por Knight00008 el Lunes 07 Junio, 2010 5:09 am
Yang Guo slept quietly without waking until it was night. Ke Zhen E checked up on him a few times, using his hands to feel him. The poison on his darts could not compare to that of the “Soul Freezing Silver Needles” and so could not use the antidote that he had. He was afraid that Guo Fu would slip away, so he made sure she was asleep.
Yang Guo was unconscious for a long time when suddenly someone placed a palm on his chest and used their internal strength to wake him up. He slowly woke up, and opened his eyes. He saw a flash of black, as someone escaped out of the window. His strength slowly returned as he supported himself on a table by the window so he could have a look. He saw a man on the roof overhang of the room and the man was upside down. It was the strange man who earlier wanted him to call him father. He was moving about, and could drop down to the room when he pleased.
Yang Guo was surprised and said, “It’s you.”
The strange man replied, “Why aren’t you calling me father?”
Yang Guo said, “Father!” but thought, “You are my son, I’ll just turn the roles around and call you father for now.”
The man was very pleased and said, “Come up here.” Yang Guo climbed out of the window and leapt onto the roof. But his body was weak due to the poison, he wasn’t at full strength and his fingers weren’t able to grab the roof edge. As he was falling he called out, “Ah!”
The man stretched out his hand and grabbed the boy’s back and gently placed him on the rooftop. He turned upright, and was about to say something when he heard someone from a room to the west blow out a candle. He felt that someone had discovered him and so he carried Yang Guo and hurriedly escaped. Ke Zhen E had leapt on the roof, but there wasn’t a trace of anyone.
The strange man carried Yang Guo outside the small town and reached a piece of uncultivated land and put him down. He said, “Use the method I taught you to force some of the poison out.” Yang Guo got into position, and after a short while, a few drops of poisoned blood came out, his chest became relaxed and more comfortable.
The strange man said, “You are a clever boy, and can use it straight away just after one lesson. You are even better than my real son.” “Ai…Son…ah!” He thought about his deceased son, his eyes became watery as he stroked Yang Guo’s head, and let out a sigh.
Yang Guo had never had a father in his life and his mother passed away due to illness when he was eleven years old. Before she died, she told him that his father died in Jiaxing’s Iron Spear monastery, and instructed him to cremate her and bury her outside the monastery. After he had taken care of his mother’s burial, he wandered around Jiaxing and lived in the old kiln, in poverty. Mu Nianci had taught Yang Guo some of her family’s kung fu but her skills weren’t great, and Yang Guo at the time was young and so couldn’t learn much. Within these few years, Yang Guo had made trouble and enemies, and although he had never met the strange man before, the man had treated him well and the feelings were real. He was touched and leapt up and grabbed the man around his neck and called out, “Father, father!” Ever since he was three years old, he always wished he had a loving father. Sometimes in his dreams he would see a heroic and loving father but when he woke up his father was gone and because of this he would cry for a while. His wish for many years had come true, and buried within the calls of ‘father’ were real feelings of joy and respect, not the calls of lies and deceit.
Yang Guo was very emotional right now; the strange man was even more happy and emotional inside. When they first met, Yang Guo was forced to call him father to save his life, and didn’t want him as a father, now both of them had the same feelings, they were like a real father and son, but he felt that the man had something on his mind. His feelings were so strong that he was willing to die for him if need be. The strange man was laughing and crying at the same time and said, “Good son, good son, obedient son. Call me father again.” Yang Guo called him twice, and then leaned on his body.
The man smiled and said, “Good son, come here, I will teach you all the martial arts I know.” As he said this he dropped down and made three strange noises and then pushed his hands out. The sound of an explosion was produced, the earth in front of him rose up like a violent grey mudflow and then the dirt scattered. Yang Guo looked on with his mouth open, his tongue out, shocked and asked, “What is that skill called, can I learn it?”
The strange man replied, “Its called “Ge Ma” stance (Toad Stance), if you work hard, you will be able to learn it.”
Yang Guo said, “If I learn it then no one can bully me again?”
The man’s eyebrows raised and said, “If anyone bullies my son then I’ll rip their skin and tear their muscles.”
The strange man was the “Western Poison” Ouyang Feng.
Ever since Huang Rong had made him go mad at the second Mount Hua tournament, he has traveled, for these last ten years, to the edge of the world and always asked one question, “Who am I?” Whenever he is near a lush land, he would always linger on trying to find the answer to his question; these past months he has been staying in Jiaxing. These few years he has been practicing the “Contrary Nine Yin Manual”. His internal energy has been increasing to new levels, his mind had become clearer, but he was still mad. His memories were slowly coming back but he still could not remember who he was.
Right now, Ouyang Feng was passing on the formula to practice “Toad Stance” to Yang Guo. The “Toad Stance” is one of the top skills in the martial arts world, the changes refined, mysterious and clever, and its internal energy aspect hard to beat; but if it is practiced wrong, not only will the body be harmed, but the practitioner will expel blood and die. Because of this, he didn’t even pass it on to his son when he was alive. At this moment in time, he was touched and added to the fact he wasn’t mentally clear, he couldn’t differentiate between important and dangerous things. He didn’t take this into consideration and taught the skill to his stepson.
