Legend of Condor Heroes Book 4

by Jin Yong

  Huang Yaoshi’s hands moved faster and faster, his offensive power increased. In the meantime Huang Rong’s mouth was also counting faster and faster.

  Guo Jing started to feel his lips and tongue dry up, his movements became sluggish; getting more and more difficult. The only thing kept him going was his strong will. In this critical moment suddenly he heard Huang Rong call out, “Three hundred!”

  Huang Yaoshi’s countenance changed, he leaped back.

  Guo Jing, on the other hand, still felt dizzy. His body did not stop spinning; he turned around more than a dozen times. He knew he was going to fall, hence he focused his energy to his left leg with ‘qian jin zhui’ [thousand-catty plummet], trying to anchor his body down. But Huang Yaoshi power was incredible; even after he pulled back his hands, the force did not vanish away. Guo Jing lost his balance and fell down; but he used his right hand to push himself back up again. Immediately he launched dozens of stances from the ’18-Dragon Subduing Palms’ and thus cleared his mind up. He stayed silent for a moment, then turned his head toward Huang Yaoshi and said, “Huang Daozhu, several moves more and I will fall down to the ground.”

  Seeing Guo Jing was unexpectedly able to withstand his more than ten years worth of ‘qi men wu zhuan’ [wonderful gate five revolutions] cultivation, Huang Yaoshi was not angry; on the contrary, he was happy. “Old Beggar,” he said, “I am useless, the title Number One in the World is yours.” He cupped his fists and turned around to leave.

  “Not too fast! Not too fast!” Hong Qigong said, “I won’t necessarily win. Could you lend your iron flute to Jing’er, please?”

  Huang Yaoshi’s jade flute was already broken, so he wielded an iron flute on his waist instead. He pulled the flute and gave it to Guo Jing.

  Hong Qigong turned to Guo Jing and said, “You use a weapon. I will fight you barehanded.”

  Guo Jing was dumbstruck, “This ...”

  Hong Qigong said, “Your bare hand techniques came from me. If you use your hands and feet, how can we call it competition? Come!” His left hand’s fingers forming a hook, showing off his grabbing skill, trying to snatch the iron flute in Guo Jing’s hand. Guo Jing did not understand his intention; he let the flute go without any resistance.

  “Dumb kid!” Hong Qigong scolded, “We are competing martial arts skill!” With his left hand he gave the flute back to Guo Jing, while with his right hand he tried to snatch it one more time. This time Guo Jing moved his flute to evade the attack. Huang Rong started counting, “First move!”

  In the battle between experts, using weapon or being barehanded did not make too much difference. Hong Qigong used his ’18-Dragon Subduing Palms’ attacking ferociously; the gust of wind could be felt a ‘zhang’ [10 feet/3 meters] away. Even with the iron flute in his hand, how could Guo Jing get close to him? Moreover, Guo Jing was not used to use weapon until in the western region he was forced to battle Ouyang Feng on the stone cliff. It was then that he started improving his sword technique. Even then he did not put too much emphasis on the offense; his swordsmanship was 80% for defense, and only 20% for offense.

  The weapon techniques he learned from the Six Freaks of Jiangnan were inadequate to battle an expert; it was after he learned the Nine Yin Manual that his weapon technique improved greatly. Actually it was inside that stone building in the west he started learning many defensive techniques in using a sword to defend against Ouyang Feng’s snake staff. This time he was using an iron flute as a sword to ward off Hong Qigong’s fierce palm attacks; and he was able to defend himself quite well.

  Hong Qigong could see his strong defense line and was delighted, he thought, “This kid made a tremendous advancement; I did not teach him in vain. But it won’t look good for the Old Heretic Huang if I defeat him in under 200 moves. I’d better wait until after 200 moves then I am going to increase my power.” And so Hong Qigong kept using his ’18-Dragon Subduing Palms’, from the first variation to the ninth; with gusts of wind so strong surrounded Guo Jing completely.

  This was where Hong Qigong made a mistake. Guo Jing’s weapon skill had not reached perfection yet; if he kept pressing Guo Jing with a heavy hand, Guo Jing would not be able to withstand, but he wanted to wait until after the 200th move. Initially Guo Jing’s strength was already profound; after completed the ‘yi jin duan gu pian’ [changing muscle forging bone chapter], his internal strength increased by leaps and bounds. On the other hand, Hong Qigong had advanced in age, plus he had suffered a heavy injury under Ouyang Feng’s snake staff. It was true that he had completely recovered, but his stamina could not compete with Guo Jing’s in an endurance race. To make matter worse for him, the ’18-Dragon Subduing Palms’ required a lot of energy; so after 9 rounds (or 162 stances) even if his attacks were still strong and fierce, but his stamina was gradually decreasing.

