himself, "Should I or should I not get down to stop all this? Should I call out to spare Guo Guniang?"

    While he was hesitating, Guo Jing's long sword was raised. Then it cut down through the air, about to chop off Guo Fu's arm.

    Suddeny someone shouted and swiftly jumped through the window. A staff arrived even before the body, blocking Guo Jing's long sword. That person was of course Huang Rong.

    She didn't say a word but launched three successive strikes, all Dog Beating Stick tricks. Her technique was profound and she caught Guo Jing by surprise, and so he was forced to move back a couple of steps. Huang Rong called out, "Fu’er, why are you still not running fast?"

    Guo Fu didn't have her mother's wits. Facing a crisis, she was scared frozen and couldn’t move. With a baby in her left hand and a staff in her right, Huang Rong pushed her daughter's body out of the window straight onto the ground. She cried out, "Quickly go back to the Peach Blossom Island. Ask Grandpa Ke to come plead with your father."

    While saying this, she wielded the bamboo staff, using Dog Beating Stick "tangle" and "seal" tricks to block Guo Jing from following her daughter. She called out again, "Go! Quickly! Get the red horse at the mansion entrance."

    Huang Rong understood her husband's straight character. He was old-fashioned and extremely righteous. This time her daughter created such a big disaster and then ran away for several days before coming home. In case her husband was still enraged, deciding on a severe punishment, she already had someone brought the red horse to the mansion entrance, along with a saddle, clothes, and some silver coins. If he could be pursuaded, she would let him beat their daugther to settle the matter. That would be extremely lucky. If not, Guo Fu had better be sent far away and come back to seek a reunion with her father later.

    Husband and wife quarreled. Moving towards his daughter's bedroom, Guo Jing's face was anguished but his heart knew it was fortunate that his daugther's arm was saved. Based on Huang Rong's martial skills alone, she wouldn't be able to stop him but Guo Jing was disadvanged, seeing his wife carrying the baby. Also, he couldn’t get to Guo Fu before she rushed out into the garden outside the mansion.

    Yang Guo was hiding in a tree, watching the scene. When Guo Fu came out through the window, if only he raised his sword to strike, how would she be able to get away? But then he thought about Guo Jing and Huang Rong's earth-shattering fight caused by him and how he would be taking advantange of someone fleeing from danger, he just couldn't do it.

    Then Huang Rong launched several repeated strikes, forcing Guo Jing to fall back a couple of steps. This time Guo Jing was leaning against the bed with nowhere to retreat. Huang Rong suddenly called out "Take him" and tossed the baby to her husband. Alarmed, Guo Jing stretched out his left hand to catch him.

    Huang Rong put down her bamboo staff and walked over to her husband. She pleaded, "Brother Jing, please spare Fu’er!"

    Guo Jing shook his head and said, "Rong’er, It's not that I don't love Fu’er. But she did this terrible thing. If I ignored it, how would it ever be settled? How would we apologize to Guo’er? Oh, his arm was cut off, and he had nobody to care for him. We don’t even know if he lives or dies. I.. I really wouldn't mind cutting off my own arm.."

    Hearing Guo Jing's genuine words, Yang Guo couldn't bear the pain in his heart, his eyes turning red.

    Huang Rong said, "Days after days we've searched for him and we haven't even seen his track. If something bad happened, there must have been a clue. Guo’er's martial skills have already rivalled ours. Even with a serious injury, he wouldn't be in big trouble."

    Guo Jing said, "I hope so. I will go bring back Fu’er. We can't leave this matter like this."

    Huang Rong smiled and said, "She already rode the little red horse out of town. Why would you bother going after her?"

    Guo Jing replied, "It's already past 3 pm, without General Lu's or my command emblem, who would dare open the city gate at night?"

    With a sigh Huang Rong said, "Good, do as you please!" Then she reached out to hold her son Guo Polu. Guo Jing handed the baby over, his face full of regrets.

    He said, "Rong’er, I'm so sorry. But after she is punished, even though handicapped, she will change…”

    Huang Rong nodded, "Right!" As her hands touched the baby, they suddenly dropped to Guo Jing's sides. She used her family Orchid Brushing Acupoints skills to seal the ‘yuanye’ [Deep Pool Liquid] point on his left arm and ‘jingmen’ [Capital Gate] on his right arm. These two points were under Guo Jing's arms, and so he couldn't use his martial skills.

    If she didn't use such as a dirty tactic, how would she be able to seal his pressure points? When Huang Rong tossed the baby to her husband, she had already planned all this. Tricked by his wife, Guo Jing collapsed painfully on the bed, unable to move.

    Huang Rong picked up the baby. She removed Guo Jing's shoes, socks, and coat. She placed him nicely in bed and put a pillow under his head, making sure he could rest comfortably. Then she took the command emblem from his waist. Guo Jing looked at her, eyes wide open, but had no way to resist. Huang Rong put the baby next to him, letting the two gentlemen lying together. She covered them both with a cotton blanket and said, "Brother Jing, today I’ve wronged you. Let me see Fu’er out of city and I will come back to cook for you many dishes, kowtow to you, and admit my crime."

    Then Huang Rong got up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Having heard her saying this, Guo Jing realized that his wife, who was already a mother of three children, was still quite mischievous. He dumbfoundedly watched her purse her lips and float out of the door. He thought about his sealed pressure points. She probably wouldn't come back to save him, so he quickly use use his inner energy to clear them. He wouldn't be able to catch up with his daughter anyhow. And for that matter, he didn't quite know whether to laugh or to cry.



    Last edited by BeeDreamer : 07-21-05
    Last edited by Du Gu seeking a win; 07-22-05 at 07:51 AM.

  11. #51
    Senior Member Du Gu seeking a win's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    453

    Default Chapter 27-2 (Du Gu seeking-a-win)

    Like most mothers Huang Rong was very concerned about her daughter's well-being since her daughter had to cover an arduous and dangerous journey (the more beautiful the daughter, the more hazardous the journey) to Tao Hua Dao (Peach Blossom Island). That's why, after leaving her husband and her baby, she went to her bedroom to fetch her ruan-wei-jia (flexible bristles protective suit), Peach Blossom Island's most treasured object, which she wrapped and clasped under her arm before chasing her daughter, applying her qing gong (levitation skill).

    As she approached the NanMen (Southgate) she watched from afar how Guo Fu on the red horse was bickering loudly with the garrison commander. The officer behaved very courteously but strictly, without being shown a ling-pai (command slab) he dared not open the citygate, a violation of the rule would be sentenced with death. Huang Rong thought: "This blockhead daughter of mine is overprotected all her life, never being confronted with any problem, she doesn't try to solve difficulties using stratagem, she can only shout angrily, which only worsens the matter", Huang Rong hurriedly approached, held the ling-pai (which she had snatched from Guo Jing's waistbelt) high and shouted: "This is the ling-pai of Honourable Lu:! Please examine!"
    As we know, the commanding general of Xiang Yang was Lu: Wen De, although it was practically Guo Jing who lead the city's defence, officially he was only a 'ke qing' (guest minister) who ordered in behalve of Lu:.

    Seeing Mrs Guo with the ling-pai, the officer immediately smilingly commanded the city gate to be opened, he personally lead his horse to Huang Rong and said: "Mrs Guo, in case you need this horse of junior officer, please take it".
    "Fine, I'll borrow it, Huang Rong said leaping on the horse.

    After leaving Xiang Yang, mother and daughter rode side by side. Several times Huang Rong wanted to bid farewell and ride back to Xiang Yang, but everytime she postponed it. So she accompanied her daughter further and further.
    At that time, the region encompassing hundreds of li north of Xiang Yang was already occupied by the Mongolian soldiers, most of the Chinese had moved out. But the region south of Xiang Yang was still dense with people although they lived in fear.

    After about twenty li, dawn was setting in, Huang Rong and her daughter arrived at a small town, its shops and restaurants beginning to open.
    "Fu-er", the mother said, "Let's take some breakfast before I return to Xiang Yang."

    Guo Fu nodded with tears flowing down. In her heart she already deeply regretted having cut off Yang Guo's arm in anger, causing her now to be caught in such a horrible mess.

    They went into a restaurant and ordered cooked beef and rice cakes. In a short time the meal was served but because they were depressed they didn't have appetite.

    Huang Rong gave the wrapped up ruan-wei-jia with the advice to wear the protective vest later on as Guo Fu stay in an hotel. She gave advices and admonitions with Guo Fu listening and nodding several times, weeping. Seeing her daughter in such a pitiful state Huang Rong actually felt very reluctant and sorry, but her duty as wife and mother forced her to return to Xiang Yang.

    Suddenly, looking westwards she caught a glimpse of a basket full with big red apples sold in a fruit shop. "Before I bid farewell to Fu-er I'll buy her some apples", she thought.

    "Fu-er", she said rising, "You should force yourself to eat although you don't have any appetite. At times of war one would never know at what time one could get food again. Wait a moment, I'll buy you some fruit." She got out to approach the fruit shop.

    After choosing ten scarlet apples, putting them in her bosom, Huang Rong groped her pocket for money. Suddenly, a very loud woman's voice was heard: "Give me twenty catties rice and one catty salt. Put them all in this sack, please."

    Huang Rong casted a glance. The person speaking was a dao gu (Taoist woman) wearing a yellow robe, standing in front of the neighbouring shop.

    The Taoist woman was holding a baby with her left hand and groping her pocket for some money. The baby's clothes was made of lake green satin with a small dark red horse embroidery, an embroidery Huang Rong used to sew. As soon as she noticed that, her hand trembled and her heart pounded, the money in her hand fell into the basket. That baby must certainly be her own daughter Guo Xiang!

    Huang Rong actually had never met Li Mo Chou before. But scrutinizing the 'fu chen' (dustwhisk) on her waistbelt, her single eye and her outfit, she was quite sure that the woman was the notorious demoness who terrorized the JiangHu realm Li Mo Chou.

    At the time she bore Guo Xiang, the enemy was attacking and the situation was chaotic, she had no chance to examine the baby's face. That's why, like being magnetized she glanced several times at the baby. Although the baby was still diminutive, it already showed signs of natural female beauty. With her cute features and ruddy complexion, she seemed well-fed and healthy looking. Huang Rong was pleasantly surprised, she almost shed tears. Po Lu, the baby she breastfed herself, didn't look nearly that healthy.

    After giving some silver, Li Mochou took the sack and went.
    Huang Rong understood the urgency of the situation, without informing Guo Fu she gave chase. She thought: "This Female Venom is terribly cruel. Should I try to use brute force, she might harm Xiang-er."

    After leaving the city, Li Mochou ran westwards. While chasing, Huang Rong thought: "Li Mochou is Guo-er's martial aunt. Although they don't have a good relationship, after Fu-er cut-off Guo-er's arm, we could say that the GuMu (Ancient Tomb) Pai and the Guo Family was bound with a feud. If now this woman is going to meet Guo-er and Miss Long, I won't be a match against all three of them together. It's wiser to force a one-to-one fight against her now".

    Li Mochou changed course to the South and entered the woods. Huang Rong accelerated, encircling the woods and confronted the demoness. Seeing the appearance of a beautiful woman, Li Mochou stopped short with surprise.

    "If I'm not mistaken, I'm facing Chi-lian xian-zi (Immortal Chi-lian) Taoist Elder Li", Huang Rong said with a smile. "I'm very pleased to meet you!"
    Noticing the lithe and swift movements of the woman, the faint-yellow bamboo cane in her waistbelt, Li Mochou at once put the sack down, she saluted smilingly: "Junior has admired Mrs Guo's famous name for ages, I feel delighted to meet you now."

    At that time in the martial realm, the most famous female martial experts were Huang Rong and Li Mochou. 'Qing-jing san-ren' (Sole Purity) Sun Bu Er was already famous before them but her wugong (martial arts) was inferior. Xiao Long Nu: was good enough wugong-wise but she was still too young and not exposed, she was barely known.

    Both tigresses faced each other. One was the pampered daughter of Eastern heretic Huang Yaoshi, wife of Da Xia (great hero) Guo Jing, Bang zhu (clan chief) of Gai Bang (Beggars clan), the other was the notorious cruel demoness armed with whisk, Soul freezing silver needles and Five poisons divine palm, three lethal skills which had caused much trembling and fear in the JiangHu realm.

    It's the first time these two people had met, they scrutinized each other carefully, each wondering about how unexpectedly beautiful the other was. But secretly each was on guard because surely each other's fame was based on real ability.

    Mrs Guo said with a smile: "Taoist Elder Li, junior has always revered you, don't be overpolite".
    Li Mochou answered: "Mrs Guo is chief of Gai Bang and a leading personality in the martial realm, junior regrets not having met you much sooner."

    After both sides exchanged the usual pleasantries, Huang Rong asked: "Elder Li, the baby you carry is very sweet and cute. Whose baby is it?" Saying that, Huang Rong already thought of ways to get the baby before they begin the duel.

    "This is very ashaming for GuMu Pai", the demoness answered. "Junior has not been able to guide my shimei (younger apprentice sister) on the right path. This is Long shimei's baby ...."
    Huang Rong was surprised. She couldn't guess why Li Mochou was lying.

    But the demoness wasn't deliberately lying. She did believe the baby was Yang Guo's and Xiao Long Nu:'s child. Because she was enraged that her shifu only taught the Jade Maiden Heart Manual to her shimei, she used this good chance to mention her shimei's sins.

    "I thought Miss Long a decent girl", Huang Rong said. "It's unbelievable such a thing has happened. Who's the father?"

    "The father?" the demoness said. "Hmm! It's definitely shameful to mention! The father of this child is Yang Guo, my shimei's disciple." Huang Rong, who was usually good at faking, couldn't help reddening, anger swelled up.

    But she only changed colour shortly, instantly her expression normalized. She said: "That is deliberately creating trouble." "But the baby is so cute. Elder Li, may I hug it?" She took an apple from her bosom and moved it to-and-fro in front of the baby. "Good child, your round face certainly resembles this apple."

    After robbing Guo Xiang, Li Mochou hid herself in the woods and happily played everyday with the baby. Each morning she would milk the leopard to feed the baby.
    Li Mochou had committed abundant crimes, but basically she wasn't cruel at heart. Because of rejected love, she hated the world and its inhabitants, she turned cruel. Since meeting the cute and sweet Guo Xiang, her inborn mother instinct was re-awakened. Often in the deep of the night she would think about the baby. Deep in her heart she was uncertain of agreeing, in case Xiao Long Nu: wanted to exchange the Jade Maiden Heart manual for the baby.
    As Huang Rong wanted to hug the baby, like all mothers, who were always pleased if their babies were praised, she also was happy and was ready to give in.

    Huang Rong's hands barely touched the baby's clothes, she couldn't hide the loving expression on her face, the radiant expression of a loving mother who had thought of her missing child day and night without knowing its fate and whereabouts, now the child in question was at arms length. Li Mochou noticed the look and thought: "If she only wants to hug the baby, why that sudden change?" She hurriedly pulled back and leapt two zhangs backwards. She barely touched the ground as Huang Rong followed closing on her. Expecting an attack, Li Mochou heaved the sack to throw it at Huang Rong's face.

    Huang Rong leapt to evade, causing the rice and salt to scatter on the ground. Li Mochou, whisk in the hand, said with a smile: "Mrs Guo, do you intend to help Yang Guo getting his child back?." Huang Rong, reasoning the demoness to be suspicious already, now had decided to use force. She said smilingly: "I only want to hug that lovely child, you think too lowly of me." Li Mochou said: "Family Guo's renowned name shook the martial realm, junior admired it greatly, today has seen the display of skills, the fame is really no empty one. But junior has to deal with another matter and wants to leave." She was afraid that Guo Jing would appear, she turned and walked away.

    Huang Rong leapt up and in midair drew her bamboo stick. The original dog-beating stick was passed on to Lu You Jiao, the stick she had now was of the same length and weight but of light-yellow colour. In midair she aimed at an acupoint on Li Mochou's back. Li Mochou angrily thought: "We don't have any enmity against each other, today we've met for the first time, I've talked with due respect to you, why do you attack me without any reason at all?" She crossed the stick with her whisk. Huang Rong attacked continuously with 6-7 moves, forcing Li Mochou in the defensive. Li Mochou's wugong was actually slightly below Huang Rong's and further on she carried a baby, a few stances more she was in great difficulty.

    After several moves Li Mochou saw that Huang Rong didn't aim her attack on the baby, she thought: "Each time I fight carrying this baby seems to be an advantage." She said smilingly: "Mrs Guo, the world is vast and there will be other occasions, why do you choose here and now to try my skills? Should you make a mistake, you will hurt this lovely child." Huang Rong thought: "Doesn't she really know this baby is mine or is she just pretending? I'll try her first." She said: "Thinking of this child, my first ten moves was not seriously executed, if you still want to carry that baby it's not my fault should she get hurt." With her stick she aimed at Li Mochou's right leg, the latter used her whisk to parry, before both weapons clashed Huang Rong already changed direction to the left chest. The attack threatened both Li Mochou and the baby. If it was successful, not only would Li Mochou be injured but the baby would lost its life.

    Using the stick, Huang Rong had natural control, the stick's end neared Guo Xiang's clothes and it seemed the baby couldn't be saved any more. But in reality Huang Rong had perfect control on the force and reach of the stick. Li Mochou, who was very worried, surely didn't know that, she hurriedly evaded to the right, unavoidably revealing a flaw, the stick touched her left shin, nearly tripping she took two steps before regaining her balance again. She wielded the whisk in front of her body for protection, turning around she said angrily: "Mrs Guo, you are so famous, how can you be that cruel to a mere baby?"

    Huang Rong, who saw Li Mochou wasn't pretending, felt great happiness and mused: "You want to protect my daughter, I'll frighten you a bit." With a faint smile she said: "Elder Li said yourself this child is illegimate, why should you want to keep it alive?" With that she launched a chain of attack all aimed at Guo Xiang. Li Mochou hopped to the left and right frantically, holding the baby tightly, who loudly cried, feeling uncomfortable due to the jolting movements. Huang Rong said silently: "My clever child, don't be startled. To rescue you, mom is forced to do this." Although in her heart she felt pity, she launched several swift and lethal attacks in the direction of Guo Xiang. Li Mochou anxiously drew back several steps, lifted the whisk in front of Guo Xiang to protect and called out: "Mrs Guo, what do you really want?"

    Huang Rong said smilingly: "In this era, the martial realm only acknowledges Elder Li and junior as the outstanding female fighters. This time we met by chance, why not use this occasion to arrange a little try out between us?" The attacks on Guo Xiang had angered Li Mochou, the challenge had angered her even more. She thought: "If your husband is here I will probably be afraid, but we are both females, do you think I fear you?." Immediately she humphed, saying: "Mrs Guo intend to grant me a lesson, that is earnestly what junior always has hoped for." Huang Rong: "If you carry a baby during the duel and I win, it won't satisfy either of us. Put it aside, then we can move more freely."

    Li Mochou thought: "Guo husband and wife are renowned for their righteousness, but judging her ferocity to a mere baby makes me believe that fame is much too exaggerated." She looked in all directions and saw in the East several big trees with a strip of thick grass underneath. She put the baby on the grass, patted to sooth it, turned and invited Huang Rong to begin.

    After ten stances Huang Rong realized that their wugong was about the same level. If she tried now to snatch Guo Xiang away and fought the demoness, then it was probable that Guo Xiang may got hurt, whereas if she killed the demoness first, she wouldn't have any trouble at all. This female had committed all sorts of crime, thinking of that, Huang Rong developed a killing intent. Li Mochou thought that her adversary would stop at nothing, seeing Huang Rong often glancing at the baby, she was worried that Huang Rong would carry a sudden, fake attack and hurt the baby instead. That's why she positioned herself between Huang Rong and the baby.

    During the fight Huang Rong had thought up 7-8 statagems, each of them would dispatch Li Mochou but unavoidably also endangered Guo Xiang. She pondered: "Looks like this demoness truly cherished Guo Xiang, if the baby is in her hand and I couldn't snatch it for a while, it wouldn't matter much, whereas if I take risks the baby could be endangered." Suddenly she got an idea: "Elder Li, our wugong doesn't differ much, a decision would take some time. If meanwhile a wild animal appears and devours the child, wouldn't it divert our concentration? The best way is to take that little bastard's life now, then we could fight at ease." Saying that, she bent, picked up a pebble and with her middlefinger flicked it, whizzing in the direction of Guo Xiang.

    She had used the Huang's family unique skill 'dan zhi shen tong' (divine flick), Li Mochou, who knew that lethal skill, hurriedly fended the pebble with her whisk and shouted: "What has this child done to you? Why do you repeatedly try to kill her?" Huang Rong secretly thought this was funny, she actually flicked with a retracting force, as soon as the pebble was in the vicinity of Guo Xiang, it would fly back. Huang Rong smiled and said: "Elder Li, you certainly defend that child with all your might. People who doesn't know would certainly think it is ...., it is your .... "

    Li Mochou: ".... is my child?". Having said that, she blushed. Huang Rong said smilingly: "You are single, so naturally you can't have a child. I mean people would think it is your younger sister." Li Mochou humphed, thought nothing of it. She didn't realize that the competitive Huang Rong also wouldn't want to lose even in a battle of insults. If Guo Xiang was Li Mochou's sister, then Guo Jing and Huang Rong would be Li Mochou's parents. That's Huang Rong's hidden revenge to Li Mochou's recent remark that Yang Guo was the father of Guo Xiang.

    Li Mochou: "Let's start again!" Huang Rong: "You are thinking about the child and can't concentrate, even if I win, it wouldn't be a fair win. I'll surround the child with thorn canes, so wild beasts can't come near her, so we can both concentrate on the fight." Saying that, she took a golden knife from her waist to cut canes and wound them around the big trees surrounding Guo Xiang. At first the demoness was wary but she observed that Huang Rong did it very meticulously and she thought: "In the JiangHu realm Mrs Guo was praised as multi talented, she really lives up to that reputation." But seeing Huang Rong's face bearing a mocking smile she got scared again and shouted: "That's enough!"

    Huang Rong: "If you say it's enough, that's allright with me. Elder Li, you've met my father, haven't you?" Li Mochou: "Yes, I have." Huang Rong: "Yang Guo told me you've composed a poem of four lines to ridicule my father, haven't you? It sounds like this: 'Peach Blossom Island's master, has numerous disciples, five against one, the laughing stock of the JiangHu realm!'" Li Mochou thought: "Stupid of me not to think about that. Now I understand that she hampers me because of those four lines." She retorted coldly: "That day it was five against one, wasn't it?" Huang Rong: "Today it's one against one, we'll see who will be the laughing stock of the JiangHu realm." Li Mochou: "Stop being arrogant! I've seen a lot of Peach Blossom Island's wugong (martial arts), it's mediocre at the most." Huang Rong sneered: "Not to mention the Island's wugong, I think you can't even cope with the Island's non-wugong. If you don't believe me, just try to get that child back."

    Li Mochou was startled: "Has she injured the child?" Hurriedly she jumped in the cane circle following its turns, hearing the baby cry she felt relieved, but after several turns she ended out of the circle again. She was puzzled, trying to leap in again she was not careful enough, a thorn had ripped her Taoist robe. She didn't dare to be careless again, looking where to land her feet she suddenly saw Huang Rong standing in the middle of the circle bending down to hug the child. She was shocked and immediately shouted: "Lay the child down!" She deliberately tried and tried to bridge the circle to get in but ended on the outside again. The seven, eight big trees occupying an area of about several zhangs formed a maze. She saw Huang Rong putting the child down and dexterously leaping to the East and the West to leave the circle easily.

    The demoness now remembered the fight against Yang Guo & Chen Ying with them using piled earth before the hut, preventing her to attack them directly. Now Huang Rong probably also had used the 8 diagrams of the nine palaces divine method (Jiu gong ba gua shen shu) of Tao hua island in arranging the cane circle. Li Mochou decided to beat the enemy first and rescue the child later. She leapt several zhangs away and was ready to fight again. When Huang Rong saw her adversary confused she secretly rejoiced but seeing Li Mochou's firm decision she felt also a kind of admiration. After successfully secured her daughter at a safe place, she attacked Li Mochou with the stance to push the dog to lower its head (an gou di tou). Li Mochou entangled the stick with the whisk and further attacked Huang Rong. Both had swiftly exchanged several stances.

    Li Mochou changed her fighting tactics but her adversary's bamboo stick technique was really incomparable, with much effort she managed to resist about ten stances, this was already a rare feat in the martial realm. The bamboo stick was a light weapon and could by no means kill like a sharp weapon, but it managed to threaten all main 36 acupoints on the body, Li Mochous again managed to resist several stances, sweat on her forehead. Li Mochou put the whisk in front of her body to protect, than leapt backwards, saying: "Mrs Guo, your zhu bang fa (bamboo stick technique) is really superb, junior admits defeat. But junior has a question which needs an explanation." Huang Rong: "Can't imagine what matter I'm able to explain to you!" Li Mochou: "The bamboo stick technique is a unique skill of the nine fingers divine beggar, whereas Tao Hua island's wugong is famous in the realm, why doesn't Mrs Guo use your own family's wugong?" Huang Rong thought: "This person is tricky, she isn't able to win against my stick and tries to provoke me." She said with a smile: "If Elder knows this stick method is nine fingers divine beggar's, then you also know what it's called?" Li Mochou humphed but didn't reply. Huang Rong sneered: "It's called 'if you meet a dog, flog it' stick method."

    Li Mochou resigned. She didn't succeed in luring Huang Rong to use her palm instead of the stick, the enemy even mocked at her, using her glib tongue. Inserting the whisk on her waist she said: "Beggars use to chant the lian-hua (begging) chant, their bangzhu is no exception." She strode to the nearest tree and sat on a branch.

    That Li Mochou admitted defeat was what Huang Rong wanted. But the demoness didn't leave and Huang Rong could guess her intention very well, she would immediately attack as soon as Huang Rong try to get the baby. With Huang Rong holding the baby and hampered by it, their skills would even out. So, with the baby practically in her hands, she couldn't bring it safely home without killing or injuring the demoness.

    Suddenly Huang Rong moved, approaching Li Mochou with three steps to the left and four steps to the right. Those steps seemed common, but they bore the intricacies of the Ba-gua (eight diagrams), in whatever direction Li Mochou would try to flee, Huang Rong could still have blocked her path, that's the purpose of the movement. Huang Rong already threatened her left elbow with the stick.

    Li Mochou parried with her palm and shouted: "After Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chaofeng have died, Huang Yaoshi truly has no disciples anymore who has inherited his skills." What Li Mochou said not only ridiculed Huang Rong for using the 'foreign' dogbeating stick method but also try to humiliate her father as well. Actually Huang Rong had inherited the Huang family's skill 'Yu xiao jian fa' (jade flute sword method) with profound mastery, but using a stick (not a sword), she was unsure of winning against such a formidable adversary. She answered faintly smiling: "It is true that my father has unworthy disciples, they certainly can't be compared to pure and chaste apprentice sisters like Elder Li and Miss Long."

    The demoness went sick with rage. Waving her sleeve, two soul freezing silver needles were shot, aiming at Huang Rong's lower abdomen. Although she was incomparable cruel and could kill without batting an eye, she was still a virgin. Hearing Huang Rong put her on par with her 'dishonourable' apprentice sister, made her use her lethal poisoned needles. Huang Rong, staying very close, had never a chance to dodge them. But having perfect command of the dogbeating stick method, she still could hurriedly fend off with the stick. The needles flew about two inches beside her face, she could faintly sniff their poisonous smell. She remembered her eagle whose foot was hit by such a needle and it took about six or seven months to cure. Meanwhile another pair of needles were shot out.

