Shui Sheng held the blood sabre in her hands and slowly walked towards Di Yun. She saw that he did not move in the slightest and lied facing upwards on the snow, but the muscles on his face twitched slightly and it was clear that he was still alive. Shui Sheng was delighted; she bent down and extended her finger to his nose to check for breathing and felt two surges of blazing hot air blowing on her finger.
Shui Sheng was startled and retracted her hand immediately. She thought that even if Di Yun was not dead, he would still have very faint breathing. How would she know that he would exhale such hot air? She did not know the depths of Di Yun’s new internal energy, even though he was unconscious, his breathing was still strong. However, as he had only recently completed such a profound internal art, he could not yet remain calm and unflustered; he had not yet reached the stage of harmonizing his energy naturally.
Shui Sheng thought: “This little monk is unconscious, but when he wakes up and sees me standing beside him, that would not be good.” She turned her head and saw that Hua Tiegan was watching the two of them from afar.
When Hua Tiegan failed to kill Di Yun and was further attacked by his palm, he became startled and frightened. But now he saw that Di Yun was lying down on the ground motionless and did not know whether he was dead or alive. After some time, he saw that Di Yun still did not get up and began to move forward step by step. At this point his right arm was slightly numb and in pain, if Di Yun were to suddenly wake up he would run away at once.
Shui Sheng became alarmed and shouted: “Don’t come over here!”
Hua Tiegan laughed maliciously and said: “Why can’t I come here? A person who is alive tastes better than a person who is dead. We may be fortunate enough to split him into two shares, why not?” As he said this, he moved closer. Shui Sheng had no way of stopping him and began to shake Di Yun heavily and said: “He’s coming, he’s coming!”
Hua Tiegan saw that Di Yun was still unconscious and was thrilled. At once he leaped over and raised his right palm to strike him. Shui Sheng brandished her blood sabre and executed a stance of “Golden Needle Escapes Calamity” to attack Hua Tiegan. What she executed was a sword stance, but the edge of the blood sabre was exceptionally sharp and there was formidable power in this strike. Hua Tiegan had lost his short spear and was now fighting bare-handed, he was afraid that he would be cut by the sabre and did not dare to underestimate his opponent. At once he executed his martial arts of battling a weapon without a weapon with the intent of taking his opponent’s weapon away.
Di Yun semiconsciously heard Shui Sheng’s shout of “He’s coming, he’s coming!” and did not understand what she meant. After hearing some more shouts and disputes, he opened his eyes. The moonlight reflected the blood sabre that was brandishing against Hua Tiegan.
Although Shui Sheng had the advantage of a weapon, firstly she did not know how to use a sabre, and secondly her martial arts were far inferior. It was not long before she began to retreat in her attacks. She did not bother trying to wound her opponent and could only hope that the weapon in her hand would not be taken away. As she fought, she kept yelling “Hey! Wake up! He wants to kill you!”
Di Yun became alert and trembled as he thought: “That was close! She saved my life. If she did not resist Hua Tiegan, I would have died a long time ago. Although I have the protection of the dark silkworm vest, if he aimed for my head, I would have died for sure.” At once he jumped up and attacked Hua Tiegan with his palm. Hua Tiegan countered with his own palm. A loud clash was heard as both of them fell on the ground. Di Yun’s internal energy was profound while Hua Tiegan’s palm techniques were brilliant; the two palms were equally matched.
Hua Tiegan had a high level of martial arts and knew how to change tactics. Once he fell on the floor, he got back up again and attacked with a second palm. Di Yun could not get up in time and could only return a palm while sitting down. Although he was sitting down, his palm strength did not suffer. Another clash was heard as Di Yun was shocked and flipped two somersaults, while Hua Tiegan was rebounded three steps. The flow of blood and energy in his chest was circulating fast and he thought: “This little vicious monk actually has such profound internal energy!” However, when the two of them clashed palms, he knew that his opponent’s technique was nothing remarkable. At once he mustered up his courage and attacked with his palm a third time.