Yang Guo does not have a good martial arts foundation, though he learnt the formula to the skill and memorized it, would he be able to understand the meanings behind the words?
Though he was extremely clever, there were phrases which he didn’t understand. Ouyang Feng had taught him for half a day now, and when he listened to Yang Guo’s explanation and it wasn’t making sense, he had another mental attack and wanted to hit him. But when he saw his handsome and cute face in the moonlight, it reminded him of his own son when he was younger, and so he lowered his hand.
“You’re struggling. Go and rest, I’ll carry on tomorrow.”
After Guo Fu had ridiculed him because of his hand, he had a dislike for her family and said, “I want to follow you, I don’t want to return.”
Ouyang Feng didn’t understand his own problems but he was aware of the world’s problems and said, “I have some trouble with my mind, I’m afraid I can’t take care of you if you follow me. You return first and when I’ve solved one problem I will come and collect you, we won’t part, okay?”
After the death of his mother he has never talked to someone as if they were family and grabbed his hand and said, “Collect me soon.”
Ouyang Feng nodded and said, “I will secretly follow you, wherever you go I’ll be there. If someone bullies you, I’ll break their ribs into seventy or eighty pieces.” He then picked up Yang Guo and returned him to the inn.
Ke Zhen E had gone to check on Yang Guo and found he wasn’t there. He searched the entire inn but still couldn’t find him; he became extremely concerned. He checked on Yang Guo’s room again; Yang Guo had returned. He was about to ask where Yang Guo had been when he heard the wind generated by someone passing along the rooftop. He knew two people had passed along on the roof, their skills extremely high, he picked up Guo Fu and then placed her by his side. He went over to the window with his iron walking staff, afraid that the two people were enemies; he listened carefully and heard that the wind created by the two people was coming closer and eventually had arrived on the roof above them.
“Did you see who he was?”
“Strange, strange, was it him?” replied the other person.
It was Guo Jing and Huang Rong.
Ke Zhen E was relieved and opened the door to let them in. Huang Rong said, “Senior master, did anything happen?”
“Nothing,” replied Ke Zhen E.
Huang Rong turned to Guo Jing and said, “Did we recognize the wrong person?”
Guo Jing replied shaking his head, “No, I’m ninety percent certain it was him.”
“Who was it?” asked Ke Zhen E.
Huang Rong tugged on Guo Jing, trying to tell him not to say. But Guo Jing didn’t dare to lie to his master and said, “Ouyang Feng.”
Ke Zhen E despised this man, as soon as he heard his name his complexion changed and quietly said, “Ouyang Feng? Isn’t he dead?”
Guo Jing said, “When we came back from picking the medicine, we saw someone on the roof, the person’s movements were quick and strange, when we went to take a look, the person had already gone. It looked like Ouyang Feng.”
From the description, Ke Zhen E knew it must be Ouyang Feng and no one else. Guo Jing was concerned about Yang Guo so grabbed a candle and went over to the bed. He saw that Yang Guo’s face was red, his breathing relaxed and sleeping peacefully. He was pleasantly surprised and called out, “Rong’er, he’s better!” Yang Guo was really awake and he was just pretending to be asleep, he had secretly listened in and now knew his stepfather was called Ouyang Feng. The three of them were extremely concerned about him, and now they were all relieved and pleased.
Huang Rong took a closer look, and was surprised, before his arm’s poison had returned but now after just a few hours, the black colour of the poison had faded; the poison seems to have disappeared. She was greatly surprised by this. She and Guo Jing had searched for medicine all day, but could not gather everything they wanted, so they decided to return with what they had and give it to him for the time being.
The next day, Guo Jing, Huang Rong and Ke Zhen E with the two small ones headed west from Jiaxing, intending to return to Peach Blossom Island, and firstly cure Yang Guo’s poison before deciding to do anything else. That night they were in another inn, Ke Zhen E and Yang Guo were in one room, the Guo family in another. The Guo couple slept into the middle of the night when suddenly they heard a noise on the rooftop. They heard Ke Zhen E call out through the wall, and jumped out of the window. The couple quickly jumped out of the window only to see on the rooftop Ke Zhen E was fighting barehanded with someone, the enemy was tall and had long hands, it was Ouyang Feng. Guo Jing swallowed, frightened that Ouyang Feng would take his master’s life in one move and he jumped up onto the roof to help. Only to hear Ke Zhen E shout and fall off the roof. Guo Jing flew over to him, and before Ke Zhen E head had met the ground, he lightly caught him from behind and gently placed him gently down on the ground.
He asked, “Senior Master, are you okay?”
“I’m not dead yet. Go and fight Ouyang Feng.” Ke Zhen E replied.
“Yes,” replied Guo Jing and he jumped onto the roof.
At the time, Huang Rong was fighting with her palms, the palms like a flying dance. It has been ten years since she has seen her old enemy, and right now they were fighting ferociously. Her internal energy has improved tremendously over the last few years, her internal energy is now very forceful, the palms she were using were changing mysteriously and cleverly; after ten moves, Ouyang Feng didn’t gain any advantage.