    Huang Rong hastily leapt and ran towards the East, two needles whizzing near her ear. She thought: "This place is too near to Xiang-er, if she got struck by a random flying needle, it would be lethal for her." She rushed further, leaving the forest. Li Mochou chased joyfully, she felt that with the exception of 'Da gau bang fa', her other skills were superior to that of Mrs. Guo. She shouted: "Victory or defeat hasn't been decided, why do you run away?" Huang Rong stopped, faintly smiling. Li Mochou said approachingly: "Mrs. Guo, do you need the stick to keep my needles off?" Huang Rong knew that as long as she used the stick, Li Mochou wouldn't accept her defeat. She inserted the stick on her waist and chuckled: "Li dao-zhang, I've long heard about your incomparable 'Wu du shen zhang' (five poisons divine palm) and how it has killed numerous people, junior wants to try out that ominous palm."

    Li Mochou was rather startled: "She is aware of my fierce (li hai) palm but wants to try it." She channelled her inner force to the palm and said: "I also want to try Tao hua island's Luo ying divine sword palm (luo ying shen jian zhang)." She moved her left palm to parry Huang Rong's palm, her right palm aiming for the shoulder. Both palms moved at the same time, but the right palm also ejected two needles aiming between Huang Rong's chest and belly. This striking and simultaneously ejecting needles has been developed by herself after leaving GuMu. The adversary who only guarded against the palms wouldn't thought of being attacked with the needles at such a near distance. Many wuxia experts had been killed by that move of hers.

    Huang Rong retracted her left palm to parry, her right hand moving about her bosom as if she herself wanted to pull out a hidden projectile (an qi) but it was already too late, the needles were already about five inches near her ribs, even someone with a much higher ability than her wouldn't avoid being hit. Li Mochou felt upsurging joy as she saw the needles penetrating the cloth. "Oh!", Huang Rong cried bending, her right hand touching her stomach, her left palm striking Li Mochou's chest. That palm really came swiftly, Li Mochou cried: "Good!. She dodged and struck with both palms aiming at Huang Rong's chest. She knew the poison would instantly show its effect. So her stroke only was meant to shove Huang Rong a bit before she died of the poisoning. She saw Huang Rong's upper body only showing a slight reaction and she wondered how the poison could paralyze that quick. Her pair of palms soon touched the chest of her adversary, she felt some slight pain from being pricked. Hurriedly and in great surprise she leapt backwards, looking at her palms she saw two tiny holes, black blood oozing out, revealing she had been injured by her own needles. She was startled, angry and didn't understood how it could have happened. She saw Huang Rong taking two apples from her bosom with a smile, lifted them high, showing a needle in each apple. Li Mochou now realized that Huang Rong hid the apples, didn't try to parry her stroke, put her hand in her bosom to hold the apples, receiving the needles and lured Li Mochou to strike the apples herself.

    Li Mochou was not a stupid person, but in a duel of cunning today she had to admit defeat, she moved her hand to her bosom to take the antidote. But with a windy sound Huang Rong had attacked her face. Li Mochou worriedly lifted her left hand to fend, suddenly Huang Rong's snowwhite palm opened, its five fingers, shaped gracefully like an orchid, threatened the xiao hai acupoint on her right elbow. She thought: "Is that the famous 'lan hua fu xue shou' (orchid hand strikes acupoint)? Her right hand, which failed to take the antidote, trying to grasp Huang Rong's hand. Huang Rong retracted her right hand, her left hand aiming at the que pen acupoint on the neck. She attacked using Luo ying palm alternately with orchid hand, her moves were not only swift and fierce but also utterly graceful. Li Mochou couldn't help thinking: "Today I have witnessed Tao hua island's divine technique, it is really superb, even if I'm not poisoned I wouldn't be her match." She eagerly withdrew to take the antidote, but Huang Rong attacked again, not giving her time for it. The freezing soul silver needle had severe poison on it, hadn't Li Mochou been used to it, she would already have broken down. But even so, as soon as the poison had reached the pit of her stomach, it would be hopeless for her. Huang Rong observed her face getting paler, her adversary got weaker and weaker, Huang Rong thought of the demoness killing the Wu brothers' mother, at last now she had to succumb to her own poison, Huang Rong pressed steadily on, but also guarded herself, fearing a last counter attempt of her adversary.

    Li Mochou felt a numbness creeping up her elbow, after several stances more the numbness had reached her armpit, her arm couldn't bend anymore. She called out: "Hold a minute!" Stepping aside she said: "Mrs Guo, since I've killed many people, I haven't expected to live this long. In martial arts and cunning I'm inferior to you, it's fitting to die under your hands. But I'll try to be bold begging you for something."

    Huang Rong: "Begging for what?" She guessed the demoness tried to use delaying tactics, she watched the hands carefully, she saw the arms sagging, she then listened to her adversary saying: "I don't have an affectionate relationship with my shimei, but her child is absolutely cute, I beseech you to show a forgiving heart and not to take her young life."

    Huang Rong felt the demoness spoke with sincerity, she was unable to suppress being moved. She thought: "This demoness' misdeeds heaped up like a mountain, who would have thought that in the time of nearing death she would show such a loving care for my daughter." She answered: "The parents of this child are no ordinary people, if I let her live she would pose a great danger to me." Li Mochou sighed and said with a failing voice: "I understand, but I'm still hoping you would be forgiving ...."

    Huang Rong was very moved, but wanted to try her further, she approached and hit an acupoint before taking a bottle out, asking: "Is this the antidote?" Li Mochou: "Yes!" Huang Rong: "I wouldn't forgive two people at the same time, should I forgive you, I had to kill the baby. If you yourself choose to die, I will save the baby."

    Li Mochou was totally dumbfounded. Never did she dream of getting a second chance to live, but she was unable to ask Huang Rong to kill the child, whereas to sacrifice herself in order to save the child ....., she saw Huang Rong in front of her, waving a pill from the bottle, waiting for her reply. She trembled, stuttering: "I ...., I ...."

    Huang Rong thought: "The fact alone that she is hesitating counts as a pluspoint for her. No matter what choice she makes, I must let her live. She has accumulated such a huge blood debt, there will certainly be someone in the future who will revenge himself at her."

    Thereupon she said smilingly: "Elder Li, many thanks to you for showing such a loving care for Xiang-er." Li Mochou, confused: "What?" Huang Rong chuckled: "The baby is surnamed Guo with the name Xiang, she is my and Guo Jing's daughter. Soon after her birth she has fallen into Miss Long hands, I don't know how you come to your misunderstanding. Since you have taken good care of her, junior must thank you profusely."

    Saying that, she bowed clasping her hands, put a pill in Li Mochou's mouth, asking: "Is this enough?" Li Mochou answered sorrowfully: "I'm already heavily poisoned, I need three pills." Huang Rong answered: "Very well", gave her two more pills, then thought that the antidote could be of some use later on, so she put the bottle in her bosom, saying: "Your acupoint would unseal itself in three hours time."

    Huang Rong returned to the forest and thought: "Fu-er would be impatiently waiting for me, but if she sees her sister she would be very happy." Entering the cane circle her body went cold like entering an icehouse. The cane circle looked no different but Guo Xiang was nowhere to be seen!. Huang Rong's heart beat madly, although usually very smart, she didn't know what to do.

    After a while she calmed herself down and thought: "I must not worry, if the person took Xiang-er during my fight against Li Mochou, he couldn't be very far." She climbed on the highest tree to look in the distance from a high place. The surroundings of Xiang Yang was flat, she saw nothing suspicious in a radius of several lis. Huang Rong thought: "This person must still be in the near vicinity."

    Thereupon she looked carefully for traces around the cane circle but nothing was moved away. She pondered: "This cane maze is arranged according to Jiu-gong Ba-gua positions according to my own father's concept, except Tao hua island's disciples nobody has an inkling of it. Even Jin lun fa wang (Golden wheel dharma king) with his broad knowledge couldn't solve its secrets. Has my father probably arrived? Oh, my god!"

    She remembered her meeting with Jin lun fa wang several months ago, she had arranged a stone maze, she had explained Yang Guo about the system, although he was not yet skilled in Jiu gong Ba gua, he wouldn't have difficulties solving this cane maze. Thinking of Yang Guo she couldn't help to be anxious: "Fu-er cut off his arm, so he has a fued with the Guo family, now Xiang-er is in his hands, he doesn't have to kill her, he could just left her in the wilderness and she would certainly die." Thinking about the baby, she thought of its bad luck being robbed soon after it was born, she uncontrollably shed a tear. But being very experienced, she looked again very carefully for traces around the spot but couldn't find any. She mused: "Although his qing gong is extraordinary, he must have left traces here in the mud, or could he possibly fly?"

    This guess of Huang Rong was correct. Guo Xiang was really taken by Yang Guo, and he got into the cane maze from the air!

    That day Yang Guo observed how Huang Rong hit Guo Jing's acupoint and then followed her daughter out of town. Yang Guo also followed them from afar, thinking: "Aunt Guo, your daughter owes me an arm, your husband doesn't succeed in cutting it, let me do it. I can see you, you can't see me, you want to save your daughter's arm, I think that won't be easy." Huang Rong and her daughter being preoccupied, didn't realize they were being followed.

    Thereafter the meeting with Li Mochou in the small town and the fight, all that was observed by Yang Guo. As the fighters left the forest, he immediately jumped on a tree, bound an end of a cane on the tree, slid in the middle of the cane circle through the cane, clamped Guo Xiang's waist with his feet, pulled his body up again on the tree. After landing on the ground again after several tree jumping, he returned to the small town.

    He saw Guo Fu in the street corner, holding the reins of the hong ma (red horse) waiting impatiently for her mother. Yang Guo leapt to sit astride on the red horse. Guo Fu was startled, turning she saw that the unexpected rider was Yang Guo, she unsheathed her sword, her normal sword, not Dragon girl's Lady sword, which she didn't like using.

    Yang Guo saw her face turning pale with a scared look, if he had wanted to cut her arm off it would be too easy, but somehow in the last moment he moved his right shoulder, the sleeve wrapped the sword and fling it away. Guo Fu let the sword go, it hit the corner of the wall. Yang Guo's left hand snatched the reins, clamping his legs on the horse's belly had it gallopped away like the wind. Guo Fu slowly walked to pick up her sword, it was bent like a square.

    To use soft material as a weapon was GuMu Pai's unique wugong, Li Mochou used a whisk and Dragon girl used a silk belt. Yang Guo used his strong inner energy, the sleeve had struck like a steel whip. Yang Guo, holding Guo Xiang, sped the han xue bao ma (precious horse with sweat like blood) soon leaving Xiang Yang a couple of lis, that's why they couldn't be detected by Huang Rong on the tree top.

    Yang Guo rode speedily, he saw the trees on the roadside flying away. He looked at Guo Xiang on his bosom, seeing her tender and delicate small face, he thought: "Uncle and aunt Guo, your youngest daughter will always be mine, think it as a kind of compensation for my lost arm. They would feel grieved and dejected, especially because they excelled me. After a while he thought: "Why didn't I took revenge directly? Is it because Guo Fu is a beautiful young girl? If the one who cuts my arm is a male, would I also have forgiven him too?" Thinking about it half a day he could only shake his head and smile wrily. He himself couldn't understand his unstable and unpredictable behaviour.

    After two hundred lis gradually there were houses with smoke in them. He got something to eat and got Guo Xiang some goat milk. He decided to go to the ancient tomb looking for dragon girl. After several days he arrived at Mount Zhongnan. As the horse climbed the mountain and found the right path to the ancient tomb he pondered about past things.

    The inscript 'Tomb of the living dead' still stood on the majestic tombstone. After Li Mochou's attack, the grave had been sealed, if one wanted to enter, one had to use the secret entrance through the water. For him it wouldn't pose a problem but what about Guo Xiang? She would suffocate in the water. But the thought of soon meeting dragon girl in the tomb greatly excited him. He took a pastry from his pocket, chewed a bit for Guo Xiang, then he found a cave nearby. He put Guo Xiang in there, hid the cave mouth with thorned wood. Meeting dragon girl or not in the tomb, he planned to return and put the baby in a safer place.
    Last edited by Du Gu seeking a win; 07-11-05 at 12:41 PM.

  12. #52
    Senior Member Du Gu seeking a win's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    453

    Default Chapter 27-3 (BeeDreamer)

    .


    Suddenly he heard the faint sound of weapons clashing coming from the Chongyang Palace. He was suspicious for a bit and then saw a buzzing silver wheel flying fiercely into the sky. That was precisely Jinlun Fawang's weapon. Growing curious, he quickly followed the sound to the Chongyang Palace. During this time, Xiao Longnu was heavily injured by the Quanzhen five masters' ‘Qi Xing Ju Hui’ [Gathering of the Big Dipper] and Jinlun Fawang's wheel strike.

    Had Yang Guo arrived a short while earlier, he could have saved this disaster. But how could things be as one desired? Life was full of sorrow and joy, and the difference between disaster and good fortune was often very little.

    Upon seeing Yang Guo, the Quanzhen five masters knew that this mess was escalating. Qui Chuji cried out, "My Chongyang Palace is a respectable place. Today all of you are here to violate it. Why is that?"

    Wang Chuyi also furiously shouted, "Long Guniang, although your Gumu sect and our Quanzhen sect share the same mountain ridge, we both stick to our own side. Why are you leading all sorts of evil miscreations from the West to kill many disciples of mine?"

    Xiao Longnu was badly injured. She thought - These people couldn't tell right from wrong. Why bothered arguing with them? Their many disciples witnessed how Yin Zhiping was pierced by her sword and how Zhao Zhijing was wounded but in this time of trouble nobody stepped out to explain the truth.

    Yang Guo gently stretched his left arm to support Xiao Longnu's waist, softly saying, "Gu Gu, let us go back to Gu Mu. Don't pay attention to these people!"

    Xiao Longnu asked, "Does your arm still hurt?"

    Yang Guo shook his head and replied, "It's better already."

    Xiao Longnu continued, "Has the Passion Flower poison in your body acted up again?"

    Yang Guo replied, "A few times, but it's nothing to worry about."

    Having been slashed by Xiao Longnu, Zhao Zhijing went to hide in the back, not daring to lift his head. Seeing the Quanzhen five masters coming out, he realized that after a series of investigation, he would be expelled from his charge and also severely punished. Originally he was only of a short-tempered and narrow-minded nature, not really a traitorous and wicked person. Anyhow he was the best at martial skills among the third generation disciples, yet the leading position fell onto Yin Zhiping. His resenment festered, trapping him into this errorous way of thinking. He quickly assessed the situation. Afraid of his five teachers, he grasped at the present opportunity. Suppose Jinlun Fawang and the Mongolian warriors wiped out the Quanzhen five masters, he would be able to escape forever. Besides, he saw that Yang Guo's right arm was broken and his left arm was holding Xiao Longnu. It looked like his hands were bound, waiting for violent death. Yang Guo, betraying disciple, was his most hated enemy. Having such a good opportunity, why would he let it pass? Glancing at Lu Qingdu who was nearby, he loudly shouted, "Treacherous disciple Yang Guo, your two masters are speaking to you. You don't kneel down kowtow. How dare you to pay no attention?"

    Yang Guo turned back, his eyes filled with hatred. He thought to himself, "Gugu has already wounded one Quanzhen stinky priest. Today I'll pay no mind. I'll deal with you later." While supporting Xiao Longnu, he pushed through the crowd in disgust.

    Zhao Zhijing shouted, "Fight!"

    He and Lu Qingdu both drew out their swords and attacked Yang Guo's right side. Although Zhao Zhijing had been injured earlier, the damage was not severe. His sword was thrusted towards Yang Guo's broken arm to stop him from fighting back but it was held down by a strong wind, generated by Yang Guo's cultivated inner energy.

    Even though Qui Chuji didn't really like Yang Guo's arrogance, he thought about Guo Jing's great trust and also his master-disciple bond with Yang Guo's father, Yang Kang. He shouted, "Zhijing, put down your sword. Mercy!"

    On the other side Ma Guangzuo cursed, "Old priest, aren't you ashamed? Stabbing a broken arm!" He and Yang Guo were very good friends. Seeing Yang Guo in danger, Ma Guangzuo rushed to help. But he was a distance away, and so his help was too late.

    Suddenly a gray shadow flashed, and Lu Qingdu's fat body flew up. He let out a wah-wah cry before his fat body hit Ni Moxing's with a thud. With Ni Moxing's martial skills, even though it took him by surprise, he shouldn't have been hit. But both of his legs had already been broken. He had to use both hands to prop himself against a walking stick and couldn’t used them to protect himself. Immediately he was hit and his body collapsed. As he tried to get up from the ground, his walking stick hit Lu Qingdu in the back and knocked him out.

    On this side Yang Guo's right foot stepped on Zhao Zhijing's long sword, Zhao Zhijing used force to pull it out, his face turning bright red. Surprisingly, the long sword didn't move an inch.

    At the time both swords coming towards him, Yang Guo's right sleeve flew out fiercely, sending a whiff of great force and throwing Lu Qingdu on the ground. Zhao Zhijing, on the other hand, felt a downward force coming from the gown sleeve. This was a Thousand- Pound Drop technique. Yang Guo then kicked out his foot and stepped on the blade of the sword. He’d practised his sword skills in the mountain streams, and even strong currents couldn't topple him. This time he put his foot down, like the weight of a mountain, how would Zhao Zhijing be able to pull his sword out?

    Yang Guo coldly said, "Priest Zhao, at the time we were at Dashengguan, in front of Hero Guo you said you were no longer my master. Just now how could you call yourself my master again? All right, considering the past I used to call you master, I'll let you off!"

    Without moving his right foot, the powerful force suddenly vanished without a trace.

    Zhao Zhijing was using his whole strenth trying to pull out the released sword. Suddenly his hand was in the air, and so the sword snapped back. Its handle hit his chest hard with a thud. No doubt it struck him with his own force. With this force, if used to hit an enemy, the enemy would use his own internal force to counterstrike. Now hitting himself with no counter-force, Zhao Zhijing felt severe pains in his chest and spurted blood. His vision turned dark as he looked upwards and collapsed.

    Wang Chuyi and Liu Chuxuan pulled their swords out from the sheaths, attacking Yang Guo from left and right. Suddenly, a shadow dashed out, knocking the two swords out of the way. This person was of course Ni Moxing. Even though he could throw Lu Qingdu onto the ground, his mind was hateful. It was originally Yang Guo who started it. He wielded his canes and jumped forward. His left cane struck the two swords while the right one attacked Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu.

    Yang Guo knew Ni Moxing's martial skills. He could only use his empty sleeve to deal with him but then he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to subdue him in one strike. By now Xiao Longnu's body was powerless, leaning feebly against Yanguo's. His body slanted to the left whilehis right gown sleeve flew out. He rolled Xiao Longnu’s body and let her lean on the right front of his chest. Then his left hand drew out the black iron sword that he carried on his back, wielding it out. 'Pu' the sword hummed, sounding both deep and dull like a wooden stick beating leather. Ni Moxing's right hand cracked, and a shadow darted into the sky. It was actually his iron cane fiercely flying upwards. This cane was extremely heavy but it surprising flew up 20 feet high in the air before falling behind the jade cave.

    This was the first time Yang Guo used demonic Dugu Qiubai's heavy sword with an enemy. Seeing that it had such power, he couldn't help being secretly startled.

    Ni Moxing felt half his body in pain, his right arm uncontrolably shaking. But he had lived an incomparably brave life so, with a roar, he leapt ten feet high and dove down with the left iron cane in his palm. Yang Guo thought he’d already tried the hard strength of the sword, he would now try the supple strength. The tip of the heavy sword trembled. With his inner energy, Ni Moxing would be thrown out 20-30 feet and his muscles and bones would shatter. Seeing Xiao Longnu severely injured like this, Yang Guo was filled with bitterness and decided that this time he would show no mercy. But just when his arm was about to release its powerful force, he saw Ni Moxing's body in midair with both legs broken, reminding him of his own missing arm. He couldn't help thinking that they shared the same fate, and so he didn't raise his heavy sword. Instead, he pushed it down. The iron cane came down. Dust flew up. Half the cane was stuck under the ground.

    Ni Moxing grasped his iron cane, trying to pull it out. Suddenly he felt the heavy sword on his right arm, sealing his pressure point. While he was paralysed, Yang Guo said, "Today I'll spare your life. Just hurry back to India."

    Ni Moxing's face ashened. He turned perfectly still and couldn’t say a word.

    Although Xiao Xiangzi and Yin Kexi saw this turn of event, they still didn't think Yang Guo could advance his skills in just months. They thought he won because of Ni Moxing’s broken legs. Yin Kexi stepped forward, pulled out the iron cane, and handed it to Ni Moxing. Ni Moxing used the cane to prop himself up, thinking to leap far away. Nobody could have expected that his arm had turned numb and soft. As soon as he was propped up, he collapsed with a plop.

    Xiao Xiangzi always took pleasure in others' misfortune. As long as other people were having bad luck, regardless of foes or friends, he found it joyful. He thought, "This Indian dwarf has always been arrogant, not submitting to me. It’s finally over. Just now you rushed out to capture Yang Guo and gave him such a good opportunity." Then he jumped out and shouted, "Baby Yang Guo, many times you've wronged our prince. Come quickly with father!"

    Yang Guo thought, "Gugu is heavily injured. We have to get out here quick to treat her injury.With many powerful enemies surrounding us right now, if I didn't kill anyone, it would be hard to escape." In a low voice he asked Xiao Longnu, "Are you hurting very much?"

    Xiao Longnu replied, "You are holding me, I.. I am very happy."

    Yang Guo lifted his head. Facing Xiao Xiangzi, he shouted, "Fight!"

    He drew out the black iron sword from his waist. He held the sword with its tip about two feet from his body. Xiao Xiangzi saw that it was a crude black sword with a blunt tip and no sharp edge, appearing to be a dumb piece of iron. So he thought to himself, "Sure, the boy's sword is very fast and his movement agile but without this iron bar, his sword skills won't be of much use." Having thought that he swung his steel rod to strike the heavy sword.

    Yang Guo's sword stayed still while he channeled energy into it. Only a 'puff' sound was heard as the sword and the steel rod clashed. The rod immediately broke into several flying pieces.

    "Holy cow!" Xiao Xiangzi cried out and scrambled backwards.

    With his sword, Yang Guo struck left and right, breaking both of Xiao Xiangzi's arms.

    Earlier Yang Guo had repeatedly defeated three opponents -- Lu Qingdu, Zhao Zhijing and Ni Moxing -- creating a sensation among the crowds in front of the Jade Cave. But this time he didn't even move his body, nor lifted his arm. He simply used his inner energy to break Xiao Xiangzi's weapon. The numerous people were even more puzzled. They looked at each other in disbelief and thought to themselves, "This person's kungfu was really wicked!"

    Yin Kexi was a merchant from the Western region, and so he knew a treasure when he saw one. Having seen Yang Guo's heavy sword sending Ni Moxing's iron irod flying, he was impressed and thought, "A sword this powerful is really not common. The blade is deep black with a hint of red glow, is it possible that it was actually forged from the black iron? This black iron is the world's most precious object. Even an ounce is very difficult to find. By adding just a little of it to a common sword or spear, ordinary iron would make a sharp weapon. Where did he find that much black iron? But if the sword was really forged from the black iron, how could it not weigh 40-50 catties? If so, how could Yang Guo be this fast?" Actually, this sword weighed 64 catties. If it was not this heavy, even with Yang Guo’s inner energy, he still wouldn't be able to unleash such power. Now that Yin Kexi saw Xiao Xiangzi's melancholy rod breaking into pieces, he was even more convinced that this sword was a divine object. He still acted nonchalant. But he was in a jewelry businesss. Once he saw a rare treasure, his heart would leap up with greed. It didn't matter if he had to buy or cheat, to rob or steal, it just had to be quick. And now that he saw Yang Guo's heavy sword, he was burning with greed. He jumped out immediately, grabbing the sword with his golden dragon whip.

    Yang Guo had spent time with him in the Passionless Valley. Yin Kexi was always amicable so Yang Guo didn't have any hostility towards him. He saw the golden dragon whip coiling his way. This whip was heavily decorated with precious stones, diamonds and jades. He let it wrap around his sword and said, "Brother Yin, you and I are good friends. Pull back the whip and make way. Looks like you've got quite a bit of stones on your soft whip. If damaged, it would be such a pity."

    Yin Kexi smiled and said, "Is that right?" Then he applied force to snatch the sword.

    Yang Guo just stood there, perfectly still.

    Yin Kexi stood near and analyzed the situation. This sword was casted from the black iron. Diamonds were the world's hardest material, which could cut anything without damaging themselves. Still, the big diamond embedded at the tip of his whip still couldn't scratch this sword. His heart was on fire. He knew that his opponent's kungfu were ferocious. If not attacking him by surprise, it would be difficult to get the sword. So he said, Brother Yang’s kungfu was this excellent. Congratulations! I admit defeat." Having said this, he flicked his right wrist. A light flashed, and there was also a dagger in his left hand. His arm flew out fiercely to stab Xiao Longnu's chest.

    He did this not because he wanted to injure Xiao Longnu. He knew that Yang Guo loved her, and so if he saw her in danger, he would have to save her life. By creating a diversion, he would be able to snatch this precious sword. Yang Guo saw the situation and was alarmed.

    "Let go of the sword!" Yin Kexi shouted and channeled all the strength to his right arm, pulling the whip so he could seize the sword.

    Hearing "Let go of the sword," Yang Guo did as he was told and let go. The sword was long while the dagger was short. The heavy sword was between the three of them, and so the dagger couldn't reach Xiao Longnu's body. At that time, Yang Guo was desperate so he threw the sword out with a force that was extremely fierce. Yin Kexi knew perfectly well that the sword was heavy and had already braced himself against the force. But he didn't expect the coming force to be this violent. Seeing that it was too late to escape, he summoned his inner energy and pushed out both hands. There was a crashing sound, and he fell back five-six steps. He managed to stand firm and put a smile on his face to cover his misery. A short while later he felt as if his internal organs had been turning inside out. He stood still like a stiff corpse, not daring to breathe or even move half a step.

    Yang Guo walked over to him and retrieved his black iron sword. He shook it lightly and then heard ‘ding ding dong dong’ sounds. Under the bright sunlight, precious stones sparkled everywhere. These were the stones embedded in the golden dragon whip that had just been broken into fragments.

    Yang Guo called out, "Jinlun Fawang, do we settle our business today or do we wait for another day?"

    Jinlun Fawang saw him successively defeating the three big masters -- Ni Moxing, Xiao Xiangzi, and Yin Kexi -- and injuring each opponent in only one move. How this young man's martial skills were so high was actually quite unconceivable. If he himself stepped forward to fight, even though he wouldn’t be defeated like the other three fighters, to win was still not easy. But at this moment all the heroes were gathering here. If he walked away, how would he keep his face? He thought to himself, "Yang Guo has broken an arm. Although his left hand is fierce, his right side is disadvantaged. I will just keep attacking his right side. He's worried about Xiao Longnu's injury. As time drags on, he will become restless."

    And so from his sleeve he pulled out the five wheels -- gold, silver, copper, steel, and lead. He knew in his heart that this was really a moment of life or death, of honor or shame. He wasn’t careless but his expression remained casual like he had no care. With a smile, he strolled out to face Yang Guo. He said, "Brother Yang, we finally meet again. Congratulations, you've got this powerfully divine sword! This is quite a magical weapon. I’m only afraid that this old monk won’t be able to handle it either." He still didn't have a winning strategy so he used the situation to his benefit. He heavily praised the black iron sword, leading the crowds to think that this youngster was only lucky because he had this god-sent weapon.

    Xiao Longnu was leaning against Yang Guo's chest. In a daze, she saw Jinlun Fawang holding his wheels and thought that, with Yang Guo's strength alone, he wouldn't be able to beat the enemy. She softly said, "Guo’er, go get me a sword, we.. we.. together.. together will use the Jade Maiden swordplay to defeat him.

    With pain in his heart, Yang Guo gently replied, "Gugu, don’t worry. Guo’er alone can handle this."

    Xiao Longnu shifted to the left, trying to shield his body as much as possible and keeping him off danger.

