by Jin Yong
*This made a lot more sense in Chinese, since the two phrases are similar.
XianYu Tong is instantly shaken when he heard this, and cold sweat pours down his face. After Hu QingNuo saved his life, he and Hu QingNuo’s sister Hu QingYang fell in love. He married Hu QingYang, and she became pregnant. But later XianYu Tong wanted to be the Master of Hua Shan, so he left behind Hu QingYang. Then he married the only daughter of the former Hua Shan Master, resulting in Hu QingYang committing suicide. This is a story that XianYu Tong kept secret for years now. Yet somehow this little kid found out about it. How could he not be shocked? XianYu
Tong immediately begins to think, "Since this kid knows my secret, I must kill him. It would be disastrous for him to reveal this to the world.” This prompted him to regain his intensity. XianYu Tong says, "If you won’t reveal your teacher’s name, I guess I’ll have to test out your amazing skills then. Let’s just have a friendly duel, so please don’t hurt me too much.” As he said this his left hand shot out at Zhang WuJi’s head, yelling, "Let us start!” He obviously doesn’t want to give Zhang WuJi a chance to say something else, which Zhang WuJi has figured out. He easily blocked off the oncoming blow and keeps taking, "I know Hua Shan’s kung fu is great. So I don’t need to fight to test it out. But your ‘Repaying Kindness with Reprisal*’ skill is really quite unmatched, don’t you agree?”
*For the life of me I can’t think of the right English word for this. I think it’s a pretty simple word too. Or maybe not.
XianYu Tong immediately attacks again to prevent him from talking further, using a top move from the seventy-two road ‘Life and Death of Eagle and Snake Art’. He closed his fan in his right hand, and held it like a snake’s head. His left hand uses a type of Eagle Claw move. The snake is used to pierce into the opponent, while the eagle grabs him. The two hands use two completely different types of techniques. This ‘Life and Death of Eagle and Snake Art’ has been the top kung fu in the Hua Shan sect for over a hundred years, and can overwhelm the opponent by attacking together with great speed and accuracy.
Against normal people, this kung fu can easily mystify the enemy and prevent them from blocking properly. But Zhang WuJi easily figured out the intricacies after only a few moves. He knows that XianYu Tong’s skills are much worse than Kong Sheng’s, so he parried all the attacks quickly.
Then he says, "Master YuXian, I have a question I need to ask. When you were poisoned that year, and were about to die. That person spent three days and three nights to cure you, and became your sworn brother. So why were you so cruel, killing his sister in return?”
XianYu Tong can’t answer his question, so he scolded, "Hu.” He wanted to say "Hu Shou Ba Dao*”, and then shoot down Zhang WuJi’s accusations with a false story. He is well known for his cunning in terms of word usage, so this comes easily to him. His main objective is to break Zhang WuJi’s concentration, so he can sneak in for a fatal blow. Because after seeing the fight against Kong Sheng, he knows that he cannot win on kung fu ability alone.
*Hu Shou Ba Dao means bullsh_t.
Unfortunately, just as he said the word "Hu”, he felt a powerful palm strike, pushing in front of his chest, preventing him from finishing the sentence. In the meantime, he felt as if his lungs are being sucked out by the opponent’s palm power, and hurriedly gathered his inner chi for protection. Then he heard Zhang WuJi say, "That’s right, that’s right! You do remember that her surname is ‘Hu’. Why didn’t you finish saying her name? Ms. Hu suffered so much in your hands, so don’t you feel even the slightest guilt?” Trying to regain his breath, XianYu Tong quickly made three attacks, releasing the lock Zhang WuJi’s palm had on his chest. When he finally caught his breath again, Xianu Tong says, "You.” When he got here, he felt yet another wind of chi pressing into his chest, and his speech stopped. Zhang WuJi said, "A man should always admit to what he did. Right is right. Wrong is wrong. Why are you so indecisive? Didn’t the Butterfly Valley Mystic Doctor Hu QingNuo save your life? Didn’t you kill his sister?” He doesn’t know how Hu Qingang died, so he cannot give more details. But XianYu Tong thought that he knew everything, and his face became even paler.