Guo Jing called out, “Mr. Ouyang, how have you been.”
Ouyang Feng replied, “What did you say? What did you call me?” His face changed, in the fight with Huang Rong he did not attack, he had a feeling that the two words ‘Ouyang’ was significant to him. Guo Jing was about to say something when Huang Rong interrupted as she saw that he wasn’t clear about who he was and said, “You are called Zhao Qiansunli, Zhou Wuchenwang!”
Ouyang Feng listened, “I’m called Zhao Qiansunli, Zhou Wuchenwang?”
Huang Rong replied, “Correct, your nickname is Zuo Fengchengchuwei, Jiang Shenhanyang.” Huang Rong had randomly picked out some surnames. Ouyang Feng was originally confused but after hearing her call him many names, he scratched his head and asked, “Who are you? Who am I?”
Suddenly someone behind shouted out, “You are the old animal that killed my five brothers.” Before the sentence was finished, an iron walking staff came out, it was Ke Zhen E. When Ouyang Feng knocked him off the roof, he wasn’t hurt and went into his room to get his iron walking staff to battle him again. Guo Jing shouted out, “Careful master!” Ke Zhen E smashed down his iron walking staff on Ouyang Feng’s back but he didn’t move, he made a strange noise and the walking staff fiercely came back out at Ke Zhen E. Ke Zhen E couldn’t hold on, and let go of his walking staff and fell into the courtyard. Although Guo Jing knew that his master was falling, it wasn’t going to be serious but Ouyang Feng had used his back to launch a lethal attack so he shouted, “Watch out!” His left leg bent, his right palm circled, and then pushed out; it was the “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms” ‘Overcoming the Dragon with Regret’ (Kang Long You Hui). He had practiced this particular stance night and day without a break, when he first learned the stance its power was obvious, but after ten years of practicing, it was now at a flawless level. When he first unleashed it, it looked light and fragile but when it meets an obstruction, it will be able to unleash its force in thirteen levels, each level stronger than the last one. It will move the unyielding, there is no force it can’t overcome. He had incorporated ideas in the “Nine Yin Manual” into the palms and modified them, like Hong Qigong had modified the palms years ago, although it was only the stances and not the mysterious energy behind it.
Ouyang Feng had just knocked Ke Zhen E off the roof when he suddenly felt a gust of wind throwing itself at him, although the wind wasn’t strong, it caused his breathing to be uneven, and knew it wasn’t something ordinary so quickly crouched down and pushed out his two palms, it was his most refined skill the “Toad Stance”. They exchanged three palms; both of them were hit once. Guo Jing’s palm strength increased; the next level higher than the last, like a torrent of waves throwing it self forwards. Ouyang Feng made two ‘Ka Ka’ noises, his body getting lower, as if he was going to fall down any minute. Guo Jing’s palms were getting stronger, his counteracting strength also increased.
The two haven’t exchanged moves for over ten years, now they meet again in Jiangnan, they must test each other to see how they have advanced over the years. Long ago at the Mount Hua tournament, Guo Jing couldn’t match Ouyang Feng, but since then he has refined his internal energy, his skills have vastly improved. Ouyang Feng has been practicing the “Contrary Nine Yin Manual” and got what he deserved. However, one phrase real and one phrase fake, eventually he produced a learnable copy from the fake and up until now, Guo Jing was fighting him to a draw, unable to distinguish who has the upper hand. Huang Rong wanted her husband to win by himself so stood to one side and didn’t interfere.
The roofs in south were very different to the roofs in the north. The roofs in the north had to support the amassed snow in winter, the roofs were solid. In the south it was wet weather that had to be addressed, the roofs were covered in tiles, with removing rain in mind. Guo Jing and Ouyang Feng were matching internal energy through their palms, and braced their legs, and after a moment, the sound of something creaking was heard below their feet, with one sound followed by another, the beams of the roof snapped, a hole was made in the roof as the two of them fell in. Huang Rong gulped and jumped down the hole and followed them, only to see the two still competing, their feet supported by some more beams, but they were above one of the inn’s guests. The guest was sleeping, how would he know the roof was falling in, at that moment his legs broke and he was screaming out in pain. Guo Jing didn’t want to hurt any innocent bystanders and so didn’t use his legs for support, but Ouyang Feng didn’t care if anyone dies because of them. The two of them were equally matched but because Guo Jing didn’t use the beams as support, his palms had no foundation to rely on. He was on his way to losing. He used one hand to push against Ouyang Feng’s two palms, he channeled all his strength in his right hand, his left hand was empty, there was no strength for it to use. Huang Rong saw her husband was being pushed backwards, although it was only half an inch or so, he was losing.