  After about 200 moves not only the iron flute in Guo Jing’s right hand increased in offensive power, but he was actually getting better in coordinating the right sword technique with his left hand palm technique. Hong Qigong was secretly groaning; realizing that he would not win relying on his brute force, he had to use strategy to defeat this dumb kid, so immediately he changed the way he fought. He opened his hands wide.

  Guo Jing was startled, “Shifu has not taught me this stance yet,” he thought. If it was a fight against an enemy, he would attack toward the chest since it was wide open, but the opponent he faced was his own benevolent master, how could he use a killer strike?

  While he hesitated, Hong Qigong smiled and said, “You are tricked!” His left foot swiftly moved upward to knock the iron flute in Guo Jing’s hand down, while his right palm slanting downward, attacking Guo Jing’s shoulder. He only used 80% of his strength on this attack since he did not have any intention to hurt Guo Jing. He only wanted to knock Guo Jing down, and thus achieved victory.

  Who would have thought that these past several years Guo Jing had endured wind and frost; his body became resilient. This heavy blow made him stagger and caused him to suffer a severe pain, but he did not fall down.

  Hong Qigong was surprised Guo Jing was able to withstand his palm, he busily said, “Quickly spit three times and breathe in, breathe out; see if you suffer an internal injury.”

  Guo Jing followed his advice, and his chest was not constricted, anymore so he said, “Disciple has lost.”

  “No,” Hong Qigong said, “We have to keep fighting. If you admit defeat, the Old Heretic Huang won’t accept it. Come!” Immediately he sent his palm to attack.

  Guo Jing did not have any weapon in his hand anymore, while the incoming attack was fierce, so he used Zhou Botong’s Vacant Fist to parry the attack.

  The Vacant Fist technique was the softest fist technique in the world; it was created by Zhou Botong based on the Taoist principles found in the ‘Dao De Jing’ [moral/virtue scripture - Taoist’s holy scripture]. The ‘Dao De Jing’ said, ‘A strong army can be decimated; a strong tree can be broken. Strength will fail; suppleness will prevail.” Also, “The most flexible substance under the sky is water, but it is not easy to withstand its strong attack. Suppleness’ victory is powerful; softness’ victory is strong. No one in the world is unaware, no one can stand.’

  On the other hand, ’18-Dragon Subduing Palms’ technique was the strongest/hardest martial art. There was a saying, ‘Softness can overcome hardness.’ However, if it was Hong Qigong’s level of ‘hardness,’ then it would not be easy for Zhou Botong’s ‘softness’ to overcome. Fortunately, Guo Jing had mastered the mutual hands combat technique, so with his right hand he launch the soft Vacant Fist, while with his left he employed the Dragon Subduing Palm; hard and soft worked together, yin and yang complemented each other. No matter how fierce Hong Qigong’s attack was, he could not penetrate Guo Jing’s defense.

  On the side Huang Rong kept counting; it was almost 300 stances, and Guo Jing did not show any sign that he would be defeated soon. One move after another . Hong Qigong heard her calling out the number two hundred and ninety-
nine; he became edgy, wanted to win the contest; so for the last move he launched the ‘Proud Dragon Repents’ full-strength, with earth-shattering power to back it up. But once it was launched, he began to feel regret; afraid that Guo Jing would not be able to withstand and suffer a heavy injury, so he shouted, “Watch out!”

  Guo Jing understood his warning, but the gust of wind had already reached his face; he knew it was very strong. He also knew that his Vacant Fist wouldn’t be able to parry this attack; so in this critical moment his right hand made a circle and with a loud shout launched the very same ‘Proud Dragon Repents’.

  Two palms collided with a deafening sound; both men felt their bodies shook violently. Huang Yaoshi and Huang Rong both cried out in shock, simultaneously they jumped toward the men, only to see both men stood still with their palms stuck together like they were glued to each other.

  Guo Jing had a mind to yield, but knew very well that his master’s overbearing power was still pushing his palm. If he let go and his master did not take his strength away, he might end up getting seriously injured. Hence he was forced to wait for his master to take the pressure away then he would admit defeat.