Di Yun was still sitting down as he countered again with his palm. However, he did not expect that Hua Tiegan’s palm was light and swift and swept past his face. Di Yun’s palm only hit thin air while Hua Tiegan’s palm hit Di Yun squarely on the chest. Fortunately, Di Yun had the protection of the dark silkworm vest and did not sustain any injuries. However he could not endure the impact of the blow. As soon as he wanted to get up he fell back down. Hua Tiegan saw that his attack succeeded and immediately followed with another palm. Although he became renowned through his proficient use of the Zhongping Spear and was even nicknamed “Zhongping Undefeated”, he was also proficient at attacking with his palms and legs. At this point he executed a stance of the “Yue Family Palm”. The palm was light and swift; a palm on the left and a palm on the right, in ten strokes, four or five successfully hit Di Yun. When Di Yun tried to counter with his own palm Hua Tiegan would dodge it cleverly. The gap between their martial arts was much too great. Even if Di Yun’s internal energy was greater, he could not find a good way to execute it.
Eventually, Di Yun could only cover his head and face with both hands. He could not defend at all against Hua Tiegan’s attacks. As soon as he tried to get up, he would fall back down. Hua Tiegan wanted to finish him off quickly and increased the ferocity of his attacks. Di Yun spat out blood three times and his movements became slow and sluggish.
At first when Shui Sheng saw the two of them in such an intense battle, she did not dare to interfere. But upon seeing Di Yun on the verge of death, at once she brandished her sabre and attacked Hua Tiegan from behind. Hua Tiegan evaded the attack and flipped his hand over to seize her weapon. Di Yun exerted all his strength and stroke out with his right palm, the remarkable force of the palm wind blew on Hua Tiegan as it approached. Hua Tiegan could not dodge in time and could only counter with his own palm. In terms of a pure internal energy competition, Hua Tiegan was not his match. All of a sudden, he began to see stars and felt numbness on half his body, he felt wobbly and could not balance himself.
Shui Sheng shouted: “Let’s go! Let’s go!” She pulled Di Yun inside the cave. The two of them quickly covered up the entrance with large rocks. Shui Sheng grasped the blood sabre firmly and guarded on the side. The entrance of the cave was narrow and some of the larger rocks could not obstruct it. But for Hua Tiegan to enter the cave, he would have to shift a few pieces of rock first, and as soon as he did so, Shui Sheng would brandish her sabre and cut off his hands.
After a while there was no more activity outside. Shui Sheng said: “Little vicious… little…” She was used to calling him “little vicious monk”, but at this point they had to join hands to oppose a common enemy, if she were to continue to call him “little vicious monk” it would be quite rude. She changed her words and said: “How are your injuries?”
Di Yun said, “I’ll manage…”
All of a sudden, they heard the sound of Hua Tiegan laughing outside the cave. “The two adulterers are hiding together in a cave doing unmentionable deeds.” Shui Sheng felt a warm sensation on her face as she heard this. In truth, she was actually a bit scared, because she had already identified Di Yun as a “perverted monk” who was extremely dishonourable. To be stuck in the same cave as him was indeed a great risk. She could not help but move a few steps to the left, trying to distance herself from him as far as possible.
She heard Hua Tiegan continue: “If you don’t stop your illicit love affair, this old man will have to roast some meat. Haha! Haha!”
Shui Sheng was alarmed and said: “He wants to eat my daddy! What do we do?”
Di Yun had already suffered so much grief and injustice in the past few years. Upon hearing Hua Tiegan’s venomous slander, how could he repress his anger? At once he pushed the rocks aside and rushed out like a wild tiger and attacked Hua Tiegan. Hua Tiegan avoided two palms and drew an arc with his left palm while his right palm came from behind his back. Not even in his dreams would Di Yun expect him to attack in such a way, and with a loud crash he was hit firmly on his upper back. Di Yun spat out a mouthful of blood and felt dizzy and even began to hallucinate. He felt as if the person in front of him transformed into Wan Zhenshan, Wan Gui, the magistrate of Jiangling county, the gaolers, Ling Tuisi, and Bao Xiang… the appearances of many vicious people who had insulted and abused him in the past. At once he spread out both arms and hugged Hua Tiegan tightly.
Hua Tiegan punched Di Yun squarely on the nose. At once his nose started bleeding profusely, but it was as if Di Yun could not feel the pain, and the two arms around Hua Tiegan became tighter and tighter. Hua Tiegan found it difficult to breathe and was actually a bit frightened. He also saw that Shui Sheng was approaching with the blood sabre. Hua Tiegan became alarmed and pounded Di Yun’s flank with both fists. Di Yun felt the pain and could not use any more strength in his arms. Hua Tiegan struggled and broke himself free from Di Yun’s grip. He did not dare to tangle with this lunatic anymore and leapt backwards continuously until he was over a hundred feet away.