She shouted, “Hey, Zhang Sanlisi, Hu Tuwangba, watch out,” and aimed a light palm on Ouyang Feng’s shoulder. Though this palm was light, it was from the “Descending Brave Divine Sword Palm” (Luo Ying Shen Jian Zhang) skill, when it lands, the internal energy will spread through the internal organs. Though Ouyang Feng is one of the most powerful martial artists of his time, he would still suffer from this blow. Ouyang Feng heard her call out weird surnames at him and was distracted for a second. As he saw the palm come in, he pushed his two palms, forcing Guo Jing back another inch, and in a flash he held onto Huang Rong’s shoulder, his five fingers like a hook, trying to tear a piece of her flesh off. When this move came out, the three of them swallowed simultaneously. Ouyang Feng felt severe pain in his fingers; she was wearing soft armour with needles, he couldn’t loosen his hand. At this time, Guo Jing’s palm’s power increased again, and Ouyang Feng pushed out a palm to counteract this, in the midst of this danger he used all his strength. After a clashing sound, both of them moved back, the room was full of dust and dirt as the walls collapsed.
When the two clashed palms, it was under the shroud of night and the both of them could not see each other clearly, the large force of the “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms” and the “Toad Stance” hit each other on the shoulder. The two of them were sent through opposite walls; half of the roof fell in. Huang Rong had suffered a blow but she wasn’t hurt although she had a fright and made her flush. In the midst of all this she flew out of the room before the roof collapsed. She saw Guo Jing and Ouyang Feng five feet apart motionless; the both of them had suffered internal injuries. Huang Rong didn’t attack the enemy and instead just walked over by her husband’s side to guard him. The both of them shut their eyes to try to control their chi, but after two stuttering noises both of them spat out a mouthful of blood.
Ouyang Feng said, “The “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms”, good stuff, good stuff!” A mad laugh followed as he ran away, in a blink of an eye he was nowhere to be seen.
Presently, the inn was in the midst of chaos. Huang Rong knew that they couldn’t stay here any longer, and from the hand of Ke Zhen E grabbed her daughter and said, “Master, you carry brother Jing and follow us.” Ke Zhen E put Guo Jing on his shoulder and step by step slowly headed north. After a while, Huang Rong suddenly remembered Yang Guo, she didn’t know where he had gone to, but she was more concerned about her husband’s injuries so left this matter until later on. Guo Jing understood, but because of the injury caused by Ouyang Feng, he couldn’t speak. He breathed evenly while on Ke Zhen E’s back, circulating his energy to unravel his veins, after they had travel about seven, eight miles, his veins had all been cleared and said, “Master, I’m okay.” He put Guo Jing down and said, “You’ve recovered?”
Guo Jing shook his head and said, “The “Toad Stance” is a great skill!” He saw his daughter supporting herself on her mother’s shoulder sleeping peacefully, and said, “Where’s Guo’er?” Ke Zhen E had forgotten about Yang Guo, and struggled for words.
Huang Rong said, “Don’t worry, first we’ll find a place to rest. Then I’ll go back and look for him.”
The sky was beginning to brighten, and under the moon they recognized a house by the forest. Guo Jing said, “My injury is not serious, we’ll go find him together.”
Huang Rong frowned and said, “That boy is extremely clever, you don’t have to be too concerned.” As they said this they arrived at the house, suddenly they saw someone come out from behind the white wall and then was about to return again. Huang Rong went over there and grabbed the person, it was Yang Guo.
He laughed and said, “Auntie,” and carried on saying, “You guys arrived? I’ve been waiting for a long time now.”
Huang Rong couldn’t explain but she suspected something and replied, “Fine, follow us.”
Yang Guo laughed, and followed. Guo Fu opened her eyes, and asked, “Where have you been?”
Yang Guo replied, “I went to catch some crickets to see them fight. It was great fun.”
“What’s so much fun about that?” Guo Fu said.
“Huh, what’s not fun about that? A large cricket was fighting with an old cricket. When the old one lost, two little crickets came to help out, three versus one. The large cricket jumped around, kicked out a foot there, and bit one over there, it was extremely powerful.” When he reached this point, he didn’t add anything else. Guo Fu had listened carefully and asked, “Then what happened?”
Yang Guo said, “You said it’s not fun, so why are you interested?”
Guo Fu touched her nail, and angrily turned her head away, ignoring him. Huang Rong could tell that his words were praising Ouyang Feng and ridiculing the couple and Ke Zhen E. She said, “Tell Auntie, who won in the end?”
Yang Guo laughed and said, “Just when things were getting interesting, you came along, the cricket jumped away.”
Huang Rong thought: “Like father like son,” but kept her suspicions of him to herself.
After a while, they arrived at a village. Huang Rong went to a large residence to look for the owner. The owner was very hospitable, when they heard someone was hurt, they quickly prepared two rooms for the guests. Guo Jing ate three bowls of rice, and then sat on the couch, closed his eyes and meditated. Huang Rong saw that her husband was resting, and managed to relax, sitting next to her husband guarding him. She thought about Yang Guo in all the situations they have been in, and felt although he was young, there are a lot of strange things that couldn’t be explained, and when he was asked for detailed explanations, half of it was a lie. She made a mental note to herself to pay extra attention to Yang Guo and be wary of him. She’d had a tiresome day, and after a meal, she went to bed.
Yang Guo and Ke Zhen E were sharing the same room, and in the middle of the night he quietly got up. When he heard Ke Zhen E snoring in his deep sleep, he quietly opened the door, he slipped out of the room and went over to the wall, and to a Cinnamonum Cassia tree, climbed it, and leapt over the wall slipping away. The dogs outside the wall picked up a human scent, and started to bark. Yang Guo was prepared; he took out a piece of bone out of his bag, and threw it to them. The dogs bit onto the bone, and stopped their barking.