  Seeing Guo Jing was able to block this palm, which he sent with his lifetime cultivation of energy, Hong Qigong could not help but feel pleasantly surprised. He regretted his proud thinking of wanting to be the number one; now he wanted his disciple to win this contest and build up a name for himself. Therefore, gradually he decreased his power to nothing.

  Right when these two men were still in a stalemate position, where nobody wins or loses, suddenly someone was heard shouting three times from behind the cliff; then someone leaped and made three somersaults in the air before landing on the ground close to them; it was the Western Poison Ouyang Feng. Hong Qigong and Guo Jing simultaneously retracted their palms and leaped backward.

  Ouyang Feng’s clothes were tattered, his face full of blood, he shouted, “I have mastered the Nine Yin Manual! My martial art is number one in the world!” Lifting up his snake staff he swept away all four people.

  Hong Qigong picked up his dog-beating stick and parried the snake staff. After a while all four people were astonished. Ouyang Feng’s stances had always been unusual, but this time they were weirder than ever: he would suddenly claw his own face or kick his own buttock; while launching an attack he would suddenly change direction midway in an unpredictable way. Hong Qigong was extremely amazed; he put a strong defense with his dog-beating technique and did not dare to act carelessly.

  While fighting ferociously, ‘Slap! Slap! Slap!’ suddenly Ouyang Feng slapped his own face red, then he shouted loudly; put down his hands and crawled around like an animal.

  Hong Qigong was surprised, but also amused, he thought, “My stick technique is the best at beating dogs, you act like a dog, aren’t you just coming straight for the trap?” Lifting up his bamboo stick he aimed for Ouyang Feng’s waist. Unexpectedly Ouyang Feng rolled his body around and pinched the stick to the ground; then he rolled alongside the stick upward. Hong Qigong was so startled that his grab loosened and the bamboo stick fell down. Ouyang Feng suddenly leaped up and kicked both feet toward Hong Qigong’s head. Hong Qigong was taken by surprise and forced to step back in anxiety.

  By this time Huang Rong had already bent down and picked the iron flute up, giving it to her father. Huang Yaoshi used that flute as a sword piercing toward Ouyang Feng. “Emperor Duan! I am not afraid of your ‘Solitary Yang Finger’!” Ouyang Feng called out; he jumped and threw himself up.

  Seeing his behavior like that, Huang Yaoshi knew that his mind was confused; but to Huang Yaoshi’s amazement his attack was fiercer than before. Even though he was smart, Huang Yaoshi did not have any idea what had happened. He did not know that Ouyang Feng had diligently trained himself according to the altered manual Guo Jing wrote for him; and then Huang Rong led him along the wrong path by giving him random interpretation. Driven by his desire to win the competition he followed her instruction blindly and trained hard. Only his martial art was profound, so even though following the wrong path with lots of mistakes, he somehow managed to achieve some improvement and gave Hong and Huang, two men of great learning and integrity, a hard time.

  Dozens of stances later Huang Yaoshi was forced to admit defeat. Guo Jing stepped forward to face the enemy. Ouyang Feng suddenly stopped and wept, “My son, you died a tragic death!” Throwing his snake staff aside he opened up his arms wide to hug Guo Jing.

  Guo Jing knew he was remembering his nephew, Ouyang Ke. Ouyang Feng’s voice sounded so miserable that Guo Jing felt sorry for him; but he was also scared, so he held out his hand to shove Ouyang Feng’s arms away. But Ouyang Feng turned his left wrist over and grabbed Guo Jing’s arm, while his right arm tightly hugged Guo Jing’s body. Guo Jing frantically struggled to free himself but Ouyang Feng was too strong for him; he could not get away from Ouyang Feng’s embrace.

  Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi, father and daughter, were shocked; they moved together to rescue Guo Jing. Hong Qigong stretched out his finger to attack the ‘feng wei’ [phoenix tail] acupoint on Ouyang Feng’s shoulder, to force him loosen up his grip. Unexpectedly by that time Ouyang Feng’s energy passages had been reversed, his acupoints were entirely dislodged, that although Hong Qigong’s finger was right on target seemed like he did not even aware of the attack.

  Huang Rong picked up a rock and smashed the top of Ouyang Feng’s head. Ouyang Feng casually swung his right fist upward; Huang Rong was not able to hold the rock, it flew toward the valley below. But because of this interference Guo Jing was free from Ouyang Feng’s right arm; he struggled hard and leaped backward. After calming down a moment he saw Ouyang Feng and Huang Yaoshi were engaged in a fierce battle.

