Xie Xun yelled, “Don’t give me that crap! You think you’re worthy of dueling me? I’m here to take your life. For people like us who practice martial arts, it’s not a big deal for us to shed some blood. But I only kill people who knows kung fu, and despise those who oppress the weak, kill innocent civilians. I will not let anyone who have done these things get away.”
When Zhang CuiShan heard this, he couldn’t help but glance at Yin SuSu, thought that she did indeed kill many innocents at the Dragon Gate Escort Agency. If Xie Xun knew about that, he would have to kill her too. Only to see Yin SuSu’s face pure white, her lips shivering. Zhang CuiShan thought again, “If Xie Xun really tried to take her life, would I protect her? If I did, then I would surely die. Besides, she would deserve it, but… but… can I really stand and watch him kill everyone like this?”
Only to hear Xie Xun said, “Except I want you to die without regret, which is why I challenge you to your best martial arts skills. If you know of any skill you can best me at, I’ll let you go.”
As he spoke, he grabbed two piles of dirt from the ground and mixed them with some wine, making two piles of mud. He said to Mai Jing, “Let’s see how long you can last without breathing. Let both of us cover our noses and mouths with these mud. Whoever couldn’t stand the lack of air first kills himself.” Without even asking for Mai Jing’s approval, he put one pile of mud over his nose and mouth, while slapping the other pile over Mai Jing’s.
Although everyone thought this scene is pretty funny, no one could laugh out loud.
Mai Jing took a deep breath right before the mud covered him. Then he sat down in a meditating position, motionless. He’s been catching fish under water since he was seven, and has amazing marine skills. Therefore, he was quite certain that there’s no way he could lose this duel, waited peacefully on the ground.
Xie Xun, though, could not sit peacefully. He walked in front of the Divine Fist Sect’s table, stared at its leader Guo SanQuan.
Guo SanQuan* felt very uneasy under Xie Xun’s gaze. He stood up and said, “How are you, Elder Xie. I am Guo SanQuan.”
*Note: ‘San’ means ‘three’ and ‘Quan’ means ‘fist’.
Xie Xun could not speak, but held out his right hand, dipped it into some wine, then wrote three characters on the table.” Guo SanQuan’s face turned gray immediately, looking like he just saw a ghost. His disciples all looked at the words, saw them to be ‘Cui Fei Yan’. His disciples thought, “ ‘Cui FeiYan’ is a woman’s name. Why would the master be so afraid of these characters?”
Guo SanQuan himself obviously knew, for Cui FeiYan was the wife of a relative. He wasn’t able to rape her, and killed her instead. He thought, “Looks like he’s going to kill me too. I really should attack right now, while he couldn’t breathe. This way, he’s bound to lose to Mai Jing.” He yelled, “I would like to challenge you to a duel.” Before Xie Xun could respond, his fist shot up, aimed at Xie Xun’s lower abdomen. The second fist immediately followed the first one. His ‘three fist’ name came from his amazing power in the fist. One fist can knock down a bull. Most martial artists could last at most three fists from him. He knew at the moment that he better hurry, for once Mai Jing could no longer hold out, Xie Xun would take off his pile of mud and be able to breath again. Anyone who can’t breathe while fighting would be at a severe disadvantage.
When he attacked twice, Xie Xun could block them, but with much less power than when he had fought Chang JinPeng. Guo SanQuan yelled, “The third fist is coming!” This third fist has a name, called ‘One Sweep Across Thousands of Soldiers, One Blow to Knock Down Ten Thousand Horses’. It’s his best technique. He had won many fights using this move.
By this time, Mai Jing’s face had turned red, with sweat pouring down his head, obviously unable to hold out much longer. Young Leader Mai, seeing his father in such a critical condition and Xie Xun fighting elsewhere, came up with an idea. He grabbed a hairpin from a lady sect member, and tried to stick it into his father’s mouth. Although it might hurt his father’s lips, at least the hole made by the hairpin would ensure air going in.
At this moment, a pebble came in his direction, breaking the hairpin into two pieces. The tip flew up, Young Leader Mai let out a loud scream, clutched his right eye, only to see blood coming down from his right eye, pierced by the hairpin tip.
Mai Jing raised his hands to wipe the mud off, but Xie Xun threw out two more pebbles, breaking the joints on his shoulders, preventing his arms to move.
At this exact moment, Guo SanQuan’s third fist came directly at Xie Xun’s lower abdomen. He thought Xie Xun would obviously try to evade, but for some reason Xie Xun did not move at all. The punch landed perfectly. But upon impact, Guo SanQuan realized that something was wrong, for that part of the body should’ve been very soft, while his fist felt like it hit a stone wall. But it was too late, as the impact reverberated back into his body, and he fell back, dead.