Yang Guo checked his bearings, and headed southwest, and in seven, eight li, he had reached the Iron Spear Monastery. He pushed open the doors and called out, “Father, I’m here!” He heard a noise coming in from within. It was Ouyang Feng. Yang Guo was happy, he went inside and felt out a table, and found candle. He lit it and saw Ouyang Feng reclining on top of some statues, his body unwell, and his breathing weak. He and Guo Jing have suffered similar injuries, but because Guo Jing has amassed an abundant amount of rich internal energy over the years, he is able to recover very rapidly; Ouyang Feng is closer to old age, his energy isn’t as good.
What had happened on the previous night was that Ouyang Feng had come again for Yang Guo, but Ke Zhen E was awake in the room, so they started to fight. Afterwards when Huang Rong and Guo Jing came and joined in the battle, Yang Guo was watching. Eventually both Ouyang Feng and Guo Jing had suffered injuries, and so Ouyang Feng escaped. In the chaos, everyone forgot about Yang Guo, and he sneaked away after Ouyang Feng. At first Ouyang Feng was moving at a fast pace, Yang Guo could not catch up, but Ouyang Feng’s injury was agitated, moving was hard. Yang Guo eventually caught up and took him aside to rest. Yang Guo knew that if he didn’t return Huang Rong and Ke Zhen E would come and look for him, and feared his stepfather’s life would be in danger. So he arranged with Ouyang Feng to meet in the Iron Spear Monastery. Both were familiar with the monastery so knew where it was. When Yang Guo was guarding the road, Guo Jing and the others had come up behind them. Only now, in the middle of the night, was he able to come and check. Yang Guo took seven or eight buns out of his bag and handed them over to Ouyang Feng, “Father, eat something.” Ouyang Feng had nothing to eat for the whole day, he was frightened he would meet one of his enemies, and was stuck in the monastery all day. He ate a few of the buns and was conscious for a while and asked, “Where are you and the others at?” Yang Guo told him everything.
Ouyang Feng said, “The one named Guo suffered from one of my palms, it would be difficult for him to recover within seven days. His wife will have to look after him, she won’t leave his side, and I’m worried about that Ke old man. If he doesn’t come tonight, he will be here tomorrow. It’s a pity I don’t have an ounce of energy in me. Hmm…I think I did kill his brothers but I don’t know whether is it four or five.” As he said this he let out a cough.
Yang Guo sat on the floor, his hand on his cheeks, many thoughts going through his little mind and suddenly thought to himself, “I’ve got it, I’ll put some sharp objects on the floor first, so when the old man comes he’ll suffer some injuries.”
He then went over to the table with the candles on it, and tipped out the candles and collected the holders, and placed them by the entrance, and then closed the entrance, and emptied an old incense holder and placed it on top of the door. He looked around, trying to think of more traps for any enemies, and saw a large bell hung in the room. Three people could not move the bell; it weighed about a thousand kilos. On the bell’s neck were an extremely thick metal hook and a large wooden trestle system. The Iron Spear monastery was old and hasn’t been maintained for a long time, but the large bell and system was undamaged. He thought, “If that old man comes, I will climb into the bell, he won’t find me.” He held the candle holders and was looking for sharp objects in the hall, when he suddenly heard a ‘du du du’ sound from the road, caused by a metal staff, and knew it was Ke Zhen E and was going to blow out the candles when he thought, “That old man is blind, I don’t need to blow it out.” The sounds came closer, Ouyang Feng sat up and wanted to transfer all of his body’s strength into his right hand, wanting to attack first and cause a violent death. Yang Guo turned the metal carvings on the candle holder up, and guarded Ouyang Feng and thought, although my martial arts skills are low, I will do my best to help stepfather to rid of the old man.
Ke Zhen E knew that Ouyang Feng had a serious injury and would not be able to travel far; the Iron Spear Monastery was close by and an old hangout of his. He won’t stay at an inn or at a family’s shelter; he would hide in the monastery. He thought about his five brothers dying at his hands and today he has a chance to get revenge, would he be able to say no? In the midst of the night he woke up and called out, “Guo’er, Guo’er!” and when he heard no reply, he thought he was sound asleep. He didn’t check and hurriedly went out. The two dogs outside the house were busy gnawing on the bone that Yang Guo threw at them and didn’t bark when they saw him. He slowly made his way to the monastery, and listened carefully. Indeed there was the sound of breathing within the monastery. He shouted out, “Old animal, old man Ke is here, if you’ve got balls, come out now.” As he said this he slammed his walking staff onto the ground. Ouyang Feng was afraid that he will lose the chi in his “dan tian” and didn’t move.