    With gratitude and joy, Yang Guo said in a loud voice, “Gugu, today we two will fight these devils together. In my life, I have no regret." Then he held his sword out at the ready.

    Fawang didn't dare to meet Yang Guo's force head on. He jumped backwards. Suddenly came the wu-wu sound of the spinning lead wheel Fawang tossed out. Yang Guo raised his sword to strike it but the wheel flew past his body and back to Fawang, surprisingly untouched. Then, loud rumbling, buzzing wu-wu, weng-weng sounds were heard. Gold and silver lights flahsed. The five wheels flew towards him from five different directions.

    For fear that he would worsen Xiao Longnu's injured condition, Yang Guo stood very still. Fawang's five wheels were only a deceptive attack, just to test Yang Guo's action. The wheels circled close to the two persons' bodies, flying back and forth repeatedly. Seeing that Yang Guo would certainly not lift his sword to pursue, Fawang understood and was delighted. He thought, "You don't dare to move your body, afraid that you would hurt Xiao Longnu. Your situation is bad and there is no way out. My Vertical Jump from Distance can't be defeated."

    His opponent had broken an arm and also had to protect the injured. According to Fawang's rank, this battle could not be fought. But he knew that a good opportunity like this was hard to come by. If Xiao Longnu recovered, the two people together couldn't be defeated. Even if Xiao Longnu was injured to death and Yang Guo was distracted, he himself might not be able to beat Yang Guo. He only had today to kill them once and for all, and there would be no more trouble in the future. As to whether or not it would be fair, let's not pay much attention to it.

    The nearby crowds also understood the circumstance and thought Fawang stepped over the line. Ma Guangzuo loudly yelled, "Big monk, are you a hero or a scum?"

    Fawang appeared not to hear the comment. The five wheels were continuously thrown out back and forth, still circling Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu. The wheels flew high and low, straight and slanting, making both soft and loud noises. The spectators were all bedazzled and anxious.

    Suddenly Ma Guangzuo cried out "Ohh". It was the slanting copper wheel flying by, curving fiercely and scraping the top of his head. The wheel took a piece out of his scalp, which still had a chunk of hair. Blood dripped profusely to the ground. Ma Guangzuo held his head with both hands and cursed. Yet, he didn't dare jump out to fight.

    Yang Guo saw that Xiao Longnu was heavily injured. The more they were delayed, the less time for treatment they had. Anxiety filled his heart. Fawang called out, "Be careful!"

    Suddenly the five wheels returned again, coming side by side to hit the two people like five powerful waves. Yang Guo's whole body strength was channeled to his left arm, and the tip of his sword vibrated. ‘Dang’ ‘Dang’ Dang’ -- The sounds echoed as his sword brushed away the gold, copper and steel wheels. Everyone was alarmed. Dust flew up. The silver and lead wheels were broken, dropping to the ground.

    With a loud battle cry, Fawang flew up. His left hand pushed aside the steel wheel while grabbing the gold and copper wheels. Fast and furious, he smashed down on the top of Yang Guo's head. Yang Guo didn't ward him off but met his attack with his black iron sword. The sword was long. The wheels were short. The wheels had yet to smash his head but the tip of his sword were already less than half a foot away from Fawang's chest. Fawang immediately fell back. His forward attack was no doubt very fast, and so was his retreat. It was not so clear how he cross-stepped, going left and then suddenly jumping back several feet. This was actually quite rare in the martial world. The spectators were dazzled, cheering one they were rooting for. One cried out loudly, "Good!"

    Suddenly Yang Guo swung the black iron sword backwards. A sound was heard as the copper wheel was chopped in half. And even before it hit the floor, the sword whipped out horizontally and the two pieces turned into four. Although the blade of the black iron sword was blunt, he used his inner energy to break the wheel. The many spectators had shouted applause when they saw Fawang’s lightnes kungfu. Now they saw the strange power of Yang Guo's divine sword, they were all startled and fell silent.

    In just a short while, three out of five wheels were destroyed. Still, Fawang was not discouraged. He fearlessly brandished his gold and steel wheels. Yang Guo thrusted his sword forwards while Fawang sidestepped to evade the strikes. This time he didn't throw out his wheels. Even though he wouldn't be able to attack from afar, this was actually more powerful. He saw Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu together, with Yang Guo’s attacking on the left side and resisting on the right side. So he jumped up in the air and bore down with both wheels, making wu-wu humming sounds. Yang Guo's black iron sword did appear quite dull but no matter how Fawang changed his moves, he couldn't get within two or three steps of the couple. Forty- fifty moves passed. Fawang's double wheels returned again and about to pound on Xiao Longnu. Yang Guo thrusted the black iron sword forward, and the soft clattering sound was heard as the two weapons made contact. Yang Guo and Fawang channeled inner energy to their weapons. Both refused to budge and were now motionless in a deadlock situation.

    Yang Guo felt Fawang’s continuing waves of energy growing stronger and stronger. He was secretly alarmed and thought, "This person's inner energy is incredibly high. We're already matching inner energy, and the full power of the black iron sword can't be unleashed. If this battle continues on, one with more profound energy will have the upper hand. If he moves a little closer, I'll use my sleeve to strike him by surprise."

    He slowly pulled his left arm back. Originally the two people were more than five feet apart. The distance was gradually reduced to five feet and then four feet and a half, and from four feet and a half to four feet.

    Fawang's disciples, Da Erba and Huo Du, were constantly guarding their master's body. As they saw that Fawang was gradually gaining the upper hand, they were delighted and moved forward several steps. Da Erba cared about his master's safety but he also hoped that his master wouldn’t injure his reincarnated big apprentice brother. Huo Du on the other hand was secretly plotting against Yang Guo. He waved his folding fan, appearing to be cooling himself, but he actually was waiting for an opportunity to launch his fan attack.

    Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi saw the glint in Huo Du’s eyes as he moved forward. They knew that he thought to help his master. The two persons looked at the situation and thought, "Although Yang Guo has become our sect's enemy, real men are open and upright. Win or lose, it’s up to the fight. How could Mount Zhongnan allow this scheming disciple to act?"

    So they drew out their long swords, stepping forward and at the same time sending Huo Du a warning stare. The two Taoists’ beard and hair were all white but their faces had a red glow from years of martial arts practice. Rainbow-like lights shining from the two swords had quite a chilling effect. Intimidated Huo Du didn’t dare to act rashly.

    Yang Guo's left arm gradually shrank. By now he was already only three feet away from Fawang. He thought to himself, "If this monk moves forward another half foot, I will strike him with my right sleeve. It may not be enough to kill him but it will knock him out."

    But as Fawang saw his right shoulder move, he understood what Yang Guo meant to do. He thought, "Even though your arm has been cut off, you still have your gown sleeve. If delivered with inner energy, it will be the same as a sharp soft whip. I'll let you do this and deflect your strike. When the sleeve comes out, the strength in your left arm will lessen. I'll take advantage of the situation and launched my full-force attack. Your body will be heavily injured."

    Xiao Longnu was leaning against Yang Guo's body in a perpetual daze. As Yang Guo was summoning his inner energy and accelerating it, his body became hot. Xiao Longnu felt his face emitting a steam so she opened her eyes. Seeing the beads of sweat seeping out from the side of his forhead, she used her sleeve to gently wipe them out for him. Then she saw a serious expression on his face, both eyes looking straight ahead. She followed his gaze and turned her head to look. She couldn't help becoming startled by Fawang's wide copper eyes in front of her. Seeing the evil glows in those two eyes, she quickly shut her eyes and then opened them again. Fawang's eyes were still near. Xiao Longnu was cuddling and leaning against her loved one. Having a pair of wicked eyes gazing at her was really disgusting. This time she didn't think that Fawang was fighting with Yang Guo. She only knew that this monk was really evil. Also, she was not willing to let him disturb her sweet time right now. She dipped her hand into her bosom. She took out a jade bee golden needle and slowly stretched her hand towards Fawang's left eye.

    Let alone the fact that this was a poisoned needle, any ordinary embroidery needle pricking an eyeball would blind that eye. This time Xiao Longnu only wanted to get rid of the big disgusting eyes and didn't mean to shoot the needle out fiercely. With her severe injury, her hand was soft, weak, and really very slow.

    Fawang and Yang Guo were in a deadlock situation. Whoever moved in this critical stage would be paying dearly. Xiao Longnu's golden needle was slowly approaching, and Fawang had no way to resist. The needle moved closer, from two feet to one foot, from one foot to half foot. Fawang loudly cried out and pushed both wheels forwards while strugging to flit backwards. But the overwhelming force from both weapons could not be easily unloaded. So he just firmly stood there and then sat down on the ground.

    "Master!" Da Erba and Huo Du called out and jumped out to hold Fawang.

    Yang Guo's sword moved twice, breaking the gold and steel wheels into half. Then he went forward two steps and raised his sword to strike the top of Fawang's head. Fawang just breathed in, only feeling melancholy death coming upon him. Weary, he didn’t have the strenght to resist. Da Erba lifted his golden rod and Huo Du raised his steel fan, together blocking the black iron sword. But the sword power was strangely fierce. Da Erba and Huo Du felt their knees go soft and couldn’t stop the falling sword. They knelt down on the ground but still held their weapons, desperately shielding Fawang.

    The force from the black iron sword grew stronger. Da Erba and Huo Du felt as if their backs were about to break and their whole body joints rumbled.

    Huo Du said, "Brother, you hold on alone for a moment. Let me save master first and I’ll be back to help you."

    With the two people together, they hadn’t been able to resist the coming force. Now with only Da Erba alone, how would he be able to block the power of the heavy sword? But he would give up his life to protect his master so he shouted, "Good!"

    Then he furiously pushed his golden rod upwards.

    The two of them were speaking in Tibetan, which Yang Guo could not understand. Feeling a surge of energy from the golden rod, he was about to press his sword harder. But then Huo Du jumped out.

    Who would have thought that Huo Du didn't plan to save his master but only to seek his own retreat. He called out, "Brother, I’m going back to Tibet to practise more kungfu. After ten years I will definitely come back to look for this Yang boy and avenge you and master!"

    Having said that, he turned around and leapt away as if he was flying.

    Duped by his apprentice brother, Da Erba couldn’t control his anger. He also remembered that Yang Guo was his reincarnated big apprentice brother, how could he heartlessly wrong their master like this?

    He loudly said, "Brother, please spare little brother's life. Let me to save master and search for that scum (heart of a wolf & lung of a dog) of a disciple so I could break him into ten thousand pieces. After that I'll voluntarily throw my life into your hand. Then even you kill me or cut me, I won't even dare to frown.

    Yang Guo listened to his long speech. Naturally, he didn’t know what he was mumbling about. However, Huo Du narrowly escaped death while this person was loyal and did right by his master. He actually understood. Seeing his earnest expression, like a true man who wasn’t very smart, and Xiao Longnu’s tender eyes, his killing intention was suddenly shot to high heaven. He only felt that it didn't matter if all the grudges were not resolved. He lifted his black iron sword and said, "You are off!"

    Da Erba got up, but only after a great effort. Strength escaped his whole body, and he couldn't hold on to his golden rod. A 'tang' sound was heard as it dropped on the ground. He bent down and bowed to Yang Guo several times, thanking him for not killing them. At this time, Fawang sat still on the ground. Da Erba carried his master on his back and went down the mountain in big strides.

    Yang Guo alone used his sword to defeat six Mongolian masters. The numerous warriors saw their leaders either defeated or wounded, they didn’t dare to attack. Instead, they picked up Xiao Xiangzi and Yin Kexi and quickly ran away, leaving no trace.

    Ma Guangzuo, with his head still dripping blood, walked over to Yang Guo. Waving fingers at him, he said, "Little brother, you are really good!"

    Yang Guo said, "Big Brother Ma, these people you run with are not a good kind. If you mix up with them, you will definitely suffer. You’d better say goodbye to the Mongolian prince and go back to your native land!"

    Ma Guangzuo said, "You’re right, little brother. "

    He looked at Xiao Longnu. Although heavily injured, she was still full of grace and beauty. He struggled to find sweet words, and so he asked, "When do you and the bride get married? I'm waiting to drink your celebration wine, is that good?"

    When he had first met Xiao Longnu at the Passionless Valley, he saw her dressing as a bride. Since then, he always called her the bride.

    Yang Guo forced a smile and shook his head. Then he rounded up several hundred Taoist priests.

    Ma Guangzuo said, "Oh, there are still these many stinky Taoists to be taken care of. I'll help you."

    Yang Guo thought, "If fighting one on one, not even one of these Taoists is my rival. But if they together close in on me, circumstances will be terribly dangerous. It's not worthwhile for him to die in vain with me." So he said loudly, "You'd better be off quickly. I can handle this by myself."

    Ma Guangzuo now understood. He applauded, "Right, that's right! Even all those big Taoists, noone one could defeat you. What's with all these stinky little ones? Litter brother, the bride, I'm leaving!"

    Dragging his copper rod and laughing merrily, he turned and left. Only the sound of his copper rod bumping stones could be heard on his way down the mountain. And the sound gradually quieted away.

    Yang Guo propped his heavy sword on the ground. His fight with Fawang just now depleted his inner energy. He pondered, "Jinlun Fawang, Xiao Xiangzi and the others all worried about one another so they fought with me one on one, hoping to get rid of their own people and leave only himself at the end. I was luckly to be a third party in a dispute. Had those six people attacked me together, it would have been very difficult to withstand. Let alone the fact that I competed inner energy with Jinlun Fawang. I was certainly going to lose. Fortunately, Gugu pulled out a golden needle so I could defeat him by luck. These Quanzhen Taoists fight as one, obeying the commands of their five masters. Although their martial skills can't match those of Fawang and others, numerous wills build a city. Their combined power really was much stronger than Fawang and the gang. Anyway, Gugu and I are already together here. We fight until we have no strength left. Then we two will die together."

    Qiu Chuji said in a clear voice, "Yang Guo, your martial skills have reached this stage, our generation is far, far inferior. But our sect has several hundred people like this, do you think you can break through our blockade by yourself?

    Yang Guo looked out into the distance and saw four glinting swords. Every seven Taoists formed a row, tightly encircling himself and Xiao Longnu. In a Seven Men Circle formation, the Taoists all united their swords, forming a first-class defense. This time the force around him was equalled to having tens of swordmasters surrounding them from all sides.

    Disregarding life and death, Yang Guo snorted and moved forward a step. Seven Taoists held their swords out to block him. Yang Guo lunged his sword forward and seven swords simutaneously flew out to counterstrike. A 'qiang' sound was heard, and the seven swords were all broken. The Taoists with the rest of their broken swords quickly leapt aside.

    The power of Yang Guo’s sword was this incredibly mighty. Even Qiu Chuji and the others had fought powerful enemies for years, they had never seen anything like this. Wang Chuyi called out, ‘xuan ji’ [Jade Pearl] formation and ‘yao guang’ [moving light] strike!"

    Yang Guo paid no attention to the orders of the Quanzhen master. He was going to rely on the sword power and rush outside. As he was carrying Xiao Longnu and moving two steps forward, he saw another seven Taoists circling and blocking his way. He immediately wielded his sword. This seven-men formation did not seek to counterstrike. Instead the Taoists appeared like a curtain, crisscrossing and changing their positions. He swept past them and two of them cried out -- one had an injured waist, the other a broken leg. They collapsed on the ground.

    But this time fourteen long swords had already pointed at their backs, seven at Yang Guo and seven at Xiao Longnu. If Yang Guo turned back to strike, he would be able to knock off the fourteen swords but Xiao Longnu would also be injured. While he hesitated, another seven swords pointed at Xiao Longnu's right side. At this point, he couldn't even sacrifice himself to save Xiao Longnu.

    Qiu Chuji lifted his hand and shouted, "Hold on!"

    Twenty-one long swords glittered. Every one of them pointed a few inches away from the couple and stayed very still.

    Qiu Chuji said, "Long Guniang, Yang Guo, our respective masters shared a long long story. Today we Quanzhen sect have won by numbers, which is not a glorious thing, much less to say that Long Guniang has already been severely wounded. Wrongs should be righted by untying the problem, not by making it more complicated. You two please go back. Regardless of what happened in the past, how about we wipe the slate clean today?"

    The feud between Yang Guo and the Quanzhen sect was huge. Years ago, Grandma Sun was killed by Hao Datong, who was remorseful and willing to give up his life to make it right. Yang Guo had come to Mount Zhongnan to look for Xiao Longnu and really didn't mean to battle with the Quanzhen sect. Hearing Qiu Chuji's speech, he thought, "The important thing is to save Gugu’s life. If I fight with these little Taoists, regardless of victory or defeat, honor or disgrace, what good could come of that?" Just when he was about to agree with Qiu Chuji, Xiao Longnu's eyes slowly scaned from left to right. She softly asked, "Where’s Yin Zhiping?"

    Yin Zhiping's back was struck by Fawang’s wheel and his chest was stabbed by a sword. These were two fatal wounds but he hadn't died yet. On the side, his apprentice brothers were trying to save him. His breathings were already heavy, and his eyes were blurry. Then he heard a gentle voice asking "Where’s Yin Zhiping?" These four words were actually said gently but to his ears they were like a thunderstrike. Not knowing where he got the extra strength from, he got up from the ground and waded through all the swords. He called out, "Long Guniang, I'm here!"

    Xiao Longnu stared at him for a moment. Seeing his blood drenched robe and ghostly pale face, her heart sank. Her voice trembled, "Guo’er, this person has defiled me. Even if he recovers from the injuries, he still won’t be able to fight you. But he.. but he gave up his life to save me.. so you must not give him any more trouble. In short, it's my brutal fate."

    She had decided that she had to say this. Even though it was in front of several hundred people, she honestly spoke out her grief.

    Yin Zhiping heard her saying, "But he gave up his life to save me, you must not give him any more trouble. In short, it's my brutal fate." These words went through his ears, and he couldn't help feeling like his heart was being cut out. Out of his own dark desire, he had made a grave mistake. He revered her as if she was a goddess, yet he had caused her a lifelong of sadness. To die a hundred times over would still not be enough to redeem himself. He cried out loudly, "Master, four elders, my sin is atrocious. You and the others cannot bother Long Guniang and Yang Guo." Having said that, he jumped up and plunged into the eight, nine swords that the Taoists were holding in front of him. Many swords pierced through his body, killing him instantly.

    This was an unforseen incident. The numerous people had not anticipated it and all cried out in alarm. The Taoists heard Xiao Longnu's words. Then, Yin Zhiping acknowledged his crime and committed suicide. It looked like he actually despicably disgraced Xiao Longnu. The Quanzhen five masters were Taoists who strictly adhered to the Taoist rules. They thought about all the wrongs that had been done and felt greatly ashamed. But when it came to an apology, they found it difficult to express.

    Qiu Chuji looked at his four apprentice brothers and then shouted, "Put down the swords!" With the ‘qiang’ sounds, all the Taoists resheathed their swords and made way.



    END OF CHAPTER 27


    Last edited by BeeDreamer : 07-21-05
    Last edited by Du Gu seeking a win; 07-22-05 at 08:02 AM.

  13. #53
    Senior Member Du Gu seeking a win's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    453

    Default Chapter 28 (BeeDreamer)

    -



    Yang Guo wrapped his right empty sleeve around Xiao Long Nu's waist to support her body and gently said: "Gu Gu, let's go!" Xiao Long Nu gave him a sweet smile, softly saying: "This time I can die by your side. In my heart.. in my heart I'm very happy." Then something came to her mind so she said: "Guo Da Xia [great hero Guo]'s daughther cut off your arm. She didn't mean you well. Later on who will take good care of you?" Her heart sank when she thought about this so she softly added: "You'll be lonely by yourself, you.. won't have anyone to keep you company.."

    Yang Guo saw her life about to perish, he was overwhelmed by grief. Suddenly he remembered something: "That day we were here at Mount Zhong Nan, she asked me if I was willing to make her my wife. At that time I was so shocked I couldn't answer and that led to many miserable and catastrophic events afterwards. We don't have much time left, I have to let her know my heartfelt feelings." So he said it out loud: "What do I care if you are my master? What do I care about a reputation? We will just do as we please and screw people if they can't take it! In life or in death, neither of us will ever be sad again, nor will we be alone and lonely. From now on, you are not my master, you are not my Gu Gu [auntie], you are my wife!"

    Xiao Long Nu's heart was filled with joy. She gazed at his face and softly said: "Are you really speaking from your heart? Or are you just saying sweet words to make me happy?" Yang Guo replied: "Of course this is what I feel in my heart. My arm got chopped off and you are feeling sorrier for me than I am for myself; when you come across any hardship, I feel just the same." Xiao Long Nu softly said: "That's right. In this world, except you and me caring for each other, there's no one else."

    The several hundred Taoists at Chong Yang Palace were students of spirititual ways who let go to become monks. Suddenly hearing the two people speaking tender words of love and care, they found themselves in a difficult situation – the old monks were quite embarrassed while the young ones unavoidably felt their worldly desires stirred up. They looked at each other in dismay and some couldn't help blushing. The Sage of Tranquility Sun Bu Er shouted: "You two quickly get out of here. Chong Yang Palace is a holy place, you shouldn't be here talking improperly like this!"

    Yang Guo turned a deaf ear and only gazed into Xiao Long Nu's eyes. Then he said: "In those years the late master Chong Yang and our Gu Mu sect [the ancient tomb sect]'s ancester grandma originally should have been married. Don't know what strange grudges broke them apart to the end. Today before him we'll bow to heaven and earth and become man and wife, letting our ancestor grandma vent her anger." He originally didn't think very highly of Wang Chong Yang. But then he started learning from the work that Wang Chong Yang left engraved at Gu Mu [the ancient tomb], and the more he practised, the more he admired him. He even secretly felt like he was Wang Chong Yang's successor in a way. Xiao Long Nu let out a sigh and quietly said: "Guo Er, you are really good to me."

    During those years Wang Chong Yang and Lin Chao Ying were deeply in love. Quan Zhen's five masters all knew about it. They respected their master for cutting all his emotions with a proverbial sword like a true hero but when they thought about how the supreme martial arts master Lin Chao Ying, whose beauty was unrivalled, locked herself up inside Gu Mu for the rest of her life, they all sighed. This time Yang Guo brought up this matter, the young Taoists didn't understand while the old masters trembled in their hearts.

    Sun Bu Er shouted: "Our late master had great wisdom. He let go of the secular world and started our sect, cutting himself off all worldly pains. How could an infant like you who were born after his time pry into his business? If you have the galls to be this outrageous and talk rubbish again, don't blame my heartless sword!" That day at Da Sheng Guan hero banquet, Yang Guo rejected Sun Bu Er's offered sword, embarrassing her at the scene. Even though she was a Taoist nun, her mind was far less generous than Qiu Chu Ji, Wang Chu Yi and others. She was the revered elder of the Quan Zhen sect and was insulted by a youngster of her disciples' generation, she naturally took it to heart. Also being a woman living and practising Taoism in a group of male Taoists, she became even stricter. As she heard Yang Guo's declaration, determining to bow to heaven and earth [get married] before the sacred portrait of her sect's founding master, her rising anger became difficult to suppress. Now seeing the Yang-Long couple totally ignored her shout, her sword immediately came out of its sheath with a 'shua' sound.

    Yang Guo gave her a cold look and thought: "You old nun by yourself surely is not my match. Only if I fought with you, the rest of the Quan Zhen sect wouldn't just stand by. But I have to marry Gu Gu immediately. If we don't do it right now and leave the Chong Yang Palace and if by chance her injuries don't heal, won't I be giving her grieve to the end? You scolded me for 'being outrageous.' Humph, I, Yang Guo, will show you outrageous. I already said we would be married before the portrait of founding master Chong Yang and I will do as I said." He scanned the area and saw only half of the taoists holding a sword in their hands. He then said: "Sun Dao Zhang [Taoist Elder Sun], you are set on forcing us to leave, is that it?"

    Sun Bu Er sternly said: "Beat it! From now on, the ties between Quan Zhen sect and Gu Mu sect are completely severed. There will be no more connection between us for all eternity and it's best everybody not meet again!"

    Yang Guo let out a deep sigh and shook his head. Then he turned around, walking two steps towards the small trail that led to Gu Mu and slowly putting the sword back onto his back. His right sleeve flared out while he used his left arm to support Xiao Long Nu. He secretly channeled air into his abdomen. Suddenly he lifted his head towards the sky and gave out a roar so loud that it shook the tree branches in the woods. Hearing this ear-shattering roar, the Taoists all became startled.

    And even before he finished his roar, he let go of Xiao Long Nu and leapt backwards. In a flash, his left hand sealed both 'Hui Zong' [Returning Orthodox] and 'Zhi Gou' [Sustaining Waterway] points on Sun Bu Er's right wrist. As Xiao Long Nu's body, now without support, was about to collapse, Yang Guo quickly dragged Sun Bu Er along with him to prop Xiao Long Nu's body back up. His jumping back and forth was lightning fast, like the movement of a fleeing rabbit. Before the many Taoists had a chance to blink their eyes, Sun Bu Er already fell into Yang Guo's clutch and nothing else could be done about that. Qiu Chu Ji and Sun Bu Er had long fought powerful enemies. At the beginning, they were guarding themselves against Yang Guo's swift attack but then they saw him already put away his weapon and head out towards the small trail outside, and with his only arm supporting Xiao Long Nu. Naturally, they concluded that he'd already decided to give up. They hadn't expected that he would use his roar to distract the enemies and that his actions -- using his left hand to support Xiao Long Nu instead of his shirt sleeve and putting away the sword -- were actually a strategy designed to fool them so he could capture Sun Bu Er. The many Taoists shouted and raised their swords. But as Sun Bu Er was held captive, nobody dared to move forward to attack.

    Yang Guo said in a low voice: "Sun Dao Zhang [Taoist Elder Sun], I have made a great social blunder. Please turn around and keep us company during the ritual." While still holding Sun Bu Er's wrist, he slowly led Xiao Long Nu to the back of the hall of the Chong Yang Palace. The Taoists followed them, their faced filled with anger, yet they didn't know what to do.

    The three of them entered the hall through a side door and walked along the winding corridor until they arrived at the back of hall. Yang Guo turned around and in a clear voice he said: "Everybody please stand outside. You may not enter the hall, not even one step. We've already decided that we would sacrifice our lives. If we fight, Sun Dao Zhang [Taoist Elder Sun] and the two of us will have the same fate."

    Wang Chu Yi quietly said: "Qiu Shi Ge [Apprentice Brother Qiu], how do we handle this?" Qiu Chu Ji then replied: "Nothing for the moment, we'll wait for the right opportunity. It looks like he wouldn't dare to harm Sun Shi Mei [Apprentice Sister Sun]." These Quan Zhen masters roamed the martial world for their entire life, their names renowned. They hadn't expected that in their sunset years they would be controlled by a mere boy. They were undoubtedly angry but also couldn't help laughing out loud.

    Yang Guo pulled out a prayer mat for Sun Bu Er to sit down on and then said: "Pardon!" while sealing the "Da Chui" [Big Spine] and "Shen Tang" [Divine Hall] pressure points on her back, which made her unable to walk. As he saw the Taoists standing outside as they were told, not daring to enter, he helped Xiao Long Nu stand in front of the portrait of Wang Chong Yang, shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

    Before their eyes was a portrait of a Taoist holding a long sword with a graceful disposition. He couldn't be more than thirty years old. On the side of the portrait were three words "The Living Dead." The writings were scarce but the man in the middle of the painting exuded a heroic air, his elegance unpararelled. When Yang Guo came to learn martial skills at the Chong Yang Palace as a boy, he was familiar with this painting, knowing that this was a portrait of the founding master. But now he remembered quite vividly that there was also a portrait of Wang Chong Yang at Gu Mu. Even though this one was a front portrait and the one at Gu Mu was a back view, the art strokes were no different so he said: "This painting was also done by our ancestor grandma." Xiao Long Nu nodded, giving him a sweet smile and softly saying: "The two of us get married before the portrait of Master Chong Yang but the picture was drawn by our ancestor grandma, this is really very good."