  Huang Yaoshi had inserted his flute back to his waist and fought barehanded. This time Ouyag Feng’s movement was really bizarre, weird beyond imagination. Sometimes he stood upright, some other time he would lean to the side with body as straight as a stick, yet some other time his body was horizontally off the ground, supported with one hand while the other hand launched strange attacks. Huang Yaoshi had to put all his concentration to face this kind of opponent, since Ouyang Feng’s movement was totally unpredictable.

  Hong Qigong, Guo Jing and Huang Rong three people were watching intently with their hearts beating fast. Seeing her father’s precarious condition, Huang Rong called out, “Shifu, toward this lunatic we don’t have to follow Wulin’s rules, let us fight together!”

  Hong Qigong shook his head, “If it were some other day, we can cooperate to capture him, but today is the Sword Meet of Mount Hua; the men of valor under the heaven must fight one on one. If we relied on numbers we will be disgraced by the heroes of Jianghu.” But he also could see that Ouyang Feng’s mental condition was so severe; his mouth foaming, spitting his saliva everywhere. Huang Yaoshi had a difficult time avoiding this attack and was forced to step back.

  A moment later Ouyang Feng stooped down, seemingly in pain; his back was completely undefended. Huang Yaoshi was delighted, he thought, “His madness is spreading after all.” With the ‘Divine Flicking Finger’ he attacked the ‘ying xiang’ [welcoming fragrance] acupoint on the side of Ouyang Feng’s nose. This finger attack was executed swiftly but unexpectedly as soon as it touched his face, Ouyang Feng slightly turned his head and bit Huang Yaoshi’s index finger.

  Huang Yaoshi was so startled and quickly hit the ‘tai yang’ [sun] acupoint with his left hand; forcing the mouth to loosen up. Ouyang Feng thrust his right hand up while his mouth bit even harder.

  Guo Jing and Huang Rong simultaneously attacked from both sides. Ouyang Feng was forced to loosen up his bit on Huang Yaoshi’s finger, but his ten fingers forming two claws tried to grab Huang Rong’s face. Under the bright sunlight his face looked so nauseatingly fierce and full of blood. Huang Rong was so scared that she ran away screaming.

  Guo Jing hurriedly came to her rescue; Ouyang Feng was forced to parry this palm attack toward his ba
ck, giving Huang Rong an opportunity to escape.

  Only about a dozen of so stances later Guo Jing’s shoulder and leg were hit one after another. “Jing’er, back off! Let me try,” Hong Qigong shouted, rushed ahead barehanded. Two people were engaged in a fierce battle for the second time in one day, this time more ferocious than the last.

  Hong Qigong had been paying close attention when Ouyang Feng battled Huang Yaoshi and Guo Jing. He found out that even though Ouyang Feng’s movements were strange, he could see a pattern on them; they were actually based on the ‘Toad Stance’ launched backward, like upward movement became downward, left became right. Although his comprehension was incomplete, but Hong Qigong thought that with 70, 80% certainty he had a general idea on how to battle him. He proceeded with utmost caution, and was able to launch a counterattack for roughly every three attacks he received.

  Huang Rong took out her handkerchief and wrapped her father’s wound. Huang Yaoshi turned his attention to the ongoing battle and after watching a moment he started to shout one after another, “Qi Xiong, kick him upside down.” “Strike his ‘ju que’ [gigantic capital]!” “Hack his ‘tian zhu’ [pillar of heaven] with the back of your hand.”

  As a spectator Huang Yaoshi could see clearly; Hong Qigong followed his instructions and a short while later was able to gain a slight advantage over his opponent. But actually these two people were ashamed of what they were doing, they thought, “This time the Eastern Heretic and the Northern Beggar two people join forces to battle the Western Poison, one person.” Seeing his defeat is imminent, suddenly Ouyang Feng opened up his mouth and spat his saliva toward Hong Qigong’s face.

  Hong Qigong quickly leaned sideways to evade, but unexpectedly Ouyang Feng had already anticipated his move. Ouyang Feng’s palm flew and slapped the side of Hong Qigong’s head; while simultaneously spat saliva toward his face. Hong Qigong was in an awkward position; he did not have any chance to evade. If he let the spittle hit his eyeball he knew he would suffer an injury, or at least very hurt; and if the opponent used that opportunity to attack it would be very difficult for him to parry. He did not have any choice but extending his right hand and took the spittle with his palm, while his left hand counterattacked.