Ke Zhen E called out a few times, and stabbed his walking staff outside the monastery doors. He entered only to hear a clattering noise from above as the incense holder fell, his left foot stepped onto the candleholders metal protrusions and pierced his boots. Ke Zhen E didn’t understand and waved his metal walking stick about, when suddenly there was an extremely loud noise deafening him, he knocked away the incense holder and it rolled onto the floor, luckily the metal protrusions didn’t pierce his foot. By his side were some more of those candleholders, one of them was piercing his shoulder. He pulled it out with his left hand and blood poured. He didn’t dare to be careless anymore and listened for Ouyang Feng’s breathing. His foot sliding across the ground, getting closer step by step, until he was three meters away. He held out his iron walking staff and said, “Old animal, what have you got to say today?” Ouyang Feng had already transferred all his energy into his right hand, when the opposition raises his weapon he would send out a palm, and take Ke Zhen E with him. Ke Zhen E knew that his enemy had suffered a serious injury, but didn’t know how serious, he held his ground waiting for the opponent to move first; then he would know how much strength he has. The two of them stood there silently, motionless. Ke Zhen E could hear his breathing was heavy, his mind suddenly filled with the voices of his stepbrothers Zhu Cong, Han Bao Ju, Nan Xi Ren and others. The voices urged him to act, he couldn’t resist and with a loud shout, unleashed “King Qin’s Whipping Stone” (qin wang bian shi), sending the iron walking staff smashing downwards.
Ouyang Feng moved liked lightning, wanting to strike out his palm, but as he moved his arm half an inch he couldn’t hold on and fell down to the floor. He heard the a loud noise, sparks flying everywhere, the iron walking staff smashing down on the bricks of the floor. Ke Zhen E missed with his first move, and raised his weapon again, and struck out in the direction of Ouyang Feng. The other day, Ouyang Feng just lightly pushed back and managed to force the iron walking staff out of his hand, and forced him to leap over the roof. But today Ouyang Feng’s body was weak. He couldn’t even use an ounce of his strength; he could only roll on the floor, trying to avoid the strikes. Ke Zhen E used the “Dropping the Demon” set of strokes, with each stance faster than the last. Ouyang Feng was struggling to avoid the strokes, and eventually was hit by the “Concealed Medicine Poke” (Chu Fu Yao Cha) on the left shoulder.
Yang Guo was listening from the side, and couldn’t hide his anguish, he wanted to help his stepfather, but with his level of martial arts, he would just be sending himself to his death. Ke Zhen E managed to strike Ouyang Feng again; this time on the body. Ouyang Feng deserved what he was getting today, but his internal energy was deep. Though he had no power to attack, he could still avoid and parry some attacks. Only superficial injuries were apparent on him, his joints and his internal organs were still unharmed. Ke Zhen E was slightly surprised, and thought to himself, that old animal’s ability is certainly not simple, every time when it seems like I’m about to hit him, he manages to slip away. He manages to dissipate ninety percent of the power in my hits. If I utilize a soft type of attack, he won’t be able to dodge. He then transferred his energy into his staff, and attacked his head. Ouyang Feng moved his head and managed to avoid the attacks for a few times but all of a sudden, he was trapped by the walking staff’s wind, and he suffered a blow on the head. He managed to keep a hold of his life.
By luck he found himself within grasping range of Ke Zhen E and grabbed his chest. Ke Zhen E moved his walking staff out of reach of the enemy. He could only retaliate with his hands. The both of them rolled down on the floor together. Ouyang Feng didn’t dare release his hands, and held on tighter. His left hand reached for his waist, he felt something solid and reached out to grab it. It was a knife. It was Zhang Ah Sheng (One of Ke Zhen E’s stepbrothers) weapon, the slaughtering cow blade, however contrary to its name; it can’t actually be used to slaughter cows. The knife can chop gold and break jade; its sharpness cannot be compared. After Cheng Ahsheng was killed by Chen Xuanfeng in the plains of Mongolia, Ke Zhen E has kept the knife by his side to remind himself of him, and it never left him. Ouyang Feng went closer in to his body and snatched the knife out; he twisted his left arm, and aimed to pierce his enemy’s side. As the knife was about to enter, Ke Zhen E released his staff, and punched Ouyang Feng with his right hand a few times. Ouyang Feng was dazed, and waved the knife in the direction of the enemy. Ke Zhen E heard the wind of the knife, and dodged away, only to hear a ‘dang’ sound, the sound didn’t die down; the knife had struck the hall’s large bell. Although this thrust by Ouyang Feng didn’t carry much force, the knife’s blade was extremely sharp, and caused it to quiver.
Yang Guo was standing next to the bell, the tip of the knife was heading for his cheeks. Yang Guo was frightened, his heart jumping to his throat, and quickly scrambled on top of the bell. After this move, Ouyang Feng went behind the bell. The bell’s ringing had not diminished so Ke Zhen E could not hear the breathing sounds. He went to the side and tried to pick up the sounds. The moonlight shone on the hall in the monastery; his hair was a mess, and he was leaning on the staff listening, his appearance frightening. Yang Guo saw what had happened and reached out for the knife, and then thrust it at the bell, causing a loud ‘dang’ sound, covering their breathing. Ke Zhen E heard where the sound came from and headed in that direction. Ouyang Feng was still behind the bell. Ke Zhen E stuck out his walking staff, Ouyang Feng evaded it.