    With his foot, Yang Guo placed two prayer mats side by side in front of the portrait and then said in a loud voice: "Disciple Yang Guo and disciple named Long are here to marry in front of Founding Master Chong Yang. At this place the numerous Taoists of the Quan Zhen sect all bear witness." Having said that, he knelt down on a prayer mat but saw Xiao Long Nu still standing, not kneeling down, so he said: "We are bowing to heaven and earth right now, you also have to kneel down!" Xiao Long Nu hesitated, her eyes red and her tears flowing. Yang Guo softly asked: "What's wrong? You don't like us to get married at this place?" Xiao Long Nu's voice broke: "No, it's not that!" She paused and then said: "I'm already not pure and I'm also a dying person. Why should you.. Why should you have to be this good to me?" Having said this, her tears flew down her cheeks.

    Yang Guo got up again and used his sleeve to wipe away her tears. He smiled and said: "Why do you still not understand my heart?" Xiao Long Nu lifted her head to look at him and he softly continued: "I really wish we two could live to be 100 years so I could take good care of you and return your love and affection. But if I can't, if God would only give us one day, then one day we'd be man and wife. Even if for only a few hours, then a few hours we'd also be man and wife." Xiao Long Nu saw the sincere expression on his face and the infinite affection in his eyes, her heart fluttered, not quite knowing how to cherish him the way he deserved it. Her sorrowful face slowly revealed a dimply smile, her tears dried up, and her expression was that of boundless joy. Then she gracefully knelt down on a prayer mat.

    Yang Guo then also knelt down. The two people bowed down before the portrait and thought: "Even though our lives have been miserable, we have a time like this now - we are really most fortunate. Even pains of the past would cut our lives short, it wouldn't be something to worry about at all." Both of them exchanged a smile and, on the prayer mats, lowered their heads.

    In a low voice Yang Guo spoke his vow: "Disciple Yang Guo and Disciple named Long truly love each other and forever will never change. All through our lives, we will be husband and wife." Xiao Long Nu also said in the same tone: "May Master bless us. All through our lives, let us be husband and wife."

    Sun Bu Er was sitting on a prayer mat. Even though her body couldn't move, she clearly heard everything the two people said. She looked at them and then understood. Even though the two people's action was preposterous, it actually stemmed from their guileless nature. She couldn't help thinking back to the days she was young and newly married to Ma Yu. Originally she was very angry but by the time the Yang-Long couple stood up, the expression on her face already turned gentle.

    Yang Guo thought: "This time the two of us have become man and wife. Even I am to die right way, I have no regret." As his original worry about the Taoists breaking in to stop them vanished, he turned to Xiao Long Nu and joked: "I am a rebellious disciple of the Quan Zhen sect. Throughout the martial world, they all knew about it. Now you are also a big rebellious disciple." Xiao Long Nu said: "That's right. My master ordered me not to accept a male disciple, nor to get married but I didn't comply. The many disasters fallen upon us were actually to pay for our crimes." Yang Guo brightly said: "One must rebel to the end. Master Wang and our ancester grandma were heroes, 100 times greater than us, but they didn't dare to get married. If the two of them in the afterworld knew, they couldn't say we were afraid to do it!"

    Then this time there was a 'ka''la' violent sound coming from the roof, tiles flying about and the rafter breaking. The force was astonishing. The roof actually cracked down by the weight of a gigantic bell, falling straight down on the top of Sun Bu Er's head...

    As Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu were boldly bowing to heaven and earth in the hall, the big and small Taoists of the Quan Zhen sect couldn't suppress their anger. Liu Chu Xuan pondered for a while and then came up with a plan. He bent down and whispered it into the ears of the other three masters, Qiu Chu Ji, Wang Chu Yi and Hao Da Tong. The three of them nodded again and again and then said something to a disciple at the door in a low voice. Taking advantage of the situation while the Yang-Long couple were kneeling down inside, they took down a heavy copper bell in front of the hall, which weighed over a thousand catties. The four of them together would hold the bell, fly up to the top of the hall, and find the right location to smash it down with great force. The bell would make a big hole in the roof before falling down to where Sun Bu Er was sitting below. With the four masters' martial skills, even though the bell was very heavy, it would drop down with less than inches of error margin, trapping Sun Bu Er inside so Yang Guo couldn't harm her. As the many Taoists closed in on him, how would the two person be able to fight them off?

    Seeing the gigantic bell dropping, Yang Guo instantly understood the ploy. He immediately drew out his black iron sword and sent out with it a thundering force. A 'dang' sound echoed as the sword tip made contact with the copper bell. Even though this bell weighed a thousand catties, the force from this sword was strangely fierce and also hit the side of the bell. The bell was then bumped off course by a couple of feet. And if dropped, Sun Bu Er's body would be crushed beneath.

    Liu Chu Xuan and the other masters who were looking down through the crack at the top of the hall realized the situation and all cried out in alarm, their hearts aching. Nobody could have expected that this boy's sword would have such a divine power. They now saw with their own eyes that Sun Bu Er would be wretchedly crushed by the large bell, with fresh and blood all splattering. Liu Chu Xuan shut both eyes, not daring to look, but then heard Qiu Chu Ji calling out: "Many thanks for your mercy!" Liu Chu Xuan then openned his eyes in surprise, only to see the large bell unexpectedly covering Sun Bu Er's body. There was no trace of crushed limbs at the side of the bell, and not even a part of her Taoist robe was seen.

    As Yang Guo saw his sword pushing the bell off course, which would definitely violently kill Sun Bu Er on the spot, he suddenly thought: "Today is our husband and wife's happy day, why bother taking someone's life? This old Taoist nun only has a bad temperament and doesn't possess any real evilness." Once thought, he acted. His right sleeve flared out, pushing the prayer mat that Sun Bu Er was sitting on and thus sending her right under the bell.

    The Liu-Qiu-Wang-Hao four masters at the top of the hall were pleasantly surprised and didn't think to make enemy with Yang Guo anymore but the numerous disciples below had earlier received their orders. As soon as the large bell was dropped, they were to rush in to attack. Also as they were outside, they didn't see that the bell's supposed location was changed. Only hearing a loud noise and seeing dust flying, they all cried out and ran into the hall to attack with their long swords.

    Yang Guo then put his black iron sword back onto his back. He used his arm to carry Xiao Long Nu and leapt out to the back of the palace hall.

    Qiu Chu Ji called out: "Disciples, be careful. You may not take these two people's lives!" His voice was loud. Even among the noisy battle cries of numerous hundred people, each person still heard it clearly. The numerous disciple ran out to the back of the hall, their voices echoed: "Capture the treacherous scoundrel!" "The scoundrel violated our founding master's painting, don't let him go!" "Quick, Quick, they went out to the eastern side!" "The great master ordered, don't take their lives!"

    Before Liu Chu Xuan jumped to the top of the hall, he had ordered twenty-one strong men to hide in the courtyard at the back of the palace hall. Yang Guo was just about to open the screen door when he saw the sword reflections in the courtyard, then knowing there were men waiting to block them. He thought: "It would be better to leap out through the crack at the top of the hall. Although there are four big masters there, those people actually won't dare to kill me." and so he carried Xiao Long Nu and quickly leapt back inside. Xiao Long Nu held on to Yang Guo's neck with both hands and softly said: "Anyway, we are now married. Our ultimate wish in this world has been granted. If we get out, it's wonderful but if we don't, it still doesn't matter." Yang Guo said: "You are right!" Then his right leg flew up, following quickly by his left leg. A 'peng' 'peng' sound followed as two monks were kicked out of the hall. Unlike the Jade Cave area which was much wider, the palace hall was packed with the Taoist monks, who now blocked them with "the Big Dipper formation" [Bei Dou Zhen Fa]. Yang Guo's left arm was carrying Xiao Long Nu so he could only use his legs to wound the enemies and couldn't break out of the heavy encirclement. He darkly thought: "These dumb Taoist monks can't spread a complete formation. If only I have my arm free, how would you be able to stop the two of us?" Then another 'peng' sound was heard as a monk was kicked, his body flying out and crashing into two other monks.

    In between this chaos, an old man with white beard and hair suddenly ran into the palace hall. Trailing behind him was a swarm of honeybees. This is precisely the old urchin Zhou Bo Tong. When he first arrived behind the palace hall, the numerous disciples didn't pay him any attention but then the honeybees that followed him started to sting. These bees were not just any ordinary honeybees but indeed were the Jade bees that Xiao Long Nu kept and tamed at Gu Mu. The Quan Zhen Taoists who were stung immediately felt the itchy pain that was difficult to endure. Some couldn't bear it and rolled down on the ground, crying out. This of course added another commotion to the situation.

    Originally Zhou Bo Tong was on his way to Xiang Yang city to help Guo Jing but then he stole Xiao Long Nu's jade bee syrup. Afraid to run into her, he decided not to go to Xiang Yang but instead came to Mount Zhong Nan to find Zhao Zhi Jing and to investigate how come he dared mean to harm his martial grandpa [master of master] to death. Along the way he played with the jade bee syrup and mulled over ways to direct the bees. Playing with the common bees on the road was easy but once he reached Mount Zhong Nan, suddenly it all became a disaster. The jade bees on the mountain sensed the smell of the jade bee syrup, many of them all buzzed out. As the jade bees were used to Xiao Long Nu's hand signals and whistles, Zhou Bo Tong naturally couldn't direct them and also couldn't drive them away. And more than that, they wouldn't let him rest. The old urchin saw the situation to be not very funny so he speedily ran to the Chong Yang Palace, thinking to find a place to avoid the bees. It just so happened that there was also a commotion at the palace, and actually much noisier.

    Seeing Xiao Long Nu and Yang Guo in the palace hall, Zhou Bo Tong was delightedly surprised. He quickly threw Xiao Long Nu the jade bee syrup and called out: "Can't soothe them anymore. I can't deal with these grandparents of bees. Good Gu Niang [good Miss] quickly come and save my life." Yang Guo's shirt sleeve flared out, catching the bottle. Xiao Long Nu let out a small smile and stretched her hand out to take it.

    By now the palace hall was filled with buzzing bees. Qiu Chu Ji and others jumped down to greet and kowtow to their martial uncle. Hao Da Tong shouted out: "Quickly go get torches!" Some of the numerous disciples were covering their faces with shirt sleeves while others were wielding their sword to strike the bees. Several went to get torches as told.

    Zhou Bo Tong paid no attention to Qiu Chu Ji and others. The jade bees stung him twice on his forehead, which was now swollen with two big lumps. Right now he only wanted to find a secure hiding place where a bee couldn't sneak in. Seeing a large bell on the floor, his heart was filled with delight. He quickly used his energy to lift it up, just to see that there was someone inside. He didn't even look to see who that was, saying: "Excuse me. Excuse me. Let me get in." He pushed Sun Bu Er out and let himself in. Then he released his hands and a 'teng' sound was heard as the heavy bell fell back down. He was very pleased with himself and thought: "No matter how you thousands and thousands of bees pursue, you can't sting me, the old urchin, anymore!"

    Yang Guo said in a low voice: "You direct the bees to form a swarm then we can break out of here." Xiao Long Nu was now Yang Guo's wife. Hearing his words having an authoritative tone, she felt sweetly comfortable in her heart and thought: "This is good. Finally, he didn't think of me as his master anymore but really his wife." So she immediately said "All right!" in a soft and obedient tone. Then she lifted the honey bottle, waved it a few times, and whistled repeatedly. The jade bees flew back to their keeper and formed a swarm but Xiao Long Nu continuously waved her hand and whistled. The large swarm of jade bees broke into two rows, one making way in the front and the other guarding the back, so the Yang-Long couple could find their way out.

    Qiu Chu Ji and others were pleasantly surprised by Zhou Bo Tong's visit and found it very funny. Seeing that the Yang-Long couple retreated to the back of the palace hall, they ordered their numerous disciples not to pursue. Wang Chu Yi unsealed Sun Bu Er's two pressure points while Qiu Chu Ji went over to lift the large bell. Zhou Bo Tong, hiding inside the bell, didn't know the situation outside. Suddenly he felt that someone outside was lifting it up, he cried out loudly: "Can't soothe them anymore!" Both his arms stretched out, pushing the side of the bell and shouting: "Come down!" Qiu Chu Ji couldn't match Zhou Bo Tong's profound internal energy. A 'dang' sound was heard as the bell, which was already half a foot from the ground, came down once again. Qiu Chu Ji laughed and then said: "Zhou Shi Shu [Martial Uncle Zhou] is joking again. Come. We all fight with him!"

    So Qiu Chu Ji, Wang Chu Yi, Liu Chu Xuan and Hao Da Tong four people each held out a hand and pushed against the outside of the bell. Qiu Chu Ji shouted: "Lift!" Between the four great forces the bell was raised three feet from the ground but the underside of the bell was empty, not even a shadow inside, and nobody knew where Zhou Bo Tong had disappeared to. The four people cried out 'Ah!" in surprise. Suddenly a shadow flashed and Zhou Bo Tong was standing beside the bell, laughing his head off. This was because originally Zhou Bo Tong had glued his hands and feet to the side of the heavy bell so when it was lifted, people outside naturally couldn't see him.

    Qiu Chu Ji and the others stepped forward to kowtow to him. Zhou Bo Tong frantically waved his hand, calling out: "Enough, enough. No more kowtow, you good boys get up!" By now Qiu Chu Ji and the others already had white beards and hair but Zhou Bo Tong still called them 'Good boys.'

    The numerous people were about to start their small talks when Zhou Bo Tong caught a glimpse of Zhao Zhi Jing slyly sneaking off. He gave out a loud shout, jumped forward to hold him, and scolded: "You cow-nosed thief, still think to run away?" His left hand shot out towards the large bell and lifted it, two feet from the ground, while the right hand tossed Zhao Zhi Jing underneath. Then he let loose his left hand and the large bell closed down, all the while repeatedly scolding: "Cow-nosed thief, cow-nosed thief." At this time in the palace hall, except him one person, everybody else was a Taoist. His loud scolding "Cow-nosed thief" was the same as scolding all Wang Chong Yang's disciples and followers. Qiu Chu Ji and the others knew their martial uncle's temper, not thinking to disobey. They couldn't help but smile at each other.

    Wang Chu Yi asked: "Shi Shu [Martial Uncle], what did Zhao Zhi Jing do to offend you old master? Disciple will definitely punish him heavily." Zhou Bo Tong said: "Hey, hey, this little cow-nosed thief led me to steal the flag to put in a cave but before that he hid this very big colorful spider there, most deadly poisonous. Luckily that small Miss, hmm, where's that small Miss? Where are all the bees? He talked without order and Wang Chu Yi couldn't quite understand yet but then saw him look around trying to find Xiao Long Nu.

    Then this time ten disciples rushed in and reported that the Yang-Long couple retreated to the sacred scripture chamber on the back of the mountain. The numerous disciples didn't dare to use torches to fight off the bees for fear that they might burn the Taoist scriptures. Qiu Chu Ji and others were startled. The sacred scripture chamber was the Quan Zhen Sect's sacred place as it stored the Taoist scriptures of the past dynasties and the work of Wang Chong Yang and his seven disciples. There were several secret documents of the sect hidden there. If something happened, it would be a great loss. Qiu Chu Ji said: "We'll go and take a look. Yang Guo has shown mercy and spared Sun Shi Mei [Apprentice Sister Sun]. We could definitely turn an enemy into a friend." Sun Bu Er said: "You are right!" Then everybody rushed out to the sacred scripture chamber on the back of the mountain.

    At the door Wang Chu Yi saw Zhao Zhi Jing trapped inside the bell, he thought: "Zhou Shi Shu [Martial Uncle Zhou]'s affairs are quite silly. This matter might not necessarily be Zhao Zhi Jing's fault. We'll investigate this in details when we come back." For fear that there would be no air inside the bell and Zhao Zhi Jing would be suffocated to death, he used his energy to lift the bell up a few inches, kicked up a brick, and placed it under the bell. He left the crack a few inches wide so air could ventilate and then went out to catch up with other people.

    In front of the sacred scripture chamber, several hundred disciples were shouting loudly but nobody dared to go upstairs. In a loud and clear voice, Qiu Chu Ji called out: "The Yang-Long couple, we'll let bygones be bygones. How about we stop fighting and become friends?" He waited for a while and no sound from the chamber could be heard. Qiu Chu Ji said again: "Long Gu Niang [Miss Long] has been injured. Please come out and we'll try to treat the injury together. Our sect's disciples won't dare to be disrespectful to the two of you. Qiu Chu Ji roamed Jiang Hu for several decades and has never broken a promise to anyone." Half a day passed and there was still no sound.

    Liu Chu Xuan pondered the situation and said: "They are already gone!" Qiu Chu Ji asked: "How?" Liu Chu Xuan said: "Look at the bees. They are flying scatteredly." He took a torch from one of the disciples and rushed inside the chamber.

    Qiu Chu Ji and the others stepped into the chamber but only saw the four walls of books, and not a single person. There was also that bottle of jade bee syrup on the writing desk. As if he had found a treasure, Zhou Bo Tong snatched it and put it away in his chest. The many people turned the chamber upside down but didn't find any book missing. They only saw a pile of books on the floor and the wooden chest that used to carry them was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Hao Da Tong called out: "They left from here!" The people followed Hao Da Tong's voice to the window in the back of the chamber and saw a rope tied to a wooden pole, with its other end tied to a tree on the cliff on the opposite side. Lied between the sacred scripture chamber and the cliff was a deep ravine, with no way to pass. They didn't expect that Yang Guo would actually have such lightness Kung Fu and could carry Xiao Long Nu and also across the valley on a rope.

    As Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu bowed to heaven and earth at the Chong Yang Palace, everybody in the Quan Zhen sect all felt badly violated. But this time seeing how the two people had retreated, the Quan Zhen five masters smiled at one another and actually turned soft in their heart. Sun Bu Er was originally the most resentful but at the palace hall she witnessed how the two of them were idealistic and sincere. On top of that, Yang Guo had spared her own life at a critical moment. She couldn't help feeling a loss and fell silent.

    The Quan Zhen five masters and Zhou Bo Tong went back to the palace hall and inquired about the Mongolian prince's imperial decrees, the fights of Yin-Zhao two disciples, Xiao Long Nu's sudden attack, and so on. They went over each report one by one. With tears in his eyes, Qiu Chu Ji said: "Zhi Ping's disgracing someone was truely abominable but he did defend our sect with loyalty and patriotism, pledging to fight to death rather than surrendering to the Mongols. That was a great merit." Wang Chu Yi said: "Zhi Ping naturally had flaws but he also tried to uphold justice. We should still recognize him as a Zhang Jiao [Jiao chief]." Liu Chu Xuan, Hao Da Tong, and others also agreed. Qiu Chu Ji said again: "If it was not for Long Gu Niang [Miss Long] arriving in time to block the enemy, our sect would have already been annihilated. Long Gu Niang is really our sect's great benefactor. From now on we not only cannot be disrespectful to them husband and wife, we would also have to repay the debt of gratitude. Ai, we did injure her, not knowing.. not knowing.." Thinking about how Xiao Long Nu was heavily injured, he deeply blamed himself.

    Qiu Chu Ji and the others were busy investigating the past events and cleaning up damages while Zhou Bo Tong didn't pay attention to these matters in the slightest, only playing with that bottle of jade bee syrup in his hand. Several times he thought about opening the bottle to tempt the bees but always feared the outcome, not being able get away. This time a disciple stepped in and reported that five disciples were stung by the jade bee and that their itchy pains were difficult to endure, and asked the master to help. Hao Da Tong thought about the year Sun Po Po (Grandma Sun) broke into the palace to give them the honey so he said: "Long Gu Niang [Miss Long] must have left this bottle of Jade bee syrup for us to treat the injured. Shi Shu [Martial Uncle], please give the jade bee syrup to the five disciples, letting them take a little."

    Zhou Bo Tong stretched out both hands and his palms were empty. He said, "Don't know how but I suddenly can't find it." Hao Da Tong obviously just saw him playing with the bottle in his hand so it couldn't possibly be suddenly missing. He decided that Zhou Bo Tong was not willing to hand it over but Zhou Bo Tong was an elder so it was not very convenient to say much.

    He couldn't help but feel awkward. Zhou Bo Tong then gave his sleeves a brush and patted his body several times. He said, "I didn't hide it. Don't suspect me being so mean that I don't give it to you. Do you want me to take of all my clothes for you to take a good look?" Zhou Bo Tong had always been naughty and only wanted to play, not distinguishing between big and small urgent matters, and this didn't change in the old age. In his mind, these little cownoses [Taoists] were stung by the bees. At most they would be in immense pains for half a day so it was hardly a life or death worry.

    This bottle of jade bee syrup couldn't be given to anyone. Then he heard Hao Da Tong speaking so he passed the bottle up his shirt sleeve and let it slide down from his chest to his belly. He shrank his belly a bit so the bottle could go down his pants and from there the bottle slowly dropped to his foot and gently fell down to the ground. His internal energy was so profound that the muscles in his whole body could all be manipulated. That small bottle was sent to the ground and surprisingly didn't even make a sound.

    Wang Chu Yi thought, "Martial Uncle didn't want to hand over the bottle but only wanted to play with people. If I suddenly say something, there is no way I could change his mind. I should just take care of other business first and when his temper is improved, I will get the bottle from him. For now let's heavily punish the treacherous disciple Zhi Jing. If not for Yin Zhi Ping's willingness to die rather than to surrender, wouldn't our sect's long-built reputation have already been destroyed by this treacherous disciple's hand?" Having thought this, he said out loud, "Hao Shi Di [Apprentice Brother Hao], it won't hurt if we postpone the matter of treating the injured. We must quickly deal with this treacherous disciple Zhi Jing first!"

    The Quan Zhen five masters were apprentice brothers for several decades so they all knew about Wang Chu Yi's straight and unselfish character. Even though Zhi Jing was his Taoist disciple, he had committed an atrocious crime. Wang Chu Yi wouldn't think to protect him. Everybody thought, "This perfidious disciple sold his sect for personal glory and harmed his own sect brothers in the process. He cannot be forgiven."

    Suddenly they heard a faint sound coming from under the bell, "Martial Grandpa Zhou, if you save my life, I'll give you the bee syrup; otherwise I'll just eat it all before I die!" Zhou Bo Tong was alarmed and quickly moved forward a step. Sure enough that bottle of jade bee syrup was gone without a trace. Zhou Bo Tong had earlier stood by the bell, where Zhao Zhi Jing was right underneath. That small bottle happened to fall right in front of him. Upon hearing that Hao Da Tong couln't get the jade bee syrup from Zhou Bo Tong, he immediately stretched out his hand through the crack and grabbed it.

    Now he used this small bottle to bargain for his life. He himself knew that this attempt could be in vain but he was desperate and therefore must fight for his life to the bitter end. As Zhou Bo Tong heard Zhao Zhi Jing's words, he was extremely worried and cried out, "Hey, hey, you definitely can't eat the bee syrup. Wait, let's talk about it." Zhao Zhi Jing then replied: "Then you must agree to save my life."


    The Quan Zhen five masters were startled, fearing that if this martial uncle were to agree to this demand, they wouldn't be able to punish Zhao Zhi Jing. Qiu Chu Ji hurriedly said, "Shi Shu [Martial Uncle], this person has committed a really heinous crime, we cannot spare him no matter what." Zhou Bo Tong crouched down on the ground and spoke into the bell, "Hey, hey, you definitely cannot eat the bee syrup!"

    Liu Chu Xuan then added, "Shi Shu [Martial Uncle], pay him no mind! If you want the bee syrup, it's really not difficult. Today we've already explained and settled the animosity with Long Gu Niang. We can now go to Gu Mu and ask her for several bottles. Long Gu Niang has already given you the first one so giving you another ten is really not a big deal!" Zhou Bo Tong then shook his head and said, "Maybe not, maybe not!" In his mind he thought, "Do you think she gave me this bottle of the bee syrup? It was me who stole it. She left the Sacred Scripture Chamber in a hurry so she didn't take it with her. If I asked her again to give me the syrup, she might not agree. And even if she did agree, I'd still have to let you take it away to cure people, how would there be anything left for me in the end?"

    Then he heard a gentle hum of five or six jade bees that flew into the hall from the courtyard. The hall doors were closed so the bees hit the window and couldn't find their way out. Zhou Bou Tong came up with an idea and said, "Zhao Zhi Jing, I'm afraid what you took isn't the jade bee syrup." Zhao Zhi Jing hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes, it is. Why shouldn't it be?" Zhou Bo Tong then said, "Good, you open the bottle and let me smell it first. If it isn't the bee syrup, there's no need to talk any more nonsense." Zhao Zhi Jing quickly opened the bottle and said, "You smell it, isn't it the bee syrup?" Zhou Bo Tong deeply inhaled the air and said, "Hmm, Hmm, it doesn't smell like it. Let me sniff again a few more times."

    Zhao Zhi Jing clasped both hands tightly over the bottle for fear that Zhou Bo Tong would lift the bell up and snatch it from him. At the same time he said, "You sniff this sweet scent, sniff this sweet scent!" The scent of the jade bee syrup was incomparably sweet. As soon as the bottle was opened, the palace hall was filled with the strong fragrant. Zhou Bo Tong sneezed and laughed. He said, "I've got a cold and my nose is not very effective!" and at the same time turned to Qiu Chu Ji, giving him a wink. Zhao Zhi Jing also guessed right that Zhou Bo Tong was using a delay tactic so he said: "If you even touch the bell, I will eat all the bee syrup." But by this time, several jade bees already sensed the syrup smell and flew to the bell. Zhou Bo Tong wielded his sleeves and shouted, "Go in and sting him!" The jade bees of course didn't listen to Zhou Bo Tong but the scent coming out from beneath the bell was growing more and more intense. With weng-weng hums, they all buzzed in through the crack at the bottom of the bell.

    The people then heard Zhao Zhi Jing's frantic shouts. With the poignant smell of the syrup, a jade bee flew in and stung him, causing the bottle to drop and shatter. Zhou Bo Tong went mad and shouted, "Stinky Cownose [Taoist], why couldn't you hold the bottle firmly?" He was about to go lift up the bell but the jade bees in the courtyard all crazily buzzed into the bell. Zhou Bo Tong had suffered the jade bee stings so he didn't dare to get near, only seeing numerous bees filling the large space inside the bell. Zhao Zhi Jing's body was covered with the sticky syrup and no matter how he moved his hands or his head, he couldn't avoid the bees and got stung who-know-how-many hundred times all over his body. The many people heard him shout out crazily for a moment and then came an eerie silence. He must have already died from a great amount of poisons.

    Zhou Bo Tong then grabbed Liu Chu Xuan's robe and said: "Good, Chu Xuan, now you go ask Long Gu Niang to give me many many bottles of the bee syrup." Liu Chu Xuan creased his brows, feeling quite miserable. Earlier he only tried to stop Zhou Bo Tong from being rash and agreeing to Zhao Zhi Jing's demand so he spoke out quite carelessly. As a matter of fact, the Quan Zhen five masters had used the Big Dipper formation and all their combined forces to injure Xiao Long Nu. It was still not certain that she would ever recover, how could it be "animosity explained and settled" four words as he said? Right now Zhou Bo Tong was holding his chest so he could only let out a painful smile and said: "Don't worry, Shi Shu [Martial Uncle]. Chu Xuan is leaving!" Then he turned towards the back of the mountain and walked to Gu Mu.

    Qiu Chu Ji and others knew that this matter was indeed deadly. If Xiao Long Nu was alright, everything would be fine. But if she died from a severe injury, nobody knew how many Quan Zhen disciples would be killed by Yang Guo's hand. Everybody then said in one voice: "Let us all go together."