Xie Xun turned around, only to see Mai Jing now lay on the ground dead. He first wiped away the mud on Mai Jing’s face, checked his breath, then wiped the mud off his own face. He faced the sky and yelled, “These two people had been terrorizing society for too long now. Considering that they were able to live till today, the punishment came too late.” Then he quickly turned towards the two Kun Lun swordsmen, first at Gao ZeCheng, then at Jiang Tao, but did not speak for a long time.
Gao and Jiang’s faces turned white, put their hands on their swords, stared back at Xie Xun. Zhang CuiShan knew that they are Xie Xun’s next targets, stood up, and said, “Elder Xie, the people you had killed all deserved to die. But if you kill without justification, then what makes you so different from them?”
Xie Xun smirked, said, “What’s the difference? My kung fu is excellent, their’s are mediocre. The strong prevails over the weak. That is the difference.” Zhang CuiShan said, “The difference between humans and animals is that we can tell the difference between right and wrong. If the strong always oppress the weak, then how are we different from animals?”
Xie Xun laughed out loud, said, “Do you think humans really knows right from wrong? Today, our Emperor is Mongolian. He can kill as many Hans as he wished. Are you going to discuss right and wrong with him? If the Mongolians want Han people’s children and property, they simply take them. If anyone resists, the Mongols kill him. Are you going to discuss right and wrong with them?”
Zhang CuiShan pondered for a moment, then said, “The Mongolians’ actions are no better than animals. That’s why all proud Hans detestat them, hoping that one day we shall drive them off our lands.”
Xie Xun said, “Before the Mongols came, we had Han emperors. Do you think they care about right and wrong? Yue Fei was a loyal court official, yet Sun GaoZong executed him. Qin Gui was a treacherous court official, yet he lived a prosperous life, enjoying unlimited riches.” Zhang CuiShan said, “The Southern Song’s emperor was indeed a terrible one, making use of wrong court officials, finally gave our land over to the Mongolians. His wrongdoings had terrible consequences. That’s why we must be righteous, to avoid regretful consequences.” Xie Xun said, “You’re right, the emperor was indeed terrible. However, most of the people these Mongolians killed were civilians. Tell me, what evils have these innocent civilians done to deserve such fate?” Zhang CuiShan paused.
Yin SuSu suddenly answered, “The civilians have no power to retaliate. So it’s quite normal that they’d be slaughtered.”
Zhang CuiShan said, “The reason we practice martial arts is to help those in need, defend the weak who can’t protect themselves. Elder Xie’s martial arts is unparalleled. If you use your skills for the good of the people, many will benefit.”
Xie Xun said, “What’s so good about being righteous? What’s my benefit for doing righteous things?”
Zhang CuiShan paused. Since he was a child, Zhang CuiShan had been taught that one learns martial arts for righteousness. Yet he never really thought of the benefits of being righteous, only felt like it’s just simply the right thing to do. After a while, he said, “Well, if you do good deeds, then you’re on the side of justice. Doing good deeds will lead to good fortune. Doing bad deeds leads to bad fortune.”
Xie Xun laughed wildly, said, “What a load of crap! Do you really believe that?”
Zhang CuiShan thought of Yu DaiYan. His third brother had only done righteous things in his life, yet for no reason at all, he was gravely injured. Even he himself now isn’t so sure he believed these words. Zhang CuiShan sighed, said, “Sometimes its hard to understand the workings of Heaven. We can only try to be true to our hearts. Whether this results in good fortune or bad fortune, is not something we can control.”
Xie Xun looked at him, said, “I’ve long heard that your teacher Zhang SanFeng’s martial arts is unmatched in the world, but unfortunately never had the chance to meet him. You are one of his top disciples, yet you are so mediocre. Guess there’s no reason to visit him after all.”
Zhang CuiShan, fuming at these words that belittled his master, said angrily, “Do you think you’re worthy to judge my master’s abilities? Your kung fu is extremely high, but still nowhere near my master’s level.”
Yin SuSu hurriedly pulled on the back of Zhang CuiShan’s robe, telling him to bear with Xie Xun for the moment. Zhang CuiShan thought, “Life and death is not big of a deal, but I can’t let down the Wu Dang name.”
Oddly enough, Xie Xun did not become angry. He said calmly, “Zhang SanFeng started the Wu Dang Sect. So there must be something extraordinary about him. The philosophy of martial arts is unlimited and boundless. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s much superior to myself. Perhaps one day I will visit Wu Dang just to meet him. Fifth Hero Zhang, what is your best kung fu? I’m quite interested to see.”
End of Chapter 5