The staff struck the bell and caused another loud deafening noise. Yang Guo felt his eardrums starting to hurt. Ke Zhen E understood, and didn’t aim for the bell. The ringing sound had not disappeared when another noise came from behind, getting clearer. Ouyang Feng was concerned, although Guo Jing is hurt, if the ringing continues, Huang Rong would eventually come and help. While the sound of the bell was deafening, he would take the chance to lightly step away and escape from the back of the hall. But Ke Zhen E had very sensitive hearing, even with the loud ringing noise; he could still distinguish between light sounds, and heard the steps of Ouyang Feng. He knocked the bell with his staff, to lure out Ouyang Feng; when he is out in the open, he would attack his upper body with his walking staff. Although Ouyang Feng strength is weak at the moment, he has experienced a lifetime of storms and squalls (troubles and battles), how would he not know the tactics and tricks used in battle? When he saw Ke Zhen E’s right shoulder was raised, he knew what was going on, before the iron walking staff was raised, he moved back behind the bell. After he had suffered the serious injury, Ouyang Feng had already found it hard to move; though he has developed a profound level of internal energy in the last ten years, in this life-threatening situation he was unable to call upon it.
Ke Zhen E called out, “Even if I don’t kill you, you are going to die,” and went over to the bell. Yang Guo saw the two circling around the bell, if this is kept up, his stepfather will definitely weaken. He suddenly thought of something, and climbed up on top of the bell and waved his hands about, trying to signal with his hands. Ouyang Feng was preoccupied with his enemy and didn’t see this. Only after two more circles did he see Yang Guo, his hands pointing to the floor and telling him to move away. He didn’t understand what he meant, but if he wanted him to move away, he must have a plan so he hurried move out the way. Ke Zhen E didn’t move, he first needed to hear which direction his enemy moved in. Yang Guo took off his shoes and threw them to the back of the hall, making two thud sounds. Ke Zhen E was baffled; he had heard Ouyang Feng was moving towards the doors so how come there was a noise at the back of the hall? When Ke Zhen E was distracted, Yang Guo grasped the ‘Slaughter Cow’ knife, and with all his strength chopped at the wooden beam holding the large bell up. The beam was thick, Yang Guo was weak, the precious blade sharp; could he chop the beam in half? However the metal bell was extremely heavy, and after a few chops by the blade, the beam could not support the bell any longer. A creaking sound followed and the beam snapped, the large bell generated a wind as it fell, heading straight down on the Ke Zhen E’s head.
Ke Zhen E had already heard the wind generated above him, thinking it was strange. The large bell fell down, he couldn’t escape but the bell landed straight down on the iron walking staff, the staff held up the bell. As the bell was hindered he took this chance and slipped out of the way. He then heard a metallic snapping noise, and the metal walking staff snapped in half. The bell tipped over and rolled along the ground, hitting Ke Zhen E in the shoulder, and flinging him out of the hall. He rolled around a few times and eventually landed on his nose, causing a nosebleed, his forehead also had a cut. Ke Zhen E was blind and couldn’t see anything, and didn’t know what caused this. He was afraid that there was some strange being in the hall, and got up and escaped.
Ouyang Feng was by the side watching this, his heart able to relax and said, “What a pity, what a pity. Good son, very clever!”
Yang Guo climbed down, pleased with himself, and said, “That old man won’t dare to come back.”
Ouyang Feng shook his head saying, “He has a profound hatred for me, after a while, he will come back.
Yang Guo said, “We must go quickly.”
Ouyang Feng shook his head again and said, “My injury is very serious, I won’t be able to get far.” He had escaped temporarily, but now he felt his bones were coming loose, he couldn’t even move one step.
“What should we do?”
Ouyang Feng thought for a while and said, “There is a way. Break another bell’s beam, and put me underneath it.”
“How would you get out?” asked Yang Guo.
“I’ll be meditating under the bell for seven days. After my strength has returned, I will be able to escape. If the old man returns within these seven days, he doesn’t have the ability to lift the bell up. If Huang Rong doesn’t come, I doubt if there is anyone that can break through. If Huang Rong does come, then the plan may fail.”
Yang Guo thought carefully, and knew apart from this plan, nothing else will work. So he asked carefully again will he be able to escape from the bell without anyone’s help and then said, “You won’t have anything to eat within these seven days, right?”
Ouyang Feng said, “Go and find a basin, and fill it with clean water and place it beside me. There are still a few buns left. This will last for seven days if I eat them slowly.”
Yang Guo went to the kitchen and found a large basin, and then filled it with clean water. He then placed it underneath another hung bell, and supported his stepfather directly underneath it, and sat him down.
Ouyang Feng said, “Son, follow the one called Guo. I will come and find you later on.”
Yang Guo agreed and climbed up to the bell, and broke the beam, sending the bell down, covering Ouyang Feng.
Yang Guo shouted out ‘Father’. When he didn’t hear a reply, he knew that he couldn’t hear from within. As he was about to leave, he couldn’t let go and went back to find another basin and filled it with water and placed it next to the bell. He then flipped over and placed his left hand in the bowl, and followed the method to reverse blood flow taught by Ouyang Feng to force some poison out. As he had just begun practicing this skill, he could only force out ten or so drops of blood before his head was full of sweat. Afterwards he ripped off some of the cloth from the statues, and then wrapped it around a rod, dipped it into the blood and water mixture, and covered the bell with it. He thought that if Ke Zhen E does return, if he tries to move the bell, he would definitely be poisoned for sure.