The audience all knows that XianYu Tong is a master at arguing. So they’re all extremely surprised that he could not speak up against Zhang WuJi. Because of this, they all felt that Zhang WuJi must have been speaking the truth. Unfortunately for XianYu Tong, he could not plead his innocence
with Zhang WuJi pressuring his lungs. The others only see Zhang WuJi’s fists dances in the air, easily parrying the attacks of XianYu Tong, then counterattack with his own fist. Not even the top fighters can see the weakness of his moves. Most members of the Hua Shan sect could only shake their heads when they see their Master getting pummeled both physically and verbally. Although some felt that he must have some trick up his sleeves. Only to hear Zhang WuJi say loudly, "For us people in the martial world, it’s important to repay kindness with kindness. Hu QingNuo is obviously a member of the Ming sect. You owe your life to the Ming sect, yet you come to attack it? He saved your life, yet you kill his relative? Where is your shame? How can you possibly be the Master of a whole sect?” XianYu Tong suddenly regained his breath again, and says, "Little bastard, stop your lies!” He then immediately pointed his fan in front of Zhang WuJi’s face, and then opened it. Zhang WuJi suddenly smelled a faint scent, and he immediately became dizzy, faltering back a bit. Then he only felt the whole world spinning, and that gold stars were dancing in front of him. XianYu Tong yells, "Little bastard, let me show you the power of my ‘Life and Death of Eagle and Snake Art’.” He quickly moves forward, five fingers reaching for Zhang WuJi’s Yuan Yi Point. He figured that Zhang WuJi couldn’t possibly block this move. Yet for some reason, it came up empty.
The Hua Shan disciples all yelled, "’Life and Death of Eagle and Snake Art’ rules!” "Our master XianYu has mystical powers!” "Now you’ll see some real kung fu!” Zhang WuJi chuckled, and blew his breath towards XianYu Tong’s nose. XianYu Tong suddenly smelled a sweet scent, and became dizzy. He became so scared his soul almost popped out. Then he drops to his knees in front of Zhang WuJi, as if begging him for something. This caught everyone off guard. They all saw Zhang WuJi seemingly injured just a moment ago. Yet how could he make XianYu Tong drop to his knees in such a short time? Does he really know witchcraft or something? Zhang WuJi bents down and takes the fan, then yells, "Hua Shan is considered a righteous sect, so how can you have such an amazing poison skill. Look at this, everyone.” He opened the fan lightly, and flipped around so everyone can see both sides. He continues, "Who would’ve thought that this fan has a hidden trigger for poison!” As he speaks, he walks over to a flower tree, takes down a few flowers, and waves the fan in front of them. In an instant, the flowers all withered.
This shocked everyone, and they all thought, "What kind of poison is this? How can it be so powerful?” Only to hear XianYu Tong lie on the ground, screaming in pain like a pig to be slaughtered. Kung fu experts have a very high tolerance for pain. Under almost any circumstance, they would not yell pain in front of others. So his yells made the all the Hua Shan sect members turn pale. XianYu Tong then screams, "Hurry. hurry and kill mi.. Just kill me.” Zhang WuJi says, "But I do have a way to cure you, except I don’t know what kind of poison you used.”
XianYu Tong screams, "This. this is golden bug poison. golden bug poison. hurry. kill me. Ah.”
The younger generations may not know about this poison, but the elders were shocked at these words. Some of the more righteous people begin to scold XianYu Tong. For the Golden Bug Poison is considered one of the deadliest poisons in the world, no taste and no smell. The poisoned person feels like being eaten by thousands of bugs, the result unimaginable. Even if you have godly powers, a person who doesn’t know any kung fu can kill you in this state. Zhang WuJi then asks, "How did you poison yourself when you are the one who hid it in here?” XianYu Tong says, "I. don’t know, I don’t know.” As he says this, he started to
roll on the floor, scratching everywhere. Zhang WuJi says, "You released the poison in your fan to attack me, but I used my inner power to force it back out. Do you have anything else to say?”
XianYu Tong says, "It’s my fault. my fault.” He put his hands to his throat, wanting to commit suicide. But after getting poisoned, he has no strength in his hands. This poison is so powerful it forces you to live, and keeps your mind clear so you can feel the agony. Years ago, he tried to
leave a Miao girl after toying with her. She then poisoned him with the golden bug poison. But she had hoped that he would change his mind, so she only used a small amount. XianYu Tong was able to escape, and stole some of her poison before he left. But soon afterwards, he fell unconscious. By coincidence, Hu QingNuo was collecting herbs in that area, saving him. Afterwards, XianYu Tong began to raise this type of bug so he can use it in his fan. Whenever he applies the proper inner power to the switch, the poison will come out. At first, when fighting Zhang WuJi, he couldn’t apply any inner power. It’s only at the end, when Zhang WuJi released his hold, that he used the poison.