    The woods outside Gu Mu was the area Wang Chong Yang himself had forbidden his disciples to go in, not even one step. The many people all heeded their late master's instruction so they stopped at the edge of the woods. Qiu Chu Ji summoned air into his abdomen and clearly announced: "Yang Xiao Xia [Young Hero Yang], is Long Gu Niang's injury alright? Here we've got several wonder pills to treat the injury. Please come out and take them." Zhou Bo Tong said in a low voice: "Yes, Yes! I want the bee syrup. Come out and trade them!" Half a day passed and still there was no reply. After Qiu Chu Ji used his energy to call the couple, the woods fell into a bleak silence. He looked into the woods but only saw the shady clouds circling around, all the tree branches above, and thorny bushes below.

    Liu Chu Xuan and Hao Da Tong walked along the edge of the woods but saw no sign of people passing through the area. It looked like Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu didn't come back to Gu Mu but went away from Mount Zhong Nan. The many people felt both happy and worried at the same time and decided to return to the Chong Yang Palace. The Quan Zhen people were glad that the Yang-Long couple went far away but worried that if Xiao Long Nu didn't recover, the sect would have big trouble lying ahead. On the other hand, the old urchin Zhou Bo Tong was worried that he wouldn't get the jade bee syrup but also quite happy that he didn't have to meet Xiao Long Nu and could avoid exposing his crime of stealing the bee syrup in the first place.

    Even though the Quan Zhen five masters had lived on Mount Zhong Nan for several decades, they couldn't have guessed how Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu came back to Gu Mu.

    Shielded by the jade bees, the Yang-Long couple rushed to the back of the courtyard and then saw a small building on the side of the mountain. Yang Guo knew it was the Sacred Scripture Chamber of the Chong Yang Palace so he carried Xiao Long Nu inside. They let out a pant of air and then heard the sounds of many people shouting. Dozens of Taoists were pursuing them but they were afraid of the jade bees, not daring to come too close.

    Yang Guo settled Xiao Long Nu in a chair, looked around, and contemplated the situation. Then he saw that in the back of the Sacred Scripture Chamber was a mountain creek which was 30-40 feet down below. Even though the gorge was deep, the good thing was that it wasn't too wide. On the side of his body, he always carried a long rope for tying up between two big trees to make a bed. Now he tied one end to the pillar of the Sacred Scripture Chamber and then leapt down while pulling the rope. He swam across the mountain stream and then straightened the rope. He then tied its other end to a big tree before using his lightness Kung Fu to walk on the rope back to the chamber.

    As he was back at Xiao Long Nu's side, he softly asked her, "Shall we go overthere?" Xiao Long Nu said, "You said we should go there, then I'd go there with you." Yang Guo laughed and said, "That is called "Marry a chicken, act like a chicken; Marry a dog, act like a dog!" [Chinese saying: A woman must follow and comply to her husband's wishes]. Then he paused and asked again, "In your heart, do you really want to go overthere?" Xiao Long Nu let out a gentle sigh and her face expression changed. Yang Guo knew she most wanted to go home to Gu Mu but they could only get inside at a great expense. While hesitating, they heard the shouting from outside the chamber and knew that they couldn't delay getting out of there much longer.

    While he could read her mind, Xiao Long Nu also understood him just the same. So she softly said, "I don't really have to go back to Gu Mu. You don't have to worry about me." Then she smiled, "As long as I can be with you, any place is just as good." Yang Guo now thought, "This is her first wish after we got married and it might be her last wish in life as well. If I couldn't do this for her, how would I deserve to be her husband?"

    He looked in all directions. Hearing the sounds of people outside, his heart was in chaos. Then towards the west side he caught a glimpse of a wooden trunk stacked on a bookshelf. His heart leapt and he said, "Got it!" He rushed there and saw that the trunk had a copper lock on it. He ripped it apart and opened the lid. Inside the trunk was filled with books so he lifted up the trunk and turned it upside down, sending the books down on the floor. The trunk itself was made from Camphor woods about an inch thick and was really sturdy. Then he traced his hand along the shelves and found an oilcloth that was used to protect the precious books from rain leaks. He put two pieces of large oilcloth inside the trunk and then, with a rope, dropped the trunk down to the mountain creek below. He came back to carry Xiao Long Nu and said with a smile, "Let us go home."

    Xiao Long Nu was very happy and smiled back. She said, "Your ideas are really good." Yang Guo was afraid that she would worry so to comfort her he said, "This sword is very powerful. If a mountain rock blocks the trunk under the water, the sword will cut it open. I'll go fast, you inside the box don't have to worry." Xiao Long Nu smiled and said, "Only one thing is not good." Yang Guo was startled and said, "What is it?" Xiao Long Nu then replied, "I won't be able to see you for a while."

    Down at the mountain creek, Yang Guo remembered that he left Guo Xiang at the cave so he said, "We'll bring Uncle Guo's girl with us too, what do you say?" Xiao Long Nu was stunned and so her voice trembled as she said, "Really? You've brought Hero Guo.. Hero Guo's girl?" Yang Guo saw her changed expression, immediately realizing that she thought he'd brought Guo Fu with him. He bent down and gently kissed her face, softly saying, "It is that month-old baby. She still can't cut off anyone's arm!" This time Xiao Long Nu blushed profusely and hid her face in Yang Guo's embrace, not daring to lift up her head.

    After a while, she softly said, "We'd better go bring her back to the tomb with us. On a wild mountain like this, leaving her for another while could mean her small life." Yang Guo then thought about how they were delayed at the Chong Yang Palace until now, not knowing how Guo Xiang was doing in the cave. Frightened, he immediately put Xiao Long Nu in the trunk, carried it on his shoulder, and rushed out. As they reached the front of the cave but still didn't hear any crying sound, he got even more worried. He pulled out the thorns that he earlier piled in front of the cave entrance and saw that Guo Xiang was sleeping comfortably, her cheeks still red like they were painted with rouge. The two people were overjoyed. Xiao Long Nu stretched out her hand and said, "Let me carry her." Yang Guo put Guo Xiang in her embrace and then put the wooden trunk back on his shoulder again.

    By this time all the Taoists were gathering at the Chong Yang Palace so they didn't run into anybody along the way. Passing a pumpkin field, Yang Guo picked six, seven pumpkins that the Taoists grew. He put them in the trunk and laughingly said, "This will be enough for us to eat for a week." And after a short while, they reached the bank of the mountain creek. He lowered his head to kiss Xiao Long Nu's cheek and gently closed the trunk lid. He then wrapped it tightly with the two pieces of oilcloth. After putting the trunk under water, he breathed in deeply and dove away with the trunk behind him.

    He had earlier trained his internal power in a wild mountain flood so diving at the bottom of this small mountain creek this time didn't strain him in the least. The bottom of the creek was rugged with high and low terrains. There were muddy rocks blocking the waterway so the wooden trunk couldn't easily pass through. Yang Guo used his sword to hack them open and make way. Afraid that Xiao Long Nu would be suffocated inside the trunk, he went as fast as he could. In only minutes, they emerged from water, arriving at the underground tunnel below Gu Mu.

    He pulled out the oilcloth and opened the trunk lid. Xiao Long Nu was in a dazed state as a result of her heavy injury. Guo Xiang let out a loud healthy cry. She had been eating leopard's milk for over a month so she was actually very strong and healthy. Xiao Long Nu smiled faintly and softly said, "We are finally home!" She couldn't support herself again so she closed her eyes. This time Yang Guo didn't lift her body up but took the whole wooden trunk back to the living quarter inside Gu Mu.

    Inside, the tables and chairs were overturned and the beds were crooked. This was the result of that day's evil fight with Li Mo Chou and her disciple before they departed. Yang Guo looked at the stone chamber and the many things he'd used since he was small, his heart felt something beyond description, a mix of happiness and pain. He was expressionless for a moment. Suddenly he felt a drop of water on the back of his hand so he turned his head, just to see that Xiao Long Nu, supporting herself with a chair, stood there with tears slowly flowing from her eyes.

    Today the couple had started their family. They finally fulfilled their long time wish and returned home. From now to the afterlife, the bitterness, agony, and worry were all gone but deep down in their hearts they couldn't restrain their sorrow. The two people both knew that Xiao Long Nu was seriously injured. With the injuries from both Fa Wang's golden wheel and the Quan Zhen five masters' strike, how would her delicate body be able to endure?

    In their young lives, the two people had always been lonely and miserable and never really experienced true happiness. Suddenly they came to the biggest fortune and then immediately had to say good-bye!

    Yang Guo stayed expressionless for a long time. Then he went into Sun Po Po [Grandma Sun]'s bedroom and arranged the bedding on the chilled jade bed. Then he helped Xiao Long Nu up so she could rest comfortably. All the old food that was stored at Gu Mu had been spoiled but the jade bee syrup at the altar indeed could not go bad. He poured out half a cup of the syrup and mixed it with fresh water. He fed it to Xiao Long Nu and baby Guo Xiang. Then he himself drank a bowl of it.

    Then he thought, "I've got to lift up my spirit to make her happy. Even my heart is filled with grief and sorrow, I can't let it show on my face." Having thought that, he went to look for two thickest candles and wrapped them with red cloth. He put them on a table and said with a smile, "This is our wedding party!"

    With the two red candles, the stone chamber immediately became festive. Xiao Long Nu was sitting on the bed. When she saw her own body stained with blood and dirt, she said with a small smile, "I look terrible like this, how would I resemble a bride!" Then she suddenly remembered something and said, "Guo Er, could you please go to Ancestor Grandma's bedroom and bring me that gold-work box?"

    Even though Yang Guo had lived inside Gu Mu for several years, he never dared to enter Lin Chao Ying's room or played with her stuffs. This time he heard Xiao Long Nu speaking to him like this, he said with a laugh, "You have to be this polite when you talk to your husband." He walked over to the headboard of the bed where several boxes were stacked and lifted out the one at the bottom. This box was really not heavy and had no lock. The outside work was red and gold with an exquisite design.

    Xiao Long Nu said, "Sun Po Po [Granma Sun] told me that stored in this box were Ancestor Grandma's wedding items. Afterwards she didn't get married and so these things didn't get used." "Hmm," Yang Guo groaned. He looked at this beautifully designed box but felt that amid happiness always was infinite misery. He put down the box on top of the chilled jade bed and opened the lid to see that lying inside were a pearl-inlaid Phoenix crown, a red robe embroidered in gold, and woman clothings made from red satin. All the items were made from the best materials and even though they had been in the box for several decades, they still looked like new. Xiao Long Nu said, "Take them out and let me take a look."

    Yang Guo took each item out of the box. Underneath the clothings were a small vanity box inlaid with pearl and gold and a jade carved jewelry box. There were rouge powder and half a bottle of scented oil inside the vanity box. And as soon as the jewelry box was opened, the two of them were wide-eyed, seeing a pearl hairpin, jade bracelets, and gemmed earrings. All items were exquisite, flashing their sparkles. The Yang-Long two people had rarely seen gem stones before so they didn't know how precious these adorning items were. They only saw the elegant inlay work and beautiful design, indicating that these pieces had been created with the most painstaking efforts.

    Xiao Long Nu said with a smile, "Should I dress up as a bride?" Yang Guo then replied, "Today you are exhausted. You should rest first and tomorrow you can dress up." Xiao Long Nu shook her head, saying, "No, today is the day we got married. I love being a bride. On that day at the Passionless Valley, that Gong Sun person wanted to marry me, I didn't get dressed up!" Yang Guo said with a laugh, "You called that getting married? That was the senile Gong Sun's delusion!"

    Xiao Long Nu picked up the rouge and the honey water. She looked into the mirror, planning to dress up. In her entire life, this would be the first time she put cosmetic powder on her face. Her face complexion was originally white and really didn't need any cosmetics. But this time she was seriously injured and had no color left on her face. She lightly smeared rouge on both cheeks and it added to her beauty tremendously. She paused for a while and then picked up a comb to work on her hair. Then she sighed and said, "I have to make a hair bun but I can't do it. Guo Er, can you do it?" Yang Guo then said, "No, I can't either! Without the hairdo, you are even more beautiful." Xiao Long Nu said with a smile, "Really?" and laid down the comb. She inserted the hairpin and put on the earrings and the jade bracelets on both wrists. Under the red candlelight, her beauty was unpararelled. She was overjoyed as she turned around, wanting to hear praises from Yang Guo.

    As soon as she turned her head, she saw Yang Guo's tears streaming down his face. He was overwhelmed by grief. Xiao Long Nu gritted her teeth, pretending not to see him crying. With a smile she said, "Would you say I look good?" With a choking sound, Yang Guo replied, "Most beautiful! Let me bring you the Phoenix crown!" He lifted the crown up and walked over to put it on for her from behind. In the mirror, Xiao Long Nu saw him lifting his sleeve to wipe away his tears. When he faced her again, his face appeared to be joyful. He then said with a smile, "Later, should I call you 'Niang Zi'[Madame] or should I still call you 'Gu Gu'?" In her heart, Xiao Long Nu thought, "Why says 'later'? Is that to say the two of us still have 'later'"? But she put on her happiest expression and laughingly said, "Calling me Gu Gu again is definitely not good. As for calling me 'Madame,' that sounds like an old lady!" Yang Guo then said, "What were you called when you were a child? Today you can let me hear it." Xiao Long Nu replied, "I don't have a childhood name. Master just called me Long Er." Yang Guo said: "Alright, then you call me Guo Er and I will call you Long Er. The two of us are equal and no one gets the worst of it. Wait till we have a baby, we will say: hey, baby's father! And hey, baby's mother! And when the baby is grown and gets married.. .."

    Hearing him talking nonsense like this, Xiao Long Nu could no longer grit her teeth to smile. Finally, her resistance broke and she let out a sobbing sound. She bent down on the box and started crying. Yang Guo scrambled forward and brought her into his arms. He softly said, "Long Er, you are not well, I'm also not well. There's no need to pay attention to whatever will happen in the future. Today you are not dead. I'm also not dead. The two of us should be very happy now. Nobody is allowed to think about tomorrow." Xiao Long Nu lifted her head and smiled with tears in her eyes. Then she nodded.

    Yang Guo said, "Look at this beautiful dress with a Phoenix design, I'll help you put it on!" He supported her body and put on the dress embroidered in red and gold for her. Xiao Long Nu's tears dried up and she repaired her rouge make-up while sitting by the red candles with a smile.

    At this time baby Guo Xiang was sleeping by the head of the bed. Then she opened her small eyes with great curiosity. It seemed like in her tiny heart she felt that the dressed up Xiao Long Nu was really very pretty.

    Xiao Long Nu said, "I've dressed up nicely. It's a pity there is no bridegroom's outfit in the trunk. You must felt slightly out of place." Yang Guo then said, "Let me take a look again. Seems like there are some more pretty items in there." As he said that, he moved various scattered items out of the trunk and put them on the bed. Xiao Long Nu saw him taking out a gold flower so she sticked it into his hair. Yang Guo said with a smile, "Not bad, there is a little more." Then he looked at the bottom of the trunk and found a pack of letters bound by a red ribbon. The ribbon color already faded and the envelopes were so old they turned deep yellow.

    Yang Guo picked them up and said, "There are letters in here." Xiao Long Nu said, "Let's see what kind of letters they are." Yang Guo then untied the ribbon and saw that on the envelopes was written "To be opened only by Miss Lin Chao Ying" and that there were the words 'Ji Ji' on the left corner. All the twenty letters were addressed in the same way. Yang Guo knew that Wang Chong Yang's given name before becoming a Taoist was Wang 'Ji Ji' so he laughed and said, "These are love letters founding master Chong Yang wrote to our ancestor grandma. Can we read them?" Since childhood, Xiao Long Nu had revered her ancestor grandma as if she was a divine being so she quickly said, "No, we cannot read!"

    Still smiling, Yang Guo tied up the bunch of letters with the ribbon and said, "Old sister Sun and her party were so old-fashioned. Seeing us bowing to heaven and earth before founding master Chong Yang's portrait, they all freaked out and accused us of committing a blasphemy. I didn't believe for a minute that in those years Master Chong Yang and our ancestor grandma didn't have a relationship. If we took these letters there for them to take a look, those old cownoses' reactions would be quite interesting." While saying that, he was looking at Xiao Long Nu and couldn't help feeling sorry for Lin Chao Ying. He thought, "Ancestor grandma lived alone inside Gu Mu. She must have more than once tried on the wedding dress. The two of us are much luckier than she was."

    Then Xiao Long Nu said, "Right, we are more fortunate than ancestor grandma. Why should you still be unhappy?"

    Yang Guo said, "All right!" Suddenly he was startled and said with a laugh, "I didn't say it but you really could guess what I was thinking." Xiao Long Nu curved her lips into a smile and retorted, "If I didn't know what you were thinking, how would I deserve to be your wife?" Yang Guo sit down on the side of the bed and gently extended his left arm to hug her. In their hearts, the two of them were happy beyond words and hoped that a moment like this would last forever. They sat there in each other's embrace and for a long time nobody said a word.

    After a while, they both eyed that bunch of letters. And when they looked at each other, they laughed with mischievous glints in their eyes. Knowing perfectly well that they shouldn't read their deceased master's personal letters but, of course, they couldn't bear the curiosity in their hearts.

    Yang Guo said, "We'll just read one letter. Is that alright? We definitely won't read more." With a smile Xiao Long Nu said, "I want to read too. So, okay, we'll just read one." Delighted, Yang Guo reached out to get the letters and untied the ribbon. Xiao Long Nu added, "But if the letter is filled with heartaches, you don't have to read it out loud to me." Yang Guo paused slightly and then said, "All right!" But in his heart he knew that the relationship between the Wang-Lin couple didn't end well and was afraid that there would be more misery than happiness in the letters. In that case, it would be better not to read them. Then Xiao Long Nu said, "You don't have to worry about it beforehand. Perhaps there are only convoluted speeches in there."

    Yang Guo picked up the first letter and read, "Dear Ying Mei [Sister Ying]: The other day my division and the enemies crossed swords at the Hill of Evil Storm. We were ambushed and suffered a small loss. Four hundred men.. .." As he read on, the letter was filled with the story of the battles between his army and the Jin's. He looked through several other letters, they all talked about military affairs and there was nothing on personal relationships.

    Yang Guo sighed and said, "Founding master Chong Yang was indeed a real Han hero. His whole heart was devoted to defending the country but as it was so, our ancestor grandma couldn't be blamed for being estranged." Xiao Long Nu said, "No, ancestor grandma was very delighted to receive these letters." Puzzled, Yang Guo asked, "How do you know?" Xiao Long Nu said, "Of course I don't know. I can only guess what went on inside her mind. You see, every single letter talked about how very urgent and difficult those battle situations were but master Chong Yang, even in distress, still didn't forget to write to our ancestor grandma. Wouldn't you say she was always on his mind?" Yang Guo nodded and said, "Right, it was indeed so." And then he picked up the letter again.

    That letter described a desperate situation. Wang Chong Yang's army was overwhelmed by many enemies and they were repeatedly defeated with little hope for support. At the end of the letter, he asked about Lin Chao Ying's injured condition and even though he used only a few words, his deep concerns were quite evident. Yang Guo said, "Hmm, during those years our ancestor grandma was injured but later she was well again. Your wound condition can slowly heal too. After a year or so, you can be recovered."

    Xiao Long Nu weakly smiled. She herself knew that her injury this time was far from normal. If an injury this heavy could be cured, that would be like having an immortal walking the earth. But to say it out loud right now wouldn't help light up the situation. Even if Yang Guo's suggestion couldn't convince her, it would make him feel better. So she said, "Slow treatment is good. What's the rush? And these letters don't really talk about private matters, you can read on!"

    Yang Guo read another letter, which was filled with words of grief and anger. It talked about the army's defeat and how Wang Chong Yang had to risk everything to break out of a heavy encirclement. But even his retreat was a disaster with ultimate deaths and casualties, at the end of the letter he said he was going to gather troops again for another battle. From that point on every letter all talked about military defeats and setbacks. The Jin power at the North river was very strong and Wang Chong Yang obviously already knew that the matters were gravely serious. The letter was full of desperate and disheartening messages.

    Yang Guo said, "These letters are very depressing. Let's not read anymore! Eh, what's this?" Suddenly there was excitement in his voice and the hand that held the letter slightly trembled. He read aloud, "There, at the most northern and bitter cold area, is a stone called chilled jade [Han Yu]. It can control all illnesses and cure incurable deceases and should help my sister [Lin Chao Ying]. Long Er, do you think this.. ..this is the chilled jade bed?"

    As Xiao Long Nu saw the happy expression on his face, her voice shook, "You.. You said the chilled jade bed could heal my injury?" Yang Guo replied, "I don't know but master Chong Yang said so. It must have a basis. You see, the chilled jade bed was provided by him, wasn't it? Our ancestor grandma slept on this bed, didn't she? And her severe injury finally healed, right?"

    He hurriedly unfolded every letter to look for a way to treat injuries but, apart from that one letter, the two words "chilled jade" were not mentioned again anywhere. Yang Guo finally tied up the many letters with the ribbon and put them back in the box. Blankly, he pondered, "This chilled jade bed is this strange. There must be a reason. But how do I find out a way to treat Long Er's injury? Hmm, let me figure out the way.. let me figure out the way.. .."

    Xiao Long Nu smiled and asked, "You look lost in thought, what's on your mind?" Yang Guo then replied, "I'm trying to figure out a way to use the chilled jade bed to treat your injury. Do I grind the stone for you to take as medicine or do I use any medicine to complement it somehow?" If he didn't know that the chilled jade bed could treat all injuries, that would be the end of story but now that he'd read the six words "control all illnesses, cure incurable deceases" and couldn't figure out how to use the chilled jade bed, his heart was on fire. Dismally Xiao Long Nu said, "Do you remember Sun Po Po? She took care of both our ancestor grandma and my master for many years. Still when she was injured by the Taoist named Hao, she.. she died of severy injury." Originally Yang Guo was full of hope. Now hearing her words, he felt as if he was suddenly drenched with cold water.

    Xiao Long Nu stretched out her hand to stroke his hair gently. With a gentle voice she said, "Guo Er, you don't have to worry so much about my injury. Why should you put yourself through agony again?" In a flash, Yang Guo was completely disheartened but after a while, he asked, "How did my Shi Zu [martial grandma –referring to XLN's master] get injured?" Even though Yang Guo had lived at Gu Mu for many years, he actually never heard Xiao Long Nu talk about how her master passed away.

    Xiao Long Nu said, "My master isolated herself inside Gu Mu and rarely went outside. Then there was this one year my Shi Jie [apprentice sister] went out and caused trouble. She fled back to Mount Zhong Nan so my master had to leave the tomb to help. Then unexpectedly she fell into the enemy's trap. Even though my master lost the fight, she could bring back Shi Jie. And that should be the end of it. But then she bickered with that evil person. Nobody would have expected that he would want a yard after getting an inch. Shortly after the fight, he was outside Gu Mu, issuing a challenge, and then broke into the tomb. My master couldn't fend him off and almost had to drop the dragon stone to die together with him inside. Fortunately, at a critical moment, she threw out a golden needle. That evil person was caught off guard and got hit. The itchy pain was difficult to bear and my master used that opportunity to strike his pressure point. But then seeing him unable to move, she couldn't have expected that Shi Jie had sneaked up to unseal the pressure point. In the end that evil person attacked her and that was when she got struck by his poison hand."

    Yang Guo asked, "Who was that evil person? His martial skills were even above my martial grandma. He must have been a high master of her generation." Xiao Long Nu said, "Master didn't tell me. She said that my heart shouldn't be filled with any love or hate feelings and that if she told me who that evil person was, I wouldn't forget him and would later go seek revenge." Yang Guo sighed and said, "Hmmm, Shi Zu [martial grandma] was really a good person!" Xiao Long Nu smiled and said, "If master could see me today being married to a good son-in-law like this, she would be quite delighted." With a laugh, Yang Guo said, "That might not be the case. She wouldn't let you marry anyone." Xiao Long Nu sighed, "My master was really the kindest. Even though at first she wouldn't allow it, afterwards, seeing my heart, she would have relented. She.. she would certainly have liked you."

    Xiao Long Nu was recalling her master's kindness and was lost in thought for a long time. Then she said, "After master was injured, she moved to another room on the opposite side far away from the chilled jade bed. She said our Gu Mu sect's martial style and cold air induced and subdued each other, therefore the chilled jade bed wonderfully helped us practicising our martial skills. But after injury, we should not be exposed to the cold air."

    Yang Guo made a "hmm" sound while pondering how internal energy circulated through vital organs. To use internal energy according to the jade maiden manual, the pure Yin air would flow through body pulses, causing the inner body to be extremely cold and sending out heat steams to the outside of the body. When practising, clothings had to be removed so the heat steams could be smoothly dispersed without any obstruction. And the internally injured could not use the cold air from the chilled jade bed. He contemplated, "But what did Master Wang Chong Yang mean by "control all illnesses, cure incurable diseases? This induce and subdue principle must be missing some important details." Then he saw Xiao Long Nu's eyelids drooping, indicating that she was exhausted. He said, "You should rest, I'm sitting right here to keep you company."

    Xiao Long Nu quickly opened her eyes wide and said, "No, I'm not tired. Tonight, we won't sleep." With her heavy injury, she was afraid that once she slept, she wouldn't wake up again. Then she said, "You keep on talking to me. Hmm, are you tired?" Yang Guo shook his head and said with a tiny smile, "You don't want to sleep then don't. Just close your eyes and keep your mind awake." Xiao Long Nu said, "All right!" She slowly closed her eyelids and said in a low voice, "My master once said, there was one thing that till the day she died she still couldn't figure out. Guo Er, you are very smart, you can think about it." Yang Guo said, "What is it?" Xiao Long Nu then said, "Master hit that evil person's pressure point but she didn't know why Shi Jie [Apprentice Sister] would help him unseal it." Yang Guo was deep in thought for a while and then felt Xiao Long Nu's body resting against his. Her breaths were shallow. She already fell asleep.

    Yang Guo gazed at her face, his heart filled with apprehension. Time passed. A candle flickered its last flame and then went out by itself. He suddenly remembered a vertical couplet in a small room at the Peach Blossom Island, "Silkworms will not stop spitting their threads until they die; the candle has burned to ashes when tears dry up." Missing his wife, Huang Yao Shi wrote these two lines of a Tang poem and hung them outside the study where she used to embroider. At that time, Yang Guo saw them but paid no attention. He was just too young to understand. Now he slowly absorbed the true meaning of the lines and his heart was breaking. Suddenly before his eyes, another candle was flickering its last light. He thought, "These two candles are just like Long Er and I. One has burned out and the other is about to be extinguished."

    He was deep in thought for a while and then heard Xiao Long Nu quietly murmured, "I'm not going to die. Guo Er.. .. I'm not going to die. The two of us will live for many many many years." Yang Guo said, "That's right. You can't die. You'll slowly improve and then you'll be well. How does your chest feel?" Xiao Long Nu didn't reply. She was just talking in her sleep.

    Yang Guo stretched out his hand to brush her forehead but felt it was burning. He was both worried and sad. He thought, "Li Mo Chou did all kinds of evil things but she is now alive and well. Long Er has never caused anyone harm. How come her life is cut short? Oh God, Oh God, you really don't open your eyes?"

    In his entire life, he was never a prisoner of fear and he always acted as he pleased. But right now, facing a hopeless situation, he couldn't do anything. He gently put Xiao Long Nu's body to the side and knelt down on the ground. He secretly prayed, "So long as God have mercy and let her injured body recover, I will.. .. I will.. .." To redeem Xiao Long Nu's life, how would there be anything he was not willing to do?

    While he was praying, Xiao Long Nu suddenly said, "It was Ou Yang Feng. Sun Po Po [Grandma Sun] said it was Ou Yang Feng! .. .. Guo Er, Guo Er, where are you?" She called out in alarm and lifted her body up. Yang Guo quickly sat down by the bed, grabbed her hand, and said, "I'm here." In her sleep, Xiao Long Nu felt her body without support so she immediately woke up. Seeing now that Yang Guo was still right by her body and hadn't gone anywhere, she was greatly consoled.