Another thing that came to his attention was that his stepfather would definitely suffocate to death under the bell in seven days, so he would use the knife to dig out a brick tile beside the bell, and dig out a hole the size of a fist to allow the circulation of air. As he was digging the hole, the blade struck at another slab of stone underneath the tile and snapped. The blade was sharp, but it was very thin, and as he was digging the precious blade snapped. He didn’t know the blade was precious, it wasn’t his and he didn’t feel it was a pity and threw the knife away. He knelt down on the ground and spoke through the opening, “Father, I’m going now. Come and collect me soon. Be careful when you come out, there is poison on the bell.” Yang Guo bent his ear to the opening and hear Ouyang Feng replied weakly, “Good son, I’m not scared of poison; the poison should be scared of me. You be careful. I will definitely come back for you.”
Yang Guo sat there for a while not willing to leave yet, but then started to hurry back; worried that Ke Zhen E will notice that he has gone. When he got back to the room, he saw that Ke Zhen E had not returned to the room, neither was he outside.
When morning came, he heard someone using a branch knocking on his door. He leapt out of his bed and opened the door. He saw it was Ke Zhen E supporting himself on a wooden branch, his face grey and pale; he leant over into the room and fell onto the floor. Yang Guo noticed that his hands were black, he indeed did return to find Ouyang Feng. He was pleased that he had fallen into the trap that was left for him and pretended to be concerned, and shouted, “Grandpa Ke, what’s the matter?”
Huang Rong and Guo Jing heard the shout, and hurried to see what the matter was; when they saw Ke Zhen E on the floor they gasped. Guo Jing was still injured and struggled to walk, and so it was Huang Rong who supported Ke Zhen E onto the bed. She asked, “First master, what did you do?”
Ke Zhen E shook his head, and didn’t reply. Huang Rong saw his hands were black and said angrily, “It was that Li bitch again. Brother Jing, I’ll go and battle her.” She tied her belt and walked out.
“It wasn’t her,” said Ke Zhen E.
Huang Rong returned and asked, “Who was it then?”
Ke Zhen E couldn’t defeat a man who hasn’t even got the strength to kill a chicken and it was he in return that was injured. It reflected badly on him. Ke Zhen E was a stiff-necked man, it was what was called, ‘tired of the ginger being old and not spicy’, and didn’t say a word about his wound. The two knew his behavior, if he wants to say, he will say it. The more they ask the angrier he’ll get. It was lucky that the poison only got on his skin; the potency wasn’t that strong. He’ll feel a bit light headed, after taking a “Nine Flower Jade Dew” pill, he’ll be alright.
Huang Rong already planned what they should do; at the moment Guo Jing and Ke Zhen E are hurt, Li Mochou’s poison is trouble, so the children and two wounded must be sent to Peach Blossom Island. Later on she will find Li Mochou and settle this score. They spent the morning resting in the inn, in the afternoon they got on a boat and headed east.
Yang Guo was happy with the fact that Huang Rong did not attempt to find Ouyang Feng and thought, “Father was scared that Auntie Guo will come and search for him. Auntie Guo is such a beautiful lady, could it be that she is more powerful than Ke Zhen E?”
The boat had traveled for half a day, the sky now getting dark. The boat anchored by the shore, the owners of the boat preparing the rice for supper. Guo Fu saw that Yang Guo had ignored her when she wanted to talk and argue with him. She sat by the window, and looked out. Under the shade of willow trees were two boys sobbing, it looked like the two Wu brothers. Guo Fu shouted out, “Hey, what are you doing there?”
Wu Xiuwen replied, “We are crying, can’t you see?”
Guo Fu said, “What’s the matter, did your mother beat you?”
Wu Xiuwen said, “My mum’s dead!”
Huang Rong gasped when she heard this and leapt onto the shore. She saw the boys sobbing over their mother. Madam Wu’s face was completely black, she had died a long time ago. Huang Rong asked for news of Wu Santong and Wu Dunru replied, “We don’t know where he went.”
Wu Xiuwen said, “Mother sucked the poison out of father, a lot of black blood came out. Father got better, while mother died. When father saw that mother had died, he went mad again. We called after him, but he ignored us and went away.” They cried as they said this.
Huang Rong thought, “Madam Wu sacrificed herself for her husband, she is a great woman.” She asked, “Are you hungry?” The boys nodded their heads.
Huang Rong sighed and ordered the boat keeper to take the boys on board and feed them. When they reached a town, she bought a wooden coffin for Madam Wu, and prepared her body for it. She bought a piece of land and buried her at dawn. The brothers sobbed in front of the grave.
Guo Jing said, “Rong’er, the two boys have lost their parents, why don’t we take them back to Peach Blossom Island and we’ll care for them.” Huang Rong agreed, and took the boys under her wing. They traveled on the boat until they reached the sea, and then hired a large boat and headed east, towards Peach Blossom Island.
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