Thankfully, Zhang WuJi’s inner power is without equal. In the critical moment, he held his breath, then forced out the small amount of poison in his body with his chi. Had he had less inner strength, or didn’t react fast enough, then it would be him on the ground rather than XianYu Tong. After reading Wang NanGu’s Book of Poisons*, he knows just how powerful this golden bug poison is.
So he quickly blocked off the circulation of the poison into his body. Zhang WuJi thought to himself, "I do have to save him, but I need him to confess his crimes first.” So he says, "I can make the antidote, but you have to answer my questions first. If you lie, I’ll just leave you here, letting you to endure seven days and seven nights of pain before dying.”
* Wang NanGu is Hu QingNuo’s wife. Zhang WuJi grabbed her book when he saw her corpse.
XianYu Tong, despite his pain, can still hear clearly. He thought, "Back then, that Miao girl also said that I’ll be in pain for seven days and seven nights. How can this little kid know this too?” But he still doesn’t believe that Zhang WuJi can possibly cure his poison, and said, "You... can’t cure me.” Zhang WuJi closed the fan and pointed at his waist. "If I make a cut here, and apply the right medicine, then you’ll be saved.” XianYu Tong immediately responds, "You’re. you’re.right.” Zhang WuJi then asks, "Have you done anything you felt guilty about in life?” XianYu Tong says, "N. no.” Zhang WuJi says, "Fine, have it your way.” XianYu Tong hurriedly added, "Wait. I’ll say it.” But after all, he is in front of his peers. So the words obviously have trouble coming out.
Suddenly, two people came out from the Hua Shan sect, one tall one short, both look around fifty, their hands holding large sabers. Walking in front of Zhang WuJi, the short old man says, "Mr.
Zeng, you can kill us Hua Shan people, but you can’t play around with us. It’s not heroic to do such a thing to our Master XianYu.” Zhang WuJi put together his fists and bowed, asking, "And your names are?” The short old man says, "You’re not worthy of asking for my name.” He bent down and about to carry XianYu Tong back, but Zhang WuJi quickly pushed him out of the way saying, "His body is filled with poison. If you even touch him, you’ll be poisoned too. I suggest you be careful in the future.” That short man froze for a second, and shuddered. Only to hear XianYu Tong scream, "Hurry and save me. save me. Bai Yuan. Brother Bai. I used this poison to kill him. but that’s it..”
When he said this, everyone’s face in the Hua Shan sect turned pale. The short man asked, "You killed Bai Yuan? This is the truth? Then why do you say the Ming sect killed him?” XianYu Tong screams, "Brother Bai. please don’t do that.” "Brother Bai, I know you died a horrible death, but why did you blackmail me back then. You had to speak about Ms. Hu in front of the master. You know master would never forgive me for that. I . I had to silence you. Please. forgive me.” He then continued, "I killed you, so I had to blame it on the Ming sect. But.. But I burnt so much money for you, I took care of your wife, kids, and parents.” Although the sun shines brightly on the square, everyone’s hearts were filled with coldness upon hearing this. The people in the Hua Shan sect who knew Bai Yuan were even more shocked. Zhang WuJi also didn’t expect this response. He originally wanted XianYu Tong to speak about Lady Hu, not his own martial brother. But Zhang WuJi didn’t know that since Hu QingYang committed suicide, XianYu Tong, with his playboy personality, never felt all that badly about it. But he did kill Bai Yuan with his own hand, and with the same poison that’s in him now. So he felt like Bai Yuan’s ghost has come seeking for revenge.
Zhang WuJi doesn’t know who Bai Yuan is, but from XianYu Tong’s words, he can tell that the blame was put on the Ming sect. Most likely this is the reason why the Hua Shan sect came to Brightness Peak today. So he yells in the Hua Shan direction, "Listen to me, people of Hua Shan. Your elder Bai was not killed by the Ming sect. Please do not take out your revenge on the wrong people.”
That tall old man waved his sword up, about to bring it down on XianYu Tong. But Zhang WuJi lightly flicked his saber back with a finger, bouncing it back. That tall old man said, "This is a traitor of Hua Shan. How can we let him live?” Zhang WuJi says, "I promised that I’ll cure him, so I will. You can do what you want with him later.”