    Yang Guo said, "Don't worry. In this lifetime, I'll never leave you. And in the future, when we leave Gu Mu, I will never leave your side even for a bit." Xiao Long Nu said, "In the outside world, sure enough there are so many good places to go. But when we get outside, I'll still be afraid." Yang Guo said, "Today we don't have to fear anything. We'll wait for a few months for your body to recover, and then we'll head south. I've heard that Ling Nan [a place in South China] is warm like Spring all year round. The flowers bloom and don't wither and the leaves always stay green. We'll put down our swords. We'll grow plants and raise small chickens and ducks. We'll live under the southern sun for the rest of our lives and have many many boys and girls. Do you think these are good ideas?" Xiao Long Nu daydreamed and gently said, "We'll put down our swords forever. That's wonderful! Nodody hurts us and we don't need to hurt others. We'll grow things in a farm and we'll keep chickens and ducks.. .. Oh, only if I don't die.. .."

    For the moment, the two hearts flew to a far-away Southern place, which was blessed with Spring breezes and morning sun. They could smell the rich flower fragrant and they could hear the sounds of small chickens and ducks clucking.. ..

    No longer being able to support her head, Xiao Long Nu was about to slip into a blur. But she was determined not to sleep so she said, "I don't want to sleep. You keep talking to me." Yang Guo said, "Just now in your sleep you said something about Ou Yang Feng. What was the matter?" Xiao Long Nu then said, "I said Ou Yang Feng? What about him?" Yang Guo added, "You also said Sun Po Po [Grandma Sun] decided that it was him." As Xiao Long Nu heard him saying that, she immediately recalled something and said, "Oh! Sun Po Po said the man who injured my master had to be West Poison Ou Yang Feng. She said in the world there were only very few people who could have hurt my master. And Ou Yang Feng was the only bad person among those people. Until her death, my master never said that evil person's name. Sun Po Po asked her 'Is it Ou Yang Feng, is it Ou Yang Feng?' but my master shook her head, smiled, and then passed away. Isn't that Ou Yang Feng your adoptive father? His martial skills were really high, no wonder my master couldn't defeat him."

    Yang Guo sighed and said, "My adoptive father has died. Martial Grandma and Sun Po Po have died. Master Chong Yang and Ancestor Grandma have died. Hatred, love, and death were all written off by God. It was like my martial grandma could see the future so she was not willing to say my adoptive father's name.. .." But suddenly he shouted, "Oh, that must be it!"

    Xiao Long Nu asked, "What have you figured out?" Yang Guo replied, "Li Mo Chou didn't unseal my adoptive father's pressure point that Martial Grandma hit. Actually, it was because Martial Grandma didn't hit the mark in the first place!" Xiao Long Nu said, "She didn't hit the mark? That was not possible. My master's acupoint sealing skill was really remarkable." Yang Guo said, "My adoptive father had two of the world's wonder martial skills. In his whole body, the vital energy could circulate against the normal flow. The opposite circulation shifted all his pressure points so sealing the pressure point actually meant missing the point. Xiao Long Nu said, "There is something that strange?"

    Yang Guo said, "Let me try it for you to see." Having said that, he got up and used his hand to prop himself on the ground, with his head down and legs up in the air. Then he quickly spinned himself, making a few rounds, and then breathed in a few times. Suddenly he jumped up and precisely bumped his head into a pointed corner of the table in front of the bed. Xiao Long Nu cried out, "Ai yo, be careful!" only to see the "Hundred Meetings" point [Bai Hui] on his head hit the corner of the stone table hard. This "Hundred Meetings" point was right on top of the brain, where the vertical line from the front to the back of the head and the horizontal line from the left ear to the right ear intersect, and hence the name "hundred meetings point." This was a vital pressure point, which controlled all the veins. Doctors usually compared it to the North star, as in the saying "Bai Hui [Hundred Meetings] is sky, Xuan Ji [Jade Pearl -chest] is man, and Yong Quan [Bubbling Spring -legs] is earth," which was to say that these "three big pressure points" were the most critical in a human body. Knowing this, Yang Guo bumped it right into a table corner and then turned around to stand erect. With a laugh he said, "You see, as the energy flew into the opposite direction, my Hundred Meetings point changed its position!" Xiao Long Nu clucked her tongue in approval and said, "How really strange. And he came up with that!"

    Hitting himself this time, even though Yang Guo didn't seal his pressure point, he used quite a bit of force and his brain couldn't help becoming dull. In his daze, he seemed to have figured out something important all of a sudden but couldn't quite say what it was. Xiao Long Nu saw him looking dazed and disoriented so she said with a smile, "Dumb kid, a gentle demonstration would have been enough. Nobody told you to crash so hard. Does it hurt?" Yang Guo didn't reply, just waving his hand for her to stop talking. He concentrated on his thought but felt like there was a fuzzy shadow flashing in his brain, barring him from getting a clear picture. It seemed he needed to recall something from the past, yet it was also like he'd suddenly dicovered something new. He wished he could have just taken it out from his brain, stopped that moving shadow, put that thought before his eyes and clearly looked at it.

    He thought for a while. Still he couldn't grasp the main points and couldn't give up thinking either. He grabbed his head. Quite vexed, he asked Xiao Long Nu, "Long Er, I've figured out an extremely important matter but I don't know what. Do you know?" When a person got his thoughts mixed up like entangled threads and he himself didn't have a clue, asking another person what he was thinking was quite ridiculous. But for the two of them who had lived together for a long time and understood each other very well, their guesses would be correct most of the times. Xiao Long Nu said, "This is a very important matter?" Yang Guo replied, "Yes." Xiao Long Nu asked, "Is it related to my injury? Delighted, Yang Guo said, "Good, very good! What matter is that? What have I figured out?"

    With a chuckle, Xiao Long Nu said, "You just talked about your adoptive father Ou Yang Feng. You said he could direct vital energy to circulate in the opposite direction. Is this related to my injured condition? I'm not the person he injured.. .." Yang Guo suddenly jumped up and shouted out loudly, "Got it!"

    These two words "Got it!" were brightly loud. The doors of the stone chambers inside Gu Mu were not closed so each and every word spoken out echoed back, "Got it, Got it.. .." Yang Guo grabbed Xiao Long Nu's right arm and repeatedly cried out, "You could be saved! You could be saved! You could be saved!" He couldn't restrain his happiness; nor could he really find words to express it. Seeing him all excited, Xiao Long Nu was infected with this joyous feeling. She sat up.

    Yang Guo said, "Long Er, you listen to my words. Right now you are seriously injured so you can't use our sect's Jade Maiden skills. And this makes it difficult for you to recover from the injury. But if you can circulate your vital energy against the flow to heal yourself, the chilled jade bed will precisely be a marvelous aid. Xiao Long Nu was yet to understand. She mumbled, "Vital energy against the flow.. .. the chilled jade bed.. .." Happily, Yang Guo said, "Would you say this is fate? You'd practised the Jade Maiden skills, that was good enough. On top of that we have the chilled jade bed." Xiao Long Nu became confused so she said, "I still don't quite understand." Yang Guo then explained, "The Jade Maiden skills follow the Yin energy but the reverse flow skills are pure Yang. When I talked about my adoptive father's reverse energy flow skills, I vaguely felt like your injured condition could be healed. Then I hit my head and, afterwards, recalled what Master Chong Yang mentioned in his letter about the chilled jade. And it all became clear." Xiao Long Nu said, "So is that to say our ancestor grandma, who used the chilled jade bed to treat her injury, could reverse the energy flow as well? Yang Guo said, "That's not likely. Our ancestor grandma would definitely not know this reverse energy flow technique. But I suspect that she was injured by the Yin's soft internal energy. Your injury, on the other hand, was caused by the opposite force of the hard Yang." Xiao Long Nu smiled and nodded. Then with a joyful feeling, she put her mind at ease.

    Yang Guo said, "We'd better not wait. Let us do it now." He then went into the firewood room and took out a bunch of firewoods. He lit them up in the corner of the stone room. Then he taught Xiao Long Nu the most basic elements of the reverse energy flow skills and helped her sit up on the chilled jade bed. He himself sit by the fire. As he used his left hand to press against Xiao Long Nu's right palm, he said, "I'll push this heat through each of your pressure points and you use your internal energy to circulate it against the normal flow. We'll do it one point at a time and when the heat comes back to the chilled jade bed, your injured condition should improve a little bit." With a smile Xiao Long Nu said, "Do I have to get down and spin myself just like you did?" Yang Guo said, "Nah, that's not necessary. Spinning is for shifting pressure points. It's only good when fighting enemies. We are slowly healing your injury, sitting down here is just as good."

    Xiao Long Nu stretched her hand to hold his left palm and with a smile she said, "Come to think of it, that Guo Gu Niang wasn't too mean. She didn't cut off both of your arms." The two people had been through so many near death incidents that the matter of missing an arm became trivial. And Xiao Long Nu was even joking about it. Yang Guo also laughed and retorted, "If both of my arms got cut off, I'd still have two feet. Only that using my soles to help you circulate the energy would be hilariously smelly and not quite elegant." Xiao Long Nu scoffed and then silently recited the principle of reverse energy flow. After a while, she said, "I've got it!"

    Yang Guo saw that the fire was burning too intense so he got up to slow it down. And just when they were about to begin circulating the energy, he suddenly called out, "Ai yo! I almost missed one important detail! Xiao Long Nu said, "What is it?" Yang Guo pointed to Guo Xiang who were sleeping at the foot of the bed and said, "At a critical moment, if this little devil cries out, it will be quite a disaster!" Xiao Long Nu then murmured, "Very dangerous!" When one was circulating and cultivating energy, the most evil taboo was a disturbed mind. Quite some time ago, Xiao Long Nu and Yang Guo were practising their Jade Maiden skills and was discovered by Yin Zhi Ping and Zhao Zhi Jing. Xiao Long Nu's anger caused her to spit up blood and almost died. In addition to that, at that time her body was normally healthy. Today she was heavy injured, how would she be able to withstand any bit of distraction?

    Yang Guo mixed half a bowl of the bee syrup, picked up Guo Xiang, and fed her before moving her to a distant stone chamber. He shut two doors between them so even if she cried out, they wouldn't hear her. Then he came back to stay by the chilled jade bed and said, "To clear the thirty-six major pressure points your body, I think at best it will take ten days and at worst about half a month. Originally it should have taken many many days because it's hard to avoid distraction. But our Gu Mu is completely isolated from the outside world, making it the best place on earth for recovery. Even the most remoted wild mountain or valley won't be as good because there will always be the sound of birds or the smell of flowers to disturb one's mind." Xiao Long Nu smiled and said, "My injury was caused by the Quan Zhen Taoists but it was their founding master who gave us the tomb chamber and the chilled jade bed for me to rest and recover in. So their merits and crimes actually cancelled out each other." Then Yang Guo said, "What about that Jin Lun Fa Wang? We can't let him get away with it."

    Xiao Long Nu sighed and said, "So long as I can live, what else do you have to be unhappy about?" Yang Guo held her hand and said, "You are right. This time after you've recovered, we'll never fight with people again. God is so kind to us. Hmmm." Xiao Long Nu gently said, "We'll go South to become farmers and we'll raise a lot of chickens and ducks.. .." As she was saying that, she felt the heat energy passing into her body. With a trembled heart, she used the reverse energy flow technique that Yang Guo taught her to circulate that energy.

    This healing method of using the reverse energy flow technique and the chilled jade bed to complement each other was really strange but the result was also very effective. Years ago, Reverend Yi Deng had used the divine one Yang finger to cure Huang Rong's injury by circulating energy and clearing all her pressure points in pretty much the same way. The difference was that using the one Yang finger to cure an illness hostilely consumed a lot of [Reverend Yi Deng's] internal energy and hence a quick recovery while Yang Guo's method would take many days to see the result. And more than that, for a non-martial person who was heavily injured, a master of the one Yang finger would use his profound internal energy to help the injured circulate the Yang energy and thus brought him back to life. In Xiao Long Nu's case, she didn't have a very deep internal energy foundation but she and Yang Guo were from the same sect, yet could use different techniques. Not even Ou Yang Feng coming back from the grave or Huang Yao Shi arriving could create a harmony between the helper and the helped like this. And nor would they be able to help Xiao Long Nu to reverse her energy flow without innumerable difficulties.

    Three times a day, Yang Guo would go out to feed Guo Xiang with honey and boiled pumpkin. Other than that he rarely left Xiao Long Nu's side. To clear major pressure points, sometimes it would take four or five hours during which their hands could not be separated. At the time Guo Jing was injured, Huang Rong spent seven days and seven nights helping him cure the injuries. Compared to Guo Jing's sturdy body, Xiao Long Nu's was far more delicate and so her injury was many times more serious.

    ----------------------------

    That day at the outskirt of the woods, Huang Rong used her "Orchid Brushing Acupoint" skills to defeat Li Mo Chou. Then she looked everywhere but still couldn't find her baby Guo Xiang. She was filled with anxiety and sorrow. As she came out of the forest, she shouted at Li Mo Chou, "What kind of tricks did you use? Where did you hide my baby?" Surprised, Li Mo Chou said, "Isn't the little girl tucked behind the thorn fence?" Huang Rong was so worried that she almost broke down in tears. She shook her head and replied, "She's disappeared." Li Mo Chou had been fostering Guo Xiang for many days and was quite attached to her. Suddenly hearing that she was missing, her heart skipped a beat. She quickly said, "Must be either Yang Guo or Jin Lun Fa Wang." Huang Rong then asked, "How do you know?"

    Then Li Mo Chou told her about her fight with Yang Guo and Fa Wang over the baby outside the wall of Xiang Yang. As she talked about dangers, Huang Rong couldn't keep her indifferent appearance. Seeing Li Mo Chou's worried expression, Huang Rong was then convinced that she didn't know where Guo Xiang was and so she stretched out her hand to unseal the "Jade Pearl" pressure point [Xuan Ji] on her chest. With Huang Rong's technique, Li Mo Chou could move round but she wouldn't be able to hurt anyone within a twelve-hour period. With a forced smile, Li Mou Chou straightened up her body and brushed away the dirts. She said, "If it was Yang Guo who took her, she wouldn't be harmed. I'm only afraid that Fa Wang snatched her." Huang Rong asked again, "Why is that?" Li Mou Chou replied, "Yang Guo was extremely good with the little baby girl. He really quickly protected her from harms. That was why I blindly thought she was his daughter." Having realized what she just said, she suddenly shut up for fear that Huang Rong would get angry again.

    But really Huang Rong's mind was occupied by another matter. She was thinking about how Yang Guo and Li Mo Chou battled with Jin Lun Fa Wang to protect Guo Xiang, while she herself and Guo Fu wrongly accused him of abominable crimes, and how Guo Fu had cut off his arm. Deep down in her heart was a grim regret. She blamed herself, "Alas, Guo Er has saved Jing Ge Ge [Brother Jing]. He's saved me. He's saved Fu Er. And yet this time he's saved Xiang Er.. .. First impressions always stuck in my heart. I thought about his terribly evil father and then concluded that the son had to be like the father. I never trusted him.. .. Ocassionally I was treating him nicely and then I'd suspect him of doing something again. Rong Er.. Rong Er.. You've prided yourself on being intelligent. You've spoken of confidentiality and righteousness. You are really nothing like Jing Ge Ge [Brother Jing].

    Seeing tears brimming in her eyes, Li Mo Chou thought she was worried about her daughter's safety. So she urged, "Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo], your daughter is only a month old. She's gone through quite a catastrophe but not even a single hair on her head is damaged. She was born as pretty as a doll [jade snow]. Even a she-devil, who killed people without batting an eye like myself, likes her very much. She must have been born with a lucky life.. the life that will change misfortune into fortune. And for all that, you can be at peace. Let the two of us go look for her together."

    Huang Rong wiped away the tears with her shirt sleeve and thought that what Li Mo Chou said was quite right. She also thought, "Honesty is the best way. Later on, I'll let people think badly of me but I won't think badly of people." Then she stretched out her hand to unseal Li Mo Chou's "Jade Pearl" point [Xuan Ji] again and said, "Li Dao Zhang [Sister Li] is willing to go find my daugther with me, I'm very grateful. But if you have an important matter to attend to, I'll see you later."

    Li Mochou said, "What important matter? The most important thing is to find this little baby. You wait a minute!" Having said that, she rushed to the big hole inside a big tree and untied a rope on a leopard's foot. Then she slapped its behind and said, "Off you go." That leopard let out a low roar and quickly disappeared into the long grass. Puzzled, Huang Rong asked, "What did the leopard do?" With a laugh, Li Mo Chou said, "That was your daughter's wetnurse."

    Huang Rong smiled faintly and the two people headed back into town. Then they saw Guo Fu standing at the road that led into town. She was waiting impatiently for her mother.

    Seeing Huang Rong, Guo Fu jumped up with joy and called out, "Ma [Mother], little sister was.. .." She cut herself off in mid-sentence when she unexpectedly saw that standing behind her mother was Li Mo Chou and she couldn't help being frightened. She prepared herself to fight. At normal times, she heard Wu Di Xiong [The Wu Brothers] said that Li Mo Chou killed their mother so in her heart this was the most evil person on earth.

    Huang Rong said, "Li Dao Zhang [Sister Li] is helping us searching for your little sister. What did you say about your sister just now?" Guo Fu replied, "Mei Mei [Sister] was kidnapped by Yang Guo. And he also snatched my little red horse away with him. You look at this sword." Having said that, she raised a bent sword to show her mother and said, "He used his empty shirt sleeve to strike it. The sword hit the corner of a wall and it turned out like this." Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou asked at the same time, "Using his shirt sleeve?" Guo Fu replied, "Right, it was really weird! Who would have thought he'd learned a devil Kung fu."

    Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou looked at each other in amazement. The two of them naturally knew that a person with extremely profound internal energy could definitely turn silk into a stick, or using a soft material to strike a hard object. However, even such a renowned and talented master could be found, he would still need thirty or forty years of practice to reach that level. With a very young age, Yang Guo surprisingly had reached this high stage. And this was extremely rare. As Huang Rong heard that her daughter was taken by Yang Guo, she felt quite relief. Li Mo Chou, on the other hand, thought to herself, "This boy's marvelous Kung Fu must be the result of learning from my master's Jade Maiden manual. Right now I have Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo] with me. If I help her get her daughter back, she will help me snatch the manual. I'm the first disciple of the sect. Even though Shi Mei [Apprentice Sister] was Master's favorite, she already broke the sect's rule. How could I let the manual fall into a man's hand?" And with this thought, she felt herself quite righteous.

    Huang Rong had tracked down Yang Guo's direction and said, "Fu Er, you don't have to go back to the Peach Blossom Island anymore. We'll go find Yang Da Ge [Big Brother Yang] together." Guo Fu was very pleased, saying, "Okay, Okay!" But then when she thought that she would have to see Yang Guo, her face turned completely awkward. Huang Rong's face was grim and she said, "When you see him again, don't ask him if he's forgiven you. You have to sincerely take the blame and apologize." In her heart, Guo Fu didn't want to submit so she said, "Why do I have to do it? Isn't he the one kidnapping Mei Mei [Sister]?" Huang Rong simply rephrased Li Mo Chou's words and said, "If he really had an evil intention, do you think your sister would still live today? Also, If he didn't just hit your sword but rather aimed at your small head, don't you think right now there would be quite a pretty scene?"

    Hearing her mother's words, Guo Fu still couldn't help but shiver inside. She secretly thought, "Is that to say he's really shown mercy?" But since she had been spoiled since she was little so she still argued, "He's snatched my sister away, naturally he is already on his way to the Passionless Valley!" Huang Rong shook her head and said, "No, he would definitely go back to Mount Zhong Nan." Guo Fu pursed her lips and said, "Ma, you are completely helping him! If he really had a good intention, why wouldn't he bring Mei Mei back to us in Xiang Yang? For what reason would he have to take her to Mount Zhong Nan?"

    Huang Rong sighed and said, "You and Yang Da Ge [Big Brother Yang] grew up together. For all that you still don't understand his character! He's always been arrogant and he's never taken kindly to insults. You cut off his arm. He could have taken your life but he didn't have the heart to. But for this matter, he also wouldn't back down. He took your sister away to make us worry. When time passes and his anger disappears, he'll just bring your sister back to us. Have you understood? You accused him of stealing your little sister so he simply did it to show you that he could!

    Huang Rong returned to the small restaurant that they just visited. She borrowed stationary and penned a short letter. Then she gave the store partner two silver coins for him to deliver the letter to Guo Jing in Xiang Yang. That man said, "Guo Da Sha [Hero Guo] protects our borders and keeps our mind at ease. He really is our people's Buddha. If we little people could help in anyway, we'll not hesitate." He also was not willing to take the money. He picked up the letter and happily left. Guo Fu saw the many people revere her father like this, she was very pleased in her heart.

    The three people bought mules and set out toward Mount Zhong Nan. Guo Fu didn't like Li Mo Chou and they rarely talk on the way. When she bumped into Li Mo Chou by chance and couldn't avoid talking, her expression would turn cold. They started traveling in the morning and stopped at night to rest. The journey was smooth. But this afternoon, while the three of them rode in a line, they saw someone speeding her horse towards them.


    END OF CHAPTER 28



    Last edited by BeeDreamer : 05-22-05 at 11:30 PM
    Last edited by Du Gu seeking a win; 06-23-05 at 02:39 PM.

  14. #54
    Senior Member Du Gu seeking a win's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    453

    Default Chapter 29 (BeeDreamer)

    -


    Chapter 29

    Ultimate Disasters

    Guo Fu called out, "It's my little red horse. It's my.. .." As she was saying that, the red horse rushed to the front. Guo Fu leapt forward. The red horse recognized its master and didn't need for her to pull the rein. It fought to stop, raised its head, and neighed.

    Guo Fu saw that mounting on the horse was a young girl dressed in black. When they met before, Guo Fu was fighting side by side with her against Li Mo Chou. This girl was indeed Wan Yan Ping. Her hair was disheveled. Her face was greenish pale. And she looked extremely distressed. Seeing that, Guo Fu asked, "Wan Yan Zi Zi [Elder Sister Wan Yan], what's happened with you?" Wan Yan Ping pointed her finger to the path she just came from and said, "Quick.., Quick.. .." Suddenly her body toppled, falling down from the horse. Guo Fu cried out in alarm and reached out to support her. She turned to her mother and said, "Ma, this is that elder sister Wan Yan." While saying that, she gave Li Mo Chou a stare.

    Huang Rong mused, "She raced the precious horse [Han Xie Yu] like this. Nobody in the world could catch up with her so of course she was not in danger. But when she pointed her finger to the North, she had the distressed look. She must be worried about other people. We must rush out to help them." So she told her daughter to help Wan Yan Ping sit up on the horse and also said, "This horse's feet are too swift. You can't rush ahead of me no matter what!" Guo Fu asked, "Why not?" Huang Rong quipped, "There's a great danger lying ahead. How have you not figured it out?" Having said that, she gave Li Mo Chou a hand signal and the two of them galloped north.

    After rushing for ten miles, they heard the faint sounds of weapons clashing from the other side of the mountain as expected. Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou urged the horse to go around the mountain and then in the field before them they saw five people engaging in a wicked fight. Two of them were the Wu brothers. There were also a young man and a young woman Huang Rong did not recognize. The four of them were fighting against a middle-aged man and even though it was four against one, they were defending more than attacking. The Wu brothers were both wounded and that young man was fiercely brandishing his long sword against that middle-aged man's better moves. Lying down on the ground nearby was another person, Wu San Tong, who was incessantly yelling and shouting.

    Huang Rong saw that man's left hand holding a large flashing gold knife and his right hand wielding a thin, long, black sword. His sword moves were strangely fantastic and not something she'd seen before. If she herself didn't jump in, the Wu brothers would definitely be in imminent danger. So she said to Li Mo Chou, "Those two young men are my disciples." Li Mo Chou let out a laugh and said, "Their mother was killed by me. How can it be that you don't know?" Li Mo Chou saw that the middle-aged man's martial skills were strangely high. She'd never heard that there was such a person in Jiang Hu [the martial world] and she was secretly quite astonished. Finally, she faintly smiled and said, "Let's fight!" Li Mo Chou pulled out her brush while Huang Rong also held firm the bamboo cane in her hand. Then together the two of them approached that man from left and right. Li Mo Chou's brush attacked his black sword while Huang Rong's bamboo cane tangled his gold knife.

    This middle-aged man was of course the master of the Passionless Valley sect Gong Sun Zhi. As he suddenly saw two middle-aged beautiful females coming to attack in pair, his heart shook. But then he heard Li Mo Chou shout, "One!" and her brush was wielded out. "Two!" she called out again. At first she and Huang Rong were secretly comparing their strength to see who would first beat this person but as she continuously counted to "ten", Gong Sun Zhi was still attacking and defending. Then, with three stances, the young man's sword was thrusted to the back of Gong Sun Zhi. These sword stances were packed with fierce strength. Gong Sun Zhi knew if he'd eventually lose if he continued to fight so he didn't try to block them but instead jumped forward over ten feet. He looked at Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou and secretly thought, "Where did these two ferocious women come from?" But oh, how beautiful they are!" Having thought that, he clashed his knife and sword, making a weng-weng sound, and then leapt up again.

    Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou didn't dare to underestimate the enemy so they put up their tight guards. That Gong Sun Zhi turned his body around in midair and when he dropped to the ground, he got up again and rushed up the mountain. With a smile, Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou looked at each other and both thought, "This person had powerful martial skills and was also cunning. If fighting by myself, I'm afraid that I wouldn't be his match."

    The Wu brothers pressed the wounds with their hands and moved forward to kowtow to their Shi Mu [Martial Mother]. Then they both stood up and angrily stared at Li Mo Chou. Huang Rong said, "You won't settle the old debt today. Your father's injury would be in the way, wouldn't it? Who are these two people? Ai yo, wretched! Li Zi Zi [Elder Sister Li] come with me quick!" She didn't even waste time getting on the horse but flew her body toward the road and rushed out. Li Mo Chou didn't get her meaning but still followed her. Then she asked, "What's the matter?" Huang Rong answered, "Fu Er, Fu Er will run right into this person!"

    The two persons used their internal energy to pursue him but Gong Sun Zhi was really fast. Only with a somewhat small delay, he'd already left them way behind.

    Guo Fu were supporting Wan Yan Ping with both hands. Both of them rode the red horse and slowly emerged from behind the mountain. Huang Rong saw them from a distance so she used her internal energy to call out, "Fu Er, be careful!" Her sound hadn't even faded off when Gong Sun Zhi quickly approached them and jumped up onto the horseback. He stretched out his hand to hold still Guo Fu while pulling the rein to turn the horse head around. Seeing that, Huang Rong puckered her lips to whistle and then rushed forward.

    Gong Sun Zhi was startled and thought, "How come today all my affairs went wrong like this? Can't I even befriend a domesticated animal?" Then he exerted his strength to rein in the horse. This force was not weak and so the red horse let out a long neigh and reared itself up. Thinking to flee southward, Gong Sun Zhi forced the horse to turn around but instead it flitted about and kicked up its legs. And then it unexpectedly moved backwards step-by-step. Delighted, Huang Rong sped up. Gong Sun Zhi saw that the red horse was incredibly stubborn and that Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou were closing in, he resheathed the weapons. Holding Guo Fu with his right hand and Wan Yan Ping with his left, they got off the horse. Now Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou, with their lightness kung fu, were approaching fast and were only a short distance away.

    Gong Sun Zhi turned around and said with a smile, "If I squeeze my arms, will these two beautiful and delicate girls still live?" Huang Rong asked, "Who are you, sir? You and I have never met. How could you capture my daughter?" With a smile Gong Sun Zhi said, "This is your daughter? Are you really Wan Yan Fu Ren [Madame Wan Yan]? Huang Rong pointed at Guo Fu and said, "That one is my daughter!" Gong Sun Zhi looked at Guo Fu and turned to gaze at Huang Rong. With a grin he said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, very beautiful. Mother and daughter are both beautiful, very beautiful!"

