Legend of Condor Heroes Book 3

by Jin Yong

  Among these people, only Liang Ziweng had different feelings. Because Guo Jing had drunk the precious blood of his valuable viper, and now that they saw each other again, how could he not feel angry? But he also noticed that the person he was most afraid of, Hong Qigong, was with Guo Jing. Even though he was very angry, he managed to keep a smiling face. He went forward and bowed respectfully, “The little Liang Ziweng greets Clan Leader Hong and wishes Senior well.”

  His speech startled everyone. Although they all had heard for a long time of the stellar reputations of the Western Poison and the Northern Beggar, they had never met them in person. Who would have expected that two of the biggest names in the martial arts world would actually make their appearance at the same time? They were about to rush forward and pay their respects when Hong Qigong laughed loudly and said, “The Old Beggar is having very bad luck; a vicious dog has bitten me leaving me half dead and half alive, what are you paying respects for? It would be better if you bring me something to eat.”

  Everyone was startled and they thought, “This Hong Qigong is lying motionless because he is severely injured... we don’t have anything to fear from him.” They looked at Ouyang Feng, waiting to see what he was going to do.

  Earlier, Ouyang Feng had cooked up a plan as to how to get rid of these three people: Hong Qigong must be eliminated first to avoid his own dishonorable behavior from becoming public; next, he would force Guo Jing to explain the difficult sentences from the manual and then he would kill him. As for Huang Rong, even though his nephew loved her, if he let her live, she would cause an enormous disaster in the future. However, if he personally killed her, Huang Yaoshi would not let him have a single moment’s peace. Therefore he decided to use someone else’s hand to kill her and thus shift the blame from his shoulders. Since the three were aboard the boat, he was not afraid they would fly away and escape. He stepped forward and said to Wanyan Honglie, “These three people are very crafty and they are also highly skilled in martial arts. I beseech the Prince to assign some people to guard them well.”

  Liang Ziweng was very pleased; he leaned to the left and squeezed past Sha Tongtian to grab Guo Jing’s hand. Guo Jing turned his wrist over and slapped Liang Ziweng’s shoulder. He’d used the ‘Sighting the Dragon in the Field’, a swift and heavy stance; even though Liang Ziweng’s martial arts skill was high, he was unexpectedly forced to stagger back two steps.

  Peng Lianhu and Liang Ziweng continually competed to win the favor of Wanyan Honglie. They always tried to outdo the other and what their faces showed was different from what they felt in their hearts. Seeing Liang Ziweng stumble, Peng Lianhu was inwardly very pleased. He stepped closer to Hong Qigong and the others; but he was waiting for Liang Ziweng to fall before taking any action.

  When Liang Ziweng slipped past Sha Tongtian to pull Guo Jing away, he was prepared for Guo Jing’s single stance, the ‘Proud Dragon Shows Remorse’; he knew he would not be able to face it head on, hence the attack from the side. Who would have thought that in less than a month the ‘Proud Dragon Shows Remorse’ was not the only move Guo Jing knew? Because Guo Jing did not pursue, he jumped up and attacked with his fists, launching his life’s worth of training in martial arts, the ‘Wild Fox from Liaodong Fist’ technique [liao dong ye hu quan fa], determined to take Guo Jing’s life, both for embarrassing him just now and also for killing his precious snake.

  One time Liang Ziweng went to gather ginseng on Mount Changbai [located in Jilin province]; he saw a hound fighting with a wild fox in the snow. The fox was very cunning; it leaped to the east and hopped to the west, very quick and agile. Although the hound’s claws and teeth were sharp, after battling for a long time it had yet not scored victory. Liang Ziweng noticed the ability of the fox to jump very high and he had a sudden inspiration. He abandoned his intention to gather ginseng and decided to stay in a thatched hut on the snowy mountain, painstakingly pondering martial arts moves for several months. As a result, the ‘Wild Fox Fist technique’ was born.

  The technique incorporates four fundamental principles, namely ‘ling’ [alert/quick], ‘shan’ [dodge], ‘pu’ [pounce], and ‘die’ [tumble]. This technique had come in handy in dealing with powerful enemies. First of all, he did not give the enemy an opportunity to catch him since he was very quick to retreat and he was able to hasten to the left and escape to the right; then he struck back as the opportunity arose.

