“You are an honest and considerate, intelligent and virtuous girl,” Zhang Wuji said, “You will not deceive me.”
Zhou Zhiruo turned around and hid her face in his bosom. “Wuji Gege,” she said in tender voice, “To be able to marry you, my delight is unspeakable. I only hope you won’t belittle me because I am stupid and useless, and bully me because I am unworthy. I … I will do my best to take care of you.”
The next day Zhang Wuji used the Jiu Yang Shen Gong to help Zhou Zhiruo expel the poison. At first they made a good progress; perhaps because she did not eat too much, her level of poisoning was not as severe as Xie Xun. However, toward the seventh day, suddenly he felt a resistance, which was ‘yin’ [negative/female] and cold in nature, coming from her body, fighting his Jiu Yang energy. Although Zhou Zhiruo strived to control this resistance, it was difficult for the Jiu Yang energy to enter her body. In his astonishment Zhang Wuji went to consult Xie Xun.
Xie Xun pondered for half a day before saying, “I don’t know for sure, but most likely it was because her Emei Pai’s masters were always women, the internal energy they train is ‘yin rou’ [negative/female, and soft/flexible] in nature.”
Zhang Wuji nodded his agreement. Luckily Zhou Zhiruo’s internal energy level was far below his, so that he was able to suppress the resisting ‘yin’ energy in her body; but by doing this he was required to use up a lot more energy than when he was helping Xie Xun. Zhang Wuji secretly felt that although at this moment her ‘yin’ energy was still weak, but her achievement in the future would not be a small matter.
“Zhiruo,” he praised, “Zunshi [revered master] Miejue Shitai was truly an expert of her generation. The internal energy cultivation method she passed on to you is extremely profound; I
can feel it even now. If you train diligently, your energy level may run neck to neck with my Jiu Yang Shen Gong; you may even surpass me.”
“Don’t mock me!” Zhou Zhiruo said, “How can Emei Pai’s martial art be compared to Zhang Da Jiaozhu’s [great cult leader Zhang] Jiu Yang Shen Gong and Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi?
“You have talent,” Zhang Wuji said, “Although you don’t know too many martial art forms and stances, your internal energy foundation is excellent. My Tai Shifu [grand master, he was referring to Zhang Sanfeng] once said, in the advance study of martial art, oftentimes the level of achievement each individual is closely related to one’s natural endowments. Furthermore, someone who is intelligent and possesses excellent comprehension may not necessarily capable of achieving the highest level of mastery. It was said that your sect’s founder, Zushi [ancestor master] Guo Nuxia’s [heroine Guo] father, Guo Jing Daxia [great hero] was slow, yet his martial art skill shook the world from the ancient time until today. Even Tai Shifu said that his energy level has not reached the level of Guo Daxia of the past. It seems to me that your Emei Pai’s internal energy cultivation technique is superior to the Wudang Pai’s; I’ll say that your future achievement may surpass Zunshi Miejue Shitai’s.”
Zhou Zhiruo rolled her eyes; faking anger she said, “If you want to flatter me, you don’t need to say my martial art is good. If I can master only 10 or 20% of Shifu’s ability, I would be satisfied. If you can teach me one or two techniques from your Jiu Yang Shen Gong and Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi, I would be very grateful.”
Zhang Wuji hesitated without answering. Zhou Zhiruo continued, “Do you think I am not fit to become Zhang Da Jiaozhu’s disciple?”
“No!” Zhang Wuji said, “I only aware that your internal energy technique is entirely different than mine. I’ll say our techniques took opposite approach from the start. If you learn my internal energy technique, you are facing a difficult and dangerous problem.”
“It’s all right if you don’t want to teach me,” Zhou Zhiruo said, “The worst thing that can happen if I learn martial art skill is I fail; how can there be any danger?”