    Although Huang Rong was furious, her daughter was in his hand. She had to be careful not to fight the enemy and harm her daughter in the process. Therefore she had used a delay tactic and reasoned with him. But suddenly she heard the two 'Sou''Sou' whishing sounds from behind. Two long arrows flew past her own left cheek and straight towards Gong Sun Zhi. The arrows were fiercely fast and they made extremely loud sounds while cutting through the air. Upon hearing the sounds of the arrows, she was so happy she almost cried out, thinking it was surely her husband arriving. The martial masters in the central plains of China rarely learned arrow techniques. And even though Mongolian warriors' arrow techniques were refined, without solid internal energy it was difficult to send an arrow very far. These two arrows were making such loud and solid sounds like this. Except Guo Jing, she'd never seen any other person who could do it. But this arrow skill was actually still far from Guo Jing's level. By the time the arrows were halfway in the air, Huang Rong realized that the shooter was not her husband.

    Seeing the arrows zooming in, Gong Sun Zhi opened his mouth and bit the tip of the first arrow and at the same time stepped aside, using the arrow shaft in his mouth to brush away the second one. Huang Rong thought, "If it were Jing Ge Ge [Brother Jing] who shot these arrows, I bet using your mouth to catch an arrow like this would give you a hole in your throat." As she was about to move forward, she heard a series of 'Sou' 'Sou' whishing sounds again. Nine arrows flew in one by one, aiming at the area between Gong Sun Zhi's eyebrows. And this time, in a tight situation, Gong Sun Zhi had to put down the two girls and pulled out his sword to block the arrows.

    As Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou quickly rushed forward to rescue the two girls, they saw a flashing gray shadow rolling Guo Fu to the roadside. When that body turned over to get up, Gong Sun Zhi, ignoring his gold knife, shot out his bare palm to strike the top of that person's head.

    Lying on the ground, that person turned over his palm to block the attack. There came a clashing sound. Dust flew up all over the place. Gong Sun Zhi then called out, "Good!" and sent out his second strike, with more strength this time. Seeing that it would be difficult for that person to block the attack, Huang Rong lashed out her dog beating stick, using the "seal" stance to intercept that palm strike. Gong Sun Zhi saw himself surrounded by the enemies. He knew that he couldn't win today. So with a 'Ha''Ha' laugh, he backed out three steps and turned his body to walk away. He appeared to carry himself naturally, with martial grace. Huang Rong and others didn't dare to pursue.

    While still holding Guo Fu, that person stood up. Then he dropped his arms. Huang Rong saw that he had a tall body with broad biceps, with a long bow hanging from his waist. This was precisely that youth who fought with a sword earlier. Also, naturally he was the one who shot out those eleven arrows. Even though Guo Fu fell into Gong Sun Zhi's clutch just now, she wasn't injured at all and so she said, "Ye Lu Da Ge [Big Brother Ye Lu], many thanks for saving me." While saying that, she blushed prettily.

    By this time Wu Xiu Wen and a young girl caught up with them, leaving Wu Dun Ru to take care of his father. Normally, Wu Xiu Wen should be the one introducing everybody but he was filled with rage and was viciously eyeing Li Mo Chou. He forgot everybody else at present. Huang Rong called him twice but he didn't even hear it. Li Mo Chou actually already stood far away from them with her hands behind her back, watching the scenery. She of course didn't pay attention to these many people.

    Guo Fu pointed at the young man who had just rescued her and said to her mother, "Ma, this person is Ye Lu Qi, Ye Lu Da Ge [Big Brother Ye Lu]." Then she pointed at the tall young girl and said, "And this is Ye Lu Yan, Ye Lu Zi Zi [Elder Sister Ye Lu]." Huang Rong then praised them, "You two have quite wonderful kung fus!" The Ye Lu siblings together replied, "Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo] praised us!" and moved forward to pay respect.

    Huang Rong then asked, "It looks like you two use the Quan Zhen sect's kung fu. May I ask which of the Quan Zhen seven masters is your master?" She saw Ye Lu Qi's martial skills and, except Yang Guo one person, couldn't think of any other fourth generation disciple of the Quan Zhen sect. Ye Lu Yan said, "My brother taught me my martial skills." Huang Rong nodded and turned to look at Ye Lu Qi. Ye Lu Qi felt quite awkward and said, "Elder asked me a question, I really should give you a truthful answer. Only that my master has forbidden me, the young generation, to mention his old name. Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo], please forgive me."

    Huang Rong was startled and thought, "Would the Quan Zhen seven masters come up with this strange rule? This young man's martial skills were quite excellent, why couldn't he say his master's name?" Having thought this far, she suddenly burst out into a laugh and bent over with hands on her belly. This matter was really extremely funny. Puzzled, Guo Fu asked, "Ma, what's so funny?" She heard her mother seriously asked Ye Lu Qi which sect he belonged to. And suddenly she broke out laughing like this. She was afraid that Ye Lu Qi would be upset so, embarrased, she asked again, "Ma, Ye Lu Da Ge [Brother Ye Lu] can't say it. That's okay. What's so funny?" Still laughing, Huang Rong didn't answer. Ye Lu Qi had a smiling expression on his face and said, "Seems like Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo] guessed correctly." Guo Fu was at a loss. She turned her head to look at Ye Lu Yan and saw that she was also in the dark, not understanding what the two persons were laughing about.

    Right now Wu Xiu Wen were kneeling down to bandage Wan Yan Ping's injury. Just now she was held hostage by Gong Sun Zhi and twisted her left ankle while escaping. Huang Rong asked, "Xiu Er, how's your father's wound condition?" Wu Xiu Wen replied, "Father was cut by that old Gong Sun's sword. His left leg was injured but luckily the sword didn't damage his bone." Huang Rong nodded and walked over to lightly stroke the precious horse's mane. She gently said, "Horsy, oh horsy, our Guo family wouldn't be able to repay you for your deep affection." Then she saw that Wu Xiu Wen, with his rather strange expression, didn't speak to Guo Fu all along but took extremely good care of Wan Yan Ping. Yet she didn't know whether he did this to show Guo Fu or he really was fond of this girl. She decided not to pursue the matter and said, "Let us go get your father."

    Wu San Tong was originally sitting on the ground. When he saw Huang Rong approaching, he called out, "Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo]!" and got up. He had a leg wound so his body was swaying. Wu Dun Ru and Ye Lu Yan reached out to hold him at the same time. As their hands bumped, they looked at each other with a smile.

    Huang Rong secretly laughed in her heart, "How nice, another couple! Just a few days ago, the brothers were willing to kill each other for Fu Er, not thinking about their blood ties. Now that the boys have met pretty girls, they instantly turned around and forgot all about their original feelings." Suddenly she thought about Guo Jing and her heart couldn't help but swell with pride. Jing Ge Ge [Brother Jing] always stayed true to her and never changed, be it in good or bad fortune. How would these youths be able to compare to him? Then she thought about Yang Guo. She felt that his relationship with Xiao Long Nu was unseemly. But she also knew that he was smart about relationships and stayed faithful to his love both in life and in death. That was actually something to be revered and respected.

    The Wu brothers and Guo Fu grew up together on the Peach Blossom Island. First, on the island there was no other girl of their age. Second, time made the hearts grow fonder. If the two brothers didn't fell in love with Guo Fu, that wouldn't make sense at all. Later on, they suddenly found out that Guo Fu didn't return their feelings, they were brokenhearted and said that they would live a life without joy like this forever. They had no way of knowing that a short while later they would meet Ye Lu Yan and Wan Yan Ping they really should symphatize with. This time the the Wu brothers ran into Guo Fu, they secretly compared their sweethearts to her. The brothers felt that their loved ones were not only not inferior to Guo Fu but also even better. One thought, "Ye Lu Gu Niang [Miss Ye Lu] is open and kind. How could she be like you who are scheming and narrow-minded?" The other thought, "Wan Yan Gu Niang is clearly pitiful. She is also gentle and polite. How could she be like you who everyday make people miserable?" The brothers had earlier vowed not to see Guo Fu again but now ran into her by accident and couldn't quite escape. They both thought, "Today I didn't intend to go looking for you so this couldn't be regarded as breaking a vow."

    In Guo Fu's mind, she only thought about how she had been captured by Gong Sun Zhi just now and how Ye Lu Qi had saved her. She stole a look at him several times and saw that he was tall and handsome. She couldn't help secretly thinking, "I met him for the first time last year and later forgot all about him. At that time I didn't know that his martial skills would be like this. Mother and he were laughing together. What were they laughing about?"

    Huang Rong examined the sword wound on Wu San Tong's leg. Fortunately, it wouldn't be a great obstacle. Then everybody shared their stories.

    That day Wu San Tong, Zhu Zi Liu and Martial Uncle Indian monk left for the Passionless Valley to seek the antidote for Yang Guo. Just outside of Xiang Yang, Wu San Tong ran into his two sons. Startled and afraid that they would fight again, he quickly told Zhu Zi Liu to accompany Martial Uncle to go ahead. Then he rushed out to stop the Wu brothers and asked questions. As it turned out, the Wu brothers both followed their vow spoken to Yang Guo about not seeing Guo Fu again so they didn't want to stay in Xiang Yang anymore. Wu San Tong was reassured so he praised them, "Good boys, you've got guts!" He also said, "Yang Xiong Di [Brother Yang] risked his own life to save us. Now he is in trouble, how can we not try to help him? The three of us, father and sons, should go to the Passionless Valley together."

    But the Passionless Valley was like a paradise outside this world. Although Yang Guo had told them about its approximate location, it was actually not easy to find the entrance. The three people went around in circle and took many paths but still they couldn't find the Valley entrance. The Indian monk and Zhu Zi Liu had already fallen into the enemy's trap and been captured by the fishnets of Qiu Qian Chi's disciples. Wu San Tong and his sons tried many times to help them without success and almost fell into the gorge. With no choice but to retreat, they thought that they would go back to Xiang Yang to find help. Unfortunately, they ran into Gong Sun Zhi who said the three of them were trespassing and then attacked them. Wu San Tong was not his match and was cut in the leg. Gong Sun Zhi didn't really want the three people's lives and so he just forced them to quickly leave and told them never to come back.

    By this time, the Ye Lu siblings and Wan Yan Ping happened to ride into view. The three people and the Wu brothers used to fight together so they got off their horses and started talking about the old times. Gong Sun Zhi was looking at them coldly from the side. He failed to marry Xiao Long Nu and got kicked off the sect by his wife so he was actually bored to death. Seeing that Wan Yan Ping was young and beautiful, he couldn't curb his evil intention and suddenly snatched her away with him. This time, the Ye Lu siblings and the Wu brothers all immediately jumped in to fight. If Wu San Tong hadn't been injured, it would be six people joining force and they would have a chance against Gong Sun Zhi. However, his leg was wounded so Ye Lu Qi was the only strong fighter among them and they couldn't fend off Gong Sun Zhi. It just so happened that the precious horse [Han Xie Yu] was running back by himself from Mount Zhong Nan and heading towards Xiang Yang. Wu Xiu Ren grabbed him and let Wan Yan Ping ride away, hoping that Gong Sun Zhi would lose interest after the swan was gone. They didn't expect that Huang Rong and Li Mo Chou would rush into the scene like this.

    Huang Rong listened to the stories and talked briefly about how Yang Guo got his arm chopped off and how he snatched her young daugther. Wu San Tong was greatly alarmed and quickly explained the root cause. He said, "Yang Xiong Di [Brother Yang] is brave and warm-hearted. Everything happened because, without thinking about himself, he saved these two animals of mine and didn't let them destroy themselves. Who would have thought that it would lead to these matters?" He thought about how Yang Guo got his arm chopped off, all because of his two sons. And the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He suddenly pointed at the two sons and scolded them.

    On the side, the Wu brothers, the Ye Lu siblings, and Wan Yan Ping were all talking enthusiastically. A little while later, Guo Fu came in to join the discussion. The six people were of the same age and just went through a fierce battle together so with gusto they talked about how fierce and evil Gong Sun Zhi was and how he finally fled into the wild. Suddenly they heard Wu San Tong bellowed out a shout of outrage, "Wu Dun Ru, Wu Xiu Wen, you two little animals, Yang Guo Xiong Di [Brother Yang Guo] was so good and kind to you but you caused him to lose his arm. You stop and think, how would our family Wu ever face him?" Both his face and ears turned red and the more he scolded, the fiercer he became. If not for his injured leg, he would have thrown himself out to strike them. The two brothers were baffled, not knowing how their father got so mad. Each of them stealthily looked at Ye Lu Yan and Wan Yan Ping. They felt that in front of beautiful ladies, having their father calling them 'animal this' and 'animal that' was a great loss of face. But if they were still fighting over Guo Fu like before, that would be distressful too. The two brothers looked at each other at their wits' end, not knowing what to do.

    Huang Rong saw the situation to be quite awkward so she intercepted, "Wu Xiong Di [Brother Wu], don't be so upset. Yang Guo's losing an arm was all little sister's fault for not teaching my child better and letting her run spoiled. At that time, her old man Guo was also so mad that he wanted to chop off her arm." Wu San Tong then gave out a loud shout, "That's right. Good! Her arm should be chopped off!" Guo Fu's eyes turned white with fear. She thought, "Did you just say 'her arm should be chopped of'?" If her mother weren't there, Guo Fu would have said something out in protest.

    Huang Rong said, "Wu Xiong [Brother Wu], we've talked clearly enough about how your children wronged Yang Guo. Right now we have two important matters ahead. First, we must find Yang Guo to see his condition." Wu San Tong agreed, "Very good. Very good." Huang Rong then continued, "The second important thing is that we have to go to the Passionless Valley to rescue Martial Uncle and Zhu Da Ge [Brother Zhu] and at the same time get the antidote for Yang Guo. But do you know anything about Zhu Da ge's condition or whether or not his life is in danger?"

    Wu San Tong said, "My martial uncle and apprentice brother were trapped by the fishing net and imprisoned in a stone chamber. It seemed like that old woman still didn't think to harm them. Huang Rong nodded and said, "Hmm, in that case we go find Yang Guo first and go with him to the Passionless Valley to save people. And once the antidote is obtained, he can take it immediately to avoid any delay, and hence more dangers." Wu San Tong said, "That's right. But do we know where Yang Guo is right now?" Huang Rong pointed at the precious horse [Han Xie Yu] and said, "This horse was just borrowed away by Yang Guo. If we follow the road that this horse came from, we can find out where he is." Wu San Tong was delighted and said, "Today if not for the wisdom of Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo], the old Wu here would have flown into a fit of rage and made matters worse." This time Guo Fu couldn't bear to be quiet so she chimed in, "Isn't that right?"

    Huang Rong smiled faintly. She didn't say a word about seeking her younger daughter but all about getting Wu San Tong to follow her. She mused, "If the Wu father and sons come with me, the other three young people will definitely tag along. Then there will be more people to help us. Isn't that wonderful?" She then turned to Ye Lu Qi and said, "If Ye Lu Xiao Ge [Little Brother Ye Lu] doesn't have any pressing matter to attend to, how about you come along with us just for fun?" Ye Lu Qi was yet to answer but Ye Lu Yan clapped her hands, crying out, "Okay, Okay! Ge Ge [Brother], let's go together with them!" Ye Lu Qi couldn't bear Guo Fuo's gaze. Seeing that the glints in her eyes conveyed an encouraging message, he bowed down and said, "If Elder Wu and Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo] wouldn't mind, Junior could only benefit from your guidance. This is precisely my great wish." With a pleased expression on her face, Wan Yan Ping also slowly nodded.

    Huang Rong then said, "Look, we are a group of many people, we must have someone to give orders. Wu Xiong [Brother Wu], from now on everybody will listen to your commands and nobody can disobey." Wu San Tong waved his hands and said, "We have in you a wonderful strategist who can match Zhu Ge, who would dare to give orders? Naturally, it has to be you in charge." With a smile Huang Rong said, "Really?" Wu San Tong replied, "How can that be wrong?" Huang Rong laughed and said, "Giving orders to the juniors is quite easy. I'm only afraid that your old self wouldn't listen to me." Then in a loud voice Wu San Tong said, "Nonsense. I won't do such a thing. If you tell me to jump in water and walk on fire, I won't say no in any circumstances." Huang Rong said, "In front of these many juniors, how could you say things you don't mean?" Wu San Tong blushed and responded, "Even if there were no one else here, how could I fail to keep my words?"

    Huang Rong said, "All right! This time we will go find Yang Guo, get the antidote, and rescue your martial uncle and brother. We must work together. For any previous gratitude or grudges, we'll put them aside for the time being. Wu Xiong [Brother Wu], you, the Wu father and sons, cannot settle your debt with Li Mo Chou. After we've accomplished our important mission, shedding blood is still not too late!" Wu San Tong was startled. He hadn't thought that Huang Rong's spoken words would unexpectedly be meant for this matter. He and Li Mo Chou had wife-killing hatred to settle, how could he actually bear the rage in his heart? So he hesitated and didn't respond. With a gentle voice Huang Rong said, "Wu Xiong [Brother Wu], your leg has been injured. For a gentleman, revenge in ten years is still not too late. What the big deal with a little while longer?" Wu San Tong then replied, "Good, whatever you say, I'll do it."

    Huang Rong raised her voice to call Li Mo Chou, "Li Zi Zi [Elder Sister Li], let's go!" They let the precious horse [Han Xie Yu] lead the way and the many people followed. The red horse originally wanted to return to Xiang Yang but instead it ran into its master. Huang Rong was now walking in front of him and heading towards Mount Zhong Nan.



    Last edited by BeeDreamer : 05-28-05


    Wu San Tong and Wan Yan Ping were injured so they couldn't just speed away. They all traveled a hundred miles for each day and then stopped to rest. Li Mo Chou stayed clear from other people at night and hurried along with them in a distance during the day.

    Traveling by day and resting by night, the six young men and women were having a good time chatting and laughing. And the further they went, the more friendly they became. When the Wu brothers originally were bickering over Guo Fu, their brotherhood ties were greatly strained. Now that each had his own love, the two brothers were on the best terms. Wu San Tong looked at them and his heart was greatly consoled. But also every time, he also thought, "That day even if the two brothers weren't poisoned by Li Mo Chou, they could have destroyed each other. I'd have been left with only one.. I can't even call him a son. And today the two animals are surprisingly having a good time while Brother Yang has lost an arm. Alas, what can I really say? Only cutting an arm from each of these two little animals and putting them on Brother Yang's body would make sense." As for the fact that Yang Guo would end up with three arms in that scenario, he hadn't actually thought about it.

    And then one day they reached Mount Zhong Nan. Huang Rong and Wu San Tong led the many people up to the Chong Yang Palace to greet all the Quan Zhen five masters. Li Mo Chou stood still from a distance and said, "I'll wait here then." Huang Rong knew Li Mo Chou and the Quan Zhen sect had a grudge so she didn't press the matter and went up the path towards the Chong Yang Palace.

    Liu Chu Xuan, Qiu Chu Ji and others were informed about their arrival so they quickly came out of the palace to welcome them. They entered the palace hall together and sat down at a provided place. As they were exchanging their greetings, they suddenly heard someone shouting loudly. Huang Rong was very delighted and called out, "Old urchin, won't you come out and see who is here?"

    Recently, Zhou Bo Tong had been obsessively studying ways to command the jade bees. He was by nature intelligent and tenacious. But to everybody's surprise, he was happy with small successes and only wanted to play and have good times. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting out. That was Huang Rong's voice. He was thrilled and so he said, "Aha, that is my brother's crafty and eccentric wife!" Then he made loud noises and rushed out from behind the hall.

    Ye Lu Qi went forward and kowtowed. He said, "Shi Fu [Master], I pay you respect. May happiness be with you great elder forever." With a laugh Zhou Bo Tong said, "Enough, just get up! May happiness be with you little baby forever too!"

    Hearing that, the many people all found it strange. Nobody would have expected Ye Lu Qi to be Zhou Bo Tong's disciple. This old urchin was madly crazy but his chosen disciple was a skilled gentleman. Together, they were nothing alike. Qiu Chu Ji and others saw their Shi Shu [martial uncle] accepting a disciple, they were all very happy and then busily congratulated him. And this time, Guo Fu understood why her mother and Ye Lu Qi together were laughing about the other day. It was because her mother had guessed correctly that Zhou Bo Tong was Ye Lu Qi's teacher.

    From the beginning, Ye Lu Qi met Zhou Bo Tong twelve years ago. At that time he was still young so he and Zhou Bo Tong played together quite nicely. Zhou Bo Tong then accepted him as a disciple. Although Zhou Bo Tong didn't teach him a lot of kung fu, Ye Lu Qi was talented and determined. He practised his martial skills diligently and surprisingly became an outstanding character of the young generation. It was only that Zhou Bo Tong saw him growing up well-behaved and nothing like a small mischievous child. His heart was filled with regrets and therefore didn't allow Ye Lu Qi to call himself the old urchin's direct disciple. But at this point, Zhou Botong couldn't get rid of him either.

    Amid all the excitement came sudden sounds of battlecries from below the mountain. The sect disciples reported that the enemy was gathering for the attack. The other day the Quan Zhen sect refused to bow down to the Mongolian prince's imperial decree and also killed many of them. Qiu Chu Ji and others knew that this matter couldn't easily be resolved and that the Mongolian army would sooner or later come back up the mountain. They also realized that the Quan Zhen sect would not be able to fend off the Mongolian army so they had already arranged a plan to abandon the palace and retreat to the West. By this time the Zhang Jiao [sect chief] position had already been assigned to a third generation disciple, Li Zhi Chang, but, facing this important matter, it was still left to the Quan Zhen five masters to make decisions. Qiu Chu Ji turned to Huang Rong and said, "Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo], the Mongolian army has attacked! This is such an inopportune time. Please don't think badly of our hospitality."

    Then everbody heard the deadly sounds of drumrolls and battlecries from below the mountain. Just now Huang Rong came up the mountain from the southern side while the Mongolian army actually took the northen route. And they arrived roughly about the same time.

    Zhou Bo Tong said, "Are the enemies coming? How really wonderful! Come, we'll go make mincemeat out of them." Then he stretched out his hand to grab Ye Lu Qi's wrist and said, "You show the kung fu Shi Fu [Master] taught you to these several old sect brothers. I say you are not worse than the Quan Zhen seven masters. Add you to them and we'll make the Quan Zhen eight masters." In general, when small children had a beloved toy, they would want to show it off to people. If many people liked it, then they'd become very happy. At first Zhou Bo Tong had forbidden Ye Lu Qi to tell people who his master was because Ye Lu Qi lacked naughtiness and didn't in the least bit resemble the famous old urchin's skilled disciple. But today the master and the disciple met again and were delighted to see each other. Zhou Bo Tong totally forgot the rule he himself set up before.

    Qiu Chu Ji said, "Shi Shu [Martial Uncle], our sect has run for many decades. It is the lifetime blood and sweat of my late master and can't be ruined in just one moment. Today the best plan is for everybody in our sect to retreat." Not waiting for Zhou Bo Tong to voice his opinion, he gave orders, "Everybody carry all the things and go down the mountain according to our planned course." The many disciples complied in one voice, carried the packages that had been prepared earlier, and rushed down the east and west sides of the mountain in rows. A few days earlier, the Quan Zhen five masters and Li Zhi Chang had properly divided people, detailing who would dash to the front, who would guard the back, where they would meet, and how to communicate. Also, they'd many times rehearsed the plan and so there was no chaos at the last moment.

    Huang Rong said, "Qiu Dao Zhang [Taoist Elder Qiu], in a situation like this a small mistake could lead to a disaster. Your honored sect has arranged everything in order, indicating a great ability. When you stage a comeback, your sect will be even more prosperous. This time we are here to look for Yang Guo so we will take our leave right now." Qiu Chu Ji said in surprise, "Yang Guo? Do you know if he's still here on the mountain?" With a faint smile Huang Rong replied, "We've got someone who knows his whereabouts."

    Having said this far, she heard the loud battle cries again from below the mountain. Huang Rong thought, "The Quan Zhen sect has earlier made an arrangement. They could withdraw themselves. I came up the mountain to look for Yang Guo and get my daughter. Let's not get into the battle and delay our important matter." Immediately she bid farewell to Qiu Chu Ji and others, called out to those who came up the mountain with her, and rushed out to the back of the Chong Yang Palace. Then she said to Li Mo Chou, "Li Zi Zi [Sister Li], please tell us about how to get into the tomb."

    Li Mo Chou asked, "How do you know he's inside Gu Mu? Huang Rong chuckled and said, "Even if Yang Guo isn't inside Gu Mu, the Jade Maiden Heart manual definitely is." Li Mo Chou shivered and secretly thought, "This Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo] is indeed deadly. How did she know about my concern?"

    Li Mo Chou followed these numerous people from Xiang Yang to Zhong Nan. Except Huang Rong, nobody paid attention to her. Along the way, there was nothing interesting and, needless to say, the Wu father and sons were secretly waiting to set a deathtrap for her. In her mind, Huang Rong thought, "Even if she likes Xiang Er very much, she won't be willing to put herself in a great danger like this. There surely must be an important scheme." Having mulled over this, she remembered that Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu had used the Jade Maiden swordplay to defeat Jin Lun Fa Wang. Li Mo Chou obviously didn't know these skills of the sect, otherwise she'd have used it. How wouldn't she be interested? She was actually going to get the Jade Maiden Heart manual but was afraid that the seven people would get inside Gu Mu before her and take it. Huang Rong put two and two together and guessed correctly what Li Mo Chou was thinking.

    Li Mo Chou thought that since Huang Rong already knew her intention, she could just make it bluntly clear. She said, "I'll help you get back your daughter and you must help me get my sect's martial manual back. You are the chief of the beggar clan and also a world-renowned heroine, you cannot say things you don't mean." Huang Rong then said, "Yang Guo is the son of my husband Guo's deceased friend. He and I have some small misunderstanding, which will easily disappear when we see each other. If my daughter is really with him, he'll return her to me himself and there's no need to talk about baby snatching." Li Mo Chou retorted, "If that's the case, we'll go our own separate ways and say goodbye here." Having said that, she turned to walk away.

    Huang Rong gave Wu San Tong a meaningful glance. Wu San Tong unsheathed his long sword and shouted, "Li Mo Chou, do you still think you can leave Mount Zhong Nan alive today?"

    Li Mo Chou thought that she herself was not even Huang Rong's match. Now adding the Wu father and sons, the Ye Lu siblings, and others, how would she be able to break her way out? Originally she had a clever plan but she ran into Huang Rong and surprisingly found her hands and feet tied, not being able to use all her sly tricks. So indifferently she said to Huang Rong, "Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo] can cleverly change. Since Yang Guo is on the mountain, why are you still worried about not finding him? Why do you need me to lead the way?"

    Huang Rong knew that Li Mo Chou had to be forced so she said, "Little sister actually don't have the ability to find the entrance to Gu Mu. However, even if Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu have secluded themselves inside the tomb, eventually they must come out to buy rice and cut firewoods. If seven of us scatter around and wait patiently, surely we'll run into them some day." The meaning of this was that - if you were not willing to guide us, we'd immediately kill you. Finding Yang Guo a few days later was not a very big deal.

    Li Mo Chou thought about it. The opponents were really strong and secure. Right here on the flat land, she was overwhelmed by numbers. However, if she led these many people to the underground tomb, where she was familiar with the terrain, she could find a way to secretly kill them off one by one. So she said, "Today you won by numbers, I have nothing to say. Anyhow, I also want to find Yang Guo. Come with me!" She pushed aside prickly shrubs and walked inside the tree thickets.