  Now he did not dare to underestimate his opponent any longer and launched this fist technique right away. His attacks were lightning fast as he threw everything he had at Guo Jing. The fist technique was weird; Guo Jing had never seen anything like it before. He thought, “In Rong’er’s ‘Peach Blossom Island Divine Sword Palm’ technique there are many trick moves; out of five attacks only one is real, or sometimes one out of eight. But it seems this old man’s fists are all empty strikes. I wonder what kind of strange technique this is?” However, he remembered Hong Qigong’s advice, that regardless the technique his opponent is using all he needed to do was to keep using the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’.

  After watching the two men fighting for a while, everybody began to silently shake their heads, thinking, “The Old Freak Liang can be considered a grand master of martial arts; why is it that when fighting this new born kid [very inexperienced] he keeps moving around and does not dare to attack head on?”

  Several moves later Guo Jing’s palm strength began to force him back step by step; it seemed that very soon he would fall into the ocean. Realizing his ‘Wild Fox Fist’ would not help him score a victory, Liang Ziweng thought of using a different set of fist techniques; but it was too late. Guo Jing’s palms enveloped him completely, not giving him any chance to counterattack. Amidst the strong gusts of wind Hong Qigong’s voice was heard, “Attack the lower part!”

  Guo Jing immediately launched the stance ‘The Divine Dragon Swings Its Tail’ [shen long bai wei] and his left arm swept him away. Liang Ziweng called out in alarm and tumbled over the rail of the boat.

  Everybody was stunned and rushed to the edge to look, only to hear somebody on the sea laughing a long laugh. Liang Ziweng’s body suddenly flew back up and with a loud grunt landed back on deck, unconscious.

  What had just happened confounded everyone on board. Could it be that the waves bounced his body back up? Everybody crowded to the rail of the boat, looked down to the sea below and saw an old man with a white beard and white hair rushing to the east and dashing to the west on the surface of the sea at unusual speed. They strained their eyes to see more clearly; as it turned out, that man was riding on the back of a huge shark at a speed not inferior to someone galloping on horseback on dry land.

  Guo Jing was delightedly surprised and with a loud voice he shouted, “Big Brother Zhou, I am here!” That shark rider was indeed the Old Urchin Zhou Botong.

  Zhou Botong heard Guo Jing’s shout and he cheered with delight; then he hit the shark’s head near its right eye with his fist and the shark turned left immediately, coming near the boat’s side.

  “Is that Brother Guo?” Zhou Botong called out, “How are you? There is a whale ahead and I have been chasing it for a whole day and night. I want to continue chasing it. See you later!”

  “Big Brother! Come here quickly!” Guo Jing anxiously called, “There are many bad people here who want to bully your little brother!”

  Zhou Botong was angry, “Is that so?” His right hand held onto something inside of the shark’s mouth, while his left hand grabbed onto the rail of the big boat. He pulled hard and both man and shark suddenly flew up above everybody’s heads and landed on the deck. He roared, “Who dares to bully my little brother?”

  Almost every single one of the people aboard had extensive knowledge of Jianghu matters; but this white bearded old man who suddenly appeared in a most bizarre way stupefied everyone. Even Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng were dumbstruck.

  Zhou Botong saw Huang Rong and he felt strange. “How come you are also here?” he asked.

&nb
sp; Huang Rong smiled, “Why not?” she replied, “I figured you’d come back today, that’s why I am here waiting for you. Quickly teach me how to ride a shark.”

  Zhou Botong laughed, “Very well, I’ll teach you.”

  Huang Rong replied, “First you have to help us get rid of these bad people, and then you can teach me.”

  Zhou Botong swept his gaze across the people on the deck and he said to Ouyang Feng, “I knew other people wouldn’t dare to act so savagely, so it turns out to be you.”

  Ouyang Feng replied coldly, “A man who does not keep his word, while he is alive in this world, will be the laughing stock of all the warriors of the world.”

  “Totally correct,” Zhou Botong said, “A man of integrity certainly won’t cause trouble. But those who speak truly and those who fart [lies] has to be distinguished clearly, otherwise people who hear it might not know if the sound comes from above or from below. I am indeed looking for you to settle an old score and nothing could better than seeing you here. Old Beggar, you are our witness; stand up and give us your judgment.”