“No, no!” Zhang Wuji was serious, “My Jiu Yang Shen Gong is purely ‘yang gang’ [positive/male and hard/firm] in nature. Right now you are training in the Emei Pai’s internal energy, which takes the purely ‘yin rou’ approach. If you also train my internal energy technique, then the ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ would collide in your body. Unless it is a martial art genius like my Tai Shifu; he might be able to combine water and fire, harmonize the firm and the supple. Otherwise, if you miss a single step, you’ll face a terrible, terrible disaster. Mmm, let’s wait until your internal energy is strong enough, I’ll teach you the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi theory and you can start training it.”
Zhou Zhiruo laughed, “I was only joking,” she said, “Later on I will always be together with you; your martial art skill, my martial art skill, what difference does it make? I am too lazy, your Jiu Yang Shen Gong is very difficult to train, even if you force me to practice, I am afraid it will be too difficult for me.” Hearing her saying this, Zhang Wuji felt sweetness in his heart.
With love and happiness in their hearts, time was passing swiftly. Several months had passed in a flash. Zhou Zhiruo’s internal energy had been completely recovered; she did not feel anything unusual, hence she believed the poison had been completely expelled from her system.
One particular day, they saw the peach blossom trees on the eastern side of the island were blooming beautifully. Zhang Wuji picked several branches of the peach blossom and planted them in front of Yin Li’s grave. He saw the piece of wood he carved with the characters ‘The Tomb of my Beloved Wife, Zhu’Er Yin Li’ was laying flat on the ground; perhaps it was knocked down by some wild animals. He picked it up and re-inserted it deeply to the ground. He remembered how his cousin lived a miserable life; perhaps she did not even have a single day of happiness.
While he was still reveling in sadness, suddenly he heard the clamoring noise of seagulls on the sea. Lifting his head up, he saw a ship in the distant sailing toward the island. He was overjoyed at this unexpected scene and loudly shouted, “Yifu, Zhiruo, there’s a ship coming in, there’s a ship coming in!”
Xie Xun and Zhou Zhiruo heard his shout and they rushed together to the shore. In a trembling voice Zhou Zhiruo said, “How can there be a ship coming to this desolate island?”
“It’s strange indeed,” Zhang Wuji said, “Could it be that they are pirates?”
In less than an hour that ship had dropped its anchor offshore, and sent a small boat to the island. Zhang Wuji, three people, waiting for them on the beach. They saw the sailors on that small boat wear Mongolian naval military uniforms. Zhang Wuji’s heart was stirred, “Could it be that Miss Zhao was pricked by her conscience and returned to this island?” Casting a sidelong glance toward Zhou Zhiruo, he saw that her beautiful eyebrows were slightly wrinkled, while her chest was heaving up and down; apparently she was very much concerned.
A short moment later the small boat landed. Five sailors stepped on to the beach. Their leader, a naval officer, bowed respectfully toward Zhang Wuji and said, “Are you Zhang Wuji, Zhang Gongzi [honorable master Zhang]?”
“I am,” Zhang Wuji replied, “Who are you, Officer?”
As that officer heard Zhang Wuji answering in affirmative, he looked delighted and relieved. “Xiao Ren’s [lit. little/lowly person, a subordinate addressing him/herself] humble name is Pastai. I truly am fortunate to be able to find Gongzi today. I have received order to find Zhang Gongzi and Xie Daxia and take you back to the Central Earth.” He did mention Zhang and Xie, two people’s names, but did not mention Zhou Zhiruo.
“Officer has toiled to come from afar, I wonder who has sent you?” Zhang Wuji asked.
Pastai replied, “Xiao Ren is a subordinate of Tawa-chelu, the local naval commander in charge of Fujian defense. We have received order from General Pordu to set sail and meet you. Altogether General Pordu dispatches eight ships to search for Zhang Gongzi and Xie Daxia on the water around Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong, three provinces. I can’t believe in the end Xiao Ren is the one who render this great merit.” His meaning was obvious; apparently his superior had promised promotion and great reward to whoever succeeded in finding Zhang Wuji.