That short old man says, "Brother, he’s right.” He then swiftly kicked XianYu in the back, sending him flying, finally falling down in front of the Hua Shan group. Although XianYu Tong has many loyal disciples, none would dare catch him due to the poison.
That short old man says to Zhang WuJi, "We are the martial uncles of XianYu Tong. Today you have resolved a big problem within the Hua Shan sect. For this, we thank you!” Both of them then bowed, as Zhang WuJi quickly returned the favor, saying, "It’s ok. It’s ok.” The short man then pulled out his saber and says loudly, "But you have ruined the reputation of the Hua Shan sect. For this, my brother and I will fight you to the death!” The tall man also says, "Yes, we shall fight you the death.” Oddly enough, he’s much taller and bigger, but he seemingly follows the shorter old man’s orders. Zhang WuJi says, "Which sect hasn’t had a bad apple in its history? Your reputation won’t be affected by one person.” The tall old man says, "You think so?” Zhang WuJi says, "Yes.” The tall old man says, "Big brother, in that case, let’s just forget about it.” He makes it sounds like he respects Zhang WuJi, but in reality, he fears Zhang WuJi’s ability. But the short old man says, "First we take care of outside enemies, then we take care of inside problems. If we don’t kill him today, where’s the face of our Hua Shan sect?” The tall man says, "Fine. Little kid, I hope you don’t object to us fighting you two on one. If you do, then just admit defeat now.” The short man raised his eyebrows, says, "Brother, what are you.” Zhang WuJi responds, "That’s fine with me. If you two lose, then Hua Shan cannot further harass the Ming sect today.” The tall man, ecstatic with the response, yelled, "If both of us fight you, then you can’t possibly win. We have a special double saber art. Its power is unlimited, capable of sweeping thousands of enemies. So you’re definitely going to lose. But of course, it’s too late to take back your words now.” Zhang WuJi says, "Of course I won’t take back my words. So please be lenient with me, elders.” The tall old man says, "My saber is never lenient. When we use this double saber technique, we become more and more powerful, until the power cannot be stopped. I can see that you’re not a bad person, so I’m feeling a bit sad that you’ll have to die.” The short old man yelled, "Geez. Can you stop yapping for a minute?” The tall old man says, "Sure, but I have to remind him, this double saber art is a reverse technique, different from normal techniques.” The short old man cuts in, "Shut up!” He turns towards Zhang WuJi and says, "I’m coming!” Followed by slashing his saber towards Zhang WuJi. Zhang WuJi blocked the blow with XianYu Tong’s fan, which prompted the tall old man to say,
"Hey, hey! We can’t compete like this! This fan is too poisonous. We have to get rid of it before someo
ne gets hurt.”
Zhang WuJi responds, "You’re right. This sort of thing shouldn’t exist.” So he pointed the fan to the ground and threw it deep into the ground, making a tiny hole in the process. This type of ability is something no one else can emulate, and prompted wows from the audience. The tall old man then states, "Now, go find yourself a weapon.”
Zhang WuJi originally didn’t plan on fighting. But with the current situation, he knew that he needed to show off in order to gain their respect. So he said, "What type of weapon would the elder wish for me to use?” The tall old man reached out and patted him on the shoulders, smiling, "You’re a funny little kid. You even care to ask me which weapon to use?” Zhang WuJi knows that the pat was just for fun, and didn’t think much of it. But the others were all shocked. They wondered, what if the tall old man decided to apply some inner power to the pat, or sealed his pressure point? Wouldn’t Zhang WuJi lose immediately? They of course don’t know that Zhang WuJi has Jiu Yang Shen Gong for protection. So none of those things would work. The tall old man laughed, "Since your kung fu is so good. I bet you can use all the eighteen standard weapons very well. And it would be too much to ask of you to fight bare-handed.” Zhang WuJi smiled, "Actually, bare-handed is ok too.” The tall old man looked around, trying to find the worst possible weapon for him. He suddenly saw some large rocks, and said, "I’ll let you use a nice, powerful weapon.” As he spoke, he pointed to those rocks and started to laugh. These rocks have got to be two hundred to three hundred pounds. If you don’t have a lot of strength, you can’t even move one of them. How can anyone use one as a weapon? Besides, it’s quite smooth, so there’s no place to hold it.