  Hong Qigong lay on deck and he smiled slightly. Huang Rong said, “The Old Poison was almost dead nine times and my Master was kind enough to rescue him every single time. Who would have thought that he has the heart of a wolf and the lungs of a dog and repays kindness with evil; he injured my Master and sealed his acupoints.”

  Actually, Hong Qigong only saved Ouyang Feng’s life three times, but Huang Rong intentionally exaggerated by a factor of three. Ouyang Feng knew this but did not want to argue; he only looked at her with blazing eyes.

  Zhou Botong stooped down trying to unseal Hong Qigong’s ‘Song Reservoir’ [qu xhi] and ‘Bubbling Spring’ [yong quan] acupoints by rubbing them. “Old Urchin, it’s useless,” Hong Qigong said.

  It turned out that the acupoint sealing method Ouyang Feng used was somewhat unusual; other than Huang Yaoshi and himself, there was no one else in this whole wide world who could unseal them. Ouyang Feng was very smug, “Old Urchin, unseal his acupoints if you have the ability,” he challenged.

  Even though Huang Rong could not unseal them, she was familiar with the sealing method; she pressed her lips together and said, “What’s so strange about that? My father can unseal this ‘Penetrating Bone’ [tou gu da xue fa] acupoint sealing technique without very much effort.”

  Hearing her mentioning the correct name for his acupoint sealing technique, Ouyang Feng was amazed that this little girl’s knowledge was as deep as a bottomless abyss, even encompassing acupoint sealing techniques. However, he did not pay any attention to her; turning to Zhou Botong he asked, “You lost our bet; why are you talking like breaking smelly wind?”

  Zhou Botong covered up his nose and called out, “Break wind? Bad smell, bad smell! But let me ask you this: what did we bet on?”

  “Everyone here, except this Guo kid and this little girl, is a well-known warrior. I’ll tell what happened and ask these gentlemen to be our judges,” Ouyang Feng replied.

  “Well said, well said,” Peng Lianhu said, “Mr. Ouyang, please tell us.”

  “This gentleman is the Quanzhen Sect’s Zhou Botong, Master Zhou, known in the Jianghu world as the Old Urchin. In terms of seniority, he holds a very high position; Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi and the other Quanzhen Seven Masters are his martial nephews.“

  For the past dozen years or so, Zhou Botong had been detained on Peach Blossom Island; before that time his martial arts skills were obscure. Aside from some mischievous troubles, he never accomplished anything worth mentioning, so his reputation did not spread far and wide in the Jianghu world. However, everybody had seen him riding a shark, a feat not easily accomplished by any of them. Since he is the martial uncle of the Quanzhen Seven Masters, it’s no wonder he is this good. As a result everybody talked amongst themselves in low voices. Peng Lianhu remembered their appointment on the eighth month’s mid-autumn festival in Jiaxing; if the Quanzhen Seven Masters had this strange man as their ally, they would not be easy to deal with. He could not help but feel anxious.

  Ouyang Feng continued, “Brother Zhou was stranded in the sea amongst a mass of sharks and I rescued him. I said this mass of sharks was nothing much and without too much effort I could kill every single one of them. Brother Zhou did not believe me, so the two of us made a bet. Brother Zhou, isn’t what I said true?”

  Zhou Botong nodded his head repeatedly, “It was absolutely true. But you need to explain to everyone what we were betting on exactly,” he said.

  “Correct!” Ouyang Feng said, “I said that if I lost, I would do whatever you wanted me to do. If I am not willing to do it, then I must jump into the sea and become fish food. You said the same thing, is that correct?”

  Zhou Botong nodded his head again, “Right, right, that was absolutely correct, and then what happened?” he asked.

  “What do you mean ‘what happened’? You lost!” Ouyang Feng said.

  This time Zhou Botong shook his head repeatedly, “Not true, not true!” he said, “It was you who lost, not me.”

  Ouyang Feng was angry, “A real man can distinguish between right and wrong; how can you deny your own words? If I lost, how come you were willing to plunge into the sea to kill yourself?”

  Zhou Botong sighed, “That’s true. I originally said that the Old Urchin’s fortune was bad so I lost to you; who would have thought that as I went into the water the Heavens sent something we could regard as a coincidence. Only then did I know that the Old Poison had lost and the Old Urchin had really won.”

  Ouyang Feng, Hong Qigong and Huang Rong asked together, “What coincidence?”

  Zhou Botong stooped down with his left hand, grabbed a piece of stick stuck inside the shark’s mouth, lifted the shark and said, “I met my riding animal. Old Poison, take a look; it was your precious nephew who stuck this stick inside its mouth, wasn’t it?”

  It was indeed Ouyang Ke who concocted this wicked plan to insert a stick inside the shark’s mouth, so that it would not be able to eat and eventually die of starvation. Ouyang Feng had seen this with his own eyes. He saw a huge shark with a wooden stick in its mouth and he also saw the wound caused by the hook in the shark’s mouth. Without any doubt this was the very same shark they’d returned to the sea that day. “So what?” he said.

  Zhou Botong clapped his hands and laughed, “That means you lost! Our bet was that you would kill every single one of the sharks, but this good fellow was bestowed with good fortune by your nephew. It could not eat the dead sharks, hence could not eat the poison. It was the only shark left alive. How can you say that the Old Urchin didn’t win?” He burst out laughing. Ouyang Feng’s countenance changed and he could not say anything.

  Guo Jing delightedly asked, “Big Brother, where were you these past few days? I was so miserable thinking about you.”

  Zhou Botong laughed, “I was playing and having fun. Not long after I jumped into the sea, I saw this fellow gasping for breath on the surface and it seemed to be in agony. I said, ‘Old Shark, oh Old Shark, seems like today you and I share the same fate!’ Then I suddenly jumped on the shark’s back. It furiously went under the water and I had to hold my breath with both hands holding tightly to its neck and my feet periodically kicked its belly. In great difficulty it went back up to the surface. Without giving me a chance to take two mouthfuls of air this fellow dove back under. The two of us fought for half a day and he finally became obedient and was willing to listen to what I said. I wanted it go to the east and it went to the east, I wanted it to head north and he wouldn’t dare think of going south.” As he spoke he gently patted the shark’s head, looking extremely pleased.

  Of those who were present, only Huang Rong admired and envied him. Her eyes shone and she asked, “I played in the sea for many years, why didn’t I think of this trick? I was so stupid!”

  “Look at its mouth full of teeth; they are as sharp as knives,” Zhou Botong said, “If there was no stick in its mouth, would you dare to ride it?”

&nbs
p; “You spent the last few days riding on the back of this fish?” Huang Rong asked.

  “Certainly,” Zhou Botong replied, “The two of us have pretty good skills at catching fish. As soon as we saw a fish, we chased it and I sent a fist or a palm to kill it. Out of ten fish, I only ate one and this fellow ate the other nine.”

  Huang Rong felt the shark’s belly and asked, “You dumped dead fish into its belly? It did not need its teeth to eat?”

  “He’s a good eater,” Zhou Botong answered, “There was a time the two of us chased an extremely big cuttlefish ...”

  Two people, one old, the other young, were having an animated discussion, totally ignoring everybody else on board the ship. Ouyang Feng groaned inwardly and silently thought of some methods to deal with this situation. Zhou Botong suddenly turned to him and said, “Hey, Old Poison, do you admit defeat?”

  Ouyang Feng had been the one making the speech earlier; how could he swallow his own words in front of this many people? He was obliged to say, “So what if I lost? Do you think there is anything

  I can’t do?”

  “Hmm,” Zhou Botong said, “I must think of a difficult thing for you to do. Very well, you scolded me just now saying that I was farting; I want you to fart immediately and let everybody smell it.”

  Hearing Zhou Botong ask Ouyang Feng to break wind for no reason at all, Huang Rong was annoyed. Breaking wind at will was naturally not easy for the average person, but with strong internal energy, it was not difficult to circulate the breathing to all parts of the body, hence it was an extremely trivial thing to do. She was afraid of Ouyang Feng’s craftiness, of his venomous snake staff and was afraid he would grab this opportunity to gently break wind and put everything behind him without too much trouble. So she hastily said, “Not good, not good! First you want to tell him to unseal my Master’s acupoints, then we can talk some more.”