    Huang Rong and others followed her close behind, fearing that she would suddenly run away. She saw Li Mo Chou making her way through clusters of rocks. Many parts were obviously not passable, with zigzagging paths that led to a deadend. These terrain were all natural, with no human interference. So even though Huang Rong knew the "Five Phrase Marvelous Gate" art, she couldn't use its logic to figure out the way. She thought, "There is a saying 'The wonderful workmanship excels nature.' In fact, how could human things ever surpass the work of nature?"

    They walked for a while and then arrived at the bank of a small creek. At this time they could still hear the sounds of the Mongolian battle cries but as they were deep in the woods, the shoutings felt as if coming from very far away.

    For several years, Li Mo Chou had planned to steal the Jade Maiden Heart manual. Last time when she left the tomb from the bottom of the creek, she nearly died because she didn't know how to swim very well. Later she practised her water skills in a river to prepare for this. She stood by the creek and said, "The main entrance to Gu Mu has been shut. To open it, you must use years and years of work. We can dive into this creek to get to the back entrance. How many people would come with me?"

    Guo Fu and the Wu Brothers grew up on the Peach Blossom Island. In summer, they swam in the rough sea everyday so they were excellent in water. The three people said at the same time, "I'll come!" Wu San Tong could also swim. Although not very good, he wasn't worried about this small creek and said, "I'll come too."

    Huang Rong thought about how cruel and cold-blooded Li Mo Chou was. If she suddenly turned violent on them inside Gu Mu, Wu San Tong and others wouldn't be able to defend themselves. She would have gone to watch over things herself but she just gave birth not long ago and was afraid to get sick from swimming in cold water. While hesitating, Ye Lu Qi said, "Guo Po Mu [Auntie Guo], you stay here to keep watch. I'll come along with Uncle Wu."

    Huang Rong was delighted. This person was smart and skillful. His martial skills were also strong. With him going with the three people, she could put her mind at ease. She asked, "Do you have water skills?" Ye Lu Qi replied, "Swimming not very good but I can manage diving." Huang Rong thought about something and asked, "Did you practise at the ice bottom?" Ye Lu Qi replied, "Yes, I did." Again Huang Rong asked, "Where did you practise it?" Ye Lu Qi explained, "When I was young, I lived with my father on the banks of Gan Nan river for many years." Mongolia was bitterly cold. For most of the year, Gan Nan river was covered in snow and ice. Among the Mongolian warriors, those extraordinarily strong would practise ice bottom diving by setting up a rule that the last one who get out of the ice surface would be the winner.

    Seeing Li Mo Chou and others were ready and about to go down in the creek, Huang Rong didn't have time to say much. With a low voice, she said to Guo Fu, "People's hearts are difficult to measure. Be very careful!" She taught her daughter many times but this young girl was rash by nature. Repeated warnings were useless. Only by bumping herself against the wall many times, she then could learn a lesson.

    Ye Lu Yan and Wan Yan Ping the two girls didn't know how to swim so they stayed ashore with Huang Rong. Li Mo Chou led the way. She dove in the water at a cave in the creek. Ye Lu Qi followed her closely. Guo Fu and the Wu father and brothers trailed behind.

    Li Mo Chou led Ye Lu Qi and others to dive into the creek undercurrent. The path at the bottom was sometimes wide, and other times narrow. The undercurrent was alternately fast and slow. The water depths also vary from very deep to the waist-level. They went underwater for a long time and then finally arrived at the tomb entrance. Li Mo Chou proceeded to go inside. The five people followed in a line and all thought, "If not for her leading the way, who would have thought there would be another world under the creek bottom?" By this time, although they were out of water, it was pitch black inside. The five people held hands so nobody would get lost. They then followed Li Mo Chou on the winding path ahead.

    They walked for quite a while but sensed that they were getting to the higher and dry ground. Suddenly they heard a crushing sound. It was Li Mo Chou pushing open the stone door. The five people went inside and heard Li Mo Chou said, "We are already inside Gu Mu. Let's take a little break. Then we'll go find Yang Guo." Since entering Gu Mu, Wu San Tong and Ye Lu Qi had stayed right behind Li Mo Chou's back, guarding themselves against her trickery. They couldn't even see the five fingers on their hands and had to rely on their ears, listening to everything with great attention. Guo Fu and the Wu brothers wanted to come to show their great courage but now that both their eyes couldn't see a thing, they couldn't help but feel the thumping in their hearts.

    Even if they used their weapons and sent out poisoned needles, they might not be able to avoid hurting their own people. Ye Lu Qi thought that if they let her lash out her secret weapons at random, the five of them would definitely be injured or killed. The only way out was to go forward to attack and not give her a chance to launch her poisoned needles. Guo Fu thought the same thing. The two of them moved at the same time and threw themselves in the direction from which Li Mo Chou was making a noise.

    Nobody could have expected this. As Li Mo Chou finished saying those three sentences, she took the opportunity to move quietly to the door. Ye Lu Qi and Guo Fu jumped out and started fighting, trying to catch each other's wrists and elbows to stop the opponent from launching secret weapons. The two people'd exchanged four stances before Guo Fu felt that something didn't feel right and let out an "eh" sound. Both Ye Lu Qi's hands were grabbing her two wrists. He felt that the flesh and skin were smooth and could smell a whiff of sweet scent in the air. Then he heard Guo Fu's crying out and became startled.

    Then they heard a crushing sound of a stone door moving. Ye Lu Qi and Wu San Tong cried out, "Oh, no!" and rushed forward to the nearby door. But there came 'Sou''Sou' whishing sounds. Two silver needles were shot out their way. The two people sidestepped to avoid the needles while extending their hands to push the stone door. That door was already closed. Pushing against it was just like trying to move a mountain. No matter how they try, it wouldn't move.

    Ye Lu Qi reached his hand out to feel the stone door from all directions but there was neither an iron hoop nor a door handle. He followed the wall and went around the room. Then he found out that the size of this stone chamber was about twenty square feet. The four-side walls were made of rough thick stones. He drew out his long sword and knocked the stone door several times. The sounds were dull, indicating that the door was extremely heavy. This stone door could be opened from the inside and only needed to be pulled open but it was most difficult with no place to pull to begin with. Guo Fu hurriedly said, "What are we going to do? Wouldn't we suffocate to death in here?" Ye Lu Qi heard her voice sounding like she was about to cry so he comforted her and said, "Don't worry. Guo Fu Ren [Madame Guo] is waiting for us outside. She'll definite have a plan to help us." Then he started groping at the walls, trying to find a way out.

    Having trapped Wu San Tong and others inside the stone chamber, Li Mo Chou was extremely pleased and mused, "These people can't get out. Shi Mei [Apprentice Sister] and Yang Guo didn't know I could swim and thought I wouldn't be able to sneak back in from the secret route. But where are the two people?" She knew perfectly well that, to make her wish come true, she couldn't make even a bit of noise. Otherwise if they began to fight, she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to defeat them whatsoever. Therefore, she took off her shoes and only left her stockings on. She held the Soul Freezing needles in both hands and slowly moved forward step-by-step.



    Last edited by BeeDreamer : 05-27-05 at 06:27


    For the past few days, Xiao Long Nu had been sitting on the chilled jade bed and circulating her energy flow according to the reverse energy flow principles. One by one, they cleared the thirty-six pressure points on her body. Right now the two people were working on Xiao Long Nu’s “Middle Altar” point, which was on her chest and about a couple of inches below the “Jade Hall” point. The ancient medicine text called this the “Sea of Air” because it regulated air in a human body and, as a result, was the most critical pressure point. The two people were in full concentration and didn’t dare to be careless. Xiao Long Nu felt the three pressure points “Purple Palace”, “Flowery Roof”, and “Jade hall” below her neck filled with hot air. But whenever the air reached the “Middle Altar” point, it wouldn’t pass through. She knew that if she could clear this “Middle Altar” point, her body injury would be healed. But it was only that she had to wait and couldn’t force it. Xiao Long Nu by nature had never been an anxious type. Time in Gu Mu was slow. If today she couldn’t clear this pressure point, why couldn’t she wait until tomorrow? So she alternated between stopping and continuing and had no worry in the least bit.

    Yang Guo, however, was really impatient. He only wanted Xiao Long Nu to recover soon so he could set his mind at ease. But he also knew that the matter of energy transfer couldn’t be rushed. Adding the fact that they were using the reverse energy flow technique, how could it not be twice as difficult? Then he felt that Xiao Long Nu’s pulses on her wrist were suddenly strong and suddenly weak. Even though they were not fluctuating, it was not really a bad sign. He then slowly transfer the energy, adding more strength to it this time.

    In this depth of lonely silence, he suddenly heard a ‘ta’ sound. This sound was extremely light. If not for Yang Guo’s concentrating on his breath and the blank state of his mind, he wouldn’t have heard it. A long time passed. There came another ‘ta’ sound, about three feet closer this time.

    Yang Guo thought this was strange but he was afraid that he’d divert Xiao Long Nu’s attention. If she was distracted in a critical moment like this, at the very least it would be very difficult for her injury to ever recover again and at the very most she could be killed instantly. How could there be any small mistakes? So even though in his heart he felt something not quite right, he feigned ignorance. But only a short while later, there was another ‘ta’ sound moving three feet closer. This time he knew that someone had entered Gu Mu through the water route and that that person didn’t dare to barge in but just slowly moved forward. After another while, there came two light crushing sounds and then it stopped. These crushing sounds came from someone pushing open the stone door very very slowly. If Xiao Long could manage to clear her “Middle Altar” point before the enemy got too near, it would be wonderfully lucky; otherwise it would be extremely dangerous. By this time they had already passed the point of no return. Even if they wanted to stop pushing the energy, they already could not.

    Then he heard a light ‘ta’ sound again, indicating that that person had just come one step closer. Yang Guo’s mind was frantic but he didn’t know what to do. Suddenly he felt his palm shaking and the heat energy was forced back to him because Xiao Long Nu was also frightened. He quickly drew a breath and then pushed his internal energy out to Xiao Long Nu’s palm. In a low voice he said, “The terrors within can’t be smelt, nor can they be seen. It is really the truth.” When one practised martial arts to a certain limit, there would often emerge illusions, like hearing thundering cries or feeling itchy pains. One just had to know these were illusions and paid no attention to them whatsoever to avoid fire deviation. By this time, Yang Guo heard the footsteps very clearly and knew that it wasn’t just his own imagination. But Xiao Long Nu was at a life or death critical moment so he had lied to her, saying that it was her mind tricking her and that no matter how fiercely evil it was, she had to ignore it and it would just disappear. As Xiao Long Nu heard these words, she immediately calmed herself down.

    At this time, while the sun outside was glowing red, it was actually dark like late night inside Gu Mu. Yang Guo heard every single footstep, everytime several feet nearer. He thought about how in this world, except themselves husband and wive, there were only Li Mo Chou and Hong Ling Bo who knew about the secret path under water. So it had to be them, master and disciple, coming in. Based on Yang Guo’s martial skills, there was nothing to fear. It was only that he had to wait, not knowing for certain when the attack was coming. With this slow encroaching, he couldn’t help but felt uncertain and anxious, not knowing how to defend himself. The more enemy came closer, the more he felt like his heart was on fire. Great dangers were approaching step by step. His hand was all tied, waiting for death. Beads of sweat slowly seeped out on his forhead. He thought, “On that day Guo Fu cut my arm off, despite the pains, at least the swordstrike was swift. Being forced to endure a slow blow like this was actually much worse.

    After another while, Xiao Long Nu also heard the sound quite clearly and knew in her heart that it was not just an illusion. As dangers were nearing, she wanted to increase the tempo of her inner air, pushing to clear her “Middle Altar” point. But her mind was slightly disturbed, causing her energy flow to go forwards and backwards and almost back up from her chest. And during this time, she hear light footsteps. Then suddenly from the door came ‘sou’‘sou’ whising sounds of four Soul Freezing needings being shot her way.

    Right now Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu were no different than average people with no martial skills whatsoever. Luckily, the two of them were prepared. Seeing the poisoned needles shot their way, they dropped backwards at the same time, without seperating their palms. The four needles swiftly passed the sides of their faces. Li Mo Chou still hadn’t figured out that they were circulating energy to heal an injury so she was afraid that they would counter-attack. So she immediately leapt backwards after sending out the poisoned needles. If she hadn’t been afraid and followed up by another four needles, it would have been difficult for the two people to avoid getting hit.

    Li Mo Chou only vaguely saw the two people sitting side by side on the chilled jade bed. Missing her first strike, she herself were now quite worried. Seeing that Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu didn’t get up to fight back, she still didn’t understand but instead stepped back to the nearby stone door. With a flywhisk in her hand, she coldly said, “The two of you have been well since we last met!”

    Yang Guo asked, “What do you want?” Li Mo Chou retorted, “How is it you don’t know what I want?” Yang Guo continued, “You want the Jade Maiden Heart manual, is that it? We’ve secluded ourselves inside Gu Mu, staying away from the outside world. Just go and take it.” Li Mo Chou didn’t know if she should believe him or not so she said, “Bring it!”

    This Jade Maiden Heart manual was engraved on the wall in another stone chamber. Yang Guo thought, “I’ll just tell her the truth. The manual was obscure. Let her learn it by slowly pondering over it. We only need some more time for Gu Gu to clear her “Middle Altar” point. At that point, how would killing her be difficult?” But right now Xiao Long Nu’s pulses were wildly fluctuating and so she was leaning on Yang Guo, not saying anything.

    Li Mo Chou widened her eyes to observe the two people carefully. In a dark blur, she saw Xiao Long Nu stretching her palms out against Yang Guo’s. Her thought moved and then she immediately understood, “Yang Guo’s arm injury was heavy. And this little person was helping him healing the wound with her internal energy. I’ve arrived at the crical moment during the energy transfer. If I don’t kill them both today, how would I have such a good opportunity like this afterwards?” Even though her deduction was only half right, the fear in her heart immediately disappeared. She jumped up and, with a flywhisk, bored down on the top of Xiao Long Nu.

    Feeling a whiff of strong wind coming down on her and stirring up her neat hair, Xiao Long Nu closed her eyes for the coming death. But Yang Guo opened his mouth and blew a gust of energy towards Li Mo Chou’s face. At this time his whole body strength was channeled to help Xiao Long Nu’s clearing her pressure point so the force of air sent out from his mouth was not very strong. But seeing Xiao Long Nu in a dangerous situation, he had to blow out air to disturb the enemy.

    Li Mo Chou knew perfectly well that Yang Guo was full of tricks. But as she felt the heat licking her face, she was startled and leapt backwards half a foot. After being defeated by Huang Rong’s wisdom, she’d always been extra careful everywhere, not being rash in trying to hurt the enemy but protecting her own body first. But after leaping back, her face felt nothing unusual. She then shouted, “You want to die?”

    With a laugh Yang Guo said, “The other day I lent you a robe, have you come today to return it?” Li Mo Chou thought about the time she fiercely fought with the blacksmith Feng Mo Feng and the clothes on her body were all burnt by the red-hot huge iron hammer. If not for Yang Guo’s robe covering her body, she would have been shamefully distressed. Reasonably speaking, today she couldn’t take the two people’s lives. But after another consideration, she changed her mind. A moment of soft feelings like this would cause her to forever worry about them afterwards. She straightened up her body and slapped out her left palm.

    Even in this calamity, Yang Guo still fought for wisdom. He thought about how earlier he and Xiao Long Nu were joking. He once said if both his arms had been broken, she would have had to hold the soles of his feet instead. Then he heard the sound of wind made by a palm as Li Mo Chou’s “Five Poisons Divine Palm” arrived. He had no time to think it over so he immediately lowered his head and lifted his feet up. At the same time he kicked out both feet to get rid of the shoes. He shouted, “Long Er, grab my feet!” and then wielded out his left palm. With a ‘Pa’ sound, his palm made contact with Li Mo Chou’s. Originally he’d passed his whole body strength through Xiao Long Nu’s and right now the energy level was suddenly dropping. He forced out the energy again while matching Li Mo Cho’s palm. All this while, Xiao Long Nu was holding his right foot.

    As Li Mo Chou suddenly saw Yang Guo’s strange posture, she couldn’t help being startled. But then she remembered the other day Yang Guo was fighthing her own “Three Without Three Without Hands” strikes and no matter how he tried, he couldn’t beat them. So she immediately increased the palm strength, trying to finish off Yang Guo. Years ago, when she’d used this “Five Poisoned Divine Palm” to slaughter the entire Lu Family, the palm was already incredibly fierce. Now that she had cultivated strength over the years, it became most violent and evil. As Yang Guo sensed the heat passing through his palm, he didn’t resist. Instead he added his own strength and passed the energy on to Xiao Long Nu’s body.

    As it turned out, Li Mo Chou and Yang Guo’s combined strength was helping Xiao Long Nu clear her pressure point. Li Mo Chou’s strategic moves were quite inferior to the Yang-Long couple but speaking of cultivated energy, hers was far deeper than the two people’s. Suddenly receiving strong energy, Xiao Long Nu felt that the energy push vigorously through her “Middle Altar” point and that heat filled up her abdomen. Her spirit lifted up and she called out, “Wonderful, many thanks to Shi Zi [Apprentice Elder Sister]!” She let of Yang Guo’s right foot and leapt down from the chilled jade bed.

    Li Mo Chou was surprised. She thought Xiao Long Nu was helping Yang Guo heal his injury. So she lashed out her palm strength, thinking to use this opportunity to shock Yang Guo’s energy flow. She hadn’t expected that she would be helping the enemy instead. Delighted, Yang Guo turned his body around and stood there barefoot. With a laugh he said, “If not for you rushing in to help, your Shi Mei [Apprentice Younger Sister] wouldn’t be able to clear her “Middle Altar” point this easily.” Li Mo Chou hesitated and didn’t answer. Suddenly Xiao Long Nu let out an ‘Ah’ sound. Holding her chest, she dropped down on the chilled jade bed. With a startle Yang Guo asked, “What is it?” Xiao Long Nu panted, “Her, her, her palm was poisonous.”

    By now Yang Guo also felt dizzy in his head and realized that when Li Mo Chou used her “Five Poisons Divine Palm,” she sent out the poisons from her palm. By matching palms with her, not only the poisons entered his own body, they also passed on to Xiao Long Nu’s.

    Yang Guo lifted his black iron sword and shouted, “Quickly take out the antidone!” and chopped down his sword. Li Mo Chou lifted her flywhisk to protect herself. And with a clang, the flywhisk forged from fine steel broke into two pieces. With its supple strength, this flywhisk had defeated who-know-how-many great heroes in the world. But now that it was chopped broken like it’d never been before, she was frightened to the core and hurriedly leapt out of the stone chamber. Yang Guo lifted his sword to pursue and wielded out his left arm. He saw that Li Mo Chou couldn’t hold herself against this sword. But all of a sudden the poisons in his body acted up and he saw stars before his eyes. His arm went soft and painful, with no strength left. With a ‘Dang’ sound, the black iron sword dropped down on the floor.

    Li Mo Chou didn’t dare to stop. She fled ten feet ahead and then eventually turned her head back, only to see Yang Guo was shaking violently with his hand against the wall. She thought, “This boy’s martial skills are extremely strange. I’ll wait for a bit for the poisons to bring him down. Then I’ll approach.”

    Yang Guo’s throat was dry and painful. His head was swollen and aching. He immediately passed strength to his left arm and waited for Li Mo Chou to come forward. Just one strike would kill her and his palm was holding firm the handle of the black iron sword. Li Mo Chou became frightened again and didn’t dare to approach recklessly. By her calculation, she’d stay where she couldn’t be defeated. And she stood there, carefully observing any change.

    Yang Guo thought that if it dragged on like this, the poisons in his and Xiao Long Nu’s body would become stronger. With this delay, the enemy would have the upper hand. So he took a deep breath and circulated his internal flow. When the dizziness stopped, he grasped the handle of the black iron sword and stood up. He extended his arm to hold Xiao Long Nu’s waist and bellowed, “Make way!” and went out in big strides. Seeing his confident air, Li Mo Chou didn’t dare to stop him.

    Yang Guo only wanted to get into another stone chamber and close the door so Li Mo Chou couldn’t follow in. Xiao Long Nu had already cleared her pressure points and, in another while, the two of them could force out the poisons in their bodies. This matter was actually a hundred times easier than clearing the pressure points. When Yang Guo was young and was poisoned by Li Mo Chou’s needles, Ou Yang Feng taught him how to expel the poisons. At present the two of them had internal energy like this so getting rid of the poisons was really not difficult.

    Li Mo Chou also knew his intention. How could she allow the two people to begin driving out the poisons? She didn’t dare to attack and only kept following them from a safe distance, always five feet away from Yang Guo. Yang Guo stood there and waited for her to come. She also merely stood there motionless.

    In his chest that the more Yang Guo’s heart beat, the fiercer the poisons became. He felt as if heart would spill out of his mouth and couldn’t really support himself again. He unstably dashed into a stone chamber and put Xiao Long Nu down on a tabletop. He propped himself against the table and loudly gasped for breath. He knew perfectly well that Li Mo Chou would follow shortly after but couldn’t pay attention. After a little while, he then realized that they’d arrived at the coffin chamber. And the table, that he was propping himself against and that he was just placed Xiao Long Nu’s body on, was really a stone coffin.

    At the time Li Mo Chou was a disciple of the sect, she’d lived here at Gu Mu for quite a long time. And even though her knowledge of Gu Mu secret matters was inferior to the Yang-Long couple’s, she could see clearly that there were five stone coffins in the chamber. At the bottom of one of coffins was a door to the secret path, from where she came in. She thought, “Are you thinking about escaping from here? This time it may not be such easy.”

    Of the three people, one was sitting; one was standing; and the other was leaning against one’s body. At this time, only the sounds of Yang Guo’s heavy breathings could be heard. Yang Guo’s body was swaying several times. And with a clanking sound, the black iron sword dropped to the floor. Then he tumbled down Xiao Long Nu’s body. His hand threw out something. A ‘Pa’ sound was heard as that thing flew into a empty coffin. He called out, “Li Mo Cho, I can’t let this Jade Maiden Heart manual fall into your hand. Aiyo..” With a long miserable cry, he became motionless.”

    There were five stone coffins in this chamber. Three of them contained the bodies of Lin Chao Ying, her disciple, and Sun Po Po [Grandma Sun]. The other two were actually empty. Of these two, one was a door to the secret passage and its lid was left two feet open so people could come in and go out. The other coffin’s lid was left open just a little. As Li Mo Chou saw Yang Guo threw the “Jade Maiden Heart manual” in the this empty coffin, she was pleasantly surprised. But she was still afraid that it would be his trick. Another while passed and he was still motionless. So she bent down to feel his cheek. It was icy cold, meaning he was already dead. With a loud ‘Ha’‘Ha’laugh she said, “Little rascal, even with all your wickedness you also have today!” [meaning he’s dead! I think] Then she stretched out her hand into the coffin to get the manual.

    But Yang Guo had thrown the “manual” into the other end of the coffin. Li Mo Chou’s flywhisk had earlier been broken; otherwise she could have used it to sweep it out. She her arm to to grope at it twice but still couldn’t grab it. So she shrank her body and got into the empty stone coffin through this foot-wide opening. She crawled inside the stone coffin to the other end and finally grab the “manual.” Her hand then felt not very wonderful. The manual appeared to be a shoe.”

    And by this time, Yang Guo lifted his body up. His left arm dashed out to the front, using the tip of the black iron sword to push the coffin lid. He sent out a ferocious force and the coffin lid was perfectly closed, trapping Li Mo Chou inside the coffin!

    From the beginning, Li Mo Chou didn’t know that the “Jade Maiden Heart Manual” was actually a carved stone slab on the ceiling of a stone chamber and always thought it was a book. Yang Guo pretended to cry out in misery, throwing himself on Xiao Long Nu’s body. At the same time, he quickly took off his shoe and threw it into the empty coffin. A soft object landing on a stone sounded just like it was a book. After throwing out the shoe, he immediately reversed his energy flow and turned himself stiff like he was dead. In fact, even if he’d died of poisons, his body wouldn’t have turned icy cold in the blink of an eye like this. When a man’s pulses stopped, it would actually take at least half an hour for his whole body to lose all the heat. Li Mo Chou was so happy that she lost of her power of observation. This plan of his was extremly dangerous. If Li Mo Chou didn’t care if he actually died or not but striked his head with her “Five Poisons Divine Palm” to guarantee his death, his playing dead would unavoidably change into real death. But he was in a desperate situation so he took a desperate measure, hoping for some luck. To his own surprise, it was actually a success.

    To push a coffin lid, Yang Guo passed the strength to his left arm and then used his heavy sword to lift it up. Then he shouted, “Up!” and the other empty coffin was raised. A thundering ‘Peng’ sound followed and the coffin crushed down on top of the first coffin. This coffin and lid together weighed six hundred catties something. Adding the bamboo top on the lid, it was extremely secure, with a perfect seam. Even if Li Mo Chou’s martial skills were high, there was no way she could get out in any cases.

    After being poisoned, Yang Guo heart was beating fast and his head was hurting. But as they were facing a great enemy, he couldn’t allow himself to be dizzy and entirely relied on his fierce determination to sustain himself. Having used the swords twice to push the coffins, his mind was tired and his strength depleted. He flung down the black iron sword and struggled to walk over to Xiao Long Nu’s side. Using the method of Ou Yang Feng, he first drove out most of the poisons in his body. Then he reached out his hand to match Xiao Long Nu’s and helped her get rid of the poisons.



    [continued to chapter 29-4, posting #61]
    Last edited by Du Gu seeking a win; 07-04-05 at 04:54 PM.

  15. #55
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    1,202

    Default Re-post of Ch.28 by Bee

    nice translation
    Last edited by bliss; 06-24-05 at 09:07 PM.
    明月心跳起來,又回頭,嫣然道,“你還要不要我帶上那面具?”
    傅紅雪冷道,“現在你臉上豈非已經戴上了個面具?”

  16. #56
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    1,202

    Default Repost of CH.28 Pt.2 By Bee

    Good job
    Last edited by bliss; 06-24-05 at 09:06 PM.
    明月心跳起來,又回頭,嫣然道,“你還要不要我帶上那面具?”
    傅紅雪冷道,“現在你臉上豈非已經戴上了個面具?”

  17. #57
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    1,202

    Default Repost of Ch.29 By Bee

    Bee is awesome
    Last edited by bliss; 06-24-05 at 09:06 PM.
    明月心跳起來,又回頭,嫣然道,“你還要不要我帶上那面具?”
    傅紅雪冷道,“現在你臉上豈非已經戴上了個面具?”

  18. #58
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    1,202

    Default Repost Ch.29 By Bee

    Bee is awesome
    Last edited by bliss; 06-24-05 at 09:05 PM.
    明月心跳起來,又回頭,嫣然道,“你還要不要我帶上那面具?”
    傅紅雪冷道,“現在你臉上豈非已經戴上了個面具?”

  19. #59
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    1,202

    Default

    You may find Bee's other excerpts here:
    http://www.geocities.com/beedreamer10000/
    明月心跳起來,又回頭,嫣然道,“你還要不要我帶上那面具?”
    傅紅雪冷道,“現在你臉上豈非已經戴上了個面具?”

  20. #60
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    240

    Default

    HUGE thanks!

Similar Threads

  1. RoCH Chap 33 Onwards
    By IcyFox in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 1006
    Last Post: 02-25-16, 10:55 PM
  2. Demi Gods and Semi Devils, end of Chapter 4 and onwards.
    By Moinllieon in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 35
    Last Post: 04-05-08, 05:16 AM
  3. Smiling Proud Wanderer Chapter 29 onwards
    By pokit in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 859
    Last Post: 07-07-07, 07:14 PM
  4. ROCH Translation ..... 8 onwards
    By Noodles in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 1265
    Last Post: 10-26-06, 10:35 PM
  5. ROCH: Chapter 24 onwards
    By Noodles in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 239
    Last Post: 02-02-06, 11:49 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •